Auburn University

Friday, September 29, 2006

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Total Clips: 10
Headline Date Outlet
   Researchers say bird thought to be extinct isn't 09/29/2006 WINK-TV
   'Meat and potatoes' Biggest ever city budget approved 09/29/2006 Southeast Sun
   AU maintains efforts to deter hazing 09/29/2006 Opelika-Auburn News
   Presidential Visit Showcases Hoover's Ethanol Use 09/29/2006 WVTM-TV
   Transcript of President Bush's energy speech 09/29/2006 Birmingham News
   Bush promotes alternative fuel use during stop in Hoover 09/29/2006 Tuscaloosa News
   President Bush to visit Hoover and Birmingham today 09/28/2006 Gainesville Sun
   President Bush to visit Hoover and Birmingham today 09/28/2006 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
   Scientists spy ivory-billed woodpecker in Florida 09/28/2006 Scientific American
   Few cotton insects found in Alabama in 2006 09/28/2006 Southeast Farm Press

Researchers say bird thought to be extinct isn't
09/29/2006
WINK-TV

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They've seen it. They've heard it. But they don't have a picture of it. It is the ivory-billed woodpecker, which is thought to be alive and well somewhere out there in the northwest Florida swamps.

The bird was thought to be extinct, but now researchers from Auburn University say they failed to take a photo, but heard the bird's distinct double rapping sound. The team plans to return in November with better equipment to try to get photographs.
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'Meat and potatoes' Biggest ever city budget approved
09/29/2006
Southeast Sun
By Kay Kirkland

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**The AU Center for Governmental Studies was mentioned in this story.**

A 7-percent salary increase for department heads is included in the new $35.4 million 'meat and potatoes' city budget, which also sets aside funds for construction of a multi-purpose complex and senior citizens center.

The $35,459,276 budget, passed unanimously by the Enterprise City Council Sept. 19, represents a $5 million increase over the 2005-06 budget, reflects continued growth in sales taxes and includes more than $6.7 million in building and improvement projects.

Though it is the biggest budget ever approved for Enterprise and has an aggressive capital plan, City Clerk/Treasurer Steve Hicks said the budget is actually a 'conservative operating budget' and that funds for the major capital projects had primarily already been set aside for the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Mayor Kenneth Boswell described the budget as fiscally conservative and well-balanced.'It's just a good meat and potatoes budget,' he said. 'There's nothing flamboyant or excessive in it.'Boswell and Hicks said the budget was designed to follow the city's plan for growth and for meeting needs, but does so within an operating budget of less than 3 percent more than last year's.'We don't ever budget to spend more than we take in,' Hicks said, explaining that if sales tax trends stay on track, collections could be about 7 percent more than the 2005-06 fiscal year. Sales tax collections were 11-percent over budget in FY 2005-06 and were already at about 4 percent over budget by the mid-year financial review in March.Hicks said the budget revenues also reflect projected increases in sanitation fees largely because of housing growth in the city.

Boswell said he is pleased that the council was able to provide a 7-percent raise for department heads since they had not received a salary adjustment in two years.'I am happy we are able to reward the department heads for a job well done,' Boswell said. 'It's very deserving.'The mayor and Hicks said although no cost of living raise for the city employees is included this year, employees will receive their annual merit raises. The employees had received an increase in salary and benefits for five years in a row. During the year ending now, most employees had also received salary adjustments in accordance with recommendations from the Auburn University Center for Governmental Studies, which was contracted by the council in 2005 to study the city's pay schedule and job descriptions.

The new pay schedule, which increase entry level pay and streamlined the pay step structure, was implemented this year and is reflected by an increase of about 16 percent in the new budget for salaries and benefits. Hicks said the city is absorbing increasing costs of employee health insurance, which is about 7 percent more than last year.

Boswell said the new budget is balanced because funds are being spent that will affect most Enterprise citizens in some way.

