The Florida Public Service Commission approved a plan on Thursday to build a 100-megawatt biomass plant at the Gainesville Regional Utilities facility in Deerhaven.

The plant is a joint-effort between GRU and American Renewables, an energy plant developing company.

“The PSC has taken an important step today toward significantly expanding Florida’s commitment to renewable energy,” said Jim Gordon, American Renewables chief executive officer, in a press release. “The Gainesville Renewable Energy Center will bring reliable, cost-effective renewable energy to GRU customers and spur significant economic development in North Central Florida.”

GRU and American Renewables are entering into a 30-year energy contract under which American Renewables will build, own and operate the facility, according to the release.

GRU will buy and use 100 percent of the plant’s energy output, which will be generated by burning local leftovers from logging residue and wood processing plants.

The biomass plant will help keep GRU’s facilities updated, as well as protect customers from rising fuel costs while providing long-term savings, said GRU General Manager Bob Hunzinger in the release. At first, customers may see a small increase in their bills, although it is expected that biomass energy will soon become less expensive than fossil-fuel alternatives, the release stated.

Construction is set to begin in December, although customers will not be directly influenced until late 2013, the release stated.

During my first year on the U. Arkansas campus in the School of Architecture, my studio professor – Judy Brittenum – conducted exit interviews with each student as the spring semester wound down.  During mine, she quite assertively told me, “My, gosh, I hope you know that you have the power to change the world”.  Very few things in my life have resonated with me like that statement.  I hope that you all know that the same is true for you.  You’re all going to change the world; the only question now is how and by what magnitude.

Now, my experience at Arkansas has been much different than most.  I transferred here after two years as a cadet at West Point and then decided to pick up a new, 5-year degree.   I somehow became our ASG President after only one year in the organization, as a non-traditional student, and without any Greek affiliations.  There has been very little about my college experience that could be called conventional, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

People are always going to try and box you in; place barriers around the uncomfortable paths and choices in front of you.  But as Oscar Wilde put it, “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination”.  That’s perhaps the best piece of advice I can offer:  Don’t be afraid to test your limits and over-extend yourself.  You’ll never understand how great you can be if you don’t push yourself once in a while.

Leaving home for college bring perhaps the most liberating aspect of adulthood – the freedom to choose.  However, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, “To live is to choose.  But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why”.  Now, I had no clue who I was or what I stood for at 18.  And obviously, I also had little idea about where I wanted to go or why.

Some of you may know exactly how to respond to this already, and that’s outstanding.  Perhaps the most important thing I learned in my college process, however, is that it’s OK not to know.  We change so much in college that odds are that even if you do know right now, you’re going to answer that question differently in 3 or 4 years.  It can be tempting to pressure yourself into thinking that life has to be solved when you get to college, but I always think back to what Judy told me, and about how I’d rather spend a couple extra years in school if I can spend a lifetime doing exactly what I love.

So, spend some time thinking about what drives you, what makes you happy, and what makes you unique.  There’s a place for you in ASG, or at the Traveler, or the Volunteer Action Center, or any one of the 350 registered student organizations on this campus.  And if you don’t know where you belong when you finish reading this, remember that it’s OK to be unsure right now.  Our generation, perhaps more than any before us, has to deal with a multiplicity of problems involving the climate, energy, social justice, and it all starts today.  I’ll close this letter with a favorite quote of mine from one of my favorite Arkansans, President Bill Clinton, who said, “Big things are expected of us, and nothing big ever came out of being small”.

It’s that time of year again when Walmart Stores, Inc. associates from across the globe descend on northwest Arkansas for the annual shareholder’s meeting.

They come from four continents, including all corners of the U.S., and places such as Brazil, the United Kingdom, China and India to tour the home of Walmart and see some big names perform before the early morning shareholder’s meeting on Friday.

The meeting means more to the U. Arkansas than just traffic jams and tourists — helping orchestrate the event means big money for the university, said Steve Voorhies, UA media relations manager.

During last year’s meeting, the UA brought in about $1.15 million during the week of the meeting for housing and feeding associates ($800,000), working security ($170,000 to UAPD), providing parking and transit ($165,000) and helping set up ($8,100). This year, parking will be making more money, because Lot 56 is being added to the available parking space.

For students, the meeting is an opportunity to make some quick cash during the slow summer months. The UA hired 28 students to work the residence halls where the associates are staying.

For senior Anthony Farler, the ability to interact with a variety of people is one of the best parts of the job, aside from the money, of course.

