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Issue 12, Volume 83
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The dynamic D’Eriq King
Head coach Major Applewhite finally found his starting quarterback in a sophomore who can run and throw. Is the third time the charm? | PG. 8
NEWS
OPINION
Fundraising students donate supplies
Muslim bias surrounding the hijab
Pharmacy and optometry graduate students raised $40,000 and used it all to buy school supplies for Houston-area elementary schools affected by Harvey’s flooding. | PG. 4
The hijab is a defining aspect of the Muslim woman identity, but many women are deciding to take it off. Students discuss the results of their choices with the headscarf. | PG. 12
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Each summer, a volunteering group works with practicing physicians in Haiti, which has as little as six doctors for every 10,000 people. | Courtesy of Likhitha Bodi
Organization brings medical aid to Haiti JORDYN KAZMOUZ
SENIOR STAFF WRITER @JORDYN_FERRAH
The UH organization Friends of Haiti, which aims to raise awareness about health care in Haiti and explore the country's culture, spends the each school year planning for group of students to bring medical aid to the third largest country in the Caribbean. “The club was created four years back, and a group went to Haiti on a medical mission,” said Friends of Haiti President and human nutrition and foods senior Likhitha "Kiki" Bodi. “We’ve continued to run this organization, recruiting students and providing them with great medical experience and at the same time providing care for Haiti.” Initially inspired by the widespread devastation following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the organization strives to visit the country with medical professionals, supplies and students to set up mobile clinics in four to five of the lowest socioeconomic communities, Bodi said. The earthquake demolished 50 health centers, part of Haiti's teaching hospital and the Ministry of Health. Shortly after, the country experienced its first cholera outbreak in a century, which further disrupted the Haiti's health care system, according to the U.S Agency for International Development. According to USAID, Haiti faces several challenges, including: A weak health care system: About 40 percent of the popu-
lation lack access to essential health and nutrition services. A funding environment: The government does not spend much on health. In fact, Haitian's heavily depend on international funding to provide health care services. Human resources: There is a gap in qualified health professionals and people, as few as six per 10,000. Health infrastructure: It was a struggle before the 2010 earthquake and worsened after. There is a shortage in health care and storage facilities, access to electricity, clean water and sanitation systems.
Life-changing experiences The trip to Haiti costs $1,800 and covers airfare, food, transportation and any other expenses during the course of their 10-day stay. Friends of Haiti usually brings between 15 and 20 students to Haiti, including pre-med students who are interested in gaining hands-on medical experience. “When we started setting up the clinics, I guess I always assumed we would have a really nice facility, but we always had classrooms,” said biomedical sciences senior and FOH Associative Vice President Navya Kartha, who went to Haiti in 2015. “It was really cool to see people’s creativity when we only had a small room to put chairs and desks together to create a clinic.” FOH External Vice President and biomedical sciences senior Joshua Chakranarayan said being able to interact with the
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Thomas Dwyer
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Between 15 and 20 UH students, most of whom are interested in medicine, travel to Haiti each summer for the 10-day program. | Courtesy of Likhitha Bodi
kids was the most memorable part of his experience. He learned from Haitians' humility and perspective, he said. “Their attitude was so different and much more positive than ours — I think that’s what I took away from it,” Chakranarayan said. “Haiti is one of the worst-off countries in the Western Hemisphere financially (and) economically, but you wouldn’t understand that just by interacting with the people there, because they’re so positive and grateful. Once you go there, you want to keep on going back there because they’re so thankful for everything.”
Long-term help In addition to changing the students' lives, the organization's trips to Haiti had strong impacts
on the country, too, Bodi said. Through the collection of medicines, vitamins and other miscellaneous supplies, Friends of Haiti was able to assist the country's people beyond their visit. “Our students are mostly interested in doing the clinical things,” Bodi said. “We get to shadow physicians, and this year we gave multivitamins to the patients. We gave them a six-month supply. The living conditions are really hard for them. It’s not like the United States, so we try to learn their culture and their way of living so that we can treat them medically.” Friends of Haiti is currently planning its next trip. news@thedailycougar.com
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Nola Valente, EDITOR
HARVEY
Pharmacy, optometry students donate supplies Joint effort from college groups collected $40K for elementary schools impacted by flooding ANDREA FERNÁNDEZ VELÁZQUEZ
STAFF WRITER
@ANDFERVEL
After Hurricane Harvey damaged classrooms and interrupted lessons in the Houston area, graduates from the College of Pharmacy and the College of Optometry created a drive that raised more than $40,000 in supplies, which benefited 5,380 students and 150 teachers. Kaycie Rathburn, second-year pharmacy student and President of American Pharmacist Association Academy of Student Pharmacists, came up with the idea for the drive before the flooding hit Houston. “I was sitting on my parents' couch during the hurricane and feeling very helpless watching the news,” Rathburn said. “There was so much going on and no way to get anywhere to help. There were a lot of drives going on but nothing for the students and schools.” Members of APhA-ASP gathered to organize the drive. Lorenzo Anderson, second-year optometry student and co-coordinator of the drive, was in charge of the optometry students who participated. “I decided to join forces and be part of the fundraiser because I felt for the schools that lost everything they had,” Anderson said. “Education has always been an important piece of my life, as I have many family members that are teachers. I saw them when I heard we could be of service and was eager to help.”
