University of Alabama wins $2.2 million grant to improve Head Start curriculum across state
Al.com – Nov. 20
The University of Alabama has won a $2.2 million national grant to implement new curriculum to Head Start preschoolers and their families across west Alabama. The grant, awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, aims to improve the “school readiness” of Head Start children, according to a UA press release. Six UA researchers will provide Head Start programs across seven West Alabama counties with new classroom and family-based curriculum called PATHS, or Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies. The new curriculum aims to create a positive classroom environment, teaching kids proper classroom etiquette and how to control their emotions. Family curriculum will include job skills and financial management training.
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 20
University of Alabama students raise awareness about secondhand smoke dangers with flash mob
Al.com – Nov. 19
More than 100 University of Alabama students will gather on the Quad Thursday, Nov. 21, to raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Members of the health education honor society Eta Sigma Gamma plan to represent the approximately 135 people who die per day due to secondhand smoke exposure, the society’s president said in a UA press release. The press release calls the event a ‘flash mob’ — a group of people who gather suddenly in a public area — and says the group wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke in a “somewhat shocking” way. Participants will suddenly drop to the ground, playing “dead”. “The impact of seeing all these people falling dead will help witnesses visualize the actual effects that are caused every single day by exposure to secondhand smoke,” President Jamie Schumacker said.
Balloon musician Judy Dunaway to continue Sonic Frontiers Concert series
Al.com – Nov. 19
Judy Dunaway will perform Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Moody Music Building Recital Hall as part of the Sonic Frontiers Concert Series at the University of Alabama. The composer and performer’s chosen instrument is the latex balloon. You read that right. Dunaway will present a concert of the singular balloon music she has developed for more than two decades. The concert will include an audience interactive performance of her Balloon Symphony No. 2. Admission is free. Dunaway’s free improvisations and compositions on latex balloons have been presented at major festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Roy and Edna Disney Center (Los Angeles), Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors (New York), the Guelph Jazz Festival (Canada), and Podewil (Berlin). She recently completed a 16-city tour of Europe, including performances at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and the Geiger Festival (Sweden).
New Ways to Fight ‘Imposter Fears’
Wall Street Journal – Nov. 19
Feeling as if you don’t belong—that you’ve landed in a fortunate spot by luck or by accident—can send anyone into a tailspin, from college students to corporate executives. Imposter fears are common among men and women alike, research shows, and are blamed for an array of problems, from high college-failure and dropout rates to low female participation in math, engineering and science jobs. Separate from general emotional insecurity, imposter fears affect high achievers and tend to focus on worries about being exposed as a phony. These feelings can come up in many situations in the workplace—when an executive is called upon to accept a promotion, dig into a tough project, or give voice to a fledgling idea…Support from colleagues who can provide a reality check is one of the best ways to combat imposter fears at work, says a 2012 study by researchers at the University of Alabama.
Judge rules Plains Southcap eminent domain application OK but reserves ultimate judgment
Al.com – Nov. 19
Plains Southcap — regardless of whether it’s a partnership or a corporation — has the right to file a legal action to take land owned by the local water utility, a judge ruled Tuesday…Tuesday’s hearing, which lasted about four hours, focused on two broad areas – interpretation of state law and the Alabama Constitution, and whether federal law trumps Alabama law…Originally formed as a limited liability corporation, Plains Southcap filed papers to incorporate the business on Oct. 31 following a ruling by Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis that LLCs have no power under Alabama law to take property through condemnation. James Bryce, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, testified that the business experienced no substantive alteration by the incorporation. “It’s just a change of clothes,” he said.
Program recognizes, develops PR leaders
Crimson White – Nov. 20
Almost every major and department in colleges around the country have their own honor societies and leadership organizations. At The University of Alabama, the department of public relations recognizes exceptional students through a program known as the Plank Center. The center was founded in 2005 and named after Betsy Plank, a UA graduate known as the “first lady” of public relations. Karla Gower, executive director of the Plank Center, said the mission of the program is to recognize and develop leaders in public relations and to bridge the gap between education and practice. The primary goal is to bring educators, practitioners and students together in order to benefit one another. “Mentorship is really important to building leadership skills and developing future leaders, which is what the Plank Center is all about,” she said. Gower said the program had its Milestones and Mentoring Gala in Chicago Nov. 14, where more than 300 public relations professionals, educators and students came together to honor five mentors in five different categories.
Manikin simulations help train nursing students
Crimson White – Nov. 20
He looked like a football player suffering from dehydration propped in a hospital bed. The distorted face and plastic limbs ruined the illusion as the manikin sat lifeless, simulating short breaths and blinks. With wires instead of veins, the manikin is one of 13 The University of Alabama’s School of Nursing owns that can suffer any medical problem, talk and give the impression of bodily functions. The manikin’s limbs cannot move, but nursing students can inject medicine, attach an IV, deal with fake blood and more. The faculty has a nearly limitless ability to create any simulation from adding wounds to burns to heart attacks – even simulating labor.,, The University got its first manikin in 2005. Now, with manikins that can change gender, a female simulator that can give birth, pediatric manikins, a toddler and a newborn baby, the school has a wider repertoire to offer its students a range of experiences.
Creation of digital libraries for clinical medicine
Emporia Gazette (Kansas) – Nov. 19
“Renewed Commitment to Outstanding Research Aimed at Intractable Problems” is the theme of the Emporia State University, School of Library and Information Management Ph.D. Fall Research Forum on Saturday at ESU-Kansas City in Overland Park. Dr. Steven MacCall, associate professor and interim director of the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies will speak about his research in the theory, history, design, development and deployment of cooperative organizing of online texts, textual artifacts, and digital special collection materials. MacCall suggests an “online book” model that will enable and account for textual production, artifact organization, transition, multiplication, reception and use across distributed online library networks.