1934 – 2009
t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s pa pe r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s to n s i n c e 1 9 3 4
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Issue 135, Volume 75
79 Lo 61
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Dean looking to improve research By Josh Malone The Daily Cougar When UH reached out to Joseph Tedesco to be dean of the Cullen College of Engineering in 2007, Tedesco admittedly didn’t give the request much attention. As an accomplished professor and chairman at the University of Florida, he had helped build the undergraduate engineering program a national top-ten ranking and didn’t intend to leave. “I had received and declined similar requests from other universities. But (UH) was persistent and they finally persuaded me to come out for a visit,” Tedesco said. Tedesco said the campus setting and the potential to build a program to match the already prosperous
engineering community in Houston impressed him. Tedesco soon began his tenure as the sixth dean of the Cullen College of Engineering in January 2008. Among Tedesco’s top priorities is improving the college to help the University achieve flagship status. In his two years as dean, Tedesco has doubled the college’s research spending, approved a new degree program in petroleum engineering and created the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the college’s first new department in 35 years. Next fall, a new honors engineering program will be offered. “For Houston to continue being one of the best cities in the world is dependent on UH becoming (a flagship school),” Tedesco said. “We’re improving our academic and
steven oster The houstonian
College of Engineering Dean Joseph Tedesco says he enjoys his job, particularly because he gets to work with young students who are eager to learn. research programs, recruiting better faculty and students and building a stronger relationship with the community. These are all incremental victories that will get us to (flagship).” Tedesco admits these goals are harder to obtain as the University
continues to tighten its budget. To ease the effects of the cuts, Tedesco said he and Provost John Antel are exploring ways other than tuition increases to generate revenue. Tedesco said among these tactics are partnerships with the private
sector, where the college will share facilities and work on common research interests with the Texas Medical Center and local energy companies. see TEDESCO, page 3
Cougar Byte robbed
Study examines domestic violence
By John Brannen The Daily Cougar
By Sarah Wiggins-Goff The Daily Cougar
Cougar Byte was robbed Friday around 3 a.m. by an unknown number of individuals, police said. Police said that display items were the main target in the robbery, but other items were also stolen. According to UHPD Assistant Chief of Police Brad Wigtil, the fact that the crime occurred in the early hours of the morning makes it difficult to look for witnesses, but he said they are hopeful that if someone was awake during that time, they will contact the department. “We’re just hoping that somebody may have seen something that could help us with our investigation,” Wigtil said. The discovery of the robbery was made the next morning when a custodian reported the incident. Wigtil said UHPD is actively pursuing leads and that businesses in the UC are not targeted often. “Over the last five years, maybe one or two incidents (have occured), but typically those business are not targeted, especially after hours,” Wigtil said. If anyone has information on the crime, they are urged to contact UHPD at 713-743-3333. Leslie Harris of HiEd Inc. and president of Cougar Byte could not be reached for comment.
UH doctoral candidate Venus Tsui, under the supervision of Monit Cheung, the doctoral dissertation chair at the Graduate School of Social Work, is conducting a survey of male victims of domestic violence in order to better understand the issue. “It is definitely a challenging and tough topic,” Tsui said. “Although underreported and less common, male victims of domestic
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violence suffer negative physical and psychological consequences which are similar to their female counterparts.” Tsui said the underreporting of domestic violence toward men is due to two main inhibitors: society and men themselves. “Related literature and extant studies reveal that men are often discriminated against by domestic violence service providers and law see VIOLENCE, page 3
Scientists discover true age of meteor By Amanda Trella The Daily Cougar TRAVIS HENSLEY The Daily Cougar
Halleluja, indeed
H
ana Pestle caught the attention of dozens of faculty, staff and students at the University Center Satellite. Her set list included “Zombie” by The Cranberries and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
The UH Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in collaboration with NASA, has made recent discoveries that mark the oldest and most well known Martian meteorite as younger than previously presumed. After 15 months of continuous study of meteorite ALH84001, assistant professor of Geology and Isotope Geochemistry, Thomas Lapen and his team determined that the meteor’s robust age is exactly 4.091 billion years old, which varies
significantly from the originally accepted age of 4.5 billion years old. “The age of this particular meteorite, which has been quoted in literature as being 4.5 billion years old, has never been published before,” Lapen said. “We figured that we could apply a fairly new system, lutetium-hafnium isotope analysis, and calculate a robust age for the stone.” The discovery helped Lapen and his team better understand Mars’ volcanic activity, as well as how it compares to younger meteorites. see MARS, page 3