Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

During the fourth special legislative session in 2023, the Texas Legislature passed the controversial Senate Bill 4, which has been on a whirlwind journey between courts. It put the state at the center of another immigration reform controversy.

A series of court orders from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court blocked, allowed and blocked the law to go into affect which would have made it a misdemeanor to illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico.

The bill is controversial for many reasons, such as the nature of the immigration policy debate, where both parties feel strongly about their opinions but also for legal reasons, said assistant political science professor Michael Kistner.

“It has long been an established principle that immigration policy and enforcement decisions are handled at the federal level,” he said. “So, by the United States government and not the individual state governments for the simple reason being that it’s difficult to have an immigration enforcement policy that differs from state to state.”

SB 4 would allow Texas law enforcement officers to arrest migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally. They would then go before a state judge who would issue a state order to leave the U.S. to Mexico, instead of being prosecuted.

The bill was originally set to go into effect on March 5, but the Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union, an immigration rights group, both filed lawsuits against it. A district judge issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the law from being enforced as the case was being heard. Texas then applied the injunction to the appeals court, which turned to the Supreme Court.

The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to block the law, as the appeals court decided on what to do with the bill.

On March 19, the Supreme Court issued an order that allowed Texas to enforce SB 4 while the lower court proceeded with the legal case. The high court did not issue an opinion on the merits of the law but did allow SB 4 to go into effect as the lower court heard the case.

Just nine hours after the law went into effect, the appeals court once again blocked Texas from enforcing SB 4 and scheduled a hearing for March 20.

“The fifth circuit says, OK, we’ve had enough time to gather the facts and come to an informed decision. We think based on the merits of the case that the federal government is likely to win and the state of Texas is likely in the wrong,” Kistner said. “So, we are going to then issue the stay on the merits.”

The lower court then heard a defense from the state on the merits of SB 4 and arguments from the ACLU and the DOJ on why the law should be struck down.

There is a lot of unknown as to how the law would be enforced, and the state is also unable to answer questions about its applicability. During the trial arguments at the circuit court regarding the injunction, one of the judges asked the state of Texas if SB 4 would still be applicable if someone entered the country without proper documentation in a different state and then traveled to Texas, said associate history professor Raúl Ramos.

“The reality was the state didn’t have an answer for that because that would be the kind of confusion that having different laws in different places would cause in regards to immigration,” Ramos said.

The opponents of the bill have said that this bill would open the door for an increase in racial profiling and be harmful to migrant families in the state.

“It could lead to racial profiling by law enforcement officers stopping people who they perceive to be dark-skinned and assuming that they might be illegal,” Kistner said. “It also has the potential to separate families. If someone gets apprehended and taken across the border, the family is still in the United States and that’s a really big harm.”

Approximately 44.5% of Houston is Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

While the bill is talking about immigrants, it targets brown people who speak Spanish. It specifically targets the Latino community, which has been going on for years, said pre-law senior Daniela Gomez.

“They’re primarily targeting those of the Latino community which has been going on for years, “Gomez said. “So, there’s definitely a racial stigma, ethnic stigma, discrimination and also a linguistic one as well.”

There is a right and wrong way to deal with problems pertaining to immigration at the border. Bills like SB 4 and a previous immigration bill from Arizona that was struck down by the Supreme Court are not the right way to deal with immigration. These laws just further criminalize immigration, Gomez said.

“So, you have an influx of people in detention centers. That has been going on for plenty of years, even before the Trump administration, and these attention centers are incredibly, incredibly overcrowded and under-resourced. We have a humanitarian crisis going on right here in our own backyard,” she said.

In addition to that, a lot of the immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, aren’t even Mexican themselves but people traveling from Central and South America. This bill is only making it harder for immigrants to cross the Texas border and does nothing to deter people from coming to the U.S. but just further elongating their already incredibly dangerous journey across Central America and South America, Gomez said.

