Biology junior Meredith Ware proved she is more than just an athlete in the Honors College’s undergraduate research fair. | Courtesy of UH.edu

When biology junior Meredith Ware wasn’t on the volleyball court this summer, she was counting fly eggs, up to 3,500 to be exact.

Ware’s evolutionary biology professor Tony Frankino recruited her to be a part of his team that summer conducting research on chemotherapeutics.

After being awarded the Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship, Ware spent the next seven months identifying the cause of progressive cell resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, specifically Rampamycin, by testing it on the common fruit fly.

“I have always been interested in research,” Ware said. “When I took my human physiology class, my professor pointed out how much we don’t know about science, and that struck my interest.

“I was like wait, we know this happens, but we don’t know why? Now, every time I go to take two Advil, I want to know why it happens,” Ware said. “I have just developed this strong desire to know why things happen.”

Last week, the California native had the opportunity to share and present her research at the Spring Academic Showcase, an event in the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library exhibiting undergraduate research.

Since the showcase, Ware says she has been hungry for more research opportunities.

“I am looking into getting into a lab this summer. After this presentation, I’m on kind of a research high,” Ware said.

“I know whatever I do in the future, I want to incorporate research whether I do it myself or I’m just trying to work with the new treatments that are coming out.”

Once Ware hangs up her volleyball jersey for good and switches over to a white lab coat, the Commissioner’s honor roll member and the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal recipient hopes to work in pediatrics specializing in nephrology or oncology.

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The law-making process isn’t viewed as a gladdening topic, yet the four former lawmakers that gathered to reminisce in the Honors College Commons on Tuesday debunked this idea and pleasantly discussed the education system and each other’s prominent careers.

Four prestigious former elected officials visited the Honors College on Tuesday to the nature of Texas politics, and their experience at the capitol. The event was organized by UH’s Hobby Center for Public Policy. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

Lawmakers Lt. Gov. William Hobby, Donald Adams, Mark White and Saralee Tiede shared their memories and what they learned while serving in the Texas legislature.

“Everything we will talk about is ancient history, but particularly relevant,” Tiede said.

Tiede, the discussion’s moderator, served under Hobby’s chief of staff from 1985 to 1990. Tiede also served as deputy chancellor for external affairs of the UH System when Hobby was the chancellor from 1995 to 1997.

The veterans had worked with each other and were familiar with each other’s habits, accomplishments and experiences.

“If you hang around the legislature you discover there are more ways to kill a bill than to pass one. I will say, Gov. Adams was a master at killing bills,” Tiede said.

Various topics were spoken about such as the Texas Constitution, public education, healthcare and the water issue. As these topics were discussed, the veterans delivered their opinions about different situations.

Adams, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 1968, served six years in the Texas Senate, and was appointed general counsel and executive assistant to the governor.

“The constitution continues page after page. Although it is purposefully written that way, it is very restricting on the governor,” Adams said. “It does need to be revised, and until it is, I will claim to be a constitutional expert. I don’t know what’s in it but nor does anyone else.”

The lawmakers turned their focus to public education, which is the most important thing Texas legislature focuses on, Tiede said.

“Education is the best investment we can make,” Adams said. “It pays off in jobs. It’s going to get worse and worse if we don’t do something about dropout rates and proper funding. If we don’t do something, we will become what Mississippi used to be.”

The panelists veered from legislation in general, to one individual who has left his mark in Texas politics.

“Bill Hobby is the finest lieutenant governor Texas has ever had,” White said. “He understood Texas, knew the history behind Texas and had a vision for Texas.”

Hobby held the office of lieutenant governor for 18 years, and his main purpose for to provide adequate funding for Texas’s colleges and universities. He served as the chancellor for the UH System from 1995 to 1997 and currently serves as the chairman for the Board of Hobby Communications.

Both White and Adams continued to commend Hobby’s leadership role in the Texas Legislature system and his passion for making colleges and universities thrive.

“Hobby was the kind of man whose decisions you never had to look back at to see why he did them,” Adams said.

