................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... COLLEGE CONVOCATION TODAY ON CURTISS STEPS The fall convocation for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be today, 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. NEW AGRONOMY FACULTY MEMBER RESEARCHING MISCANTHUS Emily Heaton, one of the newest faculty members of the agronomy department, is touting the benefits of the perennial grass miscanthus. And she should know; Heaton is one of a few people in the U.S. to have any published research on the topic. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=676 BIOECONOMY INSTITUTE DIRECTOR TO SPEAK TO THINK TANK The next Think Tank on Animal Agriculture will hear from Robert Brown, director of the Bioeconomy Institute, on second generation biofuels Sept. 22. The meeting begins with social time at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation at 7 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union. To register, contact Trina Zimmer at trina@iastate.edu by noon on Friday, Sept. 19. Cost of the buffet will be $20, which is payable to Don Beitz at the door. ALUMNI RECEPTION SEPT. 29 AT SNUS HILL WINERY An alumni reception including President Gregory Geoffroy, Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman and 40 new faculty and staff members is planned for Sept. 29 at Snus Hill Winery in Madrid. The Iowa State group will be touring Iowa on a "Road Scholar" tour prior to arriving at the winery. Faculty from the College will include Awoke Dollisso, agricultural and life sciences education; Emily Heaton, agronomy; and Buddhi Lamsal, food science and human nutrition. A brief program will begin at 6:45 p.m. The cost to attend the reception is $10 for Alumni Association members and $15 for non-Alumni Association members, including wine tasting, a Hickory Park catered meal and one wine ticket. RSVP by Sept. 22 with your attendance plans by registering online at: http://www.isualum.org/snuswinery or by contacting Pat Thiede at 4-9515. JUDGING TEAM FOURTH AT NATIONAL BARROW SHOW The Livestock Judging Team recently finished fourth out of 16 teams that competed at the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minn. Individual honors went to Dustin Smith, senior in agricultural business, of Storm Lake who finished ninth overall. Andy Platner, agricultural studies senior, was 14th and Jake Rouse, animal science junior, was 15th. Other team members included Morgan Core, Troy Kane and Matt Mensing. The team is coached by animal science graduate student Jeff Thayne. Al Christian, swine teaching farm, and Tom Baas, animal science, also helped prepare the team for competition. 4HER'S MOTH DISPLAY TO BE DISPLAYED BY DEAN Dean Wendy Wintersteen will honor 4H during National 4H Week by displaying an entomology exhibit created by an 11-year-old 4Her. 4H has selected a number of State Fair 4-H youth exhibits to be displayed at the Extension 4H Building and at various locations on campus. The Polyphemus Moth Life Cycle exhibit was created by Matthew Chamberlain, who is beginning his third year in 4-H from Tama County. It will be on display from Oct. 6 to 10. TRAINING WILL ADDRESS DEMAND FOR ORGANIC FOOD AND FEED GRAINS A one-day workshop on organic agriculture will be held at Iowa State's Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration Farm in Adair County Sept. 23. More: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/sep/161201.htm DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Sept. 16: Allee Research and Demonstration Farm 50th anniversary celebration, 9:30 a.m., near Newell Sept. 18: United Way pizza sale, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Curtiss Hall 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 Sept. 20: Horticulture Club's Fall Festival, 1-5 p.m., Horticulture Research Station, 55519 170th St., Ames ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... USING APT AND LIKELY Both apt and likely mean "fit, suitable," but apt is used for general tendencies or habits, "the quarterback is apt to drop the football." Likely expresses probability, "because he didn't study, it's likely that he'll do poorly on the exam." Although likely is traditional as a synonym of probably, many writers and editors object to its use as a synonym of probably. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003.) ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... PUBLICATION SUBVENTION GRANT PROPOSALS DUE OCT. 8 A request for proposals under the Publication Subvention Grants Program is posted on the website of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. The deadline for applications is Oct. 8. These grants are made possible by an endowment that was formed from the proceeds of the sale of the ISU Press. Contact: Sonja Klockner at skklock@iastate.edu. More: http://www.vpresearch.iastate.edu/guidelines/pub_subvention.html ................................................... EXTERNAL VOICES ................................................... DRAWING STUDENTS INTO THE ADVENTURE OF SCIENCE “I don't take it as a tragedy if our top graduate programs fill up with ambitious and talented students from abroad; if we need to issue more H-1B visas to sustain our high-tech industries, let's do it with dispatch. Welcoming some of the world's most educated, talented, and ambitious scientists to our shores only strengthens the nation. But the apathy of so many homegrown American students to the intellectual challenges of science is something else - something that building schools, multiplying computers and ginning up STEM programs won't touch. Bill Gates may not be the right person to tell us how to restore that mixture of awe, admiration, sheer ambition, delight in meeting difficulties and stubborn curiosity - the patient exuberance - that draws students into the adventure of science. A few of our students catch it despite the preoccupations of their teachers and their textbooks. But what to do about the larger problem?” --Peter Wood, executive director of the National Association of Scholars (Aug. 8, Chronicle of Higher Education) ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... RESEARCH FINDS INTELLECTUAL WORK COULD CAUSE INCREASED EATING A new study suggests that engaging in intellectual activities makes people eat more, as reported in the Institute of Food Technologists newsletter. Canadian researchers had subjects either engage in reading activities that required them to summarize what they read, conduct a battery of computerized tests or sit and relax in a chair for 45 minutes. Afterward, the subjects were invited to eat as much as they wanted. The volunteers who completed the computer tests consumed 253 more calories than those who relaxed. The subjects who read and wrote summaries ate 203 more calories than those who relaxed. After monitoring blood work throughout the tests, the researchers determined that the intellectual activities caused larger fluctuations in glucose levels than resting, and the researchers said it's possible these changes are due to stress caused by the thinking tests. The findings were published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. (Sept. 10, Institute of Food Technologists newsletter)