volume 78, issue 89
DESCRIPTION
UH professor appears on Oprah, and senior sprinter Nolan wins national titleTRANSCRIPT
Julie HefflerStaff writer
The molecular pathways involved in memory formation are beginning to unravel with a new key system discovered by Baylor College of Med-icine in collaboration with UH.
A protein complex involved in a key cytoskeletal formation pathway, mTORC2, appears to have a promi-nent role in memory formation in both mice and fruit flies. BCM assistant professor of neuroscience Mauro Costa-Mattioli and BCM graduate student and fi rst author in the study Wei Huang conducted this
pathway analysis in mice while UH associate professor Gregg Roman did his research with fl ies.
“Mice, by t h e m s e l v e s , are a single m o d e l a n d they give us a good glimpse but maybe not a c o m p l e t e glimpse of how memories form. It’s becoming more and more common that labs collaborate and look at dif-ferent model systems, because each model system — in my case we study
fruit fl ies, Drosophila melanogaster, in his case, mice — they each have their own benefi t,” Roman said.
“By combining different model systems to see if we come up with the same answer, that gives us a great deal of confi dence with that answer. One of things it tells us is that if it is the same in fruit fl ies as in mice, that it’s been conserved over a very very long period of time.”
The key point, Roman said, is not only the discovery itself but its appearance in two distant rela-tives, implying that mTORC2 may have significant role in memory consolidation.
“It’s probably something very important. If it’s been conserved, if the same molecule in the same molecular systems have been used in fruit fl ies to consolidate memory as in mice to consolidate memory, it’s very likely that a lot of the spe-cies in between are using the same thing. And that also indicates that it is probably a very central feature of memory consolidation in the path-way that we uncovered,” Roman said.
To observe memory consolida-tion in fruit fl ies, Roman’s lab used
Natalie HarmsNews editor
Graduate School of Social Work professor and best-selling author Brené Brown and Oprah Winfrey explored on Sunday the impor-tance of staying true to oneself and embracing one’s imperfections using Brown’s dozen years of research.
The two women bounced back and forth with their individual “ah-ha” moments throughout the Super Soul Sunday show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The Emmy Award-winning weekly show aims to provide viewers with a spiritual and thought-inspiring conversation with prominent self-help professionals.
“I wanted a place for people to go every Sunday to wake up,” Winfrey said. “It’s thought-provoking, eye-
opening and inspiring. It’s food for your soul — every single Sunday.”
Brown more than qualifi es to be on the show, having headlined on multiple news sites and talk shows, such as CNN.com and “Katie.”
Her career didn’t launch with her best-selling book, “Daring Greatly,” or the two books she authored before it.
Brown made a name for herself after appearing in TEDxHouston talks in 2010, where she said she was going to make herself vulnerable on stage. She shared how throughout her research, and she discovered she wasn’t measuring up to her own conclusions. This drove her to a breakdown, landing her in therapy.
“I remember thinking, ‘I just, like, admitted to being crazy in front of 500 people,’” Brown said.
It wasn’t only 500 people that lis-tened to Brown discuss her research and how this research drove her to
her own therapy sessions. More than
13 Days until Easter.
The next best day, other than Valentine’s day, to indulge in a
little chocolate.
COUNTDOWN
Muslim Student Association helps attract new students.
ONINE XTRA
T H E O F F I C I A L S T U D E N T N E W S P A P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F H O U S T O N S I N C E 1 9 3 4T H E O F F I C I A L S T U D E N T N E W S P A P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F H O U S T O N S I N C E 1 9 3 4
THE DAILY COUGARMonday, March 18, 2013 // Issue 89, Volume 78
thedailycougar.com
GET SOME DAILY
Student argues Cougar article
OPINION
Palestinian gala visits Houston
LIFE+ARTS
Track star wins national title
SPORTSShopping center sprouts
According to a United Commercial Realty flier, Cougars should expect to see Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sand-wiches, The Nook, a patio and a bar on the second floor. These are just a few of the stores and restaurants to be expected, as some of the store fronts aren’t officially settled yet.
