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Issue 15, Volume 83
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Cougars prepared for senior losses The season’s over, but graduating seniors will not leave the football team in poor hands. | PG. 8
NEWS
Coke provides first-gen scholarship
The Coca-Cola Foundation has donated $200,000 to fund a first generation scholarship through the Urban Experience Program, giving a boost to first-gen students. | PG. 4
OPINION
Halting Greek life hurts communities
Sororities and fraternities are known for harmful hazing, and two weeks ago, a pledge even died at Texas State. But they also provide important community philanthropic work. | PG. 12
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Q&A: SGA president discusses midyear progress
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SGA President Winni Zhang discussed her agenda going into next semester and what's been done so far in the 54th Administration | File photo/The Cougar
MICHAEL SLATEN
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @MICHAELSLATEN
With the last Student Government Association meeting Wednesday, President Winni Zhang said everything she'd hoped would be accomplished halfway through the 54th Administration has been done. Zhang said the 54th Administration's accomplishments so far fall under three categories: health services, textbook prices and parking and transportation. Looking ahead, she said, there needs to be more conversations about sexual assault on campus, and SGA will lobby at the next session of the Texas Legislature in 2019 as a part of the Texas Student Government Coalition. The Cougar: The last meeting for SGA is Wednesday. What accomplishments has the 54th Administration made in your eyes? Winni Zhang: I can break this down into three sections, so we can first touch on parking. When I was running, one of my promises was that we want to be able to bring real-time counters and digital-guidance systems, or parking-guidance
systems, to the University in every single lot and garage. And so that is happening at the end of this semester, which means that you’ll have digital counters at every single surface lot as well as guidance systems in all the garages to be able to sync to your phone for students to look at. You can see how many spots are open to make parking much easier on campus. Colorado State had done this, and the student feedback was pretty positive from it because they have similar parking challenges, so that's one thing. The only lots that will not have them will be 20A and 20B, because they're going to be eventually garages, so we are not going to put the investment in those lots right now. That’s one portion of parking. Another problem under parking is that we want to work with METRO, because some of the lines into the University aren't as quick as they can be. A lot of our international students that live in the Holly Hall area actually rely on that, because it's hard for them to get a driver's license or hard for them to get to school without a car, so they rely on the METRO. It takes them an hour to get to school from Holly Hall, and it's about
5 to 7 miles away. So we worked with METRO and right now currently in the process of drafting up a plan that we have for a 25-minute route to campus.
that survey is going to jump-start some of our textbook conversations. The pilot program is technically starting in spring, but will be implemented in fall for students.
The second thing would be health services. So obviously mental health is a very big passion and focus of mine this year.
TC: So can you give me a wrapup of all the bills that have been passed this year?
A couple of things that came from that was that we got (Counseling and Psychological Services) on every single syllabi, so now mandated sections similar to the (Center for Diversity and Inclusion) portion for all of our syllabi, which brought a lot of awareness.
change bill, UB 54001. That bill also came from my office, and it basically asks the University to sign the Second Nature climate commitment agreement, which means that we will commit to being carbon neutral by a certain day.
We obviously put on the End the Stigma, which was very big as well. And then we also recently just passed a bill declaring the University in a mental-health crisis. And a couple of things are following from that bill, but one of the most important things is that after (UH) President (Renu) Khator saw the bill, she decided to centrally fund nonstudent-fee-based, four new full-time employees for CAPS, which brings our ratio up a lot. So I'm very, very excited for that. Textbook prices — we are planning to send out a survey pretty soon to the student body. That's actually being finalized and sent out probably within the next eight to 10 days. And
WZ:The first one is the climate
Doesn't matter what date it is, we create our own climate-action plan. But we are going to commit to that. So, President Khator has seen the bill, the office has been doing research already, and we're looking into how that can be our next step. UB 54002 is the mental- health crisis bill. SGAR 54001 — that's a resolution supporting DACA students at our University, and most of the things on that bill have been done.
