life+arts
sports
UH traditions run deep
Cougars find only heartbreak on the road
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 thedailycougar.com
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Issue 105, Volume 76
Thursday ®
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March 3, 2011 Read. Recycle. Repeat daily.
newsline
Sports not likely to feel cuts
Admissions seeks volunteers to help host prospective students
Numerous revenue sources ensure athletics department will not suffer from reduced funding
Got news? E-mail news@thedailycougar.com or call 713-743-5314
UH’s Office of Admissions is seeking student volunteers for a Cougar Preview event from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 5. Volunteers are also needed the day before from 3 to 7 p.m. The semiannual event hosts several thousand freshman and transfer students in a tour of the campus. Volunteers are needed for decoration, facility set up and clean up and directing students to activity locations. They will also need to welcome and assist prospective students. Students interested in volunteering for the event can e-mail Tara Monson at tdmonson@uh.edu to schedule their volunteer date or ask questions. — Ayesha Mohiuddin/The Daily Cougar
Homeless advocate to talk about street newspaper movement Paula Mathieu, a Martha Gano Distinguished Visiting Professor, is presenting “The Homeless and the Hobolicious: Rhetoric, Public and Images of ‘Homeless Chic’” at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the Honors College. A reception will be held in the commons after the presentation. Mathieu, an associate professor of English at Boston College, is mostly known for her street-newspaper movement. “I hope that students come away with a greater understanding of the rhetoric of homelessness,” said Paul Butler, assistant professor in the UH Department of English. “Also, I want students to learn more about how the free street newspaper movement works and how it is benefiting homeless people here and around the world.” — Moniqua Sexton/The Daily Cougar
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While the University may be faced with difficult decisions about terminating staff positions, increasing class sizes and raising tuition due to the looming state budget cuts to higher education, UH’s athletic department may go by unscathed. Richard Bonnin, executive director of media relations at UH, said one of the reasons the department may not be affected is that it is not directly funded by the state. The department generates revenue from a number of different sources, including ticket sales, NCAA and conference distributions, program sales, concessions, parking, sponsorships, endowment income, media rights
INTRAMURAL SPORTS
Planned lot forces schedule into flux
CUTS continues on page 5
SPECIAL REPORT
Budget cuts Every Thursday, The Daily Cougar will take an in-depth look at how proposed cuts to the state’s higher education allocation will affect the University and its future. Feb. 17: Tier One initiative Feb 24: Staff terminations Today: Athletics programs March 10: The role of community colleges March 24: Public vs. private debate March 31: Financial aid Track this series and find expanded resources on thedailycougar.com/budgetcuts2011
UH VERSUS RICE: THE RIVALRY
THE DAILY COUGAR
Report errors to editor@thedailycougar.com. Corrections will appear in this space as needed.
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and student fees, Bonnin said. For fiscal year 2011, according to financial information provided by Cassie Arner, associate athletic director of communications, the athletic department’s revenue has grown more than $5 million in the last three years. “We’ve gone from $9.7 million in 2009 to $15.7 million in 2011,” Arner said. “When we can increase the amount of revenue we bring in, we can reduce what we’re dependent on the University for.” According to the University’s FY 2011 Plan and Budget, UH receives $15,256,089 in student fees. From those student fees, the University provides the athletics department with $4,362,707. The University also provides the athletic department with $12,347,521 of direct
Jorge Porras
CORRECTIONS !!
Gilbert Requena, Louis Casiano and Lance Jaramillo
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EVENTS Health Professions Fair 2011 Representatives from a wide range of medical professions will be at the University of Houston Hilton Ballroom to give out information on Health Professions school related programs. Hunger Banquet The event is raising awareness on world hunger. Live music, a buffet and prizes will be part of the event taking place in the University Center tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
FOR MORE EVENTS, CHECK OUT
thedailycougar.com/calendar
In an effort to meet the demand for more parking spaces, Parking and Transportation Services has drawn up a plan that will temporarily turn one of the Cullen fields used by students into a parking lot. The plan, announced Feb. 21, will provide an estimated 300 parking spots while construction begins on a parking garage across from Hofheinz Pavilion at Cullen and Holman. The plan, developed in coordination with Campus Recreation and Facilities Planning, aims to alleviate the parking situation — but students who use the fields to participate in intramural sports will be affected. David McBride, supervisor of intramural sports, says that the flag football, soccer and ultimate Frisbee teams will be affected. All softball games for the season will now be played on Sunday afternoons. Parking and Transportation is attempting to minimize the impact of the plan by installing lighting on an existing field, but intramural sports will still need to do some rescheduling. INTRAMURAL continues on page 3
From left: Erica Fauser, history and political science senior, and Gin Benton, corporate communication junior, show their pride in anticipation of UH’s game against Rice on Saturday. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar
UH, Rice face off once again Lance Jaramillo
THE DAILY COUGAR The UH men’s basketball team takes the court Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion and will attempt to avenge last month’s loss to their cross-town rivals, the Rice Owls. Webster’s dictionary defines a rival as “one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess.” In the literal sense, there is a rivalry — but when one constantly dominates the other in a specific field, and vice versa, it’s more of a healthy competition. UH boasts a greater athletic tradition than Rice, while the Owls can lay claim to the academics of an elite research university. “It is perfectly natural for two great universities in the same city to be rivals,” said Welcome
Wilson Sr., UH alumnus and former chair of the UH Board of Regents. “I always considered it a friendly rivalry, but I have not been a student for over 60 years.” The “friendly rivalry” can be traced back to the 1940s after requests by UH officials to engage Rice on the football field were denied. “In spite of the many requests of our athletic director (at the time) Harry Fouke, and Jess Neely, the athletic director of Rice, Rice refused to play the University of Houston during the 1940s and 1950s,” Wilson said. Football is considered the focal point of the competition, and UH can claim dominance in that aspect. The Cougars have a 24-9 record against Rice in the Bayou Bucket game since the teams’ first meeting in 1971, when UH joined the now-defunct Southwest Conference of RIVALRY continues on page 3