Staff members are headed to the polls for the 25th annual university-wide Staff Council elections.

The Council is filling positions with 18 UH employees on the ballot. Seats include At Large, Division of Administration and Finance, Division of Research and Office of the President.

The Staff Council is an advisory body to the president and administration of the University. The Council represents the staff and communicates their concerns to the administration, said Maria Saldana, a study abroad advisor and member of the Membership and Elections Committee.

The Council was founded in 1986 by former Chancellor Richard Van Horn to provide a voice for the staff members. Originally, 19 members participated. Today, there are 40 positions with 37 representing specific divisions and three at-large members.

Only benefits-eligible staff members are able to vote in this election and must know their employee ID.

Polling locations were open in the General Services Building conference room and Ezekiel W. Cullen first floor lobby on Tuesday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additionally, staff members will vote until 5 p.m. Wednesday at www.election.uh.edu.

news@thedailycougar.com

Each year, the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation recognizes undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship students from its 21 universities across the state and honors only one student from each university with a $10,000 award.

Shemer

Marketing and entrepreneurship junior Noy Shemer was the recipient this year. As a member of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, the Bauer Honors program and a UH Tier One Scholar, Shemer has focused on her entrepreneurship studies and concentrated on building relationships with students, faculty and business professionals during her time in the C.T. Bauer College of Business.

“This scholarship will offer me the opportunity to grow as a leader and to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge both in business and in the real world,” Shemer said. “I am confident that I will represent this scholarship well through my entrepreneurial drive and leadership spirit.”

The Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of outstanding Texas business leaders that foster entrepreneurial spirit and community leadership to continue and inspire the values of entrepreneurial spirit, personal integrity, and community leadership in all generations of Texas. Scholarships are awarded to outstanding business students who display the same entrepreneurial drive and leadership spirit as the notable business leaders.

”Noy is keeping up a tradition at the Wolff Center of Entreprenurship,” said Dave Cook, the director of mentoring program at the Wolff Center. “We are delighted in her achievement and recognition. It’s a good day for Noy and a good day for the Wolff center.”

Although it was her entrepreneurial spirit that lead Shemer to this scholarship, faculty members of the Bauer College of Business made a significant impact during her time there. Two specifically are Cook and Ken Jones, the associate director at the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.

“Both Dave and Ken have shaped the Wolff Center into a top-ranked entrepreneurship program through a balance of entrepreneurial skill-building, mentoring, and personal growth for students,” Shemer said. “They have offered me the rare opportunity to experience an entrepreneurship learning environment where I can maximize my knowledge and skills and also develop the entrepreneurial mindset necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur in the business world.”

Shemer also thanks one of her professors, Vanessa Patrick-Ralhan, from the Bauer Marketing Department for impacting her time at Bauer.

“She has taught me how important it is to research and analyze real-world businesses in order to develop successful business strategies,” Shemer said.

Patrick-Ralhan was successful at challenging Shemer as a thinker so that she could be prepared for the business world.

“I believe that Noy has the motivation, drive and ambition to succeed and do very well in whatever she chooses to do,” Patrick-Ralhan said. “Her intellectual capacity and work ethic were admirable; and her work was always excellent.”

After graduating from Bauer, Shemer hopes to continue and further her higher education by achieving an MBA degree from the Bauer College of Business, as well acquiring real-world business and professional experience.

“When someone comes from good stock we try to provide an atmosphere where they can blossom, and continue to blossom,” Jones said. “Noy is taking all the steps in the right direction, and we are very proud of her. “

news@thedailycougar.com

Chinese as a Second Language teachers came from across the country to UH for the STARTALK Texas Teacher program.

STARTALK was launched as a part of the National Security Language Initiative by former President George W. Bush in 2006. The program awards grants to universities and organizations as part of a nationwide effort to improve foreign language capabilities in an increasingly global world.

Gutiérrez

“The objective is to support the teaching of foreign languages that are important for national security,” said Manuel Gutiérrez, professor of Spanish Linguistics and director of the STARTALK program at UH.

“The objective (of this program is to teach the languages) that are not taught widely, Chinese fits that description. It is (important) to be a part of this program.”

Schools across the country apply every year for the exclusive grant, and different schools teach different languages, such as Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Swahili, or Turkish. UH is holding the program for the second year after receiving the nearly $100,000 grant, and exclusively offers Chinese.

