Students sign banner as pledge to stop bullies
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 26
Students at Eastwood Middle School and the University of Alabama united Monday to mark “Stand Strong Day” as part of an effort to stop bullying. “We’re trying to tell students that they’re not alone and that they can sit down with someone being bullied and tell them that they’re there for them,” said Benjamin Ladrillono, a 21-year-old junior at UA majoring in public relations. Ladrillono is a member of UA’s Bateman Team, a group of PR majors who launched the monthlong anti-bullying campaign within the Tuscaloosa City School System’s middle schools at the beginning of February. The Tuscaloosa campaign is part of a nationwide anti-bullying PR competition. One of the team’s achievements was persuading Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox to officially declare Monday as “Stand Strong Day.”
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Feb. 26
Capstone student wins PR award
Gadsden Times – Feb. 25
A University of Alabama senior majoring in advertising and public relations has won the 2013 Public Relations Student Society of America’s Daniel J. Edelman/PRSSA Award for the Outstanding Public Relations Student. Jessica Colburn of Hoover won the award, which includes $2,500 and a three-month paid internship in one of Edelman’s U.S. offices. The national award is given annually to a student who is a PRSSA member, displays leadership and who has public relations-related achievements and activities, a digital presence and recommendations from public relations faculty and/or industry professionals. “Winning this award is the highlight of my career so far,” Colburn said. “It really shows me that my work here at the University of Alabama is professional work, not just student work.
United Cancer Survivors of America, Inc. thanks University of Alabama
Houston Chronicle – Feb. 26
Patricia Lee, Founder-President of United Cancer Survivors of America, Inc. is thankful to the University of Alabama’s Public Relations department for helping her bring together two of her programs, Students Of Survivors and Athletes Kickin’ Cancer which she started 7 years ago. The PR department at the University took on the two programs as their 2012 Fall semester project, under the direction of Dr. Kenon Brown. The PR students found a way to bring the two programs together under one umbrella thus creating United Cancer Survivors of America which has since then been created as a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit. The PR department is moving forward to help promote the newly created nonprofit as their current semester project, as well. Ms. Lee said, “We are so grateful and blessed to have the University PR department take our organization on as a project for two semesters, in a row. This opportunity truly gives us the public awareness and boost we need. God continues to open doors for us and move us forward.” The programs offer college scholarships and a matching financial reward to the cancer surviving parent of the scholarship winner. Students are nominated by their high school athletic coach or senior high school teacher. Once a year they also plan to hold a fund raiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Rick Bragg to speak for Ala. student fundraiser
CBS 12 (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Feb. 25
A student-run magazine at the University of Alabama is getting some fundraising help from a professor who’s also a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. The Tuscaloosa News reports (http://bit.ly/Wie8AI ) Rick Bragg, a former correspondent for The New York Times, will speak at an event March 6. Tickets are $8 for students and faculty and $12 for the general public, with proceeds going to Alpine Living, a travel magazine led by university students. Alan Alexander, the magazine’s managing editor, calls Bragg “a great storyteller” who should draw a large crowd. Bragg won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996 and has written several books. He now teaches magazine and feature writing at the university in Tuscaloosa.
Black Student Union hosts Andre Taylor
Crimson White – Feb. 26
The first black president of the National Alumni Association challenged members of The University of Alabama’s Black Student Union to facilitate and enhance the academic success of black students during the annual Black State of the Union address on Monday night. President Andre Taylor addressed members of the Black Student Union, an organization that focuses on black student empowerment within the University. The purpose of this event was to recognize the progress that black students on this campus have made within the past year. “You know how the president has a state of union for the entire United States, well, this event is an address focusing on the African-American community of campus,” senior Kyle Fraizer, vice president of the Black Student Union, said. The overall message of this event was one to focus more on goals that are already in the Black Student Union. “The theme of my presentation is obstacles and opportunities; something you are moving toward and becoming like. It’s really just what you think about the most,” Taylor said.
History department to host head of Peruvian think tank
Crimson White – Feb. 26
Jorge Ortiz-Sotelo, chairman of the Peruvian Institute of Politics and Economics, will be delivering a lecture titled “Defeating the Shining Path: A Lesson in Combating Terrorism in Peru” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in 205 Gorgas Library. Ortiz-Sotelo will be speaking on his experience as a Peruvian marine in the final battles between the military forces of Peru in the late 1980s and the capture of the leader of the Shining Path Movement. “He will give students an inside look at someone who participated in a long war to suppress the Shining Path and improve life,” said history professor, Lawrence Clayton, a close friend of Ortiz-Sotelo’s… Together, Clayton and Ortiz-Sotelo meet on a regular basis to write about the history of maritime across the Americas. As chairman of the Peruvian Institute of Politics and Economics, Ortiz-Sotelo is the brains behind a think tank that produces paper on issues of national importance that affect the course of national politics and international relations, Clayton said.
