University of Alabama to have third Innovation Day on Wednesday
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 1
The University of Alabama’s third “Innovation Day,” a showcase of new technologies developed by students and faculty and information sessions meant to help them successfully start and run a businesses, is scheduled for Wednesday on campus. The showcase organized by the Office for Research and Economic Development is free to the public and will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 3700 of Ferguson Center. To RSVP, visit http://ott.ua.edu/innovation-day-3/. The showcase will include explanations and demonstrations by teams of tech and business students and information sessions with UA faculty and staff as guest speakers discussing topics that will include leveraging social media, crowd funding and intellectual property.
UA receives grants to help prevent child abuse
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 1
The University of Alabama has received several grants to help prevent child abuse. The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention will present the school’s Child Development Resources with more than $93,000. Four other Tuscaloosa organizations are getting grants for community programs designed to precent the mistreatment of children.
UA SLIS to hold book sale
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 1
The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies is hosting its annual Children’s and Young Adult book sale this week. Associate Professor Dr. Jamie Naidoo says it’s a great opportunity for anyone who needs books.
Mindful Listening: Learn to Communicate Without Words With Your Loved Ones
Maria Shriver – Dec. 1
In medical school and during residency training we were taught the importance of listening. Granted, by observing some of the master clinicians who were my teachers, I came to understand what good listening skills were like, but honing them myself was a different matter altogether. That skill developed primarily from my relationships with people who have Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of dementia … We have to learn to develop the skill of non-verbal communication and to become good listeners. I teach a course called ‘Art to Life’ at the University of Alabama Honors College. In this course (inspired by my father’s artistic gift which emerged in the throes of Alzheimer’s disease), students are paired with persons who have Alzheimer’s or another cause of dementia in a group art therapy experience. Students learn about the disease, about art and other expressive therapies and their benefits, and about person-centered caregiving and the importance of life stories in the delivery of such care.
Cities jostle to fatten wallets on New Year’s Eve
Al.com – Nov. 29
As the clock ticks toward midnight on Dec. 31, a 12-foot tall, 350-pound ode to Chattanooga Bakery descends along the northeastern side of the RSA Trustmark Building in downtown Mobile, beheld by a cheering throng. In downtown Wetumpka, 3,000 folks watch a bright falling sphere mean to represent an asteroid that hit some 80 million years ago. From Pensacola — where a Pelican has been dropped for the past five years — to Bartlesville, Okla. — home to the lowering of a huge olive into a big martini glass – local New Year’s celebrations are striving for uniqueness and local flair … It’s a way to keep downtowns relevant, urge on revitalization, and bring in merry-makers’ dollars. “Everyone cannot go to New York City and watch the ball drop,” said Kim Severt, director of the restaurant, hotel and meetings management program at the University of Alabama. “There is a lot of economic impact when communities do these events.”
New Panel to Study Issues Affecting Caregiving
AARP Alabama – Dec. 1
The segment of Alabama’s population 65 and older is projected to grow by more than 80 percent over the next 25 years. Every county in the state—including those facing attrition in overall population—will gain older residents, according to the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Who will care for Alabamians as they age? Today, the task falls heavily on an estimated 761,000 family caregivers in the state, many of whom are boomers. As the population ages, however, the ratio of potential caregivers to those in need of care will decline.
Soil pulled from deep under Oregon’s unglaciated Coast Range unveils frosty past climate
Bright Surf – Nov. 30
Lush greenery rich in Douglas fir and hemlock trees covers the Triangle Lake valley of the Oregon Coast Range. Today, however, geologists across the country are more focused on sediment samples dating back 50,000 years that were dug up by University of Oregon scientists. The sediment indicates that the mountainous region, which was not covered in glaciers during the last ice age, was a frost-covered grassy landscape that endured erosion rates at least 2.5 higher than today’s, an eight-member team reports in a paper in the journal Science Advances … The research raises the possibility that non-glaciated terrain across North America was similar to that found 40 miles northwest of Eugene. The findings also suggest that mean annual temperatures were about 11 degrees Celsius cooler than modern temperatures, and that frost cracking — not rainfall — drove erosion as the region began emerging out of the Last Glacial Maximum.The five co-authors with Marshall, Roering and Gavin were: Patrick J. Bartlein, professor of geography at the UO; Darryl E. Granger, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University; Alan W. Rempel, professor of geological sciences at the UO; Sarah Praskievicz, a doctoral student in Bartlein’s lab now at the University of Alabama; and T.C. Hales, a former doctoral student in Roering’s lab now at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom.
