COLLEGE NEWS
- VEISHEA: Free BBQ kicks off ag activities on April
16
- VEISHEA: Club and department open houses
- VEISHEA: Reception set for Tom Hargrove
- Virtual visitors relay questions back to college
- Genomic Revolution: A genetics workshop
- Ethics and animals theme of bioethics symposium
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Radio show looks for ideas to celebrate nature
INFOGRAZING
- Census of Agriculture to move to USDA
- Internet job search resources for students
- Newspaper series investigates college costs
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Strive for relevance, excellence, usefulness
MARGINALIA
- Green commences again
C O L L E G E N E W S
VEISHEA: FREE BBQ KICKS OFF AG ACTIVITIES ON APRIL 16
A free barbecue for agriculture and vet med faculty, staff and
students kicks off VEISHEA activities on Tuesday, April 16, according
to the Ag Council. The barbecue will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. west
of the Farm House Museum. For more information: Sarah Daniels,
4-3221. Other events that day include:
- Vet Med info booth/dog training demonstrations, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Farm House Museum tours, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
- WHO radio farm broadcast, west of Farm House Museum, 11:30 a.m.
- Ag Olympics, west of Curtiss Hall, noon.
- Alpha Zeta Pie Throw, with selected college targets (proceeds
benefit Just for Kids), west of Curtiss Hall, noon-3 p.m.
VEISHEA: CLUB AND DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSES
The Ag Council lists the following VEISHEA open houses on Saturday,
April 20, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. (Some also may be open April 19. For more
information: Sarah Daniels, 4-3221.)
Ag Systems Technology, south of Davidson; Ag Business, central
campus; Alpha Zeta, ground floor Curtiss; Biology/Zoology/Genetics,
156 Bessey; Block and Bridle, Livestock Judging Pavilion; Botany,
112 Bessey; Collegiate 4-H, ground floor Curtiss; Dairy Science,
west of Kildee; Entomology, Science II commons; Farm Bureau, central
campus; Farm Operations, ground floor Curtiss; Fisheries and Wildlife
Biology, 132 Science II; Forestry, northwest of Curtiss; Horticulture,
Horticulture Hall; MANRS, central campus; Vet Med, Laboratorium
Anatomy.
VEISHEA: RECEPTION SET FOR TOM HARGROVE
Faculty and staff are invited to a Department of Journalism reception
for Tom Hargrove, 2-4 p.m., Friday, April 19, in 128 Hamilton.
Hargrove, who spent 11 months in captivity in Colombia, earned
his Ph.D. in agricultural education at ISU in 1977. He was head
of communications for an international research center when he
was kidnapped by Marxist guerillas in September 1994. He has written
a book about his experience. He will speak at noon, April 19,
south of the campanile and be a VEISHEA parade marshal on April
20.
VIRTUAL VISITORS RELAY QUESTIONS BACK TO COLLEGE
Visitors to the college's home page (http://www.ag.iastate.edu/)
can send questions or comments. Queries are received in the Ag
Information office, which then works to supply answers. Some recent
examples of fulfilled queries: A prospective pre-vet major asked
for advice on the kind of calculator that would get her through
her first years of college. Several potential graduate students
wanted admission information. An Iowa farmer asked for information
on generating methane from manure for energy. A private college
student researching hog confinement issues asked for sources of
information. A Louisiana woman was looking for recipes for beef
kidneys, heart and sweetbreads. From the United Kingdom came a
request for information on mad cow disease. Two high school students
wanted to know more about George Washington Carver's time at ISU
for a history presentation.
GENOMIC REVOLUTION: A GENETICS WORKSHOP
"The Genomic Revolution: Applications and Implications"
is an April workshop offered by ISU's Interdepartmental Genetics
Program. Speakers include experts from Texas A&M, University
of Iowa, National Cancer Institute, Swedish University of Agricultural
Science and Purdue University. For more information, send your
name and campus address to genetics@iastate.edu.