TC: At the last SGA meeting, you said that “students don’t want to come here,” and there is "too much focus on SGA
SGA PRESIDENT
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CAMPUS
Students offer personal strategies for surviving finals ANDREW JONES
STAFF WRITER @DREWKENDALJONES
Students all over the country are gathering around tables, uncapping their highlighters and undergoing the arduous task of studying for finals. The official finals week at the University of Houston is Dec. 7 through 13, but for many students, preparation for this period may as well be year-round. Corporate communications senior Jilliana Colina is balancing a six-course load and an internship at KPRC-TV, but she said the key to getting through the stressful time is remembering why you started and what you want to achieve. “Keep your end goal in mind,” Colina said. Corporate communications senior Jilliana Colina said to keep the end goal Electronic devices can become in mind when stressing during finals week. | Andrew Jones/ The Cougar barriers for students trying to focus on important assignments, semester of finals, Colina is using her breaks as opportunities so Colina sticks to a guiding no stranger to the heightened to hang out with friends, she said. principle: Put modern tools away demand exams place on stuAlthough Colina values the when it's time to get serious. dents. Her keys to success involve relief that study-breaks afford 10-11065_Cougar News November_PRINT2.pdf 1 11/22/17 After taking semester after snacks, taking time to relax11:51 andAM leading up to the end of the
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semester, she isn’t immune to the trappings of cramming. She thinks the primary cause of that is the week-long Thanksgiving break just before many finals are given. Many students simply take it as time off, she said. While some balance jobs and change their eating and sleeping habits on the way to reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, others don't know what to expect. Pre-med freshman Syed Ahmad sees the college-level finals process as a completely different league compared to his high school experience. Studying last minute and even cramming a semester’s worth of information the night before may have passed in high school, but it just doesn’t work in college, Ahmad said. Instead he’s developed a strategy to divide the material he needs to study into more manageable portions to avoid the stress of not having enough time to cover everything. Even as a freshman, Ahmad said that the
resources like practice exams in Blackboard are indispensable. As a Muslim student, Ahmad's personal method of stress relief involves prayer, he said. He also breaks up long periods of studying by socializing and taking advantage of the many events the University provides to help students relieve stress. Not all students experience the pressure of finals. John Nacar, a supply chain management senior, said setting priorities is the most important step in staying organized. He said he takes a methodical approach to his finals and doesn’t let the stress affect him. His tool for being thorough is to know which exams come first and study accordingly, he said. His advice for students entering the University, or further along on their way to completion, is straightforward. “Don’t slack off,” Nacar said. news@thedailycougar.com
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CAMPUS
Coca-Cola donates first-generation scholarship fund ANDRES CHIO
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR @ CHIOANDRES
The Coca-Cola Foundation has given the University of Houston $200,000 to fund the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship Program. The scholarship is the latest addition to the resources that the Urban Experience Program offers to students on campus, said Raven Jones, director of the UEP. This is the largest donation Coca-Cola has made to UH and is twice as large as its previous top donation. There is a chance that the school will receive larger funds in the future, Jones said. The scholarship will run for two years and give $1,125 per semester to 40 full-time students to help them become the first in their families to graduate from college. At the end of the two years, Coca-Cola and the UEP will meet to discuss extending and expanding the scholarship, Jones said. The scholarship is available only to first generation students that are enrolled in the UEP. The UEP has been running for 19 years and focuses on giving students resources like financial counseling, personal mentoring
The Coca-Cola Foundation donated $200,000 to UH for the Urban Experience Program. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
and professional workshops. Jones said that 46.7 percent of UH students are first generation students, one of the highest first-generation enrollment rates for a major metropolitan school, and that number has been trending upward. “I think the major th+ing with a first gen student is that they may not have that family-support member that understands what they are going through,” Jones said,
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“If your father or mother have not gone to college, when you are struggling in class or you have to work extra hours, they may not understand those problems. There is a certain level of knowledge that is not there.” The program offers mentorship to younger students from other first-generation students that are seniors or graduated. When Jones first joined the UEP in August 2014, she said the
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SGA PRESIDENT
or felt didn’t get enough attention so far this year?
TC: Any other big picture initiatives for next semester?
matters." Why do you think there has been so much focus on SGA matters?
WZ: No. I mean, we’ve accomplished
WZ: So I think that that's like the
WZ: To be completely honest, I
We were just picked and elected as the new director for the Texas Student Government Coalition. That's a coalition that spans currently 25 student government across Texas and represents 660,000 students.
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think that's more the Senate's objective. Each year has become more and more internal. Like fixing some of the bylaws and constitution, because I think that's really tangible. It's very easy to fix matters within your own organization, because that's as simple as passing a bill and then it's fixed. But I think what's less tangible is moving past that, like fixing things on a University level, and I think our senators are starting to get back on track. My goal is to bring SGA Senate back to working on big-picture ideas across the University. So that was kind of just me speaking at a meeting and letting them know that we should stop working on internal things that students aren’t going to care about. I mean you can do it, but make sure you're also doing things outside.
