On Saturday, in correspondence with its push for an increased focus on science and technology, UH contributed to the annual Science Engineering Fair of Houston, an event that awards more than $60,000 in college scholarships to approximately 200 students from the greater Houston area.

UH has become a major player this year by holding campus and residence hall tours for the participating students and by having the award ceremonies held at the Cullen Performance Hall. The fair has provided an educational service to junior and senior high school students since the 1960s.

“Houston is this scientific hub,” said Mark Smith, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “And supporting and cultivating the local minds is extremely important to our city’s success.”

Retired NASA astronaut and engineer Bonnie Dunbar, the leader the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Center, offered the contestants her advice at the ceremonies.

“Developing a pipeline for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics will play a major role in the sustained growth and stability of the U.S. economy and is a critical component to helping our nation win the future,” Dunbar said.

“To address the grand challenges of this great country, we need the new ideas, new companies and new industries created by STEM careers. This has been historically, and will be in the future, the key to great progress in Texas and the U.S.”

The Science and Engineering Fair of Houston has promoted the learning and applications of science and technology for Texas middle and high school students.

UH’s goal is to generate a steady stream of bright and talented students with an interest in the STEM fields to contribute to the growing scientific industries and health care facilities located in the city and state, Dunbar said.

Dunbar offered more words of encouragement to the young students.

“I just don’t see obstacles,” Dunbar said. “I see challenges. I like solving problems.”

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The ballots are in – Cedric Bandoh and Rani Ramchandani will take office in the 50th Student Government Association administration.

SGA President Cedric Bandoh and Chief Election Commissioner Said Jalajal viewed the the election results on Friday. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

Bandoh won re-election over competitor Eduardo Reyes with 59.6 percent of the votes. Bandoh and Ramchandani will begin serving their term together as president and vice president, respectively, April 1.

Bandoh and Ramchandani plan on getting straight to business come April, Bandoh said.

“Many items on our platform will begin simultaneously as we will hit the ground running,” Bandoh said. “Folks who know me understand that I believe time is money, and I don’t like wasting either one, and the students deserve an SGA that works diligently.

“A major item that we will start, is working with our Department of Public Safety to look at implementing the Cougar Patrol,” he said.

Bandoh said scholarships and financial aid will still remain as part of his driving forces. Bandoh and Ramchandani said they plan to continue to further improve on what we have, including a better refund service for students.

Bandoh’s reason behind choosing Ramchandani is because of to her passion for the campus, Bandoh said.

In the current administration, Ramchandani serves as chair of the Senate Committee on Administration and Finance. Outside of SGA, she has served two years as co-president of the Mr. UH Executive Board in which she raised $3,000 for philanthropic service

“I am extremely grateful to the student body for supporting our mission and believing in our vision,” Ramchandani said. “At the end of the day, Cedric, myself and the entire SGA collective are working in the best interest of the students for the students.

“Our mantra for the 50th administration is to keep a continuous improvement mindset and leave things better than we left them. I can’t tell you how exciting of a role this is and how passionate I am about this University. Even with the expected challenges on this path, I only see a bright future with many triumphs,” she said.

Ramchandani takes the place of the current vice president, Turner Harris, who opted out for re-election to put heavier focus on finishing school.

“I hope Cedric and Rani pick up right where we left off and continue to have a tangible impact on the student body,” Harris said.

“I’m really excited to see what they accomplish — it’s been a while since SGA has had a president serve back-to-back terms, so Cedric won’t have to spend the first couple of months learning the ropes. Rani is such an intelligent and capable person; I am very much looking forward to see what she does.”

The voting process, which encountered multiple problems in its two days, provided the elections results Friday, but the results should be validated by Tuesday, said chief election commissioner Said Jalajal.

The non-returning SGA members will be handing over their positions in a month. Harris said he has bright hopes for SGA’s future.

“My parting piece of advice for the 50th administration would simply be to focus on innovating for the students — it’s where SGA will always have the biggest impact,” Harris said.

