AG ONLINE
The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
January 12, 1996 No. 35

C O N T E N T S
COLLEGE NEWS
- New chair named for plant pathology
- Interim coordinator named for off-campus programs
- Beginning Farmer Alliance begins this month
- Second symposium set on student communications
- Giving to the College of Agriculture
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Need to know, nice to know, don't need to know
INFOGRAZING
- Ag ranks high in ISU sponsored funding, FY95
- Outlook for higher education in '96 legislature
- Government shutdown affects many researchers
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Land-grant final report due this spring
MARGINALIA
- Spy viruses: Is your software registered?
- The Schwarzenegger Virus: It'll be back
C O L L E G E N E W S
NEW CHAIR NAMED FOR PLANT PATHOLOGY
Ed Braun has been named chair of the Department of Plant Pathology. He succeeds Tom Harrington, who completed a five-year term and will now teach and conduct research in the department. Braun, who will serve a three-year term, has been a faculty member at ISU since 1977.

INTERIM COORDINATOR NAMED FOR OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS
Harold Crawford has been named interim coordinator for the Off-Campus Professional Agriculture (PROAG) Programs. Crawford, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies, will fulfill part of the duties of David Doerfert, who has left ISU to work for the National FFA Foundation. Crawford will work on new strategies for more effectively reaching off-campus students and fulfilling their educational needs. PROAG offers bachelor of science and master of agriculture degrees.

BEGINNING FARMER ALLIANCE BEGINS THIS MONTH
Later this month a new program to help beginning farmers improve their management skills and develop networks with other farmers gets underway. The Beginning Farmer Alliance, a non-degree program, replaces the Winter Ag Studies Program, which is being offered for the last time this winter. Besides ISU, partners in providing the new program's seminars and workshops are Iowa community colleges, Iowa Young Farmers Association and the Iowa Department of Education. For more information: Larry Trede, coordinator, 4-4076.

SECOND SYMPOSIUM SET ON STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS
College of Agriculture faculty are invited to the second of three symposia on improving students' communications skills. It will be held noon-1 p.m., Feb. 7, and repeated 3:30-4:30 p.m., Feb. 8, both in 3140 Agronomy. Ed Braun, John Schafer and Tom Polito will present communications assignments from their courses. Also included will be examples, materials and tips on using a poster presentation project to teach course materials and designing a semester-long project that produces a report for a client. Coffee and cookies will be provided at both sessions. Brownbag lunches are welcome on Feb. 7. For more information or to discuss improving students' communication, contact David Russell, 4-4724, or drrussel@iastate.edu. The third and final symposium in the series will be held April 3-4.

GIVING TO THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Giving to the College of Agriculture totals $3,364,000 for the first six months of 1995-96, according to the Agriculture Development Office. Giving includes cash, trusts, bequests, property and other kinds of gifts. The Ag Development Office also has confirmation of more than $8 million in deferred commitments (trusts, wills, etc.) to the college. The following are ISU Foundation figures on annual giving to the college for the past five years: 1994-95 - $2,885,803; 1993-94 - $4,401,960; 1992-93 - $8,168,477; 1991-92 - $3,072,311; 1990-91 - $3,920,778.

DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Jan. 18: College of Agriculture spring convocation, Lush Auditorium, 4 p.m.
Jan. 31: Applications due, Dean of Agriculture's International Agricultural Competitiveness and Sustainability Grants, 104 Curtiss
Jan. 31: Nominations due, Ag Student of the Year, Iowa Agriculturist, 16H Hamilton
Feb. 7: Improving Students' Communications Skills Symposium, noon-1 p.m., 3140 Agronomy
Feb. 8: Improving Students' Communications Skills Symposium, 3:30-4:30, 3140 Agronomy

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
NEED TO KNOW, NICE TO KNOW, DON'T NEED TO KNOW
When you are the expert, you have so much information you may have the tendency to want to share it all when speaking to an audience. But we need to learn to limit our presentations because listeners will only absorb a certain amount before they begin to tune us out. That means we need to get to our key points early, and often. Use a three-point checklist -- need to know, nice to know, don't need to know -- to prioritize your information and make sure you're not giving your audience more than they want or need.

