UA researcher studies barbecue
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Sept. 2
WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – Sept. 2
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Sept. 2
CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Sept. 2
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This plate usually comes with six ribs, but I couldn’t resist and had to eat a few before our live shot, so why do we love these so much? Well a University of Alabama professor could soon find out. What is it about barbeque that makes people’s mouths water on Labor Day?…Believe it or not, a University of Alabama professor just received a grant to study barbecue…Dr. Josh Rothman wants to learn the history of barbecue…
Sundown Lecturer: Former CityFest parking lot in Tuscaloosa has stories to be told
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 2
Like all good stories, the stories unearthed in the dirt of the former CityFest parking lot need the help of a knowledgeable storyteller in order to come to life. This storyteller, Matthew D. Gage of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama, will present many of the findings from the site in a Sundown Lecture to the Tuscaloosa Preservation Society. He will dive into the excavation of the corner of University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue — a corner, he said, that is tied to the centuries of Tuscaloosa’s history. “So many aspects of this project shed light on the development of Tuscaloosa,” Gage said. “This block had so many incredible remains.” Gage will interpret artifacts that span centuries in historical “snapshots” and will complement his lecture with artifacts for the audience to see. The purpose of the lecture, he said, is to display this block’s contributions to the history of Tuscaloosa and to stress the importance of preserving similar archaeological sites.
Mystery of the Missing Women in Science
New York Times – Sept. 2
Peter Ostrander, the tireless coordinator and cheerleader for a renowned science and mathematics magnet program at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., was not satisfied. Over the past few years, the pool of applicants had included nearly as many girls as boys, and the acceptance rate — based largely on test scores and grades — had followed suit…Convinced the program could do better at pitching its product to girls, Mr. Ostrander recruited teams of upper-class girls last spring to call their hesitant young counterparts. Extol the wonders of the program, he said. Dispel the tired geek myths…The message of equal aptitude has certainly infiltrated today’s youth. In a recent presentation at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, Anthony Derriso of the University of Alabama reported his analysis of a vast 2009 study of more than 21,000 ninth graders nationwide. Mr. Derriso, who is completing his doctoral dissertation in psychology, determined that students of both sexes rated boys and girls equally competent in science and math; expressed similar levels of confidence in their own math and science skills; and were equally likely to say they felt they were engaged in math and science and were supported by their teachers, parents and peers. Yet aptitude is one thing, aspiration another. In answer to the question “Are you likely to pursue a scientific career?” some 2,300 students — 11 percent of the total — said yes. Among the ninth-grade yeasayers, 61 percent were male. Mr. Derriso admits to bafflement. “If boys and girls are equally interested in math and science and feel equally confident about their abilities,” he wondered, “why this humongous difference in intent? I don’t have an answer for that.”
Officers join ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign
OANow.com – Aug. 30
Several area law enforcement agencies are taking part in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign this Labor Day weekend…Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs caused 6,859 automobile crashes and 220 fatalities on Alabama highways in 2011, according to the Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama.
Alabama students work behind the scenes
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 31
As Tuscaloosa Amphitheater Director Wendy Riggs sees it, an internship program that puts University of Alabama students behind cameras and banks of audio-visual equipment during concerts and other events is a win-win for everyone. The students get practical experience producing live video at events, and the amphitheater — which likely could not afford the level of audio-visual production otherwise — gets a high-quality video product. Riggs said the arrangement has also been popular with bands that have played the amphitheater because many tours don’t bring along their own video production. “It has really been a great opportunity. At this point, I have already done a couple of big-name concerts,” said Alex Beatty, a 21-year-old senior from Orlando majoring in film. Under the two-year-old program, a partnership between the amphitheater and UA’s Department of Telecommunication and Film, approximately 15-20 students work as unpaid interns. Students fill jobs including director, technical director, camera operators, assistant camera operators and other supporting roles, said Rachel Raimist, an assistant professor in the Telecommunication and Film Department and head of the media production track who supervises the internship program.
