Wheelchair basketball player returns for 5th year to win national championship
Crimson White – March 18
Mark Booth enjoys traveling. He has visited all 50 states, 17 European countries, Australia and Honduras. He has two national championship titles and will graduate in May. He was born with spina bifida, but says his wheelchair doesn’t define him – sarcasm does. “I’ll open up a door for my self and some old lady will be like ‘you’re doing so good, just good job’ and I’m like, ‘thank you, I appreciate that, I can juggle too,’” Booth said. A Los Gatos, Calif., native, Booth came to The University of Alabama to play on the wheelchair basketball team…Miles Thompson, UA’s men’s wheelchair basketball coach, said the recruiting class of seniors Mark Booth and Jared Arambula changed the culture of wheelchair basketball at the University, giving them a competitive edge. [Booth] could have graduated in four years, but he came back,” Thompson said. “He really wanted that fifth year for the right to earn a championship and for us to win a championship where he scored 18 points and Arambula scored 21 points, and that combo of them to see them go out like that, there was some poetic justice involved there.” Booth said he has not had any problems getting around the UA campus and commends the Capstone’s Office of Disability Services for helping plan class schedules. “Occasionally I’ll have a class where the room isn’t handicapped accessible, but really I can go and get that fixed pretty quickly,” Booth said. “[ODS] will move the class or switch me to another class. I’ve actually never had a problem.”
LEND A HAND: UA students’ dance marathon benefits children’s hospital
Tuscaloosa News – March 17
The University of Alabama of Alabama Dance Marathon team has hit its stride. Last year, the team of UA students raised $15,000 for Children’s of Alabama hospital in Birmingham. But on March 9, the team nearly quadrupled the amount of money raised, amassing just more than $56,000. The team held an eight-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon outside the UA Student Recreation Center. “It’s not an actual dance,” said Kaitlyn Klootwyk, vice president of the team. “We just stand for eight hours. Children in a hospital can’t stand, and that’s why we stand for them.” Tyler Rigdon, the group’s president, said that a themed line dance was held at the top of each of the eight fundraising hours…There were six families from the children’s hospital, and Rigdon said that they all enjoyed the experience. “One kid said that he wanted to relive the event over and over,” he said. Rigdon said that most of the money was raised through individual donations of up to $100. The team also held fundraisers at local restaurants and hosted a cookoff for UA Greek organizations that raised $1,500. The UA effort is part of the Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, which was founded by Indiana University students in 1991.
Town Hall lecture to address education
Crimson White – March 18
The next Town Hall lecture will focus on the theme “Educating Our Children: Where We Are and Where Are We Going?” It will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Farrah Room 120. Town Hall was the idea of Robert McCurley, retired director of the Alabama Law Institute, who wanted to give students an outlet for expressing ideas, asking questions and proposing real life solutions. “Town Hall is basically about making a difference,” McCurley said. Town Hall is unlike other lecture series in the sense that it tries to put into action the ideas of the students. This particular Town Hall came about because of the recent controversy over the Flexibility Act. Town Hall coordinator, Ellie Friedman, said students expressed a concern for the future of education, and Town Hall organized a setting to have these concerns voiced. Students not only want to be heard, but they want to see their ideas having an impact. Students are just as capable of making informed decisions as politicians, doctors or lawyers, she said. “Town Hall is not all talk; it’s action, and that’s what students are looking for,” Friedman said. Students will ask about the Flexibility Act, Core Curriculum, education budgeting, the state of zip code education in Alabama and the future of education for Alabama.
Crimson Culture event showcases artistic diversity
Crimson White – March 18
In an almost packed Ferguson Center Theater Sunday night, 13 multicultural student organizations from across campus and the Tuscaloosa community performed songs, dances and poetry as part of the first annual Crimson Culture Festival of the Arts. Okha Patel, president of The South Asian Society and Student Government Association deputy director of engagement, said she hopes future leaders will continue to premiere Crimson Culture. “Tonight’s event showed that hard work does pay off,” Patel said. “This event gave students, faculty and the Tuscaloosa community a little taste of diversity at UA. There are so many multicultural, talented organizations that people aren’t aware of. Our ultimate goal was to start a cultural hype on campus. I feel we achieved all of our goals and more. Attendance was absolutely phenomenal, and we hope students will be interested in new cultures.”
Nashville Symphony might default on bonds used to build Schermerhorn center
The Tennessean – March 15
Citing enormous debt, shrinking revenues and a need for drastic action, the Nashville Symphony’s board of directors acknowledges the organization needs a “comprehensive financial restructuring,” CEO and President Alan Valentine said Friday. This week, the organization took an unusual step that will trigger a technical default on $102 million in bonds that were used to build Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the state-of-the-art performance hall that opened in downtown Nashville in 2006.…When told of the orchestra’s decision not to renew the letter of credit, Robert E. Brooks, a municipal bonds expert and a professor of financial management at the University of Alabama, said: “It’s never a good thing to renege on something you’ve agreed to.” Brooks added, “You’re not honoring a commitment you made to the bondholders. That would not be something you would want to do.” Stressing that he did not know all of the details of the negotiations between the orchestra and the banks, he said that one of the pillars of financial transactions is a “culture of trust, and if you impair that culture it can’t be a good thing.” “Clearly the symphony is throwing in the towel,” said Brooks, who is a professor in the university’s department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies.
