Alabama Alumni couple donates $5 million to fund pre-med, arts initiatives
Tuscaloosa News – April 22
A player on coach Paul W. Bryant’s 1964 national championship football team and his wife have donated more than $5 million to the University of Alabama. The donation will be used to establish a premedical scholars program and art exhibition for current students and alumni. “This is a very exciting day for the University of Alabama and the College of Arts and Sciences,” Dean Robert Olin said. “This gift has a broad purpose.”
The Enterprise Ledger – April 22
WAFF 48 (Huntsville) – April 21
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 21
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 21
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 21
A vision fulfilled
Tuscaloosa News – April 23
Cathy Randall came to the University of Alabama in the late 1960s as a freshman who was among the first students in the university’s pioneering computer-based honors program. Almost 50 years later, Randall, the longtime director of the program, recalled a note from her father as she considered colleges. “Dear Cathy, you need to look into this. Computers are going to be everywhere,’” Randall’s father wrote. Randall rediscovered the brief message looking though her student files as director of the program. “I am so grateful to my father to have the vision to see this,” she said. The university is renaming the Computer-Based Honors Program, a component of the Honors College, the Catherine J. Randall Research Scholars Program, in part, because of her role as a visionary leader. The resolution for the name change also noted the philanthropic contributions and support of the university by her family.
Crimson White – April 24
Hunting down runaway slaves: The cruel ads of Andrew Jackson and ‘the master class’
MSN – April 23
Stop the Runaway,” Andrew Jackson urged in an ad placed in the Tennessee Gazette in October 1804. The future president gave a detailed description: A “Mulatto Man Slave, about thirty years old, six feet and an inch high, stout made and active, talks sensible, stoops in his walk, and has a remarkable large foot, broad across the root of the toes — will pass for a free man …” … “Our goal is to ultimately collect all the runaway ads that have survived,” said Edward E. Baptist, a Cornell history professor who is collaborating on the project with Joshua D. Rothman, at the University of Alabama, and Molly Mitchell, at the University of New Orleans.
Trap-Neuter/Spay-Release Week
Alabama Public Radio – April 22
Cats that have been neutered or spayed as part of a TNR program will have one ear “tipped”. The veterinarian will trim the tip of an ear so that if the cat is picked up in the future it can easily be identified as a one that has already had the surgery … Students in a University of Alabama psychology class have been working with high school and middle school students this week to bring attention to the importance of T-N-R or “Trap-Neuter-Release” as a cost-effective and humane way to deal with feral cats and reduce their population.
In ‘Chewing Gum,’ Tracey Is The Quirkiest And Freest Character On TV]
NPR – April 24
Tracey Gordon, the protagonist in the Netflix hit show, Chewing Gum — a British comedy about a 20-something Christian woman on a quest to lose her virginity and find herself — is weird. The fact is, if I knew her in real life, she’d probably irritate me a lot. And yet, I love her … Robin Boylorn, a professor at the University of Alabama, and member of the creative organization Crunk Feminist Collective, says the show has become important because through Tracey’s romantic and sexual relationships we’re reminded that “Dark-skinned women are being recognized as beautiful, too. Not in a way that seeks to diminish or discredit the beauty of other women, but beauty standards are being expanded to be more inclusive.”
OND: Saturday Science Edition with Bonus Pics from My Local March For Science!
Daily KOS – April 22
You’d have to be an intrepid explorer to investigate something named ‘Cape Tribulation’. Opportunity, NASA’s long-lived rover on Mars’ surface, has been just that. But Opportunity is now leaving Cape Tribulation behind, after being in that area since late 2014, or for about 30 months … Humans began measurably and negatively impacting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century, according to a study of eastern oysters by researchers at The University of Alabama. The work, published in Scientific Reports, show pollution’s effect appears a bit earlier than previously thought, but it generally confirms increasing deforestation and industrialization around the Bay led to water quality issues before the Civil War, which has been shown by other studies with different testing methods.
Environmental News Network – April 21
America needs an upgrade _ the sacramento bee
Gas and Electricity – April 24
In the entire political realm, perhaps no arena illustrates this gap between rhetoric and reality more starkly than infrastructure repair and replacement: Politicians regularly opine about the need to rebuild America and produce millions of jobs in the process … Michael Kreger, an award-winning professor of civil engineering at the University of Alabama who studies rehabilitation of structural concrete buildings and bridges, had a similar view, telling me in an email: “Perhaps the status quo will not change until deteriorating infrastructure leads to one or more events resulting in significant loss of life.”
Morgan, Limestone unemployment drops below 5 percent; Lawrence rate also declines
Decatur Daily – April 23
The unemployment rates in Morgan and Limestone counties dropped below 5 percent in March, and Lawrence County’s jobless rate of 5.9 percent was 1 percentage point lower than a month earlier.. . . “Overall, the economy is doing fine after a drop in the rate of growth in 2016,” said Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse School of Commerce. “The only problem is that wages are still not rising as they should be if we are getting close to full employment level. Average weekly earnings in the Decatur metro area were $662.92, a decline from $699.75 a year ago, which indicated there is still some slack in labor markets.”