White, who served as the governor for Texas from 1983 to 1987, encouraged involvement from everyone who is interested.

“The most exciting thing is to see people of different ethnicities and religions stepping up,” White said.

“Don’t be hesitant to think you don’t have as good of ideas as someone else.”

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As the appointments continue in the Student Government Association, the campus may see a name change for the University Center and new directional signage.

Architecture professor Patrick Peters pitched mock-up university signs to the Student Government Association Senate on Wednesday. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

The senate also saw new legislation by SGA President Cedric Bandoh, as well as a report on new signs that will be put around campus starting in late spring.

Bandoh, a supply chain junior, is aiming to change the name of the University Center to the University of Houston Student Center through a bill that passed in the meeting.

According to the bill, the name change heavily derives from the student support in the renovation of the University Center, as well as the UC being an area for student life on the campus.

“I think this is a welcomed change, we had so much involvement in the creation,” said Business Senator Sunil Motwani, a finance junior. “By the time we leave here, we’ll have this fresh group of freshmen and they’ll get the hang of it.

“At the end of the day though, we contributed a lot of money to this new project.”

The senate chose to suspend the rules to vote on the new legislation on the same night as the first reading, and the bill passed with a majority vote: 13 in favor, nine opposed and one abstention.

Three students took new seats in the senate Wednesday, two of which are returning to SGA after a brief hiatus.

Tanzeem Chowdhury, an engineering junior, was appointed to his previous undergraduate at-large senator seat. Chowdhury ran for this position in the last election, but was beat by Sebastian Agudelo, a finance and accounting sophomore. However, Agudelo surrendered his position when he took on the role as the speaker in the previous meeting.

Additonally, accounting graduate Matthew Zimmer was appointed to director of finance, and Angela Kao left her role as the attorney general and was appointed to chief of staff.

The new signage will aid pedestrians in finding their way around campus through a new design and color-coding by district. Additionally, the signs will be segmented so as the campus grows, portions of the sign can be replaced rather than the whole sign.

This multistage process will start in late spring and continue on into the summer. After a period of feedback, they will roll out the first wave of signs, which will be implemented five at a time during six months.

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Students across campus Friday will vow to keep quiet in order to raise awareness about bullying against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as a part of the national Day of Silence.

“DOS is a day where students can make a statement about all students having the right to attend school in a safe environment, even if they are different,” said Lorraine Schroeder, director of the LGBT Resource Center.

“It is a way to bring attention to the fact that even if they legalize same-sex marriage, there are still serious issues facing our LGBT youth, including bullying, family rejection and homelessness.”

Gamma Rho Lambda is a sorority that is not exclusive to any specific race, gender orientation or sexual orientation. It is open to undergraduates and graduates.

The sorority will be selling DOS jewelry and buttons as well as giving away speaking cards. Speaking cards are free and printable from the DOS website and explain the reason for the person’s choosing to be silent.

“Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT,” said psychology junior Krystal Debose, a Gamma Rho Lambda member.

“Our purpose for the Day of Silence event is to mostly raise awareness. We will always be taking pledges for DOS and taking photos.”

DOS only takes place once a year, but according to Schroeder and Debose, support for the LGBT community can take place all year long.

“Student organizations can contact the LGBT Resource Center and request an LGBT panel to learn more about the LGBT community,” Schroeder said. “They can refrain from saying, ‘That’s so gay’ or ‘No homo,’ and tell others who use these phrases that it is offensive and contributes to the bullying culture.”

Gamma Rho Lambda’s DOS event will be held at the University Center Satellite on April 18^th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday. For more information about DOS, please visit dayofslience.org.

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The connection between stress and substance abuse is obvious, but whether it is that stress leads to substance abuse or substance abuse leads to stress has yet to be determined.

Ezemenari M. Obasi, an associate professor in counseling psychology and director of the Hwemudua Addictions and Health Disparities Lab at UH has been awarded $2.5 million to fund a study in understanding the correlation between stress and substance abuse. The funds will also help uncover the effect the correlation has within the African-American community of Southwest Texas.

