Issue 13, Volume 87

@thedailycougar www.thedailycougar.com Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Est. 1934

Issue 13, Volume 87

THRICE AS NICE!

For the third consecutive NCAA tournament, Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars are dancing into the Sweet 16. | PGs. 4-5

2 | Wednesday, March 23, 2022

NEWS

HAYA PANJWANI EDITORS & AMINAH TANNIR,

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/NEWS

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COMMUNITY

‘They’re not helpless’: UH College of Medicine’s Household Centered Care program helps communities face-to-face

Program Director of the Household Centered Care Program Bernice Hernandez Becerra discussing Healthy Connections/Conexiones Saludables, a component of the HCC program, with a community member. | Courtesy of UH College of Medicine

AMINAH TANNIR

NEWS EDITOR

@AMOUNAJT

UH College of Medicine has gotten the ball rolling on it’s Household Centered Care Program, a component of their community health commitment, despite setbacks from the pandemic.

The purpose and impacts The program is meant to identify social determinants of health within the community, and through an interprofessional health care team, find resources for participants to better their quality of life and in turn their health.

The way these teams approach this is by visiting participants in their home to get an up close and personal experience as to how these participants are living day to day.

“Having that experience of being in someone’s home or in their community sheds a whole new light on them and

their health, than if you only see them in a clinic for hospitals,” said Household Centered Care academic director Dr. Claudine Johnson.

“Our hope is that as the community accepts us as people who can help them address their social needs, that what we do with the community creates a trustful relationship between us and that UH College of Medicine and our affiliated schools become resources for the communities to address what they need, not what you decide they need,” Johnson continued.

As a second year medical student, Cenk Cengiz said the program really showed there was a story to unpack with each patient, and that as practitioners it’s important to understand how parts of that story can impact the health of community members.

“Seeing patients for 15 minutes in an exam room can only give you so much,” Cengiz said. “Going forward, I will

always remember where patients are coming from and then also take into consideration where they live, who they interact (with), and where they work can affect their health.”

The program also hosts workshops for allied health care students, one of them was a “poverty simulation” where Cengiz said students were assorted into families. Each family was given a set amount of money and were given tasks such as finding childcare, paying rent and attending work all within a time constraint.

“What I’ve learned is it’s real, it’s really hard when you’re poor, and that’s kind of like an understatement,” Cengiz said.

“But the thing is, it’s really hard to pull yourself from poverty.

I do think that people who are born into opportunity, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but I think they do have a leg up compared to people who are not as fortunate. I think that kind of experience solidified that for

me.”

The team and their roadmap The colleges participating in the Household Centered Care program include the College of Medicine, College of Optometry, College of Nursing and the Graduate College of Social Work, each contributing different perspectives and goals for the same outcome.

Students from these colleges as well as community health workers comprise this interprofessional team that goes out into the community and interacts with participants to evaluate their needs and connect them to resources that match through a program called Unite Us. Each student from the different colleges is evaluated based on their course requirements for their respective programs, but all work toward the same goal of understanding how to address disparities in the

community they serve.

“We need to honor the different perspectives and we need to also honor the outcome,” said Graduate College of Social Work assistant professor Chiara Acquati. “We’ve been really kind of (getting to) know each other, thinking about what are the goals, the outcomes and the outputs that we want to have from the program and how they each match the expectation, the standards or the competencies that are mapped in the different disciplines.”

Acquati said the process of developing the program with other colleges was an amazing opportunity.

“The training of a future professional involves many components,” Acquati said.

“There is a curriculum, but it is mostly also a vision, a perspective, a system of values that they’re going to bring with

COMMUNITY

Continues on page 3

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 | 3 HAYA PANJWANI EDITORS & AMINAH TANNIR,

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/NEWS

@THEDAILYCOUGAR

NEWS

CAMPUS

Frontier Fiesta to make a full return this spring JASMINE QADEER

EDITOR IN CHIEF

NEWS WRITER

Frontier Fiesta is making a full return this year March 24-26, bringing back the University’s tradition that’s been celebrated since 1939, and has already spurred excitement among some students.

