Another day, another massacre — and it’s hard to explain why
The Washington Post – July 24
Another day, another massacre, and once again it’s a gunman targeting strangers in a public place for no obvious reason. Each of these mass shootings, or rampage shootings, or “active shooter” events, has its special element of horror, whether it’s racism or misogyny or sheer randomness. In this case, the victims were doing nothing more exotic than watching the new Amy Schumer movie, “Trainwreck.” The killer sat behind them, alone in the dark. Then the shooting began. Authorities in Lafayette, La., identified the shooter as a 59-year-old drifter from Alabama who had been staying at a nearby motel. He killed two people and wounded nine others before taking his own life … Their unpredictable nature creates the sense that we’re all caught in a great national crossfire. The motives have been all over the place. So have the locations: a historic African American church, a military recruiting office and now a cinema, just in the past few weeks. The killers have shot up colleges, elementary schools, restaurants, shopping malls and government offices. “With these types of incidents, everyone and anyone could be the next victim. And there’s really nowhere we’re safe out in the public — or at least that is the perception,” said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama who has studied what he prefers to call “rampage shooters.”
Scientific American – July 24
Gadsden Times – July 25
Mootz: Are You Underprepared for Retirement?
Paradise Post – July 24
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 percent of these workers (age 35-60) were saving too little for the future, with a near-majority of that 58 percent failing to recognize the gravity of their situation. Only 42 percent of households were sufficiently prepared for retirement, but 46 percent of households believed they were. The researchers discovered two other interesting disconnects. One, a slight majority of those who were saving 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.
Old Debts, Fresh Pain: Weak Laws Offer Debtors Little Protection
CWEB News – July 26
Like any American family living paycheck to paycheck, Conrad Goetzinger and Cassandra Rose hope that if they make the right choices, their $13-an-hour jobs will keep the lights on, put food in the fridge and gas in the car. We asked readers to tell us about their experiences being sued over debt. But every two weeks, the Omaha, Neb. couple is reminded of a choice they didn’t make and can’t change: A chunk of both of their paychecks disappears before they see it, seized to pay off old debts. The seizures are the latest tactic of debt collectors who have tracked the couple for years, twice scooping every penny out of Goetzinger’s bank account and even attempting to seize his personal property. For Goetzinger, 29, they’re the bewildering consequences of a laptop loan he didn’t pay off after high school; for Rose, 33, a painful reminder of more than $20,000 in medical bills racked up while uninsured. The garnishments, totaling about $760 each month, comprise the single largest expense in the budget … “In an awful lot of states, the information that the employee gets is going to be very, very confusing,” said William Henning, a law professor at the University of Alabama and chair of a committee drafting a model state law on wage garnishment.
Over 2 Million Members Now Being Served by State Employees’ Credit Union
The Snap Online (Albemarle, N.C.) – July 25
As of June 2015, State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) is now more than 2 million members strong – a milestone reached through steady growth and a service-driven focus. Based solely in North Carolina, the not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative serves state government and public school employees and their families. SECU carries a large footprint statewide with 254 branch locations, 1,100 no-surcharge CashPoints(R) Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), 24/7 Contact Centers and an online presence at www.ncsecu.org, making services easily accessible and convenient to where members live and work. In the last five years, the Credit Union opened 22 branches, meeting the goal of having a branch in all 100 North Carolina counties … Based on a recent report published by Dr. William E. Jackson III, The 2014 Report on Financial Benefits of Membership in State Employees’ Credit Union of North Carolina, SECU’s member satisfaction can also be attributed to the exceptional value provided by the Credit Union, translating to over $750 million – 3/4 of a billion dollars – annually in member savings! For the report, Dr. Jackson, who holds the appointments of Professor of Finance, Professor of Management, and the Smith Foundation Endowed Chair of Business Integrity in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, researched and documented member savings in a number of categories, including lower rates on loans, higher rates on deposits and lower fees.
RISE graduation rehearsal
Tuscaloosa News – July 23
Frannie Jones, interim director at the University of Alabama’s RISE School, hands a diploma to Xander Chandler, 7, assisted by classmate Arey Howell, 5, during a dress rehearsal for UA’s RISE program graduation at the Stallings Center Thursday, July 23, 2015. 21 students are graduating from the program this year.
SITE Camp (gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – July 23
Jarek Anderson, 17, from Weaver, Ala. and Sam Buras, 16, from Diamond Head, Miss. test catapult and slingshot devices outside of the North Engineering Research Center at the University of Alabama. The week-long Student Introduction to Engineering (SITE) summer camp is for rising high school juniors and seniors interested in science, mathematics, and engineering.
THE PORT RAIL: Symbols can be powerful and controversial
Tuscaloosa News – July 27
By now, everyone surely must be aware of the raging controversy over the Confederate flag. What does it mean, both the flag and the controversy? It is a symbol, of course. There is nothing intrinsically good or bad about symbols, like the principal symbol for Christianity for example, the cross. While the physical symbol is devoid of any value, it can, and does, like the Confederate battle flag, mean many things to different people. We are surrounded by symbols, which according to the dictionary means, “an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality.” Where fire and controversy enter the equation is, of course, in interpreting what the symbol stands for. Justice is, for example, symbolized by the balance or scales. “Lady Justice,” herself a symbol, is often depicted with blinders, indicating that “justice is blind.” It weighs, in theory at any rate, all things equally, without bias. (Larry Clayton is a retired professor of history at the University of Alabama. Readers can contact him at larryclayton7@gmail.com.)