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COLLEGE NEWS
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BIORENEWABLES 'TOWN MEETING' NEXT MONDAY
A university “Town Hall” meeting on what Iowa State is doing in the area of biorenewables will be held Monday, Oct. 23. President Gregory Geoffroy will present an overview of the area, describing the opportunities, the key initiatives and plans for the future. Everyone who has an interest is invited to attend from 2 to 4 p.m. in Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall. A reception will follow.
ECONOMICS HOSTS WEBCAST, MINI-CONFERENCE ON ETHANOL NOV. 13
Experts will offer a variety of perspectives on the corn-based ethanol industry in Iowa in a statewide Webcast and mini-conference on Nov. 13. The conference is sponsored by the Department of Economics. Learn more: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2006/oct/070902.htm
HANK HARRIS HAS A WINNING PLAN
Sirrah LLC, a startup biotech company originating from the research laboratories of animal scientist Hank Harris and colleagues in veterinary medicine, was awarded $15,000 as runner-up in the first John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition. Sirrah develops vaccines for swine diseases. More than 80 business plans were submitted to the competition, which fosters entrepreneurial activity in the state. The award was announced at the recent Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Conference in Des Moines.
AGCOMM WORKSHOP SET FOR WEDNESDAY
The next AgComm Workshop will be Wednesday, Oct. 18, led by English professor Rebecca Burnett. The session is titled: An Interactive Workshop: How to Make Peer Review and Self-Reflection Work Productively in the Classroom and Work Place. It will be from noon to 1:15 pm in Room 8, Curtiss Hall. RSVP Cheryl Abrams at 4-5872 or cabrams@iastate.edu. A light lunch will be served.
ALUM CROSBIE TO PRESENT BIOTECH SEMINAR FRIDAY
“A Decade of Plant Biotechnology: What have we learned and what does the future hold?” will be presented Friday, Oct. 20, by agronomy alumnus Ted Crosbie, Monsanto's vice president of Global Plant Breeding. The special seminar will be at 10 a.m. in 2050 Agronomy Hall. A reception will precede the seminar in the Agronomy Hall Commons at 9:30 a.m. Crosbie will be awarded the Floyd Andre Award by the Alumni Association Friday, Oct. 20. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural education in 1973, and master's and doctorate degrees in agronomy in 1976 and 1978.
ANNUAL APPLE SALE BEGINS THIS WEEK
The Horticulture Club will sell apples beginning Friday, Oct. 20. Jonathan, golden delicious, Chieftain and red delicious varieties that were grown at the Horticulture Station near Ames will be on sale at various campus locations. Sales will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday on the ground floor of Curtiss Hall, noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at Reiman Gardens; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 27 at Beardshear Hall; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at Reiman Gardens; and noon to 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Reiman Gardens. Prices are $12.50 for a 10 lb. bag and $6.25 for a 5 lb. bag.
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL SOIL JUDGING CONTEST HOSTED BY ISU
The Emmestburg FFA Chapter beat 25 other high school teams to win the 2006 FFA State Soil Judging Contest Oct. 14. This year's event marked the 25th year the annual soil judging contest was hosted by Iowa State. The second through fifth place teams were: Montezuma, Earlham, Ventura and Orient. The top five teams are eligible to represent Iowa at the International Land Judging Contest next May in Oklahoma. The contest was coordinated by the College of Agriculture's Gerald Miller, associate dean for extension and outreach programs, and Alan Spencer, Iowa Department of Education. Iowa State faculty and staff who helped with the contest included Jon Sandor, Tom Fenton, Erik Christian, Brad Miller and Dan Nath, agronomy; Richard Pope, entomology; and Virgil Schmitt, ISU Extension. Sponsors included the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, the Professional Soil Classifiers of Iowa, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Conservation Districts of Iowa, the College of Agriculture and ISU Extension.