“This is a five-year study that is designed for us to go into the community and try to learn about the relationship that stress might have with varied substances,” Obasi said.

The $2.5 million, awarded by the National Institute of Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse will be used to fund pay for faculty and graduate students that work on the project, as well as travel costs, laboratory supplies and equipment.

Around 350 African-American individuals in the Southwest Texas area between the age of 18 and 25 will be tested. The test will not necessarily focus around illegal drugs but will include the effects from those who suffer from addictions to caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol.

Obasi will be working with two other researchers at the University of Georgia, one at Emory University and a small handful of graduate students. Despite this, it remains primarily a Houston-based project, and its research will draw from members of the community.

“I think there are communities that disproportionately suffer from various negative health outcomes. For me, I thought it was important to try and understand what mechanisms we (give to those communities) with this (topic),” Obasi said.

“In particular, (African-Americans) are often ignored because people don’t necessarily have access to them. One of the nice things of being in Houston is the diversity of our community, so I thought it’d be a great idea to include them with research addressed at their issues.”

Obasi said he hopes to find which experience puts African-Americans at risk for stress and substance abuse. The research process will include collecting data on tests subjects’ home environments and controlled stress paradigms with assessments every three months.

Data collection will begin this summer, and the research as a whole is expected to conclude around December 2017.

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It’s been 20 years since the Cougar Peer Educators began striving to promote a healthy lifestyle. Even with a new group of educators, its mission of serving the study body as role models has sustained.

Nutrition junior Annabella Bruzual, who joined the Educators this semester, helps make the organization a success and serves as its social media chair.

“It’s an organization that wants to provide awareness resources and information related to health,” Bruzual said. “So any question that a student might have regarding any components of health — whether it be mental, spiritual, nutrition, fitness or social — they can come to us, and we provide information for them. What we want to be able to promote to the student body is that they’re not alone, that there’s people here that can help them out and whatever they need, we have the resources for them.

“I (also) think it all starts with the knowledge. It’s getting informed and just getting active. You have to start somewhere. You’re not going to get up and be an athlete in a week. But it’s pushing yourself every day and trying your hardest every day, and we’re here to support you. If you want one of our members to come run with you or help you, let us know, or if you need help with nutrition or anything.”

Kinesiology-health professions junior Eduardo Obregon has been the president of Cougar Peer Educators for the past year and decided to get involved with the organization because it sounded like a great opportunity to help and teach his peers about their overall health and wellness.

“My organization impacts students by increasing their knowledge of general health and wellness within the six dimensions of wellness. The dimensions of wellness consist of physical, occupational, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual wellness. We do a lot of collaboration events with the UH wellness department since they are the ones that sponsor the organization, but the one big event that we do that is always fun to do would have to be the ‘Paint Your Nails Pink’ event, which is an event supporting Breast Cancer Awareness,” Obregon said.

“I’m proud of this event because we raise money to send to the Susan G. Komen foundation and also paint both male and female fingernails pink. This event is great to host because you really can see how many students support and want to know more about breast cancer.”

The group’s most recent event was Monday at the Philip G. Hoffman Building Breezeway, where instead of selling cupcakes and cookies, fruit cups were sold for $1. Students interested in the organization can visit the Educators at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center to gain the skills necessary to inspire their peers.

“I would like to say that next year (for students) to keep a look out for us around campus because we will be everywhere providing workshops, fun events, to even having a HIPOD (Health Information Peer on Demand) tent that we will pass out health and wellness information that students might want to know and need,” Obregon said.

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New UH faculty member Bonnie Dunbar will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the center announced Tuesday.

“I’m very honored,” Dunbar said. “This is an old tradition, starting with the Apollo astronauts. Quite frankly, there is probably nothing more special than being selected by your peers for some sort of acknowledgement.”

Bonnie Dunbar | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

Dunbar was recently invited by President Renu Khator to join the UH faculty as head of the new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math center that will specialize in research. Dunbar said one of her goals is to help undergraduate students become more math and science literate.