— Aisha Bouderdaben/The Daily Cougar
SOCIAL WORK
Author, professor shares on national television
Brené Brown joined Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday show to discuss her research, which led to her newest book, “Daring Greatly.” | Courtesy of UH.edu
BROWN continues on page 3
SCIENCE
Flies, mice may model memory formation
Bauer students take third place in national sales competition.
TOMORROW
Roman
MEMORY continues on page 3
2 \\ Monday, March 18, 2013 The Daily Cougar
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CALENDAR
Today
Anniversary: From 4 to 5 p.m. at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, the Rec Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The UH community is invited for a free ceremony and cake cutting.
Guest Master: From 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Dudley Recital Hall, there will be a guest master class featuring Anthony Elliott, a cello professor from University of Michigan. Admission to this event is free.
Tuesday
Intramural Sports: At noon at the Campus Recreation and Well-ness Center MAC Court, the fl oor hockey league will compete. Admis-sion to this event is free.
Workshop: From 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Room 10F in the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, there will be a workshop about tools to manage your references. Learn how to create in-text citations and reference lists automatically.
Baseball: From 6:30 to 11 p.m.
at Cougar Field, the baseball team will compete against Texas for the fi rst time since 2000. Admission to this event is free for students with their UH ID.
Guest Recital: From 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Dudley Recital Hall, a guest recital will feature Anthony Elliott, cello professor from University of Michigan, and Timothy Hester, UH associate professor of piano, with works by Schubert, Janácek, Kapral-ova and Rachmaninoff. Admission to this event is free.
Wednesday
Culture Talk: From 12:15 to 1 p.m. in Room 106 in Charles F. McElhinney Hall, there will be cul-ture talk called “The Power of the Gaze: Marina Abramovic.” Students are encouraged to bring their lunch. For more information and a topic schedule, please email Bridget Fernandes at [email protected].
Baseball: From 6:30 to 11 p.m. at Cougar Field, the baseball team will compete against Harvard. Admis-sion to this event is free for students with their UH ID.
If you would like to suggest an event run in The Daily Cougar calendar, please submit a time, date, location
and brief description to [email protected]. The Cougar calendar runs every Monday and Thursday.
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The Daily Cougar Monday, March 18, 2013 // 3
8 million people viewed her talk on YouTube.
The TEDx experience and its success had a negative repercus-sion on Brown. She said the adverse comments on the Internet put her into a state of depression. However, during her sadness, she stumbled upon a Theodore Roosevelt quote about “daring greatly,” which was to title her next book.
“To me, (daring greatly) means having the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen, to ask for what you need, to talk about how you’re feeling, to have the hard conversations.”
Brown, while experienced in book writing, educating and know-ing her own self-worth, said on the show even she struggles to follow her own advice when it comes to being herself and not a perfectionist.
This discussion led Winfrey to what she said was a huge “ah-ha” moment she couldn’t keep inside.
“I had never gotten this before I read (the book), that perfectionism is the ultimate fear that the people who are walking around as perfectionists, that they are ultimately afraid that the world is going to see them for what they really are, and they won’t measure up,” Winfrey said.
Brown said she agreed, and it is something she struggles to stifl e in herself.
“I’m, like, a recovering perfection-ist,” Brown said. “For me, it’s one day at a time.”
Brown’s work centers on vul-nerability, worthiness and shame. However, being vulnerable pro-gresses you on the path to greater self-discovery, she said.
“I was raised that vulnerability is weakness, like most people,” Brown said.
Winfrey said her success in her near 30 years of experience is
attributed to being vulnerable to her audience and on her shows.
Brown continued in saying people can’t have joy without being grateful for the joy something brings you.
“Because for 12 years of research, I have never interviewed a single person who talks about the capacity to really experience and soften into joy who does not actively practice gratitude,” Brown said.
