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Running back prepares for season
There doesn't always have to be guns
sports
t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s pa p e 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
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August 25, 2010
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campus safety
ON-CAMPUS
UH students to participate in welcome back celebration The UH official welcome event, The Cat's Back: Unleash the Pride, will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the UC. Students will get the chance to meet UH President Renu Khator and participate in games and entertainment. A pep rally, including the UH football team and the marching band, is also on the agenda. Free bowling, billiards and table tennis will be available in the UC Game Room.
GRADUATION
University effort to increase graduate rate pays dividends
Accuracy delays crime reports Officials say Houston's crime rate is decreasing, but reports of it on campus continue By Darlene Campos
THE DAILY COUGAR The UH Department of Public Safety is focused on a reoccurring issue in campus, burglaries and theft. On-campus car thefts and burglaries were at their highest in 2006 and 2007,
according to the official 2008 police report filed by the campus police station. During 2006, there were 35 car thefts reported, and in 2007, 63 burglaries were documented. Reports are not up to date, but students do get e-mail and text message alerts. “Identifying crime trends is a tricky thing. There are many factors to consider besides the numbers of reported crimes,” UH Police Lt. Bret Collier said. “The lag in data availability is to ensure that what we are reporting is both comprehensive and accurate."
Elaine Charlson, executive associate vice president for academic and faculty affairs, told attendants at an Aug. 20 UH System Board of Regents meeting that “Project 549” had helped 268 students graduate in 2009. Under the program, 549 students who had enrolled as freshman in 2004 were identified.
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"The interesting thing was that the graduation rate of this class increased from 36.3 percent to 45.1 percent," Charlson said in a release. "We've learned from this. We're not waiting until the end to address the issue of helping them graduate. We will work with them from the day they begin as freshmen until their senior years."
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ON CAMPUS
Picnic at the Park Baptist Student Ministry will have a picnic in front of the library from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come out for a free sack lunch and make some new friends.
CRIME continues on page 3
By Neal Dasgupta
Advisers later contacted these students to provide information and guide them through the graduation process.
The Cat’s Back 2010: Unleash the Pride, Official Welcome Event for UH It’s that time of the year again! Be sure to attend The Cat’s Back 2010 at the UC from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be free food, music, games, a pep rally with the football team, marching band and of course an appearance from our very own president Renu Khator.
Collier said the 2009 reports would be posted in a couple of months. Crime rates in major metropolitan areas such as city of Houston tends to be higher than that of smaller cities and towns. However, in a recent article by the Houston Chronicle, it states that crime has diminished 8 percent. The UH Department of Public Safety website states students should learn the locations of the emergency and information call boxes.
Library gets grant to save KUHT films
A recent initiative by the University to help more students graduate seems to have been a small success.
today
Issue 003, Volume 76
Students register to drive
T
he Registered Texan team was at the UC Satellite yesterday encouraging students to register their vehicles as part of their "Put Texas in your Corner" campaign. The Public Education Campaign is authorized by the Department of Motor Vehicles . | Kendra Berglund/The Daily Cougar
The UH library system recently received a $19,863 grant from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. UH plans to utilize the grants in its partnership with KUHT-TV. “UH special collections applied for and received a grant for restoration of some film stock from early KUHT days,” Director of Programming Ken Lawrence said. “I met with the UH archivist last month and (chose) from their list of our archived films and identified some titles, the likely to be interesting for possible restoration.” The TSLAC granted a total of $6 million to 542 Texas libraries. The commissioners approved the grants at an Aug. 3 meeting in Austin for the 2011 fiscal year. The TSLAC also awarded grants through its federally funded Special Projects and Library Cooperation Programs. The Special Projects programs were given to six applicants this year for expansion of library services and to all members of the grantee’s library community. These grants also promote collaboration among libraries for resource and archive sharing. UH was one of 10 organizations that received TexTreasures grants. These grants are designed to provide access to special holdings. UH will use the grant to convert programming into sustainable and accessible digital media. The UH library GRANTS continues on page 6
SVN Outdoor Screening of “Kick Ass” The Student Video Network will host a free screening of this year’s comedic superhero movie “Kick Ass” at the UC North Patio at 7:30 p.m.
UH displays award-winning author's work
CORRECTIONS
By Ashley Evans
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. The novel follows two ex-Texas rangers
on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. "Lonesome Dove" was later adapted into a popular miniseries on CBS starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall. Julie Grob associate librarian in special collections at UH said the book is "an epic story about the end of the old West that is both literary and exciting."
Some of McMurtry's early manuscripts, screenplays and essays are housed in the special collections section of the UH library. "The most amazing thing in the collection is the early typescript drafts of MCMURTRY continues on page 6