UA Preview

MONDAY, OCT. 1 – SUNDAY, OCT. 7, 2012

BEST BETS

RECORD BREAKING CONFERENCE – UA President Guy Bailey will welcome more than 500 people to the largest gathering of professors, students and community partners from around the world who work together to make their communities better places to live through engagement scholarship – a combination of teaching and research that solves problems through community partnerships. Bailey will give the welcoming remarks on Monday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m. in Sellers Auditorium at the 2012 National Outreach Scholarship Conference, held Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at the Bryant Conference Center.  The record-setting conference will include more than 234 presentations showing the many ways faculty, staff and students help their communities through projects that range from photography to farmers markets to growing bamboo. Not only are UA students presenting, but a large number have volunteered their time to help run the conference that will also have a major economic impact on the West Alabama area. Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, UA vice president for community affairs, 205/348-8376, samory.pruitt@ua.edu, can talk about student and faculty involvement as well as the economic boost.  Contact Pruitt or Linda Hill in media relations, 205/348-8325, lhill@ur.ua.edu and go to a news release at http://uanews.ua.edu/2012/09/ua-to-host-national-conference-on-academics-strong-communities/.

HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY STUDENTS TO SPEND DAY IN COLLEGE LABORATORY – Twenty-four high-school juniors and seniors from two Advanced Placement chemistry classes will spend much of Tuesday, Oct. 2 in a UA chemistry lab conducting experiments. “Few area high schools have fully equipped chemistry labs which means that most area chemistry students do not have much opportunity to carry out experimental work,” says Dr. Martin Bakker, UA associate professor of chemistry, who coordinates the day along with Dr. Tim Snowden, also a UA associate professor of chemistry. The high-school students, taught by Northridge High School’s Marilyn Stephens and Central High School’s Mollie Morris, will conduct four chemistry experiments at UA, including making nylon and the mixing of chemicals to make glow sticks. The day’s event will be in UA’s Science and Engineering Complex, room 1426, with the most visually interesting experiments likely occurring between 9 and 10 a.m. and from 1 to 2 pm. UA graduate students will also assist. For more information, contact Chris Bryant in media relations, 205/348-8323, cbryant@ur.ua.edu. Bakker may be reached at bakker@as.ua.edu, 205/348-9116 or 205-534-2060.

MEMORY SCREENING – Graduate students and faculty in UA’s psychology departmentare offering a no-cost memory screening to members of the West Alabama community ages 55 or older. The screening, which is both a service to the community and part of a UA research study by the clinical geropsychology program, is offered at Capstone Village by appointment. The screening will include a short clinical interview, a brief cognitive assessment and tests for depression and anxiety. The researchers will share results with the participants. The program will use data collected during the screenings for research into cognition among older adults. Contact: Richard LeComte, media relations, 205/348-3782, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu

CURRENT COMMENT

POLITICAL WISDOM – As the presidential debates begin and the campaigns enter their last month, UA professors are available to add their insights and expertise to stories about politics. Follow this link to a list of potential sources on the political campaign. Contact: Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.

SOURCE ON ATTACKS IN LIBYA AND EGYPT – Dr. Emily Ritter, assistant professor of political science, is ready to give expert opinion on the fatal attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya last week. “The attacks on U.S. personnel in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen may seem systematic, but I believe they are likely to stay contained – isolated incidents,” Ritter says. “Armed extremists reacted to a single video created by another extremist with violence that ended in a terrible loss. However, Libya’s government has responded to strongly condemn and isolate the violence in a way that supports human rights in general, and the U.S. has deployed a very small force to keep Americans in Libya safe in a way that shouldn’t create tension with the new government. In all, this has been a terrible, but largely anomalous, set of attacks.” Contact Ritter at emily.ritter@ua.edu or contact Richard LeComte, media relations, at rllecomte@ur.ua.edu or 205/348-3782.

LOOKING AHEAD

MOUNDVILLE NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL – UA Museums’ Moundville Archaeological Park will host its 23^rd Native American Festival from Wednesday, Oct. 10, through Saturday, Oct. 13, at the park. Performers will include flutists Billy Whitefox, Sydney Mitchell, Jimmy Yellowhorse and Charlie Mato-Toyela; the flute-guitar duo Injunuity; singer-songwriter Michael Jacobs; storyteller Gayle Ross; and the Chickasaw Nation Dance Troupe. For details, go to http://moundville.ua.edu/festival/ or contact Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.

SLASH PINE FESTIVAL – The Slash Pine Press’s poetry festival will be Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, in venues at UA and in downtown Tuscaloosa. The events, which feature UA and regional poets, are free and open to the public. The first reading will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, on the Quad in front of Gorgas Library. The second will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at 205 Gorgas Library. The third will be at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13, at the Green Bar 2350 Fourth St. in Tuscaloosa; and the fourth will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 at Mellow Mushroom, 2230 University Blvd. in Tuscaloosa. For details, go to http://slashpinepress.com/.