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COLLEGE NEWS
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AG COMM WORKSHOP TOMORROW
Tips on designing presentations and using visuals will be the subject of Tuesday’s, Feb. 22, Ag Comm workshop. The session will focus on helping faculty learn techniques to assist students in preparing for oral presentations. The meeting will be held noon to 1:15 p.m. in Room 8, Curtiss Hall. A light lunch will be served. RSVP Cheryl Abrams, cabrams@iastate.edu.
AG OUTLOOK FORUM TO INCLUDE PAUL LASLEY
Paul Lasley, sociology, will be among the speakers at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Feb. 24-25 in Arlington, Va. The topic, under the Farming and Rural America track is “Succession Planning for an Aging Farm Population. Research analyses from the Ag Census, Ag Resource Management Survey, Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll and a qualitative study with farm families will be used to examine impacts on the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and land-grant university partnership. CSREES organized the session.
SANDI KELLEN MOVES TO COLLEGE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE
Sandi Kellen last week began working for Dean Woteki in the college administrative office. Kellen has worked in the College Development office for nearly seven years and at Iowa State for about 27 years.
USDA GRANT TO FUND NEW AIR QUALITY RESEARCH PROJECT AT ISU
Iowa State is one of 11 institutions receiving part of $5 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for air quality research. The four-year project will study dietary strategies to reduce gas emissions from turkey, laying-hen and growing-finishing cattle operations.
2005 ISU ANIMAL INDUSTRY RESEARCH REPORT AVAILABLE
For the second year in a row, the annual report on animal agriculture includes summaries on all animal research done at Iowa State. It is available both on CD-ROM and on the Web.
AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE MARCH 8-9
The annual Agriculture and the Environment Conference March 8-9 will focus on how agricultural land users can refine management strategies to decrease environmental risk and improve economic efficiency.
ROTHSCHILD OUTLINES STATUS OF ANIMAL GENOMICS
The past decade has yielded new genomic tools for animal geneticists and breeders, thanks to significant developments from the genomic mapping of farm animals, said ISU animal scientist Max Rothschild Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
LEOPOLD CENTER ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has issued its annual report that highlights activities, public events, outreach efforts and research programs. Copies of the 40-page report are available from the Center office, 4-3711 or leocenter@iastate.edu. The report also can be viewed on-line at: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Feb. 23: Collegiate FFA Chapter breakfast, 7 to 9 a.m., Farm Bureau Pavilion, contact: Betsy Ratashak, chapter president, at betsy@iastate.edu.
Feb. 28: Proposal deadline for College mini-grants program to support innovations in learning and teaching
March 1: Deadline for Center for Integrated Animal Genomics Spring Grant Program applications
March 1: Deadline for abstracts for the Third International Symposium on Genetics of Animal Health on July 13 to 15, Iowa State University
March 9 to 10: John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, Ames and Centerville
March 15: Proposal deadline, Grants for Distance Education Program
March 31: Nomination deadline, 2005 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture, http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/spencer_020805.htm
April 12: Science in Ag Day workshop, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., http://www.agstudent.iastate.edu/biorenewables/biorenewables.htm
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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YOU MAY EXASPERATE SOMEONE IF YOU EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM
These two words have similar sounds but two different meanings. To exacerbate means to make an already bad or difficult situation worse, as in, “The factory shutdown will exacerbate the unemployment situation.” To exasperate means to make somebody very angry or frustrated, often by repeatedly doing something annoying or to make an unpleasant condition or feeling worse, as in, “He was exasperated by the senseless delays.” (Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation)
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INFOGRAZING
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NEW CAST ISSUE PAPERS RELEASED
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has released issue papers on animal diseases and agricultural ethics. "Global Risks of Infectious Animal Diseases" consists of a historical review of the most prevalent diseases, an outline of the diverse ways they enter a country, an evaluation of contemporary practices that exacerbate disease spread and an overview of the significant impacts-now and in the future-that such diseases have on communities throughout the world. “Agricultural Ethics” examines the nature of ethics as applied to agriculture and the environment, discusses how ethical concepts and tools can address several issue areas in the food system, considers how agricultural ethics might be institutionalized and provides a glossary. More: http://www.cast-science.org.
CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING AND TEACHING SETS MARCH EVENTS
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is offering several events in March. Register at 4-5357 or celt@iastate.edu.
--Faculty Forum: ISUComm’s Foundation Courses, March 1, 12-1:30 p.m., Campanile Room, Memorial Union
--Presentation on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, “The Design Salon and Design Messages: Exhibition and Text,” Gregory Palermo, architecture, March 7, 12-1:30 p.m., Gold Room, Memorial Union
--Workshop Series: Teaching Toolbox for Large Classes, series continues with a session on mid-term assessment of teaching, with Michael Martin, landscape architecture, March 9, 3:30-5 p.m., Gold Room, Memorial Union
--Workshop Series: Teaching Toolbox for Large Classes, series concludes with a presentation on active learning with Jim Colbert, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, March 30, 3:30-5 p.m., Gold Room, Memorial Union
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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RECAPTURING CHILDHOOD
"Genius is childhood recaptured at will."
--Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), French poet, translator and critic
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MARGINALIA
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CATTLE TO GO DRUG FREE IN LIECHTENSTEIN
Farmers in Liechtenstein will no longer be allowed to feed cannabis to their livestock under new rules to be introduced in March in the tiny Alpine state. Hemp -- of which the marijuana plant is a well-known variety -- contains small amounts of THC, and traces of the drug have been filtering through to the milk of dairy cows fed the plant. The levels exceed the maximum limit set by the new rules, which say that animal feed must be free of any component that could have an adverse effect on humans, the country's veterinary and food controls office said in a statement. Hemp also will be banned from the diets of meat herds, although there is no clear evidence that THC can filter through into meat. (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 10)
Next issue: Feb. 28
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AG ONLINE
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EDITOR
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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