American women are dominating the Games, and it didn’t happen by accident
Los Angeles Times – Aug. 17
A girl wanders into a Houston gym on a school field trip, a worker loves her spark, and a dozen years later she wins four Olympic gold medals. A girl jumps into a suburban Washington, D.C., swimming pool to make friends, a coach notices her stroke, and a dozen years later she wins four Olympic gold medals. With five days remaining in the Rio Olympics, the final verdict is in and the winners are the U.S. women. After 11 of the Olympics’ 16 days, American women have filled the podium, dominated the broadcasts and opened the curtain on an inclusive sports society absent in many parts of the world. . . . During the first half of the Olympics, according to a study by three college professors, 58.5% of the NBC’s prime-time telecasts were devoted to women, the most ever, and why not? ”It’s just smart programming,’’ said Andy Billings, a sports media professor at the University of Alabama and one of the study’s authors. “Because we have such a progressive culture, we have a lot of the greatest women athletes in the world.”
WTVN-AM Radio (Columbus, Ohio) – Aug 16
Experts worry Trump’s war on America’s democratic institutions could do long-term damage
Toronto Star – Aug. 17
Donald Trump is fond of saying “believe me.” He might as well add: don’t believe anyone else. . . . George Hawley, author of the book Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism and a University of Alabama political science professor, said conservative intellectuals have strategically dealt in anti-establishment populism “with the understanding that they would always be able to remain in control of it.” The Tea Party, he said, was a genuine populist movement whose energy party elites channelled into the kinds of business-friendly policies favoured by the Chamber of Commerce. “And now they find themselves completely aghast: they see that someone else is coming along and using those exact same latent tendencies in the electorate to fuel his own rise and is completely not beholden to them, and they’re utterly horrified,” Hawley said.
Interactions, body cameras among topics of community forum with police
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 17
Members of the public who attended a forum to discuss law enforcement and community relations Tuesday voiced concerns about police training, body cameras and recording police interactions. Around 175 people attended the forum sponsored by The Tuscaloosa News and WVUA-23 and held at First African Baptist Church. Many had questions prompted by recent high-profile cases nationwide regarding use of excessive force, police and race. Moderator Bryan Fair, a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, encouraged both the law enforcement officers and citizens to see each topic from the other’s point of view. “It’s not the community against the police, it’s not the police against the community,” he said. “We are all Tuscaloosans.” Members of the panel included Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson, Northport Police Capt. Keith Carpenter, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy, University of Alabama Police Chief John Hooks, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham Office Roger Stanton and Michael Whisonant, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
WVUA-23 (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 16
Search restarted for new University of Alabama provost
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 17
The University of Alabama has announced plans to restart the search for a permanent provost, a position which has been filled by interim leaders since 2012. A 14-person committee including faculty, staff and students and Vice President of Student Affairs David Grady will work with a consultant on a nationwide search for a new provosts, the university announced Tuesday. Speaking at a UA Faculty Senate meeting on Tuesday, UA President Stuart Bell said the search would consider candidates currently at the university. The university is in the process of finalizing a contract for a consultant, Bell said, who hopes to have the position filled by January.
Classes at UA start on Wednesday
CBS 42 (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 16
Classes at The University of Alabama get underway tomorrow morning for thousands of students. Many of those are freshmen in the Class of 2020. Today, the annual Freshman Convocation was held on campus on the Quad. It’s the annual tradition where administrators and other students welcome the new students to campus. It’s also a tradition to meet the deans and recite the Capstone Creed.
Three friends from Restoration Academy make a pact to get through high school; Now prepare to attend UA together
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Aug. 16
Three young men from a small school in Fairfield made a pact to not just be friends, but to do well in class. The students got the idea from a best selling book and a teacher who helped push them. Trent McMullen, Brendan Jones and Brian Rodgers say they were destined to be friends at Restoration Academy. “We’ve been together since seventh grade, said McMullen. “We started out as a group of three because we had to go from the elementary building and come to the high school building together, so we had to be friends because we were always together,” said Jones. Connie Edwards, the AP math teacher, challenged them to make their friendship count for something more. “They were the youngest in the class of eighth-graders, ninth-graders and maybe tenth-graders, and I just thought if these guys are going to make it they need to stick together. And I said guys what do you think about reading this book together and maybe at the end you could write your own pact,” said Edwards. . . . McMullen, Jones, and Rodgers have already moved in at the University of Alabama. “I refuse to be a statistic. The ones that don’t graduate. The pact doesn’t end. We’re going to be friends for life,” said Jones.
