Gov. Bentley creates home owner’s insurance research center in Tuscaloosa with executive order
Al.com – Oct. 23
Governor Robert Bentley signed an executive order Wednesday that established the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research on the University of Alabama’s campus in Tuscaloosa, aiming to study and move to address the availability and rising cost of homeowners insurance. UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce will host the Center, whose primary goal will be to gather and distribute valuable information to home owners throughout the state about insuring their properties. In a press release, Bentley said the Center would be a non-profit research center dedicated to researching the availability and affordability of homeowner’s insurance in the Yellowhammer state. “This will be a source of information that helps homeowners make informed decisions. This will help encourage competition, which will also benefit consumers,” Bentley said. “I believe that, over time, the work of this center can make insurance premiums more affordable while connecting more people with the comprehensive types of coverage they need.”
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 23
Florence Times Daily – Oct. 23
CBS 12 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Oct. 23
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Oct. 23
WLTZ-NBC (Columbus, Ga.) – Oct. 23
WRBL-CBS (Columbus, Ga.) – Oct. 23
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 23
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – Oct. 23
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 23
WPMI-NBC (Mobile) – Oct. 23
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – Oct. 23
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Oct. 23
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UA team wins analytics competition
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
A team of students from the University of Alabama finished first in an annual analytics and data mining competition during the two-day 2013 Analytics Conference in Orlando. The annual conference brings together analytics professionals, researchers and other industry leaders to discuss the latest ideas, research and best practices, according to the event’s website. The UA student team competed in the seventh annual 2013 SAS Analytics and Data Mining Shootout, sponsored by Teradata Corp. and the Institute for Health and Business Insight. The students competed to develop methods to determine the financial viability of various ecological approaches to disease prevention and health promotion, according to a release from SAS, one of the presenting sponsors of the conference and a developer of business analy-tics software. In the competition, the UA team used SAS Analytics software and provided data to predict the total cost and frequency of medical and pharmaceutical expenses for five primary diseases in New Hampshire from 2012-20.
UA to provide free health screenings during National Primary Care Week
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences will provide free health screenings on Nov. 2 at Midtown Village as part of National Primary Care Week. The college will offer free screenings for blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar during Midtown Village’s fall festival. The screenings will be from noon and 5 p.m., according to a release from UA. The tests will be conducted by medical students, resident physicians and faculty physicians from the college. National Primary Care Week, which runs from Oct. 28 through Nov. 3, is an annual campaign organized by the American Medical Student Association to highlight the importance of primary care and to bring health care professionals together, according to the release.
Free speech pioneer to speak at UA
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
Mary Beth Tinker, a plaintiff in a landmark First Amendment rights case, is scheduled to discuss free speech at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 5 in the Ferguson Center at the University of Alabama. Student speech attorney Mike Hiestand will accompany Tinker during the free event. Tinker will visit UA as part of the Tinker Tour, a “traveling civics lesson” sponsored by the Student Press Law Center, according to a release from UA. In 1965, Tinker was among a group of junior high and high school students in Des Moines, Iowa, who wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. The students were sent home by school administrators, following a move by the school board to preemptively ban armbands on school grounds to thwart the protest. Tinker and the other students challenged the ban in federal court, and the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled in their favor in 1969 that the protest was protected under the First Amendment.
Alabama Launchpad helps provide capital for start-up companies
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Oct. 23
Here’s how it works: the start-ups accepted for the Alabama Launchpad competition pitch their businesses before a panel of judges. Those selected for the final round will compete for a share of $100,000 in investment funding. The idea is to help provide start-ups that have a solid business model, the resources they need to take that next step forward … Sloan McCrary and Will Sanders are grad students at the University of Alabama who founded “e-electricity” were awarded $23,000 and received an additional $10,000 for meeting ‘milestone goals’ by Alabama Launchpad.
Octubafest: a definition and display of the euphonium
Crimson White – Oct. 22
October bursts with the sounds of larger-than-life instruments during Octubafest, the musical month-long celebration of the tuba and euphonium. The University of Alabama’s tuba and euphonium department is celebrated this month by hosting a master class to expand students’ understanding of their instruments, as well as two concerts to expose the public to the melodies these instruments have to offer. “I think [Octubafest] is a great opportunity for us to tell people what a euphonium is; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question,” Ian Toy, a sophomore majoring in music therapy, said.
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Oct. 23
Franklin Daily Journal (Ind.) – Oct. 23
The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) – Oct. 23
Newnan Times Herald (Ga.) – Oct. 23
NBC 15 (Mobile) – Oct. 23
Ferg to feature foreign food, fashion
Crimson White – Oct. 24
The University of Alabama’s International Student Association will be combining food and fashion in their “International Food and Flair” event Friday in the hopes of bringing together international and domestic students together over common interests. The advertisement for the international fashion show and food tasting reads “International Food & Flair,” but the event itself offers much more for international and domestic students alike. Andrew Word, ISA PR officer and a junior majoring in Spanish and English, said the event serves as a way for international students trying to assimilate onto campus to give back. “It gives domestic students a chance to learn about various cultures through their clothing and at the same time gives international students a chance to get involved in the community by showcasing the clothing they brought from their home country,” Word said. “It’s an opportunity for them to teach and feel like they’re the ones actually doing something on campus for the domestic students and not the other way around.” ISA’s International Fashion Show will be held Friday from 6-9 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Ballroom.
Local business owner Jessica Peterson keeps with the craft at The Southern Letterpress
Crimson White – Oct. 24
The Southern Letterpress sits nestled between Anders Hardware and Faucett’s Ladies Clothing in downtown Northport. The studio resembles a long, narrow hallway more than a shop and stands with its door open to passers-by on a quiet, rainy Saturday morning. The pitter-pattering of the rain blends with the methodical hissing of the printing press, and ink that smells like frying bacon wafts through the room. The walls are covered with colorful prints of popular Southern sayings and greeting cards. It is a soothing place and, despite cooler fall temperatures, feels warm. Jessica Peterson scrapes the ink she mixed from a flat plastic dish and spreads it across the undulating rolling pins, disrupting the systematic hissing and producing a momentary sound comparable to an angry, spitting cat… “It is a good stress reliever,” Peterson said, holding up the paper that now is impressed with purple keys, the beginning of a background for a poster advertising an upcoming concert at the Bama Theatre. Peterson traded in her New York life for a new start in Alabama pursuing printmaking and book arts in 2006. Seven years later, she is still living in the South and now co-owns The Southern Letterpress with Bridget Elmer and teaches on campus in the Honors College and department of art.
Students bring Carrie to campus
Crimson White – Oct. 24
The iconic “Sex and the City” character Carrie Bradshaw was brought to life at The University of Alabama for a project done by students in the department of clothing, textiles and interior design. Students participating in the “Carrie Project” had to create six different and distinct looks for the fictitious Carrie, who was played by Casey Straughn, a junior majoring in fashion retail. Students in a department of clothing, textiles and interior design class known as CTD 340: Portfolio Design were tasked with creating a storyline that removed the much-loved, and sometimes envied, Carrie from New York City and placed her as an undergraduate student at the University. Some of the scenarios included sitting on the steps of Gorgas Library reading Vogue magazine, waiting for her date at DePalma’s and rushing down the steps of Reese Phifer on her way to her next class. Straughn said Marcy Koontz, professor of CTD 340, recruited her to be Carrie after a typical “give an interesting fact about yourself” exercise during the first day of class.