An Environmentally Friendly Muscle Car
ASME – Feb. 7
Environmentalists, start your engines? When you think about the Camaro, the term “muscle car” comes to mind. But the term “green?” Maybe not. But that’s what a competition like EcoCAR3, partly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, is about … A team at the University of Alabama has leapt forward in the process. This four-year competition has seen them finish eighth nationally in their first year and then vaulting to fourth overall after the second year of the competition. Now they’re ramping up to try and do even better in Year 3, now at roughly the halfway point in the competition.
We Are This Close to a Constitutional Crisis
Mother Jones – Feb. 7
Mother Jones talked to two constitutional scholars who say we are not yet in a crisis. But their cautious assessments were often peppered with bleak language. Congress “is broken. I am not sure if it can be fixed,” said Ronald Krotoszynski, a professor and expert on constitutional law at the University of Alabama School of Law. We need Congress to play an active oversight role—a check against abuses of executive authority, he said: “And although the federal courts function very well, they are the weakest branch and simply cannot serve as the only check on lawless executive actions.” Meanwhile, Jack Balkin, a Yale Law School professor who has studied constitutional crises, could not think of a similar moment in US history. “We are in uncharted waters,” he said. Here’s how Krotoszynski and Balkin view the Trump administration’s moves so far—and what worries them the most.
What the Appeals Court Must Consider on President Trump’s Immigration Order
Wall Street Journal – Feb. 7 (Subscription only)
All eyes are on a federal appeals court in San Francisco as it weighs President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees. … that temporary restraining order?’” said Adam N. Steinman, a law professor at University of Alabama School of Law and an expert in civil procedure.
A permanent wound: How the slave tax warped Alabama finances
McClatchy (D.C. Bureau) – Feb. 7
On the left side of a piece of parchment, Hall listed hundreds of acres of land he’d acquired since leaving Georgia four years before. He would pay between $2 and $8 an acre on it. He listed a gold watch, as well as a coach, which he valued at $250. The state would collect about $2.50 on it. And in the top right-hand corner, Hall listed “15 negroes under 10 years” and “30 negroes over 10 years.” … “The slave tax in a weird way was a stabilizer,” said Susan Pace Hamill, a University of Alabama professor and expert on state taxation. “It was a bad stabilizer — the whole system of slavery was a bad stabilizer. A shameful stabilizer.”
Athens News-Courier – Feb. 7
Roanoke Times – Feb. 7
Miami Herald – Feb. 7
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram – Feb. 7
Charlotte Observer (N.C.) – Feb. 7
Immigrants Do Not Increase Crime, Research Shows
Scientific American – Feb. 7
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump named victims who were reportedly killed by undocumented immigrants and said … Robert Adelman, University at Buffalo, and Lesley Reid, University of Alabama … Research has shown virtually no support for the enduring assumption that increases in immigration are associated with increases in crime.
McClatchy (D.C. Bureau) – Feb. 7
Church food pantry benefits from fundraiser
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 7
Grace Presbyterian Church member Rachel Walker says that participating in Empty Bowls, a national program designed to raise awareness about hunger, provides her with a tangible sense of accomplishment. . . . Bowls for the Tuscaloosa event are donated by the University of Alabama’s ceramics program, the art studio All Fired up, the Rev. Tyler Richards and the members of Grace Presbyterian church, who paint some of the bowls themselves.
Study: E-Cig Use Safer than Smoking?
Med-Page Today – Feb. 6
Cigarette smokers who switched to e-cigarettes long-term seemed to have significantly reduced exposures to cancer-causing chemicals and toxins, according to a cross-sectional study … But Alan Blum, MD, of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society in Tuscaloosa, told MedPage Today the debate about whether e-cigarettes should be considered a smoking cessation tool is misguided. “The fact is, the rate of smoking cessation for all nicotine replacement therapy is not that great,” said Blum, who was not involved in the study.
President Roth speaks of legends, mental health, sexual assault in State of the School Address
Crimson White – Feb. 6
Student Government Association President Lillian Roth presented her State of the School Address on Monday night in the Great Hall of the Ferguson Student Center. The 15-minute speech played on the University’s new “Where Legends are Made” campaign and was attended by 50 people in person and seen by many more on Facebook live.