Prediction: Stronger job growth in Alabama in 2015
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 15
Stronger job growth should occur in Alabama this year. That’s one the predictions made this morning by University of Alabama economists at an annual January conference that looks at what’s ahead for the economy in the new year. The 27th annual Economic Outlook Conference hosted by UA’s Center for Business and Economic Research was held this morning in Montgomery. Among the speakers were Samuel N. Addy, CBER director and research economist; Ahmad Ijaz, CBER associate director and head of economic forecasting; and Jo Bonner, vice chancellor of government relations and economic development for the University of Alabama System. Last year, the UA economists predicted around 25,000 jobs would be added in the state in 2014. The CBER economists update their annual forecast each quarter and later saw more job growth in the state, projecting a 30,00-job gain for 2014. That’s around 1.1 percent job growth. They said Thursday that state job growth will be somewhat stronger this year.
The 16 Most Beautiful And Iconic American College Quads
Business Insider – Jan. 13
Although the college quad first became associated with academia on the campuses of Oxford and Cambridge, most of America’s great universities now feature a central space surrounded by residence halls and classrooms. Many of these collegiate spaces appear on the US National Register of Historic Places and are considered among the most iconic examples of American architecture and design. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most beautiful and iconic examples of American campus quads: . . . University of Alabama — The Quad: The Quad at the center of UA’s campus once hosted football games, but now might be best known as the home of Denny Chimes, a 115-foot tower.
AL.com – Jan. 15
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – Jan. 14
11-year-old with brain cancer made honorary University of Alabama cheerleader
Associated Press – Jan. 15
The University of Alabama cheerleaders have a new, much younger member on their squad: an 11-year-old girl from Prattville. Sara Lightsey, who has brain cancer, was welcomed as an honorary Alabama cheerleader this month. Sara, a fifth-grader, tumbles and cheers competitively in her hometown and first started serving as an athletic mascot when she was in preschool. Being adopted by the team was like a dream, said Sara, who hopes to one day become a college cheerleader. “It’s very exciting, and the girls are so nice,” Sara said.
Tuscaloosa News – Jan.15
Alabama, Auburn fraternity chapters competing to raise money for USO
AL.com – Jan. 15
Want your own chance to influence the state’s storied Alabama/Auburn rivalry? You can participate in Theta Chi’s USO Text to Donate campaign in honor of your favorite team. The Theta Chi chapters at the University of Alabama and Auburn University have organized a friendly competition to benefit their official philanthropic partner, USO. “They are an incredible organization that have stations all around the world dedicated to lifting the spirits of troops and their families,” John Anderson, a UA senior and former chapter president of Theta Chi, said. “We wanted to find an innovative way to raise money, and got the idea from similar campaigns done by the American Red Cross.” Participation is simple: People can text either “USO Tide” or “USO Tigers” to 80888, which will add a $5 donation to their phone bill.
Students create scholarship site
Crimson White – Jan. 15
During the fall of 2013, SGA Chief of Staff Mary Wills conceived the idea for an external scholarship database after reading about a similar program offered at the University of Arizona. She brought her idea to Mark Nelson, dean of the College of Communication and Information Sciences, when he was in Student Affairs and was met with enthusiasm and support. This year, her idea came to fruition when Compass Scholarship Search officially launched in early January. Compass Scholarship Search is an initiative made possible by a partnership between the SGA and management information systems students. The new online database is for University students who are looking for scholarship money to ease the financial burden of college. The website, compass.ua.edu, collects information from students when they log in for the first time. The database can then automatically search for every scholarship the student qualifies to receive. Direct links send students to the application form they need to fill out to be considered for the scholarship.
Exhibit showcases biodiversity in Alabama
Crimson White – Jan. 15
“Fishes of Alabama,” an exhibition containing over 50 original illustrations by acclaimed artist Joseph Tomelleri, is being featured at The University of Alabama’s gallery in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center downtown. The gallery will present a sample of Tomelleri’s prints from “Fishes of Alabama,” a book published in 2004 that showcased Alabama’s often unknown rich aquatic natural resources. “Alabama has more freshwater species than any other state in [the lower 48],” he said. “The diversity is just incredible, and unless you’re out in the creeks with nets, very few people actually understand how many species there are.” Tomelleri has been illustrating fish since 1985 and his work has been displayed in over 1,000 publications, including multiple books and retailers like Outdoor Life and Eddie Bauer. Tomelleri, who studied botany and range management as an undergraduate in Kansas, happened upon the beginnings of his artistic career as a graduate student. “That’s when some [fellow] students and I did a book about the fish that lived in the creek that ran through campus,” he said. “We wanted to illustrate book with colored pictures, and [after we unsuccessfully] tried to take photographs, I decided to just draw them; I drew as a hobby and I knew I could do that.”
Experimental film exhibition ‘Seek You’ explores Morse code
Crimson White – Jan. 15
Inside the Sella-Granata Art Gallery, light bounces off of the walls, telegraphs buzz, fish swim under ice and goats can be heard running through a field. This is Erin Colleen Johnson’s “Seek You.” Seek You” is an experimental film installation currently on display at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery, located in Woods Hall, Room 109. The title of the exhibit comes from a code in the Morse Code Community, CQ, which is also the title of one of the pieces in the exhibit. “Seek You” is comprised of many different installations, ranging from images of the historic Marconi transmitting station to audio of an interview with an ice fisherman overlaid with images of Johnson trying ice fishing for herself. “Hole,” which documents Johnson’s foray in ice fishing, is housed in a wooden box. The box is reminiscent of one an ice fisherman would use and helps draw the patron into Johnson’s setting.
New Design for America chapter to be established at UA
Crimson White – Jan. 15
A group of more than 30 students are in the process of establishing a chapter of Design for America on the University of Alabama campus. Emma Smith, a sophomore majoring in communication studies and urban design, serves as marketing director for the UA group. “[DFA is] all about human-centered design, which to me means pinpointing areas in the community based on what the community expresses [its] needs to be,” Emma Smith said. The mission of the organization is to use creative thinking skills to address local problems. DFA is forming three new studios this year and the UA group has passed to the second round of the admissions process to become one of the final three. Megan Smith, a junior majoring in economics and political science, is one of the co-founders, or studio leads, of the future UA branch.
Chilean student enjoys American ‘pride’ for education
Crimson White – Jan. 15
Valentina Araya Barrientos is a 21-year-old student from the University of Chile, in Santiago, Chile who came to Alabama looking to improve her English skills and get to experience life in the United States while studying at the University’s English Language Institute for the spring semester. Barrientos is a junior majoring in geology. Why the United States and Alabama? Back home, my university had an arrangement with The University of Alabama and at the end I decided to come here because UA offers good and affordable programs for students who want to study English. What do you like about campus? In Chile, colleges are usually far from each other because it is an urban campus. Here, everything is close together which is really convenient for foreign students.
Don Noble: Lawyer’s fiction first is an Alabama thriller, mystery
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 15
Robert Bailey, in practice as a civil defense trial lawyer in Huntsville for the past 13 years, has now joined the legion of Alabama attorneys to try their hand at fiction. And it’s not a bad start at all. “The Professor” has believable, interesting characters and, most importantly, pace. Set in Tuscaloosa, at the University of Alabama Law School, with references to the City Café in Northport, the crawfish festival in Faunsdale, Route 82 halfway between Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, and with Alabama demi-gods as supporting cast, “The Professor” is rich, even over the top, in its desire to please an Alabama readership. We all love familiar place names.