News Archive
Wednesday, August 29 2012
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ISU experts predict rise in 2013 grocery prices to reflect today’s high grain costs
Americans can expect to pay more for groceries due to high commodity prices driven by this year’s drought, but food prices likely won’t hit their peak for a few months, said ISU grain market and agricultural experts this week. Corn prices have soared throughout the summer due to the historic drought that has withered much of the nation’s prime farmland, which has driven up feed costs for livestock and poultry producers. Those high prices will be passed onto consumers in the form of increased costs at the grocery store, but it will take several months for those increases to show up on store shelves.
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Political experts explain why Iowa has become so valuable in the presidential race
Both President Obama and his presumed GOP opponent in the presidential race, Mitt Romney, have been making frequent visits to Iowa. Iowans are used to that kind of attention during the caucuses, but not during the general election. Some Iowa State political experts say it's because Iowa -- and its six electoral votes -- may actually make the difference come Election Day.
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Public invited to Iowa State president's formal welcome
Seven months into the job, Iowa State University president Steven Leath soon will receive his formal welcome to the university. The presidential installation ceremony welcoming Iowa State's 15th president is set for Friday, Sept. 14, in Stephens Auditorium. The public is invited.
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Special commission on media violence confirms aggression link, includes ISU professor
As president of the International Society for Research on Aggression, ISU Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Anderson appointed an international Media Violence Commission last December to prepare a public statement on the known effects of media violence exposure, based on the current state of scientific knowledge. The commission, which included Iowa State psychology professor Douglas Gentile, published its report in the latest issue of Aggressive Behavior. It concludes that the research clearly shows that media violence consumption increases the relative risk of aggression.
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Memorial services set for Barbara Mack
Observances are planned to remember longtime journalism faculty member Barbara Mack, who passed away Aug. 23. No funeral services will be held.
Iowa State students, colleagues and friends will hold a campus memorial observance on Friday, Sept. 7, at 2:30 p.m. near the Campanile. And Mack’s family and friends in Des Moines will gather to celebrate her life and mourn her passing at Hoyt Sherman Place on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 2 p.m.
Gifts or memorial donations should be directed to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, Friends of Iowa Public Television, or ISU’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.
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Erskine Bowles will speak about the national debt Sept. 13
Erskine Bowles, president emeritus of the 17-campus University of North Carolina (UNC) system, a former White House chief of staff and co-chair of a bipartisan national commission on debt reduction, will speak at Iowa State University about the country's fiscal health. Bowles' talk, "A Conversation on the National Debt," will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. On Friday, Sept. 14, Bowles will introduce Steven Leath during Leath's celebratory installation as Iowa State's 15th president. Leath served as a vice president for the UNC system during Bowles' tenure as president (2006-10). -
Iowa State, Ames Lab researchers study the structure of drug resistance in tuberculosis
A research group led by Edward Yu of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory is beginning to study disease resistance in tuberculosis. The researchers started their TB studies by describing the structure of a regulator that controls the expression of a pump that removes toxins from the bacteria. The finding was recently published online by the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
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This season’s influenza strain among pigs and humans appears mild
Increasing reports this month of humans infected by influenza after close contact with pigs at county and state fairs shouldn’t send pork producers – or anyone else, for that matter – scrambling for the panic button, veterinary and animal science experts at Iowa State University said this week.
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Leath named to IFDC board of directors
Iowa State University President Steven Leath has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Muscle Shoals, Ala.-based International Fertilizer Development Center. IFDC focuses on increasing and sustaining food security and agricultural productivity in developing countries through the development and transfer of effective and environmentally sound crop nutrient technology and agribusiness expertise.
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Iowa State researchers feed pigs, chickens high-protein fungus grown on ethanol leftovers
An Iowa State University research team led by Hans van Leeuwen is feeding high-protein fungi grown on the leftovers of ethanol production to pigs and chickens. The feed-production process also cleans some of the water used in ethanol production, allowing more water to be recycled back into biofuel production. The process was recently named a global grand winner of the International Water Association's Project Innovation Awards in Applied Research.
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Drought creating waves of uncertainty for livestock producers
Some of the key safety nets that benefit crop farmers dealing with this year’s scorching drought won’t help livestock producers who have been saddled with high feed costs and growing uncertainty, according to two agricultural experts at Iowa State University. Crop insurance doesn’t help cattle or swine producers while high corn prices make it more expensive for farmers to feed their herds. The resulting higher feed prices have pushed producers to cull more dairy cows than in previous years.
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Iowa State, Ames Lab researchers invent new tool to study single biological molecules
Sanjeevi Sivasankar of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory is leading a research team that has developed new microscope technology to study biological molecules. The technology allows researchers to make 3-D measurements of single molecules with unprecedented accuracy and precision. The technology could be useful for medical researchers who need high-resolution data from microscopes.
Video: Movin' in
Thousands of students are moving onto campus, with lots of help from their families and university volunteers. Some are getting surprise visitors in their new rooms.
Video: In the show ring
Watch President Leath show a steer during the Governor's Charity Steer Show at the Iowa State Fair. It was the 30th anniversary of the fundraiser Iowa's Ronald McDonald Houses.
Iowa State named a Fiske 'Best Buy' school
Iowa State is one of only 20 public universities in the world selected as a Best Buy in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013. To qualify as a Best Buy institution, schools must have four- or five-star academic ratings, inexpensive to moderate tuition and fees, and high-quality student life on campus.