Local schools compete to recycle the most phone books

            The eighth annual YP Cares phone book recycling contest for Tuscaloosa city and county school teaches the importance to recycling to students of all ages, but also adds competition between schools.

Beth Curtis, principal at Verner Elementary School, said recycling is an important habit to teach children. She sends weekly reminders about the contest, but also promotes recycling all year by having bins for paper and cardboard outside each classroom.

            “Several years ago, we decided to become service-oriented,” Curtis said. 

            She said the school has participated in the contest every year it has been held, as well as in other community projects, such as Canstruction. They won the $1,000 prize last year which was put back into the recycling program.

The contest, sponsored by the YP Real Yellow Pages, rewards elementary, middle and high schools in each system. This year’s contest started on Jan. 20 and will end Feb. 28.

“This is an established program,” said Ashley Chambers, the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Coordinator. “We have schools calling us in the fall asking if we’re doing the contest again.”

Winning schools are based on the total number of books collected divided by total number of students enrolled. First place winners receive $1,000, and second and third places receive $600 and $400, respectively.

Chambers said participation increases every year. She is happy to see the schools rally to get large numbers of phone books so they won’t end up in the landfill. She said the books can be turned into new books, cardboard, animal bedding and much more.

Last year, schools collected more than 25,000 phone books, which weigh about 31,000 pounds.

            Tiffany Craig, a second grade teacher at Oakdale Elementary School, also sends flyers home with the students, and well as offers them free homework passes for every five books they bring in.

            She said she enjoys seeing the students reach out to various people and businesses in the community to get the old books. Oakdale Elementary also has recycling bins around the school all year.

“This is something they can take home,” Craig said. “They can use what they learn here to recycle at home.”

Chambers said the books get picked up after the deadline. She said the schools are competitive and look to do better every year.

“It’s funny,” she said. “The schools don’t tell us the numbers, and let it be a surprise.”

Chambers said that she noticed elementary-age students were easier to get excited about recycling. Last year, she teamed up with city officials to create individual prizes to get the older students excited, too.

For elementary schools, each student bringing in ten phone books gets entered for into a drawing for a Playstation Portable. If they bring in 100 books, they will receive a Little Ricky the Recycling Raccoon stuffed animal and other prizes from YP Cares. Middle school students get an entry for Beats by Dre ear buds for every ten books collected, and high school students get an entry for Beats by Dre headphones for every ten books. 
Students from private schools or home school programs are also eligible for individual prizes for collected phone books by contacting the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Services Department.

Arboretum caretaker has deeply-rooted passion for nature

            It is not difficult for Kenneth Robinson to take care of 60 acres. He says he does it “for the trees.”

 Robinson has been the head caretaker at the University of Alabama Arboretum in Tuscaloosa for the past eight years, and was a volunteer before that.

He called the arboretum a tree museum, as it is home to many Alabama native trees and flowers such as south-eastern redwoods, Alabama black cherry trees, azaleas and various hardwoods.

Robinson said he is concerned about Alabama hardwoods being clear-cut and replaced with a spruce, pine and fir hybrids, which grow faster. The arboretum is one of the only places in Alabama where native plants can grow without the danger of being clear-cut or damaged.

Robinson has a very close relationship with nature and values his Cherokee and Lakota heritage. He protects and takes care of the hardwoods in his own backyard, too. He said he has acorn trees, and the deer can come there and know it is a safe spot for them.

“I honor their spiritualism,” Robinson said. There are also many species of birds, deer, coyotes, rabbits and other woodland animals in the arboretum he has a respectful relationship with.  He believes as long as one honors other beings, they can all connect on a spiritual level.

Robinson is also an advocate for preserving the Earth’s drinking water and supports the non-profit Tuscaloosa group, Friends of Hurricane Creek.

He said he hopes to shed light on both how beautiful nature is and how much conservation is needed through photography he does while traveling throughout the United States. His photos can be viewed on Facebook on his page called “Hawks Photos,” a reference to his Lakota name “Cata” meaning “hawk.”

As caretaker of the arboretum, Robinson makes sure everything is groomed and taken care of, from planting and pruning to picking up sticks off the walking trails. He also works with the university’s biology department and looks after the tropical plants the professors keep in the greenhouses.

Robinson has been working by himself since the director retired in April 2012.

“The entire arboretum was left in his hands,” said Sharon Wise, a Tuscaloosa County master gardener. She has been a volunteer at the arboretum for the past seven years, and helps Robinson with any grooming-related tasks he has.

He got some more help when he hired an assistant in May 2013. Wise has also been encouraging fellow master gardeners to volunteer regularly.

The arboretum ground is covered in leaves that fell off the trees in the fall, and with spring not too far away, clean-up will be starting soon. Volunteers are always welcome.

