ARTS
EVENT
Students to relax with neon lights Annual SpringFest Glowout to highlight campus. SEE PAGE 8
SPORTS
Newly hired coach takes the stage
Head coach Ronald Hughey takes over a women’s basketball team that finished last in the conference. SEE PAGE 6 APRIL
CALENDAR CHECK: 23
Got Stress?. Chill before finals at the CAPS workshop at noon in the Student Services Center
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
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Issue 109, Volume 79
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ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
STUDY ABROAD
UH tackles global strategies, studies Vice provost launches initiative to provide passports to portion of incoming students Natalie Harms Managing editor
Provost Paula Short gave Jaime Ortiz a lofty task when he entered the newly created position of vice provost for Global Strategies and Studies: Make UH the most global university. While UH consistently tops “most diverse campuses” lists, most notably on U.S. News & World Report, a global university excels in foreign Ortiz language
and study abroad programs, has a global curriculum, a large population of international students and has various cultural activities. A special goal for UH, as it is in the energy capital of the world, is to increase international energy partners. All of these things together, Ortiz said, will add value to students’ degrees once they enter the workforce and are able to better interact with people internationally. “You have to be up to par with what’s going on in the developments that the rest of the world is having,” Ortiz said, “otherwise you will become culturally and intellectually illiterate.” This fall, Ortiz’s office will launch a new initiative that provides passports to all or some of the
ORTIZ’S GLOBAL TO-DO LIST AFTER PROVOST PAULA SHORT REORGANIZED THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, SHE CREATED THE POSITION OF VICE PROVOST FOR GLOBAL STRATEGIES AND STUDIES—NOW HELD BY JAIME ORTIZ—TO MAKE UH STUDENTS GLOBALLY PROFICIENT AND INTERNATIONALLY AWARE Better a Universitywide global curriculum by working with professors and universities abroad.
Increase the population of visiting international faculty and students by programing visiting lecture series and student exchange programs. Making foreign language requirements for all undergraduate degrees. “It’s not enough to be just bilingual these days,” Ortiz said. Inspire and produce more cultural activities on campus throughout the year. Provide more study abroad scholarships and opportunities for students involving academics, service, internship and work opportunities. Reach out to and collaborate with energy partners of the world, as UH is located in the energy capital of the nation. Infographic by Alonso Munoz | Written by Natalie Harms | Information from Jaime Ortiz
ABROAD continues on page 3
RESEARCH
Addiction therapy turns to virtual reality Bleue York Contributing writer
The Virtual Reality Lab at the Graduate College of Social Work places addicts in a setting that will present them with temptations to take substances like alcohol. | Courtesy of Patrick Bordnick
The Virtual Reality Lab at the Graduate College of Social Work is making major progress in the fight against addiction. Headed by Patrick Bordnick, the lab opened in 2011 as one of the first studies focused on tobacco cessation and is set up to assess and treat craving and dependence on tobacco, marijuana, alcohol and heroin. “We provide different treatment protocols and aid in relapse prevention,” Bordnick said. “The data indicated that virtual reality skills training leads to coping skills in the real world.” For each study, the subject is immersed in a virtual world that is tailor-made to mirror their specific addiction. A visual and audio component places the subject in a simulated environment, and a therapist
Is traditional face-to-face talk therapy applicable to someone (of this generation) who is always plugged in? Combining therapies with technology is the future.” Patrick Bordnick, associate professor in the UH Graduate College of Social Work monitors the subject’s cravings and vital signs. Maria Wilson, an assistant to Bordnick during his alcohol dependency study, explained how the proc e s s w o rk s. “The partici- Bordnick pant is in one room and the therapist monitors and controls the simulation from an adjoining room,” she said. The therapist can see the subject
through a window that connects the two rooms and records data on three different screens. The first monitor tracks physical data such as vital signs; the second gives the researcher a view of what the participant sees, and the third monitor controls movement in the simulated environment. During each 20-minute simulation, the subject encounters a scenario that might trigger a craving. For example, an alcoholic might be confronted with a party scene, THERAPY continues on page 3