Safety was the hot topic at Monday’s debate between Student Government Association presidential candidates.

Eduardo Reyes (left) and Cedric Bandoh (right) discussed student’s safety on campus in Monday’s presidential debate. | Shaimaa Eissa/The Daily Cougar

Both Senator Eduardo Reyes and SGA President Cedric Bandoh claim that their strongest issue is safety and security.

“You can’t expect students to be unsafe on campus,” said Reyes, an economics sophomore. “You have to walk half a mile to the nearest call box and if you’re ever in a situation where you need one that’s scary, that can be life or death.”

In response, Bandoh said he wants to bring back a student program that came out in the early 2000s.

“It’s unacceptable to have any of our emergency equipment not working,” Bandoh said. “But something that’s big on our platform this year is that I think it’s time to bring back Cougar Patrol.”

“We currently have a similar program but there are many complaints about wait times. The flip side is that student organizations need to take a hold of this, and it’s a great way to bring the campus together.”

Another issue addressed was the Reyes-McCartney opposition to the UH phone app and ImproveUH, the new virtual town hall.

Bandoh made it clear these were decided on as a group within the senate.

“One thing that I’ve learned is that any time you attempt to change the status quo is that you’re going to have people that aren’t happy,” Bandoh said. “I’ve looked over some of the things on the other party’s platform, on things they may or may not be happy about, but what we do in SGA is done as a team, we’ve always done things together as a group. Everything that we’ve done has been in connection with our senators.”

The two offered insight on where they differ.

“I think that where we may disagree is that I understand with my experience is that these problems are multi-faceted. They take time,” Bandoh said. “Change takes time. What we can do is come up with solutions, but it may take time to realize them.”

In response, Reyes said that he would like to see permanent changes in SGA.

“Constantly, over and over again we hear the phrase, ‘SGA cleans house.’  We need to keep house clean. Changing our bylaws and redoing them every month is not the way to do it,” Reyes said.

The polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m on Tuesday and Wednesday. 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.

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The C.T. Bauer College of Business celebrated a $1 million gift received to bolster recruiting scholarships through the Bauer Excellence Initiative, a campaign aimed at attracting high-quality applicants to the college’s programs.

Friday’s event in Melcher Hall started with the unveiling of the donors’ names, Dawn and Richard Rawson, who now have Auditorium 160 named after them.

Richard Rawson, a UH alumnus, graduated in 1972 from the College of Business Administration, now known as Bauer. Rawson is the president of Insperity, a business advisor company, and helped fund the College of Education and the College of Business.

“(Rawsons’) commitment and involvement will touch the lives of students now and students to come because it’s an endowment,” said Dean of Bauer Latha Ramchand. “Nobody can touch this money.”

Paula Short, interim senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, said statistical information from fall 2011 shows a high number of business students at the University of Arkansas are from Texas, and a high number of business students at the University of Texas San Antonio are from Harris County.

“What they’ve done is they’ve created robust scholarship programs,” Short said. “Our goal is to give back to the community. One of the ways is through financial support through scholarship opportunities.”

Dawn Rawson said they got where they are today through faith, hard work and perseverance and that now they are concerned with helping others prosper.

Dawn and Richard Rawson have set a goal to make Bauer the best business school in the country. | Courtesy of Jessica Navarro

“Education is the best root that produces the best fruits in the community,” she said.

Richard Rawson said his life is divided into two parts: before his degree and after his degree.

“My commitment to the school goes back to when I was here,” Rawson said. “It gave me the platform of knowledge I never had before, and it taught me how to think. What this school gives is the encouragement and other subtle skill sets so that you can be the best you can be.”

Rawson said any institution is only as good as its students, which is why he believes and invests in BEI as a means of attracting quality students to the school.

“No business, no matter what it is, is successful without quality people,” Rawson said. “My goal is to make this business school number one in the country.”

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Technology, Entertainment and Design talks have been led by some of the brightest minds of this generation such as Steve Jobs and Stephen Hawking, and The Honors College has brought these intellectual and inspiring conversations home.

