PEOPLE

PEOPLE
Now, she's fit for role
NEW YORK -- "Dark Angel" star Jessica Alba has "broken ribs doing harness jumps" and "messed up my ribs doing kicks," but the 19-year-old actress says it's been worth it.
"I'm less scared," Alba told Entertainment Weekly in its March 16 issue. "When I walk around I know that if someone attacked me, at least I'd be able to defend myself. I could probably take out an eyeball."
She plays Max, a genetically engineered, smart-mouthed superbabe who has escaped her military handlers and is on the lam in 21st century America.
To prepare for her role, Alba lifted weights and did cardio training, gymnastics and kung fu training.
"She wasn't particularly physically fit," co-creator James Cameron ("Titanic") told the magazine. "But there was something about her -- an attitude, a sass -- that made me keep thinking of her."
Universal donation
LOS ANGELES -- Universal Pictures, which produced "Erin Brockovich," has donated $100,000 for college aid in honor of environmental activist Brockovich and her boss, attorney Ed Masry.
The graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships at the University of California in Los Angeles will be offered to students studying environmental and social justice. The money will be available starting in the fall semester.
Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-nominated film, was a single mother who got herself hired at Masry's law firm, then led a successful fight against Pacific Gas & amp; Electric in a major pollution case. Albert Finney plays Masry in the film.
Going slow for 'South'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It took Alabama a full year to record its new album, "When It All Goes South."
"The key is, they didn't give us a deadline," lead singer Randy Owen told The Associated Press. "A lot of the time it's been, 'By the way, you've got a week off. Let's go in the studio."'
"When It All Goes South" (RCA Nashville) includes Southern rock, traditional country, ballads, duets and country pop. There's even a song that harkens back to Alabama's beach band days, "Wonderful Waste of Time."
Latin finalists
NEW YORK -- Marc Anthony, Son By Four, Shakira, Conjunto Primavera and Gloria Estefan are among the finalists for the 2001 Billboard Latin Music Awards, to be presented April 26 at the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts in Miami Beach, Fla.
The awards show will cap Billboard's Latin Music Conference, which opens April 24. It will be broadcast by the Spanish-language television network Telemundo on April 29.
Finalists are chosen based on their performances on Hot Latin Tracks and The Billboard Latin 50. Winners are based on radio and retail chart performances.