UA In the News – June 9

Hundreds of New Churches Not Enough to Satisfy Southern Baptists
Christianity Today – June 9
Southern Baptists gained almost 500 churches last year, while taking in more than $11 billion. Such statistics would have most US denominations praising the Lord … In the American Conservative last week, George Hawley, politics professor at the University of Alabama, suggested the Religious Right was to blame for the decline of evangelical denominations including Southern Baptists. During last year’s election, the SBC saw agency leaders split over support for President Donald Trump, with some congregations even temporarily withholding funding.

NASA recruits 12 new astronauts for Earth and deep space missions
Mobile Scout – June 9
NASA has announced its 12 new recruits for 2017, which will do exploration in low Earth orbit as well as deep space. The space agency has hired five women and seven men from over 18,300 applications received The fourth recruit is Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Dominick is a master’s in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Bob Hines is a NASA research pilot at the Johnson Space Centre and master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama.
Tuscaloosa News – June 8
Crimson White – June 8
Medical Health News – June 8
Yellowhammer – June 8
WGAL-NBC (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) – June 8

Alabama Attorney General’s office warns of technical support service scams
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – June 8
Computer users, beware. Just because Alabama’s Attorney General and the Fair Trade Commission got a company accused of using phony tech support practices to stop doesn’t mean you’re safe. “What these people are doing, is they are trying to get you to believe that your computer is infected with a virus, and then they are trying to sell you a service that is generally worthless or worst-case, puts malware on to your machine.” Dr. Matthew Hudnall, Deputy Director for the Center for Advanced Public Safety at The University of Alabama, says fake support services make millions by using pop-up ads to prey on your fears.

Gulf State Park opens new trails
Gulf Coast News Today – June 8
Gulf State Park officials have happily announced the addition of new trails that have been added to the park’s existing trail system. The Gulf State Park Project with the University of Alabama helped identify new areas where trails could be added to enhance and improve access to different areas of the park.

American Legion sending students to Boys State
Demopolis Times – June 8
American Legion Post 41 has selected two Demopolis High School students who will be sponsored for this year’s Boys State program. American Legion posts have sponsored rising high school senior boys to attend Boys State for many years, and that tradition continues today. This year, Post 41 has selected Tristan Mullen and Anthony Galvan, both from DHS, to attend Boys State, which will be held on the University of Alabama campus from May 28 through June 3.

UA Political Science professor says there is no clear winner after Comey testimony
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – June 8
University of Alabama assistant professor of Political Science Dr. Allen Linken discussed the proceedings with WVUA 23 today, saying there’s no clear winner after today’s event.

Birmingham’s Red Mountain Theatre stages ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Alabama News Center – June 8
The cast and director of Red Mountain Theatre’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” are thrilled about tradition but are most inspired by how its message resonates with today’s issues. “Fiddler on the Roof” is a classic story is based on a dairy man, Tevye, and his daughters as they progress through life and Tevye strives to hold fast to his beliefs and traditions while his people are being oppressed because of their faith. “Yes, it is traditional, yet there are moments where I think you will think, ‘Was that always in it?’,” RMTC Executive Director Keith Cromwell said.

‘Success Is Attainable for Everyone’
Centre View – June 8
The Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement Committee (CPMSAC) held its 32nd annual Youth Motivation and Academic Achievement Awards Program last Saturday, June 3, at Chantilly High. The theme was “Commitment to Mission: Pursuing Higher Achievement and Academic Excellence.” … The keynote speaker was Westfield 2016 magna cum laude grad Cara Clay. A former CPMSAC participant, she received its Cameron Dudley Book Scholarship last year. She just completed her freshman year at the University of Alabama, where she’s majoring in both environmental science and economics. And with a 4.2 GPA, she made the fall 2016 President’s List there.

Novel carbon capture system successfully demonstrated in NETL-managed project
World Coal – June 8
A project conducted by ION Engineering, and supported by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), has successfully concluded a 6-month testing campaign at the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) in western Norway, the world’s largest facility for testing and improving carbon dioxide (CO2) capture … This project is supported by significant contributions from DOE and TCM, and other project partners: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, the Nebraska Public Power District, Sulzer Chemtech USA, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the University of Alabama, Optimized Gas Treating, and ION Engineering.

Sustainability Report: Are Composite Building Materials Sustainable?
Paste Magazine – June 2
In grade schools long ago, many people had to build something out of toothpicks or Popsicle sticks—a house, a bridge, a boat. It might have been an art project or a science experiment, but the idea was to make something new out of existing materials … One of those requirements is how composite materials behave during earthquakes. At the University of Alabama, the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering is doing seismic testing on CLT with the goal of “optimizing how much CLT and how much light-frame in the building that will make it work best,” says Thang Dao, assistant professor of structural engineering.