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February 15, 2012 Issue 75, Volume 77
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Campus to receive meals on wheels UH to bring food trucks to campus to offset franchises lost in University Center renovation Audris Ponce
THE DAILY COUGAR Dining options will change for students once renovations at the University Center begin to take place this spring semester. Food trucks on campus will help offset the closing restaurants as construction begins, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Esmeralda Valdez said. All food service operations at the UC will cease near the end of May. Administration is planning to have food trucks at the beginning of the summer sessions, Valdez said. “The University of Houston dining services team in collaboration with the University came up with the idea as a means of continuing to provide for the needs of the community on this side of campus,” Valdez said. Zhetique Gunn, a civil engineering freshman, said she thinks the
I don’t really eat on campus because I don’t think they have healthy choices, but I’d be open to it if they have vegetarian options.” Amin Ali, after hearing UH is bringing food trucks to campus food establishments closing will bring complications. “The lines are going to be terrible,” Gunn said. “I think everyone’s going to go to the Satellite.” As of now, two vendors are expected and administration is researching available options for other food trucks to come to UH. “I wasn’t even aware they were doing this,” said Amin Ali, a supply chain and finance senior. “I don’t really eat on campus because I don’t think they have healthy choices, but I’d be open to it if they have vegetarian options.” Students said the food trucks might pose problems current dining options lack.
Starting with the summer semester, UH will have food trucks come to campus to replace dining options that will close during the UC renovation. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar “Sanitation issues are important to me,” said Elaine Lam, a human resources development senior. “Is it going to be clean?”
UH Dining Service operations are inspected and enforced with health and FOOD TRUCKS continues on page 3
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Free cholesterol screenings at the Health Center Friday The UH Health Center will offer free cholesterol screenings for students, faculty and staff from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. People interested should bring a photo ID when they come, said Jennifer Nguyen, a registered nurse at the health center, in a campus-wide email. The results of the tests will be available starting on Tuesday, the email said. For more information, call (713) 743-5151. — Cougar News Services
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Charter school ‘jump ropes for heart’
S
tudents at the UH charter school celebrated their fundraising efforts by jumping rope Tuesday. Jump Rope for Heart is a fund-raising event for the American Heart Association. Schools can register to participate at www.heart.org. The money raised goes to research for medicine to treat heart problems in children, according to the American Heart Association’s website. | Chris Luong/The Daily Cougar
Head football coach to speak at Bauer Breakfast UH’s head football coach, Tony Levine, will speak at the Bauer Breakfast from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Houston City Club. Althetic Director Mack Rhoades will also be speaking at the event, which is sponsored by the Alumni Association, according to a UH press release.
For more information or to register, go to tinyurl. com/6upf4sg. — Cougar News Services
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Panel to discuss ‘public education funding crisis’ The UH College of Education and its Education Alumni Association will host a panel “to discuss the state of public education funding,” a UH press release said. The discussion, titled “The Public Education Funding Crisis,” will take place during the Action Alliance Workshop and Luncheon, which is from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the UH Hilton’s Shamrock room and the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom. The panel will include Orvin Kimbrough, senior vice president of development at United Way of Greater St. Louis; Steve Murdock, professor of sociology at Rice University and Frances Deviney, director of Texas Kids Count, along with other speakers. Call Alison Walker at (713) 7430828 for ticket information. — Cougar News Services
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NEWS
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Daily Cougar
How well do you think Student Government Association has represented you while you’ve gone to school here?
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“Lately, I see that there’s a huge disconnection between students and the government on campus. (I’m) not too impressed with parking; there’s a huge problem with how paperwork is processed … I don’t think the student government is doing the best job they could at representing the students right now.”
“I think the organization has done well, but I don’t think the school has represented its influence in politics as well as it should. Like the referendum for example; if we had voted no, (the school) would have passed it anyway. But I think the student government itself does well at representing me.”
“I don’t know everything that the student government does for us, but they did the referendum voting thing, and that was cool. I voted yes, and I’m really happy that it went through. But other than that I don’t really know what the student government does.
