Issue 73, Volume 77 by The Cougar

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Cougars beat Oklahoma State, open season with perfect 5-0 ORGANIZATIONS

Valentine’s Day ‘kiss-in’ to support LGBT faculty, staff UH students are invited to gather in Butler Plaza with their significant other and take part in a “kiss-in” at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Texas Freedom Network UH is hosting the event in order to raise awareness and support for LGBT faculty and staff. Students who want to show their support but don’t want to kiss are also welcome to attend. — Cougar News Services

CARNIVAL

Ethnic organizations council to host Carnival of Culture

Issue 73, Volume 77

LECTURE

Doctor talks tropical diseases Vaccine is too expensive for low-income countries Mohammed Haider

THE DAILY COUGAR World-renowned clinician and investigator of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Peter Hotez, spoke to students Friday about the development of a vaccine that will help prevent the spread of parasites and infections among low-income populations around the world. While the cost of treatment

in countries where NTDs are common is very inexpensive, the citizens of these countries are still unable to afford them, Hotez said. “It would only cost each of us 20 cents a year if we all decided to help,” Hotez said. “A huge difference can be made with a small contribution.” According to a study done by Hotez and the American Society of Tropical Medicine, 1.4 billion people are at risk of being infected with NTDs. Hotez used images of children with roundworms, whipworms

and — the most common — hookworms, in a PowerPoint presentation to show the effects of NTDs in countries of the eastern hemisphere. “NTDs can cause learning deficiencies and stunted growth,” Hotez said. “It affects (student’s) performance in schools.” NTDs are common in Islamic countries and parts of North Africa and India, one reason why students felt the University of Houston was the perfect place NTD continues on page 3

The Council of Ethnic Organizations will host its two-part Carnival of Culture on Wednesday. The first part will feature foods and performances from a variety of cultures and carnival attractions, and it will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Butler Plaza, Lynn Eusan Park and outside Cullen Performance Hall. The second part will feature more performances and entertainment starting at 6:30 p.m. in Cullen Performance Hall. Students can register to perform in the second portion of the event by emailing ceocmd@ uh.edu. — Cougar News Services

Peter Hotez is a professor of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology. | Amanda Scott/The Daily Cougar

UH Law Center’s landscape redo

ondering if the Law Center has a gopher problem? Was UH hit by a few dozen meteors? Should the University be concerned about an alien attack?

UNIVERSITY CENTER

UC to celebrate 45th, final birthday before renovation The University Center will celebrate its 45th and final birthday on Tuesday. Students can attend a birthday party from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the UC that will feature a dance contest, T-shirt tie-dyeing and a noon cake-cutting. The UC will undergo construction into the new UC starting with significant portions of it being taken offline starting this summer. The first phase of construction — the part that includes the east and the north additions, as well as renovation of half of the ground and first floors — is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. The majority of the new UC complex will open January 2014. Throughout 2014, a second phase of the transformation will add lounge space, update the game room and renovate the meeting rooms and offices currently on the second floor. — Mohammed Haider

February 13, 2012

Famous band to give concert at UH

Turn to page three to find out the cause of the holes and what they’ll be filled with. | Taylor McGilvray/The Daily Cougar

GERALD D. HINES

College hosts design competition Exhibit features architects’ visions for ‘closing the gap’ in New York

John Loner

THE DAILY COUGAR UH’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture hosted a competition for architects, urban designers, engineers and students Friday to design a structure to “fill in” a 22-block gap along Manhattan’s East River. “Close the Gap: Envisioning the East

River Greenway for 21st century New York” is an international design competition that was sponsored by d3 and Transportation Alternatives. Director of Interior Architecture and Assistant Professor of Architecture at UH Gregory Marinic and Sandra McKee, adjunct professor of architecture at Columbia University, curated the exhibit and were on hand to give observers a tour of the exhibition. “The idea behind the competition was to make people aware of the problem and to come up with some solutions,” McKee said.

The competition drew 26 responses from 22 countries, ranging from Iran to Bangladesh. The competitors’ visions for the gap included green energy alternatives, how to clean the river’s water, deal with water runoff and a way for pedestrians to cross over Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive. McKee, a member of Transportation Alternatives, said she had been looking at this gap on the east side for a long time and noticed it ARCHITECTURE continues on page 3

NEWS

Monday, February 13, 2012

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LAST WEEK’S TOP READS 1. Santorum should know better. 2. Students: voting was unfair. 3. For the Cure 4. Passage of referendum called a ‘game changer’ 5. Racist campaign ad is brazenly inappropriate.

