NBC closes Olympic gender gap
ESPN – Feb. 26
A report says female athletes got almost as much screen time as men during the Winter Olympics on NBC. The report from the University of Alabama says male athletes were featured 45 percent of the time on NBC’s prime-time telecasts, compared to 41 percent for women. The remainder was for mixed events, like ice dancing. Since 1994, the average gender gap has been 20 percent, with men getting more attention. Alabama professor Andrew Billings, author of a book on how TV covers the Olympics, said Wednesday that Sochi’s coverage represented progress for women’s sports. Figure skating skewed the math: NBC televised five and a half hours of women’s figure skating, and two hours and 42 minutes of men’s figure skating.
Canada.com – Feb. 26
Charlotte Observer – Feb. 26
Daily Astorian (Ore.) – Feb. 26
Fox 30 (Jacksonville, Fla.) – Feb. 26
KVEW-ABC (Yakima, Wash.) – Feb. 26
WCBS-AM, CBS Radio (New York, N.Y.) – Feb. 26
WTOP-FM Radio (Washington, D.C.) – Feb. 26
CBA partners with Habitat for Humanity
Crimson White – Feb. 27
Audrey Harris has lived at the same address in Tuscaloosa for 53 years, but those years were not kind to her old home. The roof began to cave in, and the doors and windows couldn’t keep the cold out during winter. “The conditions were pretty much deplorable,” Harris said. “It was beyond livable. My floors were falling in.” Harris tried unsuccessfully to find ways to improve her house over the years. But last year, Habitat for Humanity and the Culverhouse School of Business stepped forward to lend Harris a helping hand. Culverhouse partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build a new home for Harris in the same location as her old house. It was the second project Culverhouse has done with Habitat for Humanity. Last year, they teamed up with Calvary Baptist Church to create the “Get Jackie Home for Christmas” campaign to help build a new home for Jackie Wright. “It was really refreshing. You’re in a classroom all day, every day, so it was great to go out and work with a nonprofit and get to really work with people,” Jay Arnold, a graduate teaching assistant in the school of business, said. The project started in a graduate marketing class called Project Management, taught by Billy Hatmaker. Students were given a list of clients to choose from and were expected to apply what they learned in the classroom to plan, promote and complete a project benefiting that client. … “We want to make sure that business students leave here not only knowing a lot about their discipline but also know how to serve the community,” Hatmaker said.
Shrimp shells to mine uranium from the ocean
RSC.org – Feb. 27
Shrimp shells that would otherwise be thrown away by the seafood industry have been turned into tough fibres that can harvest valuable metals from water. Robin Rogers, and his team at the University of Alabama in the US, had long been interested in using ionic liquids to process cellulose but the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 encouraged them to try something similar with chitin, the structural biopolymer that makes up the shells of various crustaceans. ‘We started working with the Gulf Coast Agricultural and Seafood Co-Op in Bayou La Batre, looking at uses for their shrimp shell waste, about the same time as the moratoriums on shrimping. It was quite clear that new products and profits were needed.’
Moundville Archeological Park to host ‘Knap-In’, demonstrate ancient weapon craftsmanship
Al.com – Feb. 26
The Moundville Archeological Park will host its 14th annual Knap-In March 7-9, giving the community a chance to observe and practice the ancient craftsmanship found in many American Indian weaponry and tools. The Knap-In is named after flintknapping, the technique of striking and chipping stone into tools and weapons. According to a University of Alabama press release, the art of “knapping” has been revitalized in recent decades, shared by a community of craftspeople who call themselves “knappers.” While the event is likely to attract historians and art lovers, it also draws a crowd of avid outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy hunting, fishing and basic survival technologies. In addition to demonstrating the creation of arrow heads, spear points and drills, the Knap-In will incorporate and teach other skills, like making bows and arrows.
Students prepare for UADM
Crimson White – Feb. 27
The University of Alabama’s Dance Marathon, a student-run philanthropy that raises money for the Children’s Hospital of Alabama, will culminate its year-long fundraising efforts in a 10-hour standing only event Saturday. Although the Dance Marathon is UADM’s biggest event, there is much more to the organization. Katie Klootwyk, president of UADM, said the purpose of UADM is to enrich the lives of children suffering from cancer and other pediatric diseases. “We do this by adopting these children and their families into our UADM family,” Klootwyk said. “We also try to help them fund their expensive hospital visits and equipment by fundraising as much money as possible for an entire year and donating it to Children’s of Alabama hospital.”
Students organize body image event
Crimson White – Feb. 27
As part of Body Appreciation Week at The University of Alabama, University Programs and the Counseling Center, among other sponsors, will host “Open Your Eyes” Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in Tutwiler Hall’s community living room. Kathryn Shewmake, a sophomore majoring in restaurant and hospitality management, is part of the group organizing “Open Your Eyes” as a class project. She said the theme of the event is “Shut Society’s Eyes and Open Your Eyes to True Beauty.” “For RHM 385, we had to create group projects, and our group got National Eating Disorder Awareness Week,” Shewmake said. “We decided we would throw an event to promote positive body image.” … The event will also include free food catered by Zoe’s Kitchen, free T-shirts, a photo booth, screenings of short films, a raffle for scholarships and a “True Beauty” banner that all attendees can sign, including a short message of what they find beautiful about themselves. Students can also receive Panhellenic points for attending.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 26
UA Counseling Center to Hold “Open Your Eyes” Panel
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 26
Tomorrow is an opportunity to learn about appreciating who you are. The University of Alabama Counseling Center is hosting a program focusing on body image issues. It’s called “Open Your Eyes”, and is part of Body Appreciation Week. Speakers for the Open Your Eyes panel include Miss UA Miranda Ward and Amanda Taylor from the Eating Disorders Anonymous group. The slogan of Body Appreciation Week is “don’t be blinded by society, open your eyes to true beauty.”
Sue Rankin Speaks at UA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 26
One of the nation’s leading researchers in social justice issues in higher education was on UA’s campus tonight. Dr. Sue Rankin, a retired professor from Penn. State University came and spoke to facility, staff, and students from UA about her research. Dr. Rankin studies the climates of universities, specifically on the LGBT community. In her presentation, she presented information on different statistics on college climates around the country and how they affect the LGBT community. She says her interest in this subject stems from her old profession of coaching college athletics.
Annual forum to promote ties between Alabama and Germany
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 25
An organization that fosters ties between Alabama and Germany will hold its annual dinner and business forum next week in Tuscaloosa. More than 200 people in business, government and education are expected to be at the University of Alabama campus next week for the 16th annual AlabamaGermany Partnership Celebration Dinner and Business Forum on March 6-7. Both days’ events will be at the North Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The partnership is a non-profit that develops and supports relationships and friendships between organizations and individuals in Alabama and Germany. It was formed in 1998, shortly after the opening of the Mercedes-Benz auto assembly plant in Vance to help foster German business investment in Alabama and build cultural ties between the state and Germany.
‘Million Dollar Band’ will lead KOR Fat Tuesday
LagniappeMobile.com – Feb. 26
One of the oldest Mardi Gras societies in Mobile will feel like a million dollars for its 140th anniversary on Tuesday. The Knights of Revelry parade will feature the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band, said a KOR officer. The band will bring close to 200 members, along with Crimsonettes and color guard from Tuscaloosa to march the streets for the 12:30 p.m. parade on Route A. In addition the group will perform in a “pep rally” at noon on the steps of the Mobile Civic Center. The KOR officer, who wrote a letter to UA President Judy Bonner in hopes of securing the band, said he expects the group to be a big draw.