The administration's goal, Boswell said, is not only to provide high quality services to city residents but, 'we want the money spent so that it touches everybody' whenever possible.This year's capital budget does just that, he said. The biggest item on the capital list is $3.5 million for construction of a 20,000-square-foot multi-purpose complex that the city has had on the drawing board for two years. The complex, which would house a new senior citizens center and an auditorium for large community events. The city has a $250,000 in state funds set aside for the project and the Coffee County Commission has agreed to do the site preparation and to provide $50,000 over the next few years as its share of the costs.

Boswell said the city has been in negotiations with officials of the Alabama College System about roughly 10 acres of land adjacent to the college campus where the multi-purpose complex may be located. Boswell said he hopes to work out the land deal soon so that construction on the complex can begin in 2006.

Another $1.1 million is to be spent on a four-laning project on a 1-mile stretch of the southern part of Boll Weevil Circle from Highway 167 South to Highway 27 South. The city council agreed to fund engineering services for the four-laning, which will be done by the Alabama Department of Transportation at a cost of $5.25 million. Boswell said the four-laning will help support the increase in traffic because of the opening of the new Enterprise Early Education Center expected to open next year. It will also support the increasing residential and commercial growth on the south side of the circle.

To prepare for growth, the city is also investing in a $1 million over the next few years in a sewer expansion project on the south and west side of the circle, from near Wal-Mart to Utility Trailers.

Eight-inch sewer lines will be installed in the first phase of the comprehensive project, expected to cost the city about $327,000 this year.

The upgrade of the northeast wastewater treatment plant will also continue this year at a cost of about $1.1 million. The city began the upgrade last year after the Alabama Department of Environmental Management strengthened discharge requirements and penalized the city for violations under the new standards.

Other capital projects planned for next year include purchase of a fire engine, improvements at the Recreation Center and Daisy Gibson Park, an airport fencing project, technology upgrades in the municipal court system, an addition to the recycling center and purchase of several police vehicles.

Hicks said the city leaders attempt to take the revenue growth and 'use it fo fund things to help the community.'He said the city would maintain a reserve, however, to cover costs unexpected costs or to offset a downturn in revenues.
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AU maintains efforts to deter hazing
09/29/2006
Opelika-Auburn News
Amy Weaver

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The concept of hazing may be on people's minds now as states such as California consider updating their legislation to make penalties more severe, or when a Florida A&M fraternity member claims he was beaten so severely with boxing gloves he temporarily lost his hearing.

Each fall, rituals of initiation abuse creep into the minds of officials at Auburn University as sororities and fraternities welcome its newest members.

Back in the day, students who survived beatings, mistreatment, and humiliation became a frat's newest class, but those days are over, especially at AU, according to the president of the Interfraternity Council and the director of Greek life. The behavior is no longer popular or accepted.

"I think it's very much gone by the wayside," said senior Max Coblentz, acting president of the IFC, the governing body of all 26 fraternities.

The university and IFC go to great lengths to educate members - new and current - on the policies and rules regarding hazing and acceptable behavior.

"They are very aware it is not accepted by Auburn University. They are very aware it's not accepted by the national fraternities either," he added. "The old school days are gone."
This week marks National Hazing Prevention Week, a time devoted to raising awareness about the national issue.

Paul Kittle, AU's director of Greek life, said school officials take reports of hazing very seriously. Auburn may have significantly more sorority members than fraternity members, but he said hazing is rare among the women. Last year, the university investigated three allegations of hazing, all in the frats. Two houses were sanctioned. He would not disclose which ones.

He did say the incidents were not alcohol related and did not result in student injury. The degree of hazing was minor, like making members waste time by attending meetings in the pre-dawn hours or succumbing to personal servitude. Investigations in recent years have generally found the hazing source to be one or a small number of students within the frat, mistreating other members.

Part of the challenge in educating students is explaining what hazing is, Kittle said. It's not just physical or alcohol abuse that leads to harm or death, but can also be verbal abuse.

"Verbal harassment is just as unacceptable as physical abuse," Coblentz said. "Students need to understand that."

