Tuscaloosa writers publish e-book reflecting on tornado
Crimson White – May 16
On May 9, a group of authors came together to publish a book called Tuscaloosa Runs This, a compilation of fiction, non-fiction and poetry dedicated to the storms that hit Tuscaloosa on April 27. Brian Oliu, a creative writing professor at the University, headed the project. “ I think when the tornado hit everyone was looking for something that they could do–one of the themes that has come about is the idea of ‘playing to one’s strengths’–so I figured there was something that could’ve been done in regards to assembling writers and getting the word out there,” Oliu said…The writings appear in an e-book, which is a book distributed on the Internet, usually in a PDF format, Oliu said. People have the capability of reading it online or printing it out. The program, “Issuu” also allows people to read the book online as if it were an actual book…
UA freshman organizes a tornado relief effort through Facebook
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 15
KWCH (Wichita, Kan.) – May 14
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – May 14
WSFB (Hartford, Ct.) – May 14
KCTV (Kansas City, Mo.) – May 14
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – May 13
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 13
A University of Alabama freshman is using Facebook to organize a relief effort for tornado victims in Alabama…”My name is James O’Dwyer and I’m a freshman at the University of Alabama. We survived the tornado and we’re trying to do all we can right now organizing a relief effort for those who lost everything they had…
Stamford woman helps victims of Alabama tornado
Stamford (Conn.) Advocate – May 14
Stamford native Michelle Romano, 20, sat in the basement of the Pi Beta Phi sorority house at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa on April 27 as funnel clouds swirled and whipped through the city, leaving a path of destruction that measured 1.5 miles wide and 80 miles long. After two hours in the basement, Romano, a junior at the university majoring in interior design, left the basement with her friends…Romano and her Crimson Tide classmates went out on their own and found ways to pitch in, beginning at her friend’s home. It wasn’t easy to find his house, with many of the landmarks that usually line the streets missing…The University canceled final exams and graduation, and Romano’s family sent for her to return home to the Westover area of Stamford for the summer. “I felt awful leaving, and being like, `OK, Tuscaloosa, fix yourself.’ It just broke my heart to leave,” she said. She cried during the entire 1,050-mile drive home…A few days later, Romano was on a plane, heading back to the broken town of Tuscaloosa…Romano will return to Stamford this weekend, and begin her summer internship on Monday. Dona Romano suspects she will fly down to help at least one more time before her senior year begins in August. In the meantime, Romano will help collect donations for survivors of the storm.
Burke County schools answer former student’s call for help
Morganton (N.C.) News-Herald – May 16
When a University of Alabama student sent out a call for help after tornados devastated Alabama on April 27, people from her old schools in Morganton pitched in to help. Their shipment of relief supplies went out last week. Jordan Clay attends the university in Tuscaloosa, one of the cities hardest hit by the tornadoes…
Landstar-Episcopal High School team up to provide tornado relief supplies
PR-USA-Net – May 16
…This relief drive is being spearheaded by two Episcopal High School graduates, Katie Griscom and Lizzie Danner, both of whom are currently students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and witnessed the devastation first hand…Episcopal High and Landstar employees have offered their support by collecting relief supplies to aid those affected by the storm. Landstar Ranger, Inc., a subsidiary of Landstar System, Inc., is donating the use of one of its trailers along with the cost of the transportation services to deliver the relief supplies to Temporary Emergency Services in Alabama. The supplies are scheduled to leave Jacksonville on Friday, May 13…
UA grad student from Ohio organizes tornado relief effort
WCPO (Cincinnati, Ohio) – May 13
Supplies a University of Alabama grad student with local ties pulled together will head to Tuscaloosa today for tornado relief. Amanda Stevens of Delhi Township survived the tornado that destroyed her campus. Last night, she and some friends loaded the truck that will leave for Tuscaloosa today.
University of Alabama student, Sparkman High grad recalls Tuscaloosa tornado
Huntsville Times – May 15
(Amethyst Holmes, a 2008 graduate of Sparkman High School, is a junior at the University of Alabama and a member of the UA track team. Holmes, the 2008 Alabama High School Journalist of the Year, will be The Huntsville Times’ summer reporting intern beginning June 1.)…University executives have done everything they can to accommodate students affected by the storm by creating the UA Acts of Kindness Fund, offering counseling, giving students the option to take or bypass their final exams, and postponing May commencement exercises until August. Students have been volunteering in every way they can by giving out hot meals and necessities, cleaning up debris, and opening their homes to those in need. I applaud every media professional doing their best to give out imperative information when people need it most as well as UA’s student newspaper The Crimson White for its excellent coverage of the storm and its aftermath…
Several UA coaches to hold Tornado Relief Special
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – May 15 and 16
Tonight several head coaches from the University of Alabama plan to join together for a “Tornado Relief Radio Special.” That includes Football Coach Nick Saban, Men’s Basketball Coach Anthony Grant and Gymnastics Coach Sarah Patterson. “Hey Coach, Helping Out” is set to air on all stations airing the Crimson Tide Sports Network tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. Donations go to the UA Acts of Kindness Fund, and other tornado relief organizations
Former UA players come back to Tuscaloosa to help with tornado relief efforts
KCTV (Kansas City, Mo.) – May 15
NFL draft picks Julio Jones and Rashard Johnson were busy unloading supplies from the Red Cross for folks in Tuscaloosa who lost everything in the devastating tornado…
UA alumni give back to city
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – May 14
This weekend University of Alabama alumni are gathering in Tuscaloosa to give back to the city that they say gave them so much during their college years. Saturday, hundreds of people filled two different warehouses sorting supplies to be distributed to relief organizations and straight to the storm victims…
