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
THE DAILY COUGAR Aubrey Coleman moves on to the pros sports »
How will Bibi and Barry take care of the gorilla that is Gaza? OPINION »
THE DAILY COUGAR.COM
WEATHER » hi
87 Lo 77
Forecast, Page 2
Which UH players are getting signed? Look online. Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Issue 150, Volume 75
years
®
thedailycougar.com
LGBT Coogs celebrate Resource Center opens, offers community space to share, learn gg
Jose Aguilar The Daily Cougar Houston City Council member Sue Lovell led a list of speakers who helped celebrate the grand opening of UH’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center last week. The turnout of over 60 people required Lovell to speak on the UC
balcony outside of the center. Lovell, who has been at the forefront of gay rights in Houston since the 1970s, praised the University for opening such a center and also praised the students for choosing to come out at such an early age. “I have three sons… and I am so amazed,” Lovell said. “They have such a mixture of friends. Their friends are out, they accept them, and it’s incredible. I have to say to all of you (students)… thank you.” “You and your age group have made it much easier for my youngest son’s generation to be totally out. It
had to do with you and your wanting to come out and be out. Because of that, they will know freedoms that I certainly didn’t know and that you have experienced,” said Lovell. The opening comes four months after the center officially opened its doors and years after the idea of a GLBT center first took root on campus. “There have been many other staff members who have, for many years, tried to get the resource center established and finally they were see LGBT, page 8
Whitting to lead baseball
Robbery deemed false by UHPD
gg
Cambridge Oaks area incident retracted by claimant six days later By Jose Aguilar The daily cougar
see UHPD, page 8
Former assistant named to replace Noble
Cougar News Service
gg
University police, investigating a claim of aggravated robbery, determined no crime occurred on campus after they re-interviewed the potential victim on Tuesday. The security alert released by campus police last Thursday states that a UH student reported being “robbed by an unidentified male who displayed a knife during the robbery” near the entrance to Cambridge Oaks Apartments. The incident was said to have occurred at 6:55 a.m. but was not reported until after 6 p.m. “Investigators looked at different pieces of evidence and reviewed video from the area and realized that the story was not adding up,” Police Lieutenant Bret Collier said. The young woman who reported the incident recanted her story after coming in for a follow-up interview with campus police. “She came in and recanted that the incident occurred there,” Collier said. “An incident did occur, but far off campus.” Police describe the suspect as a black male in his late 40s, approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a medium build of 190 pounds and facial hair.
jairo razo The Daily Cougar
The UH Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center held its grand opening last Thursday. Councilmember Sue Lovell (far right) spoke to students about learning the importance of LGBT history. The center is located on the second floor of the UC.
KENDRA BERGLUND The Daily Cougar
Houston celebrates!
R
esidents from across Houston celebrated American independence at the city’s official Fourth of July event, “Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks Presented by Shell,” on Sunday evening at Eleanor Tinsley Park. Musician Pat Green headlined the event, which included four stages of entertainment. Admission for the event was free with the donation of a canned food item.
After spending over six years at Texas Christian University’s baseball program, it was announced last Friday that Todd Whitting will return to UH as the next head baseball coach. Todd Whitting left the UH baseball program in 2003 as an assistant coach, a position he was hired to after graduating from UH in 1995. Whitting was instrumental in TCU’s run to this year’s College World Series because of his ability to recruit—14 of the 32 players were from the Houston area. Whitting said he hopes to attract the same caliber of athletes to UH. Athletics Director Mark Rhoades said in a press release that many people hold Whitting in high regard. ““When speaking with numerous baseball people across the great state of Texas, everyone spoke very highly about Coach Whitting — the person and baseball coach,” Rhoades said in the release. “He is committed to the development of student-athletes both on and off the field and will work tirelessly to elevate Houston Baseball to the next level in all areas.” Rhoades indicated that Whitting’s successful history of recruiting top players played a big part in the decision to hire him. “Recruiting is a huge factor and if you look at a couple of our hires this year, you can see the ties our coaches have to recruiting in the city of Houston and the state of Texas,” Rhoades said. While recruiting is a significant
courtesy UH athletics department
Todd Whitting will return to the school for which he played and served as assistant coach after being named head coach last Friday. Whitting will be the eighth baseball coach in UH’s history. aspect for the team, Whitting said that getting on the same page with his new team is top priority. “Immediately the current team needs to be addressed. I am excited to meet with my current players and learn more about them and prepare them for the upcoming season,” Whitting said in the release. “I am excited to talk to the players and then hire a staff and get on the road recruiting. There is a gold mine at the University of Houston. We have won at a very high level in the past.” According to the release, Whitting has played a role in winning 16 conference regular-season and tournament championships. He has also participated in 13 NCAA Regionals and five Super Regionals. news@thedailycougar.com