News Archive
Friday, October 3 2014
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ISU design prof's e-textbook on 3-D modeling and animation lowers students' costs
Anson Call didn't want his Iowa State University design students paying nearly $300 for instructional materials that would be out of date in a matter of months. So when the associate professor of graphic design wrote his textbook on using industry-standard software to create 3-D modeling and animation, he did it digitally. His e-textbook, "Cinema 4D R15 Fundamentals for Teachers and Students" is available for about $282 less than the alternative.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Iowa State political experts available to comment on 2014 election
What issues will influence voters at the polls? Will Iowa elect its first woman to Congress? And what is the role of social media in this election? Iowa State University political experts are available for interviews to answer these questions and discuss other issues leading into the November election.
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Chinese students plan Oct. 3 memorial service
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association is holding a memorial service for Iowa State University junior Tong Shao at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, on the lawn south of the campanile. Tong, a chemical engineering major from China, was reported missing Sept. 17. A body found in Iowa City was identified as Tong on Sept. 29. Counselors from the ISU student counseling service will be available at the memorial service.
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Body found in university apartment; no foul play
Iowa State University Police responded to a report of an unresponsive female in a University Village apartment on the ISU campus shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30. A resident reported finding her roommate inside their locked apartment. Police and emergency medical personnel immediately responded to the scene; however, the female was already deceased. No foul play is suspected.The woman was a student at Iowa State. The family and next of kin are being notified and no additional information is available at this time. -
Iowa State physicists among teams preparing for new Energy Department supercomputer
Iowa State's Pieter Maris and James Vary will scale up their computer codes for Cori, the Energy Department's next-generation supercomputer. They'll study two classes of nuclear states to understand the basic physics of the burning sun and exploding stars. What they learn could one day lead to safer, more efficient forms of nuclear power.
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Iowa State University research explores new possibilities for the treatment of epilepsy
Ongoing research at Iowa State University is investigating the connection between initial seizures and the onset of epilepsy later in life. Gaining a better understanding of why and how the disease develops may hold the key to stopping its progression and developing new treatments, according to ISU biomedical science researchers.
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President Leath's statement on the tragic death of Tong Shao
"We were saddened to learn just after 5 p.m. Monday that the body of a young woman found in Iowa City is that of Tong Shao, an Iowa State junior who was majoring in chemical engineering. Since she was reported missing, members of the Iowa State community had been concerned for her safety and well-being. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family and friends, both here and in China. She will be missed by all. We appreciate the hard work of the Ames, Iowa City and Iowa State University Police departments, as well as other law enforcement agencies, and understand that their investigation continues."
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Costume designer makes her way from Broadway to Iowa State University
The path that led Sara Jablon to Iowa State is far from typical. Unlike her colleagues or other ISU students who may aspire to one day work on Broadway, Jablon spent 10 years there dressing actors for productions of the Lion King, Cabaret and Rent. As a guest designer for ISU Theatre’s “Spring Awakening,” Jablon is also pursuing a Ph.D. in fashion and apparel.
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ISU research team developing new measurement tool for schools and research
To improve health and help combat childhood obesity, more schools are changing physical education requirements and finding new ways to keep children active throughout the day. However, the challenge for both educators and researchers is accurately measuring the time children spend performing physical activity. That’s why Welk and a team of Iowa State researchers are working to improve the Youth Activity Profile, a tool designed to help schools assess children’s physical activity behavior.
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Gender barriers: ISU professor looks at history of discrimination against women in engineering
To better understand the striking gender divide that still exists today in engineering, it is necessary to look at the history of the field, said Amy Bix, an associate professor of history at Iowa State University. Unlike other fields, such as science and medicine, in which women slowly gained access by starting as research assistants or nurses, it was more difficult to get a foot in the door in engineering. In her book, “Girls Coming to Tech!: A History of American Engineering Education for Women,” Bix looks at how women fought to overcome gender stereotypes by gaining acceptance to engineering programs.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley will speak at Iowa State Oct. 6
Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Thousand Acres" and former Iowa State University faculty member, returns to her old stomping grounds in Ames to share in a conversation about her work and new novel, which follows an Iowa farm family through three decades. "Writing about Iowa: A Conversation with Jane Smiley" will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. It is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.