Yet this joy can turn into some-thing negative for people who don’t practice being vulnerable.
“When we lose our tolerance for vulnerability, joy becomes forebod-ing,” Brown said.
Keeping this in her mind, Brown said her faith in God is what drives her the most to stay who she is.
“For me,” she said, “God is the divine reminder of our inherent worthiness.”
BROWNcontinued from page 1
NEWSEDITOR Natalie Harms EMAIL [email protected] ONLINE thedailycougar.com/news
Dancing statue sashays to campusOf the nearly 300 pieces of artwork around the UH cam-pus, “Fiesta Dancers” by former UH faculty member Luis Jimenez was placed outside of the Cougar Woods Dining Hall while students were on Spring Break. The University established Percent of the Art Program in 1966 where 1 percent of a particular construction budget will go toward a new art piece to be displayed on campus.
— Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar
negative feedback conditioning, associating a scent with an electric shock. They then placed the flies between two tubes, one containing the pain-related scent and another containing one unrelated to pain, allowing the flies to gravitate to either side, Roman said.
The fl ies without a functioning pathway did not have as much of a preference for either side as the ones that did contain the cytoskel-etal-forming pathway. What Costa-Mattioli’s team did next was expose its mice to a drug that would supple-ment the missing components of the knocked down pathway.
“In mice, what Mauro was able to do is he was able to show that if you gave a drug that bypassed the defect in mTORC2, that those mice were now able to learn,” Roman said. “We are looking to see if we can have these ‘cognitive enhancer drugs.’”
“If you identify molecular path-ways that are required for the for-mation of long-term memory, you can then potentially target these to help enhance the formation of memories.”
Looking toward the future, Roman said that with more time and research, these memory enhancers might be available to help relieve some of the symptoms of aging, such as memory decay.
“There are reasons why young people might want to increase their memory, but also it’s a very serious problem for the aging population where you have age-related memory decay and decline,” he said.
“What we can do, as we under-stand and develop more of these cognitive enhances, we can perhaps develop cocktails that can help in situations where memory declines to help give them boosts and main-tain a higher level of cognitive per-formance later and later in life.”
MEMORYcontinued from page 1
FRONTIER FIESTA
Cook-off participants get fi red upJessica CrawfordStaff writer
The annual Frontier Fiesta Cook-Off returns.
Participants will compete in six categories of pinto beans, beef bris-ket, chicken, chili, fajitas and pork ribs.
The Frontier Fiesta will give tro-phies and cash prizes to the first, second and third place winners of the barbecue cooking competition. The competition will take place from Thursday to Saturday, and the winner will be announced at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Alumni director of the cook-off Bethany Johns said it had a small start.
“The cook-off started in 1991 and had 27 teams that first year,” she said.
Hunter Lewis, student director of the cook-off and communica-tions sophomore, is excited about
community participation in this year’s contest.
“This year we have a little over 50 teams participating in the cook-off. They range from alumni groups, representatives of colleges at UH and just people who enjoy having fun and cooking barbeque,” he said.
Without directly participating, Johns says there are still ways students can get involved with the cook-off.
“We always need students to help with the baking portion of the cook-off, Bake Fiesta. Students can be judges or just assist with the prepara-tions for the judging,” she said.
Lewis also had a suggestion for students who want to get involved with the cook-off.
“The best way happens after they graduate is to come back and have a team of their own,” he said.
As an alumna, Johns’ favorite part of the Frontier Fiesta Cook-Off is the socializing.
“Frontier Fiesta is like a fam-ily reunion to me. One of my best friends, who now lives in New York, even flies down every year for the magical three days,” she said.
Lewis said his favorite parts of the cook-off are its history and the dedication of the veteran teams.
“I love the sense of tradition that I feel being involved with the cook-off. … Some of the teams who participate have been around for a very long time. This promotes a great atmosphere,” he said.
Johns said participating in Fron-tier Fiesta is a required part of being a Cougar.
