UTArlington - The University of Texas at Arlington Magazine » Campus Buzz

Message from the Editor

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:23:12 +0000

First semesters can shape your future. Handle the rigorous coursework and you’re on the road to graduation and career success. Venture beyond the classroom and you make friendships that last a lifetime.

UT Arlington’s Class of 2017 arrived this fall full of energy, excitement, and ambition. It’s a notable class—the first under Vistasp Karbhari, who became UT Arlington’s eighth president in June. As you’ll read in our conversation with President Karbhari, he shares the students’ enthusiasm and is committed to providing them a top-tier education that instills creativity and innovation.

Themes of newness and distinction pervade this issue. A study by the New America Foundation named UT Arlington one of six “Next Generation Universities.” The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked UT Arlington seventh on its list of fastest-growing public research universities. And U.S. News & World Report ranked us as the nation’s fifth most ethnically diverse campus.

Laura Suarez Henderson is among a handful of students worldwide to win two Amelia Earhart Fellowships, awarded annually to women pursuing doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering. Henderson also received a highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to locate space debris and determine how to maneuver around it.

Our cover story features the research of four professors who are exploring ways to preserve the world’s water supply and protect it from toxins and other dangers. Even the old becomes new as we take a fresh look at the JFK assassination through essays written by students here 50 years ago.

Beginnings offer hope, and the dawn of an academic year with a new president is an ideal time to elevate our aspirations. To paraphrase Dr. Karbhari, we have the opportunity to dream big dreams and work together to make them come true.

]]>

Talk of the Town

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:22:12 +0000

If you’re looking for entertainment that’s enjoyable and enriching, the 2013–14 Maverick Speakers Series is delivering both. The lineup includes a popular CNN anchor, a legendary entrepreneur, a world-famous neurosurgeon, and lauded journalists.

Award-winning CNN reporter Anderson Cooper takes the College Park Center stage Nov. 11. A respected network news figure for more than a decade, he hosts Anderson Cooper 360.

Spring 2014 lectures will feature Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, and Nina Totenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning legal affairs correspondent for NPR. Gupta comes to College Park Center on March 18. Totenberg will speak in Texas Hall on April 8.

The fall slate began in September with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. A native of the Philippines, he delivered a heartfelt account of his life as an undocumented immigrant. In October cable TV pioneer and ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen detailed the sports network’s beginnings and its rise to prominence.

Now in its sixth season, the Maverick Speakers Series has attracted more than 40,000 people to hear some of today’s brightest minds address current events and timely issues. Past speakers include Seth Meyers, Cokie Roberts, Ken Burns, Soledad O’Brien, and Cal Ripken Jr.

Lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. and feature audience question-and-answer sessions. When applicable, the events include book or autograph signings.

The lectures are free, but tickets are required. Preferred packages are available for purchase and include reserved seating at the front of the venue and reserved parking. For information or to reserve tickets, visit uta.edu/maverickspeakers.

]]>

Packaging and 3-D CAD

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:21:12 +0000

Students in Ben Dolezal’s Packaging and 3-D CAD (computer-aided design) class are on the cutting edge of design technology. The course, which uses the University’s new Corrugated Prototype Design and CAD Production Lab, teaches how to solve real-world packaging issues. Each semester, students work individually and in teams to design and construct items such as a retail floor display stand, a food and beverage shipper, and a retail shelf display. “I chose these assignments because the dimensional product and packaging solutions explore the relationship between conceptual thinking, structural design, brand development, and consumer behavior,” explains Dolezal, an assistant professor of visual communication. In addition to instruction from local packaging professionals, the class features guest lectures, panel discussions, and facility tours. “By offering a partnership between industry and education, the course allows students to engage in meaningful discussions and prepare for full-time employment upon graduation.”

]]>

Parents Wield Influence Over Teen Smoking

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:20:12 +0000

The biggest deterrent to teen smoking and drinking may be a candid conversation between parents and their kids.

A study by marketing Associate Professor Zhiyong Yang concludes that early, substantive dialogue between parents and their grade-school children about the ills of tobacco and alcohol use can be more powerful in shaping teen behavior than advertising, marketing, or peer pressure.

“First, our conclusion is that parenting styles can be changed, and that’s good news for the parents and the teens,” Dr. Yang says. “Second, our study shows that parental influence is not only profound in its magnitude but persistent and long-lasting over the course of a child’s entire life.”

Yang’s research was published in a recent edition of the Journal of Business Research. Similar findings were part of a 2010 study he published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing of the American Marketing Association.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 3,900 Americans under age 18 begin smoking each day and about 1,000 youth will become daily cigarette smokers.

Yang says his findings run counter to common perceptions that parents have little influence on behavior after their children enter adolescence. Conventional wisdom suggests that peer pressure and targeted marketing and advertising are of paramount influence on teen decisions to use tobacco and alcohol or engage in other risky behaviors.

]]>

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:19:12 +0000

If anyone understands the sociology of sports, it’s Krystal Beamon. The sociology assistant professor and Service Learning Faculty Member of the Year was an All-American track star at Oklahoma State, while her two brothers were elite athletes in basketball and baseball. “Throughout my childhood, my household was structured around sports,” she says. So it’s little wonder that sports continue to shape her career as a sociologist. A faculty fellow in the Center for African American Studies, Dr. Beamon has focused of late on the social significance of sport in America and its connection to race and race relations. “My research examines the two divergent perspectives employed to understand the role of competitive sports in the development of African-American males,” she says. “Athletics provides educational opportunities to African-Americans from underprivileged backgrounds, but athletics also exploits the majority of African-American athletes at the expense of academics.” Her book, The Enduring Color Line in U.S. Athletics, is due this fall.

