Professor to talk Andrew Jackson
Crimson White – Nov. 7
A University of Alabama professor will be speaking tonight about his new book on the Jacksonian era. Joshua Rothman, a UA associate professor of history and the director of Summersell Center for the Study of the South, will be discussing his book “Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson” in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall Wednesday night. The book, which was published by the University of Georgia Press, includes a series of stories about a slave insurrection scare in Mississippi, information on a series of riots against professional gamblers and a story about a man who desperately wants to make a name for himself but constantly runs into failure. Rothman hopes the lecture and Q & A will generate an interest to read more about the elements of the story. “I’d want them to come away having an understanding that the world and values of slavery and the cotton South were not so distant and different from the world and values of market capitalism in the United States before the Civil War,” Rothman said.
UA helps start Tuscaloosa’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Academy
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Nov. 6
Life should be full of dreams. Those dreams should start when we are children. Of course, dreams often come after we see what other people have accomplished. That’s one reason why a local organization is determined to help grow young entrepreneurs…Tuscaloosa’s “Young Entrepreneurs Academy.”…The program is the result of a partnership between the University of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce. Local business owners were recruited to teach classes and pass on their knowledge to young entrepreneur hopefuls.
Students donate meals from their plans to needy
Crimson White – Nov. 7
The University of Alabama Student Government Association, Bama Dining and UA Transportation Services have teamed up to provide Thanksgiving meals to needy children in Tuscaloosa. The campaign, Meaningful Meals, will reach out to students in Oakdale Elementary School’s after-school tutoring program. The SGA will transport 70 children and their mentors to campus on Nov. 26 for dinner and an interactive learning project… The event was made possible by the donation of meals from UA students’ own meal plans. Students can still donate on the MyBama home page by clicking the “Meaningful Meals” link. “I hope to help show that there are other ways to help kids in our local community than having to stretch your budget thin by buying toys,” said Keith Edwards, director of communications for Meaningful Meals. “We can have just as much of an impact on a child by just donating a meal — something we take for granted but overlook the importance of to those in need. I also hope that programs such as Meaningful Meals will show the Tuscaloosa community that the students of this university, not just the administration, care about this town and its residents.”
Fed study says Alabama economy one of worst
Crimson White – Nov. 7
Alabama has the worst economy in the Southeast, according to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia…The study also suggests Alabama has the fourth worst economy in the United States, only ahead of Alaska, Hawaii and Michigan…Ahmad Ijaz, an economist with the Center for Business and Economic Research, agrees the study does not accurately portray the economy in Alabama. “This survey really does not give you the whole picture of the state’s economy. There has been an enormous change in the structure of the state’s economy from 1992 to present,” Ijaz said. “We have had one of the fastest growing automotive industry in the nation beginning in 1993. We now have the capacity to manufacture almost 800,000 to 900,000 vehicles a year.” Ijaz also believes the Federal Reserve’s unemployment numbers for Alabama are inaccurate, and the state has made strides following the recession in 2008. “Since the beginning of the recession in early 2008, Alabama has faced challenges similar to other states, i.e. lack of income growth and sluggish job growth, but if you look at our unemployment rate compared to the rest of the nation, it is nowhere near the bottom,” Ijaz said.
No matter who wins, only leadership will restore U.S.
Fayetteville (Ga.) Citizen – Nov. 6
Imagine if this nation could function consistently at the level of unity shown after tragic events…There is no “us versus them” when tornadoes, floods or hurricanes strike our communities. As recently as the early 1900s, mutual aid societies and fraternal organizations provided “virtually every major service of the modern welfare state including orphanages, hospitals, job exchanges, homes for the elderly and scholarship programs,” according to University of Alabama professor David T. Beito.
Creative Campus to host ‘Tidal Flow’ to celebrate hip-hop culture
Crimson White – Nov. 6
Hip-hop is not dead. And Wednesday night, Creative Campus hopes to prove it with their new event, Tidal Flow. “This is a showcase that we are doing to seek out new, unseen, unheard talent on campus,” Philine Gromotka, a sophomore majoring in art, said. Gromotka is a part of the Creative Campus team in charge of Tidal Flow. Tidal Flow was originally supposed to be a rap-based event, but as the team came together, they decided to expand it to encompass all aspects of hip-hop culture. Art, dance, spoken word and other various aspects of the culture will all be present at the event…The Tidal Flow pre-party will begin at 1 p.m. on the Presidential Plaza beside the ten Hoor parking deck. It is expected to last until 4:30 p.m. For the pre-party, Creative Campus has enlisted the help of a student aerosol artist, who will be engaging with participants to create an interactive aerosol art piece. After completion, the piece will be relocated to Allen Bales Theatre, where it will serve as the backdrop for the performances later that evening.
Artist, Black Belt Bamboost to open new park
Crimson White – Nov. 7
Artist and UA graduate student Claire Lewis Evans is partnering with Black Belt Bamboost to open a bamboo park called “Signs of Life,” adjacent to Kentuck Park in Northport. The opening celebration is set for Sunday, Nov. 11 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m…. “Signs of Life” emerged after an extended period of drawing without reserve or judgment that began shortly after mounting a solo exhibit of cast metal and paper sculptures in the Kentuck Gallery in Northport. The beginnings of this project came about when Lewis Evans began paying attention to doodles that she makes on various scraps of paper, and she said this helped her explore her artistic impulses and led to her deciding she needed to begin making art with her hands again. After finishing a show with Kentuck in January, Lewis Evans said she began to think about what was next and was eventually approached by Black Belt Bamboost to contribute a sculpture to the garden, which she said snowballed into much more than just one sculpture.