UA Researchers use new technology to track bird species and their migration patterns
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Sept. 25
In Alabama, there are 430 different type of species of birds. But researchers with The University of Alabama say that number is declining quickly. Now, a group of researchers is using new technology to track the birds’ species patterns.
University of Alabama to host viewing of rare total lunar eclipse
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 25
Tuscaloosa residents will have the chance Sunday night to view a rare total lunar eclipse through a powerful telescope at the University of Alabama. Sunday’s eclipse should also be visible to the naked eye throughout North America, depending on the weather … An added bonus of this total lunar eclipse will be the moon’s crimson shading, which is referred to as a “Blood Moon.” “The moon will appear to be very red during the total umbral eclipse,” said UA astronomy professor Ronald Buta. “The Earth’s atmosphere bends the red light from the sun passing around the edges of the Earth to get to the moon. The way it looks — how red and intense it looks — will depend on how much dust is in the air and the degree of cloudiness of the location.”
University of Alabama theater’s Moliere show laughs at hypocrisy
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
Though a 17th-century con man, Tartuffe today still begs the question: Why are people saps? Why do they seem to beg to be taken in by obvious frauds? Why do people cede power to those clearly not fit for it? These are among the questions Seth Panitch, director of “Tartuffe,” hopes to answer with this week’s production. “Tartuffe” was one of the most famous comedies written by French playwright Moliere, first performed in 1664. The title character pretends to be devoutly religious to worm his way into the rich businessperson Orgon’s house, to seduce his wife and rob his property. Critics interpret this as Moliere’s satire of the hypocritical French upper class and the Catholic Church leaders of his time, but Panitch is seeking to tell the story from a more relevant, contemporary aspect. “I’m focusing on why — why they would invite these people (hypocrites) into their lives,” said Panitch, professor of acting and head of the MFA and undergraduate acting programs at the University of Alabama.
In lieu of live elephant, University of Alabama has a leafy one
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 26
Steel rods instead of bone and creeping fig instead of leathery, dark gray skin have brought the University of Alabama’s elephant mascot to life. Mississippi State can usher in a live English bulldog on a leash for its mascot, and Auburn University’s eagle can rest on someone’s hand. But it’s not easy for the Crimson Tide to bring in an elephant, so the facilities and grounds department at UA got creative. Instead of a live animal, the university has created a live plant in the form of an elephant — a near-2,000-pound, 10-foot-tall, 14-foot-long and 5-foot-wide bull elephant topiary to be displayed on game days and at campus functions. “I think my favorite thing is that it looks like a real animal but a beautiful plant all in one,” said Duane Lamb, assistant vice president of facilities and grounds. “We tried to make it look as realistic as possible but still a beautiful plant structure.”
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Sept. 25
Crossing The CPG Packaging Minefield
Forbes – Sept. 25
It’s a formidable challenge for every CPG marketer. How to make sure a change in packaging design achieves the desired outcome, and dovetails with the objectives of brand strategy. The challenge becomes more complex when we consider that packaging is often something the consumer perceives to be a core feature of the product … But all too often, a CMO will launch a packaging change for all the wrong reasons. One of the typical mistakes is rooted in restlessness. “Change just to change can be bad,” says David Mothersbaugh, Department Head of Marketing at The University of Alabama. “Successful brands have loyal followers who watch what they do. Any change, including packaging can leave them confused or feeling negative about the brand if the change doesn’t make sense to them or resonate with their needs.”
UA Political Science Professor discusses U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner’s retirement announcement
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 25
George Hawley is an assistant professor at The University of Alabama in the Department of Political Science. He felt that Boehner was is a very difficult situation for a while, and was dealing with opposing sides that he couldn’t bring together. Hawley says he thinks Boehner was in a bind and made the decision that was best for himself.
Staten Island Students Brew Chicha Beer To Learn About Ancient Peruvian Migration
Forbes – Sept. 26
The beer of choice for anthropology students at Wagner College is not Budweiser or PBR – it’s chicha de maíz, a corn beer made from an ancient Peruvian recipe. Simmering in a chemistry lab on campus, what looks like pea soup crossed with oatmeal may hold the key to understanding migration patterns among the ancient Moche of Peru. Bioarchaeologist Celeste Gagnon and her students stirred, strained, decanted, and fermented the concoction then compared it to local Peruvian water sources to figure out if excessive chicha drinking would affect a person’s body chemistry … Gagnon and colleagues at the University of Alabama and the University of Colorado Boulder then tested both pre-boil and post-boil chicha samples for oxygen isotopes. They discovered that the post-boil samples were significantly enriched — meaning the oxygen isotope ratio was a lot higher in the brewed chicha samples compared to the pre-processed corn-and-water concoction. If ancient Peruvians were drinking 2 liters of chicha every day, their oxygen isotope ratios were almost certainly much higher than would be expected compared to the local water sources.
