WHY THE RIGHT’S DARK-WEB TROLLS ARE TAKING OVER YOUTUBE
Vanity Fair –March 1
While the far right has been active in its own echo chamber for decades—think obscure subReddits, 4chan, and 8chan—its push into mainstream platforms is relatively new. “It was only when they started to insert themselves into other online spaces that the far right started enjoying more success,” George Hawley, a political-science professor at the University of Alabama and author of Making Sense of the Alt-Right, told me. At first, these efforts mostly targeted the comment sections of news stories, which “allowed them to be seen by a large number of people.” When outlets started to crack down on comments, however, these groups migrated to places like Twitter and YouTube. “Twitter was even more valuable for the far right, as it allowed anonymous users to directly interact with public figures and spontaneously launch semi-coordinated trolling campaigns,” Hawley said. YouTube, too, is important, allowing users who may not be seeking out right-wing content to stumble upon it organically.
Alt-right attorney defends racism, homophobia, Richard Spencer
Detroit Free Press – March 1
For years, Kyle Bristow has fought for racism, homophobia and the First Amendment. It was Bristow, a 31-year-old attorney from Macomb County, who stepped in when Michigan State University rejected a request last summer from white nationalist leader Richard Spencer to speak on campus. Bristow successfully sued MSU, forcing a settlement that led the way to Spencer’s planned speech on Monday at the East Lansing school … Thus, when a white nationalist movement arises that exhibits neither of these characteristics, people are taken by surprise,” George Hawley, assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama wrote for The American Conservative in an August 2017 piece headlined “The alt-right is not who you think they are.”
Battle Creek Enquirer (Michigan) – March 1
Alabama had nation’s largest unemployment decrease in 2017
Tuscaloosa News – March 2
Alabama saw the largest decrease in annual average unemployment in the nation in 2017, a drop attributed to the health of the economy statewide and nationally … Alabama’s economy, like the U.S. economy, did well in the latter half of 2017 compared with the first of the year, according to Ahmad Ijaz, executive director and Director of Economic Forecasting for the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
UA Hockey player honors those killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
WHNT-CBS (Huntsville) – March 1
It’s hockey season for the University of Alabama’s club team the Frozen Tide. And one of the players on the team uses games to honor and remember the 26 people killed six years ago in the sandy hook school shooting. Johnathon Lovorn wears the number 26 for the Crimson Tide.
Dangers of texting and driving
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – March 1
While UA is not named in this story, the data they use was provided by the Center for Advanced Public Safety) Sixteen people died on Alabama roads in 2017 as a result of texting and driving. The National Safety Council says the use of cell phones and texting are involved in 27 percent of all car crashes. That’s why Alabama State Troopers are doing what they can to put a stop to it.
For many mass shooters, armed guards aren’t a deterrent, they’re part of the fantasy
Washington Post – March 1
Speaking at a bipartisan meeting on school safety this week, President Trump reiterated his belief that arming teachers would prevent school shootings like the one in Parkland, Fla … “Because many offenders are suicidal and expect to be shot and killed, they wouldn’t be deterred by places with armed guards or gun-toting citizens,” said criminologist Adam Lankford, who studies mass shootings at the University of Alabama. “In fact, a significant subset of these offenders have specifically targeted government buildings and military facilities” — places where armed opposition is all but certain.
Tuscaloosa News – March 1
LMT Online (Laredo, Texas) – March 1
Macomb Daily (Michigan) – March 1
Bucks County Courier Times (Pennsylvania) – March 1
Doylestown Intelligencer (Pennsylvania) – March 1
Victorville Daily Press (California) – March 1
Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas) – March 1
Columbus Community News (Ohio) – March 1
The Courier-Tribune (Asheboro, North Carolina) – March 1
Go Upstate (South Carolina) – March 1
East Bay Times (California) – March 1
San Jose Mercury News (California) – March 1
Mt. Shasta News (California) – March 1
‘Innovate Tuscaloosa’ encourages growth in tornado recovery areas
Al.com – March 1
Almost seven years after the 2011 tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa, the city is announcing a competition to spur economic growth. “Innovate Tuscaloosa” is described as a “Shark Tank”- style competition, which will award two $100,000 loans to new businesses in the 10th Avenue or Alberta areas … In addition, the city will contribute $50,000 to the Edward K. Aldag Business Plan competition through The University of Alabama and in partnership with the EDGE.
