Report ranks Alabama law school 21st in U.S.
Tuscaloosa News – March 14
A national magazine’s ratings of the best graduate schools include the University of Alabama’s law school, the library and information studies school and the master of business administration program. U.S. News and World Report’s 2014 edition ranks UA’s School of Law 21st in the nation. The UA School of Library and Information Studies, which is part of the College of Communication and Information Sciences, ranked 18th. The master of business administration program, which is part of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, is rated 58th best among all MBA programs by the magazine. “We are always pleased when our programs are recognized nationally,” Judy Bonner, UA’s president, said in a news release. “These graduate and professional programs offer an excellent education and a great value to our students.” UA’s law school ranked in the magazine’s top 25 for the first time, rising from 29th in the last listing. The last time U.S. News ranked library and information studies programs, UA’s ranked 22nd. “The terrific work of our faculty members through strong research and teaching has significantly enhanced the profile of SLIS in the eyes of our sister schools across the U.S.,” said Heidi Julien, director of the School of Library and Information Studies.
Mary Wills elected SGA secretary in only contested UA executive race
Al.com – March 13
Mary Wills defeated Emily Passwaters for the office of executive secretary in the only race for executive office in the University of Alabama Student Government Association elections on Tuesday, The Crimson White tweeted. Jimmy Taylor, the current SGA vice president of external affairs, ran unopposed for SGA president. Will Pylant, current SGA vice president of student affairs, ran unopposed for executive vice president. Allison Montgomery, current SGA assistant chief of staff, ran unopposed for vice president of academic affairs. Hamilton Bloom, current chair of the student affairs committee in the SGA senate, ran unopposed for vice president for student affairs. Parker Graham, current senator for the college of engineering and secretary of the Senate, ran unopposed for vice president for external affairs. Chris Willis ran unopposed for vice president of financial affairs.
Tuscaloosa News – March 13
UA aerospace engineering department names new head
Crimson White – March 14
John Baker developed an interest for aerospace and mechanical engineering the day his dad sat him down in front of the television to watch people walk on the moon. “It was the idea of exploring, going places that no one has ever been before, doing things never done before [that] seemed to be a great challenge,” he said. Now Baker, a Kentucky native, will be charting new territory of his own. He was recently named the new head of the department of aerospace engineering and mechanics in The University of Alabama’s College of Engineering. Baker, who received the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award in 2007, has been teaching engineering at the University since 2001. He teaches undergraduate and graduate-level thermodynamics courses. He also teaches elective and heat transfer courses in rocket propulsion and other space exploration-related topics.
Actor from ‘The Help,’ ‘Elementary’ to speak to UA Film students
Al.com – March 13
University of Alabama telecommunication and film students are receiving a visit from actor Brian Kerwin on March 14. Kerwin has appeared the Oscar-nominated 2011 hit “The Help” as well as “Elementary,” and will be speaking to the students from 3:30-4:45 p.m. about what it’s like to work with producers from an actor’s standpoint. The actor is a guest of UA adjunct instructor and Hollywood producer AD Oppenheim. Opphenheim teaches most of his classes at UA via Skype but will also be present for the talk. “We’re very excited to have Brian Kerwin on campus and very excited to have alumni like AD Oppenheim who can bring LA to UA,” said Glenda Cantrell Williams, chair of the TCF department, in a recent release. “The TCF department is preparing our students for careers in the entertainment industry, and guests of Brian’s caliber are a tremendous learning experience and networking opportunity for our majors.”
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – March 13
2-D ideas become 3-D objects
Crimson White – March 14
In a small room on the first floor of Hardaway Hall, ideas go from 2-D designs on computer screens to functioning 3-D objects in a matter of hours. The new College of Engineering 3-D printing lab has five 3-D printers capable of printing anything from models of bugs to working monkey wrenches. “I think 3-D printing is going to be everywhere in the future,” Andrew Graettinger, associate professor in the college of engineering, said. “It’s probably going to be as common as a printer in your office or maybe in your house.” The College of Engineering 3-D printing lab opened in January. The printers create objects designed using 3-D design software programs like AutoCAD, SolidWorks and Google Sketchup. The printers take designs from these programs and slice it from the bottom to the top to figure out what each layer will look like. Then, they lay down each layer of plastic and build from the bottom up…Graettinger said the idea for the 3-D lab came when the Charles Karr, dean of the College of Engineering, showed interest in bringing the technology to campus this past summer.
