Des Moines Register
11-02-06
ISU, where meat rules, gets PETA veggie status
To be classified as a vegetarian school baffles some at the Ames campus.
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Ames, Ia. - Here's something to chew on:
Iowa State University, home to a meat science program ranked first in the
nation by Meat & Poultry magazine, now has been designated as one of the
nation's top vegetarian college campuses.
Students and campus dining service employees here appreciate the irony. Some
greeted news that ISU was on a list of 45 "most vegetarian-friendly colleges'' with
mystified silence; others stifled laughter.
The list, circulated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, includes
schools like New York University and the University of Pennsylvania, where
vegan cheesecake is in campus dining halls.
One ISU administrator politely called PETA's designation "Nice."
The cordiality ended there.
"We haven't had a conversation with PETA or anything," said Carol Petersen,
ISU's assistant director for dining.
Peterson said dining halls have worked to provide vegetarian food options for
students, but dining service managers are aware of the university's role in meat
production sciences.
"We are an ag school," she said. "Certainly there's always a bit of concern'' about
some views held by PETA.
Studies in animal science are booming, with 659 undergraduates this fall, an
uptick from the 576 enrolled three years ago, according to the ISU College of
Agriculture.
A spokesman for PETA said the fact that ISU has a top-rated meat science
program is an "interesting point."
Students interviewed Wednesday over lunch said they thought of ISU much more
as a meat-eating school than a vegetarian one.
"Not my vote," said Justin Lyons, 23, an ISU student who grew up on a dairy
farm in Waukon.