FEATURED COMMENTS Re: University’s reputation tarnished by calendar

“I’m a woman, and I think if the women in the pictures want to be in them, let them. But to be fair and equal and all that jazz, can we not have a MAN CALENDAR?! Yes, that’s right. Let’s make one with hot men in speedos. You think I’m joking. Bring it on. If it is basically a calendar for showing scantily clad women, then it should be OK to have one OF men FOR women. Lol.” — user “lis” Re: Students: voting was unfair

“With my voting experience, I had more passerby booing and yelling at me for voting yes than I did any influence to vote yes. People that didn’t vote are just angry because they didn’t want it to pass but no one took the time to vote.” — user “/// ”

Re: Housing to change contracts, dining to offer new plans

“Talk about changes for the worse. If it wasn’t already pricey enough. Maybe they wouldn’t have to do these ridiculous fee increases if they wouldn’t have added ridiculous ‘security’ features like at Moody that do so little for security when there are such easy loopholes. Combining the utility and electrical fees is another dumb thing. Making it a flat fee means anyone can waste as much power or water as they want, and all other residents have to cover their costs as well. What’s with the rate increase for dining? The price of food isn’t rising at that much of rate, and I don’t see it within the upcoming year either. Plus these “All Access” plans are even less flexible. If you pick the 5 option, you are stuck with figuring which days you’d want to do that. Also, how do the Cougar Cash supplements work out? I feel this article didn’t touch on everything, and it’d be nice if they could’ve grabbed a copy of those PowerPoint slides and posted it here.” — user “quickboy”

Place your message in a special feature in The Daily Cougar for Valentine’s Day!

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ABOUT THE COUGAR The Daily Cougar is published Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and Wednesdays during the summer, at the University of Houston Printing Plant and online at http://thedailycougar.com. The University seeks to provide equal educational opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability or veteran status, or sexual orientation. The Daily Cougar is supported in part by Student Service Fees. the first copy of the Cougar is free; each additional copy is 25 cents. SUBSCRIPTIONS Rates are $70 per year or $40 per semester. Mail subscription requests to: Mail Subscriptions, The Daily Cougar, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-4015. NEWS TIPS Send news tips and story ideas to the News Desk. Call (713) 743-5314, e-mail news@ thedailycougar.com or fax (713) 743-5384. A “Submit news item” form is also available online at thedailycougar.com. COPYRIGHT No part of the newspaper in print or online may be reproduced without the written consent of the director of the Student Publications Department.

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NTD for him to give a lecture, Hotez said. “This school is so diverse, and in a lot of my classes, I’ve met people from many of those countries. We have a lot of students from Nigeria, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,” said Shee Itaman, a biochemistry senior. “This would definitely encourage these students.” Hotez said his goal is to establish a master’s and Ph.D program that will help in the development of a vaccine. “The vaccine would help eliminate the diseases better because of resistance in contrast to a tablet where the diseases have chance of coming back,” Hotez said. news@thedailycougar.com

ARCHITECTURE continued from page 1

caused problems for both cyclist and drivers on a daily basis. “In New York right now, there is this huge envy for what is happening on the west side. They have the High Line, the Greenway, and there is this sort of feeling that the east side is being left behind,” McKee said. Judges selected two entries for first place, one from Planet Architects, and the other by James

‘Sprucing up’ the UH Law Center

Number of NTDs affecting 100 percent of low-income countries.

Alumni, faculty plant trees to improve the ‘aesthetic appeal’ of UH

149

Number of countries and territories affected by at least one NTD.

Mohammed Haider

534,000

THE DAILY COUGAR

Number of people who die each year from NTDs.

807 million Number of people world-wide infected with roundworm.

60,000

Number of people who die each year from roundworm. Source: Center for Disease Control

and Madeline Stokoe, a fatherdaughter team. No second place was awarded, but there was a third place and seven honorable mentions. Marinic said the exhibit was hosted at UH to help influence architecture students, and he hopes students will get involved in the future competitions. Close the Gap will be open to the public until March 9 at the Mashburn Gallery inside the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture.

Faculty, alumni and their families planted trees Saturday around UH’s Law Center. The UH Law Alumni Association worked with non-profit, volunteer organization Trees for Houston to replace trees that did not survive 2011’s drought. Texas has suffered tremendously from the drought, according to a study done by Trees for Houston. Houston is expected to lose more trees within the next two years.

