News Archive
Wednesday, March 2 2011
News
Noted expert on Arab-American relations James Zogby will speak March 9
Author James Zogby, a scholar and expert on Arab-American
relations, will discuss his new book during a lecture,
"Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us and Why it
Matters," at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in the Memorial
Union Great Hall. Zogby is the founder and president of the
Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization
that serves as the political and policy research arm of the
Arab-American community. His presentation is part of the
university's World Affairs Series and is free and open to
the public.
News
release.
Author and environmentalist Rick Bass will speak at Iowa State March 9
Photo by
Nicole Blaisdell
Environmentalist and award-winning author Rick Bass will discuss the process of writing his latest novel, during a talk, "From Idea to Novel: A Writer and Activist at Work, " at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Bass, who is an affiliate faculty member in Iowa State's MFA program in creative writing and environment, is the author of more than 20 books. His new novel, "Nashville Chrome," draws on the rise and fall of the Brown trio, the true-life country music trailblazers who pioneered the 1950s sound from which the novel takes its title. The presentation is free and open to the public.
ISU historian edits book detailing first human space mission, which turns 50 this year
New radio program podcast examines science of parenting
Global ISU study: Invasive species widespread, but not more than at home range
Invasive plant species have long had a reputation as being bad for a new ecosystem when they are introduced. As it turns out, they aren't any more abundant away from home than they are at home.
Daily Beast columnist and CNN political contributor John Avlon will speak March 8
Author, political columnist and voice-of-the-center John Avlon will present "Putting Labels Aside: Not Left, Not Right, Just Forward," at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Avlon specializes in the analysis of the independent movement and is a CNN political contributor. He is a senior political columnist at the Daily Beast, and author of "Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics" and "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America." His talk is free and open to the public.
Salk Institute researcher and ISU's first Science Bound graduate to speak March 7
Salk Institute
photo
Salk Institute plant scientist Charles Stewart Jr. graduated from Iowa State in 2000, the university's first Science Bound graduate. He will return to speak on "Fighting Hunger: A DNA Engineer's Path to Science and Success," at 8 p.m. Monday, March 7, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. A research associate at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, Stewart studies how plant enzymes make chemicals that are important to medicine and agriculture. Stewart's free, public lecture is part of the 20th anniversary celebration of Science Bound, ISU's program to increase the number of ethnically diverse Iowa youth pursuing science, technology, engineering and math careers.
Anumantha Kanthasamy
ISU research raises hope for solving Parkinsons disease puzzle
Anumantha Kanthasamy of ISU's College of Veterinary Medicine has discovered a protein pathway that may hold the secret to understanding Parkinson's disease. He has been working to understand the complex mechanisms of the disease for more than a decade and believes this recent discovery offers hope for the cure.
Jane Smiley will speak about her Atanasoff bio March 3
Photo by
Michael Lionstaer
Pulitzer prize-winning author Jane Smiley will speak about her
most recent nonfiction book, "The Man Who Invented the
Computer: The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital
Pioneer," at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 3, in the Memorial
Union Great Hall. The book tells the story of Atanasoff, an
Iowa State physics professor who invented the first electronic
digital computer in the basement of Physics Hall before he was
diverted into war work in 1941. Smiley taught at Iowa State
University from 1981 to 1996. Her presentation is free and open
to the public.
News
release.
Oliver named interim dean of ISUs College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
In the news
Are teen brains hardwired for hazard?
There's a lot of evidence to suggest that the teen brain is hardwired for hazard. Studies have found that the areas of the brain involved in social interaction and emotion mature at an earlier point than those that regulate behavior. One 2007 Iowa State University analysis surveyed more than 10,000 adolescents about what went into their decisions, including choices about their behavior.
Jobs there for the taking
The number of companies recruiting on campus, the number of
available job openings and the number of students landing
interviews and jobs all are on the upswing, according to job
placement officials like Kathy Wieland, the business
college's director of career services at Iowa State
University.
See
story.
Fighting the flu
National Science Foundation Discoveries
Each year, people everywhere prepare for flu season. Some will get the flu vaccine, some take vitamin supplements, some launch a vigorous handwashing campaign, while others take an entirely different approach: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Mei Hong, a chemist at Iowa State University, uses NMR to study a proton channel named M2, found on the surface of the influenza virus.
Colleges open food pantries for hungry students
Iowa State University and the University of Arkansas opened
food pantries this month, adding to a growing list of
universities that includes Utah State University, Bakersfield
College in California, University of California-Davis, and West
Virginia University.
See story.