The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
May 12, 1995 No. 18

C O N T E N T S

COLLEGE NEWS
- Melvin named head of ABE
- Outstanding seniors
- Students in Service: In Appalachia
- Deadlines & Reminders

COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK

- How people communicate

INFOGRAZING

- Accent on teaching
- Job growth for Ph.D.s

EXTERNAL VOICES

- 'We do not even know what we are losing'

MARGINALIA

- Mower power


C O L L E G E N E W S

MELVIN NAMED HEAD OF ABE
Stewart Melvin has been named head of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. He has served as interim head since January 1994. Melvin, an ISU faculty member since 1970, has been active in leading Extension and research programs in soil, water and waste management. He begins as department head on July 1.

OUTSTANDING SENIORS
About 304 College of Agriculture seniors will receive bachelor's degrees at commencement on Saturday. Last spring, 300 earned undergraduate degrees. The total for the university this spring is about 2,180. At Saturday's college convocation, the Ag Council will present five Outstanding Senior Awards. The awards recognize seniors who have been active in their curriculum clubs and within the college. The recipients: Amy Church, dairy science/ag journalism; Curt Diemer, ag business/public service and administration; Darren Obrecht, ag business; Dak Rasmussen, microbiology; and Linda Sieren, horticulture.

STUDENTS IN SERVICE: IN APPALACHIA
During semester break, some members of ISU's Farm House fraternity traveled to Williamsburg, KY, to participate in an assistance project for Appalachian families. Students assembled food baskets, helped with community programs and unloaded truckloads of toys and clothing at a charitable center. Also during semester break, Farm House members worked on a Habitat for Humanity project, which helps low-income families build houses.

DEADLINES & REMINDERS
MAY 13 -- College of Agriculture convocation, C.Y. Stephens
MAY 15-16 -- VISION 2020's 50/50 Conference, 220 Scheman (contact 294-2092)

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

HOW PEOPLE COMMUNICATE
Actions speak louder than words, especially in verbal communication. North Dakota State University sociologist Patty Corwin says 55 percent of how people communicate is body language. Thirty-eight percent is tone of voice. Only 7 percent is the words we speak. Corwin spoke May 5 at an Agricultural Communicators in Education meeting in Fargo.

I N F O G R A Z I N G

ACCENT ON TEACHING
A third of ISU's 720 teaching assistants are international students (ITAs). Some win teaching awards. Some bring valuable international perspectives to social science classes. And some have trouble communicating with their students. In a 1993 ISU survey, 60 percent of students who reported taking courses with ITAs said they had difficulty communicating with an ITA. Only about 25 percent of those students talked to anyone who could help correct the problem. ITAs must pass a language testing and teaching program. The pass rate this year is 52 percent. (A complete story on ITAs and their students can be found in the March 10 issue of Inside Iowa State.)

JOB GROWTH FOR PH.D.s
Only about a third of new doctoral recipients will work in universities, according to a report issued in April. Meanwhile, there is job growth for Ph.D. recipients in business and industry, in applied research and in non-research positions. The report recommends curricular changes to prepare graduate students for positions outside the academy. It is available for $34 from the National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20418. (Chronicle of Higher Education, April 28)

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

'WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT WE ARE LOSING'
"Over the next century we will have to produce more food, fiber, fuelwood and other agricultural commodities from less land and with less water. If we are to build a world without hunger, we will have to conserve and sustain biodiversity and use it equitably. (Genetic erosion) arises from the loss -- due to commercial and anthropogenic pressures -- of habitats rich in genetic wealth . . . We do not even know what we are losing. Only about 1.5 million species of plants and animals have been described so far. Biosystematists, however, estimate that over 50 million species may exist . . . The loss of every single gene and species limits our options for the future." M.S. Swaminathan, joint winner of the UN's Sasakawa Environment Prize for 1994 and the 1987 World Food Prize laureate, in February's Our Planet, a UN magazine.

M A R G I N A L I A

MOWER POWER
In a span of 28 hours last month, students in the Agricultural Systems Technology Club serviced 95 lawnmowers. Lawnmower Service Days, the club's annual fundraising and service project, has been held for 17 years. Students apply what they've learned in AST 258, a course on small power equipment.

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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