Agriculture& Lifesciences
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY agriculture & life sciences news College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University April 1989 Raffensperger enjoys telling this sto ry because it so effectively illustrates the profound yet little recognized role that insects play in the grand events of his tory. But they’re there in the minutiae of daily life, too. “You’re up against in sects all the time,” he said. “Just think of the language. We get ‘the bugs’ out of a computer program, tell people not to ‘bug’ us. Musical groups, the Beatles, the Horseflies, the Yellowjackets are named after insects. They appear in art everywhere from Renaissance paintings to the decoration on ceramic coffee mugs.” To prove his point Raffensperger has a collection of sixty such mugs, and he takes a different one with him to each session of his unique course, Cultural Entomology. It’s the only one on the subject taught anywhere in the country. But not for long. To give other entomol ogy departments access to his twelve years of research, material from a third of Raffensperger‘s twenty-six lectures has been made into an interactive video titled “The Cultural Influence of Insects.” Not only is the video unique in its sub The computer screen shows one of the friendlier insects Gerry Gay (left) and Edgar Raffensperger have ject, but in its form as well. Instead of Included In an interactive entomology program. The program is stored on a video disk, like the one organizing the information in a linear below, which combines text, graphics, animation, and video images. pattern—where a person using it must go back to the beginning to move from one category of information to another— Raffensperger and the video’s producer, Geri Gay, assistant professor of commu Cultural Entomology nication and director of the Interactive continued, on page 5 Moves to Video he real reason Napoleon lost the invasion of Russia won’t ever be The Invasion of found in a history book,” says TEdgar M. Raffensperger, professor ofRussia en Retold tomology. Why? Because it isn’t dramat ic enough. What really brought the great - ------ OR = conqueror down was a common in sect—the human louse. ‘‘More of How Napoleon’s Napoleon’s soldiers were killed by typhus, a lice-bom disease, than by star Army Lost to Lice vation, cold, and gunfire combined.” CORNELL UNIVERSITY agriculture & life sciences news Agriculture in the Classroom bw of us realize that when we spend visuals accompany the story The whole a dollar for a loaf of bread the farm package is the latest in teacher Fer gets just three cents out of the friendliness. deal The rest goes to processors, pack In addition to portraying the scientif agers, transporters, wholesalers, retail ic and economic aspects of agriculture ers. and a host of others who take more realistically, thereby creating a wheat, transform it into a packaged food more informed citizenry, the second goal product, and make it available to us of Ag in the Classroom is to interest "When we buy food at a grocery store, more young people in agricultural we often pay much more for services careers "Enrollment in the colleges of than for the food itself," said Senior Ex agriculture across the country has tension Associate Daryle E Foster "Yet declined 25 to 30 percent in the last five when the price of bread goes up, it's the years, while at the same time the num farmer we blame " t>er of careers for agriculture profession As co-director of the Ag in the Class als is on the way up." room project, it's Foster's job to create The materials are designed to show educational materials that set the record the breadth of career possibilities.They straight—that teach the children of New portray agriculture as not just food York State the complexities of American production but an entire food and fiber agriculture It's not easy. speakers, field trips, and more to any in teach. Rather, we've put together infor system encompassing horticulture, for terested teacher in the state Distribu malion about agriculture that fits into estry, wildlife and natural resources Children Learn Where tion funding is provided by the state the existing areas that the state already management, landscaping, fish and I Food Comes From legislature, and the Cornell Cooperative mandates must be taught—math, sci horse rearing, and more The use of I computers and other high-tech equip / Extension network offers teacher train ence, social studies, and language arts " ment, as well as the centrality of re / ing and resource support services For example, one of the social studies search to the success of American I "Fifty years ago a third of our popu To date the program has