Local scholars give their predictions for 2014
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 29
As 2013 winds down, the University of Alabama faculty have offered their annual list of “educated guesses” about what the new year will hold, including prognostications on topics such as social media, concussions in sports, Alabama’s financial outlook, trendy diets and NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s effect on cellphone security. The annual predictions, now in their 33rd consecutive year, are released by the Capstone’s Office of Media Relations. “We’ve kept it going because it is a fun project to ask a faculty member to get out on a limb and make a prediction,” said Cathy Andreen, director of UA Media Relations. The media relations staff brainstorms on interesting ideas for predictions before going to the faculty in search of expert guesses, Andreen said. The best make the list. Below are some of the highlights of the 2014 list.
UA experts release their ‘educated guesses’ about 2014
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 31
Each year, experts from The University of Alabama release a list of “educated guesses” for the new year. The predictions touch on many different aspects of life, but many of the 2014 predictions are associated with technology. One expert says social media will continue to grow, and the new trend in social media will be augmented reality. Augmented reality focuses on further blending technology with the real world, through things like apps, gaming systems and even vehicle technology. Another prediction says 3D printers, which allow you to make a model of just about anything, will continue moving out of just the industrial and lab settings, and closer to consumers. One expert says stores could be offering 3D printing services this year.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 31 (Video)
What will be new in 2014?
Moulton Advertiser – Jan. 2
As we flip the calendar into 2014, everyone looks ahead to what might happen in the upcoming year. For 33 years, The University of Alabama Office of Media Relations has issued a press release with “educated guesses” from university experts about trends and events that might happen in the next year. “While these ‘educated guesses’ don’t always come true, our track record over the years has been pretty good,” the press release stated. For 2014, The University has again released a set of predictions. Some are more likely to affect Lawrence County than others, but the whole set always makes for interesting reading.
University Of Alabama Quarterback A.J. McCarron’s Beautiful Friendship With A.J. Starr, Student With Cerebral Palsy
Huffington Post – Dec. 26
A single moment of compassion has turned into a beautiful friendship between a University of Alabama quarterback and a student with cerebral palsy. A.J. McCarron, who has been the QB for Alabama’s Crimson Tide since 2011, first met A.J. Starr after a routine practice, according to a CNN news story on the pair. “I always remember him watching football through the cracks of our fence, just so he could see a glimpse of the team,” McCarron said in the CNN interview. “I could tell he had some type of disorder. He tried to raise his hand at two buses and they just pulled off. And it was starting to rain — I just felt bad.” McCarron offered Starr a ride and learned of his struggle with cerebral palsy. He was so moved by Starr’s story and cheerful disposition that he called up the school’s director of football operations and asked him to find a place for Starr in the team’s ranks, Sports Illustrated reported.
University of Alabama startup company gets $150,000 grant for petrochemical work
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 22
The National Science Foundation has awarded a University of Alabama startup company a $150,000 grant to further develop a new catalyst for the petrochemical industry. UA-based research company ThruPore Technologies will use the money to try prove that catalysts it developed are less expensive to produce and have superior properties to catalysts now on the market. Catalysts cause or accelerate chemical reactions. The impact of the grant will be felt at UA in multiple ways, said Martin Bakker, a UA associate professor of chemistry who co-founded the company with Franchessa Sayler, who earned her doctorate from UA earlier this year.
Birmingham Business Journal – Dec. 24
Alabama, Auburn students collaborate on Lee County Habitat home
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 22
Auburn University and the University of Alabama are collaborating with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for Alabama residents and united to complete a home in time for Christmas for a Lee County family. Students and staff from both universities are working with homebuilders from Geordan Communities and staff from Lee County Habitat for Humanity to provide the finishing touches necessary to prepare the home for the family to move in before Christmas.
