COLLEGE NEWS
- Convocation for graduating students Dec. 16
- Nominations sought for Ag Student of the Year
- Workshop on successful USDA/NRI grants
- Fellowships for plant physiology training
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Communication style important to understand
INFOGRAZING
- Hiring trends on campus
EXTERNAL VOICES
-Raise tuition at public colleges
MARGINALIA
- Former presidents on politics and agriculture #1
- Former presidents on politics and agriculture #2
C O L L E G E N E W S
CONVOCATION FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS DEC. 16
The College of Agriculture convocation and reception for graduating
students and their friends and families will be held 10 a.m.,
Dec. 16, in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. Charles Staudt, ag studies,
will be the student speaker. Approximately 190 agriculture students
will graduate this semester.
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR AG STUDENT OF THE YEAR
ISU's Iowa Agriculturist magazine is sponsoring an Ag Student
of the Year contest. Candidates should be students currently enrolled
in the College of Agriculture. The winner will be selected based
on his or her participation in the college and by significant
contributions made to ISU or the ag industry. The winner and runners-up
will be featured in the spring 1996 issue of the magazine. Send
the nominee's name, address, phone number, year in school, major
and activities, honors and awards to: Iowa Agriculturist, Ag Student
of the Year Contest, 16H Hamilton Hall. Deadline is Jan. 31, 1996.
For more information: Darcy Dougherty, 294-9381 or 294-2929.
CHANGES IN STATION PROJECT POLICIES ANNOUNCED
Changes in policies for Experiment Station projects were outlined
in a Nov. 29 e-mail message to agriculture faculty. The information
also is available in departmental offices and from the Experiment
Station (contact Carla Persaud, 294-9376). Questions or comments
may be directed to Colin Scanes, 294-1823; Dianne Draper, 294-5982;
Gerald Klonglan, 294-4763; or Susan Lamont, 294-3629.
WORKSHOP ON SUCCESSFUL USDA/NRI GRANTS
Clark Burbee, former NRI grants manager, will present a workshop
on "Writing a Successful Grant for USDA/National Research
Initiative Program" on Monday, Dec. 11 in the Sun Room, Memorial
Union. A 6:30 p.m. dessert buffett and coffee will precede the
7 p.m. program. Please RSVP by Dec. 6 to Carla Persaud, cpersaud@iastate.edu
or 294-9376. This is the second workshop in the Successful Grantsmanship
Series sponsored by the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment
Station and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
FELLOWSHIPS FOR PLANT PHYSIOLOGY TRAINING
The Interdepartmental Plant Physiology Major has been awarded
two USDA National Needs Fellowships for graduate students who
will begin Ph.D. study in plant molecular biology next fall. Each
fellowship is $17,000 per year for three years. The IPPM group
comprises 26 faculty in agronomy, biochemistry and biophysics,
botany, horticulture, forestry, genetics/zoology and plant pathology.
Last year three IPPM students received fellowships.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Dec. 11 -- Writing a Successful Grant for USDA/NRI Program, Sun
Room, Memorial Union
Dec. 15: Nominations due for Louis Thompson Award for Outstanding
Teaching and College of Agriculture P&S and Merit awards,
121 Curtiss
Dec. 16: College convocation and ceremony for graduating students,
C.Y. Stephens Auditorium
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
COMMUNICATION STYLE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND
Georgetown University linguist Deborah Tannen says there's no
"one best way" to communicate and that "the critical
skill for managers is to become aware of the workings and power
of linguistic style, to make sure that people with something valuable
to contribute get heard." For example, men and women tend
to have different linguistic styles. As children, most girls learned
that sounding too sure of themselves led to unpopularity, whereas
most boys learned to emphasize rather than downplay their status.
The result: Men tend to speak in ways that position themselves
as "one up" whereas women are more likely to save face
for others rather than flaunt their own superior position. A manager
who is not sensitive to differences in linguistic style will misinterpret
a woman's tactfulness as "lack of confidence," but a
more sophisticated manager will understand it to be simply a different
way of exercising leadership. (Harvard Business Review, September/October)
I N F O G R A Z I N G
HIRING TRENDS ON CAMPUS
A collection of items on a "robust" campus hiring season,
from the Nov. 21 Wall Street Journal:
- Companies are spending more time with fewer, select schools.
- Nearly 60 campuses have installed a system that allows students
to interview via desktop video. At least 10 major recruiters have
hooked up such systems with universities. About 400 companies
are expected to use the system by 1997.
- How many references does a job applicant need? A Tennessee chemical
company requires 20. It takes six to be an FBI special agent.
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
RAISE TUITION AT PUBLIC COLLEGES
"Today, scholarship money is readily available at the private
universities . . . The smart kids are pushing out the wealthy-but-not-so-smart
at expensive colleges, and many of those richer youngsters are
ending up at state schools. Though their families could well afford
to pay the average $12,432 in tuition and fees charged by private
schools, they're in fact paying only the $2,860 average for public
schools . . . Most poorer youths can still win a college education,
but often it's at a private college now. And most rich kids can
still buy a college education, but sometimes it's at a state college
now. These middle-class and upper-class youths could afford to
pay more, and they should pay more." Michael Gartner, in
an editorial in the Oct. 10 USA Today.
M A R G I N A L I A
FORMER PRESIDENTS ON POLITICS AND AGRICULTURE #1
"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and
you're a thousand miles from the corn field." -- Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
FORMER PRESIDENTS ON POLITICS AND AGRICULTURE #2
"See those hogs? No man should be allowed to be President
who does not understand hogs, or hasn't been around a manure pile."
-- Harry S. Truman.