“I’m really excited for the school spirit aspect that normally dies after football season, I feel like Frontier Fiesta will definitely bring that back for the students,” said business sophomore Samantha Pedraza.

The spring festival typically includes rides, games, attractions, food and drinks, variety shows, a BBQ cook-off, live performances and much more, said Frontier Fiesta association chair Christopher Caldwell.

“Started in 1939, Frontier Fiesta is one of the University’s longest standing programming traditions,” Caldwell said. “An inspiration for the Houston Fat Stock Show, now known as the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Frontier Fiesta brings out not only the University of Houston community, but also the Houston community.”

In addition to the annual festival activities, this year’s event will also include a roller rink, step show, latin dance lessons, petting zoo, mechanical bull and a number of other new attractions, according to

COMMUNITY

Continued from page 2 them. So for me, this aspect of having the opportunity to work together has been extremely rewarding.”

Building trust Not only are these interprofessional teams addressing outside factors contributing to health, but community health worker Joshua Lopez-Barrios said he aims to build lasting trust in communities in not only the program but themselves.

“They’re not helpless,” LopezBarrios said. “A lot of the time they have many strengths and as a community health worker, I just try showing them that they can do a lot of things. And with guidance, then they can focus on their strength.”

Lopez-Barrios said many times participants step into the program reserved and in a “defensive” state of mind, but said keeping things honest and

EDITORIAL BOARD Donna Keeya

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR

Ashley Gwananji Lisa El-Amin

WEB EDITOR

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Sydney Rose

Jhair Romero NEWS EDITORS

Aminah Tannir Haya Panjwani SPORTS EDITOR

Sean Thomas Armando Yanez ASSISTANT CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Gerald Sastra

James Mueller OPINION EDITOR

Anna Baker

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Juana Garcia

STAFF EDITORIAL

Frontier Fiesta is returning to full operations this spring. | Sarah Hoffman/The Cougar

Caldwell.

“I’m definitely excited for the concert and all of the different booths,” said communications sophomore Jamie Thornton.

“This is my first year at UH and this seems like the most exciting event.”

Well before the start of each school year, the Student Program Board begins the process of choosing performers that match the interests of the student body.

Earlier this month, Frontier Fiesta posted a preview of this year’s headliner on their Instagram page, to which many

students made predictions on the chosen lead performer.

Like many students, Pedraza expects to see T-Pain as this year’s headliner, who has now been confirmed as the performer.

“The outline of his shadow that they posted was the same outline from a magazine cover he did,” Pedraza said.

Caldwell said this year’s event will be the first fully in-person and traditional Frontier Fiesta, and thinks students are very excited for this full return to in-person festivities.

To address potential concerns

for safety, Caldwell assured that the board of directors are making safe plans, abiding by University and local, state and federal protocols.

“I’m really excited for the special guest headliner, carnival booths and cougar casino.” said strategic communications sophomore Nicole Harris. “It’s great to finally have Frontier Fiesta back after the COVID hiatus and I can’t wait to see what UH’s most hyped event of the year is all about.”

open with communication helps them open up.

“What we’ve seen before is that the community doesn’t always trust big organizations, hospitals, doctors, big colleges,” Lopez-Barrios said. “If you go out to the community, their mindset is ‘they’re trying to take my money’, either that or ‘we’re going and they’re just giving us prescriptions and sending us away.’ So my role per se, would be gaining their trust.”

Participants are aware of the good intentions put out by the program, and LopezBarrios said it helped that the community health workers on the team are from the community being served and are giving back.

members safe.

“It has been crazy,” LopezBarrios said. “There’s times that we’re like, we’re going out and we’re gonna meet everyone and then we get the red alert.

COVID cases are increasing a lot, and so we take a step back, and then it goes down and we’re ready again, and then the new increase.”

Johnson said the pandemic had the Household Centered Care Program needing to adjust, changing the initial experience for students.

And instead of having home visits earlier, in-person visits rolled out in November instead.

Some of these initial visits were virtual or not in a home but at a nearby park as to not put either party at risk for contracting the virus.

