The change is part of an overall commitment to expanded national and local news and public affairs coverage to better serve the needs and interests of the North Central Florida area. It will also allow the college to better meet its educational mission by providing improved digital and multimedia training to its students, aligning it with current trends in journalism education.

At the same time, WUFT-FM will boost total time allotted to classical music by featuring it 24 hours a day on its high-definition HD2 signal and by streaming it on its Web site.

“The Internet and digital communications revolution have significantly increased the need for dissemination of high quality news and public affairs programming,” said John Wright, dean of the college. “I made this programming decision after several months of research and data analysis and conversations with management in other public stations, our faculty, station personnel and other media professionals across the nation.

“I am convinced this combination of service will allow WUFT-FM to better serve the public interest of the Gainesville and Ocala communities. Expanded news and public affairs offerings also will better serve the educational mission of the college and align the station more fully with our emerging Center for Media Innovation and Research, which is a digital training ground for our students. I believe that WUFT-FM should be a beacon of national and local news and information for our community in the same manner that our college is a national leader in journalism and digital communications education and research.”

New NPR programs that will now be aired on WUFT-FM include “The Diane Rehm Show,” “Tell Me More,” “On Point” and “Talk of the Nation.” Local news expansion will include the award-winning “Front Page on the Air,” which will migrate from WRUF-AM and air at 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Other changes will include a significant expansion of local news coverage on weekends and during major news events and emergencies.

WUFT-FM also will work closely with the board of Classic 89 and form a community classical music advisory committee to provide greater listener input into programming and to gain better community perspective.

“I am sensitive to the cultural impact WUFT-FM and its programming has in this community and this solution expands that opportunity,” Wright said.

This change of programming mix at WUFT-FM is part of the overall plan Wright announced recently with the formation of the college’s Division of Multimedia Properties.

The inaugural Gator Charity Challenge, hosted in July of 2008, drew approximately 1,800 fans from The Gator Nation who watched the intra-squad strength competition. The Florida players competed in six events, all held simultaneously.

Similarly, this year the squad will be divided into teams that will represent six charities: American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Children’s Miracle Network, March of Dimes, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the North Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

“It was great for the team to come together at last year’s Gator Charity Challenge and show hard work and commitment, both on the field with their teammates and supporting our six charities,” said Mickey Marotti, director of strength and conditioning at UF. “We are really looking forward to our second year of the GCC and making it another successful event. Our main mission is to create awareness for the six charities we’ve chosen to represent. We want to get Gator fans to come out and not only support the Gators, but support some really great causes.”

Pledge cards will be available on the West Concourse of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for fans to have an opportunity to donate to this year’s six worthy causes. Cash and checks will not be accepted on site, only pledge form donations.

The Gator Charity Challenge is being held in association with Uplifting Athletes, a charitable organization leading an effort to align college football with the awareness of rare diseases and raise them as a national priority.

2009 Team Captains
1. American Cancer Society – Joey Sorrentino (Ocala, Fla.)
2. American Heart Association – Jermaine Cunningham (Stone Mountain, Ga.)
3. Children’s Miracle Network – Dorian Munroe (Miami, Fla.)
4. March of Dimes – David Nelson (Wichita Falls, Texas)
5. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Cade Holliday (Gainesville, Fla.)
6. Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation – Dustin Doe (Jasper, Fla.)

“This year doesn’t look like it’s going to be tremendously unusual in terms of overall cases of mosquito-borne diseases,” said Jonathan Day, a professor of medical entomology with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “But transmission of [EEEV] tends to be very focal, and there are some areas that are looking risky.”

EEEV is best known for being deadly in horses, but humans can contract the virus as well.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can cause a severe infection of the central nervous system in humans, and is fatal for nearly a third of those afflicted.

So far this year, 26 horses have been found to be infected in North Florida, with five more in the state’s Panhandle.

These cases, along with analysis of weather conditions and other indicators, have led UF entomologists to believe that a band of counties beginning at Volusia County and stretching northwest into the Florida Panhandle carry a moderate to high risk of mosquitoes carrying the virus.

For an up-to-date risk map, please visit http://eis.ifas.ufl.edu/eis1.htm.

“July is usually the peak for EEEV transmission,” said Roxanne Connelly, an IFAS professor of medical entomology. “We’ve had the type of weather patterns that can make the problem worse in some areas.”

