Ag and Life Sciences ONLINE

COLLEGE NEWS



- Transfer-student orientation coming up in April



- Distance education/sustainable ag dowlink April 4



- Animal agriculture career day on April 7



- Bioethics debate on animal organs for transplants



- Student team tastes success with PizzaSweets



- Workshop on writing successful EPA grants



- Deadlines & Reminders



COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK



- Field photography: The right lens, the right light



INFOGRAZING



- New-student survey: Results from fall 1996



- New-student survey: Who are they?



- New-student survey: Attitudes on agriculture



EXTERNAL VOICES



- There is a place for both the clear and the obscure



MARGINALIA



- April is the cruellest month for flying cows







C O L L E G E N E W S







TRANSFER-STUDENT ORIENTATION COMING UP IN APRIL



The College of Agriculture will hold three orientation sessions

for transfer students planning to attend ISU in the summer or

fall. About 60 students will attend the April 2 orientation. About

20 have signed up for April 10 . April 30 will be for students

admitted since March 17.



DISTANCE EDUCATION/SUSTAINABLE AG DOWNLINK APRIL 4



Faculty and staff interested in distance education and/or sustainable

agriculture are invited to participate in "Student-Centered

Teaching Methods for Distance Education." The two-hour satellite

conference, presented by the North Central Institute for Sustainable

Systems, will be downlinked at noon on Friday, April 4, in 116

Pearson Hall. For more information: Ricardo Salvador, 4-9595 or

rjsalvad@iastate.edu, or check out the Web site at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/agronomy/nciss/nciss1.html





ANIMAL AGRICULTURE CAREER DAY ON APRIL 7



A career day for high school juniors and seniors

interested in animal agriculture will be April 7. Sponsored by

the Block & Bridle Club, the event is held in conjunction

with the Experience Iowa State program. About 75 to 100 students

and their families are expected. They will meet with academic

advisers, tour research labs and hear from ISU students. For more

information: Paul Brackelsberg, 4-7235.





BIOETHICS DEBATE ON ANIMAL ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTS



Cross-species transplantation, or xenotransplantation,

will be debated on Saturday, April 5, at an ISU Bioethics Program

symposium. The public is invited to the meeting, which will introduce

the medical and business aspects of xenotransplantation and discuss

its moral implications. To register or for more information: Clark

Ford, 4-0343 or cfford@iastate.edu.





STUDENT TEAM TASTES SUCCESS WITH PIZZASWEETS



For the second consecutive year, food industry

experts have selected an ISU food science and human nutrition

student team as one of six finalists in a national product development

competition. The team developed PizzaSweets, a baked snack that

is half pizza-flavored and half cinnamon-and-sugar-flavored. The

idea originated when ISU students at the O'Hare Airport craved

pizza and cinnamon rolls but didn't have enough money for both.

Team advisers are Deland Myers and Cheryll Reitmeier. The competition

will be held at the Institute of Food Technologists' annual meeting

in June at Orlando, FL.





WORKSHOP ON WRITING SUCCESSFUL EPA GRANTS





"Writing Winning Environmental Protection

Agency Grants" is the subject of a workshop to be held at

6:30 p.m., April 23, at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center. The presenter

will be Melinda McClanahan, an EPA official credited with restructuring

and revitalizing the agency's grants program. RSVP by April 18

to Carla Persaud (4-9376 or cpersaud@iastate.edu) or Pam Minion

(4-1931 or pminion@iastate.edu). This is the seventh workshop

in the Successful Grantsmanship Series. Suggestions? Contact Sue

Lamont (4-3629 or sjlamont@iastate.edu) or Prem Paul (4-0913 or

pspaul@iastate.edu).





DEADLINES & REMINDERS



March 29: ISU Farm Programs and Environmental Policy in the 21st

Century, Bruce Babcock, CARD, 9 a.m., Brenton Center; Concerns

and Support of the Public Regarding Surface and Groundwater Quality

in Iowa, Linda Applegate, Iowa Environmental Council, 10 a.m.,

Brenton Center (sustainable ag seminars)



April 4: Student-Centered Teaching Methods for Distance Education,

noon, 116 Pearson



April 7: Animal Agriculture Career Day at ISU



April 23: EPA Grants workshop, Holiday Inn Gateway Center, 6:30

p.m.







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









FIELD PHOTOGRAPHY: THE RIGHT LENS, THE RIGHT LIGHT



Award-winning agricultural photographer Christine McClintic offered

field photography tips in the March issue of ByLine, the American

Agricultural Editors' Association newsletter. She outlined four

basic lens: a wide angle (20mm or 24mm) for getting close to subjects

while including the environment; a telephoto (180mm) for isolating

a particular element; a moderate telephoto (85mm or 135mm) for

portraits; and a standard (50mm) as an "old standby."

Also handy is a macro for zeroing in on an image. McClintic stressed

choosing the right time of day: "Savor the early morning

and late-afternoon light for photography -- even if it's a nuts-and-bolts

shot. This low-angle light can make an otherwise average image

dramatic."







I N F O G R A Z I N G







NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: RESULTS FROM FALL 1996



Last fall, more than 540 new students (freshmen and transfer students)

in the College of Agriculture were surveyed. The Department of

Agricultural Education and Studies has conducted new-student surveys

in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1992 and 1996. Information from the survey

will be run in the next few issues of Ag Online, starting with

the two items below. For more information: Gaylan Scofield, 4-0045

or ggs@iastate.edu.



NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: WHO ARE THEY?



Percentage from Iowa: 86



From other states: 13



From other countries: 1



Percentage who are female: 40



In 1985, percentage who were female: 24



Percentage who grew up on farms: 47



Who grew up on rural acreages or in towns of less than 2,500:

21



Who grew up in cities of more than 10,000: 23



Percentage who have 4 years of agricultural experience: 33



Who have less than a year or no ag experience: 24



Percentage whose high schools offered vocational agriculture courses:

62



Percentage of those who took one or more semesters of vo-ag: 72



Percentage involved in 4-H: 53



NEW-STUDENT SURVEY: ATTITUDES ON AGRICULTURE



Percentage who agreed that:



Opportunities in agriculture are unlimited: 62



In 1985, percentage who said that: 36



Their families have been adversely affected by an agricultural

recession: 44



In 1985, percentage who said that: 68







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







THERE IS A PLACE FOR BOTH THE CLEAR AND THE OBSCURE



"Every discipline needs a place for the development of ideas

that are unintelligible not only to the general public, but also

to most practitioners of the discipline . . . Every discipline

that seeks public legitimization . . . also must have a place

for the development of ideas that are comprehensible to any undergraduate

or interested layperson." Michael Berube, University of Illinois,

in the Feb. 21 Chronicle of Higher Education.







M A R G I N A L I A







APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH FOR FLYING COWS



It's almost April 1, leg-pulling season, and the Internet has

become a major source of rumors, cyber-myths and hoaxes, according

to ComputerLife magazine. "The Internet is often viewed by

its users as an unfiltered, primary source of information and

not to be distrusted like the traditional news media." said

editor Maggie Canon. One recent rumor debated on the Internet

was the veracity of a story about the sinking of a Japanese trawler

by a cow pitched from a Russian jet. Seems the jet's crew had

stolen a cow wandering near a Siberian airfield, but was ill-equipped

to handle the rampaging animal in its hold, so jettisoned it above

the Sea of Japan.