“Frontier Fiesta is an invaluable tradition at UH,” she said. “Every stu-dent at UH owes it to themselves to come and see what the fuss is about and get a taste of our tradition and Cougar spirit.”
The cook-off, featuring more than 50 teams, begins Thursday and the winner is announced on Saturday. | Courtesy of UH.edu
4 \\ Monday, March 18, 2013 The Daily Cougar
STAFF EDITORIAL The Staff Editorial refl ects the opinions of The Daily Cougar Editorial Board (the members of which are listed above the editorial). All other opinions, commentaries and cartoons refl ect only the opinion of the author. Opinions expressed in The Daily Cougar do not necessarily refl ect those of the University of Houston or the students as a whole.
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THE DAILY COUGARE D I T O R I A L B OA R D
EDITOR IN CHIEF Joshua MannMANAGING EDITOR Amanda Hilow
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Samantha WongNEWS EDITOR Natalie Harms
SPORTS EDITOR Christopher SheltonLIFE & ARTS EDITOR Paulina Rojas
CO-PHOTO EDITORS Nichole Taylor, Mahnoor SamanaOPINION EDITOR Aaron Manuel
ASSISTANT EDITORS Channler Hill, Kathleen Murrill, Jessica Portillo
OPINIONEDITOR Aaron Manuel EMAIL [email protected] ONLINE thedailycougar.com/opinion
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Daily Cougar welcomes letters to the editor from any member of the UH community. Letters should include the author’s full name, phone number or e-mail address and affi liation with the University, including classifi cation and major. Anonymous letters will not be published. Deliver letters to Room 7, University Center Satellite; e-mail them to [email protected]; send them via campus mail to STP 4015; or fax to (713) 743-5384. Letters are subject to editing.
This letter is in response to the article “Passing the blame for climate change,” which was published March 3.
It is true that Willie Soon and John Nielsen-Gammon
agreed that when compared to the myriad of factors — sun output, La Niña and El Niño cycles, clouds, aerosols, ocean temp, volcanoes — carbon dioxide is a ‘minimal’ contributor to climate change, but what the article did not say is that Nielsen-Gammon followed that statement with the qualifi cation, ‘there are certain circumstances and timescales where (carbon dioxide) matters and matters a great deal.’ The crux of Nielsen-Gammon’s position, which was not reported, was that ‘natural variability keeps temperature going up and down, but if you increase carbon dioxide, temperature keeps going up.
Nielsen-Gammon based his position primarily on two measurements. The fi rst was radiative forcing, which is the difference between how much energy the earth receives and how much the energy the earth radiates back in to space. He claimed this was ‘easy’ to estimate, and based on the law of physics, if you increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, less heat is released into space. The second measurement was on climate sensitivity, which is how much global temperature changes in response to the fi rst factor. He stated this was ‘hard’ to estimate. Nielson-Gammon rebutted Soon’s attack on climate models.
‘You can throw climate models completely out the window, and you are still left with basic physics confi rmed with observation.
(Carbon dioxide) affects radiation, radiation affects temperature, and all we know about past climate sensitivity is if you change radiation, temperature changes also,’ Nielsen-Gammon said. ‘Right now, the best bet of a doubling of carbon dioxide concentration is a change of 2.5 to 3 degrees Celsius.’
I do not think the writer realizes that a 2.5 to 3 degree change would result in some massive climate disruptions and a planet unrecognizable to the one we live on today. Nielsen-Gammon also went on record to say that 2013 will be the hottest year on record based on current weather cycles and man-made global warming.
When asked what we, as a nation, should do, Nielsen-Gammon said, ‘I’m just a scientist … but I will tell you that the thing I worry about from a scientifi c point of view is not just the amount of temperature change, but the rate of change. It is not just an economic trade off ... I just think, religiously, we have a responsibility to take care of the Earth and refrain from doing things that endanger it in terms of throwing it out of balance. I would be a lot more comfortable if we had carbon dioxide on a reasonably constrained tract rather than on its continued increase.’
