Tim Cook, Nick Saban among newest members of Alabama Academy of Honor
Birmingham Business Journal – Oct. 27
The Alabama Academy of Honor plans to induct eight new members in Montgomery today. The ceremonies will be held at the old House Chambers of the State Capitol, according to a release from the Academy. Honorees include University of Alabama President Judy Bonner, Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Apple CEO Tim Cook, among others. Membership in the Academy is limited to 100 distinguished citizens of Alabama, according to the release, and citizens are recognized for their accomplishments and services to the state. According to Catherine J. Randall, chairman of the Academy, this year’s honorees are: UA President Judy Bonner; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Big Oak Ranch founder John Croyle; HudsonAlpha co-founder Jim Hudson; civic leader Margaret Porter; Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban; U.S. Sn. Jeff Sessions; and business executive Edgar Welden.
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
WTVA-NBC (Columbus, Miss.) – Oct. 24
WPMI-NBC (Mobile) – Oct. 24
Student’s film pitch wins 1st place in contest
Crimson White – Oct. 27
Standing in front of a crowd of 60 people and a panel of judges, Danny Ryan had to pitch his idea for a film about a mixed martial artist who comes out as gay. Ryan’s pitch won first place against 10 other competitors in the New Orleans Film Festival Pitch Perfect contest on Oct. 19. The senior, majoring in telecommunication and film, said his practice of mixed martial arts and the recent story of Michael Sam gave him the idea for the film. “Part of my pitch, I brought up Michael Sam and that whole situation,” Ryan said. “It’s going to be similar to the things he went through. People aren’t accepting him even though he’s really good. People are just really against having an athlete that’s really good that’s gay.” … Ryan said the $1,000 he received for winning will help him get started and find actors for the film.
Award-winning tuba player to perform Nov. 6 at University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
An awarding-winning tuba player will conclude the 2014 Master’s Series hosted by the University of Alabama School of Music with a concert Nov. 6. Tuba specialist Oystein Baadsvik, who will also offer a master’s lecture, will perform in the Moody Music concert hall Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The Norwegian musician has had successful careers as a soloist and as a member of an ensemble and orchestra. He spent 40 years with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as its principal tuba player. He also has premiered nearly 40 works for Russian, Swiss, Norwegian and American composers and has released 11 CDs.
Alabama Panhellenic to host annual Sorority Row Trick-or-Treat, featuring free candy and Big Al
AL.com – Oct. 24
The University of Alabama’s Panhellenic Association will host its annual Sorority Row Trick-or-Treat from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Monday. Children from the Tuscaloosa area ages 12 and younger are invited to dress up in Halloween costumes (without masks) and visit the lawns of the campus sorority houses on Magnolia and Colonial drives for candy and activities. Tutwiler and Harris residence halls will also host trick-or-treaters. UA sorority members from the Alabama Panhellenic Association along with member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Interfraternity Council and United Greek Council will dress in costumes and provide candy to children. Big Al will make an appearance on Sorority Row from 5:30-6:15 p.m., and families and learn information about joining Big Al’s Kids Club.
University of Alabama students volunteer to help spruce up Tuscaloosa elementary schools
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
Paint covered University of Alabama students as they swiped red, blue, purple, pink and a multitude of other colors over chairs, benches and bookshelves Saturday at Central Elementary School. University of Alabama students from different religious and secular groups on campus gathered at two Tuscaloosa area elementary schools to help with beautification and enhancement projects as part of the second Serve Better Together service event. The event is cosponsored by the UA Crossroads’ Better Together interfaith initiative and the University of Alabama Center for Sustainable Service and Volunteerism, which is funded by Target Corp. grants.
