................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... WELCOME TO AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE With this issue, Ag Online becomes Ag and Life Sciences Online to reflect the new name of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The weekly newsletter for the College has been e-mailed to subscribers since September 2004. It has about 700 readers. FABIOSA AND HAYES HEAD FAPRI Jacinto Fabiosa and Dermot Hayes have been named the co-directors of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) effective July 1. They succeed John Beghin, director since 1999, who will spend the next year at the University of Sydney, Australia, before returning to Iowa State's Department of Economics. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=340 ROTHSCHILD NAMED ENSMINGER INTERNATIONAL CHAIR Max Rothschild has been named to an endowed chair that encourages international work. The Ensminger International Chair is made possible through the Marion Eugene and Audrey H. Ensminger Endowment for Animal Science. Learn more: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=338 IOWA STATE-BRED HORSE TAKES THIRD IN RACE Cyclone Prince, a three-year-old gelding, last Monday became the first money earning horse bred at Iowa State to finish a race in one of the top three places. He ran in the ninth race at Prairie Meadows on June 25 and finished third in a field of 12 horses. Iowa State's horse-breed program began in 1998 and is directed by Peggy Miller, animal science, and Angela Chandler, manager of the Iowa State horse farm. Edward Casady of Fort Dodge owns the horse, which was bred from horses donated to Iowa State. COLLEGE STAFF PART OF P&S COUNCIL The P&S Council welcomed 14 new members at its annual transition meeting June 7. The new members and three returning incumbents were elected in campus-wide voting by P&S staff in March. Valerie Evans, agricultural and biosystems engineering, and David Meisinger, U.S. Pork Center of Excellence, are among the new members from the College. The new members join 19 carry-over council members whose terms expire in 2008 or 2009. New officers, who were elected at council meetings earlier in the year, also were installed at the June meeting. They include Pam Owenson, agricultural education and studies, as secretary. Cathy Good, Experiment Station, will remain on the council as immediate past president. ROUSE NAMED INTERIM DIRECTOR OF IOWA CROP IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Jim Rouse has been named the interim director of the Iowa Crop Improvement Association. The nonprofit association is the official seed-certifying agency for the state of Iowa, with headquarters in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. Learn more: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=339 LEOPOLD CENTER TO HOLD LOCAL FOODS SEMINAR JULY 19 The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture's Marketing and Food Systems Initiative is sponsoring a seminar on Local Food Distribution Networks. It will be held 3 to 5 p.m. July 19 in the Curtiss Hall Auditorium (Room 127). Guest speakers will be Anya Fernald, program director for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in California, and Chris Fullerton, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. Contacts: Rich Pirog, rspirog@iastate.edu, and Beth Larabee, blarabee@iastate.edu. DEADLINES & REMINDERS July 10-11: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture 20th Anniversary Celebration, more: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/anniversary_052307... July 13: Northern Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9:30 a.m., Kanawha ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... NAMEPLATES HAVE COLLEGE'S NEW NAME Iowa State nameplates with the new name of the College are available on the Web at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/commMaterials/nameplates.php. The graphic files are in the TIFF format for use on Mac and Windows systems. There is a link on the download page to the University's Visual Identity guidelines for using the nameplates. If you are interested in obtaining nameplates with department names, contact Ed Adcock, 4-2314 or edadcock@iastate.edu. ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... AGING FARMERS TO BRING BIG CHANGES One in four American farmers is at least 65 years old, according to an article on Forbes.com. It expects that “within the next decade those older farmers will be looking for someone to take over their operations and selling millions of acres of land.” The trend will also impact companies that supply farmers. More: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875040.html ................................................... EXTERNAL VOICES ................................................... RESTED WORKERS MORE PRODUCTIVE “The family vacation seems to be going the way of the family dinner hour. Compared with 1970, a third fewer American families are vacationing together, according to "Take Back Your Time," a group that seeks to make three weeks of paid vacation a presidential campaign issue and a national law. … Both employers and employees need to sweep away the myths that they can't "afford" time off, resulting in many vacations being reduced to long weekends. … Rested workers are more productive workers. Productivity can increase by up to 60 percent in the month or two following a vacation, according to Iowa State University economics professor Wallace Huffman. Companies can improve employee creativity and reduce turnover by giving their employees a break.” --Christian Science Monitor commentary, Vacation-challenged America, June 21, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0621/p08s01-comv.html ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... CLONED PIGS TO AID FIGHT AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S The first pigs containing genes responsible for Alzheimer's disease will be born in Denmark in August. The cloned pigs were genetically modified to function as animal models for the disease by scientists from the universities of Copenhagen and Århus. In the United States, five million people suffer from this human brain disorder and globally the number is set at approximately 24 million. More: http://www.ku.dk/english/news/?content=http://www.ku.dk/english/news/alz... (BioSpace newsletter) ........................................................ AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE ........................................................ EDITOR Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/ SUBSCRIBE Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe." Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.