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The Editor’s Desk discusses the number of e-mails editors receive Friday, April 23, 2010
Issue 137, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
UH-D inches toward being renamed Regents to revisit possibility of changing institution’s name
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By Roland Henshaw The Daily Cougar UH-Downtown is closer to getting a new name. Officials revealed April 14 that two names are being considered for the institution: City University and Houston City University. The primary reason for the renaming of the school is for UH-D to gain its independence and identity. UH System Board of Regents
Chairman Welcome Wilson Sr. said the renaming of UH-D is being considered so that people will not confuse it with the main campus. “We still want it to be associated with UH systems, but the problem is that prospective students, along with others, are getting confused,” he said. “The University of HoustonDowntown runs a lot of ads, but what happens is that people respond to the main campus instead of the downtown campus.” Former UH-D President Max Castillo made the formal proposal five years ago to change the school’s name, and in December 2008, the regents voted to change the name of
the campus. But the two names proposed at the time, Houston Metropolitan University and University of South Texas, failed to catch on. Wilson said renaming the school will help increase state and private funding for the school. UH-D graduate student Shelby Johnson said she likes the idea to change the school’s name because it has “no visibility in the city of Houston.” “Some people feel that UH-D is a small branch of the University of Houston, and it is not,” Johnson said. “UH-D has great programs, such as law enforcement and (an) amazing
risk management program in its school of business.” UH-D interdisciplinary studies student Naima Brown said she doesn’t mind the Board of Regents renaming the school. “People tend to make UH-D seem inferior to the main campus; some say it is not a real institution of higher education,” Brown said. “I think a name change will definitely be a good look for the school. I just a hope that the board lets students have a voice in the decision of the name.” Wilson said the campus will be renamed soon. “We will take whatever time it takes to build a consensus,” he said.
Students lobby bill in nation’s capital
see BILL, page 8
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UH to offer higher-level courses at Northwest By Josh Malone The Daily Cougar
By Aimee Buras The Daily Cougar The Capital Fraternal Caucus was in Washington D.C. over the weekend, lobbying for a bill that will allow organizations to make charitable donations to non-profit, non-university sponsored housing for college students without losing their tax-exempt status. The CFC is composed of organizations associated with the North-American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Conference. The CFC was in Washington D.C. to participate in the 2010 NIC/NPC Congressional visits and lobby for the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2009. Representing more than 50 universities nationwide, 100 Greek leaders, including UH business management senior and Phi Mu fraternity member Dawn Winston, requested support for the bill from legislators. “We currently have 185 House sponsors and 28 Senate sponsors for this bill,” Winston said. Winston said that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) are among those already in support of the bill. UH’s Student Government Association also supports the CHIA. Winston, who traveled with her fraternity NPC delegate Donna Stallard, teammate Adam Anderson
“Hopefully we will have a name in a couple of months, but there is no deadline as of now.” Since opening its doors in 1974, UH-D has drawn many students from the greater Houston area and currently has 12,000 students enrolled. That number is expected to increase by 8,000 in the next five years. “UH-D has almost as many students as Baylor University and has been around for 35 years,” Wilson said. “It is a fabulous institution with a lot to offer but just has too little of an identity,”
service projects in the recent past,” Associated Building and Contractors Student Chapter President Katherine Murphy said. The team is partnering with Rebuilding Together Houston. “Rebuilding Together Houston is a part of a larger national group,” Eldin said. “It is Houston’s largest community outreach organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize
The UH System will offer classes in a newly built Northwest Campus beginning this summer, an alternative that administrators hope will better serve UH students and residents living in a rapidly growing Houston area. Through a leasing contract with Lone Star College, the Northwest Campus will offer undergraduate, post-baccalaureate and graduate programs from both UH and UHDowntown campuses. Classes in communications, consumer science and psychology, among others, are currently scheduled for the summer and fall semesters. Director of University Outreach Lonnie Howard said the summer and fall schedules are still being “developed and expanded” alongside administrators of the Texas A&M System, Texas State System and Texas Southern University. The curriculum was designed to avoid duplicate classes with an eye towards higher-level programs for students transferring from local community colleges. “Our current plans are to offer high-demand courses that will allow students to complete the upper division of undergraduate degree programs, the full master’s degree programs and certifications,” Howard said. While still offering face-toface classes, Howard said that through a combination of hybrid,
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see LONE STAR, page 8
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On the hunt
T
he Houston Room at the University Center was filled with students as University Career Services held a Summer Jobs for Coogs Fair on Thursday to give students the opportunity to meet with potential employers for opportunities to intern, volunteer or work during the summer.
Students put their skills to work By Jessica Traylor The Daily Cougar UH technology students in the Construction Management program will showcase their generosity by renovating an elderly woman’s house this weekend. “A group of our students volunteered their time over two weekends to power-wash the home, replace all broken windows, rotted trims, broken siding, cracked sealants, as well as scraping and painting
the house siding and the trim. This should make the house more livable and more energy efficient,” Director of the Construction Management program Neil Eldin said. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The project started with a simple idea. “Scott Vlasek, our advisor, suggested that I look into this program as a community service project, as the UH student chapter of ABC has not done a lot of community