News Archive
Wednesday, June 23 2004
News
Iowa State University selects new Engineering dean
Mark J. Kushner, Founder Professor of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will become dean of Iowa State University's College of Engineering effective Jan. 1, 2005. He replaces Dean James Melsa, who will retire June 30. Provost Ben Allen will appoint an interim dean next week.
Nutritional Sciences Council lectures address world food needs
Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug and leaders from technology transfer organizations in Africa and Mexico will address ways to meet future global food needs during the 2004 Nutritional Sciences Council Summer Lectureship, June 28-July 2. The daily lectures are from 10 a.m. to noon in 1352 Gilman. All events are free and open to the public, including a reception at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Iowa State's Michael Crum named DeVries Chair in Business
Michael Crum, professor of transportation and logistics, is the first recipient of the John and Ruth DeVries Endowed Chair in Business in Honor of Charles B. Handy. The chair was created to enhance teaching and scholarship in the business college. Handy was the first dean for the college in 1984.
Palan named to interim post in the College of Business
Kay Palan, associate professor of marketing, has been named the interim associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College of Business beginning July 1. She will be responsible for undergraduate curriculum, careers services and physical facilities.
Renovated Vet Med veterinary teaching hospital will be named for Iowa State alumnus
When it is completed, the renovated teaching hospital at ISU's College of Veterinary Medicine will be named the Dr. Eugene and Linda Lloyd Veterinary Teaching Hospital, in honor of the lead private donors on the project. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the name at its June 16 meeting.
In May, the Lloyds, of Fort Myers, Fla., made a gift to the college of $3.5 million, one-half of the private gift goal for the hospital renovation. Their gift is the largest ever to the college. The rest of the funding for the project will come from a bonding package approved by the Iowa Legislature this spring
Two Iowa State departments to merge July 1
Two academic departments at Iowa State University will merge July 1 following approval by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, this week. The department of industrial education and technology in the College of Education will combine with the department of agricultural and biosystems engineering, jointly administered by the colleges of Agriculture of Engineering.
Regents approve FY05 budgets
Iowa State will start the new fiscal year on July 1 with a general operating budget of $422,510,553; about $3.8 million leaner than it was on July 1, 2003. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved FY05 budgets for the regents schools June 16.
Additions to the revenue side of Iowa State's budget include $1.9 million in additional tuition revenue, an anticipated $2.25 million increase in indirect cost recovery revenue, and $8.5 million reallocated from existing budgets.
Additions to the cost side of the budget include $9.5 million in compensation increases and $3.9 million in planned cost increases.
The regents also reviewed athletic department budgets. The Cyclone FY05 athletics budget of $27.0 million is $1 million smaller than the current year's budget.
Davis named CIO at Iowa State University
James Davis, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and interim director of Iowa State's Office
of Academic Information Technologies (AIT), will become the university's chief information officer and director of
AIT
July 1.
Provost Ben Allen announced Davis' appointment to a three-year, renewable term. His charge will be to oversee information technology services, special projects and new initiatives for the university. The leadership position is expected to result in greater coordination among the university's technology units, some long-term cost savings and increased IT alignment with Iowa State's strategic goals.
Ricardo Salvador will lead ISU Honors program
Ricardo Salvador, associate professor of agronomy at Iowa State University, has been named interim faculty director of the ISU Honors Program, effective July 1.
Schwennsen voted AIA president-elect
Kate Schwennsen has been elected first vice president/president-elect of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). She will be AIA president in 2006. Schwennsen is associate dean of the College of Design at Iowa State and an associate professor of architecture. She has held several leadership positions in AIA and is a former president of AIA Iowa. Schwennsen earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State.
Iowa State students are helping in an archeological dig in Nebraska where university anthropoligist Matt Hill speculates Paleoindian hunter gatherers set up a processing site to butcher game killed in another location.
ISU in the news
The Nader effect
The Christian Science Monitor
Former supporters of third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader are trying to stop from running Nader this time for fear he will draw votes away from the Democratic party. However, not all Nader fans agree with that thinking, according to the article.
"The left is very suspicious of the mainstream Democratic Party establishment. To them, Nader is still the warrior who stood up and fought and fought and fought, often alone. He was a pioneer against corporations, polluters, and big money. It's not clear that Kerry is going to bear that standard."
-- Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science
BBQ boosts sales
Washington Post
The state of Virginia has fired up a barbecue competition -- the Virginia Barbecue Fest -- to boost its pork industry, The Washington Post reported in its Sunday, June 13 edition. The Post sought comment from John Mabry, director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University, regarding the state of the industry. Mabry said that while consumption of beef and pork has remained steady, chicken consumption has gone up, partially because of a perception that it is healthier.
Barbecue is one way to stretch the profits of processors and retailers. A producer who sells a pork shoulder to a retailer gets 79 cents a pound on average, Mabry said. But, "Put it into a good barbecue sauce and you can get $4 a pound," he said.
Stress affects memory
NewScientist
People are woefully bad at recalling details of their own traumatic experiences.
"People come away from these experiences feeling they will never forget what happened, but they confuse that with thinking they remember the details."
-- Gary Wells, distinguished professor of psychology.