1934 – 2009
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@thedailycougar is tweeting, so why aren’t you following? Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Issue 153, Volume 75
thedailycougar.com
$2.4m to aid UH cancer research Regional faculty to mentor students in new approach to treatment gg
Cougar News Services Cancer researchers at UH were awarded a $2.4 million grant to fund a program that focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to fighting the disease. The grant is the second awarded to UH by the Cancer Prevention and
Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which manages the state’s new multi-billion dollar cancer research initiative approved by voters in 2007. It is the first grant awarded to UH in the combined fields of science and engineering. The multi-disciplinary program focuses on combining cancer biology with computational disciplines such as computer science. B. Montgomery Pettitt, director of the University’s CPRIT training program and a Hugh Roy and Lillie
Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Professor, said the emphasis on combining disciplines is revolutionary in scope. “There’s a realization that all the problems of cancer won’t be solved by g g Pettitt biology,” Pettitt said in a news release. “We need to bring the expertise in a wide variety of fields to bear on these problems, because the most revolutionary stuff comes from thinking at the interface of
disciplines.” One dozen postdoctoral trainees will be chosen in September with 20 undergraduates having the opportunity to participate in summer research projects. The program aims to show cancer biology researchers how tools in the engineering field can aid each other in the fight against cancer. “By gaining proficiency in a second technical area, these
CRIME LOG The following is a partial report of campus crime between July 17 and July 26. All information is selected from the files of the UH police department. The information in italics indicates when the event occurred and the event’s location. Information or questions regarding the cases below should be directed to UHPD at (713) 743-0600.
AShley evans The Daily Cougar
Graduate Design/Build Studio students are working through a rainy summer in an effort to reach their Aug. 11 completion date of an amphitheater at the T. H. Rogers School. The students were responsible for the design and building of the privately-funded project.
Design grads try out architecture Students build amphitheater with help of private funds
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By Ashley Evans The Daily Cougar For most college students, summer is a time to relax and enjoy a break from studies, but for first-year master’s students of UH’s Graduate Design/Build Studio (GDBS) program, this summer is all work. The program, part of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, is in the depths of an intense build project. 11 graduates are working in conjunction with non-profit organizations to build an outdoor amphitheater for the T. H. Rogers School, an alternative primary and secondary public school that serves gifted and talented students alongside deaf and other multipleimpaired students.
The amphitheater being built in the courtyard of the school will have bench seating, a canopy of tensile fabric, and will be wheelchair accessible. The finished product will serve as an outdoor meeting area for class and school assemblies. “The space has a lot of eccentric, non-cohesive geometrical figures,” GDBS Director Patrick Peters said. “Our goal was to give it a calming singularity and have one large partial curve in the courtyard that suggested a dominant circular space.” The program has been participating in community enhancing building projects since 1990. Peters joined the team as director in 1994 and decided to take the projects from wooden structures to more complex and permanent steel structures for public schools. With the help of private donors and non-profit organizations, the design studio is in the midst of its 21 annual project.
“The most important contribution to learning is the opportunity to see ideas tested against the constraints of built reality,” Peters said. The process allows the students to see architecture in a real world format, Peters said. Beginning after spring break, the students worked together to form an idea based around the wants and needs of the client. The students then went through the permitting process before getting their hands dirty working around the clock constructing the design. Project Manager Maggie Port says that the design project allows them to catch up to the other students in the master’s program, since all of the students in the GDBS program have bachelor’s degrees in backgrounds other than architecture. “There has been no time for eating or sleeping, just architecture,” Port says of her past year — but she see ARCHITECTURE, page 8
Public intoxication: Campus police observed a parked vehicle on Cullen facing northbound traffic in the southbound lanes. After investigating, one student and a visitor were deemed highly intoxicated and a danger to themselves and others by police. The student was issued a Student Life Referral. The incident occurred between 2:50 a.m. and 2:53 a.m. July 17. Smell of marijuana: A resident of Cougar Place apartments admitted to smoking marijuana in her room after being contacted by campus police. The resident was not in the room when police arrived after being notified of a smell of marijuana coming from the room. The student was issued Student Life and Residential Life referrals. The incident occurred between 12:52 a.m. and 1:05 a.m. July 18. Burglary of motor vehicle: A visitor reported her car, parked in Lot 20C, was burglarized. Campus police report there are no suspects or witnesses. The incident occurred from 4:00 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. July 19.
researchers will be equipped to tackle some of the most pressing problems in cancer research,” Pettitt said in a news release. “For example, a scientist studying genes to understand biochemical pathways in cells may find existing technology inadequate to piece together the giant puzzle of data produced by genetic sequencers and must work with computer scientists to produce new computational see GRANT, page 8
Aggravated robbery: A visitor reported being robbed at gunpoint on the first floor of the Cullen Oaks Apartments parking garage. The suspect demanded the visitor’s cell phone and keys to the vehicle. After failing to start the vehicle, the suspect fled the scene. The suspect was identified the following day and robbery charges were filed with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The suspect was incarcerated in the Harris County Jail on other charges by a separate law enforcement agency. The incident occurred at 2:43 a.m. July 15. The suspect was identified July 16. Criminal mischief: A male suspect was observed shattering the window of an unattended and secured vehicle parked in Lot 21A. Police report the investigation is inactive. The incident occurred at 1:20 a.m. July 19. Aggravated robbery: A student reported being robbed at gunpoint by two suspects while walking from the Bayou Oaks Apartments to his residence at the Calhoun Lofts. A shotgun and small handgun were reportedly used in the attack. The suspects fled in a waiting vehicle after the student showed he had no money on him. The student was not injured in the attack. Police are looking for two suspects: One medium-build black male, approximately 6 feet tall, between the ages of 18-25, seen wearing a black shirt, dark blue jean shorts, a black ball cap, with a red bandana covering his face. Another medium-build black male, approximately 5 feet, 11 inches tall, between the ages of 18-25, seen wearing a black shirt, dark blue jean shorts, a black ball cap, with a blue bandana covering his face. The incident occurred at 1:50 a.m. Monday.