...................................................
COLLEGE NEWS
...................................................
CHRISTIAN PORK CHOP OPEN RAISES MORE THAN $5,000
This year 37 golf teams competed and 160 people attended the reception, dinner and auction at the annual Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open held July 8. At the event the Iowa Pork Producers Association announced a $100,000 donation to help fund start-up expenses for a new animal science faculty position at Iowa State. An auction raised more than $5,000 for the Lauren L. Christian Swine Endowment. The Pork Chop Open started 33 years ago and was renamed the Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open in 1999.
KOCH TAKES NEW JOB WITH CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
Del Koch, director of the college and experiment station's Budget and Finance Office, has been appointed director of the Iowa Crop Improvement Association, headquartered in the Department of Agronomy. He also will continue to serve as executive director of the Committee for Agriculture Development. Koch served for 24 years in the budget and finance office. During the next few months, the college will evaluate the office's structure. Office staff members Josie Six, Laurie Textor and Amy Rogers will continue their work under the guidance of Senior Associate Dean Wendy Wintersteen.
FRENCH POULTRY PROGRAM FEATURED IN SEMINAR
The French Label Rouge program, which commands 30 percent of France’s poultry market and has helped boost incomes for small farmers, will be the subject of a presentation Monday, July 28. The Leopold Center is sponsoring Anne Fanatico and Holly Born from the National Center for Appropriate Technology to talk about Label Rouge, which means Red Label. The session will be from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Pioneer Room, Memorial Union. The Label Rouge program started as a grassroots movement about 40 years ago and has developed into a national certification system for poultry that ties together regional groups of producers with feed mills, hatcheries, breeding firms, processors and distributors. Label Rouge birds have access to the outdoors and are fed rations with no animal byproducts.
IOWA TURFGRASS, NURSERY & LANDSCAPE FIELD DAY THURSDAY
About 500 participants are expected at the 24th annual Iowa Turfgrass, Nursery & Landscape Field Day Thursday, July 24. It will be held at the Horticulture Research Station, which is located 1.5 miles east of Gilbert corner. David Minner, horticulture professor, said the field day will feature lawn care, landscaping, golf, sports turf, pesticide recertification and equipment demonstrations. The cost is $35. To register, call (515) 232-8222.
BEEF PRODUCERS WIN SPENCER AWARD
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will present the sustainable agriculture award to David, Diane and Dresden Petty of Eldora at the Iowa State Fair. The Spencer Award recognizes farmers, researchers and educators who have made a significant contribution toward the stability of mainstream family farms in Iowa. The Petty family owns and operates the Iowa River Ranch, a cattle and crop operation running along eight miles of the Iowa River from Eldora to Union. Their commercial Angus herd is rotationally grazed on 22 connecting pastures, each with its own water source away from streams and waterways. Their farm also is home to hundreds of whitetail deer, wild turkey and waterfowl. The award will be presented at the beginning of the Governor’s Charity Steer Show at 4 p.m. Aug. 9 in the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion.
THE VIRTUAL FOREST WHERE ASHLEY LIVES
A popular children’s book about urban forests has a new life three years after it was published by Iowa State University Extension. The Forest Where Ashley Lives is a 20-page, color-illustrated book. Now it’s also a CD-ROM filled with new information and interactive features. Learn more in "Agriculture in Action."
IOWANS IMPROVE NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HABITS
Who lost 23.5 tons of weight while traveling 2.6 million miles in only five months? Twelve thousand Iowans who participated in Lighten Up Iowa in 2003. Nearly 1,400 teams of friends, work colleagues, community members, youth and others took up the challenge to improve their nutrition and become more physically active. They tracked their mileage while walking, biking, running, exercising and engaging in other activities. They also ate more fruits and vegetables. The effort paid off with a total weight loss of more than 47,000 pounds. Lighten Up Iowa is presented by the Iowa Games in partnership with ISU Extension and the Iowa Department of Public Health. Another round of Lighten Up Iowa is scheduled to start Jan. 5, 2004. For more information, check http://www.lightenupiowa.org.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
July 31: Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm home garden field day, 6:30 p.m., near Crawfordsville
Aug. 5: Northern Research and Demonstration Farm home garden field day, 6:30 p.m., Kanawha
Aug. 6: Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm home garden field day, 6:30 p.m., near Sutherland
Aug. 7-17: Iowa State Fair, Des Moines
Aug. 7: Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm home garden field day, 6:30 p.m., near Lewis
Aug. 8: Muscatine Island Research and Demonstration Farm home garden field day, 6:30 p.m., near Fruitland
Aug. 16: Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm specialty field day on grapes, 8:30 a.m., near Nashua
...................................................
