Untitled Document

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

NOTE ON FORMATTING: When stories are transferred from the Web, certain punctuation marks and other marks in this report don't carry over and result in symbols and other formatting errors. To see or print the story in full without these translation errors, simply click on "full story" at the end of each item."

Total Clips: 11

	Date	Outlet
Local Company Helps Minor High Robotics Team	12/06/2006	WVTM-TV (13)
School Bulletin board	12/06/2006	The Daily News Journal
End proposed for college desegration court case	12/06/2006	Birmingham News
Experts: Precooking may safeguard Taco Bell ingredients	12/06/2006	San Francisco Chronicle
Historic church coming home	12/06/2006	Montgomery Advertiser
Prairie plant seen as promising fuel option	12/05/2006	The Sun News
Want to lose weight? Eat your breakfast	12/05/2006	Press-Register
AU professor develops egg-injected poultry vaccination against avian influenza	12/05/2006	DVM, The Newsmagazine of Veterinary Medicine
Good eating habits can ward off holiday weight gain	12/05/2006	Manila Bulletin
UNICEF Executive Director honours the father of the 'Green Revolution'	12/05/2006	UNICEF
Santa Rosa briefs	12/05/2006	Pensacola News Journal


Local Company Helps Minor High Robotics Team 12/06/2006 WVTM-TV (13)		Return to Top
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. -- In October, Minor High School's robotic team won three awards at a state engineering competition that was held in Huntsville and one local company is helping them reach their goals. Their creation, Tiger, is a robot that can add and remove laundry from clotheslines and on Tuesday, Vulcan Materials presented the team with a check for $5,000 The students will be the only school from the Jefferson County area to compete against 44 other schools in the finals that will be held on Friday and Saturday at Auburn University.
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School Bulletin board 12/06/2006 The Daily News Journal		Return to Top
This brief about AU's BEST competition was inlcluded in a roundup of school news in the Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, Tenn. McFadden School of Excellence will compete in the 2006 South's BEST Robotics Championship Saturday at Auburn University. The 44 teams that have advanced to South°s are the winners of nine local competitions in states ranging from Ohio to Pennsylvania to Illinois to Alabama. BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology.
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End proposed for college desegration court case 12/06/2006 Birmingham News Tom Gordon		Return to Top
This is an update on a 1970 higher education desegration case that involved AU. The two chief plaintiffs in Alabama's long-running higher education desegregation case told the presiding judge Tuesday the case has accomplished much and that it's time for individual schools and state lawmakers to continue the progress. "The plaintiffs have not agreed that the vestiges of segregation have been totally eliminated," said state Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery. "Rather, we have agreed that the defendant State of Alabama and defendant universities have complied with the decrees issued by the court and that it is not practicable to obtain further relief in court." Alease Sims of Birmingham and Knight, who represent the state's black residents as well as those with ties to its two historically black universities, spoke in Birmingham federal court before U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy. The proceeding was a fairness hearing to consider objections to settling the 25-year-old case. "We've come a long ways," Sims said. She added it was now up to Knight, his legislative colleagues and the governor "to make it work." Murphy, who has issued the two major orders in the higher ed case, said he would issue an order next week on the proposed agreements to end the case. Attorneys for both sides said they expect him to accept the agreements and dismiss the case. In remarks near the end of Tuesday's hearing, Murphy said the proposed agreements comply with existing law and are in the best interests of the plaintiffs "and all the parties to the case." Alabama is the only state in the country with a still-active higher education desegregation case, and the state so far has spent more than $250 million to carry out Murphy's orders. Still, the case's likely end met with objections from some people. One of them was Willie Strain, a former assistant director of communications in the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. His 1970 lawsuit led to a court order banning discrimination at the Auburn University-based Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. In 1995, in Murphy's second major order in the higher ed case, the judge ordered the merger of Auburn's Extension Service with that of historically black Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, creating the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Wants more done: Strain, now president of the Alabama Black Faculty Association, maintains that not enough has changed since his Extension Service lawsuit. Tuesday, he said that ending the higher ed desegregation case also would thwart progress such as the need for historically white universities and the state's two-year college system to boost their ranks of black faculty and administrators. He also said the state should do more to financially help low-income black students attend the white schools. In a conversation before the hearing, Knight told Strain, "We firmly believe that we've gotten all we can get out of this." The higher ed case was based on the assertion that Alabama's higher education system, though officially desegregated, still had vestiges from the segregation era. Among them, plaintiffs alleged, was a lack of programs and facilities