Eric Wood
Michael Drab
pre-med senior
mechanical engineering senior
philosophy junior
“I don’t know, dude. I get an email every now and then, but that’s it. I really don’t pay attention to that.” Sergio Balderas
“I think they’re doing a pretty good job. As far as getting work done, it takes a while. But they’re doing a pretty good job of representing our interests.”
engineering technology junior
Andrew Mbiam
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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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The Daily Cougar
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
FOOD TRUCKS continued from page 1
sanitation regulations by the fire marshal’s office, which Valdez said will also be applied to the food trucks. “In addition, UHDS will conduct its own regular inspections and audits,” Valdez said. The location where the food trucks will conduct business has not been determined, but it will most likely be in front of the UC and to the right of the UC circle, Valdez said. Another concern students had about the new dining options was whether the food trucks would take Cougar Cash as payment. “This is under review but it is our intent that they will be able to use their Cougar Card Cash,” Valdez said. Augustin Askandari, an art junior, said he thinks the renovations will be an inconvenience. “I’m just here to get educated and I could care less about these extra things,” Askandari said. “I come with my own food from home.” news@thedailycougar.com
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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OPINION THE DAILY COUGAR
EDITOR David Haydon E-MAIL opinion@thedailycougar.com ONLINE thedailycougar.com/opinion
DRONES OVER M.D. ANDERSON
by David Delgado
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Daniel Renfrow
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Taylor McGilvray, Joshua Mann
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Joshua Siegel
LIFE
& ARTS EDITOR
OPINION EDITOR
Jose Aguilar David Haydon
STAFF EDITORIAL
Drones could come to Houston skies
T
he Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, H.R. 658, was signed into law by President Barack Obama yesterday — robots are coming to U.S. airspace.
These robots or “drones” are of the same caliber as the one that recently crashed in Iran. There are clear safety issues involved with bringing these drones into U.S. airspace, but there are privacy issues as well. Concerned American citizens should be frightened by several of the act’s provisions. The act requires the FAA to speed up the process of giving government agencies permission to operate drones, gives government public safety agencies the freedom to operate drones that weigh less than 4.4 pounds, and requires the FAA to develop a 5-year plan for the introduction of civil drones into national airspace. The act also requires the FAA to develop six testing areas where drones will be integrated into the national airspace system. If several Houston area lawmakers have their way, Houston will be one of these testing sites. Houston Rep. Pete Olson recently wrote a letter to Michael Huerta, acting administrator of the FAA, requesting that southeast Houston’s Ellington Field be considered for one of the testing areas. Several Houston area representatives, including Rep. Sheila Jackson lee, Ted Poe and Al Green, signed the letter. The defense contractor Lockheed Martin has several offices in south Houston. According to The Texas Independent, Martin has contributed money to each of the representatives who signed Olson’s letter. Houston residents should be furious with these representatives for caving to political contributers and trying to bring these powerful surveillance devices into our city. The passage of this act could be used as justification in the future to pass acts that further infringe on the privacy rights of citizens. Houstonians should speak out and let Congress, Obama and their local representatives know that privacy is not a right they are willing to lose.
