University of Alabama team turning shrimp shells into high-tech bandages
Birmingham News – May 5
A stench fills the air when large buckets of dried shrimp shells get to Tuscaloosa. “They are very smelly,” said Gabriela Gurau, a chemist who is trying to turn that foul-smelling waste into a money-making biomedical product. “We have to wear masks.” Gurau has teamed up with University of Alabama chemistry professor Robin Rogers, chemistry graduate student Leah Block and Whitney Hough to transform shrimp shells into an effective bandage for diabetes patients who develop limb-threatening sores. “Diabetic ulcers result in 100,000 amputations a year,” said Hough, who has her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Alabama, and graduates from the university’s MBA program with a concentration in innovation management today. The bandage quest began after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico… With the help of a $150,000 small business innovation grant from the National Science Foundation, the UA chemists have begun the steps to that goal, working as a biotech start-up at the school’s Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs building. “What we’re trying to do is create jobs for people in Alabama,” Rogers said. “We want to create companies and keep people in Alabama.”
UA grad was driven by shooting
Tuscaloosa News – May 5
Some types of adversity cannot simply be dismissed. Joseph Sewell is familiar with that kind. Paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in the neck, Sewell’s life was changed forever when he was 13. But rather than consign himself to a life on the sidelines, Sewell said he had focus for the first time. He had perspective rarely granted to a 13-year-old boy. “It saved my life,” Sewell said. “The path I was going, I was one of those kids who felt like basketball or football was all I could do. Getting shot made me appreciate education for the first time.” Within a year of the accident, Sewell regained feeling in most of his body, though he still needs assistance to walk. Now 31, he will have earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Alabama — including one that he will receive today — and begins working on a master’s in social work next week. “I had a mother and grandmother who were strong in faith and kept telling me that everything happens for a reason,” he recalled Friday. “You’ll be shocked about what can come back.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – May 5
67 Year-Old UA student graduates
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 4
(Graduation) is particularly special for one University of Alabama student. Arthur Gay, who is almost sixty-seven years old, has been working on his degree since 2003…
UA class of 2012 spring graduates receive degrees, encouragement at Coleman Coliseum
Al.com – May 5
The University of Alabama spring commencement ceremonies continued Saturday morning in Coleman Coliseum on campus. Interim UA President Judy Bonner welcomed friends and family members before awarding degrees. Pastor Duane Dixon, of University of Church of Christ, performed the invocation, while Class of 2012 graduate Camille L. Sonnier sang the National Anthem. There was no featured speaker. Three university-wide commencement ceremonies will have been held by this afternoon, one at 6 p.m. on Friday and one at 9 a.m. today, followed later today by a 1:30 p.m. ceremony. Commencement exercises for students in the colleges of Communication and Information Sciences, Education, Human Environmental Sciences and Nursing were held on Friday. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Work received their degrees at 9 a.m. today, while the colleges of Commerce and Business Administration and Engineering will receive their degrees at 1:30 p.m.
UA adds Friday night graduation ceremony
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – May 4
University of Alabama is graduating so many students…they’re having to divide the ceremonies into two days. Fox 6 news videojournalist Neal Posey talked to some proud parents and graduates to get their reaction. University of Alabama graduates fill Coleman Coliseum on a rare Friday night commencement. “It goes to show education is working, and we all know we need it.” It’s working for Angela Bergin’s son Jeffery Bergin with a doctoral in higher education administration. His degree is one of the nearly 4,000 being handed out this spring.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 5
University of Alabama Spring 2012 Graduates
Tuscaloosa News – May 6 (Print version only)
The University of Alabama awarded some 3,778 degrees during spring commencement Friday and Saturday on campus. With this graduating class, UA will have awarded more than 225,000 degrees since its founding in 1831 as the state’s first public university. Students listed as candidates to receive degrees include…
Search for new UA president begins
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – May 4
The search for a new president of the University of Alabama is underway. The “search committee” met yesterday, for the first time. It’ll accept applications, nominate people, and approach some candidatesapproach some candidates, directly. There’s no deadline to complete the search. The new university president will replace Robert Witt, who became the system “chancellor,” earlier this year.
WAFF-NBC (Huntsville, Ala.) – May 4
MOM STOP: Children learn on path toward independence
Tuscaloosa News – May 6
…A war of words has begun in our household, with a simple phrase that is reiterated so often out of our preschooler’s mouth that sometimes I feel like it’s tattooed across my forehead: “I do it myself!” In the morning, when getting dressed. “I do it myself!” When brushing her hair. “I do it myself!” When packing her lunch, putting on her shoes or even buckling her into the car seat, the most menial chore has become a power struggle. The battle over independence is in full force…Apparently, it’s normal. “It’s absolutely a very important milestone that they learn to be confident and learn their own skills,” said Ansley Gilpin, a developmental psychologist at the University of Alabama. Learning new skills and independence starts in the infant and toddler stages and continues through adolescence, then teens develop autonomy, Gilpin said. Kids learn through play and by gaining new skills, one reason it’s important to encourage them when they try new things…“If you redirect them to something safe they can do, it will help them because a lot of times they want to show you what they can do things on their own,” Gilpin said…“When they want to do it themselves, it has to do with their development of themselves and their self identity,” Gilpin said. “As they move into adolescence, knowing what they are good at doing things is important to their self-esteem and a good buffer to negative peer pressure.”
Ala. girl’s death debated online
Associated Press – May 7
…experts say the hundreds of messages posted online since Savannah Hardin died in February show the legal system has yet to catch up with the social media explosion. They say it highlights the difficulty of making sure witnesses and jurors aren’t swayed by outside influences. Most posts are fairly innocuous, either supporting the women or honoring Savannah’s memory. Others get to the heart of the case, including a few discussing how the child died. Many high-profile cases are discussed by thousands or even millions of people online, though in most cases those people aren’t directly connected to the case … Steven Hobbs, a law professor at the University of Alabama, said attorneys don’t generally have a duty to police comments by relatives and friends of people involved in criminal cases. “However, a lawyer might find it useful to so advise a potential witness as the witness is being prepared for the trial,” he wrote in an email. “Expressions on social media could hurt the case just like anything we say or post on Facebook, etc., could be used against us in the court of law or the court of public opinion.”
Students display projects at annual Tech Blitz
Gadsden Times – May 4
Gadsden City Schools’ Tech Blitz on Friday attracted participants from every school in the system for the first time in the event’s history. The ninth annual Tech Blitz, in which students present technology projects and activities they’ve completed, was held at the University of Alabama Gadsden Center. David Asbury, director of technology and human resources for Gadsden City Schools, said there were 150 participants and 72 projects this year.