The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-24-2015 10:10 PM)BlazrDawg Wrote:  Having read all those pages of stuff from the NY PR firm, one cant help but think that they already knew what the decision was and were clearly planning on how Watts was to answer questions about what was going on. They couldnt have dreamed up those scenarios without being given the groundwork on which they were to be advising, planning, etc. WATTS KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO AND IT WAS BEFORE FOOTBALL SEASON EVEN BEGAN.

You're right on. I found it interesting that they even planned the date of the announcement so it wouldn't coincide with the BOT meeting to deflect blame from the BOT. They also planned answers for potential questions about BOt interference. Someone spent a great deal of time briefing these New Yorkers abut the UAB situation.

These guys are supposed to be one of the elite crisis management PR firms in country and I'll bet they don't come cheap. It is obvious that they spent a lot of time working working on this situation - I wonder what the bill was, who paid it, and where the money came from?

From our recruiting budget.

It may not be criminal but it surely is unethical. We need to clean house. I've all ways maintained that we have too many fans of other universities in charge of things at UAB. Especially outreach, students, and alumni type functions. They paid handsomely for the services of those companies involved and moving FORWARD UAB shouldn't use them for anything else.

First thing we need to do is kill the UAB Forward website and prohibit that phrase from ever being used again in relation to UAB. :-)

(03-25-2015 08:59 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  The plan to kill UAB football began as soon and Bartow was laid to rest. The plan to return UAB to an extension center has been in the works longer than that I believe. Football is a small part of that.

I agree. Removing UaB football and eventually the whole athletic department will reduce student body growth and start a decline. The main goal of Dr. Whitt is the transfer of the Medical School to Tuscaloosa. I don't understand the economics or personnel issues and ramifications to such a move but I believe the research money would tank almost instantly. NIH would not want to be seen sending their dwindling research dollars to a perennial football power house just implementing a Medical School with no infrastructure to support basic research. UaB - BU by that time - could claim the brand UAB and keep basic research. University Hospital and Kirklin Clinic will always have UAB associated with it. Patients go to UAB, not The University of Alabama Medical Center. Residents will have to travel to Birmingham and will receive less clinical time than they do now because of travel issues. A state wide vote would keep all of the Medical-related operations in Birmingham so Witt and company better be careful.

The BOT will attempt to cleave everything health related from UaB.

(03-25-2015 08:59 AM)CajunBlazer Wrote:  They also planned answers for potential questions about BOT interference. Someone spent a great deal of time briefing these New Yorkers abut the UAB situation.

It is obvious that they spent a lot of time working working on this situation - I wonder what the bill was, who paid it, and where the money came from?

I wonder how much these the ties with N.Y. and Sard Verbinnen & Co. have affected the bias we see on how the New York times has reported on the issue?

(03-25-2015 01:06 PM)dblaze Wrote:  

(03-25-2015 08:59 AM)CajunBlazer Wrote:  They also planned answers for potential questions about BOT interference. Someone spent a great deal of time briefing these New Yorkers abut the UAB situation.

It is obvious that they spent a lot of time working working on this situation - I wonder what the bill was, who paid it, and where the money came from?

I wonder how much these the ties with N.Y. and Sard Verbinnen & Co. have affected the bias we see on how the New York times has reported on the issue?

With the reputation SVC has, I suspect the NYT reports were written by SVC or at least previewed and edited. The disinformation and obvious ignorance of the topic could be explained by SVC's involvement.

A medical school was in Mobile. It's board was dissolved and a Tuscaloosa board formed. Tuscaloosa board moves medical school to Tuscaloosa. Birmingham has a medical school. and University has a nursing school. Tuscaloosa creates an extension at Birmingham. Tuscaloosa starts sending nurses from their school to University for clinicals. Residents from Tuscaloosa medical school come to Birmingham. University nursing school closed. Tuscaloosa moves their nursing school to Birmingham. Medical Center in Birmingham turns property over to UA Trustees (????). Tuscaloosa starts its nursing school back up due to shortage of nurses in West Alabama.

Seems to me the Medical functions of the University system in Alabama have been a political power grab for over 200 years. Moving brick, mortar, personnel AND patients (????) just don't seem economically reasonable. One thing, you can't transfer is the reputation of UAB - the medical center in Birmingham - to Tuscaloosa. John Kirklin, Volker, Pacifico, Boshell, Stagno, Rutsky, et. al. built UAB - Birmingham's educational and research Medical Center. The great kidney, heart, endocrinology, neurological, cancer programs were developed at UAB - the medical center in Birmingham. That's where the patients flocked to. That's where the medical research and best practices were established. That reputation is not transferable folks! UA BoT is going to "screw the pooch" (pardon the french) if they pursue this path.

(03-25-2015 08:59 AM)CajunBlazer Wrote:  I wonder what the bill was, who paid it, and where the money came from?

