Alabama Public Radio earns Murrow award
Tuscaloosa News – June 15
Alabama Public Radio received the Radio Television Digital News Association’s national Edward R. Murrow Award for overall excellence in small market radio. The recognition was for APR’s coverage of the April 27, 2011, tornadoes and its coverage of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “Words alone can’t express my pride in the team,” said APR news director Pat Duggins. “They dug down deep for our international coverage of the Tuscaloosa tornado, the Gulf oil spill, the immigration law controversy and feature stories like the battle to save Fort Gaines and ‘Coondog Cemetery,’ among other stories. This prestigious national award is a humbling acknowledgement of that yearlong effort.” APR, which is at the University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, was one of seven winners in the overall excellence category, along with NBC News, CBS Radio News and the Associated Press. According to a news release from the Radio Television Digital News Association, winning organizations “must exemplify the absolute highest standards in serving its audience through quality electronic or digital journalism.” “I am so proud of the APR news team and the communities that value their hard work,” said Elizabeth Brock, director of the Center for Public Television and Radio. “The generosity of our listeners and the support of the University of Alabama make it all possible.”
UA students handle, start to finish, R&B music video as class project
Al.com – June 15
University of Alabama telecommunication and film students are getting some practical experience behind the camera this summer. Fifty UA students and alumni, 13 of whom were in professor Rachel Raimist’s “Producing and Directing Music Videos and Live Events” summer session class, made up a crew to film a music video for Las Vegas R&B singer-songwriter Gifted last week. Raimist, who spent 15 years in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry, said Gifted’s management team originally asked her to direct the video for his song “Superstar.” When Raimist suggested the shoot be a part of her class, Gifted, who has performed with artists including Brian McKnight and Ne-Yo, agreed to come to Alabama. The video, the class’ major project for the term, has given students the experience of a professional shoot involving a client, Raimist said. “I think there’s something really important about giving them an opportunity where it counts, where there are stakes, where they’re working with real people and real artists.” Raimist said. “When you put them in contact with actual professionals and artists from the industry, then they have to work through that sort of creative negotiation.”
SummerTide Theatre presents ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’
Pensacola News Journal – June 14
For nine years, the University of Alabama’s SummerTide Theatre has presented musicals at the George C. Meyer Performing Arts Center in Gulf Shores, Ala. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing past shows presented as part of this program, and I’ve always been impressed by the exceptional quality. This year’s production is “Smokey Joe’s Café,” and it was great to see that the quality has not wavered, as the student cast from the University of Alabama’s Department of Theatre and Dance scores highest marks in all areas. Described as a “jukebox musical,” “Smokey Joe’s Café” celebrates the music of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. They are not household names, but the duo wrote many famous songs — songs recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Peggy Lee, Reba McIntyre, Aretha Franklin, Elton John and many others. The musical features more than 30 songs, all with stage movement and/or choreography in SummerTide Theatre’s entertaining production. There’s lots of fun interaction among the performers as songs are presented with some theatrical elements, but for the most part, the energy during the performance is directed outward to the audience.
On the trail of oil-munching organisms
New York Times – June 14
Two years ago today, BP’s Macondo well was in the midst of its 87-day spree of spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Tar balls and oil slicks were showing up on beaches from Texas to Florida. A significant amount of the 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled still lies on the ocean floor, lingers in salt marshes or is mixed into beach sand, scientists say. Yet some other oil has been degraded by oil-digesting organisms — and a new paper in the journal PLoS suggests that fungi are among them…Before the heavy oiling, fungi made up less than 5 percent of the microorganisms on each of the five beaches. Months later they had gained a majority on three beaches at the expense of microscopic marine worms and other tiny creatures … Patricia Sobecky, a biologist at the University of Alabama who studies oil-eating bacteria in salt marshes, calls the current research into gulf microorganisms unparalleled. She credits DNA sequencing technology, which has made surveying patches of sea or sand for life relatively quick and cheap. “You can do things that you couldn’t even imagine doing things 10 years ago,” she said.“I think this is going to help to give more predictive power in the future.”
High school students in UA’s Capstone Business Leadership Academy showcase their knowledge of electric cars
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 14
High school students showcased their knowledge of electric cars today. The 40 students led presentations at Alabama Power’s corporate headquarters. The students are a part of the University of Alabama’s Capstone Business Leadership Academy. Their presentations dealt with how to move electric plug-in vehicles forward, and how to make more people aware of the benefits of going green.
Coach Saban speaks to the American Legion’s Alabama Boys State
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 14
For Boys State at the University of Alabama, the week-long convention teaches young men from around Alabama how state government works. The coach attended boys state himself while growing up in West Virginia. Saban has talked to the group several times since he came to Alabama. Organizers say the kids look forward to hearing how Boys State shaped Saban into the man he is today.
EDITORIAL: Good decisions create stable economy
Tuscaloosa News – June 15
Rising sales tax collections in Tuscaloosa are indeed a good sign. They indicate what has been suspected all along, that Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County have fared better than much of the nation through an extremely difficult economic downturn…The University of Alabama’s rapid expansion over the past decade couldn’t have come at a better time, either. The growth in the student body helped stimulate the economy at a time when manufacturing slowed.