Shelby County graduate rewarded a solo in Million Dollar Band
Shelby County Reporter – Aug. 17
A graduate from Shelby County High School will have a solo spot in the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Marching Band at halftime of their first football game of the year in Arlington, Texas at the AdvoCare Classic. Nathan Brom, who graduated from Shelby County last year and is a freshman at Alabama, will represent his former high school with a trumpet solo at the beginning of the halftime show. “I was extremely nervous when they called my name to audition in front of 400 other people for the spot,” Brom said. “Then when they called out my number and said I would get the solo, I was shocked and ecstatic. Now I have to play in front of a little bit more than 400 people.” Brom began playing the trumpet in the sixth grade under the direction of Tom Grigsby, who is still the high school’s band director.
U.S. Rep. Martha Roby recognizes summer interns
Montgomery Advertiser – Aug. 17
Each year my office brings on summer interns who work alongside my staff to support our legislative business and constituent services efforts. Congressional internships offer college-age young people valuable experience and unique exposure to our government at work. We have been blessed with terrific interns this summer, and I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize each of them. Interning in our Capitol Hill office in Washington, D.C., were: . . . Drake McGowin, of Montgomery, who studies English at the University of Alabama. . . . Tazewell Flowers, of Dothan, who studies finance at the University of Alabama. Emily Durden, of Ozark, who studies public relations at the University of Alabama. . . Baily Martin, of Birmingham, who studies political science at the University of Alabama.
You vs. flooding: ‘The water’s going to beat you every time’
AL.com – Aug. 17
Six inches of water may seem harmless. But it’s enough to take your life. The U.S. has had multiple deadly flooding events in 2016, with the most recent devastating parts of Louisiana and taking at least 11 lives. At least three of the Louisiana victims were in their vehicles when they were swept away, according to media reports. . . . Sometimes people feel like they have no choice to try to make it across, according to Laura Myers, a senior research scientist and the director of the University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety. “What the research is showing is people, when they’re confronted with floodwaters and they’re in their vehicle, a lot of times it’s like they’ve got to get where they’re going. And if the floodwater is in their way, they think they can handle it,” she said. “And they don’t think about ‘Hey I need to slow down, I need to go around this, I need to stop.’ They’re thinking about the straightest line between two points.” Making it to work on time is an overriding factor, she said. “Because if people feel like they have to get to work and they’re going to be late for work — that overrides the common sense of ‘I can’t go through this water.’ That goes back to the whole issue of when we require people to be at work during severe weather events, and flooding days, then they’re going to feel compelled that they have to get there,” she said.
New Alabama coastal homeowners insurance shopping guide can be a great tool
Alabama Newscenter – Aug. 17
Since Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, Alabama coastal residents have been burdened with higher homeowners insurance premiums, which has caused many to reduce their coverage to save money.Many initiatives, such as the Strengthen Alabama Homes Program (SAHP), look to bring insurance companies back to the coast in hopes that more competition brings lower premiums for residents. The Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research at the University of Alabama just released “The Alabama Coastal Insurance Shopper’s Guide” to help property owners along Alabama’s Gulf Coast find the most competitive rates. Lars Powell, director at ACIIR, said the new shopper’s guide will help homeowners know how to shop around more easily.“There are more insurance companies writing at the coast today than there were before Hurricane Ivan,” Powell told the Alabama Center for Real Estate.
The 16 Most Picturesque Homes of College and University Executives
LawnStarter.com – Aug. 16
2. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, President’s Mansion: Why We Like It:The gorgeous President’s Mansion at Bama, designed by architect William Nichols and completed in 1841, “is one of the outstanding examples of Greek Revival architecture in the nation,”according to the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society. “It is one of four structures of the original university that survived the campus’ burning during the Civil War.” The mansion wasadded to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.