UA raises most among Alabama colleges with 2011 license plate sales
Al.com – Oct. 22
Collegiate car license plates carrying the University of Alabama’s script “A” and the words of the school’s “Roll Tide Roll” cheer raised the most money among 25 other colleges and universities across the state during fiscal 2011. Crimson Tide plates brought in $3,772,948, according to UA’s National Alumni Association. Money raised through sales of the tags will fund scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. Auburn University raised $2,578,227, the most next to Alabama.
Fall fun and cleanup in Alberta
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
Sunday was both a work day and play day in Alberta, but the hundreds romping through Jaycee Park definitely leaned toward play. . . . TOP’s annual event, which is free for all and in its 12th year, was co-sponsored this year by the University of Alabama’s Honors College and the storm-created Volunteer Reception Center…
Crimson White – Oct. 24
UA Greeks raise funds for tornado relief
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
UA Greek Relief, a student-led initiative that has distributed more than 52,000 meals to victims and volunteers after the devastating tornadoes of April 27, has launched a fundraising campaign that is continuing during the football season…
Longtime UA staffer, civic leader dies at 69
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 22
They called her Sweetie. “And that was the perfect name,” Larry O’Neal said. Though the loss of their good friend has been hard to bear for O’Neal and Ralph Quarles, Quarles said he has been comforted by at least one element of the passing of Caroline Powell. “Really it’s helping me to think about her and what made her such a good friend,” Quarles said. “The community will miss her in so many ways.” Powell, a teacher, longtime University of Alabama staff member and civic leader, died Thursday morning at the Hospice of West Alabama after, in her own words, “living” with cancer for 17 years.
Anti-illegal immigration bill stokes backlash in Alabama fields
Christian Science Monitor – Oct. 22
More than 100 farmers and three state representatives in Alabama responded to the recent enactment of a slate of anti-illegal immigration laws by holding a public hearing this week in Oneonta, about 35 miles northeast of Birmingham. The farmers complained that they were already seeing laborers pack up and leave the state. The new immigration laws will result in a $40 million hit to the state’s economy, with 10,000 illegal workers, each making about $5,000 a year, set to leave, according to a report released this week by the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
No-smoking policies help lower lung cancer rates
Anniston Star – Oct. 24
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that lung cancer rates across the country have decreased in the past decade and suggests that non-smoking rules, tobacco excise taxes and funding policies to assist smokers in quitting are what have led to the improvement. However, the study also shows Alabama’s decreases in lung cancer pale in comparison to other states — a problem some health experts say arises from fewer smoking bans and less anti-smoking funding in Alabama than in other areas of the country. . . . A report compiled by the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Alabama for the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that the life lost in Alabama due to smoking is significantly high. The report states that in 2009, 8,685 Alabama deaths were attributed to smoking-related diseases. It adds that 15.3 years of potential life were lost, on average, among Alabama adults who died from a smoking-related illness.
Holocaust horrors retold at MTSU
Nashville Tennessean – Oct. 23
Stories . . . were a focal point of Middle Tennessee State University’s 10th Biennial International Holocaust Studies conference, held Wednesday through Saturday on campus…Steven Leonard Jacobs, a Jewish studies professor at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and an ordained rabbi, has attended every conference held at MTSU, save for one. Like Fisher, Jacobs, 64, stood before the teachers in attendance and told them about his family. “There were 150 members of my family murdered between 1939 and 1945,” he said. “My father was one of seven survivors. All seven are now deceased. But growing up, I knew my family was different somehow. We weren’t like other families. I grew up with dead relatives. When I would tell stories about playing with friends, my father would say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of my cousin who was killed by the Nazis.’ ”
Job rates in state improve by 0.1%
Decatur Daily News – Oct. 22
Unemployment rates in the state and region changed little in September, according to data released Friday. A glimmer of good news came from statewide numbers, which reflected the first decline in seven months of initial unemployment claims. Combined with a statewide gain of 7,700 jobs, that pushed the seasonally adjusted September unemployment rate down to 9.8 percent from the August rate of 9.9 percent, according to figures compiled by the state Department of Industrial Relations. “That at least shows a somewhat positive trend and stabilizing labor markets, but the job growth is still too weak to have a significant impact on the unemployment rate,” said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.
