Stand up, Harper Lee’s passing
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 20
Shakespeare lamented on the death of a famed man: “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interrèd with their bones.” Yet the pride of Monroeville, Harper Lee, dispelled those fears with her first, and for five decades only, novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Lee died in her hometown Friday at age 89. “To Kill a Mockingbird” flew as a rare masterpiece: a phenomenally popular work encompassing contemptible spirits and saintly virtues, transcending the boundaries of fictional Maycomb to pump like heart’s blood through the lives of those it touched. It became more than a book, or even “the book,” as it’s often called. . . . “Atticus was the face of what could have been,” said Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer of creative non-fiction books about his own Alabama soil, including “All Over But the Shoutin’,” “Ava’s Man” and “The Prince of Frogtown,” and 2009 winner of the Harper Lee Award for the state’s Distinguished Writer of the Year. . . . Andy Crank, UA assistant professor of American literature, has spoken about the second, though first-written, Lee novel to international media including the BBC, and published an article about it the Los Angeles Review of Books, titled “Unkillable Mockingbird.” What struck him was how “unapologetically individual” Lee was, right down to her decision to release “Watchman.” “She did a lot of things that were so brave, for a woman in her position,” Crank said. From what he hears of Lee’s college years at UA and other youthful days, she “never stuck with the Southern belle stereotype. She would cuss like a sailor, drink; wouldn’t wear what everyone else is wearing. And it was so brave of her to publish this book that no one asked for, that upset a lot of people.”
More on Harper Lee:
Crimson White – Feb. 22
ABC News – Feb. 19
Christian Science Monitor – Feb. 19
Washington Post – Feb. 19
People – Feb. 19
CBS News – Feb. 19
Mother Jones – Feb. 19
Junior College – Feb. 19
Complex – Feb. 19
Buzzfeed – Feb. 19
Associations Now – Feb. 19
WAMU-FM (National Public Radio) (Washington, D.C.) (And on all NPR stations) – Feb. 19
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Feb. 19
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 19
CBS 8 (Montgomery) (Same on WNCF-ABC, Montgomery) – Feb. 19
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Feb. 19
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 19
CBS Radio News – Feb. 19
WGNO-ABC (New Orleans, La.) – Feb. 21
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Feb. 20
Bay News 9 (Tampa, St. Petersburg, FL) – Feb. 20
KWKT-Fox (Waco, Texas) – Feb. 20
WSFA-NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Feb. 20
WITI-Fox 6 (Milwaukee, Wis.) – Feb. 20
… and many others.
Rick Bragg: ‘Harper Lee gave us a sermon with such beauty and grace that will endure forever’
Al.com – Feb. 19
The news that author Harper Lee died on Friday saddened many across the world touched by her timeless work, none more so than fellow Alabamians and authors who mourn her passing but will forever cherish the lingering impact her legacy will leave forever. Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” passed away in her sleep Friday morning at the age of 89, her family has confirmed … Shortly after learning about Lee’s death, fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Alabama native Rick Bragg reflected on Lee’s death, her timeless work and her legacy that will endure thanks to the “sermon” delivered in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Bragg also talked about meeting Lee in Monroeville.
Harper Lee Wasn’t a Recluse to Those Who Knew Her, Librarian Says
TIME – Feb. 19
Harper Lee was a notoriously private person, seldom giving interviews and leading a life away from the public sphere. But those who knew her say she was not, as some have called her, a “recluse”; she did not eschew the company of others. Jessica Lacher-Feldman would know; for several years, from about 2001 to ’06, she accompanied Lee at public events at the University of Alabama, serving as a kind of “handler” for the aging author as she signed books at an annual statewide student essay contest … Lee suffered a stroke in 2007, and eventually stopped attending the event at the University of Alabama. And though Lacher-Feldman is no longer there herself (she’s now the head of special collections at Louisiana State University), she says she hopes the university will be given Lee’s papers.
Friend of Harper Lee remembers ‘the most brilliant person in any room’
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 19
Dr. Cathy Randall, the retired director of the University of Alabama’s Honors Program, first met famed author, Harper Lee, at a university event in the late 1980s. “What a blessing–that she called me friend for another 35 years,” said Randall. Randall said she had permission from family to speak with reporters in the hours after Harper Lee’s death. While Lee is considered an alumni of Huntingdon College, she also attended the University of Alabama from 1946 to 1949 while she was in law school, and wrote for the university’s newspaper and a humor magazine called the “Rammer Jammer.” Randall just saw Lee a few weeks ago.
UA Adapted Athletics program makes Paralympics dream a reality
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 19
How does it feel to spend years working towards a successful career, attaining it and then losing it all in one moment? Darda Sales knows. Sales started her swimming career in 1992 with the goal of attending the Paralympics. She did just that – three times. Sales brought home the gold medal and broke the world record for the 4×100 medley relay team in her first Paralympic games in 2000 in Sydney. Two Paralympics and one world championship later, she had a gold, silver and bronze medal to add to her collection … The University of Alabama’s Adapted Athletics program is one of the strongest of its kind in the nation. In the 12 years since its inception, 19 former and current players and coaches from the University of Alabama have represented their respective countries – the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and Germany – in past Paralympic games.
University of Alabama wheelchair basketball doubleheader game is Friday
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 20
The University of Alabama wheelchair basketball program is gearing up for a big week. On Thursday, UA’s adapted athletics program will hold its Night of Champions at the Bryant Conference Center. Alabama will host a wheelchair basketball doubleheader on Friday at Foster Auditorium. The Night of Champions begins at 5 p.m. The event is free to the public and includes free food, door prizes and autograph sessions with UA athletes from the men’s and women’s adapted basketball, tennis and other programs. Guest speakers will include Parlympic medalists MacKenzie Soldan and Jannik Blair as well as Margaret Stran, who has coached UA national championship wheelchair teams and coached the U.S. in Paralympic competition.
