News

Book chronicles life and times of Iowa State
A new history of Iowa State University offers a detail-rich look at the life and times of a university that will soon turn 150 years old. News release. (Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:05:00 CST)

ISU educational leadership chair addresses today's underserved students
Laura Rendon, professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State, identified four categories of underserved students in her recent paper for the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative titled "Reconceptualizing Success for Underserved Students in Higher Education." News release. (Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:55:00 CST)

IPRT will get own director
The Institute for Physical Research and Technology will get its own director, John Brighton, ISU vice president for research and economic development, said recently. Tom Barton, director of both IPRT and the Ames Laboratory, has returned to the ISU faculty, and the search for an Ames Lab director already is under way. The search for the new IPRT director will focus on internal candidates. IPRT is a network of scientific research centers at ISU. News release. (Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:15:00 CST)

Iowa State MBAs aim to be Big 12's best
A team of Iowa State MBA students was judged to be one of the two best among Big 12 North Division schools in last weekend's MBA case competition at the Gerdin Business Building. It will now compete in the Big 12 "Final Four" round at the University of Oklahoma March 9-11. News release. (Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:00:00 CST)

Chimps Observed Making Their Own Weapons
Research led by ISU anthropology professor Jill Pruetz finding that chimpanzees in Senegal have been fashioning deadly spears from sticks and using the hand-crafted tools to hunt small mammals -- the first routine production of deadly weapons ever observed in animals other than humans -- is featured in a story by Rick Weiss. See story. (Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:30:00 CST)

Hunting chimps may change view of human evolution
Chimpanzees have been seen using spears to hunt bush babies, researchers -- including ISU's Jill Pruetz -- said on Thursday in a study that demonstrates a whole new level of tool use and planning by our closest living relatives. See story. (Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:30:00 CST)

Wanted: High school students to fight off computer hackers
Organizers of Iowa's second High School Cyber Defense Competition are looking for more teams willing to stay up all night to defend their networks from hackers. The competition will be overnight from May 18 to 19 at Iowa State University. See www.iasga.org for more information. News release. (Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:00:00 CST)

ISU anthropologist's study is first to report chimps hunting with tools
Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jill Pruetz led a study finding chimpanzees in Senegal are regularly making and using spears to hunt other primates -- making it the first to report habitual tool use by non-humans while hunting other vertebrates. News release. (Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:00:00 CST)

MSNBC to telecast presidential debate at Iowa State
MSNBC will telecast a Republican presidential candidates debate live from Iowa State University Nov. 6, 2007. The debate also will be streamed live on MSNBC.com. News release. (Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:15:00 CST)

ISU study finds discrimination leads to greater drug use in African-American teens
Research led by psychologists at Iowa State has found that incidents of racial discrimination are the strongest predictors of subsequent drug use among African-American teens. News release. (Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:45:00 CST)

ISU prof finds laparoscopic surgeons improve speed, accuracy by playing video games
A study co-authored by Iowa State University assistant professor of psychology Douglas Gentile and published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery found that laparoscopic surgeons who previously played video games made far fewer errors and were considerably faster than their non-playing colleagues when participating in a top laparoscopic training program. News release. (Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:00:00 CST)

Funds for new endowed chair boost software engineering program
A $1.5 million commitment from Iowa State alumnus Long V. Nguyen and his wife Kimmy of McLean, Va., will create an endowed chair in software engineering in the department of computer science. "Iowa State University is committed to leadership in this exciting discipline," said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. "This chair will help us recruit an established star in software engineering to support these efforts." News release. (Mon, 19 Feb 2007 08:30:00 CST)