Fifty Houston women were recognized by the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program in the 16th annual Table Talk in order to raise money for scholarships, research and programming.

Mayor Parker, along with the other honorees, shared her experiences at her table. | Dina Kesbeh/The Daily Cougar

One of those recognized was Mayor Annise Parker, who advocated finding a career that you love.

“It is always easier to do work that you care about. You don’t go through the motions. Find something that you are passionate about and figure out how to make a living out of it. I’m excited to go to work every day,” Parker said.

In addition to offering inspiration to their female peers, speakers — and the luncheon as a whole — intended to raise awareness of their community.

“We are raising funds for the University, and women get a sense of what other women are doing in the community,” said Elizabeth Gregory, director of WGSS.

Women from all backgrounds came together at the event to discuss the importance of supporting women’s studies and empowering women to reach for success.

“You meet a lot of new people, and see women from so many different professions. I’m very inspired by it. It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to coming back again,” said Drucie Chase, who was one of the 50 women honored.

Table Talk is not only a day to honor successful women, it is also to show their diversity.

Beth Wolff, who established her own realtor company called Wolff and Associates, spoke about her struggle as a single mom trying to climb her way to success and give her children a stable foundation.

Wolff is just one of the 50 women who spoke about the battles they had to fight in order to get where they are now.

“I graduated from UH with a degree in entrepreneurship, the advice I give to the students studying entrepreneurship is that you are in good hands,” Wolff said. “UH has one of the top entrepreneurship programs. I didn’t start at the top. I had to work my way up while raising my two kids on my own.”

news@thedailycougar.com

Owning and riding a bike may seem like a practical option when living on a college campus. Riders are able to get to class faster, avoid the hassles of parking and even save a little money on gas.

But students who choose to ride bicycles should be well informed of bicycle safety.

“Students and faculty definitely need to be more aware of cyclists on campus and in the city,” said marketing junior Joyce Lin. “Some are not informed about current bike laws. Someone actually yelled at me once to get off the road and onto the sidewalk but that’s actually against the law and unsafe as well.”

When in motion, police advise bikers to focus on safety on the sidewalks or streets. But while the bikes aren’t in use, students should secure them to designated areas. | Bethel Glumac/The Daily Cougar

UH Police Department Chief of Staff Lt. Bret Collier said cyclists in Texas have many of the same rights as motor vehicle operators and are responsible for obeying the rules of the road.

“Cyclists can be cited for traffic code violations when warranted, although we find that education is often sufficient to eliminate any such concerns,” Collier said.

There are no open areas of campus where cycling is expressly prohibited, Collier said, but he said students should familiarize themselves with the Texas Transportation code as it applies to cyclists.

“Take part in a cycling safety course, be aware of changing surface conditions due to construction and other variables and use care around vehicles and pedestrians,” Collier said.

UHPD also encourages students to register their bikes. In the last four years, it has registered 486.

“Registration aids in theft recovery. If your bike is stolen, we can flag the bike in our system, provide you with your serial number and canvas pawn and resale establishments to try to recover your bike for you,” Collier said.

“We also catch many criminals in the act of stealing bikes. If that bike is registered, we can identify the owner, return the bike and establish a criminal case on the suspect.”

Lin said she started riding her bike when she moved back to Houston from Seattle.

“I ride my bike to school everyday, rain or shine,” Lin said. “I’ll also ride my bike whenever I go somewhere with high traffic so I don’t have to deal with parking like music venues.”

While riding on-campus warrants precaution, it can also have some surprising benefits, said Lin.

“Riding my bike has allowed me to explore parts of the city and to see things you normally wouldn’t if you were just driving by in your car,” Lin said.

news@thedailycougar.com

Voting in the Student Government Association elections wrapped up Wednesday, but connectivity problems made a second appearance at the polling locations.

Candidates like Redvolution’s David Ghably campaigned until the last minute, despite the technical difficulties. | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

While the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science ballot issue was fixed, some students were still unable to log in to cast their votes.

“This was the first year that we did polling locations like this, so obviously were going to run into a lot of hiccups,” said computer information systems sophomore Said Jalajal, the chief election commissioner.