Opelika-Auburn News – Dec. 21
Alabama state geologist named head of national organization
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 27
The American Geosciences Institute has named Alabama State Geologist Nick Tew Jr. as its president. “I am extremely honored to be allowed to serve in this way,” Tew said. “You get to the point in your career where you want to give something back to your profession.” The institute is a nonprofit federation of professional and geoscientific associations that represents more than 250,000 scientists and serves as a source of information and advocacy for the profession. . . . Tew, a resident of Tuscaloosa, is an adjunct professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama and serves on the advisory board for the UA Department of Geological Sciences. Tew earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in geology and a bachelor’s in anthropology at the University of Alabama.
Holiday traffic is more Christmas nightmare
Orange County Register – Dec. 22
Last-minute shoppers leery of venturing to the mall might want to heed their instincts. New reports indicate it’s wiser to keep the car parked and let fingers do the shopping in the handful of days leading up to Christmas. According to a study released last month by the University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety, the Dec. 21 through 26 time period in 2012 resulted in 18 percent more automobile accidents than the same six-day period around Thanksgiving and 27 percent more than around New Year’s Day. “While fatal crashes were comparable,” said David Brown, the University of Alabama professor who worked on the study, “crashes involving injuries and those with only property damage were significantly higher mainly before Christmas. This was probably a result of the increased traffic due to late Christmas shopping, coupled with long distance travel where many might not be familiar with their travel environment.”
Anniston Star – Dec. 22
KSNF-NBC (Joplin, Mo.) – Dec. 23
KDFW-NBC (Dallas) – Dec. 23
Jonathan Turley column: Happy new year, injury lawyers
USA Today – Dec. 28
Christmas and the New Year come but once a year. It is the lament of many a child … and not a few lawyers. These two holidays seem designed for personal injury lawyers, thanks to homes filled with combustible trees, poor wiring, acrobatic decoration hangings, overconsumption of alcohol and overpacked vehicles traveling long distances. . . . A study at the University of Alabama found that the six days around Christmas produced 18 percent more accidents than Thanksgiving weekend (which has the highest level of driving) and 27 percent more than around New Year’s Day.
JSU enrollment vulnerable to economic, taxation trends
Anniston Star – Dec. 21
A range of factors is driving down the number of students in some colleges and universities, a trend that some experts say is likely to be felt more strongly at regional institutions like Jacksonville State University. Almost a third of the nation’s colleges and universities are experiencing financial shortfalls from decreasing enrollment and regional institutions are among the most vulnerable, according to one recent report. . . . Stephen Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center, a research group at the University of Alabama that seeks to inform policymakers in education, said in an emailed statement that enrollment declines in Alabama are the direct result of the cuts by Congress in June 2012. He said Pell Grants generated $470 million for low-income students at Alabama’s public two- and four-year colleges in fiscal year 2011. “If Pell is cut, enrollment cuts necessarily follow,” Katsinas wrote. At JSU, 48 percent of students received a total of more than $2.9 million in Pell Grants in 2012-13, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Katsinas added that enrollment is not likely to improve in Alabama unless Congress restores support to the Pell Grant program or if the state revenue increases so that the state government can add support to the Alabama Student Assistance Program, a need-based grant program funded with federal and state money.
Post-Christmas sales lure bargain hunters
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 27
Although most of the season’s gifts were given on Wednesday, shoppers in Tuscaloosa and around the country headed to popular retailers on Thursday for after-Christmas shopping. . . . Kristy Reynolds, professor of marketing at the University of Alabama, said that after-Christmas sales are commonly used to lure customers who have gift cards. The retailers also use the sales as a way to empty their shelves of any Christmas merchandise, she said. Customers taking advantage of the sales often end up spending more than the value of the gift card or are taking advantage of the sales to stock up on Christmas items for next year, Reynolds said. “A lot of people stock up, and I’ve even seen some instances that the last couple of days before Christmas, there were even a lot of Christmas-related items that were going on sale with small discounts, and the discounts are probably even bigger now,” Reynolds said.
