Scientists study rare salamander in hopes of protecting it from man
Mobile Press-Register – June 17
It is fishing in its most bizarre form, conducted deep in the woods with no water in sight. Armed with hooks so small they might have been crafted by fairies and fishing line as fine as a baby’s hair, J.J. Apodaca lets the live cricket on his hook do all the work. Set outside the quarry’s subterranean burrow at dusk, the poor cricket sees the tiny cave as a good hiding place and unwittingly marches in toward its doom. . . . Apodaca is a graduate student at the University of Alabama studying the genetics of the salamander under a state grant. He is one of the few scientists allowed to catch and handle them. Anyone else caught disturbing or killing the animals could be hit with a $100,000 fine.
Wilderness area picked for study on climate: West Alabama forest could be one of 20 U.S. sites for data collection
Tuscaloosa News – June 17
A federally protected forest in West Alabama eventually could help scientists document and predict the ecological effects of climate change across the continent. If approved by Congress, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project will place 20 data collection centers at spots throughout the United States, including one in the Oakmulgee District of the Talladega National Forest in Hale and Bibb counties, to measure changes in climate, land use, invasive species and infectious diseases. Amy Ward, a University of Alabama professor of biological sciences and director of the university’s Center for Freshwater Studies, is one of 140 scientists involved with NEON since the project’s inception in 2004. ‘We wanted a wildland site as much as possible,’ Ward said of the 12,500 acres in Talladega Forest’s Oakmulgee District. ‘It’s a forested area and it’s managed [by the U.S. Forestry Service], but it’s unimpacted by human activities.’
Son takes reins of Aaron Rents from father
Atlanta Journal-Constitution – June 16
Robin Loudermilk Jr. has been promoted to president and CEO of Aaron Rents, from president and chief operating officer. He is taking the reins of the home-grown Atlanta company from his father, R. Charles Loudermilk Sr., who will remain chairman of the board of the publicly traded, rent-to-own retailer. . . . Loudermilk Jr., 49, has been working for Aaron Rents since 1983, when he started as an assistant store manager. He has been president and COO since 1997. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in business administration.
The neat people I meet on my beat
Sand Mountain Reporter – June 17
One thing I like about my job is I get to go around and do stories on people whose jobs make my job seem completely meaningless. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. And I love to feel completely meaningless. It takes the pressure off. But in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reminded umpteen times I am really dead weight compared to some of the folks I interview. Check the list and I think you’ll agree. Hospice workers. Check. A rising senior at the University of Alabama who does more in one semester than I did in four years at college. Check. . . . And that rising Alabama senior I mentioned. That’s Stacey Leigh Ogle, who at age 20 is an example for people of any age to follow if you want to be an involved, passionate citizen with a desire to make everyone around you better. Her rowing coach at Alabama – yes, Alabama has a women’s rowing team – could not say enough about the importance of Ogle’s presence on the team, not just as a competitor, but as a person.
College Honors
Mobile Press-Register, June 15
Michelle A. Hale of Mobile won The King Blackburn Friends of the Alabama Gulf Coast Endowed Scholarship for 2008-09 at the University of Alabama. . . . Ryan Tate of Mobile was tapped for membership in the Jasons Senior Honor Society at the University of Alabama. He was also inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa and selected to serve as president. Tate made the President’s List for fall 2007 and spring 2008 semesters.
Lawrence joins ranks of National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Clanton Advertiser – June 14
Katie Lawrence of Clanton has accepted membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Katie will be honored during an Induction Convocation this fall on the campus of the University of Alabama. NSCS is an honors organization that recognizes first-and-second year college students for their outstanding academic achievements. Members must rank in the top 20 percent of their class and have a minimum GPA 0f 3.4 to be invited to join.
Russert remembered as TV news ‘life force’
Montgomery Advertiser – June 14
When the phone rang at John Cochran’s house in the early morning hours, the Montgomery native knew it was probably Tim Russert calling to discuss an important story for that day. “He’d usually call around 6 in the morning and I’d say ‘Tim, can’t you at least wait until the ‘Today’ show goes on the air?'” Cochran said, reminiscing about the popular NBC News political analyst who died Friday at the age of 58. Cochran, who graduated from Sidney Lanier High School and the University of Alabama, said Russert could “see through spin” offered by his political guests on “Meet The Press.” “He saw through that spin and he wasn’t afraid to ask the tough questions when they were in order,” said Cochran, 69, who is a senior correspondent with ABC News. “He was a life force in this business.”. . . Butler Cain, news director for Alabama Public Radio, said he always felt that Russert “had a genuine aura about him.” “He was fair and dedicated to the journalistic process and wanted to get to the heart of an issue with the person he was interviewing,” Cain said. . . .
DON NOBLE: UA’s Beidler compares Iraq war to Vietnam
Tuscaloosa News – June 15
On April 1, 1970, Philip Beidler was a lieutenant serving as executive officer for D Troop, 17th Cavalry. It was the first day of his last month in Vietnam, the worst day of the war for D Troop and, it seems, the worst day of Beidler’s life. His unit suffered heavy casualties, including the loss of Brig. Gen. William R. Bond, the highest-ranking officer lost in Vietnam, killed about 150 feet from where Lt. Beidler was standing.. . . Beidler survived the war, earned a PhD at the University of Virginia and joined the faculty at the University of Alabama. His literary specialty was in early American literature and he had a growing interest in Alabama literature, but the Vietnam experience never left him, to say the least. In several volumes, Beidler has examined the authors and literary works that came out of the national experience in Vietnam, but in his last book, ‘Late Thoughts on an Old War’, and this new one, ‘American Wars, American Peace’, he has moved from writing mostly what others had to say about the national debacle to writing what he thinks about it. In ‘American Wars’, he makes the connections to the war in Iraq.
College news
Tuscaloosa News – June 16, 2008
Tuscaloosa Music Club: The Tuscaloosa Music Club provides six scholarships totaling $3,000 each year to students at the University of Alabama, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College.