The Gender Gap in Olympics Coverage: Narrower This Year!
The Atlantic – Feb. 25
On Friday, I highlighted a few of the many studies of how NBC’s Olympic broadcasts have portrayed female athletes in the past. It didn’t exactly inspire national pride: Not only have women been underrepresented in proportion to the number of medals they bring home, but they’ve also been given fewer opportunities to speak on camera and have been characterized as having less athletic skill than male athletes. Because the studies were typically published in journals a few years after the particular games took place, I guessed it would be some time before analysis of the 2014 Winter Olympics coverage would be available. But within a day of the closing ceremony, the numbers were in—and they brought good news. A team led by University of Alabama’s Andrew Billings, who has routinely studied gender biases in Olympic broadcasts over the years, analyzed 18 consecutive nights of coverage. The researchers found that while men still receive more of the attention, the gender gap was narrowing. Male athletes received 45.4 percent of the coverage, female athletes received 41.4 percent, and the rest was devoted to pairs. That four-percent gap in clock time is a big improvement from the average 20-percent gap present in Olympic broadcasts from 1994-2010, according to a University of Alabama news release. “The U.S. medals were equally split amongst men and women, so this move toward gender equity appears quite real,” Billings wrote in an email.
University of Alabama sports communication symposium to feature keynote on gay student-athletes
Al.com – Feb. 25
The keynote speaker at the Alabama Program in Sports Communication’s symposium Friday will speak on the experiences of LGBTQ student-athletes, a hot topic in sports in light of Missouri defensive tackle and NFL prospect Michael Sam, who recently revealed he is gay. Susan Rankin, a research associate and associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State University, will provide the symposium’s keynote titled, “Out of the Shadows: Experiences of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning) Student-Athletes.” According to a UA release, Rankin specializes in LGBTQ issues and campus climates for athletes. Friday’s symposium will be the second annual sports communication gathering and will include a panel on Olympic research from UA professors and doctoral students. For more information and a symposium schedule, click here.
Wendell Hudson, Alabama’s first black scholarship athlete, is writing a book to set the record straight
Al.com – Feb. 25
Former Alabama basketball player Wendell Hudson was at a restaurant recently with an acquaintance who started talking about the integration of the University of Alabama. “He was telling me about when some of the football players came and he asked me, ‘When do you fit into this?'” said Hudson, the first black scholarship athlete at the university. “He’s asking me this? The history of Alabama, of course, it had to be a football player who integrated Alabama.” Hudson intends to tell his story in a book he’s currently writing. Former Alabama coach C.M. Newton, who recruited Hudson to the university in 1969, used the majority of his speech this week at the Birmingham Tip-Off Club to discuss what he calls “revisionist history” about the integration of Crimson Tide athletes … Newton has pushed Hudson to write his story in a book. Newton wrote a book more than a decade ago about his 50 years in basketball and called the exercise the most therapeutic experience he has ever had because it forced him to ask the question why. … Hudson declined to discuss details of the book, which he hopes to have published by next basketball season. He’s writing the book with Ben Shurett, who was a basketball student manager when Hudson played and now is publisher of The Sand Mountain Reporter newspaper in Alabama.
University of Alabama students win awards at Journalism Conference
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Feb. 25
A University of Alabama student has received a top journalism honor. According to a UA news release, senior Abbey Crain was named the 2013 College Journalist of the Year. The award came at the Southeastern Journalism Conference convention in Lafayette, Louisiana. Crain is a Huntsville native, and won the award for her work on a series of articles, including work on the “The Final Barrier”, a story about allegations of racism within the recruitment process of sororities at UA. In addition to Crain, other staff writers were recognized for their work on “The Final Barrier” including Matt Ford and Mazie Bryant. UA’s student newspaper, The Crimson White, finished 2nd in the Best College Newspaper category.
UA Plans for Bryce Property
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 25
We have an update on the plans for Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa … The University of Alabama could have full possession of the property as early as June. Dan Wolfe, a designer and planner for the university, was able to occupy the three Alice Kidd buildings soon after the purchase and they’ve already started renovations on the Searcy building and the former Bryant Jordan chapel. Wolfe says they have turned the chapel into a performing arts center and renamed it Bryant Jordan Hall. Plans for the main Bryce Hospital building are still being determined but Wolfe says it could become a visitor or cultural arts center. He says the large green space will remain as a park like area.
SDSM&T Lands $1M in Research Funding For Rare Earth Metals, Reduces Dependence on China
San Francisco Chronicle (Calif.) – Feb. 25
A faculty team at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has been awarded $999,998 in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense – Army Research Lab through a subaward from the University of Alabama. Focusing on novel extraction technologies for rare earth ores, the research will use a multidisciplinary approach to develop new leaching and concentration techniques and strategies for recovery of rare earth metals. The School of Mines has a long tradition of research related to the metallurgy associated with mineral concentration and metal recovery. Rare earth metals, derived from their ores, have been deemed critical to the nation’s economy and defense. End uses for rare earth elements include applications in petroleum refining, cell phones, laptops, wind turbines, jet fighter engines, missile guidance systems, antimissile defense and hybrid vehicles.