and few white students at historically black Alabama A&M in Huntsville and at Alabama State University in Montgomery, and not enough black students, faculty and administrators at the predominantly white schools. Knight said that when the case's mandates fully end as expected in 2014, ASU and A&M each will have received more than $200 million for such things as new academic programs, endowment trusts, diversity scholarships, new buildings and improvements. "In addition, we expect at least $100 million more will have been provided as need-based financial aid for low-income students at all Alabama colleges and universities and for recruiting and retaining black American faculty and administrators at the historically white universities," Knight said. There was a time last year when it appeared the higher ed case was headed for another major trial, on three major issues. But the historically white universities and the plaintiffs started working out agreements on black faculty and the hiring and retention of administrators. Then a surplus in the state education budget made money available to help meet Alabama A&M's request for additional building and repair funds, as well as the plaintiffs' request for a meaningful need-based scholarship program. The expected end of the case will not end the plaintiffs' claim that Alabama's property tax system is a barrier to higher education for many black and low-income students because it doesn't generate enough revenue. Murphy rejected that claim, and it is now before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Experts: Precooking may safeguard Taco Bell ingredients 12/06/2006 San Francisco Chronicle Gillian Flaccus, AP		Return to Top
This AP story, which quotes Bryan Chin, director of the Detection and Food Safety Center at AU, also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, St. Petersburg Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Modestee Bee, Fresno Bee, Santa Barbara News-Press, The Ledger (FL), Bakersfield Californian, Long Island Newsday, Monterey County Herald, Southwest Florida Herald Tribune, Gainesville Sun, Press-Enterprise (CA), Ocean County Observer, Redding Record Searchlight (CA), Ventura County Star, Chippewa Herald (WI), Centre Daily Times (PA), Atlantic City Press (NJ), Contra Costa Times (CA), Auburn (NY) Journal and other print and broadcast media across the nation. Nearly 20 years ago, Taco Bell was hailed as an innovator when it began to ship precooked, pre-seasoned beef and bean fillings to its restaurants as a way to save money. The concept was called K-minus because it reduced the need for kitchens at the individual outlets and let Taco Bell sell many of its core menu items for less than $1. Now, as Taco Bell struggles to rebound from an E. coli outbreak at eateries in New York and New Jersey, industry experts say that type of advance preparation may have shielded the fast food giant from a more severe problem. Health investigators were trying to pinpoint the cause of the outbreak and said the investigation will probably focus on produce instead of meat. Precooking and prepackaging of fillings at designated plants reduce the number of people who handle the food and the opportunities for E. coli to take hold, said Randy Hiatt, president of the Costa Mesa-based restaurant consulting firm Fessel International. The method also means the beef gets cooked twice — once at the plant and again when it is reheated at the individual restaurants, reducing the risk of E. coli even further, he said. "I'm sure they have very good controls because it's really their lifeblood. It's probably potentially more safe because it's done in a controlled environment," Hiatt said. "Location by location cooking has a lot of variables to it." At least three dozen people have been sickened by E. coli in New Jersey and New York, and apparently all the victims had eaten at Taco Bell restaurants in the second half of November. On Tuesday, the fast food chain announced it was reopening eight restaurants in Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York that were voluntarily closed after the outbreak began. Another restaurant in South Plainfield, N.J., was also expected to reopen. Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Irvine-based Taco Bell, said all the food at those restaurants was discarded and equipment was sanitized. "Our first priority is the health and safety of our customers. This is a very serious issue, and we are very concerned about the well-being of the people who've been impacted by this," he said. Yum Brands Inc. is the parent company of Taco Bell, which had $6.1 billion in sales in 2005. Bryan Chin, director of the Detection and Food Safety Center at Auburn University in Alabama, said Taco Bell's K-minus advance preparation method should have wiped out any E. coli contamination, even if meat was tainted before it was cooked. "Since the food is processed in a processing plant, they can control parameters fairly well. Then it is recooked and reheated at the Taco Bell," Chin said. "So either the processing at the plant or the processing at Taco Bell should have killed it." Other food industry experts, however, said the mass cooking of ingredients could also be a liability. Carol Tucker Foreman, head of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, said Taco Bell's mass distribution practices mean that if just one food item is contaminated, it could be widely distributed very quickly. "When someone makes a bad steak in Kalamazoo, it makes people sick in New Jersey and London and other places," she said. "The ramifications of making a mistake are very great." Industry analysts said regardless of the cause, the E. coli scare would likely be a problem for Taco Bell. "I think these things are always very, very difficult to manage through," said Bob Goldin, a Chicago-based food analyst at Technomic Inc. "It's a black eye, whether it's their fault or not."
