UA hires Grant
Tuscaloosa News – March 28
The University of Alabama got the man it wanted Friday when Anthony Grant agreed to terms to become the Crimson Tide’s new head basketball coach…Grant will be introduced at a 6 p.m. Sunday news conference at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Building. The news conference is closed to the public, but will be streamed live via TideTV on rolltide.com. “My family and I are very excited and grateful for the opportunity extended to us by Dr. [UA President Robert] Witt, Coach [Mal] Moore and the University of Alabama,” Grant said in a Friday night news release from the UA Media Relations Department. “We have been given the opportunity to create a very special situation for men’s basketball at the University of Alabama and we look forward to getting started,” he said. “There’s a commitment throughout the athletic department to make sure that we have the resources necessary to compete for championships….
Study finds racial disparity in HIV cases
Tuscaloosa News – March 29
Black seniors — those 50 or older — are 12 times as likely to have HIV than whites in the same age group, according to a new University of Alabama study…They saw it as a young person’s disease,” said Foster, who co-authored the study with Susan Gaskins, a professor of nursing at UA. Their article has been accepted for publication in the journal AIDS Care…The UA study found that most participants did not tell friends. If they told anyone at all, it was often their mothers or their sisters, researchers found. Study participants said they experienced shame from their diagnosis…
Jobless rate hits 22-year high
Huntsville Times – March 28
…The losses are coming from everywhere, not just manufacturing,” said Ahmad Ijaz, an economic analyst for the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “We’ve been below the U.S. unemployment rate for so long, but we’ve passed that now. I was surprised by the fact that from February 2008 to February 2009 we lost 76,000 jobs. “And most of those jobs lost were in the last two to three months.” Ijaz said the Alabama economy was showing job growth year after year until November…
Mortgage rates have dropped; question is, which direction will they go next?
Birmingham News – March 28
…Grayson Glaze, director of the University of Alabama’s Center for Real Estate Research, doesn’t anticipate a dramatic move one way or the other. “The market pulse is that interest rates will hover either side of 4.8 percent for the foreseeable future,” he said Friday…
Barbie as popular as ever after 50 years
Tuscaloosa News – March 29
…“The thing about Barbie is they are always reinventing her,” said Kristy Reynolds, Bruno associate professor of marketing at the University of Alabama. “So it’s like she’s new.”…“She’s a cultural icon,” Reynolds said…
Paranormal Investigators Investigate Kilgore House
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 29
The Alabama Paranormal Society along with a California production company spent last night investigating the Kilgore House on the University of Alabama campus…they’re shooting a pilot for a new ghost hunting series…
UA Students Put On TV Land Spectacular
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 28
…University of Alabama students…had 24 hours to put together something that you and I would want to watch on television. They called it the TV Land Spectacular and the finished product was trotted out for an audience to appreciate tonight at the Allen Bales Theater.
Sakura Festival honors spring
Tuscaloosa News – March 28
…Ame, or rain, is the theme for the 23rd annual Sakura Festival, a celebration of spring and Tuscaloosa’s connection to Japan, specifically its sister city Narashino…Tuscaloosa Sister Cities Commission, which co-produces Sakura with the University of Alabama Capstone International Center, with the help of numerous sponsors including JVC America Inc…
Pulitzer nominee Hank Lazer to read his poetry at University of Montevallo
Birmingham News – March 30
The Carmichael Library on the campus of the University of Montevallo will host a poetry reading and book signing by Pulitzer nominee Hank Lazer Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Lazer, a professor of English and associate provost for academic affairs at the University of Alabama, has published 14 books of poetry…
UA SGA sponsors ‘Earth Hour’ today
Tuscaloosa News – March 28
The University of Alabama’s Student Government Association is sponsoring an “Earth Hour” from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. today. Earth Hour participants are encouraged to turn off and unplug unnecessary appliances as part of a worldwide effort sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to promote energy conservation. The SGA’s Department of Environmental Concerns is inviting people to spend Earth Hour on UA campus Quad. Participants are encouraged to bring blankets, food, candles or lawn chairs.