Issue 79, Volume 77

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Robledo, Droemer lead Cougars to second place at Rice Invitational

February 22, 2012

VerseCity returns home to rock Space City

Issue 79, Volume 77

SGA ELECTION 2012:: CANDIDATE Q&A

SGA candidates have the answers

Name: Jeff Syptak Major: political science Classification: junior SGA postions held: CLASS senator, chief of staff, various committee positions Running mate: Jack Wehman

Jeff Syptak

David Williams

Joshua Mann

Taylor McGilvray

THE DAILY COUGAR

THE DAILY COUGAR

The Daily Cougar: What are three things voters should know about you?

Jeff Syptak: The first thing would be my experience. I’ve been on both sides of the aisle in SGA. I served as chief of staff during the 47th administration when Prince Wilson was president. I ran last year as a CLASS senator — beat out three people — and I’m currently CLASS senator four. I’m also a member of numerous committees.

When I was the chief of staff, one of the greatest things that I did was the Campus Accessibility Tour, which dealt a lot with the disabled students, also cochair for homecoming.

Second thing would be that I love the University of Houston. I have a passion for where the University is going, we are moving on to bigger and better things, but in spite of that I have seen students affected by

The Daily Cougar: What are three things you would like voters to know about you?

David Williams: I’m a hard worker. I have the students’ best interests at heart. I am a people person.

Hard worker means that if I set my mind to something and I see that something needs to be done, I’m going to follow through and make sure it does get completed in any ethical means necessary.

As far as students’ best interests at heart, I realize when I came to UH that, yes, the educational status was Tier One, but there are many other divisions of the school that are not.

I hear my fellow students complain about so many things, and I feel like the administration hasn’t had a chance to get to those issues yet because they have their own things that they have prioritized.

I listen to people. I can take constructive

SYPTAK continues on page 3

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Name: David Williams Major: psychology Classification: junior SGA postions held: none Running mate: Ramon Montano

WiLLIAMS continues on page 3

Cedric Bandoh

Femi Jekayinfa

David Williams

Joy Ramirez

Markley Rogers

Carl McGee

Michael McHugh

Jeff Syptak

Turner Harris

Amayrani Gomez

Mohammed Aijaz

Josue Alvarado

Ramon Montano

Camdan Mahbabani Jack Wehman

Tarek Haidar

Each candidate will be featured in our “Candidate Q&A” series this week.

Source: Student Government Association

UH SYSTEM

UH-Downtown ends open admissions Board of Regents unanimously vote to raise the University’s requirements Mohammed Haider

THE DAILY COUGAR

UH-Downtown opened in 1974. | Daniel Renfrow/The Daily Cougar

UH – Downtown will no longer be an option for high school seniors applying to schools with openadmissions.

On Feb. 13, the UH System Board of Regents voted unanimously on setting automatic admission standards that will take effect starting Fall of 2013.

Setting admissions standards has been under discussion for several years. UH-D leadership developed the proposed standards in consultation with the UH System

Board of Regents and administrators. The standards were discussed with legislators and with UH-D faculty, staff, alumni and students before the proposal was submitted to the UH System Board of Regents for approval, according to the Board.

“Our focus is on student success and access. Admission standards are in the best interest of our students, since it will provide a pathway for education at a university or a community college, depending on a student’s interest, ability and preparation,” said vice president of Enhancement and External Relations Johanna Wolfe.

According to the Board of Regents, students graduating in the top 25 percent of their class would automatically be admitted; those in the 26 to 50 percent group UH-D continues on page 2

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NEWS

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

UH-D continued from page 1

must have a combined SAT score of 850, a 2.5 GPA or an ACT admissions test score of 18.

Although the University is changing its admissions policy, there is a plan for students who do

not meet the criteria for automatic admissions.

UH-D will offer a joint admissions program with several local community colleges for freshman students who were not admitted.

