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Mexico's mysteries on display
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Owls deliver another UH loss
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 120, Volume 76
Wednesday ®
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March 30, 2011 Read. Recycle. Repeat daily.
TIER ONE
newsline Got news? E-mail news@thedailycougar.com or call 713-743-5314
CAMPUS
Turkish festival provides food and traditional activities The Turkish American Student Association will host the third annual Turkish Student Festival 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at Butler Plaza. “This is a great opportunity for students to experience Turkish culture,” said Tayfun Tuna, president of TASA. “They will have a chance to take pictures in Turkish traditional costumes and enjoy Turkish food like Baklava, doner and Turkish kebap.” DNR Turkish Grill and local Turkish families will provide the food, some of which will be free. Turkish art, music and water marbling will be featured. TASA will give away t-shirts, early bird prizes and more. For more information, visit http://www.uh.edu/~tasa/index.html. — Edgar Veliz/The Daily Cougar
Guidebook recognizes UH Out-of-state exposure could lead to increase in oncampus living Ashley Anderson
THE DAILY COUGAR UH has been named one of the best colleges for undergraduate students by the Princeton Review, a first-time achievement for the university. UH will be featured in the Princeton Review’s “The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition,” which will be released in August. The guide provides categories used
nationally by parents and future students choosing colleges. “The Princeton Review’s acknowledgement of UH’s excellence in undergraduate education underscores the fact that we continue to make progress,” Richard Bonnin, UH director of media relations, said. “This is an exciting and welcoming place that prepares students to succeed in the global economy.” In a letter sent through email to students, UH President Renu Khator discussed what the recognition means to students and the University as a whole. “Since we are striving to achieve overall excellence, this recognition by the Princeton Review is one more important indication
that we’re making great progress,” Khator said. “This is the first time our school has been included, so it’s gratifying to know our efforts at improving student success are starting to show real results.” Khator cited reasons for the recognition, which includes research initiatives, improvement, construction upgrades of campus facilities and quality admissions standards and staff. The Princeton Review recognition is based on student surveys; 122,000 students were used to determine the quality of UH. “A lot of it has to do with the academic performance, but also the student PRINCETON continues on page 3
SCHOLARSHIP GREEN UH
Student travels abroad for novel
UH needs help with voting for Recyclemania video contest UH is a finalist in the National RecycleMania Video Contest, and to win the school must receive the most “likes” on Facebook by 3 p.m. on April 4. Green UH will provide laptops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the UC Satellite for students to login and “like” the video. The video, “Love of Recycling,” is posted on RecycleMania’s facebook page. The winner will win $500 for next year’s competition. Students can vote by first “liking” RecycleMania on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RecycleMania, and then “liking” the video, which is listed under the video tab. It can be reached directly at http:// ow.ly/4kXNa.
Moniqua Sexton
THE DAILY COUGAR
The “likes” only count if they are made on RecycleMania’s page, therefore UH Green asks students not to repost the video.
spring and also the destruction of the demoness Holika. According to Hindu myth, Prahlada, the son of the great king of demons, worshiped the Lord Vishnu. This angered his father, so he ordered his sister to burn Prahlada. This attempt proved to be unsuccessful as Holika, who had a boon to remain unharmed by the fire, was set ablaze while Prahlada survived. “Holi is celebrated to prove that good wins over evil — always,” Desai said. As music blasted through the park, students danced, enjoyed the food and even played a game of tug-of-war. Although this was the first Holi experience for many students from different backgrounds, they were no strangers to Holi. History freshman Abish Turnblom and her boyfriend Gregory Cobbs, a Trinity University graduate, had a basic understanding of the festival and were looking forward to the celebration.
A fourth year UH graduate student is the first to be awarded the Tagore Passport Operating Scholarship, sponsored by the Tagore Society of Houston. Sruthi Thekkiam will use the $5,000 scholarship to travel to Bharati, India, for a novel she is writing titled “These Amorphus Lives.” “I was, of course, thrilled about the scholarship,” Thekkiam said. “And I am excited to travel to a part of India I’d never been to, and to study Tagore, an author I admire.” The scholarshop namesake, Rabindranth Tagore, was a poet, novelist and playwright. He was also a painter, social reformer and educator. The Tagore Scholar Passport Operating Scholarship supports one semester of research or creative work and study that will advance the understanding and appreciation of the intellectual, artistic and spiritual legacy of Rabindranath Tagore, according to the English department’s website. Thekkiam will be focusing her novel on Tagore’s ideas about multiculturalism. “I first became interested in Tagore’s ideas about nationalism and internationalism through reading his novel ‘Home and the World,’” Thekkiam said.
HOLI continues on page 3
TAGORE continues on page 3
— Tayor McGilvray/The Daily Cougar Students celebrated the beginning of spring on Sunday by throwing colored powder and water balloons at each other to symbolize unity and brotherhood. | Naheeda Sayeeduddin/The Daily Cougar
CORRECTIONS J
Report errors to editor@thedailycougar.com. Corrections will appear in this space as needed.
CAMPUS
Colored festival launches spring 71 LO 56
today
HI
Another cloudy day...
THU TH HU
FRII FR
SAT SA AT
SUN SU
80/61 80/ 80 /61
82/61 82/ /61
82/67 82/ 82 /67 67
84/70 84/ /70
EVENTS Piper Kerman: Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison Author Piper Kerman is giving a reading on her new book about prison life at the Brazos Bookstore at 2421 Bissonnet. The event is free and begins at 7 p.m. Lil’ Keke B-Day Bash The native Houston rapper is performing along with Slim Thug, Bun B, ESG, Big Pokey, JDawg and Lil Flip at the House of Blues tonight. Doors open at 7 p.m., and ticket prices range from $32 to $50.
FOR MORE EVENTS, CHECK OUT thedailycougar.com/calendar
Naheeda Sayeeduddin
THE DAILY COUGAR A display of color and unity spread across Lynn Eusen Park as students celebrated the start of spring and the Hindu festival, Holi, on Sunday. The festival, hosted by the Hindu Students Association in conjunction with the Indian Students Association and Graduate Indian Students Association, drew out a crowd of over a hundred students who threw colored powder, or “rang,” and water balloons at each other. “The colors symbolize unity and brotherhood,” said Disha Desai, pharmacy graduate student and HSA president. “It breaks all the barriers of discrimination, because everyone looks the same when he or she is fully colored.” In accordance with the Hindu lunar calendar, Holi is celebrated on the last full moon day in the month of Phalgun, which typically falls during February or March. It is a celebration that signifies the start of