UA has only music therapy program in state
Crimson White – Feb. 7
…The only music therapy program in Alabama was founded at UA in 1985 by Carol A. Prickett. “We work with all sorts of special populations from pre-mature infants all the way up through people who are very old and in nursing homes,” Prickett said. “We actually almost never teach them how to play a musical instrument. We just create an activity with music so that they can address whatever they need to.”…The four-and-a half-year program has only 30 students, but it was designed to be small and individualized. The first step a student must take to be admitted is audition for entrance into the School of Music…Capstone Music Therapy Association is a student organization that supplements the music therapy program, allowing students to work with behavioral disorders and multiple disability children…
iPads growing more common in classrooms
Crimson White – Feb. 7
Recipients of iPads who work in the College of Arts and Sciences intend to integrate tablet computers into their teaching and research, said Rebecca Florence, director of college relations for the College of Arts and Sciences. “Technology is central to how we learn and how we communicate,” Florence said. “This is an initiative to allow faculty to experiment with how tablet computers can help improve and expand their teaching.” Florence said in an e-mailed statement that a pilot program during the fall semester awarded iPads to faculty in various departments of the college, among them history, mathematics, psychology and political science. A second pilot program during the spring semester awarded iPads to 80 faculty members in the English department…John Giggie, associate professor of history, said he uses an iPad to deliver his Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with an application called “MightyMeeting” that allows students to view the slides on their tablet computers or smartphones. He said the use of iPads will begin to change the way professors envision and conduct lectures so that the “sage on the stage” approach of a professor dictating knowledge to students will be replaced with a collaborative method of teaching…
Hubble focuses on green blob in distant space
Raleigh (N.C.) News-Observer – Feb. 7
…That makes these “very lonely newborn stars … in the middle of nowhere,” said Bill Keel, the University of Alabama astronomer who examined the blob.
Where are all the jobs? With recovery in swing, many in Birmingham wait on hiring to resume
Birmingham News – Feb. 6
… Alabama lost nearly 260,000 jobs during the recession that began in December 2007, and it will take years to bring employment back to pre-recession levels, added Ahmad Ijaz, an economic researcher at the University of Alabama. Despite the recovery, Alabama shed about 7,000 jobs in December. “Although we did lose some jobs from November to December, the overall trend is still positive — albeit the jobs are being added at a sluggish pace,” Ijaz said. Unfortunately, he added, most of the jobs being added are in sectors of the economy that pay relatively lower wages or are temporary, positions that sometimes don’t show up in surveys of businesses since they don’t pay benefits. “Businesses these days are reluctant to hire full-time workers due to sluggish consumer spending,” Ijaz said. “Therefore, most of the jobs being added are either temporary, part-time or in low wage sectors of the economy.”…
Former party chairman may be down, but don’t count him out
Montgomery Advertiser — Feb. 6
… “I wouldn’t say it’s all his fault, but it did happen on his watch,” said Bill Stewart, political science professor emeritus at the University of Alabama. “I never thought I’d live to see the day that something like this could happen to the Democratic Party in Alabama….
Alabama: Focus on economy
Decatur Daily – Feb. 7
… Retired University of Alabama political science professor Bill Stewart said the survey results weren’t surprising. “Voters consistently say they are willing to pay for good schools and health care, but when push comes to shove, they don’t want to pay for it if it comes out of their pocket,” Stewart said. It’s also no surprise, Stewart said, that respondents rate roads, public safety and prisons as lower funding priorities. “People don’t care about prisoners and they don’t seem as concerned about the need for good roads,” he said…Asked if electing new people to the Legislature will have much effect on government operations, 38 percent said they expect little effect; 31 percent, expect not much at all; and 27 percent, expect a lot of change. “People are cynical about government and they are not sure that changing leadership from one political party to the next will result in change they want. That remains to be seen,” Stewart said…
Alabama gambling money network dissolves
Birmingham News – Feb. 7
…Disclosures through the election cycle also demonstrated the ebb and flow of pro-gambling contributions in a year when gambling dominated political debate. “It was a hot political topic,” said William Stewart, political science professor emeritus at the University of Alabama and an expert on state politics. “I don’t think it dominated the funding of candidates,” he said. “But there were other issues people were concerned about that did not get the attention that gambling did.”…
Campus film fest in full swing
Crimson White – Feb. 7
Campus MovieFest returned to campus for the fourth time on Feb. 1 and saw the biggest turnout ever from Alabama students. More than one hundred teams picked up all the necessary equipment from the Ferguson Center to make a five-minute film last week…While the students have been busy making their films, the organizers at the Ferguson Center have been busy getting the panel of judges together and making sure everything is ready to go by the finale on Feb. 10. Malone said it will be a mix between a film festival and an awards show because the top 16 films will be screened, followed by the announcements of the awards. Doors open at 7 p.m. and it starts at 7:30… The panel of judges is set to meet Feb. 8. It is comprised of faculty, staff and students who were nominated by the Ferguson Center’s undergraduate event planning board. They tried to get a panel comprised of people with different areas of expertise…