Students participating in the program will enroll in developmental and core courses that will transfer over to UH-D once they have been

successfully completed. While these students are enrolled in classes at community college, they will have full access to UH-D facilities and services.

With the new automatic admission standards and other improvements, Wolfe hopes for UH-D to become one of the top choices for graduating high school seniors.

The Daily Cougar

“There is a role for every university in the UH System and UH-D plays its part in providing higher education opportunities in the Houston and Gulf Coast region. It’s not about competition, but about access to education for a broad population of adults and providing work-force ready graduates for the fourth largest city in the nation,”

Wolfe said. “By admitting students who are prepared to do college-level work, UH-D will increase the number of students graduating annually.

We are also strengthening advising and mentoring for our students, to support their ability to complete their degrees in fewer years.” news@thedailycougar.com

Invites you to

“A Black Man Decided Where the White House Would Be” A Black History Presentation Honoring

“America’s First Black Man of Science” - Benjamin Banneker Author | Scientist | Mathematician | Astronomer Publisher | Urban Planner

Friday, February 24, 2012 11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

University of Houston Honors College Commons 212 M.D. Anderson Library Featuring Guest Speaker:

Peggy Seats Executive Director of The Washington Interdependence Council Students, Faculty & Staff are invited to Join.

Please bring your own lunch.

RSVP Kahearne@central.uh.edu or 832-842-5090 Program brought to you by The Honey Brown Hope Foundation in partnership with office of Community Relations and Institutional Access, the African American Studies Program, Honors College, and Women’s Resource Center

Cougar crafts for charity

L

otus Bermudez shows Joseph Hernandez how to manuever a pottery wheel during Tuesday’s Bowl-a-thon. The event had students, faculty and staff sculpt bowls to be sold with the proceeds going to the Houston Food Bank. | Emily Chambers/The Daily Cougar » Story: Read more at thedailycougar.com

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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.

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SYPTAK continued from page 1

a lot of the changes. There’s a lot of good changes, but students have also felt the negative changes.

Regardless of that, if chosen as president I would try to make sure that every student is seen in a fair and in-balance way.

The third thing is I’m just a normal student. I work at Chili’s Grill and Bar in the Willowbrook area, so I commute every day. I’m a commuter. I’m also doing an internship right now with Texas Representative Sylvester Turner … and I come here every day, walk around campus, go to classes. Do the normal student stuff.

TDC: What makes you stand out from the other candidates?

JS: My experience. I think I’ve been more involved in SGA than all the other candidates. This has been my third year. I’ve brought many

WILLIAMS continued from page 1

criticism.

TDC: How do you think your involvement in organizations (outside of SGA) will help you if you become president?

DW: In Omega Delta Phi fraternity, I’ve been in several leadership positions. Those being recruitment chairman, standards officer — which upholds the law of the organization — vice president and I’m the current president.

So, it has taught me to deal with different personalities in a small group of people and it’s taught me how to motivate people to get the business at hand completed.

Now as far as the Multicultural Greek Council — I was the external vice president. The Multicultural Greek Council has 20 organizations under its umbrella.

I dealt with all the events, such as expansion — to add more organizations into Multicultural Greek Council and also recruitment.

So, that taught me to be extremely organized, to be extremely efficient, and it taught me interpersonal relationship skills — not just with individuals, but with organizations.

TDC: What do you think is the best thing SGA has done since the summer session?

DW: Two things. I am glad that SGA pushed for us to pass the new incentive in order to build the stadium. However, the only thing I didn’t like about that was I wish

different ideas to administrators, faculty and staff that haven’t been thought of before.

So I have a lot of fresh ideas; every time I walk into a meeting I look at the situation and figure out what I can do to change it or make it better.

TDC: What would you do as president if elected?

JS: The first thing I would do?

Some of the other candidates have mentioned visibility with SGA. It’s not only visibility with SGA, but I want SGA to integrate with a lot more student organizations.

