In The News

Continual Transportation Growth For Tampa Bay Region

Tampa Bay Business Journal Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Improvements to Tampa's transportation system continue with a multimillion dollar project to assist traffic flow on Interstate 275 and a proposed penny sales tax increase in Hillsborough County to expand transportation development.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal also reports the The Tampa Port Authority celebrated an accomplished fiscal year due to their diverse endeavors in trade, shipbuilding and repair, and cruise passenger traffic.

Read the special report.

Florida Power & Light Experiments With Solar, Natural Gas Hybrid Power

The New York Times Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Across 500 acres north of West Palm Beach, the FPL Group utility is assembling a life-size Erector Set of 190,000 shimmering mirrors and thousands of steel pylons that stretch as far as the eye can see.

When it is completed by the end of the year, this vast project will be the world's second-largest solar plant.

Read the complete story.

Starbucks Tests Trenta Size Coffee In Tampa Bay Region

The St. Petersburg Times Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Starbucks is test marketing a new gigantic cup of iced coffee called the Trenta in the Tampa Bay region.

The 31-ounce cup packs a wallop of caffiene designed to compete for customers with similar super-sized cold drinks offered by other fast food restaurants.

Read the complete story.

Tampa Downtown Partnership Focuses On Opportunities For Growth

Tampa Bay Business Journal Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The Tampa Downtown Partnership's 14th Annual Downtown Development Forum, scheduled for March 19 at Tampa Preparatory School, will focus on the economy and opportunities for growth in the new decade.

The keynote speaker is Florida historian Gary Mormino, a professor at the University of South Florida and author of several books about Florida.

Read the complete story.

USF Hosts Major Climate Change Conference

Tampa Bay Business Journal Tuesday, February 09, 2010

The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that the University of South Florida will host a major climate change conference at its new School of Global Sustainability Studies.

Speakers include Ohio State University researcher Lonnie Thompson, who served as an adviser in Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth.'' Thompson is among top researchers from the international climate change research community invited to participate.

The conference will be Feb. 11-12 at USF's Marshall Center and Oval Theater in Tampa.

Read the complete story.

Spotlight Shines On Clearwater Man's Concern For Small Businesses

Tampa Tribune,istockanalyst.com Tuesday, February 09, 2010

The website istockanalyst.com recently featured a Tampa Tribune report on an unlikely success story for a small business owner based in the Tampa Bay region.

When President Obama fielded questions from the public during his recent visit to the University of Tampa, Clearwater-based entrepreneur Steve Gordon asked him why his administration has bailed out large corporations, but has provided little or no aid to small businesses.

The question thrust Gordon into the national spotlight, and he found himself on the receiving end of attention from parties across the globe wanting to know more about the water-saving faucet heads Gordon purveys.

Read the complete story.

President Obama Visits Tampa, Will Fund I-4 Corridor High-Speed Rail

WMNF.org Tuesday, February 02, 2010

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden visited Tampa January 28 for a town hall meeting the day after President Obama delivered his State of the Union address.

The President announced that he would use federal stimulus dollars to fund a high-speed rail project that would link Tampa to Orlando along the I-4 Corridor.

Hundreds of people, many of them University of Tampa and University of South Florida students, lined up to see the President, and dozens gathered to protest. The news team at community radio station WMNF 88.5 FM reported on both.

Listen to the complete story on the President's visit.

Listen to the complete story on the protestors.

Read related story.

USF Anthropologists Address Hunger In National Journal

USF.edu Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Three Univeristy of South Florida anthropologists recently contributed significantly to the National Association of Applied Anthropology's peer-reviewed journal.

They addressed an uncommon topic: how to utilize the discipline of anthropology to help address world hunger.

David Himmelgreen, an associate professor of anthropology at USF, says that anthropologists are in a unique position to inform policymakers of the social, economic and other contexts in which they are addressing the food crisis, which may help them confront hunger more effectively.

Read the complete press release.

Opportunities Abound To Acquire Industrial, Office Space In Tampa Bay

Grubb & Ellis,Colliers Arnold Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Two recently released reports on the Tampa Bay region's economic climate paint a mixed picture of challenges and opportunities in months ahead.

Colliers Arnold and Grubb & Ellis market insight reports for fourth quarter 2009 indicate high office vacancy rates and sluggish industrial property sales, which makes for a buyers market rife with potentially profitable deals for those able to invest or relocate.

Read the full CA report and the G&E report.

USF Scientists Find Evidence Of Ocean Acidification

USF.edu Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The University of South Florida is reporting that leaders from its marine research team are among the first whose research provides solid evidence that ocean acidification is occurring.

Though it's not as well known as climate change, ocean acidification is another effect of the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Oceans absorb much of the CO2, which is said to change the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic. This is believed to wreak havoc on marine sea life.

Read the complete story.

USF Students Look To Solve Water Bottle Problem

ABC Action News Tuesday, January 12, 2010

ABC Action News reports that a group of University of South Florida students, with the help of a grant from Wal-Mart, is helping the Tampa campus get a little greener.

Noticing how so many plastic water bottles go to waste on the campus due to students' reluctance to refill them with tap water at water fountains, the group got the idea to install a reverse osmosis water filter in one of the fountains to encourage students to reuse their bottles instead of buying new ones.

Read the complete story.

MOSI Gets Prestigious National Award

Visit Tampa Bay Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The Institute of Museum and Library Sciences lists Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry among the top five museums in the country.

At a ceremony in Washington, DC later this month, the institute will present MOSI with its 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service and $10,000 in award money.

MOSI is home to an IMAX theatre and hosts many events as well as traveling exhibits. It will host Da Vinci the Genius in February.

Read the complete story.

USF Program Gets Top Marks For Social Responsibility

Beyondgreypinstripes.org Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Aspen Institute recently ranked USF-St. Peterburg's MBA Program 36^th on its Global 100, a list of the top MBA programs that incorporate social and environmental responsibility into their curricula.

The list is the result of an 18-month study focusing on how MBA programs teach business ethics, corporate responsibility and sustainability.

USF-St. Petersburg is the only Florida institution on the Aspen Institute's list.

Read the complete story.

Tampa Would Be Among First Stops If Florida Gets High-Speed Rail

smartplanet.com Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The CBS Interactive website SmartPlanet.com reports that the Florida Legislature has approved a plan for a statewide high-speed rail system.

The proposed system would be partly funded by federal stimulus money and would eventually link all of Florida's major metropolitan areas.

The first phase of the project would link Tampa to Orlando along the I-4 corridor.

Read the complete story.

USF Participates In Solar Power Consortium

greentechmedia.com Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Green Tech Media reports that the Sunshine State is gearing up to boost its presence in the solar power industry.

While Western states come to mind when most people think of solar power, a group of university-based scientists in Florida is trying to change that.

The state-funded Florida Energy Systems Consortium consists of 11 universities, including USF, and aims to research and develop solar power.

Read the complete story.

Sustainability : In The News