Donna Green-Townsend
Multimedia Productions
Aired on WUFT on June 21st, 2011
At this hour President of Santa Fe College, Jackson Sasser, is meeting with the College’s Board of Trustees regarding budget recommendations Sasser has submitted. Those recommendations include a tuition hike for students and a salary increase faculty and staff. WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked with Sasser about his budget recommendations earlier today.
Aired on WUFT on June 7th, 2011
Residents living in the Stephen Foster neighborhood near the Cabot Koppers Superfund site are not pleased with the results of a cancer inquiry report from the Florida Department of Health and the Alachua County Health Department. That report released late last week was based on a six-month evaluation examining whether there was evidence of elevated cancer rates in the community around the Superfund site. The report indicated there were not increased rates for any of the reported cancers from 1981 thru 2000. Analysis will continue on the data from 2000 to 2008. Meanwhile, residents in the Stephen Foster Neighborhood are angry and want action to remove the contamination now. WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked with one of the members of the Stephen Foster Neighborhood Protection Group, Maria Parsons:
Aired on WUFT on May 27th, 2011
Veterans for Peace will be displaying more than 6,000 tombstones from dawn tomorrow through dusk on Memorial Day on Eighth Avenue just east of 34th street in Gainesville. Donna Green-Townsend talked with Vets for Peace coordinator Scott Camil about how this display was arranged to remember those who have died in the wars in Afghanistan since 2001 and in Iraq since 2003.
Aired on WUFT on May 20th, 2011
The “Free Fridays” concert series continues tonight at the Bo Diddley downtown plaza in Gainesville, d it’s the last weekend for the Theatre for Young Audiences’ performance of the Tales of King Arthur at the Thomas Center. Donna Green-Townsend sat down with David Ballard, the events coordinator for the City of Gainesville’s Division of Cultural Affairs to talk about both events.
Aired on WUFT on May 13th, 2011
The 27th annual Windsor Zucchini festival gets underway tomorrow morning. Activities get underway at 8:00 a.m. in front of the fire house on CR 234. It’s a day for “everything squash” in the little town of Windsor to benefit the volunteer fire department there. Donna Green-Townsend talked with the fire chief and president of the volunteer fire department Jim Arnett about the history and importance of the festival to the community.
Aired on WUFT on May 13th, 2011
Less than a year ago 26 year old Andres Farfan fulfilled a dream when he received a degree from the University of Florida with a major in photojournalism. His love for taking pictures took on an added dimension when he had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with a non-profit organization taking care of orphan refugees. It’s been just over a year since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed more 200-thousand people and left 300-thousand injured. Nearly a million people ended up in tent cities. Farfan talked with WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend about the trip sponsored by the group 62kids. (To see some of the pictures taken of the 62 orphans living in the tent near Jacmel, Haiti and to find out more about the not-for-profit organization trying to help them, go online to 62kids.org or you can see a gallery of the pictures on Andres Farfan’s webpage at Farfanphoto.com.)
Aired on WUFT on May 12th, 2011
U.S. Democratic Senator from Florida Bill Nelson says photos of slain Osama bin Laden should eventually become part of the public record. Senator Nelson today reviewed the still-classified photographs showing the deadly wounds inflicted by Navy SEALS during their mission eleven days ago. Nelson is a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He viewed several of the photos at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. In a press release issued today, Nelson stated:
“There is no doubt in my mind nor should there be in anyone else’s that we got the terrorist who orchestrated the insane and murderous acts that took place on September 11, 2001.”
Nelson adds he agrees with President Obama’s decision not to release the pictures right now.
“Satisfying skeptics and conspiracy theorists isn’t worth inflaming radicals or putting our troops in even more danger,” says Nelson.
Nelson added he felt releasing the pictures at some point should be part of the free flow of information that is tantamount to the country’s democracy. He also encouraged the public to be vigilant at home and abroad.