There are organizations that do great things within the community ... and they need to be applauded for their efforts and given a lot more resources to help them become better organizations on campus.

So one thing is working with these organizations and informing other students what we have to offer here at the University of Houston.

TDC: How do you plan to find out what the students want and make sure you represent that accurately?

JS: When I was in SGA as Chief of Staff, I had an open-door policy.

I will make sure that everybody has an open-door policy. If I’m in a meeting, I’ll make sure someone is there. As far as accountability, I tell people that if you need me, contact me through all the media that I have provided: Cell phone, email text. I will make sure that if you have a problem, you’ll be taken care of.

Students come to me, and their problem will be handled. They’ll never hear the answer ‘no.’ They’ll hear the answer ‘yes.’ I want to ensure that people know if you come to me with your problem, I will take care of you.

TDC: Why did you decide to run for SGA president?

JS: I’m running because there are students out there who don’t know what the University has to

it wasn’t 25 years, I think it should have been five years. Just so in five years we could have looked at it, so we could see if the student fee was still needed.

And I believe that regardless of your sexual orientation, everybody is equal. I believe in equality. And SGA helped push to change the (non-discrimination section of the student handbook) and I’m proud they did that because most people would have not done that.

Most organizations would not have even touched the issue. What that showed me is SGA is really here for the students — they’re not here just to have the position and to have the prestige that goes along with it.

TDC: And going on that theme, what do you think SGA needs to improve on?

DW: I think they need to have more sessions where they actually sit down and talk to students. That way they can get to the real nittygritty of what’s really going on, and what really are the issues. Because I think everything is more of a larger scale and there are so many small things that need to be fixed that will ultimately solve the big issues.

TDC: And how, as president, do you think you’ll go about finding out what the issues are?

DW: I already have. Even before I decided I was going to run for president. Like I said, I always listen, and I think one of the main things is not being scared to talk to anybody and everybody.

One, from a smaller scale, is financial aid. What I’ve realized is, financial aid here, the average

student here gets his or her financial aid a week to two weeks after school has started. That’s an issue.

Because if we’re going to have a Tier One educational system that’s going to challenge us, then need to be set up for success and we’re not.

And students aren’t getting it until two to three weeks. Two to three weeks? You got an exam within the next two weeks, and if you didn’t have your books because you’re waiting for your financial aid to come in, that’s a major issue.

TDC: How do you plan on dealing with real problems that the student body faces?

DW: First thing, I would have to go to the students to find out what the exact issues are.

And then from there I’m going to go up the chain of command, and then it’s my job at that point to get it resolved. And I understand that it’s not going to be quick, but it is going to be something with these hot button issues that I need to stay on it.

If we don’t say the voice of the students, they’ll just go on to something else. That’s what SGA is here for.

TDC: Why do you want to be SGA president?

DW: Because I want to change the view of this University. I love this University, and like I said before, I think the educational part of it is Tier One, but everything else needs to meet up with that.

The SPC meets monthly during the school year to hear updates from the department’s units, to give a forum for public comment and to elect the editors in chief of The Daily Cougar and Houstonian yearbook. For more information, visit www.uh.edu/sp/committee

What do you think about the presidential candidates?

Let us know by commenting at thedailycougar.com/tags/sga2012

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For more information on this and other candidates, go to thedailycougar.com/ tags/sga2012.

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proactive role rather than just sitting there and just saying yea or nay to small things has inspired a lot more people to run.

Getting people involved has been one of the greatest contributions of the SGA. TDC: Being the SGA president is going to be a big job — it’s going to take a lot of time. How are you going to find the necessary time to devote to the job?

JS: I like to multitask. I like to be engaged in everything I can. I will be cutting back from work at Chili’s, and I will make sure that students understand that if I’m not in the office, they know where to find me.

My schedule will be posted. I want to make sure students are taken care of. Students are top priority. If I have to leave an event to take care of a student, I will.

