MONDAY, NOV. 2 – SUNDAY, NOV. 8, 2015
BEST BETS
STUDENTS AT HOLT ELEMENTARY TO LEARN KUNG FU, TAI CHI FROM STUDENTS — “Heart Touch,” a cultural enrichment program started by UA Chinese doctoral student Fan Yang, will teach Taichi and Kung Fu to students at Holt Elementary School’s after-school program at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2. The activity is one of many Heart Touch holds at area schools each semester. This semester, Holt, Northington and Central elementary schools are partnered with Heart Touch, which provides lessons and activities in Chinese and Japanese music, art and clothing each Monday and Friday. For more information, contact David Miller, UA media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
AEJMC PRESIDENT TO PRESENT AWARD — The faculty, staff and students of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences will welcome Dr. Lori Bergen, president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, to campus Wednesday, Nov. 4. Bergen, who is the founding dean of the College of Media, Communication and Information at the University of Colorado, will present the AEJMC Equity & Diversity award. At 9:30 a.m., a mini-symposium, “Teaching and Learning Across Difference,” will be held in the Ferguson Center, room 3104. The two-hour event will feature more than a dozen members of the College faculty and those from several UA units giving 10-minute presentations on how they teach diversity and foster an inclusive environment in the classroom. For more details, contact Hailey Grace Steele, communications specialist, College of Communication and Information Sciences, 205/348-6416, or hailey.g.steele@ua.edu.
CALIFORNIA PROFESSOR TO DISCUSS INEQUITIES, EDUCATION REFORMS — Dr. Kevin K. Kumashiro, dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, will deliver the annual Julie C. Laible Memorial Lecture on Anti-Racist Scholarship, Education and Social Activism at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in room 118 of Graves Hall at UA. Kumashiro, the founding director of the Center for Anti-Oppressive Education, is a leading expert on educational policy, school reform, teacher preparation and educational equity and social justice. His lecture, “Bad Teacher! How blaming teachers distorts the bigger picture,” will detail problems in schools, including inequitable funding, who makes decisions, and the damage some reforms are doing to people’s perception of educators. Kumashiro will also speak during a brown-bag lecture from noon to 1:30 p.m. in room 102 of Graves Hall. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
CROSSINGPOINTS TO GROW VIA $2.5 MILLION GRANT – UA’s College of Education recently received a $2.5 million grant to add 10 more students annually to its existing transitional services program for Tuscaloosa-area students with disabilities and to add additional support staff. The five-year project will also launch the “Summer Bridge Program,” which will provide a college preparation program, from guidance on how to complete financial aid paperwork to simulations of independent living to students with mild to moderate disabilities. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
STUDENT’S COMPOSITION TO BE PERFOMRED AT CARNEGIE HALL – A composition by Tyler Grant, a sophomore in UA’s School of Music, has been selected for showcasing at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April. “Panoramic Landscapes” will be performed by the Scarsdale, New York, High School wind ensemble under the direction of Jason Noble. It is the Hoover native’s first work to be played at Carnegie Hall. Originally written for a brass ensemble, Grant later transcribed the three-minute concert fanfare for a full wind orchestra. In it, he portrays the landscapes one might see from a mountaintop. For more information, contact Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.
CURRENT COMMENT
EL NINO TO CAUSE WETTER WINTER MONTHS IN TUSCALOOSA, GULF COAST — Each November through March, Tuscaloosa experiences 50 percent of its annual rainfall, usually around 53 to 54 inches. This year, residents can expect heavier rain due to El Nino, a weather event in which water near the equator in the tropical Pacific warms and increases moisture of air currents that come into our region, said Dr. Jason Senkbeil, UA associate professor of geography. “This means maybe not so much more days of clouds and light rains, but there’s more energy, so more chances of heavier rain events,” Senkbeil said. Senkbeil said the Gulf Coast will experience more rain than the northern part of the state. “In Mobile, in ’97 or ’98, they had several days where they had more than six inches of rain in a single day.” For more information, contact Senkbeil at jcsenkbeil@ua.edu. For assistance, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
UA EXPERT TIPS
UA MATTERS: WAYS TO HELP ELDERLY PARENTS MAINTAIN PSYCHOLOGICAL PROWESS — As your parents age, their risk of loss of independence and physical health problems increases, while their potential quality of life decreases, all as a result of decreased psychological prowess. Some changes in psychological prowess can be noticed as early as 60. UA’s Dr. Justin White offers tips on how you can encourage your aging parent and help them remain cognitively sharp in this week’s UA Matters. White is available for interviews via phone, email and Skype (he’ s in New Mexico). Contact: Kim Eaton, UA Media Relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.
LOOKING AHEAD
ALABAMA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME — The Culverhouse College of Commerce will induct seven business executives from the state into the annual Alabama Business Hall of Fame Thursday, Nov. 12. A formal induction ceremony will be at the Hyatt Regency at the Galleria to honor the inductees: Samuel Ginn, Palo Alto, California; William C. Hulsey, Birmingham; J. Smith Lanier II, Lanett; James C. Lee III, Birmingham; Marvin L. Mann, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; Alma Gates Scroggins, Atlanta; and Mike Warren, Birmingham. Contact Edith Parten, eparten@culverhouse.ua.edu, 205/348-8318.
FASHION FOR LIFE – UA apparel design students will have an opportunity to showcase who they are as a designer during the seventh annual Fashion for Life. Senior apparel design students in The College of Human Environmental Sciences will showcase their final collection at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, in the Ferguson Center ballroom. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA Media Relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.