University of Alabama 2014 Outstanding Graduate Student awards announced
Al.com – March 10
The University of Alabama named seven students the 2014 Outstanding Graduate Students last week, who are expected to be honored during UA Honors Week March 31 – April 4. According to a UA press release, the following students were selected by three faculty committees …
Tuscaloosa News – March 9
University of Alabama students to take on Tuscaloosa community service projects Saturday
Al.com – March 7
University of Alabama students will lend helping hands to the greater Tuscaloosa community Saturday, March 8, partnering with 13 non-profit organizations in service projects around town. According to a UA release, projects include cleaning an area of the Black Warrior River with the Black Warrior Riverkeepers, beautifying and landscaping Jesus Way Shelter & Hospice of West Alabama and socializing the animals at the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter. Other work sites include Hospice of West Alabama, and the Murphy African American Museum. Hands on Tuscaloosa, a Community Service Center program, expects more than 300 students to participate across Tuscaloosa Saturday.
COLLEGE NEWS 3/9
Tuscaloosa News – March 9
University of Alabama: Students from the University of Alabama won the RidgeWorth Cup in the Southern Classic round of the CFA Institute Research Challenge. They advance to the Americas Regional round, featuring winners of local challenges throughout North and South America, held in Denver on March 18. The students presented their analysis and investment recommendations on Mohawk Industries. Their presentation at the Southern Classic was the culmination of months of research, interviews with company management, competitors and clients, and presentation training. The Southern Classic is a local level of the CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition presented by CFA Institute. In order to promote best practices in equity research and company analysis, student participants in the challenge research, analyze and report on a company as if they are practicing analysts. During this round, 14 teams of three to five students from the area’s leading universities and business schools competed for a place in the regional final in Denver. The University of Alabama won the final round over Georgia State University, the University of Alabama Birmingham and the University of Georgia. … Students competing from UA were Zac Adams, Forrest Hames, William Priester, Daniel Smith and Kevin Whitney. Throughout the competition, the team received guidance from their faculty adviser, Steve Reinhart, and industry mentor, Mike Majure, Assistant CIO of Georgia’s Division of Investment Services.
POV: Rural Colleges Bring Message to D.C.
Community College Week – March 3
During my recent trip to Washington D.C., sponsored by the Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA), I was reminded of the critically important work being done by that organization to lift America’s 74 million rural citizens. Joined by presidents, administrators and trustees serving community colleges across rural America, we attended meetings and briefings by various officials and agencies, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack … After all, six in 10 of the nation’s 1,552 community college campuses are rural, and they award over half of all associate degrees earned in our country. There are 140 rural-small, 303 rural-medium and 110 rural-large colleges in the United States enrolling 3.7 million students, and yet national studies conducted by the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center show that rural community colleges face greater financial strain than do urban and suburban community colleges. The continued decline in state funding only increases the need for rural colleges to leverage federal funding streams, underscoring the critical importance of the RCCA and its sponsored trips to Washington, D.C.
UA debates change in climate
Crimson White – March 10
At one time, some Alabama natives could not remember the last time they had a snow day. But in the past five years, there has been at least one snow day each winter, including the damaging and unexpected ice storms experienced earlier in the semester. Jason Senkbeil, an assistant professor of geography, teaches classes on climatology and studies instrumental records which help to explain climate patterns over the past century. “It’s inherently difficult to separate a climate change scenario from natural climate variability,” Senkbeil said. “I would say that what we are experiencing is unusual, but not unprecedented in the area.” Senkbeil said he believes the prevailing opinion in the scientific community is that climate change is occurring on some level, but he said he has not seen any statistical evidence of major changes in temperature or precipitation in the Alabama area. Senkbeil said much of the debate surrounding climate change involves the extent to which humans have contributed. “There is a human role, but the argument is whether they are the primary cause, a secondary cause or if their effect is miniscule compared to normal climate variability,” Senkbeil said.
