A new look for Pammel Drive
Looking east on a reconfigured Pammel Drive near the WOI Road intersection. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
About five weeks in the making, a new look for Pammel Drive opened over the weekend. The former four-lane road was repaired, resurfaced and restriped last month as a two-lane road with left turn lanes and painted center medians. A final task is scheduled for Saturday when traffic is a bit lighter: painting new approaches on Pammel east of Stange and west of Bissell to align vehicles with the two-lane format ahead of them.
The intent behind the changes is to improve pedestrian safety and help Pammel Drive function more like other campus roads and less like a city arterial street. The posted speed limit (25 miles) has not changed.
Drivers are asked to be attentive to the changes in the weeks ahead as all users -- pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers -- get used to the new format.
Related story:
Pammel Drive to be resurfaced, striped as two-lane road this summer, April 28, 2016
Experience art in the making at the Iowa State Fair
The university's 2016 Iowa State Fair exhibit will showcase "Your Beautiful Adventure," a partnership between university marketing and university museums. Eight works of art will be relocated to ISU's space in the northeast corner of the Varied Industries Building, and 20 portraits will be added during the fair, which runs Aug. 11-21.
Featured art from university museums' Art on Campus collection include a newly fabricated G-Nome, one of four that will replace the figures atop the Molecular Biology Building this fall, and the red metal Solo sculpture from the Anderson Sculpture Garden. Small-scale models of other campus public art also will be featured in the exhibit, open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
"The exhibit will offer visitors a glimpse of what our beautiful campus is all about -- the art, the landscaping and the architecture," said university marketing director Carole Custer. "It will be like a walk through campus, with green carpet underfoot like a lawn."
Artist at work
Visitors can experience art in the making while Iowa artist Rose Frantzen paints portraits on site -- two daily, with the exception of Wednesday, Aug. 17. Frantzen's work has been featured nationally, including an exhibit of her Portrait of Maquoketa project at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The state fair subjects, chosen by ISU's colleges and select units, will sit (for about four hours) as Frantzen paints. The finished portraits then become part of the state fair exhibit.
Custer said the exhibit will use ISU's award-winning campus as a backdrop. A photo station will offer visitors a virtual trip to campus. Using their smartphones, visitors can take pictures of themselves in front of one of six campus scenes. They also can post their photos on social media sites using #Beautiful Adventure.
Gameday T-shirt
More than 120 faculty and staff volunteers will distribute Cyclone football posters and apply tattoos. Athletics trophies will be on display and daily drawings for Cyclone events and behind-the-scenes guided tours of university museums sites will be awarded. University museums' book, "Campus Beautiful," also will be available for purchase ($100) and free post-fair delivery.
A portion of the exhibit space will house cardinal and gold merchandise offered by the University Book Store. Football gameday T-shirts will be available for $10 each, and fans can find discounts in the Cy's Deals section.
Student art
Student artists
- Taylor Carlson, graduate student, integrated visual arts
- Michael Day, senior, industrial design
- Seth Karp, senior, biological/premedical illustration
- Brice Voss, senior, industrial design
- Nathan West, senior, integrated studio arts
Five students from the College of Design -- two per day throughout the fair -- will set up easels at event locations throughout the fairgrounds to draw the people, places and things that capture the essence of the state fair. The project, "Artists Next Door," is interactive and encourages fairgoers to talk with the student artists as they work. Students will be identifiable by their cardinal and goal T-shirts and nametags. The drawings -- done in charcoal, pen and marker -- will be displayed as part of ISU Extension and Outreach's exhibit in the 4-H Exhibits Building.
ISU Extension and Outreach
Thousands of 4-H youth will present their entries in the 4-H Exhibits Building and livestock arenas. Students who are high school age also are eligible for ISU scholarships that will be awarded by the Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business colleges.
Extension and outreach also is involved in these state fair features:
- Iowa State Fair Food Finder app, available in the iTunes and Google Play stores
- Master Gardeners' Discovery Garden
- The Wine Experience at Grandfather's Barn
- Conservation Station in Ruan Plaza
- Weed identification contest, open to the public (9-11:30 a.m., Friday, Aug. 12)
- Appearances: VP Cathann Kress as a celebrity chef with the Iowa Pork Producers (11 a.m.- 1 p.m., Friday, Aug. 12); and 4-H youth development program leader John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas as a speaker on the MidAmerican Energy Stage (2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13)
All about the animals
Volunteers from the College of Veterinary Medicine -- a mix of about 20 students and faculty -- will help with the state fair's youth vet camps. The program, available for kids 10 and up, offers hands-on experience with animal care. Camp registration is required and limited to 30 youth per session.
Dr. Kelly Still Brooks, a clinician in veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, is the state fair veterinarian and will oversee the health of all exhibit and special event animals. She'll be assisted by assistant professor Troy Brick and Vet Med students.
Finalists named for new LGBTQA+ affairs post
Four finalists have been named in the search for the project director of LGBTQA+ affairs, a new position in the office of vice president for diversity and inclusion Reginald Stewart. The finalists will interview on campus over the next couple of weeks.
The project director will provide, develop and facilitate education, outreach and other support functions to students, faculty and staff, with special emphasis on the LGBTQA+ community and other targeted underrepresented populations.