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Historic church coming home 12/06/2006 Montgomery Advertiser Alvin Benn		Return to Top
A project of AU architecture students is featured in this story. MARTIN'S STATION -- An Episcopal church moved from the site of Alabama's first capital 130 years ago is headed back home thanks to a group of Auburn University architectural students. It's a painstaking project, but the students haven't let the summer heat or autumn chill deter them from dismantling St. Luke's Episcopal Church and preparing to move it back to Cahawba about 12 miles away. The church has been vacant for several years and the elements have taken their toll. The Auburn students are taking special care to protect as much as they can. "They're our white knights and they've come to our rescue," James Hammonds, chairman of the Cahawba Advisory Committee, said Tuesday. "Without them, I don't see how we could have done this. It could have cost up to $500,000 or more." In addition to Hammonds' group, the church also is under the control of the Alabama Historical Commission and the Auburn University Rural Studio, which has built and protected structures in the Black Belt for years. Originally constructed in 1854 at what had been the state's first capital at Cahawba, St. Luke's was moved in 1876 to the Dallas County community of Martin's Station, about 20 miles southwest of Selma. By that time, the capital had been moved to Tuscaloosa and then on to Montgomery while Cahawba slowly died as a result of flooding, the Civil War and the emergence of Selma as Dallas County's top town. Hammonds, joined by the Rev. Polk Van Zandt of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Selma, inspected the project Tuesday morning and was delighted by the students' progress. The church's dismantling began in August and the removal is expected to begin in a few months once each piece of wood is marked and placed into a moving van for the trip back to Cahawba. Unlike the first removal 130 years ago when 19th-century parishioners labored to take the church apart virtually by hand, the current project is going much quicker. "We have so much more than they did back then," said Jason Coomes, an Auburn professor directing the project. "I imagine it took three or four years to move it here." Coomes called the first relocation a "significant feat," and pointed to his group's use of "cranes, cherry-pickers, power tools" and other labor-saving devices as reasons why it's going much faster this time. As the students began to take the vacant church apart, they discovered items dating back to the time when the first relocation had been completed. Included were marbles apparently used by children who played inside. Van Zandt said the original church had a 90-foot-tall bell tower "and no one knows what happened to it." That left the students to deal with a 38-foot-tall wood church that has suffered through more than a century of wear, tear and neglect. When the church is taken back to Cahawba it will not be placed at its original site, but will be close enough to serve as a reminder of life at Cahawba a few years before the start of the Civil War. Hammonds said those interested in contributing support for the removal project can contact him at 334-412-3131.
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Prairie plant seen as promising fuel option 12/05/2006 The Sun News		Return to Top
This story mentions AU's David Bransby and his research of switchgrass. The story originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune, and continues to be picked up by various news outlets across the nation. CHILLICOTHE, Ia. - If there were such a thing as a Comeback Plant of the Year award - maybe Comeback of the Century - a top contender would have to be switch grass, a dominant part of the tallgrass prairie that once blanketed much of North America. That vast sea of grasses, so thick and high that pioneers said it could swallow a rider on horseback, all but disappeared as sodbusters ripped it away to make room for lush and productive cropland. What was an obstacle to progress 150 years ago is suddenly getting a fresh, hard look as a major source of fuel. Our energy-starved nation is scrambling to come up with alternatives to limited supplies of expensive oil and natural gas, and there's a growing buzz about switch grass even though most Americans would need a botanical guide to identify it. Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world's largest producer of ethanol made from corn, in November unveiled plans to ramp up research into switch grass as another source to make ethanol and other biofuels for cars, homes and industry. In Washington, the Democrats soon to take over as heads of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees have put development of switch grass as a fuel source high on their priority list. This is a 'natural evolution of an industry that could be massive,' said Patricia Woertz, CEO of Decatur-based ADM. Also known as tall panic grass, switch grass doesn't look much like the grasses that cover today's lawns. It is a lanky plant, with stems up to eight or nine feet high and a root system just as deep, topped with lacy seed-bearing panicles. It grows in thick, jungle-like tangles. It also is especially good at storing energy from the sun. 