“The purpose is to plant 34 trees around the law center. We have a UH law alumni on the board who has spearheaded this. Considering how cold it is, I’m very surprised about the turn out that we have here,” said Jessica Keener, marketing and volunteer director of Trees for Houston. Four title sponsors came together with $20,000 and went to Trees for Houston with the idea and purchased several dozen large trees. One of the major sponsors was Jackson, Gilmour & Dobbs — the law firm of Bill Jackson, president of UH Law Alumni Association. Before Saturday, the law school was surrounded by dead trees and empty patches of grass. The organizers said they were aiming to improve the aesthetic appeal

of the campus while helping the environment. “You’ve got this major corridor that is visible. You want to be able to add to it. Surrounding the school with trees will help the law school as a whole,” Jackson said. Several organizers plan to return Monday with heavy equipment and auger the remaining spots. Jackson said the landscape is supposed to look completely different once the project is finished. “This really brings a sense of community. It needed to be done,” said Tracy Hester, a environmental law professor. “We certainly hope to see students studying under these trees in the future.” news@thedailycougar.com

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Monday, February 13, 2012

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OPINION THE DAILY COUGAR EDITORIAL BOARD INTERIM EDITOR IN CHIEF

Daniel Renfrow

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Taylor McGilvray, Joshua Mann

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Joshua Siegel

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& ARTS EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

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EDITOR David Haydon E-MAIL opinion@thedailycougar.com ONLINE thedailycougar.com/opinion

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: BIRTH CONTROL AGAINST BELIEF

Contraception

STAFF EDITORIAL

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee does not deserve attack

escribed by some of her former staffers as the worst boss in Washington, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) is rarely out of the national spotlight. And while she is often justly attacked by the media for her diva-like behavior and ability to turn any event or sound bite into a controversy, a recent attack on her by The Washington Post was unwarranted.

The Washington Post reported that Jackson Lee has secured $5.3 million in federal funds for the University of Houston since 2009. The article implies that Jackson Lee secured these funds because her husband, Elwyn Lee, is employed by the University. Elwyn Lee, the vice president for community relations and institutional access, began his career at UH in 1978. This was long before Jackson Lee made her move to Washington. In fact, he made the jump to vice president for student affairs, a position he held from 1991 to 2011, nearly four years before Jackson Lee became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. It is ludicrous to imply that Jackson Lee secured funds for UH based solely on the fact that her husband is employed here. His position at the University was secured before she was even in a position where she could send federal tax money his way. Jackson Lee secured the $5.3 million for UH because UH is inside her congressional district. This means that Jackson Lee was doing what she was elected to do in the securing of these funds — she was serving the people of her district. Elwyn Lee said in statement that none of the money Jackson Lee secured for UH was directed to areas that were under his supervision. “It is not my responsibility, and it has never been my responsibility, to secure Congressional earmarks,” Elwyn Lee said. He is right in saying that it was never his responsibility to secure those funds. It was the responsibility of his wife, and she has done her best to fulfill that responsibility.

E D I TO R I A L P O L I C I E S STAFF EDITORIAL The Staff Editorial reflects the opinions of The Daily Cougar Editorial Board (the members of which are listed above the editorial). All other opinions, commentaries and cartoons reflect only the opinion of the author. Opinions expressed in The Daily Cougar do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Houston or the students as a whole. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Daily Cougar welcomes letters to the editor from any member of the UH community. Letters should be no more than 250 words and signed, including the author’s full name, phone number or e-mail address and affiliation with the University, including classification and major. Anonymous letters will not be published. Deliver letters to Room 7, University Center Satellite; e-mail them to letters@thedailycougar.com; send them via campus mail to STP 4015; or fax to (713) 743-5384. Letters are subject to editing. ADVERTISEMENTS Advertisements in The Daily Cougar do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the University or the students as a whole. GUEST COMMENTARY Submissions are accepted from any member of the UH community and must be signed with the author’s name, phone number or e-mail address and affiliation with the University, including classification and major. Commentary should be kept to less than 500 words. Guest commentaries should not be written as replies to material already printed in the Cougar, but rather should present independent points of view. Rebuttals should be sent as letters. Deliver submissions to Room 7, University Center Satellite; e-mail them to letters@thedailycougar.com; or fax them to (713) 743-5384. All submissions are subject to editing.

EMILY BROOKS:

JAMES WANG:

Covering the costs makes sense

Compromise is still ill-conceived

Emily Brooks is an economics senior and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com.