Surpassing expectations The initial goal was to collect supplies inside the pharmacy and optometry buildings for a couple weeks and send it to Rockport where the hurricane directly hit, Rathburn said. “After a few days, I got a call from an anonymous donor that said he would give us $1,000, and from there the drive started growing larger and larger,” Rathburn said. “That is when I decided to contact other schools around Rockport and smaller Houston schools that were not already being helped.” From the 20 schools the students contacted, supplies were sent to the following: • Five schools in Aransas Pass ISD - Rockport • Bay City Education Speech
Department - Bay City • Creech Elementary – Katy • The Galloway School – Friendswood • Pilgrim Lutheran School – Houston • St. Thomas' Episcopal – Houston • Carroll Elementary – Houston • Shrine of the True Cross Catholic School – Dickinson The group donated school supplies such as pencils, pens, crayons, markers, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, notebooks, composition books and folders, as well as snacks for after-school programs and new uniforms, Rathburn said. The type of donations were based on the needs of the schools, Rathburn said. Some schools were not damaged, but their students were significantly impacted, so they received backpacks full of supplies. Others refused donations, because they said they were already being helped, Rathburn said. “No monetary donations were given to any of the schools because we wanted to stay true to our supporters, and we promised to use their money for supplies,” Rathburn said. “My treasurer kept a spreadsheet with all the donations and exactly what we were spending. We ended up spending $0.86 over the amount donated.” Second-year pharmacy student Shalon Saju Samuel, who was the treasurer during the drive, said he was in Dallas during Harvey but still wanted to help Houstonians in anyway possible. “I felt the biggest way I could help was to keep track of the donations as they came in and to record the expenses as we used the money for the drive,” Samuel said. Rathburn said they received over $8,000 in monetary donations and collected over $31,000 in supplies. Aransas ISD was hit directly by the hurricane, so it received the biggest donation with around $25,000 worth of supplies, Rathburn said. The other nine schools received $1,000 to $1,500 donations of supplies, paper and classroom furnishings.
Joining the cause Students who were part of the cause had their own reasons for joining. “I don’t know if it was my
TOP: Kaycie Rathburn (left) and Alyssa Chaplain sort through school supplies for elementary schools affected by Harvey after the College of Optometry and Pharmacy collected over $40,000 in supplies. BOTTOM: Houston restaurant chain BB's Cafe was one of several sponsors. | Courtesy of Kaycie Rathburn
studies or career that drove me to be a part of this,” said second-year pharmacy student Jaimy James. “Rather, it was the thing that led me to choose these paths that led me to help out with this drive. I just wanted to help people, especially the children that were affected by circumstances they had no control over.” A majority of the students in both colleges, undergraduates as well as nursing and medical students from all over the country, donated to our drive, Rathburn said. “When (Rathburn) first told me about the drive, I didn’t expect it to be a large ordeal, but suddenly our dining room was filling up with boxes from across the nation,” said second-year pharmacy student Callie Downs. “I quickly realized that what I thought was going to be a small drive would impact children all along the Texas coastline, and so I jumped in.” Rathburn said they had about 100 schools hosting drives and had families who wanted to help from all over the country by sending boxes to them. To spread the word, a flyer was posted on Facebook on Aug. 27 and shared by the members of the organization. On Sep. 2, the drive was extended to help Houston schools. On Sept. 23, the drive was closed but still received boxes in the mail through October, Rathburn said. By Oct. 10, they completed all the donation deliveries. None of the students who par-
ticipated in the drive were directly affected by Harvey, Rathburn said. “We chose to do this because we were lucky and wanted to give back to our community and our state because it was heartbreaking,” Rathburn said.
Citywide effort The graduates also received help from sponsors. "We were sponsored by BB’s Café, which promoted the drive on their social media and put a donation box at all seven of their locations in Houston," Rathburn said. "The owner of Crystals Children and Teacher Supplies, Mrs. Chow, helped us get the majority of supplies with the monetary donations and gave us 30 to 50 percent off everything."