2014 election less crowded than 2010
Associated Press – Dec. 29
Alabama’s 2014 election is shaping up to be much different than 2010, when statewide races were crowded with candidates and Republicans were fighting to end 136 years of Democratic control of the Legislature. For 2014, Republicans incumbents in statewide offices face little opposition in either their own party or from Democrats. . . . William Stewart, retired chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama, said the most campaign excitement in 2014 may be generated over the two second-tier offices where no incumbents are running — secretary of state and state auditor. “This is one of the most lackluster general election years coming up I can remember. Most incumbents will be re-elected,” he predicted.
Commentary by Dr. Regina Harrell: When treating a patient with dementia, electronic health records fall short
Washington Post – Dec. 23
I am a primary-care doctor who makes house calls in and around Tuscaloosa, Ala. Today my rounds start at a house down a dirt road a few miles outside town. Gingerly, I cross the front walk; Mrs. Edgars told me that she killed a rattlesnake in her flowerbed last year. She is at the door, expecting my visit. Mr. Edgars sits on the couch, unable to recall that I am his doctor, or even that I am a doctor, but happy to see me nonetheless. . . . Harrell is a geriatrician and assistant professor of family medicine at the College of Community Health Sciences, University of Alabama. This is an edited version of a story that originally appeared in Pulse — Voices From the Heart of Medicine, an online magazine of stories and poems from patients and health-care professionals.
Commentary: How you spend your time in life is important
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 28
In three days we celebrate the coming of the New Year, an arbitrary point in time that is usually an excuse for a lot of things. Time is the dimension which we live in, along with space. We occupy a place in space, and inexorably proceed along in time. If you are a Christian, both your beginning and end here on earth are givens. That is, you were created in the image of God far, far back in time, and, at a precise point determined by God, you were born and put on earth. And sometime (nice word), you will return to God’s space and disappear from the earth. . . . Larry Clayton is a retired University of Alabama professor of history.
President-CEO of Stirling Properties to provide ACREcon Keynote Address
AL.com – Dec. 23
Martin A. Mayer, president & CEO of Stirling Properties, will deliver the keynote address for the 2014 Alabama Commercial Real Estate Conference & Expo on Feb. 7 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center in Birmingham. The real estate education conference is presented by the Alabama Center for Real Estate in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at The University of Alabama. Mayer will share why his 37 year-old Louisiana-based company is bullish on the future of Alabama’s business environment and commercial real estate market and why Stirling recently decided to setup shop in Mobile.
University of Alabama dramatists detail small Irish theater
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 28
An American girl, Deirdre O’Connell, is the heroine of this unusual history of a Dublin theatre. Born and raised in the Bronx, of Irish immigrant parents, O’Connell studied acting at the New York Dramatic Workshop and then with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. There she was introduced to The Method, the Stanislavski System, which became the ruling passion of the rest of her life. Incidentally, she was not alone. American method actors include Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, James Dean, Paul Newman, Rip Torn, Eli Wallach, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Al Pacino, Karl Malden, Ellen Burstyn, Ben Gazzara and Marilyn Monroe… The Method was a thoroughly established training technique in the United States, but not in Ireland, when in 1963 Deirdre O’Connell, age 23, moved to Dublin and established her teaching studio and repertory company, Focus Theatre. . . . University of Alabama theater professor and dramaturge Steven Dedalus Burch — what a name for a scholar of Irish culture! — is himself a playwright. Most recently, his adaptation of “Moby Dick” was produced by the UA theater department. His coeditor is Brian McAvera, longtime director and author of more than 30 plays. McAvera’s cycle of eight plays, “Picasso’s Women,” has been translated into 17 languages.
International students enjoy Christmas with hosts in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 25
On the Sunday before Christmas, a brick home on Ninth Street in Tuscaloosa was a hive of activity in a warren of student housing along one-way streets left mostly silent by the holiday break for the University of Alabama. Individuals and small groups — with children running ahead — climbed the steps and entered the home, where the muted conversations from a holiday party inside could be heard from the porch. The gathering hosted by Shelby and Lisa Sanford is among a flurry of similar events throughout the Tuscaloosa International Friends community, as the host families share American holiday traditions with their students who remained in Tuscaloosa for the holiday breaks.
