Untitled Document

Monday, December 18, 2006

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Total Clips: 9

	Date	Outlet
Biotech is state's new star, Riley says	12/17/2006	Huntsville Times
Beyond cats and dogs	12/17/2006	Birmingham News - Online
Auburn University students share their holiday stories	12/17/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Auburn University Will Take Corrective Action in Grade Changes	12/17/2006	WTVY-TV
You can safely splurge over holidays	12/17/2006	Brewton Standard
New housing plan moves ahead	12/16/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Auburn academics back in the spotlight	12/16/2006	Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
"Elvis" Woodpecker Could Rebound Near Florida river Expert Says	12/15/2006	National Geographic News
Ark. Men Say they Saw Rare Woodpecker	12/15/2006	New York Times


Biotech is state's new star, Riley says 12/17/2006 Huntsville Times BOB LOWRY		Return to Top
This story mentions the research park at AU. MONTGOMERY - The next spurt of growth in Alabama's economy won't come from the already thriving automotive sector but from the blossoming biotechnology field, according to Gov. Bob Riley. In an interview, Riley predicted that over the next two to three years, biotech investment in Huntsville and three state universities will make Alabama 'almost a destination for biotech industry.' 'We started a research park at Auburn University. We're asking for a $50 million infusion at UAB,' he said. 'We have the University of South Alabama building a cancer research facility, and we have the Hudson-Alpha Institute coming online and continuing to expand.' The four-story, 260,000-square-foot Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology in Cummings Research Park is due for completion in mid-2007. The project will include laboratories for biotech research and development in genetics and personalized medicine. The governor said aviation and aerospace also will be major players as Alabama's economy continues to diversify. Mobile's Brookley Downtown Airport has been selected by Northrop Grumman as the site to build the Air Force's next-generation air refueling tanker. Mobile is competing with Boeing and Seattle to assemble the aircraft. There also have been three major announcements recently in which Alabama facilities will be working on, assembling or manufacturing helicopters, Riley noted. And London-based GKN Aerospace last week opened a 120,000-square-foot expansion of its Tallassee facility, creating 250 jobs. Major programs at the plant include components for Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopter, Airbus' A330/340 and A380 jetliners, Lockheed Martin's F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet and the new GEnx engine for General Electric. 'If you look at what's happening in Huntsville with our biotech centers coming up, all the growth in the research, look at all the jobs that are coming in with BRAC, you're talking about thousands of jobs,' Riley said. 'And none of them have to do with automobiles.'
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Beyond cats and dogs 12/17/2006 Birmingham News - Online KATHY SEALE		Return to Top
Jamie Bellah, a small-animal surgeon at AU's School of Veterinary Medicine, is quoted in this story. Polly wanna cracker? Perhaps. But Jessie is definitely 'Gonna see Dr. Friddle,' which is what the African grey parrot says when visiting David Friddle, a veterinarian at Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital. And that, say vets who work with exotics - typically any animal that's not a cat, dog or farm animal - is one of the reasons they find their work rewarding, not to mention amusing. Your typical cat, dog or farm animal ('Charlotte's Web' characters excluded) doesn't greet its doc by name. 'You get variety,' says Friddle, who, like most vets who work with exotics, works with cats and dogs as well. Most veterinary course work includes some exotic, or non-domestic, medicine, but the vast majority of veterinarians who work with exotics, including birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, fish, reptiles, hamsters, gerbils and mice and rats, aren't board-certified in a specialty, says Jamie Bellah, a small-animal surgeon at Auburn University's School of Veterinary Medicine who treats animals at the school's Southeastern Raptor Center. Typically, a veterinarian develops an interest in exotics, or a particular exotic, and 'part of their practice all of a sudden becomes oriented in that direction,' Bellah says. Then, by word of mouth, or word of Internet, the word gets out. 'People tend to know who likes to deal with their scarlet macaw or their iguana.' Linda Howard's rabbits typically visit Stephanie Counts, a veterinarian at Caldwell Mill Animal Clinic who is one of the veterinarians recommended by Alabama EARS, a chapter of the international House Rabbit Society. 'You want to take your bunny to a rabbit-savvy vet,' Howard says. 'Their skin is very sensitive.' Different needs Some fundamental skills transfer from pups or kitties to their exotic counterparts, Bellah says. 'But is the anatomy of a bird different from a cat? Yes.' CONTINUED 1 \| 2 Next
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Auburn University students share their holiday stories 12/17/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