BigTex Storage provided a free storage unit from September to November to keep the donations. Cedra Pharmacy provided a drop-off location and a large donation to help buy supplies for two science classrooms at St. Thomas' Episcopal School , Rathburn said. “I was able to accompany Kaycie on many deliveries, and at each school, we were greeted with smiles and thanks,” Downs said. “We tried to give the students a little piece of what Harvey took from them, and I think we did just that. This is just the beginning for Texas, but I know that generous hearts are always willing to lend a helping hand.” news@thedailycougar.com
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Nola Valente, EDITOR
RESEARCH
Professor receives competitive grant to produce better prosthetics ANA GONZALEZ
STAFF WRITER
People with disabilities who feel encumbered by bulky prosthetics may see relief from a UH professor's research. A $500,000 grant to develop artificial muscles was awarded to the UH Department of Mechanical Engineering by the National Science Foundation. Mechanical engineering assistant professor Zheng Chen, who will lead the research, said he thinks the biggest Zheng Chen received a $500,000 grant to develop artificial muscles and tenproblem with prosthetics is that dons to benefit people with disabilities. | Courtesy of Media Relations they're too heavy and unwieldy. “The goal is to help people with them. as actuators can serve as soft disabilities, like people who have “I wanted to see if we could power generators. It can be gotten injured in war or natural provide prosthetics that are capable of converting an applied disasters," Chen said. "We’re trying compliant, lightweight and more electric field into mechanical to help them with affordable and comfortable for people with motion, according to the US compliant prosthetics." disabilities,” Chen said. National Library of Medicine Chen said he was inspired to He found that dielectric website. do the project when he was a elastomers were suitable for Applying voltage to the faculty member at Wichita State the project after researching elastomer can change the shape, University. He knew students materials that could help develop like a human muscle does. The and professors with disabilities these humanlike muscles. This density is almost the same as a and talked to them about their material consists of devices biological muscle, Chen said. struggles. Simple things like that are "sandwiched" between Nanotechnology will be used 10-11065_Cougar News November_ad_Print.pdf 1 11/6/17 9:17 AM picking up a fork was hard for two electrodes, and when used to make the material work and to
construct artificial muscles and tendons, he said. Chen developed an artificial muscle prototype and tendon structure. He used preliminary work and submitted the proposal at Wichita State University. Chen worked at WSU roughly four years, then returned to Houston to work at UH. “This city is more interesting to me, so (my wife and I) decided to come back. We also missed our friends, and I found a good opportunity in this department,” Chen said. Chen said he will look for two doctorate students and two to three undergraduates willing to be part of this project. Mechanical engineering doctorate Alicia Keow, said she joined Chen in Houston after she met him at WSU while seeking research experience. “He was very friendly and helpful (when I met him), and he is always willing to help undergraduate students that are interested in research opportunities,” Keow said.
What Keow finds interesting about the project is that this can be the future of mechanical systems. “I believe we should start moving away from the traditional mechanical system where everything is powered by gears and motors, because like a car, any part can fail anytime,"Keow said. "Because the system is so complicated, you have to take time to diagnose and find out which one is wrong.” Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering Pradeep Sharma said he is thrilled that Chen received this grant. “The NSF Career is a highly competitive grant for junior faculty around the country,” Sharma said. Approximately 40,000 proposals are received each year and only about 11,000 are funded. NSF also accounts for about one-fourth of federal support to academic institutions for basic research, according to the NSF website. news@thedailycougar.com
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CAMPUS
Cougar Village I residents not warned of hot water outage MICHAEL SLATEN
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @MICHAELSLATEN
Every afternoon, pre-business freshman Maranda Meserole finishes classes and returns to Cougar Village I to make her usual pot of coffee. On Oct. 31, brown water coming out of her bathroom sink interrupted those plans. A deliberate hot water outage at the residence hall introduced discolored water into Meserole's and dozens of other residents' sinks. Despite the outage's emergency nature, UH Facilities Services knew its extent and timing, according to an internal Emergency Outage Notification report. Still, residents were not notified about the outage or its possible effects, which include brown water. Meserole said she learned about the brown water on Snapchat. “My friends said it was brown more than yellow, and when I finally got back to my dorm, it was kind of clear at the beginning, and then it was super yellow," she said. "It was gross. It wasn’t like bits or pieces or anything. It was just discolored water.” She said she heard from students living in nearby rooms and her resident assistant that Facilities Management was
flushing out the plumbing, but residents received no official notification or explanation for the brown water. “I wish they would have told us, like if anything, that morning,” Meserole said. “Send out like an email, ‘Hey by the way, the water is going to turn brown at some point.’ It would have been nice to know.” Executive Director of Student Housing and Residential Life Don Yackley said the water system remained disinfected during the outage. The residence hall's hot water system was shut off from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to repair the building's mixing valve, which combines hot and cold water, mechanical supervisor Steve Lopez said. The valve had caused issues with the building's hot water for three to four weeks before it was repaired, he said. Now, the building's hot water should have no issues. Typically, with routine maintenance, the mixing valve should not create issues. Lopez said the building's mixing valve will be maintained on a regular basis going forward to prevent such extended outages. Yackley said outages such as this one often allow sediment in the pipes to temporarily discolor the water. "Once the water system is back to normal, this discol-
oration is flushed out of the system and returns to normal," Yackley said. "Taste, odor and color — while important aspects of water quality — are not the ones that are of major concern so long as the system remains disinfected.” Regardless of repairs or outages in campus buildings, harmless water discolored by sediment may appear at any point, Lopez said. Running the tap for four to five minutes should clear it up, he said. UH experienced brown water throughout campus last September, and for days students relied on food trucks and limited dining hall menus for meals. Moody Towers Dining Commons was also closed most of Oct. 21, 2016, due to a hot water outage, and dining services directed students to dine at Cougar Woods Dining Commons in the meantime. Moody reopened that evening at 9:30 p.m. Moody was not closed last Tuesday in relation to the hot water outage at Cougar Village I, but students were left uninformed and relied on talking to others for information. “Typically when there is a planned outage, the building staff send an email to residents letting them know about a
When a temporary hot water outage struck Cougar Village I last week, many residents' water turned brown or yellow. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
situation,” Yackley said. “In some cases, emergency repairs happen, and there is not time to send out the notice before the work happens. We typically try and send notification even after the issue has been resolved.”