The bill could allow local law enforcement to put these migrants who are under arrest in county jails, which here in Houston is also under a lot of scrutiny due to neglect. A part of what makes this bill controversial is that it also demeans the issue of immigration without fixing the issues within the system, Gomez said.

“It’s deeming the issue of immigration, illegal immigration in a way that’s not actually fixing anything,” she said. “It’s further adding stress on the immigration detention centers and local county jails that don’t have the resources or personnel or anything to support the people that are already in those places.”

The bill is currently on hold as the appeals court decides on its fate.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Border Chaos: Update on SB 4 and where it is now” was originally posted on The Cougar

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

Last month, University of Houston’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine revived their Boycott, Divest and Sanctions campaign on campus. The UH BDS movement is a part of the global effort that began in 2005 and parallels the movement on campuses all around the country.

“It is a movement that is global and worldwide which began in 2005 and probably prior to that in an unofficial capacity that brings attention to the occupation of historic Palestine by the modern state of Israel,” middle eastern studies program director Emran El-Badawi said.

The BDS movement calls for people to boycott divest and sanction, the state of Israel itself and all businesses, entities, persons and interests that benefit the state of Israel, he said.

The SJP campaign calls for the University to divest from companies involved in the state of Israel and the replacement for food chains like McDonalds, Starbucks and Sabra on campus. The revival of the BDS campaign comes after protests held by SJP in December calling for the removal of Starbucks and McDonalds from campus.

“The responsibility also extends to the companies the University of Houston platforms on campus including McDonalds, Starbucks, and Sabra who have supported, silenced opposition to, or directly funded violent brigades of the Israeli army,” SJP said in a social media post.

In addition to boycotting the products of companies that are allegedly involved in funding or supporting Israel, SJP has also called for students to refuse to intern or work for companies that supply the Israeli military with weapons.

Among calls for boycott, the organization is also asking UH to divest from companies that: “benefit from Israeli occupation and genocide of Palestine, including the aforementioned weapons manufacturers.”

Since 2016 UH has invested over $7 million in arms manufacturing and Israeli companies, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Electric and Raytheon that have been complacent in funding Israel, according to a social media post by SJP. 

With UH’s large and diverse population, students like biochemical and biophysical sciences senior Rael Memnon find the University’s continued support for these entities to be a slap in the face.

“I think it’s hypocritical if we have those stores here because they are very complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and we have a huge Palestinian population in Houston. And we want to make everyone feel at home here,” Memnon said.

For a school that supposedly stands for the diversity of its student population, by continuing to invest in these companies UH is not standing up for its values, Memnon said.

“Are you really the school that thrives on saying we welcome everyone and we thrive on diversity? Because if you’re doing that, you’re going against the very value that we just sell our school for,” Memnon said.

In the 2024 Student Government Association election, more than 60% of the students voted for the removal of Starbucks and McDonalds from campus and for the Creation of Palestine Rights and Liberation Action Committee.

This is not the first time SGA has shown solidarity with SJP. In 2022, SGA and UH Divest passed a resolution that asked UH to cease their involvement with multiple weapons manufacturing companies.

Texas has anti-boycott laws that prohibit state agencies and Governmental entities from contracting business from companies that boycott energy companies, discriminating against firearm entities or associations or boycott Israel. These are the three things that are cherry picked by the attorney general and the state of Texas that have aligned themselves with the conservative political platform, El-Badawi said.

“So, if there’s any business or individual that is gonna boycott those three things, that’s  illegal, that’s against the law essentially,” El-Badawi said. “The two parallel each other, BDS is a global movement to divest from Israel, and then we have Texas no boycott laws, which are meant to essentially protect Israel.”

The revival of the BDS campaign came after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 and the subsequent Israeli onslaught in Gaza.

In Gaza at least 31,988 people have been killed and  74,188 injured since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Oct.7 and says that 251 soldiers have been killed since it started its military operation in Gaza.

