RICHARD GREENE: Voters instinctively knew lake was part of city destiny

 (Editor’s note: This commentary column is one in an occasional series that former Mayor Greene calls “How our community was shaped by ten things that didn’t happen.” Today’s commentary is about the second of those ten things.)

By the year 1954, “boy” Mayor Tommy Vandergriff had been elected to a second term in office following his successful effort to convince General Motors to build a new plant in Arlington.

Shiny new cars were already rolling off the assembly line and the city’s population had topped the 20,000 mark.

It was time, he declared, to prepare for the growth of the city that he predicted would one day be home to 100,000 people.

Such an astonishing forecast amused many of the townspeople. There were reports of some saying such growth was a mere fantasy in the mind of the young mayor still short of his 30th birthday.

However, their delight with the notion turned to wrath when Tommy announced the city council was going to call an election to develop a lake to serve the needs of a city that would grow to such an unimaginable size.

Richard Greene

He also described the necessity of increasing the ceiling on the tax rate so the city could borrow enough money to fund the lake project. That proposal would also be put before the voters for their consideration.

Now, things would get very serious. The infatuation over the boy mayor had, for many, run its course.

Soon a meeting would be called to organize the opposition to the youngster’s plans. The idea of a lake, of all things, would come to be characterized as “Vandergriff’s Folly.”

Adversaries to the plan puzzled, first of all, over how a lake could be developed in a dry creek bed. On its face, it seemed to be a crazy notion. Secondly, the town had perfectly good water wells and could dig another if needed. But a lake? No way.

Their strategy was to defeat the irrational concept of a completely unnecessary expenditure of money the city did not have, for something it did not need and raising taxes to pay for it. After scuttling the lake, the next thing for the opponents to do would be to elect a new, more mature mayor the following spring.

Interestingly, leaders among these naysayers who named themselves the Arlington Taxpayers League involved some of the town’s prominent citizens, including a leading physician, a land developer, a General Motors supervisor and a grocer.

The theme of the Arlington Taxpayers League was that of “offering progress on a sane basis – not on wild reckless spendthrift programs.”

They launched an aggressive campaign to beat back the proposals. Giant headlines in newspaper ads included warnings of Taxpayers Beware! and Danger Ahead! and calling for the support of “every taxpayer to prevent great harmful effects” of the lake project and the accompanying tax increase.

Try as they may, they were no match for the well-prepared mayor who had done his homework and established a compelling case for the need of a future water supply to support the fast growing community.

That summer Vandergriff had led the council to declare a water emergency and pass an ordinance to ration the use of the precious resource. A $200 fine would be imposed on anyone watering their lawn except at prescribed hours and on certain days. In today’s dollars that would amount to about $1,700 – a pretty steep penalty.

He had also involved the area’s top civil engineering firm to identify the best place to build a dam and develop a lake. With great confidence, they selected historic Village Creek as the waterway meandering through the area west of the city on its way to the Trinity River.

True, it was sometimes without much water running through it but even regular rainfall caused it to fill up to its outer banks. They said a lake would develop behind the proposed dam in about two or three years.

There was one other thing that wasn’t a big issue in the campaign to win voter approval but really important to Vandergriff. When General Motors had questioned whether Arlington had sufficient water supplies to support the company’s plans to build the big plant three years earlier, the mayor had assured the world’s largest corporation that he would see to it.

Election Day that year produced the largest voter turn out ever seen up to that time. You know the outcome – the lake proposal won by a big margin.

It seemed the town’s citizens grasped the belief of their community growing to a size five-fold larger than it was the time. They felt an adequate water supply was necessary to support that kind of expansion.

Vandergriff would tell me many years later, as the city’s population topped the 300,000 mark, that he often wondered if he should apologize for his lack of vision.

As for that engineering forecast that it would take two or three years for the lake to fill up – it wasn’t even close. After the dam was completed, it started raining; and 27 days later Lake Arlington had become a reality. Vandergriff’s Folly from then on would be known as the Miracle Lake.

So, there you have it. The second thing that didn’t happen that shaped our city was that Arlington voters didn’t listen to the naysayers.