DISTANCE ED GRANT PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED
The deadline for new Distance Education Grant proposals has been extended to Nov. 15. The proposals are for degree programs, certificate programs and individual courses. Details: http://www.brenton.iastate.edu.
TEMPLE GRANDIN TO LECTURE THIS WEEK
Temple Grandin, animal science professor at Colorado State University, will give a lecture Wednesday, Oct. 18, titled, “The Design Process, Autism and Animals.” Her history as a person with autism has given her insights into animal thinking. Grandin designs humane livestock handling facilities, and has done extensive research on cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, bull fertility, training procedures, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants. She has also developed an objective scoring system for assessing handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants, which is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Her presentation will begin at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
BRENTON CENTER CAN HELP CREATE RECRUITMENT PODCASTS
The College of Agriculture and the Brenton Center are looking for ways to promote your department to prospective students. The Brenton Center will assist in creating a free recruitment podcast that will be placed on the College's website and other appropriate locations. If you have a podcast idea or would like to discuss one, contact Gaylan Scofield, ggs@iastate.edu, or Rod Fischer, videoguy@iastate.edu
VEGETABLE RESEARCH CENTER HEAD TO SPEAK FRIDAY
Thomas Lumpkin, director general of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) of the World Vegetable Center will speak on campus Friday, Oct. 20. The title of the speech is “AVRDC and the Global Horticulture Initiative: Bringing Impact to the Millennium Development Goals.” The seminar will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 118, Horticulture Hall. Light refreshments will be available from 9 to 10 a.m.
MUNKVOLD THE NEW ENDOWED CHAIR IN SEED SCIENCE
An internationally recognized seed pathologist has been named Seed Science Endowed Chair at Iowa State. Gary Munkvold has been appointed to the newly created chair for a three-year term. Munkvold will lead a research, outreach and teaching program in seed health in the department of plant pathology and the Seed Science Center. Details: http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/oct/munkvold.shtml
AG CAREER DAY OCT. 24, LARGEST IN MORE THAN A DECADE
Iowa State's annual Agriculture Career Day has been filled to capacity with recruiting employers three weeks from the event on Oct. 24. The largest agricultural career fair in the nation will have 154 companies at 160 booths recruiting students for jobs and internships. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Great Hall, Campanile and Regency rooms at the Memorial Union. A list of companies represented at Ag Career day is on the Web at: http://www.career.ag.iastate.edu/agcareerday/career.php
IOWA SEED DIRECTORY OFFERS QUALITY SEED OPTIONS FOR SPRING
The Iowa Crop Improvement Association recently published the Iowa Seed Directory as a resource for finding quality seeds of soybeans, oats, triticale, wheat and native prairie species. The Iowa Seed Directory contains seed production information from more than 100 producers and conditioners. The directory is free and available by contacting ICIA at (515) 294-6921 or iowacrop@iastate.edu.
DRAWING SET FOR UNITED WAY FUNDRAISER
In association with this year's Iowa State United Way campaign, the College of Agriculture is holding a drawing to give away a football autographed by Dan McCarney or a voucher for four men's basketball tickets (good for any home game except Kansas). To enter, donate nonperishable items (food and toiletries) or a cash donation (suggested amount of $3 or more). Items will be delivered to the Mid-Iowa Community Action Food Pantry and the cash collected will be given as a lump sum to United Way from the College of Agriculture. One entry per person. The deadline for donations is Oct. 20 and drawing will be Oct. 23. You can donate at the following sites: 2101 Agronomy Hall, 253 Bessey Hall, 138 Curtiss Hall, 201 Curtiss Hall, 102 Davidson Hall, 107 East Hall, 2312 Food Sciences, 260 Heady Hall, 106 Horticulture Hall, 109 Insectary, 1221 Kildee Hall, 1210 Molecular Biology Building, 3212 NSRIC, 339 Science II, 102 Seed Science. Contact Carla Persaud, 4-1823 or cpersaud@iastate.edu.
