Little choice among companies in Ala. marketplace
Associated Press (via Sacramento Bee) – Oct. 2
Alabamians who are able to get into the new health insurance marketplace website are finding they don’t have much choice among companies…Dr. Lea Yerby, an assistant professor in the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama, said Alabama’s marketplace is a reflection of Blue Cross’ dominance, but that could be a positive because people in Alabama are familiar with the company and doctors’ offices are accustomed to working with Blue Cross…Yerby encouraged people to be patient about getting into the system because the insurance coverage won’t start until Jan. 1, and people have six months to sign up during the initial enrollment period. “Right now, I wouldn’t recommend it because of the glitches,” she said. Instead, she suggested people study the marketplace and talk to groups that are being funded by the federal government to help the public understand the new offerings and figure out whether they will qualify for subsidies.
Charlotte Observer – Oct. 3
San Francisco Chronicle – Oct. 3
Gadsden Times – Oct. 3
Montgomery Advertiser – Oct. 3
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 3
Detroit bankruptcy weighs down banks around the world
Detroit News – Oct. 3
The list of creditors in Detroit’s historic bankruptcy filing includes a number of European financial institutions that stand to lose millions, according to reports and banking documents examined by The Detroit News. European banks are facing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses from purchases of Detroit debt as a result of the city’s Chapter 9 filing in July. Several struggling foreign banks that were seized by their government regulators during the 2008 European financial crisis had Detroit debt among the bad assets on their balance sheets. Those losses and the city’s bankruptcy filing — coupled with the financial rules imposed on foreign major banks in the wake of Europe’s financial woes — mean banks today wouldn’t be likely to buy as much Detroit debt as in years past, said Robert Brooks, professor of financial risk management at the University of Alabama.
Former ambassador honored at UA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 30
A former U.S. ambassador and U of A graduate is being named a distinguished visiting fellow at The University of Alabama. Lino Gutierrez earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at UA before beginning a 29-year career in public service.
Univ. of Alabama makes big changes to homecoming parade route
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 2
Heads up if you’re planning on attending Saturday’s University of Alabama homecoming parade. Attendees will need to get up very early and learn the new route. This year, the parade will step off at 7 a.m. from the corner of 2nd Avenue and University Boulevard. It will then move west down 19th Avenue.
Counseling Center to hold suicide awareness walk
Crimson White – Oct. 3
This summer, one of Preston Jutte’s best friends died by suicide. Next Sunday, Jutte will join hundreds of others in an awareness walk that seeks to prevent others from suffering the same fate as Jutte’s friend. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Community Walk, sponsored by The University of Alabama Counseling Center, will be held Sunday, Oct. 13. The walk will begin at the Ferguson Center and will circle around the Quad.
For Heart Health, Snake Oil
The Atlantic – Oct. 2
A python, though firmly high on the food chain due to its size (up to 30 feet long), sometimes doesn’t eat for a year or more. The snake has a peculiar biological mechanism to compensate for its sometimes prolonged fasting periods. After a meal, the mass of a python’s heart doubles within a day, and the triglycerides in its bloodstream increase fifty-fold. Its metabolism and production of insulin and lipids skyrocket. … Jared Diamond, famous evolutionary biologist and geographer, highlights the python’s organ growth in a 1998 Nature magazine article. Leinwand’s lab shares data—and pythons—with Diamond’s colleague (and co-author on the Nature article) Stephen M. Secor of the University of Alabama. The snakes are rumored to glide freely around Secor’s lab floor.
Graduateprograms.com Announces Top 50 Graduate Schools for Social Life
PRWeb – Oct. 3
With votes from more than 40,000 students representing over 1,200 schools, Graduate Programs ranked the most social graduate schools in the nation—and the University of Colorado at Boulder came out on top. In addition to the value of a great post secondary education, grad schools providing students the opportunity to meet and socialize with others representing various backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs helps them to expand their horizons and provides enrichment beyond the classroom…4.) University of Alabama (8.56 stars)
Appsbar Recognizes WVUA Weather as the appsbar.com App of the Day
AEC News Room – Oct. 2
WVUA 7 and WUOA 23 are commercial television stations operated by the University of Alabama in the College of Communication and Information Sciences. The stations have put their weather services on a mobile app that has been released at appcatch.com.
NASCAR launches college program at UA
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 2
Some NASCAR drivers made a pit stop in Alabama today. Denny Hamlin and Darrell Wallace Jr. launched the NASCAR college programs at University of Alabama and Auburn University today…NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin took over T-town Wednesday. The No. 11 Fed-Ex driver is in town promoting a NASCAR progam put on by the Talladega Superspeedway to get more younger people involved with the sport. Hamlin spent his morning taking pictures with hundreds of UA students at the Locker Room on the Strip.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 2
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 2
Al.com – Oct. 2
Think tanks measure global economic freedom … the U.S. declines
OfficialWire – Oct. 2
The significant efforts in recent years to measure economic freedom did not come from universities. They came from think tanks. These efforts are a powerful proof that think tanks are an essential institution in civil society. More than that, the “freedom truths” they affirm are vital for the world and the United States. This is crucial information that we all need to know. … Derek Carter, an economics, mathematics and finance major at the University of Alabama, conducted research for this article.
All dolled up: Becoming a Crimsonette is no easy act
Crimson White – Oct. 3
Foster Auditorium is bustling with around 40 nervous, excited girls going through the motions of their routines and stretching as they prepare to audition. Foster’s hallways are filled with mirrors, and the girls sit in front of them, rolling their hair and doing their makeup. Friends and family fill the seats, waiting to cheer on their daughter, sister or friend. Each girl has prepared for this day six months to a year in advance, and each one of them has one goal: to be a University of Alabama Crimsonette.
ECo addresses Marr’s Spring litter issue
Crimson White – Oct. 3
When The University of Alabama Environmental Council led a cleanup of Marr’s Spring recently, the group of five students picked up more than a little litter. In fact, they picked up six large trash bags worth of Styrofoam, cigarette butts and plastic. And that was only after two hours. ECo, which organized the cleanup through Facebook and Get On Board Day, is an advocacy and activism group that meets weekly to hear student environmental concerns and to work for their resolution. This particular time, the group focused on Marr’s Spring, a spring on campus that served as the University’s original water supply until 1920.
Writing Center assists all students
Crimson White – Oct. 3
Hanna Jones visited the Writing Center for the fourth time since her second week of class. She said she was encouraged by her professors and Writing Center representatives to utilize the center’s resources from the very start of school. It may come as a surprise to some that Jones is not a freshman, or even an undergrad; she is a first year graduate student completing a master’s program in social work.