In fact, that election would launch a tradition of optimism among Arlington residents believing in the possibilities – the quintessential “yes we will” answer they would give over and over for the next five decades to produce the city we have today – a city not possible without an abundant supply of water.

Richard Greene is a former Arlington mayor, served as an appointee of Pres. George W. Bush as Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and currently is an adjunct professor in UT Arlington’s Graduate School of Urban and Public Affairs.

City prepares for invasion of Aggies and Boomer Sooners for soldout Cotton Bowl

Are you ready for some great college football?

Fans of the Texas A&M Aggies are planning to take over Downtown Arlington on Friday, Jan. 4, as the Aggie Network hosts its official Cotton Bowl Classic Game Day Headquarters at J. Gilligan’s Bar and Grill.

Be sure to welcome the Aggie and Sooner fans as they visit Arlington and Cowboys Stadium.

The 77th Cotton Bowl Classic will feature two high-powered offenses. Seventh-ranked Texas A&M, led by Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, against the 11th ranked Oklahoma Sooners and quarterback Landry Jones.

Most certainly in this area the game is drawing more attention than the pending national title matchup involving Alabama and Notre Dame and may ultimately end up with higher TV ratings.

Be sure to cheer on Arlington’s very own Luke Joeckel, the 2012 Outland Trophy winner charged with protecting Johnny Manziel throughout the game.

Go Aggies! Oh, and Go Sooners?

CULTIVATING GENIUS: Wunderkinds at UTA have their own unique challenges

Ewin Tang’s classmates tend to overlook the slight, bespectacled youth sitting in the front row until he answers the professor’s queries—all correctly. Then they ask their own questions. “Who is this guy?” “Why is he here?” And always, “How old is he?”

At 12, Ewin, the son of bioengineering Professor Liping Tang, is the youngest student on campus and among the youngest in UT Arlington history. Since taking his first college courses at age 10, he has completed 20 hours, including classes in calculus and differential equations, all with a 4.0 GPA.

“Other students just seem kind of amazed,” he says. “They ask about my age, what I’m majoring in. Some of them actually take pictures of me. They’re pretty cool with it, though; they really don’t bother me a lot.” Although the age gap usually prevents Ewin from forming close friendships with his classmates, many are eager to work with him once they recognize his abilities.

Ewin’s college career began after he completed every math course available in his K-12 private school. His intellect had already prompted school officials to move him from third to seventh grade, but it was soon apparent that he needed more. After he scored 1920 on the SAT at age 10, his parents and school officials explored college enrollment.

Dr. Tang acknowledges that having an immensely bright child can be challenging. “There are no books, no guidance on exactly what to do. This (college for someone so young) is a totally gray area.”

The Tangs met with then-Provost Donald Bobbitt and later with Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Michael Moore. Ewin’s first classes, an online course in history and an on-campus calculus class, were tests he passed easily.

“I think it makes a difference that I’m here,” Dr. Tang says. “Ewin has a place to go and a built-in support system.”

In addition to his University coursework, Ewin works part time in his dad’s nanotechnology laboratory. He is developing a probe to detect bacterial infection, something that would greatly assist in diagnosing diseases. His career plans involve science or engineering, but he hasn’t yet settled on a specialty.

“Our main concern when we began this was his social life,” says Dr. Tang, who notes that Ewin attends a private high school with students his own age for some courses and activities. “Academically he is fine, but we want him to stay in school and stay with kids his own age, to have friends his own age. So far it’s working out pretty well. Thanks to Dr. Moore, he’s having a very good experience.”

“Other students just seem kind of amazed. They ask about my age, what I’m majoring in. Some of them actually take pictures of me.”

Ewin spends part of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at the private school, where he takes classes and participates in soccer, basketball, cross country, and the Science Olympiad. He also attends UT Arlington on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and does research in his father’s lab Tuesday and Thursday. As if that’s not enough, he works with a private tutor, studies Chinese, and plays the piano and erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument akin to a violin.

While it might seem that Ewin’s case is unique, Moore and his predecessors in the Provost’s Office have seen others. Because such students don’t meet traditional enrollment requirements, they are evaluated case by case.

“Typically, there is a detailed conversation with the parents about the challenges and rigors of college work as well as a thorough review of the student’s academic history,” Moore explains. “Obviously, we are looking for exceptional young men and women who show the ability to excel in the classroom as well as handle the collegiate environment.”