The coverage of Soon’s position ought to have focused more on his scientifi c arguments rather than his political statements, but the article did not misrepresent his position, so I will not critique the coverage on this point.
Finally, as a journalist covering a debate on a controversial issue, it is important to examine and cover each side objectively. Equal coverage is usually best for fair
coverage of a debate. The article not only fails to provide equal coverage, it only contains quotes and paraphrases supporting a skeptic’s viewpoint, which is likely the viewpoint of the writer.
I am curious whether the writer was aware that a group of NASA-affi liated scientists and engineers that call themselves ‘The Right Stuff on Climate Change,’ who hold skeptic and opposite viewpoints of those from NASA scientists such as James Hansen, the National Academies of Science and other institutional bodies, turned out in mass for the event. The group was also planning on having a meeting with Soon after the debate.
I have no problem with a survey of a skeptic’s positions if that is the explicit intent, but when that is not stated, the disproportionate coverage leaves the reader with the impression that the consensus of scientifi c experts is opposite of what it is in reality. A George Mason University-STATS 2008 survey of the American Meteorological Society and American Geophysical Union found that 84 percent of the surveyed scientists say they ‘personally believe human-induced warming is occurring,’ that ‘fi ve percent believe that human activity does not contribute to GHG warming” and “97 percent believe that global average temperatures have increased.’
I am not speaking to the strengths or weaknesses of any position on the science of climate change. My problem is with the coverage of the event. If my University’s newspaper is going to cover a debate on climate change, I expect the paper to actually cover the debate.”
Michael Quirke, UH Law Center graduate student
Letter to the editorPOLITICS
Filibuster more than droning onSarah BackerStaff columnist
Kentucky Junior Sen. Rand Paul and a group of fellow Republicans held a nearly
13-hour fi libuster March 6 on the Senate fl oor, thereby delaying the confi rmation of John Brennan as CIA director. It was refreshing to see a senator literally stand up for the affi rmation of Constitutional rights.
Paul’s real issue was not Bren-nan, but was with the possible use of unmanned combat air vehicle — drone — strikes by the federal government on its citizens. It's a possibility that drones could be used in U.S. territory, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in response to Paul’s question on domestic drone strikes.
“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the U.S. for the president to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the U.S.," Holder said.
"Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particu-lar facts and circumstances before advising the president on the scope of his authority,” he said.
Paul’s response was to lash out in fear that one day unmanned drones may be used on U.S. soil to kill American citizens.
"Where's the cacophony that stood up and said 'How can you tap my phone without going to a judge fi rst?’ I say, 'How can you kill someone without going to a judge fi rst?'" Paul said.
You cannot use drone strikes on American citizens when merely seizing property requires a warrant. The thought of it is way beyond unethical and unlawful. It's funny that the same politicians who cried foul at the use of “torture” are now silent about killing presumed
American terrorists. In the U.S., criminals are given due process, and if we give carte blanche to the federal government in the use of drones, we don't know what these aircrafts may be used for in the future.
The nonpartisan think-tank, The New America Foundation, estimates the U.S. has carried out 349 CIA drone strikes in Pakistan and 61 in Yemen. These drones have been used to kill al-Qaida members and similar threats to U.S. safety.
When it comes to the safety of the masses, killing a terrorist does not keep me up at night. For those who kill countless innocents indis-criminately, I am unsympathetic. The real issue is that it is possible that the CIA may wish to use drone strikes on American terrorists who are an imminent threat. The prob-lem exists in distinguishing what an "imminent" treat is.
There is a debate to be had here. On the one hand, you do not want to risk the lives of many for the life of one hate-monger. On the other, when you start striking people with little regard to due process, it dehu-manizes us and trivializes life.
For now, we should stick to the old-fashioned way of handling this problem: by allowing due process to run its course and by putting found-guilty criminals behind bars. When the time comes, we will need to use common sense when choosing how to handle domestic terrorists who are perceived as a serious threat.