“I attended one recently where we sat outside on the porch, in masks as well,” Johnson said.

“So we’re still being cautious about COVID, but doing our best to introduce students to that experience, because even

sitting out on the porch, we’re able to get a bird’s eye view of the neighborhood and how the participant explained to us, how our neighborhood has changed over time and she can point things out in real time while we’re there.”

Despite pushing back the start date of these visits, Johnson said the program had interprofessional team members participate in seminars to work together beforehand.

The series of seminars were a way to instill skills in students participating in the program regarding various aspects of special determinants of health and disparities, communication and value based care.

“I think the No. 1 challenge that we faced this last two years has been clearly COVID,” Acquati said. “The plan that we have about the visits have to be put on hold, and we are still in a situation (where) things are unfolding.”

Setbacks COVID-19 has made the process of getting out into communities a tumultuous one, Lopez-Barrios said the ups and downs of case trends halted progress but doing so was to keep participants and team

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The Staff Editorial reflects the opinions of The Cougar Editorial Board (the members of which are listed above the editorial). All other opinions, commentaries and cartoons reflect only the opinion of the author. Opinions expressed in The Cougar do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Houston or the students as a whole.

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4 | Wednesday, March 23, 2022

SPORTS NEWS

JAMES MUELLER, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/SPORTS

@THECOUGARSPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Inside UH’s sustained success under Kelvin Sampson JAMES MUELLER

SPORTS EDITOR @JDM2186

Even at 66, Kelvin Sampson still knows how to have a little bit of fun.

As soon as he entered the locker room after the Cougars punched their third straight ticket to the Sweet 16, Sampson ripped off his patented red Jordan polo, threw his arms in the air and began to dance — all while being doused in water by his team.

His players were all smiles, loving every second of witnessing pure jubilation on the man who has transformed the UH men’s basketball program into force to be reckoned with.

“It was a good feeling seeing coach take his shirt off and dance,” said UH forward Reggie Chaney.

“This is something we’ve been working towards all year and it’s a great feeling to just let it out.”

For Sampson, this moment was more than simply about reaching the Sweet 16. It was a celebration of all the injury-bitten, battlescarred moments the Cougars persevered through to reach a point every team in the country dreams of.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity with this group but they’ve never stopped believing,” Sampson said.

“They’re extremely coachable, follow instructions. They’re a joy to coach so I’m really happy for them.”

One family Everything starts with family within the UH program.

Sampson has built the program with his son, Kellen, and daughter, Lauren, beside him every step of the way. In the same way, everyone who enters inside the walls of the UH program forms a blood-like bond with each other, creating a family within a family atmosphere.

As a result, it transforms each player’s mindset because he is

With the win over Illinois in the round of 32 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Kelvin Sampson has led UH to its third consecutive Sweet 16. | Courtesy of Rob Sandoval/UH athletics

playing for something much bigger than themselves. They are playing for their brothers on the team and those that have come before them and laid the foundation for the Cougars’ success.

This understanding adds a little extra motivation every time UH takes the floor, especially come NCAA Tournament time as each player knows it could be the last time they take the floor with this particular group of guys.

“It’s our heart,” said UH point guard Jamal Shead. “We don’t want to lose and we want to win for each other. We love each other so much. These guys are really my brothers. This goes way beyond basketball. We don’t want to lose for each other. I don’t get this year

Kelvin Sampson has lead UH to three AAC regular-season championships in the past four years , back-to-back conference tournament titles and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar

back with Taze, with Josh, with Kyler, with Fabian. We just want to keep it going as long as we possibly can.”

Lose and reload UH lost Brison Gresham, DeJon Jarreau, Justin Gorham and Quentin Grimes, four of the core guys that led the Cougars to the 2021 Final Four, over the offseason.

Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark, two UH guards, can be added to that group as neither has played since December due to injuries.

The year before, Nate Hinton and Chris Harris left. Going back even further, Armoni Brooks, Breaon Brady, Corey Davis and Galen Robinson moved on.

