Dr. Paul DuBowy, the environmental programs manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, recently returned from teaching a course in ecohydrology in Portugal. As a Fulbright Specialist, he taught graduate students from the University of Algarve's ecohydrology program. Before joining the Corps, DuBowy taught similar courses and conducted research at several universities for 14 years. At the Corps, he applies his expertise in ecohydrology to environmental protection efforts while maintaining waterways.

1. By Matt Stuart
mstuart@vicksburgpost.com
The Mississippi Valley Division of
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers is
much more than dredging ports and
maintaining the Mississippi River.
Within the MVD, the Environmental
Program aims to protect and expand
the native wildlife’s habitat. At the
head of that effort is one of the fore-
most ecohydrologists in the world.
Environmental Programs Manager
Dr. Paul DuBowy in October returned
from a teaching stint in Portugal where
he worked with about 15 of the world’s
top ecohydrology graduate students.
In 2009, DuBowy was recognized as
a Fulbright Specialist, an extension of
the Fulbright Scholarship Program.
The Fulbright Specialist Program
sends academics and professionals
with a background in academia to uni-
versities throughout the world to teach
their discipline.
While serving as visiting professor
in the Faculty of Sciences and Tech-
nology at the University of Algarve, he
taught Ecohydrology and Landscape
Management in the UNESCO-spon-
sored Erasmus Mundus Master of Sci-
ence Programme in Ecohydrology.
“Ecohydrology, as the name suggests,
is the interaction of physical processes
like hydrology and biological processes
like ecology,” DuBowy said.
In 2011, he taught a similar course in
the Ecohydrology Programme at the
University of Lodz in Poland.
The program allowed him to return
to his roots.
“I missed teaching,” DuBowy said.
“It’s a very exclusive group of students.
They’re topnotch students, really
receptive to what you have to say.”
Before joining the Corps in 2001, he
taught, conducted research and guided
graduate students for 14 years as a
professor at Purdue University, Texas
A&M University and The University of
Newcastle in Australia.
“The biggest difference is, when I was
a professor, I used to talk mainly about
theory,” he said. “Now with the Corps,
I’m living that. I’m not just talking in
vague abstract terms, but every day
we’re working on the river and apply-
ing those concepts.”
Dennis Norris is chief of operations
for the MVD and Mississippi River
Commission.
“I think the thing that stands out
for him is the fact that he is a recog-
nized Fulbright Scholar,” Norris said.
“We ensure that we have considered
impacts to the environment in the
work we do on the river, whether it’s
levees or infrastructure like dykes and
revetments.
“That’s why we have a person here
on staff like Dr. DuBowy, to coordi-
nate that and make sure we’re in com-
pliance with the environmental laws
passed by Congress, as well as looking
at how we can do the work that actu-
The Vicksburg Post Sunday, December 23, 2012 B9
BusinessKaren Gamble, managing editor | E-mail: newsreleases@vicksburgpost.com | Tel: 601.636.4545 ext 137
THE VICKSBURG POST
Average regular unlead-
ed self-service prices as of
Friday:
Jackson..............................$2.95
Vicksburg..................$3.04
Tallulah..............................$3.16
Sources: Jackson AAA,
Vicksburg andTallulah,
Automotive. com
GASOLINEPRICES
PORTFOLIO
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Submititemsbye-mail
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com),postalservice(P.O. Box
821668,Vicksburg,MS 39182),
fax(634-0897),ordeliveredin
personto1601-FN.FrontageRoad
byWednesdayforpublication
Sunday.Besuretoincludeyour
nameandphonenumber.
ForThanksgivingandChristmas,cranberriesareastaple
One of my family’s holiday
traditions is surely the same
in some other families in that
congealed cranberry sauce
graces the table twice a year;
once at Thanksgiving and
again at Christmas. And only
three of us do cranberry duty
and eat it.
The best cranberry instance
is when everybody is seated
and somebody announces the
cranberry sauce is missing.
Oops. Whoever is nearest the
fridge has to bring it out.
Cranberries got their
American reputation as a
holiday treat when the origi-
nal English immigrants
learned of them from Native
Americans and added cran-
berries to their annual
Thanksgiving feast. The first
American name for the fruit
was “crane berry” because
the shape of the bloom
reminded somebody of the
head and beak of a crane.
Other English names used in
the past included bearberry,
mossberry and fenberry.
