COLLEGE NEWS
- Ag faculty-staff retreat to examine distance learning
- Two ag alumni events during ISU class reunions
- Food security goals discussed at forum
- DNA to Dessert: Teaching talented and gifted about
ag
- Sixth Teacher's Academy on Ag Awareness in June
- New FSHN chair officially begins July 1
- Calling all volunteers: State fair exhibit coming
up
- Ukrainian exchange students arrive in Ames
- Visiting Russians to discuss building ag curricula
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Backyard Topics column makes its summer debut
- College calendar planned for Curtiss Hall kiosk
INFOGRAZING
- ISU: Where ag doctorates get their bachelor's degrees
EXTERNAL VOICES
- The Class of 1947 remembers . . . and thanks
MARGINALIA
- The Class of 1947 remembers those moonlit nights
C O L L E G E N E W S
AG FACULTY-STAFF RETREAT TO EXAMINE DISTANCE LEARNING
The college's Professional Development Committee has chosen distance
learning as the theme of the annual ag faculty-staff retreat on
Aug. 21. Look for more details in upcoming issues of Ag Online.
TWO AG ALUMNI EVENTS DURING ISU CLASS REUNIONS
Nearly 300 alumni and guests from the classes of '27, '32, '37,
'42 and '47 are attending ISU Alumni Days, June 5-7. On Thursday
evening, a social hour for agriculture alumni was held in the
Scheman Building. A reception for 40 ag alumni was held this morning
in the Pioneer Room, with remarks by associate dean Eric Hoiberg.
(See "External Voices" and "Marginalia" items.)
FOOD SECURITY GOALS DISCUSSED AT FORUM
More than 80 Iowans participated in the National Consultations
on Food Security on May 21 at ISU. The public forum was one of
16 held around the country that day to discuss priorities for
U.S. action to address the World Food Summit goal of reducing
world hunger by half by 2015. Four participants from the ISU meeting
(including George Beran in MIPM) went to Washington, DC, this
week to discuss the next stages of the action-plan process. The
meeting was organized by International Agriculture Programs and
the World Food Prize Foundation. For more information: Denise
Bjelland, 4-2883.
DNA TO DESSERT: TEACHING TALENTED AND GIFTED ABOUT AG
Agriculture faculty and staff members from eight departments will
teach courses for 20 talented and gifted middle-school students
enrolled in "DNA to Dessert," June 15-21. This is one
of the summer programs offered by ISU's Office of Pre-collegiate
Programs for Talented and Gifted. Among other activities, students
will conduct soil tests, diagnose crop diseases, choose ingredients
for new food products, conduct Internet research and create a
video. For more information: Gaylan Scofield, 4-2883 or ggs@iastate.edu.
SIXTH TEACHER'S ACADEMY ON AG AWARENESS IN JUNE
Seventy teachers will attend the Teacher's Academy on Agricultural
Awareness at ISU, June 16-18 and June 18-20. Working with the
state's farm and commodity groups, ISU offers training to show
the teachers how they can incorporate agricultural information
into their classrooms. The teachers also develop new ag activities
for the classroom. More than 300 teachers -- mostly from elementary
schools -- have attended the academy over the past six years.
For more information: Robert Martin, 4-0896.
NEW FSHN CHAIR OFFICIALLY BEGINS DUTIES JULY 1
Diane Birt, the new chair of the Department of Food Science &
Human Nutrition and director of the Center for Designing Foods
to Improve Nutrition, is now on campus. Pam White continues as
interim chair through July 1, then will return to her teaching
and research duties. Birt was a professor at the Eppley Institute
for Research in Cancer at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
She can be reached at: 2312 Foods Sciences Building, phone: 4-3011;
fax: 4-8181; e-mail: dbirt@iastate.edu.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS: STATE FAIR EXHIBIT COMING UP
Volunteers are needed for the college's exhibit at the Iowa State
Fair, Aug. 7-17. Because 1997 has been declared the "Year
of Water" in Iowa, the exhibit will focus on ISU's work to
protect and enhance water quality. A memo has been sent to all
departments looking for six volunteers for each day. The time
slots, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m., are divided into
three four-hour shifts, with two volunteers for each shift. To
choose the best time for your schedule, please sign up quickly.
Volunteers get free admission and parking passes. For more information:
Amy Litterer, Ag Information, 4-0707, or Marty Behrens, 4-5616.