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MEETING WHAT UPDATES AND DISCUSSION ABOUT STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BUSINESS

offer. Students just come here, go to class, maybe get involved with one organization, then they go home.

I really want students to understand the tradition, the history of where we’ve been at the University and where we’re going, because we’re moving to bigger and better places.

You have to understand the quality that students pay for and the quality of the programs that we’re producing is actually accurate.

TDC: What is the most important thing SGA has done in the past administration?

JS: Tough question. It depends on who you ask. I’ve asked that to students before. The one thing that I know I’ve seen since being chief of staff is that the current chief of staff — who is one of my opponents — has increased the visibility of the internship program, but other than that I really can’t name one thing.

The effort of those people actually stepping up and taking a more

For more information on this and other candidates, go to thedailycougar.com/ tags/sga2012.

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

WHERE BIG BEND ROOM, UNIVERSITY CENTER 2ND FLOOR

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Daily Cougar

OPINION THE DAILY COUGAR

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

INCREASED MEASURES by Pedro Crevantes

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR IN CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR NEWS EDITORS SPORTS EDITOR LIFE

& ARTS EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

Daniel Renfrow Mary Baak Taylor McGilvray, Joshua Mann Joshua Siegel Jose Aguilar David Haydon

STAFF EDITORIAL

Women not allowed to speak on birth control

I

n a House committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing last week over President Obama’s mandate to eliminate co-pays for birth control, women learned something interesting: An all-male panel knows more about their bodies than they do.

Rep. Joe Walsh contended that the hearing on birth control access was not about women, but about religious freedom. Minority Rep. Carolyn Maloney was not convinced that the hearing was about religious liberties and offered some fiery words to fellow members of the committee.

“I look at this panel, and I don’t see one single individual representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need insurance coverage for basic preventative health care services, including family planning,” Maloney said. “Where are the women?”

Maloney, who eventually walked out of the hearing, accused Republican committee chairman, Rep. Darrel Issa, of trying to send women back to a primitive era when “the government thought what happens in the bedroom (was) their business.”

There should have been women on that panel.

But then again, how could the women have been objective when the issue is connected to what goes on in their bodies. What kind of precedent would that create? Letting women testify about contraceptives could lead to men testifying about prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction.

Huffington Post bloggers Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks wrote on their blog that the hearing reveals that women have not yet benefited from the Civil Rights Act. “Over half the population still doesn’t enjoy full civil rights, and Republicans seemed bent on taking away some of the most important ones they have,” wrote Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks on their blog.

Women should have access to birth control without having to pay co-pays. Preventing them from speaking about that right in the hearing was a travesty.

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.

Sonogram laws do not change women’s minds, but push intrusive reform

O

ur deepest held convictions are often based in our values.

While few will set the same amount of weight on each, diversity in our values allows us to continually test the rationality of our convictions. In the United Emily States, we are free to Brooks bring our values to the public sphere and to take action to further our cause. However, when our actions no longer further our original cause and seek only to harm and spite others, we may be certain that we have lost our way.

In Texas, Virginia and half-a-dozen other states, new bills are being introduced that require women seeking to terminate a pregnancy to undergo an ultrasound or other unnecessary medical procedures before having an abortion.

Regardless of one’s feelings on abortion, it cannot be denied that these laws do nothing to discourage the procedure or further the anti-abortion cause.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology does not consider routine ultrasounds medically necessary, a point which the advocates of these bills affirm.

They claim being required to have and to view an ultrasound gives a woman “more information” with which to make her decision. This necessarily implies that she does not understand that she is pregnant. If she did not understand, she would not be in the clinic in the first place. It is patronizing to assume that a woman has so little understanding of the nature of her own pregnancy that an image could change her mind. It will not.

