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
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Issue 35, Volume 79
H O U S T O N
S I N C E
1 9 3 4
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
FINANCES
RESEARCH
Students discredit bank charges
Nanotech company awarded
Olivia Shultze Staff writer
Nationwide complaints have mounted against Higher One, the banking institution that distributes financial aid to hundreds of universities, including UH. Many students rely on this aid to pay for rent, books, groceries and other expenses. “Debit card purchases, ATM fees and international transaction fees are just some of the extra fees that students have encountered. Other more drastically impactful fees, such as inactivity fees, have been dropped recently due to
complaints,” said Shoba Lemoine, a marketing respresentative for Higher One, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. Still, PIN-based transaction fees are causing some students strife. “I think it’s really unfair. We should know what we’re getting into,” said psychology sophomore Christian Lancaster, who likes the idea of higher visibility for Higher One. “The workers should tell us the fees and everything so that we don’t just have a sudden charge on our account.” HIGHER ONE continues on page 3
Rebecca Heliot Contributing writer
you came to visit, but you also feel like you’ve failed. Everything you’ve worked for ... comes to an abrupt halt.” It was tough for head coach Tony Levine to watch Piland struggle with concussion symptoms while he was
Nanotechnology company C-Voltaics, which was launched in the Energy Research Park, was awarded the 2013 Goradia Innovation Grand Prize on Oct. 9 by the Houston Technology Center. Physics assistant professor Nigel Alley, a researcher for the Institute for NanoEnergy, was elated that his work received great recognition, helping to launch his customer base. “It’s always nice to see your work succeed and (to Curran have) people recognize it and the amount of work that went into it,” Alley said. “It’s been a long road developing it … and it helps to get the word out there that we are ready (to do) business and looking to sell to people.” The product’s success can impact University infrastructure by providing it more research credit and a higher rank and by attracting more prestigious faculty. Director of the Institute for NanoEnergy and physics associate professor Seamus Curran said that the project could be a long-lasting source of revenue. “Essentially, the University has taken an equity position, which means they own shares to the company. But they also have a royalty on the IP of the intellectual property,” Curran said. “Let’s say, for every dollar that we sell, the University gets a couple of cents … If this were to turn into a billiondollar project, the University would benefit from royalties every year for the next 15 to 20 years.” C-Voltaics began its efforts to prevent hurricane damages to houses after Hurricane Ike. This meant finding a product that would produce hydrophobic materials, such as glass and wood. The company recently extended the product to protect other materials, such as
PILAND continues on page 7
NANOTECH continues on page 3
Students are questioning Higher One on some of its fees associated with their student refund-cards. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Having to make this decision is letting go of everything you know — everything you’ve ever done in your life. All I’ve ever done is school and football since I can remember. Since I was 5.” David Piland, on his decision to quit football after at least seven concussions
Junior quarterback David Piland suffered two concussions when he was in seventh grade, causing him to sit out in eighth grade. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
FOOTBALL
Forced to hang up his helmet Christopher Shelton Sports editor
David Piland couldn’t get comfortable while lying in his hospital bed. After sustaining a concussion on Sept. 7, he felt nauseous with any light and motion — just walking to the bathroom or too much
movement due to bedside guests made the junior quarterback feel sick. Piland couldn’t enjoy his favorite television shows, because he was suffering from blurry vision. He could hear but not see well. Worst of all for Piland, when thoughts that his football career
could be over crept into his mind, he felt like he had let his coaches and teammates down. “I thought in the hospital, ‘This is probably it.’ It’s one of those moments where, as much as you can’t get out of bed, you don’t want to,” Piland said. “It’s hard enough to see the people who care about