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Make sure to check out the Grad Guide when it arrives next week Friday, April 30, 2010
Issue 142, Volume 75
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Metro representatives met with several UH officials, including President Renu Khator and members of the UH System Board of Regents, on Thursday to address some of the concerns expressed by community members about the light rail coming to campus.
Metro addresses rail concerns By Jose Aguilar THE DAILY COUGAR Issues regarding safety, traffic flow, emergency vehicle access and even the playground of the UH Child Care Center were addressed during a packed meeting with Metro representatives on Thursday afternoon. The meeting covered the Wheeler Street leg of Metro’s Southeast Corridor light rail expansion, and representatives from the City of Houston, Houston Rapid Transit and UH administration were in attendance to answer questions. “We look forward to going forward with you in this,” Metro Solutions managing director David
Couch said. “We look forward to a good interactive dialogue to move forward in this process.” Metro’s Southeast Program Manager Jose Enriquez presented a slide show of changes to Wheeler under the current plan. One of the main issues discussed was the effect the expansion would have on the child care center. The tracks, which according to current plans are between 20 to 30 feet away, would not affect the buildings, but it would affect the playground area. Audience members questioned the effects of possible noise pollution and whether this would be safe for the children. “We do (think this is safe for the
children),” Enriquez said. “And the light rail is actually quite quiet, more than most vehicles out there, more than a bus.” The current plan has the tracks on the campus side of Scott and Wheeler streets, in effect taking land from the University and affecting traffic flow and entrances along both streets. These particulars created another contentious dialogue and prompted UH System Regent Carroll Ray to address the audience. “Metro made the request to have the tracks on campus,” Ray said. “We see it as a benefit. We’re trying to work together as partners.” The plan takes into consideration a possible future expansion of
Wheeler into a city boulevard of four lanes by the City of Houston. Several audience members said that Wheeler was a secondary street at best and that there was no need for expansion. Enriquez said there are current plans, not of Metro’s design, that will bring more traffic to the UH area and that all Metro plans for the expansion could not preclude either future plans by the city or the Texas Department of Transportation. Provost John Antel told Metro officials that a lack of consideration on how the University moves people around and the possibility of people going across the tracks were concerning, along with the lack of communication between
the various entities involved in the project. “We need to get all the stakeholders at the same table,” Antel said. The presentation also introduced plans for a multi-modal center to be built in the parking lot behind the Welcome Center. The center would be adjacent to the future light rail stop at Wheeler and Calhoun and would connect with UH shuttle lines as well as Metro bus lines. The University is currently in the process of hiring a project manager that will oversee the project for the University and whose sole job will be to deal with Metro. news@thedailycougar.com
Fatwa examines views on Muslim radicals By Safiya Ravat THE DAILY COUGAR As an increasing number of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks have been claimed under the banner of Islam, a Muslim scholar publicly condemned those acts by issuing a 600-page fatwa in March he hopes will sway extremists away from acts, he said, that would damn them to hell rather than grant them paradise.
The fatwa, or Islamic ruling, by Pakistani scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri not only stated that terrorism and suicide bombings were forbidden by the religion, but that those who engaged in it would be considered “kafirs,” or disbelievers. UH professor Ibrahim Sumer, who is a Muslim, said he was relieved that someone in the Muslim hierarchy had finally spoken out about terrorism in such
a public manner. Sumer, who has a doctorate in comparative religions, said that “jihad” is a word often misunderstood by both Muslims and non-Muslims. “The term ‘jihad’ has a much broader meaning than just war,” Sumer said. “The Prophet Muhammad — peace be upon him — said the biggest Jihad is fighting against our carnal desires.” Jihad actually means “struggle,”
Sumer said. One can struggle in understanding the Quran, dealing with one’s own desires and on the battlefield, he said. “There are more than 30 verses in the Quran about Jihad, but only four verses are directly related to fighting,” he said. War is permitted in Islam, Sumer said, but many extremists take that out of context while remaining ignorant of the very precise and restricting rules of
Islamic warfare. Sumer said that the Prophet Muhammad was not only a spiritual leader but also a head of state. With that position, he was responsible for the safety of his people, including defending them if an enemy attacked. This legitimate war, he said, was similar to the Christianity principle of “Just War.” see FATWA, page 6