Aired on WUFT on May 5th, 2011
In an effort to reduce America’s reliance on imported oil, the University of Florida has been awarded $5.4 million from the USDA and Department of Energy for Biomass Research and Development Projects. According to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the funding is designated to help develop sustainable, renewable biofuels in the U.S. and is considered part of President Obama’s comprehensive plan to address rising gas prices.
The University of Florida’s share of the funds will go towards research on ways to improve the production and sustainability of sweet sorghum as an energy crop. Seven other organizations and institutions have received part of the overall $47 million dollars available for the production of biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products from a variety of biomass sources. The projects are funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative and will help increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products to diversify the nation’s energy resources. Funding is provided through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and DOE’s Biomass Program. Each award was made through a competitive selection process.
Grant recipients are required to contribute a minimum of 20 percent of matching funds for research and development projects and 50 percent of matching funds for demonstration projects. Awardees must pursue projects that integrate science and engineering research in three areas: feedstocks development, biofuels and biobased products development, and biofuels development analysis.
Here is the list of funded projects around the country:
• Cellana LLC, Kailua Kona, Hawaii, $5,521,173. Cellana will work to develop a protein supplement from algae as a byproduct of algal biofuels production, by demonstrating its nutritional and economic value in livestock feeds. The project will characterize types of algae, assess the nutritional values of algal proteins, assess the potential for algal proteins to replace soybean meal, and develop algal protein supplements.
• Domtar Paper Company, LLC, Fort Mill, SC, $7,000,000. This three-year project will work to build a demonstration plant using two technologies to convert low-value byproducts and wastes from paper mills into higher-value sugar, oil, and lignin products.
• Exelus Inc., Livingston, N.J., $5,185,004. Exelus will work to develop energy crops with improved tolerance to drought and salt stress to enhance yields on marginal lands. The project will also redesign a process to make hydrocarbon fuels using new catalysts and chemistry that avoids the high temperatures and large energy inputs required by current processes.
• Metabolix, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., $6,000,001. Metabolix will enhance the yield of bio-based products, biopower, or fuels made from switchgrass. The project will use high temperature conversion to produce denser biomass and other products that can be further processed to make fuels such as butanol, chemicals such as propylene and other materials to improve the economic competitiveness of future biorefineries.
• University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., $5,430,439. The purpose of this project is to improve the production and sustainability of sweet sorghum as an energy crop. The University will identify genetic traits in sorghum associated with drought tolerance through genetic mapping and will select strains that produce high biomass yields and can be easily converted to fermentable sugars.
• University of Kansas Center for Research, Lawrence, Kan., $5,635,858. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate a novel, sustainable technology at a pilot scale that produces diverse products, including advanced fuels, industrial chemicals and chemical intermediates.
• University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., $6,932,786. The purpose of this project is to improve the economics for biorefineries by using on-farm processing to convert biomass to a mixture of butanol, ethanol, acetone and organic acids. The product can then be easily transported to a biorefinery for further processing. The project will integrate input from experts in a variety of disciplines, including plant and soil scientists, horticulturists, chemical engineers, and economists.
• U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Mont., $5,309,320. This project will develop an integrated approach to investigate biomass feedstock production, logistics, conversion, distribution and end use centered on using advanced conversion technologies at existing forest industry facilities.
More information is available at the Biomass Program website at www.eere.energy.gov/biomass
Aired on WUFT on May 5th, 2011
The Director for Education at the Hippodrome State Theatre, Kim Berry, says she and her husband will be driving a truck full of relief items to an emergency shelter in Tuscaloosa for victims of the recent devastating tornado. Items can be dropped off at the box office at the Hippodrome State Theatre until 6:00 tonight in downtown Gainesville. The emergency shelter is being run by the Tuscaloosa Parks and Recreation Authority. Berry talked with WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend about what items are needed.
Aired on WUFT on May 3rd, 2011
Former U.S. Senator from Florida Bob Graham chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee during Nine-eleven. He has closely monitored the latest developments in the killing of Osama bin Laden….the mastermind behind the plan to bring down the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11th. Graham talked with WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend about national security in light of bin Laden’s death and what he expects will happen with al-Qaida now