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GRAD SCHOOL Event critiques American government by citing similarities, dierences Estrogen hormone used to target cells, treating multiple diseases FACULTY Former football coach to enter Hall of Champions UNIVERSITY the official student newspaper of the university of houston since 1934theofficialstudentnewspaperoftheuniversityofhoustonsince1934 Corporation donates money to business, natural sciences School of social work to host graduate school fair Issue , Volume Michelle Casas Love PatelTRANSCRIPT
Michelle CasasTHE DAILY COUGAR
In their struggle for a more democratic nation, Turkey has made numerous advancements throughout the last two decades.
The country has been gaining power in multiple areas of interna-tional relations, James Harrington said during a Gulen Institute lec-ture Tuesday at the Conrad Hilton College.
“In the last 10 years, maybe 15, progress in Turkey has been just astronomical, both in terms of democracy and as an economic world power,” Harrington said. “And, as we are seeing, in terms of a foreign policy leader in the Middle East.”
Harrington, a University of Texas Law School professor and founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project, presented his lecture, “Tur-key’s Struggle for Greater Democ-racy: The Role of Its Legal System, the 2010 Constitutional Refer-endum, and Individual Rights,”
Love PatelTHE DAILY COUGAR
A research team that includes a professor at UH’s Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling is endorsing a new approach to producing drugs that treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
CNRCS director Dr. Jan-Åke Gustafsson’s efforts focus on the study of nuclear receptor transcription factors. These are proteins found within cells that regulate and control the fl ow
of genetic information.“What makes these receptors particularly
interesting is that their activities are regulated by compounds that we can administer to the cell,” Gustafsson said.
Gustafsson said this attribute makes recep-tors “drugable,” which attracts the drug indus-try to target these receptors.
“They are actually acting through the recep-tors,” Gustafsson said.
Estrogen receptors are where Gustafsson’s interest primarily resides.
He was involved in the discovery of estrogen receptor beta in 1996 at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, squashing the notion that only one estrogen receptor type — estrogen receptor
alpha — existed.“It turns out that these two receptors have
a very interesting relationship that could be described as yin and yang,” Gustafsson said.
One of the main qualities of estrogen receptor alpha is that it stimulates prolifera-tion, an increase in cell number by division. This can lead to early stages of cancer if over expressed. However, estrogen receptor beta is “anti-proliferative,” acting as an inhibitor. This is being investigated as a possibility to treat breast, prostate and colon cancer.
He said treatment of diseases quite differ-ent from cancer is possible. The activation of
t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s t o n s i n c e 1 9 3 4t h e o f f i c i a l s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r o f t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f h o u s t o n s i n c e 1 9 3 4
RESEARCH continues on page 3
TURKEY continues on page 3
Making happy hour a healthier hourCougars tie for seventh at Royal Oak Intercollegiate
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UNIVERSITY
Corporation donates money to business, natural sciences
Exxon Mobil has made a dona-tion of $86,000 to the University in conjunction with their Departmen-tal Grants Program.
The Cullen College of Engi-neering, C.T. Bauer College of Business and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will split the grant, and it will be used to improve the school’s math and science programs as well as offering scholarships.
Exxon Mobil’s grant program has donated more than $112 mil-lion to 80 universities nationwide in the last two years
— Jennifer Postel
FACULTY
Former football coach to enter Hall of Champions
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has announced that for-mer Cougars head football coach Bill Yeoman will be one of three inductees into the FCA Hall of Champions
During his 25-year tenure at
UH, Yeoman led the Cougars to four Southwest Conference cham-pionships and helped UH transi-tion from an obscure independent program to a regional powerhouse.
Yeoman, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001, has been a member of FCA, the world’s largest sports ministry, for 50 years.
Former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy as well as Dal-las Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and head coach Tom Landry are all members of the FCA Hall of Champions.
— Jennifer Postel
GRAD SCHOOL
School of social work to host graduate school fair
UH’s Graduate School of Social Work will be hosting the Houston Idealist Grad Fair at 5 p.m. on Thurs-day in the Rockwell Pavilion Room at the M.D. Anderson Library.
The fair is open to any student considering graduate school. Rep-resentatives from local and national graduate schools will be available to answer questions as well as offer information concerning their programs.
Beginning at 6 p.m., an admis-sions and fi nancial aid question-and-answer session will be held to offer insight into admission requirements and deadlines.
The fair is free and open to the public. To RSVP, visit www.idealit.org or e-mail [email protected].
— Jennifer Postel
CORRECTIONIn Oct. 31’s issue of The Daily Cougar, an article had the headline “History haunts UH parking lot,” it should have read, “History haunts UH-D parking lot.”