Even with losing so many key pieces every year, UH has not only still found a way to make the NCAA Tournament, but to also make deep runs in it. This is possible because of two wordsCougar culture.

Sampson and his staff are meticulous in who they recruit because the standard within the program are high and there are lots of demands in order to play for UH. Sampson isn’t looking for the highest rated and most talented kids on paper when he recruits. In fact, Sampson said people would be suprised with some of the big name players UH has turned down over the years earlier in the season.

But the UH program isn’t

looking to build a team full of big names or superstars. It is looking to build a roster of guys who fit the Cougar culture and fully buy in to the vision of the program.

“Our kids really believe in the culture that we’ve created here over the years,” Sampson said.

“We’ve lost four starters every year for so long it just seems natural that we have a brand new team this year.”

While playing for Sampson requires a different kind of toughness than playing for most other programs across the country, each player that enters the UH program fully embraces it because it results in a lot of winning. “(Sampson) just wants it for all of us,” said graduate guard Taze Moore. “All the coaching staff, they want it for all of us. They know who they are recruiting. They know what we can do and they just try to pull it out of us every day in practice, in the film room and even at 7 a.m. when we have to go through walk-throughs.”

Culture plays UH has never been a great shooting team under Sampson but it still finds ways to consistently win because its players are always embracing the pillars of the Cougar culture: Defense.

Rebounding. Making the hustle plays.

“There’s a lot of ways to impact winning other than making a

basket,” Sampson said. “That describes our team in a nutshell.”

Within the UH program, things like being the first one on the floor after a loose ball, crashing the glass hard for an offensive rebound and sacrificing your body to take a charge are defined as culture plays.

These are the plays that electrify the Cougars, filling the team with energy whenever one of these culture plays is made.

“Whenever we watch film we do edits,” Sampson said. We always end our edits of our film sessions with culture plays. And everybody wants to be on the edits.”

This has been Sampson’s secret sauce for success since he arrived at UH and the results speak for themselves — three American Athletic Conference regular-season championships, two conference tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including three trips to the Sweet 16 and beyond.

While the UH roster looks different each season, the culture remains steadfast.

“We got a brand new bunch but the culture never changes,” Sampson said. “Because they’re great kids and they’re high character kids they buy in. It’s never about them. Our program is always about we and us and that’s what happens when you have great kids.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 | 5 JAMES MUELLER, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/SPORTS

@THECOUGARSPORTS

SPORTS NEWS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Previewing UH’s Sweet 16 matchup against Arizona

UH sophomore point guard Jamal Shead entered the NCAA Tournament with the most assists out of any player in the Big Dance. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar

JAMES MUELLER

SPORTS EDITOR @JDM2186

While the overwhelming opinion from the outside was that Houston’s season was a wash once guards Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark went down with season-ending injuries in December, the Cougars have continued to surprise people and have once again found their way to the Sweet 16 after defeating UAB and Illinois in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Next up, UH heads to San Antonio to take on the Pac-12 champs and South Region’s No. 1 seed — Arizona.

A look at the Wildcats The Bennedict Mathurin show

Bennedict Mathurin has taken the country by storm for his play during his sophomore season.

The 6-foot-6-inch guard led the Wildcats in scoring with 17.8 points per game on his way to being named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

Mathurin, a projected lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, checks all the boxes that scouts look for in an elite guard.

Shooting? Check.

Mathurin shoots the ball at a high clip at 45.5 percent overall

from the field and 37.2 percent from 3-point range and it is extremely difficult to affect his shot due to his size and high release on his jumper.

On top of that, Mathurin has transitioned from the spot-up shooter he was as a freshman to a guy who also is a great transition scorer and has also made major improvements in his ability to score off the bounce.

Mathurin’s best skill set on offense is the way he moves without the ball in his hands.

Mathurin is an elite cutter, possessing the speed and athleticism to get around screens and knock down tough shots.

Solid defender? Check.

The 19-year-old Canadian guard’s defense has improved immensely from his freshman season.

Mathurin has proven his ability to defend on-ball isolation situations as well as pick-androll ball-handlers at a high level.

