Issue 23, Volume 84

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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Issue 23, Volume 84

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Parking is expanding, but at what cost?

NEWS

SPORTS

OPINION

2019-2020 permit On to the show Parking pass The men’s basketball team is prices debut woes Tulsa bound for the first weekend Prices for the upcoming academic year are out, and on-campus residents are facing a new premium . | PG. 6

of the NCAA tournament and is eager for the challenge. | PG. 9

With the release of 2019-2020 parking pass prices, the Cougar Editorial Board brings light to student objections. | PG. 10

2 | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

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ACADEMICS

Geology professor wins funding for tectonic research IAN EVERETT

WRITER POSITION @IANEVERETT8

A UH assistant professor of geology was awarded more than half a million dollars from the National Science Foundation CAREER Program for research into plate tectonics and how they shape current climate models.

Jonny Wu, whose research focuses on the reconstruction of plate tectonics, plans to use the grant to research the Panthalassa-Pacific realm, an oceanic region that covered 70 percent of the Earth in the time of Pangaea, and rebuild the plate back to the Mesozoic Era, he said.

Current models only recreate the Earth in adequate detail to the Cretaceous period, which accounts for just 3 percent of our planet’s history, according to a research proposal by Wu. “We’re trying to find vanished parts of the Earth. We don’t have to go very far back in time, just to the Cretaceous, to find out how much of the Earth has vanished,” Wu said.

The NSF grants CAREER awards to junior faculty members “in support of the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context Jonny Wu's research delves into mapping out the shape of the the Earth in the ancient past as far back as the Cretaof the mission of their organicious period to find parts of the planet's crust that have dissapearred. | Courtesy of the University of Houston zation,” according to the NSF website. traces of old plates. We ‘unsub“It’s a skill all geo-scientists then recreating that fruit from Wu said plate tectonics is the duct’ the plate and pull it up develop to map out the Earth,” the 2D image. He’s also utilized grand unifying theory of geolfrom the Earth to study it in Wu said. “This skill is very Google Maps layouts to help ogy, and the theory has changed models,” he said. important and often under-inteach seismic tomography. everything we know about Wu was also one of the structed. If you intentionally try “The idea is to do the same continents and our climate since authors of a recent paper from to teach it, it’s a learnable skill.” with the plates as with the fruit, its acceptance in the science UH geologists that reconstructed Wu has developed a few exerto take a slice of a plate and community in the 20th century. the Nazca ocean plate to discises to teach his students how recreate it. We’re trying to pilot “Plate tectonics is a really cover the history of the Andes to imagine three-dimensional these methods and getting feedimportant input in climate Mountains in South America shapes from two-dimensional back from the students,” Wu said. change and oceans and such,” when he joined the geology images. One simple lesson news@thedailycougar.com Wu said. “What we’re trying to department in 2016 as part of involves slicing a fruit at differaddress is that plate models are their Center for Tectonics and ent angles, taking a picture and not very well known for a large Tomography. part of Earth, especially parts In the realm of education, where plates are converging Wu started a seminar series in against each other and one is fall 2018 at the Energy Institute disappearing into the Earth.”

High School, a STEM-oriented This process, which is called program for high school students subduction, does not completely that explores the topic of energy erase the plate. Traces can be careers. found of old plates that retained “The link between what I’m their shape even after sinking doing and energy is we’re using into the Earth’s mantle, Wu said. the petroleum software that Wu said this subduction maps out reservoirs of oil,” Wu can then be reversed using a said. technique known as seismic Wu said he also wants to tomography, which is somewhat teach his undergrad students similar to a doctor using a CT spatial mapping, a skill he finds A 3D model created by Wu shows subducted segments of the Earth's crust scan to see inside of a patient. to be neglected in education but in the mantle under China, Korea, and Japan. | Corbin Ayres/The Cougar “We want to try and find one that is vital to geology.

i

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CAMPUS

Students raise concerns over frequent flooding OWEN ZINKWEG

STAFF WRITER

@OWEN_ZINK

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, coH students know how rainy Houston can get. At the drop of a hat, UH can be drenched by a downpour, leading to puddles and flooded sidewalks across campus.

Houston gets so much rain, it is comparable to a tropical monsoon climate. On average, Houston has at least eight rainy days each month and gets upwards of four inches of rain.

“I pay a lot of money for the school. I’d rather not walk through an ocean every time it rains more than a couple of hours,” said creative writing junior Michelle Stephens. “We have to avoid some pretty deep water.”

Executive Director of Facilities Services Jeffrey Benjamin said this is a general problem Houston has, and UH is just one of the many places in the city that experiences this.

“There are some areas on campus that hold water after heavy rains, but this is not unique to our campus,” Benjamin said. “Clay-based soil and aging infrastructure contributes to drainage issues all across the city.”