Yackley and Lopez said mineral buildup in Cougar Village I and other campus buildings can happen occasionally but should not be expected. news@thedailycougar.com
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Frank Campos, EDITOR
BASKETBALL
Documentary offers fresh look at historic clash vs UCLA REAGAN EARNST
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @ REAGANEARNST
It's been nearly 50 years since the Cougars slayed Goliath in front of what was the largest audience ever to witness an NCAA basketball game. Meeting on a hardwood court in the middle of the Astrodome, the top-ranked UCLA Bruins — winners of 47 consecutive games prior to this night — fell to the No. 2-ranked Cougars behind an unthinkable effort from Houston forward Elvin Hayes. Nicknamed "The Big E" for his imposing 6-foot-9 frame, on Jan. 20, 1968, Hayes took to the biggest stage college sports had ever witnessed, dropped 39 points and grabbed 15 rebounds on the Lew Alcindor-led Bruins. Alcindor, who began to publicly go by his Islamic name Kareem Abdul Jabaar in 1971, was considered the nation's top player at the time but scored just 15 points after scratching his cornea in a game leading up to the historic bout. Now 71-years-old, Hayes returned to his alma mater to share the magnitude, impact and emotion surrounding the epic contest for an upcoming nationally broadcast CBS Sports documentary. Emmy-winning director Chip Rives organized an onstage panel that included Hayes and legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg, among others, to give viewers unprecedented access to their experiences on this remarkable night. The documentary is set to release on the 50th anniversary of the game this January. "I don't think any of us that night thought that 50 years later, this game would be so profound on our careers and our lives," Hayes said. "I think the realization came when we came out of that locker room and those big green doors opened, and all of the sudden it was reality. It was like,
it's on. Everything I had waited and prepared for, it was here." Houston entered the Game of the Century riding a 13-game win streak that saw the team's last defeat come at the clutch of UCLA in the National Semifinal just 10 months before. Shortly after the 58-73 defeat to the Bruins, Houston head coach Guy V. Lewis and his staff scheduled a rematch the following season. During this time, broadcasters did not consider college basketball to be a high-interest sport; typically the only airtime NCAA hoops received was when the tournament rolled around in March. This game, proposed for mid-January inside the Eighth Wonder of the World, was truly an unprecedented event and established college basketball as the commodity it is today. In the end, the game was picked up by TVS Television Network, and a young Enberg was called on to bring the nation the action, effectively launching a broadcast career that went on to span 60 years. Enberg recalled the nerves he felt as he was about to call the first game of his professional career in such unusual circumstances. "Everything was so much bigger than life," he said. "Think about it: I'm 23 years old, and I'm about to be on national television? What's the farm boy from Michigan doing in this scene? It really, truly was amazing, and then to have the great game is the payoff." Houston tipped off the game as massive underdogs to the John Wooden-coached UCLA team that had not lost in nearly 2 1/2 seasons. Controlling the tempo throughout the first half of play, Houston had UCLA exactly where they wanted when they entered the locker room
Jim Nantz (left) leads a panel of (From left to right) Elvin Hayes, Don Chaney, Seth Davis and Dick Enberg for an upcoming film. | Courtesy UH Athletics
at halftime leading the basketball giants 46-43. In the waning minutes of regulation and score knotted at 69, Hayes took to the free-throw line with a chance to put the Bruins' back against the wall. Hayes collected himself and proceeded to knock down a pair of shots, setting up what became one of the most fortunate finishes in college basketball history. Down 71-69 and searching
for the final shot of the game, a mental lapse by Bruins' All-American guard Mike Warren led to a turnover when he knocked a pass out of bounds that was intended for Lynn Shackleford, a 48 percent career shooter who was wide open in the corner. With seconds remaining on the clock, Hayes, not known for exceptional ball handling, weaved through UCLA defenders until the Cougars were saved by the bell.
