UAB Briefs: Campus buildings, bronze medals, Nufonia falls live
Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email us at jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
Construction update
The rapidly growing UAB campus has been a veritable beehive of construction activity for decades. And that hive continues to buzz, with at least a half-dozen large jobs in progress currently.
Here’s a quick rundown, courtesy of UAB Facilities and UAB Media Relations:
-- The new UAB Police Headquarters -- a two-story, 28,000-square-foot, $8.2 million facility -- will be complete in March. It is located at 14th Street and 11th Avenue South next to the old police building. Deputy Chief Marvin Atmore told Iron City Ink recently that the new headquarters will allow for the consolidation of police operations into a single building. Police personnel are excited about the change, according to Atmore. “Providing adequate facilities for our officers will enable them to grow in the size and amount of coverage they provide,” he said. The old police building will be demolished to make room for parking and green space.
-- The $32 million expansion and renovation of the UAB School of Nursing Building is about 75 percent complete and should be finished in July. The work underway currently includes Interior framing, drywall and finishing, as well as exterior brick and curtain walls.
-- The $37.5 million, 110,000-square-foot UAB Collat School of Business, located on University Boulevard between 12th and 13th Streets South, is about 85 percent complete. Work currently underway includes the installation of brick and exterior curtain walls, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
-- The $39.5 million UAB College of Arts and Sciences Building is about 10 percent complete, with concrete structure and site utilities work in progress. Located at 10th Avenue and 14th Street, the building should be complete by March 2019.
-- Site work is in progress at the new UAB ROTC training facility at 828 Eighth Court S., which should be complete in July. The facility, measuring 12,800 square feet, is expected to cost $3 million. The old Center For Nuclear Imaging was demolished to make room for it.
-- The UAB intramural fields at 1100 Fifth Avenue South are about 20 percent complete. Work underway includes grading, drainage and installation of field lights.
Winning the bronze
A SOST is a team of active-duty Air Force medical professionals, including a trauma surgeon, emergency physician, nurse anesthetist, surgical scrub technician, critical-care nurse and a respiratory technician, who are charged with providing medical care during combat operations wherever the U.S. military is engaged.
In 2010, UAB became one of the first two civilian hospitals in the nation to host a SOST.
And in a ceremony at UAB Hospital on February 13, the six members of the SOST Gold Team -- who are also fully accredited staff at UAB -- were awarded Bronze Star medals by the Air Force for their actions during their four-month tour of duty at a casualty collection point near the front lines in the Middle East during Operation Inherent Resolve.
For all the details, click here and read Bob Shepherd’s story at UAB News.A unusual production
Quite a show
Kid Koala’s graphic novel “Nufonia Must Fall” will come to the stage of The Alys Stephens Center at UAB this weekend in a performance that blends film, theater and live music in one unique event.
“Nufonia Must Fall – Live!” will be presented at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, and Saturday, Feb. 17, according to a UAB news release.
A live animation film with live music, the performance also features a team of puppeteers bringing the film’s characters to life in miniature sets built to recreate each scene from the book.
The production is directed by Academy Award-nominated production designer KK Barrett and includes a team of 15 puppeteers, technicians and musicians.
Kid Koala, accompanied by the Afiara String Quartet, performs his original score on piano and turntable.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.
The Friday show is free to those ages 18 and under; those tickets are available only at the box office, limit two per person.
Call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org.
Learning about human rights
The UAB Institute for Human Rights is hosting lectures in February, and all are free and open to the public, according to a university news release.
Thupten Jinpa, a translator for the Dalai Lama for 30 years, will talk about his new book, “A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives,” at the Edge of Chaos on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The book provides practical steps to incorporate this into everyday life. The Edge of Chaos, a space for meetings and special events, is located in the fourth floor of Lister Hill Library at 1700 University Blvd. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the discussion at 6:15 p.m.
The Institute will co-host a two-day symposium called “Bystanders and Complicity in Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South” at the UAB Alumni House on Thursday, Feb. 22, from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Friday, Feb. 23, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The symposium is co-organized with the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and is co-sponsored by the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center. The event is also free to the public, but registration is required. To go to the event website, click here.
Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and executive director of War Child Canada, will deliver a lecture called “Working in War Zones: Providing Assistance to War-Affected Children” in the UAB Hill Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. The lecture is co-sponsored by The Altamont School.
Learn more about the Institute for Human Rights, go to uab.edu/cas/humanrights