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Issue 057, Volume 76
Wednesday ®
November 10, 2010
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DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
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UH Dining Services hosts homecoming event UH Dining Services invites students to celebrate their Cougar pride at its Homecoming 2010 celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the main hallway inside the UC Satellite. The event will feature games, bobbing for apples, face painting and prizes for students to win. Four students will have the opportunity to win food vouchers for the Burger Studio at a drawing at 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.uh.edu/uhdining. — Sara Nichols/The Daily Cougar
Black Pre-Law Conference kicks off Thursday
Prof tells all in new book Novel shares stories about an old demolished Texas town Charne Graham
THE DAILY COUGAR UH history professor Monica Perales shed light on the hidden history of a community in her new book, “Smeltertown: Making and Remembering a Southwest Border Community.” The story of the small community in El Paso, her hometown, unveiled parts of Mexican-American culture. Perales started researching Smeltertown for an essay in her master’s program at the University of Texas in Austin. When she
realized that there was very little information on the community, she wanted to dig deeper on the topic. “When I began to research the community, I only saw information on Anglo-Saxon CEOs of the companies,” Perales said. The book is composed of stories of the employers and residents of Smeltertown with interviews woven in as well. Perales’ family history — her grandparents were among the many residents of La Esmelda, what residents called it — led her to more people to speak to about Smeltertown personally. “Getting information on Smeltertown
The Black Pre-Law Conference begins at 4 p.m. Thursday in the UC Houston room and will continue throughout the weekend until 1 p.m. Sunday.
was like connecting links,” Perales said. “I spoke to one person who sent me to another person. Since there weren’t enough printed documents for me to research, I had to go straight to the source and talk to J Monica Perales people.” She also used company records and old newspapers for more information on the town. The community was established in the HISTORY continues on page 3
COMMISSION ON WOMEN
Group tackles insurance benefit issues
The conference includes speakers, panels, workshops, an LSAT practice test and a law school fair. It benefits pre-law students in all stages of the application process, ranging from those that are still unsure about law school to those that have already applied and are in the process of choosing a law school. The conference is open to the public with registration, and everyone is welcome regardless of race or ethnicity.
Report released discussing finances to approve options for same-sex partners
For more information and to register, visit www. blackprelaw.com/2010. — Cristi Guerra/The Daily Cougar
Jesus Acevedo
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ON CAMPUS Go Coogs Day Food and beverages will be provided at Go Coogs Day today as part of more homecoming activities. Be at the Lynn Eusan Park at 11:30 a.m.! Yearbook photos Dress up, show up and get your photo taken for the yearbook! Sessions will be held today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Tejas Room located on the second floor of the UC.
AROUND TOWN Freelance Whales and Miniature Tigers Indie and experimental bands Freelance Whales and Miniature Tigers will perform tonight at Fitzgerald’s located at 2706 White Oak. The show will begin at 8 p.m.
CORRECTIONS J
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Coogs show off talent
A
s part of the weeklong celebrations for homecoming, Nov. 6- Nov. 13, Cougars participated in the Strut Your Stuff Talent Show on Tuesday in the Houston Room at the University Center. Students were required to fill out an entry form in advance and showcased a wide range of talents including voice/musical, dance and step performances. | Jack Wehman/The Daily Cougar
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The UH University Commission on Women has released a report, “Domestic Partner Benefits at the University of Houston: Advancing Equity and Institutional Competitiveness,” that is a financial in-depth analysis of what it would cost to include domestic partner benefits at the University. “Heterosexual faculty and staff members get insurance from the University. They get paid 100 percent and then 50 percent of the insurance is paid for their partner, if it’s an opposite sex partner,” said Beverly McPhail, director of the Women’s Resource Center and one of the co-authors of the report. “If we have a gay or lesbian faculty member, they can buy insurance for themselves, but they can’t buy it for their partner. We think that’s unfair.” The report shows concrete numbers of the cost of adding domestic benefits for the University. “We’ve never really had a number before, so nobody knew how much it would cost,” McPhail said. “We don’t know exactly how much it would cost. (We think the range depends) on how many employees, so we did our own financial analysis and those numbers are in the report.” The report is 60 pages long, which includes personal stories of present and former faculty. The stories are about the emotional and financial hardships they experience for not having domestic partner benefits. The Cougar Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Allies, lead by Maria Gonzales, sent out requests and a few individuals responded by sending in personal letters addressed to UH President Renu Khator. One of the letters is from former UH English professor Mark Doty, who after being employed by UH for a decade, decided to leave for Rutgers University in New REPORT continues on page 3