Tracy Weitz, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California at San Francisco, performed a recent study on whether or not forced ultrasounds prior to abortion procedures changed women’s minds and

caused them to cancel the procedure; it did not. The study concluded that “viewing an ultrasound is not an indication that a woman will cancel her scheduled procedure, regardless of what emotional response the sonogram elicits.” In the Virginia bill, if a woman refuses to view the ultrasound, she will be made to sign a waiver that will remain on her medical record permanently.

The manner in which that image is obtained is even more worrisome.

Most women who choose to terminate a pregnancy do so early — typically prior to 12 weeks. This means that the abdominal ultrasound used in late term pregnancy will be insufficient to view the fetus, especially at the level of detail required by the Virginia bill. As a result, a trans-vaginal ultrasound is used instead. As many legal experts, including Slate Magazine’s Dahlia Lithwick, have noted, the state is basically requiring a woman to submit to forcible vaginal penetration — also known as rape as it is defined by both federal and state law — to obtain an otherwise legal and constitutionally-guaranteed medical procedure.

It is absolutely shocking, not to mention ironic, that legislation this invasive would come from the party of “small government.”

Some defenders of the bill, like Virginia Delegate Kathy Bryon, claim that the abortive procedure itself is invasive, and women should not mind the ultrasound.

Despite that many women opt for the non-invasive medication method and they would not be exempt. Others who have been quoted from the halls of legislature claim that because the patient must have previously had intercourse, forcible penetration should not bother them. By this twisted logic, only virgins can be raped.

To illustrate how inappropriate the bill is, Virginia Senator Janet Howell presented a tongue-in-cheek amendment

Most women who choose to terminate a pregnancy do so early. The abdominal ultrasound used in late term pregnancy will be insufficient to view the fetus. As a result, a trans-vaginal ultrasound is used. The state basically requires a woman to submit to forcible vaginal penetration — also known as rape as it is defined by both federal and state law — to obtain a legal medical procedure.” to the bill. Her amendment would require that prior to receiving a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication like Viagra or Cialis; men would be required to undergo a prostate exam and cardiac stress test. Her amendment was promptly vetoed, exposing the roots of this bill’s impropriety: A cardiac stress test and prostate exam are not medically necessary to obtain a Viagra prescription, and the only purpose of such legislation would be to humiliate men sexually — a close parallel to what is being asked of Virginia women.

Forcing an ultrasound on a woman will not change her mind. If the individuals that support these bills want to lessen the number of abortions that occur each year, they should support evidence-based sex education, preventative health clinics and access to effective birth control.

Forcing a woman to have an invasive and unnecessary medical procedure will not help them achieve their goals — unless their only goal is to punish and shame women.

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

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Daily Cougar

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

BASEBALL

Cougars throw the game away

Errors and wild pitches spell disaster for UH in loss Gilbert Requena

THE DAILY COUGAR

Freshman Roman Robledo led the Cougars to a second-place finish at the Rice Invitational on Tuesday. Robledo and sophomore Jesse Droemer finished third and fourth, respectively on the individual leaderboard. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

GOLF

Cougars take second

Robledo, Droemer shine for UH at Rice Invitational finishing in the top five Andrew Pate

THE DAILY COUGAR The Cougars rebounded from a ninth-place finish at their first tournament of the spring to take second in the field of 15 at the Rice Intercollegiate hosted by Westwood Golf Club.

“Last week we were just really rusty and sloppy,” Head Coach Jonathan Dismuke said. “We wanted to do a better job this week to make sure our attitude was proper and we were ready to compete for 54 holes instead of just when things went our way.”

Thirty-six holes in, the Cougars sat in third place, six shots behind Florida Gulf Coast and seven behind eventual winner Northwestern before turning in a team score of 284 in the third round, knocking off seven strokes from their first and second round scores of 291.

“We knew that we could contend if we played up to our potential,” freshman Roman Robledo said. “We tried a little too hard in the first round but came out in

the second round and just played our game; we didn’t push as much.”

The Cougars were led by Robledo, whose four-under was third-best amongst the 81 competing golfers and was the second tournament in a row the golfer sat atop the UH leader board, earning him tremendous praise from his peers.