James Wang is a history freshman and may be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com.

ou have likely heard about the debate regarding employer-sponsored contraception coverage over the last few weeks. The Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 requires full coverage for preventative care services beginning in August. While many services are covered under this umbrella, female contraception has been the focus of the controversy. The mandate excludes churches and other strictly religious institutions. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops feels that semi-religious institutions such as Catholic hospitals or schools should not have to provide coverage for medical services with which Catholicism does not agree — never mind that 28 states already require contraception coverage or that religious institutions in those states have been providing that coverage for years without issue. Many employees of Catholic hospitals and schools are not Catholic themselves and see no reason their employer’s values should be enforced in their personal lives. About 52 percent of Catholics support the coverage mandate and 98 percent of American women have taken hormonal birth control at some point in their lives, and they are not the promiscuous “fallen women.” Each woman takes birth control for a myriad of different reasons. Perhaps a married woman has children already and does not wish to have more or wishes to space her pregnancies. Contraception is also recommended by doctors to help deal with medical conditions such as acne, irregular menstruation, severe cramping and serious disorders like polycystic ovary syndrome. Friday, President Barack Obama announced a compromise. Female employees of these institutions can have access to contraception directly through their insurance company without their employer having to pay for a service they find objectionable. Women can get the health care that they need, and religious freedom can be removed from the equation. Detractors claim that full coverage is too large a financial burden on private insurers; however, if one merely looks at the facts, there is no such burden. From a fiscal perspective, full contraception coverage makes more sense. It’s cheaper for an insurance company than either a pregnancy or an abortion. The Guttmacher Institute has found that every dollar spent on family planning reduces Medicaid expenditures by almost four times as much. A study by the National Business Group on Health encouraged large employers to provide full contraception coverage for their employees, because failure to do so would cost them an extra 15 percent on average. In addition to saving business and government money, this will obviously save the woman in question a great deal as well. Up to one-third of women have difficulty affording contraception, and low-income women are three times more likely than other women to become pregnant unintentionally Taking contraceptives does not mean that one is promiscuous or that one doesn’t want children or even that pregnancy is necessarily a bad thing. It means taking responsibility for your health and your future. Contraception without cost-sharing is a win for women, for insurers, for the government and for society as a whole.

he insurance companies love it for the money it will save. Women’s rights advocates love it for the assistance it will give. And the Republican Party hates it for the political maelstrom it’s left in its wake. Last Friday, President Barack Obama has amended his contraception coverage policy to try and appease the ire of Catholic Church officials and religious conservatives. Three weeks prior, the government announced that religious organizations must cover contraceptive care under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Now, the policy grants leeway to such groups by allowing the employee to go directly to the organization’s insurance provider charged with providing contraceptive care. At the same time, the debacle has still achieved the goal of painting the GOP as cackling villains who plot against equal health care opportunities for women and the poor under the mask of religious liberty. The shift in policy allowing the employee to go around their employer and straight to the insurance company is only going to be a round-about way of forcing an institution whose core beliefs are at odds with contraception to, in fact, pay for that very contraception. The costs passed off by the group at first are just going to come back around once the premiums set in. I understand that 99 percent of women in the country have used contraception. I am fine with and highly encourage the use of contraception. It is a common sense solution to the sexuality in our nation, and we should always encourage from a grassroot level the use of protection, whether that be for ourselves or for those we meet up with in the dark corner of a frat house on a lonely Saturday night. The issue is that it is not the government’s authority to force a religious institution to act against its values. The military cannot force a conscientious objector to kill. The government should not be able to force the Catholic Church to violate its ethics either. The issue also affects universities, hospitals and charity groups who may also object to the use of contraception. While there is no co-pay or premiums for the employees seeking them, their employers — the costs being passed back down to them — are still being forced to pay for something to which they morally object. In the end it’s just another game of Capitol Hill politics. One might even be so inclined to think that the president had planned this all along. After all, he’s an Ivy Leaguer. He had to have seen the political firestorm this would bring up, and if he didn’t, then he had to have had aides who could see it. Obama knew there was no way the GOP could let this slip by without taking a nip. Some idiots at CPAC have even suggested calling his policy an “abortion mandate” to make it sound worse than it is as opposed to actually sitting down and dissecting the issue by constitutionality. John Boehner has already promised to veto this policy once it hits Congress. Just one question: If the government can make my employer pay for preventative care for me, what happens when my employer decides that I’m just too expensive to cover?