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program served 50 to 80 students. The program now serves over 300 students and is closing in on 400. The staff has grown likewise from the director and one graduate assistant to a staff of 11: the director, two counselors, two graduate assistants and six student leaders. Some of the program’s students come from partner programs, like the Foster Care to Success program and the Youth Empowerment Alliance, which helps foster youth and
undocumented students. Though President Donald Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program Sept. 5, Jones said that the end of DACA will not disrupt UEP’s mission. “It’s not going to change what we offer," Jones said. "Our students on campus need to have tools and resources and allocated staff that are very knowledgeable about DACA and undocumented issues, and I think that our office, no matter what politically is happening, will continue to do our best to serve out students." The program has a 97 percent retention rate and members average about a 3.0 GPA, Jones said. She is optimistic about the program’s continued success. The program is fee-funded, so it is free to all UH students. They hold events every month to help students that can be found on their website. “Our numbers are there — they speak for themselves," Jones said. "But the success of the students is what we are really excited about — when they all reach their goals and graduate and go on to big things.”
TC: So is there anything that you wished was accomplished
quite some stuff this year. We still have a lot more to go.
It's kind of an advocacy group, so we compile a unanimous vote. So, we have to unanimously vote on an agenda and compile those three to five items and take those as to what we're going to prioritize for the legislative session in Texas. The bills that we've chosen this year very closely aligned with what SGA wants in terms of advocacy efforts at UH anyways, which would be mental health, sexual assault, open educational resources and then the Good Samaritan law. Literally, all of these are our top priorities. So we're hoping that the advocacy efforts there are going to be really, really strong and good, so that we can get some legal mandates passed in terms of all these initiatives working on. That's the next big picture idea.
lobbying portion. We still have our secondary initiatives that we have to go through. Some of that is the diversity and inclusion efforts will be a focus. Sexual assault will be a really big focus since most of our main initiatives are done. We started a task force this year. Executive Order 1 was a sexual assault task force, and a lot of students had really enjoyed going to those meetings that brings different parts of the University together to talk about how we can improve in terms of reporting, in terms of transparency with sexual assault survivors, in terms of training for police officers. We talk about everything that's related to sexual assault awareness and prevention. That's one of my big goals before I leave office: to address the low reporting on our campus and see what we can do to bring light to an issue that's not talked about enough on campus.
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Last year Elijah Hall won four conference titles and broke a school record. His last hurdle is a national title, something he missed out on last year due to two different injuries. | Peter Scamardo/The Cougar
TRACK & FIELD
Sprinter running past injuries to bigger goals PETER SCAMARDO
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @PLSCAMARDO2
All track and field athletes dream of representing their country in international competitions like the Olympics. While the next games are still three years away, for senior sprinter Elijah Hall those dreams might become reality. At the USA Track and Field Championships in June, Hall placed third in the 200-meter finals, earning him a trip to the IAAF World Championships in London in August. But after a long season that saw Hall suffer two injuries, both of which kept him from running for an NCAA title, Hall chose to skip the championships in London to improve his health. “Bigger things (are) down the road,” Hall said. "There was no point for me to go if I’m injured and banged up. The one thing I wanted to do was get my body healthy so I could come and have a great season this year.” Hall is in the final weeks of preparation for the start of the track season. Being a transfer from Butler Community College, this season is Hall's final year of eligibility to compete for the Cougars. He may have bigger goals but
the path to those goals starts now — such as by ensuring he is healthy enough to compete come Dec. 9 when the team travels to Texas A&M University to open the season.
Quick start After Hall, a graduate of Morton Ranch High School in Katy, spent two years at Butler Community College in Kansas, he decided to come home to run for the Cougars. Hall said his friendship with senior sprinter Cameron Burrell and connection with coaches Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell were deciding factors. Hall, a two-time NJCAA Champion at Butler, joined the team with a bang. In his first meet for the Cougars, he broke the school's indoor 200-meter record, 20.71 seconds, as he won the race at the Mark Colligan Memorial Invitational in January. “That was exciting,” he said. “It showed all the hard work that I had put in during the offseason and everything I had learned from Carl and Burrell, and I just put it together in one meet. The record was mine to go, and I’m going to break that, too.” Hall came in second in the men’s 60-meter that same day,
running 6.65 seconds. His time in both events ranked in the NCAA Top 16, the mark to qualify for the championships. But Hall suffered a hamstring injury at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 21, one month away from the NCAA Indoor Championships. The injury kept Hall from competing at the conference championships as well as the NCAA contest, forcing him to miss out on medaling or possibly winning two big events.
