UA in the News: July 18-20, 2009

Engineering building open for business
Tuscaloosa News – July 20
For now, the newest building at the University of Alabama is called the Science and Engineering Complex…The Science and Engineering Complex joins the Biology and East Engineering building with descriptive names. However, the complex, the second of four planned cross-discipline buildings, will soon have a sibling, now designated the Science and Engineering Building Phase III…Whatever it’s called, the $70 million building, with accompanying $10 million prep work, is open for business with professors and staff beginning to move ahead of the fall semester that begins in a month. “It gives us state-of-the-art space to conduct research, and allows faculty members to move from buildings built back in the ’60s to really a state-of-the-art facility,” Benson said. At about 212,000 square feet, the complex is only smaller than Shelby Hall, which encompasses 254,000 square feet…The third phase is tentatively set to open in fall 2011, so, for two years, the second phase will be the newest jewel on UA’s campus. Begun two years ago, construction on the Science and Engineering Complex went smoothly, said Tim Leopard, assistant vice president of facilities…

Familiarity helps erase barriers for Cuban actors
Tuscaloosa News – July 19
Many things about this summer’s Cuban-American joint theatrical production are similar to last year’s: The same director, Seth Panitch; many of the same Cuban actors; the same fast and passionate process. But other things are different. This year it’s in Tuscaloosa, not Havana…Panitch favors having his actors all on campus with him. “It’s going much better because it’s a controlled environment,” he said. “Havana is very wild, and they have very difficult lives, so sometimes it’s very difficult for them to make rehearsals all the time. Here, because they’re so close to us, it feels as if it’s all about the project.”…It’s the Cubans’ first visit to the United States. But Portuondo said UA’s older, traditional architecture makes her feel like she’s in a European town. “I feel very comfortable in this theater,” she said, referring to the Allen Bales Theater, where the cast and crew were blocking the play last week…

How Obama’s $12-Billion Could Change 2-Year Colleges
Chronicle of Higher Education – July 20
…Publicly, though, the colleges, and their backers, are enjoying their moment in the sun. “This is the first president,” said Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama, “who gets it.”

Local jobless rate up nearly 4 percent
Tuscaloosa News – July 18
…But the loss of manufacturing jobs here includes more than just the automotive sector, said Sam Addy, director of the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research. The automotive industry is the Tuscaloosa area’s largest manufacturing industry. But the area’s manufacturers include other industries, like steel, which also is being adversely affected by the recession. ‘We are quite heavy into manufacturing here so anything that affects manufacturing will affect us more,’ Addy said…

Alabama unemployment hits 10.1 percent
Biloxi (Miss.) Sun-Herald (Associated Press) – July 18
…Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, said an increase had been expected for June, but the month-to-month increases in Alabama’s numbers seem to be slowing down. “It’s getting worse at a slower rate. That’s good news,” he said. Addy is anticipating a turnaround for Alabama’s manufacturing businesses late in the year, and he predicts that will cause unemployment to start dropping in 2010. He said hiring always trails growth in production because businesses increase the hours of existing workers before hiring new ones…

College news
Tuscaloosa News – July 20
University of Alabama: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former Kansas Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, National Advisory Committee Co-Chairs of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship, announced the convening of the second annual Student Congress. Gregory Poole of Brookwood, a senior at the University of Alabama, joined 50 college seniors, each representing a state or the District of Columbia, in Lexington, Ky., June 22 -26 to share their concerns about the top five global threats facing the United States. Poole is majoring in metallurgical engineering at UA…