Issue 121, Volume 75 by The Cougar

1934 – 2009

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Issue 121, Volume 75

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Campus split on health care Congress’ approval rate remains low after passage of controversial legislation

By Robert Garcia The Daily Cougar UH students appear to be almost evenly divided about the new health care law, according to a poll conducted by The Daily Cougar last week. Roughly 40 percent of the 412 students surveyed said they approved of the Patient, Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law March 23. About 38 percent disapproved of the legislation,

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while 22 percent of respondents said they were unsure of it. “I don’t totally disagree with the new health care system, but the minimum requirements in the standard benefit packages force everyone to have certain coverage,” music senior Josh Tan said. “The more problems Americans have in general, the more coverage the government will require us to pay for in our plans. A good majority of health issues in America are brought about by poor lifestyle choices.” Students were also questioned about the performances of Obama and the U.S. Congress during his term. The results reveal that students are slightly more

favorable of Obama’s work. About 44 percent of those polled indicated approval for the president’s job performance, while approximately 37 percent indicated disapproval. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents said they were neutral on the issue. “Too many Americans seemed shocked at his performance,” Tan said. “They should have known it wasn’t going to be as picture perfect as before we elected him.” The Cougar’s poll on Congress’ performance reflected similar national surveys, as several students expressed

Opinion torn on healthcare Forty-four percent of students polled said they approved of President Barack Obama’s job performance so far, but when rating Congress’s performance, 47 percent said they disapproved.

Unsure %

Yes %

% THe DAILY COUGAR

see POLL, page 3

CPP helps spread census info at UH By Jose Aguilar The Daily Cougar

Steven Oster The houstonian

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean John L. Bear said he will miss the faculty and students most when he steps down to work alongside Provost John Antel.

NSM dean embarks on new role By Alan Delon The Daily Cougar After 18 years of leading the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, John Bear has decided to step down as dean to work alongside Provost John Antel in hiring faculty and staff. This was not an easy decision for Bear, who said he has enjoyed his time as NSM’s dean. “It is time to step down and basically let the college change direction,” Bear said. “In essence, the college is very strong right now. It has a lot of things going for it, and it is a good time to step down and let somebody take over and move it to the next level of excellence that the University wants.” Bear said his choice to work with

Antel has been bittersweet because although he is excited to move to a higher position, he will miss his colleagues and students at NSM. “The biggest thing that you miss is your relationship with faculty. If you look at the faculty in this college, I hired most of them. Every faculty member is a good friend of mine,” Bear said. “The students, I will miss because I have always tried to have a very good relationship (with them). Every six weeks, I have meetings with all the students leaders.” Bear said he is pleased with what NSM’s developments and accomplishments during his 18 years as dean. “If you look at the numbers that have taken place in total enrollment, research funding, number of graduates, diversity and faculty,

you can find a growth in each department,” Bear said. “The growth in terms of quality of the faculty really determines the quality of the college. “We have, right now, four members of the National Academy in the college, which a lot of the universities don’t have,” he said. Bear also thanks the alumni for playing a big role in the college’s success. “Alumni are always important,” Bear said. “Your graduates are people who you can rely on to help you. The alumni is part of your history in the sense that they graduate and have good jobs and should be able to help you.” In Fall 1992, Bear’s first semester see NSM, page 3

In an effort to tackle the undercounting of students that occurred in the 2000 Census, the UH Center for Public Policy said it will organize and host a number of campus and community events centered on getting the 2010 count accurate. CPP executive administrative assistant Mike Angel is spearheading the month-long effort to aid the efforts of the U.S. Census Bureau, which, according to a CPP press release, is the Census’ “largest civic outreach and awareness campaign in U.S. history.” “We believe many students were undercounted in the last census, so we decided that we definitely wanted to have the Census on campus,” Angel said. “(We need) to spread the word, and get more students to be aware of the importance of the census and to complete the forms.”

Census data gathered in the next two months will not only determine the number of representatives each state will send to Congress, but also determine how the federal government allocates $300 billion for the 50 states. The data will also determine how the government plans projects for new roads, hospitals and schools, as well as private-sector construction of supermarkets and housing. Most important to students and the academic community, Census data will determine how much money UH will receive for financial aid and provide valuable information for academic purposes. The CPP is partnering with the “ya es hora, ¡HAGASE CONTAR!” campaign, a national effort that works to increase Latino participation in the Census, to help get the word out to students. “A lot of times, the students think, see CENSUS, page 10

UH defends disability policy against blogger By Jessica Traylor The Daily Cougar Every university is required by law to have a policy for accommodating students with disabilities. The Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with Disabilities helps students at UH with these accommodations. Though UH’s policy is quite similar to those of other universities, one blogger on disaboomlive.com feels that CSD has one of the worst disability-assistance policies in the

U.S. Tiffany Huggard-Lee, a blogger in Lawrence, Kan., wrote, “some impressively subpar practices have come to light. … The worst one I’ve seen so far comes from the University of Houston.” Huggard-Lee is referring to a part in the policy that allows professor discretion on whether to assist students. The policy listed online states that “the professor has the see DISABILITIES, page 10