UA to hold commencement ceremonies
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – May 2
Graduation ceremonies for The University of Alabama are coming up this weekend. Capstone commencement will take place Friday and Saturday. The first ceremony is Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday’s ceremonies are at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. About 5,300 graduates and their families are expected to attend.
Military Kids Are Hurting More Than We Know
Lifezette – May 2
Thousands of American children will attend summer camps in the months ahead. Operation Purple Camp is one of them. Its purpose is to unite children whose parents are in the military and offer a built-in support system to help kids cope with the unique challenges their families face … Dr. David Albright, an associate professor of mental health at the University of Alabama who specializes in military mental health, said there aren’t enough intervention programs — and that civilians are largely unaware of the issues that military children face. “The kids are invisible,” he told LifeZette. “[People] just don’t know military kids are even there. It’s really tough to argue for policy, much less specific intervention programs, when we largely don’t even identify the kids.”
Dr. Doug Phillips of ‘Discovering Alabama’ visits Wallace State for Earth Day festivities
Cullman Times – May 2
Dr. Doug Phillips, host of “Discovering Alabama” on Alabama Public Television, recently visited Wallace State for Earth Day activities. Phillips’s appearance on campus attracted a mixture of Wallace State students and community members, filling three classrooms at the Wallace State School of Nursing and Center for Science Building. The presentation was simulcast to the additional rooms … Phillips currently serves as the Coordinator for Environmental Information and Education with the Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama.
Project LAUNCH at University of Alabama
Alabama Public Radio – May 3
A two-day summit about early childhood development will begin tomorrow at the Bryant Conference Center located on The University of Alabama’s campus. The summit is being put on by The Alabama Project LAUNCH. Project LAUNCH promotes the wellness of young children by tracking their development in areas such physical, social, emotional, behavioral and cognitive development. They will be offering sessions on early mental health consultation, reflective practice and a poverty simulation called walk a mile in their shoe. Amy Crosby is the Alabama Project LAUNCH Young Child Wellness Coordinator. She says this summit will help improve practices already happening. “We provide professional development opportunities, we create these linkages to again expand and enhance services that are already in place.”
Scholarship helps children of former UA football players
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 2
This year, more than 60 students attended The University of Alabama with assistance from the Paul W. Bryant Scholarship. This scholarship is not based on academics or athletics. Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant endowed this scholarship to benefit the children of his former players, with living and deceased. Haylee Walker will graduate on Saturday, thanks to the Bryant scholarship. It’s been four years since her father, Hardy Walker, passed away. He played for Coach Bryant from 1981 until 1985. When her father died in 2012, Haylee was attending Savannah College of Art and Design. She could no longer afford tuition, and would have had to drop out of school, but the Bryant scholarship allowed her to continue her education at Alabama.
U.S. Supreme Court vacates judgment in case of man who killed Pelham police officer
AL.com – May 3
The U.S. Supreme Court today tossed out an Alabama appeals court judgment against a man convicted in the 2009 slaying of Pelham police officer Philip Davis. . . . One law professor said the ruling is limited in scope. The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t vacate Johnson’s death sentence, said Jenny Carroll, professor of law at the University of Alabama School of Law. What it did was vacate the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmation of the death sentence and asked that court to reconsider its decision in light of the Hurst ruling, she said.
AHS musicians excel at national contest
The Tribune (Humble, Texas) – May 2
The Atascocita High School Chamber Strings recently competed and were selected as the Honor Group at the Grand National Adjudicators’ Invitational … After the performance in Louisiana, the orchestra had the opportunity to work with music faculty from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and visit the natural sites of Ruby Falls and Rock City in Tennessee.
Humans of Alpha Gam (gallery)
Al.com – May 2
“Humans of Alpha Gam: Alabama sorority’s take on ‘Humans of New York’ series will inspire you.”
Tuscaloosa to open The Gateway Innovation Center
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – May 2
A major high-tech facility will soon open its doors in the Alberta community of Tuscaloosa. It’s a virtual library that the city is calling The Gateway Innovation and Discovery Center. Inside the building there are massive computer screens and lots of interactive tables where people can access information. City Councilman Kip Tyner says it will help boost the economy for his district, and it will attract people to visit Alberta. That area continues to rebuild after the April 2011 tornado. “You can go and touch on the wall what you want to see, and all these images will come flying at you that will give you the history of the first Alabama football game, open until the present. Same can be done for the civil rights movement in Tuscaloosa. Same can be done for the history of The University of Alabama, the history of Alberta.”