Tide fans turn up heat, humidity on game days
Birmingham News – April 15
…A study of the stadium’s “microclimate” by a University of Alabama geography professor and student has found that in addition to being warmer inside than out, the humidity rises when people fill the seats. Professor David Brommer, who’s a climatologist, and New Orleans junior Barrett Gutter placed 24 sensors around the stadium to measure dew point and temperature at home games last season. They found, as expected, that the temperature inside the 92,000-seat facility typically was five or six degrees higher than it was outside as long as the stadium was in direct sunlight. But they were surprised to find a measurable increase in humidity…The study, a portion of which will be presented today at an annual conference and undergraduate research contest, is just a beginning, Brommer and Gutter said. They’ll collect more data in the coming season — including air flow data — that they said may one day be used to alter stadium design and help avoid heat-related health crises…The research is among 265 undergraduate research projects scheduled to be presented today in the third annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference. Joe Benson, the university’s vice president for research, said the conference involves students from a variety of disciplines and is meant to give undergraduates hands-on experience with the scientific method, help them develop the skills necessary to present their work publicly, and prepare them for graduate-level research. Some of the students do the kind of research that just a few years ago was done only by advanced graduate students, he said. “This allows us to turn out a better student.”Also among the research presented by undergraduates today: An experiment with the use of an iPod Touch to help manage care for Type 2 diabetes patients…A study of the ballistic limits of aerospace materials…A study of how much time it would have taken the Indians at Moundville to construct a fence around their city…Development of an elbow joint for a prosthetic arm that would use electric motors to provide a simpler, less expensive prosthetic for amputees…A study of the health impacts of music therapy on premature infants.
University of Alabama graduate schools rank in US News & World Report
Birmingham News – April 15
…The University of Alabama School of Law ranked 38th nationwide.
Professors receive research awards
Crimson White – April 15
Two UA professors, Seongsin Margaret Kim and Tim Mewes, were selected by the National Science Foundation to receive CAREER Awards totaling more than $890,000 last week. CAREER Awards are the foundation’s awards given to young scientists who show promise in beginning their careers. Joe Benson, UA vice president for research, said the University is “extremely pleased” that both Kim and Mewes received CAREER Awards. “CAREER awards are the most prestigious awards NSF gives to junior investigators, and we are very, very proud of both Dr. Kim and Dr. Mewes for their success in winning these awards,” Benson said. “They are the 17th and 18th recipients the University has had, and to have multiple recipients is a real honor.” Kim, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, received a five-year, $400,000 grant to further her research program based on terahertz technology…Mewes, assistant professor in the department of physics and astronomy, received a five-year, $490,000 grant to advance his research of properties of magnetic materials…
All Things Alabama: UA national champs in wheelchair basketball; Kohl wins award; battling moths
Mobile Press-Register – April 15
…The University of Alabama Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team won its second national championship by defeating the University of Illinois 66-36 in a playoff tournament held in Denver, Colo., April 10… –Dr. Lawrence F. Kohl, associate professor of history and Blount Senior Fellow at The University of Alabama, has won the 2010 Last Lecture award from the UA Graduate School. Kohl will give the lecture, titled “Education in the Age of Science: A Critique,” at 6 p.m. Monday, April 26, in 30 Alston Hall — The University of Alabama Intercultural Council is hosting Crimson Culture Week April 19-24 to celebrate campus diversity…– The University of Alabama College of Engineering will host SITE this summer for students with an interest in science, mathematics and engineering… — Christ Episcopal Church decided to commemorate the founding of the university and the inaugural ceremonies held on its behalf by placing a bronze plaque in the church atrium on Monday night. The inaugural ceremony to install the first president of the university occurred in the nave of the church on April 12, 1831. — A start-up company based at the University of Alabama hopes to take a bite out of the $100 billion hole that insects inflict each year via crop losses worldwide. Dr. Rusty Sutterlin, a chemist, innovator and entrepreneur, and his newly formed company, Sutterlin Technologies, is targeting the brown codling moth, a pest to farmers around the planet. The company is doing so using what it says is an environmentally friendly, patent-pending biodegradable technology licensed from UA.
Review: ‘The Violet Hour’ has laughs, but rewards contemplation
Tuscaloosa News – April 15, 2010
…It’s something like a carving from Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” smart and swift, but with a sense of its absurdity. But this production, in the Allen Bales Theatre at the University of Alabama, is smaller, less slapstick and more melancholic than “Picasso,” which appeared on the UA’s Gallaway stage earlier this season…
Professor to discuss Marx brother
Crimson White – April 15
Wayne Koestenbaum, distinguished professor of English at the Graduate Center for the City University of New York, will present a lecture for the College of Arts and Sciences’ Hudson Strode Lecture Series in Theory and Criticism tonight in Morgan Hall…In tonight’s lecture, “The Anatomy of Harpo Marx,” Koestenbaum will examine the life of the mostly mute Marx brother who was also a prodigy on the harp. Despite his continuing fame years after his death, this talented musician and entertainer often took the backseat to his more outspoken brothers…
Gerber wins engineering honor
Crimson White – April 15
Daniel Gerber became the second UA student to win an aerospace engineering award. Gerber, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, received the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation International Student Conference paper award…The competition requires the students to write a paper and then give a 20-minute presentation with 10 minutes of questions at the AIAA conference regionally. The students who win their regions then repeat the process at the national conference.
Crossroads seeks to reach out across cultures
Crimson White – April 15
…Nearly four years later, Beverly Hawk, director of Crossroads, said the program is off to a great start. “We really are just a crossroads, so when people from different backgrounds or communities [want to get to know each other], we help facilitate that,” she said…
Event to raise money, awareness for cystic fibrosis patients
Crimson White – April 15
This will be the University’s fifth year hosting Laps for Cystic Fibrosis, a fundraiser to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis. The event will be held Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the University Aquatics Center…
More than 300 Alabama BCM students use spring break for missions
Alabama Baptist – April 15
…Bethany Rogers, a sophomore at the University of Alabama (UA), said God used her BCM missions experience during spring break to speak to her and through her. “God used this time to remind me that we all deserve the opportunity to know Christ and His truth,” she said. Rogers and other UA BCM students served in Acuña, Mexico, with Hope’s Children, a nonprofit, faith-based organization that aids underprivileged children and families nationally and internationally. “Our group divided into four teams, doing everything from construction to work at a food bank to cleaning up an orphanage,” she said. “We laid the foundation for the work that teams in the future will come and finish. Others that come after us will be more successful because of what we started.”…