Meg’s spirit strong till end
Huntsville Times – Feb. 2
Ex-UA student fought cancer with hope and dignity. Don’t wear black when you go to Meg Ingram’s funeral. She didn’t want that. Wear pink – her favorite color. She’ll be wearing pink, a cheerleading sweatshirt her dad ordered for her a couple of weeks ago after he saw her looking at it online in her Hampton Cove bedroom.
WBRC-Fox 6, Birmingham — Feb. 1 and 2
WAAY-ABC, Huntsville — Feb. 2
WHNT-CBS, Huntsville — Feb. 1 and 2
Student dies after battle with cancer
Crimson White – Feb. 4
Meg Ingram wasn’t interested in nursing when she began attending the University. Then she was diagnosed with cancer. After going through surgery on the brain tumor and follow-up treatments, she decided to switch her major to pre-nursing during the 2007 spring semester because of the great care she received while in the hospital.
The Civic Poet
New York Times – Feb. 3
(by Joel Brouwer, associate professor of English, UA)
‘Robert Pinsky has been writing outstanding poems for more than 30 years — “Gulf Music” is his seventh collection — but you’re more likely to know him for his poetry advocacy than for his own examples of the art. Given Pinsky’s public profile, this is more than understandable; he has served as a highly visible poet laureate of the United States for an unprecedented three terms, founded the acclaimed Favorite Poem Project (and edited or co-edited several resulting anthologies, including “Americans’ Favorite Poems” and “An Invitation to Poetry”), fashioned an eloquent translation of Dante’s “Inferno,” written a regular “Poet’s Choice” column for The Washington Post, moderated a “Meta-Free-Phor-All” on “The Colbert Report” and read one of his poems during a cameo appearance on “The Simpsons.” (No token haiku, either! A real live longish poem!) No other living American poet — no other living American, probably — has done so much to put poetry before the public eye. . . .
Joel Brouwer is the author of two books of poems, “Exactly What Happened” and “Centuries.” He teaches at the University of Alabama.
Kenya: A disturbing tale of two gluttons
Birmingham News – Feb. 3
(By Dorcas Komo, a Kenyan student majoring in journalism at the University of Alabama)
Not long ago, I attended a memorial service and fundraiser for a friend. His story is one of the many I have heard told and retold in the past few weeks. His family fled its home during the ongoing fracas in Kenya. He lost his father, and his mother remains in a hospital. Their once-flourishing homestead has since been reduced to ashes. News reports estimate nearly 1,000 people have died in the unrest following Kenya’s 15th presidential election. In Kenyan culture, it is said that when two bulls fight, the grass beneath suffers the calamity. The two bulls locking horns are the incumbent, Mwai Kibaki, and the son of a former prominent statesman, Raila Odinga. The two have different ethnicities and even more divergent political views. Dorcas Komo is a Kenyan student majoring in journalism at the University of Alabama. E-mail: dwkomo@ua.edu.
Why I’m OK taking UA over an HBCU
Huntsville Times – Feb. 4
(By Amethyst Holmes, senior at Sparkman High School)
“I have three more months.” That is the phrase I keep repeating to myself. Then it’s all over – high school that is. I can even picture me and my friends throwing, or holding up, our square hats in the air, as we say our last goodbyes to high school hallways and our first hellos to college campuses. But will the college campus I chose be the right one for me? With careful consideration, I’ve decided to attend the University of Alabama. As I broke the seal of my acceptance letter to UA, I felt as if my decision to attend the capstone university was the first great choice of my adult life…
Ala. Black Belt region looks to rich history for economic boost
USA Today – Feb. 4
From the birth of the Confederacy to the struggles of the civil rights movement, the Black Belt region of Alabama has been the center for much of the state’s — and the USA’s — history. Now, a grass-roots effort is underway to give this historic region a brighter future by getting it designated a National Heritage Area. . . . Moundville. It was the center of the East Mississippian Indian culture long before the white man set foot on the continent, according to Vernon James Knight, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama.
Real estate market still strong
Florence Times Daily – Feb. 3
Alabama home sales topped out at 57,083 units sold in 2007, a 5 percent decline from 2006, according to the University of Alabama’s Center for Real Estate. Even so, 2007 was the third best year on record for home sales in the state. Even so, 2007 was the third best year on record for home sales in the state. The center reported that consumer confidence was lower toward the end of 2007 because of turbulence in the mortgage and credit markets, along with the increasing national foreclosure rate. The Shoals, however, was at the top for the mid-sized markets and experienced a 4.62 percent year-over-year sales growth.
Plans boost state’s economy: Pension, health bring $5.8 billion to Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 4
A statewide study found Alabama’s pension and health insurance plans for public employees affect every county and have a $5.8 billion impact on the state’s economy. “The numbers were so big they surprised me,” said David Bronner, chief executive of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Bronner got the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama to do the study. He got the idea from similar studies that were done in Texas and California after public employees’ benefits came under criticism. The study found that in 2006, the state pension system issued $1.7 billion in benefits to retired state workers and education employees, with $1.6 billion going to Alabama residents.