“There is a huge population of Chinese (people in Houston) and these families would like their children to learn this language. Our enrollment (in the program) has been increasing steadily. The demand is to have better teachers and enhance their quality, commitment and the qualifications,” said Xiahong (Sharon) Wen, director of the Chinese Studies Program at UH and lead instructor of the STARTALK program.

“Five years ago the goal would’ve been 20 teachers. After today, we want to say we want to develop in depth, to get master teachers instead of novice teachers.”

UH’s program is available to Chinese as a Second Language Kindergarten through 12th grade, heritage school and community college teachers across the country. Teachers who have a bachelor’s degree and six months experience teaching must write an essay on why they deserve to be chosen for the program. The program focuses on how to teach the language effectively, as well as a greater understanding of writing and tones.

“We have foreign instructors, three were invited…they are top scholars in the nation. The four of us each teach different mini-courses in ten days. Students get the best of the whole program this way,” Wen said.

“We teach from a series of second language acquisition, research-based instruction, and methodology in teaching Chinese, and address linguistic specifics.”

After completion of the program, teachers must implement what they learned in their classroom during the fall semester. They will return to UH November 2 to present what they have done and prove that the program was effective.

The program serves as a Chinese course, Issues of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, and counts towards a certification for teaching a second language in Texas.

news@thedailycougar.com

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded professors Michael Zvolensky and Peter Norton with a $675,000 grant to research therapy methods that can help those with anxiety disorders quit smoking.

Michael Zvolensky (left) and Peter Norton, UH research professors, have been awarded over half a million dollars to research the implications of anxiety and other mental conditions on smoking cessation.

Cigarette smoking, accounting for more than 440,000 deaths, is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Due to new nicotine replacement therapies and advertising campaigns to show the consequences of smoking, rates of tobacco use stabilized but the rate of addiction did not change.

“We have treated all the easy people,” Zvolensky said. “Those left were the complicated cases with something else going on.”

Currently, there are no treatment plans that target those who want to quit smoking but have other ailments.

“What we know from our research is that people who smoke often have anxiety and other mental disorders and vice versa,” Zvolensky said. “Existing treatment plans for smoking cessation have not addressed anxiety and stress disorders in any formal or meaningful way.”

The research will follow 60 adults, ages 18 to 65, with anxiety disorders who smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day, have smoked for at least a year and who are willing to make an attempt to quit within 30 days of the start of the study.

Zvolensky, a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz distinguished university professor in the department of clinical psychology, and Norton, an associated professor of psychology, will serve as co-principal investigators for the study.

“The significance of this research is developing an effective smoking cessation treatment that targets people with anxiety disorders, so they will be smoke-free,” Zvolensky said. “The second goal is reducing the amount of use, also known as harm reduction.”

Norton says that since many people smoke to reduce their anxiety, the treatment plan will combine a program with evidence-based anxiety disorder treatments, to reduce smoking and keep people from relapsing.

“You don’t have to view things as complete abstinence to be successful,” Zvolensky said. “That’s important in the case of tobacco in particular. Even simple reductions from 20 to 10 or from 10 to five cigarettes a day could have a linear decrease in exposure to a lot of other negative outcomes.”

news@thedailycougar.com

Students, faculty and staff franticly exited the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library Tuesday afternoon after the building was closed and evacuated.

Simeon

A former student, identified as John Simeon, 30, is accused of making “inappropriate remarks” to a faculty member, said Interim Associate Vice President and Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communication Richard Bonnin.

Yet, Simeon did not include a threat to bomb the college or University, police said, which is why no security alert was sent out to the UH community.

“Our understanding is that a dispute occurred between an ex-student and a faculty member,” Bonnin said.

Simeon, who is in police custody, is charged with making a terroristic threat and criminal trespassing.

Honors College students, like liberal studies senior Paula Jaramillo, were displaced for an hour until the library was reopened and they were told they could come back into the building.

“Our door was open and this lady comes running with much urgency and says ‘we’ve been threatened; you have to leave,’” Jaramillo said. “I took it very seriously because of her tone and we all walked out a back exit.”

“At first we were just startled. Then we were all confused because no one said what the threat was and we didn’t know what to do or where to go.”

