The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
April 28, 1995 No. 17

C O N T E N T S

COLLEGE NEWS
- Scanes named executive associate dean
- Reception for rural panelists
- Convocation for graduating students
- Ag Ambassadors visit 44 schools
- Mentorship program for new students
- Students in Service: Trees and teaching
- Deadlines & Reminders

COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK

- Interview bill of rights

INFOGRAZING

- Balancing work and life
- Rural-urban encounters

EXTERNAL VOICES

- International education

MARGINALIA

- Daystart of champions


C O L L E G E N E W S

SCANES NAMED EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN
Colin Scanes has been named executive associate dean of the College of Agriculture. Scanes, chair of the animal sciences department at Cook College of Rutgers University, will start on July 15. The executive associate dean, a new position, has authority delegated from the Dean for the daily administration of teaching and research programs. Other duties include overseeing budgets and serving as associate director of the Experiment Station. In other administrative news, interviews for associate dean for national programs and associate dean for state programs should be set in the next few weeks.

RECEPTION FOR RURAL PANELISTS
ISU President Jischke hosted a reception Monday night at the Center for Crops Utilization Research in the Food Sciences Building for panelists, state and federal leaders, ISU administrators and others involved with the National Rural Conference. More than 175 people attended, including senior White House and USDA officials. The conference was held Tuesday in the Memorial Union with President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Secretary of Agriculture Glickman.

CONVOCATION FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS
The College of Agriculture's spring convocation for graduating students will be held 9-10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 13, in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. Coffee and milk will be served beginning at 8:15 a.m. Faculty members from each department will assist in the recognition ceremony. Ron Cornish, who will receive degrees in agronomy and ag business, will speak. ISU commencement begins at 2 p.m.

AG AMBASSADORS VISIT 44 SCHOOLS
The College of Agriculture Ambassadors gave informational programs in 43 high schools in Iowa and one in Illinois during 1994-95. The ambassadors tell students about the college and agricultural careers and answer questions about college life. Thirty-three students from 12 majors served as ambassadors.

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM FOR NEW STUDENTS
The student Agriculture Council is developing a program for next fall to help new students in the college make the transition to ISU. The Student Mentorship Program will include Big Brother/Big Sister activities, a barbecue for freshmen and transfer students, and informational meetings within departments.

STUDENTS IN SERVICE: TREES AND TEACHING
The student chapter of the Society of American Foresters conducts an educational program for elementary and high schools called Forestry in a Nutshell. ISU forestry students work with teachers and students to develop instruction modules on how forests develop and how they can be sustainably used by society. They have presented programs in classrooms and field settings in Ames and surrounding towns. (Do you have other examples of College of Agriculture students making a difference for people or communities? E-mail bmeyer@iastate.edu.)

DEADLINES & REMINDERS
APRIL 28 -- Names of departmental representatives for commencement to Dorothy Blair, 4-8497
MAY 12 -- Livestock odor and waste research preproposals to Bruce Babcock, 568 Heady
MAY 13 -- Convocation for graduating ag students, C.Y. Stephens

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K

INTERVIEW BILL OF RIGHTS
Words & Pictures, a St. Louis consulting firm, recently held a media training seminar for some ISU staff. Although the session focused on television interviews, the following "bill of rights" can apply to other media. When a news reporter calls, you have the right to know: Who are you? Whom do you represent? What is the interview about? How long will the interview take? Who else will be interviewed (if a panel discussion)? Will there be an audience? Will the interview be live or taped? You also have the right to decline interviews, but don't think of them as merely answering questions, think of them as opportunities to tell your story. Have other questions on interview situations? Contact Ag Information, 294-5616.

I N F O G R A Z I N G

BALANCING WORK AND LIFE
What do people who successfully balance their work and private lives have in common? They clarify and act on their values. They build trusting relationships at work. They ask their bosses and family members for what they need. And they learn to accept from themselves less than 100 percent some of the time. These characteristics come from case studies by the Wharton-Merck Work-Life Roundtable. (Wall Street Journal, April 12)

RURAL-URBAN ENCOUNTERS
Farm Hands/City Hands is a New York-based non-profit program that pairs city dwellers who want to work with farm families that need the extra hands. Project leaders say farmers get affordable, eager laborers and the chance to convince them that fresh, local produce tastes better than frozen. Urbanites get fresh air, beautiful scenery, camaraderie and a sense of problems and payoffs of farm life. The project also offers one-day excursions to farms that have attracted corporate executives, at-risk youth, welfare families and senior citizens. A new program takes homeless people on weekly trips to farms to plant, cultivate and harvest their own crops. (Utne Reader, January-February)

E X T E R N A L V O I C E S

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
"(Universities') foreign-study programs often are not academically rigorous, and most students spend far too much time with other Americans . . . Today's highly interdependent world demands that we do better. International education deserves to be taken seriously and to be held to the same standards, academic and ethical, as study on campus is," writes John Engle, president, American University Center of Provence in France (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 17). Fewer than 2 percent of American undergraduates study abroad at some time in their college careers, Engle says.

M A R G I N A L I A

DAYSTART OF CHAMPIONS
Few people in the future will eat the traditional three meals a day. Instead, they'll have five snacks: "daystart," "pulsebreak," "humpmunch, "holdmeal" and "evesnack." This is one forecast from Outlook '95, a report by The Futurist magazine listing 1994's most thought-provoking looks into the future.

AG ONLINE

Ag Online is a bimonthly electronic newsletter for ISU College of Agriculture faculty and staff. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to bmeyer@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe: Send "Ag Online unsubscribe" to same address. Comments? Call, write, e-mail or fax editors Brian Meyer (bmeyer@iastate.edu) and Ed Adcock (edadcock@iastate.edu), Agriculture Information Services, 304 Curtiss Hall, Ames, IA 50011. Phone: 515-294-5616. Fax: 515-294-8662.

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