Ag and Life Sciences ONLINE

COLLEGE NEWS



- Experience distance education at Aug. 21 retreat



- Articulation Committee seeks input on publications



- Calendar Committee calls for comments on 2001-2003



- Don't forget the fall convocation on Aug. 26



- Meet new students at Aug. 28 barbecue



- Research farm field days attract nearly 1,500



- New RFP information on Web site



- Former college official sworn in at USDA



- Deadlines & Reminders



COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK



- What's in a name tag



INFOGRAZING



- Update on USDA research in House and Senate bills



- Protein/peptide workshop set Aug. 21-22



EXTERNAL VOICES



- Distance learning similar to managed care?



MARGINALIA



- Surf Your Watershed







C O L L E G E N E W S







EXPERIENCE DISTANCE EDUCATION AT AUG. 21 RETREAT



The college's professional development retreat

on distance education will be held Thursday, Aug. 21, beginning

at 8 a.m. in the Great Hall, Memorial Union. After an overview

and a session on presentation skills, participants will move to

distance-education classrooms on campus. The rooms will be linked

so participants can interact with presenters at each site. The

retreat ends at 12:30 p.m. If you plan to attend, contact Norma

Hensley, 4-6614, or nhensley@iastate.edu.





ARTICULATION COMMITTEE SEEKS INPUT ON PUBLICATIONS



For the next 4-5 weeks, the college's Articulation

Committee will be updating two booklets, "Guidelines for

Approval of Transfer Agriculture Courses" and "Information

for Transfer Students." The support of the departments in

this project is appreciated. If there are questions or comments

concerning course articulation, direct them to Russ Mullen, chair,

4-3271 or remullen@iastate.edu.





CALENDAR COMMITTEE CALLS FOR COMMENTS ON 2001-2003



Tom Loynachan, agronomy, represents the college on the university's

Calendar Committee, which is now planning calendars for the years

2001-2003. If you have comments or ideas you'd like Loynachan

to share with the committee, contact him (4-3064 or teloynac@iastate.edu)

by Sept. 30. The proposed calendars and related information can

be found at this Web site: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~teloynac/uc.html





DON'T FORGET THE FALL CONVOCATION

ON AUG. 26



Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend

the College of Agriculture's fall convocation on Tuesday, Aug.

26, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. A social time begins at 3:30

p.m., followed by remarks at 4 p.m. from Dean Topel and the associate

deans. At 5 p.m., a half-hour Capital Campaign Celebration will

recognize the college's best year ever for fundraising.





MEET NEW AGRICULTURE STUDENTS AT AUG. 28 BARBECUE



Meet and greet new students at the Freshman

and Transfer Student Barbecue, sponsored by the college and the

Ag Student Council, on Thursday, Aug. 28, from 5-7 p.m. in the

Agronomy Hall courtyard. Student clubs will be on hand to share

information on their activities.





RESEARCH FARM FIELD DAYS ATTRACT NEARLY 1,500



The ISU Research and Demonstration Farms'

spring and summer field days wrapped up this month with nearly

1,500 visitors. Attendance by farm was:



Southeast, 125; Northwest, 152; Armstrong,

475; Northeast, 150; Northern, 154; Western, 30; Rhodes, 140;

McNay, 100 (plus 40 more for its Aug. 4 pasture walk); and Muscatine

Island, 75. Fall field days are scheduled at the Northwest, Neely-Kinyon,

Northeast, Northern and Southeast farms.





NEW RFP INFORMATION ON WEB SITE



Three requests for proposals have been added

to the college's Research Web RFP page at http://www.ag.iastate.edu/iaexp/rfp/

Due Sept. 8: Biotechnology Byproducts Consortium proposals. Due

Sept. 29: Rural Information Infrastructure Program proposals.

Due Nov. 15 through Feb. 15, depending on program area: National

Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program proposals. NRI

application kits and program descriptions are available now on

the Web; hard copy will be ready after Sept. 1 by contacting Carla

Persaud, 4-9376.





FORMER COLLEGE OFFICIAL SWORN IN AT USDA



On Aug. 5, Miley Gonzalez was sworn in as USDA undersecretary

for research, education and economics. From 1988-91, he was an

assistant director of International Agriculture Programs in the

College of Agriculture. As undersecretary, Gonzalez will supervise

the Agricultural Research Service; the Cooperative State Research,

Education and Extension Service; the Economic Research Service;

and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.



DEADLINES & REMINDERS



Aug. 7-17: Iowa State Fair



Aug. 21: Faculty-staff retreat on distance education, Great Hall;

call 4-6614 to register



Aug. 25: Classes begin



Aug. 26: Fall Convocation, 4 p.m., Sun Room



Aug. 28: Freshman and Transfer Student Barbecue, 5-7 p.m., Agronomy

Hall courtyard







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









WHAT'S IN A NAME TAG



If you're preparing name tags for an upcoming meeting, keep these

basics in mind: Make the first name as large as possible, at least

36-point type, on the first line. Keep identification of the conference

or event to a minimum to have as much room as possible for names.

Images that are screened behind the type make names more difficult

to read. Provide name tag holders with options for wearing them,

such as clips, pins or cords that fit over the head. Try modeling

a couple designs to see if they are effective. And when you wear

a name tag, try to put it on your right side. It tends to be more

visible when shaking hands.







I N F O G R A Z I N G







UPDATE ON USDA RESEARCH IN HOUSE AND SENATE BILLS



In their current versions, House and Senate appropriations bills

for FY98 USDA research call for decreased funding of 2.7 percent

and 1.9 percent, respectively. But, according to an analysis by

the American Association for the Advancement of Science, most

of the cuts would affect earmarked R&D facilities. As a result,

funding for basic and applied research would actually increase

in both bills. The chambers will resolve the differences when

lawmakers return from recess next month. The AAAS Web site offers

a budget breakdown at: http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/sum805.htm#A





PROTEIN/PEPTIDE WORKSHOP SET AUG. 21-22



The third annual protein workshop, "Protein/Peptide Structure,

Function and Characterization," will be held Aug. 21-22 in

the Molecular Biology Building. The free workshop will include

presentations, posters and hands-on activities. For more information:

4-3267 or protein@iastate.edu.







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







DISTANCE LEARNING SIMILAR TO MANAGED CARE?



Distance education is the theme of next

week's faculty-staff retreat (see item in College News). In the

Aug. 10 Washington Post, Charlotte Allen writes that Educom, a

university/computer-industry nonprofit group, is the flag bearer

of distance learning. Allen continues: (Educom's) education-by-software

agenda is a kind of Clinton health plan for academia, promising

to cut costs, improve quality and broaden access to instruction.

Indeed, Educom vice president Michael Roberts makes the analogy

to managed care. "The doctors wouldn't do anything about

controlling costs by themselves, and things finally got so bad

that they took the control away from them," says Roberts.

"The faculty need to face up to those aspects of learning

that really require interaction with a faculty member and those

that don't." As examples of those that do, he mentions introductory

freshman and remedial-level courses in composition, math, science

and languages.









M A R G I N A L I A







SURF YOUR WATERSHED



Surf Your Watershed is an EPA Web site to "help you locate,

use and share environmental information on your watershed or community."

You can locate your watershed by clicking on a map or through

a word search. The site is located at: http://www.epa.gov/surf/