Mathurin’s size and athleticism give him the versatility to defend both guards and forwards which is another major plus.

Monster in the paint

After facing one beast in Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn in the round of 32, UH has another

tough test in Arizona’s 7-foot-1inch Christian Koloko.

Koloko took home two pieces of hardware for his play in the regular season, earning the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards.

The junior center from Cameroon has been one of college basketball’s best rim protectors, blocking 86 shots to lead the Pac-12 during the regular season and another 14 in the conference tournament and the Wildcat’s first two NCAA Tournament games. Even when he’s not blocking shots, Koloko’s massive wingspan allows him to affect the shot of any player in his general area.

Koloko has also doubled his offensive production from last season, improving from averaging 5.3 points per game as a sophomore to 12.7 points this season.

Supporting cast

Arizona will be the biggest team UH has faced all year.

Along with Koloko, 6-foot-11inch forward Azuolas Tubelis averages 14.2 points per game, second-most on the team.

Tubelis is not afraid to shoot the 3, attempting about one per game, but shoots at a clip of only 27 percent from deep.

Kerr Krissa and Dalen Terry round out the Arizona starting guard group, combining to score nearly 18 points per game. Both are 3-point shooting threats, shooting 34.2 and 35.1 percent from deep respectively.

Pelle Larsson, a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Sweeden, won the Pac-12’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Larsson averages 7.2 points on 21 minutes off the bench per game. Larsson is also a good 3-point shooter, shooting 36 percent on the year.

How UH matches up with Arizona Controlling the offensive boards

Offensive rebounding has been the bread and butter of the UH program under Kelvin Sampson.

While the Wildcats rank No. 2 in the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game, pulling down 30.08 defensive boards per game, they rank a mere 159th in defensive rebounding percentage at 74.2 percent.

The struggle to pull down defensive rebounds was on full display in Arizona’s round of 32 game against TCU as the Wildcats allowed the Horned Frogs to pull down 20 offensive boards.

UH has been of the country’s best offensive rebounding

teams year after year and that hasn’t changed this season.

The Cougars rebound nearly 38 percent of their misses.

If UH is to knock off the South Region’s No. 1 seed, it must continue to do what it has done all season on the offensive glass because the Cougars simply do not shoot the ball well enough on their first shot to score enough points to beat the Wildcats.

Team defense

Defense has been the foundation for UH and the No. 1 reason for the Cougars’ immense success under Sampson, but the Cougars have their hands full against a high-powered Arizona offense that can hurt teams in many different ways.

Expect lots of double teams from the Cougars when Koloko or Tubelis gets the ball in the post, just as they did against Cockburn.

Kyler Edwards, who Sampson called the American Athletic Conference’s best defender, will likely draw the assignment of guarding Mathurin.

Edwards’ ability to hold his ground against Mathurin will be key if the Cougars are to advance to the Elite Eight. sports@thedailycougar.com

6 | Wednesday, March 23, 2022

OPINION NEWS

ANNA BAKER, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/OPINION

LEGAL

Harassment policy lawsuit is part of larger conservative agenda

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ANNA BAKER

OPINION EDIITOR @ANNA2POINT0

Recently, The Cougar reported three conservative students are suing the UH System for its antiharassment policy. This lawsuit is not about free speech. It’s only part of an agenda masquerading as a grassroots movement.

The students, all anonymous, are working with an organization called Speech First which claims it wants to protect free speech on college campuses.

The lawsuit claims the policy, which bans slurs and negative stereotyping, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The students feel as though they can’t express their views without facing pushback.

While these students may face pushback from other students for these views, expressing their beliefs against gender-neutral pronouns and undocumented immigration doesn’t count as harassment under the University’s policy. The policy says harassment is when it’s “unlawful severe, pervasive or persistent treatment.”

Simply stating a controversial opinion is not harassment. That said, if you keep persistently telling a transgender classmate that you don’t respect them or continue telling a DREAMer you dislike undocumented

immigration, that’s when it starts to become harassment.

The students in this lawsuit are not the biggest issue. The real problem is Speech First, the organization behind them.

