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THE DAILY COUGAR thedailycougar.com
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Issue 76, Volume 76
Thursday ®
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ADMINISTRATION
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NATIONAL
Rep. Giffords coming to Houston to continue rehabilitation Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) will be moved to a hospital in Houston after some recent improvements in her condition. Giffords was shot almost two weeks ago in the brain during an attack in Arizona. She is able to stand with assistance and will soon be transferred to the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research at Houston’s Memorial Hermann hospital, according to ABC news. Giffords’ husband, astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, lives in Houston and trains at the NASA Johnson Space Center.
TIER ONE
New rankings designate UH a Tier One research university
UH bonds face IRS scrutiny Audit to focus on bonds used to finance construction projects within system Ashley Anderson
THE DAILY COUGAR The IRS will conduct an audit on $130 million in bonds issued by UH for construction and renovations. In a letter dated Dec. 6, IRS officials informed UH administration of the routine audit, which will focus on the series 2002A consolidated revenue bonds used for construction and renewal services at the University. The audit is to ensure that the issuance
of the bonds is in compliance with federal tax laws. “The series 2002A bonds financed the construction of UH’s Science and Engineering Research Center Building and renovations to the MD Anderson Memorial Library,” Richard Bonnin, UH spokesperson said. Bond revenue was spread across multiple projects within the UH system. The construction of UH Clear Lake’s Student Services Building, UH Downtown’s Commerce Street Building and UH Victoria’s University West Building were also financed by the bonds. “The majority of the bonds are Tuition Revenue Bonds,” Bonnin said. The post issuance of the tax-exempt
bonds is being investigated for compliance purposes. The IRS is conducting an audit, not an investigation, Bonnin said. He also stated that the audit did not come as a surprise to University administration. In 2009, many non-profit and government bond issuers were audited in order to verify that they were compliant with laws concerning bond usage. In 2003, annual reporting requirements on 501(c)(3) organizations were imposed in order to ensure compliance with federal laws. “The issue is private-use activity on all bond-financed property,” Bonnin said. “We BONDS continues on page 10
RECOGNITION
UH not only joined an elite list of universities when the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named UH as a research university with “very high research activity” on Tuesday, it also completed one of the important steps in becoming a recognized Tier One university.
Graduate students receive full ride
The Carnegie announcement, which is the highest classification a research university can be given, makes UH the only institution in Houston with the designation. The only other schools in Texas to be designated as such are the University of Texas Austin and Texas A&M. “I am so happy and so proud,” UH President Renu Khator said in a UH news release. “Our students – who today begin a new semester with this incredible news – can say with pride they are getting a Tier One education. They will finally be able to take their diplomas and say ‘I have graduated from a Carnegie Tier One university.’”
Jesus Acevedo
THE DAILY COUGAR
Khator, in an email to the entire UH community, stressed that this achievement did not signify full Tier One status but that it was a “major milestone.” Members of the UH community who want to share thier thoughts on this milestone are encouraged to visit https://ssl. uh.edu/about/tier-one/what-tierone-means/index.php?page=1 and leave a comment on the page.
today
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AROUND TOWN Joe Satriani, Ned Evett & Triple Double: Rock guitarist Joe Satriani will showcase his skills along with other talented musicians at 8 p.m. today at the House of Blues. Doors will be opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are ranging from $39 to $75. West Side Story: The classic musical has found its way to Houston and has acquired a modern taste. The musical will be showing at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts through January 23. The musical will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale ranging from $35 to $88.
CORRECTIONS J
January 20, 2011
Report errors to editor@thedailycougar.com. Corrections will appear in this space as needed.
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Assisted Surgeries (MIROS) is a complex system of hardware and software that will allow surgeons to enter the patient’s chest through a small incision and using streaming MRI images, guide a flexible robotic tube to the area in which you will perform the surgery,” Tsekos said. “The surgeon can then deploy the tools needed for the procedure via the tube, and during this maneuvering the software continuously advises the operator to follow the optimal path in order to minimize trauma to the patient.” Each member of the MLR team is working on different components of the MIROS system’s hardware and software. At the core of the system is a powerful and complex software developed by graduate students Erol Yeniaras and Nikhil Navkar. “The computational core of the system entails the development of a completely novel approach for pre-operative planning
Within the course of a semester, two bilingual UH students received a scholarship that will cover tuition costs for their two years of graduate school. The Graduate College of Social Work welcomed Maria Cano and Yuliana Medina, the lastest recipients of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Bilingual Scholarship, into its program last fall. “We are extremely pleased that, once again, University of Houston social work graduate students are being recognized for their excellence by the prestigious Hogg Foundation for Mental Health,” said Ira Colby, dean of the UH Graduate College of Social Work. “This scholarship offers important support for the professional education of bilingual social workers in Texas.” Cano and Median were nominated for the scholarship by the college. One of the requirements of the bilingual scholarship is that each recipient will have to work a minimum of two years in the social work field in Texas upon their graduation from the program. “Texas has a large Hispanic
ROBOTICS continues on page 10
HOGG continues on page 3
A team of UH professors and students have been working alongside medical professionals in developing the cardiobot prototype like the one pictured above. | Courtesy Medical Robotics Laboratory Team
CAMPUS INNOVATION
Team takes robots to heart National Science Foundation aids students, faculty in developing cardio procedure Ashley Evans
THE DAILY COUGAR A team of UH researchers are using a $1.4 million grant to collaborate on the development of innovative technology that would streamline cardiac surgeries. The grant from the National Science Foundation was awarded to Nikolaos Tsekos, associate professor of computer science, and a team of researchers in UH’s Medical Robotics Laboratory. The team is going to use the money to develop technology that would assist surgeons in minimally invasive image-guided cardiac surgeries that can be performed on a beating heart without disrupting its natural motion. “Multimodal Image-guided Robot-