“In the past, it was strictly online, where we had the option of polling locations. This year it was strictly polling locations.”

The information on students who couldn’t vote was recorded, Jalajal said, and SGA is working on a solution for them.

The results will not be validated until the commission feels they’re complete, Jalajal said.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the senate voted unanimously for an Internal Affairs committee to meet and discuss the election issues. SGA plans to issue a response to students following that meeting.

“When students are not able to vote and come to us with complaints, SGA should have a response,” said Eduardo Reyes, an economics sophomore running for SGA president.

Results, which were expected at 5 p.m. Thursday, are now delayed, Jalajal said.

“It takes a few days to process, and the results should be out on Friday,” Jalajal said.

news@thedailycougar.com

Technical difficulties and confusion on the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences ballot could mean rocky results for candidates.

Most students like computer information systems junior Cody Kraushaar had no issues voting. | Nichole Taylor/The Daily Cougar

The polls opened at 9 a.m Tuesday, and students were ready to submit their ballots to decide who would represent them in the 50th Student Government Association administration.

The ballot instructions did not inform students enrolled in CLASS that they are allowed to vote for up to eight senate candidates to represent their college in SGA.

There are 13 candidates running for a position in CLASS.

Outside of the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, campaigners offered students their last spiel before heading to the polls. Many of them were also trying to inform students of the error.

University Center voters were not as well informed.

“This is my first time voting, and everything went smooth and was easy,” said computer science sophomore Christian Pesantes, “but no one told me about the potential issues with the ballot before voting.”

SGA is working to get the problem solved quickly and will be posting signs about it.

Said Jalajal, the Chief Election Commissioner, said although the problem exists, the top eight candidates would still be awarded the positions. If the eight seats are not filled, either the president will appoint students for the positions or a run-off election will take place.

Voters also experienced difficulties with the Internet at the polls.

“The issue that we’ve been running into is that because the ballots have to be secured for certain IP addresses only out of the polling locations, we’ve had problems with connectivity and people being able to log in,” said Jalajal, a computer informations sophomore.

“Because of the time constraints that we’ve been given, I don’t know why we’re running into all of these issues.”

The team tried to keep up with voters who were turned down because of technological difficulties, Jalajal said.

“We’re working diligently right now. I’ve been talking to Hunter Daniels, who is charge of doing our ballot, and we’ve been taking down students’ information so we can contact them back as soon as we hear about what’s being done,” Jajajal said.   

The voting should be fixed for Wednesday, said Jajajal, which is the last day for students to cast their vote.

Ballots are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Locations include the University Center, University Center Satellite, M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, the Moores School of Music and the Science and Engineering Research Center.

Results will be announced at 5 p.m. Thursday in front of the UC.

news@thedailycougar.com

In an effort to reduce the impact of paper cups thrown away on campus, UH Dining Services launched a reusable mug program in February 2011. However, most students are blissfully unaware of the program and its intention.

Students using the mug can get soda for 99 cents at participating locations, not including the dining halls. | Mahnoor Samana/The Daily Cougar

“The number varies, but if a student were to purchase one fountain drink per day — Monday through Friday — for a 16-week semester, that would keep 80 cups out of landfills per student,” said Amber Arguijo, Aramark Dining Services marketing manager.

“Now multiply that number of students who eat on campus each semester, and the results are quite impactful.”

The cup sells for $4.99 at some campus convenience stores, and students can get fountain drinks with the mug for 99 cents at many campus dining locations.

In addition, on-campus Starbucks locations knock 10 cents off your tab when you bring a mug and buy freshly brewed coffee.

Political science senior Tyler Albarado said he had never heard of the Green Thread cup.

“I think it’s a good strategy to help the environment, and it helps students save money. However, I wish the University advertised the cup better, especially in the food courts,” Albarado said.

The wax lining in cups prevents them from being recycled, and the cups are also free from Bisphenol A, a chemical included in plastic products.

Biology senior Falak Pasha never considered purchasing a Green Thread cup until recently.

“I did not know that the purpose of the Green Thread to-go cup is to help reduce paper cup waste on campus,” Pasha said.

“Now that I know, I would definitely consider buying one because it helps the environment.”