“As any institution with conscience, UH also has an ethical responsibility to divest from weapons manufacturers and Israeli companies as they actively commit these heinous crimes of genocide and apartheid,” SJP said in an Instagram post. 

news@thedailycougar.com

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“‘Complicit in genocide’: A look at the BDS movement targeting UH” was originally posted on The Cougar

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

In this week’s Ask The Cougar, Community Assistant Editor Atirikta Kumar answers some questions about long-distance relationships, disagreeing with your friend’s relationships and making new friends.

What to do when you are in disagreement with your friend’s decisions? 

This is a great question and something I struggle with quite often as well. First, I think it’s important to remember that you and your friends are different people. Every person has their own preferences and ideas about how they navigate life.

Having disagreements can be difficult to navigate. I do not know what kind of disagreement you are referring to but communicate your concerns with your friend if it’s something that bothers you a great deal.

Having disagreements in life is normal in relationships. If it’s a small disagreement like my friend likes pineapples on pizza and I think they are gross, let it go if it’s not affecting you. However, if it is something that is fundamentally bothering you like how your friends think about immigration policy or LGBTQ+ rights, then it is better to have a conversation with your friend and hash it out.

Eventually, a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, is my friend doing something fundamentally different from my values? If yes, is this something you can work out? At the end of the day, you need to decide if your life is better with your friends in it or if you are better off without them.

To The Cougar – I’m a senior who has made a grand total of four friends in my entire time at UH. I feel terrible about this. I never went to any of the sports games or events like Cage Rage or Cougar Con. This is my own fault but I only have two semesters (graduate in Fall 2024) to make up for this. I’m a girl and a health major. How do I make more friends?

Hi, I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time making friends, I know it can be hard. My advice to you would be to make a bucket list and try new things outside of your comfort zone. You still have a little more than one semester left before you graduate and still a wide range of experiences. Make time in your schedule to go to at least one sporting event each month. This will allow you to have time set aside for these events.

Being out of your comfort zone can be hard, but making a list will be something that can give you a goal to work toward and try out new things. Even if you don’t have anyone to go to the events with, I will encourage you to go by yourself and hopefully make some friends at the events.

As for advice on how to make friends, I am a firm believer that having one great friend is better than having 20 good friends. My advice to you for making friends would be to join new clubs and go to the meetings. Don’t be afraid to talk to people there, I know it can be intimidating but it can be worthwhile at the end of the day.

Hi, I am a junior who transferred from Baylor this year. I met my current boyfriend at Baylor. Lately, I’m starting to feel like our relationship is falling apart due to it being long distance. I feel like our relationship is going to end. All we do is call, text and facetime. Everything else we had has been reduced to nothing. How do people do long-distance relationships? 

While I have personally never experienced a long-distance relationship, I do have a few close friends who are long-distance and have seen couples in my family and friend group do long-distance, so I think I can offer a unique perspective.

I think if you have the opportunity to go long-distance in a relationship, you should do it. It will give you the opportunity to really examine your relationship and see if it can last the distance. It can be hard to navigate a relationship when you are in different places and living your own life. But, it is necessary to still give your relationship time and priority. You could schedule virtual dates like watching a movie together or picking an activity to do on a video call.

Call and text each other not only when the day begins or ends but throughout the day. Have an open line of communication. If you have any fears or insecurities, keeping them inside will only hurt you and your relationship so talk to your partner.

I also think it’s important to keep your happiness and mental health first. If you think you’re not happy in your relationship and can’t go long distance, it would be better to talk to your partner and end your relationship than let it go further. I hope it works out in the way that is best for you. I hope I could help!

editor@thedailycougar.com

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“Ask The Cougar: Bridging gaps, covering distance” was originally posted on The Cougar

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/TheCougar

Texans went to the polls to cast votes for the 2024 primaries on Super Tuesday. 

On Wednesday, the Harris County Clerk’s office reported results from all 545 of the voting centers. The results are as follows for the primary. 

Presidential primaries

The presidential primaries went smoothly for President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump, as they both won their respective parties’ primaries, according to the Associated Press. 