“Why can’t we have games in classrooms that help us learn to make new energy systems (and) new political systems,” Jennifer Li said. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

A group of more than 20 high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and professors gave TED talks Saturday in a lecture series called TEDxYouth@UH in which they spoke about topics varying from cultural understanding to intellectual understanding in learning styles.

“I’m a fan of TED talks. So when we had the opportunity to do our own, I thought this was a great opportunity to marry it with one of our motivations in The Honors College, which is to engage with the community around us,” said Christine LeVeaux-Haley, a political science professor and assistant dean for academic programs at The Honors College.

“I thought it would be nice to get area students to pick their brain and see what they think about the education they are receiving. We received all sorts of different proposals from high school students in the area with great ideas about how to change education,” LeVeaux-Haley said.

The lecture began with a short presentation from English literature seniorChris Powell on how the word “foreign” must be redefined to “unfamiliar” in order to learn more about the world and to achieve “bigworldedness,” a concept in which we pursue encounters with the unfamiliar.

“I enjoyed his presentation about being global in the sense of reminding yourself that foreign is not a word we should be using; it should be more along the lines of unfamiliar and actually looking in on yourself and finding those things that you’re not familiar with in the pursuit of knowing more,” said hotel and restaurant management junior Sarah Rennalls.

“I liked the idea of being global in your learning and never ceasing to find a solution to something that you don’t know,” Rennalls said.

Although a few university students, such as Powell, presented their own TED talks, the majority of the lectures were given by high school students.

“I was amazed by the potential of young people. Most TED talks I see are from seasoned professionals or professors that hold doctorates, but a lot of the presentations today were amazing, and they were done by high school kids,” said sociology junior Michael Lenmark. “They really have the capacity and the proactivity and the motivation to do a TED talk, and that was simply amazing to me.”

Many of the short lectures from high school students portrayed that young minds are craving a revolution in the way materials are taught in schools, and each offered its own solutions to the issues that are crippling classrooms today.

A presentation given by Bellaire High School student Kangdi Li titled “That Awkward Moment When Instead of Saving Princess Peach, You Save the World,” which was about the importance of progressing education with each generation, hit a resounding note with the audience.

“Her lecture was the beginning of an innovation. She gave what’s wrong and how we should fix it in a fun way. Also, it resonated a lot when she said things like ‘social obligation’ and ‘human education’ because that’s a thing that we don’t have,” said psychology junior Alice Yang.

“If you think about the world and what it is right now, those are things that we so severely need and no institution teaches it. Why not teach the things we need the most? The details and the math and the formulas and the critical thinking are processes of how we do things, but they don’t explain why we do things,” Yang said.

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The dean of the C.T. Bauer College of Business showed students how they could apply potential solutions to the fiscal cliff to their personal finances in Thursday’s Research Café.

Ramchand said her goal was to tell students what the fiscal cliff means for them.

“We tend to see these issues as something far away from us,” Ramchand said. “But let’s say it’s not a Washington D.C. problem, but your problem and my problem.”

Ramchand said the fiscal cliff is the term used to describe what the government has been facing since Dec. 31. It represents the end of the 2011 payroll tax cuts and some tax break for businesses, a rollback of the “Bush-era tax cuts” from 2001 to 2003 and the new taxes related to President Obama’s health care law.

Ramchand also said the national debt of $16.5 trillion is higher than the country’s gross domestic profit.

“We, as a country, are borrowing as much as we are producing,” Ramchand said. “As individuals, we want an education to achieve financial independency; so why aren’t we doing the same as a country?”

She went on to say sequestration, a fiscal policy that cancels budgetary resources as a form of spending cuts, has played an important role lately.

“The term suggests that to make money to bridge the gap between our debt and the GDP, the government has to reduce its spending rather than increase taxes,” Ramchand said.

This can be applied to how students manage their own finances, she said.

Ramchand passed around sheets of paper and told students to write down their income statement and compare the information with their expenses. About 75 percent of the group said they spend more than what they make.

“Everybody needs a budget plan, a relief. We have to set aside money for certain things that are absolutely critical, such as rent, tuition or students loans, and food. Then we need to plan ahead,” Ramchand said.

“We have credit cards, which means easy access to anything. This leads to debt. We have to have a plan and stick to it.”

She said if students are smart about their finances, they can get a degree debt-free and start a successful career.

