A&S in the News: December 3-9, 2017

Tide Talks

University students share “revolutionary” ideasCrimson White – Dec. 3

Tide Talks, an offshoot of the famed TED Talks, is a student organization on campus that allows current University students to share their expertise or experience on an idea that they are passionate about. While TED Talks believes in “ideas worth spreading,” Tide Talks takes that a step further, believing that “ideas are revolutionary.”

Kellie Wells

Kellie Wells not preoccupied with the ‘real’ in her fictionSouth Bend Tribune (Indiana) – Dec. 3

In one of Kellie Wells’ short stories, a girl imagines seeing through a glass eye that she finds at the bottom of a swimming pool. In another story, two mythological sisters share one magical eye between them … Wells, who currently teaches English at The University of Alabama, engaged in an email exchange with The Tribune, and discussed several stories in the collection.

Christmas Costume Challenge

student in a Christmas tree costume next to Big Al
Kelsey Hall, UA sophomore majoring in chemistry, with Big Al.

20-year-old student is wearing a Christmas tree costume until the end of finalsPeople – Dec. 4

A University of Alabama student is now regretting a challenge to her Twitter followers that has now left her hilariously stuck wearing a Christmas tree costume to all of her classes for the rest of the semester.
AL.com – Dec. 5
Yahoo! – Dec. 4
Daily Caller – Dec. 4
Scott Williams Fashion Blog – Dec. 4
Mashable – Dec. 4
Kurier.at – Dec. 6
Buzzfeed – Dec. 5
Daily Star –Dec. 6
Time – Dec. 6
Bustle – Dec. 6
WSVN-Fox (Miami) – Dec. 5
WCCB-CW (Charlotte, NC) – Dec. 5
WFLD-Fox (Chicago) – Dec. 5
Fox 6 (Birmingham) – Dec. 5
KDAF-CW (Dallas) – Dec. 5
KIAH-CW (Houston) – Dec. 5
WQAD-ABC (Davenport, IA) – Dec. 5
WABC-ABC (New York) – Dec. 5
KATU-ABC (Portland, OR) – Dec. 5
KSTU-Fox (Salt Lake City) – Dec. 5
WCBS-CBS (New York) – Dec. 5
WTXF-Fox (Philadelphia, PA) – Dec. 5
WTTG-Fox (Washington, DC) – Dec. 5
HLN (National) – Dec. 5
KENS-CBS (San Antonio, TX) – Dec. 5
WTTE-Fox (Columbus, OH) – Dec. 5
WXXA-Fox (Albany, NY) – Dec. 5
WTVJ-NBC (Miami, FL) – Dec. 5
WBAL-NBC (Baltimore, MD) – Dec. 5
NBC (National) – Early Today  – Dec. 5

Student Missionary

From the States: Ariz., N.M. and N.C. evangelism/mission news; ‘I want to be on mission all the time…’Baptist Press – Dec. 5

The culture of metropolitan Phoenix shifts block by block, neighbor by neighbor. A need or narrative that is true and relevant on one street may not be so on the next street over. Ministry tools and strategies that flourish in one congregation’s context might fail completely in another. This truth can be found not only across Phoenix, but across the globe. Healthy local churches will always vary in styles, but remain fixed on the one overarching goal — Christ. . . . This article appeared in Portraits (portraits.azsbc.org), newsmagazine of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. Danielle Waddell is a senior studying journalism and religious studies at The University of Alabama. She spent her summer in Arizona as a North American Mission Board GenSend student missionary.

WWI Exhibit

Student-curated WWI exhibit open to the publicCrimson White – Dec. 5

What: “Lafayette, We Are Here! America Enters the First World War” exhibit … Why: Katherine Edge, the director of the museum, said this particular exhibit was curated by students at The University of Alabama. They decided to do an exhibit about World War I to commemorate 2017 being 100 years since America entered the war. “It’s a big deal.” Edge said. “World War I obviously changed everything. Because America entered so late, their involvement was really what turned the war around.”

Tornado Warnings for Deaf

UA researchers to receive NOAA grant to improve tornado warnings for DeafCBS 42 (Birmingham) – Dec. 5

Receiving weather warnings can be the difference between life and death. This is especially true for those who are Deaf or Blind. A $250,000 grant was just awarded to Dr. Darrin Griffen and Dr. Jason Senkbeil at The University of Alabama to study how tornado warnings could be improved to reach more members of the Deaf, Blind and Deaf-Blind communities.
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 5
ABC 33/40 (Birmingham) – Dec. 5
The Hearing Review– Dec. 7
Birmingham Business Journal – Dec. 8
Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 9
College and University – Dec. 10

No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached sings a hello to the holidaysCrimson White – Dec. 6

You wouldn’t expect for musical instruments to be optional components of a concert. However, students with the University’s No Strings Attached a cappella choir plan to wow the audience at their upcoming show with nothing but their voices. No Strings Attached will hold their annual fall concert this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Moody Music Building Recital Hall. The show will consist of around 10 songs and will last approximately 50 minutes to an hour. Admission is free; however, donations to help pay for next year’s music are appreciated. The venue tends to fill up quickly, so it is recommended to arrive early. Doors will open at 6:30 pm.