The exclusions to the program include both dining halls, Chick-fil-A’s lemonade, Tealicious, China Star and the shopping center across the street from the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

For some students, recycling is the motivation to participate. However, others are concerned with the money they will save.

“(The Green Thread Cups) sure beat buying expensive drinks from the vending machines located throughout campus,” Albarado said.

news@thedailycougar.com

The Cullen College of Engineering has devised a training series to teach its faculty, students and staff how to handle intellectual property and how to become an entrepreneur. Kicking off March 8, the series will include topics such as liability, inventions, license agreements and more, according to the event’s website.

Aaron Levine and Matt Todd, co-chairs of the New Ventures and Corporate Transactions Group at Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg, will be hosting the training sessions.

“Our intention is to walk folks through the notions how to manage the process from creation to cash, from concept to solidifying that concept, to funding that concept, to using that concept, to cashing out on that concept,” Todd said.

“From the seed of the idea to selling your company, we are trying to walk them through that process.”

Levine and Todd consulted with a team of patent-holding members of the College of Engineering. The group was created by Joseph Tedesco, the dean of the College of Engineering. Yuhua Chen, an associate professor for the college, holds five patents and was one of the consultants for the series.

“I think it is great that the college invests in this area and provide some formal training to faculty and students. I learned the patent laws and patent drafting myself, out of my own needs,” Chen said.

“I have developed a course module to teach my students the basics about patents, as well as how to draft patents,” she said. “My students turn in a patent draft at the end of the semester. Knowing how to draft patents also helps students to be more innovative.”

The IP and patent process is complicated, but Levine said he hopes the training will help these potential entrepreneurs be less afraid of going into business with their inventions.

“A lot of it is to just demystify it. People talk about hedge funds and venture capital; it’s all mysterious and opaque. We’re just going to shine a light on it and make it more accessible and hopefully make it a little less intimidating,” Levine said.

“We hope by giving people a little bit of education in it, the fear factor (and) the intimidation factor will drain away. And if they have a good idea, they’ll give it some serious thought,” he said.

The first training will focus on an introduction to business law and the basics of starting a company. The second session on March 22 will focus on patents, and the last will be held April 5 and will cover trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and more.

“Sort of the subtext of it all is to encourage them that they can do this and that they have the tools to be able to do it,” Todd said. “This is about us having the opportunity to assist UH with something they feel is important. We feel honored to be provided that opportunity to assist.”

For more information, visit egr.uh.edu/news/201302/college-hosting-entrepreneurship-training-series. RSVP is required for those who would like to attend.

news@thedailycougar.com

The UH Redvolution team of incumbent Cedric Bandoh and Senator Rani Ramchandani campaigns under the slogan “service above self.” Its platform consists of five branches that work to ensure students receive a Tier One experience in all aspects of their time at UH, according to the UH Redvolution website.

The Bandoh-Ramchandani group will work to better communication through the use of the online town hall forum ImproveUH and the UH Mobile App, which was originally created during the Bandoh-Turner administration. It will look to improve safety and security by bringing back Cougar Patrol, a student-led buddy system program, and installing more 24-hour security watchtowers around campus.

Bandoh and Ramchandani also hope to work with the city to expand their bike-sharing program to UH and continue to make the rebuild of Cullen Boulevard a priority. They also want to ensure students are continually informed of the new stadium’s progress and the Service Fee Memorandum of Understanding is followed.

The Redvolution team wants to increase student organization involvement by bringing campus leaders together under a Council of Presidents.

Candidate List:

Undergraduate At Large: Tanzeem Chowdhury, Sebastian Agudelo, Somtoo Ik-Ijeofor

Bauer College of Business: Sunil Motwani, Shadi Rafeedie, Juan Lerma

College of Education: Crystal Brumfield

Cullen College of Engineering: Ever Javier, Taisia Sturza

The Honors College: Samantha Joseph

CLASS: Dominique Champion, David Ghably, Elliot Kauffman, Catherin De Montaigu, Jonathan Garcia, Tatiana Lutomski, Andrew Knop

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Nancy Shenoi, Samantha Matthew, Trent Fuller

College of Technology: Fola Alabi

Scientists from a UH and University of Texas Medical Branch interdisciplinary research group have found a new way to impact the serotonin signaling system that could lead to more effective medications with fewer side effects.