AEA’s clout in question
Florence Times Daily – March 17
It was once considered the dominant lobbying group in Montgomery…Now, the Alabama Education Association is facing what it calls repeated attacks from the Republican leadership in the Legislature. Montgomery insiders said the GOP mission is clear: Strip the organization’s clout…”A few decades ago, I would have called the AEA the single most important interest group in Alabama,” said William Stewart, political science emeritus at the University of Alabama. Now, he said, it still is a force to be reckoned with, but doesn’t hold the same power. “The ascent of the GOP has led to the descent of the AEA,” Stewart said. “The stronger the Republican Party is, the weaker the AEA is.”
Andrew Morriss: No, Congress should not start taxing financial transactions
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) – March 17
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…(Andrew Morriss is a professor of business at the University of Alabama.)
Centre Daily (State College, Pa.) – March 17
Clean lakes event scheduled for April 4-6
Tuscaloosa News – March 18
A partnership with the University of Alabama and the Black Warrior River Clean Water Partnership has expanded the city of Tuscaloosa’s annual lake cleanup to a three-day event. The city of Tuscaloosa has joined with UA’s Museum of Natural History and the Clean Water Partnership to host the fifth annual Lake Tuscaloosa North River Watershed Festival next month. The festival will include a public information fair on April 4, an educational expo for area students on April 5 and the lake cleanup event from 8 a.m. to noon on April 6 at Binion Creek boat landing, a new location for the yearly event.
UA takes part in career fair at elementary school
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – March 15
They say if you want to pursue a certain career, talk to the people who do it every day. That’s exactly what Brighton Middle School students did today at the annual career fair … Students interviewed them about their jobs. The culinary arts department of Miles College, the University of Alabama and several entrepreneurs also participated.
Author previews graphic novel about 1960s Marion
Crimson White – March 18
Often studied, taught and explored, the civil rights movement of the 1960s is the subject of many books. But author Lila Quintero Weaver presents the time period in an alternative way – through the eyes of an immigrant. Weaver, who is originally from Argentina, spoke at The University of Alabama on March 14 about her experience moving to Alabama during the beginning of desegregation and how she tells her story through her graphic novel, “Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White.” “It started off as a senior project for my New College degree,” Weaver, who attended the University to finish her degree in 2005, said. “I was inspired by graphic novels that I had recently encountered, like ‘Persepolis’ [by Marjean Satrapi]. I was inspired to write my life story through that medium since I’m an artist.” Weaver moved from Argentina to Marion, Ala., with her family when she was 5 years old. “Darkroom” is her personal account of what she witnessed during the civil rights movement.
Alabama professor to speak at NC event on taxes
Charlotte Observer – March 18
A law professor at the University of Alabama is the keynote speaker at an event at Wake Forest University on the subject of faith, fairness and taxes. Professor Susan Hamill is the keynote speaker at the event Monday at Benson Student Center. Event organizers say she’s a nationally recognized leader on faith and fair taxation.The event is sponsored by the N.C. Justice Center, the Wake Forest University divinity school, the Institute for Public Engagement at Wake Forest and N.C. Council of Churches.
CBS 12 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – March 18
York Enquirer-Herald (S.C.) – March 18
Minors can help students master alternative subjects
Crimson White – March 18
The two most common questions college students get asked are about their name and major, but rarely do students get asked about their minor. For most college students, picking a minor to accompany their major is an afterthought. However, according to The New York Times, “Minors, along with double majors, are increasingly popular as students try to master multiple subjects on the way to flexible careers or future education.” Having a minor expands students’ knowledge of their field and can even help separate them from other job candidates down the road. While not all majors require a minor at The University of Alabama, those that do require that a student’s chosen minor be outside the department of his or her major…Wendy McMillian, director of academic advising for the College of Arts and Sciences, said when helping students decide on choosing a minor, the key factor is to find one that complements his or her major. “In the College of Arts and Sciences, the way we approach minors is to help you develop additional skills for your career or graduate school plans after your undergraduate degree,” McMillian said. “How a student chooses a minor is typically determined on an individual basis with conversations between the advisor and student based on the student’s interests, goals and strengths.”
Libraries’ move to digital poses risks, benefits
Crimson White – March 18
Archive libraries, such as the Hoole Special Collections on campus, are increasingly converting their content into digital copies. But what may be a convenience for students can be problematic for archivists. As archives are digitized, there is concern that the technology which records are stored on will become out of date – just look at the floppy disk. “That’s where our difficulty lies more than anything else is that, how do you keep a permanent or long-term record in a digital format when you can’t guarantee its lifespan?” Tom Land, the institutional records analyst at Hoole, said. “We know what paper will do and we know what microfilm will do, but the digital stuff is different; our technology is changing about every year and a half.” Donelly Walton, interim university archivist and curator of Southern History and Culture Collections, shared Land’s concern. “Losing information due to obsolete technology is a concern,” Walton said. “Those of us who have been in the archives field for more than 15 years remember when the only way to find information about many archival collections was through publications that listed or described a repository’s holdings.” While losing records can be cause for worry, there are also many benefits to digitizing records and archives. Digitization offers the public the convenience of being able to pull up information anywhere they are instead of having to trek to a library.