Paul Hubbert dedicated proceeds of family estate to UA education scholarship: Today in Alabama politics
AL.com – Oct. 15
Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Dr. Paul Hubbert was a fixture on Alabama’s political scene for more than 40 years. Now, even as friends and family mourn his death, his legacy will live on through a scholarship he and his wife established at the University of Alabama. The Paul and Ann Hubbert Endowed Scholarship at the University of Alabama’s College of Education was established in 2012. The family has pledged the entire proceeds from their estate towards the scholarship. Hubbard, a 1959 graduate of what’s now called the University of North Alabama, received both his master’s and doctorate degrees from UA. The scholarships, according to the AEA, is for students pursuing certified teaching degrees. “The Paul and Ann Hubbert Endowed Scholarships are awarded to Alabama residents who require financial assistance to attend college and who share the same dream as Dr. and Mrs. Hubbert – a great public school for every Alabama child,” AEA noted.
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 15
Chubby-faced CEOs are more likely to use leverage, study finds
Market Watch – Oct. 15
To find out how much leverage a company is employing, you could examine a company’s balance sheet. Or look at the face of the chief executive. A working paper concludes that the facial width of chief executives, relative to their height, is positively correlated with leverage and negatively correlated with cash holdings. There was no association, however, with profits or investment decisions. The study, done by Jackson Mills, a professor at the University of Alabama, looked at 968 male chief executives of S&P 500 companies between 2002 and 2013. The ratio of facial width to height is not an arbitrarily picked characteristic, he noted. It is a proxy for testosterone levels and has been linked to aggressive behavior and increased risk tolerance.
UA librarians collaborate to publish novel
Crimson White – Oct. 15
Josh Sahib graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in management information systems. Mark Robison wanted to go to law school. They both ended up in graduate school for library science. The two men shared an office space in Amelia Gorgas Library until this past August, and they got to know each other well during their time as desk neighbors. Sahib said he would frequently tell Robison about his work on the weekends as a DJ and in video production. “I referred to all these things as my ‘side hustles,’” Sahib said. After a while, the pair decided they wanted to work on a “side hustle” together. The format of the project they decided on fit within the parameters of their work as librarians. “We were just having margaritas on a day, and we were like ‘Hey, we should write a book,’” Sahib said. “We’re both librarians. It’d be cool to publish something.” Sahib said as first-time authors, they weren’t setting out to write the next “Harry Potter” or “Game of Thrones” series. Instead, they started with an existing idea and made it their own.
Peacock to discuss book
Crimson White – Oct. 15
UA Professor Margaret Peacock takes readers back in time to the Cold War in her most recent book, “Innocent Weapons: The Soviet and American Politics of Childhood.” The book looks at how both the Soviet Union and the United States used the idea of childhood as a way to mobilize American and Soviet populations to go along with their ideas and policies. Peacock said she had two big inspirations that led her to write the book. Her first inspiration was the Daisy ad displayed on the cover of her book, which was something she found when studying for her doctoral degree in the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Archives at the University
of Texas. “In the ad there is a little girl who is picking petals from a daisy, she said she’s counting them as she picked each petal, and all of a sudden in the background a voice comes over and starts a countdown and then a nuclear bomb goes off and kills her and everything else all together.”
Strong is the new skinny for many women
Standard Examiner (Ogden, Utah) – Oct. 15
Forget craving runway models’ stick-thin figures: Women now want Michelle Obama’s arms, Jillian Michaels’ abs and Lolo Jones’ legs. Today, says Nancy Burnham, general manager of the Washington gym Vida Fitness, “having a strong body and a positive body image is cool.” . . . At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, for example, not only did American female athletes outnumber their male counterparts for the first time, but media coverage of them also reflected that: For the first time, women landed more screen time and on-air mentions than men, according to a study in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly led by Andrew Billings of the University of Alabama. Coverage of the 2014 Winter Games reflected a similar change: According to a preliminary analysis also conducted by Billings, 41.4 percent of NBC’s prime-time coverage from Sochi, Russia, was of women, 45.4 percent covered men and 13.2 percent went to pairs. That’s a big leap from the men’s average advantage of 20 percentage points in prime-time Winter Olympic telecasts from 1994 to 2010, the analysis found.
Beat Auburn Beat Hunger gets underway
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 14
The ultimate “food fight” rivalry in Alabama is underway. In Tuscaloosa, they’re getting ready for “Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger. The University of Alabama celebrated the campaign’s 21st year with an event on the Ferguson Center plaza. The school’s goal is to collect 300,000 pounds of food. The tide is competing against Auburn University to raise the most canned goods. Since 1994, both schools have helped collect more than 2 million pounds of food. You can donate to help your favorite team win through Nov. 21.
UA Chapter of Relay for Life holds Oktoberfest
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 14
The University of Alabama chapter of relay for life will host its first Oktoberfest this Thursday. It will take place from 4 to 7 pm at the Kappa Alpha order house on the UA campus. The event will feature events like three-legged races, pie-eating competitions, wheelbarrow races and costume contests. Admission is $5, and there will be food and T-shirts for sale to raise money for relay for life. All proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.
AHC promotes integrity
Crimson White – Oct. 15
This week is Academic Integrity Week on campus, hosted by the Academic Honor Council. The Academic Honor Council is a group of students from each college committed to promoting honesty and fairness on campus. Each specific council for every college is organizing events throughout the week. Events include a tent on the Ferguson Center Plaza and a coffee, doughnuts and testing tips night Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m. at Bruno and Rodgers libraries.
