They got close, then too
close, then slightly apart with
an air of mistrust.

• • •

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When failure is a
mad dog nipping at your heels,
do you run or cave?

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Behind him were some
44 footprints, marking
a journey of one.

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Math makes a day more
fun by 82.4
percent. It adds up.

• • •

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A look at Birmingham in videos, featuring nonprofit organizations in honor of today’s Martin Luther King Day of Service …

“American Artifacts” visits the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. From C-SPAN.

•

Carlos Izcaray is the new music director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, shown here in a 2013 interview from Casa da Música. From Casa da Música.

•

How Easter Seals helps people with disabilities. From Easter Seals of the Birmingham Area.

•

At age 6, Emily didn’t realize that her tummy ache could be ovarian cancer. From Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

•

A look at New Rising Star’s mission for 2014-15. From New Rising Star Community Support Corporation.

•

Glenwood’s work with people with autism. From Glenwood Inc.

•

Celebrating Founder’s Day at the A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club. From A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club.

•

Cedric Sparks with the City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office Division of Youth Services speaks at the Exchange Club luncheon. From Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center.

•

How Not Forgotten helps street children of Iquitos, Peru. From Not Forgotten.

•

Sonya Moore and her family find a new start with the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries. From Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes and Family Ministries.

•

See reaction to the UAB Faculty Senate
no confidence vote in President Ray Watts.

•

See a tour of BrickFair Alabama, the Lego showcase.

• • •

Send us links to your videos. | More videos on the Birmingham channel.

Video: Birmingham celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

May this day bring peace and understanding to everyone.

Ignorance, rudeness,
arrogance, stinginess, cats,
talking at movies.

• • •

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Photo: Chris Tse (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for Jan. 18, 2015:

• The $1 billion question: Can UAB afford to keep Watts as president?
• Reddit: What do the poor buy, that others know nothing about? And: http://wapo.st/15mLwRs
• Photographer Spent 3 Years Capturing New Yorkers Reading on Subway, by @AislingBrennan9
• My LinkedIn pet peeves
• @james_hibberd of Entertainment Weekly talks with Parents Television Council @ThePTC
• Do we experience time at different rates? By @ivan_amato (RT @ChampionCSX)
• Flashback: Project Bulk – Day 140: The end of snack time
• Finished “I Am America (and So Can You!)” http://amzn.to/1Bml604 [aff. link] by @StephenatHome.
• Now reading @crollwagen’s #TheLocalist http://amzn.to/1sPfuZl, @CarmineGallo’s Talk Like TED http://amzn.to/1AveAyv [aff. links]
• Y’all Connect: Kary Delaria on navigating corporate waters
• Up on the Sun, Q&A with Man or Astro-Man? @astrohq, by @partycrasheraz
• Rape in Utah: 1 in 8 women raped, but few will ever see justice, by @StephenPDark
• Ivy League meritocracy lie: Harvard et al cook books for 1% by Lani Guinier (RT @Samwyri)
• Talking with author Michael Bond on Paddington movie, by Roslyn Suclas (RT @BooksLIVESA)

More posts from Wade this week:

• BrickFair to rebuild universe in Lego form
• The Birmingham channel: The long climb

The latest #sundayread tweets

#sundayread Tweets

• More #sundayread recommendations from me

Under cover of
darkness, he stole the blueprints
to my secure heart.

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Each idea that
flies in, nests in the brain and
seeps into the cracks.

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Lots of atmosphere
to hold up birds and planes but
not for my tire.

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Alumni upset over UAB’s decision to drop football
have responded on donation request cards.

In college, I had to make cold calls to alumni to solicit donations. They weren’t just any alumni, and it wasn’t for just any gigantic endowment fund.

I played in marching band every year, and it costs thousands of dollars to maintain uniforms, rent buses and buy and repair instruments. I called “bandies” to catch them up on recent shows, but more importantly, hit them up for cash.

I have a soft spot for those tasked with fund-raising for their schools and causes. It’s not an easy job.

The most recent posted update for the Campaign for UAB

One Birmingham institution is in the middle — nearly dead center — of its $1 billion drive, the Campaign for UAB. As of Oct. 31, it had raised $534 million. It may be closer to the end than anyone knows.

