Gift Giving That Doesn’t Break the Bank
TechDivas – Nov. 18
American consumers have a lot of challenges this holiday shopping season. For many, the most important challenge can be spreading holiday cheer and giving gifts without overspending on an already tight budget. “Holiday spending will put a big dent in most people’s budgets because when they budget annually for such gifts, they usually don’t reserve enough for the December timeframe,” says Caroline Fulmer, assistant professor of consumer sciences at The University of Alabama. “For most of us, unless we set aside a special Christmas savings account, holiday spending causes us to tighten our belts on other expenses.”
After Bans, Tobacco Tries Direct Marketing
All Things Considered – Nov. 18
For decades, tobacco companies used cartoon characters to sell cigarettes. During the 1960s, Winston sponsored The Flintstones, and Fred himself sang the indelible jingle, “Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.” And for audience members who were too young to smoke, Flintstone candy cigarettes came in pink with Wilma on the pack and green (menthol) with Barney. In 1971, Congress banned broadcast ads by tobacco companies — but it still allowed print and billboards. “[Advertising] went on right through the 1990s,” says Dr. Alan Blum, director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama, home to a vast tobacco marketing archive. A family physician, Blum has spent his career documenting how, for generations, the tobacco industry made smoking appealing. “My father was a family doctor,” Blum recalls. “And when we would be watching the Dodger games in Brooklyn, he would get very upset, and I found out he was upset because in the background you could see the billboard for Lucky Strikes. If you were a Dodger fan you were for Luckies. If you were for the Giants, you were a Chesterfield smoker. If you were for the New York Yankees, you were for Camels.”
Auto repair: What impact would proposed bailout have on Alabama?
Montgomery Advertiser – Nov. 19
Alabama, home to three foreign automakers, wouldn’t get one red cent of a $25 billion handout that Detroit’s Big Three is begging the federal government for — that’s the one thing that economists and industry experts know for sure. . . . A University of Alabama management professor who works closely with the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa thinks the bailout is a bad idea. Jim Cashman is convinced the industry’s downturn would reverse itself — and quickly — if market forces are allowed to work. Passing the bailout would only prolong the inevitable failure of the American manufacturers and make everything worse, he said. “It would cause a deeper recession,” Cashman said. “I don’t see how that helps anybody.”
Holiday weekend apt to see fewer drivers
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 19
AAA predicts fewer drivers will be on the roads over the Thanksgiving holiday for the first time in six years. About 41 million people will travel 50 miles or more during the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the auto club. That’s 600,000, or 1.4 percent, less than last year’s total of 41.6 million. . . . According to a University of Alabama study, the long Thanksgiving weekend can be a hazardous time to be on the road, especially during bad weather, as was the case for much of the state during last year’s Thanksgiving holiday. “This is definitely a time to be avoided, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, especially if bad weather is a possibility,” Allen Parrish, professor of computer science and director of the CARE Research and Development Laboratory at UA, said in a statement. “There is obviously a large concentration of people on the road who are not nearly as familiar with their routes as commuters.”
Can it for Beat Auburn Beat Hunger
Crimson White – Nov. 19
The orange cans of Allen’s sliced carrots lined all four legs of the Eiffel Tower that had been created by the Riverside Navy. Two spots down was a giant can with Aubie the tiger’s legs dangling out in a lackadaisical manner. This, however, is not some Bama fan’s wild dream, as the five can sculptures represent the crescendo of the SGA’s Entertainment division’s CANformation project. Theta Tau, Freshman Forum, UA Creative Campus, AIAA and the Riverside Navy all created can based sculptures for the event which runs in conjunction with Beat Auburn Beat Hunger.
Blackburn discusses academic gap
Crimson White – Nov. 19
According to the Kettering Foundation, by 2020 America will need 14 million more college-trained workers than it will produce. One of every five children in the United States lives in a family whose income is below the poverty level, and that rate doubles among blacks and Hispanics. While poverty levels rise and fall, children remain the most impoverished group, and obstacles to their well being continue to mount. Last night the Blackburn Institute hosted a National Issues Forum. Students discussed and debated issues on the topic of “Too many children left behind. How can we close the achievement gap?”
Campus event strives to help Darfur
Crimson White – Nov. 19
It can be hard for the average college student to make a difference halfway across the world, but today students have the chance to learn more about the genocide in Darfur and contribute to the effort. From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. the event Action for Africa, sponsored by the on-campus group Apwonjo, will take place across campus. Apwonjo is a group that focuses on raising awareness and funds for relief and issues in Africa, according to the group’s Facebook.com page.
O’Hanlon speaks on Mid-East wars
Crimson White – Nov. 19
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, spoke Tuesday at Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library in a lecture titled “Iraq and Afghanistan: Fighting and Winning America’s Wars Under a New President.” O’Hanlon, a Princeton University graduate, has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.
Science Made Sweet — and hyper: Vinson to discuss effects of chocolate, coffee
Crimson White – Nov. 19
Joe Vinson, from the University of Scranton, will be giving two lectures this week. The first lecture, titled “Chocolate Chemistry: The Science Behind the World’s Guilty Pleasure,” will be presented in the lobby of the Eric and Sarah Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering today at 3:30 p.m. The second lecture, “Science of Coffee,” will be held in 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The lectures are sponsored by the Capstone International Center, the department of chemistry, the Faculty in Residence Program, New College, the University Libraries and Strip Teas and Coffees. Both lectures will have free samples of their titular subject matter.
UA Researcher Develops Chemical to Help Plants Survive Cold Temperatures
WIAT Birmingham – Nov. 18
“. . . Plant tissues freeze solid and we have to deal with that solidity, that freezing. “University of Alabama botanist doctor David Francko developed a solution that works like an antifreeze for plants. It lowers the plants’ freezing temperatures and enhances the plants’ natural mechanisms to resist freeze damage. Frankco says, “The ability to reduce the freezing point of water that’s inside the tissues of that plant, and also, once that water freezes, to allow that plant to survive freezing temperatures.”
Deadline for Beat Auburn Beat Hunger Approaches
WVUA Tuscaloosa – Nov. 18
The deadline is fast approaching if you want to help the tide beat Auburn off the football field. Tomorrow is your last day to bring your canned goods and monetary donations before everything is counted to decide the winner of the annual Beat Auburn Beat Hunger, which started 15 years ago.
Alabama alumni recognized for scholarship
Columbus Ledger-Inquirer – Nov. 19
The University of Alabama National Alumni Association recently recognized the Russell/Muscogee Alabama Alumni Chapter for fulfilling the Thomas W. Starlin Scholarship Endowment. The certificate of recognition will be permantently displayed at the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame located inside the Columbus Civic Center.
Cultural scene loses feisty advocate
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 19
Before and after her star turn in “Mame,” a show that literally turned lights on in the Bama Theatre, Doris Leapard feasted on life. And by helping create the Arts and Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa, the Tuscaloosa Community Chorus — the city’s first integrated arts group — and PRIDE of Tuscaloosa, she welcomed everyone to the party. Leapard, 89, died Monday night. . . . She linked with local artists, including the late University of Alabama speech professor Allen Bales, with whom she traveled as part of a cabaret act. Leapard played piano and sang, and Bales recited. And when she teamed with UA choral director Fred Prentice, the Tuscaloosa Community Chorus — now Tuscaloosa Community Singers — was born. During the segregated 1960s, Leapard integrated performances of white and black children’s choirs.