UA students take part in EcoCar Competition
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – June 3
Muscle cars have long been a staple of the American auto industry, but can these classics be redesigned to have speed, horsepower and even protect the environment at the same time? Engineering students from across the country are taking on the challenge by going under the hood of a 2016 Chevy Camaro to find out. Joining us from Seattle, the site of the Eco 3 competition, are Brittany Galloway, a student from The University of Alabama and Mr. John Haraf of General Motors.
Researcher stresses safety tips to prevent hot car deaths
Fox 8 (New Orleans) – June 3
It’s easier for parents to forget their child is still in the car than you think according to researchers who study these deaths. Amy Walker is a specialist with the University of Alabama Child Development Resources. She spoke to us about the death of an 18 month-old in Panama City who was left in a car this week. Walker warns parents get stressed out, start driving, and can forget their child is in the car seat. To help prevent a hot car death, Walker suggests putting personal items like a briefcase, purse, wallet or phone next to your child’s car seat so there’s a reason for you to check the backseat. “We encourage parents to put something in the front seat to remind them their children are back there, like a stuffed animal. So when they put them in the car seat, they have that to the front seat and they remember he’s back there or she’s back there,” Walker said.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 3
WTVM-ABC (Columbus, Ga.) – June 3
Rising seniors head to Tuscaloosa for Girls State
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – June 3
The University of Alabama will host Alabama Girls State starting this Sunday, June 7, 2015. It will run through Friday, June 12, 2015. More than 360 young women from high schools around the state will attend. The girls are all coming up on their senior year and will learn about citizenship and state government. “Girls State attracts the best of youth leadership in Alabama. During the week of Girls State, delegates will learn not only about government, but will make lifelong friends,” says Lee Sellers, who has been director of the program for 15 years. “Girls State changes lives and I’ve been honored to work with an incredible staff who volunteer a week of their time to mentor and motivate these Girls State Delegates.”
New National Water Center opens on the UA campus
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 3
In Tuscaloosa, a first-of-its-kind facility is now open, dedicated to helping manage the nation’s water resources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has opened the new National Water Center at The University of Alabama. The center is the nation’s first facility dedicated to water forecasts, research and collaboration across federal, water science and water management agencies. It officially opened last week.
UA researchers help create flood map for National Water Center
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – June 3
For the next seven weeks, more than 50 people will be at The University of Alabama’s new National Water Center working on a project to gain a greater understanding of flood forecasting. Participants will build a new, high resolution, near real-time hydrologic simulation and forecasting model for the United States.
Integrated Warning Team Meeting
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – June 3
Meteorologists, emergency managers and university emergency officials from across the state met today in Clanton for the Integrated Warning Team Meeting. The focus was communication and public perception of severe weather and how people get and use weather nformation. Dr. Laura Myers, executive director of the Center for Advanced Public Safety at The University of Alabama, presented the University’s findings of public severe weather perception.
Yard work for a good cause in Northport
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – June 3
Law enforcement patrols streets and keeps communities safe but the Northport Police Department is joining with others to do more. They have created the #WeStandTogether Team. It is a collaborative effort between the police department, local businesses, law students, and community members. “The police not only provide protection for the community but it’s important for the police to provide services for the community just like this, services like this build a sense of community a sense of togetherness,” said University of Alabama Law Student and volunteer, Rico Savage. Savage is one of many law students working with the #WeStandTogether Team this Summer. Their goal is to help veterans, the elderly, and disabled take care of their lawns. “As a law student what we’re trying to do is serve a community. Whether it’s the suburbs or inner city or rural areas, we’re dedicating our lives to serving that community through various policies and legal efforts and what we’re able to do here is serve the community with our hands in a more tangible way, a more direct way,” said Savage.
The Actor’s Charitable Theatre performing “Dreamgirls”
Tuscaloosa News – June 4
The Actor’s Charitable Theatre opens the musical “Dreamgirls” on Friday at the Bama Theatre, with shows continuing through Tuesday. The Tony- and Oscar-award-winning musical, based around the stories of ’60s R&B legends such as The Supremes, Jackie Wilson, The Shirelles and others, follows the lives of a young female singing trio from Chicago, The Dreamettes.The show premiered on Broadway in December 1981. Amassing six Tony Awards — and two Grammy Awards for its cast recording — “Dreamgirls” became an award-winning movie in 2006. . . . The musical is part of The Martin Luther King Jr. Realizing The Dream Initiative and has attracted a large, new cast of younger people. Realizing the Dream, a collaborative community partnership involving the University of Alabama, Stillman College, Shelton State Community College and others, was built to carry on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King by supporting freedom, justice and equality. The series began as concerts in 1990, and has expanded to include year-round events including lectures, concerts and other performances.
