New Eco-Friendly Foliar Spray Provides Natural Anti-Freeze
Science Daily – Dec. 14
Cold-weather garden enthusiasts have a new reason to celebrate. Researchers at The University of Alabama and Miami University of Ohio have introduced an innovative, all-natural foliar spray that protects plants, both externally and systemically, by enhancing their natural “anti-freeze” properties. According to the scientists, using the new product is like moving the planting location 200 miles south — the equivalent of about one-half of a USDA hardiness zone. A report published in Hort Technology premiered the novel topical spray developed to increase resistance to both cold damage and cold mortality in plant foliage, flowers, and fruits. According to David Francko, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Biology at the University of Alabama, the patent-pending formula has been commercialized under the trade name FreezePruf.
UA helps three schools
Selma Times-Journal – Dec. 15
Three Dallas County schools will have a little extra to smile about this holiday season. J.E. Terry Elementary, Shiloh Elementary and Southside High School were three public schools that were chosen as recipients of the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies 2011 SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt Program.
On Alabama campuses: human research
Birmingham News – Dec. 15
The University of Alabama joins UAB as the second school in Alabama to be recognized by an independent organization for exceeding federal requirements for protecting research participants. The award came from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs. UA has almost 800 active human research projects under way.
Volunteers from UA and LSU to help Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana
WBRZ-ABC (Baton Rouge, La.) – Dec. 14
When the two teams face off, on the field in January, volunteers from both states will work to make a difference in south Louisiana. Four hundred volunteers from LSU and the University of Alabama are expected to work, with the Boys and Girls Club.
Alabama’s Imperiled Immigration Crackdown Clogs Machinery of Government
Bloomberg News – Dec. 15
Alabama, which census data last year showed was 3.9 percent Hispanic, compared with 16.3 percent nationwide, is among five states that passed immigration laws modeled on Arizona’s tough 2010 statute. Now, after months of hassles in local government offices, Republican Governor Robert Bentley and lawmakers have promised to revisit the measure they touted as the nation’s strictest…Speaking while being pelted with MoonPie pastries from parade floats — a local ritual – Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said prosecutors dislike a provision that allows citizens to sue if the law isn’t enforced. Megginson said schools can’t afford to perform their new enforcement duties. Such local leaders are a powerful force, William Stewart, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, said in a telephone interview. Their complaints trumped months of outcries from civil libertarians, churches and even the farmers, he said. They made Bentley, the governor, look again at the law because their support is “critical to top-level state officials, to their ability to get into office and stay there, which is what they want.”