Making Law School Millennial-Friendly
Above the Law – March 7
Law school applications are down. It looks like the Millennials just don’t want to go to law school. … Professor Montré D. Carodine of the University of Alabama School of Law doesn’t see Millennials as spoiled online denizens, which means she’s automatically disqualified herself to ever write for Time magazine. Instead, she sees a generation brought up to revere innovation and entrepreneurialism. More than any recent generation, the Millennials have been fed the idea that the path to success is not soldiering up the corporate cursus honorum, but to invent something amazing and sell it in a matter of months for billions. Whether it’s a generational thing or just a matter of the job climate, Millennials want some indication that their investment in higher education will pay dividends, rather than trusting, “Hey, it’s a law degree… that’s always been a solid job in the past!” Here’s where law schools shout “clinics,” but Professor Carodine thinks there’s more to being “practice ready” than “take traditional model, add in six months as a glorified paralegal, and stir.” She thinks that there are opportunities to teach students about the practical side of law beyond 3L clinics if the legal academy is willing to look outside its cloisters:
Researcher to lecture on preparedness at UA
Tuscaloosa News – March 7
A visiting health services researcher will give a free public lecture on emergency preparedness on Monday as part of the University of Alabama School of Social Work’s Colloquium Series. Victoria Raveis, a social gerontologist and medical sociologist, will present “Emergency Preparedness: When Natural Disasters Strike,” at noon in room 104 of Little Hall. Social work continuing education units will be available, according to a release from UA. Raveis is a research professor and director of the Psychosocial Research Unit on Health, Aging and the Community at the New York University Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing. She is an authority on family-focused disease management for vulnerable and medically under-served communities, according to the release. The colloquium series brings speakers to campus to share expertise with faculty, staff, students and the community.
Lunafest films highlight women, breast cancer awareness
Crimson White – March 10
The Lunafest short film festival will return to Tuscaloosa, bringing stories about, by and for women and support for breast cancer awareness with it. The film festival travels throughout the country and is hosted by more than 150 cities. The Bama Theatre will host Lunafest Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The nine films in the festival are made by women about women with a variety of genres and topics. “Date with Fate,” a short film by Venetia Taylor, showcases the struggles of blind dating, while “Flying Anne,” by Catherine van Campen, profiles a girl with Tourette syndrome … Colette Peters, a staff therapist on campus, will share her story as a two-time breast cancer survivor before the showing Thursday. Peters was first diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 33 years old and again at age 36. She said she wants women to understand that breast cancer can happen at a younger age and will address preventative measures and the importance of doctor check-ups … “I think probably the most important thing I learned is the importance of people in your life: friends, family, people who are there to support you,” Peters said. “You can’t do everything on your own, and you need people at times, and they need you.”
Dance Alabama! to feature student choreography
Crimson White – March 10
With pieces ranging from ballet to hip hop to jazz, the Dance Alabama! program is back for its spring concert to showcase the talents of student dancers and choreographers. Dance Alabama! is a concert of 24 pieces entirely choreographed and performed by University of Alabama students. Choreographers teach dancers their routine and then must audition in front of faculty in order to be chosen for the show. One of these choreographers is Ashley Smith, a senior majoring in dance. She has choreographed four dances for the program in her time as a student at the University … Besides being entirely student-run, Dance Alabama! differs from other dance programs at the University, in that not all participants are dance majors. Rebeca Maynor, a sophomore majoring in athletic training, performed in last spring’s concert. “Even if you’re not a dance major, if you have an idea and you want to see it come to life, you can pick your dancers from auditions and make your piece,” Maynor said. “Then you show it at the showings, and if they like it they’ll put it in the show.” Dance Alabama! will be performed Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. in Morgan Auditorium. Tickets are available at ua.tix.com.
CHIPOLA ARTIST SERIES TO FEATURE CHINESE ACROBATS APRIL 1
Foster Folly News (Washington Co., Fla.) – March 10
The Chipola College Artist Series will present the Golden Dragon Acrobats, Tuesday, April 1, at 7 p.m., in the Center for the Arts. … The Artist Series event also will feature a Gallery Exhibit opening of three-dimensional works by artist Jamey Grimes. The exhibit will be on display April 1 – May 15 in the Center for the Arts Gallery. … Grimes, who teaches art at the University of Alabama, describes his sculptures as “fragments of a conversation with Nature.”