“It’s a really big deal for these international people to come over here all expenses paid. They absolutely love it,” he said.

Farler said he plans to have worked about 70 hours during the week, and is excited about how much money he will make.

In addition to being a cash cow for the UA and its students, the meeting brings about a heightened global awareness about the institution.

“Quite apart from the money, this is just excellent exposure of the UA to the world,” Voorhies said. “People come from all over the country, and this year from Russia, India and China as well as places like the United Kingdom and South America. This is the first time most of these people will ever have seen northwest Arkansas or the UA.”

Tuesday night the Zac Brown Band opened a packed Bud Walton Arena for country singer Tim McGraw. Tonight will feature the Barenaked Ladies and REO Speedwagon.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. Door open at 6 p.m. with priority given to Walmart employees and their guests.

The U. Central Florida women’s track team kept its season alive this weekend, thanks to strong performances at the NCAA East Regionals that kept three Knights in pursuit of national titles.

Freshman Sonnisha Williams and sophomores Sheila Paul and Jackie Coward each nabbed a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon next week.

Williams didn’t take long to snag her spot when she qualified in the long jump on Thursday.
Williams saved her best for last in the event. As her final preliminary jump approached,

Williams was not positioned to make the finals, but she posted a jump of 6.25 meters that not only earned her a spot in the finals, but also gave her the school and freshman records. Her jump held through the final round and she finished eighth in the event, giving her one of 12 spots in the national championship.

“It was a very impressive performance from Sonnisha Williams as she qualified for nationals as well as junior nationals and broke the school and freshman records,” head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said in a release.

Paul also earned her ticket to the national championship in thrilling fashion. She finished third in her semifinal heat of the 100-meter dash Friday — but just barely.  She posted a time of 11.54, just before Southern Miss’ Chastity Riggien, who finished with a time of 11.55.

Also on Friday, Coward finished second in her semifinal heat, putting herself in position to earn her own ticket to nationals in the 100-meter hurdles. Coward finished third in her heat Saturday with a time 13.11. The time left her in ninth place overall and sent her to nationals.

“Jackie Coward had a strong performance as she competed up to her ability,” Smith Gilbert said in a release. “After a tough day [Thursday], she pulled through today with a much better effort. We will get ready for nationals with Sonnisha, Sheila and Jackie.”

Senior Tiki James barely missed earning a second consecutive trip to nationals. She finished fifth in her semifinal heat of the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.22, leaving her just two hundredths of a second short of earning an at-large qualifying bid.

Although her time ranked 15th in the East region, a time of 13.39 would have given her a national bid if she were in the West Regional.

“It was a bittersweet day overall,” Smith Gilbert said in a release. “LaKendra [Thames] twisted her knee in the discus and had trouble after that. For Tiki, she has had three of four events under 13.30 this season despite missing 11 weeks due to injury. She was able to qualify for the USA Championships this summer, so it will be exciting for her to get more races under her belt and prepare for that.”

Thames, a senior, also just missed qualifying for the national championship in the discus. She competed in the national championship for the event last year. The top 16 finishers in the event earned bids, but Thames fell just outside of that, finishing 17th with a throw of 47.93 meters.

Thames also missed a national bid in the shot put. She finished 37th in the field with a top throw of 14.19 meters.

Eleven Knights competed in the East Regional and were coming off a come-from-behind conference championship victory, the program’s first since entering Conference USA.

Williams, Coward and Paul will travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the NCAA National Championships from Wednesday to June 13.

Let me preface this column by saying I didn’t side with the luck of the Irish in 2008.

I picked the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers to win the NBA Championship over one of the best all-around teams in the Boston Celtics that season.

I was wrong.

Fast forward to 2010. Boston vs. L.A. once again. The storied rivalry once again renewed between the two winningest teams in league history.

I won’t be mistaken twice.

It’ll be the Celtics in six.

We can all gloat about the greatness of Bryant, where he will rank if he gets his fifth championship ring and debate about him being mentioned in the same breath as Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Bill Russell.

But there will be no back-to-back titles for Bryant.

This title and these playoffs belong to the guys in green.

Since a 125-94 massacre of the Celtics at the hands of LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, this team has been on a role.

Despite back-to-back hiccups against the feisty Orlando Magic, the C’s have gone 7-2 in their past nine games, haven’t scored fewer than 92 points since the opening game of the playoffs against the Miami Heat and have found ways to shut down both superstars James and Dwight Howard as well as make Vince Carter look everything but invincible.

In those wins, they’ve won by average of 13 points and have held both the Cavs and Magic offenses to fewer than 90 points in six of those seven games.

