University of Alabama President Judy Bonner: Next UA president to help search for provost
Tuscaloosa News – April 1
The search for the next provost at the University of Alabama will be put on hold to allow the institution’s next president, the subject of another ongoing search, to have a role in the process. UA President Judy Bonner made the announcement Wednesday during the spring faculty and staff meeting at the Bryant Conference Center on campus. In December, Bonner announced plans to step down by the end of September and return to teaching after a yearlong sabbatical. A 24-member search committee assisted by consultant Ann Die Hasselmo of the Washington, D.C.-based firm Academic Search Inc. is working to identify candidates for her successor. The university was simultaneously looking for a replacement for interim Provost Joe Benson, who is retiring. Bonner said her replacement will restart the search for Benson’s replacement. On Wednesday, Bonner reflected on her tenure leading the university, characterizing it as a joint effort by her administration and the faculty and staff to continue a program of rapid growth begun under her predecessor, Robert Witt, now the University of Alabama System chancellor.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 1
Univ. of Alabama students building a fuel efficient car
NBC 10 (Fitzgerald, Ga.) – April 2
University of Alabama students must get things in gear in a race to build a more fuel efficient car that also produces less pollution. “It’s exciting but it’s also terrifying at the same time,” Forrest Fletcher said. Fletcher works with the design team. They’re making computer models for parts going on the ECO Car 3. In a competition that ends in 2018, he said one of the few students who’ll still be here when it ends. “It really motivates me to actually try to understand what’s going on now.” Alabama is one of 16 schools trying update a Chevrolet Camaro in the contest. More than 100 UA students are involved. Brittany Galloway says it also allows students in different fields to work with professionals in those fields overseeing the contest. “All of our sponsors we get mentors in all of the fields whether it’s business, engineering, communications. So we get to learn all these things and actually have a mentor in the industry,” Galloway explained Things shift into overdrive in December when they’ll get a Camaro to begin installing fuel efficient upgrades.
Storm in an ash cloud: Electrifying shots of Mexican volcanic eruption show lightning bolts striking inside its ash plume
Georgia Newsday – April 1
There are few things more beautiful – or terrifying – than the menacing flash of lightning bolts within a volcanic ash cloud. … A bolt of volcanic lighting can heat the surrounding air to more than 3,000°C, according to the researchers from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Dr Kimberly Genareau, a volcanologist at the University of Alabama, said their findings suggested that the role lightning plays in volcanic eruptions may be under reported. She said: ‘We refer to this new morphological classification of ash grains as lightning-induced volcanic spherules (LIVS). ‘Observation of LIVS in tephras (volcanic rocks) will provide evidence of lightning occurrence during eruptions where lightning was not directly observed or documented.’
Refund proposal risks further state trooper shortage
Montgomery Advertiser – April 2
A legislator’s bill to refund money to people getting driver’s licenses will keep the number of state troopers patrolling Alabama’s roadways at a critical low, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. After the consolidation of ALEA, the state has 431 troopers — less than half the number that a study says Alabama needs. And if Alabama Senate Bill 44 becomes law, ALEA says to expect little improvement in those numbers. The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety finished a study which concluded Alabama should be staffed with 1,016 troopers in order to adequately cover each county.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 2
Capstone production of ‘42nd Street’ in Mobile for one night
Lagniappe Weekly (Mobile) –April 1
Mobilians looking for a big, flashy Broadway-style production take heart. The Tuscaloosa cavalry is cresting the hill. The University of Alabama will stage the classic musical “42nd Street” for one night only at the Mobile Civic Center Theater (401 Civic Center Drive). Filled with hoofers, glitzy costumes and a cast of 40, the show gets under way April 9 at 7:30 p.m. A warhorse of the American stage based on the 1933 film, “42nd Street” is set during the Great Depression and follows the ascent of an aspiring Midwestern actress who hits the Great White Way. Employing standards like “We’re in the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway” and the title number, the play won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 1980 and another for Best Revival in 2001. Two years ago, the university sent another crew south on a single-night run with “Show Boat.” This production brings the same director. Tickets are $25 plus fees.
Veterans Appreciation and Information event on April 7
Tuscaloosa News – April 1
A Veterans Appreciation and Information Event will be held at UA’s Ferguson Center main ballroom from 7-9 p.m. April 7. The free event will feature free drinks and food and is open to all military personnel, veterans and their spouses. Now in its second year, the veterans appreciation was moved to the University of Alabama campus in effort to reach out to younger veterans, many of whom might be enrolled at the University of Alabama, Shelton State Community College and Stillman College, said Randy Gelwig, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general. Gelwig is helping coordinate the event for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama’s veterans affairs committee.
The William P. Bloom Premier Award: Katie Plott
Crimson White – April 2
Katie Plott was named the recipient of the William P. Bloom Premier Award, which honors a junior who has improved relations between different groups on campus. In 2011, Tuscaloosa native Katie Plott was told she could not help tornado victims because she was too young. Instead of giving up, she organized a donation drive that collected enough supplies to fill three cars. Since then, she has strived to better her community through various service organizations. Plott and a friend started Think Community at Northridge High School to help high school students learn about and become involved in local projects. Now as a junior majoring in finance and economics, Plott works for student-run Forza Financial to unite students and the small business community. “My whole college career I’ve kind of worked on unifying my community of Tuscaloosa just because I’m from Tuscaloosa, and so I’ve had the unique experience of coming to college in my hometown,” she said.
