Alabama’s John Servati swam through life ‘a hero every day’
Tuscaloosa News – April 29
When he was 13 years old, John Servati came to a youth swim meet at the University of Alabama. The kid from Tupelo, Miss., asked his Shockwave Aquatics Swim Team coach, Lucas Smith, a question. “He was already pretty fast,” Smith recalled. “He said, ‘Coach, do you think I’ll ever be fast enough to go to Alabama? This is where I want to go.’ “I told him, ‘You could make it here one day. I think that you can.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Really? Coach, thank you for saying that.’ “It was one of those kid dreams that got fulfilled. He couldn’t wait to get there when he signed.” Servati, a 21-year-old junior and a member of the UA swimming and diving team, died at DCH Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained when a retaining wall collapsed on him in the basement of a home on 22nd Avenue. He and his girlfriend were taking refuge from the storms Monday when the wall collapsed. UA confirmed his death Tuesday morning.
Al.com – April 29
Star-Tribune (Minn.) – April 29
Biloxi Sun-Herald (Miss.) – April 29
New York Daily News – April 30
Washington Times – April 29
The Tennessean – April 29
CBSSports.com – April 29
Daily Mail (UK) – April 29
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WSB-TV (Atlanta) – April 29
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – April 29
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CECIL HURT: John Servati understood what was important in life
Tuscaloosa News – April 29
I did not know John Servati. When the time comes to allocate coverage to the various sports at the University of Alabama, swimming and diving usually gets a small portion, if anything at all. That is no reflection on the prowess of swimmers, who are supremely conditioned, fiercely competitive men and women. But when it comes to television coverage or space in the newspaper, swimming rarely gets a mention unless it is in the context of an Olympic year. So I only know John Servati through what has been said about him since his tragic, untimely death on Monday night by friends and teammates and stunned coaches, all of whom described a smiling, fun-loving teammate who turned into a focused, driven competitor during practice or meets. And I know a couple,of other things: that the last entry on his Twitter feed was about his concern for those affected by a tornado in his hometown of Tupelo, Miss., earlier on Monday, and I know that in his final moments, he thought first of others, his girlfriend, whose life he may well have saved when a retaining wall collapsed around them.
Gulf Oil Feeding Frenzy
Business Alabama – April 2014
Remember when the Exxon Valdez supertanker struck a reef in 1989 and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound? If so, your first thought was “How could this happen?” After being inundated with images of oil-drenched seabirds, you likely thought, “This can’t happen again.” Four years ago this month it indeed happened again. Deepwater Horizon replaced Exxon Valdez as the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. And this time it was personal. In April 2010, practically in Alabama’s own backyard, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, unleashing a gusher a mile down at the seabed. Eleven workers were killed and for 87 days more than 200 million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf from the Macondo blowout … Philip Johnson, a petroleum engineering professor at the University of Alabama, calls the Gulf of Mexico “a monster reservoir,” but points out that drilling deep into the Gulf is a costly venture — so costly that few oil companies can drill on their own, instead forming joint ventures. Johnson notes that deepwater platforms can cost $3 billion, and no oil company will risk losing such an investment. Since the BP spill, there have been significant technological advances in stopping a spill. When the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, he says, “They went down a whole bunch of blind alleys, and it’s unlikely a spill today would last three months.”
IREM and University of Alabama Collaborate to Advance Real Estate Management Education and Careers
Multi Housing News – April 29
The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and the University of Alabama (UA), founded in 1831 as Alabama’s first public college, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The document outlines a collaborative relationship to advance the real estate management profession through education and encourage interest in the profession as an attractive career opportunity. IREM has long been committed to promoting real estate management careers and attracting a pool of new talent to the industry through academic outreach. UA’s Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies, housed within the university’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, offers a Bachelor of Science in Finance with a Specialization in Real Estate. UA’s Manderson Graduate School of Business offers a Master of Science in Finance, with a specialization in Real Estate.