Obama calls Crimson Tide’s Saban
CNN – Jan. 12
President Obama called Alabama football coach Nick Saban earlier today to congratulate him on the BCS Championship win Monday night. Readout from the White House: Earlier today, President Obama called Coach Nick Saban to congratulate him and the University of Alabama on their BCS Championship and their exceptional 2011-2012 season. The President said that he watched the entire championship game and could not have been more impressed with the Crimson Tide’s performance. The President commended the coach on his outstanding record and said that he looks forward to congratulating the team in person at the White House.
USA Today – Jan. 12
23th annual ‘Realizing the Dream’ concert Saturday
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 13
Although the mind might not leap immediately from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to comedy, it’s an easier segue from the civil rights leader to jazz, the form that allows space for improvisation and interpretation. King’s powerful rhetoric, so influenced by the rhythms and repetitions of gospel, also made breathing room for what was avant-garde, cutting edge. . . . Saturday’s 23rd annual “Realizing the Dream” concert, central to a year-long series of activities, will feature guitarist Eric Essix and The Chris Kozak Jazz Quintet in music inspired by King’s speech in Berlin. Kozak, an associate professor and director of jazz studies in UA’s School of Music, will play bass, joined by Tom Wolfe on guitar, Jonathan Noffsinger on saxophone, Rob Alley on trumpet and flugelhorn and Mark Lanter on drums. With the exception of Birmingham-based Essix, the band all teaches in the jazz studies program.
Expert: Alabama’s economy could grow 3 percent in 2012
Montgomery Advertiser – Jan. 13
The economies of the United States and Alabama will likely see growth in the 2 percent range, and perhaps as high as 3 percent, in 2012. “The next year is going to be improved, but only slightly,” said David Altig, senior vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. Altig was the keynote speaker Thursday at an economic outlook conference organized by The University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. About 175 people attended the conference in downtown Montgomery.
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 13
Gadsden Times – Jan. 13
Can You FreezePruf Your Plants?
National Gardening Association – Jan. 13
It sounds like a gardener’s dream — a spray that will safely make plants hardier. And that is exactly what researchers at the University of Alabama and Miami University in Ohio have developed. As described in a report published recently in the journal HortTechnology, the all-natural foliar spray protects plants both externally and systemically from the cold by enhancing their natural ″anti-freeze″ properties. According to an article on the ScienceDaily® website, the scientists say that treating a plant with the spray, which they have christened FreezePruf, is like moving it 200 miles to the south, for a gain in cold hardiness that is equivalent to about a half a hardiness zone.
UA instructor working on clean cement alternative
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 12
Jialai Wang wants to do more than build better roads and buildings. He wants to build a cleaner world. Wang, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Alabama, has developed a process to convert fly ash into an environmentally friendly substitute for cement. Fly ash is the finest particles of coal ash, a waste byproduct from coal-fired power plants.
Three UA faculty named distinguished fellows in psychiatry
AL.com – Jan. 13
Three University of Alabama professors have been named distinguished fellows, an honorary designation recognizing physicians for dedication to psychiatry, by the American Psychiatric Association. They are: Dr. Thaddeus P. Ulzen, professor and department chair of psychiatry and interim dean; Dr. Lloyda Broomes Williamson, assistant professor of psychiatry; and Dr. Lori Lynn Davis, affiliate professor in psychiatry and chief of research and development at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center.
Population of state up
Andalusia Star News – Jan. 13
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Alabama gained 17,340 residents in the 15 months between April 1, 2010 (Census Day) and July 1, 2011. According to Annette Watters, manager of the State Census Bureau at The University of Alabama, Alabama is the 23rd most populous state in the nation. “We are a mid-sized state, both in territory and in population,” Watters said. The Census Bureau estimates that in July 2011 Alabama had 4.8 million people.