The holiday food tradition
pretty much accounted for
the small cranberry harvest
until the early 1900s when
the cranberry canning busi-
ness began. It was in the
1960s that a big cranberry
cooperative marketing push
put cranberry juice into year-
round fruit drinks. Now, of
course, cranberries are rec-
ognized for their health ben-
efits and can be found in all
sorts of food products
Like most modern food-
stuffs, cranberries are no
longer harvested from the
wild. Cranberry farming
is big-time in Wisconsin,
Massachusetts, and a few
other states, and in parts of
Canada, Europe, Asia and
even in Argentina.
Manmade cranberry bogs
are created on precision lev-
eled land with dikes built
to hold in the water. Six
inches of sand are spread
on the bottom of new bogs
and vines are cut from exist-
ing bogs and mechanically
pushed into the sand to take
root and make new vines.
The new “fields” are irri-
gated often to keep the sand
moist, but they are not kept
flooded. Flooding is actually
used to facilitate harvest in
the fall.
Berries are separated from
underwater vines by small
combines and float to the
surface. Berries are then
rounded up using floating
booms. Pumps move the ber-
ries to escalators which load
them onto trucks. The ber-
ries go straight to process-
ing which includes bottling,
freezing, drying or canning.
The only hand-harvest done
is for the few berries sold as
whole fresh cranberries.
In trying to correlate cran-
berry production to farming
in our neck of the woods, I
came up with a few similari-
ties. We say levees instead of
dikes, but land is precision
leveled, diked, planted and
watered to grow rice. Peri-
odic flooding of diked fields
is also used in crawfish farm-
ing. And catfish are rounded
up in water for loading onto
trucks.
One other similarity might
come to mind for longtime,
old-time gardeners. Root-
less cranberry vines pushed
down into the ground at
planting time is sort of like
poking sweet potato slips
down in fresh dirt with a
forked stick.
Of course there has to be
a cranberry festival. It is in
Bandon, Oregon, home of a
few cranberry farms. And
there is a Cranberry Queen
2012.
•
Terry Rector writes for the Warren
County Soil and Water Conservation
District,601-636-7679ext.3.
Terry
Rector
back inthe classroom
Eli Baylis•The Vicksburg Post
Dr. Paul DuBowy, environmental program manager for the Mississippi River Commission, sits in his office Thursday.
FulbrightSpecialistfinishesworkinPortugal
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Dr. Paul DuBowy teaches a class in Portugal earlier this year.
Corps’Dr.PaulDuBowy
taughtecohydrology
to15topgradstudents
atUniversityofAlgarve
GMboosts
truckdeals
toshed
inventory
By The Associated Press
DETROIT — With Chevy
Silverado and GMC Sierra
pickups piling up on dealer
lots, General Motors is offer-
ing generous deals to thin the
stock.
It’s matching or beating dis-
counts from rivals Ford and
Chrysler, offering up to $9,000
off remaining 2012 models
and close to $4,500 off 2013s.
That, plus low interest rates,
sweet lease deals and abun-
dant financing, is good news
for people in the market for
a truck.
“They’re all very competi-
tive with each other right
now,” said Russell Bar-
nett, who owns dealerships
around Winchester, Tenn.,
southeast of Nashville, that
sell GM pickups as well
as the Ford F-Series and
Chrysler’s Ram. “The manu-
facturers are putting a big
emphasis on it, and there’s a
lot of people in the market.”
Last month, the Ram led
the way with an average of
$4,800 in discounts, followed
by GMC and Ford at $3,700,
according to industry sta-
tistics from J.D. Power and
Associates. GM dropped
incentives on the Silverado to
just under $3,700. Dealers say
GM has boosted its offers in
December, while the others
have either held steady or
raised incentives on cer-
tain models. Barnett said the
incentives run from $4,500 to
around $5,000, although the
discounts vary with model
year and options on the
trucks.
That means there’s good
deals on Ford’s F-Series
pickup, the top-selling vehicle
in America, as well as the Sil-
verado, which ranks second.
Together, the Detroit Three
control 83 percent of the U.S.
full-size pickup market.
The three automakers have
been vying for truck business
all year as the market contin-
ues a slow rebound from the
Great Recession. Chrysler led
the way on incentives most
months, sometimes exceed-
ing $5,000. GM also topped
$5,000 earlier in the year. But
in November, the company
cut discounts on the Sil-
verado and Sierra by about
$400, falling almost $1,200
below the Ram and $100
below Ford. The cut came
just as the pickup rebound
accelerated, costing GM sales
and forcing it to respond this
month.
‘Imissedteaching.It’savery
exclusivegroupofstudents.
They’retopnotchstudents,really
receptivetowhatyouhavetosay.’
Dr. Paul DuBowy
Ecohydrologist
See DuBowy, Page B10. See GM, Page B10.