Over the past two decades, several of these exceptionally young and brilliant students have used UT Arlington as a springboard to success.

SAFE AND SECURE

Andi Baritchi (photo below lower left) began his UT Arlington career at age 15. A math and science genius like Ewin, he completed everything his high school had to offer by ninth grade. College was the obvious next step, and soon Andi and his parents were meeting with then-Provost (and current president of Prairie View A&M University) George Wright.

“He’s in large part responsible for where I am today,” Baritchi says of Dr. Wright. “He was willing to take a chance on me.”

After graduating three years later with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and engineering, Baritchi initially struggled to find his place.

“I fell into security because I’m naturally very curious,” he says. “I have to push all the buttons and understand how things work.”

His curiosity and desire to break things didn’t mesh with the corporate world. He worked as a software engineer and a security engineer, but quickly became bored.

In 2007 he joined IBM as a senior security consultant, helping major corporations around the world keep hackers at bay. He thrived in consulting and soon was promoted to manage IBM’s payment security consultancy. Today, Baritchi is a principal at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, where he manages and delivers security consulting engagements globally.

As the digital world continues its almost instantaneous 24–7 evolution, those who protect information must be at the cutting edge. Baritchi prides himself on staying abreast of the latest threats and vulnerabilities to protect his clients. He says the only way to maintain your security is to periodically engage in penetration testing, the practice of simulating an attack. It may be fun, but it’s not the end-game.

“Clients hire us not just for our hacking skills but for our broad security expertise. They want a partner who will show them where they’ve gone wrong and help them bolster their defenses.”

Baritchi says information systems are vulnerable primarily for two reasons. First, they are overly complex. Second, programmers often have a “so long as it works” attitude. Features and deadlines are the top priority while security is treated as an afterthought rather than being properly ingrained at the design stage.

Then there’s the human element. People are just too trusting.

“Don’t give out your passwords or sensitive information to someone who reaches out to you,” he warns. “You never know who’s on the other end.” This doesn’t mean you should be afraid to shop online or use a credit card. “Just be careful. Only do business with reputable vendors.”

When he’s not protecting clients from security breaches, Baritchi spends his time traveling, road racing, and helping homeless dogs.

A HIGHER CALLING

Courtney Pace Lyons (photo right above), who also came to the University at age 15, deals with a different kind of security. She’s an ordained minister, pursuing a doctoral degree at Baylor University.

Early college entrance is a tradition in the Pace family. Courtney’s mother, Janyce Johnson Pace, started classes here at age 16, and her dad was in college at age 17. Courtney graduated from UT Arlington in 2004 at age 19 with a computer science and engineering degree.

“I liked the math side of computer science and engineering, but not the programming. Through my involvement with the Baptist Student Ministry at UTA, I came to understand the calling to ministry I first felt as a teenager. Now I realize I am called to teach, to help students learn to think critically and ask questions. I want to equip ministers to understand and interact with the world in new ways.”

Since her UT Arlington days, Lyons has served as a youth pastor and hospice chaplain, married and had a son, and worked with her husband to start a church in Bellmead, a small community near Waco. Her doctoral studies focus on 20th-century African-American religious history, especially the civil rights movement, and the history of women in the church.

“I feel called to preach,” she says. “I enjoy preaching, and that’s what drew me in to studying the social justice movements of the 20th century.”

This fall Lyons taught Introduction to Christian Heritage at Baylor, speaking to classrooms filled with young students who sometimes remind her of those long-ago days at UT Arlington. She remembers her undergraduate career fondly but laughs a bit at how much she still had to learn.

DOCTOR’S ORDERS

Learning comes easily for Jocelyn Zee, a third UT Arlington prodigy turned successful professional. After enrolling at age 13, she graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and today is a hospitalist (a physician whose practice is entirely within the hospital) at John Peter Smith in Fort Worth. Only 17 when she entered medical school, Zee’s training began with a warning about her age.

“I was told by one of the deans about another student who started young and didn’t make it through. He had some concerns about me starting out as well, but it hasn’t been a problem. I have been called Doogie Howser a few times, but other than that, no major age-related setbacks.”

