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UA In the News — July 26

Rise Center family celebrates graduation, fifth anniversary of being cancer free
The Tuscaloosa News – July 26
Preschool student Loren Horner danced down the aisle in a white tutu Thursday as she and her classmates celebrated graduation from the Rise Center housed on the University of Alabama campus. As her mother and stepfather watched in the audience, they reflected on the many milestones the family is celebrating. Loren, who was born with Down syndrome, came to Rise as a survivor of Leukemia. For the family, the graduation also coincides with the fifth year the 6-year-old’s cancer has been in remission, said her mother, Kennedy Lane Ankrom, 34. “This is really a monumental event for us.”
WVUA( Tuscaloosa) – July 25
CBS 42
(Birmingham) – July 25

The PR profession doesn’t seem to care about fake news
PR Week – July 26
A comprehensive look at the state of PR seems to reveal a profession that isn’t too alarmed about the threat of fake news even though it has an existential interest in trusted information. Data from the North American Communication Monitor, a survey sponsored by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at The University of Alabama, revealed that 21% of all enterprises have been affected by fake news and fully 36% report that fake information traveled to their employees on company intranets. Yet, the majority of the 1,020 PR pros surveyed have no plans to adjust. A clear majority (59.7%) call fake news a serious threat but only 13% are doing anything to detect fake information.

UA intern explores mental health attitudes in county
Daily Mountain Eagle – July 26

Editor’s note: The following is the third in a four-part series that will feature University of Alabama students who are interning in Jasper this summer. One University of Alabama student has completed some eye-opening research on the attitudes toward mental health in Walker County. Rising senior Logan Fenhouse, a New College student at UA, is nearing the end of an internship with Capstone Rural Health Center in Parrish. She has been tasked this summer to find methods to make the center’s telepsychiatry program more sustainable.

Bama Bug Fest (live interview)
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – July 25
The University of Alabama’s Natural History Museum, in partnership with the Tuscaloosa Public Library, wants to reignite your wonder with bugs in the first “Bama Bug Fest.” It’s a free event taking place Saturday, July 27 at Warner Transportation Museum. Hours are from 4 p.m.- 8 p.m.
Alabama Public Radio (Tuscaloosa) – July 25

UA to lead study on farming in Deep South
NBC 13 (Birmingham)  – July 25
The University of Alabama is set to lead a study on farming in the deep south, specifically irrigation-fed farming. According to The University of Alabamathat practice of farming isn’t as common in our region compared to the rest of the country. The study will focus on the impact of that style of farming and if it could lead to a better agriculture industry throughout the deep south.

Ford, GM invest billions in self-driving cars amid uncertain future
Fox Business – July 25
Ford Motor Co.Opens a New Window., General MotorsOpens a New Window. and other carmakersOpens a New Window. are pouring billions of dollars into developing autonomous technologyOpens a New Window. as companies come to the realization that launching the self-driving vehicles will be much more difficult than previously envisioned. The key question is how to monetize that data and it has industry leaders stumped, according to Bharat Balasubramanian, a former executive at Daimler AG and current professor at the University of Alabama.

Public Art Initiative unveils latest jewel for Tuscaloosa
The Tuscaloosa News – July 25

As canvas wrap pulled away from metalsmith Steve Davis’ “A Holt of Trees,” the Thursday morning sunlight caught facets of blue, green and purple grasped atop metallic branches stretching toward the sky. Wolfe and Maddox applauded the work of many involved with the public art drive, including patron and business owner Harrison; Tera Tubbs, executive director of Infrastructure and Public Services; Kentuck Executive Director Amy Echols; University of Alabama sculpture professor Craig Wedderspoon and others.

This Might Be the Most Important Exchange in the Mueller Testimony
Time – July 25

Yesterday, America saw hearings on the two volumes of the Mueller Report. First, House Judiciary took up the analysis of potential obstruction of justice charges in Volume II. In the afternoon, the Permanent Standing Committee on Intelligence considered the Trump campaign’s relationship with the Russian government and Russia’s ongoing threat to our elections. Vance is distinguished professor of the practice of law at the University of Alabama, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and an NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst.