Whether you’re buying organic produce from students at the food fair, bottom right,
or waiting for your barbecue, top right, or tossing balls into a basket,
Ag Days 2006 offered fun for visitors of all ages.
Photos by Joe Pallen and Kelly Weaver, UI Photo Services

by Sara Shepherd

When University of Idaho Recruiter Simba Tirima hovered over a sizzling pan of onions, spices, and sauces at the front of the classroom, it seemed clear his recruitment efforts relied heavily on his cooking ability.
Among more than 100 high school students from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington visiting Moscow’s campus to sample college life during Ag Days celebrations, a dozen students at Tirima’s International Palagastro (palate + gastric) workshop sat in the front row hearing about life and cooking in Kenya, and how both are impacted by Arab and Indian cultures. Tirima’s wife and two children joined in the storytelling during a surprise visit.

His audience continued to grow as the scent of new and mysterious foods filled neighboring hallways. By the hour’s end, everyone had a plate full of kukupaka (mystery chicken), githeri, and rice.

“Put it this way: I’m going to the University of Idaho,” one student exclaimed at the session’s end.

From judging sheep (top) to playing games with fake money (left), attending workshops (GPS navigation, center left), or tackling the famous rec center climbing wall (right), high schoolers from several states, on campus for Ag Days 2006, stayed busy experiencing college life. Photos by Kelly Weaver and Joe Pallen, UI Photo Services

Not your grandparents’ college
College leaders guided visiting students away from the “plows and cows” stereotype of the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), introducing them to the ever-evolving non-traditional sides of today’s agriculture and to the college’s role involving 4-H, families, and consumers.

“Agriculture today is so much broader than just plows and cows,” John Foltz, CALS assistant dean and director of academic programs told student visitors. “This is not the college your grandparents attended. Our college today is broader than ever, encompassing much of what is new in agriculture like biotechnology, use of GPS/GIS, biofuels, animal identification via microchip and databases, new domestic and foreign markets, new food products, and so on.”

Today’s college also includes important departments such as the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences, microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry, and food science and toxicology.

Studying play, fashion, and biodiesel
Especially designed for visiting students were 15 one-hour Friday workshops from all CALS departments, offering junior high and high schoolers a preview of college studies.

Each student could sign up for three sessions. Choosing was tough, with titles including Forget Rocks, Climb Trees, From Field to Fuel—Growing Your Own Biodiesel, Learning GPS and GIS, Microbes as Weapons of Mass Destruction, What’s On Your Hands, and Inside the Fashion Biz.

When asked what interested them most, students agreed it was all about “hands-on” activity. “That’s what makes a good college—hand’s on coursework,” said Sara Moe, an 11th grader visiting from Caldwell.

In the Child Development Lab, Beth Price, family and consumer sciences professor, challenged students to consider the science of play. Opening with pictures of children at play, she asked participants what children might learn as they play with blocks, with clay, with dolls. To think like a small child and consider “play” is to consider a child’s thought and learning processes.

Instead of just talking about play, students explored the lab picking up and playing with whatever interested them. Several headed straight for the water bath—a game table converted into a water tub with toys that one might find dangling by a child’s bathtub. Others traveled back into their own childhood memories.

“We get to just play,” two girls grinned and giggled as they shoved colorful play dough through a minced garlic utensil.

Meanwhile, out on a lawn, 18 high schoolers took turns clipping on safety gear to climb a tree while John Lloyd, a plant, soil and entomological science professor, wove stories of potential arboriculture careers.

Gloves protect the hands of southern
Idaho high school visitor at the
Ag Days biodiesel workshop.
Heat speeds one of the chemical
processes that prepares mustard
seed oil for use as biodiesel.
Photo by Mary Ann Reese

In the biodiesel lab, students watched a documentary before turning on small burners to heat vials of oil pressed from mustard and canola seeds. “What’s the reaction?” asked Jon Van Gerpen, head of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. “It’s thinner,” observed one. “It’s changing color … darker,” said another. “Will biodiesel get the same miles per gallon as petroleum-based fuel?” asked a third. “No. Miles per gallon drop about eight percent with biodiesel,” said Van Gerpen.

In the fashion workshop, students poured over magazines tearing out images of designs clearly influenced by history and art from around the world, and they read each other’s clothes labels. Made in Bangladesh, China, India, Haiti, Mexico, Romania, and Honduras. “None from the U.S.A.?” asked Sandra Evenson, professor with family and consumer sciences.

Hayrides to meat, dairy, biodiesel labs
Cool temperatures and wind didn’t deter visitors who climbed aboard hay bales on a flatbed trailer for a hayride tour of college barns and labs.

Stops included the meat laboratory, the college’s dairy farm, and the biodiesel and biological and agricultural engineering facilities to see biodiesel products and processes for creating them.

Livestock judging, nights on campus
Many students attended Ag Days to meet new people and engage in workshops, and in the process found it helpful to be on campus, experiencing college life. Since most visitors were in their early high school years, being on campus definitely got them thinking about college options and how the UI might help them realize career goals.

Katie Mosan, a 10th grader from Nezperce, Idaho, says she already knows that she’ll attend UI CALS. A few students have picked other universities. Still others remain undecided.

After a full day, students, who brought their own sleeping bags, settled down in Memorial Gym, “locked in” with chaperones Friday night, after deciding among choices to attend a UI volleyball game, swim in indoor pools, or watch a movie.

Saturday morning came early for students competing in livestock judging. Nearly 350 students—both 4-H and FFA—from Ag Days and the Latah County Fair participated.

Next came Ag Days’ venerated barbecue and football game between the UI and Idaho State University, with the season’s first football win—27 to 24! Ag Days ended for high school visitors at the UI recreational center, a second overnight. Students climbed the famous rock wall, watched videos, played games, and quizzed CALS Ambassadors.

“We all enjoyed the workshops, extra activities, and judging,” summarized Weiser’s Kim Royer in her Ag Days evaluation. “We’ll definitely be back next year.”

Editor’s Note:
Author Sara Shepherd arrived at UI CALS in September 2006 as a sophomore, transferring from a two-year college in Hermiston, Oregon. Enrolled in UI CALS’ Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, which blends her interests in journalism and agriculture, she’ll seek a career also combining these interests. Maybe something with USDA?

top