'A living solar battery,' is what Canadian switch-grass researcher Roger Samson calls it. The U.S. Agriculture Department calls switch grass 'perhaps our most valuable native grass.' Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified it as the model plant species for fuel, better than corn, which is all the rage right now as the prime ingredient of ethanol. President Bush highlighted the energy potential of switch grass in his State of the Union address this year. So, like a once-treasured toy rediscovered after years in the attic, switch grass is now the focus of talk about its revival - this time as a cash crop - on tens of millions of acres in the Midwest, South and Great Plains. 'This could very well be the future,' said Stephen Gardner, one of dozens of southeastern Iowa farmers who for years have supplied switch grass for an electric generating experiment in Chillicothe that has shown encouraging results. The notion of converting vegetation into fuel may seem odd in a nation that runs on oil, gas and coal. But fossil fuels themselves are the detritus of ancient plants, buried in the Earth for millions of years. They are also a finite resource, while fuel crops can be grown again and again. 'Nature figured out long ago how to store chemical energy in plants,' explained Robert Brown, director of the office of bio-renewable programs at Iowa State University. Energy can be squeezed from most any plant, and there are a lot of them under study these days as potential fuel sources. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is leading the way in research on giant miscanthus, a grass native to Asia. It can grow to 13 feet with bamboo-like stems ripe for burning. The trick today is to target the plants that can be most efficiently grown and tapped for fuel. For now, the renewable fuel of choice in the U.S. is corn-based ethanol. It is essentially alcohol made from the starches in grain. Humans have been fermenting and drinking it since prehistoric times. Corn is abundant, and it has a clout-heavy lobby of farmers and agribusiness promoting it for ethanol, which is largely blended with gasoline. But corn has limitations as a raw material for fuel. Divert a lot of corn to ethanol production and food prices are bound to rise. Corn is also a resource hog, requiring good soil and lots of water, fertilizer and herbicide, heightening environmental concerns. One prominent researcher contends it takes more fossil energy to grow and transform corn starch into ethanol than the new fuel can yield, suggesting the process is a waste. Other experts disagree, but if there is an energy benefit to making ethanol this way, it is not huge. The hope for switch grass is that it may bypass a lot of those problems while providing more bang for the energy buck in an ecologically friendly and low maintenance way. The explanation harkens back to the prairies of old. Near treeless vistas of undulating grass once stretched from the Gulf of Mexico up into Canada, providing a feasting ground for birds and other wildlife and packing the soils with nutrients. The grasses once covered 60 percent of what is now Illinois, which calls itself the Prairie State. Ironically, the fertile soil of the prairie was also its undoing. The farmers who eventually chopped it away liked to boast that the prairie topsoil was so deep and rich it could grease the axles of their wagons. There were lots of different grasses in the Midwest prairie, but switch grass was one of the three predominant varieties. It didn't need much water to thrive, it adapted to a wide range of latitudes and soils, and it sucked in a lot of carbon dioxide from the air as fuel to grow on. Prairie fires burned so hot that they would create their own cyclones, a testament to the energy that the grasses stored away. Those are some of the traits that are kindling interest in switch grass as the nation scrambles to grow its way into energy self-sufficiency. David Bransby, a grasslands expert at Auburn University in Alabama suggests a few more. Bransby, who has studied switch grass for 20 years, says the plant grows prodigiously, yielding huge per acre amounts of what the energy industry calls biomass - a term for living material that can be turned into fuel. Switch grass requires no herbicides and little fertilizer, can take hold on poor quality land not suitable for most crops, and it is a perennial, meaning it doesn't have to be replanted like corn after each harvest. Stands of good quality switch grass can last 10 years or more. Switch grass also has ecological benefits, Bransby said. Its deep roots bind soil and block erosion. They also pump a lot of carbon in the ground, essentially recycling carbon-based greenhouse gases emitted when the plant is burned as fuel. 