LECTURE
Event critiques American government by citing similarities, di! erences
Estrogen hormone used to targetcells, treating multiple diseases
Speaker talks US, Turkey politics
Cougars seek out careers
S tudents crowded the University Center’s
Houston Room armed with resumes as they networked with numerous company representatives from com-panies such as Wells Fargo, Liberty Mutual Group and Mattress Firm at the “Experi-ence Excellence” career fair Tuesday that was hosted by C.T. Bauer Business School. | Robert Z. Easely/The Daily Cougar
RESEARCH
Prof pioneers receptor based drugs
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This weekly article aims to show that historical events are comparable with events transpiring today; however, there will be interesting events and fun facts as well. In addition, I will be delving into the historical goings on at the University of Houston. I hope you enjoy it — If you have any suggestions or events that you would like to share, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
— Zach Boudreaux
This Week in History
WORLD
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONOn Oct. 30, 1989, students from
several campus organizations and the Students’ Association protested The Daily Cougar’s unfair cover-age of minorities. The rally was in response to then Editor in Chief Georgeann Shepard’s decision to not run a story announcing the Homecoming Queen, Shannon Hills, who at the time was one of
four black women to ever win the title at UH.
Other students said they were angry because even if the omission was not racially charged, Home-coming was a tradition that needed to be recognized by the Cougar.
The newspaper ran a photo of the king and queen the next day with a story about the protest.
Important Events.On Nov. 2, 1983, Ronald Reagan
signed a bill declaring Martin Luther King Day.
On Nov. 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon took control in France.
On Nov. 2, 1962, JFK announced the dismantling of Cuban missiles.
On Nov. 3, 1992, Bill Clinton was elected as president of the United States.
On Nov. 5, 2006, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging.
On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95th theses.
On Nov. 1, 1512, the Sistine Cha-pel opened.
On Nov. 2, 1947, the Spruce Goose fl ew for its fi rst and last fl ight. Howard Hughes built and designed the aircraft.
BIRTHDAYS
Nov. 3, 1793 Stephen F. AustinNov. 4, 1961 Ralph Macchio Nov. 5, 1931 Ike TurnerNov. 5, 1941 Art GarfunkelNov. 6, 1940 Johnny Giles
DEATHS
Nov. 3, 1793 Stephen F. AustinNov. 4, 1961 Ralph Macchio Nov. 5, 1931 Ike TurnerNov. 5, 1941 Art GarfunkelNov. 6, 1940 Johnny Giles
Fun FactsOn Nov. 5, 1935, Monopoly was
launched. On Nov. 4, 1924, California
legalizes professional boxing. On Nov. 6, 1923, the first elec-
tric razor was patented. On Nov. 6, 1917, the Bolsheviks
captured the Winter Palace, start-ing the Russian revolution.
On Nov. 7, 1665, The London Gazette is founded
On Nov. 2, 2003, V. Gene Robinson was consecrated by the U.S. Episcopal Church, becoming the first openly gay bishop in the church.
On Nov. 5, 1994, George Fore-man became the oldest heavy-weight champ, defeating 26-year-old Michael Moorer.
GET SOME DAILYIn print. Online. On the go.
Juliana OlarteTHE DAILY COUGAR
For Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin, the hardest part of writing his most recent book was figuring out how to fin-ish it he said on Monday during a lecture at Michael J. Cemo Hall.
“Professors of the audience, you all know that the hardest part of writing a book is writing the conclusion because you have to say what this all means,” Yergin said.
Yergin, an energy expert and chairman of the IHS Cambridge Energy Research Association, vis-ited UH to discuss his recent New York Times best seller, “The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remak-ing of the Modern World,” which according to the book’s website, presents “a story that spans the energies on which our society has been built and the new resources that are competing to replace them.”
Yergin said that he knew how
to start it but as the times kept changing, so did his book, making it difficult to come to a concrete conclusion, but he refers to “The Quest” as an “optimistic book.”
“The Quest” picks up the energy story where Yergin’s Pulit-zer Prize-winning “The Prize” left off in the early 90s, with everything “hunky dory,” as Yergin said in a a recent interview with KUHF’s Andrew Schneider.
Both of Yergin’s books address the ways that energy will be the future engine of global economic and political change.
“Eventually we’ll be gone and you will be here forever,” said Yergin referring to the energy.
Facing Stephen ColbertDuring the event, Yergin
described his experience promot-ing his book on “The Colbert Report.” He said he was a little nervous when going on camera with Stephen Colbert and that their conversation before going on calmed him down.
“Probably the single most important experience I had is when I went on the Colbert show — that was a big deal,” Yergin
said. “Stephen Colbert came up to me when I was a little nervous and said ‘the whole point of this exercise is to make a fool out of you, you got to understand that my TV character is an idiot’ so that relaxed me”
The Daily Cougar NEWS Wednesday, November ", "#$$ ! 3
which focused on the constitutional changes made by Turkey in the 2010 Constitutional Referendum.
The referendum is meant to further facilitate a bid for European Union membership and to reform individual rights and the legal sys-tem in Turkey.
Compliance with the standards of the EU is essential to the mem-bership process; Harrington said membership supporters hope the referendum, which is equivalent to the U.S. Bill of Rights, will bring them closer to securing a spot.
Harrington said he is interested in seeing what we can learn from the Turkish referendum, since the democracy in Turkey has pro-gressed about 10-times faster than it did in the U.S.
