Entrepreneur event at UA
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Feb. 20
Young entrepreneurs are learning what it takes to succeed in business at the University of Alabama. Starting today, the capstone kicks-off entrepreneurship week. Students are making sales pitches and contacts over the next few days. “More and more people are seeing themselves as potential entrepreneurs. And a week like this gives them an opportunity to find out how get the doorway into it. Between 200 and 300 University of Alabama students are participating.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 20
NOAA brings national water crisis center to Alabama to focus on forecasting, drought, floods, policy, safety
Birmingham News – Feb. 21
The federal government plans to break ground in Tuscaloosa today on a new national center that officials say will improve the forecasting and reporting of drought, floods and other water crises to improve policy and safety. The $18.8 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Water Center on the campus at the University of Alabama is “game-changing,” said Gary Carter, director of hydrologic development at the National Weather Service, an arm of NOAA.
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Feb. 20
Harris Eisenstadt bringing jazz quintet to lead UA’s Sonic Frontiers series
AL.com – Feb. 20
Renowned jazz musician Harris Eisenstadt and his quintet Canada Day will lead offSonic Frontiers, an avant-garde jazz series on the University of Alabamacampus. The first concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at UA’s Ferguson Center Theater. The concert is free and open to the public.
Druid City Arts Festival sets fest lineup, details on music crawl
AL.com – Feb. 21
The University of Alabama’s Creative Campus has announced the music lineup for its third annual Druid City Arts Festival set for March 24 at the Government Plaza in downtown Tuscaloosa. New Orleans soul-rock band The Revivalists will headline the event and will be joined by local and regional acts Nightfires, Electric Moon, Gun Party, Ben Joseph, CBDB and the Alabama Blues Project on the main stage. The free, all-ages festival produced by Creative Campus student interns will feature music, visual artists, storytellers, food and family activities from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Reanae McNeal to perform ‘Jazz Singing Women’ one-woman show at UA
AL.com – Feb. 20
Continuing the Martin Luther King Jr.Realizing the Dream series at the University of Alabama is internationally known performance artist and cultural activist Reanae McNeal. She’ll perform her one-woman show “The Jazz Singing Women” on Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alabama Power Recital Hall at Shelton State Community College. McNeal is an award-winning international performing artist, inspirational speaker, acclaimed vocalist, oral historian, visual artist, storyteller, performing art poet and cultural activist.
Gas price rise not apt to slow down
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 21
When gasoline fell below $3 a gallon near Christmas, a sluggish economy and the typical drop in demand during the winter months indicated the price would at least remain flat. No such luck. . . . Peter Clark, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Alabama who studies gas and oil pricing, said a factor that’s contributing to unprecedented gas prices is the price of crude oil. Crude oil prices have averaged about $100 a barrel in the past few weeks when they should be averaging about $70 a barrel, he said. One of the reasons for this, Clark said, is that the U.S. has become a victim of its own success in its war to lower gas prices. “Part of the reason the prices are up is because there’s less oil being used by us because we’ve cut down on it,” Clark said. “When the price of gasoline went up over the last year to over $3, the country cut back four to five percent on its gasoline consumption.” “The margins on oil refining and marketing are so tight that refineries have had to cut back production or shut down completely,” he said. “This has lowered the supply of gasoline. So we have fewer people producing gasoline and it’s not being produced as much, so the price has gone up. So we’ve been too successful in cutting back.”
Alabama ‘face kid’ spotted at Knicks game in NYC
AL.com – Feb. 20
Lo and behold, Jack Blankenship’s goofy game face is spreading like wildfire, this time in the Big Apple at none other than the basketball mecca, Madison Square Garden. Blankenship’s cardboard cut-out face is now the stuff of legend at the Capstone, and now he’s moving into larger markets like New York City.
Holt students’ photography to be displayed in Nott Hall
Crimson White – Feb. 21
The University of Alabama has joined forces with Holt High School to create a photography exhibit, which is now open in the Nott Hall Gallery. Elliot Knight, an instructor at the University, created the class “Engagement in Education through the Arts” after Jason Worley, Holt’s art teacher, had expressed a desire to expand the arts program. “The Honors College is constantly looking for ways to partner with the local community, which not only enriches our community, but also allows honor students to learn experimentally,” said Sarah Saint, a graduate student majoring in school counseling.
