UA In the News — April 28

Denny Chimes rings 53 times for those who died on April 27, 2011
WVUA 23 (Tuscaloosa) – April 27
Denny Chimes located on the University of Alabama campus rang 53 times at 5:13 p.m., the time the tornado touched down in Tuscaloosa.

UA professor takes look at weather coverage since April 27, 2011
WBRC-Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 27
A University of Alabama professor is taking a look at the importance of weather coverage since April 27. Dr. Chandra Clark helped put together a documentary there she interviewed meteorologists to get their insight and find out what viewers have picked up since then.

UA’s Center for Advanced Public Safety helps people cope with post-storm trauma
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 27
The Center for Advanced Public Safety or CAPS, here on The University of Alabama campus is not only working to ease people’s minds when tornado sirens go off, but they’re also working to make sure they take the right steps if they do go off. After discussion with meteorologists from across the state, CAPS created a virtual reality environment. It’s equipped with tornado sirens, storm-like features and news broadcasts.

UA’s Center for Advanced Public Safety says people need multiple ways to get weather information
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 27
A recent study of about 3,000 people from Alabama and Mississippi took a look at how things unfolded on April 27. There was some concern about the number of fatalities across the state. Meteorologists teamed up with the National Weather Service and The University of Alabama for answers. Dr. Laura Myers explains what they discovered.

UA scholarship honors tornado victims
WBIR-NBC (Knoxville, Tenn.) – April 27
Alabama was hit hard by those tornadoes, with a death toll of 250 in that state alone. One fifth of those happened in Tuscaloosa, which was right in the path of an EF4 tornado. A scholarship at The University of Alabama carries on the memory of victims of that storm.

UA professor makes documentary about hero in Holt
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 27
Robert Reed is credited with saving dozens of lives in a mobile home park in Holt. He’s known as the ultimate first responder. His story is now in a documentary put together by a University of Alabama professor called April’s hero.

UA Athletic Department remembers how their roles changed on April 27, 2011
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – April 27
When you think about The University of Alabama, you think about championships. But on a day like today, those in the Athletic Department remember how their roles changed for a time after April 27, 2011.

University of Alabama students aim to put Crimson Racing on the map
Tuscaloosa News – April 27
As a crowd of onlookers lined the sidewalk of Seventh Avenue on the University of Alabama campus on Wednesday, members of Crimson Racing unveiled their 2016 Formula car, which zipped up and down the street with team captain Cole Frederick at the wheel. In a couple of weeks, Frederick and his teammates will take their car to compete in a Formula SAE contest in Brooklyn, Michigan, one of two competitions sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers Student Organization in the U.S. The four-day competition that begins May 11 has four events: acceleration, a figure-eight track on a skid pad, autocross and a 20-lap endurance trial. “This year, cross our fingers, we will do better,” Frederick said.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 27
WVUA 23 (Tuscaloosa) – April 27

 Triplet sisters set to graduate together at University of Alabama
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – April 27
Families will be gearing up for graduation ceremonies next month at the University of Alabama. And one family planning to attend will have multiple reasons to celebrate. Three sisters, the Rogers triplets, will be crossing the stage on the same day. Liza and Pierson are identical twins, their sister Charlotte is a fraternal triplet. She’s majoring in communicative disorders, while Liza and Pierson are majoring in fashion and apparel design.

The Union Advantage for Contingent Faculty
Portside – April 27
Over a 30-year career, union representation can mean an additional compensation of at least $1 million for a full-time professor at public regional universities, according to a recent study. The study is good news for adjuncts and other professors around the country who are fighting for union recognition … The positive findings about union representation at regional public schools come from a paper by Stephen G. Katsinas, Johnson A. Ogun and Nathaniel J. Bray of the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama.

Alabama a harbinger of Trump or Cruz election?
Florida Weekly – April 28
For decades, that state’s governor’s mansion has been home to an astounding procession of grifters, buffoons, xenophobes, homophobes, Bible-thumping hypocrites and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers. The current occupant is Robert Bentley, a Republican who carries on in the not-so-grand tradition of his predecessors … Its expressed purpose was to expel immigrants (primarily Latinos), and in that regard it succeeded grandly. In the law’s first year, between 40,000 to 80,000 immigrants hightailed it out of Alabama, costing the state as much as $10 billion in lost income and tax revenues, according to a 2012 study conducted by the University of Alabama.

Janney Furnace school visits questioned
Piedmont Journal – April 27
Of the thousands of Calhoun County public school fourth-graders bussed to Janney Furnace on field trips each year, none are from Anniston City Schools. That glaring omission, of the county’s only majority-black school district, to the Calhoun County Commission-owned Confederate memorial park is telling, explained Dr. Jennifer Gross,  a Jacksonville State University history professor … Gross and another history professor, Dr. Joshua Rothman at The University of Alabama and the school’s Summersell Center for the Study of the South, have questioned the history lessons given to those students at the park. Both Gross and Rothman have said what’s being taught to children about the Civil War there is inaccurate and misleading.

Beyoncé Fans Step Out Of ‘Formation,’ Contradict Feminism Of ‘Lemonade’ Video After Cheating Rumors
International Business Times – April 27
Beyoncé on Wednesday kicked off her “Formation” tour, named for her hit single urging women, specifically African-American women, to band together to fight oppression. However, the fallout from the pop star’s landmark visual album “Lemonade” has many fans breaking rank with that philosophy … “Why are side chicks vilified while dudes who have side chicks are celebrated?” Robin M. Boylorn, an assistant professor of interpersonal and intercultural communication at the University of Alabama, wrote in a 2014 piece for Gawker. “The fact that men are not held accountable for their culpability in the destruction of their own relationships, and the onus is almost always and exclusively put on ‘the other woman,’ implies that men can’t help it, that they are biologically wired to be promiscuous.”

Congrats to … Cassie Rogers-Buchanan and Jalen Drummond
Anniston Star – April 27
Cassie Rogers-Buchanan of Anniston, and a junior at the University of Alabama, recently advanced to the semi-finals in two categories at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Competition in Gainesville, Fla. Rogers-Buchanan was one of two students from UA to advance to the semi-finals, and the only student to compete at that caliber in more than one category. She was instrumental in the team’s sixth place ranking out of the 70 schools competing in the event. Rogers-Buchanan competed for impromptu speaking and as part of a duo interpretation with Brandi White of Greenville, S.C.

Alabama Power marks Earth Month with events on UAB, University of Alabama campuses
Alabama News Center – April 27
On April 13, representatives from the company’s Public Relations, Marketing, Shorelines and Renew Our Rivers participated in the UAB Earth Month Festival on the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus. They showcased five electric vehicles and the power of induction cooking with bananas Foster cooking demonstrations, and educated students about Renew Our Rivers and Shorelines. On April 18, representatives from Public Relations and Community Initiatives joined Alabama Power’s Western Division in participating in the University of Alabama’s GreenWeek event, sharing Renew Our Rivers and Shorelines information with students. “We have had many students interested in volunteering with Renew Our Rivers and learning about how the company is involved with energy efficiency and sustainability,” said Sarah Reid Harris of Alabama Power’s Public Relations Department. “It’s a great way to meet students where they are and show the impact the company has across the state.”

Brad Green speaks to American Legion Post 45 Boys State program participants
The Anniston Star – April 27
Brad Green, one of many staff members who will be chaperoning this year’s American Legion Boys State at the University of Alabama, addressed the participants in this year’s program at Legion Post 45’s monthly meeting.