The disease is spread via mosquitoes that have fed on birds. Humans and horses cannot spread the virus to other humans and horses.

Connelly advises that people in risk areas avoid being outside during peak feeding times for mosquitoes that carry the disease — calm, humid periods from dusk to dawn.

If you are outside during these times, you should cover as much skin as possible. Bare skin should be treated with a repellent that carries DEET or Picaridin.

“There are all sorts of traps and tools out there like bug lights and citronella candles,” Connelly said. “None of them keeps mosquitoes from biting you — only a repellent applied directly on your body can do that.”

Pet birds should be kept inside and, while it is very rare for dogs and cats to contract EEEV, Connelly suggests being aware that pets aren’t immune to pesky mosquito bites.

Spraying dogs and cats with repellents labeled for use on humans can be dangerous because they can lick the repellent while grooming. There are products made for dogs that do not contain DEET, but make sure to read and follow the directions.

Pets are best kept inside away from mosquitoes during peak feeding times. And, any dog that is at risk of being bitten should be on a monthly heartworm prevention treatment. Prevention treatments formulated for cats are also available.

But it turns out that remarkable ability isn’t so mysterious after all — suggesting that researchers could learn how to replicate it in people.

Scientists had long credited the diminutive amphibious creature’s outsized capabilities to “pluripotent” cells that, like human embryonic stem cells, have the uncanny ability to morph into whatever appendage, organ or tissue happens to be needed or due for a replacement.

But in a paper set to appear Thursday in the journal Nature, a team of seven researchers, including a University of Florida zoologist, debunks that notion. Based on experiments on genetically modified axolotl salamanders, the researchers show that cells from the salamander’s different tissues retain the “memory” of those tissues when they regenerate, contributing with few exceptions only to the same type of tissue from whence they came.

Standard mammal stem cells operate the same way, albeit with far less dramatic results — they can heal wounds or knit bone together, but not regenerate a limb or rebuild a spinal cord. What’s exciting about the new findings is they suggest that harnessing the salamander’s regenerative wonders is at least within the realm of possibility for human medical science.

“I think it’s more mammal-like than was ever expected,” said Malcolm Maden, a professor of biology, member of the UF Genetics Institute, and author of the paper. “It gives you more hope for being able to someday regenerate individual tissues in people.”

Also, the salamanders heal perfectly, without any scars whatsoever, another ability people would like to learn how to mimic, Maden said.

Axolotl salamanders, originally native to only one lake in central Mexico, are evolutionary oddities that become sexually reproducing adults while still in their larval stage. They are useful scientific models for studying regeneration because, unlike other salamanders, they can be bred in captivity and have large embryos that are easy to work on.

When an axolotl loses, for example, a leg, a small bump forms over the injury called a blastema. It takes only about three weeks for this blastema to transform into a new, fully functioning replacement leg — not long considering the animals can live 12 or more years.

The cells within the blastema appear embryonic-like and originate from all tissues around the injury, including the cartilage, skin and muscle. As a result, scientists had long believed these cells were pluripotential — meaning they came from a variety of sites and could make a variety of things once functioning in their regenerative mode.

Maden and his colleagues at two German institutions tested that assumption using a tool from the transgenic kit: the GFP protein. When produced by genetically modified cells, GFP proteins have the useful quality of glowing livid green under ultraviolet light. This allows researchers to follow the origin, movement and destination of the genetically modified cells.

The researchers experimented on both adult and embryonic salamanders.

With the embryos, the scientists grafted transgenic tissue onto sites already known to develop into certain body parts, then observed how and where the cells organized themselves as the embryo developed. This approach allowed them to see, literally, what tissues the transgenic tissue made. In perhaps the most vivid result, the researchers grafted GFP-modified nerve cells onto the part of the embryo known to develop into the nervous system. Once the creatures developed, ultraviolet light exams of the adults revealed the GFP cells stretched only along nerve pathways — like glowing green strings throughout the body

With the adults, they took tissue from specific parts or organs from transgenic GFP-producing axolotls, grafted it onto normal axolotls, then cut away a chunk of the grafted tissue to allow regeneration. They could then determine the fate of the grafted green cells in the emerging blastema and replacement tissue.