The candidates are:
- David Green Jr., lecturer in the department of Afroamerican and African studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Paul Hengesteg, former special consultant to the senior vice president for student affairs at Iowa State
- Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, director of education and leadership, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Des Moines
- Nicci Port, administrative specialist in Iowa State's College of Human Sciences
Candidate forums
The campus community is encouraged to attend an open forum with each candidate. (All forums are from 2 to 3 p.m.)
- Aug. 12, Hoffman-Zinnel (Gallery Room, Memorial Union)
- Aug. 16, Hengesteg (Gallery Room, Memorial Union)
- Aug. 17, Port (268 Carver Hall)
- Aug. 18, Green (3512 Memorial Union)
More about the candidates
The candidates' vitae and an evaluation form are available on the vice president for diversity and inclusion website.
Solar "challenge" lives up to its name
Iowa State's Phaëton 2 trails its lead vehicle on the road to Topeka, Kansas, on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Team PrISUm.
Five days into an eight-day, 1,975-mile race for student-built solar cars, Iowa State's Team PrISUm and its Phaëton 2 vehicle are in a three-way battle for eighth place among the 12 universities still competing. Twenty teams arrived in Pittsburgh July 21 hoping to qualify in a series of car performance tests and laps completed on a speedway.
If engineers are known for their problem solving, Team PrISUm was put to the test this week. The team has dealt with failed axle bearings on the towing trailer, a battery charging system that blew up on the eve of the race, bent axle and smashed wheel covers due to a gap in the road shoulder (the car pitched into the ditch) and a failed electrical power board. Fixing several of these issues cut into solar cell charging time at the end of the day, with the potential to impact the next day's performance.
Seeing the sites
In partnership with the National Park Service's centennial celebration, the 2016 American Solar Challenge includes checkpoints at nine national parks or historic sites in seven Midwestern states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Wednesday began the longest of the race's four stages, an 850-mile stretch from Republic, Missouri, to Gering, Nebraska, that the teams have up to three days to complete. Team PrISUm reached Wednesday's checkpoint in Topeka, Kansas, and departs from there Thursday. Once the teams reach Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska, it's a 158-mile jaunt Saturday from Gering to the finish line at Wind Cave National Park near Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Related stories:
Team PrISUm enjoys sunny skies and a (mostly) quiet drive to Topeka, Aug. 3, 2016
Team PrISUm races nearly 300 miles on the day, runs out of charge 5 miles from stage stop, Aug. 2, 2016
More Team PrISUm highs and lows: Solar car cruises, arrives seconds late to checkpoint, drops wheel in ditch, Aug. 1, 2016
Another up and down day for Team PrISUm, but Phaëton 2 does hit the speed limit, July 31, 2016
Team PrISUm solves another problem, races well, looks forward to a quiet night, July 30, 2016
Team PrISUm qualifies ninth for American Solar Challenge, believes it has found speed, July 28, 2016
Iowa State's solar car team ready to race 1,800 miles from national park to national park, July 18, 2016
Training time for most faculty and staff
It's time for most ISU faculty and staff to renew training on Title IX and unlawful harassment.
By law, all employees are required to complete training every two years, said equal opportunity director Margo Foreman. Those who need to take the training now will receive an email this Friday from ISU's online training vendor Workplace Answers.
"If you receive the Workplace email, please click your individualized training link as soon as possible and get started," Foreman said. "Training should be completed this month."
Foreman noted that those who took the training earlier this spring or sometime within the past couple of years won't receive an email Friday or need to take the training.
Two courses for most
All employees must take two courses:
- Unlawful harassment prevention
- Preventing discrimination and sexual violence. This course covers several federal laws -- Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in education; the Violence Against Women Act, which strengthens penalties against offenders and provides service to victims; and the Clery Act, which requires universities to disclose information on campus crime
Third course for supervisors, faculty
Supervisors and faculty also must complete a third, supplementary course on unlawful harassment prevention.
New employees
New employees who've never received training information should contact eooffice@iastate.edu. Subsequently, they'll receive email instructions from workplaceanswers.com.
Training details
The training sessions are interactive and include a variety of workplace scenarios. The two required sessions for all employees take about 40 minutes each to complete. The supervisor supplement can be completed in about 15 minutes.
Training need not be completed in a single session. Participants can stop and restart as needed.
Trainees can print certificates for their own records upon completion of the courses. However, the certificates needn't be forwarded to administrators or the office of equal opportunity. Course completions will be electronically recorded.
The office of equal opportunity will keep departments apprised of their employees' progress in completing training.
"This training is important," Foreman said. "It helps Iowa State fulfill requirements by two federal agencies -- the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Office of Civil Rights. More importantly, it helps make us better campus citizens."
Those with questions about the training material or technical issues should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, 4-7612, eooffice@iastate.edu.
Darr named interim VP for university human resources
Kristi Darr, director of human resources, was appointed interim vice president for university human resources, effective, Aug. 1.
Darr has served in university human resources for eight years in varying roles, most recently as director of human resources, overseeing talent acquisition, employee and labor relations and learning and development.
The VP post previously was held by Julie Nuter, who recently resigned to accept a position with Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago.
Visitors keep campus busy during summer
Many events -- from local to global -- will bring thousands of visitors to campus this summer. The following is a look at the groups (expecting 100 or more participants) that Iowa State will welcome over the next couple months.
