UA professor wins Indiana author’s award
WISH-CBS (Indianapolis, Ind.) – Oct. 26
This year’s national winner of the Indiana Authors Award goes to a Fort Wayne native. Michael Martone is a professor at the University of Alabama but he is a Fort Wayne native…As for the award, he says he is glad his books have brought attention to the state.
WNDY (Indianapolis, Ind.) – Oct. 26
Alabama water ski team finishes 3rd at nationals
Crimson White – Oct. 28
Days before Matthew Oglesby was scheduled to take off for California to compete in the slalom at Collegiate Nationals for The University of Alabama water ski club, he learned he would also have to compete in the tricks event after a teammate was suddenly unable to make the competition. “I hadn’t ridden my trick ski in about a year, and so I had to go out late, late the night before we were going to leave to ride my trick ski,” freshman Oglesby said. “We have to do whatever we have to do.” Collegiate Nationals was hosted by San Diego State University at Imperial Lakes in El Centro, Calif., Oct. 17-19. SkiBama placed third overall as a team with a score of 10,330 points.
Holt cemetery is site of University of Alabama service project
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
The University of Alabama’s Community Service Center is sponsoring a volunteer service project Sunday at Holt Cemetery as part of the yearlong commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the university’s successful desegregation. The project, titled “Schoolhouse Service Stand,” will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Holt Cemetery on 40th Avenue NE in Holt, according to a release from UA. About 125 students are expected to participate. Students can register from 2 to 3 p.m. on Sunday in Ferguson Plaza or online at www.volunteer.ua.edu/. Students are also invited to a dinner and reflection from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Ferguson Center, followed by a candlelight walk to Foster Auditorium for a closing ceremony at 8 p.m.
Haunting at the Museum ghost tour expands in 3rd year to full Halloween event
Crimson White – Oct. 28
With fall in full swing and Halloween right around the corner, haunted houses and ghost tours are in the midst of their busiest season. The Alabama Museum of Natural History located in Smith Hall will join in the Halloween festivities Oct. 29 with its third annual Haunting at the Museum walking ghost tour. The tour begins in Smith Hall and explores five different locations around the Quad that are said to be haunted. These locations include Gorgas Library, Little Round House, Gorgas House and the roped-off bricks known to be the ruins of Madison Hall. Madison Hall was destroyed during the Civil War by Union members. Every year on April 3, the anniversary of its incineration, people report getting a whiff of smoke coming from the phantom Madison Hall being burned down. Todd Hester, museum naturalist and this year’s Haunting at the Museum tour guide, said the story of Madison Hall is one of his favorites to tell because people can still see the remaining blocks and envision the building.
Halloween events, fall festivals on tap in Tuscaloosa area
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 28
–Haunting at the Museum: 6 -8 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Alabama Museum of Natural History on the University of Alabama campus. The free event will feature guided, candlelit ghost walks around the Quad, children’s activities, a scavenger hunt and ghost stories at the museum. –Sorority row trick-or-treat: 6-8 p.m. Oct. 29 hosted by the University of Alabama’s Panhellenic Association. Children ages 12 and younger are invited to dress up in costumes and trick or treat.
Michigan researcher to discuss suicides among black men
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 26
A University of Michigan associate professor is scheduled to present a free public lecture at the University of Alabama on Nov. 11 about suicidal behavior among black males. Sean Joe, a nationally recognized authority on suicidal behavior in the black community, will present a lecture titled “American Suicide: Examining the Social Lives of Suicidal Black Males” at UA’s School of Social Work for the school’s Colloquium Series. The lecture series brings speakers to UA to share expertise with faculty, staff, students and guests, according to a release from the university. The free lecture begins at noon Nov. 11 in Room 104 of Little Hall. Joe is associate professor in the School of Social Work and in the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan’s School of Medicine.
Mississippi community colleges reach tipping point
Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Miss.) – Oct. 26
Cracks are growing in a two-year college system Mississippi has relied upon for nearly a century to bridge the educational gap between high school and a four-year degree, churn out a skilled work force and grow the state’s economy. Though the state’s 15 community and junior colleges are consistently ranked among the top systems in the nation, tough economic times and shifting job market trends have taken their toll, driving up tuition costs and slashing operating budgets — all while expanding the schools’ missions … Over the next several semesters, some 7,000 students in Mississippi could lose their Pell Grant eligibility, according to a report from the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama.
Hattiesburg American (Miss.) – Oct. 26
‘Octubafest’ showcases tuba players at ‘Bama
NBC 38 (Columbus, Ga.) – Oct. 25
It’s Oktoberfest, minus the beer, and with more tubas. October is a time to celebrate the lowest of the brass wind instruments on some U.S. college campuses during an event called “Octubafest.” Octubafest is being held for the first time this year at the University of Alabama. Tuba instructor Jeremy Crawford says beer is out at Octubafest in Tuscaloosa – most of his students are below legal drinking age anyway. But at a recital held Wednesday and during other events, students show off their skills on tubas and tenor tubas, which are called “euphoniums.” Graduate student Stephanie Landry says Octubafest is a great chance for tuba players to get off the back row of the band and show they can play solos and lead parts like other musicians.