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.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Chance for a chair Finding the right candidate could give Texas Democrats the seat
T
he spotlight for the open U.S. Senate position might be on the Republican Party, but the race for the Democratic nomination has also begun and this might be the year that sees Texas turn purple. In 2009, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson ran for Governor against incumbent Rick Perry and lost. In the process, the Republican Party ripped her to shreds by labeling her a “moderate.” Alex At that time — the Caballero height of the Tea Party movement — this sort of labeling was considered a political death sentence. After losing the governorship, Hutchinson announced in 2010 that she would not be running for re-election in the Senate. She would, in fact, retire her seat. With an open seat in the Senate, Tea Partiers scrambled to find a suitable conservative candidate. The Republican front-runners are as follows: ex-Solicitor General Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Cruz has won in various polls over Dewhurst because he’s garnered the much coveted Tea Party endorsement. Commenters might say that a Democratic nominee has no chance in Texas, but one needs only to think about how diverse and fierce the Texan spirit is. Not to mention the fact that many young Hispanics will be of voting age this year, and they tend to vote Democrat. Texas has the second largest Hispanic population in the United States, and therefore, the time is ripe for change. For more than 100 years the Democratic
Party was the majority party in Texas, and it wasn’t until the ’60s that it changed. Ex-Governor, the late Ann Richards, was one of the most popular and celebrated governors of Texas, and she happened to be a Democrat. One only needs to look at our neighbors in Louisiana to see that a state with a senator from each party is not only possible but logical. So, without further ado, Democrats meet your nominees: The first is Paul Sadler, who was a representative in the Texas House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003. His website states that he is a proud Democrat like our parents and grandparents were. According to Sadler, it was our Democratic ancestors who “built this great State.” He also strongly believes that Texans are fiercely independent and that the Senate seat does not belong to a single party. Sean Hubbard is an Austin native who wants to bring the voice of an “everyday Texan” to the Senate. Hubbard’s website says he is “tired of elected officials that forget who they’re supposed to be fighting for,” which — according to Hubbard — are everyday Texans. Famous Texas Democrats like Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn and Ann Richards, he says, represent the best of Texas and fought tirelessly for progressive values. The third candidate is Daniel Boone. Boone has been a farmer, laborer, professor and businessman. He says on his website that his campaign is “about preventing the destruction of the middle class and returning the power to the people.” Boone fears that money has taken
Commenters might say that a Democratic nominee has no chance in Texas, but one need only think about how diverse and fierce the Texan spirit is. For more than one hundred years the Democratic Party was the majority party in Texas, and it wasn’t until the ‘60s that it changed. Ex-Governor, the late Ann Richards, was one of the most popular and celebrated governors of Texas, and she happened to be a Democrat. “ over Washington D.C. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination has a tough fight to follow. Right now the Texas district map is a mess. The Texas Legislature is in the midst of redistricting the state and is already behind schedule. Primaries have been pushed back, and there is currently no end in sight. The results of the census garnered Texas four new seats in Congress, and the controversy lies on how they should be divided up. If the districts are spliced in a certain way then they might just be the extra push that wins a Democrat the seat or perhaps the Texan independent spirit might shine through nonetheless. Alejandro Caballero is a creative writing junior and may be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Daily Cougar
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EDITOR Jose Aguilar E-MAIL arts@thedailycougar.com ONLINE thedailycougar.com/arts
DANCE
Moving work honors month of history African-American show features storyline of Buffalo Soldiers and their fight towards victory and equality among discrimination Tristan Tippet
THE DAILY COUGAR In honor of Black History Month, Houston’s Urban Souls Dance Company presented a performance that celebrated both the spirit of what it means to be an African-American and the triumph of the community in the face of oppression. The USDC collaborated with UH’s African American Studies Department to present “Old Wounds: New Blood” on Saturday at the Cullen Performance Hall. Artistic Director Harrison Guy said the performance celebrated Black History Month in several ways. One was to tribute local history through a piece about the Blue Triangle, a community center in Houston. The company also presented a piece about the Buffalo Soldiers. “We’re celebrating black national history,” said Guy. “We’re celebrating spirituality.” The tone of the dance was not pity or remorse, but genuine, heartfelt emotion and assertiveness on part of African-Americans. The dance characterized what AfricanAmericans could do to effect change, which was the case with the Buffalo Soldiers, who distinguished themselves as the first legion of African-American soldiers in the U.S. Army. “With the Buffalo Soldiers, we told a couple of stories,” Guy said. “We started out with the importance of them becoming professional soldiers right after slavery — how
According to their Facebook profile, Houston’s own Urban Souls Dance Company “is dedicated to the preservation and creation of historical and contemporary dances.” Dancers from the company strive to bring passion and technique to their performances. | Courtesy of Harrison Guy/The Daily Cougar they wanted to use that to prove themselves as citizens.” Among the Buffalo Soldiers tributed was Lt. Vernon Baker, one of the African-American Medal of Honor recipients. “He became popular because he was shot five times in the war that he fought in and was successful after the war,” Guy said. Another of the tributes was to a soldier named Kathy Williams. “She was the only female Buffalo Soldier
and she had to disguise herself as a man to fight in the army at the time,” Guy said. Moving forward to World War II, a part of the performance dealt with the Double Victory campaign, which encouraged AfricanAmerican soldiers to do well in the Army in order to prove themselves and help with the Civil Rights movement. Soldiers were not just fighting for the country, said Guy, they were fighting for themselves.