Both Robinson and Wise said the arboretum is a perfect place to work. It is peaceful and beautiful and an ideal escape, located just a few minutes from the UA campus.

“There’s so much to see, so much people just drive past,” Robinson said.

He said he hopes when a new director gets hired, the clubs with UA will start again and more students will come out and enjoy the arboretum.

The arboretum is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset, and is located at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Loop Road. For general or volunteer information, visit the website at arboretum.ua.edu.

Kenneth Robinson stands in front of the greenhouses at the front of the UA Arboretum.

 

UA Student’s Determination to Raise Awareness

Most fifth graders think about cartoons and what they should do at recess, but Stephanie Ray had other thoughts occupying her mind.  She and a friend worked with the school counselor to develop a program to help needy children.  Even at a young age, she knew she wanted to affect other people’s lives.

“I knew I wanted to do something, and I just couldn’t wait until after college,” Ray said.

            Ray, now 20, is an upcoming junior at the University of Alabama, majoring in international studies and minoring in French.  She loves music and writes her own, ranging from indie music to folk and a little bit of soul.  She used to travel from her home in Birmingham to Nashville some weekends to perform with a band there.  She was also part of a campus bluegrass band during the spring semester that performed at some open-mic nights and at the Homegrown Alabama market.

            What she calls her “baby” is Good Alabama, a student organization she founded and registered with UA’s The Source in February.  The goal for the organization is to mentor “at risk” children in Tuscaloosa and provide a creative outlet for them.

            “I don’t want to be an organization that just drops stuff off,” Ray said. “I want to engage.”

            This summer, she has been defining the goals she wants to accomplish with this, as well as collecting supplies and donations to build an account.  She said she wants to meticulously plan everything so the group can establish a good reputation.

            In the fall, Ray will work to find as many members as she can to join.  She said she is aiming to volunteer on a weekly basis at several group homes for youth in the Tuscaloosa area.

(I actually wrote this story beginning of August 2013. It is still relevant, and I think people should show their support for Good Alabama.)

Photo credit: Good Alabama Facebook page

Hi there. It's been a while. I've been busy on this crazy ride people call college. I set up this blog in high school for random things, and also used it for one of my college courses. Since I am a journalism major and creative writing minor, I know how important it is to have a way for people to see your work, which is exactly what I intend for this to me from now on. Look for several news stories as well as some fun stuff from me in future posts!

Peace and love!

Andrea

Looking back at MC101

My first semester of college went by very fast, and I feel both proud and relieved. I learned a lot so far, not just about academics, but also about being more independent. I had a journalism class in high school where we also learned about different types of media, but sadly it had no real structure. I actually liked my MC101 class because we did a lot more in depth studying of all the different kinds of media.

One of my favorite parts about the class was the structure, and really learning about each medium individually and in order. It really put stuff in perspective of how far media and has and how far it can keep going. I learned a lot of vocabulary in my high school class, but it was nice to have a continuous timeline as well. I always liked having guest speakers in high school and I liked having them in this class. I think they bring helpful information of what it is like to really work in these professions and share some of their stories with us. Another thing I thought was super creative was using Twitter and blogs for class. I've had a blog and hardly used it and this gave me a reason to remodel and try to post more stuff in the future. I've also had a Twitter for a while, but did not get into it as much until this past summer when I got my android phone. I like Twitter because, unlike Facebook, it is not changing what it is and I can see it being used for leisure and professional uses more and more in the future. The studies were also something new to me, but I liked those as well because they made me feel more involved and gave me something to relate to when we talked about the media studies that were done in the past.

The only thing I really did not like about the class is that it could be very mundane at times. I know the class was big, but I think the University could benefit in adding one more class and spreading out the number of students in each. I think learning the book work part of media history is very important, but I also think that having more hands-on activities with the types of media would be a good way to learn too. I guess I was expecting to learn about the University's side of each medium since we have a newspaper, radio station, TV news station, etc. I think talking about how each are changing and having someone from each department come talk to us would have been good to learn about as well as see how students could get involved.

I love the internet and I love my android phone. I do not think I could imagine a day or even a week when I could not talk to my friends. I think social media is very useful to keep up with people, but I also think it keeps trying to change to become more complex when it does not really have to be. As far as newspapers and books go, they will never die. Yes, the internet is good, but what if there is a fallout? People want a hard copy of news and events. And in my opinion, I do not like eReaders. The constant back light strains eyesight, and I am sure future studies will show that too. But of course, it is like that with computers and phones too. News will be news and advertising will be advertising. They both will always be more biased to whoever gives them more money. I do not agree it should be like that, but this is a business and businesses revolves around money. The class did not necessarily change how I view media since I already have a pretty set mind about different things, but I did get more insight. I want to go into Public Relations, and I was excited that we spent a day talking about it. It kind of gave me a taste of what I will be doing since the only information I ever got about it is from my own research. I do not really want to work with politics, but rather a small firm that communicates between businesses.
I am looking forward to what the next few years at the University will bring and I am very happy that the school of communications has so many opportunities for students.

