UA reaches $500M capital campaign goal a year early
Mobile Register—July 19
With a little less than a year to go, the University of Alabama announced that it has already surpassed its $500 million goal for the school’s “Our Students, Our Future” capital campaign. So far, officials said the school has taken in $512 million. The campaign is slated to end in June 2009. A goal for the campaign is to raise $250 million for scholarships. UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said $203 million has been donated for scholarships. Pam Parker, UA vice president for advancement, said the campaign will not slow down. “We met the overall goal, but we still have a few unmet needs,” Parker said about the desire for more scholarship money…
WAKA (Montgomery) – July 18
Fox 6 (Birmingham) July 18 and 19
Summer camps, classes teach children about budgets, investing
Tuscaloosa News – June 20 (via Associated Press National Wire)
….Jan Brakefield, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, ran Camp Cash at the school for the first time this summer and hopes it will become an annual program…
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch – July 20
Pittsburgh (Pa.) Tribune – July 20
Honolulu (Hawaii) Advertiser – July 20
Census shows many areas losing growth
Florence Times daily – July 21
…Annette Watters, project manager with the Center for Economic and Business Research at the University of Alabama, which works with census data and other economic statistics, said Gadsden’s drop in population this decade “is not just some decline, it is a huge decline.” One factor that has hurt Gadsden’s and Etowah County’s growth is a lower-than-average birth rate because the county’s population is older than the state average…
Some Census estimates said to be off base
Tuscaloosa News – July 20
…’It’s statistical magic,’ Annette Watters, at the UA Center for Business and Economic Research, said of the population estimates through 2007 released July 10. ‘The farther away you get from the last census, which was in 2000, the rockier the estimates get because you are always standing on the stool of the last census. The farther up you get up on that stool, the shakier it gets.’…
Education briefs
Birmingham News – July 21
…The EveryWoman Book Club sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center at the University of Alabama, will discuss the book “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen at its meeting Thursday at The Globe Restaurant. The event is open to the public. Information: 205-348-5040 or wrc.ua.edu… — Chris Brazel, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Alabama, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for the 2008-09 academic year as a visiting professor at Keele University’s Medical Center in Keele, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
Selling sex from the sidelines
Winnepeg (Canada) Free Press – July 20
…It’s also why University of Alabama cheerleading expert Natalie Guice Adams says professional cheerleading is perceived by critics as a tired holdover for young women who are willingly exploiting themselves for minor celebrity and little, if any, financial gain. It also betrays hypocrisy in popular culture about expectations of women, she said, and the companies that use them. “It’s a mixture of the virgin and the vamp, the good girl and the bad girl,” she said. “Posing with a provocative pose on (the Bombers) website with a bare midriff still falls within the acceptable. It’s seen as sexy, but they haven’t crossed over to being nude; that’s then seen as being trashy.” It’s all about marketing a particular image of womanhood, to somehow combine a wholesome good girl with a provocative girl you dream about having sex with. That’s what professional cheerleading has (always) been about.”
Jobless numbers mirror national trend
Tuscaloosa News – July 19
…’That’s because the economy is in much worse shape than it was back then,’ said Ahmad Ijaz, an economic analyst for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.
Florence Times-Daily – July 19
A legendary UA scientist retires
Tuscaloosa News – July 19
When Dr. Hideo Fujiwara came to the University of Alabama 16 years ago, he brought with him a legendary reputation….materials scientist at the Center for Materials for Information Technology (MINT) at UA and an adjunct professor of physics, Fujiwara is considered a pioneer in the science community for his groundbreaking research on magnetic memory and recording devices. He may be retiring, but the university won’t be without him. Fujiwara and his wife, Takako, a chemist, plan to stick around Tuscaloosa for a few more years…
SITE Brings Students to UA to Learn About Engineering
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – July 19
…you’d better make it entertaining, especially if the topic is engineering. Learning through fun is what nearly 100 African-American students grades 3-12 are doing at The University of Alabama this weekend…
UA Grad Students Help Train Olympians
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – July 19
Team USA is borrowing some brainpower from the University of Alabama as athletes prep for the upcoming games in Beijing. These six Bama sports management grad students are now in Colorado Springs, helpingtrainerscoaches and athletes at the Olympic Training Center. This is the first time the U.S. Olympic Committee has invited university graduate students to help at this high of a level.
24-year-old designer from Alabama takes region’s fashion industry by storm
Tuscaloosa News – July 21
High-end boutiques all over the Southeast are impressed with Lauren Leonard. The Tuscaloosa County High School and University of Alabama graduate has broken into the high-end fashion industry in record time. At 24, she started her own fashion company, Leona, and her first Leona Collection debuted this spring….My Scoop, an online style magazine, calls her clothes ‘a perfect example of Southern afternoon sophistication.’ Leonard describes her line as ‘preppy chic’ and said she’s proud to be a designer in the South…. An internship in New York City at the high-end clothing line Milly, coupled with her experience at The Shirt Shop, gave her the skills she needed to attempt her dream — starting her clothing line.
Opinion: State needs to work on fighting obesity
Tuscaloosa News – July 21
We’re fat. A new study shows Alabama is second only to Mississippi in the percentage of citizens who are obese. And the South leads the nation in excess poundage…What can be done to improve? The problem has the attention of some key state leaders. The annual Alabama Governor’s Conference on Obesity was staged last month at the University of Alabama. Health-care professionals discussed solutions that could be applied to communities, schools and workplaces…