UA students visit Costa Rica

A group of honors students recently visited Costa Rica as the culmination of a course focused on Latin American culture. Going through the on-campus service-learning program, Alabama Action Abroad, and in partnership with Costa Rica Outward Bound School, a group of nine students set out for the small indigenous village of Amübri, Costa Rica.

The course´s purpose was to learn about the culture of the Bribri people while volunteering their services in the areas of youth and community development.

Chair of Plank Center dies

Betsy Plank, chair of The University of Alabama’s Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and the “First Lady” of public relations, died Sunday, May 23, in Chicago. She was 86.

Plank’s career spanned more than 60 years and is a litany of firsts. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Public Relations Society of America and the first to receive three of PRSA’s top individual awards: the Gold Anvil Award in 1977 for being the outstanding U.S. professional; the 1989 Paul M. Lund Public Service Award for exemplary civic and community work; and the first Patrick Jackson Award for distinguished service to PRSA in 2001.

Sale of Bryce Hospital to UA completed

On May 26 Gov. Bob Riley and President Robert Witt signed the agreement for the University to buy the Bryce Hospital property. The property will cost $77.5 million, as appraised by the Department of Mental Health’s advisory board of trustees. An additional $10 million will be spent on cleanup and preservation.