Untitled Document

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Good morning! Here's today's summary of news coverage of Auburn University.
NOTE: Any errors in text are due to formatting by the publication.

Total Clips: 6

	Date	Outlet
Auburn University earns Princeton Review rankings	08/23/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Settling in on campus	08/23/2006	T-News Weekly
PSA presents student research awards	08/23/2006	Poultry Today
EM Optomechanical Obtains License To Sandia Labs-Developed Technology	08/23/2006	Laboratory Network.com
Nanobac Pharmaceuticals Films Stunning Details of Nanoparticles Using New Technology	08/23/2006	Genetic Engineering News
Alabama regains 39th spot in national college rankings	08/23/2006	Crimson White, University of Alabama, The


Auburn University earns Princeton Review rankings 08/23/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
This story also reported the improved rankings for AU's College of Business and College of Engineering in U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges." Auburn University has more to brag about this week thanks to The Princeton Review's analysis of "The Best 361 Colleges" in the country. In its two-page profile, the 2007 edition commends AU for "excellent programs in business, agriculture, engineering, nursing and architecture." Auburn is also one of 146 colleges named a Best Southeastern College. The student-survey based rankings also listed the top 20 colleges, of those profiled in the book, in various categories. Auburn made seven of the lists. Lists within each category include party schools, stone-cold sober schools, schools whose students (almost) never study, those with the happiest students, most beautiful campus, most politically active and dorms like dungeons. Only about 15 percent of the four-year colleges in America and two Canadian colleges are featured in the book. According to students, AU has the best college library (15), students who pray on a regular basis (19), students who pack the stadiums (13), students who are most nostalgic for Reagan (16), and future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution (20). It is also considered a jock school (19) and the relationship between the students and community members is great (11). Auburn is the only SEC school on the list of best college libraries among mostly private and elite universities such as Harvard (1), Princeton (2) and the University of Chicago (3). Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, was number one on five lists for its lack of alcohol and drugs and emphasis on religion, topping Auburn in students who pray on a regular basis and future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution. Auburn was the only SEC school on either list. Southeastern Conference rivals Florida (1), Tennessee (6) and Georgia (14) topped Auburn as "jock schools." Survey questions focused on a combination of intercollegiate and intramural sports and the popularity of the Greek system. AU was only higher than Duke University. Intercollegiate sports are most popular at the University of Notre Dame, according to the review, but Auburn students are more likely to cheer for the Tigers than Alabama (20) students pulling for the Crimson Tide. Other notable schools are Florida (3), Georgia (5), Tennessee (10), Clemson (12), West Virginia (16) and Ohio State (19). Auburn students also surpassed Alabama (16) in political views. Auburn students are among universities more nostalgic for Ronald Reagan. They were not on the list of those nostalgic for Bill Clinton. Other schools with similar views include Hillsdale College (1), the U.S. Naval Academy (6), Samford University (12), Clemson (14), and Ole Miss (15). Auburn narrowly missed the top 10 for universities where the students get along with members of the local community. Topping the "town-gown" list is St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Other notable schools include Texas A&M (2), Clemson (12), BYU, (14), Samford (19) and Agnes Scott College (20). More good news Last week, U.S. News & World Report released its 2007 edition of America's Best Colleges and ranked AU in a seven-way tie for 39th. It was the 14th consecutive year Auburn was named to the popular top 50 list. AU was 38th last year. The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering improved its ranking from 67th to 60th. The College of Business also improved its ranking, moving from 57th to 51st. Among public institutions, AU's College of Business is ranked No. 31 in the nation, marking the fourth consecutive year the college has attained a top 40 rating. AU's program was ranked sixth among SEC-member institutions behind Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee. It finished ahead of Alabama, Kentucky and Louisiana State, who were tied at 60th. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School was ranked as the nation's top undergraduate business program.
