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HASTINGS, JAMES CARROLL, a loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away on May 21, 2010 at age 79 in Birmingham, Alabama due to complications with Lymphoma and Alzheimer’s. Born March 7, 1931 in Winchester, Kentucky, he spent his childhood excelling in academics, and developing his interest in engineering. An Eagle Scout, he loved outdoors, adventure and service. He met Martha Bielmann on a blind date, and married her on June 29, 1962 in Atlanta, Georgia. A champion debator, he graduated with “High Distinction” from the University of Kentucky where he earned his BS in Electrical Engineering. He was also a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan Fellow where he earned his master’s degree in Management. Along with significant academic achievements, he was an accomplished leader in his profession and in the community. He spent over 35 years with Southern Bell, BellSouth, AT&T in a variety of engineering and management positions. Earlier in his career he served 2 years as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Air Force. An advocate of the engineering field, he assumed leadership roles in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Alabama Society of Professional Engineers (ASPE), Executive Advisory Board, Engineering Council of Alabama, Alabama State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, as well as the National Council for Engineering and Surveying. He served numerous civic, religious, educational and cultural organizations including: Canterbury United Methodist Church, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama Symphony, Opera Birmingham, Birmingham inner city schools. Passionate about service, he was a smart thinker and doer who made a positive difference in the lives of others and the community — a “do-it-yourselfer” who always did for others. He was preceded in death by his parents James Turley and Martha Mae Hastings, his sister, Margaret Richardson and brother, Samuel Hastings. He is survived by his wife, Martha B. Hastings, two daughters Gayle Hastings Lantz (Tim Lantz), and Judy Hastings Pittman (Tom Pittman); grandchildren Olivia Lantz, Connor Lantz, Carlin Pittman and Mitchell Pittman, and godson, Drew Kirkpatrick. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, May 25 at 1:00pm at Canterbury United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. The family requests donations be made to either of the following in lieu of flowers: Canterbury United Methodist Church at 350 Overbrook Rd., Birmingham, AL 35213 or UAB Alzheimer’s Disease Center at 1530 3rd Avenue South, SC 350E, Birmingham, AL 35294-0017.

Published in The Birmingham News on May 23, 2010

The 2010 Alabama State Competition was held Saturday March 27 in Montgomery. Brian Shelton served as State Coordinator.

The Top 7 Teams Are (in rank order)—
1 Challenger Middle School
2 Baldwin Arts and Academic Magnet School
3 Pizitz Middle School
4 Cullman Middle School
5 Alabama School of Fine Arts
6 Randolph School
7 Auburn Junior High School

Regina Carter is the winning team coach, and therefore will serve as the State’s Team Coach. Congratulations, Ms Carter!
The Top 4 Individual Students make up the State Team and will go to National Competition in Orlando FL. You can watch it LIVE! Friday May 7 at 2pm edt.
Congratulations Rickie, Sabrina, Animesh and Asutosh!

The Top 10 Individual Students are—
1 Wook Suk “Rickie” Jang (Baldwin)
2 Sabrina Chen (Randolph)
3 Animesh Mahapatra (Challenger)
4 Asutosh Nanda (Challenger)
5 Leigh Marie Braswell (Cullman)
6 Sunny Chennupati (Liberty)
7 Bill Caraway (Challenger)
8 Sina Monfared (ASFA)
9 Danny Johns (Simmons)
10 Devin Sun (ASFA)

SB52 passed the Alabama Senate (30-0), and will likely be considered soon in the House. This bill prohibits no-bid contracts, and apparently would supersede requirements to use the qualification-based-selection (QBS) process to procure professional services. Now, phone calls, faxes and emails to your legislator may make a difference in his/her vote.

Use this link below to find your representative’s contact information:

http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/zipsearch.html

The ALISON (AL Legislative Information System Online) link below allows one to research a proposed bill and its history. Under the “Regular Session 2010” column on the left of the home page, click on “Bills” on the “Session” tab to view a drop-down menu, then click on “Status” to search for a bill. Type in the bill number (e.g., “SB52”) in the box, click on “Get Status,” then when the Bill Status page appears, click on the box listing the bill number under the “Instrument” column to activate the various tabs at the top of the page for that bill (e.g., clicking on “View” tab brings up an engrossed copy of Bill SB52 as passed by the Senate on 2-4-10; clicking on “History” tab gives details on its legislative history to date). Here is the link:

http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/acaslogin.asp

Here is what was said about SB52’s passage in the Senate (read the comments too):

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/02/alabama_senate_passes_ban_on_m.html