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UA In The News — Feb. 22-24

University of Alabama to offer degree in cyber security
Alabama Newscenter – Feb. 23

In response to the growing need for professionals skilled in the protection of digital information, the University of Alabama will offer a degree in cyber security. The University’s board of trustees recently approved the Bachelor of Science degree, which will be offered this fall. The degree will be housed in the UA department of computer science within the College of Engineering.
Daily Republic – Feb. 21
The Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 21

Young MSM Know Too Little About Cancer-Causing HPV
Medscape – Feb. 21

Many young men who have sex with men are unaware of their increased risk for contracting human papillomavirus (HPV) and of the vaccine that can prevent these infections, a small New York City survey suggests. …and understanding,” said study leader Jessica Jaiswal of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, in an email.

Joyce Vance comments on Russian interference in 2020 election (Live Interview)
MSNBC (National) – Feb. 21
Joyce Vance, Bernie Sanders says it was about a month ago when he was told this, roughly the same time frame where it started to become public that William Barr, the attorney general had declared that any consideration of any version of any investigation of anything involving a Presidential campaign must go through him. He must OK every step of it. Any possible linkage there? Well, it’s hard to know what’s going on at this point, Lawrence. The timeline overall has a lot, I think, of coincidences that we will only understand the full value of in hindsight.

NASA Announces Next Round of Candidates for CubeSat Space Missions
NASA – Feb. 21

NASA has selected 18 small research satellites from 11 states to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets launching in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The selected CubeSats were proposed by educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and NASA centers in response to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) call for proposals issued in August 2019. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. ​BAMA-1 is a technology demonstration mission that will conduct a flight demonstration of a drag sail module by rapidly deorbiting the satellite. Spacecraft equipped with drag sail technology will be able to reliably and rapidly deorbit, thus reducing space debris and the risk to operational satellites, space stations, and crewed vehicles.

Forty Years Ago, They Changed How Hate Groups Are Sued
Courthouse News Service – Feb. 21

Opal Jackson still carries the shotgun pellets in her leg. On the night of April 19, 1980, a group of three Klansmen went on a shooting spree in a black neighborhood of Chattanooga. They used gasoline to set fire to a cross made of 2x4s where train tracks crossed over the road. Then, driving down the street firing two shotguns loaded with birdshot, the Klansmen injured four black women two blocks away. According to Hilary Green, a history professor at the University of Alabama who focuses on Reconstruction, the anti-Klan statutes were started because of the massive influx of violence that grew out of the 1868 elections.

Visualizing Heliosphere, Our Solar System’s Protective Bubble
Mirage News – Feb. 22

To understand the heliosphere, a cosmic force that astrophysicists believe protects us from powerful radiation emanating from the universe, imagine an enormous bubble surrounding the sun. The bubble is so large that it extends well beyond our solar system, and it zooms through space along with the sun. No one really knows the shape of the heliosphere, or for that matter, the size of it. Astrophysicists do know that inside the heliosphere there is a constant storm of heated and charged particles that emanate from the sun. The experts Opher has assembled include John Richardson, principal research scientist at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, who will be SHIELD’s Program Manager. Other collaborators hail from: University of Alabama.

Committee encourages formation of new affinity groups
Crimson White – Feb. 24

Four months after an initial proposal, the Latino/a/x Faculty Staff Association (LFSA) had its first general membership meeting on Feb. 12. At the meeting, members shared the completed first draft of their mission statement and bylaws.  This association is one of the two new affinity groups on The University of Alabama’s campus to be created after a push from the new initiative within the Faculty Senate’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, the other one being the Jewish Faculty Staff Association.