Twitter offers users
tweets scrapbook
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
— Twitter is offering its
more than 200 million
users a chance to keep a
digital scrapbook of all
their tweets.
The tool, announced
this week, is designed to
make it easier for people
to review all their activity
on Twitter’s trend-setting
messaging service.
When it’s available, the
downloading option will
appear at the bottom of
each user’s settings menu.
Twitter, which is based
in San Francisco, said it
may take a few weeks
before everyone gets the
feature.
After a records request
is made, users will receive
an email on how to
download their personal
archives. For Twitter’s
earliest users, the records
date back to 2006 when
Twitter started.
Twitter users already
have been able to peruse
their past tweets by navi-
gating to their personal
profile page.
Mortgage rates rise;
still near record lows
WASHINGTON —
Average rates on U.S.
fixed mortgages rose this
week but remained near
record lows, a trend that
is leading more Ameri-
cans to buy homes or refi-
nance their loans.
Mortgage buyer Fred-
die Mac said the aver-
age rate on a 30-year loan
increased to 3.37 percent
from 3.32 percent last
week. That’s just above
the 3.31 percent rate of a
month ago, the lowest on
records dating to 1971.
The average on the
15-year fixed mortgage
dipped to 2.65 percent
from 2.66 percent last
week. The record low is
2.63 percent.
Olive Garden owner
shifts focus to deals
NEW YORK — After
new ad campaigns tout-
ing the quality of its food
failed to boost sales, the
parent company of Olive
Garden and Red Lobster
is retooling its strategy
to focus on promotional
deals to attract diners.
The shift comes after
Darden Restaurants Inc.
earlier this fall moved
to update the image of
its flagship chains and
appeal to younger diners
in their 20s and 30s, who
increasingly prize fresh,
high-quality ingredients.
To address the afford-
ability many guests need
right now, Darden plans
to dial back building
its brands for now and
increase the frequency of
promotions that under-
score value, said Drew
Madsen, the company’s
chief operating officer.

2. B10 Sunday, December 23, 2012 The Vicksburg Post
sales tax revenue
The City ofVicksburg receives 18.5 percent of all sales collected
by businesses in the city limits.
Revenues to the city lag actual sales tax collections by two
months. Receipts for this month reflect taxes collected on sales
in October. Here are the latest receipts.:
October 2012.............$599,117
Fiscal 2012-13 to date...............
$599,117
October 2011............$602,012
Fiscal year 2010-11...................
$602,012
November2012
City...................................$423,477
County............................$206,726
Schools..............................$54,928
Fiscalyear2012-13todate
City...................................$855,077
County............................$417,125
Schools...........................$110,977
November 2011
City...................................$399,225
County............................$194,764
Schools..............................$51,811
Fiscalyear2011-12todate
City...................................$907,451
County............................$446,287
Schools...........................$118,925
Vicksburg casinos pay 3.2 percent revenue tax to the state that
is divided into pieces, with 65 percent to the city, 25 percent to
the county and 10 percent to the public schools. A second rev-
enue tax is a 0.8 percent share of the state’s 8.8 percent revenue
tax and is determined based on the population split between
the city and county. Each casino is required to pay $150 per
gaming device annually to the city. No casino had paid device
fees this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Here are the latest re-
ceipts:
casino tax revenue
land transfers
ally enhances the environ-
ment. It’s a very important
part of our mission.”
DuBowy said his job
focuses on maintaining the
physical and biological condi-
tions necessary to preserve
existing wildlife and plant
life native to the Mississippi
River Valley.
“I got into it because, as
a restoration ecologist, we
have a saying, ‘If you build it
they will come,’” he said. “By
building it, what we mean is
we have to provide the physi-
cal and biological character-
istics that those creatures
require to live.”
Currently, his department
is focused on increasing the
Pallid sturgeon fish and Inte-
rior Least Tern bird popula-
tions, among other projects.
“They’re both endangered
species here on the river and
the Corps has an obligation
that, as we do work on the
river for navigation or flood
control, we protect species
on the river,” DuBowy said.
“We work to be good stew-
ards of the river, but we also
have a legal obligation to
protect those species at the
same time.”
DuBowy coordinates with
agencies such as the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to
develop projects on the Mis-
sissippi River and its tribu-
taries to expand the habitat
of those species.
As for future trips abroad,
DuBowy said he is in a wait-
and-see mode.
“I’m hoping to go back
again next year, but we’re
going to have to see how that
shakes out,” DuBowy said.
“I’m always happy to come
back home, but if the chance
comes for me to go back and
teach, I’ll be glad to.”
DuBowy
Continued from Page B9.
GM
Continued from Page B9.
