Improving lives of Alzheimer’s patients will be focus of conference
Dothan Eagle – April 2
Caregivers – professional and family – will have the opportunity to improve their skills during the 25th annual Alzheimer’s Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, in the Dothan Civic Center. The conference is co-sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Resource Center and Wallace Community College. The educational conference, which will provide continuing education units for professional caregivers, will feature speakers who will draw from many years of experience in caring for patients and loved ones who have been diagnosed with this devastating brain disease or who have expertise in programs that can aid families dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementias … Dr. Daniel Potts, a neurologist, brings a unique perspective to the conference. In addition to treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease, he has firsthand knowledge of the disease’s impact on a family. “Dr. Potts will be speaking more as a family caregiver than as a doctor,” Jones said. “He will talk about the special journey he had with his dad. As noted in his biography, he ‘seeks to improve the quality of life for persons with dementia and their caregivers primarily through innovative approaches incorporating the expressive arts and person-centered care.’” Dr. Potts is the founder and president of Cognitive Dynamics, and it was through this program that he developed, with the aid of The University of Alabama Honors College, “Bringing Art to Life,” an art therapy/life story preservation initiative for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Pine-Richland grad earns University of Alabama award for excellence
Trib Live (Pittsburgh, Pa.) – April 2
Versatility and “excellence in mind and character” distinguish Brian McWilliams, 19, of Pine. Those qualities helped McWilliams recently earn the 2014 John Fraser Ramsey Award at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. It’s one of five Premier Awards annually given to individuals among the school’s 34,000 undergraduate and graduate students. “The fact that he could stand out there was really kind of amazing,” said his mother, Karen McWilliams, Winning the award also surprised her eldest son. “It was definitely a surprise. … I didn’t think I had a chance,” said Brian McWilliams, who applied for the award named after a former history professor at the University of Alabama. The award includes a $6,000 stipend for a trip to Europe. “I’ve never been to Europe,” said Brian McWilliams, a 2012 graduate of Pine-Richland High School who aspires to a career in medicine. But McWilliams — son of Kevin and Karen McWilliams of Oak Haven housing plan in Pine — plans to postpone his travel prize for one year in order to work this summer as a research intern at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine.
US law students learn to dispel island myths
CayCompass (Cayman Islands) – April 2
A group of 21 law students from the University of Alabama spent last week in the Cayman Islands to better understand the workings of the territory’s financial market. Alabama Professor Andrew Morriss started the course, “Special Problems in Corporate Law: Offshore Financial Transactions,” 10 years ago to educate people about the island’s financial industry and how it works. “First, they [students] learn how transactions like captive insurance or investment funds are done and meet the professionals and regulators here that they will need as contacts to do them. Second, they learn what goes on in Cayman rather than the U.S. media image,” Mr. Morriss said. He said the course had been designed to rid myths surrounding the island. “When I tell people I teach a course in the Cayman Islands, they laugh and say, ‘Are you teaching money laundering?’” Mr. Morriss said. “It is not a John Grisham novel.”
Auburn University to host ‘Iron Bowl of Programming’ on Saturday
Al.com – April 2
Auburn University and the University of Alabama will compete in the “Iron Bowl of Programming” this Saturday at Auburn University’s Shelby Center of Engineering. During the event, the University of Alabama and Auburn University chapters of the Association for Computing Machinery will face-off in a competition that involves solving 10 programming problems in a five-hour window without internet access. In addition to bragging rights, the winning team will win a 3D printed trophy, which will be passed between the universities as the competition continues through the years. Students will be to watch the contest in action as well as speak with representatives from sponsors Lockheed Martin and Google. The event will run from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m., and students are invited to drop in at anytime.
