Shrimp shells to mine uranium from the ocean
Chemistry World – Feb. 28
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.’
Male, female athletes close to equity at NBC
Aiken Standard (S.C.) – Feb. 27
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.
NBC 4 (Reno, Nev.) – Feb. 27
NEWS12 -NBC, Hartford CT (video not available) – Feb. 27
WPMI-NBC (Mobile) – Feb. 27
WTOP-FM (Washington, D.C.) – Feb. 27
Roll Good Times Roll: UA’s Million Dollar Band to join Knights of Revelry Parade on Fat Tuesday
Al.com – Feb. 27
Just when you thought that Mardi Gras couldn’t get any better, it does. The Million Dollar Band will be adding another level of excitement to Mobile’s Mardi Gras festivities by joining the Knights of Revelry parade on Mardi Gras Day. You read that right. More than 200 members of the University of Alabama’s marching band will take to the streets of Mobile to join one of the city’s oldest parading society’s Mardi Gras Day festivities. Dr. Ken Dr. Ozzello, the director for the university’s marching band, said the group received an invite from the krewe and the rest was easy. “While the Million Dollar Band does not meet during the spring semester, they do occasionally participate in spring events such as the Mardi Gras Parade, Senior Bowl and Governors’ Inaugural Parades. Those students who participate in these types of events do so on a volunteer basis,” he said.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 27
University of Alabama fraternity to host blood drive
Al.com – Feb. 27
University of Alabama’s Delta Sigma Pi fraternity is asking students and community members to come out donate blood Wednesday, March 5, on UA’s Quad. Delta Sigma is partnering with LifeSouth, which will bring its LifeSouth Bloodmobile to campus. According to a UA press release, participants will receive a “mini-physical” as part of the donation process, including cholesterol screening, as well as checks of blood pressure, heart rate and iron levels. LifeSouth is a non-profit organization that supplies blood to more than 100 hospitals in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, according to its website. LifeSouth needs 728 donors a day to meet its responsibility, a goal Delta Sigma Pi hopes to meet.
Inside the NCAA infractions panel
Daily Iowan (University of Iowa student newspaper) – Feb. 28
Famed college-sports attorney Gene Marsh understands the difficulties of keeping college athletics in line. Marsh served 10 years on the NCAA’s top enforcement committee and later represented universities and coaches, including Penn State, in high-profile cases before the same committee. Marsh said he often receives criticism from people who may not know both sides of the issue. “In my line of work, I get an unending line of people, and the worst are lawyers, hyped-up sports fans with law degrees,” Marsh said in the Boyd Law Building on Thursday. Marsh has moved on to the other side, however, and now represents coaches, athletes, and schools when they are summoned before the committee. Recently, he worked with Penn State. “If you put [my body of work] in a bucket, it’s a thimble compared to Penn State,” Marsh said … Marsh said he never intended to get into sports law and had always wanted to be a teacher. He is a law professor at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Marsh said, he did not attend a football game during his four years of undergraduate study at Ohio State University, and he has attended only two games at Bryant-Denny stadium in Tuscaloosa since moving to Alabama. “I’m better at what I do not being a fan,” Marsh said.