...................................................
COLLEGE NEWS
...................................................
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR MANRRS CONFERENCE
Volunteers are needed to help out during the 2004 national Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) conference March 25 to 27 in Des Moines. The College of Agriculture and the ISU MANRRS Chapter, along with Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Deere & Co. and Cargill Inc., are hosting the conference. About 800 undergraduates, graduate students, professionals and exhibitors from around the country are expected to participate in the career fair, contests and workshops at the Polk County Convention Center. On March 25, pre-conference workshops will be held, including a visit to campus for hands-on educational experiences. ISU faculty, staff and students are invited to register, volunteer or visit the conference. Details at: http://www.manrrs.org/conferences/index.asp?nav=upcoming. To volunteer, contact Linda Wild, 4-7697 or lmwild@iastate.edu.
UPCOMING SEMINARS BY FSHN CHAIR CANDIDATES
Two candidates for the chair position in in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition will present public seminars this month. Ruth MacDonald, chair of the Department of Food Science at the University of Missouri, will speak on March 8 at 8:30 a.m. in 1951 Food Science Building (CCUR Theater). Sung Koo, head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut, will speak on March 11 at 8:30 a.m. in the CCUR Theater. An informal reception for each candidate will be held outside the seminar room from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Interview schedules and information on both candidates are available online. Nancy Betts, the first candidate, visited campus Feb. 17 and 18.
DEAN WOTEKI, ASSOCIATE DEAN MILLER SPEAK AT LEGISLATURE
In February, Dean Woteki gave an update on the College of Agriculture to members of the Iowa House Agriculture Committee. The Dean spoke about the Experiment Station review and answered questions on recent air quality research, enrollment trends and other topics. Also in February, Jerry Miller, associate dean for extension programs and outreach, and John Rodecap, extension coordinator of the Maquoketa River Project, made a presentation on the project to the Iowa House Environmental Protection Committee. They discussed how performance-based management was put to use in a voluntary effort by producers to reduce soil and nutrient losses in the 1.2 million acre watershed in northeast Iowa.
FAPRI GROUP TO PRESENT CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS
Researchers in the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) will present briefings this week to Congress, USDA, media and commodity groups. John Beghin, Jay Fabiosa, Holger Matthey and Simla Tokgoz will represent ISU in Washington, D.C. March 3 and 4 to present projections from the 2004 FAPRI Outlook for U.S. and world agricultural commodity markets.
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR TRAVEL TO CUBA
Iowa State has acquired a license for faculty, staff and student travel to Cuba, opening up possibilities for academic programs and research in the country. Learn how you can take advantage of this opportunity at a brown-bag lunch that begins at noon Tuesday, March 2, in 8 Curtiss. Contact Shelley Taylor, 4-5393 or sztaylor@iastate.edu.
NEXT AG COMM SESSION ON VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
Learn how to make visual communications more meaningful at the March 9 Ag Comm workshop. The session will cover liabilities, warnings and cautions to be used when working with images. The meeting begins at noon in 8 Curtiss. A light lunch will be provided. RSVP to Cheryl Abrams, 4-5872 or cabrams@iastate.edu.
ISU RECEIVES GRANT FOR EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP IN INDIA
Iowa State received one of six grants the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has funded for an India partnership in higher education in agriculture. The national competition awarded $299,000 each to Iowa State and five other land-grant universities. ISU will partner with the University of Agricultural Sciences in Banglore to study grain production system models and develop new farming models to ensure India's water security and a sustainable agriculture. Ramesh Kanwar, agricultural and biosystems engineering, leads the project.
ANIMAL USE ISSUES TOPIC OF BIOETHICS SYMPOSIUM
The “Use Of Animals in Teaching and Research” is the title of the Iowa State Bioethics Symposium on March 6. Attendance is free, but advance registration is due on March 3. The symposium will focus on ethical and legal issues involved in the use of animals in teaching and research. Speakers include Bernard Rollin of Colorado State University and Susan Krebsbach, a practicing veterinarian from Oregon, Wis. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in 229 Scheman. Contact: Janet Krengel, hope@iastate.edu.
