UA, LSU to hold joint service project before national championship game
AL.com – Dec. 16
The University of Alabama and LSU are teaming up for a service project in New Orleans the day before the BCS National Championship game. The Building Champions through Service project aims to register 200 students and alumni from each school to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 8.
University of Alabama winter commencement list
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 18
The University of Alabama awarded 1,862 degrees during winter commencement Saturday on campus. Students listed as candidates to receive degrees include:
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 17
UA recycling center serving as drop-off after Christmas
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
The University of Alabama is offering a place for you to recycle all of your holiday stuff. Folks looking for a place to drop off their pre- and post-Christmas recyclables can use the University of Alabama recycling center at 1115 14th Street. The center will accept recyclables from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2. The facility accepts cardboard, all types of paper, including Christmas wrapping paper and all types of plastic as well as aluminum cans.
Area jobless rates tumble
Decatur Daily – Dec. 17
Unemployment rates declined in November for the Decatur area, and Morgan County dropped below 8 percent for the first time in 35 months. The state rate fell to 8.7 percent from 9.3 percent in October. Data was released Friday by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. “The economy is better, but it’s just coming back very slowly,” said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.
Jobless rate drops to 7 percent
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 17
Tuscaloosa County’s unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in November, while the statewide rate dropped to its lowest level in nearly three years, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. The state rate declined from 9.8 percent in September to 9.3 percent in October and now measures 8.7 percent for November. . . . In Tuscaloosa County, the jobless rate declined for the fifth month in a row, after peaking this year in June at 10 percent. The rate in October was 7.6 percent. The drop resulted from a combination of additional jobs and a decline in the size of the work force, said economist Ahmad Ijaz at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
For Law Schools, a Price to Play the A.B.A.’s Way
New York Times – Dec. 17
The library at the Duncan School of Law may look like nothing more than 4,000 hardbacks in a medium-size room, but it is actually a high-tech experiment in cost containment. Most of its resources are online, and staples like Wright & Miller’s Federal Practice and Procedure — $3,596 for the multivolume set — are not here. . . . Duncan, which opened two years ago, has 187 enrollees, all of whom have wagered that this library — and everything else about the school — is up to scratch. Because before these students can practice in every state, Duncan needs the seal of approval of the American Bar Association, the government-anointed regulator of law schools. . . . “People like to say there are too many lawyers,” says Prof. Andrew Morriss of the University of Alabama School of Law. “There are too many lawyers who charge $300 an hour. There aren’t too many lawyers who will handle a divorce at a reasonable rate, or handle a bankruptcy at a reasonable rate. But there is no way to be that lawyer and service $150,000 worth of debt.”
UA professor offers holiday spending advice
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 16
It’s the last weekend before Christmas. That means shoppers will be packing the stores looking for those Christmas gifts. But experts say this is the time of year, people are most vulnerable to financial crimes. University of Alabama certified financial planner Jan Brakefield says there are some things you can do to protect yourself. Brakefield says you should keep a closer eye on cash and credit cards, because amid the holiday shopping frenzy, it can be very easy for someone to try and steal your personal information.
Commentary: What happened to our Citizen Army?
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 18
Our modern army is quite efficient as an all-volunteer, professional fighting force. But let me suggest that that is not the central, or even the principal, role of the Army in our society and throughout our history. By “Army,” I am writing of all the armed forces, but the Army is the biggest and the oldest of our branches of the service and I’ll just use “army” to mean all. . . . Larry Clayton is a professor of history at the University of Alabama.
Courthouse artists touches up work for Monday’s dedication
ABC 33/40 – Dec. 16
A Hawaiian artist hired to bring U.S. and West Alabama history to the new courthouse in Tuscaloosa spent Friday touching up his spectacular work before Monday’s dedication. Caleb O’Connor (who has worked at UA) is painting 16 murals depicting the area’s past and present time. They include one of the Moundville Indians’ arrival, Tannehill to Union Troops burning the University of Alabama. There’s even a painting for World Wars I & II and Korean Conflict veterans.
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17