UA Opera Theatre to perform ‘The Mikado’ this weekend
Al.com – Feb. 25
The University of Alabama School of Music and Opera Theatre will bring Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera “The Mikado” to UA this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The opera will be performed in the Choral Opera Room in the Moody Music Building. Friday and Saturday’s shows will take place at 7 p.m., and on Sunday the opera will be a 3 p.m. matinee. The comic opera takes place in two parts with a setting in Japan. The opera is a satire of British politics that the writers camouflaged as Japanese. “The Mikado” will feature a final performance by soprano Katie Aldrup who will play Yum-Yum, “a ward of Ko-Ko and bride elected,” according to the UA Opera Theatre Facebook page. The UA Opera Theatre is known for performing not only opera style but also music and performances ranging from baroque to the 21st century. They perform works by artists including Verdi and Sondheim, Monteverdi and Cole Porter, Mozart and Bernstein, side by side.
UA to host faculty recital featuring Kevin Chance Tuesday at Moody
Al.com – Feb. 25
The University of Alabama School of Music will present a faculty recital featuring Kevin Chance on piano tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The recital, which takes place in the Recital Hall in the Moody Music Building, will feature “Children’s Corner,” “Preludes” by Claude Debussy, “Les Roses d’Ispahan, Op.39 No.4,” “En Sourdine, Op.58 No.2,” “Quartet No.1 in C Minor, Op.15” and “Notre Amour, Op.23 No.2” by Gabriel Faure. Chance has been a member of the UA family since 2010 as a piano instructor. His resume includes traveling both the U.S. and overseas as a solo pianist and a collaborator. He has performed with the Magic City Orchestra of Alabama and the Brevard Music Center. Chance’s recent performances include Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy” with the Athens Chorale in Georgia and the Baton Rouge Symphony, a recital at the Des Moines Symphony Academy, concerts for the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, the University of Texas at Brownsville, Auburn University, Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Alabama.
Union, Confederate documents held in Hoole Library
Crimson White – Feb. 26
From its beginning in 1948, the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library has been home to thousands of books, manuscripts photos and more, dating back as far as the 15th century. Many other collections, each with an independent focus, also contribute to the history archived at the University of Alabama. Two of the main collections contribute to the archiving of Southern and Alabama history: the W.S. Hoole Collection and the A.S. Williams Collection. “The W.S. Hoole Collection and the A.S. Williams Collection are similar in that both support the study of Southern history and culture,” associate dean for special collections Mary Paluzzi said. The A.S. Williams Collection took root in Amelia Gayle Gorgas library in 2010, after being donated to University of Alabama Libraries. More than 20,000 pamphlets and transcripts from the late 17th century to 2009 comprise to the collection. “The Williams Collection developed as the private collection of Mr. A. S. Williams III and as such is a more focused collection with strength in studies on U.S. Presidents and the Civil War studies including both Union and Confederate resources,” Paluzzi said. While the Williams Collection focuses specifically on southern history, Hoole Special Collections has a wide variety of less concentrated material. “Over 75 years, the Hoole Collection has evolved to support a broader range of subjects with strength in Alabama including books, diaries, manuscripts and maps detailing the history, culture and lives of Alabamians,” Paluzzi said.
Students find it difficult to read for pleasure
Crimson White – Feb. 26
As members of the digital generation, most would believe today’s college students no longer read for pleasure, mostly because of the growth of technology in their lifetimes…However, according to a recent survey, students still want to read for pleasure, but instead of technology getting in the way, students’ classwork is preventing them from doing outside reading. The survey, which was released by College & Research Libraries, polled more than 700 students at Gustavus Adolphus College, along with librarians from all over the country. While 93 percent of the students polled agreed they read for pleasure, more than 77 percent of those same students said they didn’t have time for recreational reading because they had too much class-assigned reading. Many students at The University of Alabama match the findings of the survey. While the University itself boasts a growing population of over 33,000 students, the Honors College book club has just five consistent members…While the members of the book club maintain their reading by meeting at least once a month, other students outside of the club find it even harder to find extra time to read.
348-RIDE anticipates 22% increase in passengers
Crimson White – Feb. 26
348-RIDE and 348-RIDE Express projected to have 170,128 total riders in 2013, an increase of 22 percent from last year, when the program had a combined total of 137,214 riders, up from 120,332 total riders in 2011. 348-RIDE began in November 2007 as an on-demand service provided by the UA Transit Department that transports students around campus and neighboring areas after Crimson Ride night hours end at 10 p.m. The program began with three eight-passenger vans and carried 626 riders in the first two months. Now, 348-RIDE has a fleet of nine 12-passenger vans, 12 drivers and three dispatchers. Ralph Clayton, director of transit services at the University of Alabama, said the focus of 348-RIDE has expanded from its original purpose. “The primary focus of 348-RIDE is academic in nature, but it has expanded. We realize that not all students just need a ride to go the library,” Clayton said. “We try to support the overall safety of our students.” 348-RIDE is typically busiest during the weekend. “On weekdays, we average 300 or 400 passengers per night,” Clayton said. “On Friday and Saturday, we average about 700 or even up to 1,000 passengers per night.”