University of Alabama to host panel talk on cyber security
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 26
Researchers and security professionals are scheduled to discuss cyber security tips and law enforcement and private sector efforts to combat cyber crime as part of a panel discussion on Thursday in Lloyd Hall at the University of Alabama. The moderated panel will be from 6-7:30 p.m. in room 328 of Lloyd Hall. The panelists include Diana Dolliver, assistant professor of criminal justice; Ashley Ewing, UA information security officer; investigator Mike Trotter with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency; Matthew Martin, manager of infrastructure security at TIAA-CREF; and Barry Matson, deputy director of Alabama Office of Prosecution Services. The panel will take questions from the public, and the criminal justice department will live-tweet the discussion from its Twitter handle @CJatUA.
All tickets are taken for Bill Nye lecture at the University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 25
All tickets have been distributed for Monday’s appearance by Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” at the University of Alabama. Nye is scheduled to present a lecture at 7 p.m. in the 1,000-seat concert hall of the Moody Music Building, 810 Second Ave., on the UA campus “Mr. Nye’s lecture is scheduled for UA’s largest academic venue,” said Joe Hornsby, director of the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, the event’s primary sponsor. “The majority of the tickets to the event, which were free, were made available to the public at staggered times throughout this week and were limited to two per person in an effort to distribute them broadly. A small portion of the tickets were distributed to students involved in UA programs that paid for Nye’s appearance.”
Drug laws are designed to demand guilty pleas, not to find justice
Al.com – Sept. 27
Police and prosecutors constantly urge legislatures to give them more power to fight crime. That power comes in the form of laws that are overly broad and unnecessarily punitive. Alabama’s chemical endangerment statute is a perfect example. The statute allows police to arrest you and prosecutors to charge you with a felony if your child comes into contact with “drug paraphernalia.” So, what exactly constitutes “drug paraphernalia?” Alabama defines “drug paraphernalia” in the broadest way possible as “all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use, in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the controlled substances laws of this state.” (By John Gross, assistant professor of Clinical Legal Education and Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law. )
University of Alabama President’s List and Dean’s List summer 2015
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 26
President’s List Summer 2015: Alabama – Alabaster: Erin D. Hutter, John Paul Trahan. Alpine: Shakerri Latrease Garrett. Andalusia: Alexandra Chandler Hart. Athens: Bailee S. Clounch. Auburn: Daphne Brooke Ellis, Clarence Richard Lancey III. Birmingham: Rucker Agee Durkee Jr., Jessica J. Carter, Cody A. Skewes, Mary K. Estes, Antonio Orlando McKinney Jr., Aaron Oliver Clement, Elizabeth A. Henderson, William A. Schweer, Ashia SyMon Carroll, Dongyoub Lee. Calera: Stephani G. Payne. Centreville: Samantha Blair Wade.
University of Alabama to display John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 25
The University of Alabama got a new addition today. The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award found a home in the Gorgas Library. The award was first presented to Carl A. Elliott, Sr. in 1990 for his courage and vision while he was a congressman. Elliott’s family presented the award, and it was unveiled and accepted by UA President, Dr. Stuart Bell.
LOCAL Q&A: Molly Page, University of Alabama theater and dance patron services coordinator
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 27
Molly Page, patron services coordinator for the University of Alabama’s Department of Theatre and Dance calls Tuscaloosa her home away from home. Her involvement and dedication to the arts community has bonded her with Tuscaloosa forever. Q: Who are you? What do you do? A: I’m Molly Page. My technical title is patron services coordinator … but that’s a catch-all title. I am the marketing coordinator in the theater department and I supervise all of the graduate students as well. In June and July I move down to Gulf Shores and manage SummerTide (UA’s professional summer theater program). Q: Tuscaloosa is a city brimming with different theatrical opportunities. What makes it so successful? A: The University plays a big role in that. There are professors coming from large cities all over the world where there are big theater companies. They foster that by supporting the arts here in Tuscaloosa.
University Programs holds tailgate at Midtown Village
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 25
University Programs put on their own tailgate at Midtown Village as a way to show fans that the Quad is not the only place to have fun on game day. University Programs teamed up with UA, and Midtown Village to put together this event for fans and students.
Corruptovirus Ghanensis: what does the law require of me?