“Take ownership of your finances. Have goals and plan ahead. Being in Houston is a great asset,” Ramchand said. “It’s diverse, international, and most importantly, your last name does not matter. We live in a city that rewards merit, so plan ahead, budget, and dream big.”

Research Café is a student-led series of interactive discussions the state of the economy organized by the Fellowship of the Tier One Scholars.

“It’s a good venue for informal discussions on different issues that affect us as students now and afterwards when we graduate,” said FOTOS Vice President of Professional Development Merlin Jacob.

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Student Government Association President Cedric Bandoh will be back on the ballot with SGA Senator Rani Ramchandani as his vice president in the SGA elections. They are part of the Redvolution party with the campaign slogan, “Service above self!”

In opposition will be SGA Senator Eduardo Reyes for president and SGA Senator Maggie McCartney for vice president with the campaign slogan, “Back to the students and back to the basics.”

McCartney and Reyes have set up a Facebook page to promote their party. They are promising that they will be “a party that will listen to student concerns and act on them with feasible solutions to serious issues.”

The polls will be open Tuesday and Wendesday 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.

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“Smart people are a dime a dozen; what really matters is being able to think imaginatively, to think creatively,” Walter Isaacson said. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar

Steve Jobs had begun to see a connection between Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and himself, said biographer Walter Isaacson on Friday at the Farfel Distinguished Lecture.

“I got a phone call from (Jobs) — and I had written about Benjamin Franklin, was just about to come out with the biography of Albert Einstein — and Steve talked to me and asked, ‘Why not do me next?’” Isaacson said.

“Of course my first reactions was ‘OK, Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein (and) Steve Jobs?,’ and I told him ‘Your humility hasn’t fully deepened since we first met’ but after a while I realized, especially when he was sick and battling cancer, that he was a person who had transformed seven industries in America.”

Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute as well as former CEO of CNN and editor of Time Magazine, was honored as the 2013 Farfel Distinguished Lecture speaker.

The Farfel Distinguished Lectureship is UH’s most prestigious award that honors the leadership of Aaron Farfel, who served on the UH System Board of Regents for 16 years.

“The process of selecting the speaker for the Farfel lecture is one that engages a number of people in the University. We really want it to be something that enlightens individuals and creates conversation about a topic that maybe people aren’t discussing as much as we would like,” said Karen Clarke, associate vice president of marketing and communication and associate vice chancellor of marketing and communication for the UH System.

“(Isaacson) is a great story teller. There are a lot of academics who have evocative ideas, but it’s difficult for them to engage a larger group in those concepts and ideas. One thing that we liked best about Isaacson was that he is clearly able to tell a story and give analogies and things like that, which really draw you in so you learn a lesson and get the point in a way that’s memorable,” Clarke said.

Throughout the lecture, Isaacson continually told heartfelt stories about Jobs, as well as Franklin and Einstein, which truly brought together the minds of all three men to focus on intellectual creativity. Some were perplexed by the connection Isaacson made between the three men, but many agreed.

“You absolutely can’t go anywhere in America without seeing an Apple product somewhere,” said chemistry junior Camden Kirkland. “The man literally revolutionized how computing and technology are used in both America and the world.”

Jobs’ endless passion for pursuing perfection and his motivation for pushing past boundaries were as widespread as his products, Isaacson said. This passion of his was expressed in one of Jobs’ favorite sayings, “Don’t be afraid. You can do it.”

Jobs, alongside Franklin and Einstein, has revolutionized the world in some way through his ingenuity.

“I realized that there was a common thread between Steve and my original two: Franklin and Einstein. That common thread was imagination and creativity,” Isaacson said. “Smart people are a dime a dozen; what really matters is being able to think imaginatively, to think creatively.”

With that common thread established, Isaacson concluded by explaining Jobs’ beliefs on simple beauty.

When Jobs looked at the first iPod, he questioned the necessity of an on and off switch, Isaacson said.

“And it dawned on me that they don’t need it: If you stopped using your iPod for long enough, it powered down and when you started using it again, it powered itself up. It was the beauty in simplicity that he saw,” Isaacson said.

Isaacson provided insight to the philosophical side of Jobs, one that was suitably demonstrated through a technological medium.

