UA Student News for Dec. 11, 2012

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THIS WEEK’S DATES TO REMEMBER

Association of Residential Communities toy-donation drive, now through Dec. 12, residence halls
Commencement, Dec. 15, 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Coleman Coliseum
Women’s basketball vs. Wofford, Dec. 17, 11 a.m., Foster Auditorium

HEALTH

Students who have not received a flu shot are encouraged to do so by visiting the Student Health Center for a free vaccination. For more information about the importance of getting the flu vaccine click here.

The Student Health Center provides the following reminders on basic prevention measures for the flu virus:

  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners also are effective.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
  • Clean and sterilize contaminated surfaces.

The Student Health Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 1-4 p.m. For more information, visit the Student Health Center Web site at www.shc.ua.edu.

ATHLETICS

The Alabama Crimson Tide plays the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jan. 7, 2013, in the Discover BCS National Championship. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and will be held in Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Fla. The Florida Department of Transportation encourages travelers heading to the game to use the 511 traveler-information system before hitting the road to stay up to date on crashes, congestion, construction and more. The 511 system provides information on all of Florida’s interstates, toll roads and other major metropolitan roadways, including those near the stadium such as Interstate 75, Interstate 95, Interstate 595 and the Florida Turnpike.

For traffic updates, travelers can call 511 toll free, visit http://www.fl511.com, download the 511 application on iTunes or follow 511 on Twitter.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The University will close several parking areas on the north and south sides of campus at the end of fall semester because of construction projects scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. The following areas will be closed effective Dec. 17: South Rose reserved parking lot, SEC reserved parking lot and street parking on Seventh Avenue between Woods Quad and Houser and Hardaway halls. Also during the holiday break, construction will begin on the Riverside Parking Deck, impacting parking in the Riverside East residential surface lot.

While students who park in these areas will receive additional information about parking options, these changes may impact the parking for others who do not park in one of the directly impacted areas.

For more information on these changes, go to www.bamaparking.ua.edu. To view a map of the lots affected by these changes, visit http://www.wayfinding.ua.edu/.

Parking Services will be moving to the Campus Drive parking deck and will open at that location Dec. 17. The office’s current location at 103 Student Services Center will remain open until Dec. 14.

The Action Card Office will be moving to the Campus Drive parking deck and will open at that location Jan. 2, 2013. The office’s current location at 104 Student Services Center will remain open until Dec. 21.

Burke Dining Hall has closed for renovations and is expected to reopen Jan. 13, 2013. To view alternative on-campus dining options, visit http://www.bamadining.ua.edu.

Any student who plays a band instrument is invited to audition for the UA Campus Band. Visit http://campusband.ua.edu for more details. Seating auditions will be Jan. 14, 2013, 7-8 p.m. in 204 Moody Music Building. Rehearsals will be held every Monday, 7:30-9:30 p.m., beginning Jan. 21.

The New York Times has introduced a new benefit of the UA Collegiate Readership Program: full, complimentary access for the NYT website. With each pass claim, people will have full digital access to The New York Times for 24 hours on their computers and smartphones, as well as five articles each day from the 1923-1986 archives. Archive access will be unlimited for all other years. During the term, access will remain available over weekends and holidays. To register, visit http://www.nytimes.com/passes on any Web-enabled device and follow the instructions.

The Ferguson Center is accepting exhibit applications for Spring Semester 2013. The application can be found at http://ferguson.ua.edu/artgallery.cfm. More information: Kelli Knox-Hall at kknox-hall@sa.ua.edu.

The University Supply Store is offering free UPS ground shipping through Dec. 14 on all online general textbook and general merchandise orders totaling more than $100. Enter the code “SHIP4NOTHING” at checkout to redeem. More information: http://www.universitysupplystore.com.

Students can recycle this semester’s old homework, notebooks, binder-ready books and other old class papers during finals week. Blue recycling bin locations include Bidgood Hall, Mary Burke Hall, Gorgas Library, Tutwiler Hall, University Supply Store, Ferguson Center and Bruno Library. The recycling project is sponsored by the Business Honors Program Sustainability Committee.

Students who have opinions about the area of Tuscaloosa near campus known as The Strip can click here to complete a survey. Students in the Honors Survey: Plan First course have been working with the city of Tuscaloosa on recommended changes to The Strip. More information: Kayla Fields at kdfields13@gmail.com.

Mokter Hossain and Dr. Jeffrey Carver in the department of computer science are conducting research to evaluate the usefulness of the user interface of the new Blackboard Learn user interface at UA. This survey has been approved by UA’s Institutional Review Board. Students who have experience using Blackboard Learn or who have an opinion about the system are being sought by the researchers to participate in an online survey. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Participants must be at least 19 years of age. Click here to access the survey. More information: Mokter Hossain at mokter@crimson.ua.edu.

EVENTS 

Commencement ceremonies will be held Saturday, Dec. 15, at Coleman Coliseum at the following times: 9 a.m., College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, College of Human Environmental Sciences, Capstone College of Nursing and School of Law; 1:30 p.m., College of Commerce and Business Administration, College of Communication and Information Sciences, College of Engineering and School of Social Work.The ceremonies will be available for viewing through live feed at http://www.ua.edu/commencement. The site will be updated for each ceremony. The webcast will not be available until the start of each ceremony.

ENGAGE U, a two-week series designed to create opportunities for student organizations to develop leadership skills, involve students, and promote new initiatives or projects, will occur Jan. 22-Feb. 1, 2013. Visit The Source at http://thesource.ua.edu for more information and to register an organization.

PHILANTHROPY

The Association of Residential Communities will collect small toys and other items in the residence halls through Dec. 12. Small stocking-stuffer toys can be delivered to the front desks of each residential community where a desk assistant is on call. The toys will be stuffed in stockings and donated to a local organization to benefit Tuscaloosa children. Suggested donations include beauty products for tween girls (lip gloss, lip balm, blush, eye shadow); small Lego sets for boys; candy, shampoo, body soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs and hairbrushes. More information: Patrick Rickert at pdrickert@crimson.ua.edu.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Sitters for Service, a volunteer-based program that provides free babysitting for UA student parents, seeks more volunteers for the spring program. Participants are eligible to earn UA community-service hours. For more information and to apply online, click here. Contact Cori Perdue at cperdue@fa.ua.edu with questions.

Always remember to check the Crimson Calendar for all the week’s events.

For athletic events, go to http://www.rolltide.com.

Submit your news at http://uanews.ua.edu/submit-student.