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Check out this semester’s lineup of comics and online exclusives Tuesday, T d M March h 9, 2010
Issue 109, Volume 75
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SGA veteran eyes top spot Reyes offers $500 scholarships as part of his agenda
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By Patricia Estrada THE DAILY COUGAR Improving communication between the student body and the Student Government Association is the main issue on the agenda for presidential and vice-presidential candidates Carlos Reyes and Matt Davis. Reyes, SGA’s director of finance, said a lack of communication with the student body is SGA’s biggest problem right now and something that needs urgent fixing. “The main thing is (to) build communication,” said Reyes, who has served two years in SGA. “I want students to know that there
is someone they can go to when they need help. Students are not going to care about the SGA if the president is not working for them.” Reyes said if elected, he would continue to go out and talk to students. “One of the big things you see when election comes around, is a lot of the candidates going to the different organizations and ask for their support, but once they get in SGA, they never go back to these organizations and ask how they are doing,” Reyes said. “If elected, we want to continue communication with these organizations.” Davis said it is important for the senate not only say to students “My door is always open,” especially since a lot of the time their doors aren’t open. “SGA is the voice of the students, and if we are serving students,
as student leaders, we need to keep the students informed as it happens, and not wait until the last second,” Davis said. “No student should find out that their tuition is going to be raised one morning from the provost, when SGA knew about it days before.” Both Reyes and Davis said they would not require senators to hold monthly town halls because these are not effective. Instead they want to see the senators attend meetings of other organizations. “It is easier for one or three people to change their schedule to attend a meeting, than to expect a large number of people to change theirs to attend one of our town halls,” Davis said. “We cannot expect students to conform to our schedule; we should conform to see SGA, page 12
PATRICIA ESTRADA THE DAILY COUGAR
Student Government Association presidential candidate Carlos Reyes (front row, second from right) and running mate Matt Davis (front row, center) said communication with the student body is key to leadership.
Feedback sought for official Metro plan
UH proposal persuades writer to move
By Neal Dasgupta THE DAILY COUGAR
For Tiphanie Yanique, who studied and taught creative writing as a Master’s of Fine Art candidate at UH from 2003-2005, last week represented both the culmination of a life-long ambition and an important first step on her journey as a young author. With the March 2 release of her first book, a collection of short stories titled How to Escape from a Leper Colony, Yanique has made good on a desire born in
Metro has approved plans to construct rail lines that will connect the UH campus to surrounding areas. UH President Renu Khator and the Student Government Association will comment on any possible alternatives and concerns that the UH community may have. “Metro has presented its plans for the rails and the SGA is giving feedback as to what will be most beneficial to the UH community,” SGA President Kenneth Fomunung said. “It’s Metro’s expertise. The UH community is just offering its input.” Metro has also provided a forum where UH students and faculty can voice their concerns and opinions. “Metro set up a public forum where they gave a presentation on each of the rail lines,” Fomunung said. “They also plan to set up a Web site where the UH community can post questions too.” Khator will serve as the spokesperson for UH during the discussions with Metro about the rail lines. “President Khator will be directly involved and have the final say on all negotiations between the UH see METRO, page 12
Caribbean native awarded scholarship, starts organization J
By Robert Higgs THE DAILY COUGAR
childhood to bring Caribbean literature to both the world and her fellow Virgin Islanders. “Being from the Virgin Islands in particular, I grew up not even knowing there was such a thing as Caribbean literature, which seems impossible because the Caribbean has impacted global literature tremendously,” Yanique said. “I think this is particularly because we’re an American territory, and we don’t necessarily have as much access to what is going on creatively in the region. “I thought how ridiculous it is that we live in this place that’s amazing and beautiful, but people come here to lay on our beaches and drink margaritas and don’t know anything about the
intellectual and cultural stuff that is happening on the island.” Her passion for her native culture extends to wider plains than simply her writing. After completing her undergraduate degree at Tufts University, Yanique was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. This scholarship sends promising and accomplished young scholars abroad with the mission to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries,” according to its Web site. There was no doubt in her mind as to how she would use the opportunity. “I went back and taught in my
high school for two years, which was the ‘give back’ thing I wanted to do. I wanted to teach Caribbean literature,” Yanique said. “While I was there, I also started a creative writing organization called Rock Lounge, which continues without me now, which is really exciting.” After completing her time off, Yanique knew she wanted to continue her scholarship. Loving literature and writing equally, she initially was unsure if she wanted to pursue an MFA in creative writing, which would act as a terminal degree, allowing her to teach at the college level, or pursue a doctorates degree in literature and write on the side. see WRITER, page 3
Professor shares her passion for poetry Connolly names UH one of the top creative writing departments J
By Sara Nichols THE DAILY COUGAR Throughout her childhood in the United Kingdom, English professor Sally Connolly distinctively remembers taking books from her dad’s study to feed her hunger for literature. Today, Connolly’s books are scattered all over her loft, complimenting the windows covered in scribbled poetry and the clear view of downtown.
There’s a large stack of papers that need to be graded sitting on her table, but Connolly is used to it — she teaches poetry at UH. “I absolutely adore teaching poetry,” Connolly said. “I get to read, write and talk about what I love every day, and it never feels like work.” Connolly taught at Wake Forest University and University College London before moving to Houston in July 2008 and starting at UH that fall. Connolly teaches modern, contemporary and structures of poetry to undergraduates in the Department of English. “It is very unusual as an academic to get a job doing exactly
what you want,” Connolly said. “UH didn’t have a contemporary poetry specialist before me. UH also has one of the top J Connolly creative writing departments in the country, so I get to teach some of the best poets of tomorrow.” Connolly is Irish by descent, but grew up in St. Albans, a town north of London known for having more pubs per head than anywhere else in England. “The schools I attended in the U.K. were quite unorthodox at
times,” Connolly said. “We didn’t study math or science — we studied dinosaurs, deportment and needlework. I just sat in a corner and read. I didn’t get a proper education until I was about 14.” Regardless, Connolly’s desire to pursue literature led her to UCL, where she received doctorates in modern and contemporary poetry. Connolly set her sights on teaching while she was an undergraduate at UCL. “I had just the most amazingly enthusiastic and dynamic professors and it made me want see PROFESSOR, page 3