PLAYING THE CHIMES: GRADUATE STUDENT PLAYS BEFORE EVERY HOME GAME – Tyler Canonico, a 24-year-old Baltimore native who’s pursuing his doctorate in organ performance at UA, has been playing the Denny Chimes’ modified organ for three years. He started playing as a graduate teaching assistant while pursuing his master’s in music and organ performance. For 30 minutes, starting three hours before each home game kickoff, Canonico plays a medley of songs on the Chimes. For more information, contact Jamon Smith, communications specialist, 205/348-4956, jamon.smith@ua.edu.
HOMECOMING: UA’s annual Homecoming celebration runs through Oct 1. This year’s theme is “A Legendary Legacy: Honor. Build. Live.” The Homecoming Parade will take place before the Alabama-Kentucky football game Oct. 1. The parade will begin in downtown Tuscaloosa at 1 p.m. and move onto University Boulevard to go through the campus. Lineup starts at 11 a.m. The traditional pep rally and bonfire will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, on the Quad. For details on Homecoming events, registration and tickets, go to https://homecoming.sa.ua.edu/. For more details, contact Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.
WATCH FOR TRUMP’S POLICY DETAILS DURING TONIGHT’S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES – Dr. Richard Fording, a UA political science professor, suggests watching for details on Donald Trump’s policies during presidential debates. In past debates, Trump has been able to avoid giving those details because of the large number of participants, Fording said. He will be unable to deflect direct questions about his proposals as well as other policy details, the UA professor said. For media commentary about the debates, contact Fording, who is only available by cell or e-mail, at rcfording@ua.edu or 859/619-9768.
UA LEADS EFFORT TO SPARK MINORITY PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY – UA was awarded a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to head the Alabama Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, or ALSAMP, a national effort to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields. For more information, contact Adam Jones, engineering communications, 205/348-6444, acjones12@eng.ua.edu.
EVENTS
OPERA ABOUT UA DURING THE CIVIL WAR PREMIERES SEPT. 29 – Five days before the American Civil War ended, Union troops marched on UA and burned down most of the campus. One of the few buildings saved was the president’s mansion thanks to Louisa Frances Garland, the wife of then-UA president Landon Garland. This world premiere opera, titled “Freedom and Fire!,” was created by Dr. Paul Houghtaling, director of Opera Theatre; librettist Dr. Robin Behn, professor of English; and composer Dr. Amir Zaheri, assistant professor of composition. For more information, contact Jamon Smith, communications specialist, 205/348-4956, jamon.smith@ua.edu
ALABAMA WRITERS HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2016 – Nine distinguished Alabama authors past and present will be inducted into the 2016 Alabama Writers Hall of Fame Sept. 29 at the Bryant Conference Center. The authors are Edward Wilson, Fannie Flagg, Rodney Jones, Rebecca Gilman, Truman Capote, T.S. Stribling, Margaret Walker, Mary Ward Brown and Sequoyah. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Jamon Smith, communications specialist, 205/348-4956, jamon.smith@ua.edu
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY TO HOST DESEGREGATION SYMPOSIUM – Dr. Carl Clark, the first African-American graduate student in the UA department of psychology, and former faculty members Drs. Stan Brodsky and Howard Miller are among the panelists for the department’s desegregation symposium, which will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, in room 208 of Gordon Palmer Hall. The event will have refreshments and is free and open to the public. The event’s theme is “the effects of discrimination on psychological well-being.” The department of psychology was influential in the desegregation of UA; faculty members led sit-ins and participated in protest marches, said Dr. Sheila Black, faculty member and symposium organizer. Faculty members invited minority students to live with them during the more turbulent periods of the Civil Rights Movement. Brodsky, Miller and Clark will participate in one of two panel discussions in which the audience will be able to discuss different aspects of desegregation at UA. There will also be a student panel. For more information, contact David Miller, UA media relations at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
SKY VIEWING OPPORTUNITY AT MOUNDVILLE — The public is invited to Moundville Archaeological Park Friday evening to look through a UA telescope at Nebulae, star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy. Hosted by Drs. Ron Buta and William Keel, professors in UA’s physics and astronomy department, the event is from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Telescopes will be set up across the road from the park’s museum. In case of cloudy or inclement weather, including high winds, public observing will be cancelled. Please check this website https://astronomy.ua.edu/public-events/ and weather forecast on the day of the observing session before traveling. For more information, contact Chris Bryant in media relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu.
CURRENT COMMENT
HISTORIC YAHOO! DATA BREACH LIKELY STATE SPONSORED – Yahoo recently announced that hackers stole personal information (names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birthdates, and passwords) from approximately 500 million users in 2014 – which makes this case the largest publically-known cyber-breach. “This announcement may be generally dismissed by the public, as news of data breaches has (unfortunately) become somewhat routine and the loss of data occurred two years ago,” said Dr. Diana Dolliver, assistant professor of criminal justice at UA. “However, two key points need to be highlighted from the Yahoo cyber-breach. First, this attack is likely state-sponsored. It is not uncommon for cyber perpetrators to reside outside of the U.S. – however, in this case it appears that a foreign country’s resources and/or personnel may have been used to orchestrate the attack. Second, this attack begs the question as to why large corporations in the U.S. are still significantly lagging behind in cybersecurity measures and being able to identify if and when they were hacked. These two points may go hand in hand, however; the U.S. is well-known for its cyber offensive stance worldwide, but IT is significantly weaker than other national cyber heavy weights (e.g., Russia, Israel, China) in its cyber defensive capabilities.” Dolliver can be reached for additional comments at 205/347-0604 or dldolliver@ua.edu.
LOOKING AHEAD
BEAT AUBURN, BEAT HUNGER — UA’s 2016 Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger drive launches Saturday, Oct. 1. The drive, which benefits the West Alabama Food Bank, has collected more than 2 million pounds of food over 20 years for those in need. The theme of this year’s competition with Auburn University is “Together we CAN.” The campaign features a #togetherweCAN social media hashtag as well as competitions for collecting food among UA residence halls, student groups and clubs. The official kickoff event will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, at the Ferguson Center Plaza with an event featuring games and food. The drive ends Wednesday, Nov. 16. For more information, see http://beatauburnbeathunger.ua.edu/. For more details, contact Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.
UA to HOST ANALYTICS FORUM — The 2016 Business Analytics Symposium Oct. 13 and 14 will feature speakers including James Spann from ABC 33/40, Pete Keating from ESPN the Magazine and Filippo Passerini, former Procter & Gamble chief information officer. The Institute of Business Analytics in UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce hosts the annual event that kicks off Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8 a.m. at the Bryant Conference Center. The symposium concludes at noon Friday, Oct. 14. The $275 early bird registration deadline is Sept. 30; afterward, the price increases to $300. Registration and details on the conference are available at http://mycba.ua.edu/basymposium/. Media Contact: Edith Parten, 205-348-8318, eparten@culverhouse.ua.edu.