Tuesday August 28, 2012 // Issue 2, Volume 78 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE DAILY COUGAR
T H E
O F F I C I A L
S T U D E N T
N E W S P A P E R
O F T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
H O U S T O N
Looking back at SGA’s summer Ashley Anderson Staff writer
The University of Houston Student Government Association closed the summer with various accomplishments, from reforming the parking appeal process to contacting federal legislators on behalf of UH students and improving communication with the student body. “The summer is a great time for us to work, and I feel really good about what we have accomplished thus far,” said SGA Vice President Turner Harris. “We have an outstanding team behind us and we’re all looking forward to the upcoming semester.” Working with other Texan politicians SGA officers contacted representatives across the nation to communicate that now is not the time to increase interest rates on student loans. Legislators decided against the hike in interest rates on June 30, a day before rates were set to rise. “We’ve had a very productive summer with SGA, and we’ve gotten a lot of things accomplished,” SGA President Cedric Bandoh said. SGA was also able to collaborate with other Texas college student
S I N C E
OPINION
governments to revive the Texas Student Association, Bandoh said. This will allow them to discuss matters important to all students enrolled in Texas public universities.
Stricter gun laws won’t help
Bylaw reform The SGA was able to pass resolutions, construct new bylaws and amend the SGA constitution, said Stephen Cronin, speaker of the SGA Senate. The summer Senate, Cronin said, passed the SGA Governance, Accountability, and Integrity Reform Act of 2012. It passed the act because the older bylaws were outdated, Bandoh said. By condensing these bylaws to be more concise, SGA made them easier to understand and thus, to abide by. This bill will improve the way SGA members govern themselves. The change to the constitution will redefine the Court of Appeals to ensure fair SGA hearings. Student life In addition, SGA completed a resolution that updated campus smoking policies. According to grant guidelines provided by the Cancer Prevention Research Institution of Texas, UH must be tobacco-free in
LIFE+ARTS
BB’s Cafe gets straight A’s SPORTS The SGA passed a resolution to reform UH’s smoking policies to comply with requirements by CPRIT. | File Photo/The Daily Cougar order to qualify as a smoke-free campus and receive the grant money. The CPRIT grant will be used to ensure that students
— residential or not — who smoke have designated areas for smoking, SGA continues on page 3
CAMPUS
UH, Metro resolve differences over light-rail line
Robertson’s replacement
History of public transport in Houston; conflict between agency, University ends David Haydon Managing editorr
The history of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and UH began with the construction of the southeast light-rail line, but the legacy of Houston public transportation dates back further than UH. According to Engines of Our Ingenuity No. 1458, the first operation of electric streetcars in Houston began in 1891 with the publicly accessible electric transit and ended in 1940. The METRORail opened in downtown 64 years later. The sole operating light rail, known as the Red Line, runs from UH-Downtown to the medical district. A public referendum passed in 2003 for four other lines and an extension to the Red Line, with
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plans to be completed by 2012. Deadlines for the Southeast, East End, University and Uptown lines shifted after the 2008 recession par tially from funding issues. Investigations from the Harris County District Attorney in 2010 added to the disorder. Continued public unrest over a lack of transparency with former members of the Metro board and conflicts of interest in the Metro Political Action Committee also had detrimental effects on the progression. Funding for the rail lines, which comes in part from a $640 million bond approved during the 2003 referendum, is bolstered by sales tax revenues, mainly from Harris County. Metro also has a full-funding grant agreement with the Federal Transit Administration, surpassing
the $640 million bond. Southeast Line construction near the east side of Scott Street has been irregular because of problems with traffic congestion and property rights. University and Metro officials reached an agreement on Aug. 1 to continue construction of the Southeast Line on Wheeler and Scott Streets. “Metro continues talking and working with the University of Houston administration on details regarding construction of METRORail’s new Southeast Line,” said Jerome Gray, Metro vice president and senior press officer. “Earlier this month, we successfully reached a deal to start the next phase of construction. Metro is doing everything possible to see that light-rail service is available to students, faculty and the southeast community in 2014.”
Construction on the southeast extension — also known as the Purple Line — runs from Smith Street downtown to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Griggs Street. According to www.gometrorail. org, the 6.6-mile route is scheduled to open in 2014. Gate station crossings are expected near Elgin and Scott Streets, Scott and Clebur ne Streets, Wheeler Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and at MacGregor Park. However, according to Richard Bonnin, UH executive director of media relations, the property has not been worked on since the deal with Metro was made, and no further negotiations have been made since. news@thedailycougar.com
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TOMORROW Tenure continues to decline, and UH is not an exception
COUNTDOWN
16
Days until the last day to drop a class with no grade
Fun fact: it’s also 16 days until your class size halves.