Education starts as early as Camp War Eagle. Not only is it a way to get to students, Greek or not, but Kittle said it gets to parents too. Getting parents involved is a key factor in deterring hazing. Whether they were hazed or not in college, he said they most likely won’t let their children put up with it now.

Education continues to all Greeks, who attend an IFC anti-hazing program each year. Also, members who work directly with pledges get the lessons one more time.

When Coblentz rushed as a freshman, he said hazing was not an issue. He said the initiation process is more about educating pledges about the history and happenings of each house.
"The old mind-set is gone," he said.

Auburn has about 3,000 sorority members, with more than 900 new members this fall. The fraternity population is about 1,800, with roughly 650 new members.

New member orientation has to end by Nov. 22 this year. The IFC, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the National Panhellenic Conference passed the new rule, effective this semester, in an effort to shorten the amount of time hazing could occur.

AU encourages anybody to report incidents of hazing in person or through an anonymous hotline. Since last year, reports could also be made online through www.auburn.edu/greek.
"We are always concerned about student safety," Kittle said. "It is our main concern."

Punishments for hazing can be as minimal as a letter of reprimand to as severe as closing or suspension of a chapter. Alabama hazing law considers hazing a class C misdemeanor. If new legislation in California passes, hazing could be a felony if the act resulted in death or serious injury.

Coblentz says education is key.

"The more we educate, the better we will be and future generations will be better for it," he said.
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Presidential Visit Showcases Hoover's Ethanol Use
09/29/2006
WVTM-TV

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - President George W. Bush showcased Hoover's use of alternative fuels and used that city as a national example of the government's push to expand ethanol production. "I want to thank the people of Hoover, Ala., for thinking different, for being on the leading edge of change," said Bush.

The president put the nation's energy focus on Hoover, making a speech about the city's use of alternative fuels.

"We think it's in our national interest that ethanol penetrate more markets, that more people use ethanol," said Bush.

Bush also talked about tax credits for using ethanol as auto fuel and research money to expand production of ethanol. Ethanol is currently made from corn, but other sources are needed to be a competitive alternative to gasoline.

"The federal government has committed to spending a fair amount of your money to research other ways to make ethanol. One such place where such research is going on is right here in Alabama at Auburn University," said Bush.

The White House learned about Hoover's alternative fuel program through an Auburn University conference on ethanol.

The city's fleet of more than 100 Chevrolet Tahoes runs on E-85, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. It's the largest police cruiser fleet in the country to use alternative fuel, and Hoover's mayor hopes the program sends a strong national message.

"I think there's an entire new industry about to take off in this country, and we're proud to be part of it," said Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos.

The Auburn research centers on using wood chips and switch grass to manufacture ethanol.

The president's visit to Hoover preceded a campaign fundraiser at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
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Transcript of President Bush's energy speech
09/29/2006
Birmingham News

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The following transcript is from President George Bush's speech at the Hoover Public Safety Center on Sept. 28, 2006.

THE PRESIDENT: You know, the price of gasoline has been dropping, and that's good news for the American consumer, it's good news for the small business owners, it's good news for the farmers. But it's very important for us to remember that we still have an issue when it comes to dependence on foreign oil. And one way to become less dependent on foreign oil is for us to develop new ways to power our automobiles right here in America.

And so I've come to Hoover, Alabama, to recognize this city for being innovative and progressive and for having a good football team. I want to thank Mayor Tony Petelos and the city council for serving and leading. See, what we have just witnessed is a police force that is filling up its vehicles with a fuel called E85. When you hear somebody talk about fuel E85, that means 85 percent of the fuel comes from ethanol. And ethanol is produced from corn. And corn is grown right here in the United States of America.


One way to become less dependent on foreign oil is to use American-grown products to power our automobiles. And that's what we just witnessed. So I asked Officer Parker, of the Hoover Police Department, I said, do you like using E85? See, he has a choice, because there are what we call flex-fuel vehicles. He can either use ethanol-based fuel or regular gasoline. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of cars in the United States that are flex-fuel, and some of you probably don't even know you've got a car that's flex-fuel. It doesn't cost much money, by the way, to convert a regular automobile, an automobile that uses gasoline, to a flex-fuel car.

