UAB Briefs: Rhodes Scholar finalist, Bela Fleck show, recycling rules
A UAB student has been named a Rhodes Scholar finalist.
A Grammy Award-winning group is making a stop at the Alys Stephens Center during their 30th anniversary tour.
And UAB Recycling tells you how to recycle properly.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
‘An honor in itself’
Abigail Franks, a senior in the UAB Honors College, has been named a Rhodes Scholar finalist. If she receives the scholarship, she will study at Oxford University.
“Being selected as a finalist is an honor in itself, and I am incredibly grateful,” Franks said in a UAB news release. “It is one of the most competitive scholarships in the world because their acceptance rate is less than 1 percent.”
Rhodes Scholars are chosen for their character, academic achievement, potential for leadership and commitment to the common good.
Franks — a political science major with a minor in peace, justice and ecology — will interview for the Rhodes Scholarship on Nov. 23.
If she receives the Rhodes Scholarship, Franks wants to pursue two degrees — an M.Sc. in nature, society and environmental governance and an M.Sc. in environmental change and management.
She would then want to come back to America and for nonprofit such as the Climate Justice Alliance and gain experience in grassroots advocacy.
From there, she plans to pursue a position as a climate adviser for the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she would work for a state with large populations of communities vulnerable to climate change.
A former Udall Scholarship recipient and a Truman Institutional nominee, Franks is on track to graduate in spring 2020.
Blending genres
Grammy-winning quartet Béla Fleck & The Flecktones will perform at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on Friday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m., according to UAB Media Relations.
Fleck, who plays the banjo, first formed the band in 1988. The other members are Howard Levy on harmonica and keyboards, Victor Wooten on bass and Roy “Future Man” Wooten on drums and percussion.
The group blends such genres as classical, jazz, bluegrass, African music, electric blues and Eastern European folk dances.
Fleck has won 15 Grammys and received 30 nominations.
Tickets are $65, $55 and $45, with $10 student tickets. Call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org.
Recycle the correct items
Alabama recycles only approximately 16 percent of its potentially recyclable materials, compared to a national average of 34 percent, according to Tim Sullivan, manager of UAB Facilities Support Services, which oversees UAB Recycling.
And you can do your part to improve that number by taking recyclables to UAB Recycling Center.
However, it is important to donate only those items that the center can accept currently.
“When nonrecyclable items are thrown into UAB recycling bins, it dirties up what we refer to as ‘the stream,’” Sullivan said in a UAB news release. “It keeps waste from being sorted and recycled properly, which can lead to perfectly recyclable materials’ inadvertently being sent to landfills or to be burnt. That means more wasted plastic on land and in our oceans.”
Here are the items that the UAB Recycling Center accepts:
- No. 1 plastic, which includes water and soft drink bottles.
- Office paper of any color.
- Newspapers.
- Non-food-contaminated flattened cardboard boxes.
- Magazines.
- Non-food-contaminated paper items, such as paper bags, mail, envelopes and folders.
- Aluminum cans.
- Rinsed steel food cans.
- Used cooking oil and grease.
The center — located at 620 11th St. S. — is open Monday and Thursday, 7-9 a.m. and 4-5:30 p.m.