THE DAILY COUGAR Body art: “LA Ink” star makes stop in Houston /LIFE & Arts
Double play: Cougar basketball teams earn wins on the road/SPORTS
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Issue 86, Volume 74
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TODAY’S WEATHER
3-day forecast, Page 2
Hi 70 Lo 52 www.thedailycougar.com
Degree meets industry demands By Heather Duran The Daily Cougar In the Fall 2009 semester the University will, for the first time, offer an undergraduate degree in petroleum engineering in addition to the master’s degree already offered. “This new undergraduate degree plan complements UH’s other energy-related programs and strengthens our commitment to produce a highly educated workforce to address the needs of the region
and the state,” UH President and Chancellor of UH System Renu Khator said in a press release. With industries cutting jobs in today’s tough economy, UH is grooming students for one job market that is on the verge of a drought. This program was approved Thursday by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and will include courses in economics, energy law and business in addition to the necessary education in petroleum engineering and
geosciences. “The way the industry has evolved, these professionals cannot operate like before,” Ramanan Krishnamoorti, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said. “You really are not able to work as a petroleum engineer without a background in geosciences.” Krishnamoorti’s department sponsored the University’s inception of the program. According to the Society of Petroleum Engineers, 40 percent of
their workforce will meet retirement requirements next year, leaving a need for replacements. The petroleum industry has grown and jobs are being created in addition to filling the need for replacements of the anticipated retirees. Petroleum program director Ray Flumerfelt said the numerous inquiries from companies in the city prompted the University to look into developing an undergraduate program. “There’s lots of demand in local industry and there will be for many,
Drug war affects UH Increasing violence makes it difficult for students to visit their families in Mexico By Francis Vazquez The Daily Cougar
Courtesy of Nick Pitarra and Marvel Comics
MOJOWORLD is the first issue of Marvel’s six part Astonishing Tale.
Student draws path to success By Larissa Gonzalez The Daily Cougar Over the next six months, a UH student will contribute illustrations to Astonishing Tales, a 40-page, sixissue, Marvel Comics anthology. “It’s a comic artist’s dream to get picked up by one of the big name comic companies,” art education senior, Nick Pitarra, said. Last semester, Pitarra drew the comic “Bipolar Bear” for The Daily Cougar. Marvel Comics published the first issue of his debut project Wednesday. He said his interest in comics
evolved naturally from his childhood obsession with action figures. “I got to an odd age when it just didn’t seem OK to be playing with toy characters. Now, instead of playing with Superman, I draw a complete story with Superman in it,” Pitarra said. “I learned to use drawing as an extension of the enjoyment that I used to get from playing in childhood.” In his line of work, Pitarra said it pays not to have done away with childish things. “You have to be a kid at heart. We’re all a bunch of big kids.” see COMIC, page 3
On a trip to visit her grandmother in Monterrey, Mexico, finance senior Rachel Herrera said she turned onto a street where “patrullas”, police patrols, surrounded a home. No police tried to enter, but instead they opened fire on the house as she drove by. Mexican citizens near the American border have become accustomed to hearing about drug trafficking, kidnappings and gory killings in the news. As the violent drug war in Mexico escalates, the families of UH students from the country are feeling the affect. The United States has tried to help Mexico with the Merida Initiative, but the results still have not been seen. “They really took away the desire to go back to Mexico. It is a beautiful country, but bad things are happening,” Herrera said. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Mexico dealt with drug traffickers in a reserved manner, but when President Felipe Caldéron was elected in 2006, he devoted thousands of federal troops to a war against drug cartels. Since then, Mexico has become a more dangerous place to live. Drug-related deaths numbered 5,612 in 2008, more than doubling the 2007 total, according to the Mexican newspaper El Universal. Slayings of high-ranking political figures and police officers also increased. The Mexican army and the Federal Police have successfully removed some leaders of the cartels, such as Alberto Barron of the La Familia Michoacana and Ever Martinez, a main cocaine supplier to the Sinaloa cartel. However, Jeronimo Cortina, assistant professor of political science, said this has only made the cartel fight amongst themselves, with new leaders
emerging amidst the chaos. “When the government apprehends these drug lords, some of the cartels get divided fighting for the market,” Cortina said. “New leaders arise as old leaders are removed, because there are millions of dollars for people ready to step up to the plate and take leadership.” The Merida Initiative is an alliance between the United States, Mexico and Central America to help combat drug trafficking by offering assistance in the form of money, training, equipment and intelligence. In December 2008, the United States gave $400 million to Mexico to aid the war on drugs. Critics believe the initiative does not attack drug trafficking, instead avoiding the real problem of a U.S. demand for drugs. “What the U.S. government should do is to see the drug use as a health issue in similar fashions as alcohol. The drug war is at the level it is as a result of continuous demand for the consumption of drugs in the U.S.,” said Lorenzo Cano, associate director of the Center for Mexican American Studies. Violence rates are highest in northern border cities where drugs are smuggled into the United States, but the problem is spreading to more states like Calderon’s home state, Michoacan. As the violence becomes more widespread, more UH students like Herrera and sociology junior Lisa Gonzalez will be affected when they and their families want to visit the land of their heritage. “My uncle is afraid of going across the border — he is more afraid of being kidnapped than from being shot. The drug cartel kidnaps employees and later asks for ransoms,” Gonzalez said. news@thedailycougar.com
many years,” Flumerfelt said. “It’s a very attractive degree because there is so much demand and salaries are high. “Petroleum engineers are needed to advance the development of natural gas industry. This is a good field to get into.” It’s such an attractive degree for potential employers that local companies such as Marathon Oil and Devon Energy have already donated $1.6 million to fund the program. see PETRO, page 3
Steven Oster The Daily Cougar born in panama, Professor Ordóñez brings scholarships to south america
Physics prof recruits in Third World By Steven Oster The Daily Cougar Physics professor Carlos Ordóñez’s efforts to help physics students in South America have earned him the 2009 John Wheatley Award. The Wheatley Award is presented to people who have made contributions to the development of physics in Third World countries. Ordóñez sponsored students to travel to the United States and connect with physics experts and work with state-of-the-art research equipment. “It’s an ongoing process because there are a lot of problems that we run into,” Ordóñez said. “The (political) systems are different. There can be bureaucratic problems, cultural conflicts, and you’ve also got to deal with different personality types.” Ordóñez wanted to be a professor since his days as a schoolboy in Panama. Teachers and scientists became role models for him and shaped his future in high-energy physics and relativity theory. “I think it’s important for children (in Third World countries) to interact with scientists because many of them do not know what a scientist is. They can only aspire to become what they know, professions they have seen,” Ordóñez said. Ordóñez has an elaborate network of university professors, colleagues and friends in Panama, Brazil, Cuba, see AWARD, page 3