University of Texas Arlington

Promoting healthy play

KXAS/NBC 5 talked with UT Arlington assistant professor of kinesiology Jacob Resch about Texas high school football moving toward a 90-minutes-per-week limit on full-contact practice to limit concussions and other injuries. The University Interscholastic League, which governs public high school sports, approved the limit at its meeting in Austin on Tuesday. Resch agreed with the action. While football is a wonderful sport, “it can be safer.” Resch was also featured in a Dallas Morning News' Health Blog item on how to stay safe working or playing outside in 100-degree plus heat.

A plan for the Gulf

Ashanti Johnson, a faculty research associate in The University of Texas at Arlington College of Science, has been appointed to a 24-member panel creating a strategic vision for the National Academy of Sciences' Gulf of Mexico program, according to TheStreet.com, TickerTech.com, WBRC/Fox 6 (Birmingham, Ala.) and several other websites. The Gulf of Mexico program is a $500 million, 30-year endeavor established as part of the settlements of federal criminal complaints against BP and Transocean Ltd. following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. Johnson said she is looking forward to helping shape the future of the Gulf of Mexico and the United States' Outer Continental Shelf.

Rail possibilities

Stephen Mattingly, UT Arlington civil engineering associate professor, is studying the feasibility of placing a high-speed rail line within the public right of way from North Texas to Houston and San Antonio, according to the website PhysOrg. The work is funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. He will assess the performance constraints to safe operation and design, which affect a high-speed train's average speed and overall system cost as part of his research.