Of course, medical school has its challenges. Dr. Zee remembers well the osteopathic manipulative medicine course she took her first year, where students learn to diagnose and treat musculoskeletal complaints with physical manipulation.

“We had to practice on each other,” she says. “Let’s just say that even in a class of 135, we all got to know each other very well—and the various soft tissue treatments (massages or adjustments) each week were an added bonus.”

She’s no stranger to the intensive care unit or the emergency room.

“In the ICU, I work with residents and medical students responding to calls for critically ill patients. We also work with patients who present to the ER or are already on another floor but are deteriorating or coding—what most folks will recognize from TV shows as seeing patients on the monitor who flatline while medical staff shout ‘code blue’ or ‘clear.’ ”

Zee gives much credit for her success to her older sister, Jacqueline Howard, who also entered UT Arlington early and graduated at age 18. Howard’s major, criminal justice, took her into law enforcement after a master’s degree in law and ethics from the University of Baltimore and a Ph.D. in public affairs from UT Dallas.

After working for the Arlington Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Dr. Howard is now a senior crime analyst with the Arlington County Virginia Police Department, where she focuses on crime forecasting and research and investigation of crime data.

And what about the future of UT Arlington’s latest wunderkind, Ewin Tang? “I haven’t come up with anything that is really ingenious yet,” he says.

Be patient; he’s only 12.

(Reprinted from UTA Magazine: Article written by Sherry Neaves)

ALLAN SAXE: UTA presidential legacy a powerful one that should continue

James Spaniolo, the outgoing President of the University of Texas at Arlington is rightly acclaimed as one who changed the physical and academic face of this university. He is so accomplished that he could easily assume a prominent role within the University of Texas System if he desired; or a prominent position within a large corporation. However, at this moment his desires seem to be to travel and be with his family.

To place his tenure as university president in some perspective it is interesting to examine the academic atmosphere that preceded him. When I first arrived at UTA it had just emerged from the Texas A&M System into the University of Texas System. There are many persons who deserve and have been given credit for this transition, most notably then-Mayor Tom Vandergriff.

The newly named University of Texas at Arlington would take its place as an Arlington icon along with Six Flags, General Motors Plant and the soon-to-be Texas Rangers. Little could anyone imagine the elaborate new UTA campus of today or the Dallas Cowboys stadium. 

 In addition to the political leaders there were faculty members who were struggling to boost the university’s standing by attracting new academic programs. Among the faculty members were professors Luther Hagard, Sam Hamlett, George Wolfskill and John Hudson. Hagard, Hamlett and Wolfskill were in liberal arts while Hudson was head of library.

Allan Saxe

 They pushed to remove Arlington State College from A&M, believing that there was little hope for an independent and proud university unless it was removed from the A&M system. This was long before A&M becoming what it is today -- an academic powerhouse with a national reputation competing well alongside the UT System.

 But even today UTA has some of the proud remnants of the A&M System, notably ROTC and a prominent military tradition and its significant engineering reputation. Incidentally, UTA houses in the ROTC Department a Medal of Honor given to a former student, Colonel Neel Kearby.

For a number of years UNTIL the administration of former Engineering Dean Wendell Nedderman, who had formerly been at A&M, many new academic programs were initiated not from the top down, but from the bottom up-from faculty and staff.

 This could have been very precarious for faculty members, but they had the confidence and the “ear” of prominent state politicians like Governor John Connally and state senators Oscar Mauzy and Don Kennard and state Representative Don Gladden. None of these political leaders lived in Arlington but in Fort Worth and Dallas, but they all wished for a prominent public university in North Texas as UTA was the only such place in Tarrant or Dallas counties at the time. 

Another prominent faculty member who was instrumental in developing UTA early on was history department Chair E.C. Barksdale. Barksdale was a true “character” in the best use of this term. He was a friend of noted historian Walter Prescott Webb at UT-Austin and was on first name basis with a host of powerful Texas politicians.

