From Alabama stage, Cuban-American theater group takes show to New York, Havana
Associated Press (Al.com) – June 29
It’s difficult enough for actors to perform a play in two languages and make sure the audience understands, but an Alabama-based partnership of Cubans and Americans is tackling that and more with an unusual engagement in New York. The cast and crew of “Alcestis Ascending” are preparing for one of just a handful of joint Cuban-American plays to hit the Big Apple since the Cuban revolution and Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959. The performance is a collaboration between the University of Alabama and the Cuban National Office of Scenic Arts. A cast of 15 Cubans and eight Americans will perform at the off-Broadway Clurman Theatre beginning July 9. The play, an adaptation of the Greek playwright Euripides’ drama “Alcestis,” was written and directed by Seth Panitch, the head of acting programs at the University of Alabama. William Ruiz, from Cuba, is the co-director.
Kelowna Daily Courier (British Columbia, Canada) – June 29
Charlotte Observer (N.C.) – June 29
WJCL-ABC (Beaufort, S.C.) – June 29
Daily Astorian (Ore.) – June 29
Hotel excavation unearths Tuscaloosa’s past
Associated Press – June 30
The dirt at the corner of University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa has fascinating stories to tell. The site – soon to be an Embassy Suites hotel – was layered with artifacts from nearly 200 years of the city and state’s history, according to researchers from the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama who excavated the site in preparation for construction. The narratives laid out by the bits of broken crockery, petite medicine bottles, type from a printing press and other artifacts include the block’s role as a small outpost on the bluff overlooking the Black Warrior River, a commercial center in the 1820s near the state Capitol, and the site of a Civil War prison. Matt Gage, director of the Office of Archaeological Research, called the site “kind of a perfect storm of archaeology.” The first structures on the city block bound by University Boulevard, Greensboro Avenue and Fourth Street were built on the site around 1816 and evolved over the course of the century. The artifacts of habitation and commerce that accrued on the site were preserved under an asphalt parking lot until a team from the Office of Archaeological Research began field work in January as part of a contract with the city for a federally required survey.
Two UA students take top national film honors
Tuscaloosa News – June 30
Two University of Alabama telecommunication and film students received national recognition for their short films at the Campus MovieFest Hollywood event. Alex Beatty, a junior at UA entered the film “Rise,” which won Best Editing nationally, while Connor Simpson’s film “Manta” won him the title of Best Director and Best Picture – the top award given at CMF. CMF gives students around the country a week to make a short film, by providing them with all of the equipment needed for filming and editing. They end the week with a premiere to screen the top 16 films and announce award winners. Winners for Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Picture are invited to screen their films at the national CMF award show in Hollywood, Calif.
University of Alabama advertising and public relations students create cool campaign
Tuscaloosa News – June 29
Some UA seniors majoring in advertising and public relations got more than hands-on experience and a good grade when they designed an advertising campaign for a young frozen yogurt chain this spring. They convinced top executives of the company that owns the chain to use some of their ideas. “The students surprised us with their research, and they gave us invaluable information,” said Jeff Pizitz, president of Birmingham-based Pizitz Management Group. “It was a great experience to work with enthusiastic students.” Pizitz Management’s holdings includes 32° A Yogurt Bar, a chain it founded in 2010 that now has 21 stores in nine states. Pizitz Management is owned by members of the Pizitz family, who once owned a chain of Pizitz Department Stores in Alabama, including department stores in Tuscaloosa. Each year, UA’s advertising and public relations department offers the class in which seniors put together an advertising-public relations campaign for a business, said Lance Kinney, an associate professor in charge of the class.
University of Alabama law school dean to retire at the end of June
Tuscaloosa News – June 29
The deans of the law school and the college of communication at the University of Alabama have announced plans to retire. Ken Randall, dean of the UA School of Law, is scheduled to retire at the end of June, ending a 20-year career as dean. Randall said he was retiring to work in the private sector. “The law school is in great shape, and I thought it was a good time (to retire),” Randall said. An interim law dean will be selected by the university in the next few weeks, according to UA President Judy Bonner, who praised Randall for his leadership as dean. “We wish dean Randall much success as he enters the private sector,” Bonner said in a statement from UA. The university will conduct a national search for Randall’s replacement, Bonner said. Loy Singleton, College of communication and Information Sciences dean, is scheduled to step down at the end of October.
