The story behind the tent on Alabama’s football sideline
USA Today – Jan. 5.
This particular project was hatched last June when Allen and Dr. Charles Karr, dean of the engineering school, were kicking around ideas and discussed the need for a private area on the sideline where a medical evaluation could take place. Allen drew a rough sketch of a tent that could be erected around a training table and then folded back down in a matter of seconds. Karr said he thought it would be a good opportunity for some senior-level students to work on a project that would take them from the design and engineering phase to building a prototype and eventually production. “It’s a really, really fertile ground to come up with neat projects the kids can work on and see them implement it, to go through the process of developing intellectual property, applying for a patent on it and do real, live design of something that is sitting in front of millions of people.”
University of Alabama experts offer predictions for 2016
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 27
For the 35th year, faculty at the University of Alabama offer educated guesses for the upcoming year ranging from politics to restaurant trends. In the latest installment, the prognosticators offer predictions for the 2016 general election, coal-fired power, Medicaid in Alabama and the future of aerial delivery drones. Regulations, cheap natural gas mean no return to coal. Electric utility providers will continue using natural gas to replace coal-fired power generation in 2016 as a result of cheap natural gas and government environmental regulations, predicts Jason Bara, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering. “It’s the easiest and most cost-effective way to significantly reduce emissions in the near term while utilizing existing infrastructure,” he said. “Solar, wind, renewables and, perhaps most importantly, energy efficiency will also play increasingly major roles moving forward. ‘Cleaner’ coal, in the form of CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and sequestration) technologies are still actively under development, but until/unless they are proven and deployed at large scales, coal will be in a prolonged hibernation in the U.S.”
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 31
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Dec. 31
Dark side of leadership: Narcissism. Meanness. Depression
Chicago Tribune – Jan. 4
Narcissism. Meanness. Immodesty. Even depression. The personality traits that can make people intolerable to work with — and, especially, for — are sometimes what landed them in positions of power in the first place. The role that people’s “dark sides” play in leadership is the subject of the most recent issue of the trade magazine Talent Quarterly, out Tuesday, which gathered input from leading researchers on the topic. Here is a sampling of what they had to say. The takeaway: In leadership, as in galaxies far, far away, only at the end do you realize the power of the Dark Side … Peter Harms, assistant professor of management at the University of Alabama: “In the domain of personality assessment and job performance outcomes, we’ve found that assessments of so-called ‘dark side’ of personality can matter more than twice as much as the positive characteristics most commonly used in selection instruments. … Consequently, we believe that developmental and selection efforts aimed at moving the dial from ‘bad’ to ‘good enough’ are likely to have more of an effect than trying to move individuals from ‘good’ to ‘great.'”
Bloomberg Business – Jan. 4
Gospel Fest to be held at UA
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Jan. 4
A Grammy-nominated singer is set to headline the Gospel Fest this month. Byron Cage will take the stage at the concert on January 10. Other acts include Shirley Murdock, Thomas Davis, Jr., Christa Yow and Valerie Davis. The festival will take place at the Moody Music Building Concert Hall on The University of Alabama campus.
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Jan. 4
CBS 10 (Waco, Texas) – Jan. 4
Maine bankers give cold shoulder to medical marijuana industry
Toshiba – Jan. 4
Once a month, Dawson Julia walks into Wal-Mart to pay his $3,000 electric bill in cash. His medical marijuana caregiver business occupies a prominent location in a 14,000-square-foot warehouse in Unity, and he gives public testimony to the Legislature on marijuana issues. But when it comes to managing the finances of his business, Julia leans heavily on cash transactions and tries to use his bank account as little as possible … “If you look at the guidance, all it says is that if you follow this guidance, they might decide prosecution or regulatory action isn’t warranted. It might be OK or it might not,” said Julie Anderson Hill, a University of Alabama School of Law professor. “Banks can hope that federal prosecutors leave them alone and that regulators that have an interest will leave them alone or overlook it. The bottom line is, it’s still money laundering to accept that money and will be as long as federal law says it is illegal.”
Seen on the Scene: Nick’s Kids Teacher Awards (gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – Jan. 4
Rley Edward, Sam Farlow, Dorie Edward, Virginia Farlow and Susan Farlow pose together Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 during the Nick’s Kid Teacher Award at the Tuscaloosa River Market.