Purdue News Digest

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PURDUE NEWS DIGEST FOR WEEK OF 3/2/97 to 3/7/97

This digest contains summaries of the following stories from Purdue News Service and Agricultural Communication Service. (Instructions for retrieving stories and photographs via the Internet are at the end of this document.)

1. Scientists land new way to modify ultrasmall structures

2. Purdue researchers put soybeans in K-5 science classes

3. Purdue Road School looks at what's new, what could be

4. WBAA launches campaign to bring back National Public Radio

5. 'YourWay Cereals' wins entrepreneurial competition

6. Black Cultural Center phone-a-thon exceeds expectations

7. Video news release about entrepreneurial competition

8. Purdue faculty members earn promotions

9. Extension Service has helpful information for flood victims

10. Farmers: Wheat don't fail me now

11. Extension offers parenting information

12. Purdue News Roundup

• Purdue sponsors Women in Engineering Career Day
  
• Speech study seeks preschool subjects

• Forage producers need to assess flood and winter damage
  
• March 28 is deadline for 'sign-up' CRP
  
• Livestock producers to forage for information in Jasper
  
• 4-H helps college students feel at home

• Award-winning string quartet to play March 26 in Fowler Hall
  
• March film festival to honor Women's History Month
  
• Jazz All-Stars to play March 28 at Purdue

16. The biweekly calendar of agriculture events

17. National Lifestyles Package

3/7/97 NEWS SUMMARY

RESEARCH NEWS AND SPECIAL REPORTS

1. Scientists land new way to modify ultrasmall structures

Purdue scientists have developed a way to bring chemical structures known as ions in for a "soft-landing" on surfaces, providing a new way to trap and study ions and modify the outermost layer of materials. The new technique, outlined in today's (Friday, 3/7) issue of the journal Science , provides a way to alter surfaces of even the tiniest components, opening doors for new applications in computing, microelectronics and storing information at a nanoscale level. "Our method differs from other deposition methods in that the ions do not react chemically with the surface on which they are being deposited," says R. Graham Cooks, the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. "This not only allows us to preserve the ions for future use, but also allows us to modify the surface of a material in a way that is reversible."

2. Purdue researchers put soybeans in K-5 science classes

What happens when you mix one Purdue agricultural engineer, one Purdue food scientist, soybean oil and some soy protein with a little grant money from the Indiana Soybean Development Council? You get K-5 Soybean Science Kit: Polymers and Oils, a science teaching kit that gathers rave reviews from teachers. A $200 kit is available to each Indiana elementary and middle school for a $15 shipping charge. For those schools, the Indiana soybean council absorbs the cost of one kit. Each kit contains almost everything a teacher and 30 children need to transform soybean protein or soy oil into candles, crayons, ink, salad dressing, lip balm, hand cream and more. They even make "gluep," a gooey putty kids play with.

GENERAL INTEREST NEWS

3. Purdue Road School looks at what's new, what could be

State and local officials across Indiana will be hitting the highways and heading back to school -- Purdue Road School -- March 25-27. More than 1,200 people -- from street commissioners to mayors to highway engineers -- are expected on campus for the 83rd annual Road School to learn about what's new and to talk about what could be for Indiana's roads and highways. The 1997 Road School begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 25, in Stewart Center. The conference is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to register in Stewart Center beginning at 8 a.m. the first day.

4. WBAA launches campaign to bring back National Public Radio

Two popular National Public Radio news shows could return to Purdue's WBAA, if a spring fund-raising drive is successful. Dan Skinner, general manager of WBAA, said the station has started a fund drive to help underwrite at least three years of the cost of NPR programming. The programs under consideration are "Morning Edition" and "Weekend Edition."

5. 'YourWay Cereals' wins entrepreneurial competition

A plan to let health-conscious grocery shoppers create custom breakfast cereals won Purdue's 10th annual Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition. The winning plan, "YourWay Cereals," earned a first prize of $4,000 for Edward Maurer, a master's student in the Krannert Graduate School of Management from Latrobe, Pa. His plan used a bulk food stand containing cereal flakes, fruit and nuts. Consumers select their own preferred combination of flakes, fruit and nuts to design their own cereals. The winning entry was selected by a panel of judges after 25-minute oral presentations from 10 finalists. The contest was open to all Purdue students.

6. Black Cultural Center phone-a-thon exceeds expectations

A two-week phone-a-thon added more than $135,000 to the Purdue Black Cultural Center's fund-raising campaign. More than 100 students participated in the telephone campaign during the weeks of Feb. 17 and 24. Charles B. Wise, vice president for university development, said the phone-a-thon exceeded expectations. BCC Director Renee Thomas said more than 1,100 calls were made to alumni and friends of the BCC, and 38 percent of them made a pledge.

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE

7. Entrepreneurial competition

Here's the text of a video news release about 10 Purdue students who proposed possible start-up businesses at the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition. The winner received $4,000.

NEWS ABOUT PURDUE PEOPLE

8. Purdue faculty members earn promotions

Faculty promotions have been approved by the Purdue Board of Trustees, effective with the 1997-98 academic year. This is the complete list.

AGRICULTURAL NEWS

9. Extension Service has helpful information for flood victims

Southern Indiana residents returning to flood-damaged homes should check with their county Extension educators first, said David Petritz, program leader for agriculture and natural resources with the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service. "The wrong move could make a bad situation worse," he said. For instance, a homeowner who drains a flooded basement before the surrounding soils dry out could end up bringing the house down, he said. He said Indiana county Extension offices have information on food safety, family-coping tips, assessing buildings, restarting flooded machinery and other topics.

10. Farmers: Wheat don't fail me now

Most Indiana and Ohio farmers growing winter wheat have cause to be optimistic despite the deluge of rain in recent days. Purdue agronomist and winter wheat Extension expert Ellsworth Christmas said several factors bode well for wheat that is either threatened by water or is already submerged. "Wheat can tolerate up to four or five days under water at this time of year when the plants are either dormant or starting to grow very slowly," he said. He also pointed out that the agricultural land threatened by recent flooding tends to be at risk for high water every year, and thus doesn't get planted to wheat.

11. Extension offers parenting information

Parents are the single most powerful influence in the life of a child, according to a Purdue Cooperative Extension Service specialist in child development and family studies. But parenting isn't always intuitive, and kids don't come with instruction manuals. So how can parents raise a caring, competent, healthy child and enjoy doing it? Judy Myers-Walls suggests taking advantage of community resources on parenting. "Extension is probably the most extensive and available parenting resource in the state," the specialist said. "It's available in every county. Sometimes it's the only resource in the county."

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

12. Purdue News Roundup

(See summary of headlines at beginning of this document.)

13. Ag News Roundup

(See summary of headlines at beginning of this document.)

14. Arts News Roundup

(See summary of headlines at beginning of this document.)

15. Weekly events calendar

This calendar lists entertainment and sports events, lectures, exhibits, meetings and conferences involving Purdue people during the next four weeks. Also, an interactive, on-line calendar of Purdue events is at http://www.purdue.edu/calendar/

16. The biweekly calendar of agriculture events

This calendar lists Purdue Agriculture events during the next four weeks.

17. National Lifestyles Package

These stories were distributed nationally this week:

1. Parenting course helps young fathers say 'It's my child, too'

2. Purdue professor gives casinos tool against compulsive gambling

3. Dangerous UV light snakes its way into the shade

4. Lifestyles News Briefs

• Purdue to host Bug Bowl in April
  
• Can your paycheck go farther without a raise?
  
• Innovative bio-bandage protects and heals

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