UA’s tech incubator to graduate first company in August
Tuscaloosa News – July 29
The University of Alabama’s tech incubator is several weeks away from graduating its first business, the university announced today. Inventure Renewables, which has patented a process that turns plant materials into complex sugars for industrial use, will depart the Bama Technology Incubator next month with 20 employees and $15 million in capital. The company moved in to a 60-square-foot space at the incubator in 2008 with a single employee. “This was exactly what I needed,” Rusty Sutterlin, chief scientific offer, said in a prepared statement. Inventure took advantage of the incubator’s proximity to UA scientists and equipment and business advice provided by the incubator. “Experts in every field we could imagine – we had them at our fingertips,” Sutterlin said.
University of Alabama professor named 2013 Outstanding Educator by national organization
Al.com – July 26
Wilson Lowrey, a professor of journalism at the University of Alabama, has been named the 2013 Outstanding Educator by the nation’s largest professional for journalism and mass communication educators. The award, which Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Newspaper and Online News Division will present next month, is open to journalism professors who are full-time faculty members at a four-year university, according to a UA press release. Wilson, who serves as the graduate program coordinator for UA’s journalism department and oversees the college’s writing center, said he is both surprised and grateful to receive the award.
University of Alabama college creates scholarship to assist unpaid interns
Al.com – July 26
University of Alabama students working unpaid summer internships can now look to the College of Communication and Information Sciences for financial assistance, thanks to the creation of a scholarship program to honor a long-time staff member. The Jim Oakley Family Scholarship will be awarded each year to outstanding undergraduate students participating in summer internship programs, according to a UA press release. Oakley, a UA alumnus and current career counselor and internship placement director for the college, is also slated to be inducted into UA’s Communication Hall of Fame this fall.
UA establishes adapted golf program, will compete in upcoming Amputee Golf Association events
The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) – July 26
The University of Alabama says its establishing the nation’s first collegiate adapted golf program. The university’s adapted athletics program is already home to the national championship men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams. Head Coach Ford Burttram tells al.com this week (http://bit.ly/15RzHNK) that feedback from athletes and student veterans encouraged the creation of the program. The team is expected to compete in upcoming Amputee Golf Association events. Burttram says he’s still working on getting the right equipment. He has sawed down standard golf clubs so he could hit at a lower angle and is working with Southern Golf Warehouse in Birmingham to get custom-made clubs. He’s also working with wheelchair designer Eagle Sports Chairs to design a chair with better range of movement for players.
Fox 17 (Nashville) – July 26
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – July 26
UA media resources built into Bryant-Denny Stadium
Gadsden Times – July 25
The Bryant-Denny Stadium will be home to a $14.6 million media center beginning next year, University of Alabama officials said. University officials decided that building the 50,000 square-foot media center into the stadium was a way to ensure that all of the school’s media assets were brought under one roof, said school spokeswoman Cathy Andreen. She told the Tuscaloosa News ( http://bit.ly/15ioZkp) that consolidating the school’s media resources into one space will mean better operational efficiency for the outlets being housed there. “Another important difference is the center’s basic design; it is being built as a teaching facility,” she told the newspaper. “For example, small conference rooms can be combined into larger spaces for seminars, studio control rooms support student learners, and we’ve doubled the number of nonlinear edit suites. Working with professionals in a contemporary, multimedia environment will provide students with a significant advantage as they pursue their own careers.”
Fox 17 (Nashville) – July 26
WAFF-NBC (Huntsville) – July 26
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – July 26
LEND A HAND: University of Alabama student earns first place in youth leadership conference
Tuscaloosa News – July 28
In a nationwide contest, University of Alabama student Bethany Carter of Pelham placed first in a youth leadership conference sponsored by Amway, a global management team that supports independent business owners and their goals. Founded in 1959 and based in Ada, Mich., Amway offers consumer products and business opportunities in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. The Amway Who Cares Challenge: Youth Leadership Contest honored 10 youth change-makers in the United States and Canada, who gave testimonies about their experience in community service. “Amway’s Who Cares Challenge provides a unique opportunity for a group of community-minded young people to have their voices heard,” said Tanios Viviani, regional president of the Americas for Amway. “We are honored to highlight these 10 outstanding individuals who are passionate about making the world a better place,” Viviani said.