Are sites like FanDuel based on luck or skill?
Al.com – Nov. 27
As a sports media scholar who has conducted research on fantasy sports play, I find myself fielding quite a few questions from a variety of constituencies relating to the rapid explosion of daily, weekly and season-long fantasy games. Usually, it’s the core question: “Do you think this stuff is gambling?” My response is usually some variation of: how much time do you have? One thing is clear: fantasy sports are now mainstream. Just because Alabama doesn’t have a professional team doesn’t make it immune; 56.8 million North Americans now play fantasy sports in some form—and that covers every state including, most certainly, Alabama. Want an extra reason to root for Julio Jones? Fantasy football could be for you. (By Andrew C. Billings, Ronald Reagan Chair of Broadcasting, University of Alabama and Director of the Alabama Program in Sports Communication in the Department of Telecommunication and Film at the University of Alabama. He is the author/editor of ten books including The Fantasy Sport Industry: Games within Games.)
Honda’s Alabama auto plant contributes $6.8 billion to state economy
Al.com – Dec. 1
Honda’s Talladega County auto assembly plant contributed $6.8 billion to the state’s economy last year, according to a study issued today by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. Along with its suppliers, the Japanese automaker also was responsible for more than 43,000 jobs in the state. The study, commissioned by EDPA and conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama, measured the economic impact of Honda and its Tier 1 suppliers in Alabama. The results underscore the company’s importance to economic development in the state, said EDPA President Bill Taylor.
President Bell announces members of Strategic Planning Council
Crimson White – Dec. 1
University President Stuart Bell sent an email Tuesday morning announcing who will be on the Strategic Planning Council for the University. The council consists of 14 members of faculty, staff and students and is chaired by Interim Provost Kevin Whitaker. These members will discuss improvements for graduate enrollment growth, faculty growth, facilities, research and diversity. According to an email from Nov. 18, the subject of diversity was recently added to the roster after Bell met several times with Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. David Grady, faculty and students. The council will begin working on Dec. 9 to develop a timeline and scope of work. Their website will launch the same day where people can follow the council’s progress and give input. “Our overarching goal is to make sure our students are prepared to be successful in a globally connected world,” Bell said in the email.
Alabaster resident honored at UA luncheon
Shelby County Reporter – Dec. 1
Thirteen University of Alabama students, including an Alabaster resident, were recognized as Wells Fargo First Generation Scholars in a recent campus luncheon. Wells Fargo recently donated $135,000 to the University to be awarded for student scholarships. Since 2008, the company has provided UA $535,000 in scholarship support, benefiting 38 students who are the first in their families to attend college. “Wells Fargo’s investment of more than $500,000 in scholarships for first generation students at The University of Alabama over the last several years has not only enhanced the University but significantly touched the lives of these scholarship recipients,” said Bob Pierce, UA vice president for advancement.
Even More Than 1 Mass Shooting Per Day in 2015: Reddit Group Revealed
Alalam – Dec. 1
Three-hundred-and-fifty-one mass shootings have been added to a crowd-sourced database in the last 334 days. Some Reddit users are compiling news stories of shootings in which at least four people were injured or killed, but others question the findings. The Mass Shooting Tracker tallied its 351st shooting of 2015 on Friday, when Robert Lewis Dear, Jr. killed three and injured nine at a Planned Parenthood office in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In a separate shooting incident on the same day in Sacramento, California, two were killed and two injured … In a study conducted by University of Alabama Criminal Justice Professor Adam Lankford using the mass shooting definition of four or more killed, nearly one-third of all mass shootings worldwide between 1966 and 2012 were found to occur in the US. Ninety mass shootings were recorded in those 46 years – five times more than in the next country, the Philippines, which had 18.
UA National Alumni Association makes plans for Championship Game
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 1
The Alabama National Alumni Association has finalized plans for an event on Friday night leading into the SEC Championship Game on Saturday. The Alumni Association is going to have a pep-rally scheduled for Friday night at Smith’s Old Bar in Atlanta, a popular hang-out for members of the UA Atlanta Alumni Chapter. That event is free and open to the public. Proceeds from the pep-rally will be going toward a scholarship program to the University through the Atlanta Alumni Chapter.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 1
UA hosts AHSAA Super 7 Championships
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Nov. 30
The Super 7 State High School Championships rotate between The University of Alabama and Auburn University. They have been held in Bryant-Denny stadium for the past four years. Some local business owners say they are expecting increased business because of the games.