UA offers closer view of Pan-STARRS comet at Moundville Archaeological Park Friday
Al.com – March 13
This month’s sky viewing event hosted by the University of Alabama’s department of physics and astronomy will give the public the opportunity to get a closer look at a comet. Comet 2011 L4, named Pan-STARRS after the telescope in Hawaii that discovered it, can be seen with the naked eye low on the western horizon about 15 minutes after twilight — pending weather conditions — until it fades later this month. UA’s telescopes will be available for a public sky viewing beginning at 7:30 p.m. at UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park, which is located off Alabama Highway 69 in Moundville. William Keel, professor of astronomy, will host the viewing on the deck by the park’s conference center.
UA to screen 1963 documentary ‘Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment’ tonight
Al.com – March 14
As as a start to the University of Alabama’s 2013 Communication and Information Sciences Diversity Symposium and to honor the 50th anniversary of integration at UA, there will be a 1963 documentary screening tonight. “Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment” is a Robert Drew documentary that centers around the UA integration dilemma in June 1963. The documentary shows what it was like leading up to the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” that was done by then-Alabama Gov. George Wallace. Filmmaker Robert Drew was given access to JFK’s White House Oval Office, Robert F. Kennedy’s and George Wallace’s houses. The film aired on ABC after the incident and in 2011 it was added to the National Film Library in the Library of Congress. Following the one-hour film, faculty of the College of Communication and Information Sciences and UA Department of History will be on hand for a short discussion. The film begins at 7 p.m. in Room 205 of Gorgas Library. For more information, contact George Daniels at (205) 348-8618.
Visiting writers program to host Roxane Gay, Sandi Wisenberg
Crimson White – March 14
Each year, The University of Alabama English department and the Creative Writing program partner with the College of Arts and Sciences to bring the Bankhead Visiting Writers Series to Tuscaloosa. The series, made possible by the funding of a grant via the Bankhead Foundation, features various writers throughout the school year…The program is hosted at the Bama Theatre annually, although they are not involved in the organization of the event…The next event in the series will take place Thursday and feature writers Roxane Gay and Sandi Wisenberg. Gay is an associate professor of English at Eastern Illinois University. Her works include “Ayiti,” a blend of fiction, non-fiction and poetry combined together to illustrate the Haitian experience. Wisenberg is an author based out of Chicago, Ill. Her works include “Holocaust Girls” and “The Sweetheart Is In,” as well as “The Adventures of Cancer Bitch,” a narrative of her own experience with breast cancer as based on her blog for The Huffington Post.
Alabama Supreme Court overturns judge’s injunction of school flexibility bill
Crimson White – March 14
The all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court decided Wednesday afternoon against the restraining order a Democrat Montgomery Circuit Judge ordered to prevent Gov. Robert Bentley from signing the Alabama Accountability Act…the bill, which was passed almost two weeks ago, could find its way to Bentley’s desk as early as Thursday morning when the House convenes. The bill started as an eight-page school flexibility bill that would allow school systems to seek waivers from some state policies, such as tenure for teachers and administrators. However, different versions were passed in the House and Senate, which led to debate among lawmakers and residents throughout Alabama. “At some point during the meetings of the conference committee, some of the Republicans called for a recess,” Joseph Smith, a professor in the department of political science, said. “When they came back from the recess, they had a new bill that was much longer and much different. Part of it included tax credits for people whose children are assigned to failing schools, and it allowed tax credits if those parents sent their children to private schools.” The surprise bill was quickly passed in both chambers minutes after being released by the committee…While the authors and supporters argue it allows students to escape failing schools, opponents claim the bill will only drive public schools into further failure and increase the economic and racial disparity in Alabama’s education system. “This is essentially voucher and charter school legislation rolled into one. Despite the explicit claim in the bill is not about charter schools, it is very much the language of charters,” John Petrovic, a professor of educational foundations and policy studies in the college of education, said. “Such choice schemes are intended to help all students get out of ‘failing’ schools. But, the best that can be said about both of these choice schemes is that the research is mixed. That said, the preponderance of the evidence from such experiments around the world indicates one consistent, predictable effect: increased stratification along socioeconomic and racial lines. This negative effect is typically accompanied by little to no gain in terms of academic achievement.”
