MONDAY, JAN. 26 – SUNDAY, FEB. 1, 2015
BEST BETS
MEDIA ADVISORY: UA BUSINESS SCHOOL TO ANNOUNCE GIFT – The UA Culverhouse College of Commerce will host an event at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 29 in Alston Hall to announce a major gift to the College. Contact: Edith Parten, UA Media Relations, eparten@culverhouse.ua.edu, 205/348-8318.
DEMYSTIFYING THE SEC NETWORK — The Alabama Program in Sports Communication at UA will host Ben May, SEC Network senior director of sports management, as a guest speaker. May will speak at 5 p.m. Jan. 27 in Ferguson Center, room 3104. The event is free and open to the public. May will discuss his role within the SEC Network and share with students how core principles of sports management and communication work together in a professional workplace. For more information, contact Misty Mathews, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-6416, or Dr. Andrew Billings at 205/239-2337.
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR TO DELIVER DINOFF LECTURE – Dr. Steven C. Hayes, professor and director of clinical training at the University of Nevada, will deliver the 2014 Michael Dinoff Memorial Lecture Friday, Jan. 30 at The University of Alabama. Hayes’ lecture, “Human Suffering and Human Prosperity: Why Psychological Flexibility Matters,” will begin at 6 p.m. in room 118 of Bibb Graves Hall. He has developed “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy,” and his book “Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life” is a former best-selling self-help book in the United States and was featured in Time Magazine. Admission is free to the public, and a reception will follow the lecture. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
UA EXPERT TIPS
UA MATTERS: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD DEBT — We live in a world where debt is a regular occurrence, and managing debt effectively to build a strong credit history is important for all consumers. UA’s Dr. Melissa Wilmarth, an instructor in consumer sciences in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, explains the difference between the good and bad debt in this week’s UA Matters. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA Media Relations, 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu
UA MATTERS: CLEANING OUT YOUR CLOSET – We read every year about cleaning out closets of garments that we haven’t worn in a year. This rule may be fine for some, but depending on your lifestyle/budget, priorities can vary greatly. UA’s Paula Robinson, an instructor in clothing, textiles and interior design, offers some suggestions that you can adapt to your situation. Contact: Kim Eaton, UA Media Relations, 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.
CURRENT COMMENT
COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROPOSAL COULD BOOST PELL GRANT AVAILABILITY – Should President Barack Obama’s plan to make community college tuition free be implemented, state industry, like aerospace and automotive manufacturing, could advance due to increase funding availability for students, according Dr. Stephen Katsinas, director of UA’s Education Policy Center. Katsinas, who has presented Pell Grant and community college funding research on Capitol Hill and has conducted extensive studies of community colleges’ roles in the United States labor force, notes that Pell Grants are Alabama’s No. 1 training program, a point often lost by business and industry leaders. “By calling on states to maintain operating support for their community colleges, President Obama’s free community college tuition proposal not only will allow current Pell funding to go farther, it conserves future Pell funding while giving community colleges a lever to prevent future state budget cuts, and it brings us closer to former President George W. Bush’s goal of a year-round Pell Grant program,” Katsinas said. “Any proposal that does this will likely be beneficial to a state that needs to increase its college completion rates like Alabama.” For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
EVENTS
UA SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK TO HOST DRUG ABUSE SYMPOSIUM — The Phi Alpha Honor Society of the UA School of Social Work will host a symposium titled “What’s the Problem? A Dialogue about Drugs” Friday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. in room 223 of Little Hall on the UA campus. The symposium will include a panel of drug addiction and counseling experts, including Diana Lynn Pruitt, substance abuse counselor in Kennesaw, Georgia, who will speak and lead discussions during the course of the event. The symposium is free and open to the University community and the general public. For more information, contact David Miller, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-0825 or dcmiller2@ur.ua.edu.
STUDENT TEAMS TO COMPETE IN UA BUSINESS SCHOOL’S DIVERSITY COMPETITION – UA’s Manderson Graduate School of Business and Culverhouse College of Commerce will host the first Culverhouse Leadership Diversity Competition Jan. 29-31. Teams will compete in a case competition to show off their talent for creating business solutions. For more information visit www.culverhouse.ua.edu/cldc or contact Edith Parten, UA Media Relations, at 205/348-8318 or eparten@culverhouse.ua.edu.
LOOKING AHEAD
UA MUSEUM KICKS OFF ITS SPRING CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS – Exploring insects, learning about trees, discovering weather and diving into physics are just a few things West Alabama children will have an opportunity to learn as the Alabama Museum of Natural History on The University of Alabama campus kicks off its spring children’s programs. Museum Monday runs the first Monday of every month (first one is Feb. 2), Explorer Wednesday runs the first Wednesday of the month (first is Feb. 4) and Growing Up Wild Preschool runs the first Friday of the month (first is Feb. 6). For more information, contact Kim Eaton, UA Media Relations, at 808/640-5912 or kkeaton@ur.ua.edu.
BONE MARROW REGISTRATION – The University of Alabama’s Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-health Honors Society and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity will host Saving America’s Marrow for a donor registration event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Ferguson Student Center and the University Recreation Center on campus. Contact: Richard LeComte, UA Media Relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782.