Honors classes took refuge in the Ezekiel W. Cullen building and Jaramillo said there were about 35 to 40 people waiting.

The investigation is continuing and the University is taking the incident seriously.

“You get in trouble for making comments like this,” Jaramillo said. “You hear about universities getting shot up all the time.”

news@thedailycougar.com

Matthew Docimo and Michael Brooks, members of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity charity Push America, are halfway through their bike ride across America to raise money for people with disabilities. | Courtesy of Matthew Docimo

UH’s Beta Nu chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and their national philanthropy organization, Push America, has organized a team of cyclists to raise more than $500,000 to help support people living with disabilities through their 68-day Journey of Hope ride across the nation.

“My first experience with Push America began in the fall of 2011,” said supply chain management senior Matthew Docimo.

“I participated in building a playground for children with disabilities at a local church in Tulsa, Okla. Watching the children play was priceless, but seeing every single parent approach the team with tears was unforgettable; and that is what influenced my decision to help with those that are disabled.”

Docimo and his biking partner Michael Brooks, began in San Francisco and are currently at their halfway mark in Grand Island, Neb.

“My influence derives from Sergio Brereda, a member of our fraternity who is disabled,” Brooks said. “Although he is disabled, he continues to keep going and it is amazing to see so much dedication.”

Docimo and Brooks said when they are riding and feel like quitting, they think about the people who are disabled but continue to push through their limitations.

“People with disabilities can’t opt out of their disabilities, so who am I to opt out from riding in support of them?” Brooks said.

The duo will continue to ride to Lincoln, Neb. for the next 12 days and are planning to ride cross-country until they arrive in Washington D.C. on Aug. 10.

Brooks has raised more than $6,000 and Docimo has raised more than $9,600, with the nation-wide team already exceeding their goal of raising $500,000 this summer.

“We try to change the way society feels. People focus on what the disabled can’t do,” Docimo said.

“In reality it’s amazing to see what they can do. It’s eye opening to think that we will change their lives, but they change ours. They are the hero’s. The fraternity is just a symbol for society.”

news@thedailycougar.com

Pennies for Education and Health, a non-profit organization founded by Bauer professors Basheer and Saleha Khumala that provides education and healthcare aid in developing countries, celebrated its decade-long battle against poverty last month in Ahmedabad, India.

Pennies for Education and Health, a non-profit organization established by two Bauer professors, seeks to help combat poverty in India by providing funding for education, one child at a time. | Courtesy of Saleha Khumawala

Basheer and Saleha, who both grew up in Ahmedabad, visited the area after the Gujarat earthquake in 2003. The two described the devastation as mind-boggling, which inspired them to create PEH and help the people affected.

“There were evacuees everywhere, and then their kids,” Basheer said. “So rather than simply going through the channels of schools or parents, the idea (for PEH) came from saying ‘Can we do something more personal, so that we can connect with the child also?’”

PEH matches students with sponsors whose donations provide the child with school supplies and other needs related to their education. Donations to PEH also help to support several healthcare facilities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab, India.

“There is an entire family where the father is a wage earner living on less than $2 a day, so then where do you have the money to send the children to school?” Saleha said. “When you’re poor, demand for money is in so many places, and that’s where we pickup. The only way to get the families uplifted is to make sure that the kids go to school and then you can better tackle all the other issues of life.”

The organization has made great strides when it comes to educating students. When PEH began in 2003, the organization sponsored 40 students. That number has now grown to 1,400 students.

Additionally, PEH not only works to educate students abroad, but also gives UH students the opportunity to learn about running a non-profit organization first hand. The organization is mostly run by UH faculty and students, the entirety of the money donated goes directly for children’s education.

“I was once told that there is no man so poor that he cannot give a gift and no man so rich that he cannot accept one,” Saleha said. “These kids have been supported even by those who are poor but understand the value of a good education.”

news@thedailycougar.com

The following is a partial report of campus crime between June 25 and July 7. All information is selected from the files of the UH Department of Public Safety. Information or questions regarding the cases below should be directed to UHDPS at (713)742-3333.

Theft: A UH staff member reported on June 25 that two memory cards were stolen from a UH-owned computer in the University Center. The incident occurred between 6:30 p.m. on June 20 and 9 a.m. on June 24. The case is inactive.

Theft: A former UH staff member was reportedly taking desks from Melcher Hall. The incident occurred at 10:24 a.m. on June 25. The case is active.

