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UA In the News — Oct. 26-28

University of Alabama is Hosting Halloween Extravaganza Tonight
Nick 97.5 Oct. 28

Children 13 and under are invited to a night of Halloween fun with University of Alabama student athletes tonight. The annual Halloween Extravaganza will begin at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility. Kids can wear costumes and enjoy trick-or-treating and games with Bama student athletes. If you plan to attend, please bring a non-perishable food item for the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger food drive.
The Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 27

The Ghosts of Jefferson
Observer – Oct. 28
This kind of cognitive dissonance is common in places that wrap their identity in heritage tourism, says Hilary Green, a professor of history at the University of Alabama and co-author of an upcoming book about Confederate monuments. The things that might make a town look bad—a history of white supremacist violence, for example—are quietly elided in favor of more agreeable topics. “Even members of the African American community don’t talk about it, or talk about it in hushed tones,” Green said.

Alabama Writers Hall of Fame to induct 7 in 2020
Alabama Newscenter – Oct. 27

Seven distinguished authors will be inducted into the 2020 Alabama Writers Hall of Fame at the University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center March 9, 2020. This year’s inductees are Mark Childress, Faye Gibbons, Carolyn Haines, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Michael Knight. Authors Ralph Ellison and Zelda Fitzgerald will be inducted posthumously. A reception will be held in the authors’ honor at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. The induction ceremony will immediately follow dinner.
The Tuscaloosa News

Strong Alabama economy creates opportunity, challenges
The Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 27

The booming north Alabama economy is creating the lowest employment rates in decades, but employers are struggling to find qualified workers, and economists worry inflation could be imminent. Greg Dobbs, owner and president of Dobbs & Co. Electrical Contractors of Decatur, is benefiting from the local economy, but he needs more skilled craftsmen and is struggling to find them. Dobbs agrees with University of Alabama economist Ahmad Ijaz, who says inflation may be a year away. “With it getting harder and harder to find skilled workers, at some point employers will have to raise wages to keep the people they need,” Ijaz said. “Some wage inflation will be creeping in. Inflation can be bad for the economy, but we’re not there yet. But prices will spiral if the unemployment rate stays low.”
InvestorPoint
Decatur Daily

Halloween event to be held at University of Alabama’s Sorority Row
The Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 27

The Alabama Panhellenic Association will host its annual Sorority Row trick-or-treat event at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the University of Alabama campus. The event continues until candy runs out or 8 p.m., whichever comes first. The event is for children 12 and younger; there is no cost to participate. Costumes are encouraged; masks, however, are not allowed for this family-friendly event.

UA Arboretum to host Halloween event on Sunday
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
The University of Alabama Arboretum will host the third annual Afternoon at the ArBOOretum from 2-4 p.m. Sunday. The Halloween-themed event includes biology-based activities for families that promote exploration of the spookier side of biological diversity in Alabama. Admission is free. Trick-or-treat trails will have 30 different stops for children to receive candy while walking through the UA Arboretum forest.

University of Alabama aligns inventor resources, collaboration with business incubator
Yellowhammer – Oct. 27

The robust push by the University of Alabama to promote entrepreneurship both on campus and throughout the region is increasing with an alignment of resources to better support innovators.  The Bama Technology Incubator, which includes on-campus laboratories and additional support for startup companies, recently changed its name to EDGE Labs and serves as the strategic counterpart to The EDGE, a 26,000-square-foot off-campus business incubator that opened in February as a collaboration between UA, the City of Tuscaloosa and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

Alabama’s Lake Thurlow to refill with new spillway gates
Yellowhammer – Oct. 26

Lake Thurlow is coming back up following completion of a two-year project to replace spillway gates at Thurlow Dam. Lake levels are scheduled to begin rising on Tuesday, Oct. 29, reaching normal full pool by Thursday, Oct. 31. Alabama Power worked with the Alabama Historical Commission and the University of Alabama to research Thurlow Dam when designing the new gates. The dam was built on site of an early 19th-century textile mill.

Olivia Rush crowned UA Homecoming Queen
NBC (Montgomery) – Oct. 26 & 27
Check out this story from the University of Alabama. We shared this story on our social media pages. Olivia Rush a UA senior and a Montgomery native was named the school’s homecoming queen last night.
Online

UA students host event to raise money for Secret Meals for Hungry Children
WVUA – Oct. 25
University of Alabama students hosted a fundraising event for the local non-profit Secret Meals for Hungry Children this afternoon. Tusca-luau was held at Innisfree Irish pub. The goal of the event is to kick off the homecoming weekend with specialty drinks, fun games, and prizes, while learning about ways to put an end to childhood food insecurity.

Arts and Sciences students pursue supernatural studies
Crimson White – Oct. 28
On Oct. 31, kids and adults alike will dress as devils, ghosts and witches to celebrate a night of fun and frights. But Halloween is more than just a holiday in the College of Arts and Sciences, where students are dedicating their studies to the history and anthropology of myth and magic…For some University of Alabama students, however, the history and symbolism of Halloween extends beyond parties and pumpkin patches, into the classroom. Randy Arnold, a master’s student studying cognitive anthropology, has devoted both his undergraduate and graduate careers to examining mythic and religious narratives in culture.

The Forgotten Media Purges Of The Great Depression
SMI Online (Russia) – Oct. 27

One of the more enduring myths accepted as reality in our modern society is that America has a relatively free press. The ruling authorities and their entrenched accomplices promote that lie as diligently as they work to ensure that it never again becomes true. University of Alabama history professor David Beito’s 2017 article “FDR’s War Against the Press” recounts some of the early fears of U.S. radio broadcasters. While Roosevelt complained bitterly about the “poisonous propaganda” of newspaper columnists.

What is fear? Psychology professor talks phobias and the brain
Crimson White – Oct. 28
Fear haunts all of us. We can fear needles, what lurks in dark forests, fire, looking at our bank accounts, our neighbors, wondering about our unknown futures. But what exactly is fear? How does it influence our decisions, and how can it be overcome? Jennifer Cox, associate professor of psychology at The University of Alabama, has some answers.
 
Creepy Crawlies: Entomologist debunks myths about insects
Crimson White – Oct. 28
John Abott, chief curator and director of museum research and collections, is an entomologist, which means he studies what some fear most: creepy crawlies. Though his specialty is in aquatic insects, more specifically dragonflies and damselflies, he answered everything we wanted to know about insects and why we fear them.