MONDAY, MARCH 17 – SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2014
The University of Alabama will be closed for spring break Monday, March 24-Friday, March 28. For assistance from Media Relations during that time, please call 205/348-5320 and follow instructions for reaching a staff member.
BEST BETS
TWO TEAMS WITH UA TIES SET FOR FINALS OF BUSINESS START-UP COMPETITION – Two companies affiliated with The University of Alabama, Bidsters and Child Safety Pass, are set to compete in a state-wide business competition this week. The companies are part of seven young businesses hoping to prove they could be commercially viable at the Alabama Launchpad Start-Up Competition. The teams will make their final pitch presentations on March 21 at Evonik Industries, 750 Lakeshore Parkway, Birmingham. The event begins at 9 a.m. Contact: Adam Jones, UA Engineering Media Relations, 205/348-6444, acjones12@eng.ua.edu.
SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN – The Alabama Forensic Council, the speech and debate team for The University of Alabama, will hold a showcase featuring several nationally qualifying competitors at 7 p.m., March 19, in Farrah Hall room 120. The event will feature team members’ competitive pieces in categories like after-dinner speaking and prose interpretation. Team members are preparing for the American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament in April. Contact: Misty Mathews, UA Media Relations, 205/348-6416 or mmathews@ua.edu.
UA EXPERT TIPS
UA MATTERS: POINTS TO CONSIDER FOR TAX FILING SEASON – As the April 15 tax deadline approaches, The University of Alabama’s Dr. Shane Stinson, assistant professor of accounting in UA’s Culverhouse School of Accountancy, offers a few items to keep in mind when evaluating your personal income tax return, http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/03/ua-matters-points-to-consider-for-tax-filing-season/. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320
UA MATTERS: HAVE A HEALTHY SPRING BREAK – It’s almost that time of year – spring break! While it’s definitely an occasion to let loose and have some fun, anyone planning on enjoying the much-awaited break should also use some caution. The University of Alabama’s Dr. Jennifer Clem, a physician and an assistant professor in the department of family medicine in UA’s College of Community Health Sciences, offers tips on how to have a healthy and safe spring break, http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/03/ua-matters-having-a-healthy-spring-break/. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320
UA’S HEALTH CORNER PROVIDES PRACTICAL HEALTH TIPS – Dr. Jared Ellis discusses the most common types of skin cancer in the latest video in UA’s Health Corner, http://vimeo.com/88803180. The video series addresses health topics and provides practical advice and guidance from UA’s expert sources and physicians in the College of Community Health Sciences. A new video topic posts every Wednesday morning. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320.
CURRENT COMMENT
TRIAL OF ABU GHAITH COULD REVEAL TRUE THREAT OF AL QAEDA – Abu Ghaith, son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, is currently facing trial for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The trial is being held in a federal court in New York City, instead of a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, giving New Yorkers the chance to attend the trial. Dr. Adam Lankford, associate professor of criminal justice at UA, believes the trial will reveal the propaganda created by Ghaith is largely unsubstantiated. “This is the trial of one of Al Qaeda’s top spokesmen and the son-in-law of bin Laden; he was practically the terrorist equivalent to the White House Press Secretary,” Lankford said. “After 9/11, Abu Ghaith’s propaganda successfully fooled our own experts into believing that 9/11 was the first of many attacks, that ‘the storm of the planes will not stop,’ and that Al Qaeda had an endless procession of suicide terrorists eager to die for the cause. For millions of Americans, he put the ‘terror’ in terrorism. The misconceptions he spawned about the true motives of the 9/11 hijackers persist today, and continue to have a dangerous impact on world events. This trial could finally confirm that his portrayal of suicide terrorists was a strategic attempt at deception, and that we have less to fear than we thought.” Contact: David Miller, UA Media Relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu or Dr. Adam Lankford, associate professor, UA department of criminal justice, 205/348-9901 or adam.lankford@ua.edu.
EVENTS
MENTAL HEALTH MONOLOGUES RESCHEDULED – Due to university closure Feb. 6, Mental Health Monologues: Erase the Stigma, has been rescheduled to March 18. The dramatic reenactments of real-life of experiences of UA students struggling with mental health issues will begin at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Center. Admission is free with CWID; a $5 donation is suggested of community members. There will be a $1 raffle and free refreshments following the performance. Contact: David Miller, UA Media Relations, 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
LOOKING AHEAD
UA HONORS WEEK PLANNED FOR MARCH 31-APRIL 6 – The University of Alabama will recognize the achievements of outstanding students and faculty during Honors Week activities on campus from Monday, March 31, to Sunday, April 6. The Tapping on the Mound ceremony, a tradition since the early 1900s, will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, on the Mound at the west side of the UA Quad (rain location will be Moody Music Building Concert Hall). University honoraries Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, Blue Key National Honor Society and Anderson Society will induct members. For a list of Honors Week activities, visit http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/03/ua-honors-week-2014-to-include-tapping-on-the-mound/. Contact: Richard LeComte, UA Media Relations, 205/348-3782 or rllecomte@ur.ua.edu
FORMER CIA OPERATIVE VALERIE PLAME TO SPEAK AT UA—Valerie Plame, famously outed as an deep cover CIA operative by the Bush White House, will speak about her experience in a public talk at The University of Alabama on Monday, March 31. Plame will screen a documentary of her experience, as well as take questions from the public. The screening is free and open to the public, and it will be held in Farrah Hall, room 129 at 7:30 p.m. Contact: Bobby Mathews, UA Media Relations, 205/348-4956.
NPR’S MICHELE NORRIS TO DELIVER NIX LECTURE FOR UA’S BLACKBURN INSTITUTE – Award-winning National Public Radio journalist Michele Norris will deliver the 2014 Frank A. Nix Lecture, a program of UA’s Blackburn Institute. The lecture will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Morgan Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Norris is a host and special correspondent for NPR. She served as co-host of NPR’s newsmagazine “All Things Considered” with Robert Siegel and Melissa Block from 2002 to 2012. For more information, call the Blackburn Institute at 205/348-3277 or contact Richard LeComte, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-3782 or rllecomte@ur.ua.edu.
UA TO HOST ROBOTICS CONTEST – About 350 students from third graders to high school seniors from across Alabama will be at The University of Alabama April 5 telling robots what to do and hoping their instructions are good enough to win the Alabama Robotics Competition. The competition begins at 9 a.m. at the Bryant Conference Center. For more information, watch UA News or visit http://outreach.cs.ua.edu/robotics-contest. Contact: Adam Jones, UA Engineering Media Relations, 205/348-6444, acjones12@eng.ua.edu; or Dr. Jeff Gray, associate professor of computer science, 205/348-2847, gray@cs.ua.edu.