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Congress wastes time, student loan interest rates set to double
Stewart makes a new name for herself
June 20, 2012 Issue 117, Volume 77
CAMPUS
UC brings different food options Renovations cause eatery shutdowns, fresh restaurant locations open up on campus Alexandra Doyle
THE DAILY COUGAR With so many renovations, including the closing of the University Center, and replacements occurring on our campus in the coming months, the thought of finding food in the construction wasteland can seem more than a little daunting. In response to the closed restaurants, UH Dining Services has replaced the UC locations with several food trucks: Bernie’s Burger Bus, The Waffle Bus, and Bare Bowls Kitchen. Aramark, the company that holds UH’s food service contract, said the student response has been positive. “We were very glad to see the student response to the trucks at the end of the semester, and we have seen similar response to the food trucks that we have had on campus since June 4 for the summer session,” an Aramark representative said. “We are currently exploring the possibility of adding two more trucks once the fall semester begins.” As for the eateries that were already serving in the UC, Aramark provides a solution for at least one of the previous locations. According to their representative, the new food options in the remodeled UC include Express, McDonald’s, Starbucks Coffee, Chick-fil-A and a Cougar Xpress Mini Market. After phase two of the renovations, a Freshii restaurant will also be opening in the UC. Additionally, a Taco Cabana will be opening in the new stadium parking garage in the fall. “Sushic has already moved over to the UC Satellite and served its first meal in that location on June 4. They are serving out of the space that used to belong to Montague’s
As the renovations of the University Center take place, the Japanese restaurant Sushic will be located at the UC Satellite. It will stay in the Montague’s Deli spot, moving the Deli to replace the Cranberry Farm’s place come the fall semester. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar Deli,” an Aramark representative said. “Once the fall semester begins, Montague’s Deli will re-open in the old Cranberry Farms space. The new UC is going to have an entirely new set of locations.” The Oberholtzer dining hall will be closing next semester and will be replaced by the new west dining hall. “The new dining hall being built on the corner of Cullen and Wheeler is meant to replace the dining hall in OB. It will still be a ‘Real Food on Campus’ style with a similar menu to what OB offered,” an Aramark representative said.
“The dining hall is scheduled to open in the fall semester. Until that time, OB will remain open to serve students in that area of campus.” All-access meal plans are being installed for the fall semester, which will allow for a more flexibility for only $100 additional. Students can choose the All-Access 7 plan, which allows for continuous access every day of the week, or the All-Access 5 plan, which is limited to Monday through Friday. “All-access meal plans were approved spring 2012, and students coming in the fall have the option to choose one of those
plans instead of a lifestyle or block meal plan. (They) allow students to swipe into the dining halls once every 30 minutes,” an Aramark representative said. “The plans also come with a certain number of guest passes that students can use to treat family or friends to a meal in the dining halls, and a certain amount of Cougar Cash.” Aramark said the food trucks will stay on the UC patio and their service hours may be found at http://tinyurl.com/UHfood. news@thedailycougar.com
GRANTS
Faculty member receives Fulbright funding “Smart building” design team led by University professor to undertake international research on ecological solutions in Morocco Channler Hill
THE DAILY COUGAR Engineering professor Driss Benhaddou is joining the esteemed list of professionals to receive a Fulbright grant. The Fulbright Program, an international educational exchange program, awards 7,500 grants annually to applicants with excellence in academic achievement and demonstrated leadership in their careers.
Benhaddou focuses his research on ‘smart buildings,’ structures that can regulate their own climate. He said it was started by an interest in wireless sensor networks. “My line of research is optimization of routing protocols and resources allocation in optical networks. Five years ago I started investigating similar issues in wireless sensor networks,” said Benhaddou. “WSN turned out to be very specific to their (motes) applications and problems.
A couple of years ago, I started working with a group of faculty on applying WSN in intelligent building management systems.” Motes, which were invented by different groups from Berkeley University and various companies, have the function and size of a minute computer and accomplish small, specific tasks like sensing and communicating. After a couple of years of research and discovering that WSN were specific with the motes, Benhaddou and his group
began working with smart buildings. “With the advent of smart grid, I started working on how we can use WSN to interface buildings to a smart grid, which led to the concept of smart buildings,” Benhaddou said. Benhaddou will further his research in the fall semester in his native country, Morocco, at Al Akhawayn University. Selecting a country to further develop FULBRIGHT continues on page 3