The College of Agriculture Newsletter Iowa State University
January 6, 1995 No. 9

C O N T E N T S

COLLEGE NEWS
- Strategic plan update
- Brenton Center sign-up
- Project proposal seminar
- Costa Rica seminar/study tour
- Curriculum development projects

COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK

- Information facts of life

INFOGRAZING

- Future of family farms
- Contract With America: Cuts ahead?

EXTERNAL VOICES

- A change trying to happen

MARGINALIA

- When in Rome . . .


C O L L E G E N E W S

STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
The college's strategic planning committee is nearing completion of its report. The group will meet on Jan. 10 to review a complete draft. Later this month the report will be widely distributed for discussion. Mike Chaplin, 294-3718, chairs the committee.

BRENTON CENTER SIGN-UP
Agriculture faculty can now request to schedule fall classes in the Brenton Center. Deadline is Feb. 3 -- DEOs have sign-up sheets. The center has two classrooms: one seats 28, the other 42. Classroom features include: graphics camera, slide-to-video converter, laser disk player, VCR, PC computer stations, video pointer, teacher camera-control system and fiber-optic network camera controls. The center will help instructors take advantage of the technology. For more details: see DEO or contact Richard Carter, 294-5904, rcarter@iastate.edu.

PROJECT PROPOSAL SEMINAR
A seminar on preparing Experiment Station project proposals will be held noon to 2 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 10, Gold Room, Memorial Union. Who should attend: early-career faculty, staff who assist in preparing Experiment Station documentation and faculty who wish a review of the project proposal process. If you plan to attend, call Carla Persaud, 294-9376. For more information: Susan Lamont, 294-3629.

COSTA RICA SEMINAR/STUDY TOUR
The fifth annual seminar/study tour to Costa Rica, March 11-18, offers opportunities for faculty, staff, alumni and friends to learn more about tropical agriculture and natural resources, and expand personal and professional contacts in Costa Rica. The event includes a rainforest tour and activities at the University of Costa Rica. It is sponsored by the ISU-Interamerican Center for Science, Education and Technology. For more details: Mary de Baca, 294-1851, or mdebaca@agcollege.ag.iastate.edu.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
The university allocated $187,699 to the college last July for curriculum development. The money provided funds for 18 projects, including: hiring a computer specialist to help faculty and students use computer technology in problem-solving courses; improving services for faculty and students in communications-intensive courses; completing a statewide assessment of the distance-education market; and development of an "introduction to environmental issues" course. The funds are part of a three-year university fund reallocation program.

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

INFORMATION FACTS OF LIFE
The following "Information Facts of Life" are taken from "Saving IT's Soul: Human-Centered Information Management" by Thomas Davenport in the Harvard Business Review, March-April 1994:
- There's no such thing as information overload; if information is really useful, our appetite for it is insatiable.
- To make the most of electronic communications, employees must first learn to communicate face-to-face.
- Managers prefer to get information from people rather than computers; people add value to raw information by interpreting and adding context.

I N F O G R A Z I N G

FUTURE OF FAMILY FARMS
With the average age of family farmers topping 53, the USDA sees 500,000 quitting by the year 2002. Most farms won't stay in the family. Only 250,000 young people are expected to enter the business, and bankers are wary of backing new farmers as Washington trims subsidies. (In Iowa, only a third of farmers expect their children to take over.) Many operations will merge with neighbors, creating bigger farms and helping shrink farm numbers by possibly 22 percent to 1.5 million in a decade or so. (From the Wall Street Journal.)

CONTRACT WITH AMERICA: CUTS AHEAD?
If the "Contract With America" proposed by the new Republican majority in Congress is implemented, a potential implication may be less funding for higher education. An analysis of the "Contract" was compiled in November by three higher-education organizations, including the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The "Contract" did not specifically indicate how $147.9 billion in cuts would be made, but a list of possibilities includes: elimination of college work-study; increase in interest payments that students would make on Stafford loans; freeze on research overhead rates at 90 percent of their present level; and funding cuts for the National Science Foundation.

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

A CHANGE TRYING TO HAPPEN
"When you feel conflict, pain, tension, fear or confusion, it is a change trying to happen. Many of us settle for chronic dull pain rather than a brief confrontation with change. The cost is our flexibility. We become alienated from ourselves and our stress level rises." From an interview with cultural anthropologist and business consultant Jennifer James in JD Journal, Number 3, 1994.

M A R G I N A L I A

WHEN IN ROME . . .
The ubiquity of cellular phones in Italy has resulted in a 32-page courtesy guide published by Telecom Italia that suggests, among other things: not placing your cellular phone on the table during lunch "as if it were a piece of bread"; keeping your voice down during sidewalk conversations; and turning your phone off while attending the theater. Since this is Italy, it also suggests having a second telephone for "mischievous" calls from lovers. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 12)

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: Same thing, but with "Ag Online unsubscribe." 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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