UA in the News: April 24, 2013

Two University of Alabama Honors College students have been selected to receive Critical Languages Scholarships from the U.S. State Department
WVTM-NBC 13 (Birmingham) – April 23
Two University of Alabama Honors College students have been selected to receive Critical Languages Scholarships from the U.S. State Department. Emily Simon and Jason Arterburn will receive scholarships for fully funded intensive foreign language study for 10 weeks abroad this summer. Simon, a Gross Pointe, Mich. native, will be studying Arabic in Oman, and Arterburn, of Madison Al, will be studying Chinese in China…Emily Simon is a junior majoring in international studies and Spanish, and Jason Arterburn is a senior studying mathematics and interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in East Asia..

APR staff members get Murrow Awards
Tuscaloosa News – April 24
Alabama Public Radio staff members received four regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. APR is housed at the University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences. Award winners were: Pat Duggins, APR news director, for best radio feature for a report on efforts to save sea turtle hatchlings from the approaching Hurricane Isaac; Stan Ingold for best use of sound for a report on a company that loads cremated remains of hunters into bullets and shotgun shells; – And the newsroom team, including Ryan Vasquez and Maggie Martin, for best radio documentary and best radio series for follow-up coverage to the April 27, 2011, tornado.

Student films Hurricane Sandy recovery
Crimson White – April 24
For Ashley Swafford, working on a documentary of Hurricane Sandy with her telecommunication and film professor, Chandra Clark, turned out to be more personal than she could have imagined. Swafford said it hit her when their crew stopped by a donation center in New Jersey, where people could donate food and clothes, to interview a radio personality about his role in the disaster…Swafford, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film, traveled with Clark and Scott Hodgson, a professor from the University of Oklahoma, to cover Hurricane Sandy. After receiving praise for several of their mini-documentaries on the Tuscaloosa and Joplin, Mo., tornadoes, Clark and her partner and director, Hodgson, were asked to film a similar documentary on Hurricane Sandy. Clark’s personal story in covering natural disasters initiated when her church was destroyed in the April 27, 2011 tornado…Clark said she hoped to find a way to use her broadcast and journalism skills to show how broadcasters did their jobs and did them well during those tornadoes…Clark and Hodgson focused this documentary on the role of media in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy by traveling to five different states.

UA, Auburn students compete in hovercraft race
Crimson White – April 24
Students who don’t want to wait until football season to see an Alabama-Auburn matchup can catch an airborne take on the Iron Bowl Saturday. The University Hoverbowl Challenge will feature hovercraft races between teams of engineering students from The University of Alabama and Auburn University.

All-women rocket team boosts female engineering
WDEF 12 (Chattanooga) – April 23
Kathy Steele has been turning boys’ heads for years . . . with her brains. Long before she became a member of the University of Alabama all-girls rocket team, she was launching model rockets with her father from their Prattville home. By sixth grade, she was showing her rocket knowledge at the school science fair.

Live Grind Love to host party to benefit Literacy Council of West Alabama
Crimson White – April 24
Live Grind Love, a clothing line founded by a University of Alabama student, is hosting a party to benefit the Literacy Council of West Alabama Thursday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Mellow Mushroom. The party will feature live performances from hip hop artists, food and drinks and custom-designed T-shirts by Live Grind Love for the Literacy Council…Carey Fountain, co-founder of Live Grind Love…a junior in New College, said Live Grind Love is not just a clothing line but a movement inspired by doing positive things through art and music…Fountain said they decided to partner with the Literacy Council of West Alabama after discovering that one in four Alabamians are functionally illiterate.

Local ministries offer study breaks
Crimson White – April 24
With finals week fast approaching, many University of Alabama students are spending the vast majority of their time holed up in the library, plugged into Pandora with their choice of caffeinated beverage at their fingertips, but for those students looking to take a study break, many campus ministries and local churches are offering opportunities for students to close the books for a few hours and unwind.

Student IDs replace paper tickets for campus events
CR80 News – April 24
The campus ID card is replacing the paper ticket for entrance to sporting events and other activities at universities across the country. One of the more elaborate systems comes from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, which was one of the first schools to move their paper football tickets to the campus card. That means a student only has to show the campus ID to gain entrance to a football game…Bama went the ticketless route in 2008, enabling students to access their tickets online. Originally called MyFootballTicket, the program was renamed this year to simply MyTickets since it now covers a host of other events as well, says Jeanine Brooks, director of the university’s Action Card.

Students celebrating graduation differently
Crimson White – April 24
During graduation, many University of Alabama students find themselves deciding between walking or not walking. For many students, the choice to walk at commencement is rooted in tradition but most importantly to avoid regret.