“We’re just seeing the beginning stages of how good of a player he’s really going to be,” Dismuke said.

“He’s developing each and every day; he’s smarter, getting more tournament -tested and I really believe the sky is the limit.”

Also leading UH was sophomore Jesse Droemer, who finished tied for fourth individually at three-under in his first tournament of the spring.

The Cougars hope to ride their wave of momentum with this week’s short turn around, as they will compete Saturday and Sunday in Palm Desert, Calif. at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.

“Any time you can have some success to build on it’s always good,” Dismuke said. “We’ll head out there with a good taste in our

Tuesday’s final-round results at Houston Individual results 3.

T4.

T38.

T38.

R. Robledo J. Droemer C. Reed K. Pilgrim

51. J. Ross

69 73 74 77

74 71 76 73

69 69 73 73

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Team results 1.

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Northwestern Houston Fla. Gulf Coast Wichita State UTSA Louisiana Tech UL-Monroe Texas State Kansas State NM State Winthrop Missouri State HBU Air Force Rice

289 287 286 862 291 291 284 866 288 290 293 872 299 284 291 874 294 291 290 875 291 292 293 876 299 286 294 879 293 299 292 884 301 291 293 885 293 304 290 887 300 291 300 891 294 304 293 891 296 305 296 897 301 295 304 900 305 294 308 907

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mouth from having a strong performance at Rice.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Since the Cougars couldn’t make it out to Galveston to toss a few beads out on Fat Tuesday, they decided to toss the ball around Cougar Field, but not in a good way.

The Cougars had a passed ball, three wild pitches and three errors, two of which allowed two runs to score, en route to a 3-2 loss to visiting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“We just made mistakes,” head coach Todd Whitting said. “Like I told the team. ‘You never know what run is going to win or lose it.’

Two of the three errors were made by freshmen. They were aggressive mistakes. I have no problem with young guys being aggressive. They’ll learn as they get older.”

After a leadoff fly out in the third inning, TAMUCC catcher Santiago Ruiz singled to left and advanced on an error by the left fielder. A few pitches later, he advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored on an Eric Weiss double.

The miscues continued in the third as A&M-CC scored a run without recording a single hit in the inning. First baseman Brad Porras got on after getting plunked by a pitch and eventually reached third after two wild pitches. He would come around to score after an errant throw got into left field.

Corpus Christi starting pitcher Daniel Minor kept the Cougars off balance in six innings of work, allowing no runs, five hits, and a walk while striking out four.

“I thought their guy did a good job,” Whitting said. “He established a low strike zone, he continued to hit it and we did adjust. When you don’t adjust and a guy is hitting his spots, it’s going to be an extremely long night for you.”

BOX SCORE TAMUCC 3, Houston 2 SCORE BY INNING R HE Texas A&M C.C. 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 – 3 6 0 Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 2 10 3 WP: D. Minor, 1-0: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 4 SO LP: M. Hernandez, 0-1: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, BB, 2 SO Save: P. Garcia (1): 1 IP, H

This is the second time in the Cougars’ four games they have had trouble against a starter who established his fastball according to Whitting.

UH starting pitcher Matt Hernandez had a good outing, going four-and-two-thirds innings allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits and striking out four.

“He did a really good job of getting two strikes and then didn’t put them away,” Whitting said. “When you get to two strikes as a pitcher, you’ve got to see blood in the water.

You got to put guys away.”

The UH offense tried to rally late, but were only able to push across two runs in an eighth inning, where they had the bases loaded with no outs.

The Cougars had another opportunity to score in the ninth, but Casey Grayson was unable to get a bunt down for a safety squeeze with a runner on third and one out.

“I’ll bunt Albert Pujols.” Whitting said. “We work on that play a lot. The percentages on a safety squeeze are way in your favor as opposed to swinging the bat. We’re going to get that bunt as a team, 70-80 percent of the time. You got to be committed to the play, you got to execute it.