“I said to him, ‘Do you still believe in the spirit of life? Do you believe that something lives on?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I like to believe that, but then sometimes I’m just a little bit afraid that it’s just like an on and off switch — when you die, you just click off and you’re gone,’” Isaacson said.

“I was somewhat taken aback, then he gave me that little half smile he had, then he said ‘Maybe that’s why I didn’t like putting on/off switches on Apple devices,’” Isaacson said.

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Provost Search Committee co-chairs asked Faculty Senate members Wednesday for their input regarding provost candidates.

“We want to make sure that we find and attract a provost that can continue and even build on the momentum that we’ve established as a Tier One university,” said professor John Lee, a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen distinguished university chair for petroleum engineering.

Interim Provost Paula Short dedicated her time on the podium during Faculty Senate meeting to recognize the increase in graduate program enrollment at UH in the last five years. | Esteban Portillo/The Daily Cougar

“It’s very important that we find a provost who has the vision to not only see where we’re headed now, but also can identify additional ways in which the University of Houston can achieve what it really is capable of achieving.”

Lee, along with his co-chair, Vice Chancellor and Vice President for Student Affairs Richard Walker, requested to approach the Faculty Senate during its meeting.

Faculty Senate President Steven Wallace presided at the meeting held in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion in M.D. Anderson Memorial Library for the first time since taking the gavel Jan. 23.

The senior vice president for Academic Affairs and provost position acts as chief academic officer, and whoever fills it will be responsible for student access and success as well as all academic programs and policies.

Since former Provost John Antel stepped down from his official role as provost in early January, UH has gradually made steps to appointing a replacement. Paula Short was named interim senior vice chancellor and provost until the search committee finishes their work.

Faculty took turns voicing their opinions on what an ideal candidate would possess during the meeting.
Among the suggestions and requests made by faculty senate leaders were scholarly vision combined with the ability to get things done.

Shared governance, recent teaching experience, a dedication to excellence and communication and problem-solving skills were also listed as important qualities for potential provost candidates.
Co-chairs Lee and Walker will compose a list of qualifications that will be provided after the solicitation phase. They intend to review all candidates in March.

President and Chancellor Renu Khator also urged everyone to attend the open forums that will take place during the search process for the next provost.

Please come to the open forums and participate, Khator said during the Faculty Senate meeting.
“Two people assessing the logistics of the search is one thing, but 200 people giving their feedback would be quite another,” Khator said.

An estimated three to four finalists will be invited to attend campus interviews between April 28 and May 9.
The committee intends to complete the search process before the end of the semester.

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Every February, some Christians enter a period of reverence called Lent — one that may restrict their diets.

Salad, a reliable option for Lent observers, will not have to be the only choice, thanks to Dining Services. | Shaimaa Eissa/The Daily Cougar

Living and dining on campus can pose a problem for students who are honoring this season. Mathematics senior Juan Robledo has a hard time deciding on which entrée to choose at the Nom Mi Street food truck.

“In the previous semesters, I used to order bean burritos from Taco Bell or fish sandwiches from Wendy’s, but this year I decided not to give up anything for Lent,” Robledo said. “I attended the Ash Wednesday mass services last week and we are encouraged to not eat meat on Fridays until Easter.”

Parked outside the Catholic Newman Center, Nom Mi Street is a popular lunch destination for many students. During Lent, Nom Mi has several vegetarian options.

McAlister’s Deli is another dining facility that offers a Lent menu for its customers.

Media production senior Rashad Eaglin gave up soft drinks for Lent and now orders tea from the McAlister’s menu.

“I have friends that belong to the Catholic Student Organization who like to come here for lunch and I never noticed that there was a Lent menu offered to students. Now that I know, I would love to give it a try,” Eaglin said.

UH Dining Services have always tried to offer seafood choices on Fridays during Lent at both of their residential dining halls. Cougar Woods will continue to serve a vegetarian entrée, while Moody Towers will increase its selections in the vegetarian station.

UH dietitian Caroline Sullivan and the UH Dining Services have improved the program by increasing the number of offerings and improving recipes to their diners’ taste preferences.