UnlockED event brings students, groups together
Crimson White – Oct. 15
Tuesday night, the UnlockED Career Fair, “ExplorED,” gave UA students who hope to have an impact on education an opportunity to get to know more about some regional schools and organizations. Kate Moss, a senior majoring in Spanish and anthropology, is the president of UnlockED. It is a new campus organization founded on the belief that every child deserves a high-quality education regardless of zip code, race or socioeconomic status. The organization uses a two-pronged approach of policy and practice, where they talk about issues and provide opportunities to learn more and actively get involved.
Feminist Caucus to discuss LGBTQ concerns
Crimson White – Oct. 15
The Feminist Caucus will hold a meeting for students from all walks of life within the LGBTQ community Wednesday at 6 p.m. State of the (Queer) Union will address state and national policy issues directly and indirectly affecting the LGBTQ community. Some of the issues are the stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive justice issues and immigration reform. “This event came about from a sincere need on campus to have a queer positive space for all members of the LGBTQ community to come and discuss the issues that they face,” said Ben Ray, a senior majoring in English and event and programming coordinator for the Feminist Caucus.
Opera guild open to all majors
Crimson White – Oct. 15
In the University of Alabama Opera Program, students and faculty members put together 18th, 19th and 20th century operettas. Elizabeth Aversa, professor emerita, is an opera theater volunteer and a founding member of the Opera Guild, a group whose purpose is to support and raise awareness for opera and the opera theater program. She said the University’s opera program is open to students of all majors. “I know that there have been singers who majored in other fields such as communications and marketing, to name just a few,” Aversa said. “And of course we welcome volunteers from all disciplines.” The opera program’s most recent production was W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s 1881 operetta, “Patience.”
Meet 30 Theatre Grad Schools at LiNK, 11/14-15 in Atlanta
Broadway World.com – Oct. 15
CalArts, AFI Conservatory, and the University of Virginia have joined the growing list of grad school theatre programs holding in-person interviews at LiNK, the new recruiting event November 14 and 15 at the Atlanta Airport Hilton. LiNK offers affordable and convenient one-day, multi-school meetings for people considering advanced degrees in theatre arts or management. … – University of Alabama’s MFA programs in Design & Technical Theatre lets first-year students assist on major productions.
Students play multiple roles
Crimson White – Oct. 15
After weeks of strenuous rehearsal for the UA theatre department’s production of “Othello,” Samuel Hardy walked off stage needing rest. “That was a really intense rehearsal process, and then I wasn’t able to recover because we launched right into ‘Showboat’ immediately,” said Hardy, a senior majoring in theatre. “I never got that period of rest that would have been good for me.” Hardy had been double-cast, meaning he had received roles in two theatre department productions in the same semester. Hardy was double-cast for four consecutive semesters, from the fall semester of his sophomore year to the spring semester of his junior year. By the end of his sophomore year alone, Hardy had participated in more productions than some students do throughout their entire college careers. … The University’s theatre department casts departmental productions every semester through a single audition process. Students audition for all four fall productions during the first week of classes and for all four spring productions during the week after Thanksgiving break.
Former University of Alabama student recalls lunch with Ronald Reagan in Northport
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 15
Some people find it awkward to be watched while they eat. On Oct. 15, 1984, Charles Patterson ate his McDonald’s meal with cameras in his face and microphones dangling above his head. Then he watched himself on every major news channel that night. The cameras weren’t there for him. They were there for the man eating shoulder-to-shoulder with Patterson: President Ronald Reagan. “I remember, when I picked up a French fry and brought it to my mouth, it seemed to be shaking,” Patterson said of his spontaneous meal with the 40th president. “It was a nerve-racking experience for a 23-year-old kid.” Thirty years ago today, Patterson, then a senior at the University of Alabama, listened to Reagan give a speech at what was then Memorial Coliseum a few weeks before the president was re-elected to a second term in office. Minutes later, Patterson and Reagan were at the Northport McDonald’s for a 20-minute meal before the president boarded a flight to Georgia.
40 under 40 rising stars: New York City’s next generation of political leaders
City & State – Oct. 15
Janna Pea: Communications Director, Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union. AGE: 28. As an undergrad at the University of Alabama, Janna Pea never imagined a career in organized labor. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in journalism and was well on her way to attending law school at her alma mater, but a one month internship on Capitol Hill turned into four, and on the day she had to make a decision about whether to return to school, a chance encounter with a congressman in an elevator left her with a job offer that would change the course of her life.
Mandeville native gets role in high seas Broadway production: Mandeville Town Talk
New Orleans Times-Picayune – Oct. 15
Mandeville native and actress Caroline Schmidt will be cruising through her next role, literally. The Mandeville High alumnus recently landed the coveted role of Annette in the Royal Caribbean cruise line’s production of “Saturday Night Fever.” Come December, Schmidt will board the Liberty of the Seas in Fort Lauderdale for a seven-month tour of duty. It will be her first cruise ship gig and one she is looking forward to. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a theater degree in 2012, she moved to New York City, where she has trained and worked professionally. … At the University of Alabama, Schmidt earned a double-minor in voice and dance. She won the Marian Gallaway Award for outstanding achievement in acting and was honored by Alpha Psi Omega with the Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Outstanding Senior.
UA football player who was “too full of Alabama” dies
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 14
Famous for a historic flub on the field, many are remembering former University of Alabama football player Tommy Lewis today. Lewis became famous for coming off the sideline in the 1954 Cotton Bowl and tackling a Rice player. Lewis died Sunday in Hunstville at the age of 83. The Bryant Museum has an exhibit that recognizes Lewis. Ken Gaddy, director of the museum, says Lewis also gained notoriety for coining the phrase “I guess I’m just too full of Alabama” after the tackle.