Art in the Park back for second year
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
The University of Alabama’s Creative Campus is taking a different approach to art education. Instead of a classroom with restrictions, the organization is offering an event in a park so kids can be free to play while experiencing art, art history and art forms through hands-on art workshops. The organization will host its second annual Art in the Park from 2-5 p.m. on Sunday at the Magnolia shelter in Snow Hinton Park, 1000 Hargrove Road East. The event is free and open to the public. “Our goal in creating this event is trying to create an opportunity for these children in our community to have an experience with art that can’t be replicated,” said Creative Campus intern Celia Rudd.
Why women running for office should never kiss babies
Bangor Daily News – Oct. 8
Gender stereotypes — you know, “women are caring” and “men are tough” — probably do factor in to voters’ views of female political candidates, just not in the way you might think. New research posits that people probably don’t automatically characterize female candidates as having stereotypical traits of over-emotionality, weakness, passivity and sensitivity just because they’re women. Rather, it happens when people’s stereotypes are activated, such as when a woman holds a baby, or is described as compassionate and caring. In those circumstances, then, with a bias against feminine stereotypes, voters tend to view women as not having the qualifications needed to hold political office. “Voters do not automatically use feminine stereotypes to judge female candidates,” wrote Nichole Bauer, assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama, for the Scholars Strategy Network. “But attributing stereotypical feminine characteristics to women candidates does tend to activate gendered concepts that reduce people’s support for women running for office. As long as feminine stereotypes are not activated, female candidates actually tend to be evaluated more positively than male candidates.”
Moundville Native American festival continues
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
The 27th annual Moundville Native American Festival will continue from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park, 634 Mound State Parkway. The festival features craft vendors, artists, demonstrators, food and music, all focusing on educating visitors about Southeastern tribes. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for students and free for children ages 5 and younger. The park is about 16 miles south of Tuscaloosa off Alabama Highway 69 S.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 8
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Oct. 8
Tuscaloosa News (gallery) – Oct. 8
Betty Shirley Golf Tournament held Thursday
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
Golfers prepare to start the course during the annual Betty Shirley Golf Tournament hosted at Ol’ Colony Golf Course Thursday. Divided into 31 teams, 124 golfers participated in the event, which benefits the CrossingPoints program. CrossingPoints is a partnership between the University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa city and county school systems. It gives students with disabilities ages 18-21 the chance to learn about jobs and employment skills.
UA and Life South hold Homecoming Blood Drive
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 8
The University of Alabama and Life South have teamed up this week for a life saving Homecoming event. Organizers say the event helps students save lives and show school spirit by donating blood to those who need it.
University of Alabama sets up homecoming bonfire
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
Sand shifted beneath Kyle Haynes’ feet as he carried wooden pallet after wooden pallet, stacking them on top of each other to build the structure for the University of Alabama’s homecoming celebration bonfire. The project starts with sand that the university groundskeeping department piles 6 inches high off the green of the Quad and marks off with a white-chalk perimeter 100 feet away. Then about 10 cadets from the university’s Air Force ROTC gather to unload an 18-wheeler flatbed trailer full of just under 1,000 pallets. They stack the pallets in a lattice design, and when it’s finished, four to six cadets guard the structure, taking shifts around the clock to ensure no one disturbs it until it burns to embers.
Tuscaloosa News (gallery) – Oct. 8
Students discover job prospects at Worlds of Work Career Expo
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
Dozens of grinning eighth-graders rushed across the parking lot at Shelton State Community College Thursday and climbed into the driver and passenger seats of several parked 18-wheelers, a school bus and a dump truck, beeping the various horns of the vehicles. Thirteen-year-old Hillcrest Middle School student Carson Poe chose a shiny apple red and chrome big rig owned by WTI Transport to explore, making sure to check out the sleeping area in the tractor-trailer’s cabin … Outside, large construction and farm equipment was on display, the University of Alabama’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics had a rocket students could touch and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International had a partially constructed 2014 GL-Class jacked up so students could finish putting it together on a timer.
GUEST COLUMN: Christianity compares well to native culture
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 8
Now that Pope Francis’ visit is history, let’s consider the canonization of Father Junipero Serra as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. The controversy that arose with Serra, an 18th-century Franciscan friar who helped bring Christianity to California, is based on Native Americans’ complaints that Serra persecuted their ancestors while evangelizing. So it is a travesty for the pope, and the church, to recognize what he did as “saintly.” The church and the pope obviously felt differently. I agree with the church. The indigenous (new term for Indians) in this instance are lousy historians, and if we are going to make decisions today, and for tomorrow, based on the historical realities of the past as part of our decision-making process, then we better get the past right. (Larry Clayton is a retired professor of history at The University of Alabama. Readers can contact him at larryclayton7@gmail.com.)
Single-family alternative builds yet to catch on in the deep South
Al.com – Oct. 8
Here’s an interesting concept that has really taken off recently in multifamily construction but has yet to gain a lot of traction in single-family builds. Building systems, which include modular and panelized systems, offer consumers and builders an alternative delivery for construction projects. According to a new report by the National Association of Home Builders, of the 10,560 single-family modular homes built in the United States in 2014, more than 80 percent were started east of the Mississippi River. But don’t take that to mean alternative methods have caught on in the deep South. (Bryan Davis is the Research/Media Coordinator for the Alabama Center for Real Estate, a division of the Culverhouse of Commerce at the University of Alabama. He can be reached at 205-348-5416 or at bkdavis@cba.ua.edu.)
Know Before You Owe: What you need to know about TRID
Al.com – Oct. 8
Some long-awaited changes to the application, origination and closing processes are finally here. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has officially launched “Know Before You Owe,” an initiative designed to make the borrowing process for consumers more transparent. The rules, commonly known as TRID based off the Truth-in-Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated Disclosure Rule, went into effect Oct. 3, and many industry practitioners and experts feel the rules are long overdue. Kimberle Barton, Regional Manager and Division Lending Manager with Rock Mortgage said she has for years been pushing for the new rules, which regulate changes to the loan estimate, as well as the disclosure process. (Bryan Davis is the Research/Media Coordinator for the Alabama Center for Real Estate, a division of the Culverhouse of Commerce at the University of Alabama. He can be reached at 205-348-5416 or at bkdavis@cba.ua.edu.)