About 75 local students in UA summer program
Tuscaloosa News – June 13
More than 75 Tuscaloosa city and county high school students have been accepted into this year’s CollegeFirst program at the University of Alabama. CollegeFirst is a three-week summer enrichment program that prepares upcoming juniors and seniors to take Advanced Placement classes — college-level courses — at their schools. The program was created by the UA Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. “Research has shown that students who take AP classes in high school are much more successful in college,” said Sarah Louise Smith, program coordinator for the UA Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. “AP can also help with the achievement gaps between different ethnicities. African-American and Hispanic students who take AP classes outperform their peers in college who don’t take AP classes. “It’s also important because of summer slide,” she said. “Getting students involved in academic programs helps them mitigate the academic loss they would otherwise experience during the summer.” Smith said the program focuses mainly on math and science but that it offers pre-AP biology, chemistry, calculus and English. She said program organizers choose to focus more on science and math because there’s a greater demand for jobs that require science and math skills.
Alabama seafood coast documentary wins Emmy
Al.com – June 12
At an Atlanta awards ceremony last Saturday, a locally-made documentary starring Bayou La Batre won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement from the Southeast Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. “In the Path of the Storms,” which aired on Alabama Public Television in 2012, captures life along Alabama’s seafood coast before and after Hurricane Katrina…Coastal community leaders including a FEMA translator, shrimpers, and a lifelong residents of the area, all share their experiences in “Path,” which was produced by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and co-produced by South Mobile County artists Sheila Hagler and Peggy Denniston,
Business seminar set for next week
Tuscaloosa News – June 13
A seminar to help manufacturers and businesses improve their operations and achieve better growth, savings and success will be held Thursday, June 20, at the Bryant Conference Center. The Manufacturing Business & Industry Seminar is being sponsored by the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association. In the past, the association has sponsored seminars for its members, but this year the seminar is being opened to all industries, said Ron Davis, AAMA president. Speakers will include Bill Visnic of Edmunds.com, who will talk about how millennials — generally those younger than 30 — will affect future markets for Alabama-made vehicles. He will be followed by Bharat Balasubramanian, who will discuss how to build a team with changing technology. Balasubramanian is a former Daimler AG research and development executive who now is a professor at the University of Alabama’s College of Engineering and executive director of its research center.
More power to nurse practitioners will help rural areas
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 12
This week, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed a law that gives more power to nurse practitioners. The new legislation gives nurse practitioners authority to write prescriptions for more drugs than before. “I think this is a way to better provide healthcare for people across the state. This closes the gap for some Alabamians without adequate access to healthcare where they live. It opens up the possibility for patients to receive additional medication they need.” Dr. Leigh Ann Chandler-Poole is the coordinator for nurse practitioner studies at the University of Alabama. She says they now can write prescriptions for patients for drugs that include cough and seizure medication. “With the shortage of healthcare providers that exists throughout the nation and the state as well, nurse practitioners are seen as part of the solution to provide care to patients in urban and rural areas.”
Dr. Michael Bivins: Among UA’s most prominent black graduates
Troy Messenger – June 12
On June 11, 1963, the color barrier was broken at the University of Alabama, opening the way for thousands of black students to attend the previously all white university. On Tuesday, a listing of some of the most prominent black graduates of the University of Alabama was on posted on a statewide newssite. On that list was 1986 Pike County High School graduate, Dr. Michael Bivins, the state’s first black urologist. Bivins is a surgeon with Urology Centers of Alabama in Birmingham who utilizes robotics to perform surgery. He has served on a previous governor’s state health coordination committee. He was recently nominated and accepted to the Alabama Leadership Course and has been a member of the Birmingham Leadership Course. Bivins, along with other Urology Centers physicians, conducts free annual prostate cancer screenings in underserved areas across the state, including Pike County. He attended the University of Alabama from 1986-1991, a time that was 28 years removed from the stand in the schoolhouse door. “At Alabama, I was able to be a part of a diverse student body,” Bivins said. “The University of Alabama laid the foundation for me to be able to do the thing I wanted to do most … take care of people.”
Sawyer graduates from University of Alabama
Moultrie News (S.C.) – June 13
Earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree, Meredith Maxine Sawyer graduated from the Capstone College of Nursing at The University of Alabama on May 4. Achieving a cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.8, Sawyer graduated Magna Cum Laude. While a student at The University of Alabama, she was selected by the Dean to be an ambassador to represent UA’s Capstone College of Nursing. She was on the President’s or Dean’s list every semester and was a member of several honor societies including, most notably, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Prior to graduation in May, Sawyer received job offers from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. and Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. Sawyer is a 2009 graduate of Wando High School. She is the daughter of Glenn and Lauren Sawyer, formerly of Mount Pleasant.