Entomologist Dr. E.O. Wilson donates awards to University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – April 21
Perhaps it is predictable that talk on the Monday after the Crimson Tide’s spring football scrimmage turned to college football during a ceremony in downtown Tuscaloosa announcing a donation by a prominent University of Alabama alumnus. Though it might seem odd that the gridiron moment renowned entomologist and UA graduate Edward O. Wilson picked to celebrate was Auburn University’s last-second return of a missed field goal that derailed dreams of a third consecutive national title for the Crimson Tide. But perhaps it’s just the complex perspective to be expected from the professor emeritus at Harvard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, one of the world’s leading experts on ants, evolution and biodiversity. “Edward O. Wilson is respected throughout the world for not just advancing knowledge but also for his beautifully articulated and insightful perspectives on what it means to be human and the responsibility we have as stewards of the earth,” UA College of Arts and Science Dean Robert Olin said Monday as he introduced Wilson, who has given the Capstone the 246 international awards, prizes and tributes bestowed upon him during his career and established a fellowship for UA students conducting research in biodiversity … Monday’s event was a celebration of part of Wilson’s story and his gratitude for the role the University of Alabama played in it. Wilson graduated from UA with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. He earned a doctorate from Harvard in 1955. “I’m just honored and fulfilled to give something back to my alma mater,” Wilson said. The donated awards include two Pulitzer Prizes and the U.S. National Medal of Science. The collection is valued at $400,000, according to UA.
Crimson White – April 22
Russians visit RISE
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 21
Last year, Dr. Martha cook, director of the Capstone’s RISE program, traveled to Russia to talk about starting schools like RISE for Russian children with disabilities. Today, some of the Russians heading up programs like RISE were at the facility today to observe how things run. Dr. Cook says children went to great lengths to extend the same hospitality that UA leaders experienced while in Russia. Speaking of the RISE school, be sure to join your home team this Thursday at 4 p.m. for the Gene Stallings Golf Tournement live, benefiting the RISE School. That’s this Thursday right here on WVUA.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – April 21
WVUA to move into Bryant-Denny Stadium
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – April 21
Over the next week, there will be some big changes going on inside Bryant Denny Stadium on the University of Alabama campus. That’s because as WHNT News 19’s Carson Clark explains, the stadium will soon be home to the Crimson Tide Football Team, and a full-powered TV Station. Carson: “On game days more than 100,000 people pour into Bryant Denny Stadium. And the vast majority of them will never know they are sitting on top of a TV station. When you step off the elevator at the new WVUA studios, it’s immediately clear this is not a typical TV station. Many people, Alabama fans included, might be surprised to learn that the university, with a lot of student help, operates its own television station.”
UA students make Katrina documentary
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 22
A team of University of Alabama students is making a documentary film about the U.S. Coast Guard’s search and rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The documentary titled “Paratus 14:50” will look at relief efforts in South Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. It focuses on the air rescue carried out by Air Station New Orleans and Aviation Training Center Mobile, that contributed to pulling more than 33,000 people from the highly impacted areas.The production team will travel across the nation over the next three months to film at Coast Guard facilities and interview Coast Guard personnel. Documentary Producer, Hunter Barcroft says, “The documentary will be told through the eyes of the Coast Guard members. The Coast Guard has granted us access to their facilities and personnel.” The documentary is the vision of UA Telecommunications and Film major, Kaitlin Smith, who grew up in a Coast Guard family. “It was her dream to tell the story,” says Barcroft. He says, Smith spent a significant part of her childhood in Louisiana and still has family there. The documentary is slated to be released August 29, 2015, the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. You can help the UA team of students complete and distribute the project at this Indiegogo address: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/paratus-14-50.
New book tells story of PCB pollution in Anniston
Lakeland Ledger (Fla.) – April 21
A new book tells the story of decades of chemical pollution in the east Alabama city of Anniston. Written by University of Alabama researcher Ellen Griffith Spears, “Baptized in PCBs: Race, Pollution and Justice in an All-American Town” traces the history of the toxic chemical in the city. The book details how the production of the chemical polychlorinated biphenyls led to Anniston being once listed among the most toxic towns in America. A sprawling factory made the chemical in Anniston for generations, and the resulting pollution resulted in a multimillion dollar legal settlement. The city’s black community was particularly affected by contamination. The book was released this month and published by the University of North Carolina Press. The author is an assistant professor in Tuscaloosa.
