U. of Alabama transit agency celebrates 5 years
Metro Magazine – Jan. 30
In 2007, the University of Alabama launched its Crimson Ride transit service with 17 full-size Nova buses to help fulfill its goals to grow its population and become more pedestrian friendly. “At the time, the student population was a little under 20,000 students, and since that time, the population is now more than 31,000, so you can see the dramatic increase in population,” explained Ralph Clayton, assistant director of transportation services. “To grow the campus like that, we had to get the infrastructure in place, and part of that was adding the transit system to bring the students to campus.” Today, the transit service boasts 23 vehicles and provides more than two million rides a year. “One thing that changed tremendously after we got the transit system on campus was traffic reduction,” explained Ronnie Robertson, director of transportation services.
New engineering complex leads campus renovations
Crimson White – Jan. 31
A new science and engineering building was completed and ready for engineering students when they returned to campus after winter break, Assistant Vice President for Construction Tim Leopard said. “The new building is an approximately 200,000 square foot science and engineering research center,” Leopard said. “It contains two large lecture demonstration halls, several classrooms and a lot of lab space for engineers. One of the primary elements is a large combustion lab.”
The Tide is high: University of Alabama Printing Services uses its offset printing power to help the Crimson Tide achieve record enrollment.
In-Plant Graphics – January 2012
When a university in-plant experiences a growth surge, much of the credit goes to the person at the very top of the educational food chain. In the case of the University of Alabama, that honor belongs to President Dr. Robert Witt . When Dr. Witt took the Crimson Tide’s reins in 2003, enrollment stood at 19,000. His aggressive growth initiative has resulted in a nearly 100 percent enrollment increase…In an age of multi-channel marketing, it was the humble yet time-tested success of printed recruiting materials that played a significant role in the population surge at Tuscaloosa, Ala.’s legendary 180-year-old institution. Yes, Bama is back, and University of Alabama Printing Services has played no small role in the recruitment renaissance. The in-plant, which boasts 31 full-time workers and 20 part-time students in its employ, has facilitated the student surge by producing recruiting brochures and mailers (both mass and direct mail) for the university’s 13 schools….
Educators excited for digital tablet textbooks
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 31
Since Apple announced its move into the digital textbook market a couple of weeks ago, educators have been buzzing about what that could mean for schools and universities. During the announcement, Apple released iBooks 2, an updated version of its e-reader app for iPhone and iPad, which is compatible with an enhanced form of digital textbook. The textbooks can be bought on iBooks for as little as $14.99. . . . “I think it’s going to revolutionize the whole of education and certainly the way that we consume media through textbooks,” said April Coleman, a former teacher of gifted students with the Tuscaloosa County School System working on a doctorate in gifted education at UA. . . . Educators at UA are seeing more and more iPads pop up around campus. With the prospect of a one-time fee for the base model iPad at $500 and textbooks possibly being released between $15 and $50, Apple’s initiative is already attractive to higher education, even if the company is focusing on K-12. According to the College Board, the nonprofit organization that created the SAT and advanced placement courses, the national average cost for textbooks for the 2010-11 school year was $1,137. In a September interview with The Tuscaloosa News, UA College of Arts and Sciences Dean Bob Olin called the transition from printed textbooks to digital textbooks a train “already going down the tracks.” Last week, Olin said Apple’s entry into digital textbooks has changed that pace. “It’s moving at 800 miles an hour and Apple’s announcement has sped up the train even more,” he said Friday morning.
Eroding islands, disappearing glaciers, lots of greenhouse gases
Sit News (Ketchican, Alaska) – Jan. 31
The latest meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December 2011 featured hundreds of talks about Earth science, some of those relating to Alaska (and some of those comprehensible to a non-scientist). Here are a few items from the notebook I carried around the Moscone Center: An Aleutian Island morphs at high speed: Chris Waythomas of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage spoke of how Kasatochi Island in the Aleutians has changed in diameter since its explosive 2008 eruption. “Erosion by wave action has eaten away the coast at about (1,000 feet) per year. This may be a world record,” he said. That’s about three feet of shoreline disappearing every day. . . . Double the midges on northern river: A second generation of midges hatched last summer along a stretch of the Kuparik River. Normally, only one generation per summer of the small flies emerges from that water, said Michael Kendrick (graduate research assistant at) the University of Alabama. He said scientists once added nutrients to that section of river during a study, but he’s not sure if that, a longer ice-free season, or both made the midges spawn twice as many generations as before.
Tornado mindset takes hold in Alabama
Birmingham News – Jan. 29
In Alabama, tornadoes never go out of season. Last week’s storms that killed two people, flattened communities and pounded a school offered a stark reminder of that fact. While tornadoes are most common in March and April, they can strike at any time of year, and experts say Alabamians can’t afford to wait until spring to be ready. . . . John van de Lindt, a civil engineering professor at the University of Alabama, touts the value of hurricane clips, which more effectively attach roofs to walls, and anchor bolts, which help secure walls to foundations. Both are relatively cheap features that might not save a house in an EF-4 or EF-5 tornado, but could keep it intact in lesser storms, which are far more common. The clips and bolts are easily incorporated into a house during construction, and van de Lindt said he hopes storm victims use them to build back stronger. “Most people think of a nice house, and they think of a granite countertop,” he said. “These are things they could do for half the cost of a large granite countertop.”
Ruins of ancient city featured in Moundville Park
Crimson White – Jan. 31
Just over 15 miles from the University of Alabama campus on the banks of the Black Warrior River, Moundville was once a cosmopolitan city with at least 3,000 Native American inhabitants living within the one-mile fortified wall and an additional 10,000 settled in the outlying land. “When you’re looking at the mounds, you’re really looking at the ruins of an ancient city,” Bill Bomar, director of the park, said. Called “The Big Apple of the 14th century” by National Geographic, Moundville Archeological Park is the second largest mound site in the U.S. and home to 26 mounds of varying sizes. Although thought to be burial mounds by many, Jeremy Davis, a doctoral student who studies the site, said the mounds of Moundville were architectural features built to elevate the home sites for elite people in the village.
UA’s love of snakes could help people with heart failure
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 30
A research project at the University of Alabama could lead to help for those living with congenital heart failure. Snakes might make your heart race but Dr. Stephen Secor with the University of Alabama’s department of biological sciences says there’s more to these animals than meets the eye. “The python is really very unique in that it experiences a very fast and very rapid growth of its heart, and that just comes with eating a meal. What we see in human health growth hypertrophy usually takes months, years to occur.”
UA students take part in campus movie fest
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 30
University of Alabama students are getting the chance to make it big in Hollywood. To have your film on the big screen in front of industry insiders, industry luminaries, and celebrities that’s great…it’s a great opportunity for students…campus movie fest…The grand finale is Feb. 2 at the Ferguson center at 7 p.m.
Veterans Center on pace for completion by summer
Crimson White – Jan. 31 (Print version only)
One of the University of Alabama’s jack-of-all-trade buildings, B.B. Comer Hall, will be adding yet another hat to its rack full of responsibilities with construction of a new Veterans Center in the building’s basement project for completion by the beginning of the summer semester. We actually started demolition in November, said David Blair, director of Veteran and Military Affairs. … Blair said more than 850 veterans and their dependents of veterans are registered members of the University community.