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UA LAUNCHES NEW ENGINEERING INITIATIVE – A ribbon-cutting and grand opening for The University of Alabama College of Engineering’s advanced manufacturing program will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, in 162 Paty Hall. This event will officially launch the newly approved bachelor’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering and the Alabama Initiative on Manufacturing Development and Education, or Alabama IMaDE. Alabama IMaDE establishes the modernization of manufacturing technology, techniques and workforce education as a new focal point at the University. The program will address industrial problems while partnering with local and global industries to broaden students’ education. For more information, contact Alana Norris, College of Engineering communications, at anorris@eng.ua.edu.

UA ADAPTED ATHLETICS CUTS RIBBON FOR PARKER-HAUN TENNIS FACILITY – UA Adapted Athletics will officially open the Parker-Haun Tennis Facility, the only collegiate tennis facility in the nation for adapted student-athletes, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 1. Named in recognition of a $500,000 gift from the Parker and Haun families, the new 3,835-square-foot space tennis facility is located immediately adjacent to the student recreation courts managed by University Recreation. The space includes locker rooms, restrooms, a trainer’s room and offices for the coaching staff. For more information, contact Bryant Welbourne, UA Strategic Communications, at bryant.welbourne@ua.edu

BEAT AUBURN BEAT HUNGER ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE KICKS OFF – The Beat Auburn Beat Hunger food and fund drive kicks off Friday, Oct. 1, from 11 am. to 3 p.m. at The University of Alabama Student Center. The drive runs through Nov. 18, with the winner being announced Nov. 19. This marks the 27th year for the annual drive where UA students compete with the Beat Bama food drive at Auburn University. Last year, the BABH team beat Auburn and raised 291,047 pounds of food. This year, the team aims to donate 300,000 pounds to the West Alabama Food Bank, which serves nine counties. For more information, contact Caroline Gazzara-McKenzie, UA Strategic Communications, at caroline.mckenzie@ua.edu.

UA LEADING INVESTMENT TO ADDRESS RURAL HEALTH INEQUITIES – The University of Alabama will spearhead a more than $4 million initiative to improve health care equity by helping underserved communities in the state be more resilient to health disparities, many exposed during the pandemic. The grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama Department of Public Health will target populations that experienced COVID-19 health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minorities and rural communities. The two-year project will be led by the UA Center for Economic Development. For more information, contact Adam Jones, UA Strategic Communications, at adam.jones@ua.edu

UA ONLINE SEEKING NOMINEES FOR MILITARY AWARD The University of Alabama Online is seeking nominations for its new Legendary Service Award that honors a past or present military service member who has made an exceptional, positive impact by serving their country or community. Nominees must have ties to Alabama or UA. The winner will be selected based on qualities such as excellence in performance, overcoming adversity and commitment to charitable endeavors. The deadline for nominations is Oct. 3. Nominations can be submitted on the UA Online awards page. The selected honoree and nominator will each receive a tuition grant for three 3-hour UA Online courses, two tickets each to the Nov. 13 New Mexico State home football game, on-the-field recognition during a ceremony held at the game and hotel accommodations for that weekend. For more information, contact Frank Farrar, UA Online, at jffarar@ccs.ua.edu.

BAMA THEATRE AND DANCE IS BACK ON STAGE! The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance returns to the stage this 2021-2022 season for live, in-person performances. While the first theatre performance was last week, the first dance performance, the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre, or ARDT, hits the stage Oct. 6-8 at the UA Dance Theatre in the English Building on the UA campus. ARDT, which is celebrating its 30th season, is a concert of five dance performances, varying widely in style, each choreographed by a different nationally acclaimed dance faculty member. For more information, contact Jamon Smith, UA Strategic Communications, at jamon.smith@ua.edu.

CURRENT COMMENT

CHANGES TO FED-BACKED FLOOD INSURANCE ENCOURAGE DISASTER RESILIENCE – Looming changes to flood insurance will raise rates for some policyholders in Alabama, but, on the whole, the changes are good public policy, said Dr. Lars Powell, director and senior research professional of the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research. “The changes match rate to risk so people with a greater chance of having large losses pay higher premiums and vice versa,” Powell said. “It also increases incentives for people and businesses to protect their property from flooding and allows the government to allocate resources toward flood mitigation projects, instead of subsidizing insurance.” About 1,700 flood insurance policyholders will see a rate increase greater than $20 next year as part of the changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Premium rating system known as Risk Rating 2.0, scheduled to go into effect for new policies on Oct. 1. To schedule an interview with Powell, contact him at lars.powell@cba.ua.edu.

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