“They were fighting to fight the fight,” said Guy, adding that there they were motivated by two reasons: patriotism and American citizenship. “There was a strong desire to prove to themselves that we were citizens and that if we can be successful soldiers, maybe this whole racism thing will go away and we can help with it.” arts@thedailycougar.com
ALUMNI
Social issues brought to light Annette Santos
THE DAILY COUGAR
Kissing for equality
O
n Tuesday, students met in front of the M.D. Anderson Library at Butler Plaza with their companions to participate in a quick kiss simultaneously on St. Valentine’s Day. The event was held in support of the University’s LGBT faculty and staff. Esteban Tobar and Angela Hoang pictured above shared a kiss at the event. | Chris Luong/The Daily Cougar » Gallery: More photos at thedailycougar.com/photo
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Former UH student and critically acclaimed social documentarian Erica Fletcher sets out to create a more social and responsible world through her films all while keeping a sense of humor. “Films are very limited in their depth, but the hope is always that audiences will feel more comfortable talking about difficult issues and continuing the never-ending process of trying to make sense of our world,” Fletcher said. Fletcher graduated from UH in May 2010 with a triple major in anthropology, sociology and psychology. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston working on towards a doctorate in medical humanities and says her studies give her a better perspective of life. “The more I study about societies, the more I realize that we live on a very strange planet,” Fletcher said. “We all have to get along the best we can with what we have.” “Marianismo,” her first documentary, put a face to the growing issue of HIV/AIDS among Latin women — eight times higher when compared to white women — and brought her national recognition when Glamour Magazine named her among 2010’s Top 10 College Women in the U.S. Her second film tackled human trafficking; a topic Fletcher says needs more than surface exploration. “‘Pack and Deliver’ calls into question what
we know about human trafficking and seeks a more critical lens for learning about this issue.” Fletcher said. When she’s not working, Fletcher is researching for a paper and film on lowincome psychiatric patients and says her interests are hard to narrow, if not downright scattered. “Usually I end up drenched in my own brainstorms huddling under a broken umbrella of semi-traceable theories and previous research to back up my interview findings,” Fletcher said. “If I’m lucky, the hail and thunder will inspire some coherent research project.” Fletcher said UH gave her the opportunity to explore her various interests in social science, social work, media and human situation studies. All serve as influences seen in her films. “I was able to bounce around The Honors College and a number of other departments learning about what interested me,” Fletcher said. I took classes on the history of Houston, human sexuality, death and dying, disease in antiquity and several independent studies.” Above all, Fletcher advises students to be able to take an honest look in the mirror and laugh. “Not to be too trite, but there is something to trying to be yourself. I’m just now starting to come to terms with the fact that on the inside, I am an awkward, multi-cultural, secondgeneration immigrant and formerly religious fundamentalist homeschooler,” she said. “In trying too hard to fit in, I ended up being even more of an anomaly.” arts@thedailycougar.com
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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NEWS
The Daily Cougar
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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7
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Nici Wright
Era
Amongst the candy, flowers, red and pink balloons and all the Valentine’s madness in the University Center there was another celebration: the 45th Anniversary of the UC. Student Bethany Johns, Senior in Applied Music, was one of the few students who said she was aware of the anniversary. “I’m a part of College Republicans and we receive current news for campus,” Johns said. “I was excited to see they found it important enough that students should know about it.”
