UA researchers study fish for clues about humans
Tuscaloosa News – April 7
…While there are obvious differences between humans and fish, a UA researcher and two students are studying fish to draw conclusions that they can also apply to humans. They will showcase their research at the University of Alabama’s annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference from 2 p.m to 6 p.m. Monday in the Bryant Conference Center. In his research, Ryan Earley, assistant professor of biological sciences at UA, took eggs from fish that are genetically identical and is raising one set of fish in water 5 degrees cooler than the other. He said that while typically gender is determined by chromosomes, in this study the environment actually had an effect on the gender of the fish… “The research expands beyond the fish, but it relates to humans in some ways,” he said. “It will ultimately allow us to focus in on sex and why males and females behave differently.”…
Students use music as therapy for patients
Birmingham News – April 7
…Lyric analysis may help alcoholics, said Carol Prickett, who started the music therapy program at the University of Alabama in 1985 and heads it today. About 30 students are enrolled in the 4½-year major that includes six months of internship work. Many country music songs show the consequences of misusing alcohol, said Prickett, and the music therapist can go through the song line by line with the patient to help control behavior…”It’s different from musical performance or music as entertainment,” Prickett said. “We use music as a therapeutic tool for non-musical objectives in a health-care setting. … The University of Alabama students are accompanied by Cevasco when they do clinical rotations in psychiatry, hospice, neonatal intensive care and cancer centers. Prickett goes with them to treat dementia patients. Above all, the students need to learn to respond to the reactions of patients. “We watch very carefully every response,” said Prickett. “We teach students all of the many nuances, so they can make quick changes. … We coach them to be sympathetic.”…
The war that made us ‘we’
Christian Science Monitor – April 6
…In general, interest in the war is fading, says George Rable, a Civil War historian at the University of Alabama…The war is one of the most intensely studied moments in American history by both amateur and professional historians. Yet there always seems to be more to uncover. “All the time there are new diaries and collections of letters and documents being donated to archives and being published,” Alabama’s Dr. Rable says. “It’s rich material.” Americans today have a chance to see the period “with the blinders taken off,” he says, including “just how brutal and nasty the war was.”…I can’t think of another nation where the losing side got to have its say, and continues to do so,” Rable says. “I would argue that the war is still felt more in the South. I think that’s absolutely true. But the people who want to refight it all the time, I think, are a diminishing breed.”…
Mother Accused of Poisoning Own Baby; Rare Case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy?
ABC News – April 7
…Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is often incorrectly referred to as a psychiatric disorder, said Dr. Marc Feldman, a psychiatrist at the University of Alabama who wrote “Playing Sick? Untangling the Web of Munchausen Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy, Malingering, and Factitious Disorder.” “It is not a mental illness,” Feldman said. “It is a form of abuse, just like sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse – it’s just a variant.”…Feldman said Montano’s case sounds like a typical Munchausen by Proxy case, in which a mother fakes or causes a disease in her child and then seeks out repeated medical attention for the child. The reasons for harming one’s own child are manifold. He also noted that Munchausen mothers often have a history of abuse. In the few cases in which mothers have acknowledged that they are perpetrators, said Feldman, they said they wanted attention, sympathy, care and concern. The Munchausen mothers felt they were unable to get the attention they needed any other way. “They felt anonymous in their daily lives and unappreciated as mothers,” said Feldman…
UA women’s wheelchair team wins third national title
Tuscaloosa News – April 7
The Alabama Crimson Tide is known for the 13 national championships the football program has won over the years, but now the University of Alabama has another team consistently bringing championships to Tuscaloosa. The UA women’s wheelchair basketball team won its third national championship in as many years in March. The Crimson Tide’s 58-56 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater was much closer than last year’s 66-36 victory over Illinois…Not only did the team bring home the national championship, eight players were awarded individual honors. The team had three players make the Academic All-American Team, two named first-team All-American, two more make second-team All-American, and two players recognized on the all-rookie team…
Lee Prize honors best in legal fiction
Crimson White – April 7
Nominations for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction will close Friday. The University of Alabama School of Law and the American Bar Association Journal sponsor the prize. According to the School of Law’s website, the prize will be awarded to the book that best examines lawyers’ role in society. The winner will be recognized in Washington, D.C., during the Library of Congress National Book Festival in September. Created to commemorate Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird the prize was announced in conjunction with the University’s 50th Anniversary Celebration of the book at the School of Law. “‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has a deep and abiding connection with the University of Alabama School of Law,” School of Law Dean Ken Randall said at the 50th Anniversary Celebration in October. “Harper Lee studied law here before leaving to become a writer. “I’d like to think her clarity of focus and her appreciation of the role of law in society…were informed by her legal studies here,” he said…
AU, UA team up for Blitz Build
Crimson White – April 7
The University’s Community Service Center is recruiting students to participate in the House United Habitat for Humanity Blitz along with Auburn University, according to a press release. The Blitz Build, which is the first of its kind for the two institutions, will take place June 12 – 18 in Baldwin County and applications are due Wednesday, April 11 the release stated. This project will involve 40 UA and Auburn students working intensely to build an entire house in just one week, Wahnee Sherman, director of the Community Service Center, said…
University hosts day of service for students
Crimson White – April 7