Tradition tends to be as much part of the Christmas holiday as Santa Claus himself. However some AU students have different takes on traditions surrounding the upcoming holiday season. * With nearly 50 family members on her dad’s side of the family, Kristi Edwards of Tuscaloosa said the group has to exchange names for Christmas gifts. "We've been doing it this way since I can remember," said the AU senior. Although Edwards says she provides a list of suggested items, the 21-year-old nursing major said she generally gets something inexpensive and useless. "You just have to tell them to get a gift card," insisted Edwards. * Charleeta Latham of Tuscaloosa has specific orders every year: Retrieve the Christmas decorations from the attic and put them all over the house. "It's garland, red ribbon and 15 million red candles," said the senior accounting major. "It's like that every year." Latham admitted she doesn't mind the decorating part as much as she dreads getting the collection down from the attic. "Why go through the trouble?" she asked. "We've really had the same decorations since I was 5 years old." * "On Christmas Eve, my mother and I light the fireplace and we cook all night," said Peter Houston of Birmingham. "It's real nice. We listen to Christmas music and make candies for the entire family." Neither of them sleeps as the process takes all night long, Houston said. By morning, the senior biology major said they open their own gifts and then deliver the boxed goodies to family members. At the end of the day, Peter and his mom are exhausted, but energized by the joy of the holiday spirit. Then and only then do the pair relax from their experience. When he was younger, Houston said he would help until he would be sent to bed so Santa Claus could visit. Now he looks forward to this ritual more than opening gifts. * "We always drive around and look at lights on Christmas Eve," shared Georgia Bennett, a sophomore elementary education major. And if that's not enough to put the family in the mood, she said her family participates in the live Nativity scene at their church in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. * "I usually go to (Washington) D.C. to meet my family. We just spend time together, but we're not going this year," said Arpi Shrestha, a junior molecular biology major from Auburn. * Pratyusha Patel, a junior pharmacy major from Zambia, is used to doing "a family thing" for the holiday season, but a trip home takes too long and is too expensive at this time of year. So this year she was indoctrinated into a new tradition. "We decorated a tree at a friend's house the day after Thanksgiving. We put up stockings and exchanged names for Secret Santa. Then we’'l meet over lunch to exchange gifts," she explained. "I've never done this before, but it gives you a family feeling even when you are away from your family." Senior Mira Patel, a biomedical science major from Opelika, is in a similar situation. She is used to getting together with family. "This year my parents aren't here. They went to India, so this is my family," she said.
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Auburn University Will Take Corrective Action in Grade Changes 12/17/2006 WTVY-TV Associated Press		Return to Top
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Auburn University President Ed Richardson says an internal investigation determined that a faculty member changed students' grades, including those of some athletes, during 2002-to-2004. Richardson, in a statement released yesterday, said Auburn will work with the Office of the Provost to determine the appropriate corrective steps against the professor. He did not identify the professor involved or provide any details on how many grades were changed. He said the university will take quick and decisive action on the matter. A university spokesman said Auburn could not release the professor's name because it is a personnel matter. The grade changes involved only a small number of students, and few of them were athletes, according to the spokesman. The New York Times has reported that at least one grade change at Auburn involved a student-athlete who was able to maintain eligibility when his grade in a directed-reading course was changed from incomplete to an "A" in 2003. None of the grade changes in the latest probe involved football players. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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You can safely splurge over holidays 12/17/2006 Brewton Standard		Return to Top
