Joab Thomas, 81, former president, University of Alabama and Penn State
Chicago Sun-Times – March 6
Joab Thomas, who served as president of the University of Alabama for seven years in the 1980s, died Monday at age 81, officials said. As president, Mr. Thomas helped triple research funding, raise admissions and curriculum standards and build economic development initiatives, University of Alabama officials said in a statement. His cause of death was unclear Monday evening. “Dr. Thomas had a pivotal impact on The University of Alabama at a critical time in our history,” University of Alabama President Judy Bonner said in a statement. “His commitment to enhancing academic excellence, supporting and encouraging faculty research, and promoting economic development efforts in West Alabama and throughout the state launched the University on a path that we continue to follow in many ways today.” University of Alabama System Chancellor Robert Witt said Mr. Thomas was at the forefront of higher education.
Memorial service held for former UA President Dr. Joab Thomas
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – March 6
Friends and family gathered in Tuscaloosa to remember former University of Alabama President Dr. Joab Thomas who died on March 3rd. The service lasted about 45 minutes with Reverend David Meginniss, the Reverend Dr. Catherine Collier and the Reverend James Lee Winter officiating. Many people who met and worked with job Thomas during his eighty-one years packed into the chapel of Christ Episcopal Church. Former University of Alabama President Dr. David Matthews said, “Joab Thomas was the greatest friend you could ever have and the great colleague.” People spoke fondly about the man who was born in Holt and received two degrees from Harvard University. Tom Jones, a colleague of Thomas said, “I think somewhat of a humble man, but quite an accomplished person.” In 1961, Thomas joined the Biology Department at the University of Alabama as an assistant professor.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 6
Alana Nichols, a former Alabama grad student, can add to her Paralympic medal collection in Sochi (photos)
Al.com – March 7
Alana Nichols had sports dreams when she was 17. The Farmington, N.M., native had been a three-sport athlete since she was in the fourth grade. She went to the hoop on the basketball court, sprawled for digs on a volleyball court and could field her shortstop position on the softball diamond. “I was hoping to go to college on a softball scholarship,” Nichols recalled. “I had had a number of universities and smaller colleges looking at me. In softball, we have a thing called slap bunting and I was pretty proficient with that.” That, of course, was before she broke her back doing a snowboarding trick on a makeshift jumping ramp in the backcountry of Colorado. But real life without the use of her legs may have taken Nichols, a former University of Alabama grad student, farther than she had ever dreamed. “To be honest, I can’t imagine that I would have been able to travel the world like I have as an athlete with a disability,” said Nichols, part of the U.S. contingent at the Sochi Paralympics. “I guarantee I would have never found my way into the Beijing Summer Paralympic Games.” Nichols is a Paralympic veteran, one who has a neat collection of medals. She won a gold medal in wheelchair basketball in 2008 Summer Games, and two gold medals – in downhill and giant slalom – in the 2010 Winter Games.
Alabama women’s wheelchair team advances to championship
The Shorthorn (Texas) – March 6
The University Alabama women’s wheelchair basketball team took down the University of Illinois 51-43 to conclude Thursday’s action in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Tournament. “Every time we play them, it’s a really hard game,” Alabama head coach Brent Hardin said. Alabama managed to win without its second leading scorer, Cindy Ouellet, who was out with a concussion. Hardin felt that Ouellet could have played, but the team wanted her to be healthy for the rest of the tournament.
Bitcoin roiled by yet more bad news. Can it survive?
Christian Science Monitor – March 6
As hyperbolic headlines go, the upstart crypto-currency Bitcoin is having what could only be called a seriously bad week. On Tuesday, yet another exchange bit the dust – the Vancouver-based Flexcoin closed, taking all its online cash down with it. On Wednesday came news of the death of a Bitcoin entrepreneur in Singapore, probably by suicide. Then on Thursday, the entire Bitcoin world was upended by the revelation in Newsweek that the elusive creator of the Bitcoin code – known for the past six years as Satoshi Nakamoto, thought by most to be a pseudonym – is actually just that: a 64-year-old Japanese-American by that name, living quietly in Los Angeles … University of Alabama finance professor Benton Gup relates this real-time story about awaiting the arrival Thursday afternoon of an undergrad. “He just sent me an e-mail asking if he could come talk to me because he wants to open his own Bitcoin exchange,” he said with a laugh, during a phone interview from his Tuscaloosa campus office.
Report: Anniston trailing rest of Alabama in job recovery since recession
Franklin Daily Journal (Ind.) – March 6
Compared to all other metro areas in Alabama, Calhoun County has recovered fewer jobs since the Great Recession hit, but recent signs suggest increased local economic gains are ahead. A report presented Wednesday at the annual Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Economic Forum shows county employment at the end of 2013 was down around 10 percent from six years before, just before the recession hit — the poorest performance among the state’s 11 metro areas … Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, agreed that cuts in defense spending have hurt the area in terms of not just jobs but also the housing market. “Defense cutbacks in general have impacts on home construction,” Ijaz said. “When you have a chance of losing your job, you’re not going to be buying a house.”
Creative Campus hosts Artcade
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 7
Video games made their way to the campus of the University of Alabama. Creative Campus hosted the event “Artcade” at the UA Rec Center tonight. This event was an interactive exhibit that celebrates the artistic process of creating video games. The Artcade aims at breaking stereotypes and looks to introduce people to the development and artistic aspects of video games. Individuals can participate in speed-runs of games and behind the scenes features. WVUA caught up with project leader Lauren Balut about future plans for the event. “And for the future we are talking about doing something about the societal impact of video games and expanding on that but we will see.” The event also featured musical works for games, composed by actual students.