So anyway, so I said, Officer Parker, I said -- first, I told him thanks for serving. And then I said, you've got a choice, don't you, between gasoline and E85? He said, I do. I said, which one do you pick? He said, E85. I said, why? He said, because it's got a little better "git up" to it. In other words, it works just fine.

And it works just fine for other reasons, as well. It works just fine because it helps keep our air clean. It works just fine because it helps address a national security issue. So one of the important policies of governments ought to be to encourage the production and use of ethanol. And there's a federal role for that. In other words, we provide tax credits. We think it's in our national interest that ethanol penetrate more market -- in other words, more people use ethanol.

We're providing research dollars, and one reason you provide research dollars is because it's going to be important for us to use something beyond corn to make ethanol. In other words, corn is good, and so is sugar. But you can imagine it's going to put a little strain on the corn market after a while if the only raw material we use for ethanol is corn. After all, you've got to feed the cows, and feed the hogs, and feed people, as well as feed automobiles with fuel.

And so the federal government has committed to spending a fair amount of your money to research other ways to make ethanol. And one such place where good research is going on is right here in the state of Alabama at Auburn University.

And I just had the honor of meeting a professor who came here from South Africa and is now one of the eminent scholars there at Auburn who spends his time developing new ways to make ethanol. See, what's happening here in America is that we have made it a focused effort of our government to diversify our fuel, and we're spending your money to do it.

The doc was telling me that one of these days we could be using switch grass to be making ethanol. That's pretty good news for people. You know, if that ever becomes a reality, there's going to be a lot of switch-grass growers.

He was talking to me about how they're spending time and money figuring out whether or not we can use wood products to make ethanol. Imagine if we can achieve a technological breakthrough that enables us to use wood chips. You got a lot of wood here in Alabama. You'll become one of the leading ethanol producers when we achieve that breakthrough. And that's good news for America.

I like the idea of a President or a Governor saying, you know something, there's a lot of corn, and we're less dependent on oil from overseas, or, we've got some new breakthroughs, which makes us less dependent on oil. And the good news is this technology also helps us be good stewards of the environment.

And so I want to thank the good folks from Hoover, Alabama for thinking differently, for being on the leading edge of change. I appreciate the Mayor and the city council for thinking about how best to represent your people, and you're making a fine contribution to our country, as well.

It's an honor to be here. I'm thrilled to see this E85 plant operating right here in the state of Alabama. I predict there are more coming. And when more come, this country is going to be better off.

Thanks for having me, and God bless.
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Bush promotes alternative fuel use during stop in Hoover
09/29/2006
Tuscaloosa News
Adam Jones

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President Bush used a stop in Hoover Thursday to promote his energy policy that calls for the use of alternative fuels, a movement Alabama researchers are part of.

Before a fundraiser for Gov. Bob Riley's campaign, Bush visited the Hoover Public Safety Center where local officials briefed him on that city's use of 137 vehicles that use alternative fuels.

The city of Tuscaloosa does not use alternative fuel vehicles.

"You know the price of gasoline has been dropping and that's good news for the American consumers. It's good news for the small business owners, good news for the farmers," Bush said at a pumping station that supplies fuel made of 85 percent ethanol produced from corn. "But it's very important for us to remember that we still have an issue when it comes to dependence on foreign oil."

And one way to become less dependent on foreign oil is for us to develop new ways to power our automobiles right here in America."

In fact, in his State of the Union speech earlier this year, Bush mentioned using other crops besides corn to produce ethanol, mentioning switchgrass. That brought attention to David Bransby, an Auburn University professor and leading researcher on the tall, thick prairie grass.

This month, Bransby was part of a proposal submitted to the Department of Energy by three state institutions to get a $4.5 million grant that would pay for a study of how to produce biofuel in Alabama.