Warrior Wellness Night
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – March 1
To help everyone through those sensitive years, the first Warrior Wellness Night was created. It’s tonight, at Thompson middle school, as part of a partnership with the University of Alabama parent teacher leadership academy. It begins with a family dinner at 5, followed by sessions from 6 until 8. They’ll cover substance abuse and suicide prevention, others will go over bullying, surviving middle school math and social media safety.
Who’s Accountable for Bank Fraud?
Business Alabama – March 1
If an accounting firm fails to detect massive fraud that busts the state’s third largest bank, can it be held liable? Accountable, maybe, yet not liable. You could fire them, sure. But sue them? At least that’s the way things seemed until a recent court decision that marks the first time an audit firm has been found liable for not detecting fraud … According to Don Minyard, Ph.D., CPA, who teaches accounting at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama, the current standard on fraud goes back to 2002 and the Enron scandal, which led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a federal law that was a comprehensive reform of business practices.
Survey: Workforce is the top issue facing Alabama businesses in 2018
Birmingham Business Journal – March 1
Workforce issues remain at the top of the list of concerns for Alabama business leaders … The Center for Business and Economic Research in The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce surveyed almost 80 business leaders on the issues facing Alabama and their companies.
Miss Alabama Jessica Procter tours Ascension Leadership Academy, ASB as part of reading event
Anniston Star – March 1
Despite stormy weather, Miss Alabama 2017 Jessica Procter on Thursday brightened the day of Ascension Leadership Academy and Alabama School for the Blind students during her visit to both campuses as part of “Read Across America 2018.” … Procter is a senior at the University of Alabama and will resume her studies this fall, majoring in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on music and communication, and minoring in psychology.
DSO salutes black music, musicians ‘Classical Roots’
Detroit News – March 1
Crowning this weekend’s Classical Roots Concerts at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will be a 150-voice choir performance of “Scenes from the Life of a Martyr,” just one month short of the 50th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination … Playing the French horn in the Mozart concerto will be Williams, a University of Alabama doctoral candidate who won last year’s International Horn Competition of America.
UA equestrian team to host regional competition
Tuscaloosa News – March 2
The University of Alabama’s equestrian team will host a two-day, 15-team competition Saturday and Sunday at River Oaks Farm in Tuscaloosa. UA will compete alongside schools such as the University of Mississippi, Auburn University, the University of Georgia and Judson College in flatwork and jumping in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) event from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Asia’s hunger for sand takes a toll on endangered species
NEWS Caf – March 1
Singapore is attempting to reduce its reliance on imported sand for its land reclamation projects. Much of the fill for a new container port in Tuas, on the island s west coast, is from domestic dredging and excavation … “The very best sand for construction is river sand; it s the right particle size and shape,” says David Shankman, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, who studies the hydrology of Poyang Lake, a repository of sand deposited by Yangtze River tributaries.
Five things to do this weekend in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa News – March 1
No. 1: A full breakfast is on the menu Saturday for the Tuscaloosa Kiwanis Club’s 41st annual Pancake Day … No. 3: The University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences will host the Brussels Sprout Challenge on Saturday during the American Heart Association West Alabama Heart Walk.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – March 1
Lecture Series Features Discussion Of Rhetoric, War
Public – March 1
The March installment of the University of South Carolina Upstate’s Communication Studies Lecture Series will feature a lecture on ‘The Force of the Greater Missile: Rhetorical Projectiles and the Mother of All Bombs’ from 3:30-5 p.m. March 8 in Room 117 of the College of Arts and Sciences Building at 385 Hodge Drive on the Spartanburg campus. The lecture will be presented by Dr. Jessy Ohl, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Alabama.