Canadian senator lectures at UA in English and French
Crimson White – Feb. 4
The honorable Sen. Céline Hervieux-Payette, leader of the opposition party in the Canadian Senate, gave a pair of lectures at the University Thursday. Hervieux-Payette delivered the first lecture in English and the later one in French. The lectures were about developing trends and issues in Canada and the province of Quebec and how they relate to the United States.
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 4
A total of 4,949 students enrolled during the fall 2007 semester at The University of Alabama made the Dean’s List with academic records of 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale), or the President’s List with academic records of 4.0 (all A’s). The UA Dean’s and President’s Lists recognize full-time undergraduate students. The lists do not apply to graduate students or undergraduate students who take less than a full course load.
Movie magic hands: Tuscaloosa pianist brings ‘hand jive’ to ‘Honeydripper’
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 4
…Enter Tuscaloosa pianist Henderson Huggins, who plays the close-up fingers of star Danny Glover in writer/director John Sayles’ “Honeydripper,” opening with a gala tonight at the Bama Theatre…. In addition to Huggins, locals working on the movie included University of Alabama theater students Sonequa Martin, Stephanie Marie Mosley and DaWoyne Alexander, who were dance extras in the climactic final music performance…
Alabama women honored
Birmingham News – Feb. 3
University of Alabama faculty pianist Amanda Penick was unanimously chosen to receive the Music Teachers National Association Teacher of the Year Award. A three-member committee selected Penick because of her teaching, her students’ success and abilities as a performer. Several of her students have won national competitions, including Drew Mays, who took the top spot in the 2007 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. A frequent guest artist, clinician and adjudicator, Penick has held posts with MTNA and the Alabama Music Teachers Association.
Financial aid awareness month kicked off with information session
Crimson White – Feb. 4
The hot dogs steamed in the cold air Friday as they sat next to the books about financial aid and bags of giveaways. Snacks and freebies were there to entice students on their way from class to stop by the table set up in the Ferguson Center Plaza by the University’s Financial Aid Office. Travis Hall, a counselor with financial aid, said the treats were popular, but not the reason they were out there.
Best is yet to come for Philosophy Today series
Crimson White – Feb. 4
The first Philosophy Today series has reached the halfway point and has exceeded the expectations of those who were involved in the planning. “We have had a parade of philosophical all-stars this year and it has been a wonderful experience for the faculty and students,” said Scott Hestevold, chairman of the philosophy department.
Documentary to be screened at Bama
Crimson White – Feb. 4
On Tuesday night, the Bama Theatre will lend itself to tell an amazing story of hard work, dedication and love. “The Outsiders of New Orleans: Loujon Press” tells the tale of the independent Loujon Press and the mark the extraordinary works they published left on this country. The screening will begin at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Wayne Ewing, the documentary follows Louise “Gypsy Lou” Webb as she recounts how she and her husband Jon Webb published the literary magazine “The Outsider” from their small apartment in the French Quarter during the 1960s. Ewing said his decision to make “Outsiders” was influenced by his co-producer Curtis Robinson telling him about Jeff Weddle’s book on the press, titled “Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press.” . . . Weddle, who is an associate professor for the book arts program, said the process for his book and Ewing’s movie started with his dissertation, which turned into his book project “Bohemian New Orleans,” which was published by the University of Mississippi press.
Children issue seminar set
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 1
Doing What Matters for Tuscaloosa’s Children,” a daylong seminar about children’s welfare and health issues, will be Monday. The seminar will be from 8:30 a.m.-3:45p.m. in the Bryant Conference Center and include exhibits and panel discussions on crime, education, drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, body image and sexuality and academic challenges. . . Swindle; acting Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy; juvenile court Judge Phillip Lisenby; and officials from the city and county school systems. The lunch speaker will be Terry Saban, wife of University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
Don Herbert, 72; KFWB newsman led thousands to learn CPR
Los Angeles Times – Feb. 4
Don Herbert, the KFWB on-air personality who joined the station when it converted to an all-news format in 1968 and remained there for 30 years, died Saturday of complications from colon surgery at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. He was 72. . . . Born Herb Rosenblum in Brooklyn in 1935, Herbert majored in broadcasting at the University of Alabama.
Hometown has no monument to Namath
UPI – Jan. 31
Joe Namath, maybe the best known native of Beaver Falls, Pa., hasn’t received much recognition from his hometown, officials said they plan to change that. The only visible sign that Namath lived in Beaver Falls is a display case at the high school, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. . . . Namath, now living in Florida, had a brief career as an actor after retiring from football in 1977. In December, he earned a B.A. from the University of Alabama at age 64, decades after leaving school 15 credits short of a degree.
Baby Boomers, Back to Campus: What would it be like to retire on a college campus? More older adults are about to find out.
University Business – February 2008
Real estate developers and higher ed administrators now are banking on the hope that this age group, now ages 43 to 61, wants to come back to campus-only this time they won’t be rushing fraternities or leading protest marches. . . . There already are an estimated 22 such retirement communities linked to colleges and universities that have opened either right on campuses or near to them. Some of these communities, such as Lasell Village at Lasell College (Mass.), opened in 2000, and Capstone Village, affiliated with the University of Alabama and opened in 2005, are home to people even older than the boomers, who may need assisted living and health care services.