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In Focus blogger Holly Milkowski says new law will reform meals Thursday, April 22, 2010
Issue 136, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
Senate debates budget
Banquet honors NSBE members
Faculty upset that Chronicle broke news on furloughs, not administrators gg
By Morgan Creager The Daily Cougar The National Society of Black Engineers will be hosting a scholarship banquet today to celebrate its accomplishments and cast a vision for the future. The banquet will be held at 7 p.m. in the Oberholtzer ballroom, located on the second floor of Oberholtzer Hall. UHNSBE will celebrate its success as an organization and honor some of the chapter’s most outstanding members, finance chair Olaide Quadry said. There will be door prizes, such as TI-89 calculators, and awards will be given to those with the most community service. Representatives from supportive corporations such as Marathon, Exxon Mobile, FMC Technologies, Conoco, Cameron and Fluor will be present. “This banquet will (also) show the companies our future plans,” Quadry said. Scholarships will also be awarded to members of UHNSBE. Two scholarships will be given from among the companies, and six will be awarded from NSBE, Quadry said. UHNSBE will also introduce next year’s officers and recognize the officers from 2009-2010. For entertainment, the chapter has asked a step team called ACTS, a singer and poet to perform. UHNSBE aims to provide resources and mentorship to black students majoring in science, technology, engineering or math. “(We) want black engineers to socialize together and get the tools they need,” Quadry said. With the diversity on campus, it can be difficult to find a place to fit in, Quadry said, but with the help of UHNSBE, he has been able to discover where he stands as a black engineering student. “I’ve been able to grow myself (and) to get out of my shell,” he said. Being in a regular organization where multiple ethnicities and backgrounds combine, it can be difficult to find students who understand one’s history and culture, Quadry said. “You don’t get the motivation from people from your background that have made it,” he said. see BANQUET, page 3
By Hiba Adi the daily cougar
as Curl’s assistant, Buchanan helped lead the Cougars to four postseason appearances and was integral in recruiting standout players and future WNBA top-10 draft selections Chandi Jones and Sancho Lyttle. While Buchanan is sure to put his own stamp on the coaching staff, Rhoades indicated that some of the current assistants would be retained. “He will be keeping two of the full time assistants, coaches Wade Scott and Tari Cummings, and also Tiffanie Gupton, the director of basketball operations. I feel they are all fantastic, and I have always given my new coaches the economy to do what they need to do when it comes hiring a new staff, but he maintained the importance of retaining these two coaches.”
The Preliminary Budget Plan for the 2011 fiscal year was on the top of the agenda for the Faculty Senate at Wednesday’s meeting. “In the presentation to the board, we will show them the base funding and the new funding. Today, what we’re focusing on is the dollars that will be shifted around this year,” Vice Chancellor Carl Carlucci said. One of the first items on the plan is to meet the state 5 percent reduction requirement. “We’re funding that out of our reductions and reallocation,” Carlucci said. “There may be additional reductions next year.” Carlucci assured the senate that certain positions would not be affected. “No instructional faculty are eliminated as a result of these reductions,” Carlucci said. Faculty and staff targeted consist of adjunct professors, primarily those who only teach one class, visitors and summer professors. At the meeting CLASS Senator Jeffery Sposato complained that the faculty and staff at UH learned about the furloughs through the Houston Chronicle. “We knew the furloughs were coming and that it was a possibility, but we learned about it from the Houston Chronicle rather than the administration, which I thought was really inexcusable,” Sposato said. “We didn’t get an e-mail until five days after the fact.” Carlucci apologized to the senate and said there was miscommunication between himself and the reporter. “The reporter went out and read the Web site, and she wrote the story from (that),” Carlucci said. “When she talked to us, I asked her to wait because I told her we were going to announce the details of the furlough, and if you read the story, she didn’t have the details.” Sposato said an immediate response from the administration was necessary. Carlucci said the suggestion of furloughs came out of a cost
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see FACULTY, page 3
JAIRO RAZO The Daily Cougar
Todd Buchanan is back in the fold at UH, returning to lead the women’s basketball program that he helped coach from 2000-05.
A familiar face gg
Rhoades tabs Buchanan as new leader of women’s basketball program
By Phillipe Craig The Daily Cougar In keeping with his recent trend of moving quickly to fill vacant coaching positions, UH athletics director Mack Rhoades announced the hiring of Todd Buchanan as the women’s basketball head coach. Rhoades didn’t have to travel far to recruit Buchanan, who has served as the head coach of the Houston Baptist program for the last five seasons. Before that, Buchanan was a top assistant under Joe Curl, whom he is replacing. Curl stepped down on March 23 after 12 seasons at the helm. “When we began the search, it was similar to our men’s search. We wanted to hire someone with high, great character. Someone we knew really cared about our student-
athletes as much off the court as on the court,” Rhoades said at Wednesday’s press conference. “I have three daughters, and the last question I asked myself is who would I want my daughters to play for? Who would I want them to be mentored and coached by? “There was one answer — Coach Todd Buchanan. That’s important, because we’re in the business of mentoring and educating young people, and we can never lose sight of that. Yes, winning is important. There’s no question in my mind that we have someone who can do that and do it the right way.” During his tenure at HBU, Buchanan compiled an 80-68 record and led the Huskies to two berths in the NAIA National Tournament. He also oversaw HBU’s transition to Division I of the NCAA. While serving