Although the 1791 Bill of Rights was an “amazing accomplishment, we have sort of kept ourselves as Americans in 1791 and forgot that the idea of human rights expands, expands and expands,” he said.
Turkey’s original constitution was drafted in 1982 following a history of military coups, which Harrington said were always bloody and awful.
“It’s against that background that you have this phenomenal movement developing in Turkey, in a move to becoming a much more democratic country,” he said.
The amendments to the Turkish constitution exemplify the adapta-tion of government to modern society by revising the rights of their people, which Harrington said Americans take for granted.
He said it is “pretty pathetic” that Americans take so much for granted that they generally don’t even vote anymore.
When the referendum passed, 74 percent of people in Turkey voted, many of whom had returned from the pilgrimage in Mecca to take part in the election, according to Harrington.
“That’s phenomenal,” he said. “We’re lucky in a presidential elec-tion if we have 50 percent turnout to vote.”
Harrington said the 58-42 percent vote was a “pretty signifi cant margin for something like this.”
The Turkish referendum included some key aspects that address sig-nifi cant issues in the country’s gov-ernment, including an amendment granting the right to privacy, which is
not a right in the U.S.“A lot of people are surprised we
do not have a right of privacy in our constitution,” Harrington said. “Not only is there a right to privacy (in Turkey), but you get to go to court to vindicate it if the government violates it.”
He said he is skeptical about the success of the granted right to peti-tion, a process to handle complaints against the government, but said it does show something else.
“What it does represent is the people getting more involved and wanting more transparency in the operation of the country,” Har-rington said.
In addition to the reform of individual rights, the referendum confronts the issues regarding the justice system.
Harrington shared an anecdote from a meeting with a judge in Turkey, who provided a different perspective on the workings of the justice system in other countries.
“In a trial in Turkey, the prosecu-tor sits up next to the judge,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine that’s fair and impartial.”
When addressing the interactions with the prosecutor during a trial, Harrington said the judge told him they just lean over and ask them what they think.
“What’s even worse is that when the judges go back to deliberate, the prosecutor gets to go -- not the defense attorney,” Harrington said.
Even though things differ between governments, the com-munication between countries is important, especially with Turkey, which Harrington said is a large part of world and human rights scenes these days.
“I think in developing human rights and developing our idea of democracy in a fairer and more just world, this interaction is really help-ful,” he said.
Freshman political science major Sarah Rush, who did not know much about Turkish politics but aspires to be a lawyer, admires Har-rington and his views on justice and civil rights.
“I feel inspired by Mr. Har-rington’s words,” she said. “He has really opened my eyes to a whole new world of politics.
“When you fi ght for justice and civil rights like Harrington has been doing, it’s so admirable and you can really change things in many differ-ent ways.”
estrogen receptor beta can limit the buildup of amyloid, a protein that plays a role in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. It can also stimulate oligodendro-cytes — cells that are responsible for creating a fatty layer to help neurons carry electrical signals — which are lacking in multiple sclerosis patients.
The process for developing these drugs includes clinical trials and addressing potential side effects, which makes it lengthy.
“After an original discovery of a
new drugable target, it takes about 20 years before it is on the market for patients to buy,” Gustafsson said.
Progress is also being made on the research of another transcrip-tion factor, liver x receptor beta. This receptor is activated by cholesterol. Gustafsson said he believes liver x receptor beta is also involved with certain diseases in the central nervous system. However, he said it seems they are further along in their estrogen receptor research.
Gustafsson collaborates with other scientists at UH as well as scientists at the Methodist Hospi-tal Research Institute.
TURKEYcontinued from page 1
RESEARCHcontinued from page 1
Daniel Yergin is the founder and chair-person of the Information Handling Services Energy Resource Association. | Emily Chambers/The Daily Cougar
Best-seller challenges ideas on resource scarcity
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Energy expert discusses latest book
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STAFF EDITORIAL
O n Thursday, UH student and fac-ulty will be inconvenienced again when the campus parking lots
are overrun by fans coming for the Hous-ton Dynamo’s playoff match against the Philadelphia Union.
To many students this might not seem like a big deal — it’s not like the Texans are coming. But the Dynamo have drawn an average of more than 17,000 fans this season for home games. Since this is a playoff match, it’s safe to assume that even more fans with Dynamo fever will show up.
When there are Dynamo games at Robertson on Sunday nights, the campus becomes unnavigable — and that’s when the campus is usually free of students.
Parking and Transportation Services has tried to assuage this by allowing student to still park in most of the parking lots, but now they will have to compete with over 17,000 fans for spots that are already hard enough to get.
The entire stadium lot will be closed to students and faculty at 2 p.m. The bulk of lots that students use will be fair game after 4 p.m. as well. This is a terrible time for the parking lots to transition from UH students to soccer crazies. The roads on cam-pus are congested enough at that hour, and I-45 is always a mess.
When parking lots were made available to fans for the UH-Rice game last week, it was different. It was much more defensible. That was for a UH event featuring UH student-athletes that attracted a large number of UH students.
