How one Alabama high school is cutting the high cost of college
AL.com – May 25
On a recent rainy Friday morning, students filled a classroom to learn the ins and outs of research papers from Professor Stefanie Buckner of the University of Alabama. She gave them common-sense tips in her PowerPoint presentation: “Your thesis is proving your argument, that’s all it is,” she said. “Nod your head if that makes sense.” Though the classroom looked like a typical college lecture hall, with four ascending rows of tables divided by a center aisle, it was actually far away from the Tuscaloosa campus, in the Foreign Language Building at Murphy High School in midtown Mobile. And though these weren’t first-year college students, the Murphy students are earning college credit for their efforts in a dual-enrollment program that’s the first of its kind in the state as a partnership with the University of Alabama. The UA Early College program offers an assortment of college classes to 10th, 11thand 12th-graders at Murphy – and the results have been impressive. “The first group of students have had an entire year of college classes including, with a cumulative GPA of 3.43,” said Gene Montgomery, dean of the Murphy University Center. “This has never been done before on this scale. We’re changing some minds and breaking some models.” . . . Dr. Victoria Whitfield, the director of UA Early College, drove to Mobile from Tuscaloosa last week to address some of the 105 students who participated in the program’s first year. “I hope you have seen that hard work really does pay off,” she told the group. “It shows in your grades, your confidence and your maturity. You have shown that you are college-ready.”
Alabama students work on projects in Marion
Selma Times-Journal – May 26
University of Alabama freshmen students Alyssa Barefield, 19, and Gracie Thull, 18, worked diligently Wednesday to paint parking spot lines outside the Perry County Courthouse. Barefield and Thull are two of 31 students who have spent the last three weeks in Marion for the University of Alabama’s University Fellow Experience. “I’m really grateful that Marion has welcomed us the way that they have,” Thull said as she rolled crisp white paint onto the pavement. “Every year they open their homes and their hearts, take really good care of us and let us learn.” In its eighth year, the program is part of the university’s honor college and is designed to help develop service and leadership skills in its students through a variety of community-centered projects. It’s a four-year program that focuses on different elements. For the freshman year the element is “develop.” Students explore issues such as civic engagement, personal development, project development, implementation and others. The students then spend three weeks in Marion as part of the Black Belt Experience in May where they execute various projects.
Monroe student lifts Alabama to national win
Monroe (Connecticut) Courier – May 26
The University of Alabama’s Bateman Team won first place in the 2016 Bateman Case Study Competition in Chicago on Wednesday. The competition is designed to allow students to combine their classroom and industry experience to create a full public relations campaign. This is the fourth year of the Bateman Team has had an active presence at The University of Alabama and its first win at the national competition. Samantha Vlahos of Monroe is one of the six team members.
Bama’s Unified Special Olympics Basketball team celebrates national championship
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – May 25
Add another championship for the University of Alabama. This time it’s Unified Special Olympics Basketball. University of Alabama’s Unified Special Olympics Basketball team won the national championship by defeating Central Michigan 51-43 in Columbus, Ohio. It was the team’s first try in the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s Unified Basketball’s first ever championship competition. “Wow! It’s, it’s a dream come true. It’s all we work for, you know? Hard work pays off,” Kemondre Taylor said.
WVUA 23 (Tuscaloosa) – May 25
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – May 25
University of Alabama Shares Video Recap of Busy 2015-16 Academic Year
WTUG-FM (Tuscaloosa) – May 25
It began with the introduction of a new university president and is concluding with deep postseason runs by many of the spring sports teams. The University of Alabama captured a busy academic year in Tuscaloosa with a video highlighting all of the milestones. Last summer, the Board of Trustees named Dr. Stuart Bell the successor to Dr. Judy Bonner as the president and he led another successful year on campus. It all started with a new class of freshmen that helped push the enrollment over 37,000 at Alabama.
The Truth About Imaginary Friends
Science Friday – May 25
Developmental psychologist Marjorie Taylor still remembers when she was introduced to a female veterinarian named Elfi Welfi back in the late 1990s. Elfi was married to Sammy Whammy, and together they owned a few cats and dogs. Elfi lived in a completely tie-dyed world—hair, skin, furniture, bed sheets, everything. And she was about as tall as a pinky finger … Historically, many researchers and parents thought that imaginary companions were harmful or evil, and were a sign of a social deficit, demonic possession, or mental illness. For instance, at the University of Alabama’s Knowledge in Development (KID) Lab, lead psychologist Ansley Gilpin recently heard of a case where a parent thought her daughter might have schizophrenia. It turned out that the child just had an imaginary friend. “Certainly, it scares many parents today when they have children who are talking to people who are not there,” Gilpin says. Kids who notice that concern might be afraid to admit that they have an imaginary friend, she says.
Has Donald Trump Accidentally Hit Upon His Own Contract With America?
Red State – May 25
There are all kinds of post-mortems and pre-mortems of Donald Trump, the GOP, and conservatism floating around. The New York Daily News has an op-ed that provides some interesting morsels for consideration. It is by a guy named George Hawley who teaches political science at the University of Alabama. Hawley’s alleged field of study is American conservatism, though some of what he writes has a distictly Conservatives in the Mist feel to it.
Alabama insurance agency, FHLBank Atlanta team to aid Gulf Coast homeowners
Alabama News Center – May 25
The Alabama Department of Insurance has been working on multiple fronts to bring insurance rates down in the area. Last week, the agency announced a 2016 partnership between the Strengthen Alabama Homes Program (SAHP) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta that will provide grants used to assist homeowners in wind mitigation rehabilitation of existing homes in Baldwin and Mobile Counties … The collaboration between SAHP and FHLBank Atlanta has sparked at least one other partnership in the effort to reduce insurance premiums along the Gulf Coast. The Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama has worked with ALDOI and SAHP to design a website and grant management database that will launch this summer.
Alabama Student to Appear on American Ninja Warrior!
WTUG-FM (Tuscaloosa) – May 25
Yesterday, I attended my daughter’s gymnastics meet and though I beamed with pride as she completed each position, the news her coach gave me at the end of the meet was even more exciting. Coach Casey, as he is called at Tuscaloosa Tumbling Tides, talked to me about my daughter’s advancement in the sport and then let me in on the fact that he’s going to be competing on American Ninja Warrior on June 1st! … A statement from the University of Alabama says, Coach Casey (Casey Suchocki) is a civil engineering student at the University of Alabama. While in Tuscaloosa, he trains at Tumbling Tides; but when he goes home to Montgomery, he trains on an obstacle course in his grandfather’s back yard.
Mobile’s ‘Distinguished Young Women’ Winner to attend UA
NBC 15 (Mobile) – May 25
Katie Lynn Copeland was last year’s winner. She attends Baker High School. She finished in the top 8 at state competition, and she says DYW has been an incredibly rewarding experience. She’s using more than $4000 of her scholarship money to attend The University of Alabama next year.
Montgomery’s Lanier High School valedictorian to attend UA
WSFA-NBC 12 (Montgomery) – May 25
Lanier’s Ja’leesa Marche Draw set a goal to be valedictorian. Her next goal is to become a math teacher. She’ll attend The University of Alabama.