"The only thing I would cut out of it was that last two or three seconds," Hayes jokes. "Every time I see it, I always say, 'Why does someone not take the ball from him?' All they had to do was take it and put it in. That was the worst part of the game." The documentary, which is set inside Moore's Opera House, will provide one of the most in-depth and creative looks into what was a valuable piece of Houston and national basketball history. Tune in Jan. 20, 2018, to relive the glory experienced by Hayes, which he says was the peak of his Hall of Fame basketball career. "I scored over 27,000 points in the NBA. I had some great games," Hayes said. "But everywhere I travel, the first thing people say is, 'Hey! I saw you play in the UCLA-Houston game.' That game totally overshadowed everything that I did in pro basketball and even after I left UH." sports@thedailycougar.com
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Sophomore D'Eriq King shined in his new role as starting quarterback in the Cougars' 52-27 victory over the ECU Pirates on Saturday at TDECU. In his second game at quarterback threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Just like Greg Ward Jr., King is also a threat on the ground. King has four rushing touchdowns on the year and three in the last two games. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
FOOTBALL
Crowning achievement: King steps up in victory FRANK CAMPOS
SPORTS EDITOR @FRANKCAMPOSJ
The Homecoming king and queen were not the only ones that earned a crown at TDECU Stadium on Saturday. Sophomore quarterback D'Eriq King dominated in his first game as a starter and looked poised in the pocket in the Cougars' 52-27 victory over East Carolina. After an up-and-down season with a loss against 1-5 Tulsa and a win against a No. 17 USF team, the Cougars seem to have finally found their quarterback in King. The offense that struggled to find any rhythm under Kyle Allen and Kyle Postma flowed smoothly on Saturday.
Starting strong The Manvel native didn’t waste any time in his first start against the Pirates. The Cougars took the ball first, and King immediately went to work to lead the team to a 75-yard drive that was capped off by a quarterback rush up the middle for a touchdown. “I was comfortable in the pocket, and the offensive line did great being open and making plays for me," said King after the game.
King ended his first start early after posting 330 yards through the air and four total touchdowns, including three passing TDs. Although he can run, King committed to the pass early and finished with only three rushes for 14 yards and one touchdown on the ground. “I’m very proud of him,” said head coach Major Applewhite. “He’s been through a lot in terms of coming here with the opportunity to play quarterback.” This week proves how dynamic he can be. After looking like a dominant force against USF on the ground with 80 yards rushing, King flipped the script and relied on his arm to get the job done against ECU. With his latest performance, the sophomore is looking more and more like Greg Ward Jr., who led the 2016 Cougars to the 8th-best offense in the nation. UH averaged 45.3 points per game under the dynamic quarterback-turned-NFL wide receiver. King played with Ward in his final season and has seen what he can do in person. “Greg is a great player. Any quarterback would want to do some of the stuff that he did here," King
said. "I kind of looked up to Greg whenever I was here last year, and he taught me a lot. So I would say I wouldn’t try to be exactly like him, but I try to take from him and do just as good as he did.”
High school phenom It has been only two years since King was highly recruited out of Manvel High School, just south of Houston. The dynamic quarterback had offers from Baylor, Clemson and even committed to TCU before finally deciding to join Houston. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound quarterback finished his high school career with more than 10,000 yards passing and 3,000 career rushing yards. He capped off his play as a senior with 2,898 yards in the air, 51 total touchdowns and 640 yards on the ground. King was a highly-sought four star recruit when Tom Herman snagged him away from TCU in 2015. After being recruited as a quarterback, most of his time was spent as a receiver and running back in Ward’s dynamic offense. “He was on pace to catch 60 balls as a true freshman, and then Kyle Postma got injured in the Tulane game, so he had to go back
to quarterback,” Applewhite said. “He lost the production he had at wide receiver. Then he went into the weight room before we played San Diego State in the Las Vegas Bowl, suffered a knee injury and was out for four to five months.” King’s injury proved to be a costly one. Being sidelined meant he could not compete for the starting job during training camp. This left the door open for junior Kyle Allen to take the reins after waiting a long time to finally get his shot after leaving Texas A&M. “For a guy who never really had the chance to step all the way in the ring and fight, (King's) done a hell of a job staying poise, patient,” Applewhite said. “That says a lot about his character and how he was raised.”
Opportunities abound The speedy quarterback wasn’t just waiting around for his shot. From the moment King recovered, Applewhite featured him heavily in the offense. In just seven games, he had already caught 29 receptions for 264 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 143 yards -- and another four touchdowns. After Postma and Allen took
turns struggling to lead the offense, Applewhite finally turned to King against the No. 17 South Florida Bulls. King didn’t start the game, but he finished it with 137 yards passing, 80 yards rushing, three total touchdowns and a 28-24 victory over a previously undefeated team. King's performance against USF, which included a game-winning 20-yard touchdown with just 11 seconds left in the game, earned him an AAC Player of the Week nod. With his first start under his belt and a few games to go, King is poised to lead the Cougars to a bowl game in Applewhite’s inaugural year as head coach. Despite the long journey, King is not bitter it took so long for the team to see his potential at quarterback. “It’s been a long journey," he said. "I just kept God first and kept working every day. When I first got here, I played receiver. It was something new, but I helped the team out as much as I could. It’s been a dream of mine to be a college quarterback, so it feels pretty good.” sports@thedailycougar.com
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Frank Campos, EDITOR
BASEBALL
Returning pitching, young bats lead team in 2018 PETER SCAMARDO
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @ PLSCAMARDO2
The difference of only one run eliminated the baseball team from postseason play last season. If the Cougars had won, they would have hosted their first Super Regional since 2003. After struggling in 2016, head coach Todd Whitting’s squad came back strong in 2017. Behind a powerful lineup and a dominant starting pitching rotation, led by then-sophomore Trey Cumbie, the Cougars won the American Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament titles. Their success saw the team host its second NCAA Regional in three years, but they could not advance further than the regional final. Now in his eighth season, Whitting must get his players back to speed and fill the holes left by the departed players if they hope to get to Omaha for the NCAA tournament. “I think it’s a veteran bunch; it’s a really confident bunch,” Whitting said. “I think it’s one that is preparing and practicing with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder after not advancing to the NCAA tournament last year. But fall practice is a time to get better. It’s a time to learn about the new guys and see the development of your returning players."