The Persuaders (MC101)

What is advertising? Is it informing the public about a product or service, or is it just a fancy way of persuading them to buy it? I think it's a mix of both. We watched a movie in my MC101 class called The Persuaders which talked about different theories advertisers had to successfully get into the consumer's mind...
The first was Clotaire Rapaille who thought he had a way to figure out the consumer's hidden desires. He said no one can ever really know why people do what they do. He had a theory that people have three parts of the brain, the reptilian brain that controlled all the basic instincts, the limbic brain that controlled emotions, and the cortex that controlled higher reasoning. His theory stated that the reptilian brain always won. Always. When interviewed, he used the example of small cars versus big ones. He said even if environmentalists urge people to buy smaller cars, they will buy the bigger ones because the small ones are too small. I don't really believe that because I think that some people care about the environment too and want small cars. After all, everyone has different taste.
Frank Luntz was another man who said advertisers should tell consumers what they want to hear. He said, "Eighty percent of life is emotion, and only twenty percent is intellect." He elaborated by explaining that he could always change what people were thinking about, but he could never change what they feel because that is something deeper. He talked about word choice and how that is an important factor of gaining consumer trust. His example was politicians using "climate change" instead of "global warming" because it made the public feel more comfortable.
I agree with Frank Luntz more because people rely more on their personal feelings and want the producers to make them feel special and like they need the product. However, I also believe in the right for the people to know what exactly the product is that they are getting. I don't like those cell phone or insurance commercials that just say how they are better than the other. They should spend more time trying to be there for the consumer and trying to be genuine than just competing.

A Night of Television (MC101)

Television. It's the good ol' way to waste a few hours of spare time. I couldn't imagine what it could have been like to only have a few channels like my parents did back in the day, since I have over 500 of them. News, cartoons, movies, radio, etc. So many options! But are all these options really a good thing? I think so. Yes, on some shows or channels the content may be too graphic for the younger audience, but there are channels dedicated to just them as well. Many people believe that television content should be more censored, but I don't see the point. For example, I love the show Sex and the City. Of course it does not come on HBO anymore, so I watch the syndicated version on Style Network. Most of the cuss words and other choice words are bleeped out and whatever nudity was it in it edited out as well. My guess would be that no children are watching the show and the people that are are either grown up enough to not care about the content or are the same people that watch the trashy girls on Jerseylicious. Not a big deal if you ask me.
Then there is CBS. My favorite show - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson - comes on that channel. I am a huge fan. He is my favorite comedian and I like how he uses social media to interact with the viewers. He has a special segment every night dedicated to "tweetmail," questions viewers tweet or email him and his awesome robot sidekick (who also has a twitter). The show comes on at 11:35 at night and I would hope that the parents who don't want to their kids to watch the show already put them to bed. So why bleep out some curse words? He's allowed to say "balls," "penis," and "damn." I guess the channel is trying to uphold their reputation no matter what time the shows come on...
Another show I watched the other night is Tia and Tamera, the twin sisters' reality TV show on Style Network. My brother is the production assistant and the show and he lets me know how much of the show is actually reality. Let's just say, not much is. There are writers that make up the storyline of the season and they are told to be very dramatic with each other. The whole show is a roller coaster that goes from sisters who love each other to crying cat fights and back again. They cry at least every ten minutes, and even though my brother said they do cry a lot, they really caked it on for the show. I understand that this is to make money, but being portrayed as over-emotional on national TV does not sound good to me.
People look at television for entertainment, and the amount of time each person spends watching it varies greatly. I'm not a big fan of censoring TV content because I believe that the parents should be the refs between their kids and what they watch. Besides, most channels, at least in my opinion, censor the wrong thing. Craig Ferguson has fun with it by inserting fun words, like "tutti fruit" or "ay caramba" instead of curses, but what are a few curse words opposed to the extreme partying shown on Jersey Shore? The cultivation theory states that the "constant exposure to the same images develops a commonality outlook." I am a fairly liberal person and I understand that cursing does offend a lot of people and that seeing it on TV may influence some kids to do it, but they have plenty more exposure to it than just TV, like movies and video games. This generation is way more uncensored that the ones in the past, that's obvious, and that is because our exposure to violence and sex in everything we watch, but I think that people need to take a closer look at what exactly they censor rather than how much of it.