University of Alabama chemistry professor awarded $1 million grant
Al.com – June 18
The National Science Foundation has awarded a University of Alabama chemistry professor a $1 million dollar grant and a CAREER award, a recognition of top-performing young scientists. Patrick Frantom, an assistant chemistry professor who joined UA’s faculty in 2009, was awarded the five-year grant for his enzyme research. “The family of enzymes we are studying share a common structure, or ‘scaffolding,’ which nature has diversified to allow for a wide range of chemical reactions and regulatory mechanisms. We want to investigate all versions of these scaffolds to map how differences in them can cause different reactions and cause the enzymes to turn on or turn off those reactions,” Frantom said.
UA faculty brings home awards at regional Emmys
Crimson White – June 19
Three members of The University of Alabama’s faculty won awards for their work at the Southeast Region Emmy Awards. At the June 8 ceremony, Ben Goertz, a telecommunication and film adjunct instructor, Mike Letcher, the production manager at the Center for Public Television and Radio and Andrew Grace, a telecommunication and film instructor, collectively took home five awards. Goertz, whose Crimson Tide Productions team was behind the “Alabama All-Access SEC Preview Special” that won in the category of Television News and Program Specialty Excellence for Sports – One-Time Special, said the award was both a rewarding and encouraging. The program, which analyzed the drama of the football team’s regular season and previewed the SEC championship game, is the latest in a series of similar specials by Crimson Tide Productions.
Board of Trustees approves new degree programs
Crimson White – June 19
Last Friday, the Board of Trustees for UA system made the first step toward adding two new degree programs to the College of Engineering by approving the “Notifications of Intent to Submit a Proposal” to develop two new Bachelor of Science degrees. The College of Engineering is proposing the addition of degree programs in architectural and environmental engineering. Joe Benson, interim provost, said Friday’s approval is the first step in the process. “The next step is preparation of a full proposal, which will be submitted to the Board of Trustees and, if approved, forwarded to Alabama Commission on Higher Education. This will be reviewed at ACHE, and comments will be solicited from other institutions in the state. The ACHE staff will then make a recommendation to the commission, which will vote on approval,” Benson said. The University intends have both degrees available beginning fall 2014.
Alabama Education Department lists 4 area schools as failing
Tuscaloosa News (Associated Press) – June 18
Seventy-eight Alabama schools, including three Tuscaloosa city schools and one Tuscaloosa County school, are considered failing, according to a list released Tuesday in response to a new state law. The Tuscaloosa city schools on the list are Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, Central High School and Westlawn Middle School. Davis-Emerson Middle School in the Tuscaloosa County School System also was on the list…Peter Hlebowitsh, dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama, said he doesn’t like the stigma being placed on schools that were included on the list. “I understand what they are doing, but I don’t like the fact that these schools are being penned as failing,” Hlebowitsh said. He said the word “failing” was a harsh tag to put on schools, teachers and students. He added that he thought the Accountability Act put too much importance on test scores and not on some of the other things going on in schools. “There are a lot of important things going on in schools that test scores don’t pick up,” he said. He said he agreed with Bice’s concern that “there are low achievement schools that are improving.”
Gadsden Times – June 18
Florence Times Daily – June 18
WRAL.com (Raleigh, N.C.) – June 18
Houston Chronicle – June 18
San Francisco Chronicle– June 18
Zombie purists at odds over ‘World War Z’
Houston Chronicle – June 19
A battle is being waged for the heart and soul of the zombie population. On one side are traditional fans who like their zombies passive, lumbering and in a permanent state of distraction, their skin drained of color. Then there is Brad Pitt and the director and various screenwriters of “World War Z” – a new zombie movie starring and produced by Pitt. They designed a robust variety zombie for the 21st century, a speedy walker that also runs, jumps and scales walls utilizing Cirque de Soleil-style acrobatics…But Sean Hoade, another zombie specialist who taught a course at the University of Alabama on “Zombies! The Living Dead in Literature, Film and Culture,” is willing to cut a wide berth for “World War Z.” “I am forgiving. Besides loving zombies, I am also a movie lover, so in my mind, I can put a disconnect between the novel and the movie. Max writes one book, and the movie is going to be another vision,” said Hoade, who is himself writing “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Zombies.”
