Tuscaloosa council approves $2M to expand U. of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 3
Tuscaloosa city councilors voted Tuesday night to provide $2 million as part of a major investment in the Bryant Conference Center. The money will go to University of Alabama for an already planned expansion of the conference center. Plans for expansion include adding 24,000 square feet of space to increase meeting and event capacity. Tuscaloosa City Councilman Kip Tyner said the University approached the city about the support. He told FOX6 News he plans to vote for the proposal. “The University of Alabama has come to us feeling also they had expanding needs for conference meeting rooms as did the city. So it was a natural partnership,” Tyner said. He added the city considered building a convention center years ago but there was a fear it would take too long to recoup those costs. The expansion at the Bryant Conference Center will also include a parking deck. University of Alabama System Trustees approved the expansion in a 2014 meeting. The project costs $8.5 million, which includes the $2 million from the City of Tuscaloosa.
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – March 3
WDAM 7 (Moselle, Miss.) – March 3
WTOC 11 (Savannah, Ga.) – March 3
U.S. Jones among libraries receiving books from UA
West Alabama Watchman – March 3
The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies is awarding a record $15,400 in new, free books to elementary, middle and high school libraries in the Black Belt region of the state during February and March. It does so via the SLIS Book Bonanza for the BlackBelt & Beyond Program. School librarians in the Black Belt region were asked to apply for the book giveaway program from January to mid-February. From a record 33 applications, the committee chose seven school libraries to receive more than $2,000 each in new children’s and young adult books. The judging of the applications was rigorous, as every school exemplified a significant need. Beginning with this year’s program, committee members also selected a Book Bonanza Beyond winner. The Beyond winner is a low-income private school in the Black Belt Region of the state or a public school in an economically disadvantaged area of the state outside of the Black Belt. The purpose is to give one equally deserving school library that is not eligible to be a Book Bonanza for the Black Belt winner a one-time opportunity to address literacy needs in their school community.
Volcanic lightning forges tiny glass balls from airborne ash
Science News – March 3
Lightning bolts that flash and clash high above erupting volcanoes can forge flying ash into glass, new research finds. The mechanism could explain the origins of odd microscopic glass beads found embedded in ash deposits, the researchers report online February 27 in Geology. A volcanic eruption can kick up electrically charged material into the atmosphere, sparking lightning bolts that heat the surrounding air to more than 3,000° Celsius — more than hot enough to melt any nearby airborne debris. When rocky material heats up and quickly cools off, it can transform into glass. Volcanologist Kimberly Genareau of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and colleagues sifted through ash deposits from the 2009 eruption of Mount Redbout in Alaska and the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. The researchers also mimicked the conditions above erupting volcanoes by shocking artificial ash with strong electric discharges.
ASHRAE publishes revision of ground source heat pump book
Engineered Systems Magazine – March 3
When ASHRAE’s original book on ground source heat pumps was published 17 years ago, such systems were used mainly in residential settings and, according to the association, the designers who used them were seen as risk takers. Today, the technology is much more widely used having been recognized for its benefits. The lessons learned during that time are incorporated in a newly published book from ASHRAE, Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Design of Ground-Source Heat Pump Systems (GSHP). The publication is a complete revision of Ground-Source Heat Pumps: Design of Geothermal Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings, published in 1997 and recognized as the primary reference for non-residential GSHP installations. The new book was written by Steve Kavanaugh, professor emeritus at the University of Alabama, and Kevin Rafferty, a consulting engineer in Klamath Falls, OR. Both have spent the last 25 years focused on geothermal/GSHP work.
Contracting Business – March 3
Mechanical Hub – March 3
Alabama high court orders halt to same-sex marriage licenses
Reuters – March 4
The Alabama Supreme Court ordered probate judges on Tuesday to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in apparent defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court, underscoring the depth of opposition to gay matrimony in the socially conservative state. The 7-1 ruling comes roughly three weeks after U.S. District Judge Callie Granade’s decision overturning Alabama’s ban on gay marriage went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to put it on hold. … The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this year to take up the issue of whether states can ban gay marriage. Its expected ruling in June likely will provide clarity on the issue in Alabama, as well as the 13 states where gay marriage remains illegal. The Alabama high court ruling, which granted an emergency petition by two Alabama groups opposed to gay marriage, will likely not affect those same-sex couples in Alabama who have already received marriage licenses, said Ronald Krotoszynski, a constitutional law expert at the University of Alabama School of Law.
New York Times – March 3
Yahoo! – March 3
790 AM (Las Vegas) – March 3
Democratic Underground – March 3
Wall Street Hedge – March 3
Lacey Spears killed her son – by salt poisoning. Here’s why.
Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) – March 3
In the fall of 2009, a young mother with a very sick child logged onto Twitter and began to vent her anguish. Lacey Spears’s son, whom she called “Garnett the Great” and “my little prince,” was sick again. … The sicknesses were many: severe ear infections, high fevers, seizures, digestive problems. But their cause remained unclear until his final days, when doctors noticed a lethal amount of sodium choking his system. A doctor took Spears aside at the hospital. Those levels, the doctor reportedly said, were “metabolically impossible. … Something isn’t right.” … The seemingly incongruous portraits of Lacey Spears make sense, experts suggest, when filtered through the prism of a rare psychological syndrome called Munchausen by proxy, a disorder in which a caretaker or guardian purposely does harm to a child to attract sympathy and attention. “These mothers tend to be psychopathic,” Marc Feldman of the University of Alabama told CBS New York. “They don’t experience guilt and they lack empathy.”