Filling a void The group of Jake Scheiner, Corey Julks and Connor Wong performed well in their junior campaigns. Scheiner led the team in almost every offensive category — batting average, home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage — and was named an All-American in the
Junior Trey Cumbie picked up where he left off last season, striking out seven batters in Game 1 of the Red-White World Series. The reigning Conference Pitcher of the Year should expect another strong year on the mound. The Cougars start their season on Feb. 16, 2017. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
process. Julks and Wong provided veteran leadership with their offensive productivity. Julks was second on the team in batting average, hitting .335, and Wong was second in home runs with 12. All three were taken in the MLB Draft: Wong to the Dodgers, Scheiner to the Phillies and Julks to the Astros. But the team is not completely deprived of its hitters. Juniors Grayson Padgett and Joe Davis return to the squad with the best batting averages from last season. Padgett hit .309 while Davis hit .299 and eight home runs. They will continue to be strong hitters for the Cougars, but the team needs sophomore infielders Lyle Lockhart and Jared Triolo to take the next step forward.
Lockhart and Triolo both saw action as freshmen. Each started more than 50 games for the Cougars and hit in the .270 range, placing them in the bottom third of the top eight hitters. “Everybody’s really trying to step up their game,” Lockhart said. “Losing three of those five guys, vital guys to our lineup last year, everybody knows what we’re missing. A lot of guys are really trying to step up their power because that was a lot of our extra base hits.” In year two, they will need to get more hits and make things a little easier for younger athletes making their way onto the squad.
The ace of the staff When starting pitcher Seth Romero was suspended from the team last season after violations that included fighting with a
teammate, the then-junior was leading the nation in strikeouts, and he was projected as a high pick in the MLB Draft. It seemed the Cougars had lost their ace pitcher, but that was not the case. After being named a freshman All-American, Trey Cumbie took to the starting rotation his sophomore year and never looked back. In more than 100 pitched, Cumbie compiled a 10-2 record with an ERA of 2.04. His 10 wins were the most for a pitcher since 2013. Along the way, he threw four complete games and struck out 82 batters. Cumbie was named Pitcher of the Year in the American Athletic Conference before the Astros drafted him in the 38th round. Instead, he chose to return to Houston to play his junior year. Cumbie’s return gives Whitting a clear ace on his staff and helps solidify his starting rotation for the year. “You lock him down as the Friday night starter, (and) you start filling in the slots for Saturday and Sunday and start putting your bullpen together,” Whitting said.
An early look
Red team recorded eight hits from five different batters to win Game 2 and the series. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
The team concluded fall practice last week with the annual Red-White World Series. Following a scoreless draw in Game 1, the Red Team took the series by winning game two 5-3. Game 1 was dominated by the pitching. Between the two teams,
only three hits were allowed while the pitchers struck out 14 batters. Cumbie and sophomore Fred Villarreal each pitched four innings without giving up a run. Villarreal started only three games last season but will be contending for a spot on the rotation this year. Game 2 saw Aaron Fletcher take the mound for the Red team. Fletcher led the team with eight saves last season. He struck out four against the White team and gave up no runs in 3.2 innings. But Lockhart had the best performance of the night, scoring three runs and hitting a triple and a home run while getting on base all four times. After the game, Lockhart admitted he has been working on getting extra base hits and his performance Friday night showed his work is paying off. Needless to say, Whitting has been pleased with the overall performances on both sides of the ball. “If you had to write a lineup after today, its pretty tough to get it down to nine guys because I think we’ve got 12 to 14 hitters that I feel really good about on any given day,” Whitting said. “But only nine guys can hit, and only one guy can pitch, so we’ll have a lot of competition in preseason practice getting it whittled down.” sports@thedailycougar.com
10 | Wednesday, November 8, 2017
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Rob Gray goes for a layup in an exhibition game against Angelo State on Sunday at Texas Southern University. All of men's basketball's games this season will be held at TSU or Toyota Center, making it more important than ever for students to show up and give the team a reason to win. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
COMMENTARY
Iconic program deserves attendance from students REAGAN EARNST
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @REAGANEARNST
Legends of Houston basketball took the stage in front of a packed Moore's Opera House to film a documentary that features a panel discussion surrounding 1968's "Game of the Century." The film is set to be released Jan. 20, exactly 50 years after the historic competition that saw the No. 2-ranked Cougars take down the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins. More than 50,000 fans packed the Astrodome that night in what was also an unprecedented television event of the time. Former Cougar basketball greats Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney discussed the epic occasion. How could an event with this level of impact — truly bona fide historical significance in the world of basketball and beyond — possibly cast UH in its lead role? Unbelievable as it may seem to the current student body and many before us, UH has a rich history of basketball that consists of 1,164 wins, six conference championships, five Final Four appearances and two heartbreaking trips to the NCAA Championship, but we won't speak of those. Once it opened in 1969, Hofheinz Pavilion quickly became one of the hottest tickets in town for the next 15 years. From Hayes and Chaney's era of the late '60s to Phi Slama Jama of early '80s, students, fans, men, women and children alike flocked through Hofheinz's turnstiles to