“There’s not a day that goes by that doesn’t involve something being technologically or scientifically discussed,” Dunbar said. “As an adult, it’s your responsibility to ask yourself if you’re prepared to make sound judgments on these discoveries so that you can understand the world around you.”

Dunbar is working on developing a massive open online course to teach classes to a wider audience of students. She says one of her goals through this course is to help more young people understand the physics of the world so they go on to graduate as more well-rounded individuals.

“We want to bring the best and brightest to UH,” Dunbar said. “If you are willing to apply yourself, you can help solve some of the world’s problems. Science is about discovering ‘what is,’ and engineering is about designing ‘what isn’t.’”

Being inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame is fulfilling her childhood dreams, as Dunbar said she wanted to be an astronaut since she was nine years old.

“People always talk about finding their passion in life. I was very lucky because I found mine so early,” Dunbar said. “It was so exciting and interesting that I wanted to be a part of it.”

Dunbar grew up on a cattle ranch and says her family instilled in her the values she thinks helped her become successful.

“I learned a good work ethic, and I think that’s really important,” Dunbar said. “You have to be able to work on your own and push yourself to meet your goals without someone else telling you to. And that’s something I hope I can pass on to young people.”

Dunbar said her family believed in educating their children early in life. Her first set of books was an encyclopedia.

“I was just amazed that if you knew the alphabet, you could go to this big set of books and find out about anything about the world,” Dunbar said. “It was my generation’s Wikipedia.”

During her 27 years with NASA, Dunbar has been on five space flights and has spent more than 1,208 hours in space.

“The general public thinks we are doing just physical things, but in fact, we spend most of our times in classrooms, learning about the systems, the shuttle simulators and then about the science,” Dunbar said.

“Every mission, each of those 135 missions, was a science and engineering mission that built on the prior ones, and because of that, now we have an international space station in Earth’s orbit.”

An avid explorer, Dunbar says it is crucial for nations to explore.

“Exploration is sort of a metaphor for the spirit of a nation — it’s curiosity; it’s the acquisition of knowledge; it’s wanting to know what’s on the other side,” Dunbar said.

“Also, it’s a significant driver for technology. If we had not gone to the moon, for example, you would not have computers or software. Bill Gates in fact has said he wouldn’t have a job if we didn’t go to the moon.”

Dunbar says her message to young people is to prepare themselves for their futures through their schooling.

“Use your schooling to give you the best foundation possible to give you the most options,” Dunbar said. “Then you’re equipped to chose not only any career, but you’re equipped to be a much more intelligent adult about the world around you and what to believe and not to believe.

“And that’s what I’m trying to do on campus: to encourage students to take these classes and know that they are fun, and they explore the world.”

While Dunbar has hung up her space suit for her STEM position, she still hopes to revisit the final frontier.

“I’d be the first to sign up for Mars.”

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Roberts

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean John Roberts received the Turquoise Award from the Raindrop Turkish House for his contribution to academic study and promotion of Turkish language at the seventh annual Turkish Language and Culture Olympiad.

Roberts joins the ranks of those awarded for their contribution to academic study and promotion of Turkish language, according to the organization’s website. Previous recipients include President Renu Khator and former Provost John Antel.

“Raindrop Turkish House is very interested in establishing Turkish as one of the foreign languages that we teach at UH,” Roberts said.

“As dean, I have supported the introduction of Turkish language and culture courses.”

According to the foundation’s website, The Turkish Olympiad, where Roberts received the award, was organized by the Raindrop Turkish House to award students for their hard work in success in different areas such as dance and poetry recitation.

According to the CLASS webpage, the event is meant to inspire students from kindergarten through college to learn Turkish as their second or third language with this Olympiad as the place to show their work.

“I think that the study of all cultures is important because I believe they are records of human accomplishments,” Roberts said.

“We have many students of Turkish descent at UH who should have an opportunity to study their own heritage in the classroom if they desire.”

Raindrop Turkish House works in eight states to address the social and cultural needs of Turkish-Americans, according to its website. Its mission is to introduce Turkish culture into American society.

Roberts hopes to build on the available classes in Turkish offered at the University and hopes to offer a minor in Turkish in the near future.

