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Friday, October 20, 2006

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	Date	Outlet
This event is for the birds	10/20/2006	Birmingham News
Local farmer grows shrimp in aquifer	10/20/2006	Demopolis Times
AU research team testing new voting system	10/20/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Woodpecker may turn airport plan to sawdust	10/20/2006	St. Petersburg Times
Roaber Bacon students building rebots to clean	10/20/2006	Hilltop Press (KY)


This event is for the birds 10/20/2006 Birmingham News		Return to Top
This story mentions AU ornithologists and the ivory-billed woodpecker. A GATHERING being held this weekend in Fairhope is for the birds, and that's wonderful. The annual Alabama Coastal BirdFest opened Thursday and runs through Sunday with exhibitions, dinners, lectures, bird-watching tours and a fair. BirdFest is one of this area's signature events, emphasizing southern Alabama's unique and valuable position within the Dauphin Island Trans Gulf Migration Flyway, one of the most important bird migration corridors in the world. Millions of colorful songbirds and other birds fly across southern Alabama during their annual trips between their winter and summer homes, many of them stopping to rest and feed in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Protecting their local habitat remains crucial to their survival. Sadly, development along the coast encroaches on the birds' habitat. Concrete paving replaces forested areas and high-rise condominiums erect dangerous obstacles to the migrating birds. Our solemn responsibility to the world is to ensure that development doesn't destroy the migratory flyway. In that spirit, BirdFest fulfills multiple objectives. Raising the public's awareness, the festival reminds us that we share our environment with millions of creatures that add immeasurably to the quality of our lives. The festival edu- cates, entertains and encourages scientific discovery. And last, but not least, the festival contributes to the area's tourism by attracting hundreds of visitors to the area. The recent discovery of the rare ivory-billed woodpecker living near us energizes this year's festival. Thought to be extinct, the bird has been sighted in an Arkansas swamp. Moreover, Auburn University ornithologists have sighted the bird along Florida's Choctawahatchee River, and there's a possibility the large bird lives in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Sightings of the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker remind us that the natural world still holds wonders yet to be discovered. Indeed, BirdFest remains a worthwhile event that deserves the enthusiastic support of south Alabamians.
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Local farmer grows shrimp in aquifer 10/20/2006 Demopolis Times JAMIE ALICH		Return to Top
AU is mentioned in this story. EUTAW — William R. "Dickie" Odom has been growing shrimp in the brackish aquifer of Greene County since 1999. "I wanted to use this water here for something useful. The water can't be used for anything than this. It has five parts per thousand salinity as opposed to seawater, which has 35 parts per thousand. Our well is 650 feet deep," said Odom. According to Odom, who owns and operates Odom Farms between Forkland and Eutaw, his ponds produce an average of 35,000 pounds of shrimp annually. "This year, we sold 26,000 pounds fresh to the public. In fact, some of the shrimp were still alive an hour before some of them were bought. The other pounds are sent off for processing. There they are processed to be headless or peeled and deveined. The shrimp are individually quick frozen," said Odom. Odom operates six ponds that are based on two acres. The ponds hold between 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of shrimp each. "In each pound, there are 16 to 20 jumbo shrimp, and each one has an average length of six to eight inches," said Odom. Odom raises Pacific White Shrimp in his ponds. He said they are most suited for pond raising environments. It takes about a day to harvest one pond of its shrimp. Generally harvesting starts around the first week in October. "We harvest for four weeks, and during that we have three public sales. We sell our shrimp for $3 per pound. The business for fresh shrimp doubles every year, and we are having to build into the future to meet that demand," said Odom. "Most of our customers have been primarily from Marengo, Greene, Sumter and Hale counties. This year, however, Marengo bought the most. I also had people from various parts of the state come over. One buyer I had was a shrimp boat captain from Bayou LaBatre." Oct. 15 was the last public sale of the season for Odom. The shrimp are harvested alive by draining the ponds and using an apparatus behind the dams to pick them up. They are then put on ice and taken back to be cleaned. All this is done on Odom Farms. According to Odom, a lot of time and maintenance goes into raising shrimp. "When we get them, they are what is called post larvae. At that point, they do look like shrimp, but you have to put them under a microscope to see that. About 200,000 of them will fit in a quart sized fruit jar. So, basically they are knat-sized," said Odom. "The hardest part of raising the shrimp is to get them adjusted to lower salt levels in the ponds. We keep them in tanks on the dams, and have to feed them every two hours around the clock. After they are accustomed to the water, we have to maintain the water quality, supplement aeration, and feed them properly." According to Odom, they know how much to feed the shrimp based on monitoring the weekly growth rate. The shrimp