THE DAILY COUGAR E!
INSID
TODAY’S WEATHER
Concert line-up keeps us wanting Moores Moores Moores /LIFE & ARTS
Cougars win by growl not roar /SPORTS
3-day forecast, Page 2
Hi 62 Lo 34
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Issue 74, Volume 74
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www.thedailycougar.com
Antel picked for provost Committee chooses Dean of CLASS for insider experience Cougar News Staff University of Houston President and UH Systems Chancellor Renu Khator announced Tuesday that John J. Antel will serve as the new UH provost and senior vice president as well as the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs for the UH System. “I see the office of the g g Antel p rovo s t as critical to our future,” Antel said. “Big ideas are necessary, but we also need accountability and results. I look forward to building an effective administrative team, creating strong internal and external relationships and working hard to build world-class instructional and research programs at the University of Houston,” Antel said. Prior to his selection as chief academic officer, Antel served for seven years as dean of UH’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the University’s largest college with
8,000 undergraduates. “Dr. Antel is highly respected in the academic world as a researcher and as an administrator,” said Khator in a UH press release. “He has a proven track record of promoting academic excellence and student success. Throughout his tenure as dean, his leadership in strategic planning and budgeting, program review, external fundraising, and the design of administrative and governance structures has been outstanding.” Antel and candidates from across the country underwent a sixmonth review and interview process conducted by an 18-member committee, headed by David Francis, UH psychology department chair and Hugh, Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor. After the search committee reviewed each applicant’s résumés, top candidates flew to Houston and were interviewed at the airport. Based on those interviews, Francis’ committee recommended Antel and three others to Khator for final selection. “All (those recommended) were qualified and could do a good job,” Francis said. “The single biggest difference was Dean Antel’s intimate knowledge of the campus. see ANTEL ANTEL, page 14
UC event to honor King, Obama By James Rincon The Daily Cougar In celebration of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in recognition of the inauguration of President Barack Obama, UH presents The Evolution of a Dream: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Students, faculty and staff are invited to meet at the University Center between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to watch the broadcast of Washington D.C.’s inaugural events as well as videotaped messages from UH faculty and community leaders. “The (inauguration) itself is demonstrative of what Dr. King’s vision was,” said Dorita Hatchett, the event’s development director and organizer. “(Obama) is a demonstration of a person who is in fact judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.” Hatchett said that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is typically a time for reflection, this year Americans can reflect on the importance of their own roles in bringing about the historic inauguration of the country’s
first black president. “They can look back years from now and know that they were participants and they were together at a symbolic moment when there was once a time when we, as a people, could not do this,” Hatchett said. The inaugural events will include musical selections from The United States Marine Band, Aretha Franklin, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and others, as well as a poetry reading from Elizabeth Alexander and the inaugural address from President Obama. Students are encouraged to come and go from the event in coordination with their first day of classes. The Evolution of a Dream: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will conclude with remarks on King’s legacy from Ira Colby, the Dean of the Graduate College of Social Work. “The life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives us hope of the possible and clearly demonstrates that truth and justice will prevail,” Colby said. news@thedailycougar.com
photo courtesy of the houston marathon
Half-marathoners race across the finish line on Rusk Avenue by the George R. Brown Convention Center at the 37th Houston Marathon on Sunday.
Cougars race record wreckers Chevron Houston Marathon to fund charities, Hurricane Ike Relief By Kelsie Hahn The Daily Cougar An unprecedented 25,000 runners, hobbyists and worldrecord-holding olympians alike, pounded Houston’s pavement Saturday and Sunday. While most of the cameras and pageantry focused on the front-runners as the records for both the women’s and men’s marathons fell, the excitement, encouragement and achievement are for everyone, said UH chemical engineering junior Rhys Forgie. In his third year of participation in the event’s marathon or half-marathon, Forgie said the enthusiasm of the estimated 200,000 spectators is a big help as they urge runners on by name and offer high fives to weary athletes. “The best part about running was the spectators. There were so many people cheering us on. They had no idea who we were, they just read our name tags,” he said. “I think the encouragement from the crowds really helps to motivate me to keep me going all the way through.” Knowing that some of the world’s top runners lead the front of the pack setting course records — Teyba Erkesso’s 2:24:18 for the women and Deriba Merga’s 2:07:52 for the men in the full marathon — is an exhilarating experience, Forgie said. “We had, both the men’s and women’s divisions, new records for the full marathon, which is awesome. Men’s hasn’t been set since the ’80s,” Forgie said. “I’m definitely not doing it for the competition. I’m doing it just for the fun of the running, but it’s just kind of nice to know the athletes are there as well. It makes it feel
By the numbers 20
Years since the men’s course record was broken before Sunday g
Forgie
g
Guerrero
part of something bigger.” Forgie finished his halfmarathon in just under two hours and quickened his pace to about 9:20 a mile from 10-minute miles the previous two years. “This year I was able to run a lot more quickly and it was a lot less painful,” he said. Houston Mayor Bill White said at a press conference Friday that the marathon, a course that takes runners through many of Houston’s highlights, is for runners of all levels, not just the Olympians. “This is an event that celebrates the human achievement of people who are keeping in shape,” he said, noting the race tests the limits of the individual as well as the human race. “It has been transformational in their life and well-being.” The event is also about bringing Houston together as a community and supporting local charities, director Brant Kotch said. The El Paso Corporation and the Houston Marathon Foundation gave $250,000 and $30,000 to the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund, respectively Event organizers said the money raised by the marathon will also go to more than 40 charities, and they hope to raise more than $1 million. Each of the runners on the field represents months of training. Running is something of a family
560
Seconds it took Forgie to run each mile to keep his pace
2:24:18
Teyba Erkesso’s new record time in the Houston women’s marathon
25,000
Record number of runners participating in the events at this year’s Chevron Houston Marathon
$280,000
Total funds raised for the Hurricane Ike Relief Fund marathon weekend.
40
The number of charities receiving donations from funds raised by the Houston marathon
101
Age of Buster Martin, the oldest person to ever finish a marathon. Buster set the mark at the 2008 London marathon. Source: The Houston Marathon
activity for Forgie, as he and his sister both ran in Sunday’s halfmarathon. He started distance running three years ago with the encouragement of biology and French senior Mariana Guerrero, and the two continue training together. “It started off with wanting to get in shape again, because I was getting too focused in school,” see MARATHON MARATHON, page 3