What do you think? Post comments and vote @ thedailycougar.com

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Daily Cougar

EDITOR Joshua Siegel E-MAIL sports@thedailycougar.com ONLINE thedailycougar.com/sports

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-$$5$+,.6$)"/ Houston 10 Texas A&M CC 0 (5)

SCORE BY INNING Texas A&M CC Houston

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WP: Watts, 1-0. LP: Trujillo, 0-1. Save: None. Top hitters: Houston, Klinkert 2-4, R, RBI. H. Outon 1-1, 2 R, RBI, BB. Edwards 1-2, R, 2 RBI; TAMUCC, Cain 1-2, BB.

Back to the future

Houston 3 Oklahoma State 0

SCORE BY INNING RHE Oklahoma State 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 1 Houston 110 100 0–352 WP: DOuton, 1-0. LP: Espinosa, 1-1. Save: None. Top hitter: Houston, H. Outon 1-3, R, RBI.

Houston 8, SHSU 3

SCORE BY INNING RHE Sam Houston State 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 – 3 6 1 Houston 1 0 3 0 3 0 1 – 8 12 1 WP: Groholski, 1-0. LP: Garrison, 0-2. Save: None. Top hitters: Houston, H. Outon 2-3, 2 R, BB. Edwards 2-3, 2 RBI. Klinkert 1-2, R, 3 RBI, SB; SHSU, Damian 3-4, 1 R.

Current Cougars get the best of alumni in exhibition match

Houston 10, North Texas 2 SCORE BY INNING RHE North Texas 000 000 2– 261 Houston 2 3 0 0 0 2 3 – 10 9 0 WP: DOuton. 2-0. LP: Kirk, 0-2. Save: None. Top hitters: Houston, Gaber 1-2, 3 RBI. Anderson 1-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, SB. Gerbacht 2-2, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI; UNT, Hoff 2-3.

Gilbert Requena

THE DAILY COUGAR Cougars past and present laced up their cleats and took to the field on Saturday for the annual alumni baseball game. This year’s game coincided with Fan Appreciation Day, and the fans were treated to a 4-0 victory for the current ball club. “Today was fun,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “To get this group of players together and this group of people together once a year is a lot of fun.” Among the more than 50 alumni on hand were former bigleague hurlers Doug Drabek and Woody Williams and current Major Leaguers Michael Bourn (Braves), Chris Snyder (Astros), Jesse Crain (White Sox) and Brad Lincoln (Pirates). “We have a tremendous tradition in baseball at the University of Houston,” Whitting said. “All those guys in the big leagues that were here today represent the program, and to come out and support, it’s phenomenal.” The current Cougars jumped on the alumni early when senior catcher John Cannon came in to score from third on an errant pitch by Lincoln, the alumni starter, in the first inning, and two more in the third inning thanks to defensive miscues by the alumni. Jordan Lewis, Jordan Mannisto and Mo Wiley combined to shutout the alumni in the seven-inning exhibition. Lewis earned the win, allowing one hit and striking out four in four innings. The atmosphere may have been laid back, but the alumni took notice of the changes going on not just around the ballpark, but with the team as well. “I think Todd (Whitting) has done a good job at trying to get stuff in the stadium, and trying to get fans back in,” said Drabek, a former Houston Astro and class of ’83 alumnus. “Most importantly, he knows what he wants as far as players to get them back to a level where they can compete and try to make it back to the World Series.” sports@thedailycougar.com

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Houston 6, SHSU 4 Freshman Sydney Gerbracht is congratulated by head coach Kyla Holas after smashing the first home run of her career in the Cougars’ 10-2 win over North Texas on Sunday. Gerbracht had an impressive weekend for the Cougars, batting .555 (5-9) and scoring two runs and knocking in two more in four games. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

SCORE BY INNING R HE Sam Houston State 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 – 4 8 1 Houston 1 0 3 0 3 0 X – 6 12 2 WP: Groholski, 2-0. LP: Lancaster, 0-2. Save: DOuton (1). Top hitters: Houston, Jones 3-4, 2 R, SB. Klinkert 2-2, 2 R, 3 RBI; SHSU, Damian 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI. Allison 2-4, 2 RBI.

