A master’s at 82
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 13
After three wars and two long and successful careers, Lee Hallman decided he still had unfinished business. It was time to go back to college to get his master’s degree. Hallman completed his degree in consumer sciences this semester and, at 82, will be the oldest graduate of the about 1,500 walking in cap and gown across the stage of the University of Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum today to receive a diploma. You may be familiar with Hallman’s name — for 23 years, from 1982 to 2005, he was the Tuscaloosa County license commissioner and Tuscaloosa County residents wrote all their checks for car, boat, motorcycle and other licenses to “Lee Hallman,” an accounting requirement imposed by state auditors to keep county accounts separate.
Bank to receive honorary degree from UA
WVUA –Dec. 12
Tomorrow is the winter commencement ceremony for University of Alabama December graduates, and one 94- year-old man is receiving an honorary degree. Longtime Alabama resident Bert Bank will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters for his service to the community, state and country. Bank was raised in Tuscaloosa and got his law degree from u-a. He started two radio stations in Tuscaloosa, WTBC and WUOA.
Uncertain job market awaits recent UA graduates
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 14
Jerome Mays walked across the stage at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday morning with something many of his fellow University of Alabama graduates probably envy: a job offer already in hand. The 31-year-old who earned his bachelor of science in human environmental science has been accepted into a management training program with a restaurant chain. It wasn’t his first choice of a career, but in today’s tough job market, Mays said he’s glad to know a job is waiting for him. He said many of his classmates don’t have that luxury. “It was my Plan B,” said Mays, one of about 1,500 UA students to graduate on Saturday. “With the job market the way it is, we knew we weren’t going to land a job that paid a great deal of money.”
OPINION: The developer of human capital: Stephen Black’s quest for a better Alabama
Anniston Star – Dec. 14
When you listen to the language of Stephen Black, when you see how he presents himself, when you feel the confidence he exudes, you are quite sure you’re in the presence of a prince of high finance or a master trial lawyer. Not so. Instead, that image is only a facade of opulence or the pursuit of it, as thin as his newly purchased suit. What sets this man on fire is not the money he could make for himself, but the possibility of generating a different kind of currency for the common good — Alabama’s human capital. It is through his work as the director of the Center of Ethics and Social Responsibility at the University of Alabama and as president and founder of Impact Alabama, a student-service initiative, that he has intercepted the rock stars of Alabama’s youth. Many have been on their way to points west and north, but Black’s kept them in the state, making use of their talents.
Rural family doctors honored
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 13
Gov. Bob Riley on Friday honored new family doctors who chose to practice in rural areas and he challenged them to use their positions to lead in other areas. “Don’t limit all of your influence to just medical skills,” Riley said during a ceremony in the Capitol. ‘You can have other influence.’ Riley recognized 14 doctors who have completed the rural doctors’ program at the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences.
A new degree is eyed for engineers
Mobile Press-Register – Dec. 15
Alabama’s community colleges could be offering a new associate’s degree next fall in an effort to boost the state’s engineering work force. Higher education officials say figures from Gov. Bob Riley’s Office of Workforce Development show the need for 1,100 new engineers a year to meet industry demand. A looming shortage is “starting to reach crisis proportions,” said Kevin Whitaker, associate dean for academic programs at the University of Alabama. “There’s a lot of concern.”
USA Today report on N.D. corruption called ‘ridiculous’
Jamestown (N.D.) Sun – Dec. 12
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says a USA Today report Thursday alleging North Dakota public officials are the most corrupt of all the states is “patently ridiculous.” . . . Stenehjem also noted that the Grand Forks Herald’s Thursday editorial cited from a University of Alabama study finding North Dakota, South Dakota and Colorado tied for least corrupt states.
What’s up with these crazy gas prices?
NBC News 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 13
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to prices. They can rise and fall dramatically very quickly. And the price of gas affects just all of us, one way or another. Here are the important facts: Americans drive nearly 3 trillion miles a year and we use about 178 million gallons of gas every day. Believe it or not many experts say the oil companies don’t have a great deal of control over gas prices. So who does? Let’s take an indepth look. . . . There are many factors that influence gas prices like supply and demand. Experts say when gas prices started skyrocketing over the summer, Americans responded like never before. According to Dr. Peter Clark, a mineral engineer at the University of Alabama, “We are driving roughly 4 percent less than we used to and this has sort of left us with an excess supply of gasoline so thats put downward pressure on the price of gasoline.“