'If we really put our minds to it, we can use this to help replace the oil we import from the Middle East very easily in the next 20 years,' Bransby said. Unlike with corn, a cost-effective process to convert switch grass and other fibrous plant material into ethanol hasn't been perfected yet, though researchers say they're close. Woertz said biofuel producers right now are in a 'chicken and egg' situation as they explore the potential of switch grass. 'How do you build massive facilities when you haven't grown the stuff yet, and then how do you grow the stuff if you haven't anywhere to process it?' she asked. Some experts argue that switch grass would be an even better option as an ingredient for fuels other than ethanol, and the technology to make them exists now. Samson, who runs a non-profit agricultural research institute in Quebec, said switch grass already is being used to make a low quality natural gas substitute suitable for heating farm structures and small industrial buildings. Such biogas systems are in wide use in Germany and China, he said. Switch grass also can be easily chopped and pressed into fuel pellets for burning in special furnaces to heat homes, Samson said. The slow-burning pellets heat for a price far less than natural gas, quickly paying for the cost of new heating equipment, he said. 'We think we're heading toward an agrarian industrial revolution,' Samson predicted. In Iowa, Gardner and more than 100 other growers have supplied switch grass for years to a federally sanctioned experiment that burns the grass alongside coal in a power plant in tiny Chillicothe, 80 miles southeast of Des Moines. Preliminary results indicate that switch grass burns almost as hot as the coal, and its presence in the fuel mix reduced sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions. The Iowa farmers reaped their switch grass from stands they had planted as part of the federal conservation reserve program, which pays farmers to take erosion-prone, low quality cropland out of production. Around the country, there are 36 million acres enrolled in the program. Some is already planted in switch grass to help with erosion control. In the prairies of old, nature mixed in switch grass with other plant varieties that kept each other in check. That wouldn't be the case if it is reintroduced as a fuel crop across wide stretches of the nation, and the prospect is troubling to some experts in invasive species. Writing recently in the journal Science, a team of researchers led by S. Raghu of the Illinois Natural History Survey warned that wholesale plantings of switch grass, miscanthus or other grasses grown for fuel could have an ecological downside. The grasses are attracting interest as biofuel crops because they grow rapidly, need little water and appear resistant to most pests and diseases. But those are also traits that help invasive species wreak havoc on ecosystems and agriculture. The U.S. spends more than $100 billion annually trying to beat back the ravages of invasive species like kudzu, so Raghu and his colleagues urged caution as the pressure to develop new crops for fuel intensifies. 'We're not saying every one of these is a nightmare waiting to happen, but we've made mistakes in past,' he said. 'There's no such thing as a free lunch.'
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Want to lose weight? Eat your breakfast 12/05/2006 Press-Register		Return to Top
Skipping the most important meal of day can lead to binge' eating later On busy mornings, do you skip breakfast? Skipping breakfast doesn't help to control weight. Indeed, as nutrition experts are learning, quite the opposite is true. Breakfast is widely considered the nutritional keystone of daily eating. Yes, the balanced morning meal can be an excellent source of calcium and is an essential meal for school-age children. Moreover, the fiber associated with common breakfast cereals may contribute to a reduction in one's colon cancer risk. But all of these things, while significant, are only part of the bigger picture. As nutritionists are learning, breakfast also serves an important, even indispensable, role in weight loss. At Auburn University, Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and professor of nutrition and food science, cites a study by the National Weight Loss Registry showing that regular breakfast consumption is a key factor not only in losing weight, but also in maintaining one's desired weight. As far as Keith is concerned, the results make perfect sense. After all, skipping breakfast -- usually with the misguided notion that it will help us lose weight -- means going as long as 14 to 16 hours without eating. This strategy, in the end, proves entirely self-defeating. "By lunchtime, all the brain's biochemical eating signals are going off," Keith says. "You're not only hungry but starving." Even worse, there's the compulsion to binge -- to make up for all those calories that were skipped in the morning. Squelching hunger often involves a mad dash to the office vending machine for a quick jolt of calorically dense, nutritionally empty foods. Regular breakfast eaters have a better chance of avoiding these