KU students raising money to go help tornado-ravaged Alabama
Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World – May 15
…A group of 13 Kansas University atmospheric sciences students are traveling to Tuscaloosa next week to help with debris removal…Adam Smith, who’s helping organize the students’ trip to Tuscaloosa, said the students felt an instant need to help those affected by the storms they so often study in school and chase. He said the group, named Rock Chalk and Roll Tide, felt the storm held a different meaning because they knew of all its weather traits. “You can’t watch these things and chase storms and not feel something for these people who lost everything,” Smith said. Originally the group planned to do only a fundraiser, but later decided to drive to Alabama to help…The students will stay with host families whose homes were not damaged, but they must raise $2,000 to cover travel expenses. They’d like to raise even more to give a donation, though. Smith said it’s important for college students to understand the damage the storm did. Tuscaloosa is home to the University of Alabama, a school similar in size to KU. “Imagine if it went through Lawrence. What would we be experiencing right now?” he said. “Imagine what that would do to our student body.”…
Alabama Department of Public Safety sets up temporary office at Coleman Coliseum to help storm victims
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 13
If you lost your driver license or id in the storm, you can apply for a temporary replacement. The State Department of Public Safety is issuing temporary documents for people affected by the tornado. They have set up at Coleman coliseum on the campus of the University of Alabama…
Alabama’s self reliance to the fore in storm cleanup
WHNT.com – May 14
…”I have been amazed at the resilience of Alabamians as I watch them during this disaster,” said Martha Crowther, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama. She attributes the sense of community and responsibility toward others to residents’ spirituality and the self-reliance that comes from a rural background, where “there may not be someone else to come along and do it for you.”…
UA psychologist says it’s common for people to fear bad weather after a tornado
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 13
…University of Alabama psychologist Dr. Lee Keyes says it’s even common for some people to develop post traumatic stress syndrome. He says that’s a very normal reaction to a very abnormal event. Keyes says some people may need to turn to a professional for help.
Will rest of nation forget about storm-ravaged Alabama?
Montgomery Advertiser – May 14
…When Jennifer Greer, chair of the University of Alabama’s journalism department, turned on her radio the Monday after tornadoes forever changed the college town she lives in, she knew the media tides had turned. “I got in my car and NPR was talking about (Osama) bin Laden and almost no one was talking about tornadoes.”…Greer said she’s heard people in Tuscaloosa say, upon seeing the devastation along the Mississippi that has played out for more than a week, “They’re going to forget about us.” And when bin Laden was killed after a 10-year manhunt, “it was like, there goes the attention and it’s not coming back,” she said…
RecoveryAlabama.com launched as post-tornado information gathering place
Birmingham News – May 14
…”This is crowdsourcing,” said Dr. Chris Roberts, a University of Alabama journalism professor who is volunteering with the Recovery Alabama effort. “The beauty comes from editors on the back end who are geocoding it.”…
Storm damage could result in an increase to homeowners’ premiums
Tuscaloosa News – May 15
…And with insurers expecting their claims payments to reach catastrophic proportions, the question becomes what will happen to future insurance premiums for businesses, homeowners and renters. “It is likely insurance rates will go up,” said William Rabel, a University of Alabama professor of insurance and financial services. How much insurance premiums will rise no one knows, and the increases might not be the same for all insurers, he said. Some insurers might have fewer claims and fewer payouts. Competition to keep customers also could play a role, he said. “Insurance is a means for spreading the losses of a few among many,” Rabel said…
UA researchers and others study tornado debris to help make homes safer
WCTV (Tallahassee, Fla.) – May 14 and 15
UF researchers joined teams from the University of Alabama and other institutions to examine the debris for future recommendations…
With gas costs high, Obama to speed oil production
USA Today – May 14
…Philip Johnson, a petroleum engineer and University of Alabama professor, cautioned that new leases offer no guarantee that a company will find oil. Leases give a company permission to explore an area and set limits for what the company can do. “You’ve got strong suspicions because you know what the underground structure looks like,” he said. “But until you stick a hole in it you don’t know what’s in that structure.” Johnson noted, for instance, that while there are about 3,000 producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico in U.S. waters, about 50,000 wells have been drilled including many that have been emptied.
CBS News – May 14
Extreme Makeover’ family in Oregon finds mother under ‘medical child abuse’ scrutiny
The (Portland) Oregonian – May 14
…”Claims of immune deficiency arise a lot in Munchausen by proxy cases along with other ailments that are difficult to diagnose,” said Dr. Marc D. Feldman, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama, author of “Playing Sick? Untangling the Web of Munchausen Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy, Malingering, and Factitious Disorder.” Feldman was not involved in the Cerda case and spoke about the syndrome in general…
On the bus to the future
Miami Herald – May 14
Photo: Marshall Houston, left, from the University of Alabama, and Collis Crews, from North Carolina A&T University, right, was among the 2011 Student Freedom Riders to arrive in Rock Hill Tuesday.
College news
Tuscaloosa News – May 15
The University of Alabama Academic Honor Council recently inducted new student justices and chief justices. The Academic Honor Council is comprised of student justices who promote an atmosphere of integrity on campus. The 2011-2012 Academic Honor Council includes…
Art briefs
Mobile Press-Register – May 14
…Alabama Humanities Foundation recently recognized two local students from Alma Bryant High School, Maria Pulido and Sherman Shoemaker, who excelled this year in the school’s photography program. Their photos were on display at the reception and the two were awarded $100 gift cards and certificates of achievement. The AHF board held a reception April 28 at RSA Towers hosted by Regions Bank and sponsored by the University of Alabama Department of Arts and Sciences and USA.