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The on campus walk was to raise awareness as well as funds | Dina Kesbeh/The Daily Cougar

Students, alumni and parents signed up to take part in Muslim Student Associations’ second annual 5K walk Saturday to raise awareness and funding for End7.

End7 is a campaign managed by Global Network that aims to stop seven neglected tropical diseases, which affect more than half a billion children, by 2020.

“It takes eight to 10 people to put this walk together. We accomplished what we wanted, which was to raise awareness about the neglected diseases and raise money to help in any way we can,” said Maha Farooqi, communication science and disorders senior and coordinator for the walk-a-thon.

The goal of the event was to raise awareness about these diseases.

“This walk was great because it brought everyone together, but also, it’s bringing awareness to what’s going on. Especially that the tropical diseases are affecting a lot of kids, and I think we all need to support it and help fight for this cause,” said nutrition freshman Sarah Radwan.

It appears to have worked. Students like supply chain management senior Hanzila Hussain expressed surprise at the ease of participation and the severity of the probable.

“I’ve never participated in something like this before, so seeing everyone come out and support such a great cause is truly warming. It’s something we need to be aware of and spread the word about the tropical diseases. Even if it’s through entertainment, at least it shows that we are all in this together,” Hussain said.

UH alumnus Michael McHugh stressed the importance about contributing to causes in any way possible. If you don’t have the money, then things like walks or runs are a great way to raise awareness for a cause, McHugh said.

“This is a great opportunity to support a very important cause we need to do more research in helping and debilitate disease across the globe. This is an issue that the world has neglected. It’s important to address issues that people aren’t willing to talk about as much,” McHugh said.

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The Graduate College of Social Work brought students, staff and alumni of the award-winning college together to acknowledge the continuous efforts being put forth in the social work community.

The GCSW kicked-off National Social Workers Month on Friday in the Rockwell Pavilion by hosting the 13th annual Social Work Awards Breakfast. The ceremony’s theme “Immigration: Can We Solve the Puzzle?” was unveiled by keynote speaker Gordan Quan.

Gordan Quan was the key note speaker for the breakfast event, which celebrated the beginning of National Social Workers Month. | Aisha Bouderdaben/The Daily Cougar

“As an immigration lawyer, I certainly saw all the problems people were having and the frustration in the system,” Quan said. “People were trying to do things right but didn’t have a real option.”

Quan is a partner at immigration law firm FosterQuan, LLP and said immigration reform will provide more opportunities for students to become successful during and after college.

“I think that it (immigration reform) will open doors for people to work,” Quan said. “By working, they can pay tuition and go to school.”

If political leaders don’t come to a solution about immigration reform, it may hinder the nation’s ability to move forward, Quan said.

Members of the GCSW’s faculty are in agreement that reform is an issue not just on a national level but also in Houston.

“UH is an institution that has, for the most part, been built by immigrants and their families,” said Dennis Kao, assistant professor at GCSW.

“The challenges facing immigrants and their families are the same issues impacting our faculty, staff and students. Given its prominence, UH can play an important role in fostering discussion and collaboration.”

By hosting the breakfast at UH, the GCSW aims to raise awareness and for social work to be recognized by the University’s community.

“Events such as the Social Work Awards Breakfast raises awareness of the important work that social workers do with vulnerable populations,” said Luis Torres, GCSW professor.

“Regardless of what type of work we are engaged in, we are linked by the common goal of promoting social justice.”

Students, faculty and alumni of the GCSW were honored for their dedication to the social work cause. GCSW graduate student Becca Keo was given the student of the year award, for her diligence and determination after being a part of the Master’s program for only six months.

“I am definitely very grateful and thankful for this recognition,” Keo said.

“I am especially thankful and humbled because I am being recognized for work that I absolutely love doing.”

Keo was recently accepted into the doctoral program for the GCSW and said she is excited to move forward in helping out the UH community.

“I’m open to all opportunities and experiences,” Keo said. “I’m also honored, happy and excited to continue serving LGBTQ communities in any way that I can.”

In addition to the Awards Breakfast, the college is hosting other events this semester to get more people involved and informed about what social work entails.

