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Hilton restaurant manager receives company-wide honor University Hilton Restaurant Manager Juirl Benjamin was honored Feb. 18 with the Spirit of Hilton award for providing exceptional customer service. To be eligible for the award, members must be nominated by customers or fellow employees. The award was presented after a letter from a Hilton Honors member described how Benjamin fixed a member’s suit jacket by replacing a missing button with one of his own. “That’s how I try and treat all of our customers,” Benjamin said. “We try and take care of our customers the best that we can, and we try and put ourselves in their situation. I tell my team, ‘treat people how you would want to be treated’.” Benjamin received a plaque, a certificate and $350 reward for his service, and even took a call from the president of Hilton North America who called to personally thank him.
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John Brannen
THE DAILY COUGAR The SGA judicial branch voted 3-2 to convict presidential candidate Michael Harding and vice presidential candidate Craig Premjee of establishing an illegal polling location, but unanimously ruled 5-0 late Thursday night that the 24-hour campaigning suspension was time served; both candidates remain eligible for election. Earlier in the day, the SGA election committee ruled that Harding was disqualified for committing a class three violation — the most serious violation — by soliciting votes through Premjee’s iPhone at The Den on Wednesday.
Appointment made in spite of low senator turnout, which angered some David Gonzalez
THE DAILY COUGAR
Singh will discuss how technology has advanced marine research in a variety of subjects such as archeology, geology and biology. The discussion is part of the Rockwell Lecture series, and is free and open to the public. For more information about the lecture, visit www.egr.uh.edu/news/0311/files/rockwell.jpg. — Julian Jimenez/The Daily Cougar
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EVENTS Lady Antebellum The unique grammy-winning group is headlining tonight’s show at RodeoHouston in Reliant Stadium. The show begins at 6:45 p.m., and ticket prices are ranging from $18 to $300. Parking starts at $10. Bob Schneider The talented musician will be playing at the House of Blues tonight at 10:30 p.m. Doors open at 9:30 p.m., and tickets are ranging from $22 to $50.
Engineering kicks off spring break
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riangle fraternity members Andres Baez, Jonathan Silva and Majid Latif, above, served UH revelers during the 31st Annual Chili Cook Off on Thursday, hosted by UH’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The event took place outside the engineering buildings. | Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar
FOR MORE EVENTS, CHECK OUT thedailycougar.com/calendar
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Meeting aims to organize trip to Austin
The lecture will feature famed oceanographer Hanumant Singh, an expert on underwater robotics and imaging, who is a researcher with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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testify and were cross-examined, as were Harding and Premjee. Chief Election Commissioner Katie Kornahrens was also called to the stand and explained how the elections committee came to the original decision for disqualification. She stated that both candidates were aware of the election code before the campaign started, and this knowledge made the offense deliberate. Polls closed at midnight Thursday; the official runoff election results will be announced today. The elections code may be found at http://sga.uh.edu/index.php/election-center. html.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
The UH College of Engineering will be hosting a lecture detailing Ocean Imaging and Exploration at 3 p.m. today in room 232 of Philip Guthrie Hoffman Hall.
SAT
March 11, 2011 Read. Recycle. Repeat daily.
Harding appealed the ruling, and it was taken to the judicial branch for deliberations. This was the inaugural case for the justices. Daily Cougar opinion editor Andrew Taylor filed a formal written complaint with the elections committee Thursday morning after witnessing Premjee use his iPhone to steer students to vote for his party. Joeanthony Leyva, economics senior, was the witness who used Premjee’s phone to cast his vote — a direct violation of Article 7, section 4, clause 1 of the elections code. The Daily Cougar’s editor-in-chief, Jack Wehman, previously conducted interviews with Leyva, Harding and Premjee, which were later used as evidence during the hearing. Both Taylor and Wehman were called to
Famed oceanographer to speak as part of Rockwell Lecture series
Final Friday before the break will be nice!
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Candidates skate by court
— Jesus Acevedo/The Daily Cougar
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Benjamin has been the manager at the Hilton for the past 15 years and said this has been his greatest achievement while being manager.
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Issue 112, Volume 76
» Gallery: More photos at thedailycougar.com/photo
UH’s Student Government Association created a new position Wednesday night that will help organize their trip to the state capital over the spring break holiday in their efforts to soften inevitable budget cuts. Markley Rogers was appointed to be associate director of government relations shortly after the position was created because of his past experience and his successful efforts in creating sources within the Legislature. “We have all been working hard trying to organize this trip to make it as effective as possible,” Rogers said. “We’ve talked to the representatives at the state level setting up meetings for the next week. Today, I was able to get eight appointments.” J SGA President The trip to Austin will be led by Prince Wilson SGA President Prince Wilson, who has had past experiences dealing with the politicians in the State Capitol. Last month, he spent a day educating lawmakers in similar efforts to stop budget cuts. Next week, with a 16-to-20-person team, he will have a different strategy. The group will be divided into pairs that will have thirty-minute sessions with 14 representatives each day. “For the senators not attending, we will give you 10 offices to call,” Wilson said while addressing the SGA senate. “Each of you has a responsibility to bat for the students as elected officials.” But Wilson’s war cry at the SGA meeting fell on deaf ears. MEETING continues on page 3