UA Students Collaborate to Create ‘New Normal’ Tornado Video, Encourage Donations

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A group of students from The University of Alabama has created a video designed to increase awareness of the lasting impact of natural disasters.

In the video, Tuscaloosa-area residents affected by the April 27 tornado that ravaged the city talk about their everyday lives before the storm and the little things they now miss.

“Disasters change lives in an instant. And there is no going back. It’s all about adjusting to the new normal, and that’s what we tried to show in this video,” said Mike Devlin, a doctoral student in UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences studying media effects with a focus in advertising messages, who oversaw the production of the video.

The project brought together undergraduate students from two different departments in the College: Hamilton Henson, Micah Russell and Kyle Rice of telecommunication and film, and Emily Diab, Sarah Shea and Zarah Trinh of advertising and public relations.

“It was a unique opportunity for our students to collaborate across departments in the College and to learn from each other,” said Dr. Joe Phelps, chair of the advertising and public relations department. “We hope this will lead to more collaboration in the future.”

The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZo_YVcTr8U and includes information about how viewers can donate to the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund through givetuscaloosa.com.