Have Alabamians forgotten about tornadoes?
WSFA-NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Feb. 21
The University of Alabama is known for many things: education, football, and on April 27, 2011 tornadoes. Students who lived through that terrible day will never forget it. But there’s a new crop of Alabama students. Do they remember? No. That’s not that hard to believe. The storms hit Alabama nearly five years ago, and students come to Tuscaloosa from all over the country. Dr. Laura Myers is executive director at the Center for Advanced Public Safety at UA. Her life’s work is spent researching to see if we are prepared for disasters like tornadoes.
UA Criminal Justice professor comments on Apple case
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 20
Apple has been given a court order to hack into the iPhone of one of the san Bernadino shooters. Apple is fighting the judge’s ruling to hack into that shooter’s phone. An Apple security feature has prevented the FBI from accessing the shooter’s phone without wiping the data. Professor and Academic Director of the Joint Electronic Crimes Task Force, Dr. Diana Dolliver, says the argument to the right to privacy doesn’t really apply to this case.
Pedals, Pipes and Pizza (gallery)
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 20
Matthew Edwards, left, a junior majoring in organ performance from El Centro, Calif., looks on as Jubilee O’Conner, 8, plays a few keys on an organ in the recital hall at Moody Music Hall on the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa , Ala. on Saturday Feb. 20, 2016. About 20 students from ages 8-16 participated in UA’s organ department’s Pedals, Pipes and Pizza workshop for students to learn about the organ.
Can Alabamians afford the specter of 16 or more scheduled executions in a row?
Al.com – Feb. 19
A March 25, 2014 article from the Associated Press quotes Alabama Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw saying that 16 death row inmates “have exhausted [all] appeals and are awaiting execution.” Today, the exact number among the 185 inmates on Alabama’s death row whose last remaining hope is clemency is unknown … The University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research is already predicting slow growth for Alabama’s economy in 2016, and so, even if folks don’t care so much about what foreigners think of Alabama’s refusal to, as the New York Times Editorial Board put it on January 16, “join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penalty,” don’t Alabamians at least want those foreign dollars?
University of Alabama Honors List for Fall 2015
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 19
President’s List – Armed Forces Americas: Diplomatic Post Office: Marisol M. Swords; Alaska – Palmer: Jade S. Hermon; Alabama – Adamsville: James S. Shaffer; Addison: William S. Robinson; Alabaster: Serena N. Bailey, Marky Elizabeth Bingham, Alex S. Carter, Riley Andrew Cockerill, Laura H. Fulmer.
University of Alabama Presidential and Dean’s List
Santa Rosa Press-Gazette – Feb. 19
Gulf Breeze Dean’s List: Andrew W. Dobry, Jr.; Alexander Gray Fagan; Caleb A. Faulkner; Jessica Rose Fromularo; Austin T. Haynes; Katherine N. McComber; Savannah Marie Nixon.
Why Mississippi is tooting Amtrak’s horn louder than Alabama
Al.com – Feb. 19
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has pushed for tax cuts, is a fierce abortion opponent and once led an effort to get mandatory drug testing of welfare recipients approved in his state. Mississippi tea-party conservatives tout Bryant as one of their first gubernatorial successes since he took office in 2012. But the governor, if anything, has taken on a more progressive stance compared to his conservative Alabama colleagues when it’s come to restoring Amtrak rail service along the Gulf Coast … William Stewart, professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama, said it’s rare for Mississippi to take “an apparently more progressive stance” than Alabama. He said the difference could be that Amtrak’s Gulf Coast route includes four stops along coastal Mississippi – Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula – compared to only two in Alabama, Atmore and Mobile.
CABJ offers support for minority journalists
Crimson White – Feb. 22
Raising the percentage of African-American journalists in newsrooms is currently a pressing goal for media organizations all over the U.S., even at the level of college campuses. This includes The University of Alabama. Shemaiah Kenon, a senior majoring in journalism, wants to inspire students with a passion for writing. As the president of the Capstone Association of Black Journalists, Kenon wants to not only inspire students, but also help make their writing better and be the best journalists they can be. CABJ, a student organization at The University of Alabama, brings together students of all backgrounds to work toward increasing diversity in American newsrooms.
Officers moving to digital citations
Arkansas Online – Feb. 22
More paper ticket books will be given up in favor of digital scanners for some police departments in smaller cities in Northwest Arkansas. Most larger municipalities already use some sort of e-ticketing software. Lowell will roll out scanners and thermal printers in patrol vehicles in the next couple of months. Police Chief Randy Harvey said the department worked the setup costs into the city budget six months ago. Only one company returned a bid, charging $27,833 for a system that gives the department four hand-held units. Arkansas’ eCite system was first used in December 2012 by Arkansas State Police Troop K, according to a report from the Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama.
University hosts screening of “Pelo Malo”
Crimson White – Feb. 22
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program hosted a screening of “Pelo Malo” in Ten Hoor Hall Room 125 at 6 p.m. The film, directed by Mariana Rondon, is set in a poor area of Caracas, Venezuela in 2011, and focuses on a 9-year-old boy named Junior, who, with his mixed ancestry, struggles to find his physical identity. The film was shown to bring awareness to the shared histories between the United States and Latin America and to highlight the context of race, bodies and hair, as well as tackling racism and homophobia. The showing of the film was also in connection with Black History Month.
Miss University of Alabama crowned
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 20 and 21
Congratulations to Page Weinstein. She is the 2016 Miss University of Alabama. Page is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
UA holds “Powder to the People” 5K Run
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Feb. 20
The University of Alabama held a “Powder to the People” 5K Run this morning. The run was to raise money for student scholarships.