LIFE + ARTS
MUSIC
Q&A
Increasing transmission
For the love of sports
Student-run radio station celebrates its third birthday with big changes.
Simon Bott expresses his passion for UH athletics. SEE PAGE 5
SEE PAGE 7 SEPT. OCT.
CALENDAR CHECK: 12 28
UH will play football against Memphis at the BBVA Compass Stadium.
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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U N I V E R S I T Y
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Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Issue 18, 20, Volume 79
H O U S T O N
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ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
CAMPUS
UH branded as limitless Natalie Harms Managing editor
Imagine having to summarize everything UH is working for — to both its community and those on the outside looking in — into one simple phrase that will inspire all
marketing, advertising and donation campaigns. After months of research, that is exactly what the UH Marketing and Branding team has done in collaboration with brand agency 160over90. A university’s brand is a cohesive
theme or idea that identifies itself and its culture to students, faculty and staff members, as well as university outsiders. It’s the underlying theme in all UH marketing. The new brand refresh is the University’s first in five years. So much
has changed with the campus, the administration and its national recognition that even in this short time, the refresh feels long overdue. The brand agency, which has done work for Nike, the University of Notre Dame and Ferrari, began its
discovery phase at UH almost a year ago. They toured the campus and talked to students, faculty and staff. They learned UH by the numbers and facts, but also got a feel for how BRANDING continues on page 3
ORGANIZATIONS
TRANSPORTATION
Subsea society creates waves
Faculty, staff shoot to commute more efficiently Lesley Saenz Contributing writer
Anthresia McWasington Staff writer
Although the Subsea Engineering Society began just this fall, the organization is already taking the initiative to bring the only subsea program in the nation to the forefront of campus. The SES was founded during the summer by mechanical engineering senior Nebolisa Egbunike. Egbunike said the organization got its start after he had a discussion with Subsea Engineering Founding Director Matthew Franchek. “I thought about starting up a new society to serve as a platform for younger professionals to help merge the gap between the industry and academia,” Egbunike said. “I made up some flyers with a couple of my friends, and we went to the Offshore Technology Conference back in May and started talking to representatives of different companies.” Egbunike’s idea quickly gained recognition throughout the industry. The oil and gas giant British Petroleum SOCIETY continues on page 3
From driving to biking, students along with faculty and staff are commuting together to reduce their carbon footprint at UH’s peak traffic hours. | Bethel Glumac/The Daily Cougar
Faculty and staff are joining many students in an effort to make commuting to campus both more environmentally- and walletfriendly. Since 2011, the commuter club for faculty and staff has gone from only 40 members to more than 200. Director of parking and transportation Robert Browand said the commuter club gives faculty and staff an alternative to driving alone and reduces stress. “Once the new (MetroRail) line opens, it will link UH to the (Texas Medical Center) area, where a large number of UH students live. As the rail system grows more and more,
areas will be linked to UH, increasing the number of faculty, staff and students that can benefit from using it,” Browand said. Commuter club members get the choice of how they would like to commute to and from the University. Whether it be using the Metro, carpool, vanpool, a bicycle or their own two feet, commuters are saving money in the long run. Besides being faculty or staff, member requirements are to leave one’s car at home, to be a full-time employee — not evening or night-shift — and to carry out the duration of the membership using alternative transportation and not to purchase a parking permit. The club does give complimentary daily COMMUTER continues on page 3
RESEARCH
Professor awarded for strides in organic chemistry Tristan Reickhoff Staff writer
Associate professor of chemistry Olafs Daugulis has been named one of 10 Arthur C. Cope Scholars for 2014 by the American Chemical Society. The award, $5,000 in cash and a $40,000 research grant, is for excellence in organic chemistry. Daugulis and his team of student research assistants seek to simplify the process that converts carbonhydrogen bonds into other more
complex groupings. Their chemistry is being used by the pharmaceutical industry and has applications for creating the precursors to polymers. By reducing processes that required many steps to just one, according to Daugulis, they have created more ecologically friendly processes that require less labor and waste and fewer byproducts. He said his research will not “cure CHEMISTRY continues on page 3
Associate professor of chemistry Olafs Daugulis’s work has been used by the pharmaceutical industry. | Tristan Rieckhoff/The Daily Cougar