Editorial: Congrats to UA’s gymnastics team
Tuscaloosa News – April 20
Outwardly, there’s not a lot of similarity between Sarah Patterson and Paul W. “Bear” Bryant. What they’ve done for the University of Alabama’s athletic program is similar.Champions aren’t all cut from the same mold. And while she isn’t as physically imposing as Bryant, Patterson is just as feared by opposing coaches. Patterson and her teams share something with Bryant’s teams. They know how to win, and they do it often. Saturday, Patterson and the University of Alabama gymnastics team notched another national championship. Patterson has been proud of all of her teams, but it’s not hard to detect an extra dose of pride in the 2011 edition when she talks about how far they’ve come since they started the year. Patterson is just one short of matching the legendary football coach’s total of six national championships. She has plenty of good years to devote to her career if she chooses. Bryant’s career was coming to a close as Patterson began hers at the Capstone 33 years ago. He was already a legend when she arrived. Since then, she’s become a legend in her own right, a coach at the pinnacle of her profession. We congratulate the legendary Sarah Patterson and the University of Alabama Gymnastics Team on the program’s fifth national championship.
Century-old painting rediscovered
Crimson White – April 20
A 19th century painting titled “Mountain Home of Thomas Martin” was recently rediscovered in the home of a former UA professor and restored to its original state by the College of Arts and Sciences…Don Hays, executive assistant to the dean for external affairs, said the painting was discovered several months ago in the home of the late Hudson Strode, a former English professor at the University…Upon his death in 1976, Hays said Strode left his home in Cherokee Hills and possessions to the University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences. The painting has remained in the home ever since…Hays said when the painting was discovered, Bob Olin, the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences asked him to have it appraised. The appraiser suggested the painting be professionally restored. After three months of restoration at the Atlanta Art Conservation Center, where 200 years of grime, dirt and grease were painstakingly cleared, “Mountain Home of Thomas Martin” was reappraised for $100,000…The painting will be on display at the Huntsville Museum of Art until May 1 and will return to the University of Alabama on May 2, Hays said. Olin has not made a decision on plans for the painting when it returns…
UA students win regional free enterprise contest
Tuscaloosa News – April 20
The University of Alabama won its fifth consecutive regional championship in the Students in Free Enterprise competition in Atlanta this month and will compete in the national competition in May in Minneapolis. SIFE is an international nonprofit organization whose university affiliates help students develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills through projects that benefit lives in their communities and around the world. David Ford, the faculty adviser for the 17-member UA SIFE team, said the students worked on several projects this year but used their work on one called the ABC Project in the Atlanta competition. The project — ABC stands for academics, business and culture — involved more than 220 hours of working with about 100 eighth grade students at Brookwood Middle School, with a goal of developing their written and verbal communication skills…The UA students set up a business plan for the project that included business, economic and entrepreneurial concepts and they set up a cultural exchange blog between the Brookwood students and middle school students in Hangzhou, China…Ford, a lecturer in management at the UA business school, said students can earn three credits for SIFE participation, but only one team member did so this year. The rest participated on their own time as an extra-curricular activity…
Forensics team director finishes strong
Crimson White – April 20
The University of Alabama has another victory to add to the list as the Forensic Team placed eighth out of 80 universities that competed in this month’s American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament…David Kumbroch, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film, won his second national title in Extemporaneous Speaking, beating out 124 others…Director of Forensics and Associate Professor of Communication Studies Frank Thompson said Kumbroch was selected to be a member of the AFA-NIET All-American Team. “He was one of only 14 in the nation selected for this honor,” Thompson said. “This the tenth straight year that UA has had a member of this team,” he said. “In fact, UA is the only university in the country that has had a student on this team [every year the team has existed].”…Thaddeus Fitzpatrick, a junior majoring in theater and communication studies, placed fourth out of 135 speakers in Program Oral Interpretation…
Pell Grants Survive Federal Budget Process
U.S. News and World Report – April 20
…A recent study released by the University of Alabama‘s Education Policy highlights the financial importance of Pell Grants. Based on surveys given to the directors of 205 community colleges in 25 states, the report found that 70 percent of all community college students received Pell Grants in 2009-10 and that enrollment in community colleges increased by at least 9 percent as the total number of Pell Grants increased by more than half. Unfortunately, as the blog Higher Ed Watch recently reported, the program is on an unsustainable path: Its cost more than doubled in the last few years from $16.1 billion in 2008-09 to an expected $34.4 billion in award year 2011-12…
Alabama Voices: Nuclear needed (By Andrew Morriss, D. Paul Jones Jr. & Charlene A. Jones Chair in Law & Professor of Business at the University of Alabama)
Montgomery Advertiser – April 20
Despite the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, eliminating the technology that provides 21 percent of the United States’ electricity and 14 percent of electricity worldwide would be dangerous and unrealistic…For the foreseeable future, the demand for electricity in the United States and elsewhere is going to be met by a combination of nuclear, coal and natural gas. Each of these fuels poses a different mix of risks and benefits…Nuclear energy’s role in our energy future should stand or fall on its ability to compete economically with other fuels, free of subsidies but also free of policies based on wishful thinking. We need electricity to power our homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals. It would be wise not to rule out nuclear.
