Uof Alabama is fastest-growing flagship; others are standing still
Washington Post – Sept. 25
The University of Central Florida has grown 90 percent since the turn of the century in undergraduate enrollment, The Washington Post reported this week, rocketing past the state flagship university in size and becoming one of the largest universities in the country. This fall UCF is projected to have 54,000 undergrads and another 9,000 graduate students … So how fast are the 50 state flagships growing? Below is a Post analysis of federal data based on fall 2013 enrollment. Schools are ranked in order of percentage growth since fall 2000. One takeaway is that growth varies significantly even among elite schools. The University of Wisconsin-Madison grew 3 percent; the University of Virginia grew 17 percent. Another is that some schools are pursuing huge expansions, particularly southern flagships in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and South Carolina, all with growth rates higher than 50 percent. ‘Bama was the fastest-growing, at 92 percent. Out-of-state enrollment is a big factor too: At each of the four fastest-growing schools, nearly or more than half of undergrads are from out of state. Of course, that appears to be a revenue strategy too: Tuition is far higher for out-of-state students than for state residents.
Al.com – Sept. 25
UA School of Social Work holds Hispanic/Latino Heritage Colloquium
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Sept. 28
Students in the College of Social Work at the University of Alabama recognized Hispanic Heritage Month today. The day of activities included a forum on the challenges and triumphs of immigrants’ rights.
Construction Corner: Building a better concrete girder
Journal of Commerce – Sept. 28
A two-year project is underway at the University of Alabama and the state transportation department involving the design and testing of longer concrete girders for use in bridges. Researchers are aiming at girders about 54 metres long, which is about four metres longer than the longest concrete girders presently in use in the state.
Regional partnerships helping K-12 education innovate
Multibriefs.com – Sept. 28
Many states have reported a dismal drop in state funding over the last 10 years. Expecting the school systems to compensate for the funding plunge is like asking them to multitask without a solution in sight. We often fail to realize the enormous impact these steps will have on the students, who are ultimately going to pay for the talks and reforms that may never see the light … The University of Alabama has announced a new research and service project in collaboration with the United States Department of Education and Alabama Department of Education. The $1 million grant will be used to implement three years of professional development activities with teachers in the Tuscaloosa area, helping them develop their skills further. This collaborative partnership will not just help teachers also but work hand in hand to help all students to improve. The key goals of the project include decreasing the mathematics achievement gap of special education students, increasing content knowledge of K-12 faculty and encourage collaboration between teachers.
Civil rights photos going on display in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 28
A month-long exhibit of photographs from the civil rights movement era in Mississippi will open on Friday at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in Tuscaloosa. The exhibit “Fertile Ground: The Civil Rights Movement and Its Legacy in the Mississippi Delta” will be on display from Friday through Oct. 30 at the University of Alabama Gallery at the arts center at 620 Greensboro Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa. Documentary photographer and civil rights activist Doris A. Derby, known for capturing the participation of ordinary people in the civil rights movement, took the photographs between 1963 and 1972.
Bill Nye “The Science Guy” shares views at University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 28
Bill Nye, known as “the Science Guy” through his PBS television show, was greeted with a rock star-like reception during a speech Monday night at the University of Alabama’s Moody Music Building. Nye used humor throughout his lecture on the importance of recognizing climate change and the need for students to, as he put it, “Dare I say it, change the world.” Nye said people who deny climate change are one of science’s biggest enemies. “They are leaving the world worse than when they found it. They mean well, but they’re holding us back. You have to vote,” Nye said. Though focused primarily on climate change, Nye’s speech covered a number of topics, from recent flooding in Miami, to the potential of wind and solar energy, to his family: Nye’s father became fascinated with stars and sundials while a prisoner of war in during World War II, and his mother worked as a Navy cryptographer. Nye’s speech was the result of a collaboration between UA’s ALLELE Lecture series, an Arts and Sciences program featuring speakers on evolution and life sciences, and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 28
LEND A HAND: Crossing Points provides life skills to those with disabilities
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 28
Finding a job in today’s economy is hard enough, but it can be even harder for adults with disabilities. Betty Shirley, a grandparent of a man who has Down syndrome, said many adults with disabilities never go to work after leaving the public school system. But one Tuscaloosa organization is changing that. Crossing Points is a partnership between the University of Alabama Department of Special Education and Multiple Abilities in the College of Education and the Tuscaloosa City and County School systems that provides transition services for students with disabilities ages 18 to 21. Students follow a transition curriculum taught by teachers from the Tuscaloosa City And County School systems on the UA campus that teaches daily living skills, personal social skills, occupational guidance and preparation.
Kenneth Feinberg to speak at University of Alabama School of Law
Al.com – Sept. 28
Kenneth Feinberg, the man who has served as claims administrator for victims compensation funds in the aftermath of several major disasters, will speak Tuesday at the University of Alabama School of Law. Kenneth Feinberg will speak at noon Tuesday in the Bedsole Moot Courtroom 140 at the University of Alabama School of Law. The lecture is free and open to the public. Feinberg will speak on the topic of “Unconventional Responses to Unique Catastrophes: Tailoring the Law to Meet the Challenges.”
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 28
Cyber crime: UA technology responds to new threats
Crimson White – Sept. 29
With the rise of the Internet has come a rise in a relatively new form of crime, crime that does not entail the use of guns, knives or other traditional weaponry. Technology has elicited an expanse of opportunity for cybercriminals, who can commit felonies while simply sitting in front of a computer screen. In the years from 2000 to 2014, there have been 3,175,611 reported complaints worldwide by victims of cybercrimes to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, according to the FBI’s IC3 website. These crimes range from fraud and identity theft to stolen credit card information, electronic theft of money and data breaches. “Not a day goes by when you open your newspaper or watch the news that there’s not some kind of a data security breach, computer hacks, Instagram problems and national security problems,” said Mark Lanier, associate director for the UA Cyber Institute, an educational organization developed to advance the understanding of the dynamics of cyber issues. In 2014 alone, total reported losses amounted to over $800 million globally, according to the IC3.
Take a Valium, lose your kid, go to jail
FreeNewsPos.com – Sept. 29
Casey Shehi’s son James was born in August 2014, remarkably robust even though he was four weeks premature. But the maternity nurse at Gadsden Regional Medical Center seemed almost embarrassed, and as she took the baby from his exhausted mother’s arms, Shehi felt a prick of dread … Most striking are the enormous disparities in the way prosecutors in the state’s 67 counties have applied the law. The normal tendency toward insularity — “each county is its own little fiefdom,” said John Gross, a professor and director of the criminal defense clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa — is magnified by huge workloads, meager budgets, archaic technology and divergent priorities. “You get vastly different results in terms of how the cases are prosecuted.”