University of Alabama President Judy Bonner announces plans to step down
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 17
University of Alabama President Judy Bonner on Wednesday announced plans to step down by the end of September 2015 and return to teaching. Bonner’s announcement comes roughly two years after being named the first female president of the Capstone. She notified UA System Chancellor Robert Witt of her desire to leave the presidency and return to teaching in a letter on Monday, according to the university. A separate message was sent to faculty, staff and students on Wednesday. “I would like to return to my first love, which is teaching and working more directly with students. In order to do so, I will take a year’s sabbatical to prepare to return to the classroom in the fall of 2016,” Bonner said in prepared comments released by the university. In her letter to Witt, Bonner said announcement of her retirement would allow the UA board of trustees to being a search in January for her replacement, leading to a smooth transition next fall.
Al.com – Dec. 17
Birmingham Business Journal – Dec. 17
Dothan Eagle – Dec. 17
Chronicle of Higher Education – Dec. 17
The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) – Dec. 17
Crimson White – Dec. 17
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
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WBHM-FM (Radio) (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – Dec. 17
2 local companies among 2015 launchpad competitors
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 17
Two early-stage companies from Tuscaloosa are among 11 such state companies selected for the 2015 Alabama Launchpad Start-Up Competition. The competition, sponsored by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, will award up to $250,000 to the winning companies to further their business development. The Tuscaloosa companies are: Conductive Chemistry, an affiliate of the University of Alabama that produces a new material with many of the electrical properties of platinum but is less than half the cost. Brewery Buddy, a web-based brewery management platform designed to automate business to aid those brewing craft beers. The launchpad competition is geared to promote, reward and increase the pipeline of high-growth, innovative ventures that have the potential to create and keep jobs in Alabama, the foundation said in a release.
Worst Presidents: Conclusion
U.S. News and World Report – Dec. 17
So were these America’s worst presidents? Or does this list merely prove that rankings are valuable to the extent they spark debate, unhelpful to the extent they foreclose it? A look at the rankings of several historians we approached individually yields a provocative contrast to the poll results – and suggests how some of the more interesting choices often get averaged out in the wash. For all the efforts of some polls to offset liberal bias, for example, there are no scholarly polls that show where the weight of conservative opinion might rank the worst chief executives. Forrest McDonald, a noted University of Alabama historian of distinct conservative leanings, has contributed to some of the large polls over the years, but many of his choices for the worst have clearly been cancelled out. On his own list, McDonald awards Lyndon Johnson the No. 1 spot “for pushing government,” he explains, “beyond the limits of what it can do.” Woodrow Wilson ranks second for “equating democracy with peacefulness, leading to World War II.”
UA Business School professor talks about how to fail at a job interview
WBIQ-PBS, Alabama – Dec. 17
UA Culverhouse College of Business Administration professor Joe Calamusa gives five things not to do in a job interview.
President Obama announces major policy shift in relations with Cuba
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 17
The University of Alabama also has ties to Cuba. The Alabama-Cuba initiative started in 2002 as a way to develop academic, cultural and scientific exchanges between UA and its Cuban counterparts. Around 85 UA faculty members have visited Cuba through the initiative. Dr. Larry Clayton, a recently retired history professor, went on four trips. He says change is happening between the two countries. Dr. Larry Clayton: ”I think Obama has done the right thing in this instance, you know? I think the relations have slowly become more normal over the last 10 to 15 years.”
Healthcare in Alabama
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 17
Many recent changes in our country’s healthcare system have sparked nation-wide discussions, debating pros and cons of universal healthcare. Doctor Rick Streiffer, the dean of the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Services talks with journalist and author TR Reid about preventative healthcare in the final part of this WVUA news special.