The Upshot: Microsoft Begins a Push Into the Polling World
New York Times – Sept. 29
On Monday, Microsoft is starting a relatively straightforward survey website called Microsoft Prediction Lab, where users can submit their views and predictions regarding politics, sports and other subjects. The more novel part of Microsoft’s plan will come later, though, whenCortana — Microsoft’s answer to Siri — starts conducting interviews herself, imitating human pollsters. Microsoft’s entry into surveys could become another step in the polling field’s journey away from random-digit dialing of landline telephones and toward newer technologies like cellphones and the Internet. Polling analysts will watch Cortana not just because of its novelty but also because of its potential to provide a human-sounding voice at little cost. . . . James J. Cochran, a professor of statistics at the University of Alabama, said that Microsoft’s nonrandom polling methods were statistically sound but that they might not always work as well as they did in 2012. “The biggest concern is that it’s one instance,” Mr. Cochran said. “You don’t know if it will work again.”
Plenty for people to do in October in Tuscaloosa as University of Alabama football goes on the road
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
Whoa, so there’s only one Crimson Tide home game in October? Guess we can take the month off, huh? Well, no. October is always one of the richest activity-heavy months in the area, from Hallo-ween events to beloved, longtime annuals such as the Kentuck Festival of the Arts and Moundville Native American Festival. . . . MONDAY-Friday: A.R. Gurney’s “The Dining Room”: 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday, $10, Allen Bales Theatre, Rowand-Johnson Hall on the UA campus. www.theatre.ua.edu. . . . Staged reading of “Richard III”: 7:30 p.m., free, with pre-show music at 7, Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, downtown. Presented by Improbable Fictions, a Shakespearean staged-reading series sponsored by the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at UA. www.improbablefictions.wordpress.com. . . . OCT. 7-12: “Lend Me a Tenor”: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7-11, 2 p.m. matinee Oct. 12, Gallaway Theatre, performed by UA Department of Theatre and Dance. www.theatre.ua.edu. . . . Moundville Native American Festival: Moundville Archaeological Park and Museum, 644 Mound State Parkway, Moundville. Celebration of the ancient Native American site, repeatedly named one of Alabama’s Top 20 Tourism Events, with performers, artists, craftspeople and tradition bearers entertaining and educating about the rich culture and heritage. www.moundville.ua.edu.
Jazz trumpeter to be at University of Alabama on Friday
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
Jazz musician Dave Douglas will be at the University of Alabama in early October for a pair of concerts and a master class. The UA Jazz Ensemble will feature the trumpeter in its concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the UA School of Music Concert Hall. Douglas will perform at the concert hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday with his quintet featuring Troy Roberts, tenor saxophone; Bobby Avey, piano; Linda Oh, bass; and Anwar Marshall, drums.
University of Alabama’s Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha raise, donate $12,500 to charity
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
University of Alabama Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity raised $12,500 in September to donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The money will be used to help provide access to basic medical and dental care and provide families of sick children with housing during hospital stays. Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha presented the check to representatives of Ronald McDonald House Charities Thursday at “A Golden Gala,” with fellow sororities and fraternities of the UA Greek system, faculty, staff, administrators at UA and members of the community who made donations. Gold ribbons decorated the doors of sororities and fraternities and donors’ clothing this week to further raise awareness of childhood cancer for September, childhood cancer awareness month.
College students get real-life experience covering Magic City Miracle
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Sept. 28
Today, 18 undergraduate students got to experience what it is like to be working for a news station with WVTM. The students that joined today were from the University of Alabama and University of Montevallo. Coming from all different communication fields of studies, the students were eager to get started. The day started off by telling each other what they wanted to get out of today. Most of the students responded overwhelming with “real-life experience and what kind of effort it takes to be in the industry.” The students were assigned today to capture the different service projects that make up Magic City Miracle community service day in Birmingham.