Computer engineering senior Bruno Cabete said

he occasionally has trouble getting into certain buildings, and he dislikes the mud that accumulates in the parking lots.

“The sidewalks get really slippery,” Cabete said. “I wish they would repave the lots or the sidewalks.”

Houston floods four to five days a year, on average. Since the 1970s, there have been at least 26 events that have completely flooded homes in the Houston metro area according to a report by the Weather Research Center.

Flooding can occur any time of year, regardless of the season.

Houston is only about 50 feet above sea level, much lower than other major U.S. cities of comparable size. The flat, lowlying land leads to complications in the drainage of floodwater.

There is little to no slope going out to Galveston Bay, so water gets backed up all over Houston.

“It’s hard to tell just how flooded the sidewalks are sometimes,” said English junior Rhiannon Schilling. “And walking on the grass isn’t much better.”

UH Facilities does, however, put in time to make sure flooding on campus does not get too problematic. Facilities often cleans out storm drains so water flows better and improves the drainage issues overall. It

During Hurricane Harvey many areas that would normally be puddles became outright ponds.| File photo/the Cougar

also does maintenance on the sidewalks like students have been asking.

“We have even changed the slope of sidewalks to enable better drainage,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin said any students who have problems with drainage or leakage can contact FIX-IT,

which is the best way to bring attention to larger drainage issues on campus and have them quickly resolved. He also said drainage will be less and less of a problem as the UH campus continues to develop and add new advancements to the infrastructure.

“As our campus continues to grow, new Facilities projects typically include more sustainable storm water runoff plans,” Benjamin said.

“We’re excited about these developments.” news@thedailycougar.com

CAMPUS

Annual RecycleMania contest approaches end Since the begining of February, students have been sorting and recycling their trash to be entered in a raffle HADRIAN BARBOSA

NEWS EDITOR

@HADRIANSWALL_

After two months of University-wide trash sorting, RecycleMania will be closing out at the end of March.

Organized by the Office of Sustainability, RecycleMania is an annual contest designed to raise student awareness of recycling on campus with students taking part in various mini-events throughout where they earn buttons which enter them in prize raffles.

“RecycleMania, bare basics, is that in February and March, a

bunch of colleges report on how much recycling they’re doing,” said Sustainability Coordinator Gabriel Durham. “We all get put on a little scorecard together and have a little friendly competition.”

More than 100 universities nationwide, including the University of Texas at Austin and Cornell University, are also taking part in RecycleMania and its special challenges such the Zero Building Challenge, in which all the waste from one whole building is recycled, according to the contest's website.

“What we’re doing this year is we’re having the button competition. (There are) three different buttons you get for attending different RecycleMania events,” Durham said. “They’re like raffle tickets.

One button gets you entered into the raffle to win a zerowaste kit, and if you get all three buttons it triples your entry.”

The buttons encourage students to go to as many RecycleMania events as possible in order to have the highest odds of winning the zero-waste kit, featuring items like beeswax wrapping paper and bamboo straws, Durham said.

“One of the buttons you can only get at the E-Waste Drive,” Durham said. “Any old cellphones, old chargers, old computer towers, old mice, old keyboards — bring them out and we’ll recycle them for you.”

The E-Waste Drive, one of the final events of this semester’s RecycleMania, takes place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 28 in front of Student Center South.

Another one of the three

buttons can only be obtained by delivering a bag of recycling waste to Durham, who will be stationed in front of the Cougar Card offices at the Welcome Center Garage. The last opportunity to do so will be between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Thursday.

“We partnered with the Student Center and had a large number of students out there watching ("A Plastic Ocean").

We also (have) signs all over campus, and also every week I’m out in front of the Student Center Office,” Durham said.

The 2013 documentary film “A Plastic Ocean” focuses on the problem of pollution in the world's oceans.

The last button can be earned by taking a picture with a friend while doing something “green,” using the

hashtag #caughtgreenhanded and tagging it @uhsustain on Twitter.

“You actually have to find a friend and take a selfie with them recycling or using a reusable water bottle,” Durham said. “Then you and your friend both get the green button, so it’s a way to get you and your friend a button really fast.”

Along with the button system for the raffle, the event gives students a chance to recycle all their waste through the Office of Sustainability.

“I like that UH has an event specifically to promote recycling,” said mathematics junior Haley Rosso. “I also like that students can take their trash to the office and the staff

RECYCLEMANIA CONTINUES ON PAGE 5

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | 5

GREG FAILS, EDITOR

RECYCLEMANIA

Continued from page 4 will help them determine what is or is not recyclable.”

Another positive about RecycleMania is it allows students to recycle electronic waste, which isn’t normally easy to recycle, she said.

