Crestmont, UA partner for night of learning
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 23
Crestmont Elementary School and the University of Alabama College of Education have teamed up for a night of hands-on learning for parents and students. More than 250 parents are expected to participate in the Family Science and Social Studies Night taking place at 6 p.m. Thursday at Crestmont. Students and parents will learn about mirrors, symmetry, density, sound and other scientific concepts, as well as participate in social studies focused on different countries, according to a news release from UA. English- and Spanish-speaking UA students will read to preschoolers. Students in other grades will get to choose activities based on their grade and interests.
Launchpad winner, e-Electricity, explores wireless harvesting
Birmingham Business Journal – Oct. 23
OS 7 users would relish this concept if it makes it to the market. As I’m completing my follow-ups on the most recent Alabama Launchpad competition, I decided to focus on a Tuscaloosa startup called e-Electricity. The firm, founded in January and headed by second-year University of Alabama MBA student Sloan McCrary, took home $23,500 from this year’s second Launchpad competition. As its name may suggest, e-Electricity is involved in wireless harvesting, the concept of conducting electricity free of wires. The firm has developed an antenna in a thumb-size plastic stick that picks up radio waves to develop electricity.
University of Alabama Students Use SAS® Analytics to Predict $180 Million in Health Care Savings
Yahoo! Finance – Oct. 23
A student team from the University of Alabama landed the top spot in the national 2013 SAS Analytics and Data Mining Shootout, sponsored by Teradata Corporation and the Institute for Health and Business Insight. Their research into disease prevention, treatment and costs revealed potential savings of nearly $180 million. In the seventh annual Analytics and Data Mining Shootout, co-presented by SAS, Teradata and The Institute for Health and Business Insight, competitors were challenged to develop methods to determine the financial viability of various ecological approaches to disease prevention and health promotion. Armed with SAS® Analytics, teams were provided relevant data and instructed to implement appropriate analytics and data mining methods. In order to assess potential prevention programs, University of Alabama students used SAS Analytics to predict the total cost and frequency of medical and pharmaceutical expenses for five primary diseases in New Hampshire for the years 2012-2020.
Bentley to speak Wednesday at UA’s Insurance Day
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 23
Gov. Robert Bentley is expected to announce the enactment of a key recommendation of his Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission Wednesday morning in Tuscaloosa. Bentley will be the lead speaker at the University of Alabama’s Insurance Day, a daylong conference at the Bryant Conference Center. The governor’s press office said he will discuss challenges affecting the affordability and availability of comprehensive homeowners’ insurance in Alabama in his speech and will give details of the recommendation that he will put in place. No details on the recommendation will be released until the governor’s speech, according to his press office. Bentley established the Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission to address homeowner concerns about insurance costs and availability after hurricanes and tornadoes hit the state in recent years. Bentley is scheduled to speak at 8:20 a.m.
Stricter Pell Grant terms cost students at smaller schools, officials say
Anniston Star – Oct. 22
Jacksonville State University chief financial aid officer Vickie Adams knows that about 40 percent of students at the local institution depend on income-based Pell Grants to pay for classes. So when Congress passed limitations to the grant program in 2012, she knew the changes would mean some students would no longer be able to depend on the money. And it came as no surprise to her when students began turning to her office for answers and for help at start of the fall semester last year when the changes began to take effect…Officials at JSU point to the changes in the Pell Grant program as the main reason enrollment slipped for the second year in a row there. A 2012 study conducted by the University of Alabama also indicates that the Pell Grant changes may be contributing to falling enrollment at other universities across the state. “Our public access institutions are more sensitive to Pell Grant eligibility than they ever have been,” said Stephen Katsinas, an author of the study and director of the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center.
How to keep your energy bill down
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 22
With the cooler temperatures arriving we looked at how to keep the utility bill down. According to energy management experts, a typical family in Alabama spends more than $2,000 a year on home utilities. University of Alabama director of HVAC and energy management, Greg McKelvey says you can change your air filter monthly and turn your thermostat down two degrees when you leave your house for work or school everyday. McKelvey says during the cooler months you should also make sure your blinds are open during the day to let the sun in and naturally heat your home.
Haunting at the museum
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 22
With Halloween right around the corner, the University of Alabama is gearing up for its third annual Haunting at the Museum. The event is sponsored by UA’s Museum of Natural History, and hopes to open your eyes to some of the spooky stories around campus.
Alabama parole board to hold hearing on posthumous pardons of Scottsboro Boys next month
Al.com – Oct. 22
The state parole board has set a hearing next month to consider whether to issue posthumous pardons for the Scottsboro Boys. An assistant professor at the University of Alabama who helped compile the research for the petition, John Miller, says the board will consider the request Nov. 21 in Montgomery. The Legislature passed a law in the spring to allow the board to issue posthumous pardons for the eight Scottsboro Boys who didn’t receive them before they died. The nine black Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in north Alabama more than 80 years ago. One of the nine received a pardon before his death.
CBS 12 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Oct. 22
NBC 3 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Oct. 22
WLTZ-NBC (Columbus, Ga.) – Oct. 22
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 22
Alabama Public Radio – Oct. 23