“I’d rather walk out of here after the ninth inning 3-3 than down 3-2 and going home.” sports@thedailycougar.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

UH hopes to trample Herd Eli Daniels

THE DAILY COUGAR The Cougars hope to ride the momentum of Saturday’s win against Conference USA co-leader Southern Miss, into Cam Henderson Center on Wednesday where they will take on Marshall.

UH (12-13, 4-8 C-USA) displayed confidence and toughness Saturday night, something that they have

been without as of late.

“I don’t know where it came from, but I’m happy it did and hopefully we can move on from this win and go get Marshall,” junior Jonathon Simmons said.

Marshall (16-10 ,7-5) has been tough at home this year (11-3).

The Herd have been a mediocre team on offense, but win games on the strength of their rebounding.

They lead C-USA in rebounding margin (+7.8). Forward Dennis

Tinnon leads the Herd with 9.8 rebounds per game, third in C-USA. The Cougars will also be tasked with containing guard DeAndre Kane, who is fourth in C-USA in scoring at 15.8 points per game.

“Beating Southern Miss builds up a lot of confidence for us,” freshman TaShawn Thomas said. “Going into our next couple of games and into the Conference tournament.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Sophomore Alandise Harris scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Cougars’ 73-71 win over Southern Miss. | Aaron Cisneros/The Daily Cougar

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Daily Cougar

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

ASTROLOGY

Sarah Nielsen’s advice for Cougars toward the end of the month Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Happy birthday, fishes. The Sun, Moon, Mercury and Neptune are residing in your sign right now. Look for emotional communication that leads to transformation and imaginative depth in your outlook.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Venus and Uranus are still mixing it up in your sign. I would recommend looking at change and improvements that can be made in your love life.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Finish your incomplete goals from 2011 before the end of spring. Make plans, set a path and get your work done. You might experience an economic windfall or other fortuitous opportunities before too long.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): Saturn’s got a nice complement to your sign right now, giving plenty of opportunity to have hard work turn into welcome rewards. You might not see immediate results, but keep on pushing on.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): With sister-sign Pisces taking on all the action right now, you might consider sinking into a nice hot bath or whatever else your home-based relaxation routine entails. Take care of yourself, re-emerge and shine on.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): With the Sun in a water sign, things might feel a little dampened. Guard your flame and don’t get too overwhelmed if things aren’t blazing along as one might desire.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If you are usually a hard-hitting go-getter, you might find that the Mars retrograde in your sign is tapping the brakes when you’re trying to accelerate. Take note of these moments and try to see if things need an oil change.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You might find yourself a little repressed while Saturn continues to transit your sign, but this is an excellent opportunity to lay a foundation for future achievements or to do the hard work needed to earn your laurels right now.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take this week to get over your insecurities and have more than a little faith in humanity. Take the dive and get a little sensitive in front of the one you’ve been watching since before Valentine’s Day. Open up and see what happens.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): With the North Node in your sign, this is the perfect opportunity to look inward, find your intuition and let that inner guide get you through what might be a time of insecurity, feelings of inferiority and the tendency to be overwhelmed.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We’ve got a decade until Pluto is done ramming through outdated structures in our thoughts, moral codes, governments, economic policies and intellectual dogma. See what you can do to reform, refine, and rebuild.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Perhaps you deserve a little rest. Consider your accomplishments and your profound insights from the recent past and congratulate yourself with a lovely dinner and a glass of wine. Bring a friend and share your genius — he or she will love you for it. arts@thedailycougar.com

The members of VerseCity reflect the diversity of Houston, their hometown. The band consists of five musicians who are culturally different, but united by their music. | Courtesy of Lynn Lane

CAMPUS EVENT

National touring band returns home Zoe Quezada

THE DAILY COUGAR A Black man, an English gentleman, a Jew and a Venezuelan walk into the Cullen Performance Hall and no, this is not the beginning of a cheesy joke.

