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MONDAY, AUGUST 12 – SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013

BEST BETS

FRESHMAN HONORS STUDENTS TO BEGIN COMMUNITY SERVICE – More than 250 UA Honors College freshmen and upper-class leaders will begin the fall semester with community service projects through Alabama Action and Outdoor Action. The programs will run from Sunday, Aug. 11, to Friday, Aug. 16, in the West Alabama community. Students in the Honors College’s Alabama Action will be working at local elementary schools, while the Honor College’s Outdoor Action students will be working on rivers and creeks. A media day for Alabama Action is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 15 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Brookwood Elementary School and, for Outdoor Action, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Hurricane Creek. For details, contact Susan Alley at 205/348-5500, susan.alley@ua.edu or Randy Mecredy at 205/348-2136 or rmecredy@bama.ua.edu. For assistance, contact UA media relations, 205/348-5320. 

UA PRESENTS WEEK OF WELCOME 2013 – The University of Alabama’s Division of Student Affairs will host Week of Welcome 2013 from Friday, Aug. 16 to Thursday, Aug. 29. The two-week series, featuring more than 50 events, is designed to help first-year and transfer students transition to academic and student life at the Capstone by learning about campus life and the Tuscaloosa community. Contact LaToya Scott at scott060@sa.ua.edu or 205/348-7525 or Bobby Mathews, UA media relations, at bwmathews1@ua.edu or 205/348-4956.

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH DEVELOPED FOR THOSE WITH CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS – UA students are learning the value behind the “two heads are better than one” concept when addressing the health-care needs of rural communities. The Capstone College of Nursing received a $997,173 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement a collaborative, team-based approach to working with patients who have multiple chronic conditions. The primary component of the three-year grant is the development of interprofessional grand round teams. These teams will be comprised of graduate-level students from the various disciplines, with nurse practitioner students in the Capstone College of Nursing taking lead on this project. For more information, contact Kim Eaton, UA media relations, at 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.

CURRENT COMMENT

IMPACT OF FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN BILL WILL BE MINIMAL – Federal legislators avoided student loan rates increasing to 6.8 percent with a bipartisan bill that will keep rates at 3.8 percent and tie rates to financial markets. Dr. Stephen Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama, says the changes will be small and imperceptible to most parents. Rates increased slightly with the deal, from 3.4 percent to 3.86. “The several hundred dollars cost in this interest rate was not going to be a deciding factor for most parents and students, as the decision as to whether or not a student loan was needed was already made prior to the August agreement,” said Katsinas. Contact Katsinas at 205/348-2470 or skatsina@bamaed.ua.edu or David Miller, UA media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

DOPING NOT JUST A PROBLEM IN BASEBALL – With a decision about New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez’s fate on the diamond pending from the Major League Baseball commissioner’s office, many eyes have turned to the problem of pro baseball players using performance-enhancing drugs. However, Dr. Andrew Billings, Ronald Reagan Endowed Chair for Broadcasting in UA’s department of telecommunication and film, said while much of the attention falls to baseball, it’s a problem in many other sports, too. Yet PEDs are often pegged as a baseball problem. “Biogenesis is currently unpacked as another baseball scandal related to performance-enhancing drugs,” Billings said. “However, Biogenesis is also linked to athletes in the NBA, professional tennis and Mixed-Martial Arts. Why does baseball hold a unique position among all sports when it concerns PEDs?” Contact Billings at 205/348-8658 or acbillings@ua.edu, or Misty Mathews, UA media relations, at 205/348-6416 or mmathews@ua.edu.

CLOSING EMBASSIES MAY NOT DETER TERRORISM – The U.S. Department of State just re-opened 18 of the 19 embassies and consulates that were closed recently because of concern about the potential for terrorist attacks emanating from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. But research by Dr. Walters Enders, professor of economics and finance at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, and others, indicates that closing embassies in response to terrorist threats may be ineffective and may even increase casualties elsewhere when embassy personnel are not in protected areas. Contact Enders at  205/348-8972 or wenders@cba.ua.edu, or Bill Gerdes, UA media relations, at 205/348-8318 or bgerdes@cba.ua.edu.

EVENTS

UA TO CO-HOST SOCIAL WORK CONFERENCE IN BIRMINGHAM – The University of Alabama School of Social Work and the Alabama Department of Human Resources will host its 12th annual Fall Social Work Conference Aug. 15-16 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. The two-day conference, “Be Someone’s Hero, Empowering Children for Success,” will be filled with a variety of speakers and sessions. This year’s keynote address, “The Spirit of a Child: From Rejection to Connection to Direction,” will be given by Derek Clark, motivational speaker and author. Clark is the author of “Never Limit Your Life” and the “I Will Never Give Up” book series.  Contact: David Miller, UA media relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu

UA TO HOST SYMPOSIUM ON FUTURE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING – The University of Alabama department of civil, construction and environmental engineering will host a symposium to discuss the future of the field. Titled “Defining the Future of Civil Engineering through Collaborative Research,” the symposium includes a panel discussion among eight nationally-recognized civil engineering researchers at 1 p.m. Aug. 19 in SERC 1013. Speakers will also give brief presentations on their research on the morning of Aug. 20 in SERC. Contact: Adam Jones, engineering media relations, at 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu.

LOOKING AHEAD

UA PROFESSOR’S NEW BOOK EXAMINES COLD WAR’S IMPACT ON SOUTH – A new book by University of Alabama history professor Kari Frederickson explores how the Cold War changed the American South in ways that are just now being understood. Cold War Dixie (University of Georgia Press, 2013) examines the impact of the military-industrial complex on the small town of Aiken, S.C. Watch for an upcoming news release or contact Frederickson at kfrederi@as.ua.edu or Bobby Mathews, UA media relations, at bwmathews1@ua.edu or 205/348-4956.