Best Law Schools for Bargain Hunters
Wall Street Journal – Aug. 28
We’re all familiar with the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings and their clout with prospective law school students who value prestige. But what if you’re a bargain hunter? Turns out there’s a list for you too. The National Jurist has published “Best Value Law Schools” rankings in its September 2012 issue, and placing first is the University of Alabama, which has tuition of $18,030, a bar passage rate of 95.95% and a weighted employment rate of 90%, according to JD Journal. The legal education magazine ranked law schools by measuring how likely graduates were to pass the bar exam and obtain a legal position without incurring a lot of debt. For bar passage, the magazine used a school’s two-year average, raw score and compared it to the two-year state average. For employment numbers, the National Jurist used the American Bar Association’s official employment statistics and weighed each of the 12 categories to calculate an average. In second place this year was Georgia State University, with tuition of $14,770, bar passage of 93.47% and a weighted employment rate of 83%. The remaining law schools in the top ten were Louisiana State University, University of Nebraska, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Montana, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina and University of Wisconsin.
UA astronomer’s online comic hails discovery
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 28
Thousands of citizen scientists have helped astronomers in recent years survey a vast expanse of sky, finding rare objects and space oddities. Those discoveries will again be highlighted in a unique form on Sunday during DragonCon, an annual Atlanta event that has been dubbed the world’s largest fantasy-science fiction convention. Two years ago, University of Alabama astronomy professor William Keel, Southern Illinois University assistant research professor Pamela Gay and others collaborated on an astronomy-based comic book. The comic book highlighted a 2007 discovery and analysis of an unusual space object found by a Dutch school teacher looking through space photographs on Galaxy Zoo. Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Keel later found that the object, a glowing, green cloud of gas, was an afterglow from a quasar that had since faded. The discovery led to a new project where volunteers were asked to look at about 18,000 galaxies appearing to create black holes and vote on whether the images also contained oddly colored clouds. “That at least enabled us to narrow down where the needle in the haystack was,” Keel said. Keel’s team narrowed down the search to 50 galaxies, based on the public’s feedback. Then, using telescopes in Arizona and California, the team found 19 galaxies with glowing clouds that extended thousands of light-years from their galaxies’ core. The team is now using the Hubble to observe seven of those galaxies.
Seven UA Athletes Participate in 2012 Paralympic Games
Alabama Public Radio – Aug. 28
The 2012 Paralympic Games in London kick off today and the University of Alabama has is well represented in this year’s games. Seven athletes from UA’s Adapted Athletics program will compete in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. Charlie Katica is head coach for the women’s wheelchair basketball team at UA. “Everyone who’s here is extremely motivated,” says Katica. “Really the challenges were to almost hold them back at some point just because they were training real hard and really trying to be at their peak for the Paralympics.” The UA athletes will join more than 1,100 others in the largest international sporting event for athletes with physical disabilities, including Oscar Pistorius. The South African sprint runner, also known as the “Blade Runner,” has a double below-knee amputation. He was the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics and will be competing in this year’s Paralympics as well. Katica says Pistorius is a great advocate for the Paralympic games. “I think that added to the hype that was going along with the Paralympics,” says Katica. “The awareness for the Paralympics with Oscar there helped bring a little bit more awareness [to the games.]” Ford Burttram is an assistant coach for men’s wheelchair basketball. He says being a disabled athlete himself, he knows what kind of challenges these competitors face. “The most difficult thing is to balance doing enough and not overdoing. Being a paraplegic, it takes more time for your body to recover than if you’re an able body athlete. So you have to not push yourself even though you want to push yourself to the extreme every time you train.” Burttram is also the head coach for UA’s wheelchair golf team. He recalls times when his ability to play, despite his disability, impressed fellow golfers. “I play golf all the time and people see me on the golf course and they just come over and say ‘hey, I’m so thankful to see you out here,’” says Burttram. “But, people will stop and watch me swing the golf club and I’m out there playing golf by myself and driving my own cart. So I think people are taken back by that and it’s good to see that just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean that you have to sit at home and rely on other people to do stuff for you.”