Robert Keith, an ACES nutritionist and AU professor of nutrition and food science, is quoted in this story. You can safely splurge over holidays If you're one of countless Americans concerned that a little splurging this holiday season will blow your diet, relax. Just remember that there is a right way and a wrong way to splurge, says one expert. So long as this splurging is confined to only a handful of meals - Thanksgiving, Christmas and maybe an office dinner - you'll be OK, says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science “I tell people to go ahead and enjoy that Thanksgiving or Christmas meal,” Keith said. “Eat the food, enjoy it and don't worry about gaining weight on the basis of only one or two larger meals during the season.” Studies have shown that Americans gain an average 3 to 7 pounds during the holidays, but it's not because of that lavish Christmas or Thanksgiving meal, Keith says. It's because many people don't apply the brakes after those first couple of holiday meals. As the holiday reveling reaches full throttle, the temptations also multiply. On top of the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are the lavish holiday parties strung in between as well as the food and beverages consumed on New Year's Day. “We enter this six-week holiday season looking forward to all the parties with friends, family and coworkers and all the cakes, cookies and beverages that go with them,” Keith said. These, rather than the two traditional meals, are where the problems occur - the reason Keith stresses why it's so important during the holiday season to track calories. He recommends the following: € Avoid heavy breakfasts and lunches if you're planning on a big meal later that evening. “You need to be thinking where all these calories are coming from,” he said. € If you're going out, keep track of calories you've previously consumed throughout the day. € It's important to remain conscious of what's going on and to do a little dietary and weight correcting when needed.. And finally, Dr. Keith believes that as long as you're following these general rules of thumb, you can enjoy those extravagant Thanksgiving and Christmas meals without the guilt. Here's a wonderful low calorie version of a favorite hors d'oeuvre. It looks impressive if you hollow a red or green cabbage or a round loaf of bread. Cube the bread that you remove and use it to spread the dip on. Source: Cooking Healthy for the Holidays by Dorothy C. Lee and Linda Bowman. Both ladies are County Extension Agents from Florida. 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach* 1 /4 package (2 Tablespoon) dry vegetable soup mix 1 3/ 4 cup reduced calorie mayonnaise 1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and chopped 2 tablespoon chopped green onion 1 /4 teaspoon dry mustard Thaw spinach, drain and squeeze until dry. Stir dry soup before measuring to mix evenly. Mix all ingredients. Chill and serve with raw vegetables or slices of French or sour dough bread. Yield about 3 1/2 cups (14 servings) One serving: 1 /4 cup, calories per serving: 40, Fat: 2 grams, Exchanges: 1 vegetable *Frozen and canned spinach are perfectly safe to eat.
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New housing plan moves ahead 12/16/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Lindsay Field		Return to Top
Auburn planning board recommends development over citizen concerns Student housing opportunities continue to grow in Auburn. The Fairfield Residential property proposed off East Longleaf Drive behind Wal-Mart could be the future home to approximately 900 potential college students. Thursday evening the Auburn Planning Commission approved a recommendation to the City Council seeking conditional use approval to construct the multi-family residential use. The 300-plus units would house approximately 900 bedrooms on 32.8 acres of land. The gated community would consist of three-story tall buildings with gabled roofs, similar to another property owned by the Pace brothers, The Exchange. A resident from a nearby property, Cloverleaf Subdivision, spoke to commissioners and expressed concern about the development and heavy traffic loads that may increase as construction takes place. "All these developments are decreasing the value of homes in my neighborhood," said Chuck Furlow of Red Oak Court. "And there’s already been a tremendous traffic issue there and I see this development as only magnifying the problem." "I feel like the college community is bleeding into our neighborhood," Furlow added. "I guess my concern is where is the balance between those of us who live in Auburn and those of us who come and go like the students?" Keith Maxwell with Maxwell Engineering and Land Surveying for Pace Brothers, the firm applying for the conditional use approval for the multiple-family developments, said that until Thursday evening he was unaware of any concerns from the surrounding neighborhoods. "I haven't met with the neighborhoods, but that's because I haven't heard anyone express any concerns until now," Maxwell added, and adjoining property owners were notified of the future development. The commission referred traffic concerns about the development to Jeff Ramsey, Auburn's director of public works. "There was a traffic study conducted by Dr. Brian Bowman with Auburn University," Ramsey said. "It stated that the roads will certainly be able to handle the proposed development in that neighborhood. Veterans (Boulevard) will give residents another way out and it will come out at a light, which may encourage people to come out there." The traffic study recommends adding left and right turn lanes into the development and a connection to East Veterans Boulevard. The study also shows a drop in level of service at the College Street and Longleaf Drive intersection, where city engineers recommend adding a right turn lane on Longleaf westbound to mitigate the impacts of the development. For more information, visit the city's Web site, www.auburnalabama.org, and click on "Planning Commission Packet" under "News Bulletin."