Licensed clinical social worker and department director of the Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, Jose Ramirez Jr., said the University is the perfect place to begin prepping future generations in making society a better place.

“The UH Community is an excellent place to make this happen by preparing for the next generation of citizens and contributors to the betterment of Houston,” Ramirez said. “The leaders of UH need to be ready in order to prepare the leaders of tomorrow.”

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The desert, known for its isolation and solidarity, has become a teaching inspiration of hospitality and social responsibility for author Rubén Martinez.

Author Rubén Martinez said he uses the desert as a “teacher” of humanity in both his book and the lecture. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

Martinez, a former UH creative writing professor and Emmy Award-winning journalist, returned to UH on Thursday to discuss how his book, “Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West,” portrays the juxtaposition of the desert and inescapable human encounters.

“People often go to the desert thinking that they will find solitude there, that they will find healing there; they will find a spiritual journey there,” Martinez said. “But if you stay there and live there like I did, you will find that all the things we are supposedly leaving behind are found in stark relief out in the desert as well.”

Martinez was an immigrant to the desert, moving from one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, Mexico City, to the deserts of New Mexico. Martinez said he struggled with the tension between the desert he imagined and the desert he actually lived in.

A 23-year-old couple and their son lived next door to Martinez and were a constant reminder of the unhappiness and struggle that dwells on the borders of the desert. Each day, Martinez would watch the violent fights between the two, Rose and José, from his attic window but never did anything.

“My wife and I write about borders. We write about the ideas of hospitality and solidarity,” Martinez said. “And then suddenly we’re living in a situation where our literal neighbors — as we were living within 100 feet of that adobe where Rose and José were living — and our ideals of solidarity come up against this harsh reality of what are we supposed to do with our neighbors. What are we supposed to do about Rose and José? What are our responsibilities?”

Through these questions, Martinez opened the idea of hospitality and confrontation to include many global issues surrounding the idea of borders between people and nations.

“He touched on a lot of concepts that I hadn’t really thought about,” said biology sophomore Amber Ansari. “He spoke about how a border is just a wall, but it’s only physically there. There’s no symbolic meaning, and it really doesn’t stop anything from happening or progressing.”

In his book and lecture, Martinez also touched upon his life in Mexico and the U.S. and the clash of cultures that arises over the borders. For this reason, Maria Laura Zubiate, a graduate student and Spanish professor in the Honors College, urged her class to attend.

“Today’s presentation dealt with a lot of culture between the two countries, and my class is not only about language, it’s about language and culture,” Zubiate said.

“Martinez teaches about the transnational life, how the two countries are connected and how what happens in one country affects the other. Through hospitality, what is happening in Mexico is not just the others’ problems. It’s our problem as well,” she said.

Martinez concluded by saying  the desert asks us to change the way we live, the way we think, through moral confrontations explained by many philosophers, such as Jacques Derrida.

“I always thought about what we would do if Rose came and knocked on our door one day, hysterical after a fight with José,” Martinez said.

“A book on hospitality by Derrida answers that question: You have to open the door. By not taking the risk of opening the door or knocking on the door, how is anything going to change?”

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An adjunct professor for the UH Law Center who became the first African American woman to serve on the First Court of Appeals in Texas, died Friday at 64.

Gaynelle Griffin Jones died at her home in Houston after battling cancer for several years, said her daughter, Athena Jones.

“She was very impressible and energetic,” said Jones, a correspondent for CNN. “She loved to work on new projects and travel, from building gingerbread houses with her grandson to planning trips to Egypt, Ghana and South Africa.”

Born Nov. 20, 1948 in Dallas, Griffin was the second child of Marvin and Lois Griffin. She graduated from A. J. Moore High School in Waco. She received a scholarship to Emerson College in Boston and earned a degree in history. She then received a full scholarship to attend Boston College Law School, where her 40-year legal career began.

Griffin was appointed by the Texas governor to serve on the First Court of Appeals. Former President Bill Clinton named her United States Attorney for the Southern District in Texas in 1993, making her the first African-American woman appointed to the position.