Comeback trail At the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in April, Hall was placed on the anchor leg of the men’s 4x100 relay team. The team finished in 38.59 seconds, two hundredths of a second behind LSU, the reigning national champions. But Hall and his teammates were excited. Knowing that was just their first race together, the sky was the limit. Hall took the reins as the top sprinter on the men’s team. In addition to winning the men’s 100 meter at the historic Penn Relays, one of the oldest track meets in the United States, he was named the Track Athlete of the Meet at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor
Championships. Hall earned the honor after winning the 100 meter, 200 meter, 4x100 meter relay and 4x400 meter relay. His win in the 200 meter was then the fastest time in the country at 19.96 seconds. “The biggest goal is to help each other win, help each other get better,” Hall said. “That’s why I love this school and this track team so much because we’re one big family. Our goal is to do bigger things.”
Another hurdle The only thing left to do was run the NCAA West Regional and qualify for the Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. But disaster struck again as Hall suffered his second hamstring injury of the year while running in the 100-meter preliminary heats. Once again, Hall missed out on competing against the best runners in the country. “It’s hard to see somebody who’s worked so hard suffer through something like that,” Burrell said. “It’s not fun to watch. It’s devastating so see someone go down like that, especially when it’s a close friend like Eli.”
But in his absence, the men’s team still made history, winning the 4x100 relay title. Hall said he was so happy on the day he almost fell out of the bleachers celebrating. He said he was not bitter toward his teammates; he was excited they performed on the biggest stage when everyone counted them out.
'Bigger goals' Hall had one more race that season: the USA Track and Field Championships. And although he ended up not competing in London, his ability to come back from injury and make the world team showed that all the work he has put in with his coaches was worth it. Hall is expecting a big year from himself and his teammates. Hall's energy and spirit is a testament to the track and field team's desire to win a national title for the first time. “We’ve got bigger goals this year," Hall said. "We’re going to make more teams down the line, so it’s OK. It was very sad at the moment, but at the end of the day, I still have another year here at UH, and all my guys are coming back with me.” sports@thedailycougar.com
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Q&A: Hughey looking for consistency, leader from team TRENTON WHITING
STAFF WRITER
@YOUNGTREKKA
So far, every year in the American Athletic Conference the women's basketball team have been bottom feeders. Last year was only a slight improvement for head coach Ronald Hughey's team as they finished 10th out of the 11 teams in the AAC. Since joining the team in 2014, Hughey has been working to earn a postseason berth for the Cougars, their first since 2010-11. But so far he has had no luck. In his three years as head coach Hughey has amassed a 24-67 record as head coach. But the coach believes this could be a breakout year for the Cougars. The Cougar: Some of your seniors, like Jacqueline Blake and Kierra Graves, graduated. How does this team feel different than the one you had last year?
Ronald Hughey: Last year’s team needed to play with pace. There were times when we could run and times we needed to slow it down — times we needed to execute in the half-court and those kind of things. This team can just go. We’re athletic, we’re fast, and we can move the basketball. We can shoot it from different places on the floor. We can attack the basket, (and) we have rebounding.
and you also play against Texas A&M and Boston College, it prepares you for what the conference is like. I don’t think we can’t surpass any of the people that were ahead of us last year. So we’re definitely looking for some postseason play.
This team needs to get the maturity level up, and we have to find a leader — someone who’s going to step up and be able to command the attention of everyone each and every day. This team has the possibility of surpassing all the teams that I’ve had since I’ve been here.
Hughey: The hardest test for our team is ourselves — it’s the time away. It’s no classes, and it's idle time. They have to stay focused. They have to stay buckled down. If we come in focused, ready to work and have no excuses, we’re really good.
The Cougar: Looking forward into the next couple weeks, what would you say will be the hardest test for the team?
The Cougar: You have quite a few players returning from last year. Who are you expecting to either keep up their production from last year or take the next step into this year to help you be successful?
Hughey is looking to take his team to the postseason in his fourth year, but he needs maturity and consistency from his players. | Nabil Ahsan/The Cougar (Butler) is out right now with a knee injury, so she hasn’t played a minute yet. Angela Harris, Jasmyne Harris, Dorian Branch and Serithia Hawkins have all stepped up into prominent roles where they need to fill the void of the production we lost last year.
