College News
Welcome Back, Students! Professors Provide Tips
Animal science professors Brad Skaar and Steven Lonergan are College faculty members who have given advice to new students seeking help with getting a success start to the school year. The program is offered by ISU's Office of New Student Programs allowing students to network with faculty members and ask questions.
Welcome Back, Students! Curtiss Hall Banner Hails Honors
A banner hanging in the Curtiss Hall rotunda welcomes students with examples of excellence. One side of the banner lists recent achievements won by student clubs and teams. The other side includes recent individual student honors. It was produced by Agricultural Communications to welcome students and provide information about the College.
Buses Available to Anniversary Field Days
Chartered buses will be taking faculty and staff to the anniversary celebrations at the Northern Research Farm Sept. 8 and the McNay Research Farm Sept. 14. The Northern farm, Iowa State's oldest, will mark its 75th anniversary with a field day beginning at 10:30 a.m. and featuring Dean Wintersteen, Rep. Tom Latham and the association President Harley Kreitlow of Kanawha. A special video commemorating 75 years of research at the farm will be shown. The McNay Research Farm, Chariton, will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a field day beginning at 10 a.m. with educational tours of the farm. Following a noon lunch, the Dean will address the group and a special video will be shown commemorating 50 years of research at the farm. Buses will be leaving from the ISU Center parking lot, south end, at 8:30 a.m. and will return to Ames by 4 p.m. These events and the bus rides are free of charge. Contact Sally Medford, 4-5045, to reserve a seat on the bus.
Potluck Lunch for Osborn Family Sept. 8
The horticulture department will host a potluck lunch Sept. 8 to assist Program Coordinator and Lecturer Barb Osborn and her family with health expenses associated with the birth of their son, Tyler. It will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the horticulture atrium. Meat and beverages will be provided. Those attending are asked to bring a side dish to share. Voluntary donations may be given to the Osborn family. For more information, contact: Kim Gaul, 4-3718 or kimgaul@iastate.edu.
Donations Fund New Wells in Rural Uganda
Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy, Gerald A. and Karen A. Kolschowsky, and Dean Wendy Wintersteen attended a dedication for two new wells in Uganda last week. Iowa State's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods helped plan and build the wells.
Birt Appointed to Food and Nutrition Board
An Iowa State Distinguished Professor has been appointed to the Food and Nutrition Board, a unit of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences. Diane Birt will serve a three-year term on the 15-member board.
Leopold Center Reports on 21 Completed Project
The 2006 Center Progress Report now available from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture features summaries of 21 projects that were funded by the Center and completed in 2005 and 2006. The Center provided support for research, education and demonstration projects to help Iowa farmers with production and marketing issues. Learn more: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2006/cpr_081606.htm
Deadlines & Reminders
Aug. 24: Corn production field day, Bruner Research Farm, near Ames, 10 a.m.
Aug. 28: 25x'25 vision barbecue and rally, central campus, 6 p.m.
Sept. 5: Fall Convocation, 3:30 p.m., Food Science Courtyard
Sept. 7: Farm Estate and Business Planning Seminar, Quality Inn & Suites, Ames, 8:30 a.m.
Sept. 14: Iowa Real Estate and Insurance Seminar, Quality Inn & Suites, Ames, 9 a.m.
Sept. 14: McNay Research and Demonstration Farm anniversary celebration, 10 a.m.
Communications Kiosk
Troubled by Turbid, Turgid, and Torpid?
Turbid water is thick and opaque from churned-up mud, such as "a turbid pond." It also means unclear, confused or disturbed, as in "a turbid argument." Turgid means swollen and by extension, pompous and bombastic, as in "turgid prose." Torpid means idle and lazy, as in "a torpid economy."
(Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
Infograzing
PSI Meeting to Discuss Cyberinfrastructure Program
The Plant Science Institute will host a meeting Tuesday, Aug. 22, to discuss participating in the new National Science Foundation program Cyberinfrastructure for the Biological Sciences: Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative (PSCIC). The meeting will be at 4 p.m. in 1062 Roy Carver Co-Laboratory (first floor conference room). Contact: Deanne Brill (dbrill@iastate.edu) if you wish to attend the meeting. Contact Volker Brendel, vbrendel@iastate.edu or 4-9884, if you have specific ideas concerning ISU participation.
External Voices
Animals are Key to Fairs' Future
"The bottom line of why I think fairs have a bright future is animals. This generation that's growing up right now probably have seen more zoo animals than farm animals."
--Jim D. Tucker, president and chief executive of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (New York Times, Aug. 11)
Marginalia
Spanish Shepherd Job Vacancies Get Lots of Interest
A Spanish farm union office has been inundated with calls from people wanting to apply for jobs as shepherds after a television report mistakenly said there were 2,000 posts vacant with attractive terms. Reuters reported that phone calls and e-mails have come from Latin America, Britain, and even Morocco as well as from Spain. ASAJA, the farmers' union, was forced to release a statement denying it had a batch of jobs to offer, although it confirmed that many farms in the region are short of labor. Two farmers had appeared on a television program and said they needed shepherds and were prepared to offer 730 euros ($934) a month, a house and a vehicle. Average salaries in Spain are around 2,000 euros a month, but many immigrants earn far less. (Reuters, Aug. 16)
Next issue: Aug. 28
Ag Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@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."
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