UA students connect with community
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 19
The service-learning project Alabama Action is such a rewarding concept…UA Honors College project…Collins-Riverside Middle School, where about 120 Alabama Action students have been sweating indoors and out this week painting, digging trenches and generally beautifying and improving the 1957-era school… “It really gave me a way to connect to the community,” said Lima, who said that although she’s from Birmingham, she didn’t really know Tuscaloosa before. Now she’s fallen in love with the city and hopes to stay on to earn a master’s degree, and possibly work here as well…This year’s 11th group numbers 167 participants, where past years have been around 100. The project has gotten so popular that it had to stop accepting applications this year, said Kathryn Merritt of the Honors College staff. “It’s our largest group ever,” she said. “They actually pay a $200 fee to join, and they have to attend lectures and do other study at night, although they do get course credit.”…Because Alabama Action plans its programs far in advance, the April 27 tornado did not play a role in the decision to assist Collins-Riverside. But the storm did alter some plans. Some of the UA students were re-deployed to Holt Elementary School, which itself has been relocated to the site of the former Lloyd Wood Middle School. County school administrators and other staff pitched in over the summer to help clean up and move Holt Elementary materials to Lloyd Wood. Alabama Action decided it could help in the beautification effort for the facility, which had been empty for over a year…Also this week, the offshoot Outdoor Action group worked to clean up public areas of Hurricane Creek. The efforts from Alabama Action will continue beyond today, said Lima. Many of the UA students sign up for Buddy Time, in which they serve as mentors to younger students, sharing their stories and inspiring the kids to continue their education. “This is not just a one-week event,” Lima said. “This is just the beginning of the process.”
FOX6 (Birmingham) – Aug. 18
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Aug. 18
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 18
NBC13 (Birmingham) – Aug. 18
Alabama Public Radio – Aug. 19
UA’s New College marks 40th year
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 19
Since its inception, the University of Alabama’s New College has always been a haven for “the kids that didn’t quite fit in,” said the program’s director Jim Hall. “And what was originally started as a highly experimental program ended up attracting a lot of really talented folks,” Hall said. Apart from a set of core classes, New College allows UA students to construct their own curriculum based on their interests and aspirations. The college requires a second admissions application apart from the university’s application…One of those talented New College graduates is Anne LeBaron, an accomplished harpist and composer who will return to her alma mater for a concert at 2 p.m. Saturday at UA’s Moody Music Building Recital Hall as one of several events celebrating New College’s 40th anniversary. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but Anne is one of, if not the, most important musical graduates the University of Alabama has ever produced,” Hall said of the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship recipient and current professor at California Institute of the Arts…… The college has graduated Rhodes scholars, and several members of the USA Today academic all-American team. Hall said New College alumni speak of how fortunate they were to find a small liberal arts environment with the resources of a large, public research institution… After the LeBaron concert, New College’s anniversary celebration continues with a barbecue Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, New College alums will have the opportunity to attend class with some of the program’s current and past instructors. Anniversary events will continue through April 2012…
UA to hold memorial service on Aug. 28
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Aug. 18
NBC13 (Birmingham) – Aug. 18
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 18
WALA (Mobile) – Aug. 18
WAFF (Huntsville) – Aug. 18
WAKA (Montgomery) – Aug. 18
University of Alabama students and employees will gather to remember those who died in the April 27 tornado, and honor the heroes who responded after the storm. A service will be held on Aug. 28 around Palmer Lake on the north side of campus.
UA professor J. Suzanne Horsley receives award for Red Cross volunteer work
Al.com – Aug. 19
University of Alabama professor J. Suzanne Horsley has been honored with a SuPRStar Award for Excellence in Community Service from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for her work with the American Red Cross after the April 27 tornado struck Tuscaloosa. Horsley, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations, serves as a national public affairs volunteer for the Red Cross. After the storm, she participated in interviews, helped distribute information across the state and prepared the organization’s leaders and workers for interviews. She also assembled a team of six students that worked to create a website, write news releases and produce online content for the local chapter of the Red Cross…
Beck takes helm as top federal prosecutor
Montgomery Advertiser – Aug. 19
… As deputy state attorney general during the 1970s, Beck prosecuted Bob Chambliss for the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four girls. Chambliss was sentenced to life in prison. “As a lawyer and a man, George was on the right side of that struggle,” Kenneth Randall, dean of the University of Alabama School of Law, said about Beck’s stance on civil rights. Randall said the conviction was a seminal one in the civil rights struggle…
Daphne man gets almost 20 years trying to entice teenage relative for lewd videos, sex
Mobile Press-Register – Aug. 19
… Stanley Brodsky, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama, testified that McPherson suffers from hypertension, diabetes, depression, anxiety, panic attacks and other ailments. He said he believes the defendant’s long-term memory loss — he can’t remember anything before his father’s suicide 5 decades ago — are related to the depression. Brodsky also testifies that, “I see no indication whatsoever to suggest that he is a current threat to children or a potential threat to children in the future.”…