I N F O G R A Z I N G
AG RANKS HIGH IN ISU SPONSORED FUNDING, FY95
Several agricultural organizations were among the top 15 business/corporation sponsors awarding funds to ISU in FY95, according to the Office of Contracts and Grants. Number one was the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board, $1,622,335; second, American Soybean Association, $532,259; fifth, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., $383,531; sixth, Iowa Corn Promotion Board, $306,743; seventh, National Pork Producers Council, $287,937; ninth, Iowa Pork Producers Association, $246,136; thirteenth, Ciba-Geigy, Inc.; fourteenth, Quaker Oats, $188,530.

OUTLOOK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN '96 LEGISLATURE
The Jan. 5 Chronicle of Higher Education previewed the outlook for higher education in the 50 state legislatures. In Iowa, "lawmakers and university officials frequently clash over academic freedom and political activism, but they usually come together on the budget. A projected surplus in state funds is expected to smooth the way for colleges to receive much of their requested increases . . . Some form of school-to-work legislation is likely to win approval, (and) if it does, community-college officials expect their institutions to help provide programs, internships and continuing education . . . Private colleges want an additional $4.6 million for the Iowa Tuition Grant Program; they received $35.4 million last year. They also want the Legislature to raise the maximum grant to $3,275 from $2,900."

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFFECTS MANY RESEARCHERS
How has the federal government shutdown, and continuing threat of a shutdown, affected scientific research? According to a Jan. 5 National Science Foundation release, the NSF receives about 240 research and education proposals and makes about 80 awards on an average day. Each day of the shutdown represents lost or delayed support to some 200 people. Dozens of NSF proposal review meetings and workshops have been cancelled or are threatened. Continuing grants that have expired (such as the second or third year of three-year grants) have not been paid; 156 such grants expired on Dec. 31 and another 266 will expire Jan. 31.

E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
LAND-GRANT FINAL REPORT DUE THIS SPRING
"Land-grant colleges of agriculture must take a hard view of what they now do and eliminate the redundancies and contradictions I see at many of the institutions," says Anthony Earl, chairman of the National Research Council's Board of Agriculture. The board will release in late spring a final report examining the land-grant university system. The report will recommend public policy and institutional changes that "enhance the colleges' ability to serve the national interest." Earl suggests many schools need to reemphasize teaching programs; perhaps pool research talent to establish "one research center among several land grants rather than every land grant with many research programs"; and give Extension an expanded role -- rural development and rural health care are two ideas he tosses out. (From Alan Guebert's syndicated column, which appeared in the Dec. 31 Waterloo Courier.)

M A R G I N A L I A
SPY VIRUSES: IS YOUR SOFTWARE REGISTERED?
Syndicated columnist Gina Smith predicts a proliferation of computer "spy" viruses similar to Microsoft Windows 95's registration wizard that can zip around your CPU and determine whether you've legally registered all the software you've got loaded on there. "It's already possible to do this sort of scanning without alerting the user, so it doesn't take much of a futurist to imagine the same sort of stealth technology being used on unknowing bulletin board and Internet users. In fact, I think a trend away from juvenile-prank computer viruses to information-seeking 'spy' viruses isn't merely likely, it's inevitable." (Popular Science, December)

THE SCHWARZENEGGER VIRUS: IT'LL BE BACK
New computer viruses, from a tongue-in-cheek list pulled off the Internet: The Politically Correct Virus: prefers to call itself an "electronic microorganism." The Star Trek Virus: invades your system in places where no virus has gone before. The Ted Turner Virus: colorizes your monochrome monitor. The Texas Virus: makes sure it's bigger than any other file. The Adam & Eve Virus: takes a couple bytes out of your Apple.

AG ONLINE
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: Jan. 26. Deadline: Jan. 22.