More professors, more pay in $646 million UA budget
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 14
…committee of trustees approved a $646 million budget for the University of Alabama that includes an 8 percent tuition hike and a 6 percent, merit-based pay raise for employees…Lynda Gilbert, vice president for financial affairs, said the budget shows the No. 1 priority is pay raises for faculty and staff. “We are becoming competitive on a regional basis, and we need to keep that momentum going,” Gilbert said…
Crimson White – Sept. 14

Size, cost of UA dorm plan doubles
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 14
A dorm planned for the University of Alabama will be nearly twice the size and cost than originally thought. A UA trustee committee approved beefing up the second phase of Ridgecrest Residential Community to handle the rapidly growing student body. Instead of 500 beds, there will be 968. Instead of costing $40 million, the dorm is predicted to cost $73 million…When administrators first asked trustees to approve the project a year ago, the boom in enrollment and applications was not fully understood, President Robert Witt said after the meeting. “When we approached them last year, we didn’t have last fall’s numbers and we didn’t have this fall’s numbers," he said. “I didn’t think we’d be growing this fast."…UA became the largest university in the state last year with an enrollment of 23,878. This fall, there are 25,580 enrolled, Witt said…
Crimson White – Sept. 14

Sheraton Four Points to become Hotel Capstone
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 14
…The Sheraton Four Points Hotel will become the Hotel Capstone under a restructuring deal approved by University of Alabama trustees…

Unusual Suspects: Munchausen or Misdiagnosis?
Psychology Today – September-October 2007
…“Most cases go unrecognized,” says University of Alabama psychiatry professor Marc D. Feldman, author of Playing Sick, who’s popularized MBP in the press…

How Will History Rank G.W. Bush?
Conservativevoice.com – Sept. 13
…They quote the great Forrest McDonald in their story. McDonald is a true historian, so the McClatchy newspapers did find one real historian to quote in their story. In keeping with his excellence, his opinion was the only one in the story that made any sense. “It’s going to take two generations before anyone can make judgment on the success or failure of his presidency,” recalled Forrest McDonald, a professor emeritus from the University of Alabama, a conservative and a highly regarded presidential historian, who attended the meeting. “You figure that it usually takes one generation, 20 years. He says it’s going to take 40. It was a strange stance to me”…

Web users helping in search for Fossett
Reno Gazette-Journal – Sept. 14
…Dr. Jennifer Greer, an associate professor at the University of Alabama who specializes in media psychology and its effects, said the Internet search can be helpful by uniting the global community in the same way Amber Alerts have in the past. "I think to some extent it can be really helpful. It feels like you have a role to play. It feels like you are part of a community. People all over the world are coming together to be a part of that community," Greer said. "People become engaged in the news and become part of it."

Taylorville Primary learns all about Mr. Bones
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 14
…20 students met Mr. Bones, a human skeleton that accompanied visitors from the University Of Alabama Capstone College Of Nursing Thursday morning who came to teach the class about the human body…
Fox 6 (Birmingham) -- Sept. 13
NBC13 (Birmingham) -- Sept 13
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) -- Sept. 13

Market fresh
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 14
…The open-air market was hosted by Homegrown Alabama, a group of about a dozen students that promotes the value of local produce and partnerships between local farmers and the university. It was the second on-campus farmers market hosted by the group, in collaboration with the Ferguson Center, the Office for Community Affairs and the Farmers Market Authority…
NBC13 (Birmingham) -- Sept. 13 and 14
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) -- Sept. 13

PLA to bring parents together
Crimson White – Sept. 14
The University, in coordination with the city of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County Board of Education, kicked off its inaugural Parent Leadership Academy class at the Child Developmental Research Center Thursday. Samory Pruitt, vice president for community affairs, hosted the event. Superintendents of Tuscaloosa schools, supporters of the academy and parents chosen for the class attended the opening…
WVUA’s Mid-Day (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 14

Religion briefs
Huntsville Times – Sept. 14
Stephen Black, the founder and director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the University of Alabama, will speak on "Paths toward Active Citizenship for People of Faith" Sunday…

Safe Zone reaches out to UA students
Crimson White – Sept. 14
The Safe Zone Program, which helps train students, faculty, and staff on issues related to gay and lesbian students, has restarted on campus due, in part, to the Capstone Alliance, the official LGBT faculty group on campus…

Academic Integrity week speaker to address cheating
Crimson White – Sept. 14
…The University's first academic integrity week, sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, is intended to focus on ethics and integrity in the academic setting. The week features a speech from David Callahan, author of "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead." He will address the campus on Sunday and lead roundtable discussions on Monday with students, faculty and administrators…

Former Tide player ill with cancer
Crimson White – Sept. 14
Former Crimson Tide linebacker Victor Ellis has been diagnosed with medullary renal cell carcinoma, an aggressive kidney-related cancer, according to the UA admissions department…He was an Academic All-SEC recipient. In November 2006, he was hired by the UA admissions department as a regional recruiter for North and South Carolina. "He's the type of person who never met a stranger. He is caring and kind," said Mary Spiegel, executive director of undergraduate admissions…

More than 400 attend Christian worship service on the Quad
Crimson White – Sept. 14
…More than four hundred Christians gathered on the Quad for "Breaking Down the Walls," a night of worship and prayer. Generation Now, a UA campus ministry, in conjunction with the Tuscaloosa Prayer Network and other faith-based organizations, sponsored the event. It featured performances from several different music groups, including the UA Afro-American Gospel Choir, a reunion performance by the popular contemporary band Awaken and the Gap Band…

SGA provides test booklets to students, professors
Crimson White – Sept. 14
…The free test booklet program is a collaborative effort between the SGA and University Printing. The SGA office, located on the third floor of the Ferguson Center, has about 5,000 booklets available but will order more when the SGA sees where they are most needed and where most of them are going. In addition to test booklets, graphing calculators are also available to rent from the SGA office, free of charge…

Director of Child Development Resources Live Interview
WSFA (Montgomery) -- Sept. 13
Sally Edwards, the director of Child Development Resources at The University of Alabama, did a live interview on WSFA.