University of Alabama students beat foster care odds
CNN – Jan. 28
For the more than half a million kids in foster care in the United States, traumatic childhoods are often commonplace. With their home situations constantly changing, students in foster care frequently miss school, and academic growth can be handicapped. Two percent of foster care children go on to earn college degrees, according to the Atlanta-based nsoro Foundation . But two University of Alabama seniors who faced similar difficult paths in the foster care system have defied the odds to become high achievers on the Tuscaloosa, Ala., campus. Caroline James, 23, and Sean Hudson, 22, entered foster care at age 11. They each describe stories of serious abuse in the homes of their biological families.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 28
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Jan. 28
KPXJ-CW (Shreveport, La.) – Jan. 28
WBRZ-ABC (Baton Rouge, La.) – Jan. 28
WAKA-CBS (Montgomery) – Jan. 28
University of Alabama professor uses snakes to find keys to heart failure
Birmingham News – Jan. 30
University of Alabama biologist Stephen Secor fell in love with snakes in college. He then spent his graduate years chasing coachwhip snakes and venomous sidewinders across the Mojave Desert, learning what and when they ate. And for the past 15 years, Secor has studied the Burmese python — a docile ambush-feeder that may eat only every other month or even just once a year in the wild. The Burmese python, it turns out, is a prime model for intense physiological changes after breaking its long fast, as Secor detailed in a 1998 Nature cover story. Within 48 to 72 hours after swallowing its prey, pythons show intense increases in metabolism — up to 44-fold — and rapid growth of organs, including a 40 percent increase in its heart size. That change in heart size is the focus of recent research at the universities of Alabama and Colorado — and payoff from the research may lead toward treatment for human congestive heart failure.
UA professor a finalist in national photo contest
Anniston Star – Jan. 28
With your help, a vacation photo taken two years ago in Washington State could become the face of the national park system for 2012. University of Alabama assistant professor Eve Pentecost said her photo from the Hoh Rain Forest was one of 15,000 nature photos submitted in a national contest. It has been selected among the top 100 finalists. The “Share the Experience” photo contest is conducted by the National Park Foundation.
Honor societies offer different opportunities to lead
Crimson White – Jan. 30
Honorary societies can be a great way to get involved on campus, but with the thousands of other opportunities available, students are left wondering if there’s a benefit. There are 35 honor societies on campus, and each offers students something other than just a good-looking résumé topper. Most are founded on the principles of leadership and service and provide students a way to gain leadership experience while giving back to the surrounding Tuscaloosa community. A.J. Collins, vice president of the Coordinating Council of Honor Societies, said that the organizations are all about bringing different leaders together. “They focus on recognizing the leaders on campus and giving them a chance to network and collaborate,” Collins said. “It’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people.”
Students honor ‘Mockingbird’
Crimson White – Jan. 30
One of the Honors College’s traditions celebrated its 11th year Friday, when 45 high school students traveled to Tuscaloosa for a luncheon honoring the winners of the “To Kill a Mockingbird” essay contest. Melissa Lawrence, a student at Hewitt-Trussville High School, won the overall contest and was awarded $500. Her high school was also given $500. “I guess it’s just really an honor that they would choose my essay,” Lawrence said. “I know I really worked hard on the essay because it’s such an amazing book, and I was just honored to be able to write about Harper Lee, an amazing author. It’s great to win a contest based on a book that powerful.” Pulitzer Prize-winning UA professor Rick Bragg was the keynote speaker for the event and spoke to the essayists about what it means to be a writer, especially in the South.
College News
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 30
Sarah M. Barry, assistant professor of dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance, was chosen to be a participant at the 2012 San Francisco Dance Film Festival. The winning submission was Barry’s “There, Again”, a screen dance based on a live dance theater work of the same name that premiered at Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre’s fall 2010 concert. . . . UA instructor of percussion Beth Gottlieb will perform with actor Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band from Jan. 26 through today.
AEA chief hires Winton Blount III
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 28
The new head of the traditionally Democratic-leaning Alabama Education Association has hired former Republican Party chairman and gubernatorial candidate Winton Blount III in an advisory capacity. AEA Executive Secretary Henry Mabry III said Wednesday that Blount will not be lobbying for the AEA. “He’s giving me advice,” Mabry said. “He’s not an AEA employee.” . . . William Stewart, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alabama, said Mabry’s hiring of Blount is a recognition that the AEA needs to reach out to pro-business and potentially anti-AEA Republicans who now control education’s purse strings. “They’re trying to build bridges to the Republican community and the business community because are there to affect the teaching community,” Stewart said. “It shows the AEA recognizes it has to cater more to Republicans and the Republican majority.”
Bealltain arch intrigues audience through texture
Crimson White – Jan. 30
“Have you seen it up close?” asked Rachel Dobson, communications specialist and visual resources curator for the College of Arts and Sciences, as she moved towards her Clark Hall office window, focusing her attention out and down. “The surface isn’t smooth.” “It” is “Pent/La Buidhe Bealltain,” the arch sculpture standing outside of the ROTC and Arts and Sciences Programs Building. And it is anything but smooth. The 11 thoroughly weathered cast iron and cast bronze blocks stacked to form the parabola appear to be covered with fissures, patches and patterns. The etched intersecting fibers on the sculpture’s tarnished bronze leg suggest stitched-up scars in durable blue-green skin. The University purchased the arch, created by George Beasley, during the 1991 Alabama Biennial exhibition.
Students busy with short films
Crimson White – Jan. 30
Over the past week, it has been hard to walk around campus without seeing a video camera, as students who are participating in Campus MovieFest have been busy preparing their films for competition. Students have been walking on the Quad, going up and down steps of buildings and even stopping traffic with cones to get the shots they want. More than 100 teams signed up this year, topping last year’s turn out.
UA law students plant trees
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 28
Today, a group of lawyers from the University of Alabama law school teamed up with a firm in Birmingham. They got their hands a little dirty and planted trees in the devastated area of Rosedale Park.
Paul R. Jones Art Collection on display in downtown Tuscaloosa
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 28
Paul R. Jones donated 1,700 of his collection to the university and inspired curators to create this gallery. They want this exhibit to encourage the community to explore its own identity, just as Jones did through his art. The curators say they chose to put the gallery in downtown Tuscaloosa to make art accessible to more people than just students.
T-Town Throwdown
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 30
Harding University Apocalypse’s Tyler Samuel, center, throws a Frisbee past University of Alabama Yellow Hammers’s Brian Moore, right, during the first round of the T-Town Throwdown Ultimate Frisbee Tournament at the UA Rec Center Field Complex on Sunday. Yellow Hammer, who was hosting its first USA Sanctioned College Ultimate Frisbee Tournament, lost 15-13. (Photo)
AL.com (photo gallery) – Jan. 28
Business buzz
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 29
Suzanne Dowling, a 30-year public relations and marketing professional, was recently named executive director of Arts ‘n Autism, an after school program and summer day camp for children and young adults with autism in the West Alabama area. Dowling co-founded Arts ‘n Autism in 2004 with Jan Sikes. She served seven years on the Arts ‘n Autism board, six as board president. In that time, she oversaw all fundraising and public relations for the organization. Dowling comes to Arts ‘n Autism from the University of Alabama, where she was a communication specialist in the Office of University Relations.