College News
FAPRI Releases Economic Projections
Analysts with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) briefed Congress last week on 2009 agricultural economic baseline projections. The multi-year FAPRI projections provide a starting point for evaluating and comparing scenarios involving macroeconomic, policy, weather and technology variables in world agricultural trade. More: http://www.card.iastate.edu/about/news/show_release.aspx?id=62
Student is Passionate About Dancing With Bulls
Lucas Moore, a freshman in animal science, is a bullfighter -- a type of rodeo clown that protects bull riders who dismount or are bucked off by distracting the bull before it hooks or tramples the cowboy.
Human Sciences Dean Search Narrowed to College Alum
Pam White, University Professor of food science and human nutrition, was unanimously recommended as the finalist for the next dean of the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State. White became interim dean of the college on July 1, 2008. She earned a doctorate in food technology from Iowa State in 1981.
Leopold Center WOrkshop March 30 on Emerging Businesses
The latest research on financing and managing niche enterprises, local food distribution networks and other emerging business opportunities for farmers will be presented March 30 at a no-cost workshop hosted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2009/030909_workshop.h…
CALS Undergrad's Research Featured at Capitol
Eric Kilburg, junior in animal ecology, and Rina Mbofung, senior in microbiology, were among 23 Iowa State undergraduates who joined students from the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa to present their research to state legislators and others during the fourth annual "Research in the Capitol." The event was held at the State Capitol. Kilburg displayed his work with diurnal resting habitat selection of the white-tailed jackrabbit in an intensive agricultural setting. His research mentor is W. Sue Fairbanks, natural resource ecology and management. Mbofung presented Contribution of the Hsv operon to leaf colonization in Pseudomonas syringae. Her mentor is Gwyn Beattie, plant pathology.
Deadlines and Reminders
March 16: Gamma Sigma Delta award and membership nominations due, contacts: Steve Padgitt, scpadgit@iastate.edu or 292-7870 (on award nominations), and Barb Osborn, baosborn@iastate.edu or 4-5624 (on membership)
March 27: Agriculture Weekend Experience applications deadline, contact: Laura Rosenbohm, 4-4319 or laurar@iastate.edu
Communications Kiosk
How to Empty Your Email Inbox
Farhad Manjoo, personal technology writer for the New York Times, outlines some simple tips to cut down on the number of e-mails piling up in your in-box. First, he suggested limiting the time you put into e-mail by turning off auto-notifications that alert you to incoming mail, and if you must check mail while you're on the go, keep it to a minimum. His guideline: Don't dip into your in-box more than three times an hour. "It's unlikely that any message is so urgent that it can't wait 20 minutes for your response - if it were, the sender would call, send an instant message or find some other way to reach you," he said. More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/technology/personaltech/05basics.html… (New York Times, March 4)
Infograzing
Managing Tough Times New Extension Website
ISU Extension has launched a web site to help Iowa cope with economic distress, called Managing Tough Times. The site was five months in the making and is geared to three audiences: Families and Households, Businesses and Communities and Farms.
Iowa Power Fund Advances Development of Clean Energy Technologies
Iowa State researchers are working to produce clean, renewable energy by developing a new, low-emissions burner and a new catalyst for ethanol production. Both technologies will use the synthesis gas -- a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen -- produced by the gasification of discarded seed corn, switchgrass, wood chips and other biomass.
Stash the Trash VEISHEA Service Day Set for March 28
A VEISHEA service day called Stash the Trash will be held March 28. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. students and community members are asked to beautify the Iowa State campus and Ames community by picking up litter and participating in a variety of other projects. Individuals or groups can sign up online. Contact: Jennifer Garrett, garrett1@iastate.edu or 4-4354.
External Voices
Borlaug Calls for Another Green Revolution
"The Green Revolution hasn't been won yet. Developing nations need the help of agricultural scientists, researchers, administrators and others in finding ways to feed ever-growing populations. ... The forgotten world is made up primarily of the developing nations, where most of the people, comprising more than 50 percent of the total world population, live in poverty, with hunger as a constant companion. Land-grant institute efforts are essential in helping people around the world achieve a more lasting food security."
--Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Congressional Gold Medal recipient, calling for a second Green Revolution upon the introduction of the Food Security Act of 2009 in Congress (Texas A&M University News Service)
Marginalia
Campus Visit is the "Golden Walk"
Consultant Jeff Kallay travels the nation visiting colleges and universities that hire him to conduct a "campus visit audit," according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. After each tour, he discusses his first impressions with admissions officials. Later he sends a detailed report, with recommendations covering the logistical aspects of visits, such as parking and signage. He also considers aesthetics, but beauty is not Kallay's main concern. Wherever he goes he preaches the "gospel of good vibrations. He believes that intangibles -- like listening and eye contact -- do more than any dormitory or library can to make a student's visit memorable. Kallay rates the experiential qualities of each visit: Do visitors get a warm welcome from security guards and secretaries? Do tour guides ask open-ended questions? Does something fun happen?" (Eric Hoover, March 6, Chronicle of Higher Education)
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor
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Phone: (515) 294-5616
Website: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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