Alabama startup company receives $150,000 NSF grant
Crimson White – Jan. 13
The National Science Foundation has awarded $150,000 to a University of Alabama startup company that is working to make a more effective and longer-lasting catalyst to be used in chemical reactions. Martin Bakker, a UA associate professor of chemistry, co-founded ThruPore Technologies with Franchessa Sayler, who earned her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University this past May. The idea originally formed when Sayler began analyzing existing catalysts for a colleague at the University. The catalysts proved to function quite poorly in her tests, and she saw the opportunity to begin producing a more effective carbon catalyst sheet to be introduced into the market. An initial $50,000 NSF Innovation Corps grant allowed for research to begin on the new catalyst, which led to the latest grant. The larger grant will be used to do product testing to remove any sort of risk from the production process.
The Surgeon General’s Report at 50: Not a Golden Anniversary
Sacramento Bee – Jan. 10
While public health officials across the US celebrate the 50th anniversary this month of the landmark Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, a veteran anti-smoking activist argues in a provocative new documentary that efforts to reduce smoking have become more symbol than substance. Blowing Smoke: The Lost Legacy of the Surgeon General’s Report, a film by Alan Blum, MD, director of The University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, chronicles what Blum calls “the persistent foot-dragging, fear, and squandering of funds by public health agencies, universities, and medical associations alike in ending the smoking pandemic.”
Michigan Live – Jan. 10
Fitness Training for the Real World
Business Alabama – Jan. 10
What do you do when even entry-level jobs require experience? Many college students in Alabama turn to co-op programs — partnerships between universities and businesses that offer on-the-job experience for students and fresh ideas for companies. Students alternate a semester of classes with a semester on the job, gaining practical understanding of their field and a significant bullet point for the experience section of their resume. Tyler Clark, an engineering student at the University of Alabama, joined his school’s program to learn more about his potential career path. “The co-op program has completely changed my perspective on my education,” he says. “Prior to co-oping, like most college students, I was still somewhat unsure if engineering was the career path I wanted to follow. However, once I began the co-op program, I was able to quickly realize that engineering is where I belong.” Clark has spent three semesters working with Redstone Test Center, a division of the Army Test and Evaluation Command in Huntsville. He was involved in a variety of testing procedures, including dynamic testing on military equipment, climatic and temperature testing and flight testing with the aircraft survivability equipment on the Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters.
UA student returning to late-night show as intern
Kansas City Star – Jan. 12
A University of Alabama student who garnered national attention for the oversized cutout of his scowling face at Crimson Tide basketball games is starting an internship on the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show in New York during the spring semester. Jack Blankenship appeared as a guest of Fallon in 2012 and on other talk shows after the cutout of his face drew the attention of photographers at Alabama basketball games and eventually worked its way into sports blogs. The expression started as a joke among middle school friends and was still “a goofy joke” to Blankenship when he affixed it to poster board and brought it to a basketball game … Blankenship, a 21-year-old junior majoring in telecommunication and film, said that this fall, he contacted some acquaintances he made on the show’s staff in 2012 about applying for an internship for which he subsequently was selected. Blankenship will work on the show until May. The Tuscaloosa native will work as a writers’ intern and a general production intern, he said. The work includes attending rehearsals, fetching props across the city and generally assisting the staff.
DCH Foundation selling luminarias in support of cancer survivors
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 12
For the fifth year, the DCH Foundation is selling pink luminarias to raise money for local patients with breast cancer. More than 300 luminarias will line the sidewalk of Coleman Coliseum and the Sarah Patterson Champions Plaza on Jan. 24 before the University of Alabama gymnastics squad’s 10th annual Power of Pink meet against the University of Arkansas. The luminarias, which are being sold for $10 each, are meant to represent the lives of survivors and the memories of those who died of any form of cancer. “While we are focused on breast cancer, we encourage people to get involved and make it a time of reflection whether they are a survivor or someone who has passed on,” said Casey Johnson, director of development for the DCH Foundation. Each luminaria will include the name of the person who has had cancer, the name of the person who dedicated the luminaria in their honor or memory, and a special message.
Professors voice predictions for the new year
Crimson White – Jan. 13
A resurgence of MySpace, the return of the slip dress and widespread 3-D printing are just a few of the things we can look forward to in 2014 if The University of Alabama’s annual educated guesses come to pass. For the 33rd year, the University of Alabama Office of Media Relations asked some faculty and staff to take their best guesses about what big advancements will take place in the new year. “It was just kind of a fun project,” Cathy Andreen, a spokesperson for the University, said. “We asked faculty members to kind of go out on a limb and make predictions in their areas of expertise.” Andreen said she feels the University has been accurate, for the most part, with their predictions in the past. “We feel like we have a good track record,” Andreen said. “One year, many years ago, when there was a Major League Baseball strike, we had a professor who actually predicted the day that the strike would end, and he was right.”
Death By Black Hole In Small Galaxy?