Odom gets come from a hatchery in south Florida. "We get them specifically pathogen-free. The chance of them having the diseases from coastal regions is not impossible, but it is relatively slim to none," said Odom. The growing season for pond raised shrimp is anywhere from 120 to 150 days. Odom has raised catfish and redfish before, so shrimp was a natural transition for him. "My background and history is in aquaculture. The catfish thrived in this brackish water here, and I was happy to find another use for the water. Raising shrimp, in a lot of ways, is like raising catfish," said Odom. Right now, Odom has flounder on hand that he will start raising in his ponds as part of an experiment from Auburn University. "Besides flounder, I am looking at raising Cobin, which is a Gulf sport fish. From what I understand, it has the most potential for being the next pond raised salt water species," said Odom. According to Odom, people are buying more local, fresh shrimp from ponds than imported shrimp because there have been illegal drugs being used in the raising of foreign shrimp. "People are looking for a safer way to eat seafood now, and this is one way that is offered to them," said Odom.
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AU research team testing new voting system 10/20/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
A new system developed at Auburn University could eliminate hanging chads and revolutionize America’s voting culture. Prime III is an electronic system that allows people, including those with certain disabilities, to vote easily without assistance. Dr. Juan Gilbert and a team of 10 graduate students from the department of computer science and software engineering at AU’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering spent the last few years developing and modifying a voting system that would eliminate discrepancies, such as the hanging chads in Florida during the 2000 election, but be user-friendly for all. Indiana University, the AU Center for Governmental Services and IBM are also partners in the effort funded by AU Outreach. The Prime III system, which gets its name from the three voting methods used by the program - voice, touch and sight - is currently tested every morning by willing participants from the first floor of the Haley Center. “What’s more natural than speech and touch?” Gilbert asked. It may take a few minutes to vote, but Gilbert is confident the newness of the system and their location in Haley will attract the 100-200 participants sought for a viable campus sample. The race is for the best burger - McDonald’s Big Mac, Burger King Whopper and Wendy’s Classic Single - and the best fries at the same three fast-food restaurants. Instructions provided through a headset allow the voter to choose between the “candidates” by saying a respective number. Casting is still anonymous because random numbers are assigned for each candidate and each voter. Votes made for the same burger by two different people would be associated with different numbers, Gilbert said. Votes can also be cast by touching choices on the computer screen. Once voting is complete, a paper ballot is printed and one is stored electronically. Ashley Wachs, a graduate student in engineering, isn’t disabled, but found the system easy to use. Besides directions being easy to follow, she liked how it asked her multiple times if she was certain about her selections. She could see the system having a widespread impact on voting. “It accommodates so many different types of people,” she said. “I think it will greatly increase the number of people voting because they will have the confidence to do it by themselves.” Gilbert said the number one challenge for the team was usability. His lab, the Human Center Computing Lab, focuses on innovative solutions for real-world problems. “When that fails, it doesn’t matter what you have in place,” Gilbert said, “it’s not going to work.” Another issue was security. Electronic voting has its share of skeptics because of potential hacker tampering, but after the 2000 election, paper has its critics as well, he said. Once testing is completed on campus Tuesday, the electronic votes will undergo a security test by experts at AU, IU and around the country. Gilbert said the team tried to cover all its bases and even worked with security experts in the development stages to insure it would be as safe as possible from hackers. “They will be able to get in but they can’t have an effect on the system,” he said. Also, it is not possible to hack in undetected, he said. Vince Cross, a graduate student in the HCCL, agreed the computer encryptions are strong, but if any part of the security system breaks down, even the guard standing by, the whole system is susceptible. “Your security is only as good as all the components are together,” he said. As the product reaches its final stages, Gilbert said the casing will be made tamperproof as another security measure. To collect a rural sampling, Gilbert and his students will travel to Uniontown. Those results will also undergo the security test. Gilbert said he may conduct another usability test in Auburn to get the elderly population. The last test for the system will be at the CGS. If the center can certify it as a viable voter system, Gilbert said local and state agencies can use them in elections. “With the system coming from a research institution not linked to a particular party or candidate, we think people will be more likely to embrace it,” Gilbert said. “It’s not for sale and we’re not looking for a profit. We’re just hoping to offer a secure alternative that enables a larger base of voters to participate in the electoral process.”