Paul’s fi libuster drew a line in the sand not only between Repub-licans and Democrats, but within the Republican Party as well. Paul showed courage and resolution that is seemingly not present in the Senate as a whole.
Sarah Backer is a business sophomore and may be reached at [email protected].
The Daily Cougar Monday, March 18, 2013 // 5
Christopher SheltonSports editor
For senior sprinter Errol Nolan, winning a national title in the 400-meter race was as simple as run-ning his race.
Nolan speeds the race up in the fi rst 60 meters and throws off the pace of the other competitors. He said only two runners, including him, of the 400-meter qualifi ers for the fi nal have run 60 meters in 6.6 seconds, giving him an advantage if he has a great start. He claimed gold by running the 400-meter in 45.75 seconds.
“I get out faster than everyone else. Then they have to chase me to the break,” Nolan said.
“Once they chase me to the break, they’re running (the 200-meter) in the low 21 (seconds), which they’re not used to.”
Nolan, freshman sprinter Leshon Collins and the men’s 4x400 relay team were awarded All-Amer-ican honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for their performances at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Before the 400-meter final began, Nolan did not get the posi-tioning he wanted. He was placed in an outside lane, which hurts a sprinter’s vision. Nolan said he cannot pick up the pace of all of the sprinters in his peripheral vision. From an inside lane, a sprinter can pace himself based on the the
race’s leaders and adjust to their speed, Nolan said.
“I came here to be the national champion. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task because I had the outside lane. No matter how fast I got out, they were going to catch me at the break,” he said.
Head coach Leroy Burrell said Nolan decided he was not going to take his senior season for granted.
“I think that he just resolved himself that he was going to make the most of every opportunity, and he did that starting during the summer,” Burrell said.
“He made the Jamaican Olym-pic squad and then came back and got back to work ... I can’t be more proud of him.”
But the biggest adversity that could have prevented Nolan from capturing a national title was him-self. Nolan said he was not pushing himself as hard as he could before his senior season. Burrell said he expected Nolan to compete for national titles earlier in his career.
Now, he is fully committed.Nolan said he spends at least an
hour each day studying fi lm — one of the favorite activities of his day. Though most track athletes study themselves, Nolan said he studies his competition, too.
Burrell said he is also a leader by example.
“I think his work ethic really stands out. He’s not the most vocal
guy,” Burrell said. “He really leads more by example. I think everyone respects the kind of work that he does, how hard he goes about
doing his thing and how much effort he puts in.”
Harrison LeeStaff writer
Through three more games, junior catcher Caleb Barker and UH con-tinued to roll offensively, taking two games from the University of New Orleans and another from Baylor. The trio of victories left UH standing at a 16-4 record and 10-2 record at home, its best since 2002.
The Cougars made the most of their at-bats, with 24 runs scored against the Privateers and Bears. In addition to their RBIs, Barker kept his hit streak going as he reached base for the 14th game in a row.
As a team, the Cougars put up 18 hits Friday against the Privateers. Freshman infielder Justin Mon-temayor also had a four-hit game against UNO.
“We just stuck with the approach that our coaches told us,” Mon-temayor said of the 18-hit game. “Let
(the count) get deep, hit the ball hard. We came out and did a good job of that.”
The Cougars’ pitchers held the Bears and Privateers to eight runs during the weekend. Senior pitcher Austin Pruitt got his fourth win of the
season after throwing for his second complete-game victory of the season. The right-hander had no reservations about fi nishing out the Saturday game against Baylor.
“I’m really glad I got to go back out there in the ninth,” Pruitt said.
“Being able to go out there and go for the complete game was really awe-some. What really worked for me was being able to keep my fastball low and get my curveball to work tonight.”
Head coach Todd Whitting said Pruitt did a good job keeping runners off base.
“He was outstanding,” Whitting said.
“Nine innings, a complete ball-game, and he didn’t walk anybody. That’s a combination you’ll have a lot of success with right there.”