UA student wins Miss Philippines USA
Crimson White – Sept. 3
Jasmine Sabio had different plans from most students for the Fourth of July. While most of the country shot fireworks and grilled hamburgers, Sabio found out she was going to compete in the Miss Philippines USA competition. Sabio, a junior majoring in chemical engineering and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, was crowned Miss Philippines USA Aug. 18 in La Mirada, Calif. A producer in California reached out to a family friend of Sabio’s in Hunstville, Ala., where Sabio is from, to inform her about the competition. The family friend convinced Sabio to give the producer a call and see what the competition required…Sabio said the producer started asking her in-depth questions and at the end of the conversation, wanted a head shot picture and said Sabio was accepted to participate in the competition.
UA students talk about significance of 50th Anniversary of March on Washington
BBC World Service Radio, “Newsday” – Aug. 28
UA Students Reata Vaught and Tyler Merriweather were interviewed by the BBC about their feelings on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
Learn about diversity with sweets
Crimson White – Sept. 3
People often say diversity is the spice of life, but to a group of students at The University of Alabama, diversity represents something a little sweeter. Diverse Desserts is a campus organization sponsored by the Honors College and was thought up last year by Al Gilani, a junior majoring in chemical engineering, as an answer to a need he saw on campus for a broader approach to the issues minority groups were already tackling. “The program was created to be more inclusive to ‘diversity’ than just one group,” said Amber Marks, a junior majoring in business and German who also works with Diverse Desserts. “Diversity is not just physical. People are all different majors, backgrounds, sexual orientations.” For each Diverse Desserts meeting, a different topic of diversity is paired with a dessert.
Hundreds gather for grand opening of Tuscaloosa’s Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center (photos)
Al.com – Aug. 30
On the night of what would have been her 89th birthday, family members of the Queen of Blues, Dinah Washington, gathered in an old brick building in downtown Tuscaloosa and cut the ribbon on the city’s new, beautiful center for the arts. Hundreds were gathered for the grand opening of the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center Thursday, to hear bands play and choirs sing, to see spirit of Tuscaloosa captured in colors on canvas and to marvel at a collection of intricate rugs and patterned prayer mats on display. Two exhibits dominated the space. The first, in the University of Alabama Gallery, was called “A Magic Carpet Ride: Rugs from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. William T. Price.” The display of dozens of rugs, carpets and prayer mats from the Ottoman Empire is the first of many exhibitions in the gallery that will feature blends of art and history– textiles, artifacts and more from collections held by the University of Alabama and its faculty.
Head to head: Concussions reverberate through gridiron
Montgomery Advertiser – Sept. 1
Football is a violent game. Whether players suit up on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays or the weekly little league game, players strap up and leave blood, sweat and sometimes tears for the game that has captured America’s heart. With its violent collisions, has safety been put on a back-burner? The game has evolved from its early beginning. Players are bigger, stronger and faster, but the technology and equipment has not kept pace to deal with the alarming body of knowledge concerning concussions…“Everyone keeps trying to make a better helmet, and that’s just not going to make much of a difference in the number of concussions you see,” University of Alabama team doctor Jimmy Robinson said. “Nothing you put on a helmet or make a helmet out of is going to make much difference. Because the majority of concussions aren’t direct blows to the head, they’re situations where the head is snapped quickly and the brain moves inside the skull, causing the concussion. A helmet won’t prevent that.”
GUEST COLUMN: Providing ammo: Ideas could fuel military action, even now in U.S.
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 1
Next year will be half a century since the movie “Seven Days in May” appeared in theaters across the U.S. Inspired by a decidedly hot Cold War, it reveals a plot by certain high members of the U.S. military to remove the president. In short, a coup d’état replacing the constitutionally elected leader of the country with a military cabal. The rationale behind the coup was the deep suspicion that the Soviet Union would not abide by a mutually agreed plan to disarm nuclear weapons. Thinking the president weak and duped, the plot unfolded. The movie had a star-studded cast, including Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner and Kirk Douglas and was even looked upon by President Kennedy as a plausible scenario. In other words, it could happen. It took place in the futuristic 1970s, which of course is ancient history to more than half of the population in this country born since then. (Larry Clayton is a retired professor of history at the University of Alabama.)
Michigan lawyer wins inaugural ABA Journal/Ross Contest for Short Fiction
ABA Journal – Aug. 30
Michigan lawyer Lance Hendrickson has been selected winner of the ABA Journal/Ross Contest for Short Fiction. Culled from more than 135 entries, Hendrickson’s short story, “It’s Legal, There,” traces the fictional case of a woman accused of killing her child two years after the fact…The short fiction award will be made in conjunction with the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, which is sponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law. The Harper Lee Prize is awarded each year for the novel that best illuminates the role of lawyers and law in society.