NBC-13 (Birmingham) – Video report
Candidates make opposing claims about Alabama’s economy
Anniston Star – Sept. 28
MONTGOMERY — Republican Gov. Robert Bentley says his administration has brought Alabama’s unemployment down 20 percent in the past three years, a result of aggressive efforts to bring in new industry. Parker Griffith, Bentley’s Democratic opponent, says Alabama is the only state where unemployment is higher than it was last year, a sign that the state is missing out on the recovery. Economists say both campaigns might be looking at the wrong number. Alabama posted a 6.9 percent employment rate in August, far lower than the double-digit numbers at the height of the recession, but on the rise — while nationwide unemployment is at 6.1 percent and falling. Experts say that single number doesn’t tell the real story of Alabama’s economy, a story of job growth that is real, b ut isn’t coming fast enough to please anybody. “We don’t focus on unemployment rate, because it doesn’t paint an accurate picture of what’s going on in the economy,” said Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. “Alabama added 20,000 jobs last year. It’s not as good as it should be, but it’s better than it was during the recession.”
Gov. Robert Bentley: Battling against voter apathy
AL.com – Sept. 26
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – It’s becoming common place that at some point during most of his campaign stops Gov. Robert Bentley says a version of this: “You know what happens (insert X-number here) days from today? It’s election day and I’m telling you we’ve got to get people motivated,” Bentley said during a recent stop in Vestavia Hills. “…We have to get people out to vote. …I don’t care what kind of mundane election it is, we need to go vote. And you need to get your neighbors to go vote. “ . . . Bentley never mentions Griffith on the campaign trail. But as the example above shows he does talk about apathy. A longtime observer of Alabama politics is not surprised. “This is probably the least interesting race for governor we have seen since 1974,” said William Stewart, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alabama. “There was no suspense at all, none in that 1974 race. There was nothing George Wallace could do to lose it and nothing his opponent could do to win it. That’s much the case with this race, in my opinion.”
Alabama theater season kicks off tonight with A.R. Gurney’s acclaimed drama ‘The Dining Room’
AL.com – Sept. 29
The University of Alabama’s department of theatre and dance kicks off its 2014-15 theatrical season with Pulitzer Prize-nominee A.R. Gurney’s drama “The Dining Room,” starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Allen Bales Theatre on campus. In 18 scenes, Gurney’s play tells the tale of several upper-middle class families, bound only by a matching set of dining room furniture. It illustrates the rise and decline of white Anglo-Saxon protestant culture, and how lessons from this culture can impact Americans across a variety of social boundaries.
Crimson White – Sept. 29
WWI exhibit to open at downtown Tuscaloosa gallery Saturday
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 26
The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in downtown Tuscaloosa will feature “Glimpses of the Great War,” a collection of materials from World War I veterans and their families, Saturday through Oct. 3. The items from special collections in the University of Alabama Libraries include letters, pictures, scrapbooks, uniforms and other military paraphernalia. The exhibit, which was previously displayed on the UA campus, was organized by UA Libraries in honor of the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibit’s opening coincides with the Alabama All Veterans and Family Reunion, a weekend-long tribute to veterans organized by the Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports Commission. A reception for the exhibit is scheduled for Tuscaloosa’s Art Night from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 3.
Tuscaloosa transit service is popular on game days
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
It’s not just Alabama football players who got a rest this weekend. Executive Director Russell Lawrence told the Tuscaloosa City Council last week that riders of the Transit Authority’s game-day service are on pace to set a new record. He said that in the three home games Alabama has played this year, the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority is averaging almost twice as many riders as it did when it began providing the service five years ago. “We’re glad for a break,” Lawrence said. In 2010, the first year the Transit Authority began offering $1 rides between Bryant-Denny Stadium and the Intermodal Facility on Sixth Street, an average of about 2,400 riders used the service for each home game. But so far in 2014, an average of about 4,400 people have ridden the shuttle. Lawrence said all four floors of the parking deck, from which the Transit Authority operates, were filled with vehicles at least four hours before last weekend’s 2:30 p.m. kickoff against the University of Florida.