Local students earn national scholarship
Journal-Enquier (Connecticut) – June 3
Two Tolland residents were awarded Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Emma Fay, of Tolland High School, and Alaina Van Slooten, of East Catholic High School in Manchester, are among about 7,600 high school seniors who were awarded this scholarship. Fay will go on to attend University of Alabama, and Van Slooten to Northeastern University. The scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution the recipient attends.
Moving to America: Sierra Stockley came to NWF to prepare for college
Northwest Florida Daily News – June 3
Sierra Stockley was less than certain when her parents announced they were leaving her childhood home in Brussels for Florida. Though a U.S. citizen, Belgium, not a small town in the Panhandle, was home to Sierra. The idea of finishing her senior year at a new high school felt impossible. “Honestly, when (my mom) said she wanted to move, I didn’t believe her,” the 17-year-old said. “I can’t even lie, I was very upset with them at first.” Sierra and her mother, Samantha Stockley-Jackson, had always agreed she would earn a bachelor degree from a U.S. school, but coming before college was a far-fetched idea, not reality in Sierra’s mind. . . . In August, she’s leaving to attend the University of Alabama, and no one is worried. “I’m not nervous,” Stockley-Jackson said. “I think I’ve prepped her.”
UATD to perform Ring of Fire in Gulf Shores
Crimson White – June 3
Several theatre students at the University recently traveled to Gulf Shores to continue
rehearsals in preparation for their performance of the Johnny
Cash-inspired show, “Ring of Fire.” 2015 marks the 11th consecutive year that the SummerTide Theatre will make the trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Stacy Alley, the director of SummerTide, said the annual summer trip is an opportunity for the students to gain experience for their professional careers. This year’s production of “Ring of Fire” is a revue, which is a type of theatrical performance that is a series of sketches or songs, rather than a typical musical that follows a storyline from beginning to end. While several of Cash’s works will be part of the show, no performer will impersonate Cash himself. “[The show] is a celebration of Johnny’s life and music,” Alley said. Alley’s inspiration for choosing “Ring of Fire” originates from her admiration of Cash’s music. “I’ve always loved Johnny Cash’s music and thought the audiences down here might too. It transcends genres and generations,” Alley said.
Study Abroad Series: Madrid
Crimson White – June 3
This past week, I traded views of the Appalachian Mountains for castles and countryside with a group of students who have become almost like a second family to me as we experience the fullness of what this country has to offer. I am participating in a program led by Dr. Jose Cano called UA in Spain, which immerses students into a Spanish culture and offers Spanish courses. In my two classes I learn about Spain’s vast history and the multitude of monuments that exist here, while practicing my Spanish speaking skills along the way. In the program, each student is paired with a conversation partner who is native to Spain and converses with them almost daily. This near-constant practice of Spanish, along with speaking Spanish with my peers, has already increased my abilities in the language by a great deal. In the mornings we have classes, but in the afternoons and weekends we take excursions to nearby areas and explore monuments and cities that I had never even dreamed of visiting before. I truly feel like my Spanish
abilities have advanced, and Dr.
Cano brings energy and fun to the entire program.
Incoming freshman chooses UA over Ivy League
Crimson White – June 3
Ronald Nelson just recently graduated high school but his age has not stopped him from gaining
national recognition. The upcoming collegian from Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee, was accepted by eight Ivy League institutions – Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Princeton and Yale – as well as New York University, Stanford and Johns Hopkins. However, Nelson is choosing to attend The University of Alabama this fall. “One of the top reasons [ I chose The University of Alabama] is definitely what I am going to be able to do within the [University] Fellows Experience,”
Nelson said. The University Fellows Experience is a program within the Honors College in which students must score at least a 32 on their ACT and have a SAT score of 1400 (verbal and quantitive) in order to be admitted. Fellows have the opportunity to participate in research under the supervision of a
faculty mentor.