HALT fights against bullying, harrassment in local schools
Crimson White – April 3
For the last two years, Tuscaloosa City Schools has partnered with students from The University of Alabama Capstone Agency to strengthen the district’s anti-bullying campaign initiatives. Harassment Awareness Learning Together, or HALT, began in 2012 after district officials attended an anti-bullying conference and decided they needed to make a concentrated, district-wide effort to inform students about bullying, Vickie Brown, director of student services for TCS, said. “We were doing some things but not very consistent from school to school,” Brown said. “So we just talked about how we needed to have a common language, definition and reporting of bullying. It just really brought to our attention things that we really needed to put in place.” Lesley Bruinton, public relations coordinator for TCS, said a guidance counselor has theorized a program like HALT, and after the conference some of her ideas were implemented in a creative way. “Some of the things that we did in the first year were posters and presentations with the students,” Bruinton said. “We designed and developed a logo that would get kids thinking about their actions and reactions.”
Students give back through disaster relief, mentoring
Crimson White – April 3
From helping build houses to rehabbing local elementary schools, some University of Alabama students strive to uphold the pursuits of civic responsibility. Jared Patterson, volunteer coordinator for the local Habitat for Humanity, said about 2,000 UA students have helped Habitat through the years. He said student organizations, fraternities, sororities and almost every college at the University have contributed. “We’ve just had tremendous support throughout the UA community, and we love them for it,” Patterson said. “We hope to continue it for years to come. They’ve done a fantastic job.” … The Community Service Center partners with local and campus organizations “to educate students to become advocates for service, increase awareness of civic responsibility, [and] strengthen relationships between students and their communities,” according to the center’s website. The center offers weekly community service opportunities in areas including Youth and Education, Hunger and Homelessness, Civic Engagement and Outreach and the Al’s Pals Mentoring Program.
Students program robots in statewide competition
Crimson White – April 3
This weekend, The University of Alabama will host the Alabama Robotics Competition, an event open to K-12 students. The competition will involve programming robots to navigate a series of obstacle sources. “[There is] an emphasis on programming skills, resulting in autonomous robot control, rather than a robot that is maneuvered by a remote control,” Jeff Gray, associate professor in computer science, said. “Points are scored in this new competition based on the clever solutions of student programs rather than the skill of a teammate with a remote control.” The contest, which was started in 2011, will host nearly 70 teams this year, giving out awards in several categories across grade levels in elementary, middle and high school divisions. Gray said the event is important given the rise of computer science jobs and opportunities.
Miniature book exhibit covers 230-year period
Crimson White – April 3, 2014
Three inches is close to the size of the average golf tee, travel-sized toothpaste and the maximum width, length and height of a miniature book, as dictated by the Miniature Book Society. Ninety-six of these tiny manuscripts, which belong to the Kate Webb Ragsdale Miniature Book Collection, part of The University of Alabama’s W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, are now on display in Gorgas Library, alongside a traveling exhibit owned by the MBS. Placed in chronological order, the collection spans nearly 230 years, beginning with a Bible from 1780 and ending with Sidney Berger’s “Wise by a Nose at the Finish,” circa 2008. The collection was purchased in 2013 in memory of the late Kate Ragsdale, who retired in August 2006 after serving as both a librarian and planning officer for UA Libraries. Ragsdale visited a miniature book exhibit held in Gorgas in 2012 with her then 12-year-old granddaughter Eliza, and both became enchanted by the displays, according to a letter Ragsdale sent to organizers. “We thought the collection would be a really nice way to honor her memory,” said Donna Adcock, director of public relations for UA Libraries. “She really enjoyed the miniature books.”
Wallet Wellness
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 2
April is financial literacy month, and “WalletHub” has come out with a report, naming the best and worst U.S. cities when it comes to something known as “wallet wellness.” … In WalletHub’s report, two Alabama cities landed spots in the ten worst cities for wallet wellness … Assistant professor at the University of Alabama and certified financial planner Jan Brakefield has a good guess why nine of the ten worst cities for wallet wellness are located in the southern states. “Lack of knowledge is probably what is causing us to be in those low scales.”