Junior relief pitcher Tyler Ford got his second win of the season Sunday as well as throwing a career-high fi ve strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Mov-ing his record to 2-2, Fellow junior and right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon got his second win of the season Friday against UNO.
SPORTSEDITOR Christopher Shelton EMAIL [email protected] ONLINE thedailycougar.com/sports
BRIEFS
Around Athletics
During the Cougars three victories this weekend, they scored 24 runs and gave up eight. | Esteban Portillo/The Daily Cougar
BASEBALL
Barker extends streak during weekend sweep
The Daily Cougar Sports Services
Men’s GolfT h e C o u g a r s p o s t e d a
10-under-par Saturday — their lowest team score of the tourna-ment — in the final round to rally and win the Border Olympics at Laredo Country Club.
The win is UH’s second team title this year.
Four student athletes posted rounds in the 60s, and five finished at even-par or better on the 7,319-yard, par-72 course. UH recorded the lowest round of the day by seven strokes.
“We just did a better job of cleaning up our rounds,” said Jon-athan Dismuke, director of golf.
“We converted when we should have. We played the easier holes better and posted some nice rounds.”
Men’s basketballSophomore forward TaShawn
T h o m a s’ 1 5 p o i n t s a n d 1 1 rebounds Thursday — his second straight double-double at the Conference USA Championship — were not enough to get the Cougars past UTEP in the quar-terfinals. No. 3 UTEP seed claimed an 80-69 win in the quarterfinals inside the BOK Center.
Thomas was 6-of-10 from the field.
Freshman forward Danuel House, the 2013 C-USA Fresh-man of the Year, posted 12 points, while sophomore point guard J.J. Thompson came off the bench to pour in 11 points on 4-of-6 shoot-ing in only six minutes to lead the Cougars. The win came on the heels of a 72-67 victory against Rice in the first round.
Pro dayFormer defensive back D.J.
Hayden will compete in football drills 8 a.m. today as UH holds its annual pro day. Seventeen players from the 2012 Houston squad and UH alumnus Tyron Carrier, a 2011 senior, are scheduled to work out for NFL scouts in attendance.
BaseballThe Cougars take on in-state
rival the Longhorns at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cougar Field. General seating tickets are still available. Prices are $10 for adults and $8 for youth.
UH sprinter Errol Nolan won a national championship in the 400-meter with a time of 45.75. | Courtesy of UH Athletics
TRACK AND FIELD
Nolan picks up the pace for gold
6 \\ Monday, March 18, 2013 The Daily Cougar
ACROSS 1 Colon-
nade trees
5 Wedding keepsake
10 Exploit-ative type
14 Cam-bodia’s currency
15 Trunk with a chest
16 “I don’t think so”
17 Well above the neck?
18 Body midpoint
19 Jukebox activator
20 It can begin on a set
23 Afghan coin
24 Blame 25 “Whether
___ nobler ...”
28 Reduce a gap at the track
32 Fleur-de-___
35 Key in 37 Door word 38 Sub-
standard contrac-tion
39 Wishy-washy reply
42 Academy
freshman 43 “Night”
memoirist Wiesel
44 Like the proverbial beaver
45 Unmod-ernized
46 Says with certainty
48 Before, old school
49 Word of rejection
50 It has a very large bed
52 It can be mislead-ing
61 In ___ of (replac-ing)
62 Gentle-man’s gentleman
63 Unspeci-fi ed quan-tity
64 Hebrew month
65 Therapeutic plants
66 Providers of sheep’s milk
67 The velvet ant, for one
68 Fashion-able fl air
69 Riviera acquisi-tions
DOWN 1 Once, it
meant “once”
2 Perjurer 3 Choice
vehicle? 4 Sheep-
counter’s quest
5 Anytime 6 Hang about 7 Cheese
from France
8 Software purchaser
9 RAZR manufac-turer
10 Open without a corkscrew
11 In short order
12 Sweeping story
13 Russo of “The Thomas Crown Affair”
21 Filthy ___ (illicit gain)
22 Sixth-day creation
25 Musical speed
26 Excluding nothing
27 Penned in, like pigs
29 GTs and Kadetts of automo-biles
30 Sleeping Everly
Brothers girl
31 Cartoon hunter Fudd
32 Lord of the manor
33 “The ___ Sanctum”
