University Communications » Internal Communications » TrailBlazer » TrailBlazer 07-06-2010

Sustainability master's degree offered in fall at Fort Worth Center

UT Arlington is offering North Texas professionals the opportunity for advanced education in sustainability issues with a new master's degree program that debuts this fall.

The Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies-Sustainability Track will be offered at the University's Fort Worth Center. The 36-hour, non-thesis program can be completed in one year. Classes will meet Tuesday nights and Saturdays.

The new initiative is unique among master's level programs in North Texas because it addresses sustainability across a variety of academic and professional disciplines. Some courses will focus on core sustainability concepts like the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program, the Energy Star program, and High Density Development. Others will examine the cost and regulatory issues involved with "going green."

An interactive, online information forum is set for 6-7 p.m. Thursday, July 15.

Read more about the master's degree sustainability track and its program description.

Scholarship beat: Adonis Rose, jazz artist-in-residence with the Music Department, has established a new scholarship in his name to support UT Arlington music students.

Event raises funds for new Adonis Rose Scholarship

A fundraising event for the new Adonis Rose Scholarship will be held 5-7 p.m. Saturday July 10, at the Scat Jazz Lounge, 111 W. Fourth St., in Fort Worth. Join state Sen. Wendy Davis and state Rep. Marc Veasey in providing support for UT Arlington music students while enjoying jazz performances.

Rose is a Grammy-winning jazz drummer and artist-in-residence at UT Arlington.

To RSVP call 817-605-8546. To make donations to the scholarship, contact Professor Tim Ishii in the Department of Music at 817-272-3471.

Home run hero: Dr. Andrew Brandt, associate professor of physics, left, delivers the news to Texas Rangers' hitter Josh Hamilton that his June 27 home run was longer than originally estimated.

Professor's calculations land slugger in Rangers' record book

UT Arlington physics Professor Andrew Brandt recently helped Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton come away with the longest home run in the 17-year history of the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Dr. Brandt was called in to do some calculations after an independent website, HitTracker, estimated Hamilton's June 27 home run at almost 20 feet longer than the Rangers' estimate of 468 feet. The team decided to use whatever Dr. Brandt said as the official estimate.

Dr. Brandt consulted with HitTracker and Professor Alan Nathan, a physics colleague at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At 490 feet, Brandt's estimate was even longer than the website's calculation.

On Saturday, he announced the distance at the ballpark in front of reporters and an appreciative Hamilton.

Parade winner The College of Engineering's entry in Arlington's 45th Independence Day Parade won third place in the unique noncommercial category. The Deakyne family sponsored the float. Several other entries represented the University, including The Shorthorn, the University's Formula SAE race car, Mr. and Ms. UTA with the UTA Ambassadors, and the UTA spirit groups.

Movin' Mavs to play Journey of Hope cyclists July 16 at the MAC

UT Arlington student Mohammed Awadalla is participating in PushAmerica/Journey of Hope, which lands on campus Friday, July 16, at the Maverick Activities Center.

The annual fund-raising ride is the national philanthropic project of Pi Kappy Phi fraternity. Fraternity members spend their summer riding bicycles across the United States as a way to raise funds and awareness for people with disabilities and the organizations that help them.

The Movin' Mavs will play a demonstration wheelchair basketball game with the Journey of Hope riders at 7 p.m. at the MAC.

Art professor assists with exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mary Vaccaro, professor of art history in the College of Liberal Arts, collaborated on the exhibition and catalog "An Italian Journey: Drawings from the Tobey Collection, Correggio to Tiepolo" on view through Aug. 15 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Dr. Vaccaro was the only person outside of the museum staff invited to participate in the exhibition and catalog.