Class allows students to provide free tax prep
Crimson White – Oct. 28
As The University of Alabama continues to grow, the Honors College has created several new service-learning courses like Poverty, Faith and Justice in America. Designed as a dual impact initiative, the course aims to influence student thinking while also making a hands-on difference across the state through free tax preparation. After taking an IRS certification test, students enrolled in the course are placed in the field serving as SaveFirst volunteer tax preparers, Heather Christensen, coordinator for the course, said. SaveFirst is a statewide initiative through Impact Alabama where college students from 16 campuses are trained to interact with and provide cost-free tax preparation for low-income families, particularly those found eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refund. Through this role, students work in a setting not readily available to most college students, providing them with insight into deeply rooted socioeconomic issues. The EITC component, implemented by the federal government, is intended to combat poverty by providing additional support for families in need.
Books of Madison County
Jackson Sun – Oct. 26
Decades of chasing news stories and countless hours spent writing about his family and the rural Alabama woods he called home have given Rick Bragg enough personal insights and skill that he seems comfortable talking about anything. Read a few of the columns he writes for Southern Living magazine for lessons in painting word pictures. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author, Bragg offers readers plenty of stories, but there’s one facet of modern life he doesn’t touch. Social media. “I am not an expert on new media. I totally don’t get involved. My publishing house (Alfred A. Knopf) has some people maintain my Facebook page,” he said. “I don’t know how to tweet. I’m not even sure tweeting is something a grown man ought to do.” Everyone will have a chance to hear this renowned writer discuss much more than his hashtag-less life when he serves as the featured speaker at the third annual Books of Madison County on Tuesday…He is a writing instructor at the University of Alabama.
Art, science become intertwined in Woods Quad sculpture
Crimson White – Oct. 28
As spiraling sunlight falls on Woods Quad, the rays reflect off a newly placed sculpture created by Lindsay Lindsey. The sculpture began as a part of a project among the engineering, interior design and sculpture departments, where teams of students created projects to bring light to an area of campus. Lindsey said Shelby Hall helped inspire the sculpture, with its abundant light and scientific focus. “I wanted to develop a sculpture that also reflected the scientific nature of the complex and decided on a three-dimensional Fibonacci Spiral based off of the Fibonacci sequence,” said Lindsey, a 2012 University of Alabama aluma.“After the semester and that collaboration ended, I continued to work on the idea of the sculpture.” During Lindsey’s undergraduate career, she majored in studio art with a sculpture concentration and minored in biology, the Computer-Based Honors Program and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.
Performing for campus
Crimson White – Oct. 28
Awed expressions mix with confused stares as students passing through the Quad are met with a circus of bowling pins flying through the air or unicycles zipping across sidewalks. But these are not acts in a travelling circus or entertainment troupe. Instead they are students practicing an uncommon – yet entertaining – hobby. One of the personalities behind the pins is Nathan Porter, a sophomore majoring in computer science and math, who began his high-flying hobby in high school. “I was on the tennis team, and my coach used to juggle balls during practice. I thought, ‘I want to learn how to do that,’” Porter said. He said the seemingly difficult skill wasn’t hard to pick up; it only took him a few months to master the three-pin rotation. Porter started using the UA Quad as his personal big top last year. “I started coming to the Quad to juggle after Get on Board Day, where I learned about the Crimson Jugglers. [The Quad] was where they would meet up,” Porter said. “Now I come here between classes since I live off campus. It’s just a good space because it’s big and open.”
DON NOBLE: University of Alabama retiree develops ‘Needed’ detective, saga
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 28
Retired from the University of Alabama, Bill Fitts has actually done what so many threaten: He has taken up writing murder mysteries. The Needed Killing Series has a pleasing premise. In each novel, and this is the third, the murder victim is obnoxious and widely disliked. This not only makes the reader feel better about the death, it also swells the number of suspects. In books 1 and 2, Fitts killed off the director of the technology center at the university and then the director of the university press.
Stay safe while tailgating
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 26
A reminder to stay safe while staying warm and having fun tailgating at the University of Alabama this weekend: UA game day operations wants Crimson Tide fans to remember to be extra careful using grills or fire pits on campus. More of them might be fired up to keep warm on what’s going to be a chilly Saturday on the Crimson Tide campus. Gina Johnson says make sure you have a fire extinguisher if you’re grilling, or using a fire pit to keep warm Alabama is hosting Tennessee today in Tuscaloosa. Kick-off is at 2:30 this afternoon