Lawmakers’ visit marks segregated past at Alabama
Lakeland Ledger (Fla.) – March 1
Members of Congress are visiting the University of Alabama to see the place where former Gov. George C. Wallace made his “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” against racial integration 50 years ago. The leaders will be in Tuscaloosa on Friday for commemoration program. The event will held at the auditorium where Wallace tried to block the enrollment of black students at Alabama in 1963. Among those greeting the delegation will be a daughter of Wallace, Peggy Wallace Kennedy. The program is part of the 13th annual Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage. Tuscaloosa was added as a stop because this summer marks the 50th anniversary of Wallace’s stand. Congressional members will be in Selma on Sunday along with Vice President Joe Biden for a commemoration of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Feb. 28
Alabama football team will be honored by President Obama
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 28
The University of Alabama football team will be honored by President Obama for the third time in the last four years when the Crimson Tide visits the White House next Wednesday, March 6, to be recognized for winning the 2012 BCS national championship. The Crimson Tide, which also won the Bowl Championship Series title in 2009 and 2011, is expected to tour the White House and attend a ceremony recognizing the national championship. The President will also honor the UA football team for its efforts to give back to the community. Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 on Jan. 7 in the BCS National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Fla., to claim the school’s 15th national football title. Details of the visit have not yet been released, but in its past two visits the football team has also toured other sites in the nation’s capital.
Montgomery Advertiser – Feb. 28
WTVM 9 (Columbus, Ga.) – Feb. 28
Politico – Feb. 28
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Feb. 28
CBS 4 (Columbus, Miss.) – Feb. 28
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 28
WHAS-ABC (Louisville, Ky.) – Feb. 28
WREG-CBS (Memphis, Tenn.) – Feb. 28
WMBF-NBC (Florence, SC) – Feb. 28
Rick Bragg to discuss traveling abroad at Alpine Living fundraiser
Al.com – Feb. 1
Pulitzer Prize-winning Alabama author Rick Bragg will speak at a fundraiser hosted by University of Alabama-led international travel magazine Alpine Living on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in room 205 of Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library. Bragg will discuss his experiences traveling abroad as a journalist. Tickets can be purchased at the door and are priced at $8 for students and faculty and $12 for members of the community… All proceeds will go towards the printing costs of the magazine. Bragg, a current professor of writing in the communications college at UA, will give his first speech on campus since he delivered his lecture “So People Won’t Forget” as part of the Last Lecture Series in April of 2012. On March 16, 22 UA graduate and undergraduate students will travel to Spain for a two-week tour as part of their international journalism course. In Barcelona, Madrid, Pamplona and Seville, the students will write, report and photograph stories about the culture of each region, culminating in a 100-plus page magazine as well as additional content published on the web at www.alpineliving.ua.edu.
University of Alabama Opera Theatre to bring ‘Mikado’ to stage
Tuscaloosa News – March 1
The town of Titipu will come to life in the University of Alabama Opera Theatre’s production of “The Mikado,” at what director Paul Houghtaling said is the perfect time for this production. “It’s been a really important show in my career,” Houghtaling said. “I’ve waited in just the right moment in my career at Alabama, with just the right singers, just the right performers to do it here at the university.” “The Mikado,” a comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan, is one of the most popular of the form. It’s a social satire that is sure to bring plenty of laughs to the audience, he said. It takes place in Japan, even though it is a spoof of social issues of the late 19th century in Great Britain.
Shakespeare’s Othello comes to University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – March 1
Othello, Desdemona and Iago take to the Marian Gallaway Theatre stage in the University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of “Othello,” one of William Shakespeare’s major tragedies. “The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice,” to give its full, rarely used title, was probably written in 1603. It revolves around ever-relevant issues such as jealousy, betrayal, true love and unrequited desire, in what director Seth Panitch said is one of Shakespeare’s most difficult and dense works. “This was a play that scared the pants off me,” Panitch said. “I wanted the challenge as a director.”
Jazzy children’s musical to premiere at University of Alabama on Wednesday
Tuscaloosa News – March 1
Cats and rats and lots of fun. That’s what audience members can expect in the world premiere of “Hermitage Cats Save the Day!” The production, directed by Paul K. Looney, artistic director emeritus of Theatre Tuscaloosa, makes its debut on the Moody Music Building Concert Hall stage at 6 p.m. Wednesday. This musical for children features the cats of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and crosses cultures in an entertaining and learning experience, Looney said. The play has at its center the longstanding Russian tradition of allowing cats to maintain residence in the Hermitage Museum, one of the largest and oldest in the world, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great. The museum first employed cats as its original pest control agents. Now, more than 200 years later, the cats thrive in the museum as part of St. Petersburg culture. “Since Catherine the Great called (the cats) ‘the guardians of art,’ they have a lot of status,” Looney said. These famous felines even have a designated day of honor known as the Day of the Cats, as well as a press secretary. It is not uncommon for Hermitage cats to be seen on desks, in boxes or on bookshelves in museum offices, said Mary Ann Allin, who wrote the children’s book the musical is based on as well as the musical’s book and lyrics.
Restrictions on pell grant affect college campuses nationwide
Iowa State Daily – March 1
Restrictions added to the Pell Grant in fall 2012 will have an effect on rural area colleges, specifically community colleges…Janice Friedel, associate professor in the school of education, Steve Katsinas from the University of Alabama and Ed Davis from Mississippi State University participated in research regarding the Pell Grant and on February 12-13 went to Washington D.C. to speak with policymakers. In D.C., Friedel, Katsinas and Davis presented the results from their research and survey to the White House Rural Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program officers.
University of Alabama Deans and Presidents list
Cleburne News – March 1
Students named to the University of Alabama’s Dean’s List with a academic record of 3/5 or above, Presidents list with an academic record of 4.0, all A’s. Fruithurst: Katie Lene. Austin Heflin: Katlyn P Clark, Abby P Clark, Billy Blake McMahan and Miles Lane Snider. Ranburne: Bryan R. Herren and Ashley L. Wierzbick.