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Settling in on campus 08/23/2006 T-News Weekly Adam Jones		Return to Top
This story mentions AU's retention rate in comparison with UA's. TUSCALOOSA \| Friends Ryan Darnell and Travis Reed would not be living on campus if they didn't have to. The two freshmen from Eclectic now live on campus along with most first-time students in the University of Alabama's first year of mandating on-campus living for freshmen. "I would have gotten an apartment, and it would have been us two and two other guys," Darnell said. "But that's all right. I've met a lot of people from all over." Its the biggest component of the university's initiative to make sure more students coming to UA return for their sophomore year. In academia, it's called retention, and since 1997, the university has lagged its peer institutions in the region in retaining freshmen. It’s a trend beginning to change. In 2002, 83.5 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen returned to UA for their sophomore year. At 31 similar institutions in the Southeast, 85.4 percent returned. UA's rate dropped to 83.1 percent in fall 2004, but jumped to 86 percent in 2005, passing the 85.3 percent retention rate at Auburn University. "That's a very meaningful improvement, and I'm hoping we might get to 87 percent this year," UA President Robert Witt said. "We're serious about that number. "There's somebody who gets up every morning thinking about how do I move it." Literally. Jennifer Jones has been named the director of academic retention, and she said there's a big push in higher education to keep students in school. "We spend a lot of time recruiting students, fighting to get them," she said. "Now, we fight to keep them here." That starts by making them live on campus. Out of more than 4,000 freshmen expected to start college today, only 324 applied to live off-campus and were approved to do so because of medical reasons or because they live with family. In fact, so few wanted to live off campus that the campus is essentially full, said David Jones, director of housing and residential communities. Starting this year, students will be allowed to elect hall councils that will make decisions for the dorm. They will also be given budgets to plan events and make improvements, an effort meant to bring students together and form a bond with the campus. "It's all common sense, the more you are invested in something, the more you get out of it," David Jones said. Also, upperclassmen assigned to monitor dorms are no longer rule enforcers living in posh dorm rooms. They are now expected to be mentors and advisers, David Jones said. "There were really police-like when I arrived here [less than two years ago]," he said. "I was really turned off by it." So he changed the title from resident assistant to resident adviser and put the students through more training. For instance, Jennifer Jones has a computer program that alerts her when student has dropped a class, or a professor will tell her a student has missed several classes, a red flag for potential problems. She'l notify a resident adviser, who is expected to check on the student. The Joneses, a husband-and-wife team, said that in the past, a student might begin struggling with school or the responsibilities that come with being away from parents, but no one would be required to intervene. "The great fear that we would have is no one approaches a student who is in trouble," David Jones said. Along with the dorm requirement, freshmen are also forced to eat on campus more often. The university took away from the freshmen a meal plan option with the fewest on-campus meals. "The more students are involved with each other, the more they are connected with each other," Witt said. There are other initiatives. Nearly all freshmen have completed an online alcohol awareness course, required before the start of the semester. Informational e-mails will be sent out all year to freshmen and their parents about exams, registration and other things that can get lost in the shuffle of a first year away from home. Witt said the longer-term goal is to retain at least 90 percent of freshmen. "That would be an extraordinary achievement because you are always going to have some percentage of your incoming class that arrives and realizes the fit isn’t what they thought it would be or they don’t do as well academically," he said. "It is going to be extraordinarily difficult to get up into the 90s as a public university, but I think we can continue to make steady improvements."
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PSA presents student research awards 08/23/2006 Poultry Today		Return to Top
AU student wins PSA award. SAVOY, Ill. -- Two students were honored with research awards at the Poultry Science Association's recent annual meeting. Vanessa K. Kretzschmar-McCluskey received the Maurice Stein Fellowship Award. This award, given to a graduate student, recognizes Kretzschmar-McCluskey's work on the natural prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis in the shell eggs of laying hens. She is pursuing her doctorate studies at Auburn University. The scholarship foundation is managed by the United Egg Producers. Dr. Craig D. Coufal received the Alltech Student Research Manuscript Award. The award is given to a student author for his or her presentation and publication as senior author of an outstanding research manuscript in Poultry Science or The Journal of Applied Poultry Research. Coufal is now an assistant Extension professor in the Department of Poultry Science at Mississippi State University.