UA says Northern Beltline around Birmingham will create about 21,000 jobs
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 21
Signs of progress along the new Northern Beltline today. Construction workers broke ground on Phase One. This phase will go 1.3 miles, and take about two years to finish. The entire project will cross 52 miles and connect I-59 in northeast Jefferson County with I-459 near Bessemer. It will take about 30 years to build. … The University of Alabama says the project will bring in about 21,000 jobs to the area once it is done.
Alabama economic outlook brightens
Tuscaloosa News – April 21
Economic forecasters at the University of Alabama are slightly more optimistic about the state’s economy as they update their annual economic outlook for the second quarter. UA’s Center for Business and Economic Research economists said the state’s economy is now on track to grow 2.4 percent this year. In January, when they issued the 2014 forecast, they projected the state’s economy to grow at a rate of 2.2 to 2.3 percent for the year, said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist and director of economic forecasting at the center. Ijaz said the latest upgrade in growth is due in part to a look at revised data from previous months. “We were having growth in the third and fourth quarters of last year, but it was coming from inventory,” he said. The buildup of inventory meant manufacturers would not need to produce as much going into 2014, so the Center for Business and Economic Research economists predicted a slowdown in growth in the first quarter, he said.
Free seminar to help small businesses Internet marketing potential
Pensacola News-Journal – April 22
A free three-hour seminar May 6 at Pensacola’s historic Saenger Theatre is aimed at helping small and medium-size Panhandle businesses make the most of Internet-based marketing, from websites and search engines to strategy and social media … While some small-business owners may be intimidated by Internet marketing, Susan Fant, an instructor in digital and social media marketing at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, said Internet and social media can open profitable doors for small companies. “One of the big aspects of small businesses using Internet marketing is that business owners can amplify their message to a very widespread audience,” Fant said. “They can connect with local customers and tell the story of their business and what they support via Facebook and Twitter, but they can also find new customers because of the global reach of the Internet. I’ve seen many small-town boutiques do great business online.”
UA students travel to Italy with new summer program
Crimson White – April 22
This May, seven students will travel to Italy to learn about Renaissance mathematicians as part of a new UA in Italy study abroad program. In its inaugural year, the three-week program titled “Discovering Mathematicians of the Renaissance” will take students to cities including Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. Pam Derrick, director of learning communities, is program director for UA in Italy. “This program was created to provide an experience that integrates numerous academic disciplines in an experiential setting,” Derrick said. “I am thrilled for the students who are participating in this trip. Dr. Bowen will create new and imaginative ways for them to earn about Italian culture, math and themselves.” Larry Bowen, a professor in the department of mathematics, will travel with the group abroad and teach a three-hour general studies course. The idea for Bowen’s course came from several of his own personal interests. “Because I teach mathematics, a course related to math was an obvious choice,” Bowen said. “I also wanted to take advantage of teaching in a foreign location. Putting those two things together with some pre-existing interests of my own, I decided to focus on mathematicians of the Renaissance.”
Avanti member supports charity
Crimson White – April 22
Avanti leader Sam Foster and parent ambassador Madeline Folsom raised more than $1,500 to support the Foothills Alliance through the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop service project this year. The Southern Regional Orientation Workshop is attended annually by the Avanti team. While at the conference, members particiapte in workshops to grow as student orientation leaders and develop service projects for the community. Foster, a sophomore majoring in marketing raised more than $1,500 to support the Foothills Alliance, a charity in South Carolina that provides supplies and support for victims of sexual violence and child abuse. Foster said he used the money to buy the Foothills Alliance two new desktop computers. Foster and Madeline Folsom, a parent ambassador, worked together to collect supplies like books and clothes from organizations around campus. They had fundraisers at local restaurants to raise additional money, which they put toward the purchase of the desktops. “We really wanted to make it the biggest community service project that the Avanti and Parent Orientation programs have ever done,” Folsom, a junior majoring in human development and family studies, said. “We feel like it wasn’t given enough effort in previous years so we wanted to work really hard on it.”
UA Students Prepare for Finals Week (gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – April 21
Harlie Waldon, a junior at the University of Alabama majoring in marketing, studies inside Gorgas Library on the UA campus Monday, April 21, 2014. This week, the week before Alabama students take final exams, is known as “Study Week” or to some students “Dead Week.” Gorgas Library will be open 24 hours a day from April 20 until May 2.