Students had the opportunity to create their own shirts using paint and tiedye at a table set up in the UC. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar
Students voted in a 2008 referendum to have the building remodeled rather than rebuilt. “It’s never fun to have construction at school, especially when you are trying to rush around to class, but it’s part of a growing university,” Johns said. “We have to expand to accommodate for students and have more updated facilities. When it’s done it’s awesome.” The renovations will make UH a better school, Christopher Broussard, Computer Information Systems Junior in. “It’s an exciting thing for the campus and will make the campus look better. Especially in terms of us becoming Tier One now. Better facilities will equal better students as well as faculty.” The UC is the “main attraction” at the University, Broussard said. “I don’t care if you are a commuter or live on campus, everyone goes in and out of the UC,” she said.
news@thedailycougar.com
Students who made it out to the celebration were treated to crepes with decadent toppings that were put together by fellow Coogs. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar
Students danced away their Valentine’s Day sugar rushes in the UC Arbor. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar
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SPORTS
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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UH faces final test
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The Cougars look to prove that they are the best in C-USA Travis Gumphrey
THE DAILY COUGAR The Cougars will host the 2012 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships in a multi-day event starting Thursday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Cougars will face stiff competition from last year’s champion, Rice, who UH defeated 212-151 on Jan. 28, and also SMU, who UH lost to 155-143 on Jan. 21. Thursday’s events will begin at 10 a.m. and include trials and finals in the 500-yard
free, 200-yard individual medley, and the 50-yard free. Thursday will include the preliminary and semifinal rounds for 3M diving and finals in the 400-yard medley relay. Events will continue again at 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday with trial rounds in multiple individual swimming events as well as 1M diving on Friday, and platform diving on Saturday. Finals begin at 6 p.m. on both days with the 200-yard free relay starting off Friday’s finals and the 1650 free starting Saturday’s final events. sports@thedailycougar.com
The Daily Cougar
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Staff full of new faces The Cougars hope to bounce back at the C-USA Championships after losing to Texas A&M in their last outing, 186103. | Brianna Leigh Morrison/The Daily Cougar
Gilbert Requena
THE DAILY COUGAR Satchel Paige once said, “My pitching philosophy is simple — keep the ball away from the bat.” The Cougars’ pitchers will try to do just that this season. Last season, the Cougars’ pitching staff was riddled with injuries and they ranked toward the back of the pack in Conference USA pitching statistics — seventh in team ERA (4.56), eighth in hits allowed (585) and last in runs allowed (335). “Pitching was our weakness last year because of depth,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “We had some talented kids, but we just ran out of pitching at certain points throughout the year.” Over the offseason, the Cougars’ coaches added that much-needed depth. They now have 17 pitchers on the roster and they have solidified several roles. Jared Ray will be the Friday night starter. Jordan Lewis will go on Saturdays and Aaron Garza gets the nod on Sundays and Matt Hernandez will most likely take the hill on Tuesdays according to Whitting. “Pitching is our strong point this season,” Whitting said. “I’m really excited about what we have. Our staff is very healthy for this time of year.” Last year’s starters have also noticed the difference with all the new arms on the staff. “It’s a big difference,” Ray said. “Now we have competition for spots. Last year we were looking for people to pitch day-to-day. Now guys aren’t going to pitch unless they’re at the top of their game.” Coming out of the bullpen, Jordan Mannisto will serve as the set up man for newly-named closer Mo Wiley. As a former starter, Wiley brings three years of experience with him to the bullpen. “It’s a new chapter in my book here at UH,” Wiley said. “Now, as a closer, I am able to go from having to conserve energy to being able to give max effort.” The closer role is vital to Whitting. After losing several leads in the other team’s last at bat last season, he will be leaning heavily on Wiley’s right arm. “It’s not uncommon for me, over the course of my career, to be on coaching staffs who have taken one of their best pitchers and made him the closer,” Whitting said. “It’s the hardest three outs to get in baseball. “He has the ability to throw in short stints, low-to-mid 90s, with a swing-and-miss breaking ball and change-up. That’s what you look for in the ninth inning.” sports@thedailycougar.com