UA honors philanthropist’s efforts
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 10
Filipino diplomat, philanthropist and insurance magnate Alfonso T. Yuchengco became the first recipient of the University of Alabama’s Global Insurance Humanitarian Award on Thursday. William Rabel, UA professor of economics, finance and legal studies, said the university created the award to recognize people in the insurance and financial services industries who make great humanitarian contributions and practice exceptional business ethics…His relationship with UA began more than 30 years ago at the first International Insurance Seminar in New York, after a string of mysterious fainting spells left Yuchengco and the now-retired UA professor John Bickley the only conscious attendees…He and Bickley worked on several insurance initiatives over the years. Yuchengco also grew fond of UA, making several contributions to the university; including a $500,000 donation to the nursing school building fund…Yuchengco received the award during the Alabama Insurance Day 2008 Conference, held at UA in Mary Hewell Alston Hall….
FocusFirst Conducting Hi-Tech Vision Screenings Throughout Region
WAAY (Huntsville) – Oct. 9
…FocusFirst student volunteers travel to communities of need and conduct vision screenings for children, six months to five years of age, using state-of-the-art photo-screening technology. Founder and President Stephen Black, a professor/attorney who has developed a Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the University of Alabama, began implementing Impact in the fall of 2004. Impact now has eleven full-time staff members working out of the non-profit’s headquarters in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. “We desperately need young people’s energies, perspectives, and talents to make our communities and institutions work well,” Black stated. “I see the college years as an incredible opportunity to engage students in addressing human and community needs through structured service opportunities, while providing them with a sense of their ability as well as responsibility to affect structural change.”…
Teacher hopes event encourages more students to walk to school
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 10
…Amanda Espy-Brown, a Verner Elementary parent and a University of Alabama instructor who has conducted traffic and walking pattern research, was one of the organizers of the school’s participation in International Walk to School Day. Brown said it is not nearly as common for children to walk to school as it once was, citing statistics showing that half of all children walked to school in the 1960s, compared with less than 15 percent today. She has been regularly walking with her two children, one of whom is now in middle school, for the past couple of years. “It starts our day out right,” Brown said. “It’s almost the best time that I get to spend with my kids.” She said there are benefits in children walking to school, aside from the exercise and savings in gas.
“It really can boost community cohesion and spirit,” she said. Brown said parents should try walking their children to school at least once. “If they try it once, we think they’ll get hooked,” she said.
Attorneys take time in picking jurors in capital murder trial
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 10
…Talitha Powers Bailey is the director of the Capital Defense Law Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law. She said that finding a jury to serve on a capital murder case is an extensive process because the jurors don’t just rule on the defendant’s guilt or innocence, but they also make a recommendation about sentencing if the defendant is found guilty. “I’ve had cases that were straightforward factual disputes where I would have been happy with the first 12 people who walked through the door. A capital murder case is a different animal entirely,” Bailey said. “The qualities you might be looking for in a juror in the guilt/innocence phase might be different than the sentencing phase — if it gets to that — and you have to find out about that up front.”…
Gasoline price drop welcome relief for Birmingham drivers
Birmingham News – Oct. 10
…If crude oil remains at the current level, gasoline prices soon should fall below $3 a gallon, said Peter Clark, a University of Alabama assistant professor of chemical engineering who follows energy markets. “There is no justifiable reason for gasoline prices to be this high anyway,” Clark said. “If the economy remains in bad shape and stocks continue to fall, I suspect consumer demand will fall even more, boosting oil supply and driving down prices.”…
ABC33/40 (Birmingham) – Oct. 9
Ala. universities announce dual-degree program
Associated Press – Oct. 10
The Univ. of West Alabama and the Univ. of Alabama have announced a dual-degree program in mathematics and engineering. The program will allow students to spend 3 years at UWA for math and transfer to UA for an additional 2 years to complete their engineering coursework. A UWA faculty member said the agreement will ensure students in Alabama’s Black Belt have opportunities to seek engineering degrees. UWA already has agreements in place with Auburn and UAB.
Editors Note
Tuscaloosa News – Oct. 10
…You can also tune in to our fine public radio station WUAL for its fall fund drive…the Alabama premiere of the musical ‘Wild Party’ at UA, a screening of the Mobile Mardi Gras documentary ‘Order of Myths,’…the month closes out with good ol’ boy Hank Jr. drawlin’ about his rowdy friends, as part of UA’s Homecoming…