City anticipates A-Day crowd
Tuscaloosa News – April 12
Records tend to perpetuate themselves. With 12 national championships, the Crimson Tide anticipates grabbing the crown more often than less storied teams. After two record-setting A-Day years, and with ESPN broadcasting the scrimmage Saturday, Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama are braced for another huge spring football weekend….
UA gives students experience in the art of fly fishing
Tuscaloosa News – April 12
There was a time that when the image of a kid playing hooky came to mind, he had a fishing pole in his hand. But one group of University of Alabama students takes to the water, fly rods in hand, with their professor in the lead. New College Professor Michael Steinberg explains that his course, “The Arts and Science of Fly Fishing,” is not a fishing trip for a grade. “If it were just a recreational course, I don’t think it would fly and I don’t think I would want to teach it,” Steinberg said, as students piled out of a UA van at a private farm pond and began assembling fly rods….
Field and Stream – April 13
Undergrads to present research at conference today
Crimson White – April 13
About 250 students will present their research and projects today from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Ferguson Center during the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference, said Vice President of research Joe Benson. Benson said the Conference includes both oral and poster presentations, and research topics range from science and engineering, social science, performing and fine arts and communications. “It really sort of approximates the diversities of experiences here at the University,” he said.
Tuscaloosa student headed to Monopoly championship
NBC-13, Birmingham — April 11
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Tuscaloosa’s Brandon Baker, 21, will go head to head against the top Monopoly players in the country. He’s representing Alabama in the 2009 Monopoly U.S. Championship in Washington, D.C. This is Baker’s first Monopoly tournament. He is a telecommunications and film major at the University of Alabama. He plays Monopoly with a friend between classes three to four days a week….
UA student to attend Monopoly championships
Tuscaloosa News – April 13
New grads, tight market: Recession makes finding a job more difficult for 2009 college grads
Tuscaloosa News – April 12
Brittney Brewster hopes to be in the classroom in the fall, not as a student but as an elementary school teacher. Brewster, a University of Alabama senior who is graduating in May, joined dozens of other UA students Wednesday at a job fair at the Ferguson Center for those interested in becoming teachers. “It went well. I did four interviews with schools from Marion, Shelby, Jefferson and St. Clair counties,” said Brewster, who is from Trussville….
Hollywood tries to come up with its best recession fare
Los Angeles Times-April 12
Since the 1940s, the prevailing theory in this field has been “mood management,” which states that people want entertainment that will put them in a better mood. In addition, people want entertainment that will bring them back to an optimum level of excitation — if they’re bored, they want to be excited, and if they’re angry, they want to be pacified. “It’s part of the human condition that we avoid bad moods,” says Dolf Zillmann, a pioneer of this theory and professor emeritus at the University of Alabama. “Media consumption very often follows this line.”
Fountain of debt may soak Indy water users with a rate hike
Indianapolis Star – April 12
Nearly 1 million Indianapolis Water customers likely will see their rates go up this summer because the city-owned utility faces a penalty of up to $100 million after entering into some of the risky variable-rate financing deals at the heart of the country’s economic meltdown. . . . . Like Indianapolis, municipalities from small towns in Tennessee to large counties in Alabama are struggling to pay the interest on their debts. Like Indianapolis, many saved money at the start but have lost those savings and more in the past year. “At the time, the swaps appeared to be cheaper,” said Robert E. Brooks, a bond expert and finance professor at the University of Alabama. “But there is no free lunch out there. There was a certain risk the swaps were supposed to hedge. But the only perfect hedge is in a Japanese garden.”
Who is running for governor of Alabama?
Montgomery Advertiser – April 12
Democrats will have a heavily contested primary for governor in 2010 with several stars of the party fighting it out. Republicans are still unsure who will be on the other side of the ballot next year. U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, and Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, both Democrats, have announced they are in. Powerful state Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, is seriously considering a run….David Lanoue, chair of political science at the University of Alabama, said the commissioner is one of the few Democrats to do that recently. Davis, he said, has shown skill in balancing his congressional district with his statewide political ambition. “On the other hand, no one has taken on someone considered a Republican heavyweight,” Lanoue said. He said “Davis and Sparks are two heavyweight contenders.”
Experts differ on whether lawsuits hinder growth
Montgomery Advertiser – April 12
The head of a legal reform organization said disparities in Alabama’s rankings for friendliness to large and small businesses illustrate problems with the state’s legal environment, but business and economic development experts questioned his conclusions. Skip Tucker of Alabama Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse said a recent U.S. News and World Report ranking had Alabama No. 47 in business environment. He said a similar ranking by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranks Alabama No. 8 in its latest rankings…Sam Addy, director of the Alabama Council for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, questioned Tucker’s conclusions…Addy responded that companies only look at incentive packages in the final stages of deciding where to locate. He also questioned whether the state overpaid in incentives for businesses. “I don’t know who can state that,” he said. “The incentives are on a 20-year timeline, and it is chump change for these big companies.”
Cheap summer travel plans
Crimson White – April 13
With only four weeks left in the semester, cases of spring fever are becoming more prominent on campus and students are beginning to plan their summer vacations. A tourist expert from the University offered her advice on how students and faculty can keep their summer plans in check on a tight budget. Kim Boyle, professor of nutrition and hospitality management, said due to the economy many people will begin looking at making short weekend trips rather than extended stay vacations. “Most people are trying to save money right now, so it will be likely that families will start planning to drive four to six hours to destinations such as Nashville, Atlanta and New Orleans for their summer vacations,” Boyle said.
Take a ‘Transit’ at Allen Bales
Crimson White – April 13
It may very well hold true that two of man’s greatest passions in life are his pursuit for adventure and a spouse as students will soon discover when UA Department of Theatre and Dance presents “Transit of Venus” on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Allen Bales Theatre. Set in the 1760s, the play tells the story of Guillaume le Gentil, a French scientist who is torn between his love for Celeste, his romantic interest, and his desire to observe the transit of Venus, a rare celestial event where Venus travels in front of the sun from earth’s rotation.
AdTeam presents responsible drinking campaign
Crimson White – April 13
The AdTeam designed the “LessThanUThink” campaign with the idea in mind that college students have been inundated with warnings about alcohol issues and are quick to tune out such repetitive messages, said AdTeam member Jason Brandt, a senior majoring in advertising.