reached more units for the third grade includes a sto agriculture, is emphasized as a way to I latio/i was involved in production than 75,000 students "The reason ry on the ways wheat was grown for appeal to tiie interest many young peo / agriculture; today it's only two percent teachers have accepted our materials breadmaking in different eras and cul pie have for the sciences / Until the end of World War 11 more than so readily," Foster said, "is that we tures. Vocabulary lists, crossword and 80 percent of us either had extensive haven't added yet another subject to word search puzzles, and bulletin board continued on page 3 / home gardens, kept chickens or owned cows; today even the simplest home garden is comparatively rare. This means that children have few opportu nlties to gain firsthand knowledge about ALS Alumni Auditorium to be Dedicated October 7-, agriculture. Their parents aren't likely to know much, and in the Sputnik era 275 seats remain to be named the little that’s found m elementary school textbooks is woefully outdated. ” Yet as the public debate heats up on questions of animal rights, the use of bo M lumni and friends of the college are vine growth hormone in meat produc IWfunding a modern new 600 seat tion, patenting genetically engineered ^■teaching classroom to Im? dedicat animal species, and a plethora of other ed as 'Alumni Auditorium' on October 7 advancements in biotechnology, it's in Robert Nagler '50, chair for Phase I of creasingly important that we, as the campaign, in announcing that the citizens, understand where our nourish first phase had reached the $250,000 ment comes from as well as the fiber for goal, introduced 23 sponsors and donors our clothes, the wood pulp for our com who will be prominently recognized on puter paper, and shrubs for our land a plaque upon entering the auditorium scapes. "Around the country." Foster said,' "decisions are being made in state $500,000 College Campaign legislatures and at the voting booth that put agriculture in jeopardy, just because in second phase people don't understand what's really involved." Sponsors: Taking a "teach the children first’' ap Alumni Association, College of Agriculture proach. a partnership was formed four and Life Sciences years ago between the college, the Farm Robert W Bitz '52 Bureau, and the state's Department of Robert A Boehlecke '34 Education and the Department and Esther Schiff Bondareff '37 Agriculture and Markets to create educa David L. Call "54 and Robert V Call, Jr. '50 lional materials for grades kindergarten in memory of Robert V Call. Sr '17 through twelfth. In addition to teachers’ Richard C. Call '52 guides and student workbooks. Ag in the Classroom provides computer programs, George G. Gellert '63 Philip D Gellert '58 a S10.000 gift from the college's alumni association for hands-on learning kits, posters, guest the new Alumni Auditorium. t the college's ma|or and special gifts committee, and Frederick F Hess '63 Dean David L. Call accept the gift. which put the campaign over its $250,000 Phase I goal, on schedule Anthony F Incalcatera '76 Herbert R. Kling '36 Ernest L. Stem "56 paign, seeking gifts of $650 from alum Robert Nagler '50 Builders: ni and friends to name 600 seats in the Martha K. Palmer HE '24 and James B Anonymous On the Inside auditorium, continues through June A Palmer '21 Ronald P Lynch '58 gift coupon is on page 4 William C Rolland '61 Students of Prof Kenneth Robinson. MS "47 The auditorium will be dedicated on Management through Pro-Dairy 2 Jean F Rowley '54 Sponsor and Builder gifts of 110,000 October 7 with hundreds of college Nelson Schaenen, Jr '50, Memory of Nelson or more may be made until June 30, alumni and friends attending. Details of Chandler Wins Food Prize 3 Schaenen '23 1989 by contacting Robert Nagler. Op the dedication will be listed in the Au Carol U Sisler, tribute to Ag Economics 150 penheimer & Co., One World Financial gust issue of ALS News. We urge you to Alumni Association Roster 7 professors. Herrell F. DeGraff '37. John W Center, New York, NY 10281; phone make lodging reservations in Ithaca Mellor '50, and Daniel G Sisler '58 212-667-7674 early ■ Robert S. Smith '42 Family The second and final phase of the cam See related stories, pages 2 and 4 Pro-Dairy Helps Farmers Become Better Managers ne thousand dairy farmers across for Success workshops were attended by ONew York State are profiting from clients of a single veterinary clinic As improved management principles one told Young "We've been trying to they learned recently in Managing for teach management to our clients for Success workshops They are the first years and Pro-Dairy is the way to get wave of farmers who are becoming this done.