Rapid City Journal (S.D.) – Feb. 25
UA symposium to focus on diversity issues
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 25
The fifth Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium March 4-5 at the University of Alabama will feature an award-winning author on LGBT issues, two sessions on radio in the civil rights era and student presentations on diversity issues. The symposium opens at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday with a presentation about the work of Paul “Tall Paul” White of WENN radio by Bob Friedman, director of Birmingham’s Black Radio Museum Project, in Phifer Hall, Room 222. The symposium will continue Wednesday, March 5, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Gorgas Library Room 205 with a day of research panels and poster presentations by students, a lunchtime screening of student, faculty and staff radio projects on civil-rights-era radio, and excerpts from “ASWAT: Voices of Muslim Women,” a documentary on experiences of Muslim students at UA presented by the pair of UA faculty who co-edited the film.
Black Student Union discusses setback
Crimson White – Feb. 26
While segments of the black community have seemingly made significant strides since the days of Jim Crow, there is still a great deal of inequality when it comes to the entirety of the black community, said Utz McKnight, the keynote speaker at the University of Alabama Black Student Union’s annual State of the Black Union address held Tuesday night in ten Hoor Hall. “The only thing we have done in the past 50 years is left behind 90 percent of the black community,” Utz said. “Yes, we have our black president, but we are confused that we have truly made progress.” McKnight said there is a substantial amount of pressure on the “talented 10 percent” who have made something of themselves. McKnight actively engaged his listeners, both black and white, about the issues facing the black community and said he wants to see people take action to integrate the other 90 percent into one community.
Biologist to discuss African genomics at lecture
Crimson White – Feb. 26
Sarah Tishkoff, a biologist from the University of Pennsylvania, will give a lecture on her research of variations in the genetics of different African populations as a part of the Alabama Lectures on Life’s Evolution lecture series. Tishkoff will present her lecture “African Evolutionary Genomics: Implications for Human Origins and Disease” Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Biology Building Auditorium, Room 127. ALLELE is a series organized by the Evolution Working Group, an organization that brings in lecturers and scientists to speak on the topic of evolution. The series aims to bring a better understanding of evolution to its audience. “The idea of evolution isn’t something done by just biologists and anthropologists,” Jonathan Belanich, a senior majoring in biology and anthropology, said. “It’s done by geologists, physicists, chemists and astronomers as well.”
University of Alabama celebrates healthy body image during National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Al.com – Feb. 25
University of Alabama students in the Ferguson Center might see a strange sight this week — students holding white boards pointing to everywhere from their calves to their hair while posing for pictures with the UA Health Hut. But the initiative — part of UA’s Body Appreciation Week — hopes to put a positive spin on the Eating Disorders Awareness week going on nationwide. Olivia Hodge, a UA junior and PR director for the Health Hut, said Hut workers are encouraging students on campus to put down in writing the things they love about their bodies, whether it’s on a whiteboard on campus or sticky note on their bathroom mirrors. Sheena Quizon Gregg, assistant director of the health promotion and wellness department in UA’s College of Community Health Sciences, said college can sometimes be a perfect storm for eating disorders, from pressures to be thin in a possibly stigmatized environment to academic stress.
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 25
Crimson White – Feb. 26
UA Museum of Natural History collections expand
Crimson White – Feb. 26
The Alabama Museum of Natural History, located in Smith Hall, was built in 1831 and boasts the title of the oldest museum in the state. The museum has produced a variety of exhibits and gathered an abundance of collection material that occassionally makes appearances in the museum’s three galleries that are changed every semester. While current exhibits feature the ancient sea monsters of Alabama, the April 27, 2011, tornado and rocks from around the world, there are also many items at the museum that are not on display. “We have a lot of pieces on loan,” Randy Mecredy, director of the museum, said. “Also, probably less than 0.1 percent of what we have in collection is on display in the museum. Everything else is used for research purposes.”
UA campaigns for bicycle safety
Crimson White – Feb. 26
Hansen Babington rode his bike to school the Tuesday before fall break. Babington, a law student, said he usually rides his bike to school, unless it’s raining or he has to wear a suit. He was cycling down University Boulevard when the driver of a parked car opened the car door a few feet away. The door caught his handlebar, and he tumbled over, hitting his head on the door and flipping his bike in the process. Babington is only one of many injured in bike-related accidents. According to a 2011 report by the Center for Advanced Public Safety, in 2011, there were 203 bicycle accidents throughout Alabama. Five of the accidents resulted in deaths. That same year, there were 589 pedestrian accidents that resulted in 84 deaths. Three fatalities were in Tuscaloosa County, one cyclist and two pedestrians … In response to the growing problem, The University of Alabama launched the Stay on Your Side campaign in September, an effort to encourage bikers, drivers and pedestrians to follow traffic laws. The campaign intends to raise awareness through fliers, emails, signs and a Twitter presence.