................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... CORRECTION: LES LEWIS NAMED ENTOMOLOGY CHAIR The last issue of Ag and Life Sciences Online incorrectly listed Les Lewis' new position. He will become chair of the Department of Entomology, effective Sept. 22. NONNECKE HEADS GLOBAL RESOURCE SYSTEMS MAJOR Gail Nonnecke, university professor of horticulture, has been named faculty coordinator for the new Global Resource Systems major in the College. She began her half-time appointment Aug. 1. The college-wide, interdisciplinary and interdepartmental undergraduate major will enroll students in fall 2009. CURBELO NAMED MULTICULTURAL LIAISON OFFICER Aurelio Curbelo has been appointed the new multicultural liaison officer, recruiting and retaining minority students for the College. He has been serving as the interim officer since August 2007. Curbelo earned bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural education in 2002 and 2006 and is enrolled in the doctoral program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. ANGARAN NEW RECEPTIONIST IN COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION OFFICE Kris Angaran is the new receptionist in the College's administration office. She has worked at Iowa State for seven years, previously in the College of Business' Iowa Small Business Development Center. RESEARCHER SHOWS PROTEINS HAVE CONTROLLED MOTIONS Most biochemists traditionally believe proteins have many random, uncontrolled movements. Iowa State researcher Robert Jernigan believes his research shows proteins have controlled motions. His group's findings were recently published in the journal “Structure.” More: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/aug/jernigan.shtml GROWING THE BIOECONOMY IS FOCUS OF CONFERENCE SEPT. 7-10 The annual Biobased Industry Outlook Conference at Iowa State will feature prominent speakers debating three major issues facing the growing bioeconomy - food versus fuel, climate change and biomass conversion technologies. Details: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2008/aug/debate.shtml MONSANTO PLEDGES $1 MILLION TO CURTISS HALL RENOVATION Monsanto Co. has pledged $1 million to support the planned renovation of Curtiss Hall, the building housing the main offices of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=673 LIVESTOCK ISSUES TO BE COVERED AT SEPT. 8 FIELD DAY The McNay Research and Demonstration Farm will host a field day Sept. 8 with topics of interest to beef and sheep producers. Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=672 FACULTY AND STAFF INVITED TO ALLEE FARM CELEBRATION Fifty years of research and service to Iowans will be marked Sept. 16 at the 50th anniversary celebration of Iowa State's Allee Research and Demonstration Farm near Newell. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the celebration's open house and field day. A charter bus will depart from the Iowa State Center Parking lot, section D-4 at 7:20 a.m. and will return to Ames by 5 p.m. There is no fee for the field day or the bus ride. To reserve a place or for other questions, contact Sally Medford, 4-5045 or smedford@iastate.edu, by Sept. 11. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=674 HORT CLUB TO HOLD FALL FESTIVAL SEPT. 20 The Horticulture Club will hold a Fall Festival Sept. 20 from 1-5 p.m. at the Horticulture Research Station, 55519 170th St., Ames. There will be an apple tasting and sales. There also will be free tours of the research projects at the station and demonstrations of apple testing and picking equipment. Proceeds from sales will go toward club-sponsored trips to competitions and trade shows throughout the year. COLLEGE CONVOCATION SET FOR SEPT. 15 The fall convocation for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be Sept. 15 at 4:15 p.m. on the new front steps of Curtiss Hall. The program will include brief comments from Dean Wendy Wintersteen and the introduction of the College's new faculty and staff since last fall. A reception will follow in the Curtiss rotunda. In case of rain it will be in the Curtiss Hall Auditorium. FEEDING THE WORLD SEMINAR ON UGANDAN SERVICE LEARNING The international seminar series, “Feeding the World: Are We Making Progress?” will hold its first seminar, “Uganda - ISU Student Service Learning,” Sept. 9, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Ensminger Room, 1204 Kildee Hall. It will be facilitated by Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, and Lee Burras, agronomy. The seminar series is sponsored by the M.E. Ensminger International Chair in Animal Agriculture, Raymond and Mary Baker Chair in Global Agriculture and the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/global/Fall2008Uganda.htm SEMINARS ON STUDY ABROAD LEADERSHIP AS LEARNING EXPERIENCE Study Abroad programs faculty and staff will share their experiences at two seminars titled, “What We Learned by Leading Study Abroad Programs.” Christine Gemignani of the study abroad center will moderate a panel of Andrew Manu, agriculture and life sciences; John Wong, business; Eldon Uhlenhopp, veterinary medicine, Sept. 