Alabama fans come from all over to enjoy A-Day
Tuscaloosa News – April 19
Shadows of kids and adults were cast onto the Walk of Champions and steps of Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday as the sun beat down on their backs. It looked like Christmas in April with a sea of crimson dotting the green spring grass surrounding the cement. For many Alabama fans, A-Day, the final football practice of spring, in Tuscaloosa is as big of a tradition as Christmas is anywhere. Infants to teenagers, parents, grandparents, couples and friends surrounded the stadium and blanketed the Quad, Fan Zone and the Walk of Champions, where Terri White stood in line with her sister and their grandchildren to get a picture with the Paul W. “Bear” Bryant statue. White said it took three cars to get her family to Tuscaloosa, including her sister who drove from Tallapoosa, Ga. “To me, (A-Day is) more about bringing the family in,” White said.
Gallery (Tuscaloosa News) – April 19
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 19
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 18
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – April 18
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – April 18
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – April 18
Tuscaloosa County jobless rate down slightly in March
Tuscaloosa News – April 18
Tuscaloosa County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in March to 6.3 percent. It was 6.4 percent in February. While the month-to-month rate was down, the county’s unemployment rate was higher than it was in March 2013, when the rate was 5.7 percent. But those numbers might be somewhat deceiving, according to a University of Alabama economist who tracks unemployment. Tuscaloosa County added jobs over the previous month and the number of people who were unemployed decreased, said Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research. But the unemployment rate was up significantly from year ago levels due to some increase in number of unemployed and an increase in labor force, he said. The state’s unemployment rate followed a similar pattern, going from 6.4 to 6.7 percent, The increased size of the county and state work forces is to be expected, Ijaz said. “As the economy continues to improve gradually,” he said, “more and more people who had given up looking for work will continue to enter the labor force hoping to find a job in an improving economy.”
On the job, new graduates battle entry-level carousel
Tuscaloosa News – April 19
Briana Tony hasn’t graduated from college yet, and she’s already frustrated with the job market. She’s been through four jobs and said that she moved on from each because of a lack of respect and poor upward mobility. … Experts say the young workers of the millennial generation are determined to find the right fit and that they aren’t afraid to shop around even in a tough economy. A report by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that people born after 1980 have held an average of 6.2 jobs by age 27, and 57 percent of jobs lasted less than a year … Now, they’re leaving college with skyrocketing student loan debt and entering a nearly stagnant job market, where they’re mostly finding entry-level positions with little hope for improvement. When they switch jobs, they often find themselves in the same situation with a new company. “It’s all compounded to a degree because a lot of the baby boomer generation isn’t retiring, so those jobs aren’t opening up,” said Carolyn Trent, socioeconomic analyst for the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “That’s led to fewer opportunities to advance.” Trent said many of those millennials were hired at a bargain price during the recession and haven’t been given much of a reason to stick around. Now, they’re willing to move on.
Campuses honor Shelby’s impact on UA System
Crimson White – April 21
Senator Richard Shelby and his wife Annette Shelby’s names have been on Shelby Hall since 2004. This year, they lent their faces to a commemorative pillar guarding the sidewalk en route to their namesake building. Senator Shelby, first elected to Congress in 1978, is the vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. Now, his influence on The University of Alabama System is commemorated in the pillar, building and fountain at the new engineering complexes. “Senator Richard Shelby has played a vital role in helping our three campuses become national front-runners in scientific research and development,” said UA System Chancellor Robert Witt. “To be a top-tier competitor for grants and contracts, as well as for premier students and faculty, a university must have state-of-the-art laboratories and research centers. Senator Shelby clearly understands the direct link between university research and economic development, and his efforts on our behalf are having a direct impact on job creation and on the well-being of Alabama’s citizens.” A strong education, with “world-class math, science and engineering facilities” at Alabama universities would help state residents find and create high-quality, skilled jobs, Shelby said.
Professor and student co-edit community college reference guide
Appalachian State News – April 18
A new book co-edited by four community college experts, including two at Appalachian State University, lays out state-by-state, comparative data on two-year higher education systems at a time when state legislatures consider new funding options and accountability measures. “Fifty State Systems of Community Colleges: Mission, Governance, Funding, & Accountability” published by The Overmountain Press serves as a quick-reference guide for policymakers, educational administrators, college trustees and higher education scholars. The book is co-edited by Appalachian State University doctoral student Emily Miller and retired Appalachian professor Dr. Jim Killacky, along with University of Alabama’s Dr. Stephen Katsinas and Iowa State University’s Janice Friedel.
Bama Dining to eliminate Styrofoam boxes
Crimson White – April 21
This fall, students will no longer receive disposable Styrofoam takeout containers from dining halls. In cooperation with an SGA resolution passed by last year’s senate, Bama Dining has decided to replace all Styrofoam containers with reusable to-go boxes starting Aug. 1. Kelsey Faust, marketing manager for Bama Dining, said all incoming freshmen will receive free green to-go containers. Non-freshmen can purchase a box for a $5 deposit. “When a student decides that they want a to-go meal from the dining hall, they will need to check out a to-go box with their Action Card,” Faust said. “When they are done with the to-go box, they can bring the dirty box back to one of our dining locations and check it back in with their Action Card or exchange it for a clean one. Students will not be responsible for cleaning their own to-go boxes.” Faust said the new program will divert more than half a million Styrofoam containers from landfills. She said Styrofoam accounts for one third of campus landfill space.
The BARKery puts faces to local adoptable dogs
Crimson White – April 21
When she’s not in the classroom teaching classes in the Capstone College of Nursing, Monika Wedgeworth spends a much of her time managing The BARKery on 35th, a Facebook site that advertises shelter dogs to Facebook users and rescue groups. “The BARKery is run 100 percent by volunteers, many of whom are UA students. The BARKery volunteers go to the animal shelter several days a week,” Wedgeworth said. “They take the adoptable dogs out to the play yard to take pictures and collect information about the dogs. The pictures and bios are then uploaded and shared.” … Wedgeworth said the BARKery is critical to saving the lives of dogs in the Tuscaloosa community, because it reminds Tuscaloosa citizens about the regularity of euthanizing adoptable pets. “The majority of people in Tuscaloosa don’t know or don’t want to know that adoptable dogs are euthanized regularly in our county, and until spay/neuter laws are enacted, that fact is unlikely to change,” Wedgeworth said.