................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... Agriculture and Life Sciences online takes a break Agriculture and Life Sciences Online will take two weeks off for the holidays. The next issue will be sent Jan. 7. LORILEE SCHULTZ'S STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE FEATURED IN ILLINOIS NEWSPAPER Visiting a water buffalo research dairy, eating fried scorpions and touching the Great Wall of China were part of Lorilee Schultz's study abroad experience. The Journal-Standard in Freeport Illinois featured Schultz's experience last week. The story was written by Laura Rosenbohm, a junior in agricultural education from Peoria, with assistance from Barb McBreen, Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications Service. The story highlighted Schultz's study abroad experiences and her plans to return to her grandparents dairy farm, which is near Freeport. Schultz spent last spring in China as an intern for the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service. There she worked on a dairy project, which focused on helping dairy producers improve management skills. Schultz graduated Saturday with a double major in agricultural business and economics. To read more go to: http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2007/12/11/daily_features/parent... AG STUDIES WAR VETERAN GRADUATED SATURDAY Doug Greving is part of a new class of 21st century college graduates -- war veterans. Greving served with the National Guard light infantry in Afghanistan for more than a year. He graduated Saturday from Iowa State with a bachelor's degree in agricultural studies. More: http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2007/dec/greving.shtml Ice storm leaves Mcnay farm without power The McNay Research and Demonstration Farm near Chariton is still partially without power from the ice storm that hit southern Iowa last Tuesday, Dec. 11. Farm staff is feeding the cattle and sheep mostly hay and using rural water and pond water. Residences on the farm are using generators. Any communication with the farm can only be made by cell phone, because land-line telephones, e-mail and fax are down. Leopold Center recognizes iowa Farmer and biology instructor The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will honor Laura Krouse, a farmer and biology instructor from Linn County, with its 2007 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. Krouse owns and operates a 72-acre farm near Mount Vernon, where she teaches full-time at Cornell College. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/spencer_121707.htm Ag business grad hired as alumni association finance director Don Behning, who earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business in 1979, has joined the ISU Alumni Association as its director of finance. Behning, who will work with accounting and facilities management, previously worked for the Iowa 4-H Foundation. THE HALFWAY MARK: POINTS OF PRIDE As part of Iowa State's sesquicentennial celebration, 150 points of pride related to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are being posted on the Web. Seventy-five items have been featured to date. The current offering features Herman Knapp, Perry Holden, William Stephenson, nine decades of continuous corn research and the college's network of research and demonstration farms. The second half of the 150 Points of Pride feature will begin the first day of spring semester on Jan. 14. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/coa150/points_of_pride.php Deadlines and reminders Jan. 18: Women Impacting ISU calendar reception, which honors Dean Wintersteen and College student Rachael Cox among students, faculty and staff whose accomplishments have positively affected the university, 3:30 p.m., Campanile Room, Memorial Union ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... E-MAIL etiquette helps streamline communication E-mail etiquette is one of the most important skills employed in the workplace today, according to Jessica McMillan, a contributor to LifeScript Connect Network. As with any technology, however, e-mail and other electronic forms of communication bring their own unique challenges. While electronic shorthand may seem the best way to say something quickly, it is impolite in the context of workplace e-mail etiquette. It is also important to avoid the opposite. Sometimes e-mail messages drone on forever and never quite make their point, which can be frustrating to the person reading the message. The point of e-mail etiquette is that it helps streamline communication. Make your requests and information clear and concise, but give enough information so that your recipient understands your message. For more tips go to: http://www.lifescript.com/channels/healthy_living/Life_Tips/email_etique... ................................................... infograzing ................................................... borlaug presented honorary doctorate Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug added another honor for his scientific achievements and humanitarian service. An honorary doctorate was bestowed on him Friday, Dec. 14, by Texas A&M University, the institution with which he has been affiliated for more than two decades. The Iowa native, who holds the unique rank of Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M, was presented his honorary doctorate during the first of the university’s mid-year commencement exercises. ................................................... internal voices ................................................... lorilee schultz encourages fellow graduates “Whether we realize it or not, as graduates of Iowa State, we are now equipped with the skills we need for the next stage of our lives. Some of us are headed to graduate school. Many of us have taken jobs with leading companies around the country. Others, like me, are heading home to the family farm. And some of us are still holding out for the perfect job opportunity. As we each prepare to follow our own journeys in life, we must remember to stop and thank those who have gotten us where we are today. We are deeply indebted to the many professors, staff members, advisers, and coaches who have provided us with continued support and guidance during our adventure at Iowa State, as well as to our family and friends for their unconditional love and understanding along the way.” --Lorilee Schultz, senior class speaker at the College convocation Saturday, Dec. 15, who graduated with a double major in agricultural business and economics ................................................... EXternal voices ................................................... pressing food companies to be more sustainable “Perhaps the most powerful driver of the local food movement is its rejection of industrialized production. Yet feeding the world’s 6.6 billion people, more than half of whom now live in cities, is not possible without mass production. Rather than turning away from the big food companies, we should press them to find safer, healthier and more environmentally sustainable methods of supplying our dinner tables.” --Sarah Murray, author of “Moveable Feasts: From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat,” in a New York Times column, The Deep-Fried Truth, Dec. 14 ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... college faculty in new beardshear display The College has 66 names of faculty listed on the new Walls of Honor display on the ground floor of Beardshear Hall. Of those, 39 are Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professors in Agriculture and Life Sciences, beginning with Earl Heady in 1956 to Robert Horton Jr. in 2006; 22 are university professors; and five are members of national academies. The display honors about 180 Iowa State faculty from the 1940s to the present. The walls will be updated annually when new distinguished and university professors are named. ........................................................ 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.