34 Buyer be where?
36 Outward fl ow
38 1960s-’70s pro hoops league
40 Hebrew schools
41 Many survey responses
46 Make cheddar better
47 Tropical fl y 49 Take by
force 51 Coveted
quality 52 Character
weakness 53 Ethiopian
princess of opera
54 Lowing places
55 Beer grain 56 Devious
maneuver 57 Audiotape
holder 58 Sioux City’s
state 59 Sign for
a seer 60 Loch of
monstrous fame
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The Daily Cougar Monday, March 18, 2013 // 7
LIFE & ARTSEDITOR Paulina Rojas EMAIL [email protected] ONLINE thedailycougar.com/life-arts
EVENTS
Cougars lend helping hands
Aisha BouderbadenStaff writer
The unmistakable scent of fl a-vored hookah smoke settled over Jones Plaza as loud drumbeats and fast-paced music met the ears of passers-by.
The third annual Palestin-ian Gala and Festival was well underway.
“The Arab-American commu-nity, for many years, has been mis-represented in American media,” said George Elhaj, chair of the Palestinian Gala and Festival.
“Most Americans have no opin-ion or a negative opinion. We face a very negative stereotyping. We want to show who we are and what we look like.”
Sitting on chairs and stone steps, Arabs of all descents, not just Palestinians, fi lled the Plaza.
Men and women took turns singing on stage as large groups of people performed the dabke, a type of Palestinian dance.
“This is our attempt as Palestin-ian-Americans to keep our culture and heritage alive,” Elhaj said, “and expose our children to it as well as our American neighbors and friends.”
Palestinians — Christian and Muslim alike — have the desire to perpetuate the Palestinian culture, Elhaj said.
The festival did not just have cultural displays, but also had activities and booths.
Vendors sold flags, books, clothes and trinkets. Other booths held activities for children, such as face-painting and henna.
One vendor, nutrition alumna Lana Kesbeh, whose family runs a fl ag store on Harwin Drive, said this was her first year running a booth at this event.
Many booths were run by “self-supporting” Palestinians, said English and Spanish alumna Marie Brignac, meaning that mostly everything that could be purchased at the festival would benefit the craftspeople and creators.
“Community-run and fair trade business appeals to me,” Brignac said.
“Building and celebrating the community is important.”
Vo l u n t e e r s c o l l e c t e d t h e entrance fee from attendees and stamped their hands.
Omar Amin, a business and supply chain management senior and volunteer, said he is glad he volunteered and said he encour-aged his peers at UH to attend as well and see what Palestinian cul-ture is about.
“I volunteered to help a greater cause that serves the Palestinian community,” Amin said.
Elhaj agreed that UH students should take advantage of and attend this celebration of culture, no matter your heritage.
“It is my understanding that intellectual centers have a better understanding (of the Palestinian situation),” Elhaj said.
“UH, being an intellectual center, can help disseminate our image.”
When the numbers are tallied up at the end of the event, Elhaj said he estimates the attendance to be at about 6,000.
“The three festivals have been a success,” Elhaj said.
“The number is larger every year. The fi rst year we had 4,000. The second year we had 5,000.”
Palestinian-based festival celebrates unique heritage of a land fraught with confl ict
Festival patrons engaged in traditional Palestinian-style dance. One of the goals of the festival was to break the negative stereotypes against Palestinians and Palestinian culture. | Aisha Bouderbaden/The Daily Cougar
Head to www.thedailycougar.com to fi nd out about:
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8 \\ Monday, March 18, 2013 The Daily Cougar