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Iowa plays hard, but falls short against Spartans

February 26, 2009 By

A short-handed Iowa Hawkeye squad fought hard but came up short in a 62-54 loss at ninth ranked Michigan State in Big Ten play. Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says he was proud of the effort but says the players weren’t satisfied with just making it close.

He says the team was down as they wanted to come in and win the game. Lickliter says if they didn’t have the positive approach, they wouldn’t have been able to come in and have a chance to win.

The Hawkeyes fall to 4-11 in the Big Ten. Lickliter says it was tough and hopefully they can find something they can do different and fight harder. It was another big night for Iowa sophomore Jake Kelly who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kelly says the Spartans are a good team who tried to wear him out throughout the game.

Kelly and several of his teammates played the entire 40 minutes again but says he is holding up. He says the training staff and coaches have done a good job of getting them ready to play and they don’t overdue it in practice.

The Hawks are 14-14 overall and visit Northwestern this weekend.

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Late free throw miss costs Drake in loss

February 26, 2009 By

With Josh Young at the foul line and less than a second remaining it seemed a sure thing that Drake would head to overtime against Southern Illinois. But after hitting the first one the juniot standout had a rare miss on the second one and the Bulldogs dropped their home finale to the Salukis 56-55.

Drake coach Mark Phelps on his post game show on KRNT in Des Moines says it was not a happy lockerroom, but he says everyone was picking each other up and letting Young know it was not his fault they lost. He says they now have to regroup and get ready for the next game.

Phelps says what lost the game for his team was falling behind by 11 points. He says their inability to make shots and to get defensive rebounds was the big reason they lost the game. Drake is 7-10 in the Valley and closes the regular season this weekend at Bradley. 

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Alternative jet fuel ready for testing

February 26, 2009 By

The director of the Bio-Economy Institute at Iowa State University says they’re ready to test an alternative fuel for jets. Robert Brown says I.S.U. has developed a new aviation fuel from bio-mass, but until gas prices go back up, he says there’s no company that would spent the money to build a facility to produce it.

"The one key factor is these are going to be very expensive plants to build, the capital costs are going to be very high. You will recover that capital if you’ve got a market for your product," Brown says. "But I’m not sure I want to be the one to put half a billion dollars into a facility that we might lose the market because the price of gasoline goes down."

Brown believes the aviation industry will demand an alternative fuel because of new restrictions in Europe. He says as countries attempt to cut use of fossil fuels to reduce their so-called "carbon footprint," the only way the aviation industry will survive will be to use jet fuel made from crop residue, grasses, or wood pulp.

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California chicken proposition draws criticism from ISU dean

February 26, 2009 By

The dean of Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture is critical of a new California proposition which requires larger cages for chickens that are laying eggs in a confinement setting. I.S.U.’s Wendy Wintersteen testified before the Ag Committees in the Iowa House and Senate on Wednesday.

"The difficulty with the Humane Society of the United States is that they really are not about helping people understand the science of the issue. They are about, really, building to the rhetoric involved and so you have a set of people in California that are very uninformed about the issue that voted to make a decision that will, in fact, have tremendous consequences across the United States," Wintersteen said.

"We will end up, if we’re not careful, having more restrictive regulations than Europe does related to animals." Wintersteen suggests an "uninformed electorate" can be convinced of anything. "For us, the issue is that the Humane Society of the United States has effectively convinced the public that there are a set of problems, when in fact that argument is not based on science," Wintersteen said.

According to Wintersteen, Iowa farmers should be on guard because she believes a similar bill could "certainly" emerge in the Iowa legislature. "I think the Humane Society is very well funded…They really speak to people’s heartstrings about the pets that we all have and the fact that so many of us are not growing up on farms anymore and we don’t understand how in fact what are good management practices with livestock," Wintersteen says, "So yes, indeed. I think they have a foothold everywhere."

The Humane Society, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other groups have the right to take whatever position they wish to take on animal agriculture according to Wintersteen, but she argues it’s time for farmers and ag interests to do a better job offering the alternative view.

"In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State I’m just about to the point of saying, ‘We need to have a capstone course for all of our students that bring to the table all of these issues of the food system in the 21st century. What does it mean? How do we help them critically evaluate it?’ We need to do a better job," Wintersteen said. "But again, if somebody prefers not to eat meat. If they want a specific production practice related to the food they eat, they should have that choice."