How will UH students, faculty and staff benefi t from the inconvenience of allowing Dynamo fans to park in their spaces? Is knowing the Houston Dynamo graced the pitch of Robertson Stadium enough of a reward? No. How much is the Univer-sity benefi ting fi nancially from this? What is their incentive to make a bad situation worse — even if it is just for an afternoon?
Parking and Transportation Services should think a little more about the University’s students and less about whatever fi nancial benefi t this silly game will net them.
Parking nightmare comes to UH this Thursday
STAFF EDITORIAL The Sta! Editorial re" ects the opinions of The Daily Cougar Editorial Board (the members of which are listed above the editorial). All other opinions, commentaries and cartoons re" ect only the opinion of the author. Opinions expressed in The Daily Cougar do not necessarily re" ect those of the University of Houston or the students as a whole.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Daily Cougar welcomes letters to the editor from any member of the UH community. Letters should be no more than 250 words and signed, including the author’s full name, phone number or e-mail address and a# liation with the University, including classi$ cation and major. Anonymous letters will not be published. Deliver letters to Room 7, University Center Satellite; e-mail them to [email protected]; send them via campus mail to STP 4015; or fax them to (713) 743-5384. Letters are subject to editing.
ADVERTISEMENTS Advertisements published in The Daily Cougar do not necessarily re" ect the views and opinions of the University or the students as a whole.
GUEST COMMENTARY Submissions are accepted from any member of the UH community and must be signed with the author’s name, phone number or e-mail address and a# liation with the University, including classi$ cation and major. Commentary should be kept to less than 500 words. Guest commentaries should not be written as replies to material already printed in the Cougar, but rather should present independent points of view. Rebuttals should be sent as letters. Deliver submissions to Room 7, University Center Satellite; e-mail them to [email protected]; or fax them to (713) 743-5384. All submissions are subject to editing.
E D I TO R I A L P O L I C I E S
EDITOR Daniel RenfrowE-MAIL [email protected] thedailycougar.com/opinionOPINION
THE DAILY COUGARE D I T O R I A L B O A R DEDITOR IN CHIEF Jack WehmanMANAGING EDITOR John BrannenNEWS EDITORS Taylor McGilvray, Julian JimenezSPORTS EDITOR Joshua SiegelLIFE & ARTS EDITOR Mary BaakOPINION EDITOR Daniel RenfrowCHIEF COPY EDITOR Natasha Faircloth
A s the nation slips ever deeper into the Great Recession, the Occupy movement continutes to
spread across the country. The protester ranks are fi lled with the unemployed, underemployed and a growing group
that combines the two together but stands on its own — student loan debtors.
There is a growing roar both on Wall Street and in Washington for student loan debt relief, as many who have lost jobs or are working part time have to sacrifi ce paying their loans to put food on the table, gas in their cars and pay the bills. Debt continues to grow for many of these people as compounding interest is piled onto their original debt. This places many of these people in a hole so deep that it seems like there is no way out. As public outcry over the economy grows, action appears to be on the horizon, both from Washington and from the Occupiers.
Last Wednesday, in an effort to bring some relief to the Occupiers and students all over the country, President Obama announced plans to speed up a piece of legislation passed by Congress last year. According to MSNBC.com, this piece of legislation, “reduces the maximum required payment on student loans from 15 percent of discretionary income annually to 10 percent.” It also reduces the number of years one must wait before reaching debt forgiveness from 25 to 20 and will allow individuals who receive money from the Federal Family Education Loan Program to consolidate that loan with their direct government loans into one lump loan at a lower interest rate.
The legislation, originally schedule to take effect in 2014, would take effect in 2012 under Obama’s plan. Despite his best efforts, however, both proponents and opponents of relief are not happy.
New York University professor Andrew Ross, for example, has proposed his own more extreme solution: just say no. He believes students should make a “Pledge of Refusal,” and stop paying their student loans altogether. In their anger and despair, many Americans would rather destroy their credit even further by refus-ing to pay their loans. They consider it an act of rebellion, but they are really just
making a bad situation worse. However, many people who have large
amounts of student debt are in need instant, more drastic relief. This could come in the form of partial, or, prefer-ably, total debt forgiveness. Such drastic relief would improve the credit ratings of affected borrowers, improving their chances of buying a home and taking out loans for other ventures, such as buying a car or setting up a small business. This relief would improve the overall spending power of these people.
However, opponents charge that such measures will and have already had profound consequences. These opponents, primarily Republicans, say the changes already put forward by Obama have resulted in poor customer service for borrowers and that thousands of workers
from student loan lenders have already been laid off.
In addition to the lay offs and poor customer service is the staggering amount of debt. The total amount of student loan debt in the US varies from the Federal Reserve’s number of $429 billion to FinAid.org’s number of $829 billion. A refusal to pay any of this debt would force the government to pick up the tab.
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine nearly 235 years ago. These words have as much meaning now as they had when they were written. They were true during the Great Depression, during two world wars and every other point of American hardship. It has been decades since Americans have suffered as much as they are suffering now.