Public barred from jury selection in girl’s running death
Provo Herald (Utah) – March 2
Potential jurors reported amid secrecy Monday for the capital murder trial of an Alabama woman charged in her granddaughter’s running death, with the judge refusing public access to process that typically is open. Dozens of prospective jurors assembled at the Etowah County Courthouse for questioning by attorneys in the trial of Joyce Hardin Garrard, 59, of Boaz. Jury selection will take days but it’s unclear exactly how long, partly because Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree barred the media from being present as prosecutors and defense lawyers talked to would-be jurors. University of Alabama law professor Joseph Colquitt, a former circuit judge, said judges often allow attorneys to ask some personal questions of jurors in private, but he had never been involved in a case involving an adult defendant where the entire process was closed. “Basically the idea is that the proceedings in criminal cases are open to the public,” said Colquitt.
Panel speaks on Japanese society
Crimson White – March 4
Tuscaloosa got a taste of Japanese culture Tuesday when a delegation selected by the Japanese government came to visit The University of Alabama. Former Japanese Ambassador Yasuo Saito leads the delegation around the world. The group has already traveled to Saudi Arabia, Russia, France and now the University. “Walk in U.S., Talk on Japan” is the name of the event that participating panelists give to people all around the world. The goal of the event is to inform citizens of Japanese society, business, technology and culture. “I came to this event because I’m interested in the Japanese culture,” said Qianhui Lu, a sophomore majoring in accounting and finance from China. “Their culture helps set an example for the Chinese Environmental Department.” Among the traveling panelists are Saito; Hiroshi Tsukamoto, formerly of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Tetsuo Mamada, former president of Mitsui Bussan Steel Trade Company; Mio Iwai, student at the University of Tsukuba; and Chitose Nagao, consulting supervisor and copywriter for Dentsu. All participants are from Japan and volunteered to join the program.
Professor to lecture on racism
Crimson White – March 4
This past August, the small town of Ferguson, Missouri came to national attention after the controversial shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old named Michael Brown. Tensions increased as protests broke out in Ferguson and across the country, calling attention to the controversial subject of race relations in the United States. Many Americans came to critically review the police response, both to Michael Brown’s death and to subsequent protests. Thursday, Jelani Cobb, director of the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, will visit The University of Alabama to discuss the issues of race and the criminal justice system in his lecture, “The Two Browns: Civil Rights in the Age of Ferguson
and Obama.” In addition to his work at the University of Connecticut, Cobb is a contributor at The New Yorker and a commentator on CNN, NPR and MSNBC.
Students represent Prattville at the Capstone
Montgomery Advertiser – March 3
Prattville High sophomores Hannah Edwards and Chappell Studdard have been selected to represent their school this April at the Capstone Leadership Academy held on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. They will be two of only one hundred sophomores who were chosen to participate … The 2015 Leadership Academy is sponsored by the Office of the President, the Honors College and the Capstone Council. One hundred outstanding high-school sophomores who have shown an interest in leadership through service were selected to participate in the Capstone Leadership Academy at the University of Alabama. The sophomores will participate in a two-day leadership and fellowship forum. The academy’s purpose is to give the tools and training to apply to leadership opportunities in their communities for the chosen outstanding high-school sophomores in Alabama.
Celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday at Rise
Tuscaloosa News – March 2
Students in Judy Leonard’s five-year-old class at the University of Alabama’s Rise School on Johnny Stallings Drive in Tuscaloosa, react to seeing a birthday cake for Dr. Seuss’ birthday Monday, Mar. 2, 2015. Monday was Read Across America Day which nationally celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a reading celebration. Tuscaloosa County high school students read a variety of Dr. Seuss books to students at Rise during the birthday celebration which was also sponsored by Shelton State Community College and Wells Fargo.
Graduate student founds UA feminist caucus
Crimson White – March 4
Cassidy Ellis is a second-year graduate student studying women’s studies and communications. Ellis, a Montgomery native, founded the Feminist Caucus and is currently serving as the organization’s president. The Feminist Caucus hosts open meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, known as “Frankly Feminist.” The meetings are held in room 360 of the Ferguson Student Center. Q: What made you want to join the Feminist Caucus and how long have you been involved? A: I’m actually the founder of the organization; we started last semester. I saw a need for feminist activism on campus. We have several progressive organizations that touch on some of the issues that we are interested in, but none that really begin from a directly feminist perspective or standpoint. So I began talking to various people last spring on campus and I saw that people were interested in this and I thought that it was needed.
Student performs with international study abroad volunteer group
Crimson White – March 4
Miranda Hamilton always knew she wanted to study abroad, but now she is doing that and more thanks to Up with People, an international non-profit performance and volunteer program. Hamilton, a junior majoring in theater, is only the second student from The University of Alabama to tour with the group. This year’s cast features about 120 members from 21 countries. They travel to different cities and volunteer with various community service organizations, and at the end of the week they perform their show “Journey On,” which celebrates Up with People’s 50th anniversary. All ticket sales benefit their charity of the week. “Being a theater major, performance is my life – it’s what I love to do,” Hamilton said. “Getting to do that but knowing it’s for such an amazing cause and all the money we’re making is going somewhere – it’s wonderful to know I am doing something I love but still helping people.”