Burglary of a Motor Vehicle: A non-affiliated individual reported that someone broke into his unattended vehicle in Lot 20C and stole the vehicle’s radio. The incident occurred between 11:50 a.m. and 1:34 p.m. on June 25. The case is inactive.

Failure to Identify/Interference with Duties of a Public Servant: A UH visitor was arrested for failure to identify and interference with duties of a public servant at Cullen Oaks Apartments and was transported to Harris County Jail. The incident occurred at 11:54 p.m. on June 28. The case was cleared by arrest.

Forgery: Two UH contractors were arrested for possession of forged U.S. government documents on 181 Goodson Dr. and transported to Harris County Jail. According to UHPD, the contractors were found to be in possession of fake identification during an unrelated incident. The incident occurred at 1:57 a.m. on June 28. The case was cleared by arrest.

Possession of Marijuana/Failure to Identify: An unaffiliated individual was arrested for failing to identify and possession of marijuana on 3900 Wheeler St., and booked into Harris County Jail. The incident occurred at 1:02 a.m. on June 30. The case was cleared by arrest.

Burglary of a Motor Vehicle: A UH student reported that her vehicle had been broken into in Lot 20C. The incident occurred between 11:50 a.m. and 1:55 p.m. on July 1. The case is inactive.

Possession of Marijuana: A UH student was arrested for possession of marijuana on 4400 Wheeler St. and transported to Harris County Jail. The incident occurred between 12:17 and 12:32 a.m. on July 2. The case was cleared by arrest.

Traffic Offense: A driver struck and damaged a pole near Calhoun Lofts and failed to leave their information behind as mandated by Texas Law. The incident occurred at 12:32 a.m. on July 2. The case is inactive.

Robbery: A UH student reported on July 4 that her wallet was stolen by an unknown man by Entrance 2. The incident occurred at 11:45 p.m. on July 3. The case is active.

Theft: A UH visitor reported that his laptop was stolen in Cougar Village. The incident occurred between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on July 6. The case is inactive.

Assault: A UH security officer reported seeing a female visitor being forced into a vehicle by a UH faculty member at Cullen at Holman bus stop. The visitor was not injured and no charges were filed, but the faculty member was issued a referral. The incident occurred between 3:10 and 3:13 p.m. on July 7. The case was cleared by referral.

Theft: A UH faculty member reported that his secured and unattended bicycle was stolen at the Health and Biomedical Sciences building. The incident occurred between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m. on July 7. The case is inactive.

news@thedailycougar.com

A UH professor who has been engaged in a decade-long court battle with UH has six days to request a rehearing at the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the University last month.

On June 14 the Court ruled on the grounds that university policies are not the same as state law when it comes to reported violations to be protected under the Texas Whistleblower Act.

Barth

The case began in 1999 when a financial officer approached Stephen Barth, who still teaches in the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, with allegations that University funds were being mishandled by the college’s then-dean Alan Stutts, Barth said.

“He came to me because I was tenured; a staff person doesn’t have that kind of protection.”

Barth reported the irregularities to the former vice president of finance, Randy Harris. After he made the report, Stutts was informed and a series of what Barth described as retaliations, such as denying him merit raises, occurred, according to Barth.

On Aug. 25, 2011, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Barth, concluding that the University’s retaliation violated the Texas Whistleblower Act, which made the Supreme Court’s ruling sad for the UH community and for the citizens of Texas, Barth said.

“(It was) certainly disappointing because we felt like the trial court had certainly found retaliation, the (Texas) Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the verdict. For the Supreme Court to take this step, they really had to stretch to come up with the opinion that they did,” Barth said. “They essentially said, ‘people in Texas in a public entity cannot rely upon the entities’ internal policies in order to file a complaint and receive protection under the Whistleblower Act.’”

According to the Texas Whistleblower Act, it “protects public employees who make good faith reports of violations of law by their employer to an appropriate law enforcement authority. An employer may not suspend or terminate the employment of, or take other adverse personnel action against, a public employee who makes a report under the Act.”

Despite Barth’s objection of the decision, the University is accepting of the courts favor.

“The University is pleased with the ruling,” said Richard Bonnin, interim vice president for marketing and communication.

