Chelsea Thrash walks back into class at UA after breaking back in Tuscaloosa tornado
Al.com – Aug. 24
The miracle that is Chelsea Thrash can be summed up in three words: she walked today. As she slowly made her way into her 8 a.m. biology class at the University of Alabama – the curious eyes of dozens of other students watching her – the nightmare chapter of her life that began April 27 finally began to close. It was a start. It was a new beginning and, as she says she wanted a little piece of “normal.” Thrown 150 feet out of her boyfriend’s apartment during the F-4 tornado that ravaged Tuscaloosa, Thrash’s first step into class today was the first of many steps on the path to recovery she has already taken. First at DCH, then at UAB, then Spain Rehabilitation Center in Birmingham, where she still goes several times a week…”Class was great,” Thrash said. “It felt so good to be back and with my friends. I can’t wait for what this year has to bring.”…
New UA students help out with three tornado relief efforts
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 24
Nearly 200 incoming University of Alabama freshmen, many of whom have only been in Tuscaloosa for a few days, became better acquainted with their new homes through three community service projects Tuesday. Coordinated through UA’s Community Service Center, the 175 freshmen split up into five groups at three locations. Twenty-five students gathered at the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education building downtown to help organize school supplies, while the rest braved the heat in Holt and the West End…Riz Shakir is the president of Project Team Up, a nonprofit organization formed to help Alabama tornado victims. He also is an adjunct business professor at UA. Shakir said the students made a huge difference during their time at the site. “One group of students have been here at the church sorting materials and food, while the other has been picking up the storm debris the bulldozers and other heavy equipment have left behind,” Shakir said. “They’ve been out there with wheelbarrows, rakes and shovels, making sure the lots are completely clean and moving debris to the curb for the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers to pick up.”…Eighty UA freshmen gathered in the 3000 block of Sixth Street to paint and clean up around two homes. On this project, the Community Service Center partnered with Habitat for Humanity’s Tuscaloosa chapter and the organization’s new outreach program, Brush With Kindness…Jenny France, an 18-year-old UA freshman from Fort Worth, Texas, is one of those students. She heard about Brush With Kindness from a friend on campus. “I’ve always done a lot of volunteer work back home in Texas, so it was cool to get an opportunity here in Tuscaloosa for the first time,” she said. “I wanted to get going as soon as I could. It was also fun to meet students who have the same passion for this kind of work because I imagine it may be hard to do that on campus.”…
Al.com – Aug. 23
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 23
Groups look to tap students for relief aid
Crimson White – Aug. 24
…On campus, students can find volunteer opportunities at the Community Service Center. One option is to participate in Hands on Tuscaloosa…For students interested in learning how to help others who may still be experiencing some unsettling emotions, a forum will take place this afternoon. As part of the Week of Welcome, “Helping Others Through Trauma” will be held in the Ferguson Center at 1 p.m. On Aug. 28, a remembrance service will be held in honor of the lives lost and the efforts put forth by the students, faculty and staff of the University. The ceremony will also be an opportunity to celebrate the continued rebuilding of the community. The service will take place at Palmer Lake behind Lakeside Dining at 7:30 p.m. that Sunday. The entire UA community is encouraged to attend, and a reception will follow the service.
UA to honor tornado responders at first game
Houston (Tex.) Chronicle (via Associated Press) – Aug. 24
The University of Alabama is planning to honor the emergency workers who responded to the April tornado outbreak during the Crimson Tide’s first football game this season. The school’s athletics department said Tuesday a brief ceremony to salute first responders is being planned during pregame festivities for the Sept. 3 game against Kent State at Bryant-Denny Stadium…
WKRN (Nashville, Tenn.) – Aug. 23
FOX6 (Birmingham) – Aug. 23
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 23
WKRG (Mobile) – Aug. 23
WHNT (Huntsville) – Aug. 23
WSFA (Montgomery) – Aug. 23
WLOV (Columbus, Miss.) – Aug. 23
WDHN (Dothan) – Aug. 23
WTVY (Dothan) – Aug. 23
Greek Relief continues
Crimson White – Aug. 24
More than three months after banding together to help with the relief effort and serving thousands of hot meals to the April 27 tornado’s victims, some members of the UA Greek community has plans to continue fundraising for UA Greek Relief. The organization has raised $200,000 since the storm… “UA Greek Relief is continuing to hold fundraisers to raise more money for the relief effort,” Fowler said. “We’re already planning to do some fundraising during football season at the home games, as well as a golf tournament later in the semester to benefit this cause.”…
New students attend Week of Welcome
Crimson White – Aug. 24
…The University of Alabama sponsors the Week of Welcome, also known as WOW, which helps freshmen and transfer students get acclimated to the University and see what is offered on campus and around Tuscaloosa. WOW lasts until Sunday, Aug. 28 and showcases many programs throughout the week…
UA geologist explains aftershock’s reach
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 24
Andrew Goodliffe, a geology professor at the University of Alabama, said the aftershocks of earthquakes on the East Coast, such as the 5.9 earthquake Tuesday, can be felt from much greater distances away because of a lack of geological obstruction. “The West Coast is a very tectonically complicated area,” Goodliffe said. “There are a lot of geographic features that tend to absorb the seismic energy after earthquakes there. “Here on the East Coast, there’s simply not as much in the way to absorb or reflect the seismic energy so it tends to travel much, much further.”…Goodliffe said Alabama and Virginia are located on the same tectonic province. These provinces are regions with the same geological features. “Three hundred million years ago, Alabama used to be on a big plate boundary where plates were constantly colliding,” he said. “Alabama and Virginia still reside on a zone of weakness and there’s still some settling all those years later. Even then, a 6 magnitude is rare to get in that setting. The sort of thing we’d get in Alabama or Virginia would normally be a 2, 3 or 4.”