You can bet it didn't come out of Alabama's budget.

Blzrclub80,
The medical school in Mobile was a one year school at a time when few medical schools existed. Medical and legal training were performed mainly under the apprentice system where a student worked under the doctor until he felt sufficiently equipped to take his "Boards" to become a doctor. One became a lawyer by the same process - hence the "law clerk". The comprehensive four plus years medical school (and the three year Law School) of today is a relatively new creation.

The one year school in Mobile was moved to Tuscaloosa where it became a two year school which it remained until moved to B'ham in the 1940s when it became a full four year school. We have kept the examining Boards so the AMA (and ABA) can have some control over how many enter their profession, from which schools and in what fields. Legally, one can make "straight A"s in school and still be denied a License to practice in Alabama if the "Board" says NO.

The BOT and the UA System administration have never acknowledged that the UA System and its primary campus in Tuscaloosa is not the real owner of the Medical School /Medical Center in B'ham. If a division is attempted, expect a legislative move to make that ownership clearly stated and permanent.

BTW, Teachers are licensed in Alabama by sending their college transcript stamped as satisfying that school's requirements and $20 and they get back a legal certificate to teach anywhere in the state. The State DOE makes no effort to examine the capabilities of any teacher candidate nor any college's teacher training programs.

(03-25-2015 01:41 PM)blzrclub80 Wrote:  A medical school was in Mobile. It's board was dissolved and a Tuscaloosa board formed. Tuscaloosa board moves medical school to Tuscaloosa. Birmingham has a medical school. and University has a nursing school. Tuscaloosa creates an extension at Birmingham. Tuscaloosa starts sending nurses from their school to University for clinicals. Residents from Tuscaloosa medical school come to Birmingham. University nursing school closed. Tuscaloosa moves their nursing school to Birmingham. Medical Center in Birmingham turns property over to UA Trustees (????). Tuscaloosa starts its nursing school back up due to shortage of nurses in West Alabama.

Seems to me the Medical functions of the University system in Alabama have been a political power grab for over 200 years. Moving brick, mortar, personnel AND patients (????) just don't seem economically reasonable. One thing, you can't transfer is the reputation of UAB - the medical center in Birmingham - to Tuscaloosa. John Kirklin, Volker, Pacifico, Boshell, Stagno, Rutsky, et. al. built UAB - Birmingham's educational and research Medical Center. The great kidney, heart, endocrinology, neurological, cancer programs were developed at UAB - the medical center in Birmingham. That's where the patients flocked to. That's where the medical research and best practices were established. That reputation is not transferable folks! UA BoT is going to "screw the pooch" (pardon the french) if they pursue this path.

Off topic, back in undergrad, I used to work in Dr. Rutsky's lab. He was a great and inspiring guy. Pacifico, on the other hand, was an ass.

Back on topic, your point remains- the reputation is hard to build, and even harder to maintain.

(03-25-2015 02:53 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Blzrclub80,
The medical school in Mobile was a one year school at a time when few medical schools existed. Medical and legal training were performed mainly under the apprentice system where a student worked under the doctor until he felt sufficiently equipped to take his "Boards" to become a doctor. One became a lawyer by the same process - hence the "law clerk". The comprehensive four plus years medical school (and the three year Law School) of today is a relatively new creation.

The one year school in Mobile was moved to Tuscaloosa where it became a two year school which it remained until moved to B'ham in the 1940s when it became a full four year school. We have kept the examining Boards so the AMA (and ABA) can have some control over how many enter their profession, from which schools and in what fields. Legally, one can make "straight A"s in school and still be denied a License to practice in Alabama if the "Board" says NO.

The BOT and the UA System administration have never acknowledged that the UA System and its primary campus in Tuscaloosa is not the real owner of the Medical School /Medical Center in B'ham. If a division is attempted, expect a legislative move to make that ownership clearly stated and permanent.

BTW, Teachers are licensed in Alabama by sending their college transcript stamped as satisfying that school's requirements and $20 and they get back a legal certificate to teach anywhere in the state. The State DOE makes no effort to examine the capabilities of any teacher candidate nor any college's teacher training programs.

Under federal student aid, the UAB school of medicine is considered part of UAB.

All the students have UAB student IDs, pay UAB tuition, go to class in UAB buildings and get lectures from UAB faculty.

All the residency programs at UAB (arguably the most important and recognized names in the hospital system) are under the UAB designation and are looked up under UAB.

Every single patient and family member has said "yall are great here at UAB". UAB is the brand name of the hospital. It's the complete reputation of the hospital.

If there's an effort to make it the UA hospital, you can expect lots of people who credit UAB for saving their family's lives to be angry. All the residency programs would be severely impacted (instability drives away applicants).

The medical school and hospital are UAB's. I don't doubt that the UA BOT might be stupid enough to mess with that, but it would be extremely difficult and have a lot of consequences.