Museum Monday (photo gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – May 8
Carlos, an American alligator, is seen at the University of Alabama Biology building Monday, May 6, 2013. Museum Monday is a program offered by the University of Alabama to elementary-age children where they can discover mysteries of the museum, romp with reptiles and uncover Alabama’s geologic past through projects and activities. This Monday the children got to see and pet reptiles in biology professor Stephen Secor’s lab. The program is held every Monday from 3:30 until 5:00 in the Alabama History Museum in Smith Hall.
Pell Grant changes will slow Black graduation rates
Wilmington Journal (N.C.) – May 7
Schools across the Deep South have also experienced a decline in enrollment this year, which the University of Alabama Education Policy Center attributes to the eliminations made to the Pell Grant program … According to the report, enrollment decreased at 47 of the 62 two-year colleges in those states during the 2012-2013 academic year, something the authors of the report attribute to the changes made to the Pell Grant program. “The Deep South states clearly rely on public higher education to educate their citizenry beyond high school,” the report reads. “By definition, this means that Pell Grants are vital to enhancing college degree completion in the Deep South, for it is the community colleges where economically disadvantaged students begin higher education.”
‘Selma and Stonewall’: What ties bind 1960s civil rights movement, today’s gay rights movement?
Al.com – May 8
President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago today announced that civil rights leaders and Birmingham businessmen had reached an accord ending 35 days of demonstrations and boycotts. Many civil rights battles would follow in Congress, courtrooms, and even the streets, but 100 years after emancipation the dominoes were starting to fall and, 14 months after Kennedy’s announcement, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act followed by the Voting Rights Act in August 1965 … Half a century later, it seems dominoes are falling in rapid succession for the nation’s gay rights movement … But gay rights activists say change is coming slowly in staunchly conservative Alabama … Cassandra Simon, an associate professor of social work at The University of Alabama, whose family’s Houston home was bombed when they became the first black residents of an all-white community in the 1960s, believes the two movements are inextricably linked. “People say the difference is that you don’t have to let people know you are gay,” Simon said. “That’s a social injustice, having to hide their real selves to make it in this world.”…Simon said she worries people “use religion as a weapon of oppression” when gay rights are discussed in much the same way segregationists and slave-owners quoted Scripture to defend their stance. “The same points people emphasize or not emphasize were used to justify slavery and the oppression of women,” Simon said. “People need to stop and think what they’re basing their beliefs on with this particular issue.”
HHS students named for UA early college
Hartselle Enquirer – May 7
The University of Alabama Early College program recently accepted Kendall Watson and Blaine Williams from Hartselle High School. UA Early College students are high school students from across the U.S. who earn college credits online, and are eligible for the UA Summer Residential/honors Experience. The highly motivated students may earn up to 30 hours of college credit and still enter UA eligible for freshmen scholarships.
Chess enthusiasts to have three tournaments in one
Tuscaloosa News – May 7
This weekend’s Chess Extravaganza in T-Town is really three tournaments wrapped into one event. Organizers expect nearly 150 players to compete. All the tournaments will be held at the Ferguson Center Student Union on the University of Alabama campus and are open to the public.