News in brief from Auburn University

PRESS RELEASE
Published: July 16, 2008

(The following are excerpts from AUDaily, a newsletter published by Auburn University.)

Auburn University becoming more bicycle friendly

Bicyclists will find a more welcoming environment at Auburn University over the next few years as the university implements the third stage of its transition from the traffic-clogged campus of a decade ago to a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly environment. The rapid rise in gasoline prices is making bicycles a more attractive alternative to the automobile for short trips at Auburn and nationally. However, even before fuel costs escalated in 2008, campus planners and a university committee were developing a network of bike paths and taking other actions to make the campus more conducive to bicycle traffic. Previous stages in the transition included expansion of the Tiger Transit bus system and replacement of streets with pedestrianways in the center of campus. In addition to new bike paths, plans and efforts to revive bicycling at Auburn include standardized bike racks near major buildings, a bicycle-repair shop in the new student center, new safety programs, adding bike racks on campus buses and possibly implementing a bike loaner program, which would add a campus variant to a program started by the City of Auburn in May. To read the news release, see http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/396.

AU canine program attracts congressional interest

The success of the Auburn Canine Detection Research and Training program in providing detector dog teams to law enforcement agencies, public safety officials and the U.S. military is drawing the interest of Congress. Members and staff from the Homeland Security Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives will tour the AU canine facilities near Anniston on Tuesday, July 22, followed by a hearing on the needs of local first responders. John Pearce, associate director of training and operations, will serve as an expert witness at the hearing and will provide an overview of the AU program that has trained detector dog teams now serving around the country and many places around the world. The program works closely with the AU College of Veterinary Medicine on research to better understand canine athleticism and olfactory systems, or sniffing capability, helping to characterize and assure effective detector dogs.

Department of Art hosting closing reception for “Boundary Conditions”

The AU Department of Art will have a closing reception for “Boundary Conditions,” an exhibition of watercolor paintings by Cynthia Camlin and a sculptural installation by Hannah Israel, on Friday, July 18, 5-6:30 p.m., in Biggin Gallery, 101 Biggin Hall (located at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street). Israel, who will be present at the reception, makes use of thermoplastic adhesives to create forms with structural features characteristic of growing organisms that proliferate on the gallery walls and floors. Camlin works with watercolor, ink and gouache on paper. These materials combine chance procedures and different mark-making strategies to build images that connote melting icebergs. The exhibition will run through July 22. For more information, contact Barb Bondy at 844-3483. All events are free and open to the public.

Laufer presenting program on photographer Walker Evans

Marilyn Laufer, director of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, will present a program on photographer Walker Evans and his collaboration with writer James Agee which resulted in the publication, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.” It will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 17, and will be followed by a reception. Admission is free for the evening. This exhibit, on display through Nov. 8, features a selection of images made in 1936, when the editors of Fortune magazine sent writer Agee and photographer Evans on assignment to document the southern sharecropping economic system. Visit http://www.jcsm.auburn.edu for more information.