Speech First claims to protect student speech on campus.

The organization fights to ban investigations into harassment against minorities at several universities.

According to Michigan Daily, it has sued the University of Michigan for its “Bias Response Teams” which dealt with claims of discrimination on camps such as “Make America White Again” pamphlets being passed around campus and white supremacist graffiti about securing the future of the white race.

It also sued UT Austin where it represented students who had not been punished for anything they’ve said, only that their conservative views make them vulnerable to being punished by the harassment policy.

It’s been in legal battles with many universities, targeting harassment policies, bias response teams and more accorrding to Speech First’s website.

One important aspect of Speech First is how frames itself as grassroots. It claims that it’s made up of students, parents faculty,

alumni and concerned citizens from all over the country.

Despite this framing of a grassroots organization, founder and president Nicole Neily has admitted that no students were involved in the founding of the organization, according to The Nation. In fact, its board is full of Bush administration lawyers and people associated with the Koch family.

The higher-ups have ties to several conservative organizations like Independent Women’s Forum and the Heritage Foundation.

Most of Speech First’s funding comes from undisclosed donors, Neily said. Its $5 student membership fees make up a small fraction of it.

Speech First has only focused on conservative students demonstrating that agenda. This is very deliberate as there are plenty of instances of censorship against left-wing views at universities. In fact, most faculty terminations based on political speech were against left-wing professors according to Vox. However, Speech First’s focus on conservative speech isn’t even the main issue, which is that it entertains some strange ideas in the name of free speech.

In one article on its website, a conservative student claims “to require that all speech be backed

up with facts does not allow for the free flow of thoughts and ideas.” This was in response to an argument about how the press shouldn’t present ideas not based on facts.

With all the concern about misinformation in the press these days, even concern from conservatives, this is a strange thing to focus on. Another problem with its agenda is that Speech First typically backs students that haven’t even been punished by the harassment policies they fight against.

The lawsuits are often based on hypotheticals and on the students’ feelings, rather than the supposed harm of anti-harassment policies, such is the case with the lawsuit against UH. A student feeling uncomfortable sharing their opinion doesn’t mean that their free speech is limited. Like the article on their website shows, the organization doesn’t necessarily care about facts when it comes to defending speech.

Speech First only cares about conservative speech, whether it’s based on something real or not. This lawsuit against UH is a perfect example of a political agenda under the guise of protecting constitutional rights. opinion@thedailycougar.com

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Wednesday, March 23, 2022 | 7 HAYA PANJWANI EDITORS & AMINAH TANNIR,

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LIFE ANDNEWS ARTS

ADVICE

Ask Ashley: Advice on astrology girls, fashion, more ASHLEY GWANANJI

a luxurious puffer jacket. And if this convinces you to get one, anon, make sure you get one for me too.

You know where I reside, bestie, mwah!

Jackets aside, styling cold weather fits is really just about layering. To make it fun, consider blending colors and different patterns together. As for me, I really like using Pinterest for inspiration.

Depending on your style, you can use the app to find fits you really like.

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @ASHXLES

In The Cougar’s weekly anonymous advice column, I brush on astrology, fashion and places to hang out with friends on campus.

To submit your questions for future issues, click the “Ask Ashley” button on our home page.

Hey Ashley. What’s up dude, you look great. Why are astrology girls so rude? All I want to do is uplift my fellow ladies and make friends, but the second they hear my star sign they scream in rage. Or sometimes they love me because of my star sign, but tell me to break up with my boyfriend, without ever meeting him, because apparently astrology dictates we’re supposed to be mortal enemies. I don’t know, I’m sick of navigating this minefield. Is astrology something people grow out of? Should I just start lying about my sign so people can get to know me as a human first? Is reason dead? Please help.

Hello, anon and thank you for the compliment. I love being told things I already know. After all, I am a Scorpio.

As for your problem, this is quite a lot and I wish you can see my severe eye roll of annoyance. For starters, I am sorry that you, and your boyfriend, are being hated on

Set boundaries and be costefficient. Put a financial strategy together to promote flexibility.

