Queenfish: A Cold War Tale
New York Times – March 18
…A new book, “Unknown Waters,” recounts the 1970 voyage of a submarine, the Queenfish, on a pioneering dive beneath the ice pack to map the Siberian continental shelf…“I still dream about it every other week,” Dr. McLaren, 75, the book’s author, recalled in an interview. “It was hairy.” The University of Alabama Press is publishing his recollections of the secret voyage…
There’s more to Tuscaloosa than football
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – March 23
…University of Alabama Arboretum: down a long, rutted dirt road past a shuttered golf course, the university’s 60-acre arboretum boasts two greenhouses, a picnic pavilion and a piney forest as well as wildflower, bog and children’s gardens. One of the centerpieces of this lovely hideaway is a 40-foot platform in the middle of the woods that provides great views of the greenery below…Alabama Museum of Natural History: This museum is a little boy’s dream. Filled with fossils and fish in jars, this stop may bring out the little boy in grown men as well…
Alabama’s net migration shows state growing
Associated Press State Wire – March 17
…Alabama is an emerging secret, said Annette Watters, director of the Alabama State Data Center at the University of Alabama. “We’ve just been behind the initial curve of influx of migrants” to Southern states, she told The News, “but we’re going to be catching up.”…
Water to Become Buzzword in 2008
WBIQ-PBS (Birmingham) – March 14
A University of Alabama climatologist predicts more water restrictions and rationing this year. In his words, water will become the biggest buzzword of the year.
Premium gasoline not best choice for every car
Montgomery Advertiser – March 19
…Peter Clark, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Alabama, said it is a myth that a gallon of premium gasoline has significantly more energy than a gallon of regular…A higher octane gasoline actually is less explosive, Clark said. Gas with a higher octane rating means that gasoline is more resistant to premature ignition…
Some say preacher’s words part of tradition
Tuscaloosa News – March 20
…Theodore Trost, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama and an expert on the United Church of Christ, said that Wright’s positions aren’t out of line with the denomination’s public stances. “Apart from however this plays out in the black community, there are a number of United Church of Christ churches where Wright’s rhetoric would not come as a surprise, black and white churches alike,” Trost said, adding that the denomination is predominately white and liberal and traces its roots back to the colonization of North America. “There is an element of this that is standard rhetoric in liberal Protestant churches,” he said…
Plenty of Blame to Go Around in Jefferson County Sewer Bond Crisis
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 20 and 21
The current county commission is dealing with the consequences of a bad bond deal. Financial experts believe there is plenty of blame to go around. Dr. Robert Brooks of the University of Alabama says he’s been using the sewer bonds as an example of what not to do in his class at UA since 1998.
Ala. judge draws ACLU scorn for circle of prayer in courtroom
Associated Press National Wire – March 21
…University of Alabama associate professor Paul Horwitz, a specialist in law and religion, said McKathan may have had good intentions, but his actions in calling the parties to prayer were “clearly improper.”…
Greening the church
Tuscaloosa News – March 23
…At the University of Alabama, an interdenominational group of campus ministries hosted a lecture on Christianity and ecology that looked at how the creation stories in Genesis affect the discussion of why Christians should care about earth. Elsewhere on campus, about 15 undergraduate students are taking a class on religion and environmental crisis. ‘I didn’t see a connection between religion and environmentalism,’ said student Megan Galaviz, 20. ‘I’m not that huge into religion, but this has sort of opened my eyes to what religion has always done to impact the environment in a negative way, and what it can do to impact it in positive ways.’ …
UA Students Give Back During Spring Break
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 14
Some University of Alabama students are giving back this spring break. 20 students will travel to New York, as part of the “City Uprising” Mission Trip. While there, they will help people in AIDS clinics.
College News
Tuscaloosa News – March 17
The University of Alabama: Nursing majors Meredith Harris and LaMetrice Ryans have been awarded the West Alabama Medical Association’s J.W. Scholarship… — William Joseph McCulley of Tuscaloosa was named University of Alabama President’s List for the fall 2007 semester… — Twelve students from the Department of Theatre and Dance participated in the Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. One student and a faculty member received awards at the event… — A group of students traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, for spring break as part of the UA Community Service Center’s Alternative Spring Break program. The students have partnered with El Nahual, a local community service organization and are staying with local families. In addition to doing community service, they will tour the historical city of Antigua and will visit a coffee plantation…
College News
Tuscaloosa News – March 24
The University of Alabama Nursing majors Meredith Harris and LaMetrice Ryans have been awarded the West Alabama Medical Association’s J.W. Scholarship…The UA School of Music has the following assistantships and scholarships available for fall 2008: Warren Hutton Organ $23,000 (tax free) Fellowship. For a full-time organ graduate student who will serve as the Sunday organist and choral accompanist for the First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa…
The Scoop
Tuscaloosa News – March 21
…A friend’s surprising decision to leave graduate study to pursue life as a stripper inspired Catherine M. Roach, an associate professor in the University of Alabama’s New College in the College of Arts and Sciences, to examine the lives of strippers and how popular culture has embraced the world of strip clubs. The result of her exploration, the book ‘Stripping, Sex, and Popular Culture,’ is publishing this month by Berg Publishers. Roach will give a reading at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, Room 205… — The Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre goes high-tech April 1-4, in Morgan Auditorium at the University of Alabama with dances featuring collaboration between UA’s dance program and the College of Engineering. Look for some creepy special effects surprises in the show’s finale, ‘Frequency,’ which incorporates televisions and ultrasound sensors with music from ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Underworld.’…
Tickets vanishing fast for A-Day weekend performances
Tuscaloosa News – March 19
…Violinist Itzhak Perlman’s April 12 performance, tied to the 20th anniversary of Moody Concert Hall, has some scattered single seats still available, but may be sold out by the time you read this. You can still fit yourself into Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Alan Jackson concert at the heart of the Gridiron Bash, also set for April 11. Shawn Garrity of MSL Sports, which is promoting and producing the event, said about 75,000 seats total will be sold for the Gridiron Bash. That includes 1,500 on the field, and many of the regular stadium seats, along with prime properties such as the boxes. Garrity didn’t have an exact figure on current ticket sales, but noted that the University of Alabama is leading its Bash for Cash series over 15 other Gridiron Bash schools…
Alabama Voices: Share cuts equally
Montgomery Advertiser – March 20
…The most dramatic illustration of the value of a four-year degree is found in an analysis of incomes earned by the average college degree holder. Statistics from the University of Alabama’s Center for Economic and Business Research show that achieving a four-year degree has provided an average income that is double that of the non-degree holder…
UAB tech team among finalists competing for $175,000 in seed money through Alabama Launchpad
Birmingham News – March 19
…Alabama Launchpad is an entrepreneurial contest sponsored by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama…eight teams, including five with ties to the University of Alabama, are competing for $175,000 in seed capital to start their businesses. The finale will take place April 14 at the Bryant Conference Center on the UA campus in Tuscaloosa…
The Mom Stop
Tuscaloosa News – March 16
…Other places to look for summer activities for children include the Community Music School at the University of Alabama…