“I have some old cell phones and printer cartridges that I’m happy I can get rid of in an ethical way instead of sending them off to a landfill,” Rosso said.

While accessibility to recycling bins is not a big issue, Rosso said she believes it would be beneficial if UH created a place to recycle plastic film, which can’t be put in regular recycling bins.

“Although I think UH does a pretty good job promoting recycling in general, I think there needs to be more exposure specifically about what should and shouldn’t be put in the bins,” Rosso said.

“Often when putting my stuff in the bins I’ll notice grocery bags, Styrofoam and glass, all of which are not recyclable and

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/NEWS

can contaminate other objects.”

With RecycleMania happening over the course of February and March, Rosso said she sees plenty of students using the recycling bins on campus.

“I notice that a lot of people make a point to use the recycling bins, especially since a lot of them are next to the regular trash bins anyway,” Rosso said. “I think it helps that the bins are accessible pretty much anywhere on campus.”

This year, RecycleMania will be going on until the end of March, but plans are already in the works to bring it back next year. As for the button contest, everybody has a good shot at winning, Durham said.

“I’m looking forward to potentially winning one of the zero-waste kit prizes,” Rosso said. “I think buying reusable is the most important step in living a sustainable lifestyle, and having access to reusable (products) can cut down the waste students create significantly.”

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One of the main goals of RecycleMania has been to promote and raise awareness of the recycling bins across campus where students can deposit papers, cardboards and some plastics and metals.| Corbin Ayres/The Cougar

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TRANSPORTATION

Parking just got more expensive for residents

Anyone parked on campus without the proper permit can recieve citations from Parking Enforcement ranging from $30 to $60, and an upwards of $100 if they're towed. | Corbin Ayres/The Cougar

THE COUGAR NEWS SERVICES @THEDAILYCOUGAR

Parking permit rates for the 2019-2020 academic year are up, and students residing on campus are facing higher parking costs than ever.

The new prices now have commuters and residents paying different rates on some of the permit options. While prices have gone up for both groups, residents will now have to pay more for zone and garage parking on campus.

“Parking patterns indicate that a majority of residents park their vehicles without moving them for an extended period of time and, quite often, the spaces that are being taken up are prime, proximal spaces,” said Neil Hart, executive director of UH Auxiliary Services. “This has been a point of contention for our commuter customers, which represent 90 percent of our on-campus parking permits — they basically do not have access to these spaces.”

Price hikes The price of a garage permit increased to $965 for residents and $670 for commuters, from this year's flat rate of $570. Zone parking permits have increased to $610 for residents and $405

for commuters, from this year's flat rate of $370.

“Prices had to go up because to build garages four and five — Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) had to take out loans in order to afford them,” said Elliot Kauffman, a student member of the Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee. “Neither tuition nor the University put money into PTS because as an auxiliary service, that is against state law.”

Kauffman said the situation is tricky because of campus expansion, specifically when new buildings are built on existing surface lots.

“When buildings are built on surface lots, PTS has to replace those missing parking spots,” Kauffman said. “Since garage spots cost more, parking permit prices have to rise to reflect that.”

While the 2019-2020 academic year will bring significant increases to permit prices, there is not much concern that these increases will discourage students from living on campus.

“There are so many benefits to living on campus, including the close proximity to classes

and amenities,” Hart said.

“However, as our on-campus residential community continues to grow, we have to find viable alternatives to parking on campus.”

PTS often oversells parking lots as a means to ensure each space is getting maximum usage. For every 10 spots available in a surface lot, they may sell 14 passes, figuring not all 14 cars will be parked all day.

In theory, this allows everyone to find a spot.

“Rates were determined by using the 1.4 oversell factor that we use for commuter parkers,” Hart said. “Basically, if a resident is parked all day in a lot, we have to decrease our oversell and therefore have to sell less spaces.”

The rate increase was approved last year by a TPAC vote, which reviews rate structures every two years.

“I think people need to understand that their concerns and frustrations are valid, however, the rate increase was voted on last year,” said Andrew Bahlmann, the Student Government Association appointee to TPAC. “Though I was on the committee at the time and I own that, at the

end of the day I have to look at what is in the best interest of the department to continue providing these services.”

Student reactions to the price hike have been mixed, but generally they are not very positive.

Struggling students “A lot of students are financially struggling. The prices are ridiculous, we don’t need another thing to stress about, especially those of us who don’t have parents paying for school,” said biology senior Dalia Aldin.

“Where are we supposed (to) go get the money from?”

Mechanical engineering freshman Noah Ashworth said he believes it is unfair for on-campus residents to have to pay more for parking than commuters.

