UA Preview

MONDAY, APRIL 29 – SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2013

BEST BETS

UA COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES SET FOR MAY 3-4 – The University of Alabama will hold its spring commencement ceremonies at 6 p.m. Friday, May 3 and at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4 in Coleman Coliseum on the UA campus. There are 4,095 degree candidates. The commencement ceremonies will be broadcast live over the Internet. The webcast will be archived on UA’s website, www.ua.edu/commencement, and will be available for viewing through May 2013. Contact: David Miller, UA media relations, 205/348-0825, dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu

INSPIRING GRADUATES – Annika Zeyen (College of Communication and Information Sciences) will leave UA as a two-time national champion in women’s wheelchair basketball, a 4.0 graduate and an Olympic champ. Jennifer Greene (Social Work) has spent 10 years working in social services and volunteering with veteran support groups across the state. She’s earned her Master of Social Work degree and, after recently completing a four-month internship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, she is committed to helping veterans. “Being here at Walter Reed, seeing the needs our vets and their families will have as they transition back into the community strengthened that passion,” Greene said. “I want to be part of making sure the care they get at home is like what they’re getting here.” Tom and Andrew Hardy’s family members will have a lot to celebrate this weekend when the father and son receive their EdD (education administration) and bachelor’s (special education) degrees, respectively, in the same ceremony. Andrew hopes to land a job working in the same career field as his father, who is the special education coordinator for Lamar County Schools. To reach any of these inspiring graduates, contact David Miller, UA media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

UA NURSING STUDENTS SHARING, LEARNING OUTSIDE CLASSROOM – Some University of Alabama nursing students will take their education to the next level this summer when they step outside the four walls of a lecture hall and experience medicine in a unique, and challenging, way. Students had the opportunity this year to enroll in two study abroad nursing courses – one to Asia and another to Bolivia — and many jumped at the chance. The courses were developed through a collaborative effort between the Capstone College of Nursing, UA Study Abroad and e3Partners, a faith-based organization that coordinates medical mission trips around the world. For more information or a list of contacts, contact Kim Eaton, media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.

ENGLISH PROFESSOR WINS BURNUM DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARD – Joel Brouwer, a poet and UA professor of English, will receive UA’s 2012 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award. As part of the award ceremony, Brouwer will deliver a lecture titled “Is There Room in Here for a Dancing Sailor?: The Poet as Curator.” The lecture will be at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, at UA’s Child Development Research Center. A reception will follow. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to http://uanews.ua.edu/2013/04/ua-english-professor-named-winner-of-burnum-distinguished-faculty-award/ or contact Richard LeComte, UA media relations, at 205/348-3782 or rllecomte@ur.ua.edu.

CURRENT COMMENT

SPOTLIGHT ON THE MEDIA – With two major news events – the Boston Marathon bombing and a fertilizer plant explosion in Texas – in the past two weeks, possibly the brightest spotlight yet is being shone on news media trying to be first while also being accurate. Particularly in the wake of the bombing, several news sources caught flak for jumping the gun with inaccurate information in their online reporting. “The pressure to report information instantly has led to far too many factual errors in recent high-profile breaking news events like the Newtown shootings and now the Boston Marathon bombing,” said Dr. Wilson Lowrey, journalism professor. “Reporters’ ‘pack’ mentality – journalists rushing to follow one another’s leads and to take the same story angles for fear they’ll be accused of missing the story – is not an Internet creation, but it’s becoming more evident. The 24/7 news cycle, the popularity of Twitter and reduced news staffs are part of the problem. But it’s also partly a matter of perception – in real-time, news production has always been a messy process, but for the first time it’s open to public viewing. Errors eventually get fixed, but in the meantime, credibility nosedives and false rumors are unleashed. Rumors aren’t always the journalists’ fault – officials also provide wrong information in the heat of the moment. But the journalists’ ambition to break news first is a driver, as is the news outlet’s need to grow online audiences and the ease with which such audiences can be tracked and counted.” Contact: Misty Mathews, UA media relations, 205/348-6416 or mmathews@ua.edu or Dr. Wilson Lowrey, 205/348-8608, wlowrey@ua.edu.

EVENTS

MOUNDVILLE SATURDAY IN THE PARK FEATURES ASSORTED TOOLS, WEAPONS –Longtime park volunteer and ancient technology specialist Bill Skinner will demonstrate and explain the different tools and weapons used by Southeastern Indians and other tribal people around the world. Children will have an opportunity to use an atlatl, which is a spear-throwing device, and learn how to weave and try out a simple sling similar in design to what the Choctaws used. The park program runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park. Park entrance fees will apply. Contact: Kim Eaton, media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu

JURIED SHOW – UA’s department of art and art history’s 2013 BFA Juried Exhibition runs through Saturday, May 18, at the Harrison Galleries, 2315 University Blvd. in downtown Tuscaloosa. The public is invited to an opening reception for the exhibitors at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 2. All UA undergraduate art majors who passed the review for the BFA degree were eligible to enter the competition, judged by the department faculty. Exhibitors in the juried show are Elizabeth Alexander, Ben Bailey, Emee Barrow, Yimin Li, Michael Meads, Eric Nubbe, Greg Randall, Carmen Rice, Kristen Tcherneshoff, Rachel Wakefield, Joi West and Kacie Willings. For more information, go to http://art.ua.edu/site/programs/ or contact the department at 205/348-5967.