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Cold weather, hot start for UH Joshua Siegel

THE DAILY COUGAR Opening the season with a perfect 5-0 is a nice way to start the softball season. Head coach Kyla Holas thinks so. “I think it’s exactly where we want to be right now,” Holas said. “We’re controlling the things that we can control.” The No. 20 Cougars roared through five games in three days and came away flexing their muscles in both the batter’s box

and on the mound, out-scoring their opponents 37-9. Sophomore Diedre Outon gave the Cougars their biggest win of the weekend, shutting out No. 11 Oklahoma State — the school that UH lost to trying to advance to the College World Series. “Anytime you can beat a ranked opponent it’s important,” Holas said. “But each year as teams we’re all different. You can’t really take last year into this year. It was nice to get a rankedopponent win, but at this point in

the season that’s all it really is.” Losing last season’s aces, Amanda Crabtree and Donna Bourgeois, made the rotation a bit of a question mark, but Outon teamed with sophomore Bailey Watts and freshman Summer Groholski to shut down the opposition. In addition to shutting out the Cowgirls (4-1), Outon also earned her second win of the season against North Texas (1-3) on Sunday, pitching seven innings and allowing two runs. She also

picked up her first save later that day, picking up the final two outs in the Cougars’ 6-4 win over Sam Houston State (0-4). “I thought Diedre stepped up huge, but she was the healthiest by far all year, so we knew she was going to have to carry some of the load,” Holas said. Grohloski picked up wins in both of UH’s wins against the Bearkats. Her performance was a pleasant surprise as she is still SOFTBALL continues on page 6

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Hall of Fame coach’s words fall on deaf ears People need to hear encouraging words when they are going through rough stretches. That’s exactly what head coach James Dickey did as the Cougars lost their third consecutive game, John and had their record slide Brannen under .500 for the first time this season. Dickey summoned his mentor Eddie Sutton to give his team a pep talk. If anyone would be qualified to fire up a group of young basketball players it would be someone who took four different schools to the Final Four, and won more than 800 games as a head coach. He preached about things like sacrificing for teammates, and his three D’s to win— dedication, defense and discipline. UH responded to that rally cry with a 72-48 loss to Tulsa at the Reynolds Center on

Saturday. Through one half, the Cougars played the Golden Hurricane closely and went into halftime down four points. Then they were out-scored 46-26 in the second half, en route to losing their fourth straight game and dropping to 3-8 in Conference USA. The Cougars have won and lost in every way imaginable. They have had six games that were decided by three or less points, and have won just two of those. UH has had a few decisive, double-digit victories, but it has received more lopsided losses than it has given. UH opened the new year with an overtime win against Tulsa on Jan. 4 at Hofheinz Pavilion, winning by a point. The rematch ended up being a far cry from that effort, as the Golden Hurricane won by 24 on Saturday HOOPS continues on page 6

With their 72-48 loss to Tulsa, the Cougars are in the midst of their fourth mult-game losing streak of the season and now stand 3-8 in Conference USA. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar

SPORTS

Monday, February 13, 2012

SOFTBALL continued from page 5

getting back in the swing of things after breaking her arm in the fall. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was very glad that we were able to get Summer again, coming off of her injury, three innings,â&#x20AC;? Holas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re right where we need to be.â&#x20AC;? Even with teams pitching around Conference USA Player of the Year Melissa Gregson, the Cougarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offense didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss a beat with senior Jennifer Klinkert and sophomore Haley Outon leading the way. Klinkert picked up hits in half of her at bats (6-12), scored six runs, knocked in seven, and mashed a home run against the Mean Green.

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to deal UH itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second four-game losing streak of the season. Not even the sage advice of Eddie Sutton could help UH get a win against a team it had already beat. Things were supposed to be different this year. Before the season started, players were saying not to compare the 2011-2012 roster to last seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s group. They were saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sleep on us.â&#x20AC;?

The Daily Cougar

Outon went 6-13, highlighted by her solo home run against Oklahoma State, and also scored six runs for the weekend. Freshman Sydney Gerbracht hit the first home run of her career, a two-run shot against the Mean Green, while also going 5-9 for the weekend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think Sydney, Klink, Jamie (Edwards) and Ashleigh (Jones) are really doing a great job for us offensively and really kind of anchoring us and producing the most runs,â&#x20AC;? Holas said. In the Cougarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; final two games of the weekend, Holas moved Gregson down in the order from her usual spot as the cleanup hitter to try to get her better pitches and stop teams from pitching around her. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if she saw

any better pitches,â&#x20AC;? Holas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think everyone still knows her as a senior and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to pitch around her no matter where she was. But just trying to take some of the pressure off, hopefully sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see some more pitches.â&#x20AC;? Holas was pleased with the Cougarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; start and even happier to know where her teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weaknesses are going forward. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We needed to play to see where all of our problems were, especially on day three,â&#x20AC;? Holas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think day three â&#x20AC;&#x201D; mentally, physically, (and with) the weather conditions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to see your biggest weaknesses and there was some key stuff going on today that we have to fix.â&#x20AC;?