It was during the hard times of old that great leaders rose up to guide the nation and steer us to calmer waters — that is not the case anymore. While Obama and the Democrats recognize the need to give indebted college graduates a break, Republicans say we cannot afford to. With the national debt the way it is, and the downgrading of the national credit rating, the point has to be conceded to the Republicans. Perhaps, at least for a few months, the government can issue a freeze on student loan payments and interest while the president and Congress hammer out a compromise that can create jobs, provide relief and create a plan to help students and graduates pay their debts at the same time.
Then again, given the track record of the 112th Congress and our president, we may have to tighten our belts a little more and soldier on as best we can without their help.
Aaron Manuel is a broadcast journalism senior and may be reached at [email protected].
Living the American debtObama plan will reduce student loan woes, but it may not be enough
It was during the hard times of old that great leaders rose up
to guide the nation and steer us to calmer waters — that is not the case anymore. While Obama and the Democrats recognize the need to give indebted college graduates a break, Republicans say we cannot a! ord to.”
AaronManuel
G oing green has become a fad in the US. And it seems many individuals, college campuses
and businesses are making attempts to become a part of this fad. “Going green”
essentially means doing things that are environ-mentally friendly such as recycling, using less electric-ity, using canvas shopping bags
and driving a fuel effi cient car. The environmental movement has existed for decades, but only recently has it become so trendy to go green.
Many people feel compelled to go green simply because it is fashionable and they want to do it for social recognition. In some social circles it is uncool to not go green, and often times some people who decide to go green may feel superior to those who don’t. This sense of superiority breeds con-tempt and a sense of pretentiousness that compels some people to make the decision to not go green — they don’t want to be seen
as a pretentious tree-hugger. Likewise, there are some who resist the
green movement because they fear going green may be more expensive.
You shouldn’t avoid making rational, environmentally-friendly choices simply out of fear of being seen as pretentious. There are far more pragmatic and rational reasons to go green other than to be seen
as cool. For instance, canvas shopping bags are
not only more durable than paper or plastic bags, but they negate the need of retailers to continuously buy paper and plastic bags, thereby reducing costs. They are also less likely to become the urban tumbleweeds that plastic shopping bags have become.
Reducing your energy consumption is not only environmentally friendly because of reduces the emission of green-house gases, it also can save you money
on your electricity and gas bills. Then there is the issue of recycling.
Wherever there is a garbage can on cam-pus, there is likely a recycling bin not too far away. It takes very little effort to recycle your trash while on campus. When off campus, students can recycle their paper at the Houston Public Library.
Recycling is easy and profi table. Aluminum cans, that normally would have ended up in a dump, can be sold to a recycling center. And, a piece of paper intended for a garbage bin can easily be placed in one of the
library’s recycling bins where it can be used to help fund the library’s effort to buy books.
Going green, therefore, is not neces-sarily a costly measure — it can actually save and create money. Someone’s pri-mary motivation for going green should be because it is responsible, reasonable and profi table — not because it is trendy.
James Johnson is a psychology senior and may be reached at [email protected].
Many non-trendy reasons to go green
JamesJohnson
You shouldn’t avoid making rational, environmentally friendly choices simply out of fear of being seen as pretentious. There are more pragmatic and rational
reasons to go green other than to be seen as cool.”
When punt returners wave an arm in the air to signal for a fair catch, it is a means of self-
protection. Yet the gesture does not always guarantee a clean, safe result.
On Oct. 30 Southeastern Conference foes Arkansas and Vanderbilt matched up. The Razorbacks edged the Commo-dores 31-28 in Nashville, Tenn., but it wasn’t the Razorbacks come-from-behind victory that sparked a national debate.
Instead it was Arkansas fresh-man Marquel Wade’s punishing hit on Vanderbilt punt returner Jonathan Krause.
With the Razorbacks’ special teams unit fast approaching after a punt, Krause opted for the fair catch. Wade couldn’t slow down and continued to accelerate to Krause at full-speed.
Arkansas was penalized and Wade was ejected. But what drew the ire of fans was Wade’s initial reaction. He celebrated the colli-sion, and once he was thrown out of the game he was fuming.
He issued an apology through the media Monday, and said he mistakenly thought Krause had possession of the punt.
“I was just going out there doing 100 percent, trying to play my game and I messed up,” Wade said. “I take all the responsibility for everything I did.
“I really want to just apologize for any embarrassment I did for the fans, also for the organization.
Any situation that I get into, whatever they say goes. I got to just take what I did and go with it, just to the future.”
The incident was a reminder of how brutal the contact in football can be. As devastating a tackle as Wade delivered, Krause was luckily able to continue playing. Wade drew some harsh criticisms, but his act should be chalked up as a freshman mistake. Only if this becomes a pattern should Wade receive the unwanted label of a dirty player.
His response on the field was immature, but his apology was sincere and the SEC has sus-pended him for one game.