In wake of immigration law, some migrants return to Alabama
USA Today – Feb. 22
When Alabama’s immigration law went into effect in September, it sent shock waves throughout Hispanic communities within the state. Whole families left overnight, parents pulled their children out of school, and city centers became ghost towns as legal and illegal immigrants alike hid from police. In the months since, a number of illegal immigrants who fled have returned. . . . The effects of those rulings are widespread. A University of Alabama study released in January found that the law could cost the state up to $10.8 billion per year — a combination of losing up to 80,000 illegal immigrants who earn and spend money in the state, lost local and state tax revenue, and the costs to enforce and defend the law in court.
Former foster care students defy statistics at UA
Crimson White – Feb. 21
Senior Sean Hudson heard the words, “Foster kids do not stay in college,” over and over again as he was applying to become a student at the University of Alabama. A recent study done by the nsoro Foundation found that only two percent of foster care children go on to earn college degrees. However, two students at UA with a background in foster care, Hudson and senior Caroline James, defy the odds as they both look to graduate in May. Hudson entered foster care at age 14 because he lived in an emotionally and physically abusive home. He lived in a total of three group homes and two foster homes over the next few years. It was not until Hudson met social worker Alice Westery in his second group home that he began to feel like his life had a purpose. “[Westery] motivated me not to give up,” Hudson said. “She has been in my life ever since and to this day she is like a second mother to me.” Hudson graduated with a 3.6 GPA from high school and was the only person in his graduating class of 2009 to earn over $1 million in scholarship and grant offers from more than 10 different public and private schools.
UA parking rewards students
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 20
The University of Alabama is rewarding students who just park where they are supposed to. UA is offering one-hundred dollar scholarships to five students who have no citations or warnings.
Oakwood hosts Festival of Spirituals on Sunday
Huntsville Times – Feb. 21
If you attend the Festival of Spirituals on Feb. 26 at the Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, prepare to receive a powerful history lesson. Oakwood University is hosting the festival at which choirs from nine colleges and universities in three states will share music that marks the suffering blacks endured under slavery but that also provides hope for a better world. . . . In addition to Oakwood’s choir, participating choirs this year will be from Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Miles College, Clark Atlanta University, Stillman College, Talladega College, Tuskegee University and a gospel choir from the University of Alabama.
FBI seeks to use apps to predict terrorist acts
Crimson White – Feb. 21
There seems to be a smart phone application for just about everything, be it storm alerts or GPS navigation. Most recently, however, the United States government began to push for its own terrorism app that would not only track terrorist threats, but also predict foreign uprisings. The idea sprang up in response to the hundreds of intelligence personnel working daily to examine Facebook and Twitter posts in an effort to track foreign occurrences. The apparent intent of this new technology, as outlined in a formal request for information by the FBI, is to mechanize this process. Emily Ritter, assistant professor in the department of political science, has a different perspective on the issue. “Much of what people post on social media or networking sites is publicly available for people to see,” Ritter said. “For the government to monitor those interactions and look for information in them is perfectly legal and [is] not an invasion of privacy. It’s like writing on a billboard and saying people shouldn’t look at it and draw conclusions from it. “Anyone could use Twitter to gather the kind of information for which the government seems to be looking. The trouble arises if the development of technology that makes it easier to monitor information on public sites also makes it easier to do things that are invasions of rights or privacy.”
Documentary explores search for lost grandchildren
Crimson White – Feb. 21 (Print only)
C.A. Tuggle, a professor at the University of North Carolina at CFhapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass C ommuncation, will premiere his documentary film “Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Search for Identity” at 8 p.m. Feb. 23 in Reese Phifer 216.
Politico managing editor to speak on evolution of journalism
Crimson White – Feb. 21 (Print only)
Before becoming the managing editor of Politico.com, an online political publication, Bill Nichols had a long career in print media … Nichols will address journalism students at 5 p.m. today in a speech hosted by the Office of Student Media and the department of jorunalism in Reese Phifer Room 216.
Resonance Show Choir performs
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 20
The University of Alabama Resonance Show Choir showed off tonight in a benefit concert. The concert raised money for Alama Forever, a non-profit organization founded in Birmingham. The program aids in relief efforts for cities affected by the 2011 tornadoes. The choir says this show has been a long time coming resonance teamed up with UA’s men’s a cappella choir, “Subject to Change,” for tonight’s performance.