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Woodpecker may turn airport plan to sawdust 10/20/2006 St. Petersburg Times Craig Pittman		Return to Top
This story includes comments about AU professor Geoff Hill and his research. Sightings of a bird once thought extinct could doom a planned Panhandle air facility . Can a woodpecker stop an airport? Maybe it should, if it's as rare as the ivory-billed woodpecker, say environmental groups. On Thursday two organizations sent the Federal Aviation Administration a letter urging it to reconsider approval of a new, $240-million airport serving the Panama City area in light of possible sightings of the woodpecker. Last month a team of researchers led by Auburn University professor Geoff Hill announced they had found evidence that ivory-billed woodpeckers, long believed extinct, were thriving in a remote swamp in the Florida Panhandle. The area is near the proposed 4,000-acre airport that would be built on land donated by the St. Joe Co., the state's largest private landowner. The company hopes to develop the 70,000 acres surrounding the site. The Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council sent the letter to the FAA and also urged the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to look into the issue before okaying the airport's permit to destroy wetlands. The area where Hill's team says it found the so-called Lord God Bird is in a wilderness area along the Choctawhatchee River. That's about 19 miles from the proposed airport site, as the woodpecker flies. "The proposed airport could have direct or indirect impacts on the ivory-billed woodpecker and at a minimum warrants further investigation," wrote Melanie Richardson of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Jason Rylander of Defenders of Wildlife. Environmental groups oppose the airport because it would wipe out 2,000 acres of wetlands and 4 miles of streams. A nonbinding referendum vote found a majority of local residents also opposed the taxpayer-funded proposed airport. But local and state officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, have pushed the airport as a way to jump-start the Panhandle's economy. The St. Joe Co. has said that without the airport, many of its development plans in the area will not come to fruition. Meanwhile, Hill's researchers will be returning to the Panhandle this fall to search for conclusive proof that the ivory bill is there. Hill's team say they have recordings and visual sightings, but no photos.
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Roaber Bacon students building rebots to clean 10/20/2006 Hilltop Press (KY)		Return to Top
This story mentions AU as the location of the national BEST competition. The Roger Bacon High School Robotics team is hanging out the out the laundry. For the past month, 13 seniors and one junior from Roger Bacon High School, almost all physics students, have been designing and building a remote control robot. While this may seem like a fun after school project, this robot is being built to compete against robots from other schools at the University of Cincinnati BEST (Boosting, Engineering, Science, and Technology) competition. This year's competition is to design and build a remote control robot that will be able to hang up the clean laundry and to collect the dirty laundry. The Roger Bacon students have been working hard for four days a week after school for the past month in order to get ready for the competition. At school, being on the robotics team is very exciting for the seniors who are taking physics. Moderators and teachers Michael Schaffer and Megan Guldner, have been controlling the building environment while their students use power tools, clothes pins, electrical circuits and tape, to create their robot. According to the specifications for the competition, the team can only use a certain amount of materials in order to build the robot, so teams are tested not only on their understanding of the principles to build the robot, but their ingenuity as well. The competition began in September at UC. There, teams learned what the project was and what materials they would be able to use. These past few weeks students have been building the robot for Mall Day on Oct. 14, when they showcased the robot and test it out. On Saturday, Oct. 21, Game Day arrives. Here, students are judged on the performance of their robot, the notebook which they have put together detailing the building process, and the display they put together which shows how the team has done not only this year but previous years. The winner will go to the national competition at Auburn University in Alabama. Elyse Krause, senior and co-captain of the team, is very excited about the whole thing. "Our team has encountered our own ups and downs, but it is all coming together nicely. We're all really excited about the competition and our robot. I can't wait till Game Day."
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