People who have limited athletic experiences have no way of understanding how emotional specific situations can get in the heat of competition. It may never be known if Wade definitely saw Krause wave for a fair catch. Either way, the situation could set the precedent for this sort of flagrance in football.
Wade missing a game is a suit-able punishment, and it should be enough for him to learn his les-son. His No. 8-ranked Razorbacks are set to take on No. 10 South Carolina on Saturday — Wade probably won’t enjoy participating as a spectator. The SEC deserves credit for making a decisive, timely action.
For once, the powers that be of college football dealt with some-thing appropriately and quickly.
After ! nishing tied for fourth at the Lone Star Invitational, freshman Roman Robledo ! nished tied for 63rd at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. | Courtesy of UH Athletics
Sophomores Curtis Reed and Bryn Flana-gan led the way for UH in the ! nal round of play at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate in Dallas.
The pair each shot 71s in the ! nal round to help UH jump up a spot to tie for seventh in the 14-school ! eld.
Junior James Ross, who was tied for second heading into the ! nal round, shot a 74 to ! nish tied for ninth.
After a slow start, Ross ! nished the ! nal nine holes with six pars, a birdie and two bogeys.
— Joshua Siegel
Rk Golfer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Tot ScoreT9 James Ross 71 64 74 209 -4
T30 Curtis Reed 73 72 71 216 +3
T40 Bryn Flanagan 73 73 71 217 +4
T63 Roman Robledo 75 72 77 224 +11
T68 Jesse Droemer 78 74 73 225 +12
GOLF
Context is key in evaluating DCougars defense stacks up with others at the top of BCS rankings
The No. 13 Cougars rank 96th in the NCAA in yards allowed per
game. UH has been singled out as an all-offense, no-defense team, but are they any
worse than their contemporaries in the BCS standings?
When taking into account the number of plays and amount of time that the Cougars’ defense spends on the fi eld, they’re actu-ally not doing too bad.
They’re not Alabama — no one is, and it’s not even close.
But they stack up well with the other top schools with big offenses that score quickly and often.
UH leads the nation in scor-ing at 52.3 points per game, and spends the second least amount of time on the fi eld. That means that their defense spends the second most time on the fi eld in the NCAA.
When compared to the defenses of other compa-rable high-ranking, high-scoring schools, UH holds up.
Of the schools ranking higher than UH, whose defenses spend 30 or more minutes on the fi eld, only Oklahoma is signifi cantly better. The Cougars don’t lead the pack, but their defense allows fewer yards per minute than Oklahoma State and Arkansas, and as many
as Clemson. The Tigers and Cow-boys also give up fi rst downs more frequently than the Cougars, with Oregon and Arkansas on par with UH in that regard.
Another strength of the Cougars’ defense is that they are opportunistic. UH ranks 19th in the NCAA in takeways per game, and because of their nearly fl aw-less offense, rank 11th in turnover margin.
It is obvious that the Cougars’ offense is one of the nation’s best, and while the defense can’t be called elite, at least they can play with the big boys.
JohnBrannen
JoshuaSiegel
COMMENTARY FOOTBALL
Dirty hit taken care of properly
BCS School Plays/gm Yds/play Opp. TOP Yds/gm** Yds/min 1d/play1 LSU 66.1 4.1 25.8 293.0 10.5 4.2
2 Alabama 59.1 3.1 27.3 221.5 6.7 6.0
3 Oklahoma St 85.2 5.3 32.8 378.7 13.8 3.4
4 Stanford 67.6 4.9 27.5 350.1 12.0 4.5
5 Boise State 63.6 4.7 27.3 335.8 11.0 4.3
6 Oklahoma 76.4 4.4 31.0 314.4 10.8 4.4
7 Arkansas 75.6 5.7 32.0 407.3 13.5 3.7
8 Oregon 85.7 4.8 35.7 343.0 11.5 3.7
9 S. Carolina 67.6 3.9 28.0 278.7 9.4 4.5
10 Nebraska 66.4 5.3 31.3 378.7 11.2 4.6
11 Clemson 69.4 5.5 30.5 393.0 12.5 3.6
12 Virginia Tech 65.6 4.6 25.7 328.7 11.7 4.2
13 Houston 80.6 5.5 35.5 393.0 12.5 3.7**Yards per game based on team’s yards per play multiplied by the average number of plays per game of the No. 1-13 teams (71.45) | Bolded schools’ defenses are on the ! eld for at least 30 minutes
After slow start, Cougars ! nish strong in Dallas
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6 ! Wednesday, November !, !"## LIFE+ARTS The Daily Cougar
VIDEO GAMES
Latest Batman installment best yet
It took only two days after its release for “Batman: Arkham City” to be argued and crowned by gam-ers, game publishers and video game websites as the best game of
2011, and it should be.
The game, which is a sequel to “Batman: Arkham
Asylum,” was developed by Rock-steady Studios and delivers one of the best DC Comics games ever made, bar none.