What you do to improve your community and personal life will give you peace of mind and the will to stay on your chosen path.

Nurture meaningful relationships.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Reach out to someone who can help you excel. Don’t wait for things to come to you; take control and do your part. Change begins with you. Now’s the time to chase your dreams.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- If the path is clear, move ahead, but if it’s not, back away.

Keep life simple and your plans doable. Refuse to let emotional

Hey Ashley, where do you like spending time on campus? I’m looking for somewhere fun to hang out with friends.

Gerald Sastra/The Cougar

for your sun sign. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about the twelve signs in the zodiac, it should be known that there is free will outside of astrology.

You are more than your sign and your behaviors are correlated, not restricted, with the themes of that sign. Remember, astrology doesn’t define if you’re a crappy person or dictate your potential relationships.

If people are doing that, then they are not using it properly. That said, astrology, like everything else, is something that requires time to learn.

There are so many resources out there to further understand it

situations push you toward indulgence. Know your limits.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Be original without being impractical. Push forward with common sense. You’ll recognize when situations and suggestions are not worthy of your time or money. Put your strength where it will count.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- An emotional response will not help you get your way. Look for the good in everything and everyone. Do your best to make a difference and be part of the solution.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Unreasonable behavior won’t impress anyone, but a kind

as a tool for self-reflection. While people can’t grow out of astrology, they can take the time to understand it better.

And if they refuse to evolve from that, then they are bad friends.

Get some new ones! Also, to those starting out in their astrology journey, you are more than your sun sign! You have other planets, house placements and planetary aspects that give you more information about yourself.

And y’all it’s 2022. Stop using people’s zodiac signs to avoid creating new relationships. It’s lame.

Anyways, I hope this helps.

Hey Ashley! Any ideas on

gesture will attract the people you want in your circle. You’ll figure out the changes required to set you on a positive path.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.

22) -- Concentrate on changes that improve your life and relationships. Channel your energy into the things that make you happy, and it will ease stress and inspire you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- If you trust others to do things your way, you’ll be disappointed.

Be passionate about your beliefs and dedicated to your loved ones and the causes you care about.

Don’t overspend to impress someone.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.

best ways to style cold weather outfits?

Hey, good timing on the question anon. I’ve recently come back from New York City, where I wore a lot of cold fits, pun intended. But what I’ve learned from that city is that you have to get yourself a cropped puffer jacket, period.

Not only does it define that you’re a New Yorker, but it just goes with everything. Jeans, skirts, tights, you name it and the cropped puffer just goes with it. And if you’re feeling a little bit luxurious to where you can spend a bag, consider getting a Moncler jacket.

A Moncler, or a Moncleezy as I affectionately call it, is literally just

22) -- Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and rethink your next move. You can bring about positive change without disrupting or challenging someone’s beliefs. Give others the freedom to do as they please.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Actions will take precedence over words. How you use your skills, knowledge and experience to reach your goals will make a bold statement. Do what’s best for you while also helping others.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Be careful how and who you defend. Gather information before joining a movement that may not live up to

I actually don’t have a lot of places to hang out on campus, anon. I’m usually busy working on writing new content for The Cougar.

However, when I do have time to hang out, it’s usually with friends.

Recently, I’ve been really getting into my basketball era so the Fertitta Center has been a fun hang out spot.

Have you considered The Den or Pink’s Pizza? Both places are pretty cool places to sit with friends and get food and a drink. However, it does get a bit crowded at The Den. Honestly, anywhere can be a fun place to hangout if you have your friends with you. While I feel like I wasn’t much help with this question, I hope it still helps. arts@thedailycougar.com

your principles. A change at home can alter how you feel about someone close to you. Don’t assume; verify facts.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- A direct approach to professional and financial matters will be essential. Emotional spending or letting your feelings disrupt your responsibilities will hinder your progress.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Put everything in place before you share your intentions with others. A sudden change will leave you scrambling. Focus on doing things right the first time and sticking to a budget..

–Eugenia Last

8 | Wednesday, March 23, 2022