Biden, who is running for re-election, won 86.4% of the votes and gained 202 delegates. Trump won 77.9% of the vote and gained 141 delegates. Both candidates move closer to gaining their party’s nomination for the general election in November. 

To win the Democratic nomination, Biden needs 1,968 delegate votes and to win the Republican nomination, Trump needs 1,215. Primaries are a means of choosing delegates from each state, who will then go to the party conventions in the summer and formally nominate their chosen candidates for President, said political science assistant professor J. Bryan Cole.

“Typically, delegates are party activists and sometimes elected officials for state and local offices. A combination of applicable state laws and political party bylaws determine the allocation of delegates,” Cole said. 

Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she will be suspending her presidential campaign, setting up the likely re-match between Biden and Trump in November. She won Vermont’s primary on Tuesday and won 17.4% of the votes in Texas. 

U.S. Senate 

Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred won the Democratic primary for the Senate setting up an underdog campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running for his third term as a U.S. Senator. 

Allred, a former NFL player, flipped his district in 2019, to win the U.S. House seat. He defeated his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who only won 17.9% of the vote. 

No Democrat has won a statewide election in 30 years in Texas. In 2018, Cruz almost lost the senate seat to former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, winning by only 3 points. 

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee won the Democratic primary with 59.94% of the vote for House District 18. She defeated Amanda Edwards, who trailed behind with 37.38% of the vote, for the congressional office she has held for 30 years. 

Jackson Lee will go on to face Republican Lana Centonze, who won her party’s primary by 53.25% of the votes. 

U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia ran uncontested and won the democratic primary for her House seat in District 29, with 100% of the votes. Republican candidates Christian Garcia and Alan Garza both failed to get 50% of the votes needed to win and will face each other in the run-offs in May. 

House District 36 incumbent Brain Babin won the Republican primary with 78.13% of the vote. He will face Democratic challenger Dayna Steele who won 100% of the democratic vote. 

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw won 60% of the votes for House District 2 and will face Democratic challenger Peter Filler, who won 100% of the votes. 

Harris County District Attorney 

Former Prosecutor Sean Teare won the Democratic nomination in a landslide, upsetting current District Attorney Kim Ogg, who is a two-term incumbent. He will face Republican candidate, Houston attorney Dan Simons who ran uncontested, in November’s general election. 

Ogg gained a lot of criticism from local Democrats for failing to fulfill criminal justice reform promises, her alleged connections to Texas Republicans and increasing resignations in her office. Teare was a prosecutor in Ogg’s office until last year. 

In her two terms in office, she investigated members of her party and publicly engaged in fights with Harris County Judge Lina Hildago, who endorsed Teare. 

“Thank you, Harris County. We are going to rebuild the Harris County DA’s office and create a working criminal justice system that works for everyone,” Teare said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Super Tuesday: Texas primary results sets the stage” was originally posted on The Cougar

De’Vion Wilson has blossomed into one of the greatest hurdlers in UH history. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

For decades, the UH men’s track and field team has not been a stranger to success, having produced Olympic greats such as legendary sprinters Carl Lewis, current head coach of the track and field program, and Leroy Burrell. A shining star of the program today is senior hurdler De’vion Wilson, who is beating and setting new records every time he is on the starting line. 

While Wilson beats and sets new records, there was a time in his life when he didn’t think he would still be competing today. 

“It’s kind of surreal because after my freshman year, I wasn’t sure if I was gonna run track anymore,” Wilson said. “So just to be back and be doing as well as I am doing, it just feels great.”

During his freshman year on the team, Wilson was bullied due to his sexuality. Older teammates would pick on him, which eventually led to Wilson struggling with mental health and quitting the track team for a year before he got back. 

“The first year I got here, I didn’t really mess with the team. I wasn’t coming to practice. I was kind of being picked on because I was gay,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t having a good time so I wanted to just quit track altogether, but I ended up just going home for a year and Carl reached out.” 

