life/arts
Don't forget about costumes
Lady Cougar brings her A-game
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
THE DAILY COUGAR » Breaking news, blogs, discussion and more: thedailycougar.com
Find more news items at newsline.thedailycougar.com
Halloween event to collect food Cambridge Oaks and SGA President Prince Wilson are hosting their Hungry for Halloween celebration to collect canned food for charity from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cambridge Oaks Apartments. The event will feature a carnival-like atmosphere with a costume contest, a pumpkin carving area and a chance to win various prizes. Entrance to the event is free with a donation of two canned food items, and entrance into the contests requires a donation of two more cans. The goal of the Impact Hunger Initiative, which involves more campuses than just UH, is to collect 20,000 pounds of food. For more information, contact Tenley Wood at 713-7482606. — Sara Nichols/The Daily Cougar
History professor to discuss book The UH Department of History is offering a symposium in which it will spotlight the new book by UH Professor Monica Perales, “Smeltertown: Making and Remembering a Southwest Border Community,” at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Honors College Commons on the second floor of the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library. The book focuses on the border town of El Paso, which according to a news release was “home to generations of ethnic Mexicans who labored at the American Smelting and Refining Company” during the 1930s. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kaim Klieman at 713-743-3106. — Sara Nichols/The Daily Cougar Got an item for Newsline? Let us know! E-mail newsline@thedailycougar.com
91 LO 61 HI
ON CAMPUS Halloween Themed Magic Show The Student Program Board will host a Halloween themed magic show tonight featuring John P. Hopkins. Food and surprises will be present. Come by the UC Houston Room at 7 p.m.
AROUND TOWN Ra Ra Riot Indie rock band Ra Ra Riot from Syracuse, N.Y. will be at Warehouse Live tonight at 8:30 p.m. Their new album “The Orchard” was released in August with most of the tracks mixed by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla. Tickets won’t be around forever! Find more campus and local events or add your own at thedailycougar.com/calendar
CORRECTIONS J
Wednesday ®
October 27, 2010
facebook.com/thedailycougar
FACULTY
newsline
today
@thedailycougar
Issue 047, Volume 76
Report errors to editor@thedailycougar.com. Corrections will appear in this space as needed.
Recycle this paper: Share it with a friend!
Drilling advances lead to award Karisha Lucero
THE DAILY COUGAR The Society of Exploration Geophysicists has recognized UH physics professor Arthur Weglein with one of its highest honors, but he gives credit to others who have helped him in his years of research. “(This award) is a testament to the vision, courage, and capability of our group and my colleagues — and former and current students,” he said. Weglein, a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of physics, received the award in recognition of research that has led to advances in the field of seismic
exploration technology in the annual conference Oct. 17 in Denver. Weglein and his team, which is comprised of UH faculty, researchers, staff and graduate students, specialized in advancing seismic processing and imaging. “We developed a comprehensive method that allows all processing goals to be achieved without the current need for subsurface information,” Weglein said. “This award recognizes the contribution made by our fundamentaldirected research effort that addresses priority challenges of the petroleum industry.” The petroleum industry and the federal government support Mission-Oriented Seismic Research Program in its efforts to advance the energy exploration industry.
The recipient of the Reginald Fressenen award is someone who has made a significant contribution to exploration geophysics. “It speaks volumes to the willingness of industry to support high-risk high-impact long-term research, as long as the potential benefits are well-communicated in terms that make sense to them,” Weglein said. “Our goal is to make currently inaccessible petroleum targets accessible.” The research and knowledge attained by Weglein and his team are creating benefits in the seismic processing and imaging industry that will be invaluable for people in this field in the forthcoming years. news@thedailycougar.com
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Funding gaps leave labs in lurch Differences in computers available to students across campus draws concerns, attention from representatives Ashley Anderson, Jourdan Vian and Charne Graham
THE DAILY COUGAR With the constant change of technology, the University is always trying to keep computer labs up to date and well maintained, but not all computer labs are equal, and their quality depends on the budget of each department. Computer labs across campus should not be equal but equitable, Provost and Assistant Vice President of Academic Budgets and Administration Edward C. (Craig) Ness said. “(Technology) is constantly moving, so we try our best to keep the best equipment we can for the students, but you can’t go changing every piece of technology on this campus every time someone comes up with something new,” Ness said. “We try our best, but we have to depend on the structures and the faculty and the people that are running the curriculum in that class to make the case for the replacement of that in line.” The discrepancy in computer labs across campus is something that compelled College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences senator Lucia Ayala-Guerra into joining the Student Government Association. “For different departments they have different budgets, that’s the reality of things,” Ayala-Guerra, a political science and public relations junior, said. “For instance, the political science department doesn’t have an I.T. guy because they can’t afford it due to the budget cuts they have been doing.” If students were to compare the computer labs in the math, political science and communications departments, the communications lab would be the best one,
The M.D. Anderson library is home to the University’s largest computer lab. During its busiest hours, students can be seen at standing-only stations or searching the lab for empty seats. Ayala-Guerra said, followed by the political science lab and the math lab. “We have gotten complaints from the math students saying, ‘Hey, our printer is not working,’” Ayala-Guerra said. “And, political science majors saying, ‘Our computers aren’t worth a crap. They aren’t workable and we can’t really get our stuff done.’” While budgets go towards various departmental needs, computer labs are still a priority. Student fees also go towards lab maintenance and operations. “When we charge student fees for technology, we charge for the operation and the purchase of that equipment,” Ness said. “In general, when I work with a college (and) set up what its fee is for technology, I recommend that they decide what their replacement cycle is.” The Communications Technology Center (CTC) in the Jack J. Valenti School of Comunication is the primary computing facility LABS continues on page 6
Communication students take advantage of the school’s Apple-certified computer lab. | Photos by Kendra Berglund/The Daily Cougar