Griffin taught trial advocacy at the UH Law Center and contributed legal services to the poor, criminal law, corporate law and private practices in Louisiana, Massachusetts and Texas.

Griffin loved to stay involved and volunteer her service, Jones said.

She was a senior fellow as the Center for Houston’s Future and the American Leadership Forum, and she served on the board of the Houston Area Women’s Center; the Phoenix House of Texas, a teenage drug treatment program; and Cate School.

She was devoted to church since she was 7-years-old and was a member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, where she was a deaconess who mentored teenage girls and taught discipleship training.

Jones received many awards and honors for her achievements, including the Sarah Hughes Outstanding Achievement Award from the State Bar of Texas Women’s Section, the Bessie Coleman Trailblazer Award and the Star of Achievement Award.

She was active in the Houston Bar Association as co-chair of the minority opportunities committee and was a frequent lecturer at professional seminars and programs.

The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Wheeler Avenue Baptist. Final arrangements will be entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home.

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The effects of the nation’s sequestration that is an impending $85 billion in federal spending cuts is expected to trickle down to UH, cutting funds for research and financial aid.

At midnight Friday, the government began to reduce the gap between the nation’s deficit and gross domestic product by decreasing government agencies’ budgets.

Although spending cuts are occurring on the national level, its effects will hit research universities close to home.

“Sequestration, if allowed to happen, will reduce 5.1 percent of funding, across the board, from all federal research contracts and grants,” said President and Chancellor Renu Khator. “Principal investigators have been notified by their funding agencies. Regardless, it will be devastating to many research programs and will certainly impact our researchers and graduate students.”

Aside from research funding, the sequestration will also take away funding from federal work-study programs and other scholarship programs.

According to The Huffington Post, 4,720 low-income students in Texas will lose federal financial aid.

Though the spending cuts will begin this month, the repercussions of sequestration will be felt most in the fall semester as it continues through Oct. 1.

“We may be able to mitigate some negative effect,” Khator said, “but the burden will be felt by all for many years to come.”

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The students have spoken — Cedric Bandoh and Rani Ramchandani of the Redvolution party will be leading the Student Government Association as president and vice president in the 50th Administration.

Newly re-elected president Cedric Bandoh is satisfied with his election results. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

Supply chain management juniors Bandoh and Ramchandani defeated economics sophomore Eduardo Reyes and photography sophomore Maggie McCartney by 1,089 votes to 737.

Reyes and McCartney left abruptly after hearing the results without offering any commentary on their loss or the election.

This will be Bandoh’s second year to represent UH as student body president and Ramchandani’s first as vice president.

“UH has been a blessing for me, and being the youngest person ever to be elected has been an amazing experience,” Bandoh said.

The other members elected to the senate:

Senators At-Large: Nicholas Stallman, Cynthia Orobio, Kirby White and Sebastian Agudelo
Graduate At-Large: Anirup Dutta
The Honors College: Nicholas Fox
The College of Architecture: Issam Kadiwala
The Business College: Christopher Holly, Sunil Motwani, Juan Lerma and Shadi Rafeedie
The Education College: Crystal Brumfield
The College of Engineering : Daniel Sanchez, Clint Kirchhoff and Taisia Strurza
The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Nancy Shenoi, Samantha Mathew, Trenton Fuller and Gregorio Ayala Guerra
The College of Pharmacy: Scarlett Najera
The Graduate College of Social Work: Carol Ann Ross
The College of Technology: Brianna Mills, Carlos Leal and Bashar Shamma
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences: Domonique Champion, Guillermo Lopez, Yesenia Chavez, Catherine Tassin de Montaigu, David Ghably, James Lee, Tatiana Lutomski and John Garcia.

Bandoh, Ramchandani and the newly elected senators will begin their term in office April 1.

Update 8:32 a.m. March 3, 2013: An earlier version of this article misspelled Clint Kirchhoff’s name.

The bows like the ones on M. D. Anderson Memorial Library are to honor the donors for Thursday’s Philanthropy Day. | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

Thursday marks UH Philanthropy Awareness Day, which dedicated to celebrating everyone who made it possible for the campus to function.

