A&S in the News: November 5-11, 2017

Visiting Writers Series

Author T Cooper to speak to studentsCrimson White – Nov. 5

Who: T Cooper is the author of six novels and has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, CNN.com, OPRAH magazine and many more. What: A free event where T Cooper will be speaking about his novels and time as an author … Anyone interested in writing or reading is encouraged to go to this free event hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dance Alabama!

A display of students’ best choreography ensues with ‘Dance Alabama!’Crimson White – Nov. 5

Even though McKenzie Sherman has worked with Dance Alabama! on and off since her freshman year, this week will mark her first time choreographing for the organization. Like her fellow dancers and choreographers, she’s been working on her piece since August – casting, staging and rehearsing it to make sure it’s ready.  “There are certain rehearsals that you’re standing there and you’re kind of getting frustrated or having a bad day and you’re thinking ‘this is never going to come together,’” said Sherman, a senior majoring in dance and psychology. “And finally when you see it on stage during tech or during the dress rehearsals, it’s reassuring that it’s all going to be okay and that you worked hard and that it’s paid off.” Sherman’s is just one of the pieces that will be a part of the Dance Alabama! fall showcase in Morgan Auditorium Tuesday, Nov. 7,  through Nov. 10. Dancers from across campus will perform over two dozen pieces that they’ve choreographed, staged and lit.

Forever Dance

Forever Dance program held at Capstone Village (Live Interview)Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Nov. 6

We have Alex Larson and Beth Sumner now joining us to show us an amazing partnership. As a UA dance student, you are helping folks at an active living facility stay active and stay healthy. “Yes. Forever Dance is something that I started with another fellow dance student at The University of Alabama named Kate. Basically, we just come on Monday afternoons and we have a fun 45-minute type thing.” The active living facility is the Capstone Village, which is on UA’s campus.

Doug Jones

Doug Jones: ‘Doesn’t really matter what my view is’ on TrumpWashington Post – Nov. 6

Doug Jones looked up at his audience in a fluorescent-lit university lecture hall and declared that the choice for Senate between him and Republican Roy Moore in an upcoming special election couldn’t be clearer … William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political science at The University of Alabama, said a Democrat can still win in Alabama, but “he has to get a very large black vote and he needs to get a substantial number of white, more liberally inclined people to vote for him.”
Al.com – Nov. 6
The Bryan Eagle (Texas) – Nov. 6

August: Osage County

UA Theatre and Dance department to present August: Osage County (Live Interview)ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Nov. 6

The UA Theatre and Dance department at the University of Alabama is gearing up for another performance, August: Osage county hits the stage next Tuesday, we have two of the actresses in the play, Emma Rose Wagner and Caroline Ficken here to tell us more, welcome! Tell us about yourself and your role in “August: Osage county.” Emma: I am a junior theatre major. Caroline: I am a senior theatre major and we play sisters in this play about a family coming together.
Tuscaloosa News – Nov. 8

Church Shooting

Some question God following church shooting, professor respondsFox 6 (Birmingham) – Nov. 6

This church shooting tonight raising some difficult questions about how safe we can feel in church. A UA Religious Studies professor breaks down where some Christians may choose to go from here. Piercing images of witnesses outside of First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas continue to haunt us all, leaving some questioning God. “Religious leaders have tried to figure out like terrible things happen, we believe in a God, we believe in a God that’s in control of everything but it doesn’t feel that way every time,” said University of Alabama Religious Studies professor Michael Altman.
WALB 10 (Albany, Georgia) – Nov. 6
NBC 5 (Memphis, Tennessee) – Nov. 6
WTOC 11 (Savannah, Georgia) – Nov. 6
NBC 12 (Montgomery) – Nov. 6
WTVM 9 (Columbus, Georgia) – Nov. 6
WDAM 7 (Moselle, Mississippi) – Nov. 6

Mass Shootings

What explains U.S. mass shootings? International comparisons suggest an answerNew York Times – Nov. 7

Adam Lankford
Dr. Adam Lankford

The top-line numbers suggest a correlation that, on further investigation, grows only clearer. Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but own 42 percent of the world’s guns. From 1966 to 2012, 31 percent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American, according to a 2015 study by Adam Lankford, a professor at The University of Alabama. Adjusted for population, only Yemen has a higher rate of mass shootings among countries with more than 10 million people — a distinction Mr. Lankford urged to avoid outliers. Yemen has the world’s second-highest rate of gun ownership after the United States.
MSN.com – Nov. 6
BBC News – Nov. 7
Cetus News – Nov. 7
Planet Genius – Nov. 7
TBO (Tampa, Florida)
– Nov. 7
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Texas) – Nov. 7
Wichita Eagle (Kansas) – Nov. 7
Belleville News Democrat (Illinois) – Nov. 7
Fresno Bee (California) – Nov. 7
Bradenton Herald (Florida) – Nov. 7
Rock Hill Herald (South Carolina) – Nov. 7
The State (South Carolina) – Nov. 7
Centre Daily Times (Pennsylvania) – Nov. 7
The Island Packet (South Carolina) – Nov. 7
Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky) – Nov. 7
Raleigh News and Observer (North Carolina) – Nov. 7
Biloxi Sun-Herald (Mississippi) – Nov. 7
The Modesto Bee (California) – Nov. 7
Kansas City Star (Missouri) – Nov. 7
Sacramento Bee (California) – Nov. 7
KNBC-NBC (Los Angeles, California) – Nov. 7

Resolutions Committee

Seven resolutions are slatedBaptist Message – Nov. 7

The Resolutions Committee has finalized seven resolutions for consideration as consensus statements of the messengers to the 170th Session of the Louisiana Baptist Convention … The alt-right is described as a movement “to establish a single white nation in North America” and its members largely are “white millennial” males in college, or who have a college degree, according to political scientist George Hawley of The University of Alabama. He has written extensively regarding his findings about the alt right, noting that these individuals have “no interest in the mainstream conservative ideals of traditional family values and limited government.”