mid-morning binges. Data released by the National Weight Loss Registry show that people who consumed at least five breakfasts a week actually had an easier time not only losing weight, but also maintaining their desired weight over the long term. Other studies released by Duke University and the American Dietetic Association also support these findings. "By starting the day with a good breakfast -- which hopefully won't involve junk food -- you can put a damper on all those biochemical signals that are telling you to eat, eat, eat through the day," Keith says. It doesn't have to be a complicated affair. For kids, Keith advises a simple bowl of cereal -- not the sugary kind but one that is high in fiber and possibly supplemented with fruit. "It's a valuable meal because in addition to the fiber, you're also getting calcium from the milk," he says. Other healthy options include whole-grain toast with a moderate serving of jam or jelly. Scrambled eggs are also an excellent choice, as long as they are cooked with a minimum amount of margarine and other fattening ingredients. Yogurt is another excellent selection, Keith says, though he stresses that heavy foods, such as the traditionally fried eggs, bacon and heavy gravies, should be avoided. The same sort of advice applies for adults, though in most cases, limiting calories should be an even bigger concern. Adults typically should aim for a 400- to 500-calorie breakfast. Low-fat bagels are a good choice. Whole wheat toast and high-fiber nutritional breakfast bars are also wise selections because of their fiber content -- an especially important issue for adults, who should strive to get between 5 and 7 grams of fiber at breakfast. Breakfast is also a good opportunity to consume calcium, which is readily available in milk and, in many cases, fortified fruit juices and cereals. As a rule of thumb, Keith says children and adults alike should view breakfast as the day's most nutritionally crucial meal. "I've always thought of breakfast as the meal of the day -- the best opportunity we have throughout the day to eat well." Thanks to James Langcuster, extension specialist-communications for this information. (Susan Wingard is county extension coordinator and family and consumer science agent at the Baldwin County office, Alabama Cooperative Extension System. She may be reached by e-mail at swingard@aces.edu or by calling 937-7176 or 943-5611/928-0860, ext. 2222.)
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AU professor develops egg-injected poultry vaccination against avian influenza 12/05/2006 DVM, The Newsmagazine of Veterinary Medicine		Return to Top
AUBURN, ALA. - An Auburn University veterinary professor, in collaboration with researchers at Vaxin Inc. of Birmingham, has developed the first in ovo vaccine to protect chickens against avian influenza. Dr. Haroldo Toro, whose research is in the scientific journal, Vaccine, says it would provide 100 percent protection once an outbreak’s strain is determined. "We have proven the principle, which is the major step in leading to commercially produced vaccine that could be vital to the poultry industry," Toro says. "When an outbreak occurs, we would determine the strain and quickly create a vaccine within three months specifically for it." The researchers inserted a gene from a low pathogenic avian flu virus strain (H5N9) into a non-replicating human virus, a Vaxin proprietary technology, which was then injected into developing chicken embryos still in the egg. When protection induced by the vaccine was tested against two highly pathogenic avian flu viruses, a Vietnam H5N1 strain and a Mexican H5N2 strain, the results showed 68 percent and 100 percent protection, respectively. "These strains have slightly different genetic makeups which account for the different percentages in protection," says Toro, who is also collaborating on this project with the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, GA. "Our results indicate that we can provide effective protection against any strain after incorporating the gene of the field strain into our vaccine construct." The current policy of health officials during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu is mass euthanasia and disposal of infected birds, and strict biosecurity measures. Mass vaccination programs around the perimeter region would help to reduce the risk of further dissemination of the field virus to neighboring areas. Because this vaccine also allows easy differentiation between naturally infected birds and vaccinated birds, this new vaccine could also be used to prevent outbreaks of disease in case of immediate risk from a known strain affecting, for example, neighboring countries. Toro's research is funded through a USDA program set up in 2004 for universities to study avian influenza. The next step is gaining federal approval to commercially produce the vaccine. "We are looking at two or three years for federal approval, but it might be much sooner if an outbreak occurs," he says. "We have a very good tool against avian flu. No one has done this before."