Students are invited to attend the event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Lynn Eusan Park to learn about philanthropy, enjoy free refreshments, win prizes and say thank you to the people who have donated to UH.

“Philanthropy Awareness Day is a day celebrating all the gifts that every donor has made to our University,” said UH Associate Director of Annual Giving Michelle Bair. “The big red bows around campus, like the ones at the library, indicate that donations make that building possible. All gifts, regardless of amount, are important.”

Only 22 percent of funds from Texas made up the budget for UH in 2012, according to the Student Philanthropy website. Another 42 percent of the UH budget was supported through student fees and tuition.   The other 36 percent must be received through donations, in order for the campus to function.

“We had $4.1 million in donations last year,” Bair said. “Even computers with internet access at the library are funded through gifts. Partnerships with corporations such as M.D. Anderson and Hilton Hotels and Resorts make up part of the campus.”

UH alumni also make up a portion of donors. The Cougar Graduation Challenge is open to all graduating seniors in an effort to give a gift back. Students who participate in the challenge with a $15 donation or more are given a Cougar Spirit Cord to wear at their graduation ceremony to show their generosity.

“In December 2012, 23 percent of graduating seniors took part in the Cougar Graduation Challenge,” Bair said. “That’s the highest percentage on record.”

Though some students may not be able to afford large monetary donations, even the smallest gift is beneficial to the future of UH.

“Gifts can vary from $1 to $500. And gifts can also be specific,” Bair said. “Donations can be given to certain departments and colleges. Scholarships can also be funded in parts. One scholarship can be made by several different donors.”

The amount of donations given by alumni is taken into consideration for university rankings.

According to the Student Philanthropy website, nationally competitive universities hold an alumni donation rate of at least 15 percent. In 2011, UH had an alumni donation rate of just more than 10 percent while Rice had a rate of almost 35 percent.

But with help from fellow Cougars, donations are rolling in. The class of 2016 donated spare change to the Coog Cents Program and has raised more than $1,000.

“All gifts are important,” Bair said. “Whether a donation is in money, time or resources, small gifts equal big change.”

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Amid a nation divided on gun control, a spotlight has been shone on a UH graduate student and his nonprofit organization, which will give a gun to residents of a mid- to high-crime Houston area.

The Armed Citizen Project, created by public administration graduate student Kyle Coplan, will provide residents of a small community with a single-shot shotgun after significant background checks. The arms are not intended to be used; rather to prevent criminal activity.

“Our hypothesis is that criminals have no intention of dying in your hallway. We seek to use their fear as a crime deterrent,” Coplan said.

Coplan said he will cultivate that fear by raising awareness for the project. The project will start locally but an exact neighborhood has yet to be determined.

Coplan said he is interested in making his program widespread.

“We are going to start in Houston, but we are going to very quickly become a national company.”

The project began as a white paper for Coplan’s graduate program. A white paper is a report on a public policy issue, said James Thurmond, director of the Master of Public Administration program. The student’s goal with a white paper is to persuade while informing the audience about its position.

While the idea was conceptualized for UH, the University has no involvement in the actual execution.

Despite its brief existence, it is an official nonprofit with a staff.

“I just had the idea on Jan. 23rd, so this is just a month out. I did some volunteer work for a WWII veteran, who had two purple hearts,” Copland said. “His house was broken into and vandalized and I volunteered to help (him). When I saw what happened and it really upset me I got to thinking about crime deterrents.”

The project is currently targeting single female or handicapped participates, Coplan said.

Despite Coplan’s hard work and good intentions, he and the University have received criticism from outside parties.

“Three inquiries (to UH about the project) were received with two being more negative,” Thurmond said.

While Coplan faces criticism, he said he believes that the negative feedback is not based on his study’s merit. He said there is an initial knee-jerk reaction to his study.

“When it comes down to it, if people aren’t supportive, then they are just anti-gun rights,” Coplan said. “My question to them is ‘Then who should have a gun?’”

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