The Community Service Center, the Student Government Association and Housing and Residential Communities will have students participate in Hands on Tuscaloosa Service Day that will take place on Friday, April 8 from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The service day will start at the UA Student Recreation Center. There, students will be assigned a service location before venturing out to volunteer from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. At the end of volunteer efforts, students will have free pizza together at the University Recreation Outdoor Pool… “Hands on Tuscaloosa is a way for our current students to give back to the Tuscaloosa community,” said Wahnee Sherman, director of the CSC. “Since there are no classes on Friday, it is the ideal time for students to make a difference in the community.”…
SGA plans new exercise trails for fall semester
Crimson White – April 7
Over the past few weeks, the Student Government Association has been communicating with the administration to not only update the current exercise trails on campus, but also to create new paths throughout the University. The paths, known as the Crimson Trails, should be completed by the fall semester. “This network of walking and running trails will promote a healthy lifestyle on campus,” said Meg McCrummen, SGA chief of staff. “We want students to get outside and enjoy our beautiful campus in a way that is healthy and safe.” Although students may be familiar with the markers currently placed around the Quad and the Student Recreation Center, the new Crimson Trails will offer safer options, especially for students who choose to exercise at night. “By marking these particular routes, we identify places on campus that students may walk or run in safety,” said Peyton Falkenburg, SGA deputy chief of staff. “Crimson Trails are well lit and have good sidewalks… “Mile markers will help students keep track of distances, and multiple routes will allow all students to pick a route that suits them,” McCrummen said. “Moreover, the 5K route can be used by organizations sponsoring a run, which reduces stress on [the University of Alabama Police Department] and University administrators and delineates expectations for a 5K run.”…
Guys, girls don Big Al costume; tryouts begin next Thursday
Crimson White – April 7
…Thomas said it’s difficult being a girl and playing a male character like Big Al, but she spent years going to football games with her father and mascot camps studying his “personality” so that she could emulate his mannerisms and leave her girly traits outside the suit. “You have to learn to be an animated, larger-than-life character,” she said. “You can’t worry about getting in trouble. You just go out there and take whatever situation you’re in, and make it a big deal.” “It’s kind of a good title to have,” said Butch Hallmark, program coordinator and one of five current Big Als. “We are looking for people who can develop the Big Al personality, which is goofy overall, but energetic and outgoing…A rigorous tryout process will begin the Thursday before A-Day with a business casual interview, followed by clinics on mascot basics and learning the Big Al walk…Those who make the initial cut have one more test they have to pass—crowd involvement on A-Day…
Professor honored by Bama
The Auburn Plainsman – April 7
Ed Williams, professor of journalism, has mentored and helped journalism students reach their highest potential for 28 years.Williams was awarded the University of Alabama Outstanding Alumnus of the year award in journalism. “The University of Alabama award came 35 years after I graduated, and I was surprised and humbled,” Williams said. “But hearing from former students that I’ve known during my 28 years at Auburn, that’s the very best kind of award there is.”… “The thing that stood out to (our committee) most with Ed is he had such an impact on the field of journalism in Alabama and beyond because of the work he had done at The Plainsman,” said Jennifer Greer, chairwoman of the University of Alabama department of journalism…Alabama’s faculty chooses recipient of the award—an alumnus who has received his or her undergraduate or master’s degree from the program…
English teachers host non-fiction workshop
Crimson White – April 7
Two UA English teachers will be telling it straight and slant as part of a national creative writing celebration. The celebration, happening on Saturday, is called Dzanc Day because of the Dzanc Books, the non-profit Michigan-based company dedicated to publishing innovative writing and advancing literary readership and advocacy. UA teachers Brian Oliu and B.J. Hollars will be teaching a non-fiction workshop titled “Telling it Straight/Slant and Everything in Between.”…At the workshop, he said he and Hollars will speak on non-fiction in general, ideas, and the crafting process. They will also spend one-on-one time with writers, providing personal feedback on their work…
Charity run being held for UA student battling cancer
Crimson White – April 7
On April 9, UA sophomore Emily Dumas and her team will run a relay to raise funds and awareness for another UA student, Alexander Stanton, who suffers from rhabdomyosarcoma, the most common soft tissue cancer in children. Alexander “Xander” Stanton was a UA chemical engineering major before his cancer forced him to leave campus in August just as he began his sophomore year here at the Capstone…After his diagnosis, Stanton was forced to drop out of school and begin his 47 weeks of chemotherapy treatment, as well as several radiation treatments. Dumas said her relay team has a goal to raise $1,000 or more for research for a cure, a number that was a only small portion of the monthly bills for approximately $40,000 that Stanton and his family face to fight the disease, she said…
Group pops tabs for tots
Crimson White – April 7
If every UA student turned in one soda can tab to residence halls this week, members of Freshman Forum could collect the 30,000-plus tabs and turn them into more than $600 which could help house around 85 families for a night, according to Atonne Hunter, a member of Freshman Forum Track Two’s publicity committee. “Approximately a week ago, we started our year-end project called Tabs for Tots,” Hunter said. “The basis of the event is to collect as many pop tabs as possible. For every tab collected, the Ronald McDonald House receives about two cents.” Hunter said the group’s goal is to get campus-wide participation for the project to raise as much money as possible for those in need…
Physics society to host chess tournament
Crimson White – April 7
The Society of Physics Students will host a chess tournament in Room 109 Gallalee Hall Friday at 3:30 p.m. for anyone who wants to participate. The cost is $5 for those who want to sign up for the tournament in advance, and for those who want to sign up the day of the tournament, the cost will be $10…
UA Women’s Resource Center Hosts “Healing the Wounded Heart” Exhibit
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 6
According to the University of Alabama’s Women’s Resource Center, a woman is sexually assaulted every two minutes in the United States. That’s why they are trying to raise awareness to the issue. They are hosting an exhibit at the Capstone showcasing the emotion of local victims of sexual assault, as part of sexual assault awareness month; the exhibit is called “Healing the Wounded Heart”…
Creative Campus Hosts “Breaking Boundaries”
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 6
…”Breaking Boundaries”. It’s being put on by the University of Alabama’s Creative Campus. And here to tell me more about it is Morgan Bruffy…