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Energy Department supports Iowa State studies of concrete for taller wind turbine towers
A Department of Energy grant will allow Iowa State University's Sri Sritharan to continue to research and develop taller wind turbine towers made from high-strength concrete. The energy department's grant is designed to improve the manufacturing process for taller towers and support clean energy manufacturing in the United States.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Iowa State University agriculture experts available to comment on 2014 harvest
As Iowa farmers prepare for the 2014 harvest, Iowa State University agriculture experts are available to comment on what trends they’ll be watching as combines hit the fields.
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Understanding aggressive behavior in chimpanzees will help protect the endangered species
Iowa State University Anthropology Professor Jill Pruetz long suspected that man-made changes influenced the aggressive behavior researchers have observed among chimpanzees. However, her perspective is changing as one of the collaborators of a new study published in Nature that found adaptive strategies better explain the chimp’s aggressive behavior.
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Iowa State joins national alliance to help more low-income, first-generation students to graduate
Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert is in Washington, D.C., as Iowa State joins 10 other major public research institutions to launch the University Innovation Alliance. The alliance is an unprecedented effort to share and test ideas, so that more low-income and first-generation college students reach graduation. Iowa State will share best practices in its learning communities program, which has consistently been recognized as one of the best in the nation. High-income students are seven times more likely to attain a college degree than are low-income students. Iowa State and the other founding UIA members are focused on addressing this achievement gap. Joining Wickert in the nation's capital are Alma Marquez, a senior in chemical and biological engineering; and Angie Mallory, a U.S. Navy veteran and English doctoral student -- both of whom are active in Iowa State's learning communities.
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Iowa State GeoFabLab prints 3-D rocks, fossils; advances geoscience research, education
Iowa State's Franek Hasiuk is using 3-D printing to study the pores within limestone reservoir rocks. A better understanding of the pore networks within the rocks could help industry get at the oil in the smallest pores. Hasiuk is also using the scanning and printing technology to engage students in geology classrooms.
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New ISU report shows growing income inequality evidence of shrinking middle class
Job growth in the retail and service sector has not matched the wages of manufacturing and other middle-skill level jobs lost over the past decade in Iowa. The difference has contributed to a growing disparity between low and high income households, which is especially profound in specific parts of the state, according to a new report by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach rural sociologist David Peters.
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Champion boar raised on Iowa State University farm fetches $85,000 at auction
A champion Duroc boar born on Iowa State University’s swine teaching farm and raised by ISU animal science students sold for $85,000 at an auction on Wednesday. The boar’s superior genetics and solid body build accounted for much of his value to buyers.
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Iowa State welcomes 34,732 students this fall
Iowa State’s fall 2014 enrollment of 34,732 is the largest in school history, an increase of 4.5 percent (1,491 students) over the previous record of 33,241 in fall 2013. More Iowans are attending ISU than ever before, and this fall's student body also set records in U.S. multicultural, international and nonresident new freshman enrollment, among other categories.
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U.S. News rankings: Iowa State is 50th among best public national universities
Iowa State comes in at No. 50 among the top national public universities in U.S. News & World Report's 2015 "America's Best Colleges" rankings.
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Iowa State University class will help with crowd-sourcing effort to fight antibiotic resistance
A class of microbiology students at Iowa State University hopes that the next big discovery in the fight against antibiotic-resistant diseases is right below their feet. The students will take part in the Small World Initiative, an effort that allows science students at universities all over the world to seek out novel microorganisms that produce antimicrobial compounds that could become the basis for new antibiotics.
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Officials break ground for new economic development hub at Iowa State Research Park
Iowa State and State of Iowa officials will break ground for a new 49,210-square-foot Economic Development Core Facility at the Iowa State University Research Park. The ceremony will be 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the CPMI Event Center at 2321 N. Loop Dr. on the north side of the research park. There will be a short program at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Iowa State's economic development hub is expected to open in mid-2016.
Take a tour of Sukup and Elings halls
Elings Hall and Sukup Hall and Atrium together are adding over 170,000 square feet of classroom and research space to the Biorenewables Complex.
Change Agent: Carolyn Lawrence
An Iowa State University professor is using extreme data management to speed up advances in plant breeding – just don’t call her work “big data.”