UA awarded for civic engagement
Crimson White – June 15
The University of Alabama has been named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, a federal honor awarded to universities that have shown a commitment to volunteering and civic engagement. This is the Capstone’s fifth year to be named to the Honor Roll and the second to be to the Honor Roll with Distinction, according to Heather Christensen, research project coordinator at the UA Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.
Students receive Hollings scholarships
Crimson White – June 15
Two UA students have been named members of the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship program by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Education. The University has had students on the list of Hollings scholars since the inception of the program in 2005. Upcoming juniors A.J. Collins and Sarah Johnson are two of 104 Hollings scholars selected nationally for this year…Collins, a native of Amissville, Va., is majoring in economics and political science. He is a member of the University’s Computer-Based and International Honors programs…Johnson, a native of Mesquite, Texas, is majoring in mechanical engineering while taking part in the University’s Computer-Based Honors Program…Gary Sloan, UA coordinator of Prestige Scholarships and Awards said, “The University does very well in the scholarship competitions where it’s not just based on grades, where the students are actually out doing things. That’s where our students really shine – is going out and doing things.”…“We are very pleased with the selection of these two UA students as recipients of this competitive and distinguished award,” said Dean Shane Sharpe of the Honors College. “Both Sarah and A.J. were fortunate to engage in research projects throughout their sophomore year and both have an interest in advancing the mission of NOAA, which are key elements in the selection the scholarship recipients. Our faculty is to be commended for time and effort they commit to working with our students on meaningful research experiences.”
Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration gets new dean
Crimson White – June 15
J. Michael Hardin has been selected as the new dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University. According to the college’s website, one of Hardin’s main priorities is to help the college excel. “The faculty members in our college are extraordinary,” Hardin said. “They excel in research, in teaching, and in service to the University, community, state and nation. One of my main goals as dean will be to do whatever I can to help them reach even greater heights.” Hardin also wants to help the college further its reputation on a national level…Hardin joined the UA faculty in 2001.
Library Studies Appoints New Director
Crimson White – June 15
The School of Library and Information Studies has named Heidi Julien director following an international search to fill the position beginning Aug. 16. Julien is currently a professor and graduate coordinator in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.“Our College is extremely pleased to have an internationally recognized scholar and administrator like Dr. Julien stepping into the director position for SLIS,” said Loy Singleton, dean of the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, in a recent UA press release. Julien, a native Canadian, received a Bachelor of Education and Master of Library and Information Sciences degree from the University of Alberta before pursuing her Ph.D. in library and information sciences at the University of West Ontario. She began her career in Wellington, New Zealand and later taught at various institutions throughout Canada.
National League For Nursing Announces 2011 Academy Of Nursing Education Fellows
Nurses.com – June 15
Twelve distinguished nurse educators will join the NLN’s Academy of Nursing Education when they are inducted as fellows at the 2011 NLN Education Summit this fall in Orlando.This fifth class of fellows, selected through a competitive application process, represents leaders in nursing education from nursing programs across the higher education spectrum and from other organizations committed to health care. . . . Fellows of the NLN Academy of Nursing Education to be inducted at the 2011 NLN Education Summit at a ceremony on Sept. 24 are: . . . Marsha Howell Adams, DSN, RN, CNE; University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing.
Westmoreland Art Exhibition recognizes professor
Crimson White – June 15
Sometimes, a bare wall is all that is needed for inspiration. For assistant professor of art Sky Shineman, it was a bare wall that sparked her interest in light, an interest she has since incorporated into a painting that earned her the first-place prize at a national art show. “I used to watch a wall in my apartment change shape and color all because of light,” Shineman said. “I became really interested in light phenomena and the passage of time. [Look at anything and you’ll realize that] it’s only going to look that way right now. A cloud could pass by, and it would be completely changed.” Her painting “Early/Dusk,” which won “Best of Show” at the Westmoreland Art Nationals Juried Exhibition in Youngwood, Pennsylvania at the beginning of June, explores these relationships.