From the moment the disk loads, players are immediately immersed in a world where chaos is an understatement. After pro-testing against the idea of Mayor Sharp allowing Arkham City to be turned into an enormous prison for criminals and political leaders who opposed the agenda, Bruce Wayne fi nds himself captured and thrown into the city, as ordered by Hugo Strange who oversees the operation of the entire city.
After fi nding out that Strange is in the know about the Dark Knight’s dirty little secret, Wayne has a pretty simple plan to carry out: Find Strange, defeat Strange, and save Gotham.
He’ll have to fi nd his way through the mean streets fi lled with foes on every corner and go through handful of his archen-emies, new and old.
Visually, “Arkham City” is a strik-ingly beautiful game from top to bottom. The gothic and dark visuals compliment the closed off, criminal infested wasteland that players will be thrown into.
The buildings, alleyways, sub-way stations, underground sewers and dozens of other locations in the city are all brilliantly constructed and mesh well with the entire theme of the game’s setting.
Rocksteady nails the added details when it comes to the wear-and-tear of the Dark Knights suit when he has to get rough with the bad guys. Several villains take a giant overhaul in terms of the way they are designed, but they are still recognizable and don’t stray far away from what Batman fans are used to seeing.
“Arkham City” is an open-world game in comparison to its prede-cessor, “Arkham Asylum”, so players will be able to reach and glide
Replace your high-calorie cocktails with wine, light beer or pre-mixed margaritas. Try to limit snacking on ! nger food during happy hour as well — just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s good for you. | Rick Audet/Wikimedia Commons
Find alternatives to high-calorie drinks, snacks
HEALTH CHECK
Make a toast to a healthier happy hour
Jennifer AdairTHE DAILY COUGAR
After a stressful week and with a few exams under your belt, happy hour is most likely calling your name.
Getting together with friends and having a few drinks and snacks
after a stressful week is a great way to relax and have some fun, but it is also a great way to take in thou-sands of extra calories.
Once high-calorie alcoholic beverages are in, our inhibition goes down, cravings go up and we over-load on the fi nger food ordered along with that second (or third) drink. With just a few simple twists, you can reduce the calories and not the fun. All it takes are some healthy choices during happy hour.
Drink to your healthFor a healthier happy hour, try
wine. This has fewer calories per ounce than liquor. A glass of red or white wine has about 120 calories and light beer has about 95 calories. There are also many low calorie drink mixes on the market, like Skinny Girl margarita and sangria.
Good quality vodka mixed with club soda and a twist of lemon or lime has only 65 calories, while
BATMAN continues on page 8TOAST continues on page 8
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The Daily Cougar COMICS & MORE Wednesday, November !, !"## ! 7
crosswordcomicsThere Must Be Something in the Water by Brandon Alexander
The Fishbowl by Thomas Hernandez
crossword
sudokuHow to play Each row must contain the numbers 1 to 9; each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9; and each set of 3-by-3 boxes must also contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Previous puzzle solved
ACROSS 1 One on the fast track? 6 Meander 10 Warm greetings 14 Humorous literary
technique 15 Razor’s cutter 16 Yet another time 17 Canapes and tea
sandwiches, e.g. 19 Notion 20 Game of pursuit 21 First word in the Lord’s
Prayer 22 Mensa aspirant’s hurdle 24 Practice piece 27 Needling literary works 28 Some McDonald’s fare 31 Skin moistener 32 Crackerjack 33 “Get out of here!” 37 Winner of four gold
medals at the Berlin Olympics
38 Banned insecticide letters
39 Ripped o! 40 Money rolls 41 Inconclusive result 42 Made from a " eece 43 Mr. Chips’ chips 45 Marching to a di! erent
drummer 49 Time-honored practices 50 Freedom from pain 51 One that goes to school
regularly 52 Windy City trains 55 Bittersweet coating 56 Healthy serving 60 Bulletin board a# xer 61 Serious about 62 Use it to prevent
running on 63 City in northern Nevada 64 Matter of grammar 65 Labor leader Chavez
DOWN 1 Fissure 2 Diva’s operatic ditty 3 Like a cold su! erer 4 A famous conjoined
twin 5 “... a pocket full of
___” 6 Gas up for the next leg,
e.g.
7 Ammonia attribute 8 Word with “many
moons” 9 Propose a compromise 10 Part of Hispaniola 11 Beneath 12 Canadian migrants 13 Belts, as a homer 18 Balzac’s sculptor 23 Oil amts. 25 Adds water, as to soup 26 Strange sky lights 27 Splinter group 28 Type of chart 29 The 29th state 30 Weighed down 33 Mall occupant 34 Certain sports venues 35 Sheltered from the
wind 36 Double-digit bills 38 Atkins regimen 39 Tender-hearted 41 Rush-hour certainty 42 Curtain-in-the-breeze
sound 43 Agent’s charge
44 “Thank God, it’s Friday” declarer?
