Culverhouses hoping to inspire philanthropy donate additional $1 million to University of Alabama for scholarships
Tuscaloosa News – March 17
Hugh Culverhouse Jr., after whose father the University of Alabama’s business college is named, and his wife have donated an additional $1 million to fund scholarships to help students avoid the burden of student loan debt. The Culverhouses have now donated $2 million to the Culverhouse College of Commerce since August. The university announced the second $1 million on Monday. Culverhouse said he and his wife, Eliza, hope the gift will inspire others to make philanthropic donations. The couple’s gifts have been inspired by concern that debt may force college graduates to forgo lower-paying jobs they are passionate about for ones that will allow them to pay off student loan debt. The Eliza and Hugh F. Culverhouse Student Assistance Scholarship focuses on academically gifted undergraduates who don’t qualify for other scholarship opportunities and otherwise would be faced with funding their education with loans.
Al.com – March 17
The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) – March 17
University of Alabama students to help Moore, OK for Alternative Spring Break
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 16
Some University of Alabama spring breakers are opting for a week of service this year. Organizers of Alternative Spring Break try to send students to places where they can help families or communities in need. This year, volunteers are heading to Moore, Okla. where last summer, a tornado devastated the city. A group of 20 students will leave for Oklahoma Sunday. They’ll help build a home for a family who lost their home to the tornado through a Habitat for Humanity project. Organizers say people here still remember the outpouring of support for Tuscaloosa after the April 27 tornado and want to return the favor. “As that is very close to home in the Tuscaloosa community, we felt like it was our obligation to reach out and help them as so many reached out and helped us after that devastation hit our area. So we felt very compelled to go and spread some more service and love towards them,” Courtney Chapman Thomas, Director of University of Alabama Community Service,” said. This will be the first University of Alabama student group to go help in Moore, Okla. Last summer, the school’s community service office collected gift cards and other donations to help victims of the tornado.
The Problem with Alabama’s Water Management
NPR – March 18
Compared to most states, water is plentiful in Alabama. In fact, you can see the many rivers that cross Alabama right on the state seal. But there are some who say Alabama is doing a poor job of managing this resource. Heather Elliott is among them. “Basically we have a 19th century legal system and we’re trying to deal with 21st century problems,” Elliot said. Elliott researches water law at the University of Alabama. She says Alabama uses the riparian doctrine. That means if your property touches a lake, river, or stream, you can use that water on your land. You can capture rain or ground water too, but you can only do this as long as it doesn’t cause harm to other landowners. “So if you start pumping, one of your neighbors could come along and say, ‘You are pumping too much. You are harming my right to the water,'” said Elliott. “And that’s when you go to court.”
Tuscaloosa County unemployment up in January while Alabama’s remains unchanged
Tuscaloosa News – March 17
Tuscaloosa County’s unemployment rate rose 0.3 percent in January to 6.1 percent. The Alabama’s official unemployment remained unchanged at 6.1 percent. The state rate is seasonally adjust while county rates are not. Had the state rate not been seasonally adjusted, it, too, would have risen, 1.1 percent to 6.8 percent. “I think what we are seeing is some of the effects of bad (wintry) weather and the layoffs in retailing following the Christmas shopping season,” said Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Retailers beef up their staffs with temporary workers starting in October to handle the holiday shopping season, when stores are busier and often opened extended hours. Those temporary workers are let go in January, which typically occurs every year, he said. The state lost 12,700 retailing jobs in January with about 600 of those jobs being in the Tuscaloosa metro area, which includes Tuscaloosa, Hale and Greene counties.
