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COLLEGE NEWS
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SIGNIFICANT LOSS PREDICTED IF POULTRY DISEASE HITS IOWA
Exotic Newcastle disease (END) could cost Iowa poultry producers millions if it infects commercial flocks in the state. John Miranowski, Iowa State professor of agricultural economics, estimated a loss of $185 million in egg sales from an END outbreak. Iowa is the nation's leading producer of eggs. There are about 40 million egg layers in the state, according to the Iowa Poultry Association. The disease has spread from backyard flocks to commercial flocks in California and has been found in Arizona and Nevada.
TURF CLUB TEAM TAKES NATIONAL WIN FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
An ISU Turf Club team has won the national Turf Bowl contest for a second consecutive year. The competition was Feb. 14 at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America annual conference. The club had six teams competing out of the 71 total. Club advisor Nick Christians said all the ISU teams scored in the upper half and five were in the upper quarter. Members of the winning team were seniors Marcus Jones and Luke Dant, and juniors Brett Henson and Nick Gow. Contestants completed three-hour written tests on soil science, plant pathology, pest control and identification of insects and plants.
INDIRECT COST RETURN DISTRIBUTION POLICY Q AND A
The university has established an Indirect Cost Return Distribution Policy, which is posted on the Vice Provost for Research's webpage. The following questions and answers about the policy provide information for faculty and administrators:
Q. Does the policy change the incentive returned to principal investigators (PI)?
A. Yes. The new policy extends the PI incentive. Fifteen percent of indirect costs for each award will be returned to principal investigators as long as the award yields the maximum allowable indirect cost from the fund-granting organization. For example, if the maximum allowable indirect cost rate for a given program is 8 percent, and that rate is requested and awarded, the investigators will receive 15 percent of indirect costs awarded, or 1.2 percent. If an award carries the full indirect cost rate (currently 46 percent), the PI incentive return will be 6.9 percent.
Q. Has the policy increased indirect costs returned to the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station?
A. Yes. Prior to FY03, the Experiment Station received approximately $64,000 per year from indirect costs. In FY03, the Experiment Station received $282,000 from indirect costs.
Q. How does the Experiment Station use these funds?
A. Half of the indirect-cost funds are used centrally by the Experiment Station to support research. The rest is allocated to departments based on the amount of indirect costs recovered from their grant activity.
Q. What is the indirect cost return policy for the Plant Sciences Institute?
A. For FY04, indirect costs to the Plant Sciences Institute will be calculated in the following way: If a PSI-affiliated faculty member shares in the principal investigator incentive, then the PSI will share indirect cost return of up to 10 percent. For example, say a proposal is initiated by two PIs and one of them is affiliated with the PSI. If they each obtain 7.5 percent of the PI incentive (the PSI-affiliated PI receiving half of the incentive), then the return to the Institute will be 10 percent x 1/2 = 5 percent. If the PSI-affiliated PI receives 5 percent (a third of the PI incentive) and the other PI receives 10 percent, then the return to the PSI will be 10 percent x 1/3 = 3.33 percent. (In FY03, the Plant Sciences Institute received $15,726 in indirect costs distribution.)
SCIENCE AND POLICY SEMINAR MARCH 7 EXAMINES HACCP SYSTEMS
Catherine Woteki, James Dickson and Helen Jensen will make up a panel that discusses "Food Safety: How Has Science Shaped the Development of HACCP Regulations and Policy?" The session is set for 3:30 p.m., March 7, in the Gallery, Memorial Union. HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) systems draw on science to identify potential food safety problems and prevent foodborne illnesses. The seminar series is supported by the Global Agricultural Science and Policy Initiative through an endowment to the agronomy department. Supporting departments include agronomy, botany, economics, plant pathology, political science, sociology and the Office of Biotechnology. The Science and Policy Seminar Series aims to help faculty and staff more effectively fulfill the land-grant mission by increasing understanding of the impact of science and scientists on the establishment of public policies and regulations. For more information: Clare Hinrichs, 4-5154 or hinrichs@iastate.edu.
BUY A CAKE, HELP SUPPORT A STUDENT
The annual Block & Bridle Club Cake Auction will begin at 5:30 p.m., March 13, in the Iowa Farm Bureau Pavilion and 2310 Kildee Hall. Cakes will be donated from clubs, organizations and individuals to raise money for student scholarships. Last year the event raised more than $3,000.
DAIRY SCIENCE CLUB OFFERS SEVEN FLAVORS OF ICE CREAM
The Dairy Science Club is selling ice cream on Wednesdays outside of Lush Auditorium. A dollar will buy a cup of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Oreo, Snickers, peanut butter cup or M&M. The ice cream, which the club mixes, is available from 10:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
FACULTY AND STAFF HONORED FOR 25 YEARS WITH UNIVERSITY
Several college faculty and staff were honored at the university’s 25-year Club Banquet last week. Congratulations to: Tom Glanville and Richard Vandepol, agricultural and biosystems engineering; Silvia Cianzio, Mark Millard, Janice Perkovich and Kenneth Ziegler, agronomy; Rodney Berryman, William Larson, Jay Nissen, Robert Tripp and Don Beitz (who marked 35 years), animal science; Donald Lewis, entomology; June Vansickle, horticulture; Carl Mize, natural resource and ecology management; Ed Braun, plant pathology; Frederick Lorenz and Lori Merritt, sociology; and David Rueber, research and demonstration farms.
