Historic Foster Auditorium goes state of the art
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 8
…The University of Alabama recently completed a $16 million renovation of the facility, which will play host to Alabama’s women’s basketball and volleyball teams. “I think it will just be a great atmosphere here,” said UA Athletics Director Mal Moore, who unveiled the new building to the media Monday. “It’s so close to the dorms that it will attract more students to the games. It will certainly be fun.” “This was important that the university do this and succeed the way we have. I have felt good about this from the beginning, and even more so now that it’s over and completed and everyone can certainly take pride in it.”…While it is best known as the site of Gov. George Wallace’s infamous “Stand in the School House Door,” his symbolic attempt to block integration at UA in 1963, many other memorable events occurred there before it fell out of use and into disrepair in the succeeding decades…Foster Auditorium was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005, and in November a dedication ceremony was held for the new Malone-Hood Plaza and Autherine Lucy Clock Tower, which were built at the building’s entrance to commemorate its place in civil rights history. The tower is named for Autherine Lucy Foster, the first black student to enroll at UA, while the plaza is named for James Hood and the late Vivian Malone Jones, whose enrollments marked the official end of segregation at the university…
As State Funds Dry Up, Many Community Colleges Rely More on Tuition Than on Taxes to Get By
Chronicle of Higher Education – Feb. 8
… With less and less state money, higher-education experts warn, two-year colleges may be compelled to limit access to expensive programs, including those that provide training for much-needed workers in technological and health-care fields. “What will happen is that the programs will be capped and will not be expanded, despite the growing demand for these high-wage, high-demand jobs,” says Stephen G. Katsinas, a professor of higher-education administration and director of the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama…
Birmingham Water Works wants to lower deposit refunds
Birmingham News – Feb. 8
…But Gary Hoover, a University of Alabama economics professor, said the pendulum eventually will swing back in the Water Works’ favor as the economy improves and rates for short-term investments climb. He called the proposal to change interest rates an immediate solution to a temporary problem. “In the long run sometimes you’ll end up on the right side of rates,” Hoover said. “The bank is only giving them 1 percent, so they are losing, but there’s going to be a return to a normal time where that 6.5 percent (refund to customers) will be less than what they’re going to get at a bank because interest rates are going to go back up.”
Data Mining Conference at UA
FOX 6 (Birmingham) – Feb. 4
More than ever businesses want to know more about you and what you buy. It’s the topic of discussion at a University of Alabama business conference this week.
Memorial to be held for Sartwell at UA
Tuscaloosa News – Feb. 8
A memorial gathering for Alexander F. Sartwell, who worked for many years as librarian and public information officer at the Geological Survey of Alabama on the campus of the University of Alabama, will be held from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 26 at the University Club…