The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
July 7, 1995 No. 22

C O N T E N T S

COLLEGE NEWS
- Associate Deans Seminars Scheduled
- Faculty/Staff Retreat
- Curtiss Hall Directory
- DNA to Dessert

COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK

- When a Reporter Calls
INFOGRAZING
- Rural Technology Use
- Farm Restructuring Reports

EXTERNAL VOICES

- $7.5 Billion: Not Enough

MARGINALIA

- Fortune cookies, Midwest-style


C O L L E G E N E W S

ASSOCIATE DEANS SEMINARS SCHEDULED
The candidates (and seminar times/days) for Associate Dean, State Programs are:
- Bruce Menzel, chairman, Department of Animal Ecology; 4 p.m., Friday, July 7
- Robert Martin, professor, Department of Agricultural Education and
Studies; 3:30 p.m., Monday, July 10
- R. Kirby Barrick, chair of the Department of Agricultural Education, Ohio
State University; 2:30 p.m., Monday July 17
- Eric Hoiberg, professor, Department of Sociology; 2 p.m., Wednesday, July 19

The candidates (and seminar times/days) for Associate Dean, National
Programs are:
- Jerry Klonglan, interim associate dean and associate director, Ag
Experiment Station; 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 18
- Rodney Dietert, director of the Institute for Comparative and
Environmental Toxicology, Cornell University; 1:30 p.m., Thursday, July 20

Each will discuss the topic "Administrative Philosophies in Agricultural
Administration." College of Agriculture faculty, staff and students are
encouraged to attend the seminars in Room 1951 of the Food Sciences
Building (CCUR Theater).

The Associate Dean for State Programs will coordinate distance learning
programs, off-campus degree programs and instruction within the College and
will be a liaison with state agricultural agencies and Iowa citizen and
commodity groups. The Associate Dean for National Programs will coordinate
research within the College and act as a liaison with national and
international agricultural agencies and academic societies.

The search for the Associate Dean, Industry Programs is on hold during
further discussions regarding the responsibilities associated with this
position.

FACULTY/STAFF RETREAT
Set aside Aug. 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., for the College's
faculty/staff retreat. It will be at the Holiday Inn-Gateway. Watch your
mail and future editions of Ag Online for more information.

CURTISS HALL DIRECTORY
The Curtiss Hall office shift is done. Phone numbers have not changed. Any
office not listed here remained in its original spot. Office-warming gifts
may be sent to these locations:

Agricultural Experiment Station
Room 123N
Colin Scanes, executive associate dean and associate director
Gerald Klonglan, interim associate dean
Cathy Good, secretary
Marie Miller, secretary

Room 124
Susan Lamont, assistant director
Shirley Riney, research program coordinator
Carla Persaud, secretary

ASSIST Program - 3397 Food Sciences Building
Charles Ertzinger, director
Lee Tesdell, graduate student

Budget and Finance Office - Room 117
Del Koch, director
Laurie Vold, administrative specialist
Josie Niemand, accountant
Barb Martin, account specialist

International Agriculture Programs
Room 104
David Acker, director
Mary de Baca, associate director
Dolores DoBell, student and visitor services
Sue Finestead, secretary
Sherri Nystrom, secretary
Dorothy Rust, secretary

Room 223 (temporary space)
Harold Crawford, professor, ag education & studies
David Hansen, professor, economics
Mercedes Serracin, program assistant
Eduarda Becerra, secretary
Joe Dale, graduate student
Victor Udin, graduate student

Room 18
Galina Krasikova, program assistant
Elena Polouchkina, graduate student

Student Services Office - Room 23
Tom Polito, classification officer
Jane Lohnes, associate classification officer
Charanne Parks, minority program coordinator
Marilyn Boswell, clerk
Jan Ostermann, secretary
Norma Hensley, program assistant
Mickie Bergeson, secretary

DNA TO DESSERT
Ten junior high students participated in a hands-on, hi-tech agriculture
EXPLORATIONS! seminar June 25-July 1. The program, titled "DNA to Dessert,"
examined aspects of food production. Daily seminars developed by College of
Agriculture professors gave the students a chance to purify and examine DNA
from plants and bacteria, isolate fats from food and make low fat frozen
desserts. The seminar was sponsored by the Office of Precollegiate Programs
for Talented and Gifted (OPPTAG).

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

WHEN A REPORTER CALLS
Say: "I'm in the middle of something (which is always true). Let me call
you back." (Be sure to ask about the reporter's deadline before hanging
up.) The delay will give you time to collect your thoughts, focus yourself
and consult any material you might need. Another way to help focus is get
up from your desk, where you generally feel comfortable and secure. Stand
up or move to a phone where you can talk without being distracted. The tip
is from media training by Words & Pictures, a communications firm that
consults with ISU.

I N F O G R A Z I N G

RURAL TECHNOLOGY USE
Rural residents ride the information superhighway more often than Americans
as a whole, according to a recent study. The Rural Policy Research
Institute, a consortium of which ISU is a member, found that 46 percent of
rural residents use personal computers, faxes, e-mail and similar
technology. About 33 percent of the nation in general uses such technology.
Top users were medical services, education and business. RUPRI surveyed 20
small towns in Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Kansas and
Minnesota. (Wall Street Journal, June 29)

FARM RESTRUCTURING REPORTS
"Beyond the Amber Waves of Grain: An Examination of Economic and
Social Restructuring in the Heartland" explores the impacts of the economic
upheaval in the Midwest resulting from the 1980s farm crisis. The book
draws upon surveys from 12 states to examine farm restructuring and its
social, economic and political consequences. It is available for $37 from
Westview Press, 5500 Central Ave., Boulder, CO 80301-2877; (303) 444-3541.
Survey results for individual states were published in "Farm Family
Adaptations to Severe Economic Stress," available for $3 from the North
Central Regional Center for Rural Development. Contact: Julie Stewart,
294-8321 or jstewart@iastate.edu.

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

$7.5 BILLION: NOT ENOUGH
"Secretary Wallace thinks the farm income this year will be about seven and
a half billion dollars, which is about twice what it was in 1932 but which
will hardly pay me for my time even so. Since coming to live on the land I
am concerned with all such reports. From a limited experience with farm
operation, I should call seven and a half billion dollars scarcely enough
to pay off the farmers in a dozen States. I should estimate that the farm
income, with or without crop control, would have to be about a hundred
times greater than it is to make it worth any man's while to work the
land." E.B. White, in the essay "Security," September 1938.

M A R G I N A L I A

FORTUNE COOKIES, MIDWEST-STYLE
>From Howard Mohr's "How To Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide": "What kept
Minnesotans away from Chinese restaurants more than anything else was the
fortune cookies -- the fortunes left customers with a bad taste in their
mouth. So the restaurants . . . now serve Minnesota-style fortune cookies."
Examples include:
YOU WILL CHANGE THE OIL IN YOUR CAR EVERY 2000 MILES.
THERE COULD BE THUNDERSTORMS TOMORROW.
YOU WILL RUN OUT OF 2 PERCENT MILK.
PEOPLE AROUND YOU THINK YOU ARE OKAY, MOSTLY.
THE BIG SHADE ELM IN YOUR FRONT YARD HAS HAD IT.

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.

Next issue: July 21. Deadline: July 17.
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