University Television Ads Depict White Dominance, Study Finds
Chronicle of Higher Education – March 25
The television advertisements produced by most major universities depict their campuses as overwhelmingly white, privileged environments, likely deterring many minority students from applying, according to a paper being presented here this week as part of the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association. The study that the paper summarizes closely examined videotapes of the 30-second television spots that 43 colleges aired during the 2006-7 Bowl Championship Series. The researchers — Brian Bourke and Michael S. Harris, both assistant professors of higher education at the University of Alabama — analyzed the images, narration, characters, scenes, and music in the ads, applying key concepts from the field of critical race theory…
Florida’s taxes unfair to poor, some social conservatives say
Orlando Sentinel – March 23
…Alabama law professor and tax expert, Susan Pace Hamill, goes even further. In analyzing tax policies in the 50 states, she places Florida among “the sinful six” for how it requires the poor to pay a larger share of their income while getting little in return…”You really need a progressive tax system in Florida,” said Hamill, who also has a divinity-school degree. “You’re far from it right now.” Hamill’s 2007 book, As Certain As Death, lists Florida among a half-dozen states whose tax codes seriously violate Judeo-Christian ethics, a theme gaining strength among some conservatives…
Hope not lost despite home sale dip
Montgomery Advertiser – March 25
…Home sales stood at 340, about 14.5 percent below the February 2007 figure. The number for the state was off roughly 13.5 percent year over year, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate at the University of Alabama. The double-digit statewide decline should be kept in perspective, advised Grayson Glaze, the center’s director…”The keys … to greater momentum and subsequent long-term stability in the Alabama housing market are the end of the national crisis in the mortgage credit markets” as well as realistic home value expectations by buyers and sellers, more affordable housing and fewer houses on the market, Grayson said…
County home prices up, sales slightly down in February
Tuscaloosa News – March 25
Houses in Tuscaloosa County are not selling as briskly as they did a year ago, but they are bringing a higher price when they do, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s housing report for February…Grayson Glaze, director of the University of Alabama-based ACRE, said the downward trend should be considered in the context of previous years. ‘One must also recognize that the preceding February represented the second best on record [for sales],’ Glaze said…
UA Offers Self Defense Course
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – March 24
The University of Alabama campus police also offer a very similar self-defense course for credit, the only difference the class is held one day a week, for an entire semester.
Nursing honor society will mark 25th anniversary
Tuscaloosa News – March 25
The Epsilon Omega chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International at the University of Alabama, Capstone College of Nursing will hold a 25th anniversary celebration at the Four Points Sheraton on April 17 at 6:30 p.m. Becky Edwards, one of the chapter’s founding members, will be the speaker…
Country Star Sara Evans Engaged
PeopleMagazine.com – March 25
Country star and Dancing with the Stars alum Sara Evans…has found love again with beau Jay Barker, a former quarterback at the University of Alabama – and the two now plan to marry, Evans’s rep, Lori Genes, tells PEOPLE exclusively…Barker, who led Alabama to a national championship in 1992, hosts a morning radio show in Birmingham. Evans has appeared as an in-studio guest on Barker’s show, The Opening Drive on WJOX, several times and Barker has joined her on some tour dates…