Barth has remained involved in the Faculty Senate, won two or three teaching awards since the litigations and was a facilitator to begin the intiative to make the campus smoke-free.

“I think one of the key things that we all learned from this decision is that it’s really hard to win the game when you’re the only team playing by the rules,” Barth said. “I’m hopeful they’ll take a look and realize after devoting so much time and energy and resources to it, that it really wasn’t worth the effort and because at the end of the day effective organizations are transparent and they do hold people accountable.”

Check out The Daily Cougar archives, http://archive.thedailycougar.com/, for more information on how the case began, but here a few to get you started:

http://archive.thedailycougar.com/vol66/129/news/news1.html

http://archive.thedailycougar.com/vol66/152/news/news1.html

http://archive.thedailycougar.com/vol66/131/news/news1.html

http://thedailycougar.com/2008/07/10/barth-claim-faces-appeal/

http://thedailycougar.com/2011/09/01/court-rules-on-whistleblower-appeal/

news@thedailycougar.com

After Rep. Wendy Davis’ 13-hour filibuster at the June 25 Texas ­­Senate meeting stopped Texas Senate Bill 5 from being passed, Gov. Rick Perry called a second special session that began July 1. Now the state is watching anxiously to see what similar bill is coming next.

Texas senate representative Davis, a Democrat from Fort Worth, was a teen mother and attended community college before transferring to Texas Christian University and graduating first in her class. Davis continued on to Harvard Law School, where she graduated with honors.

Davis

“The actions intended by our state leaders on this particular bill hurt Texans; there is no doubt about that,” said Davis when beginning her filibuster.

Davis is in strong opposition of the abortion bill that would have left Texas with six out of 44 abortion facilities because of the standards the bill intends to implement. SB 5 intended to outlaw abortions after 20 weeks from conception and ensure the correct usage of drug-induced abortions.

“SB 5 establishes a separate and independent compelling interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the state at which the medical evidence indicates they are capable of feeling pain,” according to the Senate Research Center’s bill analysis of SB 5, filed June 12, of the ban on abortions after 20 weeks.

The bill analysis also notes that SB 5 laid out requirements for drug-induced abortions for doctors and patients.

“The purpose of SB 5 is to protect the health and welfare of women considering a drug-induced abortion. It ensures that physicians providing drug-induced abortions are only doing so in the way in which the FDA tested and approved the abortion-inducing drug.”

However, the biggest change SB 5 plans to implement comes when considering abortion facilities.

“In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled in Casey v. Planned Parenthood that states have the right to regulate abortion clinics. In 1997, Texas enforced increased regulations; however, today, 38 licensed abortion facilities still operate at a second, lower standard for the most common surgical procedure in Texas performed solely on women. Six Texas abortion facilities meet the standard as ambulatory surgical facilities,” according to the bill analysis.

By changing all abortion clinics to follow the guidelines of ambulatory surgical centers, Texas women who choose abortion will be provided with the highest standard of care, according to the bill analysis.

“Texas allows no other procedure to opt out of the accepted standard of care,” according to the bill analysis.

Perry’s second special session will extend for 30 days in order to discuss several topics, including the SB 5 bill.

“The Texas Legislature is poised to finish its history-making work this year by passing legislation to protect the unborn and women’s health, invest in our transportation infrastructure and ensure our justice system is fair but firm,” said Perry’s office in an official statement July 1.

“As we open the second special session, we must remember the people of Texas hired us to do our job, and that’s what we must do.”

According to Malkia Hutchinson, program coordinator for the UH Women’s Resource Center, should SB 5 pass, Houston can expect to feel the repercussions.

“For women in Houston, we’d be left with two out of our 12 clinics, should this pass, for nearly 980,000 women in the city,” Hutchinson said.

“It is also worth mentioning that although they may not come directly to Houston, Oklahoma women have been coming to Texas for abortions for years — especially after the tightening of their own states’ abortion requirements.”

Hutchinson also says UH students, as well as young people of Texas, will be affected.

“A lot of what these clinics provide is preventive health services that our young people need. Contraception use is the best way to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Our rates of teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy will not go down with this legislation. This does nothing to address that,” Hutchison said.

“This only makes abortions harder to obtain. History has shown, and current statistics as well, that outlawing abortion does not decrease abortion rates. They only drive women to seek abortion services by more clandestine means.”

news@thedailycougar.com