FACULTY INVITED TO JOIN DEAN ON COMMUNITY VISIT APRIL 29
During Dean Woteki’s first two years as dean of the College of Agriculture, she’s visited many Iowa communities to learn more about the state. That's how the idea for "Connect with Iowa" developed, with faculty members joining her on a community visit. The first was last fall, when 10 faculty members participated in a visit to Greene County. The next trip will be April 29 to the community of Manning, in Carroll County. Stops will include a cattle operation, an aquaculture cooperative, a new technology center on Main Street, an ethanol plant and a 350-year-old restored German "hausbarn." Twelve to 15 faculty members will accompany Dean Woteki. To learn more about Manning, go to: https://www.manningia.com/. To reserve a spot, contact Joyce Shiers, 4-2518 or jshiers@iastate.edu.
30-YEAR-OLD RESEARCH LEADS TO NEW DISCOVERY
For several years, there has been an emphasis on the use of practices such as nutrient management and riparian buffer strips to reduce the movement of agricultural fertilizers into surface water. Research by two scientists at USDA’s National Soil Tilth Laboratory on the Iowa State campus shows it may take decades for conservation practices to improve groundwater quality. Learn more in "Agriculture in Action."
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
March 1-2: Agriculture and The Environment Water Quality Conference, Scheman Building
March 3-4: John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, Daryll Ray, director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee, 2:30 to 4 p.m. March 3, Oak Room, Memorial Union; and 7 to 9 p.m. March 4 in the Center for Energy and Environmental Education Auditorium, University of Northern Iowa
March 4: Issues in Agriculture lecture on organic foods, Kathleen Delate, horticulture, 7 p.m., Hughes Auditorium, Reiman Gardens
March 7-8: 2004 Biobased Industry Outlook Conference, Scheman Building
March 12: Deadline for nominations, Gamma Sigma Delta awards
March 12: Iowa Frame Builders Conference, Quality Inn, contact: Beth Weiser, 4-0557 or weiser@iastate.edu
April 30: Deadline for registering for the College of Veterinary Medicine Pet Pig Symposium June 4-6, contact: Janean Berhow, 4-3837 or jaberhow@iastate.edu
...................................................
COMMUNICATION KIOSK
...................................................
AG ONLINE ISSUES ARCHIVED ONLINE
If you want to refer to an item from an old issue of Ag Online, but have deleted it, never fear. They are saved online by date, going back to the first issue in 1994.
...................................................
INFOGRAZING
...................................................
ETHICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY SUBJECT OF SPEECH TONIGHT
Paul Thompson, professor in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics at Michigan State University, will speak tonight, March 1, about transgenic crops and environmental protection. He is the author of several books on ethics and agriculture and has served on many national and international committees on agricultural biotechnology and has contributed to the National Research Council report “The Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants.” The speech will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
ORDER OF THE KNOLL AWARD NOMINATIONS DUE
Nominations are due April 9 for current or retired Iowa State faculty and staff who have brought distinction to the university through professional or personal achievements. The new award will be weighted 70 percent according to personal community involvement and 30 percent for professional activities. Contact: ISU Foundation, 4-9939 or cschmidtke@foundation.iastate.edu.
........................................................
EXTERNAL VOICES
........................................................
TEACHING: REPETITION AND MOMENTS OF EXULTATION
“Teaching is arduous work, entailing much grinding detail and boring repetition -- a teacher, it has been said, never says anything once -- interrupted only occasionally by moments of always surprising exultation.”
--Joseph Epstein, writer and emeritus lecturer at Northwestern University
........................................................
MARGINALIA
........................................................
MORE THAN HALF OF RURAL RESIDENTS ONLINE
According to the latest study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 52 percent of rural Americans are online, up from 41 percent in 2000, but still lagging the 67 percent for urban and 66 percent for suburban dwellers. Rural areas are getting broadband, but it is less available than in urban areas. Rural residents are using the Internet for the same purposes as other users, although they're more likely to look for religious or spiritual information and less likely to buy stuff online. Rural users also are more likely to join online groups that extend beyond their local areas.
Next issue: March 8
........................................................
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.