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Missed Tuesday’s paper? We did, too. A PDF edition is available online Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Issue 75, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
Sumlin receives new contract Contract calls for changes to stadium, incentives for building winning team
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By Phillipe Craig THE DAILY COUGAR UH football fans who watched the national coaching carousel heat up in recent weeks while wondering if head coach Kevin Sumlin would be the next to take a ride on the (un)merrygo-round can now breathe easier. UH athletic director Mack
Rhoades announced Monday a restructured contract extension that will keep Sumlin at UH through 2015. The new deal includes $6.8 million in guaranteed compensation and several incentives based on wins per season and other accomplishments from the team. The deal also calls for a $600,000 buyout should Sumlin leave prior to Jan. 2, 2013, a figure that decreases to $400,000 if he leaves between Jan. 3, 2013 and Jan. 2, 2014, and $200,000 in the ensuing year. The buyout drops to $50,000 if Sumlin leaves between Jan. 3, 2015
and Jan. 2, 2016. Sumlin, who made $700,000 last season, said Rhoades and UH President Renu Khator have played a major role in building a lasting legacy for the athletic program and in making his decision to enter a longterm agreement an easy one. “There were key elements brought by the University administration and leadership that really speak to the future of not only the football program but the University of Houston. I’m excited to be a small part of that,” Sumlin said. “All of those things have brought us to where
UH? There’s an app for that
see UH APP, page 3
see SUMLIN, page 7
THE DAILY COUGAR ARCHIVE
UH head football coach Kevin Sumlin enters 2010 with a new degree of job security after signing a deal that keeps him at UH through 2015.
Prof. honored for literary work By Michelle Reed THE DAILY COUGAR
By Darlene Campos THE DAILY COUGAR With technology growing more every year, UH now has its very own app for students who own an iPhone or iPod Touch. Created by UH computer science undergraduates Kaleb Fulgham, Andre Navarro, Nick Prescott and Hussain Abbasi, the new app will provide maps as a guide to get around campus, routes to eateries and shuttle buses, announcements for campus events, updates on the weather, campus photos and Twitter updates from UH President Renu Khator. “We have pledged to provide our students with an educational experience that is top tier and to offer them training that is globally competitive,” Khator said. “The development of this application is a wonderful example of innovative thinking and creativity that supports top-tier student success and achievement. I’m pleased, too, that this application will help us further engage members of the university community, while also providing a host of useful services.” The UH app is the product of a semester-long project for Ubiquitous Computing, a UH computer science course. New features will be added throughout the semester. “We will be constantly adding
we are today, and, hopefully, those things will continue into the future. That all starts from the top, and that’s the reason I want to be here and look forward to great things in the future.” One of those key elements involves a commitment to moving forward with stadium improvements, be they renovations to Robertson Stadium or construction of a new stadium. Sumlin’s new contract calls for the buyout to decrease by $100,000 should UH not break ground on a
ZUHAIR SIDDIQUI THE DAILY COUGAR
Everybody to the circus
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inding your way around campus can be hard, especially during the first day of school, but political science junior Shannon Conway (above left), English junior Monroe Thompson (above right), hotel and restaurant management freshman Austin Baker (below right), math education junior Shannon Harrison (center) and education junior Meaghan Mengler took advantage of campus directories to find their classes’ respective buildings.
Cullen Chair for UH’s Creative Writing Program and nationally recognized author Antonya Nelson was one of 50 American artists named a 2009 United States Artists Fellow in December. She was honored for her literary works. “I was stunned and deeply grateful to learn that I’d received an award. I feel lucky to have been selected,” Nelson said in an e-mail. This isn’t the first time Nelson has won an award for her work in literature. Nelson has received awards for several short stories, including the 2001 O. Henry Award for “Female Trouble,” the 2003 Pushcart Prize for “The Lonely Doll,” the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Nelson Algren Award and a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. Nelson also achieved recognition for her 1996 novel Talking in Bed, which received the Heartland Award in fiction, and five of her novels have been named New York Times Notable books. Nelson’s also received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. “The University is proud to have an esteemed writer on faculty. She is a prolific author,” media relations representative Mike Emery said in an e-mail. Director of Creative Writing James Kastely said that Nelson’s recent award will help support the growth of UH’s Creative Writing Program. “Nelson’s award enhances the reputation of both the Creative Writing Program and the University of Houston. It is
just one more reason for the best graduate students in the country to seek admission to UH. Our undergraduates are being taught by one of the best writing faculties in the country,” Kastely said in an e-mail. To become a USA Fellow, an artist must be nominated. Artists who are nominated are then highly encouraged to apply online with a submission of their work to the USA Foundation. “The work that I sent to the USA Foundation was a short story, Soldier’s Joy, and I explained in my application that I felt especially impassioned about being a practitioner of the short story,” Nelson said. “I love to teach the short story as an art form. I love to read short stories. I love to write them. Perhaps my enthusiasm about the form itself had some sway with the judges,” Nelson said. Artists who have been nominated must go through a peer review in which art experts examine the nominees’ applications. The selected finalists are invited to attend an awards celebration, which for 2009 was held December in Santa Monica, Calif. “What impressed me the most was the extraordinary diversity of the artists on display, people whose work — whether music, buildings, dance or crafts — clearly manages to be excellent on its own as well as inspire others,” Nelson said. “The degree to which the work I saw (in a wonderfully staged multimedia presentation) was so eclectic (that it) was awesome.” USA Fellows each receive a see NELSON, page 3