Hughey: Well they’ve already started pushing (their) production up. Chyanne
The Cougar: What are your goals for the team this year? Hughey: We have to make sure that we consistently get in the top three of the conference. When you have UConn in conference and USF and Temple,
If we come in and we’re not as focused and we’re worrying about other things on the floor or off the floor, then we’re our own worst enemy. Our goal is to try to keep them as focused as we possibly can on the goal at hand and take it one game at a time and see where that possibly leads us.
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Despite the loss of more than 20 seniors, there is still hope for the football team's future in year two of Major Applewhite's regime. Behind the efforts of sophomores quarterback D'Eriq King, defensive tackle Ed Oliver and other returning starters for the 2018 season, there is reason to believe the Cougars could once again be crowned AAC Champions a year from now. | Richard Fletcher Jr./The Cougar
FOOTBALL
Cougars' roster built to weather losses next year REAGAN EARNST
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @REAGANEARNST
"Good, but not good enough" was the theme of the Cougars' 2017 regular season, which saw the team finish second place in the American Athletic Conference West Division, two games behind the No. 17-ranked Memphis Tigers. Despite struggling at times, there are more positives than negatives to be drawn from the up-and-down season. The Cougars' 7-4 record could've been even better if not for slip-ups against seemingly inferior opponents and a second-half collapse against the Tigers that saw a 24-7 third-quarter lead disappear in just over 18 minutes. Even so, consider that following the 2016 season, Houston lost not only its head coach, but also the winning-est senior class in program history. Talent and experience were lost on both sides of the ball, and this proved to be a bigger factor than many had anticipated coming into the season. When the season concludes
next month, the Cougars will once again suffer significant senior losses, but the talented junior class could help minimize the effects of their absence.
Possible finale for Oliver Sophomore defensive tackle Ed Oliver will headline the junior class's contributors next season as he enters what might be his last season in a Cougars' uniform. Oliver is a physical anomaly who in just two years has already earned every opportunity to be taken in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. It's common to see juniors who are assumed top picks to turn it down a notch, sometimes unintentionally given that an injury could derail a bright NFL career. Luckily, even if Oliver is going only half-speed, he's probably still more effective than a large percentage of other players at his position. In 24 games over the last two seasons, Oliver has recorded a remarkable 37.5 tackles for loss including 10.5 sacks — both
Against Navy, junior linebacker Emke Egbule and defensive tackle Ed Oliver combined for 20 tackles. They will be looked to lead the defense in 2018 as two of the top returning starters on the defense. | Richard Fletcher Jr./The Cougar
outstanding marks for a defensive tackle. Additionally, the sophomore has deflected 12 passes, blocked a kick, forced five fumbles and recovered two. Basically, if a big play is being made, Oliver is somehow involved in it. Another offseason under his belt will further mold the
19-year-old into a nightmare for opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks.
Jack of all trades, master of one The Cougars' season was essentially a tripartite with each part highlighted by a different quarterback: Kyle Allen, Kyle Postma and D'Eriq King.
Before taking over at QB following the benching of both Allen and Postma, King was a utility athlete — although listed formally as a wide receiver — who could find the end zone via the pass, run, catch or return. At receiver, King caught
ROSTER LOSSES
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CROSS COUNTRY
Star runner's career leaves legacy of consistency PETER SCAMARDO
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @PLSCAMARDO2
Redshirt senior Brian Barraza said he wants to leave a legacy of consistent hard work training for cross country and be remembered for always putting in the effort to finish as high as he could. Barraza's desire is anything but far-fetched. In four seasons of competition, Barraza was the model of consistency for the Cougars. Barraza's numerous top-five and top-three finishes and multiple qualifications to the NCAA championship made his career with the Cougars one of the most successful since Olympians Al Lawrence and Leonard Hilton ran for the team in the '60s and '70s. “We might not ever have another Brian, but his legacy will carry on for years," head coach Steve Magness said. "He showed that you can become one of the best in the nation at a non-Power 5, inner-city university." Barraza has spearheaded a movement to bring the Cougars to a competitive level in the American Athletic Conference. And for the most part, it has been successful. For the first three years competing in the new conference, the Cougars placed in the top five each time, twice finishing third. In all but his freshman year, Barraza was the Cougars' top finisher. Although the team placed only sixth in his final conference championship race, Barraza had his best finish, placing second behind only Emmanuel Rotich of Tulane.