AEA seeking successors to retiring top executives
Gadsden Times – Oct. 23
The Alabama Education Association seeks successors to its retiring top executives and should have a slate of candidates by the end of this month…University of Alabama political science professor emeritus William Stewart said the next AEA leader will have to recognize the reality of the Republican political majority in Alabama, and be able to work with it. “They have got to have someone with the ability to be politically persuasive, and they need someone who will continue to lobby for teachers and support personnel,” Stewart said.
Alabama at Head of the Charles Regatta
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 22
The University of Alabama rowing team competes in the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Mass., starting today. “It’s one of the regattas that we really look forward to racing at because we have an opportunity to compete against a lot of top-flight crews,” UA coach Larry Davis said.
Weird science: Laymen (and politicians) should let scientists explain climate change
Anniston Star – Oct. 23
Bergmann’s rule is a biological law that says animals get larger over time as the globe’s temperature cools. Scientists say experiment after experiment confirms this, though there are exceptions. Logically, then, it should follow that animals get smaller when the globe warms. From that, one could conclude that if animals are getting smaller, our planet must be getting warmer. Two years ago, a group of Scottish researchers discovered that Scottish sheep were shrinking. They were 5 percent smaller than they had been in 1985. Now a new study, co-authored by a biology researcher at the University of Alabama and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, reveals that the sheep are not alone. After reviewing other studies of other species, the authors found that a host of animals, large and little, fish and fowl, mammal and reptile, are getting smaller.
Concert to honor late UA teacher
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 22
Fred Goossen, a modern-day Renaissance man, was for decades a fine arts columnist and critic, including many years with The Tuscaloosa News. But Goossen’s day job was as a University of Alabama professor of music, leading to the creation of generations of new music and better musicians. He was a passionate and knowledgeable conversationalist, who could engage at length on virtually any subject, whether John Cage or Elvis Presley. To the wider world, Goossen may be best known as a composer of music. So Sunday’s memorial to him is, fittingly, a concert of works written throughout his career, performed by former colleagues and students, some of whom inspired the music. There will be two world premieres, including a piece that is likely the last he wrote before suffering a fatal stroke June 10 at 83.
Arboretum plans fall plant sale for Sunday
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 22
Friends of the University of Alabama Arboretum will host a fall plant sale from 1-4 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the former UA golf course. All sales benefit the arboretum.
Recital, brass master class at Willamette
Salem (Ore.) Statesman-Journal – Oct. 23
Jon Whitaker, the trombone professor at the University of Alabama, will present a combined recital and brass master class with students from Willamette University and the surrounding area.
College news
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
The third annual organ scholarship competition application and recorded round deadline is Nov. 14. Required works for the recorded round are a major J.S. Bach work (all movements of a multi-movement work) and a work in the Romantic idiom by a composer born between 1800-1904…The winner will be a featured artist at the UA University of Alabama Church Music Conference.
UA initiative leaves elephants all over campus
Crimson White – Oct. 24
More than 200 tiny elephants were placed on campus last week by Housing and Residential Communities to urge students to pay attention to their surroundings in order to be an effective member of the UA community. Janine Gascoigne, HRC marketing coordinator, said the elephants were hidden from Tutwiler to Riverside and in several academic buildings in between. . . .; The event, part of the initiative called “One team, One Bama,” is a campaign to empower students to make a difference in the UA community and to remember that, despite all of the things that make students different, UA students, faculty and staff should be greater than our differences, Gascoigne said.
Stress can lead to multiple health problems
Crimson White – Oct. 24
You might think you’ll bounce back from all those sleepless nights, but many in the UA psychology department suggest they could contribute to mental health problems like depression and schizophrenia. “The more stress you put on the system, you’re going to have something break down,” said Justin Thomas, a graduate student majoring in psychology and assistant at the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness.
Alpha Gamma Delta breaks ground on new sorority house
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 23
Sorority row at the University of Alabama is undergoing some changes. In a ceremony today, Alpha Gamma Delta broke ground on a new house. Current members and alumni returned to their old house, which was resold to the university as the sorority moves to its new location just down the street.