Bonner: University of Alabama to “share the resources”
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 1
University of Alabama President Judy Bonner announced Wednesday that the vice presidency of research would expand to include coordination of economic development efforts at the Capstone. Bonner made the announcement in comments about the state of the university during the fall faculty/staff meeting at the Bryant Conference Center. Bonner was joined at the fall meeting by leaders from other campus institutions, including the Faculty Senate and Student Government Association. The announcement of the changes to the vice presidency of research was among comments by Bonner emphasizing the campus’ role in economic development for the state. Vice President of Research Carl Pinkert will add economic development to his responsibilities and serve as the “point person” for the array of resources already available at the university, Bonner said. He also will work on developing additional resources.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 1
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 1
Microsoft starts push into polling world
Seattle Times (Wash.) – Oct. 1
People are slowly getting used to asking digital assistants like Apple’s Siri simple questions, like “Will it rain tomorrow?” and “Where was Justin Bieber arrested?” Soon, cellphones may be the ones doing the asking — surveying people on more serious matters like their choice for president and how the United States should confront the Islamic State. On Monday, Microsoft started 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, when Cortana — Microsoft’s answer to Siri — could start conducting interviews herself, imitating human pollsters. James J. Cochran, a professor of statistics at the University of Alabama, said 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,” Cochran said. “You don’t know if it will work again.”
NCUA’s Appeals Process Unappealing: Study
Credit Union Times – Oct. 1
The NCUA’s exam appeals process is significantly less active than other banking regulators, according to a study presented last month at a meeting of small bankers hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Julie Andersen Hill, associate professor of law at the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa, looked at the NCUA’s appeals record and process for a 10-year period, from 2002 to 2012. She also studied bank regulator appeals data from the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. The OCC Ombudsman has issued 157 decisions, the Federal Reserve has decided 25 appeals, the FDIC’s Supervision Appeals Review Committee has issued 63 decisions, and the NCUA’s Supervisory Review Committee has issued 6 decisions, Hill wrote. “When institutions do appeal, they seldom win,” she commented. The fewer appeals, Hill said, the less likely it was that the process was understood by or functional for the institutions being regulated.
TxDOT Is Unmoved by Claims a Dallas Company’s Guardrails Are Maiming Drivers
Dallas Observer – Oct. 1
Since 1999, the guardrails manufactured by Dallas’ Trinity Industries have been credited with saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of drivers across the country. Trinity’s popular older guardrail design, called the ET-2000, is supposed to roll back when struck by cars, absorbing some of the impact and lowering the risk that the people inside the car will get seriously hurt or die. But in 2005, Trinity Industries altered the design of its guardrail model, shaving off about an inch of metal on each guardrail. It was a minor change, the company has claimed, and one it said wasn’t implemented to cut costs, even though a 20/20 news investigation this month uncovered emails from Trinity’s own engineers calculating that the change would save the company $2 per each guardrail. Whatever the reason for the change, the results look gruesome. The newer guardrail model, called the ET-Plus, sometimes reacts to a car crash not by rolling back like its supposed to, but instead by slicing through the car and impaling the people inside … The lawsuits alleging that Trinity Industries’ guardrail design is defective have been popping up across the country, and there’s now some research to support the plaintiffs’ claims. According to engineers at the University of Alabama, an eight-year analysis of crash data they published last week shows that the ET-Plus model guardrail is 2.86 times more likely to kill people than the earlier ET-2000 design. The newer design is also 1.36 times more likely to cause serious injuries, the report says.
Rise celebrates 40th birthday
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 1
It’s a special day for a great group of students and teachers at Tuscaloosa’s Rise School. On this day, 40 years ago, Rise opened its doors. They only had one room and six students. Today, they’ve grown to more. The rise school now serves more than 100 children who have disabilities.
Exchange student talks UA experience
Crimson White – Oct. 2
Liam Clarke is an Australian exchange student spending his fall semester at The University of Alabama. Clarke, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering and construction, is an active member in campus life and plays for the University’s rugby team. Why did you come to America/the University? I always liked American sports. Plus you speak English. It was an exchange agreement between UA and my university. There will be a person here who’s in my spot back home. What do you like about campus? It’s really well kept and easy to get around. The people are friendly and will talk to you. What’s most different from your home country? Here there’s a lot of school pride. Back at home, we don’t have any college sports, so I didn’t really care what school I went to. At home, we don’t have on-campus living, so you go to class then go home. Here, everything you do during a semester is related back to school.
Mortar Board wins award
Crimson White – Oct. 2
The University of Alabama’s Hypatia chapter of the Mortar Board recently earned two honors at their national conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The chapter was nominated as a top five finalist for the Ruth Weimer Mount Award, making the Hypatia chapter the first group from the Southeast to receive such an honor. The chapter also received a Golden Torch Award. Being a finalist for the Ruth Weimer Mount Award distinguishes a
chapter for its excellence among the 230 chapters nationwide, and the Golden Torch Award recognizes a chapter for exceeding the expectations of the national office. “It was an honor to be a part of [the conference],” Allison Montgomery, president of the Hypatia chapter, said. “It was a great opportunity to meet campus leaders from across the
country and see what other chapters are doing.” The chapter, which currently has 69 members, hopes to repeat last year’s success. Montgomery said they are filling up their calendar and trying to set up a “well-rounded spectrum of
projects” to benefit the community.
Series discusses fossils
Crimson White – Oct. 2
When Anthony Martin was growing up in Indiana, his father took him hunting. Martin said he remembers pointing out deer tracks and other signs in the woods or along stream banks. Later in grad school, he discovered his fascination had a
name – ichnology. “I have been hooked ever since,”
Martin said. The first ALLELE lecture of the fall semester will host Martin, a professor of environmental science at Emory University, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Biology Building auditorium. The ALLELE lectures are a speaker series hosted by The University of Alabama’s evolutionary studies club. In his lecture, titled “Dinosaurs Without Bones: What Dinosaur Trace Fossils Tell Us About Evolution,” Martin will define dinosaur trace fossils and explore their importance in the grand scheme of
evolutionary history.
UA men run mile in her shoes to raise domestic abuse awareness
Crimson White – Oct. 2
Most fall Saturdays, the Quad is home to thousands of Alabama fans sitting under hundreds of white tents, cheering on their
Crimson Tide. Wednesday night the Quad hosted something a bit more special. Male UA students had the opportunity to experience what the wardrobe of a woman feels like as they wore heels and raced around the Quad in Alpha Chi Omega’s Walk A Mile annual philanthropy event to raise awareness for domestic abuse. “We have close to 30 teams this year,” Amber Ausley, philanthropy chair of Alpha Chi Omega, said. “Each team gets 10 members and the cost to participate is $10
per member.” At the end of the event, the runners tweeted “#1is2many.” The hashtag supports the White House’s campaign against domestic violence.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 2