UA beats Auburn in annual food challenge
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 24
Donations to the University of Alabama’s food drive exceeded last year’s record haul, and put UA over Auburn University in the rivals’ annual competition. UA collected 270,915 pounds of food donated by individuals and businesses in the “Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger” food drive that began Oct. 20 and ended Thursday. The food is donated to the West Alabama Food Bank. At Auburn, 212,195 pounds were donated to the East Alabama Food Bank in its “Beat Bama, Beat Hunger” drive…
Crimson White – Nov. 24
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Nov. 21
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 21
AIDS has left 7,000 orphans in Alabama since 1982, according to a University of Alabama study
Birmingham News – Nov. 22
About 7,000 Alabama children have been orphaned by AIDS since 1982, with the state’s Black Belt likely hit the hardest, a study has found. The study by Bronwen Lichtenstein, a University of Alabama sociology professor, examined the plight of children whose lives have been affected by AIDS, focusing on children in the 23-county region notorious for its poverty. The study, published in the spring issue of the Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children and Youth, identified 2,000 children in the Black Belt – 530 of them orphans -whose parents tested positive for HIV in a 10-year period ending in 2004…
Bryant Drive project finally finished: Official dedication ceremonies to start on Tuesday
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 23
…Tuscaloosa’s Paul W. Bryant Drive improvement project is substantially complete and city and UA officials are celebrating. Official dedication ceremonies for the completed project will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the south side of Bryant-Denny Stadium under the large scoreboard on Bryant Drive. Mayor Walt Maddox, UA President Robert Witt, UA Athletics Director Mal Moore and City Councilman Lee Garrison will be the featured speakers for the event…
Crimson White – Nov. 24
Consumers should make a budget and check it twice
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 23
…Caroline Fulmer, assistant professor of consumer sciences at the University of Alabama, said most people don’t budget enough money to cover holiday shopping expenses, forcing cutbacks in other areas…Here are some tips from Fulmer; Jan Brakefield, assistant professor of consumer sciences at UA…to make the holiday budget stretch a little further this year…Pay cash. “The very act of taking cash money out of one’s wallet is physical recognition of the fact that money is leaving — it no longer belongs to you,” Brakefield said…
Driving is dangerous Thanksgiving week
Florence Times Daily – Nov. 24
A recent study by the University of Alabama shows that the day before Thanksgiving was one of the worst crash days in 2007…two factors appeared to have contributed to the crashes, said Allen Parrish, who oversaw the project. He said in 2007 there seemed to be fewer people taking off early in the week, indicated by significantly fewer crashes occurring Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. Parrish said further analysis indicated that in 2007, the weather was rainy on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and almost 50 percent of the crashes occurred in rainy weather. Comparatively, less than 10 crashes occurred statewide in the rain Monday and Tuesday. Also, Parrish said that most of the crashes on the day before Thanksgiving occurred in the early afternoon and evening, with 50 percent between 1 and 6 p.m. “This is definitely a time to be avoided on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, especially if bad weather is a possibility,” said Parrish, who is professor of computer science and director of the CARE Research and Development Laboratory at Alabama.
Birmingham News – Nov. 24
Cuts beyond UAW’s jobs bank seen
Detroit (Mich.) Free-Press – Nov. 22
…”It seems like folks are getting paid for waiting. That doesn’t seem to be following the American way of rugged individualism,” said James Cashman, a management professor from the University of Alabama who spent several years working as a consultant for GM…The jobs bank notion was created long ago with the idea of being a temporary location for people who were being displaced by upgrades in technology,” Cashman said. “That whole premise seemed to have died long ago, and jobs banks have been, from the perspective of folks down here, kind of abused ever since.”
A collapse of one or more of the Big Three automakers would be felt in Alabama
Birmingham News – Nov. 23
…Jim Cashman, a University of Alabama management professor who has worked closely with the automotive industry, said that when it comes to suppliers, the state’s auto sector clearly shares interdependencies with Detroit. “We can’t just whistle while all of these other problems take place,” he said. But Cashman added that the state’s supplier base has strong ties to Alabama’s foreign automakers…
Voting on issues, not race
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 22
…David Lanoue, a University of Alabama professor and chairman of the department of political science, said the idea that the South’s drop in support for the Democratic Party is attributable to racism is understating the case. Obama received 10 percent of the Alabama vote in 2008, while Sen. John Kerry garnered about 20 percent in the 2004 presidential election, but Lanoue said the theories on those figures go far beyond the simple answer of black vs. white. “Obama is a liberal politician who basically ran as a liberal politician, while Kerry tried a more centrist, national defense-oriented campaign. That could explain some drop-off of white Democratic votes in Alabama,” Lanoue said…
University receives challenge grant to expand Jones Archaeological Museum
Crimson White – Nov. 24
The University received a $200,000 challenge grant to be used to renovate and expand the Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park from The Kresge Foundation. Assistant Director of Communications Advancement Susan Bishop said the University must raise $1.2 million through the “Our Students. Our Future.” capital campaign in order to receive the grant…
3 students from Alabama competing to become Rhodes Scholars
Birmingham News – Nov. 22
Three students from Alabama will compete today in Birmingham to become Rhodes Scholars. University of Alabama student Paul Hanninen of Tuscaloosa, Duke University student Julia Parker Goyer of Mountain Brook and University of the South student Hayley Evans Robb of Huntsville are finalists for the prestigious award. Florida State University football player Myron Rolle is also among the candidates who will be in Birmingham for the interviews…UA students interested in a Rhodes scholarship must complete a 1,000-word personal essay and secure eight letters of recommendation for an endorsement. A campus wide committee then makes its recommendation for student endorsements.
With help of professor, third grader gets published in rural health magazine
Crimson White – Nov. 24
While most kids are still learning basic math, third-grader Levi Carpenter’s drawing was published in a scholarly medical magazine with the help of UA professor John Wheat.
Carpenter’s drawing depicted differences between city and country life…
Dyer named new Gadsden Center director
Gadsden Times – Nov. 22
The University of Alabama has named Beverly Dyer as the new director for its Gadsden Center. Previously, she was a clinical faculty member in higher education administration at both the main campus and the Gadsden Center…She is employed by the College of Education to coordinate advisement of graduate students pursuing additional certification at the master’s or educational specialist levels…