support the Cougars and catch a glimpse of what was arguably the best basketball in town. Recently, support for UH basketball, however, is seemingly nonexistent. Now let's not beat around the bush here because, well, we're all guilty of first-degree neglect. Aside from football games, where the student section routinely fills when the team is doing well, virtually every other UH sport struggles to get students in seats on a routine basis despite the teams' above-average performance. I get it. This is Texas, where football is king, and it makes piles of money for the University — especially when enjoying success, as they have for the last four seasons. But at the end of the day, it would take an unprecedented decadeslong run of success for UH football to be considered more than the little brother in the family of Texas college football teams, a fact that is no fault of their own. With basketball, the court is far more level, and the season will soon be in a full sprint. This year more than ever, the men's and women's teams need your support. In case you haven't driven down Cullen Boulevard in the last eight months, Hofheinz Pavilion is no more. Once bustling with fans from all walks of life, it now looks as if North Korea finally had enough and nuked the former home of Cougar basketball — a highly unusual drop site, no doubt. The $60 million renovation
project will pass the arena's namesake torch from Roy Hofheinz to Tilman Fertitta, who's responsible for funding roughly a third of the overhaul. Although it is an eyesore now, early renderings of the Fertitta Center show a sparkling, state-of-the-art arena that surely will be one of the nicest venues in the country. Because of this, UH basketball is forced to relocate a majority of their home games to H&PE Arena at Texas Southern University, about a mile from where Hofheinz once stood. A free shuttle service will provide quick, safe and free access to basketball games for all UH students in the upcoming season, but will anyone use it? Basketball attendance has waned in recent years for a variety of reasons. Most notably, I assume, fans simply did not want to enter the decaying confines of Hofheinz Pavilion. By no means should a successful team be met with empty seats. Since 2006, the Cougars have gone 148-50 at home. In that time, it has filled less than half of the 8,918 seats inside of Hofheinz. For the women's team, exponentially fewer. Clearly, getting to basketball games has not been a priority for students and alumni, and that needs to change. Games at TSU are going to be empty if the student body doesn't find a way to get to at least one game this season. Division I athletes, some of whom could likely be offering their abilities to higher-profile programs,
are choosing to represent this University despite its recent lack of support and a timesharelike stadium situation. Seniors like Rob Gray Jr. from the men's team or Chyanne Butler from the women's will never reap the benefits that come with a new stadium, yet their final season could be marred with memories of a high school-level attendance. By getting to just one game this season, the poised-to-perform men's team and up-and-coming women's squad will have the chance to experience some inkling of a home court advantage, and you may even catch an affinity for one of the school's most storied traditions: basketball. A new arena is on the way, and hopefully a new era of UH basketball. Let's fill the seats of H&PE Arena now so that the seats of the Fertitta Center will be filled later. It may be unlikely that support for the Cougars returns to pre-1985 levels, but by attending games, inconvenient as it may be this season, one small step can be taken in the right direction. A new arena is on the way, and, hopefully a new era of UH basketball. Let’s fill the seats of H&PE Arena now so that the seats of the Fertitta Center will be filled later. It may be unlikely that support for the Cougars returns to pre-1985 levels, but by attending games – inconvenient as it may be this season – one small step can be taken in the right direction. sports@thedailycougar.com
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OPINION
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CAMPUS
Hate crimes increase in pool of diversity Hate crimes at UH increased from zero to seven in just two years. The Opinion editors give their take on why this might have happened.
Dana C. Jones
Mia Valdez
Opinion Editor
Assistant Opinion Editor
Hate crimes are offenses that follow
Two lines of inquiry strike me most about
the path of lynchings in the postbellum
hate crimes: What is the intimate life
American South. Despite mostly racial
of a hateful person, such that they feel
origins, hate crimes are made against
compelled to betray the safety of another
every minority group. The fact that we
human life? And what torrent of emotions
see crimes rooted in bias committed on a
rages through the life of a person after
campus that praises its diversity proves
they have been victimized by a hate crime?
that the presence of multiple ethnicities
I am most interested in understanding
and sexual orientations doesn’t solve
this act of betrayal on the part of the
everything. It further proves that the
perpetrator and disproving the logic behind
only path to real progress is through
hate crimes. It is important to pursue this
toleration of differences. Otherwise, these
line of questioning because it is, in fact, an
premeditated, targeted acts will continue.
intimate betrayal.