Discovering Alabama

‘Discovering Alabama’ host to visit Dothan library on Dec. 9Dothan Eagle – Dec. 6

People often ask Doug Phillips what place in Alabama he likes best. Phillips, the host of the public television series “Discovering Alabama,” responds that his favorite spot is wherever he is on any given day. “They get a little frustrated with that because they want me to draw a map and show them – well that’s tantamount to killing a place,” Phillips said. “My classic response is you go find your own favorite place … Plus there’s the joy of the adventure of the hunt, the search and all the exploration you get do while you try to find your special place.” . . . “Discovering Alabama” is produced by the Alabama Museum of Natural History and the University of Alabama in partnership with the UA Center for Public Television and Alabama Public Television.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump walks ‘a fine line’ in visits to Florida, Mississippi ahead of Alabama Senate electionAl.com – Dec. 6

In summer 2015, Donald Trump flew into Mobile for a stadium rally that became an early and rollicking high water mark of his presidential campaign. In December 2016, after winning, he returned to Mobile to say, “Thank You.” …William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political science at The University of Alabama and a longtime political observer,  said, “It looks like the president wants to get close, but not too close, to Moore.”
WUWF – Dec. 6

Doug Jones

Why is Doug Jones throwing around a dog-whistle phrase southern sheriffs once used to attack MLK?Slate – Dec. 7

Ex-Trump adviser and white nationalist hype man Steve Bannon appeared at Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore’s rally in Alabama on Tuesday to make characteristically incendiary comments about “globalists” and whatnot, provoking this response from Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones: We don’t need an outside agitator like Steve Bannon carpetbagging in Alabama. It was an eyebrow-raising move: The phrase “outside agitator” has an inglorious history of being deployed by Southern segregationists to condemn civil rights activism. (“Carpetbagger” goes back even further.) I spoke to University of Alabama history professor Joshua Rothman about what Jones might have been thinking. Slate: What do you think Jones was going for by using this loaded phrase? Rothman: It struck me that he was using it at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek and sort of ironically. It’s a descriptor that historically has been applied by people on the reactionary side of politics to dismiss people who are not from a place coming in and stirring up trouble. So for someone like Steve Bannon, who has absolutely no connection to Alabama whatsoever, to come in a week before a big Senate election and start trouble—I think Jones was pulling that one out as a sort of turnabout-is-fair-play kind of thing.

Senate Race

In Alabama Senate race, African-American Christians may hold the keyReligion News – Dec. 7

For much of the rest of the country, Alabama’s Senate race hinges on whether voters will elect an accused predator of young women — Republican Roy Moore. But many African-Americans in this state are less concerned with Moore’s sexual misconduct, which he denies, and more with countering a former judge they think is bent on returning the state to its segregationist past … “The question in this election is, what is the turnout among African-American vote?” said Joseph Smith, chairman of the political science department at The University of Alabama.
Sight Magazine – Dec. 7

Snow Day

UA students play in the snowWVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Dec. 8

We also talked to students from The University of Alabama. They say they were caught off guard by all of the snow today.
NBC 13 (Birmingham) – Dec. 8

Public Opinion and Elections

In stretch run, Roy Moore hammers on abortion but is issue’s impact overstated?Al.com – Dec. 9

Allegations about his past having given Democrats an opening to defeat him, Roy Moore seeks to wield the abortion issue to close the door. Moore’s campaign has pounced on the subject as poll numbers remain tight and the days tick down to Tuesday … Richard Fording, a political science professor at The University of Alabama, crunched numbers provided through the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), which is a survey source used by political scientists to study public opinion and elections.

UA Opera Theatre

UA Opera Theatre to perform ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’Tuscaloosa News – Dec. 9

The University of Alabama’s Opera Theatre has grown fans, and equally important, supporters. Since 2013, the UA Opera Guild’s raised about $200,000 for Paul Houghtaling’s program, a department within the UA School of Music. “When I first moved here (about 11 years ago), there were some ladies in town who liked me, got a kick out of what I was trying to do,” Houghtaling said.