Cuban and American Archeologists will Explore Aboriginal Site
Cuban News Agency – June 12
Specialists from the University of Alabama, the Cuban Central-Eastern Department of Archeology and the Museum of Chorro de Maita will begin their work on June 14th in an aboriginal cemetery found in the 1980s in the hill of Yaguajay and which is considered as one of the biggest and best preserved in the Caribbean region with more than 100 skeletons…Also as part of the program, the specialists from the US University of Alabama will train their Cuban counterparts in new methods to study vegetable remains in archeological contexts. The excavations will be led Cuban archeologist Roberto Valcarcel Rojas, who has been ahead of the works carried out in recent years in Maita, and by Dr. Vernon James Knight, of the University of Alabama
Talladega National Forest added to 20-site, 30-year, broad-based ecological study
Birmingham News – June 13
A section of the Talladega National Forest southwest of Birmingham has been chosen as one of 20 monitoring spots in what scientists expect to be the nation’s largest network for gathering ecological information…Scientists from the University of Alabama, who proposed the spot, say scientists, the public and students will be able to work there and use the information that comes from it…”This is unprecedented within the ecological community – to have this powerful and coordinated observation system,” said Amy Ward, a UA biology professor who proposed the Talladega National Forest site…
Saban continues with dad’s legacy with Nick’s Kids
Tuscaloosa News – June 13
Father’s Day doesn’t officially arrive until Sunday but University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban continued a tradition of tribute to his father with his Nick’s Kids Foundation golf tournament at NorthRiver Yacht Club on Thursday afternoon. “This is really my dad’s legacy,” Saban said as he was coming off the golf course. “He started Pop Warner football in West Virginia. He went out in a school bus to pick up those kids who didn’t have transportation so that they could participate. He did those things so kids would have an opportunity. Terry and I have been doing this (Nick’s Kids) for 10 years now. Last year, we were able to give to 78 different organizations around the state…
Friday the 13th: Unlucky or normal day
Florence Times-Daily – June 13
…Dr. Michael Murphy, professor and chairman of the University of Alabama’s department of anthropology, said when taking precautions like this, some people feel they’ve conquered their fears. “Once the belief gets out there, it’s hard to dislodge it,” Murphy said…But if something negative were to happen to them today, Murphy said people are more likely to remember it than if it happens on any other day. Murphy attributes that to a psychological concept called a “coincidental reward,” meaning, if something negative happens today, it “will take on an exaggerated significance.”…Dr. Russell McCutcheon, professor and chairman of the University of Alabama’s department of religious studies, said these accusations and beliefs were “all utterly speculative,” adding that you can’t use a “time machine to confirm them.” “Almost any speculation is as good as any other,” McCutcheon said…
Obesity meeting aims to trim the fat
Tuscaloosa News – June 13
…Dr. Donald E. Williamson, Alabama’s state health officer…was the keynote speaker at the University of Alabama’s third annual Governor’s Conference on Obesity Thursday at the Bryant Conference Center…The conference resumes today at 8 a.m. in Sellers Auditorium at the Bryant Conference Center.