They have been the hottest team in the playoffs the past month and won’t make the same collapse the Magic did when they met these same C’s.

They are arrogant.

Cocky.

And may even garantee a series victory on Twitter (see: Paul Piece).

But that’s okay. Swagger is needed if you want to be a champion.

Rajon Rondo went from a piece of the puzzle in 2008 to the entire puzzle for the Celtics this season, especially in the playoffs.

His speed, quickness and ridiculous court vision has raised the level of this team from wheezing and limping into the playoffs to flashbacks of the championship Celtics.

As for the Big Three — Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett — they are not the same as they were two years ago, with the exception of Pierce. Allen is slower at age 35 than he was at 33, doesn’t drive to the basket as much anymore and is mainly a spot up shooter from behind the arc.

Garnett is limited to 18-foot jump shots and is averaging close to 15 points a game in these playoffs, nearly five points off his average in 2008.

Pierce is carrying the trio, nailing game-winning shots and hitting clutch free throws to extend games and even series. He and Rondo will be key in the Finals.

But I’d take the Celtics’ Pierce, Rondo and two aging superstars over LA’s Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, because that’s where it starts and ends for the Lakers. Ron Artest is limited to just a defensive role, Bynum is hurt and Odom is not a threat anymore.

Let Bryant go off. He’s going to get his, and not one player on the Celtics roster can stop that from happening, but if you double Gasol inside and use your height to your advantage, then Boston can afford to let Kobe be Kobe.

For this Boston team, it’s all about proving everyone wrong. This season is not about three veterans chasing a title that had eluded them for years, it’s about proving that age ain’t nothin’ but a number.

And that number is 18 — the amount of titles that storied team would have.
This is one of the greatest rivalries in the history of not just the NBA, but also all of sports.

It’s also been a one-sided rivalry, with Boston winning nine of the 11 titles these two teams have battled over.

Thursday marks yet again another rebirth of that rivalry.

Garnett knew anything was possible in 2008. Everything is possible now.

I’m siding with Lady Luck on this one.

I’ve got my clover ready.

Squishy the Gerbil might be U. Florida’s least-known mascot.

This is probably because Florida Ultimate’s A-Team just bought him on Friday as it began the USA Ultimate College Championships series in Madison, Wis.

Squishy brought good luck, as Florida defeated Carleton College 15-12 in the tournament finals Monday afternoon, giving the team the national championship.

Florida won six of seven games over the weekend, culminating in the victory over Carleton College.

“We never were really tested by any other team,” said senior team member and captain Chris Gibson. “They are kind of our rivals, and we didn’t even get to play until this match.”

The Florida Ulitmate stayed calm throughout the game, even facing a team whose school “put[s] a Frisbee in every student’s preview bag,” he said.

Florida was seeded No. 4 with a 15-game win streak going into the tournament; before the weekend, they were 32-5.

The team was led, in part, by fifth-year senior and captain Brodie Smith, who was the runner-up this year for the Callahan Award, which goes to the most valuable player in the nation.

“That award didn’t really matter to me,” Smith said.

Sophomore Alan Baird, one of the team’s three underclassmen at nationals, agreed.

“We didn’t want it to affect us this year, whether he wanted it or not,” Baird said.

The team is kind of like a miniature sports fraternity, said senior Cole Sullivan.

During the school year, five of the teammates live together in a house dubbed “The Glory Hole.” During the weeks between the end of spring semester and the tournament in Madison, more of the team piled in.

“We just lined up,” Gibson said. “We stacked extra mattresses next to mine in the living room. All we did was play Frisbee and live at the Glory Hole,” said Gibson.

Whether it was the gerbil, the gaming, the cozy sleeping quarters or just the frequent practices, something was working for the team.

“It was the best three weeks you can possibly have when you are sleeping on the floor, when you are sharing it with three people and [there’s] no air conditioning,” Baird said.

Despite setbacks such as losing seniors like Smith, as well as coach Jonathan Windham, who moved away from Gainesville in April, the players are optimistic for next year.

Unlike Baird and Sullivan, Squishy the Gerbil is probably not looking forward to next year’s season. The same day that team members bought him, they put him in a plastic gerbil ball and took him along while they played a game of disc golf.

“We put the ball inside this bush, so he could stay there until we were done with our playing,” Gibson said. When the team returned from the game, the top of the ball was off and Squishy was gone. Gibson listed three possibilities: an animal got to Squishy, another person liberated him, or he “was really athletic and opened it himself.”

