- Transfer-student orientation coming up in April
- Distance education/sustainable ag dowlink April 4
- Animal agriculture career day on April 7
- Bioethics debate on animal organs for transplants
- Student team tastes success with PizzaSweets
- Workshop on writing successful EPA grants
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Field photography: The right lens, the right light
INFOGRAZING
- New-student survey: Results from fall 1996
- New-student survey: Who are they?
- New-student survey: Attitudes on agriculture
EXTERNAL VOICES
- There is a place for both the clear and the obscure
MARGINALIA
- April is the cruellest month for flying cows
C O L L E G E N E W S
TRANSFER-STUDENT ORIENTATION COMING UP IN APRIL
The College of Agriculture will hold three orientation sessions
for transfer students planning to attend ISU in the summer or
fall. About 60 students will attend the April 2 orientation. About
20 have signed up for April 10 . April 30 will be for students
admitted since March 17.
DISTANCE EDUCATION/SUSTAINABLE AG DOWNLINK APRIL 4
Faculty and staff interested in distance education and/or sustainable
agriculture are invited to participate in "Student-Centered
Teaching Methods for Distance Education." The two-hour satellite
conference, presented by the North Central Institute for Sustainable
Systems, will be downlinked at noon on Friday, April 4, in 116
Pearson Hall. For more information: Ricardo Salvador, 4-9595 or
rjsalvad@iastate.edu, or check out the Web site at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/agronomy/nciss/nciss1.html
ANIMAL AGRICULTURE CAREER DAY ON APRIL 7
A career day for high school juniors and seniors
interested in animal agriculture will be April 7. Sponsored by
the Block & Bridle Club, the event is held in conjunction
with the Experience Iowa State program. About 75 to 100 students
and their families are expected. They will meet with academic
advisers, tour research labs and hear from ISU students. For more
information: Paul Brackelsberg, 4-7235.
BIOETHICS DEBATE ON ANIMAL ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTS
Cross-species transplantation, or xenotransplantation,
will be debated on Saturday, April 5, at an ISU Bioethics Program
symposium. The public is invited to the meeting, which will introduce
the medical and business aspects of xenotransplantation and discuss
its moral implications. To register or for more information: Clark
Ford, 4-0343 or cfford@iastate.edu.
STUDENT TEAM TASTES SUCCESS WITH PIZZASWEETS
For the second consecutive year, food industry
experts have selected an ISU food science and human nutrition
student team as one of six finalists in a national product development
competition. The team developed PizzaSweets, a baked snack that
is half pizza-flavored and half cinnamon-and-sugar-flavored. The
idea originated when ISU students at the O'Hare Airport craved
pizza and cinnamon rolls but didn't have enough money for both.
Team advisers are Deland Myers and Cheryll Reitmeier. The competition
will be held at the Institute of Food Technologists' annual meeting
in June at Orlando, FL.
WORKSHOP ON WRITING SUCCESSFUL EPA GRANTS
"Writing Winning Environmental Protection
Agency Grants" is the subject of a workshop to be held at
6:30 p.m., April 23, at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center. The presenter
will be Melinda McClanahan, an EPA official credited with restructuring
and revitalizing the agency's grants program. RSVP by April 18
to Carla Persaud (4-9376 or cpersaud@iastate.edu) or Pam Minion
(4-1931 or pminion@iastate.edu). This is the seventh workshop
in the Successful Grantsmanship Series. Suggestions? Contact Sue
Lamont (4-3629 or sjlamont@iastate.edu) or Prem Paul (4-0913 or
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
March 29: ISU Farm Programs and Environmental Policy in the 21st
Century, Bruce Babcock, CARD, 9 a.m., Brenton Center; Concerns
and Support of the Public Regarding Surface and Groundwater Quality
in Iowa, Linda Applegate, Iowa Environmental Council, 10 a.m.,
Brenton Center (sustainable ag seminars)
April 4: Student-Centered Teaching Methods for Distance Education,
noon, 116 Pearson
April 7: Animal Agriculture Career Day at ISU
April 23: EPA Grants workshop, Holiday Inn Gateway Center, 6:30
p.m.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY: THE RIGHT LENS, THE RIGHT LIGHT
Award-winning agricultural photographer Christine McClintic offered
field photography tips in the March issue of ByLine, the American
Agricultural Editors' Association newsletter. She outlined four
basic lens: a wide angle (20mm or 24mm) for getting close to subjects
while including the environment; a telephoto (180mm) for isolating
a particular element; a moderate telephoto (85mm or 135mm) for
portraits; and a standard (50mm) as an "old standby."
Also handy is a macro for zeroing in on an image. McClintic stressed
choosing the right time of day: "Savor the early morning
and late-afternoon light for photography -- even if it's a nuts-and-bolts
shot. This low-angle light can make an otherwise average image
dramatic."
I N F O G R A Z I N G
NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: RESULTS FROM FALL 1996
Last fall, more than 540 new students (freshmen and transfer students)
in the College of Agriculture were surveyed. The Department of
Agricultural Education and Studies has conducted new-student surveys
in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1992 and 1996. Information from the survey
will be run in the next few issues of Ag Online, starting with
the two items below. For more information: Gaylan Scofield, 4-0045
or ggs@iastate.edu.
NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: WHO ARE THEY?
Percentage from Iowa: 86
From other states: 13
From other countries: 1
Percentage who are female: 40
In 1985, percentage who were female: 24
Percentage who grew up on farms: 47
Who grew up on rural acreages or in towns of less than 2,500:
21
Who grew up in cities of more than 10,000: 23
Percentage who have 4 years of agricultural experience: 33
Who have less than a year or no ag experience: 24
Percentage whose high schools offered vocational agriculture courses:
62
Percentage of those who took one or more semesters of vo-ag: 72
Percentage involved in 4-H: 53
NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: ATTITUDES ON AGRICULTURE
Percentage who agreed that:
Opportunities in agriculture are unlimited: 62
In 1985, percentage who said that: 36
Their families have been adversely affected by an agricultural
recession: 44
In 1985, percentage who said that: 68
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
THERE IS A PLACE FOR BOTH THE CLEAR AND THE OBSCURE
"Every discipline needs a place for the development of ideas
that are unintelligible not only to the general public, but also
to most practitioners of the discipline . . . Every discipline
that seeks public legitimization . . . also must have a place
for the development of ideas that are comprehensible to any undergraduate
or interested layperson." Michael Berube, University of Illinois,
in the Feb. 21 Chronicle of Higher Education.
M A R G I N A L I A
APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH FOR FLYING COWS
It's almost April 1, leg-pulling season, and the Internet has
become a major source of rumors, cyber-myths and hoaxes, according
to ComputerLife magazine. "The Internet is often viewed by
its users as an unfiltered, primary source of information and
not to be distrusted like the traditional news media." said
editor Maggie Canon. One recent rumor debated on the Internet
was the veracity of a story about the sinking of a Japanese trawler
by a cow pitched from a Russian jet. Seems the jet's crew had
stolen a cow wandering near a Siberian airfield, but was ill-equipped
to handle the rampaging animal in its hold, so jettisoned it above
the Sea of Japan.