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EM Optomechanical Obtains License To Sandia Labs-Developed Technology 08/23/2006 Laboratory Network.com		Return to Top
Story refers to AU research, and quotes W. Robert Ashurst, assistant professor of chemical engineering at AU's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Albuquerque, NM –– EM Optomechanical, Inc. (EMOM) of Albuquerque, N.M., recently obtained a license from Sandia National Laboratories to produce products based on a Labs-developed technology — a new configuration for interference microscopy. The technology was developed by Sandia researchers Mike Sinclair, Maarten de Boer and Alex Corwin. The need for these types of tools capable of characterizing the fabrication and performance of very small devices came about as a result of the recent growth in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory. Sinclair says Sandia licensed this technology to Tom Swann, president of EMOM, to commercialize the product for several reasons. "His technical specialty is the design and fabrication of optomechanical instruments, and he is local, which would facilitate the tech transfer," Sinclair says. In addition, Swann, as president of Optomec, Inc., successfully transferred another Sandia technology known as laser engineered net shaping. EMOM now holds a license from Sandia and is producing products based on the technology. EMOM developed its first long-working-distance interference microscope, based on the licensed Sandia technology, in collaboration with Auburn University. Known as OPTOProTM Model 622A 3D MEMS Profiler, this first-generation product is intended primarily for use by microsystems researchers for making real-time dynamic measurements of the micro- and nano-scale motions of microsystems devices. Its key feature is that it allows for long-distance functions without any sacrifice in measurement resolution. This permits capabilities not possible with other techniques such as space for probes that are needed to attach to microsystem devices and viewing through portholes into vacuum chambers. W. Robert Ashurst, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Auburn University's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering — whose research interests include MEMS systems design, fabrication and reliability — says that having OPTOPro will "allow me to cut a year off my research project schedule by providing the measurement data that I need." The interference microscope developed by EMOM is controlled by MEMScriptTM software, also developed by Sandia researchers and licensed to EMOM. The software acquires and analyzes collected data. "This software has several unique features, such as the ability to control microsystem devices, which by nature have moving parts, and making real time measurements of performance," Corwin says. The software was used with the EMOM-built 3-D MEMS profiler to run a test on a microsystems device on loan from Sandia. This device had previously been characterized and documented by the Labs. “This benchmarking was very significant in that it demonstrated that the technical aspects of the technology had been successfully transferred,” says de Boer. “Successful technology transfer efforts like this are a real win-win,” says Paul Smith, Sandia’s licensing executive responsible for the agreement with EMOM. “In this situation Sandia will realize a reduction in the resources needed to maintain this technology internally while also helping to create jobs and make important laboratory equipment available to the research community.” Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.
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Nanobac Pharmaceuticals Films Stunning Details of Nanoparticles Using New Technology 08/23/2006 Genetic Engineering News		Return to Top
This story is another in the continuing coverage of the CytoViva"(TM) microscope system, developed at Auburn University. Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:NNBP) ("Nanobac" or "the Company") today announced that its scientists have obtained new details about interactions of drugs with calcifying nanoparticles (CNPs), known also as nanobacteria, using award-winning light microscope technology. The images show nanoparticles being affected by a therapeutic drug ingredient, and offer proof of concept that new microscope technology can detect real-time processes surrounding calcifying nanoparticles, which contain harmful calcifying constituents found in diseases such as kidney stones and atherosclerosis. "This marks a watershed in the Company's ability to witness interactions between drug ingredients and calcifying nanoparticles," commented Nanobac Co-Chairman Dr. Benedict Maniscalco. "These images also demonstrate clear differences between CNPs and inorganic apatite, offering further proof that CNPs are distinct from inorganic apatite particles." The video and still images were obtained by Nanobac scientists Dr. Neva Ciftcioglu and Grace Mathew at Nanobac laboratories in the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The images will be released once the processes they recorded have been validated. The success is an early result of a collaboration agreement between Nanobac and the Fetzer Memorial Trust to photograph the replication cycle of disease-related calcifying particles (also known as nanobacteria or Calcifying Nanoparticles), using light microscopes to break the 200 nanometer ("nm") resolution barrier. The breakthrough may allow Nanobac scientists to determine if calcification, which occurs in most diseases on the leading causes of death list, has a biological mechanism, which would make it susceptible to therapy. Until now, scientists had to 'fix' or