Lab assistant's test pavement method adopted nationally

Before he joined the Civil Engineering Department in 2002, Technical Lab Assistant Paul Shover worked for the Texas Department of Transportation, where he conducted a variety of pavement studies. One involved testing procedures for environmentally friendly ways to prevent fresh asphalt from sticking to paving machines and dump truck beds, while still retaining its consistency. These procedures have now been adopted on a national basis by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Research on patient room design brings international kudos for nursing professor

Recent research by the College of Nursing and Dallas-based architectural firm HKS Inc. could influence the future of hospital room design.

The study, "An Empirical Examination of Patient Room Handedness in Acute Medical-Surgical Settings," won the Best International Research Project award at the 2010 Design & Health International Academy Awards at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Adjoining hospital rooms traditionally have been designed as mirror images of each other to make the most efficient use of electrical wiring, says Professor Carolyn Cason, associate dean for research in the College of Nursing. But in the past decade, health care safety advocates have suggested that a higher level of standardization could be needed to prevent accidents.

Dr. Cason and co-investigators from HKS Clinical Solutions & Research, a part of the architecture firm, tested the safety advocates' ideas at the Smart Hospital, which allowed them to easily manipulate room design, plus monitor and record the results.

The work was funded through a $15,000 grant from the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation and a $10,000 grant from Herman Miller Inc., a worldwide distributor of furniture systems.

Read more about the hospital room design research.

Professor's research may prevent future failures of underground infrastructure, pipes, culverts

"Water main break causes major damage."

It's a headline that's becoming more common as an aging infrastructure begins to reveal its weaknesses and failures. Civil engineering Professor Ali Abolmaali is investigating methods he believes will lead to design standards that will prevent failures in future underground installations.

Dr. Abolmaali received a $100,000 research gift and $50,000 from the Texas Research Incentive Program to develop formulas that will determine the structural behavior of several types of underground pipes and culverts.

"Older designs were based on two-dimensional representations," he says. "These provided only approximations of real conditions and behaviors, so not all possible factors were considered."

Learn more about Abolmaali's research on underground infrastructures.

Summer I five-week final exams and grades

The last day of class for summer I five-week term is Thursday, July 8. Final exams are Monday, July 12. The final exam schedule is online.

Grades are will be available after noon, Friday, July 16. View grades by logging in at www.uta.edu/mymav. Click on Student Center and then click on the drop-down box under Other Academic. Grades will be the sixth item in the drop-down list.

Don't drop a class until you read this

The last day to drop is Thursday, July 22, for the summer 11-week term and Tuesday, Aug. 3, for the summer II five-week term. Be sure you've checked to see what the impact of dropping classes will be on financial aid or your ability to drop classes in the future.

Students who entered a Texas public college or university in August 2007 or later are limited to dropping six courses during their undergraduate career. UT Arlington's implementation of the limitation of dropped courses and academic regulations are online.

Grade exclusion request site closes

UT Arlington will process grade exclusion requests for summer terms if submitted online by 5 p.m. Thursday, July 22.

Registration for summer II and fall 2010 continues

Registration for summer II and fall terms continues. Check the registration timetables online.

To determine if you need adviser clearance, check your portal page at uta.edu/mymav and click on Student Center. On the right is a section titled Holds. Click the details link for specific hold information. If your academic department requires advising, you will see an academic department service indicator (hold). A list of advising offices is online.

Students who want to register only for fall must have their summer and fall academic department service indicators released by their adviser.

The undergraduate catalog and graduate catalog for summer II and fall are online.

Summer II important dates

• July 12 – Regular summer II registration ends

• July 13-14 – Late registration

• July 13 – First day of class

• July 19 – Census date

• July 15-Aug. 3 – All drops and withdrawals must be handled by your academic adviser

• Aug. 12 – Last day of class

• Aug. 16 – Final exams

Wednesday, July 7

$2 Movie: Toy Story Woody, Buzz and the gang. Rated G. 5:30 p.m.; also 5:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Planetarium, 817-272-1183.

Thursday, July 8

Free Movie: Kick-Ass A high school kid decides to be a super hero. Rated R. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Concession for drinks, candy. Free popcorn. Free. 8:45 p.m., west lawn, Maverick Activities Center. EXCEL Campus Activities.