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Good eating habits can ward off holiday weight gain 12/05/2006 Manila Bulletin		Return to Top
Auburn University nutrition professor Robert Keith is quoted in this story. It originally appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and continues to be picked up by various news media. ATLANTA — If the five golden rings you crave come from Krispy Kreme, your diet probably goes into a downward spiral during the holidays. The season brings out the baked goods, the invitations and the eggnog. But maintaining good eating habits is still possible, even around a holiday potluck and an open bar. Linda M. Bell, a human resources specialist, said she once gained six pounds over the holidays through eating large portions. Later, after having a baby, she resolved to take the weight off for good. Now, even though her office turns into one long baked-goods buffet at year’s end, Bell carefully chooses her meals and fits those choices into her dietary plan. No food is off-limits, but "it’s very difficult" to stay focused, she said. "I plan what I’m going to eat. I’m very conscious of what I eat and how much I eat," she said. She’s kept the weight off for five years, using workplace nutrition and weight-management classes as inspiration. Most people don’t gain more than one or two pounds during the holiday season, but a slow, gradual weight gain adds up over the years, said registered dietitian Marisa Moore, an Atlanta spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. If you eat a slice of cake, don’t panic or give up. One splurge won’t ruin your diet. The key is to enjoy yourself sensibly. AT HOME • If you want to contribute to a potluck meal, bring a healthy dish so you have at least one diet-friendly choice. • Slice small servings or prepare mini versions of foods like muffins or quiches. IN THE OFFICE • Don’t eat just because food is sitting there. Wait until you’re hungry. • Ask yourself whether a splurge is worth it. If it’s worth it, cut calories elsewhere or add 10 minutes to your exercise routine every day. • Measure a small serving for yourself instead of letting someone give it to you. AT THE BUFFET • Review the whole buffet before you start eating. That way you can limit yourself to foods you like or foods you want to try. • Choose small plates rather than dinner-size plates. • Start with vegetables and lean protein. • Try to measure serving sizes carefully. Fill your plate with at least two-thirds fruits or vegetables. • Sit far away from the buffet table while you eat. • Go back to the buffet only if you’re still hungry. • At the carving station, skip the mayonnaise and /or the bun. • Go to the pasta station (where you can choose fewer, healthier ingredients) rather than eat prepared pasta that’s already set out in the chafing dish. IN RESTAURANTS • At group dinners, try to consume only one of the following: an appetizer, a drink, bread or dessert. • Read the restaurant’s online menu — including preparation and nutritional information — beforehand. • Choose your entree before you get there. (This trick also works when you’re on the go. Knowing the calorie count of a fast-food sandwich might discourage you from eating it.) AT THE BAR • Know what you’re drinking. A five-ounce glass of dry wine has about 120 calories; beer and light beer have about 150 and 100 calories per 12-ounce serving; and hard liquor has about 90 calories per 1 1/2 ounce serving (about a shot glass). Liqueurs, especially cream-based ones, can pack a punch of 100 calories or more per ounce. • Drink white wine rather than mixed drinks. Cocktails with mixers like orange juice or regular soda increase the caloric damage. • Remember that all wineglasses aren’t equal. Some parties without a bartender might only offer oversize goblets or, worse, 16-ounce cups, tempting you to fill them up. • Alternate each drink with diet soda, plain water or club soda with a splash of fruit juice. THE DAY OF AN EVENT • Eat breakfast. Starving yourself until the end of the day usually doesn’t work. • Drink lots of water so you’re well-hydrated and feeling full. • Eat a low-fat snack (high-fiber granola bar, nuts, fruit) before you leave the house. • As you arrive, keep in mind that you want to eat a balanced meal of small portions rather than stuff yourself. • Focus on activities away from the buffet: Dancing, walking around, mingling with guests. LOST ON THE WAY Be careful not to fall prey to common diet slip-ups. Diet trap: The slice of cake you ate doesn’t count because you already exercised that day. Why: Dietitian Marisa Moore said exercise doesn’t perfectly offset food servings. Your power walk may have burned only 150 calories, while the cake weighed in at 500 calories. Diet trap: You starve yourself all day to "save calories" for your big splurge later. Why: That’s bad, said registered dietitian and Auburn University nutrition professor Robert Keith. You’d probably end up eating more to make up for the missed meals, even more than if you had eaten three balanced meals that day. (NYT)
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UNICEF Executive Director honours the father of the 'Green Revolution' 12/05/2006 UNICEF		Return to Top
