Untitled Document

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Good morning! Here's your daily summary of news coverage of Auburn University.

Total Clips: 8

	Date	Outlet
Special delivery A home	03/09/2006	Sun Herald, The
City's heavy-duty vehicles to use veggie oil mix	03/09/2006	The Birmingham News
Pickett vs. Tyson, Round 4	03/09/2006	AGINFO.NET
Authorities arrest AU student in theft of expensive boat	03/09/2006	al.com
AU Senate resolution offers truce to trustees	03/08/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Sale of children's art raising scholarship funds at AU	03/08/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Auburn University's 'Getting Closer to China' Forum Runs into Mysterious Interference	03/08/2006	Epoch Times
Shipping container equipped at Auburn U. for hurricane shelter	03/08/2006	Columbus Ledger-Enquirer


Special delivery A home 03/09/2006 Sun Herald, The TRACY DASH		Return to Top
This is coverage by the (Biloxi-Gulfport) Sun Herald of AU architecture students' delivery of their converted shipping container to a Gulfport woman, who will live in it while her Katrina-damaged home is repaired. GULFPORT - Barbara Meyer celebrated her 67th birthday a day early this year after getting one of the best gifts of her life - a new home. But it's unlike any home she's ever seen. It's a house designed by students at Auburn University. It's converted from a shipping container. And of course, it is painted the school's colors, orange and blue. "I like colors anyway," Meyer said with a laugh. Meyer slipped on an Auburn University T-shirt and yelled "War Eagle," just before touring her new home. The container sits next to her small home on 26 Street that was built in 1942, which sustained roof and water damage from Hurricane Katrina. She will live in the container while her home is renovated. Meyer's temporary home has a front deck, a back porch, a small refrigerator, a built-in entertainment system, insulated walls, wood floors, lighting and smoke detectors. The only things missing are bathroom facilities and a kitchen, two of the rooms in her home most damaged by Katrina. She said she will use the bathroom in her home for as long as possible and cook in a microwave or on a grill. Nine Auburn students and faculty were in Gulfport on Wednesday overseeing the container's delivery and preparing it for Meyer to move in. Students from the school's Social Work and Design-Build programs were just as excited about completing the project as Meyer was to receive it. Although the students have converted other containers, the one given to Meyer is the first one moved outside of Alabama. Students worked with the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District/Area Agency on Aging, where Meyer volunteers as a senior companion. Deborah Banks, manager of the senior companion program, recommended Meyer. Banks said she chose Meyer because she has no house insurance, her family lives out of state and she has limited income. Social work student Lindsay McGinnis visited Mississippi shortly after the storm and wanted to help people, especially those in need of a home. "I believe the Lord called me to do this," McGinnis said.
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City's heavy-duty vehicles to use veggie oil mix 03/09/2006 The Birmingham News Liz Ellaby		Return to Top
AU's recent alternative energy event at E.V. Smith Research Center is mentioned in this story. The City of Hoover will be fueling their heavy-duty vehicles with a diesel product mixed with soybean oil after a 60-day trial turned up no issues greater than the smell of french fries from vehicle exhaust, said Hoover Fleet Management Director Dave Lindon. The city, whose use of ethanol-powered police cruisers has already drawn the attention of researchers and U.S. energy officials, recently tested the fuel on 20 dump trucks and off-road construction vehicles. A 1,000-gallon load of fuel for the trial was purchased from Alabama Biodiesel Corp.'s plant in Moundville. He said the plan now is to introduce the fuel to all city diesel vehicles except those used in the Fire Department. The fuel will be stored in diesel tanks that are being moved from the public works building to the Public Safety Center. Alabama Biodiesel and Hager Oil Co., of Jasper, were the only bidders last week for a city contract to purchase a year's supply of the vegetable oil-mixed fuel. Hager bid 8 cents per gallon compared to Alabama Biodiesel's 30-cent bid. Both prices are in addition to the Oil Price Information Survey (OPIS) index, which was $1.67 per gallon for diesel last week, said Lindon. The City Council will award the contract this week. Whichever company wins, the fuel ultimately will come from processor Alabama Biodiesel, said Hager agent David Hood. "We're a distributor working in concert with Alabama Biodiesel. Right now people are skeptical about using it, so we want the market to grow," he said. In February, Hager began supplying the Birmingham Airport Authority with biodiesel, also from the Moundville company. Both companies are members of the Central Alabama Clean Cities organization, a group promoting alternative fuels to reduce emissions causing ozone formation. It is the same group that helped fund the installation of Hoover's ethanol storage tank in 2003. Biodiesel is produced in a chemical process that removes a glycerol molecule from