Nick and Terry Saban now University of Alabama honorary alumni
Columbus (Ga.) Ledger- Enquirer – Oct. 2
Football coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry have been made honorary alumni of the University of Alabama. According to a report on the school’s website, https://www.ua.edu/, the Sabans were honored by the University of Alabama Alumni Association at a luncheon Friday. Alumni Association president Chad Coker also presented a $10,000 donation from the association to Nick’s Kids, a non-profit and official charity of Saban’s family which is dedicated to raising awareness and resources for deserving organizations throughout the Southeast.
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 2
Young Alabama fan has dream day in Tuscaloosa after rare tumor diagnosis
Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer – Oct. 2
The University of Alabama helped a young girl’s dream come true this weekend with a football-filled Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Aubreigh Nicholas, 10 of Semmes, Ala., “has a die hard allegiance to SEC football,” according to a post on the Aubreigh’s Army Facebook page.
How U.S. compares to rest of world when it comes to gun homicides
USA Today – Oct. 2
The United States is in a class of its own when it comes to gun homicides. The U.S. saw on average 8,592 gun homicides each year — 2.7 gun homicides for every 100,000 people — between 2010 and 2015, according to the latest data from the Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based research initiative that tracks guns. . . . After 35 people were killed and 23 injured in a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996, the Australian government worked with political groups to institute legislation to restrict gun availability, including a buy-back program that reduced firearms in the country by 20%, he said. “They haven’t had anything like what they experienced before in terms of mass shootings,” said Adam Lankford, a professor at the University of Alabama’s Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice.
Dozens Dead And Hundreds Injured In Las Vegas Shooting
Wyoming Public Radio – Oct. 2
A gunman opened fire on concertgoers in Las Vegas Sunday night, making it the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, according to police. Hellish gunfire in Las Vegas last night. Raining down on a concert crowd with nowhere to hide. Worst mass shooting in American history. We will go to Vegas in this hour to recreate the terrible scene and first response to it. This hour, On Point: The Las Vegas massacre, as it unfolded. –Tom Ashbrook. Guests Joe Schoenmann, senior producer at KNPR, Nevada Public Radio. Host of KNPR’s State of Nevada. @joedowntownlv. Adam Lankford, criminology professor at the University of Alabama.
National Public Radio – Oct. 2
Alabama college receives $5 million donation
WTVY (Dothan) – Oct. 1
A $5 million donation will help build a high-tech cyber security lab and fund research in business data intelligence at an Alabama college. The Tuscaloosa News reports the donation will be used at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. The lab will be located at Bidgood Hall.
Alabama Public Radio – Oct. 2
Segregation-era Selma librarian honored for work
Associated Press – Oct. 2
She was a “little old lady” librarian who took on those who espoused hatred with a twinkle in her eyes. Her name was Patricia Blalock and when she died six years ago at the age of 97, she had quietly demonstrated a verity in life that smiles have a way of overcoming anger. That’s the way it was in Selma during the 1960s, when racial unrest and segregation made the town a pariah around the world. . . . Blalock never sought fame or fortune but her civil rights efforts have been duly noted by way of a posthumous induction into the Alabama Social Work Hall of Fame. A few days ago she joined four other 2017 inductees at the NorthRiver Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa where memories of her determined civil rights efforts were saluted. . . . “Throughout the tumultuous decades of civil unrest in Selma, she maintained the library as a place of welcome for both races, developing programs to meet the needs of Selma’s diverse population,” said University of Alabama Associate professor emerita of social work Thelma Vaughan Mueller.
Vancouver (Canada) Sun – Oct. 2
US News and World Report – Oct. 2
Beat Auburn Beat Hunger holds Kick-off event
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Oct. 2
The annual food fight between The University of Alabama and Auburn kicked-off today. “Beat Auburn Beat Hunger” takes the rivalry from the football field to the food bank competing against one another to end hunger in West Alabama. Non-perishable food items can be dropped off in red barrels across UA’s campus.
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Oct. 2
More Immigration Would Mean More Democrats
National Review – Oct. 3
One of the chief criticisms of the DREAM Act (or of any amnesty) is that it will have long-lasting repercussions on legal immigration. Once naturalized, “Dreamers” can sponsor their parents and other family members, turning what was supposed to be a limited amnesty for longtime U.S. residents into an unintended surge in legal immigration . . . . More to the point, however, University of Alabama political scientist George Hawley has shown that the natural-conservative storyline is more myth than fact. Immigrants, as well as Hispanics and Asians of any nativity, are to the left of the average American voter on fiscal issues. For example, according to Pew, 75 percent of Hispanics say they would prefer a bigger government with more services over a smaller government with fewer services, compared with just 41 percent of the general public. Hawley notes that Hispanics do show conservative tendencies on abortion, but social issues do not seem to motivate their vote as much as economic ones
Campuswide breakfast meant to foster diversity discussions
Crimson White – Oct. 2
What: Inclusive Campus Breakfasts are monthly breakfasts intended to foster discussions about diversity across campus. Gevin Brown, graduate research assistant at Crossroads, said the breakfast isn’t structured to feel like a lecture or a classroom setting. “Typically, after we’ve sat down with our breakfast, we’ll all introduce ourselves and then break up into small groups where individual initiatives like campus dialogue and trans-inclusivity are discussed,” Brown said.
Paleoanthropologist presents discoveries
Crimson White – Oct. 3
Lee Berger, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, world-renowned paleoanthropologist and one of 2016’s 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine, spoke to members of the UA community on Monday night. Berger made his mark on history when he discovered two new species of hominids, Australopithecus Sediba and Homo naledi. These discoveries may challenge the way we think of human evolution. “This was definitely an exciting event,” said John Whitley, a post-doctoral researcher in the department of chemical engineering. “I had a subscription to National Geographic and I remembered reading about Homo naledi. I saw the news saying that the guy who discovered it was going to be here, so I decided to come.”
“The Caucasian Chalk Circle” to run this week at Marian Gallaway Theatre
Crimson White – Oct. 3
Students are bringing to life a play written by the famed German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, this week at the Marian Gallaway Theatre. UA Theatre and Dance will present the play “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” this week. The show, originally written by Brecht, follows a war-torn village as its people try to recuperate after the violence. Annie Levy, who heads the MFA Directing program here at the university, will direct the show. She chose “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” partly because Brecht, a German playwright and poet, wrote plays that are typically more difficult than others to produce. Brecht’s influential writing presented an intriguing creative challenge.
Local UA graduates
Times Journal (Fort Payne) – Oct. 2
The University of Alabama awarded approximately 1,300 degrees during summer commencement Aug. 5.