life+arts
sports
Shakespeare in the park
Ramsey holds it down in minor leagues
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
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LITERATURE
Shakespeare festival to perform “Othello,” “Taming of the Shrew” The Houston Shakespeare Festival will start this weekend with a performance of the play “Othello” at 8:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a performance of “The Taming of the Shrew” at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Both plays will be hosted at the Miller Outdoor theatre. Created in 1975, the Houston Shakespeare Festival is celebrating its 37th season this year, with its shows attracting more than 450,000 people over the lifetime of the event. “Othello” is directed by Leah C. Gardiner, and will star Seth Gilliam as Othello. “The Taming of the Shrew” is directed by UH associate professor of theatre Jack Young. The event is free to the public. For more information about the performance schedule, visit milleroutdoortheatre.com. To learn more about the Houston Shakespeare Festival, visit houstonfestivalscompany.com.
SPORTS
Football camp for women to teach basic strategies, rules of the game The University Athletics department will be hosting the fourth annual Football 101 camp exclusively for women tomorrow. The event will teach participants about the game through on-field demonstrations and interactive learning opportunities. Guided tutorials will explain offensive and defensive strategies as well as teach participants about the basic rules of the game. “This is one of the best events we do each year,” head football coach Kevin Sumlin in a release. “There is no doubt that women have become huge football fans, and it is exciting to equip them with knowledge of the sport so their Saturdays in the stands are more enjoyable.” Registration for the event is $35 per person. Participants must be at least 18 to attend and are required to wear sports attire and athletic shoes. For registration information, visit www. uhcougars.com/football101.html or call (713) 462-6647.
APPLAUSE
UH professor recognized for decades of plasma research The American Vacuum Society has honored chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Vincent Donnelly for his 30-plus years of work in plasma research. The AVS selected Donnelly as the recipient of the 2011 John A. Thorton Memorial Award, one of the organization’s highest honors for “outstanding research or technological innovation in areas of interest to AVS.” Donnelly’s work is largely focused on plasma etching, a method that bombards a silicon wafer with positive ions to nanometer scale features. Donnelly will recieve his award at the AVS 58th International Symposium and Exhibition, scheduled for November in Nashville, Tenn.
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77
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SUMMER EDITION
thedailycougar.com
97
July 27, 2011 ®
Issue 154, Volume 76
Read. Recycle. Repeat daily.
STUDENTS
UH helps sweeten land plan Students work with experts to design Imperial Sugar land development project Naheeda Sayeeduddin
THE DAILY COUGAR Two months since graduating from the college of architecture, Shawn Nygren has been travelling across the country to meet with prospective employers. Nygren said that he is confident about getting a job because of the real world experience he earned in his last semester in college. Under the supervision of Barry Moore,
a Gensler Architecture employee and an associate professor at the college of architecture, Nygren and nine other classmates from the professional study class are being praised for their spring semester work involving the Imperial Sugar Land Development project. “I’ve always liked to pick a real project for my students so that they can work with real developers and landscape architects,” Moore said. “Cities and things like that so they can get a great deal of practical experience in communicating with possible future clients.” Gensler Architecture was working on the Imperial Sugar project, a part of the
700-acre land being developed by Johnson Development, which is located along Hwy 90 and east of Hwy 6. The company met with students to explain what the developers were looking for, Nygren said. The students worked as a group during the first part of the semester to develop a master plan. This stage of the project tasked students with mapping out streets, vehicle parking areas, retail space, housing, hotel and recreation space for the 45-acre historical site. The students eventually came up with ARCHITECTURE continues on page 3
ENROLLMENT
Congress approves addition to UHCL School to offer classes for freshmen, sophomores Zahra Ahmed
THE DAILY COUGAR The Texas Legislature has given UHClear Lake approval to add freshman- and sophomore-level classes to become a fouryear university. Initially approved by the UH System Board of Regents in 2008, the plan for downward expansion has been set in motion. Currently, undergraduate students transfer to UHCL at junior and senior levels. State approval for expansion means that students can directly enter the university as freshmen. “Students have many choices to consider when pursuing higher education,” said UHCL President William Staples. “UHCL as a four-year university will offer students another option within the UH System in addition to UH, UH-Downtown and UH-Victoria as well as other universities in our region.” The approval for downward expansion is a major milestone in the University’s continuing advancement. “Having the authority to offer freshman and sophomore level courses will enable UH-Clear Lake to offer additional pathways for students,” Staples said. “UHCL will be able to work closely with area high schools for students who wish EXPANSION continues on page 3
History professor Martin Melosi focuses his research on the history of urban development and policy making from an environmental perspective. | Photo Courtesy of Melissa Carroll/Office of University Communications
RESEARCH
UH prof studies water history Moniqua Sexton
THE DAILY COUGAR In the face of ever increasing populations, urbanization and pollution, UH history professor Martin Melosi is researching how these factors affect the demand for clean, accessible water in urban environments. Melosi, who is considered one of the fathers of urban environmental history by his peers, is using his research to introduce cities and urban areas into environmental discussions. He said cities should be viewed as ecosystems with a physical, biological and social structure. “Cities are subject to weather, to the activity of living organisms from bacteria to humans,” Melosi said. “Such a setting has a biological and physical logic much like any comparable ecosystem.” Melosi pulls from 40 years of research including the use of federal, state and local
government records. “There are concerns for fresh water in the United States as demand for water has tripled and the population doubled,” Melosi said in a press release. “Fresh water is a finite resource with demand on the rise and higher prices to follow.” Melosi compiled his research into a book, “Precious Commodity: Providing Water for America’s Cities,” which contains a collection of essays dealing with water use and management and devotes a chapter to Houston’s Buffalo Bayou and public sinks. “In all cases a central issue (of the book) is: Who controls that fresh water?” Melosi said. “The essays speak essentially to public and private means of control and regulation, mostly in the US, but also internationally especially in terms of the recent movement to privatize water supply systems.” RESEARCH continues on page 3