UA forensics team earns its 19th national title
The Gadsden Times – 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.
Lower levels of good cholesterol observed in children with autism
Yahoo.com – March 26
The mystery of autism’s causes and treatments continues to unfold as more research is being done into the condition. At the University of Alabama, a professor of human nutrition and hospitality management was inspired by a visiting colleague to find out more about the brain’s development of interpersonal communication skills and was surprised with some findings. However, she warned that these findings are preliminary but could be the tip of the iceberg and certainly warrants more study on the subject. Dr. Neggers, along with her colleague, took up the study of blood levels of lipids and fatty acids of two groups of children in South Korea. The first group were typically-developing boys and the second group had boys of the same age group diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
UA researchers to study stigma of AIDS in black churches
The Crimson White – March 27
A recently funded multi-year grant will examine the role that African-American congregations can play in reducing HIV and AIDS-related stigma in rural Alabama, according to a press release. Pamela Payne Foster, deputy director for the University of Alabama’s Institute for Rural Health Research, is the principal investigator of the $530,368 grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “The grant, which is funded through a special program called Minority Access to Research Initiative, or MARI, is designed to collect pilot data to adapt and test an HIV and AIDS anti-stigma intervention in rural African American churches,” Foster said. “The project goal is known as Faith-Based Anti-Stigma Intervention Toward Healing HIV and AIDS, or project FAITHH.” Alabama has the 11th-highest HIV infection rate in the country and the eigth-highest AIDS-related death rate, Foster said.
See Venus, Jupiter shining brightly in sky
The Birmingham News – March 24
For the next three nights, a dazzling spectacle will light the western dusk sky. The three brightest objects in the heavens after the sun — the moon, Venus and Jupiter — will appear a handshake’s distance from each other about an hour after sunset. Tonight you can see the crescent moon below Venus and Jupiter, not too far above the horizon. Together the two planets and our moon will form a flattened triangle. The best shows follow the next two nights. On Sunday evening about 8 p.m., the moon will appear to be about one diameter away from Jupiter. On Monday, the moon will appear to be about two diameters away from Venus. “It’s all right together,” said William Keel, a professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Alabama. And they are bright.
PSC candidates gear up for statewide runoff
The Newnan Times Herald – March 26
Two Republicans vying for the chance to unseat the last Democratic statewide officeholder have mounted ground campaigns around Alabama to attract voters for a late April runoff. With less than a third of Alabama’s 67 counties holding local runoff elections April 24 and no other statewide contests to drive voters to the polls, turnout is expected to be very light in an election that will cost taxpayers about $3 million. Sitting PSC Commissioner Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh gathered about 49 percent of the vote for commission president in the March 13 Republican primary – just shy of the 50-percent-plus-one needed to avoid a runoff. She faces Mobile businessman Chip Brown in the upcoming runoff. Brown got 26.7 percent of the vote, with third-place Kathy Peterson earning about 24 percent … William Stewart, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Alabama, called the runoff election process an anachronism.
Florence Times Daily – March 26
Bentley visits the Zone
The Crimson White – March 27
Gov. Robert Bentley spoke to students in The Zone on Monday night about his Christian belief and its effect in his life. The Huddle, a Christian group co-founded by University of Alabama students Teresa Croom and Lissa Handley Tyson, hosted the event. UA Chancellor Robert Witt and his wife Sandy, along with about 200 students, attended the event. “On Jan. 17, 2011, I put my left hand on the Holy Bible in Montgomery and promised to honor and protect anyone’s right to worship as they choose,” Bentley said. “As governor, I have to defend that right.” Bentley said it’s hard for him to separate his personal beliefs. He accepted Jesus Christ as the savior of his life when he was nine years old and believed he should give his life to Christ.
HB 56 to be discussed tomorrow
The Crimson White – March 27
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the University of Alabama’s American studies department, a public forum discussing the political and historical meanings and implications of House Bill 56 will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday in 205 Gorgas. The forum will feature a panel of experts that will inform the public about various aspects of the law. Isabel Rubio, executive director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, and Sam Brooke, lead litigator with HICA, will serve on the panel. They will discuss the legal challenges the bill poses, the events that led up to the passing of the law and how Hispanics and Latinos have been impacted by it.
Is weight loss contagious?
Yahoo.com – March 26
If you want to slim down, your best bet could be to hang out with successful dieters, two new studies suggest. And if you shed surplus pounds, your chubby friends and relatives are likely to lose weight as well. The findings are a surprising twist on what’s been called the “halo effect.” For years, researchers have known that bad habits are contagious: If you smoke, drink more than you should, or eat big, fattening meals, chances are that your friends and relatives overindulge in the same ways. Scientists have dubbed this phenomenon the “halo effect,” because when we’re surrounded by people enjoying the same unhealthy behaviors, it’s easier to tell ourselves we’re not doing anything wrong … A 2006 study at the University of Alabama also found that kids who ate dinner with their families five or six nights a week were one-third less likely to be overweight. It makes sense: when you control the food that’s put in front of your kids, you can make sure that fried foods, trans fats and other unhealthy, fattening choices aren’t on the menu.
Crimson Ride offers downtown route
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 26
The University of Alabama’s Student Government Association has teamed up with Crimson Ride services to provide students a shuttle from various locations on campus to the downtown district. Students believe the route will have a great impact on safety and the economy.