inactivate such nanoparticles to see below the 200 nm threshold using electron microscopy, which precluded observing real-time processes. The "CytoViva"(TM) microscope system, developed at Auburn University and marketed by Aetos Technologies, can resolve details at or below 100 nm and detect particles as small as 50 nm, representing a significant improvement over conventional light microscopes. The CytoViva(TM) system was selected in June by R&D Magazine as one of the top 100 most technologically significant products introduced to the marketplace in 2006. The award is often referred to as the 'Oscar of Inventions.' About Nanobac Pharmaceuticals Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a life sciences company dedicated to the discovery and development of products and services to improve people's health through the detection and treatment of Calcifying Nanoparticles (CNPs), otherwise known as "nanobacteria". The Company's pioneering research is establishing the pathogenic role of CNPs in soft tissue calcification, particularly in coronary artery, prostate, and vascular disease. Nanobac's drug discovery and development is focused on new and existing compounds that effectively inhibit, destroy or neutralize CNPs. Nanobac manufactures In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) kits and reagents for detecting Calcifying Nanoparticles. IVD products include a line of assays, proprietary antibodies and reagents for uniquely recognizing CNPs. Nanobac's BioAnalytical Services works with biopharmaceutical partners to develop and apply methods for avoiding, detecting, and inactivating or eliminating CNPs from raw materials. Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit our website at: http://www.nanobac.com . Investors are cautioned that certain statements in this document, some statements in periodic press releases and some oral statements of Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. officials are "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act). Forward-Looking statements include statements which are predictive in nature, which depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, which include words such as "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "expects," and similar expressions. In addition, any statements concerning future financial performance (including future revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, and possible future Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. actions, which may be provided by management, are also forward-looking statements as defined by the Act. Forward-Looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and to vary significantly from reporting period to reporting period. Although management believes that the assumptions will, in fact, prove to be correct or that actual future results will not be different from the expectations expressed in this report. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has no specific intention to update these statements.
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Alabama regains 39th spot in national college rankings 08/23/2006 Crimson White, University of Alabama, The Christy Conner		Return to Top
Story mentions AU/UA tie in U.S. News and World Report rankings. After dropping 11 spots in 2006, the Capstone has regained its highest-ever U.S. News and World Report best colleges ranking of 39th among all public universities. The ranking is even with the University's 2005 ranking and UA tied with Auburn and Tennessee among public universities and is 88th overall in the 2007 rankings. Last year, the University, ranked 50th, dropped behind 37th ranked Auburn, but this year Auburn fell two spots while Alabama jumped 11, leaving the two rivals tied. "Alabama is lucky to have two quality public universities," UA President Robert Witt said. Witt credited the 11-spot jump to an effort to "attract the best and brightest to the University," including expanded retention efforts, amplified alumni giving and increasing the number of classes with fewer than 20 students, he said. Chris Kohl, a senior majoring in communicative disorders, said the academics are harder at Alabama than the previous school he attended. "My parents didn't necessarily look at rankings, but I do think that they are happier with me going to Alabama because it is such a popular school," Kohl said. Although Witt was excited about the University's 2007 ranking, he also downplayed the ranking's likely impact on the University's recruiting efforts. "The fact that we're ranked in the top 50 universities helps our recruiting effort," he said. "But do I believe that a student at the end of the day will choose one university over another based solely on the rankings? I think that's unlikely." Witt plans to swell the school's enrollment to 28,000 students by 2013. U.S. News and World Report determines its rankings by judging institutions based on selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources and retention ratings. Fatoumata Diallo, a senior majoring in accounting, said she is happy about the 11-spot jump in rankings, but said her parents didn't focus on rankings. "I didn't really know much about it before, but I am pretty happy about it," Diallo said. Among other rankings, the University ranked 20th on the "students who pack the stadium" list and 17th on "most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan" list as decided by the Princeton Review. One list Alabama did not make was that of the top 20 party schools. This is the second consecutive year Alabama has not made the party schools list. Senior reporter Nicholas Beadle contributed to this report.
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