Significant education news: the University of Texas is announcing a statewide initiative in Second Life that will connect to the states' 16 campuses, with a program "that emphasizes teaching in the areas of science/math, international/ intercultural, and health/medical, among other areas." (Here's the official blog.) Appropriate to the largest state in the US, and a university system with 200K students, the virtual campus will range over 49 islands and include distance learning initiatives. It's billed as "the nation’s first university system to roll out a virtual learning environment statewide," and centered at the University of Texas at Austin. UT/Austin is a major hub for high tech and artistic innovation, and serves as a major starting point for the country's architects, filmmakers, game designers, computer industry staff, etc. etc. and is a major reason Austin has such a rich film/game/live music community. So as students in those areas engage with the SL campus, it's easy to imagine them spinning off metaverse projects of their own, as they graduate.

Before all that happens, however, the campus has to be built in SL -- I can't find it in-world, and no SLurl accompanies any of the many announcements I've read. Stand by for that.

Update, 1:10pm: Much more detail on the Lindens' blog. Still no SLurl though.