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FACULTY & STAFF
Professors, staff focus on researching student success The UH Center for Teaching Excellence is hosting the Research on Teaching for Student Success: Creating an Agenda for UH from noon to 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the MD Anderson Library in room 306.
Christopher Losee
THE DAILY COUGAR
Participants will review both internal and external funding opportunities, begin to develop networks of other like-minded faculty for collaborative purposes and introduce participants to University resources available to assist research.
The Route 66 Tour will be taking place at UH at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 12 in the Rockwell Pavilion on the second floor of the M.D. Anderson Library. The Route 66 Tour is a nationwide campus tour sponsored by The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, KODA. The 90-minute presentation is designed to help students develop their personal, intellectual, social, and financial capital while in college. Attendees must register in advance at http://tour. route66.cc/home/.
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October 11, 2010
Miss. State trumps Coogs
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Nationwide tour group stops at UH campus
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To register for this free workshop, go to http://cte. uh.edu and click on the Research on Teaching for Student Success workshop listed under “Current Events” or just email Dan Wells at cte@uh.edu with the subject heading “Oct. 15.”
Issue 040, Volume 76
In his debut, freshman quarterback David Piland faced a flurry of Miss. State defenders, throwing two untimely interceptions. | Pauline Alderete/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars fell to Mississippi State 47-24 Saturday night in front of the third-largest crowd in Robertson Stadium history. True freshman quarterback David Piland made his career debut completing 30 of 57 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. Piland’s opening drive ushered in a touchdown after completing his
first five passes for 51 yards. “We got behind and we put him in a situation where, because of the score, we probably had to throw a little bit more than we wanted to,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. The ensuing possession served as a precursor for things to come. Punt returner Patrick Edwards turned the ball over at the 10-yard line on a muffed punt and a holding penalty on the Cougars in the end zone FOOTBALL continues on page 8
Group to celebrate national event Center hosts mixer for students, campus Darlene Campos
THE DAILY COUGAR
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ON CAMPUS Graduate program The College of Technology will host an open house showcasing the graduate programs available. The event will be held at the Rockwell Pavilion inside the library from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more info and to RSVP, visit www. tech.uh.edu/Information/Graduate_Applicants/ Open_House
AROUND TOWN Book signing Famed Mexican novelist and writer Carlos Fuentes will speak at Alley Theatre tonight at 7:30 p.m. An interview and book signing will follow the presentation. Find more campus and local events or add your own at thedailycougar.com/calendar
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The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center will be celebrating National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 by hosting a Cougar Ally Mixer. At the mixer, which takes place from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the University Center, participants can meet allies, people who aim to learn about LGBT issues, speak with members and share their personal experiences. “This is the 22nd annual National Coming Out Day,” LGBT Resource Center Director Lorraine Schroeder said. “GLOBAL, the LGBT student organization on campus, has celebrated it in various ways over that last few years. UH Wellness has also held events for the occasion in the past. This event is celebrated all over the country.” On her experience as the LGBT Resource Center Director, Schroeder said that her position has been worthwhile. “My experience as the director has been very rewarding,” she said. “From the beginning students, staff, faculty and people from the community have reached out to the Center.” Schroeder said that she feels the most rewarding part of being the CENTER continues on page 8
Gasoline powered vehicles are commonly used in a commuting based city; this, along with traffic, has put Houston on the ranks for one of the top ten most ozone polluted cities in the US. | Wikimedia Commons
Prof researches air pollution Study focused on vehicles rather than refineries By Charne Graham
THE DAILY COUGAR Houston’s pollution and smog has been a prevalent issue in the city for many years. Award-winning UH civil and environmental engineering professor Shankar Chellum will conduct research to find the source of some of the city’s air pollution. Chellum received a $75,600 grant from the Texas Air Research Center to detect the pollution that gasoline-powered vehicles can cause in Houston. The study is estimated to take at least one year to complete. Chellum has previously researched this problem, but specifically in petroleum refineries. This study will focus on the most commonly used thing in Houston and especially at a commuter school like UH, the gasolinepowered vehicle. He will test the air in the Washburn tunnel,
which is the only two-lane underwater vehicular tunnel in the state of Texas. The Washburn tunnel, built in 1950 connects through two suburbs of Houston, Galena Park and Pasadena. The tunnel doesn’t allow diesel-powered semi-trucks to pass through, therefore the only root of the air’s pollution comes from gas-powered cars. “If we sample the air in this tunnel, the chances of other sources impacting our sample are very, very slim,” Chellam said in a UH news release. “Whatever we measure can be directly attributed to the vehicles that go through the tunnel.” The air will be sampled and tested for chemicals. The location is beneficial for the study because the tunnel is underwater and any pollution that is measured and sampled in the tunnel can be directly traced back only to the vehicles passing through it. Testing on a random freeway in Houston could be difficult in the open air because there can be many other sources of pollution. POLLUTION continues on page 8