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
...................................................
USING POSTURE TO COMMUNICATE
How you use your body can be a big part of communicating, according to modern communications research, and Teach Yourself Body Language, by Gordon Wainright (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Here are some behaviors to observe when trying to improve your "presence" and effectiveness.
Eye contact: The more the better, up to visual intrusiveness.
Facial expression: Be lively, smile a lot, look interested.
Head movements: Nod to show interest, keep your chin up.
Gestures: Be expressive and open, without overdoing it.
Posture: Stand erect, lean forward to show interest, lean back to be informal.
Proximity and orientation: Get as close as you can to people without crowding.
Bodily contact: Touch as often as you can without causing offense.
Appearance and physique: Go for color in dress, fitness in physique.
Nonverbal aspects of speech: Try to balance your need to talk with the need to listen.
(Working Knowledge Newsletter, July 21)
...................................................
INFOGRAZING
...................................................
BIOETHICS PROGRAM EXPANDS WITH NEW PERSONNEL
Iowa State's Office of Biotechnology is expanding its bioethics outreach program for Iowa teachers, agricultural producers, extension professionals and the general public. Last year, the Office of Biotechnology and ISU Extension hired a full-time bioethics outreach coordinator to help Iowans explore bioethics issues. Kristen Hessler, the first full-time extension ethicist in any state, assists K-12 teachers, extension personnel, 4-H leaders and others who teach various audiences about ethical issues in the life sciences. She is teaching the fourth offering of Iowa's first online bioethics course and provides the bioethics components for the summer laboratory workshops for educators. For the first time, this summer's workshops included a two-day session taught by Hessler and devoted entirely to bioethics.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN SCHEDULES ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
The U.S. Global Leadership Campaign will be holding an organizational meeting at 10 a.m. July 30 at the Pioneer Hi Bred International Inc. office at 400 Locust, seventh floor, in Des Moines. The campaign is a coalition of more than 300 businesses and humanitarian organizations that advocates for American global engagement and greater resources for the nation’s international diplomatic, economic and humanitarian programs. More information on the campaign and a full membership list are available at: http://www.usgloballeadership.org. RSVP to Alison MacDonald at (202) 955-1383 or amacdonald@usgloballeadership.org.
...................................................
EXTERNAL VOICES
...................................................
CICERO’S THOUGHTS ON TEACHING
"When you wish to instruct be brief -- so that people's minds can quickly grasp what you have to say, understand your point, and retain it accurately. Unnecessary words just spill over the side of a mind already crammed to the full."
--Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
...................................................
MARGINALIA
...................................................
A POSTCARD’S GLIMPSE OF IOWA STATE’S PAST
A postcard with a 1922 postmark was recently found in an antique shop with this description of Ames and Iowa State:
“Ames, IA. is located on the through line of the North Western and is the seat of Iowa State College of Mechanical Arts, one of the important institutions of learning in the West. Its success is due in a great degree to the policy of working in close touch with the practical needs of the people of Iowa. Extensive experiments are undertaken from time to time, the results of which are turned to the most practical use.
One of the features of this work at Ames is what is known as the “Short Course,” a period of instruction extending over a few weeks in midwinter, with a special view to giving the farmer or the farmer’s children, unable to secure a longer term, the benefit of instruction for the development of improved farming methods.”
Next issue: July 28
........................................................
AG ONLINE
........................................................
EDITORS
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu, and Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
SUBSCRIBE
Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe."
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, disability or status as a U.S. Vietnam Era Veteran. Any persons having inquiries concerning this may contact the Director of Affirmative Action, 1031 Wallace Road Office Building, Room 101, (515) 294-7612.