THE DAILY COUGAR
T H E
O F F I C I A L
S T U D E N T
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Issue 94, Volume 81 STEM
N E W S PA P E R
H O U S T O N
RECRUITMENT
Two local high schools are working with the University in order to launch a rocket into suborbit Erica Forero Staff writer
ROCKET continues on page 3
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Achieving new altitudes
Students at Houston’s Booker T. Washington High School and the High School for Engineering Professions have grabbed attention with a rocket project sponsored in part by UH, and they hope to take things a step further with a trip to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. “UH is engaged in a mutually beneficial partnership with Booker T. Washington,” said Graduate College of Social Work research professor Larry Hill, the corporate sponsor of the project. “Our STEM partnership will receive both local and national recognition this summer, when the students become the first high school in history to launch a rocket into suborbit. This will be Tier One community engagement at its finest.” The program invites teams of engineering students to design and fly rockets in a variety of different competitions and tasks. The Booker T. Washington students will compete in three stages to prove their
S I N C E
UH aims to increase freshmen applicants Marilyn Faz Contributing writer
Students from Booker T. Washington High School and the High School for Engineering professions are working together in order to design and fly rockets, such as the one shown. | Courtesy of Glenda Reyes
In spite of declines in national enrollment, UH is one of the Texas universities expecting to see its number of student applications reach a new record for Fall 2014. National enrollment in Fall 2013 dropped 1.5 percent from the previous fall semester, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, but Jeff Fuller, director of student recruitment at UH, said the University is ahead of other national four-year universities. “We have received more freshman undergraduate applications for the fall, and that’s a daily moving target,” said Fuller. “We expect to have an increase in applications, and we expect to admit roughly about the same number of students that we admitted last year with a little bit of an FRESHMEN continues on page 2
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Inauguration brings renewed promise to students Nora Olabi Assistant news editor
After winning the runoff election March 6, President Charles Haston and Vice President Erica Tat officially assumed their responsibilities during the Student Government Association annual banquet and inauguration on Friday. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
During the Student Government Association annual banquet and inauguration, administrators and student leaders gathered to celebrate the 50th administration’s accomplishments and look forward to a new year of leadership under its newly inaugurated president and vice president, Charles Haston and Erica Tat. “Getting elected is the easy part; governing is definitely the hard part. And I hope that over the next year that this team that we put together will continue to stay together,” Haston said. “We must put the students first and change this University and leave our mark here.” SGA members new and old gathered Friday night in the University Center Ballroom to mark a turning point in the organization’s history, the end of half a century of student governments at the University and the ushering in of a new generation built on that lasting foundation. Before the leaf could be turned, outgoing Vice President Rani Ramchandani urged those remaining in SGA to remember their purpose as student leaders. “At the end of the day, students are our forefront. Students are our goal. They are the main focus, and Cedric SGA continues on page 3