As a result, Silverado sales
fell 10 percent last month,
while sales of the Sierra, its
near-twin, dropped more
than 3 percent. At the same
time, Ford truck sales rose
18 percent and Ram leaped
23 percent. So Silverados and
Sierras began stacking up on
dealer lots.
At the end of Novem-
ber, Chevy dealers had
more than 169,000 Silvera-
dos nationwide, enough to
supply them for 138 days
at the current sales rate,
according to Ward’s Auto-
InfoBank. By contrast, Ford
had a 90-day supply of F-150s,
and Chrysler had 106 days’
worth of Rams. Automak-
ers consider a 60-day supply
to be optimal to give buyers
enough selection, although
they run a little higher on
pickups because there are so
many different versions.
GM executives said in
November that they were
following a strategy to keep
incentives down so people
buy cars and trucks on their
merits, not because they’re
cheap. But GM’s trucks,
which haven’t been redone
since 2007, are at a disadvan-
tage to newer trucks from
Chrysler and Ford. The Ram
was new in 2008 and updated
earlier this year, and the
F-Series, new in 2009, got four
new engines last year. So GM
was forced to offer bigger dis-
counts this month.
“We went harder because
we missed on November,”
Mark Reuss, GM’s North
American president, said
last week as he unveiled new
trucks that will hit show-
rooms late next spring. “The
incentive loads are competi-
tive, so we’re off to a good
start,” said Reuss.
USMinttestingnewmetalstomakecoinscheaper
By The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — When it comes to
making coins, the Mint isn’t getting its
two cents worth. In some cases, it doesn’t
even get half of that. A penny costs more
than two cents and a nickel costs more
than 11 cents to make and distribute. The
quandary is how to make coins more
cheaply without sparing our change’s
quality and durability, or altering its size
and appearance.
A 400-page report presented last week
to Congress outlines nearly two years
of trials conducted at the Mint in Phila-
delphia, where a variety of metal reci-
pes were put through their paces in the
massive facility’s high-speed coin-making
machinery.
Evaluations of 29 different alloys con-
cluded that none met the ideal list of attri-
butes. The Treasury Department con-
cluded that additional study was needed
before it could endorse any changes.
“We want to let the data take us where
it takes us,” Dick Peterson, the Mint’s
acting director, said. More test runs with
different alloys are likely in the coming
year, he said.
The government has been looking for
ways to shave the millions it spends every
year to make bills and coins. Congressio-
nal auditors recently suggested doing
away with dollar bills entirely and replac-
ing them with dollar coins, which they
concluded could save taxpayers some
$4.4 billion over three decades. Canada is
dropping its penny as part of an auster-
ity budget.
To test possible new metal combina-
tions, the U.S. Mint struck penny-, nickel-
and quarter-sized coins with “nonsense
dies” — images that don’t exist on legal
tender butare similar indepth anddesign
to real currency.
Test stampings were examined for
color, finish, resistance to wear and cor-
rosion, hardness and magnetic proper-
ties. That last item might be the tricki-
est, as coin-operated equipment such as
vending machines and parking meters
detect counterfeits not just by size and
weight but by each coin’s specific mag-
netic signature.
Except for pennies, all current U.S. cir-
culating coins have the electromagnetic
properties of copper, the report said.
A slight reduction in the nickel content
ofquarters,dimesandnickelswouldbring
some cost savings while keeping the mag-
netic characteristics the same. Making
more substantial changes, like switching
to steel or other alloys with different mag-
netic properties, could mean big savings
tothegovernmentbutatabigcosttocoin-
op businesses, Peterson said.
The vending industry estimates it would
cost between $700 million and $3.5 billion
torecalibratemachinestorecognizecoins
with an additional magnetic signature.
The Mint’s researchers reached a lower
but still pricey estimate of $380 million to
$630 million.
Another challenge for the Mint is the
risingcostofcopper(usedinallU.S.coins)
and nickel (used in all except pennies).
Only four of the 80 metals on the peri-
odic table — aluminum, iron (used to
makesteel),zincandlead—costlessthan
copper and nickel, the report stated.
Apennycostsmorethantwo
centsandanickelcostsmore
than11centstomakeand
distribute.
The following commercial
land transfer was recorded in
the Chancery Clerk’s Office
for the week ending Dec. 21.
• Heritage Group Proper-
ties LLC to Phad Dempsey
and Elizabeth Dempsey; Lot
208, Block 32 of the Vicksburg
Proper survey; 1409 Washing-
ton St.
1601-C North Frontage Road • Vicksburg
Phone: (601) 638-2900
speediprint@cgdsl.net
Wedding Invitations