Engineering professor developing better ankle prosthesis
Science Daily – Nov. 8
Most people probably do not spend much time contemplating the mechanics of walking, likely unaware of their ankle’s crucial role. The human ankle supplies considerably more energy than both the hip and knee, making it a critical part of walking. Unfortunately, the standard below-knee prosthesis does not produce enough power to support an amputee’s walk. Instead, most prostheses only dissipate energy, or store and reuse energy in walking. This requires the amputee’s other joints to work harder, causing the amputee to expend more energy and resulting in an often unnatural and asymmetric gait. Dr. Xiangrong Shen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Alabama, hopes to develop a solution to this problem. After receiving a grant of about $564,000 from The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, he launched a four-year project with researchers from UA, Vanderbilt University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to produce alternative below-knee prosthesis capable of actively powering the ankle joint in use.
Office of Veteran and Military Affairs to hold veterans tailgate party
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Nov. 8
The University of Alabama is hosting a special tailgating party for veterans this Saturday. It’s sponsored by the office of Veteran and Military Affairs. The free pre-game tailgate is for veterans, troops, and their dependents from both schools. The tailgate is part of a week of events on campus in honor of Veteran’s Day. All the tailgating fun kicks off at 11:30 on the northwest corner of Quad.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 8
WAFF-NBC (Huntsville) – Nov. 8
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham)– Nov. 8
WAKA-CBS (Montgomery) – Nov. 8
WRBL-CBS (Columbus, Ga.) – Nov. 8
UA School of Music presents Spectrum Showcase
Birmingham Times – Nov. 9
The University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences School of Music presents the Fall Spectrum Showcase Concert, a “Best of the Best” variety show on Friday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of Moody Music Building on the campus of The University of Alabama. The Fall Spectrum Concert is a fast-paced sampler performance showcasing the groups and styles that make up the University of Alabama School of Music.
George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Misalliance’ opens at UA on Monday
Al.com – Nov. 9
On deck for the University of Alabama’s Theatre and Dance season is a comic tale of love, marriage and relationships by literature Nobel Prize-winner George Bernard Shaw. “Misalliance” is an ironic tale about a satisfied merchant enjoying his life when an aircraft suddenly falls from the sky and crashes in his garden. His daughter, however, is excited by this instance and hopes to find love with one of the aircraft’s passengers. What follows is a hilarious tale of the afternoon. Ed Williams is directing the play and said, according to a release, “The play is George Bernard Shaw at his most hilarious. Shaw’s wit is faster and the play is less argumentative than his other work.” “Misalliance” will run from Nov. 12-17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Marian Gallaway Theatre in Rowand Johnson Hall. The final show is Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
Crimson Couch 5K walk/run set for Sunday
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 9
The third annual Crimson Couch to 5K walk/run event will take place Sunday at the University of Alabama, starting at the outdoor pool complex at the UA Recreation Center. The event, hosted by the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness, is expected to attract more than 800 local adults and children. The Crimson Couch to 5K is designed to raise awareness of the need for people of all ages to enjoy the benefits of regular exercise. The run is open to the public. Registration will start at noon and costs $10 for participants. The event is free for children.
UA researchers help with search for missing person with cadaver dogs
WBBM-AM Newsradio (Chicago) – Nov. 8
It’s the fourth day of a search for the remains of Stacy Peterson. In a wooded area near shore were about a half dozen FBI agents and state police officers aided by a cadaver dog scouring the 400 woods forest preserve…Cadaver dogs with the proper training have been known to detect the presence long after a body was buried. Researchers at the University of Alabama buried a single human bone from someone who had died thirty years earlier a foot underground and it was sniffed out by several state police cadaver dogs.
Local politics changed
Florence Times Daily – Nov. 8
Republicans reached a new level during Tuesday’s general election by electing a party member to the Colbert County Commission and the Lauderdale CountyCommission. For Colbert County, it marked the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican attained elected office. It was the third time that a Republican was elected in Lauderdale County. And in Franklin County, two Republicans were elected to the County Commission, another significant first. The explanations for those victories contain some subtleties, including a prevalence of straight-party balloting by Republicans, but political observers said the over arching difference is the split with local values and the platform of the national Democratic Party. Bill Stewart, retired professor of political science at the University of Alabama, said that split in philosophies has finally worked its way into northwest Alabama, which has been the last white Democratic stronghold in the state. “The social liberalism of the Democratic Party nationally is not going to change; it is going to accelerate,” he said. “Given the cultural values of people in that part of the state, the association with the Republican Party makes sense.”