‘100 Lenses’ takes a look at the Black Belt region
Crimson White – Oct. 29
…In a joint enterprise between the Black Belt Community Foundation and the University’s Center for Community Based Partnerships, a collection of racially provocative pictures will be displayed in the Crossroads Lounge of the Ferguson Center for the “Black Belt 100 Lenses, Greene County” photo exhibition, which will run throughout this month in 232 Ferguson Center. The exhibition is aimed at illuminating the customs and plight of American citizens living in rural Alabama’s Black Belt Region…
Grandis Awarded Prestigious DARPA Contract
MarketWatch.com – Oct. 29
Grandis, Inc., today announced that it has been awarded $6.0 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the initial phase of research to develop spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) chips. STT-RAM is a next-generation, solid-state memory technology that is dense, fast, non-volatile and radiation-hard, making it ideally suited for defense applications. The total value of the effort, if all phases of the development program are completed, could be up to $14.7 million over four years. The program will be carried out by a world-class collaboration between Grandis and the Universities of Virginia and Alabama…Professor Stuart A. Wolf of the University of Virginia and Professor William H. Butler of the University of Alabama are both noted for their substantial contributions to the development of the field of spintronics, and their extensive research capabilities in fundamental physics, first-principles modeling and combinatorial materials science will complement the efforts at Grandis in this program…
International Business Times – Oct. 29
UA Prepares for Homecoming
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Oct. 28
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 28
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
The entire University of Alabama campus is preparing for homecoming this week…
Homecoming court announced
Crimson White – Oct. 29
Homecoming court was announced Tuesday night after voting concluded Tuesday afternoon. In alphabetical order, the Homecoming court will be: Caroline Ball, PattyAnn Green, Caroline Gwaltney, Phillips Thomas and Maegen Wrenn. The resolution involving the make up of the student judicial board also passed overwhelmingly.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
Poetry adds twist to Homecoming
Crimson White – Oct. 29
…the Rebirth Poetry Slam, is from noon to 1 p.m. today at the Ferguson Center in the University Programs Lounge. The Poetry Slam invites students, alumni and general supporters of the University to share poetry they find meaningful. The opportunity is open to any person who would like to participate…
Class studies female VP noms
Crimson White – Oct. 29
…Janis Edwards, associate professor of communication studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, is leading the class in the research project titled “The Palin Watch.” She said after Palin was chosen as McCain’s running mate, it seemed like a great case study for students in her class, which is a mix of both graduate and undergraduate students. “There’s a lot of ways to look at media coverage of female candidates,” Edwards said…
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Oct. 28
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
Bragg to discuss new book tonight
Crimson White – Oct. 29
University Libraries Lecture Series will hold a book signing with Rick Bragg in 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on tonight at 7. Bragg will read from and discuss his latest book, “The Prince of Frogtown,” (Knopf, 2008) which includes Bragg’s family stories about father/son relationships…Bragg won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for feature writing and has accumulated more than 40 awards in journalism, and is a professor of writing in journalism department of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences…
National economic ills hit area
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 29
…While the local cutbacks are troubling, Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, said the state’s chronic shortage of skilled workers means employers will take every step possible to avoid actual layoffs. ‘I suspect that companies will try to hold on to their workers for as long as possible,’ Addy said. ‘If they let go of people, they’ll still have to hire people when the recovery comes along.’…Addy said a national recovery, which national economists hope will begin by the end of spring 2009, would quickly undo any damage to Alabama’s manufacturing sector because the causes of the current slowdown have little to do with manufacturing itself…
The First Years: Community must reach out to first-time parents
Memphis (Tenn.) Commercial-Appeal – Oct. 29
…This is why creating, staffing and implementing an infrastructure of support and parenting interventions to provide these educational resources are a must for the Memphis community. A great example of this type of support is The University of Alabama’s Parenting Assistance Line, a free confidential phone service offering information and support for moms, dads, grandparents and relatives whose children are ages birth to 12. According to the PAL Web site, pal.ua.edu, the purpose is simply to help caregivers parent with confidence. “All parents have times of frustration or stress over difficulties in raising a child. ‘Talking it out’ can help us not ‘take it out’ on our children.”
Washington State also has a great parent support infrastructure in the form of the Children’s Trust Foundation. This nonprofit works to ensure that parents have the knowledge, skills and encouragement they need “to become more confident and more competent.” And that’s what we are talking about here — building up the confidence of new parents by empowering them with the basic parental knowledge they need and seek, but may never have been exposed to before…
Suitor: ISH dragging feet
Mobile Register – Oct. 28
…Louis Marino, assistant professor of strategic management at the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of Alabama, said Liberty’s letter is a way to put public pressure on International Shipholding to make a decision.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about how long it should take to evaluate such an offer, he said. Typically, a company will include an expiration date, Marino said, although that wasn’t the case here. “They probably expected (International Shipholding) to jump on it fairly quickly,” he said. That the company is taking its time is not necessarily unfair to its shareholders, as Liberty’s letter contends, Marino said. “There’s always the possibility that this potential buyout offer hanging out there is propping up share price,” he said. “So I think it could be a good strategic move to not take that offer.”…
Holiday Services Help Seasonal Businesses Thrive During Slower Months
Lawn and Landscape – Oct. 29
…Kristy Reynolds, Bruno professor of marketing at the University of Alabama, said those time constraints, however, are often the greatest advantage temporary stores have over their year-round competitors. With only a short time to buy and no guarantee that a desired item will be available even a day later, she said, consumers are more inclined to make purchases they would otherwise put off or never make at all. “It creates a little bit of a sense of urgency among consumers,” Reynolds said. “You know [the shop is] not going to be open for an extended period of time.”…
Gift cards may lose to bargain prices
Montgomery Advertiser – Oct. 29
Although a National Retail Federation survey predicted gift cards will be the most requested gift this holiday season, a University of Alabama professor says holiday shoppers may bypass the plastic wallet-fillers for merchandise…Kristy Reynolds, the Bruno associate professor of marketing at Alabama, said gift cards remain attractive, but deeply discounted merchandise might be more attractive to many shoppers…Reynolds said that kind of shopping could be even more commonplace this year. “Some shoppers will see better value in merchandise,” she said. “There will be so many deals because of the economy.” While shoppers may be attracted to sales on merchandise, Reynolds said most retailers have made gift cards more convenient and safe…Reynolds said cards such as pre-paid Visa or other credit cards should continue to increase in popularity. “They can be used almost anywhere,” she said…
UA Students Put On Haunted House
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
…some University of Alabama students are putting on a haunted house Wednesday and Thursday nights, and all the proceeds go to Beat Auburn Beat Hunger…
UA Sororities Provide Safe Trick-or-Treating
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
Sororities at the University of Alabama provided a safe area for local children to go door to door…collecting candy from the different sorority houses…
SGA Sponsors Haunted Bus Tour
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
…the tour will take you to West Alabama’s most haunted places…sponsored by the University of Alabama SGA…
Partnership between UA and Tuscaloosa City and County Schools
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 28
…partnership between the University of Alabama, and Tuscaloosa City and County schools…the Alabama Consortium for Educational Renewal…