EDITORS NOTE: For more information about the seminar and how to register, contact Bill Gerdes at 205/348-8318 or e-mail at bgerdes@cba.ua.edu.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Rick Brooks, Atlanta deputy bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, will be the luncheon speaker at the 2005 Business Reporters Seminar May 25 at The University of Alabama.

The seminar is presented by the Culverhouse College of Commerce and will feature sessions on interpreting economic indicators, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the future of health care, Alabama’s role in the auto industry, the outsourcing of American jobs, privatizing Social Security and the telecommunications controversy. The presentations will be done by members of the UA business school’s faculty.

Brooks joined the paper in 1994 as a reporter for Southeast Journal, a weekly section about Alabama and four other states in the Southeast. Since becoming a reporter in the Atlanta bureau in 1997, he has covered banking, the package-delivery industry and other corporate and economic news from the region. He has edited for three major sections of The Wall Street Journal, including the front page. As deputy bureau chief, Brooks helps to manage a staff of eight reporters and writes his own stories.

Brooks was born in Malone, N.Y., grew up in High Point, N.C., and graduated from Duke University with a degree in public policy.

Registration fee for the seminar is $125 which covers the cost of the sessions, handout materials, refreshment breaks and lunch. The seminar will be held in Bidgood Hall, the main classroom building for the business school. Lunch will be in Alston Hall, the business school’s administrative building.

The UA undergraduate business program at the Culverhouse College of Commerce, is ranked 53rd nationally by U.S. News and World Report. The undergraduate accounting program at the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked number 25 nationally in the latest Public Accounting Report rankings.

The Manderson Graduate School of Business at The University of Alabama is ranked 31st among public M.B.A. Programs and No. 61 overall among full-time M.B.A. programs in the just-released rankings by U.S. News and World Report.

The marketing program is ranked 22nd in the nation in a study that assesses the influence of marketing articles, scholars and institutions. The study was published in the Summer 2003 issue of The American Marketing Association. In addition, the business school’s entrepreneurship program is ranked in the top 100 by Entrepreneur magazine.