UA Preview

MONDAY, FEB. 4 – SUNDAY, FEB. 10, 2013

BEST BETS

HONORING VETERANS – The University of Alabama’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs will send representatives to the Washington, D.C., area this month to honor soldiers wounded and killed in the line of duty. David Blair, VMA director, and Dr. Lowell Davis, assistant dean of students, will join U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell and UA alumni for a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14. The wreath, which the UA Alumni Association is providing, honors UA military alumni who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. UA students, alumni and fans are welcome to participate; they should assemble in the Memorial Amphitheater 30 minutes before the ceremony. At 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15, Davis, Blair and Sewell will visit Walter Reed Hospital to present a variety of UA gear to soldiers in the Wounded Warrior facility. Contact:  Alex Karagas, UA Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, 205/348-0983, vets@bama.ua.edu.

UA NAMED TILLMAN MILITARY SCHOLARS UNIVERSITY PARTNER – The Pat Tillman Foundation has named UA as one of three new University Partners in support of the Tillman Military Scholars program, which provides educational scholarships for veteran and active service members and their spouses.UA, George Washington University and the University of Washington have been selected as Tillman Military Scholar University Partners for the 2013-2014 academic year, bringing the total number of partner institutions to 16.Information about the scholarship can be found at  http://vets.ua.edu/scholarships.cfm, and the application can be found at http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/tillman-military-scholars/apply/. Applications are due by Feb. 15. For more information, go to http://uanews.ua.edu/2013/01/pat-tillman-foundation-names-ua-a-new-tillman-military-scholar-university-partner/ or contact David Blair,UA director of veteran and military affairs, at 205/348-0983 or drblair1@sa.ua.edu.

COMPASSION KEY TO BEING A CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST – As a child life specialist intern at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 22-year-old University of Alabama senior Sara Howard has learned it takes strength and kindness to get through the day. “People always think that you must be cold and hard to be able to work with kids and families who are suffering so much,” said Howard. “But it’s my compassion and heart that allows me to do just that.” Child life specialists help children and their families overcome challenging life experiences, particularly those relating to health. The child life profession has developed and grown tremendously over the years, and UA’s child life program mirrors that growth. For more information or a list of UA sources, contact Kim Eaton, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

SPLC OUTREACH DIRECTOR TO SPEAK AT SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK – Lecia J. Brooks, director of outreach for the Southern Poverty Law Center, will be the featured speaker for the School of Social Work’s annual Dr. Ethel H. Hall African-American Heritage Month Program Monday, Feb. 11 at noon in Little Hall, room 223, on The University of Alabama campus.Brooks will speak on “Fighting Hate, Teaching Tolerance, Seeking Justice: The Southern Poverty Law Center.”  The eventis free and open to the public.This program is part of “Through the Doors,” a year-long series of activities and events commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the desegregation of UA in 1963 and honoring the courage and dedication of the two African-American students who enrolled in the University on June 11, 1963, as well as the University’s ongoing commitment to change over the past 50 years and to continued progress in the future. For more information, contact David Miller, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

EVENTS PLANNED THROUGHOUT FEBRUARY – UA’s  Crossroads Community Center invites the campus and community to participate in events throughout February during African-American History Month. Students will have the opportunity to travel to two historic Alabama sites at no cost. On Sunday, Feb. 24, buses will take students to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to explore its exhibits, and on Sunday, March 3, students can travel to Selma to learn about the historic events at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Contact: Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782

EVENTS

CAMPUS CLUB TO HOST “MENTAL HEALTH MONOLOGUES” – Depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses are prevalent on college campuses, but they receive much less attention than other health-related topics. The reason: stigma. In an effort to reduce the stigma, the UA chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and student actors will perform monologues written by UA students living with mental illness at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8 in the Ferguson Student Center Theater. The program is free to UA students and staff, while a $5 donation is suggested for community members. The performance will be followed by a $1 raffle and reception with free refreshments. For more information, contact David Miller, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

UA GRAD STUDENTS SHOWCASE WORK THROUGH HANDS-ON FUN – University of Alabama graduate students will share their knowledge through fun, interactive exhibits and activities during Family Night at the Museum. A collaborative effort between UA’s Graduate Student Association, Graduate Parent Support, Alabama Museum of Natural History and UA’s Human Resources Work Life program, the event will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the natural history museum in Smith Hall. In its second year, the event features exhibits by graduate students in different departments, as well as music, food and door prizes. It is open to students, faculty, staff and community members, and it is free. For more information, contact Kim Eaton, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING – UA’s  Honors College is exploring global issues of gender, agency, civil rights and representation in a three-week film series that explores the stories of marginalized women. The screenings are free and open to the public. The first, “Working Women of the World,” will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in 205 Gorgas Library. This 2002 documentary, directed by Marie France Collard, tells the stories of women in Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Belgium and France who are responsible for the labor that fuels the circulation of global capital and free trade, but who are all too often unseen and exploited. Contact: Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782

LOOKING AHEAD

POETRY LECTURE – Dr. Jahan Ramazani, the Edgar F. Shannon professor of English at the University of Virginia, will give a public lecture titled “Poetry’s Dialogue with Its Others” at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, in room 208 Gordon Palmer Hall. The UA English department is sponsoring the event, which is free and open to students, faculty and staff. A reception will follow the lecture. Ramazani is a distinguished and frequently published author and editor who has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEH Fellowship, a Rhodes Scholarship, the MLA’s William Ridley Parker Prize and the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University of Virginia’s highest honor. For more information, contact Dr. Albert Pionke, apionke@as.ua.edu, or Dr. Emily O. Wittman, ewittman@as.ua.edu.

RURAL HEALTH CONFERENCE – Partnering with rural communities to reduce obesity is the topic of the 14th Annual Rural Health Conference hosted by UA’s College of Community Health Sciences and its Institute for Rural Health Research. The conference, “The Weight of our Rural Communities: Partnering to Reduce Obesity,” will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Ferguson Center. The conference will feature two keynote speakers: Dr. Michael Minor, national director of HOPE Health and Human Services Partnership of the National Baptist Convention USA, the nation’s largest African-American religious denomination; and Ravi Patel, founder of the Nashville Mobile Market. The conference also will offer breakout sessions on clinical, community and behavioral topics. Contact: Leslie Zganjar, UA College of Community Health Sciences, 205/348-3079, lzganjar@cchs.ua.edu