The researchers’ main conclusion: Only ‘old’ muscle cells make ‘new’ muscle cells, only old skin cells make new skin cells, only old nerve cells make new nerve cells, and so on. The only hint that the axolotl cells could revamp their function came with skin and cartilage cells, which in some circumstances seemed to swap roles, Maden said.

Maden said the findings will help researchers zero in on why salamander cells are capable of such remarkable regeneration. “If you can understand how they regenerate, then you ought to be able to understand why mammals don’t regenerate,” he said.

Maden said UF researchers will soon begin raising and experimenting on transgenic axolotls at UF as part of the The Regeneration Project, an effort to treat human brain and other diseases by examining regeneration in salamanders, newts, starfish and flatworms.

The index components were mixed, with perceptions of personal finances now compared with a year ago up three points to 44 from a revised May reading of 41 but still near historical lows. All others were lower than or the same as last month.

Perceptions of personal finances a year from now fell six points to 84, and perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year fell seven points to 65 — it was 51 at this time last year. Perceptions as to whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket items fell nine points to 67. Finally, perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next five years remained unchanged at 80.

“In the previous two releases we had suggested the possibility of a small decline in confidence in June, which seems to have been the case,” said Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “This is most likely a combination of the fallout from the Florida state budget, which includes several new and increased fees, as well as the bankruptcy of GM.”

Another factor affecting the decline is a sharp increase in Florida’s unemployment rate. A previous unemployment release from the Agency for Workforce Innovation showed a slight decline, but that has since been erased by an increase into double-digit unemployment, he added. Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2009 was 10.2 percent, according to the agency.

“Most economists believe unemployment will continue to increase as the economy moves into recovery,” McCarty said.

The economic landscape in Florida remains mixed. On the negative side is high unemployment and continued foreclosures, although the rate of foreclosures in Florida may already have peaked, McCarty said. Gas prices have increased dramatically over the past month, although there are signs that may be reversing.

On the positive side, the Florida Association of Realtors report for May once again showed signs that the median price of existing homes is stabilizing. Since January, the median price has fluctuated in a narrow range and is now up for the year at $144,400. It is increasingly likely that Florida has taken most of its knocks to housing value, even as other states continue to decline, McCarty said.

“Moving forward, we do not expect Florida consumer confidence to decline much more over the next couple of months, barring some unforeseen change here in Florida or nationally,” he said. “There is at least a temporary reaction of the stock market to some recent news, including Iran and dramatic increases in mortgage and credit card delinquencies. So far, this volatility is relatively small and not indicative of a reversal in the economic recovery.”

However, McCarty cautions that everyone should expect the recovery to be long and uneven for some sectors of the economy.

“With the demise of longstanding financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and manufacturing companies like Chrysler and GM, it is no longer business as usual,” he said. “The U.S. is clearly going to share more of the global economic pie than it has in the past.”

The research center conducts the Florida Consumer Attitude Survey monthly. Respondents are 18 or older and live in households telephoned randomly. The preliminary index for June was conducted from 430 responses. The index is benchmarked to 1966, so a value of 100 represents the same level of confidence for that year.

UF is among just 10 universities worldwide chosen to share $7.6 million in seed money for the creation of master’s in development practice programs over the next three years. The programs are designed to provide students with training beyond the typical classroom study of economics and management found in most development studies programs.

“This grant gives the University of Florida tremendous opportunities in two fields in which we already excel: international studies and sustainability,” said UF President Bernie Machen. “These are exactly the types of challenges we like to see our university take on, and we welcome the chance to expand our leadership role in sustainability to the global stage.”

The program’s core curriculum bridges the natural sciences, health sciences, social sciences and management. It combines classroom study with field experiences in agriculture, policy, health, engineering, management, environmental science, education and nutrition.

“The impact of this program will be in terms of the kind of graduates that are produced, people with the interdisciplinary training and skills to tackle real world problems,” said Carmen Diana Deere, director of the Center for Latin American Studies, which will administer the program in collaboration with the Center for African Studies.

UF’s program will build on the university’s expertise in conservation and sustainable development, especially in Latin America, she said. There will be collaborative summer field programs with the University of Botswana and the Autonomous University of the Yucatan.

The new program will draw on the internationally recognized Tropical Conservation and Development program run by the Center for Latin American Studies during the past 20 years, Deere said. The program has perfected an applied and interdisciplinary approach to training students in sustainable development practices. Originally focused on the Amazon region, the focus has expanded to other tropical regions of Latin America as well as Africa.

