Alabama football-backed sideline injury tent headed to market
Sports Illustrated – June 13
Prior to last season, when a University of Alabama football player was injured in a game, he would be rushed to the sidelines and instantly a flurry of cameras would surround him. Seemingly, the more a player would grimace at the amount of pain that they were in, the closer the cameras would come. So, thanks to a suggestion from the director of sports medicine at Alabama, Jeff Allen, players now have a special tool to give them a bit of privacy when they are injured. Allen and some members of the College of Engineering designed the SidelinER, and now they are partnering up with Kinematic Sports LLC, a company in an incubator within Tuscaloosa, to further their creation. The SidelinER is essentially just a tent that houses an assessment table for athletic trainers to evaluate a player’s injury. It is fairly easy to set up, thanks to some engineering students that worked on the project. The tent is still loud, but the layer of material provides all the privacy that a player and athletic trainer need.
VA video program helps University of Alabama student-veterans
Tuscaloosa News – June 16
Mitchell Baygents sat in front of a large monitor in a private room in Houser Hall on the University of Alabama campus as a doctor miles away at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center spoke to him via the screen. Baygents, a U.S. Air Force veteran who is now a student at UA, was demonstrating the new tele-health service the VA is offering to student veterans at UA. This semester, the VA has begun offering tele-psychology, a clinical video tele-conference service at the university, which allows student-veterans to connect with their VA doctor without having to leave the UA campus.
The Science of Mass Shooters: What Drives a Person to Kill?
Scientific American – June 16
Just days after a gunman opened fire in a gay club in Orlando, Florida, a complex and sometimes contradictory picture of his motivations is emerging. He called 911 during the attack to pledge allegiance to the jihadist group ISIS and its rival, the al-Nusra Front, according to the FBI … Some researchers think that even people who seem like straightforward terrorists—suicide bombers, for example—are driven by personal mental-health problems. In his book, “The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters and Other Self-Destructive Killers” (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), University of Alabama criminal justice professor Adam Lankford argues that mental-health problems are common in suicide attackers.
Orlando shows how terror is evolving. Can FBI keep up?
Christian Science Monitor – June 16
In a single moment, the Orlando shooting brought together three of the most contentious issues in the United States. Within 12 hours of the attack, President Obama disparaged lax gun laws, Donald Trump tweeted about radical Islamic terrorism, and gay and lesbian celebrities decried a hate crime that took the lives of 49 people at a popular gay nightclub. In the days since the attack, it has become increasingly clear that the actions of Omar Mateen did not fit into a single category of hate crime, mass shooting, or jihadist terror. . . . Others suggest that the answers could lie beyond law enforcement alone. Many lone wolf terrorists are driven to suicide for the same reasons that ordinary people are, as they try to cope with depression and marital strife, argues Adam Lankford, a University of Alabama criminology professor and author of a 2013 book, “The Myth of Martyrdom.” “The Orlando shooter and many mass shooters fall within this demographic and seek to die, even when they claim to be ‘martyrs’ or attempt to hide their psychological pain,” says Mr. Lankford, via e-mail. “If we can make major progress on reducing suicides and helping people with suicidal thoughts, that would be an incredibly important step for America, and I believe a side effect would be a reduction in mass shootings.”
People in Business: Vance finishes DC internship
Montgomery Advertiser – June 16
Carter Vance recently returned to Montgomery from Washington after completing an internship for Sen. Richard Shelby. “I have always had an interest in politics and the political system,” Vance said. “I greatly appreciate Sen. Shelby giving me the opportunity to intern for him this summer … Vance is a rising sophomore at the University of Alabama, where he majors in political science. He plans to attend law school.
UA installs statue for Chancellor Robert Witt
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – June 16
The University of Alabama now has a statue for Chancellor Robert Witt. The bronze statue was installed in front of the student activity center at Presidential Village. The University plans to rename the residential complexes there after the chancellor. The system Board of Trustees will vote on a name tomorrow.
Retirement party held for UA Chancellor Robert Witt
WVUA 23 (Tuscaloosa) – June 16
The University held a party tonight in honor of UA Chancellor Dr. Robert Witt, who will be returning this August. The University also dedicated a statue of the former president, and renamed a residential part of campus after him. System Executive Vice Chancellor Ray Hayes will be replacing Witt in September.
U.S. officials hear from Chester residents about police
Philly.com – June 17
For the last two years, Delphine Matthews hasn’t had time to grieve. She’s spent days that have melded into weeks organizing protests and creating Facebook campaigns, distributing fliers, and writing letters. Letters to Eric Holder, Jesse Jackson, and Michelle Obama. Letters, she said, to anyone who would listen … “Collaborative reform suggests at minimum that you have buy-in from the top executives within a department,” said Stephen Rushin, an assistant professor of law at the University of Alabama who has studied Justice Department investigations. “To change a big organization, you have to have buy-in … so they are already part of the way toward success.”
New Oak Grove sign says town ‘home of Hodges Meteorite’
Daily Home (Talladega) – June 16
Almost 62 years ago, Ann Hodges became the first person in recorded human history to be struck by a meteorite. She was asleep on her living room sofa. She woke up when an 81/2-pound object crashed through her living room ceiling. Hodges was struck in what is now the town of Oak Grove, which was unincorporated at the time. It became known as the Hodges meteorite … Today, one part of the Hodges meteorite is in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama, and another part is residing in the Smithsonian.