‘Football 101’ class highlights fundraiser
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 30
A University of Alabama alumni group is hosting a special event next week timed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of former UA coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and to raise scholarship money for deserving students. The Ladies of the Houndstooth, a part of the Tuscaloosa Alumni Chapter, is putting on an event called “Ramma Jamma Bama Glamma” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 7 at Hotel Capstone. The legendary coach’s centennial birthday is Sept. 11. Eddie Conyers, who has been officiating Alabama football practices since 1961, will provide a “Football 101” presentation that will include stories and a question-and-answer session.
Maggie Goodman named Photographer of the Month
North Texas E-News – Sept. 3
Maggie Goodman has been named September Photographer of the Month by the Friends of Hagerman. Maggie who is from Southlake, Texas, will have a virtual album of twelve photographs taken at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge featured on the Friends website, www.friendsofhagerman.com/Gallery for the month. Goodman is a sophomore at University of Alabama majoring in Chemical Engineering. Always interested in photography, she says, “I used to chase my mother’s cats around the backyard with a camera, telling them to give me ‘cattitude’. Now I chase birds and other wildlife, with the addition of my other pets (horses, chickens, a dog, and, yes, cats).”
Creepy crawlers to voracious beasts: ‘Their Blood Runs Cold’
Aiken Standard (S.C.) – Aug. 31
Dr. Whit Gibbons’ first book was not an instant best seller. Only two people purchased it at his first book signing – his dad’s brothers Jimmie and Bud. “When I signed them, I spelled Uncle Jimmie’s name wrong – Jimmy,” Gibbons admitted. Now, 30 years later, Gibbons has produced at least 10 books. One of them is the reproduction of that first book – “Their Blood Runs Cold: Adventures with Reptiles and Amphibians.” “The director of the University of Alabama Press said they would like to publish a new edition of the book for its 30th anniversary since it has been one of their best-selling books since its original publication in 1983,” Gibbons said. “It is currently in its ninth printing.” “Their Blood Runs Cold” centers around Gibbons’ main field of study, herpetology or the study of reptiles and amphibians. Anecdotes are intertwined with facts on creatures like snakes and lizards, frogs and turtles, throughout the course of the book.
UA choir to hold back-to-school concert, car washes
Tuscaloosa News – Aug. 30
The Afro American Gospel Choir at the University of Alabama will have a Back 2 School Concert at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 8 in the Ferguson Center ballroom on the UA campus. The concert is free and open to the public. The choir will also hold two fundraising car washes from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 7 at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts, 1715 15th St. and Arby’s, 2240 Mcfarland Blvd E. Money raised will help cover the choir’s expenses.
Object X 1st installment to analyze perspectives, water
Crimson White – Sept. 3
Students will be gathering with Creative Campus members to analyze multiple perspectives of a single object with the first installment of Object X. The idea of the event is to talk about the many ideas and perspectives represented by a simple object – water. Object X will be held in the Allen Bales Theater on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. Joey Weed, a Creative Campus intern and one of the leaders for Object X, said the event is structured to bring the campus together. “For Object X, [Creative Campus] like[s] to do things that we always have in plain sight, but we really take for granted sometimes,” Weed said. “We knew for water there is a very analytical, technical side to it. But there are also so many metaphors and just a whole different context of water. So there are many different things and perspectives that we could bring together.” Katie Howard, a Creative Campus intern, said she believes the event will bring awareness to the uncommon uses of water.
LETTER: International students welcomed
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 2
Dear Editor: Many Tuscaloosans have joined together to make international students and scholars feel welcome in Tuscaloosa. Through the University of Alabama’s Capstone International Services, Tuscaloosa’s International Friends has shown hospitality to hundreds of students since the late 1960s. Most recently, TIF has paired 169 students from 19 countries with American friendship families. This pairing begins months before the students arrive. The friendship family coordinator and committee contact anyone who might be interested in being a friend to an international. Then, during student orientation, TIF informs the students of their opportunity to meet friendly, hospitable Americans. After receiving applications from students and families, matches are made by reviewing their respective interests.