Space Daily – Jan. 12
A bright, long duration flare may be the first recorded event of a black hole destroying a star in a dwarf galaxy. The evidence comes from two independent studies using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. As part of an ongoing search of Chandra’s archival data for events signaling the disruption of stars by massive black holes, astronomers found a prime candidate. Beginning in 1999, an unusually bright X-ray source had appeared in a dwarf galaxy and then faded until it was no longer detected after 2005. “We can’t see the star being torn apart by the black hole,” Peter Maksym of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., who led one of the studies, “but we can track what happens to the star’s remains, and compare it with other, similar events. This one fits the profile of ‘death by a black hole.'”
5 Ways to Set Effective Goals and Beat Burnout
U.S. News and World Report – Jan. 12
The first month back at school always seems to be the busiest of the year for the University of Alabama’s Rec Center. Determined to keep whatever New Year’s resolution they’ve set for themselves, folks flock to the gym in droves, and for about 12 straight hours every day, the facility is more crowded than it’s been since … well, January last year. As much as I hate crowds, I find it difficult to be too frustrated at the massive influx of people slowing down my workouts. After all, the gym is supposedly the answer to America’s weight problem, so the more people hitting the gym the better. Plus, most of these people will be gone in two weeks, anyway. (Steven Holbrook is a senior majoring in journalism at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In addition to finishing up his degree, he is currently working on attaining his personal trainer certification.)
Public/Private Sector Collaboration Improves Building Safety
FireEngineering.com – Jan. 11
Federal agencies conclude and agree that code adoption and compliance, training for code officials and updating codes based on lessons learned from natural disasters are major factors in creating more resilient structures and safer communities. “When homes and buildings are built to the most current codes, structures on the edge of the direct path of a tornado or hurricane should be able to survive,” said International Code Council CEO Dominic Sims, CBO. “That was the conclusion by the University of Alabama after studying tornado damage in Tuscaloosa. It mirrors findings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It is about reducing damage and saving lives.”
UA Geologist Says Chemical Spills That Contaminate Water Supplies Are Rare
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 10
Dr. Rona Donohoe of the University of Alabama’s geological sciences department works specifically with the study of the contamination of water. She says in her 30 years working in West Alabama, she has never seen any documented case of contamination likes the one in West Virginia. She says the chemical in the West Virginia spill is used to make coal safer on the environment.
High School Students Take Part in Video Game Making Workshop
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 11 (Video not available)
West Alabama students are getting a new, free opportunity to learn more about technology. The University of Alabama’s Geo-tech lab held its first of many workshops today. The program taught eighth through twelfth graders how to make a simple video game. Teachers and students both say this was a great hands-on learning experience. UA’s Geo-tech lab is held at the Museum of Natural History.
Business events calendar
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 11
Jan. 15: 2014 Economic Outlook Conference: 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa Convention Center. Presented by University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research. Includes 2014 forecast for state’s economy and other economic forecasts. Speakers: David Altig, executive vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Samuel Addy, CBER director and associate dean for research and outreach for UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce; and Tom Broughton, chief executive officer and president of ServisFirst Bank.
UA listed as one of nation’s happiest colleges
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Jan. 10
In a new study by the Daily Beast, the University of Alabama is one of the happiest colleges in the country. According to the Daily Beast, student happiness is one of the most sought-after characteristics of four-year colleges by incoming students. ‘Bama came in at number 17 on the list. Other SEC schools on the list included Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia.
Alabama women win the Pioneer Classic wheelchair basketball tournament (photos)
Al.com – Jan. 11
The University of Alabama women’s basketball team won its division in the Lakeshore Foundation Pioneer Classic 27th Annual Wheelchair Basketball Tournament Saturday. Alabama defeat the University of Illinois 53-41 to claim the women’s title. The Alabama’s men’s team will have to settle for a berth in the third-place game Sunday after the Dallas Mavericks 61-52 defeated them. The Alabama men never lead in the game, trailing by 11 points at one time. They came to win three points of Dallas but could not take the lead.
THE PORT RAIL: Think twice about writing your own book
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 11
Sometime during the Christmas season past, my wife said, “Hey, let’s go to Barnes & Noble and browse a bit.” Being a book nut, and liking B&N’s coffee bar, I agreed, although I had had a big plate of barbecue — with all the sides — earlier and was still groggy from eating it all. I should have stayed home. I was still semi-dazed from the food, and not even B&N’s espresso pulled me out. But, more than that, I was dismayed going up and down the aisles, looking at the dozens, scores, hundreds, thousands of books on every conceivable subject man has ever imagined. What could I add to all this? Arrayed along the aisles, I found Christian books, Confucius books, New Wave books, cookbooks, fiction books, history books, big books, miniature books, books for half price, self-help books, war books, peace books and categories I didn’t even know existed. Who writes all this stuff? (Larry Clayton is a retired professor of history at the University of Alabama.)