Should the retirement age be raised?
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – March 12
Could raising the eligibility age for full social security benefits solve its long-term solvency problems? But for some segments of the population it could create more problems. Tonight, Leigh Garner explains how this decision could make retirement an exclusive and short-lived perk…Now that life expectancy has gone and up we’re living longer, what would it hurt to wait a couple more years before you start collecting? Well experts think there are some people that it could hurt, a lot. (Dr. Lucinda Roff, UA dean of social work) “That means that there are going to be more people who won’t make it to get benefits at all, and those people will be disproportionately lower income people.”
It really socks it to retirees and small businesses
Anchorage Daily News – March 14
Taxing financial transactions is the latest bad idea to capture politicians’ attention in Europe and the United States. Originally proposed as a means of preventing volatility in financial markets, the tax is now popular among politicians in the United States and Europe for being a populist slap at bankers and financial firms as well as the vast revenue they predict such a tax would generate. Despite its superficial attractiveness, such a tax would be a bad idea for four reasons: First, although it appears on the surface that the tax would fall on despised Wall Street firms, in fact it would largely fall on individuals, including the middle class. In particular, such a tax would cut returns to pension funds, reducing income to current and future retirees. (Andrew Morriss, professor of business at the University of Alabama. Readers may write him at UA Law, 101 Paul W. Bryant Drive East, Tuscaloosa, Ala. 35487; email: amorriss@law.ua.edu.)
Documentary follows 3-year-old with mitochondrial disease
ABC 2 (Nashville, Tenn.) – March 13
A Brentwood family hopes to bring awareness to a relatively unknown condition on the silver screen. Michael and Ellen Hollis have a rambunctious 3-year-old named Hunt. Hunt, however, isn’t like most 3-year-olds. He has mitochondrial disease…Commonly referred to as “mito,” the disease primarily affects children and can cause several physical and developmental problems. Hunt was diagnosed with “mito” in February 2011… Shortly after diagnosis, the Hollis family was approached by University of Alabama film student Shelby Hadden. Hadden wanted to spotlight Hunt and his health. “If we could do this documentary and raise awareness for mitochondrial disease and educate people about the disease, then it was definitely something we wanted to do,” Ellen said. Hadden spent weeks with the Hunt family, chronicling everything. “She went to every therapy appointment, doctors visit. She even spent the night with us one night,” Ellen recalled. “I finished with about 37 hours of footage,” Hadden said. The footage became a 36 minute documentary film titled “Not a Statistic.”
New group on campus encourages random acts of kindness
Crimson White – March 14
Upon entering her junior year at The University of Alabama, Jennifer Hodnett realized she wanted to make a difference on campus while she still had the chance. In that spirit, she created Crimson Kindness. A new student organization on campus, Crimson Kindness aims to create a community of compassion through random acts of kindness on campus. “We want to encourage our members to be ambassadors of kindness on campus through their daily lives, as well as doing things together as a group,” Hodnett, a junior majoring in human development and family studies, said. Hodnett said she got the idea after witnessing her friend buy a stranger’s lunch in a random act of kindness. She researched the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, which is a “nonprofit organization founded upon the powerful belief in kindness and dedicated to providing resources and tools that encourage acts of kindness,”…“I really want to set a new standard or tone on campus,” Hodnett said. “A lot of people are coming in, and if they see a group like Crimson Kindness, they can say that there are people at this campus who care and hopefully will want to join us.”
Miss University of Alabama visits WVUA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 13
Live Interview with Miss University of Alabama Miranda Ward.