Design Review Committee disapproves replacement "Sign"
Preserve Jazz Festival announces sabbatical for 2015
There’s a commonly held stereotype that doctors don’t all have the best bedside manner. I’ve been lucky to know a few doctors in my life (some as friends, at least one as family) that don’t measure up to that perception; they’re engaging, informative, and personable. Unfortunately, the last 48 hours have demonstrated that it might actually apply to UAB president Ray Watts (especially after the release of an extended video clip showing his interaction with members of the football team during their closed door meeting).
In February 2013 I wrote of the need for the next president of UAB to dreams bigger dreams while being willing to use the bully pulpit to do so. Recent events weren’t exactly what I had in mind.
There is something most doctors are normally good at doing – offering us options and encouraging us to get a second opinion. Even those with the worst bedside manner are capable of this feat. I haven’t found a real instance of the UAB president providing any to the student body. The document used to justify Tuesday’s announcement (merely part of the strategic plan that still needs to be made public upon its completion) took one off the table right off the bat – competing as a Football Championship Subivision (FCS) school instead of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Given the answers former UAB athletic director Brian Mackin wrote to UNC Charlotte during their exploratory process – ones shared in a this piece published on the Business of College Sports on December 3 – it’s understandable why; we are in the heart of the most rabid college football fan base in the country. (Incidentally, if you’re still attempting to blame Mackin for what happened even after you realize he basically gave up his post because he didn’t agree with it, stop.) Note, 14 of the 16 schools in Division I to discontinue football since 1995 are FCS schools as mentioned in this piece on the site’s front page today.
What happened at East Tennessee State?
Another option not readily offered was allowing students to decide if they’d be willing to increase student fees to offset the anticipated costs for the program. This is how East Tennessee State University will bring their team back to action next year to compete in the FCS. Their student government voted 22-5 to increase their student fees by $125/semester to support a return of football in 2013. Their university president was in attendance at the vote. This followed a controversial vote of the entire student body in 2007 (four years after the program wrapped up its final season at 3-6 knowing it was the last one) that failed to garner support. The vote in 2013 was not without some students voicing concern about how they would find another $1,000 over four years to pay for their college education (an extremely legitimate one), but the option was presented and considered.
Could their plan work if carried out at UAB?
Based on their plan (as it was passed by Tennessee’s state Board of Regents) and UAB’s currently listed total student population of 18,568, a similarly approved measure would generate $4,642,000 per year if implemented next academic year. Even if enrollment numbers did not increase, $23,210,000 would be available over a five-year period. If the UAB Football Foundation were also able to average $5 million in fund raising efforts per year for the next five years, UAB would have $48,210,000 available to use. Taking the level of passion showed in recent days into consideration and assuming the student body did continue to increase, it’s safe to say the $49 million deficit cited in the analysis could easily be filled – and that’s before the city, county, and state get involved – saving all three discontinued teams.
The timeline of events at East Tennessee State University reminds us neat and tidy is not always possible and that solutions could take time (something the current Blazers may not possess). The idea of an FBS team not taking the field in the Football Capital of the South does have some cringing and upset – after all, as former long-time Birmingham News sports editor Zipp Newman famously wrote, “Football is a religion of the Southland, played by the boys and lived and relived daily by their families.” I’m positive the ‘Dean of Southern sports writers’ would be calling for frank, candid discussions about the options available short and long-term. We need someone – maybe even the university president – to be more candid about what’s possible.
It’s also worth noting if the process necessary for an East Tennessee State-type of solution are carried out the same way here, the final decision would lie with the university system board of trustees. It would be a moment to see if they will listen to their students or if this is about something else. It’d also show if they were willing to take the words of their first chancellor (UAB’s first president, Joseph Volker) to heart about dreaming big dreams for Birmingham.
André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.
A new sense of community, shown through XOs
The first part of a series of posts about solutions outside of The Magic City shows that Mayor Langford’s vision for a wireless Birmingham is not that far off base. The main issue may be the fact that few are really looking at just how much of that solution may already exist.
There are approximately 83 free wireless hotspots in Birmingham, AL proper according to AnchorFree, a website that maintains lists for cities across the country. There are 58 hotspots listed in Washington, DC on the website. Take a closer look in the metro area, and the number jumps significantly, courtesy of this list maintained by IPSA and TechBirmingham. As we prepare to introduce 15,000 laptops into the daily local lives of Birmingham’s youth, we made need to reexamine just what we really need to be doing to embrace wireless technology.
Perhaps the main issue involves expanding where the hotspots are, as well as providing more information about what it actually means to have that access. It will do no good to claim that the access points are not where they’re needed. We simply need to find more ways to provide that service there. Providing access in area churches is a start, perhaps with the hope that it will encourage families in our community to take advantage of the service at home if possible. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. If we are going to provide that edge to our youth that this program is supposed to provide in terms of the digital divide, we will have to drastically expand just what it means to be wireless.
We don’t have to go as far as Philadelphia did with their attempt at a citywide wireless cloud, but we need to at least be leaning in that general direction. We need to not be ashamed to provide the service in areas that may not think it’s that cool to do so. As many of us have said before, maybe changing how we think about us can change how others view us. Let’s expand Internet access in several area parks and encouraging more access in some of our restaurants that may not currently see it as something that they need to offer. Encouraging students to frequent their libraries, where access is already available, may also be quite useful in this instance.
Something I discovered during the trip (and on other trips around the country in the last year) was just how much a WiFi hotspot encourages community (at least among those that need their access). It is still too early in the history of this site to rely on a built in mobile broadband card, though if we keep it up, it will become necessary. Even if that’s the case, it still means something to work in a space with others, allowing you to learn more about wherever you are. One of the biggest concerns surrounding our continuing reliance on the Internet is how much we may not talk with others. It’s becoming less and less of a realistic argument. WiFi access can, many times, open those lines of communication.
We all look towards creating a greater sense of community and opportunity in The Magic City. It may be time to also stop looking to tired excuses as to why we don’t move forward. That said, we must also always take a look at all sides of an issue before jumping in with both feet. The long term benefit to the city in terms of how productive we are and what it means to companies looking to move here is too important to not look at a holistic approach to the divide.
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Posted in education
Tagged Alabama, Birmingham, Commentary, community, hotspots, WiFi access, XO, XO laptop