Troxel project includes eco-friendly pavement system

Silva Cell installation in Troxel Hall plaza

Photo by Bob Elbert.

Beneath the brick pavers that will be installed in the plaza area on the south side of Troxel Hall lies an underground pavement support system. Rhonda Martin, landscape architect in facilities planning and management, said this is the first Silva Cells system to be implemented in Iowa.

The underground system comprises a series of stacked frames, filled with loose soil and topped with permeable platform decks constructed of an ultra-strong resin compound. It provides room for tree roots to grow, filtration and absorption of storm water, and prevents soil compaction in paved, urban environments. The Silva Cells are part of the LEED certification process for Troxel Hall.

Martin said 180 Silva Cell frames and decks are being installed, topped by a layer of gravel and permeable brick pavers that filter water into the underground grid. The system provides about 600 cubic feet of planting soil for each of the three trees in the plaza. Without it, the trees would be limited to about 48 cubic feet of soil, compacted by heavy foot traffic and occasional vehicle access. The system is produced by the San Francisco-based DeepRoot company.


Creek cleanup nets 200 pounds of trash

College Creek cleanup

Fifty-five volunteers participated in the fifth annual College Creek cleanup on June 29. They removed more than 200 pounds of trash, mostly plastic bags and food and beverage containers, from the portion of the creek that runs through campus -- from University Boulevard on the east side to Lincoln Way, passing by the Lied Recreation Center, Forker Building, east parking deck and The Knoll.

In addition to cleaning the creek bed and banks, volunteers helped Recreation Services staff empty more than 2,000 sandbags used for flood protection this spring at the Lied center. The sandbags, which never were contaminated by floodwater, no longer are needed by the university.

With assistance from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Waste Exchange Program, about 10,000 empty sandbags have been placed with communities across the state for their flood prevention efforts. The sand is being reused for ISU projects. Submitted photo.


Summer enrollment sets a record

A record number, 11,233 students, enrolled in summer session at Iowa State this year. That represents an increase of 435 students (4 percent) over last summer's student body of 10,798 students.

Undergraduate enrollment (7,611 students) is up 5.5 percent (395 students) from summer 2012. Graduate enrollment (3,145 students) is up 1.7 percent (53 students) from a year ago. Veterinary medicine students (167) and post-docs (310) round out the 2013 summer enrollment (PDF) figure.

Quick look: Summer enrollment

  2013 2012
Undergraduates 7,611 7,216
Graduates 3,145 3,092
Vet Med students 167 188
Post-docs 310 302
TOTAL 11,233 10,798

 


Phone tips

Editor's note: Iowa State University no longer uses Aastra telephone products. Information about current phone hardware is in IT portal's voice and conferencing services.

This week's tips

  • Set up speed dial
  • Pick up a colleague's phone
  • Set your calls to ring on two (or more) phones

Aastra 6737i or Aastra 6739i

You have two ways to put frequently called numbers on your phone screen for quick dialing, and you'll most likely use both. There are many similarities between BLF (busy lamp field), explained in last week's Inside, and speed dial, described in this week's phone tips.

Using BLF and speed dial together will allow you to put more numbers on your phone screen for one-push dialing. The chart below compares features of these quick-dial techniques.

Quick-dial techniques

Speed Dial Busy Lamp Field (BLF)
Use for: Any number, on- or off-campus Use for: On-campus  Aastra phones only
6737i screen displays names
6739i displays names
6737i screen displays numbers only
6739i displays names and numbers
Doesn't indicate when numbers are busy Indicates when numbers are busy
One-touch dial on phone screen One-touch dial on phone screen
Setup method: Phone keypad Setup method: Web portal

 

A more congenial portal entrance

The web-based phone portal provides access to many advanced features of the new Iowa State phones. However, the portal URL -- http://xsp3ext.sip.net.internet2.edu/Login -- wasn't overly friendly. Staff in information technology services have remedied that by giving the portal a more congenial address -- phone.iastate.edu. Once in the portal, you'll see the old URL atop the web page, but you never need type it again.


Aastra 6739i: Speed dial, call pickup, simultaneous rings

Editor's note: Iowa State University no longer uses Aastra telephone products. Information about current phone hardware is in IT portal's voice and conferencing services.

