University of Texas Arlington

Street honors Spaniolo

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck surprised UT Arlington President James Spaniolo on Friday with the renaming of part of Pecan Street that runs through the University’s new College Park District as Spaniolo Drive, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in print editions and in its Extra Credit blog. A new street sign was unveiled Friday and was part of the university’s Homecoming 2012 weekend. Spaniolo, who announced his retirement earlier this year, is credited with collaborating with city and community leaders to revitalize downtown Arlington.

Supreme Court forecasting

Perhaps the greatest impact of the 2012 presidential election might be seen on the U.S. Supreme Court in the area of state-federal relations, an op-ed piece written by Richard Cole said in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Cole is a professor in the UT Arlington School of Urban and Public Affairs. With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who's 79, expected to step down soon, and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer also in their 70s, the replacement of any of these could tip the federalism orientation of the court at a time when these issues are being considered and for a generation to come.

Bus service coming

Questions about where bus stops would be located if transit comes to Arlington are being kicked around water coolers after city officials, business leaders and The University of Texas at Arlington disclosed that next fall they'll launch bus service connecting a few areas to the Trinity Railway Express at CentrePort, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Working together

About 100 educators and decision-makers attended an education symposium at UT Arlington organized by state Rep. Diane Patrick, the Fort Worth Business Press reported. The theme of the seven-hour conference was "Education and Business Working Together."

Nanomaterials for energy

Researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington, working alongside a Louisiana Tech University assistant professor, have created a hybrid nanomaterial that converts both light and heat into electricity, SolarContact blog and New Energy and Fuel reported. UT Arlington associate physics professor Wei Chen led the local research team. Previously, certain nanomaterials could be used to convert light into electricity and others to convert thermal energy into electricity but there have not before been nanomaterials that could do both. By combining the electricity generated by light with some thermoelectricity, the hybrid nanomaterial could improve performance and efficiency over materials that only do one or the other. This development offers great potential for energy production and for the future of solar cell technology.

Cutting waste

The U.S. Environmental Agency will partner with universities in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to reduce food waste as part of the EPA’s national Food Recovery Challenge, Envirolib and NWA reported. UT Arlington is one of those universities.