“Residents have just as much of a need for a vehicle as commuters, yet we are supposed to pay even more,” Ashworth said. “If I can’t afford the extra money, I’m forced to live stranded on campus, which not only makes it tough for me to get groceries and all but also puts stress on my family because they would have to drive all the way here just for me to be able to go home.”

Mathematics junior Tara Bentley, who also lives on campus, echoed his concerns about the steep increase for residents.

“I understand that as a resident my car is parked at UH more often, but how does that justify a 65 percent price increase? I could buy round-trip tickets to anywhere in America for the price of a lot space or round-trip tickets to Australia for the price of a garage space,” Bentley said.

PTS has outlined other options for students uninterested or unable to pay for on-campus parking, including access to remote lots, for which the permit price will be the same for commuters and residents, or carpooling to campus.

“The (Coogs On Alternative and Sustainable Transportation) program, which incentivizes students to not bring a vehicle on campus, and our remote parking campus are two of the options,” Hart said. “COAST minimizes the number of vehicles traveling to campus and ultimately reducing the carbon footprint and improving air quality.” news@thedailycougar.com

SPORTS

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | 7

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BASEBALL

Senior star is batting at a career-high level ANDRES CHIO

SPORTS EDITOR @CHIOANDRES

The Cougars are a third of the way through the season and are about to start up league play in the American Athletic Conference with one of the hottest bats in college baseball.

Senior leader Joe Davis has led Houston through a tough nonconference schedule with a positive record, and the team is ready to keep battling for more wins.

Davis heated up at the end of last season and hit seven home runs in the AAC and NCAA tournaments across nine games to help the team make it to the Chapel Hill Regional finals.

He has not missed a beat and has taken the momentum into 2019.

The senior slugger has hit eight home runs in the first 18 games of the season and has 27 RBIs from 25 hits.

He holds the school home run record with 43 in his career and continues to build on it each week.

"It definitely built on my confidence going into this one. It kind of helps calm down the game a bit," Davis said.

Davis has a team-leading .368 batting average and a leagueleading .809 slugging percentage.

The next best in the conference is Tulane junior Kody Hoese, who has a .783 slugging percentage and one more home run than Davis, but he has two more games played.

Hoese and Davis are No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in the entirety of college baseball for home runs, and Davis is No. 12 in the nation with his slugging percentage.

"One thing about Joe Davis is that he is consistent. Every year he has put up similar numbers," said head coach Todd Whitting, though even he did not predict just how hot of a run Davis would go on to start his last campaign for the Cougars.

Senior Grayson Padgett said Davis's consistency is a great help and he is someone they all rely on.

"Joe Davis is always going to be Joe Davis. He's going to hit bombs, and he's going to strike the ball," Padgett said. "We're going to score a lot of runs this year."

The baseball season is long and players go in and out of form during it, but Davis is on track to hit over two dozen home runs this season.

He has already matched his total home runs from his sophomore year, when he hit eight in 61 games played, and is on track to shatter his season-high of 14 that he had across 59 games in his freshman

Senior Joe Davis has raised the home run hammer eight times this season.

It was welded by his brother John to look like Thor's famous Mjölnir hammer and it is lifted after every home run. | Andres Chio/The Cougar

year.

Whitting said one of the biggest things that helped Davis was he had a full, healthy year to train for the first time in his college career.

Davis won the AAC Rookie of the Year award in his first season, but he ran into injury trouble during his sophomore season.

That put some of the work he had done in the offseason to waste, as Davis was not able to use it to the fullest extent.

He spent the offseason before his junior season getting surgery and recovering, and it took him a good part of the regular season before he got going.

His junior year was a healthy one, and he was able to spend the entire summer and fall improving his game for this year.

It has clearly paid off, but it will be hard to continue this breakneck pace.

That won't keep Davis from trying as he and the Cougars look to defend their AAC league championship and make it to Omaha.

Houston will start its conference season at 6:30 p.m. Friday against UConn at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park. sports@thedailycougar.com

THE DEAN OF STUDENTS OFFICE presents,

THE DEAN’S AWARD To promote service to the University of Houston by recognizing students for their outstanding contributions to the quality of campus life through service, leadership and spirit.

Online applications are available on the Campus Leaders Reception website at:

WWW.UH.EDU/CSI/CAMPUS-PROGRAMS/CLR For more information call:

832.842.6183 CRITERIA INCLUDE: • Demonstrated significant service and/or leadership; enthusiasm • Minimum 3.0 GPA; enrollment in at least 9 hours • Junior or Senior classification at the University of Houston

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 28, 2019

8 | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

SPORTS ANDRES CHIO, EDITOR

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SWIMMING AND DIVING

Junior swimmer continues to make an impact JHAIR ROMERO

SENIOR STAFF WRITER @JUSTJHAIR

Junior swimmer and Houston team captain Peyton Kondis formed an instant connection with the sport from the first time that she jumped from a starting block into the chlorinated water.

