University of Texas Arlington

Local talent heralded

Noted writer Mark Lamster, who was recently hired as The Dallas Morning News’ architecture critic and a UT Arlington professor in practice, was featured in a web chat Wednesday morning on The Dallas Morning News website. In a response to a question about local talent, he said: “I think the increasing activity of the Dallas architecture community, and especially the growing presence and prominence of the architecture school at UTA, will help elevate the field of local practitioners.”

Student life demanding

A KERA/90.1 FM story about college graduation rates featured students from UT Arlington and Dawn Remmers, executive director of UT Arlington’s University College. At public universities in Texas, only 1 in 4 full-time freshman graduates within four years. Remmers says that while the requirements for a bachelor’s degree have not changed, the demands of student life have. “They are dealing with so many different distractions," she says.

Video games and crime

Research from a UT Arlington economics professor Michael Ward was mentioned in a report on violent video games and gun violence in society on KLAS/CBS 8 (Las Vegas). Ward’s research team reported in 2011 that they found a 1 percent increase in violent games associated with a slight decrease in violent crime and "robust evidence that violence in media may even have social benefits by reducing crime."