But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening. UH is near the bottom of the conference standings, and will need a miraculous run in the C-USA tournament for any chance at postseason play. There are plenty of differences between last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edition of the Cougars and this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version. However, they share some similarities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the most important being that there is something missing. Dickey has suggested his team lacks the grit to win, or perhaps it is the thin rotation due to a rash injuries.

It is too early to dismiss this season as a lost campaign, but it is easy to begin speculating about next year. Perhaps more experience at the college level will make current players mature, and maybe some prized recruits will make a difference. But until the Cougars show progress on the hardwood, this program is in a perpetual state of wondering about the possibilities of next season because of the shortcomings of the current season.

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Monday, February 13, 2012

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EDITOR Jose Aguilar E-MAIL arts@thedailycougar.com ONLINE thedailycougar.com/arts

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Ensembles to bang the drums at Moores Moores Opera House sets the stage for a performance by percussion ensembles from the Moores School of Music at 7:30 p.m. The ensembles are directed by Blake Wilkins and Alec Warren. The event features works by Jalbert, Gauger, Burritt and Whitacre. Admission is $10, or $5 for students..

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Board provides ‘bear’ essentials for love The Student Program Board will provide students the chance to woo sweethearts during the annual Build-A-Bear event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the UC Arbor. All bear parts are free and available to current students with ID until materials run out. For more information, visit www.uh.edu/spb/ upcoming-events.html.

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Austinite to jam out during lunch The SPB provides back-to-back events this week. The board welcomes Austin-based Tje Austin from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the UC Arbor. Singer-songwriter Austin has opened for artists such as Anthony David, Dwele and Trey Songz. Listen to Austin’s music at www.myspace.com/ tjeaustin.

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Film sheds new light on plight of women It’s a busy week for the SPB, which hosts a screening of the documentary, “Miss Representation,” at 7 p.m. Thursday in the UC Houston Room. The film, which has a tagline that reads, “You can’t be what you can’t see,” explores how the media’s misrepresentation of women has led to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence. For more information, visit www.uh.edu/spb/ upcoming-events.html.

Chorus to crush the Mucky Duck tavern The Concert Women’s Chorus of UH will take over McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for a set of festive songs from England, Scotland and beyond — with an emphasis on Gilbert and Sullivan’s “spirited” choruses. Proceeds from the event benefit the Moores School of Music. Tickets are $15 advanced or $16 on the day of the show. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.mcgonigels.com.

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Writers, artists to create ‘ekphrastic’ nite Members of UH’s creative underground surface for “Idioms, Images, and Form: An Alternative Ekphrastic Evening” from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday at Bacchus Mediterranean Winebar and Coffeehouse, 2502B Dunlavy. The event, hosted by UH student Colin Sturdevant, includes local visual art, poetry and flash fiction. Writers scheduled to read include Sturdevant, Katherine Robb, Stephen Cronin, Pamela Buzsek, Erika Andrade, Amechi Ngwe, Heather Pedoto, and Rebecca Oxeley. Local artists exhibiting their works are Rosalyn “Cookie” Wells, Karen Mazzu, Carolyn Adams, Garret Middaugh, and Margaret Owen. For more info, visit the event’s Facebook page.

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Get your dance on for a good cause Dance On, a student-run dance marathon, steps off on its fifth year beginning at 11 a.m. All proceeds benefit Texas Children’s Hospital. For more information or to register, visit www. uh.edu/uhdm/. —Cougar Arts Staff

Student Program Board President Jared Gogets announces the organization’s inaugural show in its “Large Concert” series via microphone as fellow board members unveil the event posters behind him. New York rap-rock outfit Gym Class Heroes are set to play the Cullen Performance Hall on Feb. 23. | Nine Nguyen/The Daily Cougar

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Board announces ‘large’ event Christopher Lopez

THE DAILY COUGAR After a two-hour set from electronic duo Dr. Seahorse Thursday at the UC, representatives from UH’s Student Program Board, sponsor of the event, made a special announcement to students: rap-rockers Gym Class Heroes are scheduled to perform Feb. 23 at Cullen Performance Hall. The announcement comes after more than seven months of planning by the SPB concert committee. “We were given the go ahead for the concert around July of last year,” Brittney Mathis, chair of the committee, said “We went through the preliminary planning stages between July and November in order to choose a performer and a production company.