 

Aastra 6739i

Aastra 6739i (PDF user guide)

Set up speed dial

  • To create a speed dial, press the "options" button and then the "softkeys" softkey
  • Scroll to the "speed dial" softkey and press
  • Inside the speed dial form:
    • Press inside the "label" text box and use the keyboard to type a name
    • Press inside the "value" text box  and type phone number ( no hyphens, parentheses or spaces); You can enter the last five digits for campus phones (4XXXX); include area code for off-campus numbers (515XXXXXXX).
    • Press "save" softkey and "goodbye" key

To speed dial:

  • Find the appropriate softkey; you may need to press the "more" softkey (key with two dots)
  • Press the softkey to make the call

To edit:

  • Press the "options" button
  • Press the "softkeys" softkey
  • Scroll to the appropriate entry and press that softkey
  • Make edits and press "save"
  • To delete entry, you'll need to delete contents of both text boxes and press "save"

Call pickup

Call pickup allows you to use your own phone to answer the ringing phone of a colleague. The colleague must be in your call pickup group. That group generally is set up several days after the installation of your new phone. Here's how to pick up a neighbor's call:

  • Press the "call pickup" softkey on your phone's screen
  • If you want to know who's in your call pickup group, sign on to the web portal (phone.iastate.edu) and go to "call control," then "call pickup."

Incoming calls ring simultaneously on one (or more) phones

On occasion, you may want your incoming calls to ring not only to your office phone, but on one or more other phones. This feature is easy to set up, and easy to turn on or off as needed.

  • If you haven't done so, set up your portal
  • Go to phone.iastate.edu and sign in
  • In the left navigation, click "incoming calls"
  • Under the "advanced" column, click "simultaneous ring personal"
  • Add numbers of other phones that will simultaneously ring (don't check the "answer confirmation required")
  • After "simultaneous ring personal," click the "on" button
  • Click the "OK" or "apply" button
  • NOTE: If you don't pick up any of your ringing phones in time, the phone with the speediest voice mail will collect your message.

 

 

 


Aastra 6737i: Speed dial, call pickup, simultaneous rings

Editor's note: Iowa State University no longer uses Aastra telephone products. Information about current phone hardware is in IT portal's voice and conferencing services.

 

Aastra 6737i

AAstra 6737i (PDF user guide)

Set up speed dial

  • To enter a name, press any blank softkey (it won't have a label)
  • In the first text box, type a name or label. Use the phone keypad to type, just as if you were creating a text message. To delete something, hit the "backspace" softkey; the space is under the * key.
  • Tap â–¼ to go to the next text box and enter the phone number. You can enter the last 5 digits for campus phones (4XXXX); include area code for off-campus numbers (515XXXXXXX).
  • Hit "save" and then, the "OK" softkeys
  • Repeat steps above to add more entries

To speed dial:

  • Click the softkey beside the name
  • You may need to press "more" to see all the names on your list

To edit a speed dial key:

  • Press "options" key, then scroll to "preferences" and press â–¶ to select
  • Scroll to the "speed dial edit" option and press â–¶ to select
  • All programmable speed lamps will flash; press the softkey of the entry to be edited
  • Select the "name" or "number" text boxes and edit as desired
  • Press the "OK" softkey

Call pickup

Call pickup allows you to use your own phone to answer the ringing phone of a colleague. The colleague must be in your call pickup group. That group generally is set up several days after the installation of your new phone. Here's how to pick up a neighbor's call:

  • Press the "call pickup" softkey on your phone's screen. If this feature doesn't work, your call pickup group may not have been set up yet. Try again later.
  • If you want to know who's in your call pickup group, sign on to the web portal (phone.iastate.edu) and go to "call control," then "call pickup."

Incoming calls ring simultaneously on one (or more) phones

On occasion, you may want your incoming calls to ring  not only to your office phone, but on one or more other phones. This feature is easy to set up, and easy to turn on or off as needed.

  • If you haven't done so, set up your portal
  • Go to phone.iastate.edu and sign in
  • In the left navigation, click "incoming calls"
  • Under the "advanced" column, click "simultaneous ring personal"
  • Add numbers of other phones that will simultaneously ring (don't check the "answer confirmation required")
  • After "simultaneous ring personal," click the "on" button
  • Click the "OK" or "apply" button
  • NOTE: If you don't pick up any of your ringing phones in time, the phone with the speediest voice mail will collect your message.