Former University of Alabama, Penn State president dies at 81
Al.com – March 3
Former University of Alabama and Penn State President Joab Thomas died Monday, March 3, in Tuscaloosa. He was 81. Thomas, who studied biological sciences with a focus on botany at Harvard University, became a professor at UA in 1966 before moving into administrative roles. He left the University in 1976, according to a UA press release, to take on the role of chancellor at North Carolina State University. Thomas later returned to UA as president in 1981, a position he held until his 1988 resignation, at which time he returned to a teaching position. Two years later, he accepted the presidency at Penn State, which he held until 1995. “From his days as a teaching fellow at Harvard to his tenure at the helm of three of America’s premier public universities, Joab Thomas was at the forefront as a leader in higher education,” said Robert Witt, chancellor of The University of Alabama System, in the release. “His research focus and emphasis on excellence inspired all of us who were fortunate to follow in his footsteps. Sandee and I are saddened by his loss and extend our thoughts and prayers to Marly and the entire Thomas family.”
Tuscaloosa News – March 4
Penn Live – March 3
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – March 3
Penn State News – March 3
Raleigh News Observer (N.C.) – March 3
Andalusia Star News – March 4
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – March 4
CBS 8 (Montgomery) – March 4
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 3
WAFF 49 (Huntsville) – March 3
Franklin Daily Journal (Ind.) – March 3
Newnan Times-Herald (Ga.) – March 3
Florence Times Daily – March 3
Crimson White – March 4
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How much does Alabama A&M mean to state? Even economist admits, ‘I was amazed’
Al.com – March 3
Alabama A&M University had an economic impact of almost $350 million on the state in the 2011-12 academic year, according to a University of Alabama study. The study was presented Friday to a group of Alabama A&M trustees who gathered for the board’s February meeting. A quorum of trustees was not present, however, and those who were there received the report. Samuel Addy, an associate dean at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, presented the report to the trustees. “I was amazed at the end of our study,” Addy told the trustees. “I have thought of Alabama A&M as a small university in the north part of Alabama. But you do have a large impact on this state and on this special area.” According to the study, Alabama A&M had a $349.8 million impact on the state for the 2011-2012 academic year, providing 1,612 jobs and $12.3 million in income and sales taxes. The study said the school created an impact of $8.66 for every $1 in state appropriations. Alabama A&M received $40.4 million in state funding in 2011, according to the report.
Gender gap in Olympic television coverage narrowing, researchers say (chart)
Al.com – March 4
A team of communications researchers, including professors from Auburn University and the University of Alabama, say women’s winter Olympics coverage made notable gains in terms of broadcast time during NBC’s Sochi Olympic Broadcast last month. Over the 18-night broadcast, women’s sports occupied 41.4 percent of the air time, the researchers said. That compared to 45.4 percent of the time for men and 13.2 percent for pairs events. The 4 percent gender gap is substantially less than the average gender gap of 20 percent found in prime-time telecasts from 1994 to 2010, the researchers said in an announcement from Auburn University. “The gap is one of the closest ratios of male-to-female coverage found to date in any Olympic Games,” said Lauren Smith, an assistant professor in Auburn’s school of communications. Smith served on the research team along with Andrew Billings, a professor from the University of Alabama. Other communications experts came from the University of Delaware and Utica College.
Black Warrior Film Festival to Be Held in April
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 3
Lights, camera, action! Hollywood is coming to The Capstone. The second annual Black Warrior Film Festival is coming up this April. Students at the University of Alabama tell us they were inspired by attending the Sundance Film Festival last year, upon their return to the university they teamed up with Creative Campus to create the Black Warrior Film Festival. This year, they opened admissions to schools all over the south, student organizers tell us this festival also showcases what Tuscaloosa has to offer.
UA arboretum untapped resource
Crimson White – March 4
Not far from the University of Alabama campus sits a small cinder-block building surrounded by towering trees, a collection of greenhouses and a wooded entrance to nature trails. Inside the office space, Monica Watkins sifts through dusty file folders as she prepares for her new position as the University’s arboretum director. “[Becoming the director] was always something that I had hoped would happen, since I really enjoyed my time as an undergraduate,” Watkins, a UA alumnus and former arboretum volunteer, said. “But I didn’t actually think it would work out where I would come back here and be at the arboretum, so it’s really nice that it’s worked out.” The University’s arboretum, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008, has come a long way. Before the University’s acquisition of the arboretum property, the land belonged to the federal government and had been allocated to Tuscaloosa’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital. “In the mid-1950s Dr. Henry Jay Walker, who was chair of the biology department, Dr. Gibbes Patton of the biology department and Dr. Fred Maxwell, who was in the engineering department, got together, and they had a vision for an outdoor laboratory,” Mary Jo Modica, former arboretum horticulturalist, said. “So they approached the V.A. about that land. They had that mission for themselves. They wanted a place so that the science students could go and measure and do experiments.”