Talladega Race Car at UA (Photo gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – April 30
A Toyota Camry ARCA Racing Series race car, driven by eighteen-year-old Tyler Audie, of Orlando, Fla., is parked outside of Hardaway Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Wednesday April 29, 2015. Audie visited the campus Wednesday, en route to Talladega, to meet with engineering students involved in the College of Engineering’s automotive competition teams. He will start at UA as a freshman in the fall and plans to study aerospace engineering. Audie has been racing since 2006 and will race in the ARCA Racing Series at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. on Friday,…
Confidence is strong for Montgomery Business
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – April 29
Confidence is strong for Montgomery business, according to the Alabama Business Confidence Index survey. In fact, the city is ranked No. 1 in the state. The study is conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama.
Alabama in 2040: Check out population forecasts for all 67 counties
AL.com – April 30
Imagine an Alabama where Madison and Mobile counties have swapped places in population rank, where surging Baldwin is the fourth-largest county in the state and where stagnant Montgomery County has fallen from No. 4 to No. 6. Those are the latest population projections by the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. The model, updated last month, forecasts population changes in five-year increments through 2040. The forecast predicts a statewide population of almost 5.6 million people, up 16.9 percent from the 2010 census.
Vietnam War veterans look back 40 years with pride, heartbreak
Bergen Record (New Jersey) – April 30
Seared in the minds of a generation of Americans are the pictures of helicopters laden with refugees lifting off from Saigon rooftops as that city was about to fall to Communist forces at the bitter end of the Vietnam War. … Howard Jones, a retired University of Alabama history professor who has written multiple books on the Vietnam War, said that since press coverage first brought the brutalities of the conflict into American households, it’s been difficult for governments to sanitize warfare. He is working on a book about the 1968 My Lai massacre, in which American troops slaughtered hundreds of non-combatant South Vietnamese villagers. It was an event that turned public opinion against the war, he said.
Are You Underprepared for Retirement? A university study serves as a wake-up call.
MidAmerica Financial Resources – April 29
Financially speaking, how many Americans are truly on track to retire? A recently published white paper suggests that about half of us are approaching our “third acts” with faulty assumptions. Perception differs from reality. Researchers from the University of Alabama and Ohio State University looked at the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and assessed the retirement readiness of its 2,300-odd respondents. They determined that 58% of these workers (age 35-60) were saving too little for the future, with a near-majority of that 58% failing to recognize the gravity of their situation. Only 42% of households were sufficiently prepared for retirement, but 46% of households believed they were. The researchers discovered two other interesting disconnects. One, a slight majority of those who weresaving adequately for retirement believed they were not saving enough. Two, the insufficiently prepared workers who were in line to receive old-school pensions were more likely to have flawed assumptions about their retirement readiness than workers without future pensions.
Münchausen by Internet: the sickness bloggers who fake it online
Guardian (UK) – April 30
How would you fake cancer? Shave your head? Pluck your eyebrows? Install a chemo port into your neck? These days you don’t need to. Belle Gibson’s story is a masterclass on faking cancer in the modern age. She fooled Apple, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Penguin. She fooled the hundreds of thousands who bought her app, read her blog and believed that her story could be their story. … “Proving” an illness these days requires no head-shaving, eyebrow-plucking or chemo port. Instead, start a blog and get to know Photoshop. Dr. Mark Feldman, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama, coined the term Münchausen’s by internet (MBI) in 2000.
Same sex marriage vigil
Alabama Public Radio – April 29
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday as to whether state bans on same-sex marriage are federally constitutional. APR’s Alex AuBuchon reports, supporters of same-sex marriage gathered last night at one of The University of Alabama’s most recognizable landmarks. Dozens of supporters of same-sex marriage gathered near Denny Chimes to take part in a candlelight vigil last night. Advocates shared personal and deeply emotional stories about why gay marriage was important to them. Meredith Bagley is a communications professor at Alabama. She says last night’s vigil sends a big message. “The argument that we hear so often that this is maybe coming too soon for parts of the country… The best way to refute that is to show, as we did tonight, that there are dozens of people in this small niche of Alabama that are ready for it.” On Valentine’s Day, Bagley and her partner, Alexandrea Davenport, got married during the brief window same-sex marriage was legal in Alabama.
Five things to do this weekend in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa News – April 30
Songs of celebration: The Alabama Choir School will celebrate 30 years of providing music education to young people in West Alabama with spring concerts at Moody Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The five separate and combined choirs from first through 12th grades will sing a wide assortment of songs including modern American favorites, traditional classical repertory, contemporary composers and folk songs from all over the world in various languages. Tickets for the concerts are available from members of the Alabama Choir School or at the Moody box office. For information call 758-0927.
Mobile firm chosen to work on $85.5 million Gulf State Park project
AL.com – April 30
The state of Alabama has selected Volkert Inc. to provide construction management and environmental compliance services for the $85.5 million Gulf State Park project, which will make improvements throughout the park and rebuild a lodge and meeting space facility that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. … The project has been controversial since it was announced last year. Environmental groups have argued that the project goes against the intended purposes of the NRDA money, and one group filed a federal lawsuit challenging the project, which is expected to be completed in 2018. The University of Alabama System is overseeing the project for the state, and set up a project web site with more details on the construction and planning process.
Surgery Partners CRNA receives University of Alabama award
Becker’s ASC Review – April 30
Ernesto Perez, CRNA, has received the 2015 Ernestine Tucker Opening Doors Inclusion and Engagement Award from the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Mr. Perez is a CRNA at the Surgery Partners’ center Armenia Surgery Center in Tampa, Fla. The award honors those who serve as a mentor in healthcare.
Compassion triumphs: Chairwoman of nonprofit wins Citizen of the Year
Tuscaloosa News – April 30
The bronze plaque that hangs in the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse will add one more name to its list of 80 honored citizens. The Tuscaloosa Civitan Club on Wednesday named Nancy Green, mobilization chairwoman of the Compassion Coalition of Tuscaloosa, as the 2015 Tuscaloosa County Citizen of the Year. … She was quick to give credit to her fellow volunteers on the Compassion Coalition and the two other nominees — Ken Swindle, who has worked to reopen the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter that was destroyed in the April 27, 2011, tornado; and David Wilson, who works to mobilize student volunteers at the University of Alabama.
Learning program expands in Birmingham area
Mountain Brook Village Living – April 30
Lifelong learners will soon have an opportunity to take classes on a variety of subjects at the Birmingham Levite Jewish Community Center. The local affiliate of the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute (OLLI), originally based in Vestavia Hills, has expanded to several new locations throughout the area. OLLI is designed for people who want to be lifelong learners. The national program’s affiliates offer a variety of courses based on what interests its membership, from local history to travel. Vestavia’s affiliate began in 2013 through the University of Alabama system and quickly grew to more than 200 members who were interested in programs with increasing depth.