Ajay Agrawral, a University of Alabama professor, was the lead author on the proposal, and said switchgrass and trees are the most likely plants for ethanol production, though there could be others.

If the grant comes to Alabama, Auburn would determine which crops would be best, University of Alabama in Huntsville would research how to modify the crops and UA would study how to cost effectively convert the crops to fuel, he said.

But UA does other work with alternative fuels, and this grant would be the Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies’ first venture into ethanol, said Clark Midkiff, CAVT director.

Most of the center's work the past five years has been on hydrogen fuel and fuel cells, he said.

"I don't think we'll be able to depend on crops for fuel because we won't be able to grow enough for our energy appetite," he said. "Hydrogen energy is a long term solution, and that doesn't help with current high gas prices."

Bushes visit was a worthy highlight of alternative fuels, but ethanol in the United States is expensive and rare to find, he said.

"There are literally millions of these flex vehicles made by American and foreign car makers, but the problem is the nearest station to get the ethanol is probably Kentucky," Midkiff said.

The consumer will ultimately decide what is used, and he said more research is needed to make alternative fuels attractive, he said.
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President Bush to visit Hoover and Birmingham today
09/28/2006
Gainesville Sun
Associated Press

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President Bush will discuss energy policy in Hoover this afternoon before heading to Birmingham for a lunchtime fundraiser with Gov. Riley.

The President has called for more investment in alternative energy sources.

Bush will speak at the Hoover Public Safety Center, where he is expected to highlight the city's use of an ethanol fuel blend to run 137 city vehicles.

The fundraiser with Riley will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.

Auburn University agriculture professor David Bransby will brief the President on the potential use of switchgrass for biofuel production.

Bush mentioned its use as an alternative fuel source in his State of the Union speech in January.
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President Bush to visit Hoover and Birmingham today
09/28/2006
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Associated Press

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BIRMINGHAM -- President Bush will discuss energy policy in Hoover this afternoon before heading to Birmingham for a lunchtime fundraiser with Gov. Riley.

The President has called for more investment in alternative energy sources.

Bush will speak at the Hoover Public Safety Center, where he is expected to highlight the city's use of an ethanol fuel blend to run 137 city vehicles.

The fundraiser with Riley will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.

Auburn University agriculture professor David Bransby will brief the President on the potential use of switchgrass for biofuel production.

Bush mentioned its use as an alternative fuel source in his State of the Union speech in January.
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Scientists spy ivory-billed woodpecker in Florida
09/28/2006
Scientific American
Deborah Zabarenko

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists say they have spotted the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker 14 times in the last year in the Florida panhandle, raising hope that the rare bird is truly back from the brink of extinction. 'The bird just flew over my head; I was in my kayak and it was just above me, going away,' said Geoffrey Hill of Auburn University, whose team spied the bird in the flooded forests along the Choctawhatchee River in May 2005.

Hill said he was within 30 feet of the woodpecker at that sighting, but failed to get a photograph, a key piece of evidence to document the bird's comeback. 'It's a hard bird to get a photograph of,' Hill said by telephone late on Wednesday. 'My excuse, and we are making excuses because we had a chance last year to get a picture, is that we had insufficient personnel and insufficient equipment. We could have gotten lucky. It didn't happen.' Bird experts had deemed the ivory bill -- a crow-sized creature with a characteristic white beak, a red crest and a 30 inch wingspan -- extinct for half a century until one was seen in eastern Arkansas in 2004.

With great fanfare, the Audubon Society and the journal Science declared in 2005 that the woodpecker was back, but despite repeated sightings, there has been no iron-clad proof of its existence, such as a clear photograph.

SIGHT AND SOUND OF A WOODPECKER

In research published online in Avian Conservation and Ecology, a Canadian journal, Hill and his colleagues reported 14 sightings and 41 sounds that matched descriptions of the acoustics of the ivory bill.