“It’s been a long-time passion of mine,” Kondis said ahead of her second-straight appearance at the NCAA Championships. “I’m really excited to have gotten to this level.”

Her excitement is warranted.

Kondis has always dreamed of becoming a Division I athlete. A recruitment email led her to fulfill this dream and find the college that was the best fit for her.

All it took was some encouraging words by assistant coach Hannah Burandt to make her move across the country to become a Houston Cougar.

“It seemed like a great place where I could come onto the team Cougar News March and make10-11857 an immediate impact, ” -

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Junior Peyton Kondis has been an in-pool leader since she arrived, but she has had to learn how to lead outside the pool as well. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

Kondis said. “I wanted something that could grow with me, and this is the kind of place for that.”

Despite the nerves she felt going into her first season at UH, Kondis played a big part in one of the program’s biggest accomplishments in recent memory.

In her freshman year, Kondis contributed to Houston’s first 2_print.pdf 1 3/13/19 1:18 PM ever conference title at the

American Athletic Conference Championships, so much so that she was picked as a team captain when her sophomore season rolled around.

Kondis went on to lead her team to another AAC title while qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

When it came time to compete in the conference meet as a junior, she did it again and qualified for

the NCAAs once more.

Now, as she prepares to be the first UH swimmer to make consecutive NCAA title meets since 1989, she slowly inches closer to fulfilling another dream: being an Olympian.

Although she believes that making it to the Olympics “is shooting pretty far,” she has an opportunity to qualify for Team USA. Less than a month ago, Kondis qualified for the Olympic Trials after a 1:09.55 100m breaststroke in Houston’s final home meet of the season.

Should the trials go in her favor, Kondis will have a shot to represent the United States in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics.

Her success has not come easy, though. She said she has been pushed outside of her comfort zone from the moment she was recruited to a city over 1,300 miles away from home and has faced her fair share of adversity.

After her selection as a team

captain, Kondis said she did not know how to proceed, having not been in the position before.

“When I realized that’s how people saw me, I made it a point to be that kind of person for them,” Kondis said.

On top of the support of her teammates, head coach Ryan Wochomurka has a lot of praise for the way the team captain handled her new position and her development since her arrival at UH. “She is a very quiet leader,” Wochomurka said, “but she leads in the way she carries herself. This team looks to her to see how to manage being a student athlete and doing it at a high level.

No one, including Kondis, knows where she will end up or where her career will take her, but she knows she’s already living out her ambitions.

“It’s become more than I could have ever imagined,” Kondis said. sports@thedailycougar.com

SPORTS

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MEN'S BASKETBALL

Cougars are putting on their dancing shoes

Houston is a favorite in March Madness opening weekend ANDRES CHIO

signature, but it is known for its three-point game. Georgia State, however, is slightly better at threepoint range.

Its defense is not as stifling as Houston's, but it can turn on the heat in big moments. In its tournament title game, Georgia State kept UT Arlington from scoring for 15 straight minutes as the team missed 22 shots in a row.

SPORTS EDITOR @CHIOANDRES

The Cougars are heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, and although they should have the upper hand in the opening games, there are a couple tricky matchups.

It is the first time Houston has made it to the crown jewel of March twice in a row since Phi Slama Jama made it in 1983 and 1984, and it will be trying to match those teams by making it to the Final Four.

The No. 3 seed Houston will need to focus on No. 14 Georgia State, which won the Sun Belt Conference for the second year in a row to earn its spot, before it starts thinking about the Final Four.

Looking ahead

Opening the show

The Cougars had locked their spot in the NCAA Tournament long before winning the American Athletic Conference league title or making it to the tournament final. The Cougars have defeated seven of the teams in the tournament and five of them; Oregon, LSU, Utah State, Saint Louis and Cincinnati, are conference champions. | Ahmed Gul/The Cougar

Georgia State should be familiar with Houston's style of play, as it faced Houston's conference-mate Cincinnati last season in the first round and fell 68-53 to go home early.

The Cougars will have plenty of time to prepare and, more importantly, rest since it does not play until Friday while the other half of the tournament starts Thursday.

Senior Corey Davis Jr., sophomore Fabian White Jr. and redshirt sophomore DeJon Jarreau fell hard in the games against Memphis and Cincinnati and had to be taken out of the game at

different points, but head coach Kelvin Sampson said they should all be ready for the Panthers.

Houston's most recent loss to Cincinnati did not put Sampson down either.

"That's a difficult team to have to beat three times, especially over the course of five or six weeks," Sampson said.

