A&S in the News: March 31-April 6, 2019

Plant Sale Fundraiser

Lend a Hand: Plant sale fundraiser marks 40th year: Tuscaloosa News – March 31

On Saturday, the George Wood Chapter of the Alabama Wildflower Society will hold  its 40th annual plant sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, in the Kentuck Center courtyard in downtown Northport … The chapter also supports the Cahaba Lily Society and its annual Cahaba Lily Festival as well as local projects, including the Wildflower Garden and rhododendron collection of The University of Alabama Arboretum.

Asteroid Impact

Astonishment, skepticism greet fossils claimed to record dinosaur-killing asteroid impact: F3News – April 1

A fossil site in North Dakota records a stunningly detailed picture of the devastation minutes after an asteroid slammed into Earth about 66 million years ago, a group of paleontologists argue in a paper due out this week. Geologists have theorized that the impact, near what is now the town of Chicxulub on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, played a role in the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, when all the dinosaurs (except birds) and much other life on Earth vanished. . . . “I hope this is all legit—I’m just not 100% convinced yet,” says Thomas Tobin, a geologist at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Tobin says the PNAS paper is densely packed with detail from paleontology, sedimentology, geochemistry, and more. “No one is an expert on all of those subjects,” he says, so it’s going to take a few months for the research community to digest the findings and evaluate whether they support such extraordinary conclusions.
Vaaju.com – April 1
Kottke.com – April 1
Science Magazine – April 1
Axios.com – April 4

Asian Studies Essay Award

Bethalto student wins award for research on painter: Advantage (Godfrey, Illinois) – April 1

Rising senior Sarah Fields won The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences’ 2019 Asian Studies Essay Award for her research on the Italian Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione, who served as a court painter during the Qing dynasty in China in the 18th century. Fields researched and wrote the paper, “Lang Shining: The Italian Jesuit and Chinese Court Painter,” under the guidance of Dr. Doris Sung in Survey of Asian Art.

Government Interdiction Strategies

Nicholas Magliocca
Dr. Nicholas Magliocca

Research shows cocaine trafficking adapts to law enforcement efforts: Eureka Alerts – April 2

The success of illegal drug trafficking through wider and wider swaths of Central America is a consequence of law enforcement activity to curtail it, according to new research led by The University of Alabama. A model developed by Dr. Nicholas Magliocca from UA and others from around the country found the cat-and-mouse game of cocaine smuggling and government interdiction strategies results in a larger geographic area for trafficking with little success in stopping the drug from reaching the United States.
Phys.org – April 2
Cosmos – April 2
The Indpendent (U.K.) – April 2
Earth.com – April 2
BrightSurf – April 2
Science Daily – April 2
Medicine News Line – April 2
Health Medicine Network – April 2
KTVZ 21 (Redmond, Oregon) – April 3
Science Codex – April 2
Bio Engineer – April 2
RocketMiner.com (West Virginia) – April 2

Native American Culture

Top Powwows to experience Native American culture: Group Travel Leader – April 2

Elaborate regalia, choreographed dances, delicious food and tempting craft vendors create a dazzling way to introduce visitors to Native American culture. These well-known powwows attract groups ready to experience the richness of tribal America … This Alabama event celebrates Southeast Native American heritage and culture. At The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park, the event features hoop dancing, demonstrations of pottery firing and hands-on workshops that teach skills such as how to throw an atlatl.

Dislocated Labor

Millian Giang Lien Pham: Dislocated Labor: The Visualist – April 4

In partnership with ACRE, Prairie is pleased to present ‘Dislocated Labor’ a solo exhibition from Millian Giang Lien Pham … Pham currently teaches foundations studio art at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Red Press Collaborative

Artist will make, sell prints at YSU event: Vindy.com – April 4

A new Red Press Collaborative installment featuring guest artist Sarah Marshall will take place Monday in Room 4025, Bliss Hall, on the Youngstown State University campus … Sarah Marshall is an art professor at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Contemporary Ensemble

Concert to showcase University of Alabama students’ work: Tuscaloosa News – April 4

The University of Alabama’s Contemporary Ensemble will present an evening of music composed by students. “Composers Present” will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the concert hall of the Moody Music Building, 810 Second Ave. Admission is $5, with all proceeds benefiting Five Horizons Health Services, a nonprofit organization formerly known as the West Alabama AIDS Outreach.

Musical Genre

What is musical genre exactly?: Pacific Standard – April 5

A rogue stallion galloped triumphantly through the well-worn path of Billboard’s Hot Country Charts last month. As with many an outlaw stopover, if you blinked, you missed it … Its most significant legacy is coming up with the names for “Country and Western” and “Rhythm and Blues” in the late 1940s, says Eric Weisbard, a professor of American Studies at the University of Alabama and author of Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music.