t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s pa pe r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s to n s i n c e 1 9 3 4
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THE DAILY COUGAR.COM
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Forecast, Page 2
Monday, M d March M h 1, 2010
White, Perry lead UH poll Former Mayor Bill White and Gov. Rick Perry are poised to carry UH in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primaries. A poll conducted by The Daily Cougar last week revealed that 85.99 percent of UH students likely voting in the Democratic primary favor White to be his party’s nominee in the Nov. 2 general election. Meanwhile, 52.78 percent of likely Republican student voters support Perry. White’s opponent, local businessman Farouk Shami, garnered the endorsement of 12.56 percent of
HI
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Issue 103, Volume 75
By Jose Aguilar THE DAILY COUGAR
WEATHER »
UH Democrats, while 1.45 percent indicated they were undecided between the two. Among Republicans, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison earned the support of 36.11 percent of those polled. Tea Party activist Debra Medina received the backing of 8.33 percent. About 2.8 percent of Republicans said they are undecided, but will likely vote in that primary. Of the 471 students surveyed, 180 said they would vote in the Republican primary, while 207 said they would vote in the Democratic primary. “(This) is different than the pattern seen in the broader Houston
area, where Republican primary voters outnumber those voting in the Democratic primary by more than two to one,” assistant political science professor Elizabeth Rigby said. “Their preferences align with the broader distribution of support among Texas voters in general.” Eighty-four students said they haven’t decided which primary they’ll vote in, reflecting the apathy surrounding many young voters during gubernatorial election season. “My assumption is that most of these ‘undecided’ citizens won’t end
thedailycougar.com
Voters’ biggest concerns: The Daily Cougar polled 471 likely UH student voters about the candidates they favored in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary. This chart reflects the main issues those surveyed said they wanted candidates to address.
Immigration: 4.9%
Jobs: 29.1%
Top concerns:
College costs: 5.5%
Other: 19.1%
Law enforcement Social issues Bipartisanship Social services Environment/clean energy Infrastructure
Budget/taxes: 8.7%
Health care: 14%
Public schools: 18.7%
see POLL, page 3
THE DAILY COUGAR
Mayor triumphs over media label By Jose Aguilar THE DAILY COUGAR
GREGORY BOHUSLAV THE DAILY COUGAR
The band came marching in
T
he UH band participated in the annual Houston Downtown Rodeo Parade on Sunday. The parade includes thousands of men and women on horseback and many decorative floats. The parade has taken place every February for the last 72 years.
UH plans for future budget cuts Conserving electricity, recycling paper on agenda to save money
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By Alan Delon THE DAILY COUGAR The top nine priorities in UH’s 5 percent reduction plan submitted to the state’s Legislative Budget Board on Feb. 15 are still under assessment, and could be for a while. “The plans we are submitting are subject to review by the LBB, and we will probably not get subsequent direction for some time,” Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance Carl Carlucci said.
“As required by the LBB, this list represents a reduction in our state appropriation and includes only those items funded directly by state appropriations.” UH has begun implementing certain efficiency items and equipment to save money for future reduction plans. These include single-source purchasing contracts, equipment consolidations, longer replacement cycles for computers, replacing paper processes with electronic processes and paper recycling, according to the UH Budget Office’s Web site. The top nine priorities in the reduction plan include business process and equipment efficiencies,
communication allowance reductions and public service. “As an example, we estimate that we can recycle 1,000 tons of copy paper, for which we would be paid about $200,000,” Carlucci said. UH also plans to save money by encouraging employees to turn off the 17,000 desktop computers on campus. “Last year, we put in place a new contract for electricity that saved us $1 million per year. Making sure that our computers and monitors are powered down when not in use could save us an estimated $250,000.” see REDUCTION, page 3
Mayor Annise Parker paid a visit to the main campus to speak to a small group of students and invited guests from the English Department on Friday. Parker entered the small classroom in the Roy G. Cullen building dressed in full Western attire: black denim jeans, boots, a gold-plated buckle and a Western shirt complete with pink snap buttons “It’s ‘Go Texan Day’ in Houston … I don’t always dress like this,” Parker said. Parker peppered jokes such as these throughout her 35-minute talk with English professor Maria Gonzalez’ Queer Theory students. She used her wardrobe to jump into the importance of appearance, especially when she first ran for public office in 1991. “I had a rat-tail,” Parker said. “And I ceremoniously cut off the rat-tail and went out and bought a powder blue skirt and suit to campaign in. I spent more time in pantyhose and heels than I had in probably my entire life.” Every campaign since then, Parker has donned a powder blue skirt suit. Whether she will wear one in future campaigns is unknown. “I burned that sucker when I won (the mayor’s race),” she said. Parker explained how she took steps to make sure it was her message, and not her appearance, that people remembered. “Running a political campaign is a marketing exercise in a singular product: yourself and your ideas,” Parker said. “It is about making sure people receive your message.” After losing her first two campaigns for at-large positions
on the City Council — even with “the heels and hose and the slightly more conservative hairstyle” — Parker and her campaign manager at the time noticed the media was treating her a little differently than others. “Every time I saw my name it was, ‘Annise Parker, lesbian activist’ or ‘gay activist Annise Parker,’ and I thought that was a problem,” she said. Before beginning her third campaign in 1997, Parker sat down with the editorial boards of the Houston Post, Chronicle and various news stations in an effort to change the way she was identified. She told them although she is a lesbian, she had not been a member of a gay or lesbian organization in a decade. She explained that it didn’t bother her to be called a lesbian, but she did “want and demand parity.” Like her opponents, Parker was a businessperson and volunteer. “Fortunately for me, I think the times had changed so much that they got it,” Parker said. “Then they didn’t write it next to my name. (They wrote) it in the next paragraph (instead).” All of Parkers’ trials and tribulations were exemplified when she won her first election in 1997. Twelve years later, the hard work paid off in a way she only somewhat imagined; and it became a worldwide news event. “What’s the biggest surprise? The level of media attention,” Parker said. “I have worldwide media coverage, and I’ve been in office for 12 years. Nobody cared for 12 years. Nobody paid attention.” Her newfound celebrity and its sometimes-tedious effects —she see MAYOR, page 3