Four legends and communications lessons from the presidential campaign
Uspolitics.einnews.com – Aug. 28
Four public relations legends appearing two days after the national Presidential election define the program for the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Annual Distinguished Lecture & Awards Dinner, Nov. 8, 2012, at the Yale Club of New York City. The featured speakers include one of the nation’s preeminent pollsters and one of the most celebrated White House communications counselors. Mark Penn, corporate vice president for Microsoft, and Karen Hughes, worldwide vice chairman of Burson-Marsteller, will explore communications lessons from the 2012 campaign. James E. Murphy, chairman and CEO of Murphy & Co., will receive the Alexander Hamilton Medal, IPR’s highest award for contributions to the practice of public relations, including effective use of research. Bruce K. Berger, Ph.D., professor at the University of Alabama, will receive the Pathfinder Award for career contributions to scholarly public relations research. Berger is Reese Phifer Professor of Advertising & Public Relations in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. Previously, he was vice president of corporate affairs for Whirlpool Corporation and president of the Whirlpool Foundation. He is founding director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and an IPR trustee. Berger’s research has focused on public relations leadership, employee communications and public policy influence. He currently is leading a study of communication management in 23 countries. Hughes, as worldwide vice chairman of Burson-Marsteller, has more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience.
SYTYCD competitor recaps her television experience
Crimson White – Aug. 28
Janelle Issis may have said goodbye to “So You Think You Can Dance” after competing on the show for five episodes, but she isn’t ready to say goodbye to dancing just yet. The University of Alabama graduate said she plans on staying in Los Angeles to teach and train. “I’m doing anything and everything I can,” she said. “I love to teach and choreograph, and I want to be able to for the rest of my life.” Issis is currently assisting different classes in the Los Angeles area and said she is soon to be working with big-name choreographer Barry Youngblood. Issis said she owes some of her success to SYTYCD. “The show was really the best possible way to get my name out there,” she said. “New doors have opened because of it, and I feel very fortunate to have gotten to do it.” However, for Issis, the show wasn’t just about a successful career. She said her favorite part of participating was getting to know the cast. “We were a big family,” she said. “The show had rules about us not being at each other’s apartments, but they were a joke. All of us always hung out together.” Even after leaving the show, Issis said she’ll still get to spend time with the cast. “I’ll miss seeing them all the time, but they’re right down the street,” she said. “Plus, I’m still watching all of them on TV and supporting them.” In addition to being friends, Issis said the cast served as a mentor group and support system. She said she learned the most on the show just from being around the different dancers. Issis also said the structure of the show challenged and helped her grow as a dancer. “The show itself was very physically demanding – it brought a lot out of me,” she said. “Having Mia Michaels yell at you is pretty terrifying, but afterwards I would think, ‘Wow, I didn’t know I could do that!’” Issis said she was especially proud of herself in Las Vegas, where she wowed the judges, despite having had the flu, strep throat and pneumonia for the two weeks leading up to her performance. “I was still on [medicine] while I was there and sick the whole time, but I did it,” she said. “ I really proved to myself that I could work for this if I really wanted it.”
Outdoor Rec offers weekend trips for UA students
Crimson White – Aug. 28
Whether outdoor enthusiasts or novice adventurers, students hoping to try something new need look no further than The University of Alabama’s Outdoor Recreation Program. Outdoor Rec, a division of the University’s recreation program, aims to provide various opportunities to experience an alternative healthy lifestyle choice to the UA community, according to its website. Outdoor Rec offers numerous weekend trips throughout the fall semester for students to try. The program also takes football into consideration and tries to ensure that students can get involved without interfering with gamedays. This semester, Outdoor Rec will offer an extended canoe trip during Fall Break consisting of a three-day, two-night excursion that will take students on the Bartram Canoe Trail in the Mobile delta. In December, there will be a bouldering trip to Hueco Tanks in El Paso, Texas. Becca Proctor, a senior in New College and an Outdoor Rec trip leader and support staff, said students should take advantage of the different and affordable trips led by experienced Outdoor Rec staff throughout the year. “I think it’s important for students to take advantage of Outdoor Rec because it’s a great way to get outdoors,” Proctor said. “If you’ve never been backpacking, climbing or kayaking, this is an excellent place to start because we provide all the equipment and experienced leaders. It’s not easy or cheap for college students to get out on their own and explore all of the different activities we offer.”