The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
October 13, 1995 No. 29

COLLEGE NEWS
- World Food Day teleconference
- World Food Prize: Internet chat
- World Food Prize: Roundtable
- World Food Prize: Youth Institute
- Committee seeks grad students
- Commodity groups fund projects
- Grant advice: Try a chalk talk
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Remembering names
INFOGRAZING
- New hot spot: Rural america
EXTERNAL VOICES
- A view from 1927
MARGINALIA
- Endangered crackers

WORLD FOOD DAY TELECONFERENCE
World Food Day will be observed at ISU on Monday, Oct. 16, through a satellite teleconference to be broadcast 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in 116 Pearson Hall. "Fighting Hunger: Looking Back, Looking Ahead" is the theme of the 12th annual World Food Day teleconference. It will begin with a panel discussion on world hunger, followed by a film,"Famine Warning and Space Technology vs. Starvation." During the third hour, those attending can call in questions to the panel.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: INTERNET CHAT
The recipient of the 1995 World Food Prize will be announced Monday, Oct. 16, in Washington, DC. From 10-11 a.m. (Iowa time), an interactive Internet "chat" session with the laureate will take place. If you have World Wide Web access, you can participate by following the link provided on the prize's homepage (http://www.netins.net/showcase/wfp). The laureate is a scientist who has developed innovative biological control programs that have prevented famine from striking millions.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: ROUNDTABLE
After the DC announcement, the World Food Prize laureate will travel to Des Moines to receive the award. At the State Historical Building in Des Moines on Wednesday, Oct. 18, the laureate will participate in a 2:30 p.m. roundtable discussion on sustainable agriculture and food security with panelists USAID administrator Brian Atwood, Kenyan Ambassador Benjamin Kipkorir and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug. For more information: Brian Meyer, 294-0706/bmeyer@iastate.edu.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: YOUTH INSTITUTE
Faculty, staff and students are invited to Room 9 of the Brenton Center in Curtiss Hall on Thursday, Oct. 19, from 1:30-3:30 p.m., to watch a live discussion of global food issues at the second World Food Prize Youth Institute. The institute -- involving students and teachers from 30 Iowa high schools, the new World Food Prize laureate, Nobel Prize recipient Norman Borlaug and others -- will be broadcast from Camp Dodge to fiber-optic network sites around the state.

COMMITTEE SEEKS GRAD STUDENTS
The College of Agriculture's Technical Assessment Committee needs graduate student representatives. The committee oversees the allocation of student computer fees to departments in the college. It meets about five times a year. Interested graduate students can contact Joe Herriges, 294-4964 or at jaherrig@iastate.edu.

COMMODITY GROUPS FUND PROJECTS
Iowa corn, soybean and pork commodity groups have allocated almost $400,000 to 11 ISU projects in the first of three years of research on livestock odor and waste management issues. The commodity groups plan to invest $1.6 million over three years. The Experiment Station is contributing $100,000 to the first-year projects, which involve 27 scientists in eight departments. Another request for proposals will take place next year. For more information: Bruce Babcock, 294-5764.

GRANT ADVICE: TRY A CHALK TALK
Here's a tip from vet med researcher Susan Carpenter from an Oct. 2 workshop on successful research grant proposals: Long before the deadline for a proposal to renew your research funding, schedule a work-in-progress "chalk talk" with colleagues. It can give you a fresh perspective on your research and help fill gaps or flaws in your logic -- all of which can help you construct a successful proposal. The workshop, attended by 74, was the first in a "Successful Grantsmanship Series." Workshop handouts are available: Sue Lamont, 294-3629 / sjlamont@iastate.edu or Prem Paul, 294-0913 / pspaul@iastate.edu.

DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Oct. 16 -- World Food Day teleconference, 116 Pearson, 11 a.m.
Oct. 19 -- World Food Prize Youth Institute, aired in 9 Curtiss, 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 25 -- Summer-session course offering materials for Schedule of Classes due, 23 Curtiss
Nov. 6-10 -- Ag Week at ISU
Nov. 7 -- Ag Career Day, Memorial Union
Nov. 8-11 -- National FFA Convention, Kansas City
Nov. 9 -- Leopold Center proposals due, 209 Curtiss

REMEMBERING NAMES
In the 1930s, sales guru Dale Carnegie preached that "a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language." Demonstrating that Carnegie was right, three marketing professors recently conducted a research project which has concluded that "remembering someone's name facilitates persuasion, measured through compliance with a request made of the person remembered." The lesson? Don't say: "Vote for me!" Say "Vote for me, John and Suzanne!" Well, of course we will, if you put it like that. (Journal of Consumer Research, September 1995)

NEW HOT SPOT: RURAL AMERICA
Pastoral surroundings combined with advanced telecommunications technologies and an increase in "virtual offices" is reversing decades of migration to the cities. Since 1988, job growth in nonmetropolitan areas has outpaced urban areas, particularly in communities with a strong technological infrastructure. Population in rural counties has increased overall at a 1 percent annual growth rate, triple the rate of the '80s. With more people comes more money: income for rural residents has grown an average of 5.1 percent annually since 1990, reversing a 20-year trend of negative wage growth. And numbers of telecommuters have grown from 2 million in 1988 to 11 million today. (Business Week. Oct. 9)

THE VIEW FROM 1927
"The United States Department of Agriculture, our state agricultural colleges and experiment stations and the trained men known as county farm advisers or county agents, through precept and demonstration, are rapidly eliminating the element of chance in producing crops and livestock, and, in addition, are establishing home conveniences to deaden the sting of lonesomeness, make drudgery a stranger and transform the rural home into a haven of delight and comfort." From items gleaned from the past 100 years of The Furrow, which appeared in the magazine's October issue. This item was from 1927.

ENDANGERED CRACKERS
Eating endangered species, according to Nabisco, is the best way to save them. The company has released its limited edition Endangered Collection of Barnum's Animal Crackers, featuring 15 endangered animals. Nabisco plans to donate five cents for each box sold to the World Wildlife Fund. Did it occur to someone that there's something weird about eating these animals? "Of course," says Greg Price, Nabisco product manager. "What do people like about animal crackers? Biting off the heads! Our hope was that children will line them up, match them with the names on the box, learn about them and then decapitate them." (New York Times Magazine, May 14)

Ag Online is a biweekly 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? Contact 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: Oct. 27. Deadline: Oct. 23.