“Students can look for seafood gumbo, tuna salad, baked fish, to shrimp quesadillas and many more delicious meals that fit into Lenten observances,” Sullivan said.

While some of the University’s retail brands may not offer a special menu produced specifically for Lent they can still choose from numerous vegetarian and seafood options that are always available to them. Students can find vegetarian options at Subway, Bare Bowls Kitchen, Tandoori Nite and Kim Son Restaurant, and find seafood options at Sushic and Kim Son.

“During Lent, when I have given up certain foods and not consuming meat, I sometimes eat snack bars and have learned to adapt to different menu dishes, but there is always something good to eat,” Robledo said.

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Students will get the chance to try out lounge and dining hall furniture for the future UC.

From 9 a.m. to noon today in the Fort Worth Room, participating students will have the opportunity to test a wide variety of tables and chairs and leave their feedback on aesthetics, comfort and function. Brochures will be available to give students an idea of the colors, materials and designs that the furniture comes in.

Faculty and staff are welcome to visit the furniture showing as well. The opinions of those who attend will be a deciding factor in the final choice of furniture.

Local-made and environmental-friendly pieces will be among the featured furniture in today’s showrom. | Laura Gillespie/The Daily Cougar

“Here at the UC, it’s a student building. This is our student center, so it’s really important to us that we’re able to offer students the opportunity to say, ‘This is our building, this is what we’re paying for,’ and actually chose what they want to get,” said Micah Kenfield, the UC programs coordinator.

Furniture is being provided from companies with showrooms across Houston. Some companies featured are Stylex, Emeco, Haworth, Lowenstein and Martin Brattrud. Environmental-friendly options will also be available. Among the variety of contenders are chairs made out of recycled plastics and aluminum.

“The whole UC process has been trying to be as transparent as possible,” Kenfield said.

“That’s why we’re really intent on getting student feedback. We don’t want to just pick something and then have students (dislike them). It happens across campus, students don’t really feel like they’re getting their buy-in.”

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If passed, the Student Right to Know Act would require all colleges to report the average salaries of postgraduates, remedial enrollment, credit earnings and graduation rates, as well as the average debt accumulated while attending the college.

The bill was introduced by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden in Washington D.C. in the beginning of February.

The purpose of the act, as outlined by Wyden, would allow prospective college students to make a more informed decision about their education and future career.

“Students have a right to know how long it will take them to complete their education, what their likelihood of completion is, how far that education will take them after graduation and at what cost,” Wyden said in his outline of the bill. “They deserve to know this information before they invest thousands of dollars and years of their lives.”

Though the Student Right to Know Act was proposed last year and is still undergoing approval processing, UH, as well all Texas institutions of higher education, may be affected in the future.

“We (UH) do not comment on pending litigation. We will, of course, fully comply with applicable law,” said Shawn Lindsey, director of media relations for Marketing and Communication. “It sounds as though Texas is already working to make the type of information proposed in the bill available this spring.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has been working to address the points mentioned in the Student Right to Know Act.

In 2012, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board researched the amount of time it takes an average student to complete a 4-year degree.

According to the 2012 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Almanac, 120 credit hours are required to earn a 4-year degree. The average student takes between five to six years to graduate from a 4-year institution.

With this bill, potential college students will be able to view which institutions have an average 4-year graduation rate.

“Texas is a national leader for using data to drive policy. Texas was one of the first, and remains one of the few, to have a robust accountability system that measures the progress on higher education metrics critical for stakeholders to track and understand,” said the 2012 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Almanac.

“The 2013 Almanac will include average yearly salaries by degree area for 2006 baccalaureate graduates at one, three and five years after degree completion. In addition, the average undergraduate debt by area at the time of graduation will be shown for those students who obtained state and federal loans.”

Raymund Paredes, director of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, gave his plans for future college students in a December 2012 testimony.

“We will continue to publish the Almanac each year to place the most relevant state and institutional data in the hands of higher education officials, business leaders and policymakers so they understand how Texas higher education is performing,” Paredes said.

“We will begin to expand access to data for parents and students. This will help parents and students to begin to evaluate data like time-to-degree and graduation rates in addition to just tuition and fees, financial aid and available majors when making decisions about which college is the right fit.”

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