.................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... ECONOMICS PROFESSOR ON NATIONAL ACADEMIES' COMMITTEES Helen Jensen, economics, was recently appointed to two committees of The National Academies: the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Nutrition Standards for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and the National Research Council's Committee on Ranking FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Product Categories Based on Health Consequences. BABCOCK TESTIFIES ON BIOFUELS BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE Expectations for greater biofuel plant capacity and the federal Renewable Fuels Standard have created a "can't lose" demand proposition for U.S. corn and soybean farmers, according to Bruce Babcock, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. He testified today at a field hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee on food, feed and fuel production at the University of Nebraska. More: http://www.card.iastate.edu/presentations COLLEGE AWARDS 8 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 4-H EXHIBITS AT FAIR The College awarded eight $500 scholarships to 4-H exhibitors at the Iowa State Fair. Exhibits were judged on scientific thought, thoroughness, creativity and general appearance and design. The recipients are high school students who can use the scholarship certificate during the next four years. The College's recruitment display was on display up in the 4-H Building during the fair and staffed by Ag Ambassadors. HORSE-DRAWN CHUCK WAGON TO STOP ON CAMPUS AUG. 25 Feedstuffs magazine is sending the Loos Tales FoodLink Chuck Wagon to the Farm Progress Show next week after a stop at Kildee Hall. Rancher and radio personality Trent Loos heads up the traveling team. Loos can be heard daily on more than 100 radio stations across the nation and his program “Loos Tales” airs each weeknight on Dish Network 9411. He's also a regular columnist in Feedstuffs and a partner on Feedstuffs FoodLink, an initiative aimed at telling agriculture's story as it relates to food production. Animal science faculty will be able to join the Feedstuffs team at 2 p.m., Aug. 25, to talk about innovations related to the production of meat, milk and eggs. The wagon will proceed to the Farm Progress Show the next day. More: http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=124ECF05FDF84451B3E... FIELD TOURS TO SHOW IOWA STATE'S BIOMASS RESEARCH Iowa State will offer a view of its latest research for growing and harvesting biomass at field tours Aug. 25 and 29. The tours will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 25 and 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 29 at the Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy Research Farm. Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=668 FARM PROGRESS SHOW EXHIBITS ONLINE The Farm Progress Show opens at 8 a.m. Aug. 26 for the three-day run near Boone. ISU Extension installing a hoop building on the grounds filled with exhibits and a stage for presentations. College-related displays in the New Century Farm, Seed Science Center and a student recruitment exhibit. Joe Colletti, senior associate dean, will speak about the New Century Farm Aug. 26 and Mike Stahr, Seed Science Center, will be among the stage presentations. More: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/shows/fps08/ AG ENDOWMENT PROVIDES RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS Ask any of nine College of Agriculture and Life Sciences interns what they did over their summer vacation and their stories will range from lumberjacking to designing an irrigation system They share two things in common - all worked on Iowa State Research and Demonstration Farms, and their internship experiences were made possible by the ISU Agricultural Endowment. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=669 CORN ESTIMATES IN LINE WITH FIVE-YEAR AVERAGES The government yield estimates released Aug. 12 had positive news predicting an above trend line yield for corn. Iowa State agronomists say the estimates are in line with the five-year average. But those interested in the report need to understand what the report is measuring. “This is a measure of the number of corn plants and ears per acre,” said extension corn agronomist Roger Elmore. “This report does not measure ear development.” Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=670 ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS TOPIC FOR PESEK COLLOQUIUM The eighth John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture will be held Sept. 11 with speaker Robert Costanza, Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Memorial Union. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=671 WEBCAST TO OUTLINE IMPACT OF MANDATORY MEAT LABELING In light of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) taking effect Sept. 30, Iowa State livestock experts are coming together to help producers understand how they will be affected. “There's no need for producers to panic, but we should pay attention and be prepared,” said John Lawrence, extension livestock economist and Iowa Beef Center director. ISU will host a COOL webcast on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. Details: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/aug/061103.htm ADM SUPPORTS IOWA STATE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BIORENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIES Archer Daniels Midland Co. is joining ConocoPhillips in supporting five Iowa State research projects aimed at developing new technologies for producing and improving biofuels. One of the projects is an ethanol fermentation project led by Thomas Bobik, an associate professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology. Joe Colletti, senior associate dean, will speak about the New Century Farm Aug. 26 and Mike Stahr, Seed Science Center, will be among the stage presentations. More: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/aug/adm.shtml GEORGE BRANT'S RETIREMENT RECEPTION SET AUG. 29 A retirement reception for George Brant, animal science, will be held 3 to 5 p.m., Aug. 29, in Kildee Hall atrium. A short program will begin at 3:30 p.m. Persons who wish to submit a letter to be included in a memory book are asked to send letters to Jane Linn, 2356 Kildee Hall, 4-1427, by Aug. 27. Brant worked at ISU for 37 years. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Aug. 26-28: Farm Progress Show, near Boone, http://www.farmprogressshow.com/ ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... WATCH YOUR STEP WHEN USING CREVICE AND CREVASSE A crack in the sidewalk is a “crevice,” accent on the first syllable. A fissure in a glacier or a dam is a “crevasse,” accent on the second syllable. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003) ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... DEVICE DEVELOPED TO DETECT NERVOUS TISSUE IN BEEF Scientists at Iowa State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that they have detected nervous system tissue on cattle carcasses with a fluorescence-based method. The technique devised by Jacob Petrich, chemistry, and colleagues takes advantage of the fact that nervous system tissues contain high concentrations of a compound, lipofuscin, that fluoresces when exposed to light. Health experts say it is crucial to keep central nervous system tissue of beef cattle out of the food supply to protect people against the human variant of mad cow disease. More: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/2008/56/i15/abs/jf0734368.... (New York Times, Aug. 11) ANALYSTS URGE NATIONAL EFFORT TO GRADUATE MORE STUDENTS A forum sponsored last week by the Center for American Progress urged colleges and the federal government to do more to ensure that college students graduate. The center staged the forum to release its own proposed federal higher-education agenda, which calls for the nation to bring about a 28 percent increase in the share of its young people who earn some postsecondary credential. More: http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4223n.htm?utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en (Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 13) ................................................... EXTERNAL VOICES ................................................... WINNING GOLD AT THE STATE FAIR "If you come here to the Iowa State Fair and compete against 800 to 1,000 other exhibitors, we feel the winners should be rewarded. Winning at the Iowa State Fair is like winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Those young people usually use the money from the show to go to college." --Steve Weldon, board member of the Iowa Foundation for Agricultural Advancement, which provides scholarships to youth exhibiting livestock at the Iowa State Fair. There were 23 Iowa State animal science students who received scholarships through the program. (Des Moines Register, Aug. 16) ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... NEW CELLULAR PHONE HAS A CORN-BASED PLASTIC CASE Samsung unveiled its latest “eco-phone” last week with a plastic case derived from corn. The E200 Eco is the third phone Samsung has introduced this year with parts made from bioplastics - materials extracted from corn, according to the New York Times. This model is the first with the entire case made with corn-based plastic. The phone will be available in Europe next month but does not yet have an American release date. More: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/samsung-puts-a-little-corn-into... ........................................................ 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.