They also recorded what sounded like 99 double knock and 210 kent calls, both characteristic sounds produced by the ivory bill. But that may not be enough to convince skeptics, Hill said. 'I don't expect the ornithological community to accept this as definitive,' he said. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who has led the search for the woodpecker in Arkansas, hailed the Florida find as strong evidence. 'It's tantalizing, it's suggestive, it's not conclusive, but in the aggregate, evidence is strong that the bird is there,' Fitzpatrick said in a telephone interview.

He was sympathetic to Hill's problems in getting a photograph, and acknowledged widespread doubts about the bird's existence. 'I've been accused of being a Bigfoot searcher,' Fitzpatrick said, referring to the mythical beast of American folklore. 'I just believe that it is a very important priority for us to search all of the places where this bird may be hanging on, and once and for all find out where they still exist, if they do.' The bird's former range stretched from east Texas to the Carolinas and Florida and north as far as Arkansas and southern Illinois, Fitzpatrick said.
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Few cotton insects found in Alabama in 2006
09/28/2006
Southeast Farm Press
Paul L. Hollis

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**Ron Smith, AU Extension entomologist is the source for this story.**

One of the few positive things that can be said about the 2006 cotton year in Alabama is that insect numbers were low to non-existent in most of the state’s fields and across most species of insects, says Ron Smith, Auburn University Extension entomologist.

"Despite the low insect pressure, I think we have learned a few things this year," says Smith. "We conduct thrips tests in Prattville every year, and it was an exceptional year for thrips because pressure was so heavy during a certain window. It appeared that when the cotton was most susceptible, the thrips moved from the wild host plants and into the field. No matter what we used as a treatment, it didn’t look good. The best thrips treatment we had this year was where we sprayed three times with Orthene in a timely manner."

If cotton is at this susceptible stage when the primary migration of thrips from wild host plants occurs, then nothing will work very well, he says.

"They've got to feed a little bit before they can be killed. If you have a lot of thrips feeding a little bit, then you get some cosmetic damage in all of the better treatments, and that's what happened this year. My point is, there's a window during which cotton is more susceptible to thrips. And at that time, with a mass migration, you'll probably need some supplemental treatments in some years," says Smith.

Plant bugs were almost non-existent in Alabama cotton this year, perhaps with the exception of the Tennessee Valley, he says. Aphids lasted three weeks to a month longer than normal, he adds.

"The naturally occurring fungus that usually takes out aphids needs humidity and moisture to spread and to show itself. That did not happen this year. Instead of aphids crashing in the first 10 days of July, they crashed the last 10 days of July. We made a lot more foliar sprays for aphids this year than we normally make. We probably made more foliar sprays for aphids this year than for any other insect pest. We now have good chemistry, and most folks were pleased with what they saw," says Smith.

The normal time to see a heavy flight of bollworms, he says, is about July 20. But that was at the peak of Alabama's drought this year, and the flight never occurred.

"But you didn't have to go too far to see the opposite. In southwest Georgia, including Dawson, Albany and Camilla, growers saw heavy pressure during that window. It was at a level to where the Bollgard cotton didn't hold, and they had to make multiple oversprays to take out the worms.

"Last year, the pyrethroid chemistry didn't work in that area, and they had up to 10-percent boll damage. Bollworms were escaping Bt cotton. That didn't happen as bad this year. The resistance level may have dropped back some this year, but it's a problem just waiting to happen on a much larger scale. That is, the effectiveness of pyrethroids on bollworms."

Stinkbugs, says Smith, also were difficult to find in Alabama cotton this year. "Stinkbugs have become the No. 1 pest of cotton in this part of the country. But we didn't know that heat and drought would take its toll on the pest. If that didn't do it, then I'm not sure what did. We learned one thing about stinkbugs this year — they're not the same every year. If you don't have a scout or a consultant, the trend has been to spray for stinkbugs the third, fifth and seventh week of bloom. This year, you would have wasted more money than a scout or a consultant would have cost you by spraying on that schedule. The sprays would have been of little benefit.'
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