Ryans to give $300,000 endowment for scholarship
Crimson White – April 20
Former Alabama football linebacker DeMeco Ryans pledged on April 14 to endow a scholarship in his name, according to a UA press release. “I have always wanted to do this since the day I left,” Ryans said, according to the release. “The University of Alabama is such a special place to me, and I am honored to have the opportunity to endow a scholarship.” Ryans pledged $300,000 for the scholarship, which will be awarded to a deserving football student athlete studying in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, according to the release…
Social media boosts T-town businesses
Crimson White – April 20
…Bama Dining maximizes communication with its student clientele through the use of its Twitter account, where food specials and promotions are posted. “We have found that Twitter is an extremely effective outlet for communicating directly with members of the campus,” said Kelsey Faust, Bama Dining marketing coordinator, in an emailed statement. “In the past year our number of followers has more than doubled due to us posting more frequently and more students signing up for Twitter accounts.” Food promotions constitute part of Bama Dining’s marketing strategy, she said. Bama Dining launched the promotion “Eat Your Tweet” in the first week of April, which enables a student to be chosen for a free meal if that student posts a status update of “@BamaDining” to their Twitter account…
Sams chosen for ‘Outstanding Senior’ award
Crimson White – April 20
The Anderson Society awarded Ian Sams with the Outstanding Senior Award on Friday. Sams is majoring in political science and is from Johnson City, Tenn…Sams has served as SGA communications director, president of the College Democrats, staff columnist for The Crimson White, instructor for a freshman Honors College course concentrating on issues in Alabama, and he was accepted into the Blackburn Institute as a freshman. He also received a 2009 Capstone Hero Award, and he is a member of the 2011 class of Phi Beta Kappa…
Students focus on sustainability efforts
Crimson White – April 20
Students in the business honors program participated in the second annual Sustainability Day to educate students about the University’s sustainable efforts and how students can contribute. Beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, students participated in a series of events throughout the day including setting up tables on the Quad and in the Ferguson Center where students could learn more information about recycling and alternative energy, among other related concepts…The “Clean Your Plate Campaign” is a waste audit where students were asked to separate the food at Fresh Food Company they didn’t eat into various containers to show them how much food they waste…
Greek musician to perform, lecture
Crimson White – April 20
…“Music is a challenging and sensitive object of study as it’s transient by nature,” said Danae Stefanou, a music studies professor at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece. “The way we deal with sounds always has a lot to say about the way we deal with ourselves and with others.” Stefanou will be on campus throughout the week and will be performing a concert called “An Evening of Experimental Greek Music and Intercultural Improvisation” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, in the Moody Recital Hall. She will also give a lecture titled “Improvising Greece” today at 3:30 p.m. in Gorgas Room 205. The concert and talk, both of which are free to attend, are part of the University’s Greece Initiative…
UA theater department performs “Big River”
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 19
…the University of Alabama’s department of theatre and dance is presenting a classic musical…”Big River” opens on April 18th and runs through the 24th at the Marian Gallaway Theatre on the UA campus.
UA remembers former president
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 19
The University of Alabama paused to remember the life of former president, Dr. Andrew Sorensen today…Denny Chimes played in memory of Dr. Sorensen. He served as the Capstone’s president from 1996 to 2002.