We had a pretty good idea of who we wanted to go with around that time.” The concert, Mathis said, is a testament to how far the University of Houston has come in just a few years. “We have never had the resources to put on a show this big, and I think everything we are doing in SPB mirrors the progress of our great university. Tier One is the game we are playing and we aren’t going back, and I think that means a lot to the students.” The constant comparison of UH to other Texas schools who do have the resources to bring big shows to their campuses meant that students would always ask Mathis why UH couldn’t bring big names to campus. “I don’t think they will be asking that anymore,” Mathis said. “I think this just shows UH and the students that we are worthy of our Tier One ranking in all

aspects.” Mathis said board members played a big part in picking the performer. The committee started contract negotiations with Gym Class Heroes in mid-December, who were an “obvious choice” for the SPB’s inaugural show of its “large concert” series. “There’s no denying that they are hot right now and at the top of their game,” Mathis said. “They also appeal to many people. “That was part of our criteria in picking a band. We needed an act that is just as diverse as the University of Houston, and I believe Gym Class Heroes is unique in that way so it was really a perfect fit.” The band’s latest album, “The Papercut Chronicles II”, was released in HEROES continues on page 8

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Launch party an antidote to stale readings Undergraduate literary journal Glass Mountain releases eighth installment Camila Cossio

THE DAILY COUGAR There was a light drizzle, surprisingly cold weather, lots of beer and a really obnoxious dog that was determined to be heard. Regardless of these obstacles, the readers who took the microphone at Antidote Coffee House triumphed. The reading was part of the launch party held on Thursday evening by the folks at Glass Mountain, UH’s undergraduate literary journal. The recent issue is the journal’s eighth volume. UH alumna Heather Pedoto read, in a very amusing voice, pieces from her love-oriented but hilariously sarcastic

fiction, including a bit about a psychic named Cassandra who can’t seem to see what’s right in front of her and an awkward sex scene involving an apologetic human-eating alien. Creative writing student Reyes Ramirez read from his published fiction and poetry. His prose was lyrical and insightful while still oozing with blunt humor. UH students Tiffany Le, Elizabeth Davies, Nicola Smith and Aliah Lavonne JT also read from their respective pieces, which can all be found in Glass Mountain’s latest journal. The journal costs $5, which is an enormous steal for such whimsical writing. Caleb E. Coats, who works for Glass Mountain, talked about what literary readings offer the community. “The readings, to me, are really great in that they sort of echo literary

tradition. Literature evolved out of oral recitations, and I think that all writing still has that sort of innate need to be spoken aloud,” Coats said. “The readings also offer a chance for writers, publications and the writing community in general to make connections and gain exposure.” Thursday’s reading saw a diverse crowd. There were students, poets, and professors mingling together, including the journal’s faculty advisor Lynn Voskuil, creative writing professor Aaron Reynolds and Creative Writing Director J. Kastely in his snazzy beret. After the reading some people left, but many stayed and congregated around Antidote’s patio. “These are group gatherings where, many times, someone can meet another JOURNAL continues on page 8

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November 2011, which is a follow up to their 2005 album, “The Papercut Chronicles.” As chair of the committee, Mathis’ job was to plan the event and get it all together, but she said it was really a team effort from the entire SPB, faculty advisors and graduate assistants. “I love the Student Program Board, and I think this is a huge

step in our organization. It’s been a lot of hard work and late nights working on this show, but it will all be worth it on Feb. 23,” Mathis said. “I’m also honored to have such an incredible band come and play at UH. It’s a little bit surreal that they are actually going to be here soon. I think that having a band that is at the top of their game while we are at the top of our game just proves we are doing something right.” The concert will be a ticketed

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event and seating is limited to the first 1,500 current UH students to receive a wristband, which will be handed out at 3 p.m. on the same day of the show, Feb. 23, at Lynn Eusan Park. Current students must bring UH identification cards. No wristbands will be given to guests, faculty, staff or the general public. Houston’s own VerseCity will open for the band.

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member of the community and forge a really important friendship or social connection,” Coats said. Glass Mountain offers an opportunity for many aspiring undergraduate writers to do something that they love. “Well, I really enjoy working for Glass Mountain because it allows me to participate in a literary community — not only as a writer, but also as an editorial voice,” Coats said. “Plus, it’s just great to work with a bunch of people who take Star Wars trivia just as seriously as Walt Whitman.” For more information on upcoming events, submissions or to purchase a copy of the journal, visit www.glassmountainmag. com/ arts@thedailycougar.com

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