Moundville gears up for Native American Festival
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 22
Moundville Archaeological Park is gearing up for its 25th annual Native American Festival. The festival began during the 50th anniversary celebration of the park itself and has grown to accommodate about 12,000 people every year. “It was in the little ellipse in front of the museum,” said Betsy Irwin, director of the Moundville Native American Festival. “It was a ring of demonstrating people — some of them sold things and some of them didn’t.” After the first five or six years, the festival was broken up into different components rather than one big area. Included are a living history area, a market, children’s area, art demonstrations and stage for dancers, storytellers and musicians. As an educational festival, all of the different areas work to teach the children and families who visit the festival … The Moundville Native American Festival focuses on the southeastern Indian culture, which includes a lot of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Student interest in fantasy sports grows
Crimson White – Sept. 24
“Yes,” University of Alabama graduate Matt Reid said as the Chicago Bears intercepted the ball in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I get six points for a pick six.” Meanwhile, Reid’s girlfriend, Andrea Muñoz, a senior majoring in biology, said she doesn’t care how the Bears defense does, but she wants their offense to return to the field and run the ball…Reid and Muñoz are two of about 35 million other Americans who play fantasy sports each year. According to Andrew Billings, Ph.D., a sport researcher and UA professor, fantasy sports are changing the way Americans watch games. “Fantasy sports tip the scales for media consumption,” Billings said. “At the most fundamental level, why do people watch sports? They watch to see who wins. In fantasy sports, that’s not the case. You’re rooting for individual players and may not even care at all about which team wins. That changes the most basic equation of sports media research.” Billings has been studying sports media for 20 years. He began working with the University of Cincinnati’s Brody J. Ruihley, Ph.D., when he began to realize that fantasy sports were changing his consumption of sports media. Together, Billings and Ruihley co-wrote “The Fantasy Sport Industry: Games Within Games,” which they believe to be the first true survey of fantasy sport leagues in the U.S.
Cuba exchange offers rare opportunity
Crimson White – Sept. 24
It was her fourth time on a plane and her first time leaving the country. After a whirlwind first semester, Caitlyn McMahan – now a sophomore majoring in religious studies and Spanish – was preparing to spend her second semester of college in Cuba as part of a long-standing study abroad program between The University of Alabama and the University of Havana…When McMahan and her study abroad peers went, they were simply part of a trans-Atlantic educational partnership in its 12th year. Michael Schnepf, the program’s director, said the University’s program involves not just the academic exchanges involving students and professors, but also cultural partnerships and athletic events. UA-Cuba relations include a collaborative photography book, an Off-Broadway play and a UA-Cuba baseball game. Dean Robert Olin, who founded the program, said in an emailed statement that UA-Cuba relations are, in fact, exceptional. “We have been warmly welcomed by our counterparts in Cuba. They are interested in working with us and are as excited as we are to explore educational areas of mutual interest and benefit,” he said. “In my opinion, no other U.S. institution of higher education is as well regarded by educators in Havana as The University of Alabama. In fact, in 2012 the President of the University of Havana awarded The University of Alabama its highest honor, the 280th Anniversary Medallion from the University of Havana, for our 10 years of joint educational programs.”
UA professor receives $1M for protein synthesis research
Crimson White – Sept. 24
One way to win $1 million is to answer trivia questions on a TV show; another is to answer some of the most difficult questions of protein synthesis. Patrick Frantom, assistant professor of biochemistry, recently received the National Science Foundation Career Award, a $1 million grant available to distinguished faculty in their first four to five years of their careers. “It’s something about understanding structure-function relationships in enzymes, and understanding how changes at the amino acid level change the function of the enzyme,” Frantom said of his research. Enzymes are special proteins that work as catalysts for chemical reactions, and amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. “The order of those amino acids is critical for the function of the protein,” Frantom said.
Professor, husband to perform in dance showcase
Crimson White – Sept. 24
Stacy Alley, assistant professor of musical theatre and dance, and husband Rob Alley will be performing for the first time collaboratively in the upcoming Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre fall showcase. The piece, titled “Tap Trumpet: A Conversation,” is an interactive performance using two jazz standards as the driving force for the piece. “The purpose of this research is to expand the boundaries of uncommon territory between live jazz trumpet and tap dance by exploring improvisation as a driving force in creative exchange, and how this relationship between the two informs both artist’s interpretation of the music,” Stacy Alley, choreographer and dancer in the piece, said. “From my perspective, the most compelling aspect of this piece is improvisatory nature where the tap dancing provides the rhythmic foundation similar to a drummer in a small jazz band.” Rob Alley, trumpeter for the piece, said this project was conceptually different for the two of them than anything they have done in the past. “It’s just the two of us, for eight minutes,” he said. “Maintaining development, tension and release and just general interest with only two voices, one solely rhythmic and the other purely melodic and rhythmic, with only implied harmonic capability, has been a real challenge.”
Students teach foreign languages in local schools
Crimson White – Sept. 24
Students in the Tuscaloosa Initiative for Language Education will start the school year off by teaching students foreign languages in an afterschool extracurricular class at two schools this week. TILE is a student-led program that offers tutoring in foreign languages to middle schools around the county one to two times a week. “We usually offer German, Italian, Portuguese and whatever other language people want,” Matthew Issa, a senior majoring in international studies and Spanish and director of TILE, said. The program is in its fifth year, Issa said, and is operated through the International Relations Club. “It’s a project of the International Relations Club, so more globally it tries to fit in our mission of educating the area about global issues. That was the purpose, or why it got started,” Issa said.