]]>

Shell Game

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:18:12 +0000

Two biology assistant professors have completed work on an international effort to sequence the genome of the western painted turtle. Matthew Fujita and Todd Castoe are among 30 co-authors of a Genome Biology article that describes the work. The researchers found that the turtle’s ability to withstand oxygen deprivation and near total freezing of its tissue may be linked to genes common to all vertebrates. Scientists say that learning about common gene networks in vertebrates could help them better understand human disease. The western painted turtle is only the second reptile species to have its genetic information fully mapped.

]]>

Mavericks Win Second Straight Conference Title

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:17:12 +0000

The baseball team made history in 2013 by winning a conference championship for the second consecutive year.

The Mavericks tied for the regular-season Western Athletic Conference title after posting an 18–9 league record. Last year the team won the Southland Conference Tournament championship.

“I felt like we overachieved this year,” head coach Darrin Thomas says. “We were picked sixth or seventh in the preseason poll and then ended up winning it.”

Junior designated hitter Matt Shortall helped the team go 31–27 overall, including victories over Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas Tech. He batted .362 with 54 RBIs and led the Mavericks with eight home runs.

Shortall was named a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American, a College Sports Madness fourth-team All-American, and a semifinalist for the Olson Award. He was the WAC Field Player of the Year and a first-team All-WAC selection.

Junior pitcher Brad Vachon and junior catcher Greg McCall made the All-WAC second team. McCall hit .284 with five home runs. Vachon developed into the staff ace, going 7–4 with a 3.18 earned-run average.

Most of the roster is eligible to return in 2014 when the Mavericks begin play in the Sun Belt Conference. Four Sun Belt teams qualified for the NCAA Regionals in 2013.

“It’s a very good league,” Thomas says. “We understand it doesn’t matter whether it’s the WAC, Southland, or Sun Belt. We know you need to get better every year. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close.”

]]>

GO Centers

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:16:12 +0000

Senior Gabriel Escobedo, left, always assumed that going to college was an unattainable dream. But a visit to the first GO Center at Arlington’s Seguin High School changed his outlook. “It was the only place where I thought someone could really help me do what I wanted to do,” says the anthropology major, a first-generation college student who plans to graduate next year. Staffed by UT Arlington mentors like Escobedo, GO Centers are offices in area high schools that help students navigate the college admission and application process. The University has 19 GO Centers across five school districts, and more are planned thanks to a recent $300,000 grant from AT&T. “A lot of these students have been told at some point that they aren’t college material,” says Carla Amaro-Jimenez, curriculum and instruction assistant professor and director of the area centers. “We facilitate college access and readiness, and we’ve had really powerful results.”

]]>

Golf

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:15:12 +0000

Paul McConnell made the most of his senior year, especially the last few rounds. The Dallas native claimed individual medalist honors at the Western Athletic Conference Championship last spring in Las Vegas to qualify for an NCAA Regional. “It felt awesome winning conference because it was my last tournament with my teammates,” he says. “My putting and chipping improved drastically thanks to coach [Jay] Rees. I wouldn’t be in the place I am now without my coaches and teammates pushing me to improve.” In addition to the WAC title in the University’s only year in the league, McConnell took the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic during the 2011-12 season and the San Diego Intercollegiate in 2010-11. He also was part of the Mavericks’ 2011 Southland Conference championship team. He won the WAC in dramatic fashion, carding a 69 in the final round to jump from ninth place. He was the only golfer among 50 to break 70 the last day. Though his college career is over, McConnell isn’t done with UT Arlington. The interdisciplinary studies major (economics, marketing, and sociology) is set to graduate in spring 2014.

]]>

Proven Winner

utarlington — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:14:12 +0000

As the new women’s basketball coach, Krista Gerlich is determined to recruit, retain, educate, and graduate student-athletes. And win championships.

“To do the things we want to do on the court, we have to have a stronger mindset and be able to physically exert ourselves over a long period of time,” says Gerlich, who comes to UT Arlington from West Texas A&M University. “We want to put an exciting team on the floor that is going to build attendance.”

The former Texas Tech standout went 168–53 in seven seasons as head coach at WTAMU. Her teams won four consecutive South Division Lone Star Conference titles from 2007-10 and three consecutive Lone Star Conference championships from 2008-10. She recorded 100, 125, and 150 wins faster than any coach in school history.

Prior to joining West Texas A&M, Gerlich spent three seasons as an assistant at Texas Tech under legendary coach Marsha Sharp. She also was an assistant at UT San Antonio and a head coach at several Texas high schools.

As a player from 1989–93, she helped the Lady Raiders win the NCAA national championship her senior season. She was named to the All-Time Southwest Conference team and is one of three Texas Tech women’s players to have her jersey retired.

“I don’t think we could have picked a better candidate,” Athletics Director Jim Baker says. “Krista has been a winner every place she’s been and at every level. We’re confident in her ability to take our program to the next level.”

]]>