Lemonade Thursdays Join in for lemonade and refreshing conversation, sponsored by the Office of International Education. 3-4:30 p.m., Swift Center. Lauren Cutcher, lcutcher@uta.edu.

Wednesday, July 14

$2 Movie: Alice in Wonderland Alice chills with White Rabbit and Mad Hatter. Rated PG. 5:30 p.m.; also 5:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Planetarium, 817-272-1183.

Thursday, July 15

Free Summer Movie: The Back-Up Plan A funny thing happens on the way to life. Rated PG-13. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Concession for drinks, candy. Free popcorn. Free. 8:45 p.m., west lawn, Maverick Activities Center. EXCEL Campus Activities, excel-entertainment@uta.edu.

Wednesday, July 21

$2 Movie: Where the Wild Things Are Max's imagination goes digital. Rated PG. 5:30 p.m.; also 5:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Planetarium, 817-272-1183.

Thursday, July 22

Free Summer Movie: How to Train Your Dragon Who doesn't love a little fire-breather? Rated PG. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Concession for drinks, candy. Free popcorn. Free. 8:45 p.m., west lawn, Maverick Activities Center. EXCEL Campus Activities.

Through July 31

New Works: UTA Photography Faculty The work of photography faculty members Kenda North, Andrew Ortiz, Leighton McWilliams, Bryan Florentin, and Scott Hilton. Hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. Gallery 76102, Fort Worth Center.

Through Aug. 31

MFA Summer Exhibition The third annual summer exhibition by 16 Master of Fine Arts students represents the Department of Art and Art History graduate program in intermedia studio, glass, visual communication, and film and video. Free. Summer hours 1:30-3:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays. The Gallery at UTA, Fine Arts Building. 817-272-2891.

Ongoing

Downtown Farmers Market Arlington's downtown farmers market features locally grown produce and locally made baked goods, arts, and crafts. Co-sponsored by UT Arlington Dining Services. 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Fridays-Saturdays, 215 E. Front St.

Planetarium programs Learn about stars, planets, space, and fun. Planetarium, 817-272-1183.

Texas Rangers Baseball The Texas Rangers offer discounted tickets to selected games for students, faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends. Access texasrangers.com/uta and use the password rangers to purchase tickets for designated games through Oct. 3.

(For an expanded list of events, see the UT Arlington Calendar.)

Conference honor roll includes 83 Mavericks

UT Arlington had 83 athletes named to the Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for spring 2010.

Maverick honorees included 12 scholar-athletes with 4.0 grade-point averages. The number of students in each sport are: 17 men's track and field, 17 women's track and field, 16 baseball, nine softball, six men's tennis, six men's golf, five women's basketball, four women's tennis, and one men's basketball.

The spring honor roll of 932 student-athletes is the largest in Southland Conference history and boasts nine student-athletes of the year, seven players of the year, and 124 students who earned 4.0 grade-point averages.

The honor roll includes student-athletes who participated in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field.

Six named to SLC All-Academic softball team

UT Arlington led the Southland Conference with six selections to the All-Academic softball team.

Senior pitcher Cara Hulme, senior catcher Samantha Chumchal, and junior first baseman Rebecca Collom represented the Mavericks on the first team. Senior designated hitter Heather Fortenberry, sophomore second baseman Courtney Zink, and sophomore utility player Kelsey Kaiser were named to the second team.

Hulme was named to the team for the third time while Chumchal and Fortenberry earned a spot for the second time.

Baseball has four named to conference All-Academic team

Four players from the Maverick baseball team were named to the Southland Conference All-Academic team.

Senior pitcher Jason Mitchell and junior pitcher Rett Varner were first-team selections while sophomore first baseman Jordan Vaughn and junior pitcher Mark Picca were second-team members.

(For more sports news, go to utamavs.com, utamovinmavs.com, or uta.edu/campusrec.)