Middle school student discovers rare fossil during University of Alabama expedition
Al.com – July 16
The remains of a marine reptile that lived 80 million years ago have been discovered in rural Greene County, the University of Alabama announced today. Middle school student Noah Traylor happened upon the fossil during a UA-hosted summer program, and paleontologist Dana Ehret is currently cleaning and prepping the remains in a UA laboratory. A UA press release said the initial discovery was a piece of a “large neck vertebra of an elasmosaur, which is a subgroup of the late Cretaceous plesiosaurs.” “Think Loch Ness monster,” Ehret said. “They have very large flippers for swimming and extremely long necks, consisting of up to about 70 neck vertebrae.”
Professor in UA’s New College awarded Fulbright fellowship
Tuscaloosa News – July 13
A professor in New College at the University of Alabama will spend the upcoming academic year at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom after being awarded a Fulbright fellowship. Professor Catherine Roach received a Fulbright-University of Leeds Distinguished Chair Award for 2013-14, and will spend her time in the United Kingdom researching and working with students at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at the University of Leeds, according to a release from UA. Roach will interview members of the U.K. Romantic Novelists’ Association and finish the remaining chapters for her upcoming book “Happily Ever After: The Romance Narrative in Popular Culture,” which is due out in 2015 and will explore the function of the romance story in popular culture, particularly the literary genre of romance fiction.
UA-affiliate firm advances in Alabama Launchpad competition
Tuscaloosa News – July 13
A startup company with University of Alabama affiliations that is developing technology to wirelessly charge mobile devices is among five teams selected to advance to the next round of the 2013 Alabama Launchpad Start-Up Competition. Tuscaloosa-based e-Electricity was chosen from among 10 competitors, including two other teams with UA ties, to advance on Friday by a five-judge panel comprising entrepreneurs, investors and corporate stakeholders, according to a release from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, which organized the competition. The e-Electricity team includes UA assistant engineering professor Jaber Abu-Qahouq, Whitney Hough with UA’s Office for Technology Transfer, UA senior marketing major Will Sanders and team leader Sloan McCrary, a UA master of business administration student. The five teams are competing for a share of as much as $100,000 in prize money to advance their ventures.
Paul Goldstein’s ‘Havana Requiem’ wins Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction
ABA Journal – July 15
Stanford law professor Paul Goldstein and his novel Havana Requiem have been awarded the third annual Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 19, in conjunction with the National Book Festival. The prize, named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Kill A Mockingbird, is sponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama Law School. It is awarded each year to the novel that best exemplifies the role of lawyers in society. Past winners include John Grisham and Michael Connelly. The novel chronicles efforts by a lawyer, recovering alcoholic Michael Seeley, to help a group of aging Cuban jazz musicians and their families reclaim copyrights to their works. When his main client, Héctor Reynoso, goes missing, Seeley begins to realize that there is more to the story than music, and that a far deeper conspiracy is involved that might include both the Cuban secret police and his former law firm.
Trayvon Martin’s family has little chance for recourse in court
Washington Times – July 15
While the reaction to George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the Trayvon Martin killing resembles the backlash against the 1992 not guilty verdict in the Rodney King beating, legal analysts said there is little likelihood of another successful federal prosecution on civil rights or hate crimes charges. Although the neighborhood watch volunteer still could face a wrongful-death civil lawsuit brought by Trayvon’s family — echoes of another bitterly disputed criminal verdict: the O.J. Simpson case — the key issue in the King case, of state law enforcement officers abusing their power, is plainly not present with Mr. Zimmerman … Montre Carodine, a law professor at the University of Alabama Law School who specializes in U.S. race relations, says the burden of proof in a federal hate crime prosecution would require the Justice Department to show that Mr. Zimmerman killed Trayvon because of his race, and that such a standard is “higher than what state prosecutors were unable to prove in a second-degree murder case.”
Zimmerman jury deliberates as Florida, nation on edge
Washington Times – July 13
…experts say the case and its verdict — which could see Mr. Zimmerman acquitted or convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter — will have clear reverberations and a lasting impact on the nation. “This case is going to be one of those watershed moments in our history when it comes to racial relations. If there is an acquittal, I do think there will be an outcry from a number people not just in the black community but also among people who I would say sympathize with some of the struggles for racial equality in this country,” said Montre Carodine, a professor at the University of Alabama Law School who specializes in race relations. “Whichever way it goes, there’s going to be an outcry from the side that loses. I don’t think that’s something we can avoid.”
Law professor answers questions on Stand Your Ground, self-defense and more
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – July 16
Earlier, CBS42 posted a report detailing where Alabama stands on the Stand Your Ground law. CBS42’s Mike McClanahan spoke with Joseph A. Colquitt, a professor of law at the University of Alabama School of Law and a retired Alabama circuit judge. Colquitt responded to a number of questions regarding self-defense, Stand Your Ground and more. McClanahan: What constitutes justified use of deadly force in a self-defense case in Alabama? Are there specific criteria laid out for person who’s in their house or in their car or somewhere else? Colquitt: Self-defense is a defense of justification. It is a “shield,” not a “sword.”
Shelved: Who decides which books are available in the state’s school libraries?
Anniston Star – July 14
At White Plains Middle School, teen vampires in the library were just too much for one adult. At B.B. Comer High School in Sylacauga, a handbook on pregnancy and childbirth was moved to the reference shelves, with parental permission required for checkout. At Winterboro High, the novel “White Oleander” stayed on school library shelves, though kids need a parent’s permission to check it out, too. Those local school library concerns were among several uncovered by Anniston Star reporters and University of Alabama journalism students in a months-long, statewide effort to find out which books are challenged by parents — and which are ultimately banned from libraries — in the state’s 132 public school districts.
Al.com – July 15
San Francisco Chronicle – July 15
Alabama Breaks Ground with Adaptive Golf
WMAZ 13 (Milledgeville, Ga.) – July 15
Over 80 golfers visited Milledgeville Country Club last weekend for the Georgia State Amputee Golf Tournament. Among those was Alabama adaptive golf head coach Ford Burttram. The Crimson Tide are the first in the nation to field an adaptive golf team. “Title 11 that was passed, which is the same as Title 9 for women’s collegiate athletics, any school receiving federal funding has to start having an adaptive program,” explained Burttram. “The University of Alabama has got the most in the nation.” Bama has adaptive programs for men and women’s basketball, wheelchair tennis, golf and rowing. Currently, Burttram is pulling players from the basketball team on to the course. “Basketball you’ve got five wheels on your chair,” said Burttram. “So you’re not really flipping over backwards very much. Out here on the golf course, you only have four wheels on your chair so your balance front to back, you going up and down hills it’s tough.
UA Gadsden Center hosts information reception July 25 on New College LifeTrack program
Al.com – July 15
The University of Alabama’s Gadsden Center is hosting an evening information reception July 25 to spread the word about the College LifeTrack program. The reception will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at the center, 121 North 1st Street…The New College LifeTrack is an undergraduate program for adults who want a degree but may have gotten sidetracked in pursuing the goal. It allows students to earn credit for prior or past learning experiences. As Beverly Dyer, center director, explained, students can submit a portfolio which will be evaluated to see how many hours of credit they can receive for their life experience. Students with prior college time can transfer up to 90 hours of credit from four-year institutions.