Monday, March 18, 2013 // Issue 89, 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 PA P E R
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T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
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H O U S T O N
S I N C E
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SOCIAL WORK
Author, professor shares on national television Natalie Harms News editor
Graduate School of Social Work professor and best-selling author Brené Brown and Oprah Winfrey explored on Sunday the importance of staying true to oneself and embracing one’s imperfections using Brown’s dozen years of research. The two women bounced back and forth with their individual “ah-ha” moments throughout the Super Soul Sunday show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The Emmy Award-winning weekly show aims to provide viewers with a spiritual and thought-inspiring conversation with prominent self-help professionals. “I wanted a place for people to go every Sunday to wake up,” Winfrey said. “It’s thought-provoking, eye-
opening and inspiring. It’s food for your soul — every single Sunday.” Brown more than qualifies to be on the show, having headlined on multiple news sites and talk shows, such as CNN.com and “Katie.” Her career didn’t launch with her best-selling book, “Daring Greatly,” or the two books she authored before it. Brown made a name for herself after appearing in TEDxHouston talks in 2010, where she said she was going to make herself vulnerable on stage. She shared how throughout her research, and she discovered she wasn’t measuring up to her own conclusions. This drove her to a breakdown, landing her in therapy. “I remember thinking, ‘I just, like, admitted to being crazy in front of 500 people,’” Brown said.
OPINION
Student argues Cougar article LIFE+ARTS Brené Brown joined Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday show to discuss her research, which led to her newest book, “Daring Greatly.” | Courtesy of UH.edu It wasn’t only 500 people that listened to Brown discuss her research and how this research drove her to
her own therapy sessions. More than BROWN continues on page 3
Shopping center sprouts According to a United Commercial Realty flier, Cougars should expect to see Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, The Nook, a patio and a bar on the second floor. These are just a few of the stores and restaurants to be expected, as some of the store fronts aren’t officially settled yet. — Aisha Bouderdaben/The Daily Cougar
Palestinian gala visits Houston SPORTS
Track star wins national title GET SOME DAILY
thedailycougar.com SCIENCE
Flies, mice may model memory formation Julie Heffler Staff writer
The molecular pathways involved in memory formation are beginning to unravel with a new key system discovered by Baylor College of Medicine in collaboration with UH. A protein complex involved in a key cytoskeletal formation pathway, mTORC2, appears to have a prominent role in memory formation in both mice and fruit flies. BCM assistant professor of neuroscience Mauro Costa-Mattioli and BCM graduate student and first author in the study Wei Huang conducted this
pathway analysis in mice while UH associate professor Gregg Roman did his research with flies. “Mice, by themselves, are a single model and they give us a good glimpse but maybe not Roman a complete glimpse of how memories form. It’s becoming more and more common that labs collaborate and look at different model systems, because each model system — in my case we study
fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, in his case, mice — they each have their own benefit,” Roman said. “By combining different model systems to see if we come up with the same answer, that gives us a great deal of confidence with that answer. One of things it tells us is that if it is the same in fruit flies as in mice, that it’s been conserved over a very very long period of time.” The key point, Roman said, is not only the discovery itself but its appearance in two distant relatives, implying that mTORC2 may have significant role in memory consolidation.
“It’s probably something very important. If it’s been conserved, if the same molecule in the same molecular systems have been used in fruit flies to consolidate memory as in mice to consolidate memory, it’s very likely that a lot of the species in between are using the same thing. And that also indicates that it is probably a very central feature of memory consolidation in the pathway that we uncovered,” Roman said. To observe memory consolidation in fruit flies, Roman’s lab used MEMORY continues on page 3
ONINE XTRA Muslim Student Association helps attract new students.
TOMORROW Bauer students take third place in national sales competition.
COUNTDOWN
13
Days until Easter.
The next best day, other than Valentine’s day, to indulge in a little chocolate.