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In the western world, they see the hijab as a form of opression against women not being able to express themsleves. However, there are women that both choose to wear and not wear it. | Dana C. Jones/The Cougar
CULTURE
Movement to shed hijab exposes biases on all sides
C
ountries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, which require women to wear hijabs, have inspired some faulty notions of Islam in the west. The recent hashtag #NoHijabDay has enforced this assumption by creating the idea that hijab is a tool of oppression. ANUSHEH I grew up SIDDIQUE in a Muslim SENIOR STAFF household WRITER and followed the Islamic faith for the entirety of my life. My mom and sister both wear hijabs, but I never felt any pressure to wear one myself. I was raised with this notion that wearing your hijab is a personal decision between you and your creator, yet both sides have tried extremely hard to enforce or demonize this piece of fabric. This hashtag makes the small demographic of women who are pressured into wearing a hijab seem vastly disproportionate to reality. Heavily perpetuated ideas regarding the relationship between oppression and hijab, its flexibility and its evolution as a statement of women's rights are fallacious. The hashtag #NoHijabDay originates from women in Iran protesting the requirement to wear hijab. Foregoing the hijab for a day began as a sign of solidarity, but it evolved into a disparaging statement on this facet of Islam. There’s something absurd about policing such an intimate aspect of faith,
whether it be enforcing it or advertising its removal. Western women face no legal obligation to wear it. The social repercussions of donning a headscarf vary drastically, depending on its wearer. Regardless, all women understand the attention their hijabs receive. “I definitely felt the target on my back,” said biology freshman Tashfia Nazmee, who wears a headscarf. Other girls recounted their parents' concerns as the Trump administration shifted toward what feels like a less supportive political stance on their faith. One of the privileges of not advertising my faith on my head is the security it affords me, but that is inherently problematic. This differing treatment of two members of the same faith is hinged on the faulty notion that a hijab brings its wearer that much closer to the faith, and therefore to the fears of many Americans. Biochemistry sophomore Sahar Baige said she felt “discouraged by family from wearing the scarf for safety reasons.” The culpability of this rests on flawed representation of Islam in the West. When it came to the hijab, I often felt like a coward for not wearing one. This has little to do with my family or environment and more to do insecurity about my faith. I saw the hijab as a commitment to my creator that I wasn’t entirely sure I could uphold. This piece of cloth can make one feel as if “they’re the spokesperson for Islam, the literal face of it" said accounting freshman
Firdaos Adesina. This wasn’t a responsibility for which I was ready. Identity is something we all struggle with, but being a Muslim woman is especially challenging. The strangest part of my relationship with the hijab was how overwhelming it felt in public. It was not out of the norm for non-Muslims to approach me, commending me on my liberation from oppression. While it felt laughable at the time, I realize now how implicating those statement were. After years of spiritual journeying, pretentious selfproclamations of epiphanies and research, and I have still not fully discovered my identity. The comfort I have attained within my faith and alongside hijabi and nonhijabi members is a motivating incentive to keep growing. After speaking to several Muslim girls, both hijabis and nonhijabis, I found the gap between these two experiences has less animosity than both parties often assume. In my adolescence, I definitely felt the insecurity of not wearing a scarf in the presence of girls who did, but looking back, I’ve found that was a reflection of uncertainty in my own identity. “I have friends who don’t wear hijab and pray five times a day," said psychology freshman Mahnoor Ahmed. "It doesn’t define you the way we expect it to." The community responds affectionately toward a girl who starts hijab, but it can be unforgiving toward those who choose to take it off. I
discussed these implications with healthcare administration freshman Fareeha Dadabhoy, who felt some pressure from her family to wear the hijab. Taking it off led to a lessthan-warm reception from friends and family and embodies the cultural stigma that comes with the realization that the hijab “represents something significant” and does “not do it justice by not wearing it and representing as it should be.” This realization is a difficult one for many, but it takes a mature and determined perspective to choose sincerity to your identity before appeasing others. The Muslim community needs to address the taboo of removing the scarf, because otherwise we will find ourselves vulnerable to this association of hijab with oppression. Commitment to faith is powerful. Wearing a headscarf influences every aspect of your life, but I think maintaining modesty is enough for me to feel the connection with my creator. There’s something beautiful about the strength of hijabi women under duress from a president that turns a blind eye to their hardship of expressing this show of faith. A hijab isn’t just the piece of cloth — it’s a reminder to personify the attributes of kindness, respect and warmness. It may not be for me, but I will always defend a woman's right to wear it. Staff writer Anusheh Siddique is a political science freshman. She can be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com.
Accounting, biology and psychology freshmen Firdaos Adesina, Tashfia Nazmee and Manhoor Ahmed are all Muslim women who wear hijab, and deal with the stigmas that come with it. | Dana C. Jones/The Cougar