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Auburn academics back in the spotlight 12/16/2006 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Christa Turner		Return to Top
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn's sociology, criminology, anthropology and social works department re-entered the spotlight this past week. The department became the focus of an independent study scandal during the summer and now, an internal university audit has revealed inappropriate grade changes made by a professor in the department. "The report Auburn publicly released in November addressed issues in the directed studies program and focused on irregularities by one professor in each of two departments," Auburn University president Ed Richardson said in a statement. "Based on that report, we implemented new policies to resolve those issues and ensure academic rigor is maintained. "We have since become aware of an issue related to grade changes by a single faculty member. We have already corrected the process that allowed these changes to take place. Auburn has fully investigated the matter, and we will take the appropriate corrective steps." A scholarship athlete -- not a football player -- received four A's in 2003 while taking three directed readings classes from former interim department head Thomas Petee in 2003. The fourth class was a field study class similar to an internship which was listed by sociology professor Paul Starr. Starr said he did not teach the class or student in question that semester. His first knowledge of the student's grade being changed from an incomplete to an A came when he received an e-mail. "I got an e-mail from the person doing the academic audit," said Starr, who said he can't recall having witnessed an audit like that in the past. "I would certainly remember the student in a course that is done one-on-one. The student was unknown to me." According to a New York Times article, the four A's that semester helped the student, who had been on academic suspension, graduate by pushing him over the required 2.0 minimum. Starr said he felt like someone had used his name inappropriately. "My identity was borrowed," he said. A four-month investigation into excessive directed readings classes taught by Petee and professor James Witte, the program coordinator for the adult education program, resulted in the two professors being reprimanded and relieved of leadership duties. Sociology professor James Gundlach, who blew the whistle on Petee's activities, said there were more instances of grade changing happening in the department. "I went to the acting interim chair and she said several others got the e-mail, and it's sort of the buzz of the hallway," Gundlach said. Auburn is awaiting word from the NCAA regarding the first investigation and Richardson said he would submit the results of this investigation as well. Richardson maintained the issue is one of academic integrity and does not involve the athletics department. "We are committed to an academic program that plays by the rules," Richardson said. "While these investigations may generate negative publicity in the short term, our focus remains on defending Auburn's academic reputation."
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"Elvis" Woodpecker Could Rebound Near Florida river Expert Says 12/15/2006 National Geographic News Richard A. Lovett		Return to Top
Geoffrey Hill, an AU biologist, is mentioned in this story. Among U.S. birders, one of the dream sightings is a giant, black-and-white bird with a distinctive red crest called the ivory-billed woodpecker. For the past 50 years many bird experts believed the creature to be extinct. But recent sightings in Arkansas and western Florida have tantalized biologists with the thought that a few might have survived. The sightings are frustratingly uncertain, but if even a few birds are still out there, the species might have a fighting chance of making a comeback along Florida's Suwannee River (interactive Suwannee map). "[The Suwannee] is the heart of where the birds were once abundant," said Jerome Jackson, a biologist at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. "That really was the homeland for ivory-bills." Jackson has been on the hunt for ivory-billed woodpeckers throughout the southeastern U.S., including the Suwannee region. In a book chronicling his as yet unsuccessful effort to find definitive proof, Jackson notes that the bird's 30-inch (75-centimeter) wingspan and dramatic plumage led people to dub the creature the "Lord God Bird." That's probably because people who saw the bird in its heyday, he said, would exclaim "Lord God, what a bird!" Last Stand Ivory-billed woodpeckers depended on dense old-growth forests with aging trees to supply them with their prime food source—large beetles. "They were specialists in these big beetles," said Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation for the National Audubon Society, who is based in Washington, D.C. But heavy logging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries devastated the birds' habitat. The Suwannee region may have been where the species made its last substantial stand. There were once so many woodpeckers there, book author Jackson said, that about half of the 400 specimens now in museums were collected in the vicinity. Geoffrey Hill, a biologist at Auburn University in Alabama, thinks specimen hunting was the final straw that caused the bird to effectively vanish. "Some people say the shooting was of little consequence," he said. "But I think the shooters were the death knell in many areas." Not that Hill thinks the bird is extinct. He reported a May 2005 sighting on the Choctawhatchee River of Florida's panhandle in September. If a few birds do survive, they may be poised for a comeback. The forests have been regrowing for 50 or 60 years, opening the door for ivory-bills to repopulate their old range. And the Suwannee is a prime location for a boom, as long as the river region can withstand the latest threat: real estate development. "If we have any hope for ivory-bills in the area, we've got to find them now and get the habitat protected," Jackson, of Florida Gulf Coast University, said. "It's not going to be there in 20 years. It might not be there in 10 years." Icon for Forest Protection According to Jackson, if any birds did survive, it is probably because they were protected by the hunting culture of the South. "Large forest areas have been preserved as places to hunt," he said. "I think those are places where the ivory-bill might still exist." Just as the birds can coexist with deer and turkey hunters, they should also be able to coexist with tourists visiting the Suwannee River. "If the bird is there and the habitat is protected, I think the bird will do fine," Jackson said. "I don't think people in kayaks or canoes or hiking are going to make a lot of difference." Butcher, of the Audubon Society, agrees, saying that "there's no reason to suspect that they'd be more disturbed by hunters, boaters, or birdwatchers than any other bird would be." David Sibley, author and illustrator of the Sibley Guide to Birds, fears that the recent sightings will prove to be just "wishful thinking." (Read a related feature on the search for the ivory-bill and the debate over its current existence.) But he thinks that habitat preservation of the birds' range is still important. "The river systems of North Florida are home to hundreds of species and have tremdendous value as natural habiat," Sibley said by email. "And if the ivory-billed is there, it will continue to benefit" as well. According to Jackson, "reports of ivory-billed woodpeckers in Arkansas and now the panhandle of Florida give us hope. "But hope is not proof. It's the fire that incites us to seek the truth," he said. "Whether or not there are ivory-bills out there, we have the opportunity to protect what remains of old-growth bottomland forests. "Those forests are ribbons of life that provide highways for migrant birds that deliver songs to backyards across eastern North America." The habitat is also important for black bears, recreation, and water quality. "The ivory-bill is the icon," Jackson said, "but all of these other things would benefit as well."
