UA Researchers Win Grant for Shrimp/Uranium Project
Alabama Public Radio – July 28
The U.S. Department of Energy is rewarding researchers at the University of Alabama with a $1.5 million grant for their work. It almost seems out of science fiction. They’re using shrimp in a way that could potentially one day power America’s homes and businesses. Robin Rogers is chair of chemistry at U.A. and the director of the university’s Center for Green Manufacturing. Robin Rogers: “We’re taking a polymer that’s in the shrimp shells, and we’re turning it into a material which can remove uranium from the ocean.” Uranium is found in the ocean in small concentrations, but given the staggering size of the earth’s oceans, all of that uranium added up amounts to far more than can be found on land. And so the DOE wants to be able to essentially mine that uranium for nuclear energy. Rogers says they have a material that can do just that. He says to think of it as like a magnet. Rogers: “I think all my chemist friends will give me a hard time for saying that but essentially that’s what happens. We put something on the surface that attracts the uranium that’s in the ocean, grabs it, and won’t let go.” The polymer they extract from shrimp shells is called chitin. It’s a natural, biodegradable material that Rogers says would be a great alternative to plastics that others are trying to use for the same purpose.
Alabama 21: From panhandle to Piedmont, it’s a route of history
Anniston Star – July 27
Less than a mile from the southern end of Alabama Highway 21 in Atmore, within sight of the Florida state line, you can buy a car at Johnson Ford. If you’re so inclined, you can point that car north on 21 and drive all the way to the highway’s northern end in Piedmont, where you can buy a new set of tires at Masters’ OK Tire, at the intersection with Alabama 9. It might not be enough highway to wear away much tread, but Alabama 21’s 279.3 miles make it one of the state’s longest state-signed routes … Why numbers? At first, most roads had names, according to Joe Weber, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Alabama who specializes in transport geography. Highways being built across the country as part of a “good roads” movement had been dubbed the Lincoln Highway, Dixie Highway and Bankhead Highway. And local paths long had names that meant something to the people who used them: the towns they led to or people who lived along them. “They just became a mess,” Weber said of the names. “There were so many names applied willy-nilly.”
University of Alabama to host workshop on sustainable fuels
Tuscaloosa News – July 26
The University of Alabama College of Engineering is co-sponsoring a sustainable fuels workshop Tuesday featuring 10 nationally recognized experts in energy. The “Sustainable Fuels: Production and Combustion,” workshop will focus on research on production, processing and combustion of biofuels and opportunity fuels. Its goal is to enlighten students and encourage collaboration in the energy field. The seminars by the speakers, a mix of experts from private industry, universities and government labs, are suitable for a wide audience with some technical background. The workshop is co-sponsored by the UA College of Engineering, the department of mechanical engineering and the Institute for Sustainable Energy and begins at 8 a.m. in Room 1013 in the South Engineering Research Center at UA.
University of Alabama sorority breaks fundraising record for St. Jude Children’s Hospital
Al.com – July 28
The University of Alabama chapter of Delta Delta Delta is this year’s top fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital after raising more than $200,000, according to a UA report. The Delta Mu chapter raised $204,414, the first Tri Delta chapter to ever raise more than $200,000. Chapters across the country raised $6.1 million altogether. To honor the sorority’s contribution, the hospital will hang a signed UA flag on site in Memphis. “We have strong competition from other large Tri Delta chapters that have all raised huge amounts of money in recent years,” said Patricia Stutts, president of Delta Delta Delta at UA, in a UA release. “All of the money raised is for a great cause, so it is definitely just a friendly competition, but it does motivate us.” According to the St. Jude website, Tri Delta’s national organization adopted St. Jude as a philanthropic partner in 1999.
