UA Preview

MONDAY, MARCH 11 – SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013

BEST BETS

RETIRED, BUT STILL REVERED – Dr. Archie Wade, retired professor of kinesiology at UA, will return to campus March 12 to be honored for his role in diversifying the campus. Wade, who began teaching at UA in 1970, was one of the university’s first black faculty members. He’ll be honored during a ceremony at the Graves Hall auditorium at 4 p.m., Tuesday, March 12. The ceremony is free and open to the public as part of the University’s “Through the Doors” event series, which commemorates the 50^th anniversary of the desegregation of UA in 1963. University President Dr. Judy Bonner and retired UA Dean of the College of Education Dr. James McLean will speak at the event. Wade moved to Tuscaloosa as a child and holds degrees from Stillman College, West Virginia University and UA. He coached basketball at Stillman before playing four years of minor league baseball, including one season for hall of fame coach Sparky Anderson. Wade also spent two years as a recruiter for Paul “Bear” Bryant. Contact: David Miller, UA media relations, 205/ 348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu .

‘ROCKET BOYS’ AUTHOR TO SPEAK, RECEIVE AWARD – Homer Hickam, author of New York Times’ bestseller “Rocket Boys” and multiple other books, will headline the UA journalism department’s annual Journalism Day and receive the 2013 Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing. Journalism Day will be March 14 from 9 a.m.-8 p.m., with Cason’s address, titled “Rockets, coal mines, lighthouses and the dreams of boys,” at 6:30 in Reese Phifer Room 216. This event is free and open to the public. Cason will receive the Cason Award at a luncheon on March 15 at the Capstone Hotel. For a full list of J-Day events, visit http://jnews.ua.edu/2013/03/rockets-coal-mines-lighthouses-and-dreams-of-boys/. Contact: Misty Mathews, media relations, 205/348-6416, mmathews@ua.edu.

UA RESEARCHERS RECEIVE GRANT FOR COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH — Researchers from The University of Alabama were awarded a three-year, $800,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop and support collaborative research between academic researchers and residents of Alabama communities disproportionately impacted by poor health. The grant project, “UNITED: Using New Interventions Together to Eliminate Disparities,” is a partnership of the College of Community Health Sciences’ Institute for Rural Health Research, the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ Institute for Communication and Information Research and the Black Belt Community Foundation. The University’s three-year planning grant will focus on reducing obesity in rural Alabama and will create a research training program to provide education and training to academic researchers interested in conducting community-based participatory research in the rural Black Belt and to build the CBPR capacity of Black Belt residents. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu

UA TO HOST TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE FOR STUDENTS – The University of Alabama will host the 34th Annual Alabama Technology Student Association State Conference involving competition for middle and high-school students Tuesday and Wednesday, March 12-13, at the Bryant Conference Center. More than 500 students from schools throughout the state are expected to participate in more than 40 events held at the Bryant Conference Center. A sample of scheduled events includes computer-aided design, carbon-dioxide-powered dragsters, inventions and innovations, flight endurance, structural engineering and a Jeopardy-style technology bowl. For more details, visit http://uanews.ua.edu/2013/03/ua-to-host-technology-leadership-conference-for-students-4/ or contact Adam Jones, UA engineering media relations, at 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu

UA STUDENTS, FACULTY LEND HAND TO NORTHPORT COMMUNITY – UA sport pedagogy students, professors, UA soccer coach Todd Bramble and seven players will be at Matthews Elementary at 1 p.m. Tuesday to teach fifth-graders the “beautiful game.” Partnered with the Northport Police Athletic League, students at UA have crafted bi-weekly soccer practice plans and organized a tournament at the end of the month. Like other PAL programs, which are funded through community donations, the goal is to give at-risk youth an outlet for fun. For more information about Tuesday’s kickoff, contact David Miller in UA’s office of media relations at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

UA GRAD STUDENT TO PRESENT RESEARCH IN BRAZIL – Social work graduate student Haley Beech has dedicated off-time during her college career to international volunteer work in impoverished countries like Haiti. Each trip has given Beech the chance to conduct research for an independent study at UA, particularly the efficiency of volunteer medical services following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010; Friday, Beech will present “Health Care Access for Women in Rural Haiti: A Descriptive Study on Preventable and Manageable Disease States” at the Third International Conference on Health, Wellness and Society in Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information, contact David Miller, media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

EVENTS

GIFTED EDUCATION EXPERT TO SPEAK – Dr. Joy Lawson Davis, director of the Center for Gifted Education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will be the Curtis Distinguished Lecturer for the 22nd James P. Curtis Lecture, in conjunction with The University of Alabama’s “Through the Doors” activities, at 6 p.m., March 12 in the Woodis-McDonald Auditorium in Graves Hall. Davis has more than 30 years of experience in gifted education as a teacher, administrator, writer, researcher and consultant to schools nationwide. Contact: David Miller, media relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu

TOWN HALL ON MENTAL HEALTH – UA’s Honors College will present a town hall titled “Mentally Ill Patients: Who they are; where did they go; and why do I care?” It will feature Commissioner Jim Reddoch of the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Dr. Clayton Shealy, director of UA’s Psychology Clinic. The town hall meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, in Gallalee Hall Room 227. Contact: Richard LeComte, UA media relations, 205/348-3782, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu

DIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM FEATURES SCREENING OF HISTORICAL FILM – The College of Communication and Information Sciences’ annual Discerning Diverse Voices: Symposium on Diversity begins Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. with a screening and discussion of the 1963 Robert Drew film “CRISIS: Behind a Presidential Decision” in 205 Gorgas Library. After academic presentations throughout the day Thursday, March 14, the symposium will draw to a close at 4:15 p.m. with a keynote address by Birmingham News reporter Barnett Wright, author of “1963: How the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement Changed America and the World,” also in 205 Gorgas Library. Contact: Misty Mathews, media relations, 205/348-6416, mmathews@ua.edu.

MOUNDVILLE SATURDAY IN THE PARK FEATURES CORN SHUCK DOLL MAKING – Jackie Fischer, a craftswoman and living historian from Sylva, N.C., will relate how her mother taught her the traditional craft while showing visitors how to make their own corn shuck maiden or warrior. The program will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 16 at UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park. This season’s Saturday in the Park was sponsored by an anonymous donor. Park entrance fees will apply. Contact: Kim Eaton, media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu