University of Alabama hosts research conference
Tuscaloosa News – May 21
A symposium this week at the University of Alabama will bring researchers from around the world who study materials at the most basic level in the quickly expanding field of microscopy to the Capstone. More than 180 scientists from 12 countries involved in the study of high-field emission and atom microscopy, a subset of the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology, will attend the International Field Emission Symposium, which begins today and runs through Saturday. Organizers hope the conference will also enhance the university’s growing research reputation. “Our selection as the host for the 2012 International Field Emission Symposium is a global endorsement of the quality of the research that UA faculty are conducting,” said Joe Benson, vice president for research at UA. Mark Weaver, professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at UA, said the symposium is one of the longest-running conferences for this field of study in the world. He said it was a substantial honor for the university, noting that last year’s conference was held in Sydney, Australia, and the year before in Rouen, France.
Alabama hosting nation science education conference
Tuscaloosa News – May 18
The University of Alabama will host a national conference on college-level science education next week. On Monday and Tuesday, “Research Based Undergraduate Science Teaching: Investigating Reform in Classrooms” will be held at the Bryant Conference Center. The conference is sponsored by the National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science, a project funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Alabama Office of Research on Teaching in the Disciplines. Representatives from more than 40 universities will attend. The conference will focus on teaching methods and reforming undergraduate science courses to improve student learning. Highlighted in the conference will be the results of the six-year study investigating undergraduate science classrooms. The goal of the National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science project was to examine the impact of reformed undergraduate entry-level science courses that differ from traditional courses. Visits to 20 colleges and universities, as well as more than 90 K-12 schools, were conducted by a team of investigators from the University of Alabama, Kansas State University and San Diego State University.
WDEF (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – May 19
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – May 20
WAFF-NBC (Huntsville) – May 21
Montgomery Advertiser – May 21
UA lunabotics team heads to national competition
NBC 13 (Birmingham) “Tuscaloosa Living” – May 20
This is just a cool event that is taking place. This is the University of Alabama lunabotics team. I’m here with Adam … what is the lunabotics team about? What do you guy do? “We’re a disciplinary team at the University of Alabama and travel down to Kennedy Space Center every May to compete in the competition.
Calhoun County labor force shrank in April
Anniston Star – May 19
Calhoun County’s labor force shrank in April, part of a national trend that signals a weakening of the economy. Statistics from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations indicate unemployment rates decreased across the state and country between March and April. However, the statistics show the rate drop is due to people leaving the work force, not from them gaining new jobs — a sign the economy is still weak and recovering slowly from the 2008 recession, some economists say. “It’s very unfortunate that the unemployment rate is going down at the expense of people,” said Keivan Deravi, economist at Auburn University Montgomery. “That is not growth.” James Cover, economist at the University of Alabama, agrees with Deravi’s assessment. “The numbers are not as good as they appear,” Cover said of the unemployment rate. “This is a problem nationally.” The statistics present conditions that are in stark contrast to what Gov. Robert Bentley reported in a Friday press release. Bentley said the lower state unemployment rate was a sign of economic improvement.
UA students design new site for ASPCI
St. Clair Times – May 19
The Animal Shelter of Pell City has a new website. “We hope this new website will increase public awareness of who we are and how we affect our community,” said Melissa Hull, shelter manager for the Animal Shelter of Pell City Inc. The new website is www.stclairanimalshelter.org. Hull said in the fall of last year, the ASPCI sent in a grant application to the University of Alabama Academic Affairs to for consideration to participate in their Virtual Advantage: Developing Websites for Alabama Nonprofits. “This program was designed to provide nonprofits with a web presence, which is so crucial in our times, as well as give the UA students practical experience for use in their future careers,” she said. “We were one of four organizations chosen in early November.” Hull said another St. Clair County nonprofit, the St. Clair Children’s Advocacy Center, was also chosen.
Valley economy improving
Poten.com – May 19
April unemployment rates — statewide as well as in Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence counties — fell to their lowest levels since November 2008, according to data released Friday. “The economic picture for all three counties is much better than it was this time last year,” said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. “I think we turned the corner a few months ago.” Morgan County unemployment fell from 7.3 to 6.5 percent during April, down from 8.4 percent in April 2011, according to data from the state Department of Industrial Relations. Limestone County’s rate in April fell to 5.6 percent, fourth-lowest in the state, from 6.3 percent. The county’s rate in April 2011 was 7.2 percent. In Lawrence County, unemployment fell to 7.5 percent from 8.3 percent, down from the April 2011 rate of 9.7 percent. While Limestone’s unemployment rate was lowest of the three, Ijaz said underlying data was especially favorable for Morgan and Lawrence counties. “Things are looking a little brighter for Morgan and Lawrence counties, both of which experienced a decline in unemployment rate despite slight increases in civilian labor force,” Ijaz said. “Clearly the drop in unemployment rate was due to additional jobs.” The drop in Limestone County, he said, “was due to both an increase in overall payrolls and a slight drop in the labor force.” In Madison County, April unemployment dropped to 5.7 percent from 6.4 percent.