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Black 365 blogger T.K. Sadler discusses Alpha Week Spring 2010 Monday, M d April A il 19, 2010
Issue 132, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
Group launches paper By Alan Delon THE DAILY COUGAR
COURTESY OF IVAN CASTILLO
The El Gato Media Networks members plan to launch its first print newspaper, The Venture, on April 26. Coverage in the newspaper will include local news, opinion, sports, entertainment and a Spanish section.
El Gato, a multidisciplinary student news organization, has been delivering the news for the Hispanic community for more than two years. Recently, El Gato Media Network announced the launch of its first print newspaper, The Venture, for April 26 The newspaper seeks to provide news, opinion and variety to the growing Latino collegiate community. El Gato Director Ray Ruiz is
part of the original founding team and decided that it was necessary for the UH campus to have its own Latino publication on campus. “What we are implementing has never been done before on the scale we are doing it,” Ruiz said. “A large collegiate news organization dedicated to Hispanic students that produces quality publications is a risky undertaking, but we press on and hope that our community profits from it.” For Giselle Bueno, editor of El Gato and project manager of The Venture, the main motive to join
the network was the opportunity to write in Spanish. Bueno will be in charge of the Spanish section of The Venture. “The Spanish section will be called El Pulso, and after a year, we want our own Spanish newspaper,” Bueno said. “Right now, we are having four stories in Spanish.” Photographer Ivan Castillo joined the organization in fall 2009 and is anxiously awaiting The Venture’s debut. “I have been photographing see EL GATO, page 3
SGA PROFILE
Senators focus on community By Jose Aguilar THE DAILY COUGAR Communication between students and college administration is on the top of the agenda for the newly elected Student Government Association senators for the College of Education. Education junior Mike Harding, education and interdisciplinary studies senior Brittney Jones and Nina Flores will be the representative senators. “I saw a lot of things I wanted to change,” Harding said. “When I see something that I want done, I do it myself. I joined an organization where I can act and get things done.” Jones hopes to create a fair system for students in the college. “I ran for SGA because I want to make a change for the better,” she said. Harding, the sole returning senator for the college, cites a lack of efficient advising and a degree plan that forces education students to be in school more than four years, as the main issues affecting the college right now. “I want to create better communication with the Dean’s office,” he said. “So that we can have more walk-in counseling and more efficient advising.” Jones, a first-term senator, also sees a need for a system of communication that differs from the trickledown way of spreading information that’s being used at the moment. “Our program is very different from other colleges and it is hectic trying to find out the different requirements,” she said. “(Students and administration) need to be at the same place and students need to know about things first hand.” The senators are also emphasizing the need for the campus to be more green. “I want to look at ways to reduce the carbon footprint on campus,” he said. “Maybe using student fees to help pay for green appliances or for solar panels on buildings.” Jones hopes that students will become more aware of the campus. She hopes to create better communication see SGA, page 3
KENDRA BERGLUND THE DAILY COUGAR
It’s a sign
T
he students at the UH School of Art have scattered mock construction signs around campus intended to display words with deep meanings. The sign shown above reading “hope still ahead” was put in between the University Center Satellite and the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication.
Birds drive prof’s research By Sarah Wiggins-Goff THE DAILY COUGAR Recent research conducted on songbirds by biology and biochemistry assistant professor Preethi Gunaratne may benefit those suffering from speech impairments, learning disabilities and inhibitions in forming social connections. Gunaratne played a major role in the larger research team that has set out to examine the zebra finch, which its
study shows may have auditory learning capabilities that are comparable to humans. Just as humans have the capacity to access memories of their infancy after decades, the zebra finch, or Taeniopygia guttata, uses this same model in its early development, later helping it to choose a mating partner and to set important social boundaries. They do this by memorizing and retaining song information from their parents. “Interestingly, although both males
and females are able to differentiate between different song types, the ability to learn and copy a particular song type that is specific to the family lineage is passed down only through the males,” Gunaratne said in a release. “Young males learn and copy the song that is vocalized by their father, and this song learning must be accomplished during early infancy. After learning the song of their father, the sons are able to see SONGBIRDS, page 3