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Ark. Men Say they Saw Rare Woodpecker 12/15/2006 New York Times Associated Press		Return to Top
"Ornithologists from Auburn University" are cited in this story. Similar AP stories, some of which cited Geoffry Hill, ornithologist at AU, appeared across the U.S. in National Geographic News, Discovery, Fresno Bee, Jan Jose Mercury News, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and numerous other media outlets. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Kip Davis and Jay Robison saw what they believed was an ivory-billed woodpecker on Thursday, one of thousands of reported sightings piling up as leaves in an east Arkansas swamp drift down. On the typical day, someone somewhere reports that they've seen the rare bird, believed extinct until a Hot Springs kayaker said he spotted one along the Cache River near Brinkley in 2004. Davis, the city planner for McCrory, and Robison, who works for the Arkansas Department of Economic Development, said Friday they were driving near Cotton Plant when a female ivory-billed swooped in the sky behind an oncoming truck. ''I saw something come off the tree, like the truck has spooked it,'' Davis said in a telephone interview from his office in McCrory. ''It came by again and it had its wing span out and it just kind of glided back into the woods, and I said 'Is that what I think it is?''' Davis, who has attended workshops about identifying an ivory-billed woodpecker, said he and Robison believe it was a female because the bird had a black head and body with white wing-tipped feathers, but no red. The male ivory-billed has a red crest. Connie Bruce, a spokeswoman for Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, which is researching the possible re-appearance of the ivory-billed woodpecker, said the search continues despite no evidence being turned up last winter. ''The search is on,'' Bruce said. ''This is very important to us. We all want to locate this bird.'' Two years ago, Cornell researchers said the bird was spotted in the swamps of eastern Arkansas. They released recordings and a grainy video after searching for the bird in the Cache River Wildlife Management Area. The video, however, was deemed inconclusive. In September, ornithologists at Auburn University in Alabama and Windsor University in Ontario published a report in Canada's online journal Avian Conservation and Ecology, claiming an ivory-billed may live along the Choctawhatchee River in the Florida panhandle. The report came after researchers documented 14 sightings and extensive sound recordings of the bird. But those reports didn't change the findings in Arkansas, and Bruce said they are encouraging anyone who thinks they've seen the bird to report the sighting. ''We get thousands of sightings ... and we're pleased that the public is interested and actively involved and that they do call us and advise us of these sightings,'' Bruce said. ''It's a tremendous help.'' Davis said he and Robison reported their sightings to the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge where they made sketches of the bird they saw and provided a statement detailing where the bird was seen. They also took photos of a tree they on which the bird perched on before it flew away, Davis said. Robison, who said he has done independent research on the bird since it's rediscovery, said they found holes on the tree consistent with what the ivory-billed would make. Robison said the holes were elongated and the bark had been chipped off around the holes, as well. Though it remains to be seen whether Davis and Robison's sighting will send researchers flocking to the immediate area and specific tree, ivory-billed woodpecker volunteer search teams will return to Arkansas in January 2007, Bruce said. Davis said the two are still shocked and excited by their possible sighting while doing other work in the area. ''It was just chance,'' Davis said. ''What are the chances of this happening?
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