UA’s multicultural journalism workshop attracts students from around the country
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – June 18
Students from around the country are in our area learning about journalism. The students are part of the University of Alabama’s multi-cultural journalism workshop. Topics discussed centered around the journalism code of ethics and diversity in the newsroom.
Annual Boys State program meets at UA
Crimson White – June 19
After a week of leadership events and guest speakers, the 2013 class of Alabama Boys State culminated in a cooperative community service effort to refurbish Tuscaloosa’s Palmore Park June 13. With a hand-picked group of 570 boys from around the state, the weeklong event sponsored by the American Legion has promoted leadership education in Alabama since they elected their first student governor in 1938. The program, hosted on The University of Alabama campus, offers rising high school seniors the opportunity to hear guest speakers, learn valuable leadership skills and connect with other student leaders from around the state through community service. Becky Booker, public relations and marketing manager for PARA, said this community service project will have far-reaching benefits beyond the cosmetics of the parks. “It was the mayor’s idea to include Boys State at Palmore Park because he was in the program when he was a boy,” she said. “It’s the city of Tuscaloosa, PARA and Boys State who are working on the project, and taking care of parks is a good way to get involved and see real improvement for these young people.”
UA student in Cooperstown for internship
Tuscaloosa News – June 18
Andrew Kivette wasn’t one of Mount Paran Christian School’s well-known athletes during his high school career, but now he is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Kivette didn’t get there because of his batting average, home runs or ERA, but rather as a summer intern, one of 15 from across the country to earn the prestigious Frank and Peggy Steele internship. “It’s been an awesome opportunity so far,” Kivette said. “Working at the Hall of Fame has been such a prestigious opportunity. It’s one of the coolest and greatest opportunities I can dream of. We’re working alongside guys that worked with the Rangers and Yankees. They have so much baseball knowledge. It’s incredible to be a part of so far.” Kivette — a University of Alabama student — grew up in a sports family. He has been a lifelong Alabama fan, and his grandfather, Bill Lumpkin, was the sports editor and columnist for the old Birmingham Post Herald.
United Way Day of Action brings community together
Crimson White – June 19
United Way Day of Action, a nationwide event that brings people in communities together to improve the communities and the lives of the people will be Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.…Students at The University of Alabama also come together for the community’s well-being. “It’s important because you get involved with your community. Volunteering is the one time when people act selflessly without needing recognition or reward,” said John Morgan Davenport, a junior at The University of Alabama majoring in public relations.
New scholarship to honor UA alumna
Crimson White – June 19
The College of Communication and Information Sciences announced last week the creation of the Virginia O’Neal Sollie Scholarship. The scholarship was made possible thanks to an endowment from Catherine Mosbacher of Houston, Texas. Mosbacher and Virginia Sollie both attended Carroll High School in Ozark, Ala. It was during their high school years that the two women established a friendship that would span the decades. “We worked together on the school newspaper, and our friendship developed from there,” Mosbacher said. Graduating in 1969, both women were accepted to The University of Alabama and chose to be roommates their freshman year. “Because Virginia’s mother and her grandmother both attended Alabama, her family was able to advise me and my parents on how to prepare for and navigate the first year of college,” Mosbacher said. “Virginia and I were close friends ever since until her untimely death of a heart attack. I was grateful for the role she and her family played in the success of my freshman year, which was foundational to my academic and career success.” Mosbacher and Sollie remained close friends until Sollie’s death on October 10, 2010. Sollie graduated from the University in 1974 with Bachelor of Arts in journalism.