Sarah Patterson resigns
Tuscaloosa News – July 15
Sarah Patterson, who has served as the University of Alabama gymnastics coach since 1978, announced her resignation in an open letter released by the UA athletic department Tuesday morning. She cited health considerations as the reason for her resignation. “Coaching is a 24/7 job that requires being at our best on a daily basis. I know myself well and I need to put my health first and foremost for the quality of my life in the future and I do not feel that I can do that and give my best as a coach,” Patterson said in the letter. Patterson says in the letter that her doctors have told her that she needs surgery to replace both knees and that it will be more than a year for her to recover. Patterson has guided the UA gymnastics team to six national championships and 1,006 career victories. She will remain at UA as a special assistant to the director of athletics.
Al.com – July 15
Al.com (column) – July 15
DeKalb Times Journal – July 15
Internship offers high school students hands-on experience
Tuscaloosa News – July 12
Hillcrest High School rising senior Jakeias McGee is trading a two-month chunk of his summer for a taste of lab work and a glimpse at what a career as a researcher might look like. “I’m not really sure what I want to do, but I wanted to try it,” McGee said. The 17-year-old is one of eight high school students participating in the Nanoscience and Engineering High School Research Internship program at the University of Alabama’s Center for Materials for Information Technology. The MINT Center internship lasts from June 2 to Aug. 1. Students are paid a $1,500 stipend. The internship program is meant to spark excitement among the students for science, technology, engineering and mathematics research careers. The students apply for the program and are selected by the MINT Education and Outreach Committee. The students are expected to “pick up and read up” and contribute to the basic research, according to Tim Mewes, associate physics professor in the MINT Center and chairman of the education and outreach committee.
UA hosts child nutrition camp
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – July 14
Trading in potato chips for an apple could have a big impact on your children’s health later in life. Even though they probably aren’t buying the groceries, your little ones can still make big choices … You are looking at about two ounces of potato chips. But two ounces? That doesn’t mean much to a kid. But when it comes to their health, researchers say, it should. The saying goes: over the teeth, past the gum … “what do you know about unhealthy foods? They taste good!” Look out, stomach, here it comes … but tiny stomachs really need to be on the look-out. Dr. Kim Bissell: “You know, when we’re kids we kind of think that we’re immune to everything. But as most people know, some of the health problems that we have as adults start because of our behavior when we were younger.” All week, the University of Alabama is hosting this free nutrition camp for kids. “There’s a lot of data on adults, a lot of data on college students, there’s less information about kids.”
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – July 14
Crews removing bleachers from Sewell-Thomas Stadium
Tuscaloosa News – July 15 (Print version only)
Crews, removing the aluminum bleachers from the University of Alabama’s Sewell-Thomas Stadium, expect to complete the job by Thursday. That’s being done so work on a $35 million expansion and renovation of the baseball stadium can being later this month. … The seats were sold as surplus and are not part of the construction bid, said Tim Leopard, UA assistant vice president of construction. Work on the renovation and expansion of the stadium is scheduled to be bid on Thursday and work is expected to begin during the last week of July, Leopard said. Construction is scheduled to be completed by November 2015.
City of Birmingham nearly a year without an economic development director as mayor treks to London on business expedition
Al.com – July 14
As Birmingham Mayor William Bell and Council President Johnathan Austin travel to London this week for an international air show, there’s a noticeable absence from the roster of city officials. Bell touts the trip to the Farnborough International Air Show as an economic development opportunity, but Birmingham has gone more than nine months without an official economic development director. The post has remained vacant since Tracey Morant-Adams left City Hall in October and accepted a position at Renasant Bank. Several AL.com inquires to Bell’s office about moves to fill the vacant post have not been answered. Bell has said the city is participating in events this week as a recruitment expedition to possibly land an Airbus supplier to Birmingham. The mayor last week only gave a partial answer when Councilwoman Lashunda Scales asked why no members of the city’s economic development team were accompanying Bell and the city’s delegation. … Ahmad Ijaz, an economic researcher at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said the lack of an economic development director doesn’t necessarily hamper the city’s efforts in London. “The only reason someone has to be there is to talk to prospective companies who are planning on locating some of their operations to the U.S.” he said. “It does not really have to be an economic development director. It could be anybody representing the city.” Ijaz called the London event significant because it brings together major aerospace businesses in one place where recruiters can make their pitches. “The show is important because all the firms are there and a lot of aerospace industry related business and deals are made at the show,” he said.
All must beware of cybercrooks
Panama City News Herald (Fla.) – July 14
Cybercrooks have gone beyond trying to steal money and identities, and those who have to be on alert has moved beyond us regular citizens. In what strikes us as the ultimate insult to authority, they’re messing with the very people tasked with hunting them down and stopping their criminality — law enforcement. Police departments across the country have been hammered by cyber attacks that have “brought them to their knees,” according to a University of Alabama criminal justice professor who studies such issues. Tiny Collinsville, Ala., of all places, is the latest victim. Recently, someone in the town’s police department opened an email attachment that seemed to be legitimate, and chaos followed. The resulting virus, Trojan, worm or whatever, metastasized in the department’s computer system, leaving its mug shot files, vehicle maintenance records and employee time sheets inaccessible. As bad and annoying as that would be, however, Collinsville actually got off lightly compared to some other cases.
University of Alabama president’s list and dean’s list for Spring 2014
Tuscaloosa News – July 12
President’s list (Full-time undergraduates with a 4.0 grade point average): Alaska – Anchorage: Mykalah A. Sundquist. Alabama – Addison: William S. Robinson. Alabaster: Bevin E. Clark, Molly C. Cline, Erin D. Hutter, Julia Tolbert Jackson, Anna K. Leinheiser, Sarah Elizabeth Richardson, Andrew L. Wash. …
Richard J.R. Raleigh Jr. installed as 138th President of Alabama State Bar
Dothan First – July 14
The Alabama State Bar on Saturday swore in Huntsville attorney Richard J.R. Raleigh Jr. as the 138th president of the 17,600-member organization. … A native of Griffin, Georgia, Raleigh received his undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama in 1992 and law degree from The University of Alabama School of Law in 1995. In addition, Raleigh is a Distinguished Military Graduate and U.S. Army ROTC Scholarship Graduate at The University of Alabama, and entered the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps where he served in Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – July 14