On Alabama campuses: University of Alabama gets Truman scholar
Birmingham News – April 2
A University of Alabama student from Chelsea has landed one of the country’s 54 prestigious Truman scholarships, which gives recipients up to $30,000 for graduate study. Ryan Cole Flamerich is a junior majoring in chemical engineering and political science who wants to work in the Department of Justice.
Al.com – April 2
Crimson White– April 3
Project Rebound UA helps UA students and faculty members cope with life after tornado
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 2
Project Rebound UA came about through FEMA funding. The federal agency trained grad students as “crisis counselors.” They used social media as a way to reach out and they say it’s proving beneficial. April 27, 2011, a day that changed the lives of many across Alabama. The effects are still felt to this day. If you were anywhere on campus or off campus…you were emotionally impacted if not physically impacted. At the University of Alabama, students and faculty who may still be feeling those effects now have a place to turn. Project Rebound UA offers crisis counseling for students and faculty who were impacted by the storms. Dr. Melanie Tucker, the director of Project Rebound UA, says the project is funded by a half-million dollar grant from FEMA. It’s the first time FEMA has funded an outreach effort specifically for a university campus.
Shaquille O’Neal to make video with UA students
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 2
A former NBA star is coming to Tuscaloosa, for a good cause. Shaquille O’Neal will visit the University of Alabama Friday to direct a public service announcement video. O’Neal will work with students from the departments of advertising and public relations and telecommunication and film. Less-Than-You-Think is an award-winning, student-generated campaign designed to address the national issue of college-age binge drinking.
Forza Financial issues first loan
Crimson White – April 3
A Tuscaloosa businesswoman grew closer to re-establishing her hair salon this week after it was destroyed in the April 27 tornadoes. Katrina Rollins left her salon and escaped to safety just minutes before the catastrophic EF-4 tornado destroyed the salon she had owned for more than 25 years…Getting back to the business she loved was proving to be a difficult task, but the process is looking like it will be made easier because Forza Financial stepped in to help last week. Forza Financial, a nonprofit, student-run microlender that partners with the University of Alabama to provide small loans between $500 and $5,000 to Tuscaloosa entrepreneurs, awarded Rollins with a $3,500 loan to assist her in bringing her building up to city code requirements…Shane Shape, dean of the Honors College and advisor to Forza Financial, said that this organization is exactly the type of opportunity he wanted to create for the Tuscaloosa community and students at the University. “While serving the citizens of Tuscaloosa, we are able to provide our students with an invaluable educational experience,” he said. The students at Forza also receive class credit for the work they are doing, Sharpe said. “We are one of a handful of educational institutions that have the ability to do this,” Sharpe said. “I am also very pleased with how the University has facilitated the start-up of this organization. Our administration was really behind the creation of this opportunity.”
American Red Cross West Alabama Chapter honors volunteers at awards ceremony
Al.com – April 2
The American Red Cross West Alabama Chapter honored its volunteers at the McAbee Center Saturday, March 24. The chapter awarded dedicated volunteers and provided food and activities for volunteers and their families at the event. In the awards ceremony, Suzanne Horsley was named Volunteer of the Year, and David Jones received the Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year award…Partnership Award: Dr. Suzanne Horsley’s Public relations classes at the University of Alabama…
Million Dollar Band: Marching for one hundred years and counting
Crimson White – April 3
Alabama’s Million Dollar Band is kicking off its centennial celebration this summer with a trip to Italy. After 100 years of being part of the Crimson Tide tradition, the band will be doing a 10-day tour of Italy beginning May 8. “Italy is certainly one of the art capitals of the world,” said Kenneth Ozzello, the director of the Million Dollar Band. “On top of that, the food is outstanding. Walking through Italy is like walking through a history book.” The wind ensemble and part of the marching band will be participating in the trip and will play concerts in some of the famous concert halls in Italy. Twenty-five thousand people have participated in band over the years, and its history goes all the way back to 1912, when the University was still a military organization.
New SGA president, vice presidents to be sworn in
The Crimson White – March 3
SGA President-elect Matt Calderone will be inaugurated with his four vice presidents and secretary tonight at 5 p.m. at the Gorgas House. The inauguration will be followed by the annual SGA banquet at 6 in Bryant Conference Center. Calderone said he was looking forward to his year in office and that today’s ceremony would be the first step in his plan to return the SGA to its roots of serving students. “Words cannot express how humbled and excited I am to have the opportunity to serve my fellow students,” Calderone said…Calderone’s vice presidents also said they were looking forward to the event and beginning their terms serving the university.
Drive-By Truckers front man to speak at Alabama Thursday
Tuscaloosa News — April 2
Patterson Hood created Drive-By Truckers in Athens, Ga., with buddy Mike Cooley, even though both grew up in the musically ripe Shoals region of northwest Alabama. The band was unsigned when it played a Haunted Hillbilly Hoedown in Pittsburgh, from which a couple of New York-based music critics wrote its first national press, a platform buzz that helped DBT take a pause from touring to cut its ground-breaking “Southern Rock Opera.” The themed double album, released in 2001 to rapturous reviews from Rolling Stone, Rhapsody, No Depression and others, revolved partly around Lynyrd Skynyrd, a band from Florida best known for two songs, one about flying free and another about what a sweet home Alabama might be. In larger part it grew around something Hood calls “the duality of the Southern thing,” being both deeply proud of and sadly abashed by your home, seeing its history for all the good, bad and dusty miles in between. Three of those divergent points come together when Ann Powers and Eric Weisbard interview Hood on stage at the University of Alabama’s Moody Music Building Recital Hall on Thursday night. Hood will bring his guitar and share stories of his life and career in word and song, including some of his many thoughts on “the Southern thing.”
Crawfish boil held to fund medical research
Crimson White – April 3
Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority hosted a charity crawfish boil at the fraternity house Saturday to benefit muscular dystrophy research. The event, which ran from 1 to 3 p.m., raised over $1,200 in a single afternoon. The crawfish boil, an annual event hosted by Zeta Beta Tau, featured live music and crawfish, potatoes and corn-on-the-cob catered into the event by an outside vendor. At last year’s event, Zeta Beta Tau and Alpha Delta Pi successfully raised over $3,700 for the Ronald McDonald House. This year, the sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta decided to team up with the brothers of Zeta Beta Tau to raise money for muscular dystrophy research.
UA professor at UA’s Autism Clinic says families of children with autism need community support
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 2
Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate with fundraising and awareness-raising events. A new government report says the numbers are as high as one in 88 children. University of Alabama professor Dr. Angie Barber says families need support from the community, a collaboration across agencies trying to support families and research. “Thankfully, we have a month now that we can really give this kind of attention to autism and support those families their children who need it.” Different businesses and landmarks around Tuscaloosa were lit up in blue tonight in honor of World Autism Day.