Deere believes the program’s strength and the collaboration between the two centers and faculty from so many colleges were factors in winning the MacArthur grant. The UF Steering Committee includes representatives from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the College of Public Health & Health Professions, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Design, Construction & Planning, the Warrington College of Business Administration and the Levin College of Law.

The MacArthur Foundation’s seed grant will be supplemented with funding from various units in the university for a total of about $1.8 million over four years. The funding will pay for two new faculty positions, one in health and development and the other in development administration, as well as a program coordinator.

Other universities in India, Australia, Ireland, China, Senegal, Botswana and Nigeria as well as Emory University are involved in the program. The global network of master’s programs will be coordinated by a secretariat based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

“Through our work around the globe, we at MacArthur understand that poverty, population, health, conservation and human rights are all interconnected, requiring sustained and comprehensive interventions,” said foundation President Jonathan Fanton. “These new programs are a model for training the next generation of these critically needed professionals.”

The universities are expected to produce 250 graduates by 2012, with a total of 750 students enrolled. More than 70 universities in North America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America submitted proposals.

Deep budget cuts passed by the Florida Legislature have resulted in reduced funding for public broadcasting stations WUFT-TV, Channel 5, WUFT-DT, Digital 5, WUFT-FM, Classic 89 and WJUF-FM, Nature Coast 90 and the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

The priority of the stations is to maintain the public television and radio programming that serves residents throughout North Central and Mid-Florida. Thus, services and activities that do not directly impact programming will need to be reduced.

In the past, local businesses and organizations have contributed significantly to help support the campus-area event. Even with this corporate support, the stations have always provided much of the funding from their operating budgets. The downturn in the economy has made it difficult to secure corporate grants, and WUFT must use available funds for programming and services.

Fanfares & Fireworks has been a popular family celebration for many years, and hopefully will return in the future.

For more information contact:

Larry Dankner 352-392-0771, ext. 2101 or

Brent Williams 352-392-5551, ext. 1109

“My goal is to bring to life the vision for sustainability that we crafted with our campus community,” said Prizzia. “We have all the talent, expertise and dedication we need to make UF a model of sustainability in higher education. My job is to help connect the dots.”

Prizzia has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and a master’s of science degree in wildlife ecology and conservation with a concentration in tropical conservation and development from UF. She has experience in natural resources management, volunteer coordination, and facilitation in the areas of education and the environment.

Prizzia has been outreach coordinator for the office since June 2007. Previously, she worked with the St. John’s River Water Management District, Alachua County Environmental Protection and the City of Gainesville to craft water education campaigns and coordinate a joint Watershed Action Volunteer program. Prizzia also was an environmental consultant and a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. Anna also serves on the boards of Sustainable Alachua County, Sustainable Florida and Slow Food Gainesville.

“Our primary job is to support all the hard work that is already going on across campus,” Prizzia said, “and to help connect our faculty, staff and students to the resources they need to successfully incorporate sustainability into their work and lives.”

Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Dedee Delongpre-Johnston, Prizzia hopes to create programs that balance the environmental and social aspects of sustainability while remaining fiscally responsible.

“Dedee will be sorely missed, but the foundation she laid for the office is strong, and will help guide us moving forward,” Poppell said. “We are fortunate to have someone of Anna’s caliber in place to continue UF’s efforts and help us develop new ones. She has the know-how and the drive to keep UF as a university leader in sustainability.”

Programs and initiatives in the past few years include:

• The “Green Team Network,” an effort to involve members of the campus community at all levels in achieving a more sustainable university. The Office of Sustainability works directly with Green Teams to develop strategies for sustainability that are a good fit for their colleges, departments, or organizations.
• The “One Less Car” challenge to encourage members of the UF community to try one of the many options for travel other than a single-occupancy vehicle.
• “Zero Waste by 2015,” a comprehensive waste composition study aimed at helping UF maximize its reduction, recycling and reuse efforts.
• “Carbon Neutral by 2025,” a plan to capture as much efficiency as possible by working with units on campus to reduce energy use.

The office has also coordinated the Strategic Implementation Plans for the UF Vision for Sustainability, a comprehensive vision for sustainability at UF was created through a collaborative process with members of faculty, staff, students and administration over the past two years. The office is now crafting action plans for the next three years that will move UF closer to these visions and goals.

