MSU Research roundup-Animal acts -Hospitality suite-Pig barn art -A date with weeds

Animal acts

Why will a goat eat leafy spurge but a cow won’t? If cows would graze the noxious weed then it
wouldn’t be taking over rangelands in Montana, said MSU professor of range ecology Bret
Olson. Olson and three other MSU scientists want to better understand why livestock eat what
they eat in order to entice sheep, goats and cattle into grazing more problem weeds. Their
four-year study is just one part of a larger project funded by the USDA. They’ll try using
attractants to lure the livestock to the weeds. Another idea is to overcome the weeds’ toxicity by
putting antitoxins in a salt block. A third approach is to have a mature animal model
weed-eating for impressionable youngsters.

Hospitality suite

If you’re a registered dietician, you could get a job doing menu management. No doubt there’s
some nutrient analysis involved as well as overseeing food safety issues. To help manage all
these tasks you might use some software called Hospitality Suite. MSU food and nutrition
students will be among the first in the country to train on the new, updated version of
Hospitality Suite, thanks to a grant from Computrition, Inc. The grant enabled MSU to purchase
the high-end software that nearly every food and nutrition graduate will encounter in the
workplace, said MSU dietetics program director Pamela Harris. Knowing the software will make
students more marketable for internships as well as jobs, Harris said.

Pig barn art

Some artists say they find inspiration anywhere. MSU is hoping they’ll find it in a vacant swine
barn. Richard Helzer, director of the School of Art, said the former home for pigs will be divided
into 12 studios and a gallery. Plain, white, simple and rough, it will be the "ideal space" for
graduate students, he said. Lest anyone worry about the smell, Helzer said the former pig barn
has been gutted and scientifically cleaned. The giant waste pits were cleaned "very, very well"
and will be filled with gravel and then covered. The old floor will be sealed with a membrane,
and then a new, heated floor will be installed. The project has to be finished this fall.

A date with weeds

To show the general public what they can do about noxious weeds, Carla Hoopes of MSU is
working on the 2003 Montana Noxious Weed Calendar. Hoopes is coordinator for the Montana
Noxious Weed Awareness Group. The 2002 calendar shows 12 Montana landscapes and some
of the weeds that may be found in those settings. The fact that 65 people are involved in
developing the calendars and that distribution has more than doubled shows widespread
interest, Hoopes said. The 9-by-12-inch full-color calendars are free and available from local
weed district offices. The 2003 calendar will be ready in October.

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