Monday, February 4, 2013 // Issue 69, Volume 78
THE DAILY COUGAR
T H E
O F F I C I A L
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N E W S PA P E R
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H O U S T O N
REGENTS
Degrees created for fall Laura Gillespie Staff writer
system called Nextbus, the University had decided to create Cougar Trax through a different company, ETA Transit Systems, as the bus system switched to a new shuttle provider all together. “I’m glad UH decided to create an app like this,” said sociology sophomore Anita Kanagalingam. “I always felt like I wasted so much time
During last week’s Board of Regents meeting, the chair of the academic and student success committee announced that four new degree programs have been approved for the University of Houston’s curriculum. Chairman Jacob M. Monty, who has been a part of the board since 2008, said the four degrees — a Master of Science in Industrial Design, a Master of Athletic Training, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a Concentration in Integrated Communication and a Bachelor of Arts in World Cultures and Literature — are expected to be available as early as the Fall 2013 semester, but the degrees have yet to be reviewed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. “Our faculty reached a consensus on the curriculum and then
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DEGREES continues on page 3
Students like sociology sophomore Anita Kanagalingam will be able to anticipate the campus buses’ arrival with the new smart phone app. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar
PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION
Bus times: There’s an app for that Mary Dahdouh Contributing writer
For students with time valued too much to be wasted sitting at a bus stop, using the UH bus system with three routes and nearly 20 stops across campus can be time-consuming and frustrating. For this reason, Parking and Transportation Services has released a new bus tracking application called Cougar Trax that allows students, faculty
and staff to access the next arrival time of a bus on any smart phone or website through GPS tracking. “The core of this product has been running at major transit agencies and universities for many years,” said Robert Browand, the director of PTS. “Now the website portion was recently customized for the University of Houston.” Although there was a similar application in the past through a
CAMPUS
S I N C E
OPINION
Voice of the pride LIFE+ARTS
Satire hits last encore SPORTS
Ups and downs
UH celebrates African-American culture on campus Rebeca Trejo Staff writer
From movie screenings to entrepreneurial expos, the University’s African American Studies program has filled its calendar in honor of Black History Month to provide awareness of African American contributions to society. “Everyone can benefit from our program,” said LaShonda Williams, program manager for African American Studies. “The University of Houston is not just indicative of one culture, but it’s multicultural.” One of the program’s main events will be a Buffalo Soldiers presentation by Cpt. Paul Matthews, curator of the Buffalo Soldiers Museum. The event will honor the U.S. Army’s all-black regiments and will start at noon Friday in the Rockwell Pavilion.
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Williams said she thinks Matthews’ contributions have made his presentation the most notable in this year’s program. “His ambition as a curator for the museum has led to him establishing this,” Williams said. “Just recently, he acquired a larger facility so that he could provide a thorough knowledge … and comprehensive tour of the various aspects of the Buffalo Soldiers.” This particular event will be followed up at 2:30 p.m. by a screening of “Inside the Buffalo,” which is also a part of the program’s Africana Film Festival. The film festival will kick off the program’s celebration on Monday with a screening of “Amazing Grace,” but will feature other video productions throughout the month like “Cry Freedom” and “Blood Diamond.” Both films are about apartheid and the use of Africans
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thedailycougar.com
ONLINE XTRA UH sees Chicken Pox outbreak across campus.
TOMORROW The students minoring in African American Studies are enrolled in a minimum of six hours of classes at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, the University of Ghana at Legon and the University of Cape Coast. | Courtesy of African American Studies
UH baseball alumni challenge current team.
COUNTDOWN to mine for diamonds. There will be members of the Hall of Fame on campus when the vice president of Curator Services for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum shares historical information from an athletic standpoint
on the leagues at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Room 628 in Agnes Arnold Hall. Although there will only be a private meet and greet with CULTURE continues on page 3
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Days until Valentine’s Day.
There’s still time to snag a date.