The events of the last couple of months have changed the momentum:

• Nov. 29: The football team wins its final season game, making it bowl eligible for the first time in 10 years. Bill Clark would later be named Conference USA Coach of the Year.
• Dec. 2: President Ray Watts announces he is dropping the football, rifle and bowling teams.
• Last week: Graduate Student Government passes resolution of no confidence in Watts.
• Friday: Watts speaks publicly for the first time since Dec. 2, announcing an independent review of the numbers that led to his decision.
• Tuesday: Undergraduate Student Government Association passes resolution of no confidence in Watts.
• This morning: Faculty Senate passes resolution of no confidence in Watts.

Video: Susan Key explains the Faculty Senate vote.

Following the Senate vote, Susan Key of the Collat School of Business told a reporter, “It’s the first ‘no confidence’ vote in Alabama that I’ve ever heard of. … You really can’t lead if you don’t have any followers behind you.”

It’s telling that the faculty’s no confidence resolution barely mentions football or athletics at all; their dispute is over a lack of shared governance during Watts’ 22 months in office. His round of secret, closed door meetings with segments of the university appear to have had little effect, except to illuminate his discomfort with transparency.

Off campus, a number of cities including Birmingham proper have passed their own resolutions supporting UAB football.

Video: overview of today’s no confidence vote from UAB faculty

Watts said in a statement, written and video, that he would continue to work hard as president to regain trust and build consensus. The UA board of trustees, his employer, has also said it would continue to support him.

It’s clear that the Free UAB movement has built a coalition of students, employees, alumni, fans and donors that has real clout. In 6 weeks, it has gained widespread support on campus and appears to move quickly, even as the administration response has seemed almost glacially slow.

But the resolutions are symbolic, and it’s unclear whether recent similar votes of no confidence at other campuses nationwide have had any effect.

The $1 billion question is how it will impact fund-raising, and to a lesser extent, enrollment. It may take years to determine if students are staying away in droves from UAB, but only months to see if donations dry up.

The Campaign for UAB, launched in October 2013, is intended for research, economic development, faculty recruitment and construction. Disappearing dollars will not only hurt the school but also the city.

The good news is that the campaign reached the halfway point in under a year, with the original end date of 2018. The bad news is the school could extend the deadline to 2118 and still not raise the other $500 million.

UAB expects to raise $35 million from faculty and staff. If we assume that half has been raised, it’s likely they can kiss the other $17.5 million goodbye.

UAB expects a drop in support because of the announcement, based on findings in the increasingly flimsy CarrSports report. One Birmingham business owner has already canceled his $1 million commitment based on the football decision.

The alumni in Free UAB have been vocal about their commitment not to donate until Watts is removed from office and football is restored. They have posted numerous photos of pledge cards with large handwritten cries of “Not another dime” and “Fire Ray Watts” (shown above).

UAB and the UA board of trustees must decide whose numbers matter more, before they become dire.

Johnny Johns, best known as CEO of Protective Life, has a dual role as UA trustee and co-chair of the Campaign for UAB. He can either back up his hatchet man Watts or he can attempt to rescue the $500 million in future donations, but he can’t do both.

I know from firsthand experience the challenges of raising thousands of dollars for nonprofit organizations. I learned a lot from manning the phones back in my college days, especially about how institutional reputation could make or break my pitch long before I opened my mouth.

Let’s see the month-to-month numbers behind the giving in the Campaign for UAB. They can paint a picture far more vivid than the hollow repeated promises of a puppet president.

Watts costs $2,338.26 a day in salary. But keeping him could cost UAB and Birmingham thousands, maybe millions, of dollars in the long run.

• Nonprofit organization GASP accuses Ray Watts of crippling the Clean Air Initiative.

Photo: Joe Miserendino (CC)

BrickFair lets builders sail away with their imagination.

OK, so “The Lego Movie” didn’t pick up an Oscar nomination today for Best Picture … or even for Best Animated Picture. (It did nab one for Best Song.)

What’s the consolation prize? BrickFair.

The annual Lego convention takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham. Exhibitors show off their creative side with cityscapes, ships, robots, churches and more.

Photo: Joe Miserendino (CC)

Santa’s elves enjoy vacation in this Lego scene.

Watch where you step: the Stay and Play Room

Attendees can try their hand in the play area and win prizes.

Admission is $10, free for age 3 and younger. The event is at the BJCC Exhibition Hall downtown [map].

For more information, visit the BrickFair site.

BrickFair

• Website | Facebook | Twitter @BrickFair

Video: A look at BrickFair Alabama

The problem with a
lack of leadership is the
horrible vacuum.

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omg what did
he say nexr? tell tht bitch to
shut it. wher u at

• • •

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