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

UCAR: UA joins Atmospheric Research Group4-Traders – Nov. 7

The University of Alabama issued the following news: The University of Alabama was recently accepted into the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR, a national organization focused on research and training in the atmospheric and related Earth system sciences.
Birmingham Business Journal – Nov. 8

Lebanon

Blasting Hezbollah, Riyadh accuses Lebanon of declaring war on kingdomTribu Magazine – Nov. 8
However, it is clear that in the absence of the current prime minister a large question mark was cast on the continued stability of the Lebanese government, which could plunge Lebanon into a state of unrest and renewed inter-ethnic struggle, mainly between the Sunnis and the Shiites … New York Times reported that from 1966 to 2012, 31 per cent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American, according to a 2015 study by Adam Lankford, a professor at The University of Alabama.

First Baptist Church Closed

Texas church where 26 were killed in mass shooting to be permanently closed, says pastorIndependent (U.K.) – Nov. 8

The Texas church where 26 people were killed in a mass shooting will not reopen its doors, its pastor has said. Pastor Frank Pomeroy of the First Baptist of Sutherland Springs told the Wall Street Journal that services would continue as usual in a community centre down the road …But other memorials to mass shootings have proved controversial. Adam Lankford, a professor of criminology at The University of Alabama, said memorials can sometimes become a pilgrimage site for other potential mass shooters.

“Beautiful War”

UA English professor to give book talk in Montgomery (Live Interview)WSFA-NBC (Montgomery) – Nov. 8

Tomorrow at noon, we’re having a book talk by Dr. Philip Beidler. He is a professor at The University of Alabama, and he will be telling us about his book “Beautiful War: Studies in Dreadful Fascination.” It talks about how society is concerned with war, and how sometimes we can turn that into a romanticism of the event.

Oil Painting

Cutting-edge artist gives Gorgas lectureCrimson White – Nov. 8

Type “oil painting” in your search bar on Google and images of dusty, ancient art will fill your screen. However, Ridley Howard, a renowned painter, speaker and co-founder of an artist-run gallery in New York, is rejuvenating this age-old art form and transforming it into something that resonates with modern audiences. On Thursday evening, he will give a lecture about his fresh take on the traditional painting style.

Media Coverage of Terrorism

When is someone a terrorist? Do journalists get it right?Colorado Public Library – Nov. 9

When is violence terrorism, and when is the perpetrator a terrorist? So far that label hasn’t been applied to the suspected gunman who opened fire on a Thornton Walmart last week who killed three, or the Texas church shooter who killed 26 … Arva and University of Alabama criminologist Erin Kearns spoke to Colorado Matters about their studies on media coverage of terrorism. Arva’s research shows that the media covers terrorism differently depending on the identity of the attacker.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST research: Timing is everythingThe Hill – Nov. 10

Imagine not having GPS to find a new destination, locate your smart phone or help soldiers navigate the battlefield. If President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget is implemented, which calls for a significant cut to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the cutting-edge work NIST is responsible for – such as the GPS — would be in great jeopardy. (Patrick R. LeClair is professor and department chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy of The University of Alabama.)

Margaret Atwood

‘Handmaid’s Tale’ author Margaret Atwood will discuss her booksTuscaloosa News – Nov. 11

World-renowned writer Margaret Atwood will read and talk about her work 7-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Bama Theatre. Tickets for the free event were snapped up within hours of becoming available, according to John Estes, director of the University of Alabama’s undergraduate creative writing program. Atwood’s appearance is part of the 2017-2018 UA Visiting Writers Series, through the College of Arts and Sciences. She’ll sign books afterward, some of which will be available for sale at the Bama Theatre.
Crimson White
– Nov. 12

Alabama Senate Race

Will Alabama pick a Democrat over Moore?Gadsden Times – Nov. 11

It’s no secret that if Roy Moore is going to lose his race for U.S. Senate, it’s going to happen in Alabama’s suburbs. And on Friday, a day after allegations emerged that the outspoken Christian  conservative had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl decades ago, at least a few Republicans in one Birmingham suburb were having second thoughts about their party’s nominee … That’s more along the lines of the reaction that Connors and retired University of Alabama political science professor Bill Stewart expect rural voters to have. “In rural Alabama, they don’t seem to be putting a lot of stock in this story,” Stewart said. “They don’t believe it.”
Yahoo! – Nov. 11
San Francisco Gate (California) – Nov. 11
Texarkana Gazette (Texas) – Nov. 11
The Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio) – Nov. 11
NECN (Boston, Massachusetts) – Nov. 11
NBC 5 (Chicago, Illinois) – Nov. 11
NBC 4 (Washington, D.C.) – Nov. 11
Crescent News (Defiance, Ohio) – Nov. 11
Muskogee Phoenix (Oklahoma) – Nov. 11
Northwest Herald (Illinois) – Nov. 11
The Progressive Farmer – Nov. 11