LIFE+ARTS
FINE ARTS
UNIVERSITY
A graduate painting student attempts to reconfigure the idea of traditional painting with her upcoming solo-exhibition.
Hofheinz Pavilion reaches budget approval from Board of Regents for $20 million.
Flying solo
Facility budget approved SEE PAGE 5
SEE PAGE 8
FEBRUARY
CALENDAR CHECK: 28
Bowl-a-Thon. Make bowls to raise funds for the hungry from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Ceramics Studio in the Fine Arts Bldg.
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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Thursday, February 27, 2014
Issue 82, Volume 79
H O U S T O N
S I N C E
1 9 3 4
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Commissioner suspended, impeachment possible Cara Smith, Nora Olabi Contributing writer, assistant news editor
The Committee on Internal Affairs moved forward with the articles of impeachment against the Chief Election Commissioner and brought them to the Senate. It approved further investigation by the Committee of Investigation. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Investigation into a potential impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Kendrick Alridge will move forward after the Student Government Association decided to send an article of impeachment to the Committee of Investigation during a meeting Wednesday night in the SGA Senate Chamber. Alridge was accused of “nonfeasance and malfeasance” for using expletives directed at REDvolution party members, lacking impartiality and enacting a financial disclosure policy that allegedly contradicts election code. “Alridge’s comments, attitudes and behaviors toward one specific party running in the current elections cycle demonstrated a lack of impartiality,” according to the Articles of Impeachment 50001. “Alridge has overstepped the bounds of his position, particularly by composing new electoral policies, a power that can be neither found nor extrapolated from any of the duties outlined in Title II, Section C, Clause 1 or Title II, Section C, Clause 8 of the University of Houston Student Government Association’s Electoral Code.” The article was brought forth by the SGA
Committee of Internal Affairs. Tanzeem Chowdhury, a sponsor of the article, felt that though the elections would end before any possible disciplinary actions could be taken against Alridge, he was still in support of presenting the article to the Senate for a decision. “We still want to let students know that such behavior is not accepted,” Chowdhury said. “We’re still going to voice our opinion and let everybody know that SGA doesn’t stand for this.” College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences senator Guillermo Lopez, who co-authored the article, presented the article of impeachment to the Senate to call for a vote. The Senate voted to send the charges to the Committee of Investigation and voted to suspend Alridge from his position pending the decision of the Committee of Investigation. If it finds the case merited, a trial date will be set. Cougar Pawlitics presidential candidate Shane Smith called the charges “retaliatory” and said he believes Alridge has done his job as chief elections commissioner.
SGA continues on page 3
STATE
Same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional Laura Gillespie
Assistant news editor
A federal judge has ruled Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, saying that the 2005 amendment, Texas Proposition 2, is “unconstitutional and demeans the dignity of homosexuals,” according to NPR. Texas-born Judge Orlando Garcia struck down the law Wednesday, but he will not enforce his ruling in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the Houston Chronicle. Two Texas couples, Nicole Diemetman and Cleopatra De Leon, and Victor Holmes and Mark Phariss, sued the state in a challenge of the state’s constitution, which was amended in 2005 to define marriage
as “the union of one man and one woman.” Diemetman and De Leon legally married in Massachusetts, and wish for Texas to recognize their marriage. Phariss and Holmes have been together for nearly two decades, and wish to be legally married in Texas. “As I suspected all along, since the federal law was changed, it’s just a matter of time for the rest of the states to follow suit, it’s like a domino effect,” said UH LGBT Resource Center program director Lorraine Schroeder. “Because the truth is a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. There are plenty of people
SNAPCHAT continues on page 4
Board of Regents passes fixed tuition rate Dona Cornell, vice president for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, left, and Benjamin Wells, UH System student regent, middle, sit at Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting. The meeting passed several new items, including a four-year fixed tuition rate for first-time college freshmen and undergraduate freshmen for the 2013-2016 school years. For more on what passed, see page 3. — JUSTIN TIJERINA/THE DAILY COUGAR
LGBT continues on page 3