Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (http://www.iowawatch.org/)
Last year, according to a University of Missouri survey, dicamba damaged an estimated 3.6 million acres of soybeans across 25 states when it drifted from farms planted with seeds genetically engineered to resist the chemical onto regular soybean fields.
Despite efforts by faculty and staff to educate students about sexual assault prevention and reporting, colleges and universities in Iowa struggle to measure how effective these initiatives are on their campuses.
I have spent 50 years as a journalist asking questions, listening to the responses, and closely observing the people and events around me. Somewhere along the way, my observational skills must have failed me. Apparently, I have missed a lot. Otherwise, I would have noticed those lines of people eager to join and remain in the ranks of the poor. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
IowaWatch will host a public forum in Iowa City to explore ways the University of Iowa can be more inviting to Latino and African American students. The forum, called “Diversity Reality at Iowa: The Truth Behind the Statistics,” is to take place on Thursday, May 3, 2018, at the University Capitol Center in Room 1117, which is located in the Old Capitol Town Center in downtown Iowa City. It will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. and is open to the public. KCRG-TV 9 is a media partner for this event. The forum will feature a panel of four students, Kimberly Chexnayder, Mario Williams, Gerardo Guerrero, Lilian Sanchez, and a university administrator, Lauren Gracia.
The IowaWatch Connection caught up with former Sen. Tom Harkin recently for a wide ranging interview about the influence of money, social media and other things that go with public service, plus work done at the Drake University institute bearing his name.
“The west certainly surpassed all my expectations, and Iowa is great,” Cy Woodman claimed after traveling from New York to Iowa on a Flanders 4 motorcycle in October 1912. Ethel “Cy” Woodman had ridden cross country to follow through on a dare. The
freelance journalist had been at the New York City Press Club one day when a fellow journalist dared her to ride a motorcycle from New York to San Francisco. The dare came after Woodman boasted that women were just as “gritty” as men. Iowa History, a weekly column, appears at IowaWatch on Saturdays.
Argentina and Brazil may fill China’s soybean needs if China imposes a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybean exports. Chad Hart, an agriculture economist at Iowa State University, said the impact depends on what happens during negotiations. IOWA NOTE: China is the second-largest market for Iowa exports ($2.3 billion in 2016 – $1.8 billion of it oilseeds and grains), behind Canada ($3.4 billion in 2016). “It is so hard to say, ‘This is what is going to happen.’ There are so many other moving parts,” he said. “This is a disagreement between the U.S. and China, but it has ramifications for Argentina and Brazil.”
Earlier this month, the United States and China both announced taxes on billions of dollars worth of imported goods — China is seeking tariffs on $50 billion worth of U.S. products that include soybeans and pork, while the U.S. announced taxes on $150 billion worth of 1,300 Chinese products, including electronics.
An important anniversary slipped by unnoticed recently. That milestone is a significant reminder beyond just the passage of time, however.
Adequate data do not exist for making clear decisions about antibiotic regulation in the hog industry, a key researcher says in a recent IowaWatch story. Hog farmers who either use antibiotics or do not have strong thoughts on what that does should be, this IowaWatch Connection podcast shows.
The oldest blacksmith shop in Nashua
The largest private collection of geological specimens in America
An Iowa native who photographed glamorous stars
A Memorial Day parade in New York City
All topics of articles written by Belle Caldwell, Charles City librarian and part-time features writer. Earning a degree in library science from the University of Illinois in 1908, Caldwell, a native of Nashua, began an impressive career as a public librarian. Her feature articles carried in the Des Moines Register, Marble Rock Journal, Nashua Reporter and a national magazine, Musical America, brought Caldwell attention outside the library. Iowa History, a weekly column, appears at IowaWatch on Saturdays. Cheryl Mullenbach is the author of non-fiction books for young people.