When Houston finally plays, it will be in a relatively friendly arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The location should enable many fans to travel up to the game.

When the players were waiting for the brackets to be revealed, they

were not worried about who they were going to play but where, said senior Breaon Brady.

"It was about can we please get to Tulsa. If we didn't get to Tulsa, it was gonna be tough for the fans.

We wanted to have our home fans there," Brady said.

Up first Though Georgia State's conference is far from a basketball power, the Panthers have had great success in it, and having a successful culture can power a team to punch above its weight.

It won both the regular season

and tournament title on its way to Tulsa and even has former UH head coach Ray McCallum as its associate head coach.

The Panthers are similar to the Cougars in the scoring department, as the team does not have one mega-star scorer but instead has a balanced array of guards.

Junior D'Marcus Simonds leads the team with 18.4 points per game, but the team has had five different players lead the team in scoring in games. The Cougars will not be able to shut down the Panthers by just stopping Simonds.

Houston's offense is not its

Though the Cougars must wait until its potential win over the Panthers to peek at the second round, no one else does.

Houston will either face Big 12 Tournament champion Iowa State or the Big 10's Ohio State in the second round Sunday.

A victory over Iowa State would be sweet for Houston fans and possibly administration, as Houston has tried to enter the Big 12 in the past.

The Cyclones are more accurate from the three-point line and from the general field than the Cougars, but its defense is not as strong.

Iowa State went on an incredible run during the Big 12 Tournament as it defeated Baylor, Kansas State and Kansas on the road to taking the title.

As a No. 5 seed, the Cyclones became the lowest-seeded team to ever win the Big 12 Tournament.

The team is not unfamiliar with success, as it has won four of the last six tournaments.

Underdog Ohio State lost in the Big 10 semifinal to Michigan State and had a 7-11 record in league play but made it into the NCAA Tournament because the wins in conference were against good teams and a pretty solid out-of-conference schedule.

The Buckeyes allow less points per game than the Cyclones, but not nearly as much as the Cougars.

Offensively, it is not as prolific as any of the other teams in the block, and it will need its defense to do the heavy lifting.

The Cougars will need to deal with these opponents to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, where it was so close to getting last season, and any potential matchups against the Jayhawks, Wildcats or Tarheels.

Houston plays Georgia State at 6:20 p.m. Friday in Tulsa.

Fiona Legesse/The Cougar

sports@thedailycougar.com

10 | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

OPINION JORDEN SMITH, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/OPINION

OPINION@THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM

713-743-5304

STAFF EDITORIAL

New parking pass prices show lack of concern from Parking and Transportation

T

he recently released parking permit options for the 2019-2020 academic year feature a significant increase in the cost of garage and zone parking for students. Every year we all go through the song and dance of complaining about parking prices until we ultimately all give in and purchase a pass.

Parking passes are very necessary to attend class (don't talk about the free parking around campus; that doesn't exist). And we all need one, but UH Parking has a literal monopoly over parking passes, and students often feel like their voices aren't heard in decisions about permit costs.

We understand, parking is a very difficult issue to tackle and it clearly is not the easiest nor the most affirming job in the world.

But the needs of the students need to be reflected in what Parking and Transportation Services is doing. Right now, there are still a lot of big issues that PTS needs to address.

Low-income students Raising parking prices doesn’t just hurt a student’s wallet, it can also hurt their chances of finishing their degree. The increased cost could serve as a barrier to lowincome students, who may not be able to afford an extra several hundred dollars tacked onto the cost of tuition, residential living, textbooks and other overpriced necessities.

Some students can’t attend the University if they cannot afford to park here. Scholarship money and grants may not cover all of a student’s expenses, leaving them to pay the remainder out of pocket. The increase in the cost of parking is an exclusionary practice that bars lower-income students from receiving a highquality, affordable education.

Purchasing a parking pass so that a student may have a chance to get to class and taking a class is a choice a student should never have to make. Classes are roughly $900, depending on which college the class is in. Next year, a garage

UH Parking's Twitter account responsed to students using gifs and responses construed as rude. | Photos provided to The Cougar by Twitter users

parking pass is $670; a surface lot parking pass is $405 — and that's just for commuter students.

On-campus residents will be paying even more for surface and garage permits.

Now, we don't have to be math or economics majors to see that a parking pass is a good chunk of a class.

