Tupelo’s John Servati, Alabama swimmer who died saving girlfriend in story, to receive NCAA’s Award of Valor
Biloxi Sun Herald (Miss.) – Nov. 13
The NCAA is honoring a University of Alabama swimmer who was killed while saving his girlfriend during a storm in Tuscaloosa earlier this year. The NCAA says it will present its 2015 Award of Valor posthumously to John Servati of Tupelo, Mississippi. The 21-year-old swimmer died in April while taking shelter in the basement of a home during a storm. A retaining wall collapsed on him. Servati’s girlfriend Lauren Swann has since said the athlete saved her life by protecting her and freeing her from the fallen blocks. An NCAA statement says Servati will be honored next year during the sanctioning organization’s convention. The award goes to someone who shows bravery in a situation involving personal danger. Alabama swimming and diving coach Dennis Pursley says Servati embodied the award.
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Nov. 13
Decatur Daily – Nov. 13
WPMI-NBC (Mobile) – Nov. 13
WTVA-NBC (Columbus, Miss.) (No video) – Nov. 13
WLOV-Fox (Tupelo, Miss.) (No video) – Nov. 13
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 13
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Nov. 13
What Are You Really Eating? Wearable Camera Tracks Your Meals
Live Science – Nov. 13
A wearable camera that hooks around the ear could become a constant meal companion for people who want to accurately monitor their diet. Many fitness trackers and exercise apps include a diet component, but all of them require users to self-report how much they eat. That method can lead to unreliable data, as people may forget to report some meals, poorly estimate how much they’re actually eating or underreport their meals on purpose. Currently, people can “estimate diet and nutrient intake, but the primary method is self-reporting,” Edward Sazonov, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Alabama, said in a statement. Sazonov is working on a new device that aims to solve that problem.
Bill would protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation
Anniston Star – Nov. 13
Alabama’s only openly gay lawmaker says she’s preparing a bill to ban workplace discrimination against gay and lesbian state employees — and she’ll name it after Apple CEO Tim Cook. “I’m calling it the Tim Cook Economic Development Act,” said Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham. … Todd said many Alabamians believe gay workers are already protected under law — though there’s no explicit mention of sexual orientation in federal civil rights laws, and no law in Alabama protecting gay workers … Efforts to use the Title VII Civil Rights Act to challenge anti-gay discrimination in the workplace have been “hit or miss” in federal courts, said James Leonard, a vice dean who teaches employment law at the University of Alabama School of Law. Some plaintiffs have successfully argued that anti-gay discrimination is a form of gender discrimination under the civil rights law, Leonard said. More often, courts have rejected those claims, saying gay rights weren’t on the minds of lawmakers in the mid-1960s. “Think of ‘Mad Men’ or something like that,” he said, speaking of the television show set in the 1960s. “That kind of progressivism just was not in the air.”
“Twelfth Night” coming to University of Alabama theater
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 13
Though it doesn’t sprout decorated trees and holly, misrule thrives in “Twelfth Night.” In medieval England, winter festivals wound down after 12 days of revelry, during which a Lord of Misrule, lucky recipient of a bean baked into a cake, ran rampant. The social order turned topsy-turvy: lords served, servants ruled; gifts were given, drinks were drunk, dogs and cats lived together. Some of those symbols, borrowed from ancient festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia and Celtic Samhain, evolved into Christmas and Carnival trinkets. New Orleans’ and others’ Mardi Gras celebrations still prominently feature the King Cake, in which the bean is now a plastic baby. So director Seth Panitch draws on more than madness in his method, presenting Shakespeare’s tale of crossed loves, cross lovers and cross-dressing in early 20th-century New Orleans, flavoring already-musical language with standards from “Stormy Weather” to “Sweet Georgia Brown” to “When the Saints Go Marching In.” In the University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance production opening Tuesday, local New Orleans style band the Voodoo Saints provides live backing to Panitch’s vision.
5 things to do in Tuscaloosa this weekend
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 13
The show must go on, unless there’s a bigger one in town: The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along” takes Saturday off, but will be performed again at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday included, at the Allen Bales Theatre in Rowand-Johnson Hall on the UA campus. Tickets are $10. For more, see www.theatre.ua.edu/productions/merrily-we-roll-along.
ESPN Gameday comes to UA
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 13
The ESPN College GameDay set has returned once again to the University of Alabama campus in preparation for Saturday’s matchup. Here’s a time-lapse look at the set-up from the WVUA tower cam. Thousands of people are expected to make their way to the campus this weekend for the game.
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 14