Modern Ghana – Sept. 27
The last head-scratching revelation I was pondering in Ghana was the reduction of property taxes in an affluent Accra neighborhood with the full expectation that the rising cost of services would somehow be magically covered as the residents paid less. This rebate in municipal rates had been realized after short-term oriented residents had protested the existing rates, which clearly did not cover the cost of services, including waste removal and infrastructure maintenance. This is but one example of how all over the land, Ghanaians want the best of everything but have no sense of civic responsibility in contributing to the rising cost of services. We are living in the dark because yet again, we do not want to pay for the real cost of utilities. The plain fact is that government will never be capable of meeting the energy needs of the growing population. This means private energy providers have to be attracted to the market. The reality though is that our current tariffs are set so low that only a charitable organization would be interested. Investors are not missionaries and the missionaries of yore were something other than they appeared to be. Somehow the ordinary man always dreams of a benefactor and the government also handles borrowed funds as if they are gifts from countries and organizations who just love us. Our fiscal attitude as a nation has lacked the maturity necessary for the responsibilities entailed in managing the public purse. (Dr. T. P. Manus Ulzen is Professor & Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama, USA. He is a native of Ghana and author of Java Hill: An African Journey – A Historiography of Ghana.)
Gov. Bentley: Gulf State Park to receive $50 million in BP settlement funds
Fox 10 (Savannah, Ga.) – Sept. 26
Every year, millions of people flock to Gulf State Park either to return to their favorite spot or to explore it for the first time. Atlanta residents Sergio and Kimberly Naccarato are first time visitors. They brought their two boys to Gulf State Park to enjoy the zip line as well as the coastline. “(We were) looking for a place that we can tow our camper down to that had some good ratings, that had a beautiful beach and definitely it’s met our expectations,” Sergio Naccarato said. According to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, the popular park will see about $50 million coming its way soon, thanks to the BP settlement awarded to the state. A ccording to the University of Alabama, who is assisting with the park project, the addition of the lodge and meeting space would carry an economic impact of $68.2 million. Gulf Shores officials said they didn’t know the announcement was coming.
WALA-Fox (Mobile) – Sept. 25
GUEST COLUMN: Country tilting back toward the middle
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 26
Not too long ago, I expressed an opinion about which grand principle has ruled in our world over our 300 or so years of life as a people: liberty, or equality? I came down on the side of liberty. And apparently I am running in good company. A new book to be published later this month, a biography of Henry Kissinger, “Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist,” very persuasively puts him into the camp of liberty and freedom as the unique contributions of America to the world. In fact, the commitment of America to liberty was its key asset in world affairs. I was reminded of all this while reading another book recently about the nation on the eve of and during World War II. We were just coming out of a deep Depression and were still very much wedded to the traditional economic, social and political liberties embedded not only into our Constitution but also as interpreted by law and confirmed by practice over the years. (Larry Clayton is a retired professor of history at the University of Alabama. Readers can contact him at larryclayton7@gmail.com.)
Shootings, gun regulations draw controversy
Crimson White – Sept. 28
An eye peers down the metal sights. Lungs expand and deflate. A twitch of a finger starts a chain reaction as the trigger is pulled. In an instant, the firing pin strikes the primer of a bullet or shell, forming a spark, which ignites the gunpowder and launches the projectile forward through the barrel in the desired direction. According to the Pew Research Center, about one in three Americans owns a firearm. Vehement debate surrounds the purpose and place of guns in American society. Political action groups lobby for their protection or for their control. The U.S. has had more public mass shootings than any other country, according to a study published by University of Alabama professor Adam Lankford. There have been 90 mass shootings in the U.S. The country with the second most shootings is the Philippines with 18. Yet, a Pew Research Center survey found that more than half the country supports the right to own guns. A study by the American Journal of Medicine shows that gun ownership rates in the U.S. are associated with firearm related death rates, but surveys from the Department of Justice also show that guns deter crime. With so much conflicting information, it can be hard to determine what is true. “I think it is a very divided issue,” said John Denton, a sophomore majoring in biology. “I think that there are very good points on both sides, and I think there is a lot of inability of people to understand
each other.”
Universities looking for ways to stop sexual violence on campus
WWMT-CBS (Grand Rapids, Mich.) – Sept. 25
Across the nation, universities are looking for ways to stop the epidemic of sexual violence. Ohio State University is starting mandatory sexual violence training for all freshmen, and The University of Alabama is starting a pledge to fight campus assaults. But a new task force is focusing on students who have already fallen victim.
Theatre department to present Tartuffe
Crimson White – Sept. 25
The UA Theatre and Dance department will present Moliere’s Tartuffe next week from Tuesday, Sept. 29, to Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. The show will be performed at the Marian Gallaway Theatre in Rowand-Johnson Hall. Tartuffe was originally written as a comedy, but director Seth Panitch said he has bent it to make it more dramatic. The story is about a family in crisis. The main protagonist, Orgon, is terrified to lead his family and to lead his own life, Panitch said, and the play showcases the question of why we are weak enough to let hypocrisy run our lives. “I think the story is really about him learning how to grow a pair,” Panitch said. Organ is played by Ian Anderson, a graduate student in theatre and a professional actor. For those not necessarily familiar with classical theatre, he gave a bit more context. “Think Ralph Kramden or Homer Simpson meets 1670’s French high society,” Anderson said.