UTPB receives new grant for educators

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin will awarding new grant money for bilingual education teacher training over the next five years to students wanting to become teachers in hard-to-fill areas.

The university has been selected to receive a federal grant that will pay $299,680 each year for a period of five years for pre-service teachers specializing in bilingual/ESL middle school math and science education. Scholarships will also be awarded for graduate students who are planning on pursuing a master's in bilingual/ESL education.

West Texas diversifies as new energy hub

Oil gushed from the vast scrub brush terrain of the Permian Basin and made millionaires of many. From the High Plains just to the north came cattle, cotton and food crops. West Texas held its own economically for decades. But since the 1980s, the region has seen population dwindle and its economy shrivel. While the numbers of farmers, ranchers and oil field workers have steadily declined over the past decade, West Texans have been adapting. The region is evolving into a hub of alternative energy, with plans for ethanol plants and wind farms - and possibly nuclear reactors and coal-powered plants.

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