Students design hybrid for automotive competition
Crimson White – Sept. 29
Students at The University of Alabama are redesigning a Chevrolet Camaro into a hybrid electric vehicle called EcoCar 3. The University is one of 16 schools to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition, which is known as the leading competition for students pursuing careers in the automotive industry. Brittany Galloway, a first-year graduate student studying advertising and public relations, is the communications manager of EcoCar 3. Students in the program have four years to build the car, and this year marks the inaugural year for the University’s participation in the competition. “(The group is) elated to be a part of the competition, and we have every intention to build EcoCar 3 right here in Bama,” she said. Paulius Puzinauskas, an engineering professor, is the faculty advisor for the EcoCar 3 project. He said this project provides a special opportunity for students who might like to pursue careers in the automotive industry.
‘TCF in LA’ offers intern experience
Crimson White – Sept. 29
The “TCF in LA” class is bringing Bama to Hollywood with the opportunity for students to intern in Los Angeles during the winter interim or summer session. Through the program, students meet producers, cinematographers and industry executives, all while learning on the job. This year the class is available to all majors. Rachel Raimist, an assistant professor in telecommunications and film, started the course last winter and extended to offer a course during summer 2014. In its first year, the course was only offered to TCF students, but Raimist said she is excited to open the course to anyone who has a passion for learning about
the industry. “There are a lot of people who are in the business school who want to work in the entertainment industry, or students from New College who want to work in the media but through a
different lens,” she said. Michael Thomas, a senior majoring in telecommunication and film, was in the very first “TCF in LA” class.
Tide Talk emphasizes pivotal changes
Crimson White – Sept. 29
“Look at me now,” Aaron Brazelton said to a full audience in the Ferguson Theater. Brazelton, one of four speakers at the eighth Tide Talks speaker series, was speaking to “Mrs. Davis,” a previous teacher of Brazelton’s, who told him he probably would not go to college. Brazelton, the first speaker of the evening Friday night, gave his talk on how students can be “change agents” in the fight against education inequity. He underlined his own past as a student who was hit at birth with “the trio: being low-income, black and male,” but he said he overcame his circumstances with the help of teachers who pushed him to work hard.
UA swim and diving team honors John Servati
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Sept. 27
The University of Alabama swim and diving team honored a teammate they lost earlier this year. After the team’s practice today, many of John Servati s former teammates and dozens of others helped Habitat for Humanity build homes. John Servati died saving another student when storms swept through Tuscaloosa last spring. More than 75 student-athletes from more than half the crimson tide s teams stepped up to lend a helping hand, both for the community and in Servati’s memory.
UAPD to collect prescription drugs for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 26
The University of Alabama police department is collecting old and expired prescription drugs to help prevent drug abuse. This is a part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. A drug drop off box will be at the UAPD office. Sgt. John Hooks says leaving drugs like this in your home can be dangerous to you and your family. “Get those substances out of their house, and it cuts down on prescription misuse and abuse as well as any types of overdoses or things like that, accidents that occur in the home with children and things.”
Buy for RISE Fundraiser
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) — Sept. 26
If you’re in the mood for shopping tomorrow, try the Buy for RISE fund-raiser. The event features clearance items from local retailers at deep discounts starting at 90 percent off. The event will be held at the University of Alabama RISE school from 8 to 11 a.m. Admission is free.
Gotcha Ride at UA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) — Sept. 26
Buffalo Rock Pepsi and the Gotcha Ride program are offering free rides around campus for University of Alabama students. WVUA’s Danny Salter, Lynn Brooks and Angie Hughes got to experience this “gotcha ride” earlier today. Buffalo Rock Pepsi wants to help students get to class in this golf cart.
Gold to meet with county’s UA alumni
Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle – Sept. 28
The Walker County Chapter of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association will hold its annual fall kickoff meeting and membership drive Thursday at Los Reyes in downtown Jasper. Eli Gold, the voice of the Crimson Tide football team, will greet alumni and friends and offer an inside look at Crimson Tide football and sports during an appearance beginning at 6 p.m. Beginning his sports broadcasting career in 1972 working as a weekend sports reporter with the Mutual Broadcasting System, Gold has handled numerous play-by-play assignments.