soybean oil, leaving a glycerine byproduct used in making such products as soaps and cosmetics. The fuel is touted by some organizations as a cleaner-burning alternative to diesel, reducing air emissions. Ron Gore, Air Division chief at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, said use of biodiesel significantly reduces soot although its record on other emissions is not established. "Two pollutants of great concern (in regular diesel) are nitrogen oxide, which contributes to ozone formation, and particulate matter, or soot, you see from diesel exhausts," he said. "Mile for mile, we think there might be an elevated nitrogen oxide emission from biodiesel. But we're convinced that the increase is so slight, compared to sources like power plants and open burning, that it's not worthy of our concern." "The real benefit is an overall economic one (as an alternative to reliance on petroleum)," he said. Lindon said city diesel vehicles, excluding firetrucks, burn about 50,000 gallons of fuel per year. Twenty percent of that amount will now be replaced by a domestic natural resource. Last year, the city used 239,000 gallons of E85, an 85 percent mixture of grain alcohol and regular gasoline, in 104 Chevrolet Tahoe police cruisers and 56 other vehicles, for a savings of just over 200,000 gallons of gasoline. Biodiesel and ethanol were featured products two weeks ago at an Auburn University renewable fuel demonstration attended by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Doug Faulkner, assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy. Hoover's fleet of ethanol-powered police SUVs is considered the largest such fleet the country using E85.
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Pickett vs. Tyson, Round 4 03/09/2006 AGINFO.NET Jeff Keane		Return to Top
AU professor Robert Taylor is an expert source in this article. A lawsuit started in 1996 by six cattlemen against IBP/Tyson foods alleging use of captive supplies of cattle to manipulate cash cattle prices saw a jury rule in favor of the cattlemen to the tune of a $1.28 billion settlement. Tyson asked for Judge Lyle Strom to overturn the jury’s verdict and he did. An appeal by the cattlemen to the 11th Circuit it Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Tyson also. At the end of round three Tyson was ahead two rounds to one. The plaintiffs have now filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider this case. Robert Taylor, Ph.D., Auburn University College of Agriculture’s Alfa eminent economics scholar thinks the judges have mishandled the case and actually overstepped their constitutional authority. First, Judge Strom’s jury instructions were not based on the Packers and Stockyard Act that the case was tried under – he based his instructions on the Sherman and Clayton antitrust law. Then the “rule of reason” in antitrust cases used by courts for almost 100 years was completely turned around by Judge Strom and the 11th Circuit. Dr. Taylor also feels all judges in the case took their jury’s duty, became fact finders themselves and didn’t limit their job to conducting a proper trial and ruling on legal issues. Rocky needs a big comeback in round four – I’ll keep you posted.
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Authorities arrest AU student in theft of expensive boat 03/09/2006 al.com Ron Colquitt		Return to Top
This story is about the arrest of a 23-year-old AU freshman. An Alabama Marine Police officer arrested 23-year-old Auburn University student Justin Blake Ozment and charged him with receiving stolen property after Ozment was caught transporting a $150,000, 28-foot pursuit boat that had been reported stolen in Florida, authorities said. He was charged with two counts of first-degree receiving stolen property and taken to Mobile County Metro Jail, Marine Police Lt. Alex Smith said in a news release. Jail records show that Ozment was released on bail totaling $14,000. Ozment, contacted Wednesday by phone, had no comment. Metro Jail records list Ozment's address as the 7900 block of Hilltop Street in south Mobile County. "Ozment's Hilltop Street address had been staked out for several hours prior to him moving the boat," Smith said. The lieutenant said the boat, which was outfitted with two 225 horsepower Yamaha outboard motors, was stolen on or about Feb. 22 from Legendary Marine Sales in Destin, Fla. Smith said it first was taken to Slidell, La., then brought back to Mobile. Brad Allenbach, another suspect in the theft of the expensive boat, was arrested in Slidell on several theft-related charges including possession of a stolen camper trailer taken in Robertsdale, the lieutenant said. David Granger, an Auburn spokesman, confirmed Wednesday evening that Ozment is enrolled there as a student. The Auburn Police Department assisted in the investigation, Smith said. Auburn police Sgt. Chris Murray said Wednesday that Ozment had lived in Auburn. Smith said it was Murray who told Marine Police that the boat had been reported stolen. Murray was investigating a "major interstate theft ring" when he discovered the boat theft, the lieutenant said. The Mobile County Sheriff's Office also is assisting in the investigation, Smith said. Mobile County deputies searched Ozment's home Monday night and found two all-terrain vehicles that had been reported stolen in December 2005 in Washington County, Smith said.