45 Address Congress, e.g. 46 Born in the wild 47 Film, familiarly 48 Sergeant once played
by Phil Silvers 51 Vegas ventures
53 Pizarro founded it
54 The sun, for one 57 Cell messenger 58 TV regulators 59 Fish spawn
© 2011 UNIVERSAL UCLICK WWW.UPUZZLES.COM
Previous puzzle solved
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8 ! Wednesday, November !, !"## LIFE+ARTS The Daily Cougar
a Bloody Mary has about 100 calories.
If you really want something a bit more exotic, try a mojito. If it’s made with light rum, a bit of sugar and topped off with cold club soda, it could only be about 160 calories and 15 grams of sugar.
Free food: Is it low calorie or fat free?Just because the food is there
and it’s free doesn’t mean you have to eat it. Bars love to supply their guests with salty treats like beer nuts, peanuts, and pretzels that make you
drink more — good for them, bad for you.
Instead of thinking “why not, they’re free,” keep in mind that they’re not calorie or fat-free. If you want something to nibble on, don’t be tempted by what’s free. Instead, buy fi nger foods like edamame, which gives you that hit of salt with-out the calories and fat.
With low calories cocktails coupled with low calorie and fat free snacks, there is no doubt that you will have a more fun, healthier happy hour.
Cheers to making healthy choices you won’t regret the next morning.
TOASTcontinued from page 6
through all aspects of the entire city rather than being stuck in one place throughout the whole game.
With the exception of Lucious Fox and Scarecrow, every character that has ever been in the Batman comics or movies is in Arkham City’s Campaign mode.
From the allies to the antago-nists, hard-core Batman fans and casual players alike will rejoice when many of the main characters, such as The Joker, Penguin, Alfred, Robin, and Harley Quinn, take cen-ter stage and make appearances in the game. There are also characters taken from Arkham Asylum and smaller characters from the com-ics that make their way into this dazzling masterpiece, a decision on Rocksteady’s part that’s sure to make everyone happy.
The voice acting is spot on. Actors such as Mark Hamil (Joker), Kevin Conroy (Batman) and others have all played a part in adding that extra fl air — a sharp voicing performance that connects with the design and animation of their characters in the game.
Even the voice acting of the street thugs is interesting; therefore none of the characters in the game come off as a nuisance or fl at out boring.
Many of the characters in the game don’t get much attention in terms of how often you’re able to interact with them. While the main antagonists and allies are recurring throughout, some players might fi nd other characters that they like, and wish they’d be given a little more spotlight.
The game offers a “new game plus” feature, which gives you a second go around in the game and a chance to go back and see what you missed. Batman can even track certain parts of the game by marking them so they appear on the map, which makes landmarks easier to fi nd.
This is a concept seen in most role-playing and action games, but the replay value here is always rewarding, especially for a game that offers so much that it will literally take weeks, even months, of play time to see everything. Other than that, most of side quests don’t stray too far from the main story.
Players will fi nd themselves kill-ing two birds with one stone as they complete certain side quests and the main parts of the story at the same time.
Once the game starts, players will be thrown into this world of chaos and you, being Batman, are forced to adjust to the environment and fi nd out what’s going on with little to no help.
Players will be able to level up Batman’s suit armor, upgrade his move-set used in combat and enhance his gadgets, all of which can make the Dark Knight much more powerful.
Throughout the entire game, playing as the masked vigilante feels authentic and true to form.
Who else but the Dark Knight could glide through an entire city latching and pulling up onto sky-scraper buildings, hack-locked doors, scan crime scenes using infrared detective vision and beat thugs, villains and psychopaths to within an inch of their lives? In addition to all the abilities that have been tweaked or carried over from “Arkham Asylum”, there are also an assortment of gadgets that makes a triumphant return to Batman’s arsenal, ranging from the bat claw to an explosive gel which can be used to spray on breakable walls and objects in order to blow them up.
Batman’s library of tools grows larger as you collect them through various tasks along the way. Each time you engage in hand-to-hand combat with several street thugs at one time, the shakedown will always feel like a different fi ght scene. There is one button to attack and one to dodge and counter, plus the ability to use your grapple claw to disarm and trip enemies is a nice touch. This was present in “Arkham Asylum”, but the feel of it seems more fl uid and less frustrating this time around. As play-ers utilize these buttons correctly and keep a smooth pace, Batman can deliver three blows to one thug, jump over to kick the next, snatch away the weapon from another and pull him over for a powerful, fi nishing lariat blow to the neck.
Boss battles are very entertain-ing, but some feel short and not so sweet. Most of them are long and fun enough to savor the action, as Bat-man is forced to use several tactics as well as utilize his gadgets to take down archenemies, big and small. For other boss battles, they just feel too easy and dull.
Running around in circles, dodging projectiles from the enemy and striking when the time is right is a template we see too often in other games, and in those battles, it really does disconnect from the atmospheric grace that Rocksteady has already put it’s players in.
Overall, “Arkham City” comes through with fl ying colors, and with a bunch of other highly anticipated games set to release in time for the holidays, it’s safe to say that this game will be very hard to top.
There are no perfect games and there probably never will be, however, be assured that “Batman: Arkham City” comes dangerously close.
BATMANcontinued from page 6