UA recognized on president’s honor roll for community service
Crimson White – March 11
The University has been named as one of 115 universities nationwide on the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, the highest federal level commendation a college or university can receive for its community service initiatives. The honor roll, given by the Corporation for National and Community Service, recognizes universities and students whose efforts and dedication aim for the highest standards for community service. “Our students, faculty and staff are all passionate about helping others, but not just helping through one-time acts of charity,” said Heather Christensen, research project coordinator with the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility. “They want to move beyond quick fixes and feel-good service opportunities to analyze underlying community problems and address genuine long-term community needs.”…
UA official was ‘moral compass’
Tuscaloosa News – March 11
To many, Melford Edward Espey Jr. was much more than a mascot…Espey died Monday at 68. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Rebecca, two sons and a great-grandson. Espey is noted for being the first person to don an elephant head to depict the mascot of the University of Alabama football team. Although Big Al was unveiled as Alabama’s official mascot in 1979, Espey preceded him by nearly 20 years when he wore the elephant costume during the early 1960s…During those 26 years, Espey directed the Ferguson Center, Campus Activities, Student Life and University Recreation, among other duties…Former UA President Joab Thomas, while serving as the vice president of student affairs, hired Espey as the director of Administrative Housing Operations in 1970. “He was actively involved in a number of very important student activities,” Thomas said, “and he was the person who really paved the way and got female students accepted into Omicron Delta Kappa.”…
Chef stresses local farms and shares his ‘culinary journey’
Tuscaloosa News – March 11
…chef, author and entrepreneur Frank Stitt during a lecture on the University of Alabama campus Wednesday night. “Only around 4 percent of the food in Alabama actually comes from Alabama farms,” Stitt said. “That means 96 percent of our food is coming from somewhere else.” Stitt spoke to a large group of fans and UA students at ten Hoor Hall, detailing his “culinary journey” from a boy who grew up in Cullman to world-renowned chef…
UA honors art collector with tribute
Crimson White – March 11
Friends, colleagues and admirers of Paul Jones, an art collector and University donor who passed away in January, celebrated his life at a memorial tribute to him on Wednesday at the Hotel Capstone. The Black Faculty and Staff Association and the College of Arts and Sciences hosted the tribute, and the UA Afro-American Gospel Choir performed at the end of the memorial tribute…Bryan Fair, chairman of the Paul Jones Collection of American Art Advisory Board and a UA law professor, said forgiveness was one of the characteristics that made Jones a hero. Fair said Jones applied for admission to the UA School of Law in 1949 but was rejected based on his race. Jones forgave the University, later donating thousands of pieces of art to the University. Samory Pruitt, UA vice president for community affairs, said Jones was a leader who showed other people how to forgive…
Alabama unemployment rate hits 26-year high; Mobile reaches 12.6 percent
Mobile Press Register – March 11
… Ahmad Ijaz, an economic analyst at the University of Alabama, said job losses are slowing in Alabama, as they are nationally, but that the state’s employment recovery may lag behind the improving national job market. Unemployment nationwide fell from 10 percent in December to 9.7 percent in January, and stayed level in February.”We were behind the nation going into the recession,” Ijaz said. “But I think it will hurt us coming back.”…
Birmingham-area unemployment rate hits 26-year high
Birmingham News – March 11
…The pain isn’t confined to the Birmingham area. The economic downturn continues to hurt folks in both the state’s urban areas and rural counties, said Ahmad Ijaz, an economic researcher at the University of Alabama. All but four of Alabama’s 67 counties had double-digit unemployment in January. The highest rate was Wilcox’s 27.4 percent. The lowest was Madison’s 8.7 percent…Ijaz said it could take until fall or early next year before labor markets in metro Birmingham and statewide begin to improve. “After the 2001 recession, which was a mild one, it took 2½ years before the employment market turned around,” he said. “The sad thing this time is that a lot of the jobs lost this time won’t be coming back.”…
UA grad debuts clothing line
Crimson White – March 11
After a few hectic days of final preparation, 10 designs from a UA alumna’s clothing line were shown Wednesday night in the kick-off show for Miami Fashion Week, also known as FASHIONmiami. “Things have been pretty crazy,” Smith Sinrod, 24, said in a phone interview the day of the show. “I always try to over prepare, but in the fashion industry, I’m learning that there is no such thing as being fully prepared….Sinrod, who graduated with a degree in apparel design in spring 2009, said she cast models while MTV cameras filmed the process…Sinrod said she learned to perfect her fashion sense during her time at the University, and the fashion department helped a lot as well. “My department was awesome,” she said. “When I got to college, I didn’t even know how to sew, and I learned how to do everything that I know now, sketching, pattern work, draping, everything through [UA’s] fashion department.”…
Students to receive census forms soon
Crimson White – March 11
UA students have a chance to directly impact the state legislature and city council on April 1 by filling out their census forms…According to the Census Bureau, college students living away from home while attending college should be counted where they live at school, while college students living at their parental home while attending college should be counted at their parents’ home…Annette Watters, manager for the Alabama State Data Center, said avoiding the census will make a person become invisible, prohibit him or her from having any political influence and will restrict Tuscaloosa from qualifying for federal grants and appropriations. These grants provide Tuscaloosa with the ability to invest in necessities such as roads, libraries, and sewers. Business decisions are also made based on the census statistics. According to UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen, new stores come to Tuscaloosa because they see from census data that there are enough students in the area to support them. “If students are counted or uncounted in the wrong place, retailers and other employers don’t know that they should locate there,” Andreen said…
Opinion: Roberts has right quality for chief justice job
Tuscaloosa News – March 11
Think what you may of the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts, but anyone who heard him speak at the University of Alabama on Tuesday had to be impressed by his warmth, humor and intellect. In short, he has the sort of ‘temperament’ we always hear the legal scholars, historians and politicians say is needed in a first-rate judge. Roberts, who delivered the annual UA School of Law’s Albritton Lecture, spent most of the day meeting with faculty and students, both before and after delivering a formal half-hour address devoted primarily to the history of the court, its importance in our system of constitutional government and even the various buildings the justices have occupied over the years…
Moundville to Hold Knap-In
WV UA (Tuscaloosa) – March 10
…Stone toolmakers, artists who work with primitive techniques, and technology specialists will demonstrate and sell their works at the University of Alabama’s Moundville archaeological park Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14, at the 10th knap-in and primitive arts meet…