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June 13, 2012 Issue 116, Volume 77
University calls for tobacco-free policy Submitted proposal highlights transition plans for fall semester Max Gardner
THE DAILY COUGAR A special Tobacco Task Force, authorized by Provost John Antel, finalized its proposal Friday for a transition to a tobacco-free campus beginning this fall and will present it later this week to UH President Renu Khator and a committee of University vice presidents as well as the University Coordinating Commission.
“A new UH tobacco policy will be recommended this week,” said Assistant Vice President of University Health Initiatives Kathryn Peek in a special report at the Student Government Association Senate meeting June 6. “We expect a quick turnaround from the president, but it may take longer for a response from the UCC.” Provost Antel charged the University Health Initiatives in March to create the UH Tobacco Task Force. In April, Khator requested a recommendation by June for an update to current tobacco policies, which already set specific restrictions on smoking on campus.
Peek and Assistant Vice President for Health and Wellness Floyd Robinson were appointed co-chairs of the task force. “The provost wanted us to create a campus-wide policy to reduce health risks for all members of the UH community, which includes students, faculty, staff and visitors, but that still respects the civil rights of individuals,” Peek said. These changes stem from a state rule passed in January requiring certification of a tobacco-free policy for any institution receiving funds from the Cancer Prevention Research TOBACCO continues on page 2
An SGA Senate bill passed in January increased the number of non-smoking areas and banned smoking altogether in high-traffic areas. There are currently 711 tobacco-free campuses nationwide, with 23 in Texas. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar
RESEARCH
TEXTBOOKS
Students explore prostate, breast cancer therapies
More than half of UH professors fail to meet textbook list deadline
Julie Heffler
Joshua Mann
THE DAILY COUGAR
Peter Tran, Jayantha Tennakoon and Hanah Do are all students of the CNRCS, where their research could help develop prostate cancer therapies. | Courtesy of Lisa Merkl
THE DAILY COUGAR Four University of Houston students working at the UH Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling have taken on research projects to explore different therapies for prostate and breast cancer. Beating back the overly broad disease simply called cancer has been the stuff of dreams for researchers everywhere. Despite extensive research, the different forms of cancer and the complexity of treatments have made the discovery of an absolute cure difficult. Jayantha Tennakoon, a graduate biology and biochemistry doctoral candidate, Hanah Do, an undergraduate biology major, Peter Tran, an undergraduate
biochemistry major, and Eylem Aydogdu, a recent graduate who now holds a doctorate in biology and biochemistry, have taken up arms against the onslaught of these tumor-related afflictions. Tennakoon focused his sights on prostate cancer while completing his research in Assistant Professor Daniel Frigo’s lab. “I research prostate cancer because it is one of the leading causes of death among men throughout the world,” Tennakoon said. For his research, he won an Outstanding Abstract Award from The Endocrine Society, which recognizes exceptional abstracts submitted for ENDO 2012. “(I hope to) make original
contributions to advance the field of prostate cancer research. Perhaps later, as an independent scientist, (I can) apply the expertise I gain from this lab to address complex problems in development and cancer.” Tennakoon is happy to know his work has provided his field with valuable insight and possible solutions to fighting this disease, he said. “The work done so far has provided a novel pathway which may be potentially (explored) through different strategies in the future to reduce the proliferative and survival potential of prostate cancer cells,” Tennakoon said. CANCER continues on page 3
Students will soon begin ordering textbooks for their fall classes, but the majority of UH professors have failed to let the University know what the required texts will be. Texas public universities like UH are required by House Bill 33 to set a deadline for their professors to make the information available, but over half of the professors missed the deadline in the spring semester and have yet to turn in a list. “The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires professors and instructors to submit this information to the university so students are aware of what books they need to purchase for the upcoming school year,” said Student Government Association President Cedric Bandoh in the SGA senate meeting June 6. House Bill 33 was signed into law in June 2011, and this fall will be the first semester to which it applies, but UH professors have been required to submit their fall
textbook lists in the spring for much longer. “We have different participation levels every year, so some years we do better than others,” said Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Esmeralda Valdez. This year, the professors’ textbook deadline for the fall semester was in late March. According to Bandoh, only 45 percent of professors made this deadline. “(The deadlines) might seem a little early, but actually they coincide with the academic calendar,” Valdez said. “We know that the academic calendar opens up registration for fall in April, so the deadline for the book orders will be in March so that the students registering for fall actually know what the course requirements will be.” Without the information, Bandoh said, the UH bookstore can’t buy as many used textbooks from students it will need for the fall semester. Students also do not know which books to purchase. “So the problem we are running into now is we have students TEXTBOOKS continues on page 2