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AU Senate resolution offers truce to trustees 03/08/2006 Opelika-Auburn News J. FRANK LYNCH		Return to Top
Opelika-Auburn News story on University Senate's resolution to commend Board for Fisher Report. As evidence of the change taking place on the campus of Auburn University, the AU Senate on Tuesday extended a self-described "olive branch" to the AU Board of Trustees, setting aside years of very public disagreement over the way the university is governed. In a meeting Tuesday afternoon, Senate members unanimously endorsed a resolution praising the board for its decision to hire consultant James Fisher and for showing a "willingness to openly discuss problems that impede Auburn University from achieving its full potential as a leading academic institution." "Be it resolved that the University Senate commend the Board of Trustees for their leadership in promoting the greater good of Auburn University," reads the resolution, concluding, "... the University Senate and its constituent groups are ready to work with the Board in an open and constructive manner to achieve this goal." The Fisher Report was commissioned by trustees in November and received in late January. A board committee is now reviewing the 142 recommendations in the report, with plans to address them publicly starting in April. AU Senate Chair Conner Bailey, presiding over his last meeting before his term expires, said the resolution shows the senate, at least, is ready to move forward on achieving the ultimate goal of hiring a new president. "I think we can characterize this as an olive branch," he said. "The board is evolving and so our relationship is evolving." Following recent tradition, Bailey will leave the Senate chairmanship only to take up an adjunct position representing faculty on the board. But that reality had nothing to do with the decision to draw up the resolution, Bailey said. Instead, the suggestion came from rank-and-file senate members at a meeting in February. Richard Penaskovic, chair-elect, was in full support of the resolution, Bailey's last. "The new senate leadership recognizes that this is a reality and its something we needed to approve," said Bailey. "I think we're at a point now where we can put some of those past battles behind us." Though just a start, the senate resolution would suggest a complete reversal in attitude among AU constituencies in the five years since former president William V. Muse was ousted by the board. Over a six-week period in February and March 2001, 10 different organizations with a direct stake in Auburn University took formal action to express "no confidence" in the board of trustees, including the Staff Council, the Student Government Association, the A&P Assembly, the Alumni Association and various faculty groups. On April 17, 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling on all members of the board of trustees to resign. "You have to understand that calling in Fisher, knowing youd have no control over what he might find, said a lot about this board," said Bailey. "And he said some very critical things about the way the board carries out its business; there is no way they came out smelling like a rose in this." But as many senate members suggested in a discussion of Fisher's review that followed Tuesdays vote on the resolution, skepticism still runs deep that the board will "do the right thing." "I have no reason to complain about anything in the way the Fisher Report was handled, and so I have no reason to expect anything else in the followup," said Bailey. "I want to expect the best of these people. If they say something is going to happen, I want to believe them." Here is the full text of the resolution: Whereas, Auburn University's Board of Trustees commissioned an institutional evaluation preparatory to initiating a search for a new President; and Whereas, the report prepared by a team led by Dr. James Fisher was based on interviews with trustees, alumni, and members of all the campus constituencies represented in the University Senate, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, administrative and professional employees, as well as deans and other senior administrators; and Whereas, in commissioning the Fisher report, the Board of Trustees demonstrated a willingness to openly discuss problems that impede Auburn University from achieving its full potential as a leading academic institution; and Therefore, be it resolved that the University Senate commend the Board of Trustees for their leadership in promoting the greater good of Auburn University; and Therefore, be it also resolved that the University Senate and its constituent groups are ready to work with the Board in an open and constructive manner to achieve this goal.
