University of Alabama seeks donations for Rising Tide scholarship
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 26
The University of Alabama’s College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors will conduct a two-week campaign to promote the Rising Tide Scholarship, which will provide aid to students facing a variety of challenges. The ambassadors kicked off the campaign, which will include on-campus events, social media promotions and spirit nights at participating Tuscaloosa restaurants, on Monday at the Ferguson Center plaza. The goal is to have the college’s 8,500 students donate $1 to the scholarship fund and to build shared community support for the scholarship. The ambassadors are also asking faculty and alumni to consider matching a contribution by a student, class or honor society. The goal is to raise $25,000 to endow the scholarship, which was inspired by student Marcita Cole’s response to a social media poll about what students would do as dean of the college for a day.
UA debuts renovations as fall semester begins
Birmingham Business Journal – Aug. 25
Students are seeing new scenery around the University of Alabama campus as the fall semester begins in Tuscaloosa. Construction is over—for the most part—and now students have access to a newly renovated Ferguson Center that received a $45.1 million makeover, according to a report from the Tuscaloosa News. However, the Ferguson Center renovations is just one component of the expansion aimed at raising the quality of life for students. The report also showed that students will be able to enjoy a new $32 million student activity center and a $62.8 million residence hall. The University also finished work on the $13.3-million Sidney McDonald Hall, which will serve as an administrative building for the UA system. Work began on the Ferguson Center in 2013, according to the report, and the student center will now feature new dining options for students, including: Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Panda Express and Wendy’s. The newly renovated center also has office space for the Student Government Association, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Blackburn Institute and Fraternity and Sorority Life, the report said.
Renovation on sorority row continues with 2 new houses
Crimson White – Aug. 26
The first group of new Panhellenic sorority members to run out of Bryant-Denny Stadium on Bid Day was a crowd of Alpha Phis. They had the farthest to run of all the new members that day, so they got a head start. At the end of their run down sorority row, they found a brand new house waiting for them. This year’s pledge class was the
largest The University of Alabama has seen, with more than 2,000 women receiving bids. In response to the
continuously expanding Greek system on campus, construction was completed this
summer on two sorority houses, Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Phi. Alpha Chi Omega’s new house sits atop the intersection of Magnolia and Colonial Drive, across the street from Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alpha Phi’s new house is down the street from its old location near Trinity United Methodist Church on Paul W Bryant Drive. Both houses include a chapter room,
dining room, kitchen and serving area, study areas, lounge and meeting spaces, an entry-foyer and a landscaped courtyard. Alpha Chi Omega will house 76 members, while Alpha Phi will house 66. Both have basements that include storage space and will serve as storm shelters. Each house offers approximately 40,000 square feet of space.
STEM path helps students work towards MBA
Crimson White – Aug. 26
Students with a clear focus on their learning path now have the chance to finish both their undergraduate and master’s degrees in less than the traditional six years through the science, technology, engineering and mathematics path to the MBA in the Capstone’s Culverhouse College of Commerce. Created by Rob Morgan and Michael Hardin, the STEM path is designed to give students majoring in science, technology, engineering or mathematics the option of completing their MBA in just one year of graduate study by utilizing nontraditional educational methods. “We recruit high-performing high school seniors who have gotten a 28 or above on the ACT, have a 3.5 GPA or above and are planning on majoring in a STEM discipline,” Morgan said. This is the fourth year that the STEM program has been available at the University, which means the first class of students in the program is finishing up their undergraduate study and is now preparing for their final year before receiving their MBA. Eighty to 85 percent of current STEM students are majoring in engineering,
Morgan said. Students who are accepted into the STEM to MBA program take a business honors course every year of their undergraduate study. During their junior year, they apply to the University’s MBA program. Once admitted, they begin taking MBA courses.
Enhanced recycling program in Tuscaloosa will handle glass
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 26
Starting next year, Tuscaloosa residents will be able to add glass to the list of recyclable items that they can keep out of area landfills. The West Alabama Recycling Partnership, made up of the city of Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, the University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority, has been awarded a $213,606 grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to expand and enhance recycling programs in West Alabama. This year’s ADEM Recycling Fund grant will fund a large paper shredder for the University of Alabama and a series of recycling containers for ballparks that are managed by PARA. But the biggest addition is the glass pulverizer that will allow glass to be recycled within the city of Tuscaloosa.
Library compiles databases free for student use
Crimson White – Aug. 26
Each year, across campus and in every department, students are asked to write essays, conduct research and properly cite their sources. Through the University’s online library databases, students have access to many different programs and websites to use for schoolwork or personal research without creating an account or paying for a membership. “All current students and faculty have access to our electronic resources,” said Public Relations Director Donna B. Adcock. “Not only does it benefit students when they need it, but it also helps teach them not to simply ‘Google’ their questions.” Information Services Librarian Mark Robison said the University always tries to improve electronic resources and make them easier to access for everyone. “We have over 300 databases and add several new ones every year. When we see some that are not used very often, we take those down,” Robison said. “We consider which databases to add depending on what students use, and, often times, what our faculty and staff suggests.”
UA offers free papers
Crimson White – Aug. 26 (Print edition only)
University of Alabama students can grab a copy of The New York Times or USA Today without paying a dime. Let alone the several dollars the papers usually cost. The Collegiate Readership Program was created in 2004 with the hope that giving students free access to national newspapers would promote civic engagement and literacy skills within the University, said Jennifer Greer, associate provost for administration with the Office of Academic Affairs. She said the program costs around $50,000 a year.
Sweet Home Food Bar brings traditional Italian, Greek, Mediterranean, American cooking to Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 26
Debra Rubino discovered Tuscaloosa four years ago when her son came to the University of Alabama. She said she fell in love with the city, but she also discovered that something was missing — a style of cooking with a heavy emphasis on fresh seasonings and fresh produce. It was the type of cooking she knew from living in New York. Last month, Rubino and her business partner, George Harsch, decided to fill that culinary niche when they opened Sweet Home Food Bar at 2218 University Blvd. The restaurant is in a downtown building that formerly housed a Fred’s store. “We like to say this is where New York meets Tuscaloosa,” she said of the restaurant. “We use farm-fresh ingredients with mostly locally sourced produce.”