Al.com – June 29
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – June 29
NBC 9 (Steubenville, Ohio) – June 29
Two new associate deans appointed at the University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – June 29
Two University of Alabama faculty members have been appointed associate deans in the College of Arts and Sciences. Lisa Lindquist-Dorr, an associate professor in history, and Roger Sidje, an associate professor in mathematics, were appointed by UA College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Olin and will begin their new roles on Aug. 16, according to an announcement from the university. Lindquist-Dorr, who joined the faculty in 2000, will administer the social sciences division, and Sidje, who joined the faculty in 2008, will manage diversity and multicultural programs. Lindquist-Dorr is filling the academic position vacated by professor Carmen Burkhalter, who is returning to the faculty. Sidje will replace professor Jimmy Williams, who is also returning to the faculty.
Florence Times Daily – June 29
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – June 29
New education standards factor in student race, economic status
Tuscaloosa News – June 30
Beginning this fall, Alabama public schools will be under a new state-created academic accountability system that sets different goals for students in math and reading based on their race, economic status, ability to speak English and disabilities. The state’s new Plan 2020 will replace No Child Left Behind, the much-maligned, Bush-era accountability program. Plan 2020 emphasizes getting students college- or career-ready and closing the achievement gap that exists between impoverished minority students and students who are better off socioeconomically. It sets a different standard for students in each of several subgroups — American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, black, English language learners, Hispanic, multirace, poverty, special education and white … Peter Hlebowitsh, dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama, said he believes Plan 2020 has good intentions. “The idea is to chase after equity and close the achievement gap,” he said. “And who could be against the idea of more kids graduating? But underscoring this is the question of why are expectations lower for some groups than others? “I think this is purely psychometric. … While the number is lower for the African-American group, the percentage increase is higher. The African-American score is lower because it’s disproportionately associated with lower income kids. I think what they’re thinking is it would only be fair to expect a little bit less from them than others.
Gadsden Times – June 30
New Alabama laws affect Scottsboro Boys, red tape
Associated Press – June 30
As most Alabamians prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, state officials are busy implementing new state laws that take effect Monday, including one designed to write another chapter in the state’s civil rights history. The law allows the state parole board to issue posthumous pardons to the Scottsboro Boys. Prior to Republican Sen. Arthur Orr of Decatur getting the law passed, the parole board could not issue pardons to people after their deaths…Researchers at the University of Alabama have been working to compile the paperwork to request the pardons. They hope to file it soon after the Fourth of July holiday. Assistant professor John Miller said they are getting support from elected officials in Morgan and Jackson counties, the two counties where the Scottsboro Boys were tried. The new law requires that support for the parole board to issue pardons. The applications are detailed, he said, because they must show that pardons would remedy social injustices associated with racial discrimination.
Mobile Symphony Orchestra concertmaster takes her skills to Tuscaloosa
Al.com – June 28
Mobile Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Jenny Gregoire was recently appointed as Instructor of Violin at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Concertmaster since 2001, Gregoire said her main role at the University of Alabama will be overseeing all violin students. “I am most excited to be able to have an impact on young adults as they prepare for their musical career,” Gregoire said in a press release. “So many music undergraduate students do not know where music will lead them. It’s a joy to be able to help them discover their passion.”
Ionic liquid formulation improves herbicide
Chemistry World – June 28
Scientists in Poland and the US have reformulated the herbicide dicamba to reduce its environmental impact. The use of chemicals in agriculture is widespread, however, there are increasing concerns about their other environmental effects. Dicamba, used to control broadleaf weeds in grain fields and grasslands, is known to enter the environment via water runoff and evaporation following its application. In an attempt to reduce its volatility, a team led by Robin Rogers, from the University of Alabama, and Juliusz Pernak, from Poznan University of Technology, has formulated dicamba as an ionic liquid. Ionic liquids are liquid salts, consisting of a cation and an anion. Deprotonated dicamba assumed the role of anion and the team tested different cations to see which combination was most effective.
GUEST COLUMN: Government is becoming moral arbiter of society
Tuscaloosa News – June 30
Some quick explanations are called for before someone wonders what kind of typo is “nones.” “None” is a category we all have seen on questionnaires. Like you have four or five choices, and one of them, for example, is “none of the above.” People who tabulate and interpret statistics use “nones” for defining the number of respondents who answer “none” to questions. Ergo, the “nones.” The “New Evangelization” is largely a Roman Catholic phenomenon which will surprise Baptists and most evangelical Protestants. “Hey, that New Evangelization is nothing new!” It is all about the Catholic Church trying to regain ground it has lost in the past half-century to secularism and Protestants, not always combined that way by Catholics in the same breath, but sometimes thought of as inexorably linked…Larry Clayton is a professor of history at the University of Alabama.
Gadsden Times – June 30