Next year, with or without an escape-prone rodent for a mascot, the team expects further success.

“We’re a program,” Baird said, “not a team. We’re a dynasty.”

The overcast weather and the anticipation of rain could not dampen the spirits of the Class of 2010 as they celebrated the culmination of their Fairfield education.

On the lawn of Bellarmine Hall on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. the undergraduate class of 2010 celebrated its commencement ceremony in front of a crowd of family, friends, faculty, staff, distinguished guests and many more. As onlookers watched, 921 bachelor’s degrees and six associate degrees were awarded to the Class of 2010, according to a news release from Fairfield.

Despite the ominous weather, the theme of hope and ‘a call to action’ was present throughout each of the speeches in the ceremony.

The message of service and a call to action began with Dorothea Brennan, a member of the Board of Governors of the Connecticut Department of Higher Education. She described how honored she was to address these graduating seniors who truly proved that they were men and women for others. “You have participated in service-learning…[and] thousands of service hours,” she told the graduating class, and to keep the momentum of their strong call to service she continued, “now go keep that commitment to light the world on fire.”

The valedictorian for the Class of 2010, Christopher Douglas Staysniak continued the call to action during his address to the graduating class. The Ridgefield, Conn. native and history major told the graduating class, “Shaped and formed as women and men for others, our diplomas are now an I.O.U. for the world around us to cash in upon.”

The commencement speaker, Dr. Katherine Lapp ’78 utilized the theme of responsibility to do service in her address to the graduating class as well. Lapp, the executive vice president of Harvard University, and former director of the MTA in New York, told the Class of 2010 that she expected their commitment to serve others to continue well past their college years.

“The world needs you, the problems facing us are too complex and too persistent to not have as many smart and talented minds as possible tackling them…I ask you to bring hope and change to the world.” Despite her mention of the many problems that exist today in society, such as the economic recession or the ongoing war, Lapp kept her hope alive by explaining to the Class of 2010 that with their Jesuit education, they could use those values and their success from both inside and outside of the classroom to truly help change the world.

As the degrees were conferred and as the sun finally began to come out, the ceremony came to a close amongst the shouts of excitement from the recent graduates.

Some graduates are heading off into the workforce like business major Boris Romanovsky, while others continue on with more school, such as psychology major, Marina Meliones. Regarding her plans for the future, Meliones said, “I am going to graduate school for special education in the fall at Fitchburg State.”

Whether going to work, school, or still deciding what the future holds for them, the Class of 2010 as well as their guests of the events can be proud of the work that went into getting them where they are today. Pat Houlihan, whose daughter, Meghan McEvoy graduated said, “I am so proud of my daughter. The ceremony was beautiful and seeing my daughter graduate was absolutely wonderful.”

Father Michael J. Doody S.J. had an especially close connection to the Class of 2010. “For me this year is bittersweet. I arrived with these seniors. I’ve seen them grow, seen them through ups and downs, seen them develop into who they are now, and we’ve made deep friendships.”

As the Class of 2010 prepares for what lies ahead of them, they can remember how these various speakers inspired them to keep their devotion to serving others and hopefully fulfill their commitment to go light the world on fire.

Four bullet holes were found along the passenger side of a 2000 Ford Ranger parked at the intersection 7th and Campbell Streets Wednesday afternoon, IUPD Lt. Craig Munroe said.

An IUPD officer reported a noise complaint at the area at 1:37 a.m., Munroe said, but nothing was found at the time.

The station then received a complaint at 12:25 p.m. Wednesday from the owner of the truck, Munroe said. Two bullet holes were found in the passenger side window, one just under the passenger door handle and one in the passenger side windshield.

“No one was in the area,” Munroe said. “The officer heard it from a distance.”

At this time, there are no suspects.

Illinois football coach Ron Zook announced Wednesday that Nathan Scheelhaase will be the Fighting Illini’s starting quarterback when the 2010 season begins, according to a press release from Assistant Athletics Director Kent Brown.

“Following spring ball, our coaching staff had some time to review the quarterback situation and felt Nathan proved himself as a leader both on and off the field,” Zook said.

A redshirt freshman from Kansas City, Scheelhaase led Rockhurst High School to a state title as a junior and was named the Kansas City Metro Player of the Year as a senior after passing for 1,726 yards and 17 touchdowns, while rushing for 864 yards and 18 scores, according to the press release.

“He showed the ability to run Coach Petrino’s offense at a high level, and we thought it was important to establish Nathan as a team leader entering summer workouts,” Zook said.