UA chosen to host Smithsonian traveling exhibit beginning Feb. 16
Al.com – Feb. 12
The University of Alabama has been chosen as one of two locations for the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964” to visit. UA’s department of American Studies is hosting the bilingual exhibit that tells about the largest guest worker program in U.S. history. The exhibit will be displayed from Feb. 16 to April 28 in the J. Wray and Joan Billingsley Pearce Foyer in Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on UA’s campus. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History exhibition comes after UA’s application two years ago.
State funds allocated for UA roads
Crimson White – Feb. 13
As part of statewide road infrastructure and development projects, improvements will be made to two roads inside the Tuscaloosa City Limits, including Hackberry Lane and a stretch of 10th Avenue, both running through The University of Alabama campus. In a recent statement, Gov. Robert Bentley announced 302 new road and bridge infrastructure development projects that will total nearly $398 million by the time they are complete. Eleven of these projects will take place in Tuscaloosa County, totaling more than $33 million.
UA representatives to visit Arlington to honor vets
Crimson White – Feb. 13
Several representatives of The University of Alabama will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to honor fallen soldiers, visit those who have been injured in battle and emphasize the Capstone’s support for veterans. On Thursday, Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell will join university administrators and President of the UA Campus Veterans Association Jordan Carpenter in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. “We know of students who have been to The University of Alabama who have sacrificed their lives overseas, so this is in honor of all of them,” said Alex Karagas, coordinator of Veteran and Military Affairs. Lowell Davis, the University of Alabama’s Assistant Dean of Students, said it is important for students to remember those who have given their lives while serving in the armed forces. “I think oftentimes, if you don’t know anyone who has personally gone to war, you don’t think about it,” Davis said. “It’s important that we don’t forget what people do for us on a daily basis to keep us safe.” On Friday, the group will visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Federal regulations will force more than 10,000 Alabama college students off Pell grants, study says
Al.com – Feb. 12
More than 10,000 community college students in Alabama have lost or are within two semesters of losing Pell grant support due to new restrictions on the federal student-aid program, a study says. According to the study released today by the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center, 6,629 two-year college students have or will soon lose Pell support and another 3,519 are within one or two semesters of losing it. The release coincides with a congressional briefing today in Washington, D.C. in which Education Policy Center Director Stephen Katsinas will present the study’s findings. The study, which also looked at Arkansas and Mississippi, found 47 of 62 community colleges across the three states reported enrollment declines in the Fall of 2012 as a result of the changes. Katsinas said the enrollment declines have the potential to impact the state’s economy. “Higher education is economic development,” he said.
Birmingham Business Journal – Feb. 13
Kansas City Star – Feb. 13
Youth Today – Feb. 13
Sacramento Bee – Feb. 13
Chronicle of Higher Education – Feb. 13
Inside Higher Ed – Feb. 13
Miss University of Alabama pageant on Saturday
Crimson White – Feb. 13
The Miss University of Alabama Pageant will be held Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Bama Theatre at 7 p.m. This pageant is a preliminary for the Miss Alabama Pageant in June, and then the winner of Miss Alabama goes on to the Miss America Pageant in January 2014 in Las Vegas. “Contestants compete in a private interview with the judges, lifestyle and fitness, evening gown with an on-stage question and talent,” Miranda Ward, junior and contestant in the pageant, said. A panel of five judges will choose a winner based on these five categories. “Any woman between the ages of 17 and 24 enrolled as a student at The University of Alabama is eligible to compete,” Ward said. There are 16 contestants in this year’s pageant. Each of these women are sponsored by a campus organization such as a sorority, fraternity or the SGA. Ward said contestants have to submit a resume, platform essay and must have minimum GPA of 2.5. The winner of the pageant will receive a full tuition scholarship for a year to the University.
Visiting professor speaks on faith, government
Crimson White – Feb. 13
Naomi Goldenberg, a professor of religious studies at the University of Ottawa, said she is attempting to understand what religion is and how it relates to governments around the world. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Religious Studies hosted Goldenberg as part of the department’s lecture series, Relevance of the Liberal Arts in the 21st Century, in Gorgas Library on Tuesday. Goldenberg spoke for 45 minutes to a crowd of 70 about the current climate of religious discourse in the world today, specifically dealing with the differences, imagined or concrete, between state governments and organized religions.
Sigma Alpha Mu holds Valentine’s rose sale
Crimson White – Feb. 13
The members of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity are hosting their 2nd annual rose sale outside the SUPe Store at the Ferguson Center, Feb. 13 and 14. Each rose will be sold for $4, and all proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.
UA students to deliver valentine-O-grams
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 13
Actors and actresses at the University of Alabama are using their creative talents to help you out this Valentine’s Day! Alpha Psi Omega Theater Honor Society is delivering Valentine-o-grams…you can profess your love through a song, poem or any other vocal performance that you desire, all for $10.
National Jurist rankings conflict with US News’ top choices; law prof blasts methodology
ABA Journal – Feb. 12
Law school rankings put together by National Jurist (sub. req.) are quite different than the law school rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report. In first, second and third place on the National Jurist list are the law schools at Stanford University, the University of Virginia and the University of California-Berkeley, notes Paul Caron on a TaxProf Blog post Tuesday. Harvard University is ranked sixth, topped by the University of Alabama, in fifth place, and Yale University is listed in 13th place. Caron’s blog post gives a complete list of the top 50 rankings, and details the National Jurist methodology.
University of Alabama’s adapted athletics program an example to emulate
Gadsden Times – Feb. 13
Brent Hardin started a decade ago with a vision and no budget. Hardin, who had just arrived as an assistant professor in adapted sports at the University of Alabama, wanted to start a women’s wheelchair basketball team. “I didn’t ask permission to do it,” Hardin said. “I just did it.” Hardin came from West Georgia with Margaret Stran, an assistant professor in the kinesiology department, where Hardin was teaching and Stran was coaching wheelchair basketball. They married shortly before arriving at UA, and pursued the startup program together. They applied for a grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation, which supplied $5,000 in startup money and secured a place to practice at Foster Auditorium, which had fallen into disrepair before being refurbished a couple of years ago. They raised more money to buy equipment and help fund trips to away games.
Coach puts passion into University of Alabama’s adapted golf program
Gadsden Times – Feb. 12
Ford Burttram was a good enough golfer to finish 14th in the state of Florida’s high school championship when he was a sophomore. The Pensacola, Fla., native also played varsity basketball before an automobile accident sent him through a windshield at age 16, forever changing his life…He discovered wheelchair basketball and played at a college in Wisconsin and later at the University of Alabama. Now, at age 33, Burttram works part-time in the UA Adapted Athletics program as an assistant coach with the UA men’s wheelchair basketball team, but he found a new calling as head coach of what he believes to be the first adapted golf program in the world.
Southern Circuit Film Tour starts tonight
Outer Banks Sentinel (N.C.) – Feb. 12
The Dare County Arts Council is bringing the Southern Circuit Film Tour to the Outer Banks, beginning with a screening Feb. 13 at the Outer Banks Brewing Station at 7:30 p.m. The film was directed by documentary filmmaker Andrew Grace, director of the Documenting Justice program at the University of Alabama. “Eating Alabama” features a young couple who return home to Alabama in search of a simpler life where they can eat the way their grandparents did, locally and seasonally.