The Quality of Life Awards are presented by AU's College of Human Sciences. UNICEF Executive Director honours the father of the 'Green Revolution' NEW YORK, 4 December 2006 - UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman presented the annual Quality of Life Award to Norman Ernest Borlaug, father of the ‘Green Revolution’, in New York today. "Borlaug has seen hunger up close, and in response, he has dedicated his life to feeding the world," said Ms. Veneman. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Borlaug developed strains of high-yield disease-resistant wheat that he introduced, alongside modern agricultural production techniques to much of the developing world. The resulting 'Green Revolution' was a dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. Today, he is using the same techniques to increase food production in Africa. "From having seen hunger during my travels to Africa and other parts of the globe, I hope that countries around the world will heed Norman Borlaug’s call and one day bestow the man who dedicated his life to feeding the world with the biggest prize of all – the prize of a world free of hunger." The International Quality of Life Awards have been presented by Auburn University each year since 1994. The Awards honour those who have made significant contributions to individual, family and community well-being. Past honorees have included Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of Capetown, South Africa; Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; and Catherine Bertini, former Executive Director, World Food Programme. *** About UNICEF For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working on the ground in 156 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information, please contact: Angela Hawke, UNICEF New York: 212 326 7261
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Santa Rosa briefs 12/05/2006 Pensacola News Journal		Return to Top
This roundup of news briefs includes a mention of the robotics competition finals at AU. Santa Rosa briefs Raider Battalion helps stock Caring and Sharing shelves The cadets of Navarre High School's Raider Battalion conducted a food drive to help restock the shelves for the Caring and Sharing volunteers of South Santa Rosa County. The Thanksgiving food basket program depleted the shelves of many food items. "We usually just help with the sorting and distribution of food, but this year the cadets collected food items as well," said Libbi Preston, a four-year Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet at Navarre High. "We collected from the school and we asked cadets to bring food items to our annual Christmas party." * Three area schools advance to robotic competition finals Holley-Navarre Middle School, King Middle and Milton High schools were among the six winners advancing to the finals of the robotics competition Friday and Saturday at Auburn University. Twelve schools from Northwest Florida competed. Gulf Power Co. is one of the major sponsors of the regional competition for BEST -- Boosting, Engineering, Science and Technology. * Navarre NJROTC schedules annual military inspection The Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets of Navarre High school will have its annual military inspection from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the school's football stadium. The drill teams will perform, followed by a traditional pass in review. Cmdr. Merlin Ladner, the Area 8 NJROTC manager, will be the inspecting officer. Friends, relatives and the public may attend. * Milton High Music Makers offer seasonal sounds The Milton High School Music Makers will present a traditional Christmas chorale program at 7 p.m. Friday at the Milton High School auditorium, 5445 Stewart St. Admission is free. * Drop off donations to help Pace High Project Graduation Pace High School is accepting donations of money, services or merchandise for prizes for its Project Graduation event. For details or to make a donation, call Barbara Redden at 626-9569 or Michelle Gibson at 995-7210, or e-mail paceprojectgraduation@mchsi.com. * SADD diaper drive benefits Santa Rosa County families Students Against Destructive Decisions is having a diaper drive through Dec. 13. The drive will benefit families served by Healthy Start of Santa Rosa County, a program created to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, and Family Resource, a program dedicated to helping needy families in Santa Rosa County. Drop-off locations are: ? Milton High School, 5445 Stewart St., 983-5600. ? Santa Rosa County Health Department, 5772 Stewart St., 983-5200. ? Lutheran Services Florida, 5241 Willing St., 626-9121. ? Family Resource Program, 6860 Caroline St., Suite 6, 626-2054. For details, call Janeire McLaughlin, Students Against Destructive Decisions sponsor, at 983-5600, or e-mail mclaughlinj@mail.santarosa.k12.fl.us. * Cell phones, ink cartridges equal cash for gifted pupils The Recycling Rangers at West Navarre Intermediate School are recycling old cell phones and ink cartridges to raise money for the Exceptional Student Education Department. The Recycling Rangers also recycle paper, plastics and cardboard. They are assisted by Billy Brockinton's gifted students. For more information, call Regina Marek at 936-6060. * Education foundation seeks donors to match grant The Santa Rosa Education Foundation has qualified for a $50,000 "TurboCharge Challenge" award for Take Stock in Children scholarships in Santa Rosa County and now they needs donors. "We must find new local donors to match the "TurboCharge Challenge" grant this year," said Randy Sansom, chairman of the foundation. "Then, (the donors) must commit to repeat their donation next year and ask their friends and neighbors to match them." Santa Rosa's application calls for increasing the Take Stock scholars from 35 to 164 by the 2009-10 school year. Beginning in seventh grade, students sign a contract agreeing to keep their grades at the A, B, or C levels throughout high school, obey the code of student conduct, stay crime- and drug-free, and meet their mentor once a week. In return, Take Stock and the foundation promise to pay tuition for a four-year college education at any of Florida's 28 community colleges and 11 universities. For more information, contact Sansom at 932-5335, or Take Stock director Angi Brown at 712-2264, or visit www.takestockinchildren.com.
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