t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s pa p e r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s to n s i n c e 1 9 3 4
THE DAILY COUGAR
®
GET SOME DAILY
thedailycougar.com
84 LO 63 Wednesday HI
Cougars get pretty in pink in support of foundation
‘Hunger Games’ conquer box office
March 28, 2012 Issue 95, Volume 77
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Court disqualifies four candidates Commission found to have numerous violations, justices decided guilt of students independently Joshua Mann
THE DAILY COUGAR The Student Government Association Justices struck down the Election Commission’s decision to disqualify four members of the McHugh-Aijaz party due to code violations, but determined three of them participated in election fraud. President-elect Michael McHugh and Natural Sciences and Mathematics senators-elect Laxmi Ramana and Brandon Balwant have been disqualified for the fraud. Mohammad Aijaz, McHugh’s
I speak for the Court when I say that we delivered this judgement with heavy hearts. It is truly regrettable to discover that fellow students aspiring to represent the student body succumbed to these temptations.” Chief Justice Taylor Kilroy, on the decision the SGA Court of Appeals made SGA continues on page 2
Michael McHugh (right) listens to James Lee (left) testify that he helped the McHugh-Aijaz party commit election fraud in the runoff SGA elections in McHugh and Aijaz’s Court of Appeals hearing Monday. | Emily Chambers/The Daily Cougar
ORGANIZATIONS
BOARD OF REGENTS
Group wins first place at home
Stadium to be built in current location Regents approve student referendum fee increase There is no tuition Audris Ponce THE DAILY COUGAR increase; it’s just the fees to support The UH system Board of Regents decided to build a new the UC and the athletics football stadium in Robertson’s construction. These are not fees current location instead of the for classes but for services.” proposed site near the intersec-
Event celebrates culture through dance, sports Audris Ponce
THE DAILY COUGAR The University of Houston Filipino Student Association hosted and won the annual GoodPhil festivity at the Stafford Centre. GoodPhil is a weekend event which began in 1991 where FSA groups from universities across the state, including the University of Texas, Texas A&M and the University of Texas at San Antonio among others, convene to celebrate their culture through dance and sports. “It’s something that every participating FSA in Texas looks forward to every year,” President of UHFSA Christian Santos said. “On a competitive note, every
The UH Filipino Student Association won their dances and most of their sports, as well as won the first place overall prize. | Courtesy of Sadiq Amir school prepares and puts in work to represent their school in every competition. In the end, it’s just about getting everyone together as one.” The competition draws in students who watched the events as kids. “Some of us have followed GoodPhil since we were in high school at a young age and had older brothers, sisters or friends who were involved with GoodPhil, and we just were there along for the ride in some way,” business sophomore and dancer Richard Ocampo said.
The preparation for the event spans over months with grueling schedules the students juggled along with school, work and family obligations. Students participating in sports met various times each week to prepare for the football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and dodgeball competitions. “We practiced everywhere on-campus,” kinesiology major Wesley Vu said. “Aside from team practice, we had individual practices at the UH Recreation Center GOODPHIL continues on page 3
tion of Cullen Boulevard and Interstate 45. This was decided in the Board’s meeting Wednesday at the Hilton University of Houston Hotel. “There are too many unknown costs for the I-45 site,” Vice Chair for the Board Mica Mosbacher said. “I would hate to burden our students with more costs.” The alternate site would have cost the University an estimated $40 million more than it would to keep the stadium in the current location. The I-45 site date of completion was 2015 and would’ve relocated Cullen Boulevard and the intramural fields. One year of rental for another facility would’ve been added to the cost.
John Antel, on the increase of student fees in the fall semester Chair of the Board of Regents Nelda Blair said she and other members felt comfortable with the current site for the new stadium. “I am satisfied that our current site is the site to be,” Blair said. The cost for the new, approximately 40,000-seat football stadium is $105 million, and construction will be completed by 2014. The Board also approved a student fee increase that will be implemented in the fall semester. “There is no tuition increase; it’s just the fees to support the UC REGENTS continues on page 3