UA robotic mining team wins first place at NASA competition
Crimson White – June 3
The University of Alabama is used to having teams that win national championships. Alabama Astrobotics, a robotics team made up of Shelton State and UA students, added a different kind of title to the University’s tally with its recent performance at this year’s Robotic Mining Competition hosted by NASA. Not unlike the Crimson Tide football team, Alabama Astrobotics is the most decorated team in the history of its annual competition, with two titles. The purpose of the competition is to bring forth ideas from around the country to help NASA in their endeavors to efficiently mine materials from other planets and asteroids. Teams are judged in ten different categories, ranging from “team spirit” to “innovation.” Kenneth Ricks, a professor of engineering and the Alabama Astrobotics sponsor, said while many of the categories, such as the required technical paper describing the robot, are subjectively graded, the actual execution of the robot in the “robotic mining” category is evaluated using a formula. This formula uses a series of penalties and rewards to measure efficiency and effectiveness. For example, for every 1 kilowatt hour of power consumed, the robot loses one point. Robots gain points for completing the task of mining material and placing it in the processing bin. Up to 500 bonus points can be earned for autonomous operation, or the robot’s ability to function without a human operator. Out of over 600 competition attempts, autonomous operation for a full 10 minutes has only been achieved three times, two of which were by Alabama Astrobotics.
UA faculty member has photo gallery in Rome
Crimson White – June 3
Of the lessons Chip Cooper learned from his time photographing in Cuba, one stood out as the most important: “They live in their needs. We live in our wants.” While in Cuba, Cooper photographed the life of subsistence farmers, or “campesinos.” Cooper worked with a collaborator, Julio Ángel Larramendi Joa, and their exhibit, “Campesinos,” will be shown at the Massimiliano Massimo Institute in Rome starting on June 4, as part of a celebration of 80 years of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Vatican. Cooper is the artist-in-residence at The University of Alabama Honors College. He was speechless when he heard that his work would travel to Italy, and said this was the biggest development in the history of his career. The “Campesinos” exhibit was on display in Havana when the wife of the Cuban ambassador to the Vatican saw it and felt it needed to be included in the upcoming celebration of the history of two countries. After being shown in Rome, “Campesinos” will travel to five other cities in Italy, and then to England, China and
South America. Cooper first went to Cuba in 2003 to photograph dignitaries from The University of Alabama on their first trip to the country. He said he knew then that it was “his kind of place.” The artist was drawn to similarities between Cuba and the Black Belt region in southern Alabama, he said. In both parts of the world, he said the people are gracious and the landscape is incredible.
UA to host creative writing camp, reading for high school students
Crimson White – June 3
High school students from all over Tuscaloosa County will gather on campus next week to participate in the kind of creative writing normally reserved for English students at the University. The UA Creative Writing Club, founded by poet and English professor Robin Behn, will host a two-week creative writing camp with the aid of the club’s coordinating director, Christopher McCarter, and a few graduate students. The camp is geared toward high school students, regardless of prior experience, and is intended to be an accessible and inclusive way for students to get their creative juices flowing. “I think creative writing is something everybody can do, and you don’t have to be an expert in poetry to make cool work,” McCarter said. “Imagination is all you need.” Students will participate in an abundance of writing activities as well as learn about genre writing. The camp will end with a reading at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery, free and open to the public.
Welcome Home: Bama Bound workers welcome UA’s new students
Crimson White – June 3
Bryana Koch will wake up at 6:30 almost every morning this summer and put on her red polo and name tag. In the uniform Koch described as “iconic,” she becomes a beacon for the nearly 8,500 future Alabama freshman who will attend a Bama Bound
orientation session this summer. “I didn’t really expect how much you would be ‘on,’ and what I mean by that is once you put on that polo and name tag, you are visible to everyone,” said Koch, a junior majoring in communication studies and public relations. Koch is an Avanti, which is one of a few kinds of student orientation leaders who assist with summer orientations on The University of Alabama campus. In addition to the Avanti team, students serve as Peer Advisors and Parent Ambassadors during orientation. “The Office of Orientation and The Office of First Year Experience and Parent Programs work jointly to plan and execute Bama Bound,” said Landon Waid, senior associate director of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation. “The Avanti Team and Parent Ambassadors are the two primary student leader groups for Bama Bound. Several other campus partners assist by leading information sessions, presentations and hosting events
and activities.”