MLK concert reinvents ‘Dream’
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 13
After 21 previous “Realizing the Dream” concerts spotlighting stirring oratory, smooth jazz or flights of poetry, with guests from poet Maya Angelou to singer Al Green to actors James Earl Jones and Sidney Poitier, it wouldn’t be unusual if its founders simply piled on to tradition. But for this year’s concert, the team from the University of Alabama, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College is still finding new ways to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King…The Alabama Symphony Orchestra will introduce a commissioned piece, “Dream, Child, Hope,” backed by a 70-singer ensemble collaboration of the UA Afro American Gospel Choir, Tuscaloosa’s Prentice Concert Chorale and the newly formed African Negro Children’s Ensemble, led by Gregory McPherson. Eclectic funk/rock/hip-hop/classical violinist and composer Daniel Bernard Roumain returns to the UA campus, where he served as visiting faculty in 2006-07, to perform his compositions “Voodoo Violin Concerto” and “The Tuscaloosa Meditations,” written in honor of Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood, the black students who successfully desegregated UA in 1963…
Student to be honored at annual Realizing the Dream event
Crimson White – Jan. 13
…Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff will help honor several members of the Tuscaloosa community that strive to uphold King’s ideals at the third annual Realizing the Dream Legacy Banquet on Jan. 14, according to Richard LeComte of the Office of Media Relations… “A committee selects a speaker for the event each year. Klibanoff’s background drew him to the committee’s attention, and his breadth of work and experience makes him a perfect fit as a speaker for the ceremony,” said Samory Pruitt, one of the organizers of the event…In addition to Klibanoff’s speech, Sean Hudson, a sophomore, will be honored with the Realizing the Dream Horizon Award at the banquet. The award is given each year to a young adult who has made significant contributions in his or her community through advocating racial and social equality and striving for peace. Hudson grew up as a foster child in Bessemer, Alabama. He is currently studying social work and psychology and wants to become a family court judge. Since coming to the University, Hudson has held many leadership positions such as vice president of Phi Eta Sigma, Assistant Director of St. Jude Collegiate Board and a clerk for the Student Government Student Judiciary Board. He has also received numerous honors such as becoming a McNair Scholar and Parent Ambassador, Hudson said…
UA astronomer uses Hubble to make surprising discovery
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 13
Some 650 million light-years away, much of the mystery surrounding Hanny’s Voorwerp lies lost in the glare of light still echoing. However, after a look through the Hubble Space Telescope and the surprising discovery of clusters of newly-formed stars within the Voorwerp, University of Alabama astronomy professor Bill Keel has a better understanding of a nearby galaxy’s troubled past…After examining the object on several telescopes here on Earth, Keel and Chris Lintott, an Oxford University astronomer and a founder of Galaxy Zoo, called the phenomenon a “light echo,” and said that what is visible in Hanny’s Voorwerp now is actually the light fading from a cloud of gas illuminated by a quasar that dimmed about a million years ago…
The Week – Jan. 13
Fox News – Jan. 12
The Atlantic – Jan. 12
Conference to assess state economy
Crimson White – Jan. 13
…On Jan. 13, economic experts from across the South will assemble at the 2011 Economic Outlook Conference, hosted at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel, to weigh in on issues such as how Alabama will fare in the new year, how the Federal Reserve Bank will work to ease the effects of the recession and why the nation’s economic forecast looks weak, among other topics. The conference is organized by the University’s Center for Business and Economic Research…Ahmad Ijaz, an economic analyst with the University’s Center for Business and Economic Research, is one of the analysts who says he believes the economy is in better shape than it was at this time last year. “The state’s economy grew by around 2 percent in 2010,” Ijaz said. “In 2011, the rate of growth is expected to be 3 percent or better. The state is now also adding jobs, albeit at a very modest pace, but we don’t expect a net loss in overall jobs like last year either.”…Bill Gerdes, communications director at the Culverhouse College of Commerce, said the Outlook conference is an annual conference hosted to give the state’s business community a heads up on what to expect in the coming year. David Altig, senior vice president and director of research of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, will present the event’s keynote address, titled, “The Fed’s Strategies to Mitigate the Effects of the Great Recession.” Following Altig’s address, Samuel Addy, director of the University’s Center for Business and Economic Research, will give the U.S. and Alabama outlooks, which will include a look at how the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has impacted the state and coastal economies…
Book explores role of religion in Civil War
Crimson White – Jan. 13
Many members of both the Union and the Confederacy relied on faith, prayer and an unwavering trust in God’s ultimate plan as the American Civil War raged on and on. George C. Rable, Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History at the University, recently authored a book exploring the important role religion played in strategizing and fighting on both sides of the Civil War. “The book is a fairly comprehensive history crafted as a narrative progression,” Rable said. “It follows a chronology discussing topics such as the role of chaplains, religious revivals in camps and religious revivals in response to assassinations.”…“The book is part of the Littlefield History of the Civil War Era series, and all of the most distinguished historians of the times are being asked to write volumes in it,” said Lawrence Kohl, an associate professor in the history department. “It’s a tremendous honor for Dr. Rable to be asked to write the volume on religion, although it isn’t surprising. He has won a prize for almost every book he’s ever written because he researches more deeply, thinks more profoundly and writes better than many authors out there.”…
BP funds research into oil spill effects
Off Shore Magazine – Jan. 12
BP is funding University of Alabama research into the effects of the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The $786,000 grant goes to university scientists at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, according to newspaper reports from the area. The money goes to four teams of researchers, some of whom have been working on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill since the summer. Those teams are taking on a total of 16 projects. The research centers on the effects of the crude oil on coastal and underwater ecosystems, the effects of GoM currents on spilled oil and the dispersants, the environmental effects of oil dispersants, and the chemical evolution and biological degradation of the oil dispersants.
Students returning for spring semester is good for business
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 12
Back here in Tuscaloosa, thousands of students return to the University of Alabama for the start of spring semester, and that’s good news for local businesses…. Over 30,000 students are now enrolled at the University of Alabama.