Iowa State University

7-29-97

Contacts:
Carole Custer, University Relations, (515) 294-3134
Steve Sullivan, News Service, (515) 294-3720

E-MAIL, SOLAR CAR AND TATTOOS: ISU AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University wants everyone to bring their e-mail address books to the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 7-17.

More than 100,000 people are expected to visit the university's exhibit, "Working To Become the Best," in the Varied Industries Building. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day of the fair. Visitors to the Iowa State exhibit will have the opportunity to send e-mail messages to friends and family. Visitors also can view various pages on the university's web site.

"This year's ISU fair exhibit is designed to be highly interactive and show fair goers why Iowa State has been ranked as one of the country's 'most wired' universities," said Carole Custer, director of university marketing and fair exhibit coordinator.

This year, Iowa State was ranked among the top 20 most-wired campuses by "Yahoo! Internet Life" magazine.

Prospective students visiting the Iowa State exhibit can speak with admissions counselors and use "College View," an interactive CD-Rom that will help them learn about Iowa State.

Visitors also can have one of the always popular, non-permanent Cyclone tattoos applied.

The Iowa State solar car, ExCYtor, which placed 26th in this year's national Sunrayce, will be on display. Students and other members of ISU's Team PrISUm will be on hand to talk about the solar car.

The Iowa State exhibit also will give visitors the opportunity to sign up for drawings for tickets to Iowa State Center events, football tickets and university memorabilia. Football schedules and posters also will be available.

Across the aisle in the Varied Industries Building, Ames Laboratory representatives will be handing out copper coins as part of a "Promise of Powders" exhibit. The exhibit will feature a demonstration of the four-step powder metallurgy process that changes molten metals into powders, which then are pressed into shapes and strengthened through a heating process.

Fair goers will be able to participate in the process by pressing copper powder into coins and comparing the strength of these coins to ones that have been sintered (heated). There also will be displays of parts and components made from the powder metallurgy process.

In the Agriculture Building, Iowa State's College of Agriculture will have an exhibit where fair goers can learn about efforts to protect and enhance Iowa's water quality. This year has been declared the "Year of Water" and marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa's Groundwater Protection Act. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which was formed by the act's passage, is housed at Iowa State and is co-sponsoring the exhibit.

A stream table developed by the Iowa State forestry department will operate continuously to show the erosive impact of flowing water. The table also will demonstrate the benefits of streambank stabilization work. Farm toys on the table will help demonstrate the impact of water erosion on land, animals and people. Children visiting the exhibit also will find a computer program about the water cycle and take-home activity sheets featuring a water experiment and games.

There will be daily prize drawings for "Year of Water" rain gauges and gift certificates from water-related Iowa businesses and attractions.

ISU Extension will have an exhibit in the 4-H Building that will involve live broadcasts by WOI AM/FM. WOI's Midday show will be broadcast live from the fair each weekday and Market News broadcasts will originate from the fair.

On Friday, Aug. 8, National Weather Service Meteorologist Eric Pytlak will be at the fair for a special call-in weather program on WOI's Midday Science show. WOI's Todd Mundt and extension's Doug Cooper will be at the fair every weekday for the Midday show. Other WOI personalities, including Book Club's Doug Brown, also will be on hand.

Iowa State's Grain Quality Laboratory will have an exhibit in the Agriculture Building Aug. 8 and 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibit will feature a contest where corn and soybean samples will be tested for specialized quality attributes. Anyone is eligible to enter the contest by bringing up to two corn and two soybean samples to the entry desk by noon, Saturday, Aug. 8. Prizes will be awarded for the highest value samples in each of several end use categories.

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Revised 7/29/97