Tuscaloosa News – July 25
Bob Davis: Students’ first-hand view of our community
Anniston Star – July 27
The Star’s newsroom will be a little quieter on Monday. The energy level will drop in a way that everyone will feel. Savvy readers will notice that bylines that have become familiar over the past three months will slowly disappear. The Star’s latest crop of graduate students wrapped up their yearlong program last week. Come Saturday, they will don caps and gowns and lay their hands on the prize they have been working toward for the past 12 months — a master’s degree in community journalism. It will mark a milestone for the program. We will have produced 54 graduates. At the end of every July since 2007, we’ve faced the same scenario. A class of Community Journalism (ComJ) Fellows completes its course work and newspaper internships. With big smiles and even bigger ambitions, the graduates say goodbye to their friends at The Star and head out the door. Some don’t stray too far. ComJ graduates currently on staff here at the paper include reporter Brian Anderson, assistant metro editor Daniel Gaddy and Deirdre Long, who recently joined our advertising department as social media consultant. The rest are scattered across the country, working in journalism, academics and other professional fields … The ComJ project, a partnership between the University of Alabama and The Anniston Star (with some valuable start-up help from the Knight Foundation), was created as a way to formalize The Star’s reputation as a place to train young, aspiring journalists.
Arts Watch: ‘Bama girl taking crack at favorite musical roles
The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) – July 27
Summer is a time when many college students are working, traveling or attending classes either to get ahead or catch up with their course work. For one Houston woman, summer has been a chance to star in two of her favorite musical roles — right here in Bryan-College Station. Haylee Hoelscher starred earlier this summer as Fiona in The Theatre Company’s outstanding presentation of Shrek, the Musical. Now, she is taking the lead as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, the Musical, which opens Aug. 8 for two weekends at The Theatre Company. … Hoelscher is a junior at the University of Alabama, where she is majoring in musical theatre, with a minor in public relations. “I have some wonderful Aggie friends who have welcomed me with open arms into their home during rehearsals and production as long as I refrain from saying anything like ‘Roll Tide, or sing Sweet Home Alabama,” Hoelscher laughed.
COLLEGE NEWS: July 27
Tuscaloosa News – July 27
University of Alabama: Ten nationally-recognized experts in energy will speak as part of a workshop on sustainable fuels at the University of Alabama. The day-long technical workshop, “Sustainable Fuels: Production and Combustion,” begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday in Room 1013 in the South Engineering Research Center on the University of Alabama campus. Seminars are suitable for a wide audience with some technical background. More than 180 University of Alabama students during the summer 2014 semester are receiving a hands-on educational experience at more than 60 companies and organizations through University of Alabama’s Cooperative Education Program. Area participating students and work sites for summer 2014 are ….
Academic Achiever
Florence Times Daily – July 27
Andrew Lopez, a student at Brooks High School in Killen, was accepted into The University of Alabama UA Early College program. UA Early College students are high school students who earn college credit online and are eligible for the UA Summer Residential/Honors Ready Experience.
University of Alabama Alumni Association event will feature athletics director Bill Battle, band, cheerleaders, Big Al
Tuscaloosa News – July 27
The Tuscaloosa County chapter of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association invites the public to its fall kickoff party from 6-8 p.m. Aug. 14 in the Zone at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The event will feature an address by Bill Battle, UA’s director of athletics, along with appearances by UA coaches, cheerleaders, the pep band and Big Al. All money raised from ticket sales will go to fund scholarships awarded by the chapter yearly, said Mandy Wyatt, chapter president. She said she also hopes to attract more members with the event because all membership fees go toward scholarships as well. “Our main goal is scholarships. In May of this year, we awarded $80,000 in scholarships to high school seniors in Tuscaloosa County,” Wyatt said. “Everything we do goes toward raising money for scholarships.”
UA REC Center Outdoor Pool (gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – July 25
Keturah Pruitt, 3, reacts to a splash of water as she floats down the lazy river at the University of Alabama REC Center outdoor pool Friday, July 25, 2014. Keturah is from Chicago and is visiting Tuscaloosa for summer.
Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama holds career week
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 25
The Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama is wrapping up its career week … These guys have been all over Tuscaloosa this week taking tours and learning more about different fields of work that they are interested in. There may have been some future lawyers walking the halls of the University of Alabama School of Law today. Boys and Girls Club of West Alabama counselor Katherine Blackburn says she created career week to plant seeds in her students’ heads of future careers. “I just want them to see that there’s more than just being an athlete. There’s more than just being a doctor. There are so many career choices out there whether you want to be a lawyer or you want to be an astronaut, you can do it all.”