A fresh taste of Tuscaloosa
Crimson White – June 15
For the last four years, Homegrown Alabama has held a weekly market where members of the community can come and buy items directly from the people that grow them. Homegrown Alabama is a farmers’ market run by a student-led group at The University of Alabama that is held every Thursday from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. The market features fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, meats, and other items produced by local farmers and members of the community.
City deemed ‘boomtown’ for a second straight year
Southeast (Ala.) Sun – June 15
The Enterprise community continues to brag of economic strength, ranking 48th in the nation’s micropolitan areas. Considered a “Boom Town” once again by officials, the Enterprise-Ozark micropolitan community leapt forward in 2010 to become one of the top 50 micropolitan communities in the country. . . . Enterprise grew more than 25 percent in a decade, reaching a population of more than 26,000. In 2000, Enterprise had an estimated population of 21,100, according to Annett Watters, manager of the State Data Center at the University of Alabama. “In 2009, that number grew to roughly 25,900,” she said.
Community bands together for tornado victims
Sun News (Macon, Ga.) – June 15
Truckloads of supplies were delivered to tornado victims in Alabama and Tennessee last week thanks to the initiative of the band programs at high schools in Houston County. Warner Robins High and Houston County High band trailers delivered goods to Tuscaloosa, Ala., while Perry High and Northside High band trailers traveled to Bradley County, Tenn. Veterans High contributed to the loads delivered to Tennessee, where hundreds of homes were lost in the storms that swept through the area at the end of April. The idea for the band programs to spearhead a drive for tornado victims came after Houston County High band director Wally Shaw talked to a friend of his, Randall Coleman, an associate band director at the University of Alabama. “We had these band trailers sitting here empty, and I talked to the other band directors and got it started,” said Shaw.
National Student Housing Council Sees Surge in Freshman College Applications
Multi-Housing News – June 14
A new white paper from the National Student Housing Council, a subsidiary of the National Multi Housing Council finds that the recession has not impeded college enrollment. In fact, the number of applications colleges are receiving has increased, quite substantially at some schools. The report compared enrollment applications at 56 public and private universities. Pairing the number of freshman applications in fall 2008 against the number in fall 2010, on average, applications went up by 20 percent. Twenty-three of the schools reported a gain of 25 percent or more, with the biggest increase recorded by the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (56 percent). Only four schools showed a drop in freshman applications.
Talladega Republicans seek black voters
Anniston Star – June 15
Danny Hubbard wants all the marbles. Last November, Hubbard’s party won control of the Alabama State Legislature for the first time in 136 years. Republicans have a supermajority in both houses, and they hold all the statewide constitutional offices. But Hubbard, chairman of the Talladega County GOP, isn’t satisfied. He wants black voters to go Republican. … The (Frederick) Douglass-for-small-government theme, popular in conservative circles, has its critics among those who have studied Douglass’ writings. “I’d say it’s disingenuous,” said DoVeanna Minor, who chairs the Department of Gender and Race Studies at the University of Alabama. “Frederick Douglass was a strong supporter of the Freedmen’s Bureau.” The Freedmen’s Bureau was a Reconstruction-era federal agency that offered aid to freed slaves in the form of health care, loans, schooling and other services. The view of Douglass as an unabashed free market advocate is equally disingenuous, Minor said. She noted that Douglass, as a slave, worked in a shipyard and brought his pay to a slaveowner. After escaping to the North, Minor said, Douglass tried to make a living with the shipbuilding skills he learned –- only to be shut out of the work force by racial discrimination. “To suggest that the free market in 2011 is free of discrimination sort of misses the point,” she said.
Tornado damage could cost state $5.5 billion
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 14
A preliminary report on the statewide damages from the April 27 tornado estimates that the monetary cost to individuals and the government could be between $3.7 billion and $5.5 billion. The University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) report also says the money that could be pumped back into the state’s economy from insurance, FEMA and recovery-related jobs could total as much as $2.6 billion during 2011, and between $1.6 and $3.2 billion in 2012. Potentially, the amount of money brought into the state over the next couple of years of recovery and rebuilding could surpass the amount the state is expected to lose in damages.