Pope visits U.S.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 22
Religious scholars say the Pope’s visit is energetic for the American Catholic Church. Dr. Michael Altman, a professor of religious studies at The University of Alabama says, “It allows for a real influx of energy. It energizes the clergy and the hierarchy in the United States. The bishops and the clergy are super excited and doing events everywhere.”
Office of Health Promotion & Wellness to host inaugural UA Quad in Motion Day
Crimson White – Sept. 22
The Office of Health Promotion & Wellness is set to host its inaugural UA Quad in Motion Day on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on the Quad. Community members, faculty, staff and students of the University are encouraged to participate by walking, jogging or doing exercises of their preference throughout the day. Heather Clayton, Coordinator of the Office of Health Promotion & Wellness, said the event aims to bring the community together in order to promote the importance of exercise. “It was just kind of an idea that I wanted to implement on campus to really raise awareness and have exercise be a focus, trying to make the university really adopt a culture of health,” Clayton said. “You want people to see the Quad, see our beautiful campus and get out and exercise.”
When the womb is a crime scene
Al.com – Sept. 22
Casey Shehi’s son James was born in August 2014, remarkably robust even though he was four weeks premature. But the maternity nurse at Gadsden Regional Medical Center seemed almost embarrassed, and as she took the baby from his exhausted mother’s arms, Shehi felt a prick of dread … Marshall County, at the southern edge of the Appalachians, was one of the areas hardest hit, so awash in addiction that its most prominent landmark was nicknamed Meth Mountain. Nurses, especially, were clamoring for action, said Steve Marshall, the district attorney there since 2001 … Under the statute’s flexible language, they concluded, “a child” could be a fetus, and “an environment in which controlled substances are produced or distributed” could be a womb … Most striking are the enormous disparities in the way prosecutors in the state’s 67 counties have applied the law. The normal tendency toward insularity — “each county is its own little fiefdom,” said John Gross, a professor and director of the criminal defense clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa — is magnified by huge workloads, meager budgets, archaic technology and divergent priorities. “You get vastly different results in terms of how the cases are prosecuted.”
Why University of Alabama Football is Unique
Huffington Post – Sept. 21
There is football, college football and then there is University of Alabama football. A visit to Tuscaloosa for the night game against Ole Miss was an eye opener, dispelled many stereotypes and provided me with a renewed appreciation for SEC football. I kept being introduced as having come for the game from Athens, followed by a pause and the clarification Greece, not Georgia. This unfailingly got a laugh and provided me with all kinds of access and recognition. No doubt, I was given the red carpet treatment. While touring the football team facilities, it became obvious that they were state of the art and not exactly Spartan. But neither were they posh or luxurious. Functional is the key word. What caught my attention was a huge billboard with a high definition photograph of three players, designated as the students-athletes of the week, having achieved the greatest academic improvement over the previous seven days. The stereotype is of course that academics don’t matter, that college football players are mere human fodder for a huge cash making machine. But right in front of my eyes was palpable encouragement, acknowledgement and recognition of the importance of studying and learning and not just dominating opponents.
Yellow Hammer – Sept. 21
Political columnist to sign books at library
Gadsden Times – Sept. 22
Political columnist and commentator Steve Flowers has a book signing from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Gadsden Public Library. Flowers will be signing copies of, “Of Goats and Governors, Six Decades of Alabama Political Stories.” Copies will be available to buy. A former state Representative, he served from 1982 to 1998. He had a perfect attendance record, and his House colleagues honored him as Outstanding Freshman member in 1982, Most Ethical member in 1988 and Most Outstanding member in 1992. He writes a weekly newspaper column and serves as the political analyst for the University of Alabama radio and television network. He is also the political analyst for WAKA/the Alabama news network in Montgomery.