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Sale of children's art raising scholarship funds at AU 03/08/2006 Opelika-Auburn News BEVERLY HARVEY		Return to Top
Local story on AU-sponsored children's art show and sale at Telfair Peet Theatre. The artists waited patiently for the opening of their first gallery exhibit. Some waited in strollers. Others sat on their parents shoulders. But all of them were excited to see their works of art in crayon, chalk, paint, collage and mixed media on display at the Auburn University Early Learning Centers first art show and sale held at the Telfair Peet Theatre Gallery on Tuesday. "This is the most people weve ever had at the opening of an art show," said Dan LaRocque, interim chair of the AU Theater Department. The art exhibit and sale runs until Sunday, with all proceeds going toward an AUELC scholarship fund that will provide financial aid for families who are unable to pay the full tuition at the center. The event was the result of a collaboration between members of the Human Development and Family Studies, Art and Theater departments at AU. "It was something that we decided to do in tandem with one of our productions that was geared toward children," said LaRocque. "The Tempest seemed to be the most appropriate show." The AU Telfair Peet Theatre production of "The Tempest," written by William Shakespeare, also runs until Sunday and has been adapted for all ages, LaRocque said. The AU theater has frequently included an art exhibit in conjunction with theatrical productions, but this is first time the exhibit has featured childrens artwork, LaRocque said. Many of the childrens pieces, which range in price from $5 to $50, were already sold by noon on Tuesday. All pieces will remain on display throughout the event. The childrens artistic creations are each matted and professionally displayed, which brings a new perspective to the pieces, said Linda Silvern, director of Auburn University Early Learning Center, which has been on the AU campus for more than 80 years. "I think it benefits the child to see their work on the walls and to see the excitement by parents and people at the university," Silvern said. "For a small child to see their artwork celebrated, that has got to have an impact on the rest of their lives." The artistic collaboration also benefited AU elementary school art students, who spent time with AUELC students to help them create collages, crayon resists and chalk pieces with an ocean theme based on 'The Tempest,' said AU Assistant Professor of Art Chi Chi Lovett. "Its fabulous for my students," said Lovett. "Were hoping that we can do it every semester. Its really a good teaching experience." This was the first time the art department designed lessons especially for the learning center and worked with the centers students, Lovett said. "We think its a great idea," she said. The AUELC is a research preschool facility that enrolls children ages 3 to 5 and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Many of the learning centers head teachers and teachers assistants are AU graduates or current graduate and undergraduate students, Silvern said. Even Bo Jackson taught at the center when he attended the university, she said. Members of each of the three university departments expressed an interest in making the AUELC art show and sale an annual event.
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Auburn University's 'Getting Closer to China' Forum Runs into Mysterious Interference 03/08/2006 Epoch Times Wei Yi		Return to Top
Story about proposed China Forum at AU Auburn University, located in eastern Alabama, is a famous university in the South with 150 years of history. Recently, in response to the College of Human Sciences 1st Annual Diversity Award, a graduate student from Taiwan proposed a project called 'Getting Closer to China Critical Issues on Culture, Religion and Environment.' Apparently, this activity was interfered with by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled students and scholars at the university. As a result, several of the campus organizations withdrew their sponsorships under pressure. The mission of the College of Human Sciences 2006 Diversity Award is to promote diversity on campus. It is in line with the Auburn University Diversity Strategic Plan (May 2005) to help people overcome attitudes of racism, bigotry, hate, prejudice, religious intolerance, and become more accepting of and sensitive to diversity in its many varied forms. The student's project proposal included inviting 3 scholars from Texas and Tennessee to speak about the critical issues on Chinese culture, religion and environment. Dr. Wade Yang from Alabama A&M University was also invited to hold a workshop on Falun Gong exercises. She was initially commended by the chairperson of the diversity committee for bringing out this proposal. However, a few days after she submitted the proposal, the situation changed dramatically. The chairperson informed her that there was resistance to her proposal from a faculty member of mainland Chinese origin. The reasons for objections were that the seminar contained controversial and sensitive information, and this activity did not seek the approval of the Chinese student and scholar association. 'The controversial and sensitive information alluded to the Falun Gong issue,' the student said. 'In addition, my project was only proposed as per the College's call for diversity activities. Do I need to seek approval from the Chinese student and scholar association beforehand?' After the student appealed the committee's decision, the head of the Department and his secretary gave her 15 minutes to justify her case. As soon as she finished her 15-minute Power Point presentation, the Department head did not ask any questions and rejected the proposal immediately. The student continued to look for campus sponsors for this event. On Feb. 25, Dr. Robin Sabino, assistant director of the Center for Diversity and Race Relations (CDRR) looked at her proposal and decided to sponsor this event. Nevertheless, 3 days after the event advertisement came out, Dr. Sabino talked to the student and Dr. Wade Yang who helped set up the program, expressing her concern about the 'controversial' content of the seminar. Although Falun Gong was not mentioned in the conversation, from her strong, uncompromised decision to cancel the screening of the film 'Sandstorm,' it was obvious somebody was putting out bad words for this movie. 