“It is an honor to be recognized for making a contribution that contributes to the educational opportunities available to our students,” Roberts said.

“I was thrilled that the leaders of Raindrop thought my contribution worthy of their recognition.”

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Solano

A UH student is going from books to ballots, hoping to gain a seat in the Pearland City Council in the upcoming election.

Political science senior Mark Solano is running for council position 5 — a three-year term seat held by Greg Hill, who is seeking re-election.

If elected, Solano will represent Pearland residents, aiming to satisfy their needs and work with the council in handling city growth.

“Overall, this is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while, I’ve always had a desire to serve and participate within governmental relations,” Solano said.

“I’ve held a lot of positions, most of them relate to governmental relations and public service, so in many ways I have been tailored for roles such as city councilman.”

Solano has represented students in the Student Government Association as both College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences senator and director of external affairs.

During his time in the senate, he co-authored the Graduate Transparency Bill, which passed during the last administration. Additionally, he worked with President Cedric Bandoh, a supply chain junior, in starting the Rebuild Cullen Campaign.

“I am confident that he will lead with a service-above-self mentality on behalf of the residents of Pearland, just like he did this year as my director of external affairs and for his fellow students,” Bandoh said.

Bandoh said he is excited about a SGA member running for office on a city council and that it reflects well on the University.

“How cool is it to have a Cougar running for office. It shows that the University of Houston has student leaders who deeply care for their community and are dedicated to service,” Bandoh said.

All students who are interested in volunteering on Solano’s campaign are encouraged to contact him by e-mail at markdsolano@gmail.com.

The General Election will be held on May 11, however early voting starts on April 29 and will continue on May 4 and May 6.

For more information, visit cityofpearland.com.

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The National Student Advertising Competition team from the Jack. J. Valenti School of Communication returns home from Tulsa, Okla. with first place in the district.

The Valenti Group, competitors in the National Student Advertising Competition, took first in its district on Thursday. | Courtesy of Kelcey Kochner.

The competition was stiff, said advertising and creative writing junior Nicholas Pessarra, the Valenti Group’s creative director and presenter. He said he thought the other schools’ campaigns were strong and, while they felt confident in their campaign, the judges’ announcement made them anxious.

“The fact that we won still hasn’t sunk in. We had received a special recognition award from the judges prior to the announcement of the winners, which made us question whether or not we had placed,” Pessarra said.

“Half of us felt confident that we were first, while the other half were worried that we didn’t place at all.”

The goal was to create an entire ad campaign for Glidden paint for Wal-Mart stores.  The students, who receive course credit, met semi-weekly and throughout Spring Break to create their campaign from scratch.

“We divided our agency into departments similar to a professional ad agency, including creative team, account planning team, plans book designer and the media team,” said advertising senior and account director Kelcey Kochner.

Larry Kelley and Rosario Laudicina, professors in the School of Communication, mentored the team, but the ideas and efforts stemmed from the students.

Kelley said in an email to his colleagues that he was proud of the team’s hard work.

“The quality of the competition is what makes this meaningful. We clearly outperformed some of the best schools in the country,” Kelley said.

The team aimed to do its best and differentiate itself from the 20 other teams.

“It’s tough to say what aspect of our campaign really set us above the rest,” Pessarra said. “Every team worked hard and produced some great work. We had some really tough competition, but in the end, I think it was our plans book that really helped us make an impression with the judges.”

As if the stiff competition and long hours working together weren’t challenging enough, the team had a feat getting over their nerves.

“The hardest part of the competition to overcome was our nerves,” Kochner said. “After all the hard work we put into this campaign, we hoped our ideas would be communicated to the judges well.”

The group has almost two months to fundraise and practice until they advance to the national competition, which is the first week of June in Phoenix.

“The presentation will largely be the same. Competition rules are strict, so although we received feedback from the judges, we can’t really change anything. However, the presenters will be practicing a lot over the next few months,” Pessarra said.

“It’s really bittersweet. I’m looking forward to the trip, but I know how much I’ll miss everyone once it’s over.”

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