And, yes, you could retort "buy an Remote Parking permit." But is that really the answer you want to give a student who is already working all day, every day to get through college?

a minor price increase, a lower cost in comparison with other options does not mean students should have to compromise on reliability.

few constants in life: death, taxes Garages and parking rates increasing Why do we need so many exponentially until the seas rise garages? At what point will UH's and consume UH. campus become mostly garages Usually, there’s never anything where students break their drastic enough to warrant some altimeter trying to find a spot. kind of explanation. This year, Next year, Garage 5 will open, and when students opened the email it will be $670, just like every other with the updated parking prices, garage. they were greeted with the fun We understand that garages caveat of ‘resident’ prices, which create more spots; each garage cost between $240 and $405 more The wheels on the bus rarely go adds roughly 1,700 spots (the than last year’s rates. For students round number of spots it creates minus living on campus next year, this In addition to being deficient the number of spots it takes away), was an unwelcome surprise. in safety measures, the remote said Neil Hart, Executive Director This is a moment when Parking parking and event parking options of UH Auxilary Services. And that's and Transportation needs to are chronically unreliable. great — we need more spots. explain its decisions to students, Although it is a fraction of But not if the prices are going to especially students living on the price of garage and zone continue to soar. campus who will be affected by parking, remote parking at It seems counter-intuitive to the increased resident prices.

ERP comes at a higher cost. create more parking spaces, but The email, however, provided no CATHOLIC The shuttle responsible for MASS ON CAMPUS charge more for those parking explanation for the price hikes SUNDAYS: transporting students from spaces. How many more years and what necessitates them to 10:45 AM ERP - Religion Center 6:00 PM - Catholic Center to the University’s main campus happen.

WEEKDAYS: will we be building garages and Tuesday—Friday 12:00 Noon is habitually behind schedule, continue to upcharge those Why are students being CATHOLIC NEWMAN CENTER Confession: or After Masses causing students to be lateBefore to their same garages? We need to have punished for living on campus? classes. This can be devastating for a serious discussion on whether Sure, Parking and Transporation Sunday Bible Class students enrolled in courses that these garages are worth the is clearly not “punishing” students take a grade for attendance. continuous upcharge. for choosing to live on campus, In forcing students to park but you can’t blame on-campus further away due to a lack of On-campus price explanation residents for feeling that way. available, affordable parking Every year when the prices And the response to UH on campus, the University is are released for the next year’s resident concerns: Take the obligated to make sure that parking pass rates, students are new Cougar Shuttle. And you students can park remotely generally somewhat upset. We’re wonder why students don’t IF YOU and ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN WORSHIP DIRECTORY, still get to their classes inCaONTACT timely A SALES all aware that prices will think you care about them. This REPRESENTATIVE ATincrease 713-743-5356 manner. Despite only experiencing in the coming year. There are a answer completely disregards

worship DIRECTORY

the residents and all the circumstances that go into living on campus.

Twitter fiasco In a few years, there will be a public relations class on this campus that will study how Parking and Transportation’s Twitter account handled the rollout of the new parking pass prices. Here’s a hint to everyone involved in PR: Don’t, under any circumstance, actively insult and demean those who have a genuine question about a choice your organization has made.

Of all events that have occurred since the beginning of what we’re deeming #ParkingGate (because we’re uncreative hacks), this may be the most egregious example of Parking and Transportation just not getting it.

We should not have to explain why replying to students who are annoyed with gifs of Tony Stark rolling his eyes or a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gif is a wholly poor decision. And it comes across as fully insulting. Why is that the way you decide to react to students? How in any way is this constructive? Sure, you can do the “blame the intern” schtick, but

STAFF ED

Continues on next page

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | 11

JORDEN SMITH, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/OPINION

OPINION

OPINION@THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM

713-743-5304

STAFF ED

Continued from previous page

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR IN CHIEF

Jasmine Davis MANAGING EDITOR

Cristobella Durrette

SPORTS EDITOR

Andres Chio

LIFE & ARTS EDITOR

Vacant

PHOTO EDITOR

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Corbin Ayres

CAMPUS EDITOR

Jorden Smith

Fiona Legesse Hadrian Barbosa

FEATURES EDITOR

Greg Fails

CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Morgan Horst

OPINION EDITOR

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Trenton Whiting, McKenzie Misiaszek, Trevor Nolley, Tony Cianciulli

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Cougar welcomes letters to the editor from any member of the UH community. Letters should be no more than 250 words and signed, including the author’s full name, phone number or e-mail address and affiliation with the University, including classification and major.

Anonymous letters will not be published. Deliver letters to N221, University Center; e-mail them to letters@thedailycougar.com; send them via campus mail to STP 4015; or fax to (713) 743-5384. Letters are subject to editing.

GUEST COMMENTARY Submissions are accepted from any member of the UH community and must be signed with the author’s name, phone number or e-mail address and affiliation with the University, including classification and major. Commentary should be limited to 500 words. Guest commentaries should not be written as replies, but rather should present independent points of view. Deliver submissions to N221, University Center; e-mail them to letters@ thedailycougar.com; or fax them to (713) 743-5384. All submissions are subject to editing.

