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MONDAY, APRIL 1 – SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2013

BEST BETS

HONORS WEEK –The University of Alabama will recognize the achievement of outstanding students and faculty during Honors Week activities on campus from Monday, April 1, to Tuesday, April 9. The Tapping on the Mound ceremony, a tradition since the early 1900s, will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 5 on the Mound at the west side of the UA Quad (rain location will be Moody Music Concert Hall). University honoraries Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, Blue Key National Honor Society and Anderson Society will induct new members at this time. For more information, see http://uanews.ua.edu/2013/03/2013-honors-week-events-at-ua-highlight-scholarship-leadership/ or contact Richard LeComte, media relations, 205/348-3782, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu.

ANCIENT OFFERINGS TO THE DEAD HELP REVEAL CLIMATE CHANGE’S HUMAN IMPACT – Analyses of clam shells used in ancient funeral ceremonies offer additional evidence as to how climate change may have contributed to the gradual collapse of an early South-American civilization. The UA-led research, publishing in Geology, indicates El Niño, a temporary, cyclical change in the Pacific’s circulation, and an intertwined ocean phenomenon, known as upwelling, likely contributed to the 6^th century downfall of an advanced civilization called the Moche. The Moche once flourished along the northern coast of Peru. “This gives different insight into how climate change looks in terms of human impact,” said Dr. Fred Andrus, a UA associate professor of geological sciences and co-author of the article. “We often view the impacts of climate change – of any form – in terms of dramatic destruction – dramatic sea-level rise inundating a city overnight or a terrible hurricane wiping a city off a map. Those things certainly do happen. But, climate change can also bring more subtle impacts that will still have profound, indirect consequences.” Andrus may be reached at fandrus@as.ua.edu or 205/348-5177. For assistance, contact Chris Bryant in media relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu.

AD TEAM WILL VOLUNTEER AT BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS – Members of The University of Alabama’s Ad Team, a student organization in the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ advertising and public relations department, will spend part of their Honors Week volunteering at the Boys & Girls Clubs of West Alabama. The team is completing the service project as part of its competition campaign for 2013 client Glidden. The students will spend time with children at the Clubs from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, and will test various elements of their campaign before returning on Sunday, April 7, to paint the Clubs’ art room. The team will compete in regionals from April 18-20. Contact: Misty Mathews, media relations, 205/348-6416, mmathews@ua.edu, or Lis Garcia, Ad Team public relations director, emgarcia2@crimson.ua.edu.

UA MEN’S NURSING GROUP PROMOTES HEALTH EDUCATION – The Capstone Chapter of the American Assembly for Men in Nursing not only focuses on recruiting more male nursing students, it also promotes increased discussion of men’s health issues and more education about those issues. With an active membership of about 35 students, the organization has held health screenings geared toward men and raised funds for those screenings. But rather than wait for the men to come to them, the students are taking the education to where men congregate — athletic events. The next free health screening will be at the April 6 UA-Missouri softball game. Students will check cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, weight and body mass index. Based on the results, which take less than five minutes to receive, the students will then educate the participant on how to change some of their habits, if needed. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu

UA STUDENTS SHARE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN WATER – University of Alabama students will have an opportunity to teach area schoolchildren the importance of keeping water clean during the second annual Waterfest Student Expo. The student expo is one piece of the Lake Tuscaloosa North River Watershed Festival, a three-day festival hosted by The University of Alabama Museum of Natural History, the Black Warrior River Clean Water Partnership and the City of Tuscaloosa. The purpose of the festival, which is held April 4-6, is to educate community members on where their water comes from and how to preserve it for the future. On Friday, April 5, from 9 a.m. to about noon at the Phelps Activity Center, area schoolchildren will learn how watersheds work through a series of interactive and hands-on activities. Representatives from various agencies will lead the activities, while UA students and students from Northside High School’s environmental club will assist. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu, or Mary Wallace Pitts, 205/310-0831 or northriverwatershed@hotmail.com