Lewis reached out to let Wilson know that they would love to have him back on the team and that he will always have a home at UH athletics. 

“His support really helped me get through what I was going through and continue my track career for the cliche question of the year,” he said. 

Wilson makes his mental health a priority now, meditating and doing yoga to calm him when he is stressed. He aims to stay focused on keeping up with school so that he stays on track.

Since coming back to the track team, Wilson has broken several records, most notably breaking the school record in the 110-meter hurdles at last year’s NCAA Championships with a second-place time of 13.26 seconds.

“I think I have really good mental fortitude that I’ve been working on,” Wilson said. “I’ve been seeing a sports psychologist and I feel like this really clicks something in my brain to just make me compete at a higher level.”

In the past four years, Wilson has grown as an individual and athlete, said Will Blackburn, director of track and field. He has always been an athlete who strived to be the best since he started his career at UH. While it took a little while to find his footing on the track, Wilson is a leader on and off the field, Blackburn said. 

“He’s the silent killer,” Blackburn said. “What I mean by that is he’s always smiling, he’s always pleasant. He was always around everybody. He’s a good teammate, you know, that cheers him on in a fist bump or a quiet motion. He’s not the vocal guy, but when he’s on the track, man, he is one of the leaders on the track.”

Wilson’s hurdles coach, Aleec Harris said that Wilson is a better hurdler than he was, as a former USA and national champion. Wilson is very quick between the hurdles, his technique is smooth, Harris said. 

“The foot speed in between the hurdles — he’s the best that I’ve seen after the fifth hurdle,” Harris said.  “He’s able to use his endurance, shuffle endurance and shuffle frequency.”

Last year, Wilson represented Team USA when he competed at the Pan American Games and won second place in the 110-meter hurdles with a 13.78 run. 

On Saturday, he won the Big 12 title for the 60m hurdle with the best time in the nation, 7.55 seconds. Wilson is now focused on winning the NCAA championship and making it to an Olympic team one day. 

“He was a silent killer,” Harris said. “He was an underdog and now he’s trying to transform into just a leader and just being dominant in it.” 

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Silent Killer: Meet UH track star De’Vion Wilson” was originally posted on The Cougar

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

As conditions at the Texas border continue to deteriorate, conversation has sparked of a civil war in 2024.

Last month, after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an injunction allowing the U.S. Border Patrol to cut the razor wire Texas installed along the border of Mexico. Texas has been in a standoff with the federal government regarding immigration policy decisions.

The standoff has sparked talks of Texas’s secession from the U.S. and the possibility of another civil war in 2024, which are both unlikely scenarios, according to associate law professor Daniel Morales.

“There’s not going to be a civil war,” he said. “That’s not in the immediate future. That’s not gonna happen. It is a very serious standoff, but it is designed to drive media attention to topics that Governor Gregg Abbott wants media attention directed to.”

The upcoming 2024 presidential election is also fueling the fire to debate of state rights. In a good economy, with a weak president Biden and an unpopular candidate in Trump, there is a push to make immigration their voting issue, Morales said.

“All politics today is national,” he said. “It is the richest red state and it is full of ambitious politicians who want to do work for the National Party and the national governing priorities.”

The standoff comes at a time of increased violence. According to a poll conducted by Public Religion Research Institute, one in four Americans believe that violence may be the only solution to modern political issues. This is a 15% increase since 2021, when the poll was first conducted after Jan.6.

According to Pew Research Center, 58% of the country sees the United States declining in the next 25 years. They expect the U.S. economy to be weaker, political divisions to be wider and a large gap between rich and poor people in the country.

In response to the ruling, Abbot said that “The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States.” The language some have argued mimicked Texas’s 1861 declaration of secession over slavery. While the secession was mainly over slavery, the declaration also states that Texas felt betrayed by the federal government.