The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award: Pam Parker
Crimson White – April 2
Pam Parker received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for excellent character and service to humanity. She received an undergraduate degree in business and a masters and doctorate degree in education at The University of Alabama. Parker ended her 27-year professional career at the University as vice president for advancement. Parker is an Athens, Alabama, native and said her father, who was a first generation college student, inspired her to pursue degrees and to help others receive the same educational opportunities she had. “I have just seen over and over the impact education has on a family,” she said. “That probably motivated me more than anything else to have that education and help others.”
The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award: Allison Montgomery
Crimson White – April 2
Allison Montgomery, a senior from Talladega, Alabama, has left her mark on The University of Alabama in a number of ways. Her accomplishments were recognized when she was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor given to a University of Alabama student as a recognition of excellence in character and service to humanity. “When I came to college that was the number one thing I wanted to do was get involved on campus,” Montgomery said. “I went to a really small high school and when I first got here I was kind of overwhelmed by the size of it all and then I thought, ‘Well, if you get involved you can really make your environment as small as you want to and get to meet some outstanding people,’ so I just started getting my foot in the door of different organizations.” Montgomery is an active member of Delta Delta Delta, XXXI, Order of Omega, the Blackburn Institute and Anderson Society. She is also president of the Mortar Board, chief justice for Academic Honor Council, the senior advisor for SGA and the 2014 homecoming queen.
The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award: Jason Arterburn
Crimson White – April 2
Jason Arterburn, a senior majoring in economics and interdisciplinary studies, is the male recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award of 2015. The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award recognizes the excellence of character and service to humanity demonstrated by one graduating female, one graduating male and one non-student associated with the University. While the other four premier awards are recognized only at the University level, Arterburn’s award is nationally recognized, he said. Arterburn said The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award is considered the University’s highest honor of the five Premier Awards. The three pillars that must be met in order to receive the award are academic success, demonstrative leadership and service to humanity.
The Morris Lehman Mayer Award: Paul Houghtaling
Crimson White – April 2
Paul Houghtaling chose to come to The University of Alabama when he was presented with the chance to build an opera program from the ground up, and do so while teaching. Houghtaling is the recipient of the 2015 Morris Lehman Mayer Award, which honors one faculty member and one student each year who “exemplify integrity, selfless service, leadership, and who have made significant contributions to student life. Houghtaling said receiving this award was “humbling and thrilling at the same time.” “I wanted to immerse myself in music when I realized that it was more than something I liked to do, but that it was a part of who I was,“ he said. “Music was, and is, a calling to me.” Houghtaling attended College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and then went to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Houghtaling received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The City University of New York.
The Morris Lehman Mayer Award: Brielle Appelbaum
Crimson White – April 2
Brielle Appelbaum, a senior from Boca Raton, Florida, majoring in communication studies, won this year’s Morris Lehman Mayer Award. The Mayer Award is given to a student who exemplifies selfless and significant leadership in the University of Alabama community, has greatly contributed to student life and strives to live with integrity. “Receiving the Morris Lehman Mayer Award is not necessarily a testament to my passion for serving our student body,” Appelbaum said. “I think it’s more of a representation of profound impact mentorship can have on a student. My mentors have built the foundation for my success as a student at the Capstone and have provided selfless time, energy, and encouragement throughout my undergraduate career.”
The John Fraser Ramsey Premier Award: Derek Carte
Crimson White – April 2
Derek Carter, a junior from Joplin, Missouri, majoring in mathematics and economics, was awarded the John Fraser Ramsey Premier Award for his academic and philanthropic performance thus far at the University. Carter said he was very happy to get the award and join the “Ramsey family,” a group of past winners that Carter said he heard from almost immediately after winning. “It really is like a family, they have been so nice and welcoming to me and when I first won the award, I got about 40 emails the first night. This is something that I’m going to carry with me for my whole life; being apart of this group of people who are honoring John Ramsey, who was such a remarkable individual,” he said. Carter began working in Marion, Alabama, last fall through the University’s 57 Miles program, a program that engages UA students with the citizens of Marion in hopes to improve the quality of life there.
The Catherine Johnson Randall Premier Award: Brian Goodell
Crimson White – April 2
Brian Goodell, a senior from Plattsburgh, New York, majoring in chemical engineering and physics, was awarded the Catherine Johnson Randall Premier Award for his outstanding academic performance at the University. The Catherine Johnson Randall Premier Award is given yearly to the most outstanding graduating senior based on GPA and rigor of study, as well as scholastic endeavor. Goodell is in the computer-based honors program at the University, and he said the opportunity to do undergraduate research is one of the reasons he came to Alabama. He said he has a desire to pursue alternative energy options, which led him to his major. Goodell received the Goldwater Scholarship last year, an honor awarded to up to 300 math, science and engineering majors in the United States each year. Goodell said receiving the scholarship was the best moment of his academic career. “It was nice, not only for my own sake to receive the Goldwater Scholarship, but to bring national attention to the University and demonstrate the quality of academics here at Alabama,” he said.