ETHICS AND ANIMALS THEME OF BIOETHICS SYMPOSIUM
"Ethics and Animals in Agriculture" is the theme of
the second annual ISU Bioethics Symposium, April 27, Molecular
Biology Building, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. There is no registration
fee, but you're asked to pre-register by April 25. For more information
or to register by phone: Clark Ford, 4-0343. Sponsors are the
ISU Bioethics Program and 17 other ISU departments and programs.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
April 11: Food Processing in the Year 2020: Food and Crops - Dennis
Olson, Meat Export Research Center, and Larry Johnson, Center
for Crops Utilization Research, 4:10 p.m., 2050 Agronomy (sustainable
agriculture seminar)
April 18: Where Will World Agriculture Be in 2020? - Stan Johnson,
CARD, 4:10 p.m., 2050 Agronomy (sustainable agriculture seminar)
April 23: Teaching With Technology seminar, Brenton Center, 1-3
p.m.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
RADIO SHOW WANTS IDEAS TO CELEBRATE NATURE
The Environment Show, a half-hour radio show distributed nationally
via National Public Radio and ABC and internationally via Voice
of America, is looking for story ideas. The show, the producers
say, "is all about celebrating nature. We are looking for
people (researchers, naturalists, etc.) who are good speakers
and can talk to a general audience." One segment of the show,
the Earth Calendar, profiles an interesting or odd natural event
happening at or near the time of broadcast. Past topics have included
bear hibernation, fire ecology and salamander mating season. Got
an Earth Calendar idea? Contact Ag Information at bmeyer@iastate.edu.
I N F O G R A Z I N G
CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE TO MOVE TO USDA
Plans are underway to move the Census of Agriculture from the
Census Bureau in the Department of Commerce to the National Agricultural
Statistics Service in the USDA. Conducted every five years, the
national survey provides data on the agricultural sector of the
U.S. economy. Questions or comments on the plans can be directed
to Ewen M. Wilson, 38555 or ewen_m_wilson@SMTP-gw.census.gov.
The 1997 Census of Agriculture will be conducted in early 1998.
Census Services in the Department of Sociology used data from
the 1992 and earlier national surveys in its 1994 "Iowa Counties"
data book.
INTERNET JOB SEARCH RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
Eighty percent of college students plan to use the Internet as
a job search tool, according to a recent poll. AT&T has launched
the AT&T College Network (http://www.att.com/college/), a
Web site providing links to other Internet job listing sites,
along with tips on job-hunting and career strategies. (Investor's
Business Daily, April 4)
NEWSPAPER SERIES INVESTIGATES COLLEGE COSTS
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a five-part series March 31-April
4 on college costs, titled "Higher Education: How High the
Price." You can access these stories at the newspaper's website.
From the home page, go to the Table of Contents and look for "Editor's Picks."
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
STRIVE FOR RELEVANCE, EXCELLENCE, USEFULNESS
"(We should be) guided by three major goals: relevance, excellence
and usefulness. First, research, extension and education must
be relevant to what's going on . . . In the absence of relevance
to the issues confronting society, our role shall surely diminish
in scope and influence. Second, we need to strive for excellence
(and) be viewed by others as being out front -- to advance the
cause of research, education and extension, and to provide the
answers. Third, what we do must be useful -- must develop products
useful to those who need them and be adaptable to solve current
and emerging problems . . . We must be interdisciplinary and interfunctional,
leave the old behind and move toward the new." R. H. Robinson,
administrator of the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education
and Extension Service, in a February address to CSREES staff.
M A R G I N A L I A
GREEN COMMENCES AGAIN
"Stark winter cross, lithe spring messenger, summer's barque,
elegist of autumn! . . . The tree is the rock that changes and
the fern that endures . . . We envy trees their fixity and their
resolute fecundity. Cut the tree down, burn it, blow it over;
green commences again." From the essay "Trees"
by Donald Hall in his 1995 book, "Principal Products of Portugal."