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December 1, 2011 Issue 57, Volume 77
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Students to vote on fee SGA passes bill sending athletics hike for facilities to University referendum Joshua Mann
THE DAILY COUGAR The UH Student Government Association passed a bill calling for a fee increase to be sent to student referendum after it had a narrow one-vote majority following a speech promoting the hike given by Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades. The $45 per semester increase would help to pay for a new football stadium and renovations to the
facilities in Hofheinz Pavilion and would be in place for the next 25 years, Rhoades said. Robertson Stadium, built in 1941, is in dire need of retirement, and crumbling concrete will make the stadium unsafe for use in 18 months, he said. According to Rhoades, Hofheinz is structurally sound, but desperately needs to renovate its facilities in order to compete with the facilities of other schools in the Big East conference. Engineering Senator Kennan Stuhr pointed out that the cost of the improvements could be covered if students were charged $25 for
admission to football games, so the facilities would be paid for by the students who use them, but Rhoades said the money had to be guaranteed by student fees. If the Athletics Department receives more than the projected $75 million in donations, it would work to decrease the student fee so students would not have to pay. Current students, who would have pay the fee during the two years of construction, could be reimbursed through a discount on the price of season passes after they graduate, Rhoades said, although SGA continues on page 14
UH Athletics Director Mack Rhoades spoke at the SGA meeting on Wednesday to tell the senators and students in attendance why the Athletics Department needs student fees to increase $45 per semester. | Paul Crespo/The Daily Cougar
STUDENTS
Cougar creates his own business
Snow in Houston
T
he University Center North Patio was covered in snow as the Student Program Board hosted its third annual Winter Wonderland on Wednesday. Cougars grabbed sleds to slide down a snow-covered hill. The event featured free hot chocolate, funnel cakes and a gingerbread house contest. Students were also given free T-shirts and cups to decorate. Check out more photos on page 12.
NBA championships give student inspiration to start bottled water company Alexandra Doyle
THE DAILY COUGAR
professional education programs,” Antel said. “I feel really positive about where we are going.” With the momentum of success behind graduate programs on campus, Antel sees this as a
Between balancing aspirations for medical school and an upcoming acting role on the Student Video Network, it’s hard to think that anyone would have the time to study, much less run a business. But when opportunity knocked, biology sophomore Xavier Price decided to take a chance. “When the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship last season, a vision came to me,” Price said. The vision? A logo that combines the names of the cities of all three professional basketball teams in Texas, each of which now has at least one NBA Championship win under its belt, above an
SENATE continues on page 3
STUDENT continues on page 14
| Taylor Cox/The Daily Cougar
ADMINISTRATION
Faculty Senate discusses admissions UH to increase number of graduate students Jennifer Postel
THE DAILY COUGAR In preparation for the future, UH leaders gathered at Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting and
took a moment to reflect on the school’s recent successes and the challenges that lie ahead. Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost John Antel first addressed the audience of faculty senators with stories of the University’s recent achievements, which includes the
graduate student program exceeding expectations and churning out over 210 doctorates, well surpassing the goal set in 2010. “We are hatching a lot of other good plans about continuing to build support for the doctoral programs and other master’s programs, and continuing