ADVERTISEMENTS Advertisements in The Cougar do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the University or the students as a whole.

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shouldn’t there be some planned campaign? Because there’s no way this was planned.

Then going after students who asked questions by trying to parent them? We're talking about the official Parking Twitter telling people not to go out at night if they're worried about parking availability — because they should be studying anyway, right?

It is impossible to comprehend the sheer level of stupidity that came with this response.

When students tell you they don’t feel heard or that Parking and Transportation is actively antagonistic — I think you see why.

We’re speaking to you Usually, Staff Editorials are supposed to end with a call to action for the students reading the paper, but in this situation, it seems mildly inappropriate to ask for UH students to do more.

They have done enough. This call to action is directly speaking to Parking and Transportation and Auxiliary Services.

You are a monopoly. Unlike every other situation, we, the students of UH, have no purchasing power. We are at your mercy. Understand that we are students who are doing nothing more than trying to graduate.

We’re not complaining because we’re annoyed we have to spend money. We’re annoyed because every year, it seems like Parking and Transportation Services does not care about the students.

From increased parking prices that seem unnecessary to the Parking and Transportation vehicle roaming around to dish out expensive tickets without mercy, to the annoying Twitter responses, it’s impossible to feel like our complaints are heard.

This is not a generation of “snowflakes” begging for every one of our needs to be met. This is a diverse group of students tired of being at the mercy of a faceless — or so it appears to the students— organization.

It’s not The Cougar’s job to be a mouthpiece for Parking and Transportation and explain to students why exactly these changes are being made, while you hide behind passive aggressive tweets. It’s your jobs. You are the adults. You are being paid for this.

Or maybe we’ll just find UH’s version of Teddy Roosevelt to do it.

But until we do, do better Parking and Transportation.

Maybe we'll just all buy motorcycles. editor@thedailycougar.com

Prices for parking passes have always increased, but this year there is an extra charge for living on campus. Commuter Garage Annual passes increased roughly 20 percent; Commuter Zone Annual by 9 percent. | Fiona Legesse/The Cougar

worship DIRECTORY

CATHOLIC MASS ON CAMPUS SUNDAYS: 10:45 AM - Religion Center 6:00 PM - Catholic Center WEEKDAYS: Tuesday—Friday 12:00 Noon CATHOLIC NEWMAN CENTER Confession: Before or After Masses Sunday Bible Class

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN WORSHIP DIRECTORY, CONTACT A SALES REPRESENTATIVE AT 713-743-5356

12 | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg March 20, 2019

ACROSS 1 Paid athlete 4 Top story 9 Rx watchdog 12 Masculine Chinese principle 14 Fills, as a washer 15 Sighed line 16 Paella base 17 24 ___ Plaza (Giants’ stadium address) 19 Prayer’s end 20 Fashion magazine 21 Dull photo finish 22 Big brawls 24 Make less bright 26 Anti body?

27 Digs up 30 Expert in a specialized field 32 Gymnast Kerri 33 Hornet, for one 35 Long-term investments, briefly 36 19 ___ Drive (Padres’ stadium address) 39 Teri with a “Tootsie” role 42 Not in harbor 43 Academy Award 47 Was a good dog 3/20

49 Domain of Oxy and Olay 51 Noisy dance style 52 Coffee ice cream color 54 Extinguished 55 Distribute 57 24-7 auction site 60 Pencil filler 61 100 ___ Way (Reds’ stadium address) 63 Togo’s capital (anagram of ELMO) 64 Not fooled by 65 Documentarian Morris 66 Chinese coin 67 Worker or queen 68 Bumpkins 69 Festoons with Charmin, for short DOWN 1 Lover of Thisbe 2 Clothing 3 Maker of Thneeds in “The Lorax” 4 The ’Stros joined it in 2013 5 Work hard 6 7’6”, say 7 Ran in neutral 8 Longtime forensic series 9 Roofless train part 10 Florida race place

11 Gives the nod 13 2000 ___ Way (Angels’ stadium address) 15 Internists’ org.

18 “The Favourite” actress Stone 23 Therefore 25 Children’s guessing game 28 Numbered rds.

29 Wise figures 31 1000 ___ Avenue (Dodgers’ stadium address) 34 Letters on love letters 37 Zippo 38 Toddler’s taboo 39 Was hired

40 Mother-ofpearl source 41 Well-supplied (with) 44 Size up before sticking up 45 Tourist’s reference 46 Shows embarrassment 48 Caesar’s accusatory words 50 Pastoral poems 53 India’s first P.M. 56 Lennon collaborator 58 Caustic comment 59 Frostbite soother 62 Twentysomething when “thirtysomething” aired

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