DEADLINE & REMINDERS
Oct. 16: 2006 Norman Borlaug Lecture, Margaret Catley-Carlson, chair of the Global Water Partnership, 8 p.m., Sun Room
Oct. 17: “Biotechnology, the WTO and International Trade Policy,” 9 a.m., High Tech Room (106), Seed Science Center
Oct. 19-20: Agricultural Entrepreneurship Institute, Reiman Gardens, contact: Stacey Noe, 4-4945, more: http://www.entrepreneurship.ag.iastate.edu/Institute.html
Oct. 19-20: World Food Prize Symposium, more: http://worldfoodprize.org/symposium/2006.htm
Oct. 25: Ag Study Abroad barbecue, 5:30 p.m., Kildee Hall Farm Bureau Pavilion
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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ISU NEWS SERVICE OFFERS MEDIA SPOKESPERSON TRAINING
ISU News Service offers free media spokesperson training to faculty and staff who frequently are called upon as news sources or would like to have more opportunities to work with the media. The three-hour group session includes a discussion of how the media work, what's news, message development and preparing for and making the most of an interview. If you're interested, contact Annette Hacker, News Service director, at annette@iastate.edu
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INFOGRAZING
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ISU RECOGNIZED FOR WORK TO INHIBIT METH PRODUCTION
Iowa State researchers George Kraus and John Verkade walked up the west steps of the Iowa Statehouse Oct. 9 to a round of applause. The chemists and their team of graduate students discovered a way to make anhydrous ammonia fertilizer useless as an ingredient for methamphetamine. Details: http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/oct/stopmeth.shtml
PROPOSALS SOUGHT FOR SWINE INDUSTRY GRANTS
Grants totaling $100,000 a year are available over the next 10 years for projects related to increasing profits, helping independent producers compete, making market information available, protecting the environment and other goals. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has released a request for applications to identify and support innovative Iowa projects eligible for the grants. The grant request stems from an agreement reached in 2005 between the Iowa Attorney General's Office and Smithfield Foods Inc., Murphy Farms LLC and Prestage-Stoecker Farms Inc. The agreement, which was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, provides that Smithfield Foods will pay $100,000 per year for 10 years to fund grants to Iowans for projects benefiting Iowa's pork industry. Proposals are due by Dec. 1. More: http://www.iowaattorneygeneral.org/latest_news/releases/oct_2006/Smithfi... (Agriculture Online, Oct. 13)
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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GAINING LIFE EXPERIENCE … PLUS THE FRESHMAN 15 “
A student has eight semesters to fight not for gangplank abs or the loss of a dress size, but for a life experience that defies manuals, handbooks and how-to's. Be baffled, heart-broken, a fool, fall flat, find out you (and, amazingly, your parents) never really had a clue. … If you gain a little gut while studying Goethe, it will be fine. Post-graduation, there'll be plenty of time for self-restraint and discipline, piling up on steamed spinach, ignoring starch. Corporate America … demands responsibility, conscientiousness and sober adherence to rules and tasks. … So trust me, you won't have the cushioning of college forever. Until it's all over - and you're living with your parents, facing $20,000 in student loans - eat cake.” -- Author Marisha Pessl writing about the “freshman 15” college weight gain in the Oct. 6 New York Times)
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MARGINALIA
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ISU ENTOMOLOGIST DOUBTS WOOLLY BEAR'S WEATHER FORECASTING
The MetroWest Daily News near Boston quoted Donald Lewis, entomology extension, in a story questioning the woolly bear caterpillar's winter weather forecasting abilities. Supposedly a wide band of brown in the caterpillars' middle indicates a mild winter. But if the caterpillars have more black on its ends the winter will be worse. Lewis was quoted as saying older caterpillars have more black as do those that fed and grew in an area where fall weather was wetter. (Metro West Daily News, Oct. 15)
Next issue: Oct. 23
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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/
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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