Crimson White – Aug. 24
Study shows state shed jobs at higher rate
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 24
Alabama lost jobs at a higher rate than any other state in the Southeast during the Great Recession, according to a new University of Alabama study. The study, titled “The Great Recession: 18 Months Before, During and After,” looked at employment in nine Southeastern states over 54 months…Kathleen Gabler, a research associate at UA’s Center for Business and Economic Research, conducted the study…“Alabama did not fare well during the recession and post-recession. We are recovering now, but are still very much in the recovery period,” Gabler said Tuesday. “It will take some time, but we are moving in the right direction.”…During recessions, unemployment is a lagging indicator, said Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the Center for Business and Economic Research. Unemployment typically will start to rise after the recession starts and will continue to be high for a time after the recession ends, he said.… Ijaz said he expects the state’s unemployment rate to stay in the 9 to 10 percent range for at least a few more months, even as manufacturing increases. He noted the latest recession is different from past ones…
College football good for state’s economy
WAKA (Montgomery) – Aug. 23
…Based on research from the University of Alabama, each home game has about a $21.8 million dollar impact on the state…
UA grad says earthquake rattled his D.C. law school (update)
Al.com – Aug. 23
…Beadle, a University of Alabama graduate, was in a student lounge on the fifth floor of the American University Washington College of Law during today’s 5.9 earthquake along the east coast of the U.S.…Beadle, a former reporter at The Crimson White while at UA…Beadle’s wife, an editorial assistant at Thinkprogress.org… also a UA grad and former editor-in-chief of The Crimson White…
Mentoring program kicks off first full year
Crimson White – Aug. 24
The Al’s Pals mentoring program is only in its second semester, but it is already expanding to another location and hoping to add over 100 new mentors. Al’s Pals, which was started in January by Star Bloom, planted its roots by placing 75 mentors at McKenzie Court to pair up with students after school. Al’s Pals has now expanded to Oakdale Elementary and expects to accept a lot more mentors. “We hope to have 200 mentors involved this fall, between the two sites,” Bloom said…
UA fraternity hosts clothing relief drive in Birmingham
FOX6 (Birmingham) – Aug. 23
CBS42 (Birmingham) – Aug. 23
NBC13 (Birmingham) – Aug. 23
Today, a University of Alabama fraternity hosted a clothing relief event called “Dressing Up Birmingham.” The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity is distributing 5,000 garments donated from Alfred Dunner.
UA student receives national attention for TV pilot he produced
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Aug. 23
A Shelby County native, and University of Alabama student picks up some national attention for a TV pilot he produced. Marcus Tortorici’s program, “Recommitted”, was selected to appear in the 7th annual New York Television Festival. The pilot was shot in Tuscaloosa as part of Tortorici’s television production class at Alabama.
UA cheerleaders and Big Al help kids get excited about reading
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Aug. 23
Big Al and the University of Alabama cheerleaders were at Cottondale Elementary this afternoon for a reading kickoff assembly…
UA hockey team mourns teammate
Crimson White – Aug. 24
On Aug. 4, University of Alabama student David W. Mosier III died unexpectedly in his sleep… Mosier was about to begin his sophomore year at UA…“David was going to be the face of Bama hockey,” said Ryan Barletta, Alabama Frozen Tide president. “He was everything we could have hoped for…As a player on the Alabama Frozen Tide Ice Hockey Team, people throughout the region were able to meet Mosier and see all that he had to offer on and off the ice…During his time on the hockey team, Mosier was chosen as the player of the game numerous times and had been chosen to take part in the Southeastern Conference Hockey All-Tournament Team. Sean Keeler, a senior on the hockey team at the University, said that the team took a charter bus from Tuscaloosa all the way to New Jersey for the funeral. He said the Mosier family was overwhelmed to see such support from his buddies. “David was a wonderful kid who was a great representative of the hockey team as well as the University of Alabama,” Keeler said…
2011 seniors graduate, honor tornado victims
Crimson White – Aug. 24
…In August, the graduates received the mention for which they had been waiting. In multiple ceremonies, the graduates took their final walk across the stage. “We actually had a very good turnout for the recent graduation,” said Cathy Andreen, director of media relations for the University…More than 4,000 graduates attended, and a memorial service honoring the tornado victims was held later that night. The University gave out post-humus diplomas, which were accepted by family members of the six students who passed away in the tornado…
Lowcountry Civil War Round Table lecture series continues
SavannahNow.com – Aug. 24
…“Republic in Peril: The Threat of Foreign Intervention in the Civil War” by Dr. Howard Jones is set for 6:45 p.m. Sept. 14 in the Bluffton High School Auditorium on McCracken Circle off Buckwalter Parkway. Jones is research professor and chair of the Department of History at the University of Alabama…Jones has written a number of award-winning books on different periods of history including one on Abraham Lincoln and another on John F. Kennedy. He is perhaps best known for writing the book on which Steven Spielberg’s powerful movie Amistad is based…