Your gift guide to campus shopping

by Debra Gibson
Add another selling point to the viewbook -- Iowa State University is a great holiday shopping destination. From food to fine furniture, ISU offers treasures sure to please everyone on your list -- and aside from the 28,000 students and 6,100 faculty and staff, you don't have to fight the crowds.

Here are our picks for presents:

Is that Aqua Velva I smell?
"A guy in a trench coat who gets the job done" -- the perfect choice for the suave one on your list. This "Guy Noir" bobblehead doll, straight from Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, is available with a $100 or more membership pledge to WOI Radio. Contact: Marisue Hartung, 4-8603.

Prayin' for powder
For the adventurers in the family, pack up their skis and snowboards and head 'em for the Rockies Jan. 5-11 with ISU Recreation Services. For $414 per faculty/staff member (or $330 per student), the six-night stay in Steamboat Springs, Colo., will include a four-day lift ticket, transportation, lodging, social events and taxes. Contact: Jerry Rupert, 4-4774.

Who brought the Triscuits?
Can't face the thought of shopping for yet another fruit basket? Buy your favorite nosher a sausage and meat tray from the ISU Block and Bridle Club. Club members produce the sausages at the ISU Meat Laboratory. Trays run from $9 to $15; orders due by Dec. 2. Contact: ISU Block and Bridle Club, 4-1865.

Sweet Peas and Stars
Give the promise of spring with the 2003 Garden Calendar, produced by Iowa State University Extension. Chock-full of both helpful gardening tips and gorgeous photos, the calendar sells for $6, plus shipping and handling. Contact: Extension distribution center, 4-5247. And for your starry-eyed friend, pick up the 2003 "Splendor of the Iowa Skies" astronomy calendar, produced by the department of physics and astronomy. Contact: Steve Kawaler, 4-9728.

Home sweet home
Nothing says ISU like The Knoll, now 100 years old. Commemorate the landmark with a collectible pewter holiday ornament offered by the ISU Alumni Association. Members pay $14.99; non-members pay $15.99. Order directly from the manufacturer: 1-800-338-4059.

All you need is tinsel
Evergreen, ever popular. Continuing its tradition of more than 30 years, the ISU Forestry Club will sell fresh Christmas trees and wreaths from the Reiman Gardens maintenance building. Inventory will include Iowa-grown white and Scotch pines (5 feet high and taller) and balsam firs (6 to 8 feet tall). Two types of wreaths will be available: 24-inch balsam fir and 18-inch pine. Trees range in price from $20 to $45; wreaths cost $13 and $15; discounts will be given for purchase of both tree and wreath. The student chapter of the Society of American Foresters also will sell firewood bundles for $5 each. Sale dates and times: Friday, Dec. 6: 3 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, Dec. 7 and 14: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, Dec. 1, 8, and 15: noon to 6 p.m. Contact: ISU forestry department, 4-1458.

Cheers to the lifelong learner
Mom's retired and getting bored? This will shake her out of it: a beginning belly dance course at the Memorial Union Workspace. All spring classes will be announced in early January; gift certificates are available. Approximate costs for belly dance course (1 hour per week for 7 weeks) are $30 for ISU students and $35 for non-students.

Best seat in the house
If a trip to ISU's bowl game isn't in the vacation budget this year, at least help your favorite Cyclone fan enjoy watching the game in comfort. University Book Store offers a leather recliner and ottoman (in navy or red) embroidered with the Iowa State logo for $429. Contact: UBS, 4-0574.

Make like Martha
An elegant poinsettia plant is always a welcomed gift. Check out the new and unusual varieties during the Reiman Garden's poinsettia sale from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in the conservatory complex. Plants for sale are leftover stock from the conservatory's poinsettia exhibit, and start at $10 each. Contact: Sandy Latta, 4-8991. Poinsettias also can be purchased from the ISU Horticulture Club during its annual sale noon to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, outside the University Book Store, and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 11-13 on the ground floors of Curtiss and Beardshear halls. Plants will sell for $5 to $12. Contact: Jason Haegele, 572-7744.

Sunshine on their shoulders makes them happy
Keep the ISU solar car on the road -- adopt a solar cell or a battery. By donating $25 to Team PrISUm, a solar cell can be purchased, one of more than 700 such components necessary to operate the car. Likewise, a $100 gift can be made toward the purchase of the car's $14,000 battery pack. Contact: Team PrISUm, 4-0899.

Shape up
Worried that a loved one will overdose on all that fudge and divinity? Buy him or her a semester membership to the ISU Exercise Clinic for $50. Contact: Warren Franke, 4-8257.

You're a grand old flag
Cyclone fans can show the nation their allegiance with this ISU car flag. Priced at $15.95, it is available at the University Book Store. Contact: UBS, 4-0574.

CYGFT4U
Brighten that tailgater's day with a little cardinal and gold and help a deserving student pay for college. A Cyclone specialty license plate costs $50, with half of that going to Iowa State for financial aid. For details on the buying a plate, see the DOT web site. Contact: Buy a plate through your county treasurer's office.

For the card-carrying member
Offer respite from Iowa winters with annual memberships to Reiman Gardens or University Museums. A membership to the gardens provides free, unlimited visits for a year, and other benefits such as program discounts and newsletters. Membership costs range from $35 to $2,500. Contact: Reiman Gardens, 4-2710. A membership to the museums provides support to the Brunnier Art Museum, Farm House Museum and Art on Campus programs. Members receive a 10 percent discount at the Brunnier Art Museum Store and the Farm House Holiday Gift Shop, as well as other benefits. Individual membership costs range from $10 to $1,000. Contact: University Museums, 4-3342.

Dance the night away
Flowers and snowflakes and mice, oh my! It wouldn't be the holidays without the Iowa State Center's 22nd annual production of The Nutcracker Ballet, performed in Stephens Auditorium Dec 13-15. More than 200 dancers from Ames and central Iowa will perform with principal dancers from the Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. Ticket prices range from $11.50 to $15.50. Contact: Iowa State Center Ticket Office, 4-3347.

Walk this way
Pay tribute to the special woman in your life with recognition in ISU's Plaza of Heroines, located in front of Catt Hall. Her name can be inscribed on a brick ($100), medium granite paver ($500), large granite paver ($1,000) or a bench ($10,000). Contact: Jaye Stefani, 4-7740.

Wrap this
For the relative who has everything, check out the ISU Surplus warehouse. Where else can you find an autopsy table ($300), video/LCD projectors ($20 to $1,500), upholstered lounge chairs ($20) and a grain dryer ($175) in the same building? Contact: Mark Ludwig, 4-5536.

Present under glass
Or at least made of glass, if you shop at the ISU Gaffers' Guild holiday sale Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sale will be held in the student activities booth near the food court in the Memorial Union. Hand-blown glass pieces such as flowers, snowmen, ornaments, paperweights, bowls and vases will be available for a range of prices. Contact: Matt Hildebrandt, Gaffers' Guild president, 572-5328.