Students sink or swim in canoe competition
Tuscaloosa News – June 12
…The image of sinking boaters scooping buckets of water out of their vessel was reversed, as the engineering students shoveled water in to test the buoyancy of their concrete canoe in a water tank on the University of Alabama Quad. New Mexico State is one of 20 American and two Canadian teams competing in the “America’s Cup of Civil Engineering,” hosted by the UA chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The competition involves civil engineering students from around the U.S. and Canada who build and race concrete canoes…UA’s team did not make it to the national competition, but it did receive an automatic bid for hosting the event. The team is saving its entry for the 2010 competition, said James Hugh Kyzar, chairman of the UA student group who planned the event…Applying for and preparing to host the competition has been a three-year process, and it required the UA students to make formal proposals, host official visits and visit last year’s host site, Montreal, Canada. Tuscaloosa was announced as the destination in May 2008, Kyzar said…And while the competition was not planned as a recruiting tool, Ken Fridley, head of civil construction and environmental engineering at Alabama, hopes students and faculty will take a good impression of UA back with them. “It’s great because it is a national event and being able to bring all these students and faculty advisers to campus, just to let them see firsthand what it has to offer,” he said.
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com – June 12
FOX6 (Birmingham) – June 11 (This station covered the competition live on its morning news program and again during its evening newscasts)
Digital transition will net new WVUA viewers
Tuscaloosa News – June 12
…Today, even though its broadcast tower is moving, WVUA is staying put in Tuscaloosa. The station’s studio and production facility will remain in the basement of Reese Phifer Hall on the University of Alabama campus, and there will be no change in the focus of its newscasts, Clem said. “This is our hometown,” he said…The change means WVUA’s signal will reach nearly 2 million people, up from the 244,000 people who can pick it up now, according to Federal Communications Commission data. “It will be a very good thing for the TV station,” said Loy Singleton, dean of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences…In the summer of 2001, UA bought WJRD-7 with a $1 million donation from Paul Bryant Jr., becoming one of only a handful of universities to own a broadcast television operation. Later that year, WJRD-7 was moved from Jug Factory Road to Reese Phifer Hall, and signed on the air in January 2002 as WVUA-7. In 2004, the FCC license for channel 23, which had a high-powered signal but was not broadcasting, was given to UA, a donation valued at $5 million…
Education Briefs
Birmingham News – June 12
The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park offers theme-oriented demonstrations and lectures along with hands-on activities for children from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday in June. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. — MyMathLab, software used in the University of Alabama’s math center and developed in conjunction with Pearson Higher Education, won a Platinum Award, the top honor, in the IMS Global Learning Consortium’s 2009 Learning Impact Awards held in Barcelona, Spain. This technology was selected from among 36 finalists worldwide for the award.
Get dirty, get outdoors
Tuscaloosa News – June 12
…Kayaking through swift rivers and rapids is the more active approach to floating a river…There are a few clubs and organizations in the area that offer instruction to new paddlers. The University of Alabama has an Outdoor Recreation Program and a kayaking club that offer boating instruction…