UAB Briefs: COVID-19 testing and 'Disconnect' online
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
We also provide updates regarding UAB’s efforts to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, UAB Hospital and UAB Medicine clinics have implemented and visitation guidelines.
For information regarding how to plan your in-person UAB Medicine hospital or clinic visit, click here.
To read other UAB COVID-19 updates or find health information, go to uab.edu/coronavirus.
To learn more about UAB’s COVID-19 safety procedures, visit uab.edu/uabunited.
Let us know about people, events and programs on campus that deserve a mention in UAB Briefs. Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
COVID-19 TESTING
Several mayors in Jefferson County are partnering with Live HealthSmart Alabama and the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center to increase COVID-19 testing in their communities, according to UAB News.
Since August, Live HealthSmart Alabama has expanded its COVID-19 testing in minority communities in Jefferson County, including those in Morris, Midfield, Kimberly, Bessemer, Trussville and others.
Funding is provided by the Jefferson County Commission through the CARES Act
While other testing facilities are focused on population density, Live HealthSmart Alabama actively seeks out smaller neighborhoods that are often overlooked,
“UAB is making testing possible and convenient for our citizens,” Brannan Clark, Hueytown’s fire marshal and safety officer, told UAB News.
Testing is available Nov. 16-19 in Hueytown thanks to Mayor Steve Ware and in Trussville with the support of Mayor Buddy Choat.
Other mayors working with Live HealthSmart Alabama include Joe Pylant, mayor of Morris, Kimberly Mayor Bob Ellerbrock and Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland.
INNOVATIVE THEATRE PROJECT
UAB theater students and faculty are streaming an all-original theater project devised for the internet, “Disconnect,” for free Nov. 19-21, according to UAB News.
“Disconnect,” performed in real time using streaming video, is the story of a dozen college students who work through a tangled web of mistaken identities through their cellphones.
Presented by the UAB Department of Theatre, “Disconnect” can be streamed on the Theatre UAB YouTube page at bit.ly/TheatreUAB, or on the event’s Facebook page, at 7:30 p.m. nightly Thursday, Nov. 19, through Saturday, Nov. 21.
A new work, “Disconnect” was created this fall by an ensemble of students dubbed “The Collective” and led by faculty members Lee Shackleford and Roy Lightner.
It’s a combination of live and recorded media and is largely student-driven.
It also features choreography and original songs by students, Lightner says.
Students are also tweeting as their characters, and some are posting videos on TikTok.
The Collective is Isabel Behr, Rachel-Marie Strazza, Briana Hernandez, Matias Dupree, Travis Settoon, Terrell Miller, Abigail Coats, TaShauna Jenkins, Emma Mansour, Devin Franklin, Laurel Floen, Mell Packard, Bailey Dumlao, David H. Parker and McKenna Shaw.
The character social media handles from “Disconnect,” which can be followed on Twitter and TikTok, include Alex, @give_alex_pie and @alex_pie_mine; Blair, @hotblairballoon; Harper, @harper_is_awsm and @harper_the_awesome; Chris, @prince_chris6 and @chris_unlimited; Dallas, @dallasnotexas02 and @dallasnocowboy02; Frankie, @vtp_frankie and @frankiemydarling; Emory, @Emoryy_shea and @emoryshea; Logan, @its_thelogang; Max, @maxstclairr and @maxxxstclair; Kendall, @kforkendetta_ and @kforkendetta; Terry, @terrymccoyy; and Sydney, @syd_babyy.