UA In the News — Aug. 23

UA In the News — Aug. 23

Grant will help UA train future teachers
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 23
Students majoring in secondary math education at the University of Alabama will soon receive more training to help them prepare to teach computer science classes. The training will be funded through a two-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, as part of the new “CS for All” program. Secondary math education majors at UA now take a computer science course called CS 104 – computer science principles – as part of their mathematics major.

Treating the Whole Person Focus of $1 Million Grant
Bio Alabama – Aug. 22
Two University of Alabama researchers are hoping to improve both the mental and physical health of the people in Walker County, thanks to an almost $1 million grant.
 
UA receives renewable energy grant
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Aug. 22
The University of Alabama is putting a new focus on renewable energy with a new grant. $50,000 from the National Science Foundation is paying for a seven week course at the Capstone that explores new ways to use renewable energy.
 
Honorables
Seacostonline.com (New Hampshire) – Aug. 22
A total of 11,101 students enrolled during the 2017 spring semester at The University of Alabama were named to the Dean’s List with an academic record of 3.5 (or above) or the President’s List with an academic record of 4.0 (all A’s). Students named to the list include: Jenna James Ingalls of Wells, Maine, Dean’s List; Kailey N Sonricker of Barrington, President’s List; Elisabeth Helen Danis of Nottingham, Dean’s List; Jennifer A Gintovt of Rochester, President’s List; Michael Joseph Keefe of Sanbornville, Dean’s List.
East Bay Times (California) – Aug. 23
 
One Woman, 32 Men Among Trump’s US Attorney Nominees
Voice of America – Aug. 22
That could change as Trump continues what has become a near-weekly wave of nominations for U.S. attorneys. Still, the glaring gender imbalance has drawn criticism and renewed focus on a lack of diversity among Trump’s political appointments. “I’d hate to second guess the individual nominees and think that they’re good people and good choices, but it’s discouraging across the board as a group to see the fact that there is no diversity,” said Joyce White Vance, a former U.S. attorney from Alabama. Ripley Rand, a former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, said that with one exception, Trump’s nominees hail from small- to medium-sized federal districts with relatively small pools of qualified lawyers to draw from. “I think we may see a shift in diversity once we start going to the larger districts and other places,” Rand said. But Vance, a University of Alabama law professor and career prosecutor who headed the U.S. attorney’s office in northern Alabama during both terms of former President Barack Obama, said a lack of qualified female candidates is not a valid explanation. “In the Bush administration, all three of the U.S. attorneys in Alabama were women,” Vance said. “There are talented women in law enforcement and experienced lawyers throughout the southeast, so I don’t see that as an explanation.”

State senator to challenge Brooks for congressional seat
Decatur Daily – Aug. 23
Two-term state Sen. Bill Holtzclaw will challenge U.S. House member Mo Brooks for his congressional seat next year. . . . “He’s worked very hard as an incumbent representative covering his district and maintaining his ties with the communities in his district,” said Bill Stewart, the retired head of the political science department at the University of Alabama. “I don’t see him having any trouble returning to his U.S. House seat.”