Montgomery Advertiser – March 17
Award-winning speech team to host showcase
Crimson White – March 18
Members of the University of Alabama Forensic Council, or speech team, are inviting students and the public to join them as they showcase their nationally competitive events Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in 120 Farrah Hall. The team will showcase a range of styles from impromptu speeches to after-dinner talks and oral interpretations. The showcase will help the 19-time national championship winning team prepare for national competition. Collin Metcalf, a senior majoring in communication studies, economics and finance, is coming back to the showcase to perform a piece on video game addiction and how it is handled in a society of 200 million video game players. “Not many people seek to improve their public speaking,” Metcalf said. “This is a feat we demonstrate almost every weekend.” Wednesday’s showcase will be the largest of a three-day event series that starts Tuesday and continues through Thursday. Each night will consist of around six student forensic speakers ranging from a variety of events, topics and levels.
UA Persian students ring in new year
Crimson White – March 18
During the middle weeks of March, spring break is the talk of the town for students at The University of Alabama. For members of the University’s Persian population, there is an even bigger event to celebrate. “Nowruz is a big deal back in Iran,” said Ehsan Omidi, a second-year doctoral student in mechanical engineering. “It’s like our Christmas.” Nowruz, which celebrates the start of a new year on the Persian calendar, is traditionally a family-oriented holiday in Persian culture. To celebrate the new year, International Expressions, through University Programs, will hold a Persian New Year celebration Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Presidential Village community room. Candice Ji, a junior majoring in marketing and advertising and the event programmer for International Expressions, said the idea for the event came to her last year. “I was looking for another international holiday to celebrate,” Ji said. “I found Persian New Year and reached out to UA’s Turkish and Iranian students to see if we could get something going.”
Dorms to gain recreation center
Crimson White – March 18
The week before spring break is one of the busiest times of the year at the Student Recreation Center, but next year, it might be a little bit easier to find an open treadmill. This fall, University Recreation will open a second recreation center on campus called the Student Center at Presidential Village. The new rec center is under construction between the Presidential Village residence halls on the north side of campus. … Andre Love, associate director of programs at University Recreation, said the new center will be approximately 133,000-square feet, almost 70,000-square feet smaller than the Rec Center. Durham said the focal point of the new Student Center will be the rock-climbing wall, which will be 37 feet tall and extend to the second floor of the building. The wall will include areas for bouldering, belay and lead climbing options. … The center will also include two wooden floor basketball courts, one multi-use course, two group exercise studios, one personal training studio, 70 pieces of cardio equipment and 70 pieces of strength equipment.
Project to repurpose, donate unused food
Crimson White – March 18
Campus Kitchens, a national community service organization dedicated to hunger relief, will work in conjunction with the Community Service Center on campus to repurpose unused foods starting next fall. Chisolm Allenlundy, a sophomore majoring in philosophy and economics, is the assistant director of the project. “Campus Kitchens is a national nonprofit, and it works in several colleges and universities across the country,” he said. “We work to repurpose unused food from restaurants and dining halls in the community. Basically it’s a way of addressing food waste and hunger in the community at the same time.” … Allenlundy said Campus Kitchens is also talking with the West Alabama Food Bank and the Society of St. Andrews in Birmingham to expand beyond the YMCA … Campus Kitchens will use the Bama Hillel’s kitchen to cook and prepare the food.
Students explore Argentina
Crimson White – March 18
The laid-back culture of Buenos Aires gives University of Alabama students the chance to experience a different pace and culture than what home has to offer. “There were no real time constraints,” Avery Moore, who studied in Buenos Aires last spring, said about the city’s lifestyle. “People sit in cafes for hours at a time enjoying each other’s company, enjoy getting lost in museums and parks and enjoy socializing in an intimate setting.” Moore, a senior majoring in Spanish and marketing, studied in Buenos Aires through CISabroad, one of the 14 affiliate programs partnered with The University of Alabama. CISabroad offers two opportunities for studying in Argentina, including a semester program or a summer program, according to CISabroad.com. Both programs place students in Belgrano and Palermo. Students study at Universidad de Belgrano, located in Belgrano, and reside in Palermo. The program offers Spanish classes at all levels and opportunitites for trips around the area with CISabroad staff, interacting with the community and experiencing Argentinian culture first-hand.