“We do a significant amount of work in collaboration with biomedical researchers in the Houston/Galveston area,” said UH chemistry professor Scott Gilbertson. “Many of our projects provide us with a unique opportunity to test biological activity of our compounds and make modifications in biological principles.”

The research team is looking into failures in the serotonin signaling system that can be connected to serious health issues like depression, addiction, obesity, epilepsy and eating disorders.

A main focus is on the complex proteins called serotonin receptors in the cell membrane. Serotonin receptors — also known as 5-HT receptors — influence various biological and neurological processes such as aggression, anxiety, appetite, cognition, learning, memory, mood, nausea, sleep and thermoregulation.

“Our goal is to maintain signaling through 5-HT2C receptors, which is a subtype of 5-HT receptor, to achieve therapeutic benefits, and to reduce the number of receptors binding to PTEN molecules,” Gilbertson said. “To achieve that, we want to develop a competing inhibitor with the binding receptors to PTEN.”

According to the interdisciplinary research, the candidate inhibitor chosen is a fragment of the receptor itself, more specifically, the part of the receptor where PTEN is attached.

These “sub-protein structures” are known as peptides, and this one was previously titled 3L4F. Experiments have shown that 3L4F heightened 5-HT2C responses considerably.

“Ultimately we want to translate this research into therapeutics,” said UTMB postdoctoral fellow Noelle Anastasio. “The idea of targeting these interactions to produce drug and research tools is truly new and has great potential.”

UTMB professor Kathryn Cunningham said serotonin signaling through the 5-HT2C receptors is critical in normal psychology, whereas abnormal 5-HT2C functions are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple neural disorders.

The serotonin interacts with specific protein partners; however, the impact of the interactions on 5-HT2C functions is inadequately understood.

“The compelling data demonstrates the specificity and importance of this protein assembly in cellular events and behaviors in serotonin signaling,” said Cunningham. “It also provides a chemical guidepost to the future development of drug-like peptides or small-molecule inhibitors to study allosteric and therapeutics for 5-HT2C-mediated disorders.”

The research team took a crucial step toward realizing that potential by trimming down the 3L4F peptide to roughly half its size, while retaining similar efficacy. Using computational molecular modeling, they determined which elements of this peptide were important to bond with PTEN. This information will be used to design smaller molecules with the potential to achieve better activity.

“We’ve got the basics down now, so we can use the chemistry to make new molecules that we think might be potentially useful for treatment of addictions, for example,” Cunningham said.

“But there’s also an intense interest in figuring out the biology of this interaction between 5-HT2C and PTEN, what it means in terms of disease states like addictions, alcoholism, depression, obesity and eating disorders. I think in a broader sense this is really going to help us understand the neurobiology of these disorders.”

news@thedailycougar.com

The Reyes-McCartney team hopes to bring the Student Government Association back to the students by re-instituting traditional town halls, building a better a connection with students and changing the culture of UH. SGA vice presidential candidate Maggie McCartney believes SGA needs to focus on solving the University’s problems and not on problems that are not as simple to solve.

“We want to bring SGA back to simple solutions and bring it back to the student voice and student complaints,” McCartney said. “We want to actually be liaisons for the students.”

The platform of the “back to basics, back to students” campaign is one of solutions and focuses on improving safety and security — ensuring advisers are helping students, beautifying campus and simplifying the process for organizations to fundraise or do other activities.

“We are really just working hard to bring the student government back to the students,” said Eduardo Reyes, SGA presidential candidate. “We want to change the culture of this campus and make it a place where students are engaged.”

Candidate List:

Senators at large: Nicholas Stallman, Cynthia Orobio, Kirby White

CLASS: Clement Agho-Otoghile, Fizza Raza, Guillermo Lopez, James Lee, Leonel Mata, Yesenia Chavez

NSM: Gregorio Ayala-Guerra, Enrique Martinez

Engineering: Daniel Sanchez, Clint Kirchhoff

Technology: Brianna Mills, Bashar Shamma

Bauer: Christopher Holly

Honors College: Nick Fox