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The Auburn Plainsman A Spirit That Is Not Afraid www.theplainsman.com

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Vol. 117, Issue 38, 12 Pages

Tradition lives on

Staff Reports Auburn’s Trees Task Force, the team in charge of taking care of and monitoring the health of Toomer’s oaks, announced July 21 that fans will be allowed to continue roll the trees after team victories. The decision came after the Task Force reviewed options and got input from the team of horticultural, agronomy and soils and forestry experts, who are working to save the trees. The University and City of Auburn made the final decision together and will allow the tradition to continue, if only temporarily. In the past, workers used high-pressure hoses to clean toilet paper out of the trees, but, in order to avoid unnecessary damage, workers will clean the trees by hand. Although other options for fan celebrations were considered, the University decided safety concerns, the health of other landscaping and crowd control problems would be too great. In the official statement from the University, fans were urged to avoid moving the celebrations to other loca-

Professor researches effects of oil spill Trent Erwin Associate Campus Editor

More than a year since the BP oil spill devastated the Gulf of Mexico, Auburn is well represented as a professor has received a grant to continue research on the effects of the spill. Ash Bullard, assistant professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures in the College of Agriculture, received $132,000 in grant funds from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to continue his research on the ecosystem in the Gulf. Bullard was one of only two people in Alabama to receive this grant and one of 17 in the nation to receive funding for research on the spill. Bullard said he feels honored and proud to represent Auburn on the Gulf. “The best part about it is that Auburn University is on

that list,” Bullard said. “It’s a really good thing when a university can show sustained funding to work on a certain topic.” Bullard and his team are sampling bacteria within tissue samples from fish and mud samples to test for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs. Essentially, what the team can do is look at the biodiversity of the ecosystem to better understand this negative effect by the oil spill. The team has been continuously collecting data from specific sites on the Gulf in hopes to better understand how the natural habitat was affected. “By continuously monitoring different reference sites, you can see a change, either a decrease or increase of certain abnormalities,” Bullard said.

Abnormalities that Bullard and his team will be looking for are changes in parasites, different sets of bacteria, and PAHs. Together, these sets of data may shed light on effects of the spill. Bullard hopes to monitor these sites for the next 10 years so he can study the longterm effects on the ecosystem. Bullard said it is great that there are so many people working down there, all in different fields of study, and everyone is looking to answer the broad question of whether the oil spill changed any natural aspect of the area. Bullard is accompanied by two other researchers to study the spill: Covadonga Arias, associate professor of fisheries and allied aquacultures in the College of Agri-

culture, and Mike Unger, associate professor at Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. Each team member has a specific skill set to bring to the table. Bullard’s expertise in pathology, Arias’s in microbiology and Unger’s in toxicology combine to make a super team ready to bring answers to the many questions surrounding this tragedy. The current situation in the Gulf looks good, and there are hardly any signs of remaining oil. “We’ve been down on the water for months, and we haven’t seen any oil,” Bullard said. “Things superficially appear to be normal, but that’s why you have to look close.” Only time will tell the farreaching effects of this spill and how much damage it has caused.

tions on campus. “We ask our fans not to move the celebration into Samford Park, the beauty of which we are also trying to preserve, and where, with no concrete base to protect it, landscaping and vegetation is fragile.” In the same statement, Trees Task Force team leader Gary Keever said there were no health updates for the trees. “It is likely that it will be at least spring 2012—at the earliest—before we know if the trees will survive,” Keever said. Wednesday, those who entered the lottery earlier this year for a chance to buy a baby Toomer’s oak seedling, were notified by email that they were one of more than 5,000 people who registered to buy one of only 600 Toomer’s oak seedlings. The drawings will begin in mid-September, and individuals will be given 10 days to pay for the seedling. Only then will the seedling be shipped to the individuals. The drawings should conclude by the end of October.

City Council allows chicken ownership Raye May Associate News Editor

The Auburn City Council approved an amendment July 19 that will allow residents meeting certain requirements to own chickens. Unfortunately for students, the amendment does not allow simply anyone to keep chickens, said Forrest Cotten, city planning director. “You have to have a minimum of 10,000 square feet, and then you can own up to four chickens,” Cotten said. “You can’t own even one without that requirement.” Residents who own 20,000 square feet or more may own up to six chickens, and all owners are required to keep their chickens in some sort of enclosure, such as a coop or chicken tractor, Cotten said. Cotten also said the approval process is important and requires more than simply owning the needed amount of land. “You have to get a zoning certificate, and part of that is we have to see a sketch plan of where the coop is proposed to be located,” Cotten said. Though the amendment is a step ahead for » See Chicken, A2

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