What Alabama author should President Obama read? Terry McMillan has suggestion
AL.com – Dec. 22
Alabama author Rick Bragg got a shout-out today on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Terry McMillan, author of “Waiting to Exhale,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and other best-sellers, was asked what books she’d recommend President Barack Obama read on vacation after this tumultuous year in his term. “I would say ‘All Over But the Shoutin’’ by Rick Bragg,” she told host Bob Schieffer. “It’s a memoir, but the title says it all.” Schieffer agreed. “I know Rick, and I have read that book,” he said. “It’s a pretty good one.” Bragg, a native of Piedmont, is a Pultizer Prize winning feature writer who worked for The Birmingham News, The Anniston Star and The New York Times, among other newspapers. He now teaches at the University of Alabama. In addition to “All Over But the Shoutin’,” his books include “Ava’s Man” and “The Most They Ever Had.”
I Heart My City: Annie’s Tuscaloosa
National Geographic – Dec. 25
When D.C.-area native Annie Agnone isn’t exploring “America by Night” as a Nat Geo Young Explorer, she’s pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In 2011, when her new hometown was hit hard by a tornado, Annie was impressed by how her neighbors came to each other’s aid. In addition to the generous local spirit on display, Annie has also become a fan of lubbers, palmetto bugs, boiled peanuts, pines, and big-leaf magnolia trees since moving to the home of the Crimson Tide. Here are a few of her (other) favorite things about living in Tuscaloosa. Follow Annie as she uncovers “America by Night” on Twitter and Instagram @annieagnone and on Tumblr at americabynight.tumblr.com. . . . When someone comes to visit me, the first place I take them is the University of Alabama Arboretum for a stroll, then to the Tuscaloosa Farmers Market.
University of Alabama grad wins top writing award
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 26
Monroeville native and University of Alabama graduate Mark Childress has been named the recipient of the 2014 Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year. Childress, who has worked as a writer and journalist in the Southeast, is scheduled to receive the award in Monroeville during the Alabama Writers Symposium on April 25, 2014. “I am overwhelmed. I am basically the kind of writer who doesn’t win awards, and I am really grateful. Harper Lee is my hero, and I am so happy to accept this award,” Childress said in a statement released by the Alabama Writers’ Forum. The award includes a bronze of the Old Monroe County Courthouse, one of the settings of Lee’s Book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and a $5,000 honorarium. Recent recipients include Gay Talese, Fannie Flagg and Winston Groom.
Local folks share their goals, hopes for new year
St. Clair (Ala.) Times – Dec. 31
Tis the season to make those New Year’s resolutions. Whether it is to lose weight, eat better, make more money, etc., how many of the resolutions will be broken within days or weeks? With 2014 just a couple of days old right now, what is it you want to do different from this past year? . . . Springville’s Cassidy Jacks is a student at the University of Alabama, and recently won Miss Tuscaloosa. That qualifies her to compete for Miss Alabama later this year. Her New Year’s resolution is to learn something new. She plans to take piano lessons in the future, and said she is very excited about it.
Local students accepted into UA program
Anniston Star – Dec. 31
The University of Alabama UA Early college program recently accepted the following students: Ashleigh Good, from Oxford High School; Jaqueline Lopez, Michelle Taylor and LaShone Sanders, from Anniston High School. UA Early College students are high school students from across the United States who earn college credit online, and are eligible for the UA Summer Residential/Honors Ready Experience. The highly motivated students may earn up to 30 hours of college credit from The University of Alabama, and still enter UA eligible for freshmen scholarships.
College News
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 22
University of Alabama: XI Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education inducted the following students into its chapter on Dec. 5: Dustan Gray Reeves, son of Anthony and Melanie Reeves; Megan Courington Welborn, daughter of David and Jackie Courington; and Hanna Howell Tinker, wife of Zachary Tinker.