News Archive
Saturday, December 27 2008
News
National association honors ISU architecture professor for creative achievement
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture awarded a 2008-09 Creative Achievement Award to Mitchell Squire, associate professor of architecture. He was honored for his "positive and stimulating influence" upon students at Iowa State through the semester-long course he created, Craft and Crafty Action: On the Relationship between Creativity and Mischief.
Iowa State Gerontology Program conducting three-year study on Iowa centenarians
An Iowa State research team is studying Iowa centenarians to learn their secrets of longevity and the quality-of-life obstacles they encounter. Researchers from ISU's Gerontology Program began the three-year initiative on 136 centenarians across the state last year.
University holidays
University offices will be closed for the holidays on Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. Some university departments may operate on different schedules through Jan. 1. Call departments or check their web sites for more information on office hours.
Iowa State study finds early family depression has lasting effects on teens, young adults
A new study by researchers from Iowa State's Institute for Social and Behavioral Research on 485 Iowa adolescents over a 10-year period (1991-2001) found that early socioeconomic adversity experienced by children contributes to poor mental health by the time they become teens -- disrupting their successful transition into adulthood.
Veterinary medicine students excel in animal welfare competition
Iowa State veterinary medicine students took high honors at the Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Competition last month. Second-year student Jennafer Glaesemann placed first in the individual competition, and Iowa State's team placed second in the veterinary college competition. Students must be familiar with physiological and behavioral indicators of animal welfare, and be able to evaluate how well a given situation suits the animal.
Keeping canines healthy -- canine teeth, that is
Brenda Mulherin, ISU Veterinary Medicine, offers tips on how to keep canines' teeth healthy.
Rankin named director of sustainability programs at Iowa State
Merry Rankin, a director in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will become director of sustainability programs at Iowa State University on Jan. 15.
ISU receives 'community engagement' designation
Iowa State is among 119 institutions that recently received the "community engagement" designation from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The designation recognizes institutions for outreach to local and global communities. The designation now been given to 195 institutions.
American Association for the Advancement of Science honors four Iowa Staters
Four Iowa State researchers -- Surya Mallapragada, Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, George Kraus and Kenneth Moore -- are being named AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
After 45 years of service at ISU, veterinary medicine professor says goodbye
Dr. Nani Ghoshal, ISU veterinary medicine, will retire this December after almost a half century of teaching at ISU.
Obama selects Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture
President-elect Barack Obama has selected former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to join his cabinet as agriculture secretary. Obama announced the nomination Wednesday morning. Vilsack is a Distinguished Fellow in Iowa State University's Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products.
Looking to get fit in the New Year? Iowa State fitness experts offer advice
Warren Franke and Gregory Welk, two Iowa State kinesiology professors, offer tips to people who vow to shape up in the New Year.
Average value of Iowa farmland nears $4,500 an acre in 2008
The average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa reached $4,468 in 2008, continuing to increase for the ninth year in a row, according to an annual survey conducted by Iowa State University Extension. Mike Duffy, ISU Extension farm economist who conducts the survey, said the indicators toward the end of the year imply the upward trend may be slowing as the national economy battles recessionary pressures.
Student veterans with financial need may qualify for ISU Veterans Grant
ISU has allocated $100,000 for the ISU Veterans Grant, a new program the Office of Student Financial Aid hopes will help supplement existing GI Bill benefits. The grant will provide up to $1,000 per semester for students whose veteran status is confirmed. Preference will be given to students whose status is confirmed by Jan. 2, 2009. Awards will continue to be made as long as funding is available.
Iowa State Biobased Industry Center studies carbon emissions, other industry issues
Iowa State University's new Biobased Industry Center will support interdisciplinary research of the biorenewables industry and its economic, policy, business, social and workforce issues. The center is now sponsoring four studies, including three studies related to carbon emissions.
Iowa State's Hira offers retirement savings resolutions for the New Year
Tahira Hira, an ISU professor of personal finance and consumer economics who serves on President Bush's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, offers 10 New Year's resolutions for investors who are planning to reassess their retirement options.
Adversity is springboard to success for graduate
Tamara Benedict has persevered through ordeals that few could fathom. The 43-year-old mother of five, who left a 10-year abusive marriage only to have a near-fatal car accident disrupt her dream of a college education, recently received her diploma from Iowa State.
In the news
Young Republicans seek a new kind of party
The Christian Science Monitor
Young Republicans are mounting an ideological and technological insurgency to change the course of the GOP. Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University, says young people are the new trees in the deforested Republican party.
10 really cool university networking labs
Iowa State University's Internet-Scale Event and Attack Generation Environment (ISEAGE) made the NETWORKWORLD list.
Putting kids on learning trail
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Playing games can create an opportunity to assess and evaluate student skills, says ISU Associate Professor Scott McLeod. "If we substitute the word 'simulations' for 'video games,' most people see the possibilities," McLeod says.
The value of living within our means
The Des Moines Register
Register columnist Rekha Basu laments that our priorities are out of whack, fueled by easy credit and a "buy now, pay later" philosophy. "We have all become children," says Tahira Hira, an ISU professor of personal finance and consumer economics. "We just point ... and say we want that, and we just get that." This holiday season, "if you don't have the money to buy gifts, please don't do it," Hira says.
Experts say serious flood frequency may increase
Associated Press
The likelihood of more frequent and severe Iowa flooding is increasing, say Iowa State faculty experts Gene Takle and Elwynn Taylor.
Iowa educators address college success for Latinos
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Iowa State University's educational leadership and policy studies program has collaborated with the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education on a policy brief that provides recommendations for schools and colleges, the university announced last week.