University of Alabama News Center

The UA Office of University Relations will be closed for the holidays from Dec. 24-Jan. 4, 2009. For assistance during this time, please call 205/348-5320 and follow instructions for reaching a staff member.

BEST BETS

EDUCATED GUESSES 2009 – PREDICTIONS FROM UA EXPERTS – For the 28th consecutive year, The University of Alabama’s Office of Media Relations offers predictions from faculty experts for the coming year. While these “educated guesses” don’t always come true, our track record over the years has been good. So what’s ahead for 2009? Look for increased anxiety and depression brought on by the sagging economy, a dim retailing picture, Barack Obama to make an impact in his first 100 days in office, the U.S. to pull out of Iraq, 100 more banks to fail, healthy eating to fall by the wayside during the tough economic times ahead and much more. Visit http://uanews.ua.edu/anews2008/guess09/ to access this popular annual series. Contact individual faculty members as listed on the stories. For more information or assistance, call UA Media Relations at 205/348-5320 or email Cathy Andreen at candreen@ur.ua.edu.

EVENTS

NEW YEAR, NEW EXHIBIT AT MOODY GALLERY -- “Elizabeth Murray: Prints” will be on display from Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 to Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, 103 Garland Hall. A reception will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at the gallery. The Farley Moody Galbraith Endowed Exhibition for 2009 features a selection of works by the esteemed painter Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) printed at Gemini G.E.L. Los Angeles. The 21 prints featured reveal the energy of experimentation inherent in Murray’s process and expose her signature use of circular or spiral form to advance motion, irregularly shaped or divided picture plane, vibrant color palette and lyrical (often domestic) subject matter. Funding for the exhibition comes from the Farley Moody Gallery Endowment. Funding for the gallery comes from the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama. The gallery is on the first floor of Garland Hall on Woods Quad in the center of campus. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, contact the gallery at 205/348-1890 or go to http://www.as.ua.edu/art/moody.html.

ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY TO BE ADDRESSED AT 2009 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CONFERENCE -- The 2009 Economic Outlook Conference, presented by The University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research and sponsored by a number of prominent Alabama businesses and organizations, will be held Friday, Jan. 23, 2009 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel. For more information or to register for the event, contact Deborah Hamilton at 205/348-2952 or visit the CBER website at http://cber.cba.ua.edu.

NINTH ANNUAL REAL ESTATE CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR JAN. 30 - The Ninth Annual Commercial Real Estate Conference will move from the UA campus to the Birmingham/Jefferson County Convention Center Sheraton Hotel Complex and will feature David Bronner, chief executive officer of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, as the keynote speaker. The conference will be hosted by the Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) at UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. The conference, scheduled for Jan. 30, 2009, will include sessions on networking, professional development, the real estate outlook for 2009, and technical trends in the real estate profession. For more information, contact Grayson Glaze at ACRE at (205) 348-4117, email gglaze@cba.ua.edu, or view the website at www.ACREConference.ua.edu.

ECONOMIC SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON TUSCALOOSA, WEST ALABAMA - An economic summit focused on Tuscaloosa and West Alabama will be held Jan. 28, 2009, in Sellers Auditorium at the Bryant Conference Center on UA campus. The free event, co-sponsored by UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, is designed to examine West Alabama’s business climate in light of national economic trends and forecasts. Reservations for the west Alabama summit can be made by calling the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama at 205/758-7588. For more information, contact Robin Jenkins, communications director at the chamber, at 205/391-0561 or robin@tuscaloosachamber.com.

University of Alabama news releases are available online at http://uanews.ua.edu.
To request news releases by e-mail, write to candreen@ur.ua.edu.