MONDAY, DEC. 3 – SUNDAY, DEC. 9, 2012
BEST BETS
UA STUDENT SEEKS CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT IN QATAR –UA graduate student Parker McCrary is in Qatar attending the United Nations’ climate change conference as a student representative of the American Chemical Society. Representatives from more than 190 nations are meeting in Qatar, on the Arabian Peninsula near the Persian Gulf, through Dec. 7 to discuss an international climate change agreement. The role for McCrary, an Alpharetta, Ga. native, is to try to educate and enthuse other young people about climate change and its potential impacts. He was one of four students selected nationally to attend the conference. He may be contacted by e-mail or via Skype. His e-mail is pmccrary1@crimson.ua.edu and his user name, for Skype, is parkermccrary. Background on the students’ roles and McCrary’s blogs from the conference may be accessed via http://www.studentsonclimatechange.com/ and http://www.studentsonclimatechange.com/parkers-blog.html. Dr. Robin Rogers, a UA chemistry professor, encouraged McCrary to apply for the conference slot. Rogers, who is only accessible by e-mail and cell this week, may be reached at rdrogers@as.ua.edu. For more information, or for assistance, contact Chris Bryant in media relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu.
HELPING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE SANDY – The UA chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America is working closely with New York Cares to send assistance to those in New York City affected by Hurricane Sandy through the Tuscaloosa Gives Back campaign. The organization has placed boxes around campus for students, faculty and community members to donate coats from now until Dec. 7. The group also has teamed with Tuscaloosa’s Buffalo Wild Wings for an event to benefit the effort, tonight from 11 a.m. to midnight. For more information, go to http://uanews.ua.edu/2012/11/ua-student-pr-organization-collects-coats-for-hurricane-victims/ or contact Christi Rich, CLRich@crimson.ua.edu, or Nicole Schimmel, NLSchimmel@crimson.ua.edu.For assistance, contact Misty Mathews, communication specialist, mmathews@ua.edu, 205/348-6416
CURRENT COMMENT
THE FISCAL CLIFF – Dr. Stephen Borrelli, UA professor of political science and expert on the U.S. Congress, offers his insights as President Obama and congressional leaders face legislation to prevent the “fiscal cliff” of spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to begin at the end of 2012: “To resolve the so-called ‘fiscal cliff,’ we have essentially the same set of players who brought us the debt limit fiasco last summer: Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, etc. The American people have, perhaps unintentionally, cast their collective ballot for the same divided government we’ve had since January 2011. So if the players haven’t changed, we can only hope the political calculations on all sides have changed because the election is now past, or the economic calculations have changed due to our credit downgrade and the continuing problems in Europe.” Borrelli can be reached at 205/348-3802 or sborrelli63@gmail.com. For assistance, contact Richard LeComte, at 205/348-3782 or rllecomte@advance.ua.edu.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN – With the opening of Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln” starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Dr. George C. Rable, Charles G. Summersell chair in Southern History at UA, is available as a source about the 16th president’s life and the adoption of the 13th Amendment barring slavery. He is the author of “Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!” and “God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War.” Rable is researching the relationship between Lincoln and Union Gen. George B. McClellan. Contact Rable at grable@bama.ua.edu. For assistance, contact Richard LeComte, at 205/348-3782 or rllecomte@advance.ua.edu.
EVENTS
HOLIDAY CHEER – The UA Circle K club will host the annual Luminaries on the Quad event Sunday, Dec. 9, at dusk. Thousands of luminary candles will be arranged on the Quad and there will be caroling by the UA Circle K club to accompany the traditional Denny Chimes’ carols. Student organizations and local businesses are asked to support the special event with donations of time and money. Proceeds will benefit the One Spark Campaign for Jean Dean Reading is Fundamental, a program that works with the Kiwanis Foundation to provide books in the homes of at-risk children. Contact: Forrest Ford, UA Circle K president, 205/393-5596, circlek@bama.ua.edu.
PERMANENT COLLECTION – UA’s Sarah Moody Gallery of Art presents “Straddled: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” which will open with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6. The show runs through Jan. 18, 2013. ‘Straddled’ is a survey of works selected and installed so as to provoke a sense of visual unity. Artists represented in the exhibition include Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth Murray, Kara Walker, Chuck Close and Walker Evans. The gallery will feature more than 50 works of art belonging to its collection of more than 800 pieces. The gallery is at 103 Garland Hall on Woods Quad. Admission is free. Funding support for the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art comes from the department of art and art history and The College of Arts and Sciences. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays when the University is open. The gallery will close Dec. 21 and reopen Jan. 3. Contact the gallery at 205/348-1891 or go to http://art.ua.edu/site/galleries/sarah-moody-gallery-of-art/.
LOOKING AHEAD
COMMENCEMENT – The University of Alabama will hold its winter commencement ceremony Dec. 15 at Coleman Coliseum. The first of two ceremonies will begin at 9 a.m., while the second will start at 1:30 p.m. Commencement will be streamed live at http://www.ua.edu/commencement. For assistance, contact David Miller, communication specialist, at dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu or 205/348-0825.