On many Friday afternoons, Barksdale routinely hosted in his home political discussions with a bevy of local, regional and state public officials.  His political ties insulated him and other faculty members from any retribution for what they were attempting to accomplish in bringing UTA to a prominent place within the academic world. E.C. Barksdale’s wife was one of the early supporters of a young mayor of Weatherford – one of the two famed “boy” mayors, the bother being Vandergriff -- who would eventually become speaker of the United States House of Representatives. His name was Jim Wright.

After Nedderman assumed the presidency he worked with these faculty members and others to initiate and bring scores of new programs to UTA and his legacy is so noted. After Nedderman voluntarily stepped aside after many years in heading the university the atmosphere was decidedly unsettled.

Eventually, the UT Regents conducted a national search for a new president.
The man who emerged was from Clemson and named Ryan Amacher.  Amacher came to UTA with high credentials and much enthusiasm. He made friends with community leaders and they embraced him as a leader for the City of Arlington as well as the university.

However, his tenure at UTA was very short and marred by a multitude of rumors and allegations and bitterness that ultimately brought about his resignation. But his vision for UTA was not unlike what others have desired for many years. He envisioned a larger campus, expanded student housing, upgraded athletic facilities and more impressive university banquets and meetings honoring alumni, friends and faculty.

The campus was so unsettled after Amacher’s departure that the UT System appointed a UT-Austin dean of business, professor Bob Witt, to assume the presidency. Witt was a sterm and competent leader and brought the campus back from a tumultuous period.

Witt upgraded the campus and expanded student housing. But his essential directive from the UT System was to end the strife that permeated for so long. No time for big visions, just settle things down. He tried to gain the confidence of faculty members and administrators and hosted many dinners at his home to educate himself on the culture and history of the campus by inviting various faculty members to dine with him and his wife. Witt accomplished his mission so well that the university was gaining recognition and the community admired him.

He then began to turn attention to implementing a broader vision and plan for the campus.  Rumors began to swirl that his big vision was not being received so well with then UT System administrators and that other UT System campuses would be more favored. (Note: this was simply a rumor that was never substantiated).

And when the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, the flagship school of the Alabama System, came calling and Witt assumed the presidency there. The University of Alabama had taken note of Witt’s success in settling a decidedly unsettled campus and moving to implement his UTA campus vision.

Immediately after Bob Witt announced his resignation from UTA and his assuming the presidency at the University of Alabama, a group of State Senators and Representatives announced they were introducing bills to potentially remove UTA from the UT System. A press conference was held and the buzz was that UTA would either become its own independent campus or align itself once again with the A&M System.

The possible removal of UTA from the UT System was a serious proposal initiated by North Texas political leaders who evidently believed that UTA would be better served elsewhere. Eventually, whatever outstanding issues there may have been were resolved. And UTA remains happily with the UT System.

Witt was so successful at the flagship Alabama campus that he is now the head of the entire University of Alabama System. (Initially, he was not a football aficionado and one of the last times I spoke with him he told me he was already becoming a football fan of the University of Alabama and so he is today – Alabama seems to be in the hunt every year for the national championship).

A new nationwide search after Witt’s departure produced the perfect president for UTA. He was personable and worked well with those already In various administrative positions. He is a rather reserved man, but was determined to bring UTA to what it is now.  He would enlarge academic programs, appoint talented people and embark on a building program never seen before on the UTA campus. The new Engineering complex, College Park Center and Activities Center, and the MAC) are all are tributes to his talents and will be a lasting legacy.

And so what comes now? Who will be the new president of UTA? The new president will have to be someone who can continue the university expansion, attract students and faculty and be up to the challenge of increasing competition from all those universities that want to achieve Tier I status.

Higher education is very different today with online learning and community colleges offering much more affordable tuition along with extensive vocational programs, plus the Internet can create virtual classrooms pretty much anywhere. The new president will have to cultivate confidence with area legislators and business leaders and community colleges while continuing to grow support from alumni and prominent donors. Most certainly a close relationship with UT System regents and administrators will be a necessity in an era in which the Legislature continues to diminish the state share of higher education funding.

The old adage “If one does not go forward you go backwards” applies as well to UTA. The legacy of Spaniolo must be built upon or UTA will regress. And this cannot be allowed to occur. I hope and I believe that the next president will indeed take the university into new areas of greatness.

Allan Saxe is a political science professor, urban issues pundit and author.