This is a preview of the members of VerseCity, the opening band for Thursday’s Student Program Board concert series.

VerseCity is a Houston-based multicultural hybrid rock band started by two former UH students, guitarist Marcus Edwards III and singer Micah Walker.

“We met at Bayou Oaks, we lived down the hall from each other,” Walker said. “I saw him jamming out and I walked up to him and said, ‘Hey, let’s jam together.’”

“One of our first shows that really gave us a huge boost was playing Frontier Fiesta. There were thousands of people at that show and overnight we became one of the more popular bands of Houston.”

In just four years, the band has grown from two friends who used to jam out in dorm rooms to winning the Houston Battle of Bands and placing second in the National Battle of the Bands competition.

While most local musicians would be nervous to play alongside huge national acts such as Gym Class Heroes, the members of VerseCity boast they are not nervous at all.

They’ve toured all around the country and have opened for popular acts such as Cobra Starship, Lifehouse and Slim Thug.

“It’s pure excitement and adrenaline,” Walker said. “We want to tour and play for big crowds with other bands.”

In honor of their special hometown performance, the band will be performing new songs from their side project, The Anthem — a new band composed of the same members as VerseCity but with a more pop-rock sound.

“It’s really cool because it’s a different style than what we’ve done as VerseCity,” Walker said.

“It’s more pop and electronic sounding, but VerseCity is not dying by any means.”

Tickets for the show will be released 3 p.m. tomorrow in Lynn Eusan Park to the first 1500 UH students with a photo ID. The show starts at 7 p.m. arts@thedailycougar.com

MUSIC

Sophomore release blends genres Christopher Lopez

THE DAILY COUGAR Sleigh Bells, originating from New York, has finally released its highly anticipated album “Reign of Terror.”

There was a lot of hype surrounding this album since the success of “Treats” in 2010.

This group from Brooklyn met in 2008 and is composed of Derek Edward Miller and Alexis Krauss.

Since the founding of the group, there has not been much of a departure from the heavy rock and hip-hop beats.

The band has used the same formula with a few twists for this album.

Sleigh Bells did not depart from the heavy beats, but instead amplified its sound with this album — which seems hard to believe — and added more guitar and experimental beats.

The album starts off with a live version of a track with the audience roaring.

“Alexis” builds up the audience while the electric guitars start, creating

an intense power with the beat.

The track has immense energy and raw emotion, both louder than the chanting and screaming of the audience.

Though the majority of their songs sound simple and melodic, it is the simplicity which makes them that is much more entertaining.

Though the first few tracks are intense and amazing, “End of the Line,” is nearly a pop anthem, which gives the feeling of déjà vu.

While still using the heavy bass and softer guitar, it is a softer track with more pop vocals.

This is one of the best-produced tracks in the album and it shows the diversity of genres in this album giving off the ’80s vibe like that of bands like The Cure.

The songs start turning down the volume as we near the end of the album.

Then, we reach the single “Comeback Kid.” The catchy lyrics and beat make it an astounding track, about the person who always thinks he or she is right.

This song is followed only by

“Demon,” one of the harder tracks of the album, which defines the sound in the title and meets expectations.

Not only are there different sounds in each track, but they are unique even though they are not the raver-bashing songs which ensued us in “Treats.”

“Road to Hell” is one of these in which the beats are hard and moving, but still holds a calm composure from the lyrics and vocals used as well as the wailing guitar.

The words are melancholy and have a sharp delivery caused by the composure of the tracks on the album.

This can be said to be a rebellious anthem that ensues the mainstream culture and abuses it, creating a new sound which can only be described as a hip-hop, pop and rock infusion.

“Reign of Terror” is its own album. It has no true equal and is a great step for Sleigh Bells.

Many people will admire this album for its multitude of genres and incorporation of them into each track. arts@thedailycougar.com

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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