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Sunday, October 10 2010

News

Fitting launch for new facility

A little chemical wizardry cooked up by a student group provided a fitting launch Friday for Hach Hall, Iowa State's new chemistry facility. The three-story building provides lab space and technology to perform research and improve undergrad learning. The facility was funded with a state appropriation and private gifts and is named after Kathryn Hach Darrow, her late husband, Clifford Hach and the extended Hach family, who joined the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, Muscatine, and many others in providing gifts. Tending to the fire are (from left): Bruce Hach, Troy Ross (of the Carver Trust), Dean of the Liberal Arts and Sciences College Michael Whiteford, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and Kathryn Hach Darrow. The Society of Chemistry Undergraduate Majors (SCUM) concocted the flashy "ribbon-cutting."

Memorial service set for Jonathan Brown

Jonathan Brown, an Iowa State student who was struck by a vehicle approximately one-half mile from Jack Trice Stadium on Oct. 2, died Thursday morning at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. A celebration of Brown's life will be held Monday, Oct. 11, at 10 a.m. at the Pennsylvania Avenue Free Methodist Church, 820 Pennsylvania Ave., Ottumwa. The visitation will be held Sunday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family has directed memorials to the Salt Company, a college ministry of Cornerstone Church in Ames. The Brown family has said they will wear cardinal and gold to the funeral and invite others to join them.

A moment of silence will be observed at Saturday's Iowa State football game in memory of Brown, who was a junior in computer engineering at ISU. His family will attend the game.

"On behalf of the university community," ISU President Geoffroy said, "I wish to express our deepest sympathy to Jonathan Brown's parents, family and friends. A bright young mind has left us unexpectedly and all too soon, and we will miss him."

ISU educator addresses community college retention; promotes online transfer calculator

Linda Serra Hagedorn, a professor and interim chair of ISU's educational leadership and policy studies department, was guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of College Student Retention Research, Theory and Practice, on community college retention. In it, she introduced a new downloadable software application she helped create, The Community College Transfer Calculator®, which identifies the course-taking patterns that predict transfer for students.

Bioasphalt® developed at Iowa State to be used, tested on Des Moines bike trail

Bioasphalt® developed by Iowa State University's Christopher Williams and produced by Avello Bioenergy Inc., a company started by three Iowa State graduates, will be tested on a Des Moines bicycle trail. Williams said asphalt mixtures derived from plants and trees could replace petroleum-based mixes. And that could provide markets for Iowa crop residues and business opportunities for Iowans.

News release.

Renowned landscape architect to speak Oct. 19

Andrea Cochran, the principal of Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture in San Francisco, will present the 2010 P.H. Elwood Lecture in Landscape Architecture on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Iowa State. Her presentation, "Immersive Landscapes," will be at 6 p.m. in Kocimski Auditorium, College of Design. It is free and open to the public. Cochran's work is known for its careful consideration of site, climate and existing architecture. She strives for a seamless integration of landscape, art and architecture that blurs the line between the natural and built environments. The lecture series honors the legacy of professor Philip H. Elwood, who is credited with developing the ISU Department of Landscape Architecture.

News release.

Quinn Weninger

Quinn Weninger

New fisheries system will save about $20 million, Iowa State University researchers find

Some fisheries in the United States are poised to undergo major changes in the regulations used to protect fish stocks, and Quinn Weninger and Rajesh Singh have estimated that the new system will be an economic boon to the fishing industry. The two estimated harvesting costs under the old system and compared that to the newly proposed fishing regulations that lift many restrictions that cause inefficiency while still limiting amounts to be harvested.

News release.

Iowa State senior conducted research in Rome and presents it in China this week

Senior Emily Zimmerman could have graduated in three years. Instead, she will graduate in four with a second major that has enabled her to conduct research last summer in Rome and present it this week in China. Zimmerman, who majors in biology and global resource systems, is presenting her research poster, "A Review of the Current Status of Agrobiodiversity Monitoring Systems," at the Managing Biodiversity for Sustainable Development Conference at Yunnan Agricultural University in Kunming, China.
News release.

Daniel Russell and Carolyn Cutrona have been tracking Iowa subjects from their  Family and Community Health Study on a large map.

Daniel Russell and Carolyn Cutrona have been tracking Iowa subjects from their Family and Community Health Study on a large map.

Neighborhoods can have depressing effect on health, according to Iowa State study

Daniel Russell, an ISU professor of human development and family studies; and Carolyn Cutrona, professor and chair of psychology, presented research on the depressing effects of bad neighborhoods at the recent World Conference on Stress and Anxiety Research in Ireland. Their presentation summarized data taken from the Family and Community Health Study, an ongoing ISU study of 800 African American families.
Lyric Bartholomay, assistant professor of entomology

Lyric Bartholomay, assistant professor of entomology

Iowa State University researcher examines mosquito genes for new disease responses

Iowa State University researcher Lyric Bartholomay searched for new genes that are turned on during infection in a type of mosquito that is not only a pest, but transmits disease-causing pathogens. Bartholomay is the first author on the paper, "Pathogenomics of Culex quinquefasciatus and Meta-Analysis of Infection Responses to Diverse Pathogens," to be published in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Science.

News release.

Iowa State architecture professor's book makes new ADA requirements more accessible

An Iowa State University architecture professor has devoted much of his career to helping architects, building contractors, code officials and students decipher and implement the accessibility standards and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). And he wants them to become advocates for good, inclusive design that goes beyond minimum standards -- even the new standards, which were published in the Federal Register Sept. 15. Arvid Osterberg's latest contribution is the third edition of a 260-page manual, "Access for Everyone: A Guide to the Accessibility of Buildings and Sites with References to 2010 ADAAG."
News release.

The 2010 World Food Prize Laureates to present ISU's Norman Borlaug Lecture Oct. 11

David Beckmann and Jo Luck, the 2010 World Food Prize recipients, will present the ninth annual Norman Borlaug Lecture on Monday, Oct. 11. Their presentation, "Grassroots Efforts in the Fight against Global Hunger," will be at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. A reception and student poster competition on world food issues will be at 7 p.m. in the South Ballroom. All events are free and open to the public.
News release.