New standards for the poultry industry were enacted in California after a proposition passed last November which requires bigger cages for chickens that are laying eggs. According to Wintersteen, the supporters of the idea convinced voters chickens need room to spread their wings, but Wintersteen contends that’s false as spreading their wings is an unnatural act for a chicken.

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Researchers studying air pollution particles

February 26, 2009 By

A research team from the University of Iowa has won a nearly $900,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study air pollution. The main investigator in the study, Charles Stanier, says they are going to study the small particles that make up pollution.

Stanier says they are trying to figure out the different health effects of different types of particle, such as those that come from cars, those that come from diesel truck and coal combustion. He says they want to determine if they have different health effects on the population based on the air quality. Stanier says air quality studies now center on models that predict what the particle will do in the air, and actual monitors that sample the air.

He says they are going to try and take the strengths from each approach and combine them to try and get a better value than they can get by using either the simulation or the measurement. Stanier says the hybrid system should help the E-P-A and others who’re trying to improve air quality.

Stanier says E-P-A is interested because they want to target the specific types of particles that cause health effects, rather than try to control all particles. He says trying to control all particles causes you to spend money on particles that don’t have health effects, and you get less control over the particles that do have health effects.

Stanier says if you can figure out which particles cause problems, it is more economical to focus on those particles. The project is expected to take four years. Stanier is an assistant professor of chemical and biochemical engineering in the U-I College of Engineering.

Other U-I researchers helping on the project include: Greg Carmichael, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering; R. William Field, professor of occupational and environmental health and professor in the Department of Epidemiology; Naresh Kumar, assistant professor of geography; and Jacob Oleson, assistant professor of biostatistics. 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Denison pallet company still operating despite fire

February 26, 2009 By

Fire at Krajicek Incorportated in Denison. The owner of a pallet manufacturing business, with facilities in western Iowa and southeastern Nebraska, says they’re still turning out product despite a massive fire over the weekend.

The fire destroyed most of Krajicek Incorporated’s operations in Denison, Iowa. Owner Ed Krajicek says the damages exceed one-point-five million dollars.

"We were hoping it wasn’t going to be a big loss, but (the fire) just kept going and going," Krajicek said. "It cost us everything we had." More than 64 firefighters from eight area departments battled the blaze late Saturday night into Sunday morning. A fire gutted the same Denison facility nine years ago this month.

"February 15th of 2000," Krajicek remembered. The cause of that fire was never determined and investigators are working to find the source of this week’s fire. Krajicek say the facility will be rebuilt. For now, employees in Denison have set up shop in an outdoor parking lot, while pallet construction is being increased at the Krajicek facility in Crete, Nebraska.

"We have about 105 employees that work for us…and all of them will have a job," Krajicek said. Although the business office portion of the Denison facility suffered heavy smoke and water damage, Krajicek says employees were able to save some computers and critical billing materials. The Iowa State Fire Marshal’s office is helping the the investigation.

(photo courtesy of Denison Fire Department)

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Legislative committee approves idea of campaign contribution limits

February 26, 2009 By

A legislative committee has endorsed the idea of establishing limits on campaign contributions to politicians running for statewide office and seats in the state legislature. Senator Staci Appel, a Democrat from Ackworth, is the bill’s chief sponsor.

"The role of money in politics is always controversial. I believe now is the time for policymakers to address Iowans’ concerns and the disgust with high-spending campaigns," Appel says. "To limit the amount and source is one of the ways to regulate money in politics."

Currenty, individuals may donate an unlimited amount to a legislative candidate or to someone running for governor, attorney general or any other statewide office. Under Appel’s bill, individual Iowans would be able to donate no more than $4,000 to a single candidate running statewide; no more than $2,000 to a state senate candidate and no more than a thousand dollars to a candidate for a seat in the Iowa House.

Political action committees would be prevented from making unlimited donations, too, with new contribution caps that would be half of what are proposed for individuals. "There is a belief that an unusual, large financial contribution could influence the voting behavior of an elected individual," Appel says. "This bill intends to reduce the potential for corruption or even the appearance of that corruption."

The bill passed the Senate State Government Committee Wednesday with the support of all the Democrats on the panel. Five Republican senators voted no. 

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