UA DESIGN STUDENTS PLACE FIRST IN COMPETITION – Two University of Alabama students placed first in the International Interior Design Association’s Student Day Design Competition. UA senior Melita Hudson, a biology and interior design major from Andalusia, placed first in the Retail/Restaurant category for her project titled Froth-Coffee Shop, and UA senior Lauren Wallace, an interior design major from Huntsville, placed first in the Mixed-Use/Residential category for her Water Tower Living project. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu; Melita Hudson, 334/427-8388 or mahudson1@crimson.ua.edu; Lauren Wallace, 256/650-6256 or lawallace2@crimson.ua.edu; or Dexter Carty, 205/298-9208 or dexter_carty@gspnet.com

UA DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY APPROVED FOR $1.27 MILLION PATIENT-CENTERED OUTCOMES RESEARCH INSTITUTEGRANT FOR PAIN RESEARCH – Chronic pain affects more than 116 million people in the United States and costs $600 billion annually to treat. People with low education, low reading skills, and/or low income have more chronic pain, and receive less treatment. Many people with low income also have literacy deficits that put them at a greater disadvantage in the healthcare system. Building on previous research by UA’s Pain Management Team, Dr. Beverly Thorn, chair of UA’s Department of Psychology, will lead a research project to study different psychosocial treatments for the management of chronic pain, including simplifying patient materials used to manage pain and the treatment itself to make it easier for all patients to understand. “Just like someone with diabetes, chronic pain is a chronic illness without a cure, and it has to be managed,” Thorn said. “Someone with diabetes cannot simply take insulin or other medication without changing their daily habits (wiser food choices, engaging in physical activity, and learning to manage stress). Someone with chronic pain cannot simply have multiple surgeries and take multiple medications without learning pain self-management skills.” For more information, contact David Miller, media relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.

UA ENGINEERING STUDENTS PREPARING FOR ROBOTICS COMPETITION – A team of eight UA engineering students will compete in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers SoutheastCon Hardware competition April 4-7 in Jacksonville, Fla. The goal for this year’s competition is to simulate the use of machines in sorting containers in a shipyard port. To accomplish this, the team created a battery-powered robot that is made autonomous by a microcontroller and on-board sensors. For more details visit http://uanews.ua.edu/2013/03/ua-engineering-students-preparing-for-robotics-competition/ or contact Adam Jones, UA engineering media relations, at 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu

EVENTS

UA ALUMNUS, GATEWAY, INC. CEO TO SPEAK FRIDAY — University of Alabama School of Social Work alumnus James “Jim” Loop, president and chief executive officer of Gateway Inc., will deliver the school’s Honors Day Convocation at 10 a.m. Friday, April 5, in 215 Farrah Hall on the UA campus.Founded in 1891, Gateway is one of Birmingham’s oldest social service agencies.Loop has been involved with Gateway in some shape or form for the past 25 years, and been CEO for nearly 14 of those years. Under his leadership, Gateway changed its name from Family and Child Services, moved its administrative offices to a newly purchased building on Southside, and expanded its programs to Huntsville and Mobile. Loop received his MSW with a concentration in planning and administration from the UA School of Social Work. Contact: David Miller, media relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu

UA TO HOST ROBOTICS COMPETITION – More than 350 students from third graders to seniors in high school from across Alabama will be at The University of Alabama April 6 telling robots what to do and hoping their instructions are good enough to win the Alabama Robotics Competition.The competition, which is in its third year, is hosted by the UA College of Engineering’s department of computer science.For more details, watch www.uanews.ua.edu or contact Adam Jones, UA engineering media relations, at 205/348-6444 or acjones12@eng.ua.edu

MOUNDVILLE SATURDAY IN THE PARK FEATURES WIRE-WRAPPED JEWELRY – Artist and historian Catherine Sloan, of Warrior, will demonstrate wire-wrapped jewelry making, a modern art that has been adapted to Native American jewelry, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park. Park entrance fees will apply. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA media relations, 205/348-8325 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu

SONIC FRONTIERS – UA’s Sonic Frontiers presents a concert by New York composer Aaron Siegel and the UA Percussion Ensemble at 6 p.m. Monday, April 8, at the Park at Manderson Landing on the Black Warrior River. The UA Percussion Ensemble, led by Dr. Tim Feeney, will perform Siegel’s hypnotic piece for eight glockenspiels, “Science is Only a Sometimes Friend.” The event is free and open to the public; audience members may bring instruments to join in. Contact: Dr. Andrew Raffo Dewar, 205/348-9928 or adewar@ua.edu.