UA senior swimmer gives back to the community
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 21
University of Alabama swimmer, Caroline Korst knew she was destined for the water from an early age. Caroline Korst has spent the last four years as a leader for the swim team both physically and mentally. When the Alabama senior from Frisco, Texas is not maintaining her spot on the Academic Honor-Roll or serving as the President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, she’s busy setting school records in the NCAA and SEC Championships. When she isn’t sporting googles and a swim cap, she can be found taking a hammer to a nail as she has also spent the last four years working with Habitat-For-Humanity as often as possible.
Good News: Vacaville woman receives Fulbright Award
Daily Republic (Fairfield-Suisun City, California) – April 22
University of Alabama student Kelsey Daugherty of Vacaville has received a Fulbright Award for 2017-18. Daugherty is a graduate in journalism with minors in German and business. She will teach in Germany. For the 2017-18 competition, 14 University of Alabama students have been selected for Fulbright Awards. This year’s total is the most for the university.
Idaho Unemployment Dropped in March Steelers Lounge
Steelers Lounge – April 23
About 12,322 more Hoosiers found employment in March, increasing the state’s total labor force to 3.32 million … The state outpaced the nation in employment growth, expanding at a rate of 2.1% year-over-year, compared with 1.5% nationwide. The county’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent a year ago at this time. The national job growth rate over the same period was 1.5 percent. “Overall, the economy is doing fine after a drop in the rate of growth in 2016”, said Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse School of Commerce.
PREVIEW: Documenting Social Justice Screening
Crimson White – April 23
After 11 years, University of Alabama instructor and independent documentary filmmaker Andy Grace said he does not get tired of teaching this year-long course at The University of Alabama titled “Documenting Justice.” Now, students will showcase their own documentaries that they have been working on all year. “There are some incredible films this year,” Grace said. “I think students especially should be supportive of one another for making interesting creative work.” Offered to non-film majors at the University of Alabama, Documenting Justice is a “unique interdisciplinary film-making course.”
Grant-writing phase begins for project
Florence Times-Daily – April 23
The Native American coalition developing the historic Tuscumbia Landing site has moved into the grant-writing stage of the project. The coalition, one of two groups that submitted proposals, was recommended by the Sheffield Port Authority at Tuscumbia Landing, and selected by the City Council in October to complete the project … “We’ve had some contact with the Office of Archeological Research at the University of Alabama,” Matheny said. “We hope to get them involved to do the ground-penetrating radar work. We’ll need to do that right off the bat.”
A-Day to be held at UA
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – April 21
Road improvement projects and a Triathlon will slow down traffic headed to Tuscaloosa for the A-Day game.
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – April 21
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – April 21
How to Manage Offers and Decisions
Progressions – April 24
“It’s not you, it’s me,” is the most overused line in television and movie break-ups, and also a line that tends to apply when weighing the pros and cons of different internship and job offers. So how do you make a decision? How do you maintain these relationships along the way? Below are a few key things to consider when approaching the decision-making process. (Sarah Dougherty is the 2016–2017 vice president of career services and a senior at the University of Alabama. Follow her on Twitter @sarahgdougherty.)
REVIEW: Cast provides sterling recreation of Broadway classic
Tuscaloosa News – April 22
It ain’t all kicks, even high ones, or moves, even smooth, or looks, even glittering. “A Chorus Line” comprises individuals who step out of sync, confused, conflicted and complicated, and move toward unity. From this clamor of disparate tales must evolve one singular sensation of sounds and motions, like melding mangoes with clairvoyance, tsunamis, melancholy and duct tape to cobble together an unsullied simile … Stacy Alley’s production — the University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance’s show, but as choreographer and director, Alley’s queen bee — hews closely to productions cemented by decades, the set spare as most rehearsal spaces, a tabula rasa for unsparing stories, some hilarious, a few tragic, most swerving through extremes.
55-Year-old competes in Collegiate Triathalon
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – April 22
Achieving an unexpected goal. For this Dallas-based lawyer that’s exactly what he got to do while working towards his Master’s degree at The University of Alabama. Jeff Dorrill represented the Tide in the USA Collegiate Club Triathalon national championships that took place in Tuscaloosa. Dorrill isn’t your typical college athlete. At age 55, he’s the second oldest person to ever compete in the Collegiate triathlon National Championships.
Opelika High School seniors receive full academic scholarships
WLTZ-NBC (Columbus, Georgia) – April 21
Eight Opelika High School seniors are securing scholarships because of their academic efforts. School administrators, family members and teachers gathered to witness these college bound students sign full academic scholarships to a variety of colleges and universities including Auburn, Alabama, and The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Shelby – Show Up for Science to be held at UA
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – April 21
Also Today in Tuscaloosa, Science advocates and Kudzu Coalition of West Alabama are going together to for a march and rally. “Shelby –Show Up For Science” will focus on the importance of science in our everyday lives. It will also send a message to Alabama leaders in Washington. The group also invited Senator Richard Shelby. The event is at Shelby Hall on The University of Alabama campus starting at 11 a.m.
Campus News
Marietta Daily Journal – April 23
The University of Alabama Graduate School announced that Lauren Neal of Acworth was among the recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student awards. Neal received the “Excellence in Research by a Master’s Student” award for 2017.