Alabama’s back-to-school sales tax holiday set for next weekend
Tuscaloosa News – July 28
Misty Smith’s son will start kindergarten in a few weeks, and she said she needs to buy him clothes, shoes and school supplies. She said she plans to do most of her shopping next weekend because she also needs the savings she will get during Alabama’s back-to-school sales tax holiday. The three-day tax holiday starts Friday and will run through next Sunday. During that time, the state will waive its 4 percent sales tax on most clothing items, books, computers and school supplies. Many cities, towns and counties also will waive their sales taxes on those items … “Back-to-school is the second most important shopping season behind the holidays,” said Kristy Reynolds, a University of Alabama professor of marketing who has done extensive research in retailing. “It is very, very important to retailers.” The National Retail Federation said back-to-school shopping across the country will total $26.7 billion this year with the average shopper spending $634.78, down 8 percent from last year’s $688.62.
GUEST COLUMN: Tourists can get drunk in Dublin or lost in Boston
Tuscaloosa News – July 28
You can learn a lot on a vacation. In Britain, for example, my wife and I learned that Prince Charles is married to a woman who has no name. Britons love their royalty. Our London tour guide — who claimed that her name is “Brit” — declared that Princess Di was as close to a goddess as it is possible for a human being to be. But now Prince Charles consorts with a woman who, judging from Brit, is known only as “his second wife” — as in “In that apartment in Buckingham Palace, Charles lives with his second wife” and “you’ve never seen a paper plate as plain as his second wife.” In Ireland we learned that Dublin, which prides itself on being the home of Guinness whiskey, has a distinctive city motto. Compared to some Alabama nicknames — such as “The Loveliest Village on the Plains” (Auburn) or “Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World” (Union Springs) — Dublin’s motto is simple and forthright: “We’re drunk.” (David Sloan is a retired professor of journalism at the University of Alabama. Readers can email him at wmdsloan@bellsouth.net.)
UA’s Community Music School presents two musicals
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 26
New at six tonight, children ages six through twelve had practiced for two whole weeks, and today, they finally got to present two musicals. The University of Alabama Community Music School presented “Carnival of the Animals” and Disney’s “Annie’s Kids” earlier today at the Moody Music Building. The musicals were performed at the end of a two-week long community music camp. This year is the eighth year that the musical camp has been held.
Dr. David Bronner to provide keynote address at ACRE Executive Exchange
Al.com – July 28
Dr. David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural ACRE Executive Exchange presented by the Alabama Center for Real Estate at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce on Friday, August 23rd, at the historic and recently renovated Montgomery City Auditorium.
College News: 7/28
Tuscaloosa News – July 28
… The University of Alabama Community Service Center seeks partners for the 2013 Ripple Effect event, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 20. Ripple Effect is an annual freshman volunteer day that allows students to become acquainted with the Tuscaloosa community through service projects. The CSC is asking nonprofit organizations and community agencies for projects that can be completed by groups of five or more student volunteers during this time. Projects can be registered at www.volunteer.ua.edu. For more information, call 205-348-2865 or email volunteer@ua.edu.
UA alumni scholarship reception set
Andalusia Star News – July 27
The Covington County Chapter of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association invites alumni, fans and friends to its annual scholarship awards reception on Tues., July 30, in the PowerSouth board room. The reception will recognize new University of Alabama students, and the featured speaker will be Calvin Brown, director of alumni affairs. A meet and greet will begin at 6 p.m., with the program at 6:30 p.m.
UA graduate takes part in ski tournament
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 27
Jazmine Mosley, a Tuscaloosa native and waterski veteran of 19 years, placed second in the women’s two-division slalom. Mosley says it brings back memories of her skiing days at ‘Bama, “We’re lucky in Tuscaloosa to have a premiere ski site here on a private lake that is in pristine condition all the time. I like that i m representing the University of Alabama.”
4-H club from St. Clair County visits UA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 26
In other news from The Capstone, a 4-H Club from St. Clair County toured the campus today. Their visit wraps up the organization’s 2013 Summer Workshop. As part of their visit they toured the campus, the Walk of Champions, took pictures with Coach Saban’s statue and of The Zone, coordinator. Lee Ann Clark says it’s great seeing the children learn and grow.