'Sandstorm' is a film produced by director Michael Mahonen, a Gemini's Best Lead Actor Award winner. It is a world-acclaimed film on the hottest religious issue in modern-day China, the Falun Gong movement. 'Sandstorm' has won best feature film awards from the Blue Ridge Film Festival, 2005 Fort Wayne international film festival, 27th Philafilm International Film Festival in Philadelphia, the Law and Society International Film and Television Festival in Moscow, Russia, and the Dead Center Film Festival in Oklahoma City. The total number of awards so far has been over 20. Dr. Wade Yang said that the Center also made some other requests, including modifying one speaker's presentation to remove any 'confrontational' content on the persecution of Christians and Falun Gong practitioners. Dr. Sabino said that this event was on human rights, which does not fall into the diversity scope of the Center. That was why she quit the sponsorship of this event. She said she tried to communicate with the organizer to remove some 'confrontational' topics. 'This will create tension. Elimination of these contents can avoid ill will,' she said. A similar situation occurred to a campus Jewish association that had its original sponsor quit. A contact person for the Jewish organization said that the seminar content was controversial, and his organization is too small to withstand any protests. After the Taiwanese Student Association decided to sponsor this event, according to a member of this association, professor Daowei Zhang, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences asked the Taiwanese Student Association to withdraw the sponsorship. He threatened that they would otherwise bear all consequences. Professor Zhang also sent an email to the president of the Association to request a meeting with him, pressuring him to withdraw the sponsorship. An Epoch Times reporter called Professor Zhang, but he denied that he had talked to any Taiwanese students. The reporter also contacted the International Student Organization and got hold of Ms. Nejla Orgen, International Student Life and Admission. The reporter asked her whether she had heard about the incident of the Taiwanese Student Association's withdrawing their sponsorship. She answered yes, but said this decision came from the Multicultural Center and it was not appropriate for her to comment. The reporter asked her whether she had heard any controversial content of this event on campus, and she said no. The question is then if professor Zhang did not talk to the Taiwanese students and Ms. Orgen of the International Student Organization had not heard about any controversial content regarding this event, then who asked the Taiwanese Student Organization to vote and decide whether it would continue its sponsorship of the event? On what basis was the organization asked to vote? The 'Getting Closer to China Critical Issues on Culture, Religion and Environment' forum and movie showing will begin Thursday evening (March 9) and end Friday afternoon (March 10).
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Shipping container equipped at Auburn U. for hurricane shelter 03/08/2006 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Garry Mitchell/AP		Return to Top
This is coverage by Associated Press of AU architecture students' delivery of their converted shipping container to a Gulfport woman, who will live in it while her Katrina-damaged home is repaired. This version of this story also ran in the Gadsden Times, Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune and (Florence) TimesDaily and was posted on the Web sites for WREG-TV and WMC-TV (both in Memphis), WAFF-TV in Huntsville, WLOX-TV in Biloxi/Gulfport/Pascagoula and WPMI-TV in Mobile. Hurricane victims have had to take shelter under many different roofs since Katrina struck on Aug. 29 - some even in the tented outdoors. So when Auburn University architecture students offered to convert a boxy shipping container into a shelter, they got a favorable response in Gulfport, Miss. 'Bring it over,' said retired teacher Barbara Meyer, whose home was damaged by the hurricane and still awaits repairs. Meyer, who turns 67 Thursday, said she spent two months in Arkansas before returning in November to hurricane-wrecked Gulfport. Her home was barely livable. She said she didn't seek a FEMA trailer because she had heard about problems others were having in obtaining one. 'My daughter lost everything on the beach to Katrina. People still haven't got FEMA trailers. A FEMA trailer was not even an option,' she said. She heard about the Auburn project from the local agency on aging. The 8-foot-by-40-foot container was being installed for her Wednesday, said Bob Grant, a spokesman for Auburn's College of Architecture, Design & Construction. It has 320 square feet of living space with a room partition that swings against the wall. Grant said the students obtained input from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Gulfport officials' approval before installing the container. The city had regulations that had to be met. FEMA was concerned about its safety and if it was structurally sound, Grant said. The container conversion idea has been explored by other designers in the past because containers, usually stacked on waterfronts and railyards, are designed to be weather tight and withstand harsh environmental conditions. Also, the containers weigh tons and can withstand being moved often. Grant said 15 graduate students began converting the container soon after Katrina hit. Four shipping containers were available for the project. They had hoped to spend less than $2,500 on the conversion, but masters student David Wurst of Eufaula said the total cost was between $6,000 and $8,000, paid for by AU's Design-Build Program. Students spent more than planned because they added dry wall interiors to make it more livable. It's insulated and has a window unit air conditioner and refrigerator. It lacks a bathroom, but Meyer said she will use one in her damaged home. She plans to live in the container until her home is repaired. She said she had only seen photos of the container before its arrival. 'That's really a safe place for me to sleep,' she said. Wurst, 26, said the major problem for students was 'figuring out how to keep it insulated.' 'We developed three build prototypes and have plans for six different types of living conditions,' he said. Students plan to check on Meyer's living experience periodically to see how life in a shipping container works out. It's painted orange and blue, Auburn's school colors.
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