Accolades

UA Announces Top Honors for Scholarship, Leadership

The 2009 UA Premier Award recipients include (front row, L-R) Caroline Ball, Laura Godorecci, Dana Lewis, Emerald Greywoode, (back row, L-R) William Thomas, UA President Robert E. Witt, Alex Flachsbart.

Recipients of the 2009 Premier Awards – the top individual honors for scholarship, leadership and service at UA – were announced recently by UA President Robert E. Witt at a recognition ceremony.

The William P. Bloom Scholarship Award honors a junior who has improved intergroup relations within the University community; this year’s winner is William C. Thomas of Madison.

As president of the Alabama International Relations Club, Thomas developed a strategic plan that increased membership and yielded a more diverse and inclusive organization. He has furthered understanding and cooperation between cultures and co-founded the organization Apwonjo to educate and empower students about African issues.

The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, recognizing excellence of character and service to humanity, is presented to one man and one woman of the graduating class. The 2009 winners are Alex Flachsbart of Concord, Calif., and Caroline Ann Ball of Glenview, Ill.

Flachsbart’s achievements include co-founding the SpeakUp Tuscaloosa after-school program, which teaches debate fundamentals to middle school students; developing the UA BamaBike program; and organizing a candidate debate and voter registration drives during local and national elections.

Ball began the Blount Common Meal – a gathering of UA Blount Scholars for fellowship and mentorship with other students. Her other notable activities include organizing independent study sessions for classmates to promote academic cooperation and developing a mathematics tutoring program for at-risk middle school students.

The John Fraser Ramsey Award, named in honor of the late University history professor emeritus, recognizes in a junior the versatility of gifts and attainments, as well as the breadth of excellence in mind and character that have traditionally been the goals of a liberal education. The recipient is Dana Lewis of Huntsville.

Lewis advocates for young adults with diabetes and has worked to create community awareness of diabetes. Among other accomplishments, she led the implementation of a campus-wide nutrition system and created and co-taught a core curriculum class for first-year students with diabetes.

The Morris Lehman Mayer Award is named in honor of the late Morris Lehman Mayer, business professor emeritus. The award recognizes integrity, selfless service and leadership at UA and in the community while making significant contributions to student life. Emerald Greywoode of Montgomery is this year’s recipient.

As a conversation partner in the UA English Language Institute, Greywoode helped Spanish-speaking students improve their English, learn American culture and connect with the UA community. Her achievements also include serving as chief justice of the Student Government Association Judicial Board, where she has acted as a defender of students’ rights and University policies.

The Dr. Catherine J. Randall Award, named for the former director of UA’s innovative Computer-Based Honors Program, is given to one graduating senior. The Randall Award recognizes the most outstanding student scholar at UA, based on GPA, rigor of course study and extraordinary scholarly or creative endeavor. Laura Godorecci of Northport is this year’s recipient.

Godorecci has pursued a truly interdisciplinary course of study at UA, including arts and humanities as well as the sciences. Godorecci designed and completed independent learning experiences through which she produced numerous scholarly and creative works. Her passion for filmmaking complements her dedication to scholarship.

The 2009 Premier Award recipients will also be recognized in an awards ceremony during UA Honors Week this spring.

UA Student Film ‘Storybook’ Selected for Prestigious Ethics Symposium

“Storybook,” a documentary film created by UA students about a reading program for incarcerated mothers and their children, has been selected for inclusion in the 2009 Undergraduate Ethics Symposium at DePauw University April 9-11.

UA students Kristian Collins and Stephen Lovell created the film as part of UA’s 2007-2008 Documenting Justice course, sponsored by the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility and the department of telecommunication and film.

“Storybook” examines the Storybook Program, a reading program run by the Montgomery-based, nonprofit organization Aid to Inmate Mothers. AIM brings children’s books and tape recorders to Julia Tutwiler Prison where incarcerated mothers are given a chance to record themselves reading the books. After the recordings are made, the books and the recordings are then sent to the inmates’ children, giving their children the opportunity to hear their mothers read to them. The documentary tells the stories of four inmates, the Storybook Program, and the challenges of parenting from prison.

Collins and Lovell are two of only 30 students from across the country whose work was selected for inclusion in the symposium, sponsored by the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. “Storybook” is the first film to be accepted to the prestigious symposium, which typically focuses on written pieces such as essays and poetry. Invited students receive an all-expensepaid trip to present their work and will receive critiques and comments from their peers and visiting scholars.

Documenting Justice is a nationally unique, interdisciplinary course in documentary filmmaking that focuses on issues of justice and injustice in Alabama. Documenting Justice International, available to students who plan to study abroad, allows students to tell stories of justice from all corners of the globe.

The Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility is currently accepting applications for the 2009-2010 class of Documenting Justice; interested students should contact CESR at 348-6495 or www.cesr.ua.edu.

Modern Languages Professors Serve on Fulbright Committee

Two professors from the department of modern languages and classics recently served on the National Screening Committee for the U.S. Student Fulbright Program.

Dr. Alicia Cipria, associate professor of Spanish, served on the National Screening Committee for Spain, and Dr. Thomas Fox, professor of German and chair of modern languages and classics, served on the National Screening Committee for Germany. The committees select highly qualified U.S. graduating seniors and graduate students to spend a year in a foreign country with the support of a Fulbright fellowship.

Screening committee members are chosen from a national pool. They must be accomplished scholars with international experience and high standing in their field.