UA chancellor helps boost system
Crimson White – Feb. 27
…He tries to survey the progress at each of the universities in the UA System. With three universities about 150 miles apart in the system, Portera said he has a challenge trying to be in all three places at once, but it is worth it. Portera is an unassuming, relatively soft-spoken leader who looks more like a grandfather than the CEO of the UA System. He brings a blue-collar attitude to higher education. His first responsibility is to keep the system financially stable, but he said he sees himself as a catalyst to improve the state economy and universities by recruiting industry and providing the resources needed for them to grow. “He has a servant mindset as a servant leader,” said J. Barry Mason, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. “His sincere interest being a ‘son of the soil,’ if you will, is to better the quality of life of those around him, and that’s what’s good.”…
Cost of gas hits all-time high
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 27
…Peter Clark, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Alabama, says oil prices still can be manipulated by normal economic forces. “I don’t think it will go to $4; [of] course, I didn’t think oil would go to $100 a barrel,” Clark said. He said what’s driving prices higher now is speculation by oil futures traders. What’s so curious, Clark said, is that oil supplies are probably at their highest. “That leads me to believe that as long as something drastic doesn’t happen, the price has to come down a bit, at least in the short term,” he said…
Gadsden Times – Feb. 27
Florence Times-Daily – Feb. 27
Rants and raves
Montgomery Advertiser – Feb. 27
RAVE: For the remarkable career of Morris Mayer, a giant in the field of marketing. Dr. Mayer, who was professor emeritus of retail marketing at the University of Alabama, died recently at 82. His writings in the field included three acclaimed textbooks and he served on numerous professional and civic boards in a long and distinguished career.
Human Resources
Birmingham News – Feb. 27
…Paul Pecorino, an economics professor at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, has been ranked 22nd among the top 100 authors in public economic journals in rankings compiled by Francesc Pujol published in the Journal of Public Economic Theory…
Crimson Conversations meets candidates
Crimson White – Feb. 27
SGA presidential candidates Cason Kirby and Stephen Saucier faced off for the first time Monday night on The Capstone 90.7 FM’s “Crimson Conversations,” hosted by Corbin Martin, and the topics discussed ranged from platform ideas to arrest records…
SGA positions uncontested
Crimson White – Feb. 27
There are seven SGA executive positions, and ten candidates. That has left four positions in which the candidates are running uncontested…
SGA committee sponsors food drive
Crimson White – Feb. 27
This Friday, the SGA governmental relations committee will be sponsoring a fundraiser aimed at raising supplies and money for victims of the recent tornados in Prattville and Union University in Jackson, Tenn…
UA Press author gives lecture
Crimson White – Feb. 27
…Fallin, a pastor and history professor at the University, lectured on his recently published book, “Uplifting the People: Three Centuries of Black Baptists in Alabama,” which is a UA Press title…