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.

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.

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.

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.”

“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.”