Learned Treatises as Direct Evidence: The Alabama Experience

A majority of American jurisdictions refuse to permit the use of learned treatises as direct evidence, reasoning that to do so would violate the rule against hearsay evidence. However, many commentators have contended that, in adopting such a position, these courts have failed to consider the underlying purposes of the hearsay rule. Alabama, which has permitted the introduction of treatises as direct evidence, affords a useful contrast for testing both the rationale of the majority rule and the criticisms of it. It has been the goal of this comment to evaluate the present majority view against the Alabama experience. On the basis of the responses of Alabama attorneys, the conclusion is that the admission of learned treatises as direct evidence would be a desirable modificacation of the present rules of evidence

Race, class, and community in a southern forest-dependent region

Based on a Community and Environment in Rural America survey, this brief looks at four counties in Alabama. It finds blacks and whites have different outcomes in the community, despite expectations of regional stability and greater equality. Though they reported similar rates of social mobility, African Americans in the Black Belt of Alabama are disproportionately poorer and employed in lower-skill jobs than whites

ASSESSING THE INTERESTS OF WHOLESALE-PRODUCEBUYERS IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI DELTA REGION

The need to expand the market share of Alabama fruits and vegetable producers necessitates an understanding of the attributes that would attract potential wholesale-produce buyers in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region (LMDR). A survey was developed and administered to over three thousand produce wholesale buyers in the LMDR; 317 returned surveys were analyzed for this study. Results indicate that non-Alabama wholesale-produce buyers would buy Alabama produce if the produce meet expected quality if adequate volume existed, if it were convenient, and if they were aware that the produce existed in Alabama. Produce such as peaches, sweet corn, beans, potatoes, and watermelons have greater market potential if volume is adequate and price competitive.Agribusiness,

Overcoming Challenges of Teaching Earth History Classes for Teachers in a Rock-free, Urban Environment

Instructing university-level Earth history to future teachers is made all the more difficult when it is being done in an urban environment devoid of any local rock outcroppings. At the University of South Alabama, which is located along the rock-free central Gulf Coast, researchers have attempted to improve Earth history instruction to education majors. This paper describes their approach. The authors outline how they encouraged science composite education majors to think locally in order to better relate the world of geology to their students in the Alabama school system. They conclude with a brief discussion about the importance of providing field exposure to the teachers. Though this paper focuses on a local solution suitable for southwestern Alabama, the approach is easily exportable to institutions in other urbanized or rock-free parts of the world where similar problems doubtless occur. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

Use of data from space for earth resources exploration and management in Alabama

The University of Alabama, the Geological Survey of Alabama, and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center are involved in an interagency, interdisciplinary effort to use remotely sensed, multispectral observations to yield improved and timely assessment of earth resources and environmental quality in Alabama. It is the goal of this effort to interpret these data and provide them in a format which is meaningful to and readily usable by agencies, industries, and individuals who are potential users throughout the State

Geological Survey of Alabama

This is the homepage of the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA), a data gathering and research agency that explores and evaluates the mineral, water, energy, biological, and other natural resources of the State of Alabama and conducts basic and applied research in these fields as a public service to citizens of the State. The GSA homepage contains a geologic map of Alabama; information on GSA news and events; GSA publications; GIS data and maps; an Ask the Geologist, Hydrogeologist and Biologist link; and a Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. Educational levels: General public, Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional

Alabama's Shame: HB 56 and the War on Immigrants

Like the Arizona law it was modeled after, Alabama's HB 56 law grants police the authority to demand "papers" demonstrating citizenship or legal status during routine traffic stops. But it does much more. In Alabama, where undocumented immigrants comprise just 2.5 percent of the population, lawmakers added a slew of cruel provisions designed to create a law that, in the words of a key sponsor, "attacks every aspect" of an undocumented immigrant's life. The result was the harshest anti-immigrant law in the nation -- a law that virtually guarantees racial profiling, discrimination and harassment against all Latinos in Alabama. Shortly after the law took effect, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies established a hotline for residents to report how the law affected them. Almost 1,000 calls poured in during its first weekend of operation. By late January 2012, more than 5,100 calls had been received. This report contains stories reported to the SPLC through the hotline and other channels. They illustrate the devastating impact HB 56 has had on Alabama Latinos, regardless of their immigration status

Segmentation Analysis of Grocery Shoppers in Alabama

Using survey responses from over 500 responses, this paper conducts a market segmentation of grocery shoppers in Alabama. By employing cluster analysis technique, Alabama grocery shoppers are segmented into three different groups based on the relative importance of factors that describe their shopping experiences.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Walking through 1965 on an Alabama Highway: Day 1

Outside in the backyards I had just passed other youngsters engaged in their game \u27State Trooper\u27 in which half the number lined up locked arms, and proceeded to march singing \u27We Shall Overcome,\u27 then were set upon and beat down by the others wielding sticks and branches. In situations like these, one must observe the tragedy: that the misdeeds of our immature society are imprinted in the minds of innocent children. Carl Benkert, Freedom Songs: Selma, Alabama, 1965 We were marching down the road. Seriously. We were marching down a rural Alabama highway. Hundreds of us. Marching. [excerpt