UKRAINIAN EXCHANGE STUDENTS ARRIVE IN AMES
Six National Agricultural University students from Ukraine arrived
at ISU today to spend the summer learning about American agriculture.
This is an exchange that began last year with six ISU students
working on internships in Ukraine. The program is sponsored by
International Ag Programs and by private donations from the Ukrainian
American community in the United States. For more information:
Victor Udin, 4-8971 or vaudin@iastate.edu.
VISITING RUSSIANS TO DISCUSS BUILDING AG CURRICULA
A USDA-sponsored delegation from Russia will spend two days at
ISU in July to discuss the design and development of curricula,
particularly in agronomy and plant sciences. The delegation includes
national program leaders in curriculum development and agricultural
university officials. For more information: Eric Hoiberg, 4-6614,
or Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
June 16-18, 18-20: Teacher's Academy on Agricultural Awareness
June 22-25: National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture
1997 Conference; 4-5145
June 24-26: State 4-H Conference; 4-1607
June 29-July 2: American Meat Science Association's 50th Annual
Reciprocal Meat Conference; 4-3280
Aug. 7-17: Iowa State Fair
Aug. 21: College faculty-staff retreat
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
BACKYARD TOPICS COLUMN MAKES ITS SUMMER DEBUT
Last week Ag Information debuted "Backyard Topics,"
a weekly column highlighting ways to enjoy and learn about the
outdoors and nature. College faculty and staff are sources of
information for the column, which is being distributed this summer
to Iowa news media. This week's column, on adopting a tree, can
be viewed on the college's Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news.
Have an idea for a column? Contact Ed Adcock, 4-2314 or edadcock@iastate.edu.
COLLEGE CALENDAR PLANNED FOR CURTISS HALL KIOSK
A College of Agriculture calendar is planned for display on a
kiosk video monitor outside the Brenton Center in Curtiss Hall.
If you have upcoming activities, events or meetings, send them
to Gaylan Scofield, ggs@iastate.edu.
I N F O G R A Z I N G
ISU: WHERE AG DOCTORATES EARN THEIR BACHELOR'S DEGREES
The National Science Foundation recently published data on science
and engineering doctorates awarded from 1991 to 1995. ISU ranks
number one as the baccalaureate-origin institution for students
earning doctorates in agricultural sciences.
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
THE CLASS OF 1947 REMEMBERS . . . AND THANKS
Members of the ISU Class of 1947, now on campus for their 50th
reunion, were asked to list favorite college memories. The following
were written by ag alumni. A forestry alum: "I had some excellent
teachers at Iowa State." An animal husbandry alum: "My
ISU diploma and various ISU connections have certainly been a
prime asset over the years." An ag education alum's memory:
"Studying and working under V.J. Morford and other great
and caring professors." A horticulture alum: "Prof.
Pickett sold me on the joy and satisfaction of working with plants."
An animal husbandry alum: "My most cherished memories must
be meeting and having classes with professors Schearer, Kildee,
Anderson, etc." An ag education alum: "I am, after all
these years, so thankful for all the respect and help I received
from professors and university administrators while a student
at ISU." An ag engineering alum's memory: "Working in
Ag Engineering Experimental Laboratory on new inventions."
The same alum added: "Making life-long friends with faculty
and students and learning not only how to earn a living, but how
to live a life. We have been richly blessed. Thank you Iowa State
for a job well done."
M A R G I N A L I A
THE CLASS OF 1947 REMEMBERS THOSE MOONLIT NIGHTS
Other reminisces from '47 ag alumni, now on campus for
their 50th class reunion. One alumnus wrote: "One moonlit
fall night a group of us drove to the College orchard in my '39
Ford convertible for a supply of apples. (Probably forbidden fruit
tastes better.)" Another's memory: "Scaring some freshmen
out of the College apple orchard by firing off fireworks which
sounded like gun fire." One alum wrote: "Poaching rabbits
on the golf course on moonlit winter nights." The same alum
wrote that the concrete floors in the Pammel Court Quonset huts
were so cold that "damp diapers caused the baby to freeze
to the floor." Another alum wrote: "Soil mapping the
dairy farm bull pasture (bulls in the pasture) and trying to buy
steel fence posts for the Ag 450 farm during the war." One
alum remembered: "We enjoyed our beautiful campus very much,
and especially the greetings of 'Fine night,' from the Campus
Night Watchman in the evenings."