Teach for America coming to Alabama
WSFA.com (Montgomery) – Feb. 18
Teach For America announced Wednesday that it will expand to Alabama…Teach For America is the national corps of top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity…Teach For America’s local certification partner will be The University of Alabama. All area Teach For America corps members will enroll with the university to obtain their state teaching certification, and they will have the opportunity to pursue a Master of Arts degree in teaching. “While well over 90 percent of the teachers in Alabama have come through traditional routes, Teach For America has pioneered a quality alternative that is putting teachers in some of our hardest-to-staff schools,” said Dr. James E. McLean, dean of the College of Education at The University of Alabama. “We are proud to be their Alabama higher-education partner.”…”The College of Education at The University prepares educators who improve student learning and positively impact schools and communities. Teach For America corps members are committed to improving student achievement and connecting with families and communities. Integrating our common missions will provide a powerful new avenue to increase learning opportunities for more students in some of our most challenging schools.” —Dr. B. Joyce Stallworth, Senior Associate Dean, College of Education, The University of Alabama
Writer’s quirky style wins over packed crowd
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 19
… the visit, Gaiman’s first to Alabama, happened in large part because of the work of the Creative Campus Initiative at the University of Alabama. Creative Campus executive director Hank Lazer said, in introducing the main attraction, “We love reading and writing, and we’re here to celebrate that tonight.” Kate Bernheimer, a UA assistant professor in the creative writing program and like Gaiman, a writer of fairy tales and the fantastic, spoke in her introduction how Gaiman’s magic is in exposing humanity’s ugly underbelly, yet keeping it romantic and suspenseful enough that “…we don’t look away, but are drawn to it.” “Wonder is always at least a little bit frightening,” she said. “This is the price of admission.”…
Crimson White – Feb. 19
Limp Wrists and Tight Fists: What Your Handshake Says About You
Scientific American – Feb. 18
…In one study by University of Alabama psychologist William Chaplin and his colleagues, and published in Personality Processes and Individual Differences, a group of experimenters was trained in the art of handshaking assessment and then judged the handshakes of 112 male and female undergraduate students…
Smokers need not apply at Tenn. health system
American Medical Association News – Feb. 19
…”This gets into personal freedoms, and I’m very uncomfortable with this,” said Alan Blum, MD, professor of family medicine and director of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. “This would be very low on my wish list for what hospitals should be doing. What is it about the person who smokes that makes them less qualified?”…
Rec parking showing positive results
Crimson White – Feb. 19
A new initiative to open up parking at the University Recreation Center has its first quantifiable data to illustrate its effectiveness, according to University officials. “This is doing nothing but helping us,” said George Brown, director of the Student Recreation Center. His own reports, he said, point to a “5 to 8 percent increase” in traffic to and from the building…Brown credits University promotion for the increase in traffic, as well as publicity and word-of-mouth. “People heard there was an easing of the restrictions here, and our counts during the day improved, in the mid- to late-afternoon,” he said. “We’re for anything that promotes the use [of the Recreation Center],” Brown said…
Sleepout seeks homelessness awareness
Crimson White – Feb. 19
…The event was organized by the UA Community Service Center as part of its annual “Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.” This year the event partnered with Tom’s Shoes to also raise awareness for people across the world who live without shoes…Brown noted the Community Service Center has held five events this week and the sleep out is the last…Brown said the group would stay on the Quad until 6 a.m. Friday unless temperatures reached below freezing, which could make conditions hazardous.
New group comes to light at UA
Crimson White – Feb. 19
…In an attempt to change students’ perceptions of driving while under the influence, Jones created “I Am Danny Brannon,” a new non-profit organization at the Capstone promoting the prevention of drunk drinking and good decision-making. Jones’ boyfriend, a former chemical engineering major at UA, was killed on Nov. 28 by a drunk driver while sitting at a stoplight…Stephen Black, faculty advisor to the group, told of how he felt towards Jones’ efforts with this new project. “Crystalline is a very strong-willed and determined young woman and I’m honored to be her mentor,” Black said. “I Am Danny Brannon” also raises money for the Daniel Brannon Scholarship, which focuses on black college students who are excelling in their studies…
Miss UA competition Saturday
Crimson White – Feb. 19
…The competition will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Bama Theatre located on Greensboro Avenue. Carol Wright, the pageant’s director, said she hopes there is an audience of roughly 1,000. Alumnus Anthony Williams, star of Lifetime Television’s “Project Runway,” is slated to attend and participate in an un-staged interview, Wright said. Williams requested to design the winner’s gown for the next stage of the pageant process, the Miss Alabama competition…
Two Tuscaloosa theater groups get set for their debuts this week
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 19
…The University of Alabama’s Department of Theatre and Dance similarly covers a wide and varied scope on its Gallaway, Allen Bales and Morgan stages…In 2003, a mix of community and campus folks created The Rude Mechanicals, a Shakespeare group, that will co-produce a staged reading of “Twelfth Night” March 25 in the Bama Theatre with the UA English department. The group is also preparing for its eighth season of outdoor summer performances…
UA pioneer to speak at black history program
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 19
The University of Alabama’s first black professor, Archie Wade, will speak at Bailey Tabernacle CME Church’s Black History Month program today. Wade will speak at 6 p.m. at the church’s W.C. Jones Education Building at 1118 22nd Ave. The event is open to the public.