UA forensics team earns its 19th national title
The Tuscaloosa News – March 26
Although the University of Alabama Forensics Council brought home its 19th national championship a couple of weeks ago, the team still has its largest competition of the year in April. To keep up with the UA Forensics Council, follow the team on Twitter at twitter.com/bamaforensics. In the first week of March, UA won first place in the team sweepstakes at the Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha National Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. Members of the UA Forensics Council, or forensics team, compete each school year in about 20 forensics tournaments comprising events in oratory and interpretive readings. These are individual events and each member is judged on how persuasive their material is.
Arts take center stage
The Crimson White – March 26
The Revivalists perform at the pavilion stage at the Druid City Arts Festival Saturday. / Photo courtesy of Marcus Tortorici. The Druid City Arts Festival engaged the Tuscaloosa community on Saturday, drawing students, families and community members downtown to enjoy the art, the music and the weather at the third installment of the festival. DCAF offered vendors the opportunity to expose their work and get their names out in the community. The artists present at DCAF represented a variety of artistic media, including jewelry, pottery, photography and visual art. Photographer and vendor Sumerlin Brandon attended the festival last year and said the increased attendance, due in part to better weather, gave artists a good chance to make themselves known. “It’s been really great for exposure,” she said. “There was an awesome turnout. It seems there are more vendors this year, too.” Despite the rain, last year’s attendance reached around 4,000. This year’s far surpassed that, with more than 5300 at Saturday’s event., UA sophomores and twin sisters Gabrielle and Taylor Smith of Reflections Jewelry Company displayed and sold their designs at the festival and received a positive response from the community. “It’s been awesome,” Gabrielle Smith said. “[DCAF] is a great opportunity for students to sell their art and express themselves.”
Free Concert at UA Helps Raise Money for Mal and Charlotte Moore Center at Caring Days
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 25
University of Alabama athletics director Mal Moore and Tuscaloosa’s Caring Days combined forces today to bring the community a concert with a higher meaning. Famous pianist Randall Atcheson played at the Moody Music Building this afternoon. Admission was free but donations went to raise money for Caring Day’s new “Mal and Charlotte Moore” center. For 15 years, Caring Days has served as a day program for adults with memory disorders.
UA’s Creative Campus Holds Annual Arts Festival
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 24
The University of Alabama’s Creative Campus has been busy getting ready for their annual arts festival in Tuscaloosa. Event organizers say each year the festival grows more and more. WVUA’s Jordan Bettner was there and she found out why people keep coming back for more. The parking lot downtown has become a yearly spectacle for Tuscaloosa residents looking for the perfect way to enjoy a beautiful day.
Change to district lines concerning Democrats
The Florence Times Daily – March 26
State Sen. Roger Bedford needs about 19,500 more. Sen. Tammy Iron needs 1,506. State Rep. Greg Burdine needs to shed about 1,700, while Marcel Black needs to gain 3,170. A legislative committee is working to redraw the state Senate and House districts to reflect population shifts outlined in the 2010 Census. Legislators will either gain or lose constituents, some by the tens of thousands. Republicans, now in the supermajority in the state Legislature, lead the reapportionment committee and said their goals are to draw fair lines that are as close to the current ones as possible. Some Democrats, though, are concerned about what the new lines could mean for their districts — and their futures as elected officials … William Stewart, retired professor emeritus in political science at the University of Alabama, said the process has always been political, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. “Obviously, the Democrats did the last redistricting (10 years ago with 2000 Census information) and that didn’t prevent the Republicans from taking control from (Democrats) for the first time in 136 years,” Stewart said.
Gov. Bentley to visit UA to discuss his Christianity
The Crimson White – March 26
Gov. Robert Bentley will give his testimony for students, faculty and staff tonight in the north end of The Zone inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The event, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is part of The Huddle, an organization of Alabama students who gather together once a semester to hear a speaker talk about their walk with Jesus Christ and the importance of clinging to His word in college. Kappa Alpha Psi and Alpha Gamma Delta are also sponsoring the event. Lissa Handley Tyson, co-founder of The Huddle, said she reached out to Bentley in hopes of getting him to come to the University to share his testimony.
Dianne F. Harrison names president of Cal State Northridge
Individual.com – March 26
Dianne F. Harrison, a veteran educator in Florida and California, has been named the new president of Cal State Northridge. Harrison will succeed Jolene Koester, who retired in December after 11 years in the post. Northridge provost Harold Hellenbrand has been serving as interim president. Since 2006, Harrison has been president of Cal State Monterey Bay, a campus of about 5,000 students located on the former Ft. Ord Army Base in Seaside. At Northridge, she will take the reins of one of the nation’s largest public universities, with 34,000 students and a budget of more than $300 million … She earned degrees in American studies and social work from the University of Alabama and holds a PhD in social work from Washington University in St. Louis.