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Pioneer Room, Memorial Union. On Sept. 23, from noon to 1:30 p.m., Shelley Taylor, Global Agriculture Programs, will moderate a panel of Denise Bjelland, Global Agriculture Programs; Nancy Guthrie, liberal arts and sciences study abroad center; and Mark Bryden, engineering, in the Pioneer Room. The series is sponsored by the Study Abroad Center, Global Agricultural Programs, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and Phi Beta Delta. Box lunches will be provided to those who contact Jodi Cornell jcornell@iastate.edu by Sept. 10. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Sept. 11: John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, 7 p.m. in the Great Hall, Memorial Union, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=671 Sept. 16: Allee Research and Demonstration Farm 50th anniversary celebration, 9:30 a.m., near Newell Sept. 19: deadline for graduate and undergraduate students to submit posters for the Seventh Annual Norman Borlaug Lectureship Poster Competition, http://www.fshn.hs.iastate.edu/grad/borlaug.php ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... KNOW YOUR FICTION Fictional, from fiction as a literary genre, means “of, relating to or characteristic of imagination," such as a fictional story. Fictitious means "imaginary; counterfeit; false," a fictitious name. Fictive means, "possessing the talent for imaginative creation," as in fictive gift. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003) ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... FACULTY SEARCHES TOPIC OF SEPT. ISU ADVANCE MEETING “Resources for Faculty Searches” is an ISU ADVANCE networking event scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Gallery, Memorial Union. Participants may bring a lunch, refreshments will be provided. Bonnie Glatz, ADVANCE administrative fellow, will present guidelines and resources that she has gathered and prepared for conducting a faculty search, with emphasis on recruiting diverse candidates. The discussion will include a presentation of her observations and recommendations for faculty searches and an overview of the resources that she has provided on the ADVANCE Web page: http://www.advance.iastate.edu. CONFERENCE ON FACULTY FLEXIBILITY OCT. 10 AND 11 A national conference is set for Ames on the “The New Norm of Faculty Flexibility: Transforming the Culture in Science and Engineering,” Oct. 10-11 at the Scheman Building. It will include a national discussion on transforming cultures, practices and university policies to encourage flexible careers that allow for the management of professional and personal lives. ISU faculty, staff and students are eligible for a reduced rate of $75 until Sept. 15. It is co-sponsored by Iowa State ADVANCE Program and the American Council on Education, Center for Effective Leadership. More: http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/isuadvance/home.html AIR EMISSIONS MITIGATION CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE Proceedings from the Mitigating Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations conference last May in Des Moines are available from Midwest Plan Service. The conference featured more than 50 papers related to mitigation methods. Paper and electronic versions are available. More: http://www.mwps.org ................................................... INTERNAL VOICES ................................................... FOOD STILL SMALLEST EXPENDITURE “While the price of food naturally increases along with the cost of transporting produce to the market, it still represents American's smallest expenditure. This is primarily due to technological advances in crop and livestock production. In 2007 Americans spent nine percent of their take-home pay on food. That number rose five percent in 2008 according to USDA. Nonetheless, this figure is still just about half the cost of what the rest of the world pays. In fact, in Denmark where I traveled this summer, a bottle of pop cost five dollars, and an average sit down meal for one person was roughly 35 dollars.” --Chet Hollingshead, agricultural studies sophomore, contributing to the Voices of Tomorrow website (http://www.voicesoftomorrow.org/428/united-states/farming-the-future.php) ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... RESEARCHERS FIND THAT CATTLE HAVE MAGNETIC SENSE German scientists analyzing satellite images posted online by the Google Earth software program have observed that cattle grazing or at rest tend to orient their bodies in a north-south direction, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. Studying photographs of 8,510 cattle in 308 herds from around the world, researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen found that two out of every three animals in the pictures were oriented in a direction roughly pointing to magnetic north. The resolution of the images was not sufficient to tell which ends of the cows were pointing north, however. Asked whether he had ever observed such behavior in cows, dairy farmer Rob Fletcher of Tulare, Calif., said, "Absolutely not." But, he added, "I don't spend a lot of time worrying about stuff like that." (Cows have magnetic sense, Google Earth images indicate, Aug. 26, http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sci-cows26-2008aug26,0,3697382.story?trac...) ........................................................ 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.