ROSTER LOSSES
Continued from previous page 29 passes and grabbed two touchdowns before making the switch. King was recruited as one of the nation's top dual-threat QBs and finally got his shot under center at the college level against South Florida, when he eventually toppled the nation's No. 18 team at the time. King hasn't looked back since then, completing roughly 70 percent of his passes, accounting for 12 TDs and effectively proving his value at QB.
His ability to constantly place high in every race places senior Brian Barraza alongside Olympians Al Lawrence and Leonard Hilton in terms of consistency on the cross country course for the Cougars. His accolades include an NCAA South Central Title and a conference silver medal. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar
Barraza said he wanted to show others that Houston is a place where they can find success in cross country. When he came to Houston, all he had was faith in himself and Magness. It was his consistent effort that brought him success. “People think you have to go to California or Oregon or some storied program in the Midwest to be successful,” Barraza said. “And really you get out of the program what you put into that program.”
Above the rest The factors that made Barraza stand out were his trips to the NCAA Championships.
Assuming the starting job is King's until a change is warranted, it appears Houston has found a great QB — the cornerstone of success on the gridiron. Look for King to become a staple of UH football for the better part of the next two years.
Filling holes at receiver Depth at wide receiver is something the Cougars don't have right now. By next season, the Cougars will be without their top four receivers. Seniors Linell Bonner and Steven Dunbar — who
On the first trip, Barraza said the magnitude of the stage made him question if he belonged. But his second trip erased his doubts, and he felt he belonged at the front of the pack during his most recent trip, Barraza said. But it was at the NCAA South Central Regional where Barraza was emotional about his distance career with the Cougars coming to an end. That day, the men placed sixth and Barraza placed second out of more than 200 runners. It was their best finish in 13 years, but they fell four spots short of the mark to qualify for nationals as a team.
“We have an old team now,” Barraza said. “We had four fifth-year seniors that raced at regionals. So when we crossed the line together, we could all feel the five years of work that we had put in.”
combined for more than 140 receptions, 1,700-plus yards and seven TDs — will play their final game for the Cougars next month. Houston's third-best receiver in 2017 by numbers is the now the starting quarterback. John Leday, a senior receiver and return man, will also exit the college ranks before the 2018 season begins. Leday has returned all but seven of the kickoffs and has contributed more than 100 yards receiving and a TD reception. Sophomores Courtney Lark and Keith Corbin can help
minimize the impact of these holes. Lark has struggled to find his role amid the bevvy of upperclassmen in his first two seasons, but 2018 presents a golden opportunity for the Houston native. Even with a reduced role this season, Lark has nine catches and leads the team with an average of 23 yards per catch. Corbin has yet to find his niche within the offense and has caught just 16 passes in his career. A third year in Major Applewhite's offensive system, however, could provide a famil-
Moving on Lacking Barraza, the team will need to adapt. He said it will take time to rebuild, but the team is still set up for the future. This year, five different runners ran under the old school 3K record, Barraza said, showing they are moving in the right direction. Junior G.J. Reyna has already established himself as
the successor to the top finisher on the team. With him at the helm, the Cougars should be able to build off of what they accomplished with Barraza. “Everybody’s pushed the program in the right direction,” Barraza said when asked how the team has changed since his freshman year in 2013. “Every single person that we’ve brought in has taken charge of the team in their own way, pushed us in a direction to make every recruiting class a little bit better (and) every workout a little bit better.” sports@thedailycougar.com
iarity that will serve him well next season. Regardless, the Cougars' coaching staff will have its work cut out trying to replace the openings at wideout, but the Lark and Corbin can at least provide the framework. There's plenty of reason to believe that next year could be the Cougars' year to win the conference and return to a New Year's Six Bowl. For now, enjoy the flashes of future greatness on the Houston roster. sports@thedailycougar.com
10 | Wednesday, November 29, 2017
OPINION 713-743-5304
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Dana C. Jones, EDITOR
POLITICS
The Republican Party: Dead as we know it H