Matthew Palumbo/UF Ecologist: “What people perhaps have growing in their backyard is not only something that is producing caffeine, but it’s also a form of a medicine, at least a preventative medicine, in that it’s producing these antioxidants.”

This particular holly is the only native U.S. plant that produces significant amounts of caffeine and researchers say the tea-like beverage it produces is the first of its kind in this country.

Matthew Palumbo/UF Ecologist: “Yaupon holly has antioxidants that are comparable to green tea, Asian green tea, which are among the highest concentration of antioxidants that you find in anything people are consuming.”

So, holly’s not just for decorating your Christmas tree; this caffeine-filled drink and its antioxidants can help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer. At the University of Florida, I’m Merissa Richmond.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coffee and tea drinkers, take note — a University of Florida study says a beverage made from a native holly tree might be just the thing to give you a caffeinated kick-start, plus a dose of antioxidants.

Yaupon (YO-ponn) holly is the only U.S. plant that produces substantial amounts of caffeine, said Jack Putz, a botany professor affiliated with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. A popular ornamental species, yaupon grows wild throughout the Southeast and can be grown in most coastal states.

Centuries ago, American Indians and Spanish settlers steeped yaupon leaves and twigs in hot water to make a stimulating beverage, but that use of the plant is virtually unknown today.

The resulting brew is dark brown and tastes much like green tea. If it makes a comeback, yaupon may spawn a cottage beverage industry, Putz said. And the antioxidants might be useful in nutritional supplements.

“A few years ago we were contacted from a pharmaceutical company in Texas,” he said. “At first, we thought their interest was in caffeine but they said that with all the decaffeinated beverages around, caffeine is cheap. What they were interested in was the antioxidants.”

Nitrogen fertilizer can boost yaupon production and caffeine content, according to a paper Putz co-wrote, published in this month’s issue of the journal Economic Botany. Nitrogen had little effect on antioxidant content.

The researchers focused on a popular ornamental yaupon variety called Nana, said Matt Palumbo, a botany master’s graduate and co-author of the paper. After receiving nitrogen fertilizer, Nana plants yielded 35 percent more leaves; caffeine concentration in the leaves shot up 265 percent.

Nana had about half the antioxidant content of green tea, he said.

“I have found genotypes with antioxidant concentrations at least as high as green tea,” Palumbo said.

Similarly, Nana’s caffeine content was low compared with concentrations reported in previous studies, he said.

Dry, unprocessed yaupon leaves contain between .65 percent and .85 percent caffeine by weight. Coffee beans are about 1.1 percent caffeine by weight and tea leaves about 3.5 percent caffeine.

More research is needed to learn which yaupon varieties have the greatest caffeine and antioxidant content, Palumbo said. Afterward, new cultivars can be developed.

One point seems clear — if U.S. residents begin drinking yaupon tea it could reduce demand for coffee, which may ease ecological pressure on coffee-farming regions of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia, he said.

It’s uncertain whether large-scale yaupon farming would be economically feasible in the U.S., but the antioxidants appear to have commercial potential, he said. And home gardeners might enjoy growing and using yaupon.

One caveat — before making yaupon tea it’s critical to obtain the correct plant, Putz says. There are numerous U.S. holly species, many of them not safe for consumption.

The taste of yaupon tea will be the make-or-break factor for potential users, says Dan Austin, an ethnobotanist based at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson.

If they don’t like the flavor — something Austin says is quite possible — then they’re unlikely to drink the beverage regardless of the health benefits.

Still, he says, “if the proper spin is put on it, the potential is there.”

Speakers will include President Bernie Machen, as well as Ed Poppell, vice president for business affairs, Scherwin Henry, District 1 commissioner/mayor pro tem and Rodney Long, Alachua County Commissioner. Following the on-site ceremony, refreshments will be served in the Community Room, which is located in an existing Eastside Campus building.

Scheduled for completion in April 2010, the building will serve more than 300 employees and will be named at a later date. Originally planned as a four-story, 65,000-square-foot structure, market conditions allowed for an increase to 82,000-square-feet, with no increase in construction costs. The completed structure will be three stories tall and gold-certified according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

The building will expand the university presence in east Gainesville and assist with economic revitalization efforts in that area. More information (previous news release) on the new Eastside Campus building is available at http://news.ufl.edu/2008/02/06/eastside-offices/.