Halloween in Oz raises money for Community Music School
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 27
Dozens of families packed into the Moody Music Building Sunday at the University of Alabama to meet Dorothy and the rest of the characters from “The Wizard of Oz” as part of the Halloween in Oz event. Kids also played games, bounced in a bouncy house, had their faces painted and learned about musical instruments as part of the event. But the event did much more than offer a family-friendly Halloween activity for kids, said Jane Weigel, director of the UA Community Music School. Halloween in Oz serves as a fundraiser for the Community Music School scholarship fund. Last year, a little more than $1,000 was raised. Weigel said Sunday she hopes at least that much, if not more, is raised from Sunday’s event. “It helps underwrite the children’s orchestra, helps children be able to take private lessons or Kindermusik classes, or adults taking music lessons,” Weigel said. “It really does underwrite quite a lot for the program.”
Gospel choirs at University of Alabama, Auburn to present Unity Concert on Nov. 2
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 24
Two gospel choirs will bring a note of harmony to one of the country’s most-heated college football rivalries. The Auburn University Gospel Choir will join the University of Alabama Afro-American Gospel Choir for the Unity Concert at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in the ballroom at Ferguson Center, 715 Campus Drive W. on the UA campus. Admission is free. “The purpose of this concert is to bring both universities together to worship through song and dance,” said Desirae’ Washington, a member of the UA choir. “Although we may be rivals on the football field, we’re teammates for Christ.” Washington said the two choirs have performed the gospel concert annually for more than 20 years.
Balta discusses media
Crimson White – Oct. 27
Hugo Balta spoke to students Thursday evening about the image of Latinos in media. He said understanding the growing Latino community and its influence is beneficial to future professionals. “[You should understand] how the Latino community can come into play for what you’ll be doing in your professional careers,” said Balta, former president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and coordinating producer at ESPN. Balta talked about self-identification in the Latino community as well as the stereotypical portrayal of Latinos in film and television.
Fast company: High performance computing accelerates scientific advances
Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory – Oct. 27
Computational speed is essential for scientists wanting to model or verify experimental systems in biology, climate and chemistry. … Harnessing the speed of computers to refine experimental results has been a career-long approach for David Dixon, the Robert Ramsay chair of chemistry at The University of Alabama. Decades ago, when mainframe computers took up entire buildings, he convinced DuPont computer modeling could save the company millions of dollars by predicting the properties of chemical compounds to minimize the costs of experiments. Now, the former associate director of theory, modeling and simulation of EMSL, leads a Department of Energy-funded effort on biofuels and industrial chemical intermediates. This research uses one of the largest time allocations on Cascade and has already produced nearly 20 publications. “Our team is trying to come up with new materials to catalyze chemical reactions with more control and less byproduct formation. This is a broad, long-term project to understand how biomass can most efficiently be converted to biofuel and valuable chemical intermediates,” Dixon said.
UA professor says there is little to worry about concerning Ebola
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Oct. 25
What we don t know, scares us. That’s what University of Alabama alumnus and National Academy of Sciences member Dr. Michael Oldstone says. The professor , who specializes in viruses says, Ebola is considered a plague in Africa, but he doesn’t think it will get to that point in the United States. Oldstone blames the delay in diagnosis for Africa’s outbreak. It was handled poorly in West Africa.
Why the Libertarian Party of Alabama should not be taken lightly in Jefferson County’s Nov. 4 elections
AL.com – Oct. 26
Uphill would be an understatement. Even the chairman of the Libertarian Party of Alabama acknowledges that his candidates face daunting challenges against incumbent Democrats and Republicans in the Nov. 4 election. … William Stewart, retired professor of political science at the University of Alabama, said it’s healthy that citizens have choice other than just a Democrat or Republican. However, Libertarians aren’t often the first option for many voters, he said. “We operate in the United States mostly under single member districts — that is only one person to be elected from each district — and it’s unlikely that the Libertarian Party will come in first,” he said.
Intra-party fight may be future of state’s politics
Anniston Star – Oct. 26
If the blood feud between Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard and Attorney General Luther Strange made you queasy last week, you’d better buckle up. Hubbard’s trial on 23 felony ethics charges is likely to dominate Alabama politics through this year and most of 2015, political scientists say. High-stakes battles among Republicans may be the new normal. … No matter how nasty the back-and-forth gets, political scientists say, it’s not likely to lead to an election upheaval that turns the Legislature blue again. “I don’t think the Hubbard indictment will lead to the rebuilding of the Democratic Party, because I don’t think the votes are there,” said William Stewart, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Alabama. “Alabama’s white population is overwhelmingly conservative, and they’re still in the majority.”
