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UA In the News — Dec. 12

Decline in rural medical students likely to hurt rural physician workforce
Reuters – Dec. 11
New medical education models, including pipeline programs in high schools, could help as well, the study authors say. However, said Dr. John Wheat of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, who wasn’t involved in the study, “One shoe of rural medical education does not fit all.” Wheat directs the Rural Scholars Program, which helps rural students become primary care doctors in Alabama. He has researched how a new rural medical education model, tested in the Northeast and Midwest, might work in Alabama. “The large population of poor southern blacks that concentrate in 13 confluent Alabama counties does not benefit nearly as much from this model,” he said by email. “We are seeking to learn from the experiences of students from this population, including those who have succeeded through various pathways of medical education.”  medical education does not fit all.”

The Supreme Court gives free speech to fake doctors, but not real ones
Washington Post – Dec. 11
Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr., a professor of law at the University of Alabama School of Law, is the author of “The Disappearing First Amendment.” The Supreme Court this week declined to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit’s decision in EMW Women’s Surgical Center v. Meier; this had the practical effect of upholding a Kentucky law requiring abortion service providers to, among other things, perform an ultrasound and play a fetal heartbeat recording to a woman seeking an abortion. Things were different, however, when antiabortion advocates last year challenged a California law requiring crisis pregnancy centers — established, the law said, specifically to dissuade women from having abortions — to post truthful information about the limits of their services and the availability of state-sponsored family-planning services. The Supreme Court viewed that law as an impermissible form of forced speech and held, 5 to 4, that it violated the First Amendment.

How the American Revolution created a global storm
BBC History Extra – Dec. 11
Peru, 1781: Micaela Bastidas, a leader of the Quechua people, stands in a pool of her son’s blood as she stoically awaits torture and execution for rebellion against Spanish rule. Srirangapatna, south-west India, 1782: James Scurry, a 16-year-old sailor from Devon, looks out from his prison cell on the day of the coronation of Britain’s most formidable Indian enemy, Tipu Sultan, the ‘Tiger of Mysore’. In the coming years the jail, already crammed with British soldiers, will be further packed with Mangalorean Christians and Kodava Hindus in their tens of thousands, captives of a conflict that had begun a world away. . . . Matthew Lockwood is assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama, and author of To Begin the World Over Again: How the American Revolution Devastated the Globe (Yale University Press, 2019)

Want to shed a few pounds? Researchers test new technology to help
WVUA Dec. 10
Want to shed a few pounds? Researchers are testing some new technology that could help with that. The National institute of Health has awarded researchers at The University of Alabama a $2.5 million grant to test a wearable device, designed to change eating behaviors. This prototype uses a tiny camera to photograph food and sensors that manage how quickly you eat and organizes that data for users. One of the researchers says it’s designed to fit into people’s on-the-go lifestyle and still help people achieve their goals.
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham)
The Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 11

 University of Alabama School of Social Work receives $3.2M grant to address opioid crisis
Yellowhammer News – Dec. 12
The University of Alabama’s School of Social Work, which oversees a trio of state-focused behavioral health projects, has been given a $3.2 million grant to address the Yellowhammer state’s opioid crisis. The four-year project, dubbed “Project FREEDOM: First Responder Expansion of Education and Distribution of Overdose Medication,” will focus on first responders take place throughout the following counties: Blount, Cullman, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, St. Clair, Shelby, Walker, Winston, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa. The project will be funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
WVUA – Dec. 11
WVUA (video)
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham)

UA to hold Fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 14
WVUA – Dec. 10
Tuscaloosa will see an influx of traffic this week. More than 2,300 students are looking to get their degrees from The University of Alabama during the Fall commencement on Saturday. It will be held at Coleman Coliseum in two parts, one at 9 a.m. and one at 1:30 p.m. So expect the campus and downtown areas to be busier than usual and plan for more time to get around.
NBC 13 (Birmingham)

UA political science professor discusses next steps after House of Representatives unveil articles of impeachment
WVUA – Dec. 10
We spoke to Dr. Allen Linken, an assistant professor of political science at The University of Alabama about what exactly this would mean for President Trump. Dr. Linken says impeachment does not mean Trump would lose his job or be unable to run for re-election, he would have to be convicted in the senate.

THE EDGE, NOV. 27, 2019: EDGE PROMOTES ENTREPRENEURS
WVUA – Dec. 10
The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business is supporting entrepreneurs in and around Tuscaloosa thanks to their Edge Business Incubator. Business college Dean Kay Palan stopped by the WVUA 23 studio Nov. 27 to discuss the Edge and how it benefits Tuscaloosa. The Edge Incubator and Accelerator provides assistance for anyone interested in getting started with or running a business. It offers a place for businesses to get work done and hosts regular workshops, forums and gathering for Tuscaloosa’s entrepreneurial community.

Annual Northwestern Mutual Scholarship Program Helps Childhood Cancer Survivors and Siblings Achieve Higher Education
Markets Insider – Dec. 10
Northwestern Mutual is dedicated to supporting children and families who have been impacted by childhood cancer through research funding and providing resources for survivors and their families. Today, through its Foundation, the company announced the recipients of its 2019 Childhood Cancer Survivor and Sibling Scholarship program. The application process for the 2020 program is also now open for submissions.
Street Insider
CBS (Salisbury, Md.)
…and many more

TUSCALOOSA WILL CELEBRATE ITS BICENTENNIAL WITH SEVERAL EVENTS THIS WEEK
WVUA – Dec. 11
Tuscaloosa is celebrating its 200th birthday with several upcoming events. The party kicks off with a bicentennial musical extravaganza on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Moody Music Building on the University of Alabama campus. The concert is called “Tusca200sa Sings: 200 Voices” and will feature some of west Alabama’s most talented singers. A new Tuscaloosa-themed song will be performed by Kirsten Hicks. On Friday, a bicentennial sculpture and time capsule will be unveiled at Manderson Landing Park at the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk. The event will start 10 a.m.

Miss Alabama gets ready for Miss America Pageant
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 11
We are so excited for her. I got to meet with her just not long ago. She left for Miss America yesterday. So, a little background information, she won Miss Alabama in June and she is actually the first African-American woman to hold the title of Miss University of Alabama She is representing the National Psoriasis Foundation and Psoriasis Take Action Alabama. We are so excited for her.