Ag and Life Sciences ONLINE

COLLEGE NEWS



- VEISHEA: Free BBQ kicks off ag activities on April

16



- VEISHEA: Club and department open houses



- VEISHEA: Reception set for Tom Hargrove



- Virtual visitors relay questions back to college



- Genomic Revolution: A genetics workshop



- Ethics and animals theme of bioethics symposium



- Deadlines & Reminders



COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK



- Radio show looks for ideas to celebrate nature



INFOGRAZING



- Census of Agriculture to move to USDA



- Internet job search resources for students



- Newspaper series investigates college costs



EXTERNAL VOICES



- Strive for relevance, excellence, usefulness



MARGINALIA



- Green commences again







C O L L E G E N E W S







VEISHEA: FREE BBQ KICKS OFF AG ACTIVITIES ON APRIL 16



A free barbecue for agriculture and vet med faculty, staff and

students kicks off VEISHEA activities on Tuesday, April 16, according

to the Ag Council. The barbecue will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. west

of the Farm House Museum. For more information: Sarah Daniels,

4-3221. Other events that day include:



- Vet Med info booth/dog training demonstrations, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.



- Farm House Museum tours, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.



- WHO radio farm broadcast, west of Farm House Museum, 11:30 a.m.



- Ag Olympics, west of Curtiss Hall, noon.



- Alpha Zeta Pie Throw, with selected college targets (proceeds

benefit Just for Kids), west of Curtiss Hall, noon-3 p.m.



VEISHEA: CLUB AND DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSES



The Ag Council lists the following VEISHEA open houses on Saturday,

April 20, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. (Some also may be open April 19. For more

information: Sarah Daniels, 4-3221.)



Ag Systems Technology, south of Davidson; Ag Business, central

campus; Alpha Zeta, ground floor Curtiss; Biology/Zoology/Genetics,

156 Bessey; Block and Bridle, Livestock Judging Pavilion; Botany,

112 Bessey; Collegiate 4-H, ground floor Curtiss; Dairy Science,

west of Kildee; Entomology, Science II commons; Farm Bureau, central

campus; Farm Operations, ground floor Curtiss; Fisheries and Wildlife

Biology, 132 Science II; Forestry, northwest of Curtiss; Horticulture,

Horticulture Hall; MANRS, central campus; Vet Med, Laboratorium

Anatomy.



VEISHEA: RECEPTION SET FOR TOM HARGROVE



Faculty and staff are invited to a Department of Journalism reception

for Tom Hargrove, 2-4 p.m., Friday, April 19, in 128 Hamilton.

Hargrove, who spent 11 months in captivity in Colombia, earned

his Ph.D. in agricultural education at ISU in 1977. He was head

of communications for an international research center when he

was kidnapped by Marxist guerillas in September 1994. He has written

a book about his experience. He will speak at noon, April 19,

south of the campanile and be a VEISHEA parade marshal on April

20.



VIRTUAL VISITORS RELAY QUESTIONS BACK TO COLLEGE



Visitors to the college's home page (http://www.ag.iastate.edu/)

can send questions or comments. Queries are received in the Ag

Information office, which then works to supply answers. Some recent

examples of fulfilled queries: A prospective pre-vet major asked

for advice on the kind of calculator that would get her through

her first years of college. Several potential graduate students

wanted admission information. An Iowa farmer asked for information

on generating methane from manure for energy. A private college

student researching hog confinement issues asked for sources of

information. A Louisiana woman was looking for recipes for beef

kidneys, heart and sweetbreads. From the United Kingdom came a

request for information on mad cow disease. Two high school students

wanted to know more about George Washington Carver's time at ISU

for a history presentation.



GENOMIC REVOLUTION: A GENETICS WORKSHOP



"The Genomic Revolution: Applications and Implications"

is an April workshop offered by ISU's Interdepartmental Genetics

Program. Speakers include experts from Texas A&M, University

of Iowa, National Cancer Institute, Swedish University of Agricultural

Science and Purdue University. For more information, send your

name and campus address to genetics@iastate.edu.



