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Check out this semester’s entire lineup of comics and online exclusives Friday, February 19, 2010
Issue 97, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
Panel discusses death penalty UH professors attempt to hold unbiased debate on contentious subject J
By Joachim Clarke THE DAILY COUGAR The death penalty, one of the most controversial topics in modern history, was at the center of a panel
debate between five professors in the UH Honors College Commons on Wednesday. “The purpose of the forum (was) to create an unbiased discussion on the death penalty,” said Erica Fletcher, president of the UH chapter of the World Aid Organization. Fletcher, an anthropology and psychology junior, co-hosted the
event with members of the UH chapter of Amnesty International. The intent of the forum was to inform the student body about issues surrounding the death penalty. Adam Gershowitz, an associate professor of law and co-director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the UH Law Center, said that even though there is great support for
the death penalty in America, most supporters are not as well informed as they should be. “The greatest support for the death penalty team tends to be by people who don’t understand how it works,” Gershowitz said. “When people are properly informed how it actually works in the United States, support for the death penalty drops dramatically in public opinion
polling.” International human rights standards were also discussed in great detail at the panel. Since the U.S. does not consider international norms when making decisions concerning the death penalty, the panelists debated whether these norms should affect the way that see PANEL, page 8
Professor shares poetry passion By Callye Peyrovi THE DAILY COUGAR A wetlands preservation map of southeast Louisiana stretches across the wall of UH associate creative writing professor Martha Serpas’ office. Serpas, a native of Galliano, La., settled in by having the shelves lined with her books and article features, and the room decorated with numerous degree placards. Serpas, who received a doctoral degree in creative writing from UH in 1998, found herself ready to come closer to home after spending 10 years as an associate professor at the University of Tampa. “I was ready to come back to writing poems. I had a great time here at UH and got an excellent education. They were very supportive of my interest in biblical literature,” said Serpas, who received a master’s of divinity from Yale Divinity School in 1994. After earning a doctorate, Serpas settled in Houston and joined the program’s faculty. “What distinguishes UH’s creative writing program is the extensive literature studies that we get from the English department’s faculty members,” she said. Serpas has written two books of poetry, which are Cote Blanche and The Dirty Side of the Storm: Poems. People often assume from her second book’s title that it was written about Hurricane Katrina, but that is not the case. see SERPAS, page 6
DAVID SHIH THE DAILY COUGAR
Step right up
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he C.T. Bauer College of Business’ Rockwell Career Center held its spring career fair Tuesday. Recruiters from about 100 leading companies were at the event to fill internship and job positions. Bauer Assistant Dean for Career Services Jamie Belinne said in a release that despite the weak economy, the career fair’s attendance is still at levels comparable to the stronger 2005 economy.
Black History Month disappoints professors UH faculty weighs in on significance of February tradition J
By Maurice Bobb THE DAILY COUGAR February’s Black History Month is celebrated by many, but was initiated by one, noted historian Carter Woodson. “Dr. Woodson’s intent for Black History Month was to get African-
Americans to reflect on some of the positive contributions they had made to American society and to world history so that they would begin to value themselves,” Assistant Director of African American Studies Malachi Crawford said. “He also established it so AfricanAmericans would begin to see themselves as actors in history instead of objects of history, or people being acted upon (slavery).”
Black History Month has its origins in Negro History Week, which started in February 1926. Woodson, who holds the distinction as being the second black to earn a doctoral degree from Harvard, chose to observe the then-radical look into black history in February, because it was the birthday month of two instrumental figures in black history: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Woodson hoped to use the
event to help mend the vast racial divide of the 1920s. The plan was to reduce the ignorance that dominated the history books of the era. Over the years, Black History Month has become a caricature of itself. Most notably, some blacks feel they haven’t gained from the spotlight it shines on black achievement. “I don’t see the benefit of Black see BLACK HISTORY, page 6