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MONDAY, MARCH 31 – SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014 

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UA HONORS WEEK CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT 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

SCIENTISTS EMPHASIZE METABOLITES’ ROLE IN UNDERSTANDING DISEASE – Overreliance on genetic-centered approaches in predicting, diagnosing and treating disease will lead to few future scientific breakthroughs, cautioned a UA researcher who co-authored an article in the latest online issue of Genetics that advocates for a greater emphasis on the body’s metabolites in understanding illnesses. “The Human Genome Project has been sold as something that is going to revolutionize medicine – that soon we will get our genomes sequenced, and we will be able to figure out exactly what diseases we are at risk for and, maybe, the best way to treat them,” said Dr. Laura Reed, a UA  geneticist and the paper’s lead author.  “While it’s true there are important innovations to come from that kind of information, it is much more limited than some may have hoped.” Using fruit flies as animal models in the research publishing in Genetics, the multi-institution team demonstrated how genetics, in combination with metabolomics and gene expression — how genes are turned on — can be used to predict heart disease and the organism’s response to environmental change, said Reed. For more information, watch for an upcoming news release or contact Chris Bryant in UA Media Relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu. Contact Reed directly at 205/348-1345 or lreed1@bama.ua.edu.

SALAMANDERS SHRINKING BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, UA STUDENT’S RESEARCH SHOWS –  Salamanders in at least one section of the country are not growing as large as they did previously, a result of climate change, according to new research published by a University of Alabama graduate student. Nick Caruso, a UA doctoral student studying in the biological sciences department with Dr. Leslie Rissler, a UA faculty member, is the lead author on the work that published last week in Global Change Biology. Caruso is expanding upon this work at UA. For more information, contact Chris Bryant in UA Media Relations, 205/348-8323 or cbryant@ur.ua.edu. Contact Caruso directly at 636-734-5894 or carusonm@gmail.com.

UA EXPERT TIPS

UA MATTERS: HOW TO TELL IF YOUR CHILD IS BEING BULLIED — Children can be bullied for many reasons. Some children are more likely to be targeted as victims if they differ from their peers because of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, weight, physical appearance, athletic skills, race, religion, the income of their families or where they live. The University of Alabama’s Dr. John E. Lochman, director for the Center for Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems, shares some signs to look for in potential bullied victims, http://uanews.ua.edu/2014/03/ua-matters-how-to-tell-if-your-child-is-being-bullied/. Contact: UA Media Relations, 205/348-5320

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’S HEALTH CORNER PROVIDES PRACTICAL HEALTH TIPS – Dr. Cathy Gresham discusses how someone gets diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in the latest video in UA’s Health Corner, https://vimeo.com/89429471. 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.

EVENTS

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.

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.