THIRD PESEK COLLOQUIUM ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
The third John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture will take place March 5-6, with the co-founder of two national organizations that focus on food and democracy as the featured speaker at two events. Frances Moore Lappe's first presentation is titled "Food, Farming, Fear: The Power of Ideas to Create the World We Want." It will be held March 5 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in rooms 220-240, Scheman Building. A town meeting format will be used for the second event on March 6 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Iowa City.
STUDY RATES EFFECTIVENESS OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
A new study by ISU researchers has found that two dietary supplements -- creatine and HMB -- have a positive effect on lean mass and strength gain in humans. The study by Rick Sharp, health and human performance, and Steve Nissen, animal science, found that both supplements demonstrated significant increases in net lean mass and strength gains when combined with resistance training. HMB, a natural body building compound, was discovered through research conducted by Nissen.
$6.3 MILLION MERIT AWARD TO STRENGTHEN FAMILIES AND YOUTH
A $6.3 million grant has been awarded to the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research to continue evaluating the effectiveness of programs to help families and communities prevent adolescent substance use and other problem behaviors. Richard Spoth, the lead researcher, received the award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The award -- Method To Extend Research In Time, or MERIT -- provides long-term support to scientists who have demonstrated exemplary research.
NEW STRATEGIES NEEDED TO CHANGE RISKY AMERICAN DIETS
Encouraging more health-promoting foods should be one strategy for changing health-risky American diets, says Dean Catherine Woteki. "Chronic diseases are a major burden on society," she told participants at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meetings Feb. 15. "Scientific evidence has shown diet to be a factor in many of the leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and kidney disease."
BOOK PROVIDES LOOK AT LIFE ON THE FARM
An Iowa State entomology professor's new book gives readers a close-up look at farm life. In 1998, Jerry DeWitt joined forces with Cynthia Vagnetti, a documentary photographer and video producer, to travel 45,000 miles in 38 states, spending time with 35 farm families. Learn more in "Agriculture in Action."
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Feb. 25: Visual Thinking Process in Design: From the Viewpoint of a Person with Autism, Temple Grandin, associate professor of animal science at Colorado State University, 8 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union
Feb. 28: Deadline for Gamma Sigma Delta awards
March 1: Deadline for proposals to college Computation Advisory Committee
March 3: Final deadline for approval of new experimental courses for summer session
March 6: Dairy Science Club raffle drawing for a basketball signed by the ISU men's basketball team to support the Alison Ciancio Memorial Scholarship, tickets are $1 in 123 Kildee through March 5.
March 7: Agriculture and the Environment: Research and Technology Update for Water and Air Quality, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Scheman Building
March 17-21: Spring Break
March 21: National Ag Day
March 25: Application deadline Center for Integrated Animal Genomics Competitive Grants Program
March 31: Deadline for 2003 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture nominations, http://www.leopold.iastate.edu
April 22: Science in Agriculture Day
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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BREAKS CAN HELP YOU CONCENTRATE
Jane K. Cleland, workplace trainer and consultant, says most people can concentrate for 20 to 30 minutes. Then they start to daydream. She suggests taking a few seconds every 20 minutes to look up from your work and look across the room or shake your shoulders. Plan to do small tasks, such as a brief phone call or filing papers, as a break. You'll gain back the break time because you'll be able to do more when you return to your main assignment. (Writing that Works, December 2002)
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INFOGRAZING
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UNIVERSITY TO SUPPORT NIH WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
The Office of Vice Provost for Research is providing financial support for faculty and staff to attend the National Institutes of Health regional grants workshop, April 24-25, hosted by Stanford University. Selected participants will receive financial support of up to $1,000 to attend the conference. Letters of interest are due Monday, March 3, to 15 Pearson Hall or by fax, 4-8000. Letters must address how a person’s proposal relates to NIH programs and areas of interest. Contact: Sreeparna Mitra, 4-1538 or mitra@iastate.edu.
CONFERENCE PUTS SPEECHES ON LINE
Last month’s National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment has made available transcripts of key lectures and speeches on its website, http://www.NCSEonline.org/NCSEconference/2003conference/. The conference brought together more than 800 scientists, educators and policy-makers for discussions on how to improve understanding of the environment, sustainability and human security.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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A VCR PLAYS IN GRANDIN’S MIND
“I think in pictures. Words are like a second language to me. I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures. Language-based thinkers often find this phenomenon difficult to understand, but in my job as an equipment designer for the livestock industry, visual thinking is a tremendous advantage.” Temple Grandin, “Thinking In Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life With Autism” (1996, Vintage Books) (Grandin speaks on campus Tuesday; see “Deadlines and Reminders.”)
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MARGINALIA
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THIN FILMS OF SOY STYLE HAIR, PROTECT PRODUCE
A soy byproduct could replace petroleum-based chemicals in making hair gels. USDA Agricultural Research Service chemists have found that one can get the same kind of hold with lipid compounds derived from soapstock, an underused byproduct of oilseed processing. The gels work well on a variety of hair types, and would be relatively inexpensive to produce because soapstock costs only a fraction of the price of synthetic polymers. The soy films for produce wash off easily in the sink, unlike paraffin wax coatings, which also cost more.
Next issue: March 3 Deadline: Feb. 28
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AG ONLINE
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EDITORS
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu, and Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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