ETHICS AND ANIMALS THEME OF BIOETHICS SYMPOSIUM



"Ethics and Animals in Agriculture" is the theme of

the second annual ISU Bioethics Symposium, April 27, Molecular

Biology Building, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. There is no registration

fee, but you're asked to pre-register by April 25. For more information

or to register by phone: Clark Ford, 4-0343. Sponsors are the

ISU Bioethics Program and 17 other ISU departments and programs.





DEADLINES & REMINDERS



April 11: Food Processing in the Year 2020: Food and Crops - Dennis

Olson, Meat Export Research Center, and Larry Johnson, Center

for Crops Utilization Research, 4:10 p.m., 2050 Agronomy (sustainable

agriculture seminar)



April 18: Where Will World Agriculture Be in 2020? - Stan Johnson,

CARD, 4:10 p.m., 2050 Agronomy (sustainable agriculture seminar)



April 23: Teaching With Technology seminar, Brenton Center, 1-3

p.m.







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









RADIO SHOW WANTS IDEAS TO CELEBRATE NATURE



The Environment Show, a half-hour radio show distributed nationally

via National Public Radio and ABC and internationally via Voice

of America, is looking for story ideas. The show, the producers

say, "is all about celebrating nature. We are looking for

people (researchers, naturalists, etc.) who are good speakers

and can talk to a general audience." One segment of the show,

the Earth Calendar, profiles an interesting or odd natural event

happening at or near the time of broadcast. Past topics have included

bear hibernation, fire ecology and salamander mating season. Got

an Earth Calendar idea? Contact Ag Information at bmeyer@iastate.edu.









I N F O G R A Z I N G







CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE TO MOVE TO USDA



Plans are underway to move the Census of Agriculture from the

Census Bureau in the Department of Commerce to the National Agricultural

Statistics Service in the USDA. Conducted every five years, the

national survey provides data on the agricultural sector of the

U.S. economy. Questions or comments on the plans can be directed

to Ewen M. Wilson, 38555 or ewen_m_wilson@SMTP-gw.census.gov.

The 1997 Census of Agriculture will be conducted in early 1998.

Census Services in the Department of Sociology used data from

the 1992 and earlier national surveys in its 1994 "Iowa Counties"

data book.



INTERNET JOB SEARCH RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS



Eighty percent of college students plan to use the Internet as

a job search tool, according to a recent poll. AT&T has launched

the AT&T College Network (http://www.att.com/college/), a

Web site providing links to other Internet job listing sites,

along with tips on job-hunting and career strategies. (Investor's

Business Daily, April 4)



NEWSPAPER SERIES INVESTIGATES COLLEGE COSTS



The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a five-part series March 31-April

4 on college costs, titled "Higher Education: How High the

Price." You can access these stories at the newspaper's Web

site: http://www.phillynews.com. From the home page, go to the

Table of Contents and look for "Editor's Picks."







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







STRIVE FOR RELEVANCE, EXCELLENCE, USEFULNESS



"(We should be) guided by three major goals: relevance, excellence

and usefulness. First, research, extension and education must

be relevant to what's going on . . . In the absence of relevance

to the issues confronting society, our role shall surely diminish

in scope and influence. Second, we need to strive for excellence

(and) be viewed by others as being out front -- to advance the

cause of research, education and extension, and to provide the

answers. Third, what we do must be useful -- must develop products

useful to those who need them and be adaptable to solve current

and emerging problems . . . We must be interdisciplinary and interfunctional,

leave the old behind and move toward the new." R. H. Robinson,

administrator of the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education

and Extension Service, in a February address to CSREES staff.









M A R G I N A L I A







GREEN COMMENCES AGAIN



"Stark winter cross, lithe spring messenger, summer's barque,

elegist of autumn! . . . The tree is the rock that changes and

the fern that endures . . . We envy trees their fixity and their

resolute fecundity. Cut the tree down, burn it, blow it over;

green commences again." From the essay "Trees"

by Donald Hall in his 1995 book, "Principal Products of Portugal."