OPINION: The port rail: Mission trip about salvation — and survival
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
Back in July, we looked at a mission trip sponsored by the Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International to Moroceli, Honduras. But there was a lot more going on than preaching, healing and saving lives. The first night in our new quarters was marked by a cacophony — or symphony, if you are poetically inclined — of animal and insect sounds swarming outside our sleeping quarters through the large windows left open to capture the breezes. The first to waken me, at about 1:30 a.m., was a rooster. He crowed once or twice and then was joined by a rooster in an adjoining yard. Then, not to be outdone, a third rooster began to crow, and in a few seconds it sounded like a thousand roosters clamoring for attention, sending waves of rooster talk across the night landscape. This prompted the baying of a sole donkey, who probably felt alone or upstaged by the rooster chorus, more than likely being watched by hens thinking “These roosters are such fools. Just like men!” . . . Larry Clayton is a retired University of Alabama history professor.
Why won’t banks dance with Mary Jane?
Rawstory.com – Oct. 27
In nearly half of U.S. states, marijuana business is booming. Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, 23 states have legalized some marijuana use. Colorado and Washington even allow recreational use of marijuana. But new marijuana businesses face a common problem: they cannot get bank accounts. Instead, marijuana businesses operate on a cash-only basis. When they need to pay taxes or suppliers, they disguise their cash or hire armed guards. Keeping marijuana businesses outside of the banking system causes problems for both businesses and regulators. Businesses must protect themselves from thieves. In one instance a California medical marijuana retailer was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by thieves looking for cash. At the same time, regulators and law enforcement must make sure the money flowing into marijuana businesses is properly taxed and is not diverted to criminal enterprises. . . . By Julie Andersen Hill, associate professor of law at University of Alabama
Book review: Rock legend tells hell-raising story
Charleston (W.V.) Gazette – Oct. 26
Writer Jack Kerouac famously said, “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live … the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” Make no mistake about it: Rock icon Jerry Lee Lewis is one of these “mad ones.” In the late 1950s, the young Jerry Lee burst out of his rural Louisiana hometown burning like a fabulous roman candle and exploding on the national scene. American pop music would never be the same. … Millions of words have been written about Lewis as writers attempted to chronicle his one-of-a-kind life and career, but he’s never told his own story the way he does in “Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story,” a new book by Rick Bragg. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who grew up with rock ’n’ roll, Bragg has written a half-dozen best-sellers. His first book, “All Over But the Shoutin’,” is perhaps his best known. It’s a warts-and-all account of his childhood in Alabama. … Currently he’s a professor of writing at the University of Alabama.
Charity to take used clothing
Crimson White – Oct. 27
University Programs and the department of restaurant, hotel and meetings management will host Clean Out Your Closet, a charity event where students can donate gently used clothing, shoes and accessories. The charity event, which will be held Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in Tutwiler Hall’s Large Living Room, doubles as a fashion show. Students will model all the clothes. “The clothes that will be featured in the fashion show are clothes from Altar’d State,” said Brianna Faiella, the project manager’s assistant and a sophomore majoring in restaurant and hospitality management. “The girls at Altar’d State have been absolutely amazing in working with us on this event. The clothing has a little bit of a fall feel to it, which is perfect for the upcoming season.” All donations will be given to Hannah Home, a non-profit organization that supports women and children in abusive situations. They provide shelter and opportunities for employment as well as gently used clothes and other items to women and children in need.
HBO GO offers free access for campus residence halls
Crimson White – Oct. 27
HBO launched a new program giving on-campus residents from a select number of universities a free HBO GO account. The University of Alabama is one of four universities selected for the program, along with Harvard University, the University of Washington and Stony Brook University at New York. HBO GO does not offer standalone services, which means only those who pay for an HBO subscription have HBO GO. However, students who live in a residence hall on campus can sign up for HBO GO for free with their myBama login information.