T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
T E X A S
A T
A R L I N G T O N
Wednesday October 21, 2009
Volume 91, No. 34 www.theshorthorn.com
Since 1919
Keeping Track
INDEX News Calendar Opinion Classifieds
2,3,6 2 4 5
The Shorhorn’s calendar lists daily events for the UTA community with contacts for more information.
NEWS | PAGE 2
TECHNOLOGY
SUSTAINABILITY
MyMav system will be down for upgrading
Success of DFW’s first green roof spurs more
Maintenance will hinder students from checking schedules, drops, among other account activities. BY RACHEL SNYDER The Shorthorn staff
MyMav will be down for upgrades from noon Thursday to 8 a.m. Monday, which would hinder students wanting to meet with advisers or
drop a class during that time. The university is upgrading MyMav to apply new features and fixes from the vendor, Oracle, said Michael Corwin, technology services assistant vice president. Everything including pages involving student systems, financial aid and admissions will be upgraded, he said. According to the Office of Records Web site, the system’s upgrade will
prevent students from checking their degree progress or academic holds, viewing class schedules, registering for or dropping classes. Although MyMav will be down, advisers will still have plenty to do, said biology academic adviser Jane Pugh. She said advisers will still talk to MYMAV continues on page 3
Living the Arlington iLife New app relies on user-submitted info to connect people to the area BY JOHN HARDEN
I
f locals are looking for the hottest places to eat and play in Arlington — there’s an app for that. Software developer Splaysoft, LLC has recently released the application myArlington, which is a program designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The application’s features include a city map, city news feeds, city facts and photo sharing. It also allows users to tag locations like restaurants and shopping centers on a map and make recommendations to other users. “It’s a very convenient app,” “I’m from Las said broadcasting senior Yvette Colinas and I Luevano. “If you don’t come to want to know Arlington for where to eat out anything other and where all the hot spots are, the than school. I app would be don’t eat here, good to download.” shop here or Designed for anything but people living having the city and working in myon your phone Arlington, Arlington will could make a continue to help residents as the difference.” city continues to expand, she said. Adriana Davidson “I only come broadcasting senior to Arlington because of school,” she said. “I’ve been here for four years, and I still don’t know everything there is to know about Arlington because it’s still developing.” The application is one of programs by Splaysoft designed for countries and U.S. cities. The app is not only to help locals, but also people who regularly travel between Arlington and other cities. “I’m from Las Colinas and I don’t come to Arlington for anything other than school,” said broadcasting senior Adriana Davidson. “I don’t eat here, shop here or anything but having the city on your phone could make a difference.” Like Facebook, myArlington gives
APPLICATION Application available on iTunes App Store for $1.99 Application Features Include: City Map City Facts Arlington News Feed Photo and Comment sharing
The Shorthorn staff
Researchers were unaware if the region would be able to sustain such a project, but Engineering Research Building is next to receive one. BY CHASE WEBSTER The Shorthorn staff
The campus has shown how to make a green roof work in North Texas, said David Hopman, landscape architecture assistant director. The green roof was installed in spring 2008 atop the Life Science Building. It consists of 23 plant species, 4 inches of soil and a self-contained irrigation system, helping to reduce energy costs, flooding and water runoff. It cost about $15,000 to date, with $10,000 coming from donations. Hopman said he is enthusiastic about the prospect of the green roof catching on. “We don’t have all the scientific data yet, but we know how to do it,” he said. “I have a high degree of confidence that what we have done can be taken elsewhere and be very successful.” A green roof ’s life is typically much longer than the life of most buildings’ roofs, with the initial installation cost made up over the building’s lifetime, said John Hall, administration and campus operations vice president. “The up-front cost of these buildings is 2 to 3 percent higher than buildings that are not LEED certified,” he said. “But the reason it’s more attractive to building owners is that, with all of the features, you recoup that cost over the lifetime of the project by saving energy.” LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certificates are used to rate buildings’ environmental sustainability. UTA tries to conserve resources while keeping momentum in building a university that meets higher environmental standards, said President James Spaniolo. The Engineering Research Building will be the university’s first Silver LEED-New Construction certified. “The facilities have advanced tremendously, and what we will see in the next five to six years will be extraordinary,” Spaniolo said. Although common in places like Europe and New York, the green roof on top of the Life Science Building is the first in the Metroplex, said Donald Gatzke, School of Architecture dean. “It’s the only scientifically-studied example of a green roof in North Texas climate,” he said. “They’re GREEN continues on page 6
RIDING RED
IPHONE continues on page 6
Photo Illustration: Meghan Williams
ENGINEERING
Professor to speak on disease diagnoses The biomedical Johns Hopkins faculty will be first lecturer in 50th anniversary speaker series. BY JOHNATHAN SILVER The Shorthorn senior staff
Guest Xingde Li, from Johns Hopkins University, will speak today about relatively new medical applications to diagnose diseases, as the first speaker of the College of Engineering’s 50th anniversary speaker series.
Li works in Johns Hopkins’ biomedical engineering department, which is recognized as the best in the nation, according to US News and World Report . Although Segway inventor Dean Kamen spoke first in September, Li is the first official speaker of the series. Li will discuss his research, which includes new microscopic technologies and disease diagnostic techniques. His work in this area is done in the laboratories, but he said he
wants his work to eventually be adopted into clinical settings and helping patients. “The hope is that it will allow doctors to perform real-time diagnoses without taking tissue from the body,” he said. Wednesday’s visit to campus will be the first for Li, and a chance to reconnect with friends who are UTA faculty. He also said he wants to learn BIO continues on page 3
The Shorthorn: Michael Minasi
Psychology senior, known as “Red” for the past 30 years, dismounts his bike Tuesday on his way to statistics lab. Red said riding a motorcycle to school has its pros and cons. “You have to watch out for crazy people. People on the phone, texting or just not paying attention. They don’t see you,” he said.