The College of Agriculture Newsletter
Iowa State University
August 9, 1996 No. 50


C O N T E N T S


COLLEGE NEWS
- Former Oregon State ag dean to speak at retreat
- Fall convocation in Curtiss Auditorium Aug. 26
- A few more offices to move in Curtiss Hall
- Fall field days set at Research & Demo Farms
- Agronomy Day '96 planned for Sept. 5
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Suggestions for non-sexist writing
INFOGRAZING
- Growth in user fees, grants seen for Extension
- Proteins and peptides workshop on Aug. 15
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Little towns, groping upward
MARGINALIA
- Farmer's Market on the Web


COLLEGE NEWS


FORMER OREGON STATE AG DEAN TO SPEAK AT RETREAT

Conrad Weiser, author of "The Value System of a University: Rethinking Scholarship," will be the keynote speaker at the 1996 College of Agriculture Faculty/Staff Retreat, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. (including lunch), Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Scheman Building. Weiser is the former dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University. Weiser's presentation will precede concurrent workshop sessions for discussion of re-evaluating scholarship. Registration forms have been sent to faculty and staff. For more information: Robert Martin, 4-0896 or drmartin@iastate.edu.

FALL CONVOCATION IN CURTISS AUDITORIUM AUG. 26

The College of Agriculture's fall convocation will be held in the Curtiss Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall, at 4 p.m., Monday, Aug. 26.

A FEW MORE OFFICES TO MOVE IN CURTISS HALL

A few College of Agriculture offices that moved earlier this summer to make way for Curtiss Hall renovations will soon be moving again. On Aug. 19, Del Koch, Barb Martin, Laurie Vold and Josie Niemand in Budget and Finance will return to Room 117 from Room 225. On Aug. 20, Roger Bruene and Karen Klaiber of Career Services will return to Room 120 from Room 322. Gerald Klonglan, associate dean-national programs, will move to Room 118 from Room 223b on Aug. 21. All phone numbers remain the same.

FALL FIELD DAYS SET AT RESEARCH & DEMO FARMS

Fall field days are set for ISU's Research and Demonstration Farms: Aug. 28, Northwest at Doon; Sept. 10, Northeast, Nashua; Sept. 12, Armstrong, Lewis; Sept. 13, Allee, Newell; Sept. 19, McNay, Chariton. On Sept. 11, the Western Research and Demonstration Farm, Castana, celebrates its 50th anniversary. For more details: 4-4620.

AGRONOMY DAY '96 PLANNED FOR SEPT. 5

Nearly 70 projects will be highlighted at the Agronomy '96 Day on Sept. 5 at the Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering Research Center, six miles west of Ames on Highway 30. The field day runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tours of research and demonstration plots will leave every hour, on the hour. A $3 lunch will be provided by the Agronomy Club from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information: 4-1923.

DEADLINES & REMINDERS

Aug. 22: College of Agriculture faculty-staff retreat, Scheman Building
Aug. 26: College of Agriculture convocation, Curtiss Auditorium, Curtiss Hall


COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK


SUGGESTIONS FOR NON-SEXIST WRITING

The National Council of Teachers of English has these suggestions for using non-sexist language in writing: Change mankind to humanity; man-made to synthetic, manufactured or machine-made; chairman to chair, head, moderator or coordinator; businessman to business executive; congressman to congressional representative. Try alternatives to using "he," "him" and "his": recast sentence into plural; reword to eliminate use of gender; replace with "one," "you" or (sparingly) "he or she." (From the Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab: http://owl.trc.purdue.edu/Files/26.html)


INFOGRAZING


GROWTH IN USER FEES, GRANTS SEEN FOR EXTENSION

As federal and state funds either stay flat or rise only slightly, the percentage of ISU Extension Service's budget that comes from grants and user fees is expected to grow. In the fiscal year that ended last fall, 14.5 percent ($7.8 million) of Extension's budget came from grants and 11 percent (just under $6 million) from user fees. State funding made up about 39 percent of the budget, federal funding 19 percent and county funding 16 percent. Programs funded primarily through fees include seed testing, agronomy field training, pesticide applicator training and a dairy herd improvement program. (Iowa Farmer Today, April 13)

PROTEINS AND PEPTIDES WORKSHOP ON AUG. 15

The ISU Protein Facility will hold a "Proteins and Peptides: Synthesis, Analysis and Characterization" workshop, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Aug. 15 in the Molecular Biology Building. For more information: 4-3267 or gbh@iastate.edu. For a full schedule, see the Web page: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbh/prot_wkshop.html


EXTERNAL VOICES


LITTLE TOWNS, GROPING UPWARD

"Do communities grope upward? I've often wondered. Much of the time they seem just to grope. I am in a little town that is, in a sense, dying on its feet. Last year, one child was born (there are about 700 inhabitants, scattered over quite a large area) . . . All the young men seem to feel that if they are to amount to anything, they must get out, go somewhere else. That seems wrong, somehow. Every community ought to offer a promising life to its new generation, it seems to me . . . I am a decentralist, at heart; I think the business of making the earth produce and bear fruit should be participated in by almost everybody -- a much more even distribution of the population." From a letter written by E.B. White in 1942.


MARGINALIA


FARMER'S MARKET ON THE WEB

Farmer's Market Online is a Web site where people can meet, correspond and purchase products directly from family farmers, ranchers, artisans and home crafters. The "booths" are occupied by a tomato farmer in Israel, a maple syrup farm in Ohio, a wild mushroom gatherer in California and others. The weekly newsletter features produce, specialty foods, crafts, livestock and books. The newsletter (also available in e-mail, print and fax versions) can be found at: http://members.aol.com/marketfarm/farmers-market/


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.


News Releases Agriculture in Action Ag Online Communications Skills Home