ere lies the Republican Party, dead after less than a year under President Donald Trump. The party had a lot of ups and downs over its long history, especially in recent years, but now the FRANK Republican CAMPOS SPORTS EDITOR Party is dead as a doornail, and it’s all because of one powerful, tan, angry individual. Trump and his pseudopolitics have taken the "Party of Lincoln” and turned it into the mockery it is today: the "Party of Pepe.” It feels like just yesterday that liberals and I were mocked after Election Day for our reliance on Hillary Clinton to win big against the monster we thought could never garner enough votes to become president. Much of the laughter toward Democrats seemed to be followed by happy reminders that the Democratic Party was dead after relying too much on one powerful family and its donors to keep liberals in the White House. We lost big in November and continue to lose big every time Trump tears down another Obama-era policy. The Democratic Party has shown that despite making huge mistakes over the years, it will not die. Instead, it thrives the most when it seems to be at its weakest. With the 2018 elections on the horizon, Democratic bases are scrambling to feed off of the pain inflicted by Trump and turn it into major victories. Republicans, meanwhile, have resorted to protecting a pedophile to gain one seat in the Senate and have found ways of protecting every asinine thing Trump does. Although many Republicans, such as Sen. Mitch McConnell and other prominent conservative figures, have condemned Roy Moore and asked him to step down, the consensus seems to be to allow him to run to maintain control of as many seats as possible. This is a man that was ostensibly banned from a mall, wrote in young girl’s yearbook and preyed on children for years while supposedly upholding
the law. Moore is the furthest thing from the Christian and conservative values he claims to represent, yet he still sits atop his mountain of white privilege, waiting for the election in one of the most conservative states in the country. This is what the Republican Party is now, but that isn’t all that has murdered the once prominent organization. Slowly but surely, Trump has hacked away at any decency left in the party. The list runs too long to mention each item, but it’s worth looking at some of Trump’s greatest hits over the last year. From betraying the LGBTQ community by creating a religious executive order and attempting to ban the transgender community from the military to his most recent comment in front of Native Americans referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, Trump has been one giant mistake after another. The phrase “you get what you asked for” could not be more apparent than with Trump. You
wanted him? You can have him. Every single stupid thing that comes out of his mouth and every stupid decision that leads to more pain and suffering to your fellow Americans is yours to own, Republicans. Trump in all his anger toward our first black president has made it his mission to destroy Obama's legacy and everything he built while he was in office. It started small when Trump first took office by getting rid of things like environmental regulations, but it has escalated quickly to attempting — and failing — to get rid of Obamacare and implementing a new conservative plan that will eventually kick millions off of their medical insurance. That’s just at the top of his list. Trump is determined to tear down Obama's legacy, and the Republican Party has given him the golden pen to do just that. With year one almost in the books, we have seen another change in how we look at conservatives. Holding much better seats at the table are the "alt-right" and neo-Nazis. The
once-fringe groups have clung to the First Amendment to spew their messages of hatred and have found a home with the Republican Party, whether they like it or not. Starting on message boards around the country, the internet trolls we thought were harmless now have a platform and a huge following. This is the final nail in the coffin for the once "valueoriented" party. The mixture of neo-Nazi conservatives with the Trump presidency has absolutely killed the idea of the Republican Party as it once was. Now, we have some sad mixture of conservative ideas led by nationalism instead of hard work like the Republicans of yore. To those of you who voted for Trump, I hope you know that we will not forget you as we spend years trying to fix the mess caused by possibly the worst presidency of all time. Sports editor Frank Campos is a media production senior and can be reached at sports@ thedailycougar.com.
CARTOON
History repeats itself. So do politicians.
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | 11
OPINION
CLASSIFIEDS Discovery Guide Position
Women should have domain over their own body, especially when it comes to contraception and reproductive medicines. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Jurisdiction of female anatomy marks declaration of war few years ago, a friend of mine suffered from sharp pains below her abdomen. She passed it off as cramps at first, but she started to realize something was wrong as the pains continued, even when she wasn’t on her period. It wasn’t until her parents found her unconscious on the bathroom floor BETHEL BIRU that they took GUES T COLUMNIST her to the hospital. Had it not been for birth control, the cyst the doctors found on her ovary would have exploded, leaving her dead or infertile. The United States has declared a war on women. Not only are they being criminalized — facing fines and up to five years in prison for having abortions beyond 20 weeks — they have also been marginalized from having access to basic health care thanks to President Donald Trump’s new plan to roll back the Affordable Care Act's birth control mandate. In 2010, then-President Barack Obama passed the ACA, which included a contraceptive mandate requiring health insurers and employers to provide their employees with health insurance and cover contraceptive costs under government regulations. More than 62 percent of women of reproductive age — 15 to 44 years-old — are use birth control. That’s roughly 10.6 million women. With Trump's mission to eradicate all forms of progress done in the past 8 years, the new mandate makes it legal for employers to deny these women insurance coverage for their birth control under the auspices of religious righteousness.
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According to Planned Parenthood, the pill is not only a way to prevent pregnancy, but also assists with health issues related to women. It prevents cysts in the breasts and ovaries, endometrial ovarian cancers, serous infections, and assists tremendously in reducing menstrual cramps that can cause some women to pass out from the pain. Many religious groups, such as Protestants and the Catholic church, oppose the pill due to the fact that it’s mostly known for being a contraceptive and violates their strong religious beliefs — but so do condoms. To deny women of medically effective treatment based solely on personal beliefs is a human rights violation. It denies them access to needed care and heightens their chance for medical risks. Women’s rights have always been a controversial issue, from the fight for voting rights to the fight for equal pay. It’s a struggle that should have ended decades ago. By passing this new mandate, the Trump administration has not only set us back in time, but solidified the idea that women will always be second-class citizens. Never in my life would I have thought female organs would be considered more lethal and in need of regulation than guns. But stopping a woman from taking a pill that will affect her body the way she wants is believed to need more prevention than stricter gun laws. The patriarchy has made it clear that they will do whatever it takes to steal ownership of women’s bodies. No abortions, no birth control, no maternity leave — this is inevitably what the war on women looks like. Guest columnist Bethel Biru is a broadcast journalism senior. She can be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com
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12 | Wednesday, November 29, 2017
OPINION 713-743-5304
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Dana C. Jones, EDITOR
STATE
Suspending Greek life affects the surrounding community, too M
att Ellis, a new member of Texas State University's Phi Kappa Psi, died on Nov. 14 after the fraternity’s initiation process, according to the university. Two days later, all Greek life at the university was DANA C. prohibited. JONES This OPINION EDITOR suspension will be detrimental to the communities that they serve, as well as the brother and sisterhoods. The rushing process for fraternities and sororities has often been criticized for including hazing, the punishment of which can result in suspension or expulsion of the Greek organization. Even though suspension, which can make an example of badly behaving organizations, may seem like an easy fix, it prevents other groups from contributing charitable work. That is most of the reason these fraternities and sororities exist — not just to bring together a group of like-minded people, but to also progress their chapter, brother and sisterhoods forward and give back to their respective communities. According to its website, “the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity engages men of integrity, further develops their intellect and enhances community involvement.” Its mission is rooted in helping the community, and the suspension would stop them from doing such. This is not just exclusive to Phi Kappa Psi. Michala Padgett, a double major in marketing and retailing and consumer science, is a member of UH Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Part of the sorority's purpose is “to be a service to all mankind.” An eradication of their philanthropic work on any campus will then trickle down into the community. “It would be significantly detrimental, not just from my sorority, but in general,” Padgett said. “Certain sororities focus on just breast or lung cancer awareness, so all that they do would not be seen anymore.”
This is not to say that Ellis should be forgotten. His death is a tragedy, and the circumstances that led to it should be made aware across Texas State's campus. The consequences that the Greek life participants face, however, should be up for debate, not what I perceive as the quick fix of suspension. A more constructive consequence could be that fraternities and sororities must implement more comprehensive riskmanagement programs to keep new pledges safe. “We have a whole committee dedicated to risk management and workshops,” Padgett said about UH. “At the end of the day, it is about the brotherhood, the sisterhood and the community service.” If they have not already, the fraternities could raise funds to help cover the funeral costs of the deceased and show at least some remorse. They could also have meetings with the heads of the university's Greek Affairs office. I reached out to Jason Bergeron, director of UH's Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life, for comment, but he was unavailable until after press time. They could also host events to explain the purpose of Greek life. This would cut through the misconception and allow them to brand themselves in a more public eye. In this, they can express how they help the community and the students that attend the events. Greek life is more than just parties with two colors and keg stands. Its organizations plan events that impact where their communities and offer resources to the students they walk among as well. Its purpose is to grow bonds with people who will be lifelong friends in professional and personal aspects. Each organization has different things that they focus on, whether it be friendship and scholarship in Sigma Alpha Epsilon, service and integrity in Alpha Phi Alpha or enhancing community involvement in Phi Kappa Psi. Opinion editor Dana C. Jones is a print journalism junior. He can be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com.
Fraternities and sororities should have more constructive consequences than just suspension or expulsion, which do not teach them why their actions were wrong, their true magnitude or how to prevent future deaths. More hands-on learning experiences should be implemented to create better bonds and community impact. | Thomas Dwyer/The Cougar