“The Federal Government, while but partially under the control of these our unnatural and sectional enemies, has for years almost entirely failed to protect the lives and property of the people of Texas against the Indian savages on our border, and more recently against the murderous forays of banditti from the neighboring territory of Mexico,” said Texas’s 1861 declaration of secession said.

While it is impossible to know what consequences look like for the state if it does try to secede, which is highly unlikely, the federal government’s response to it could be similar to the way it has dealt with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, Morales said.

“I would imagine a very similar set of economic sanctions would apply to any state that tried to leave the Union, because there’s no reason to give them any benefit,” he said.

While the Texas Nationalist Movement submitted what they claim were 140,000 voter signatures the state Republican Party rejected the groups measure to put the question of Texas’s secession on the 2024 election ballot, according to KERA news. 

While the measure failed to make it on the ballot this year, the Texas Nationalist Movement president Daniel Miller is hopeful that the Texas Independence Referendum Act filled during the 2025 legislative session. A similar measure failed to make it out of the committee during the 2023 legislative session, according to KERA news. 

Why is this happening?

The court’s 5-4 decision came without an opinion and said that Texas should allow border patrol officers to conduct operations freely at the southern border. Instead of backing down, Gov. Greg Abbott has doubled down and increased border patrol at the border.

On Friday, Abbott announced that Texas will build a base housing for up to 1,800 troops in Eagle Pass. The base plans to house 300 troops by April at least. This is another part of the Lone Star Project. This will be six miles from Shelby Park, the 23-acre land that is currently the battleground between Texas and the Federal government, a place that has seen thousands of unauthorized border crossings from Mexico.

After the decision from the high court last month, about 25 Republican governors backed Abbott’s stance in solidarity and said that the state has a constitutional right to protect itself. Abbott believes that these states would send troops if necessary.

Abbott’s defiance has also been backed by state and federal officials, such as former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson and almost all of Texas’s congressional delegation.

On Jan. 25 Trump wrote on social media that Texas, “must be given full support to repel the invasion.”

Far-right groups have called for a civil war in Texas, according to a report by NBC News. Last week, a trucker convoy called “Army of God” stopped at the Texas Border to “peacefully gather and protest” before continuing their road trip to Arizona and California.

There have also been over 60 public office candidates and over two dozen public officials, who have signed the Take Texas Back pledge, that asks officials to, “commitment to a contract with Texans, promising to vote and act solely in the best interests of Texans.”

Historically, there has always been a political divide in the U.S. However, even though it is easy to draw comparisons between different difficult times in the country’s history, it is important to remember that there is a continuity between the kinds of forces we’re seeing today and the kinds of forces that historically have always been present in American Society, Morales said.

“History rhymes. It doesn’t repeat. There’s a deep continuity between the kinds of forces we’re seeing today and the kinds of forces that historically have always been present in American Society,” Morales said.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Border dispute reignites calls for Texas secession” was originally posted on The Cougar

Student Protesters at the Board of Regents meeting on Wednesday. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

On Wednesday, after a lengthy discussion on the budget proposals made by the Student Fees Advisory Committee, the UH Board of Regents tabled the issue despite SFAC chair and mechanical engineering sophomore Yusuf Kadi’s plea to the board to not postpone the decision. 

President and Chancellor Renu Khator rejected budget recommendations made by SFAC that would have cut $1.5 million from UH Athletics and diverted the funds to other student organizations. 

To protest Khator’s rejection of the proposal, students picketed for hours prior to the meeting and also showed up to voice their concerns during the public forum part of the meeting. Ten student leaders were each given three minutes to present their case.

Protesters were present at the meeting with signs that read: “Students over profit,” “Whose fees? Our Fees. Whose needs? Our Needs,” “UH Greed has to go,” among others. Students’ leaders demanded that the student fees be used to advance academic success and provide mental health resources to students.

Co-president of the Houston chapter of Deeds Not Words Landon Richie spoke before the board and said that student mental health should be a priority. 

“Bolstering these essential services through funding cannot and should not be a one-off only by the tragic loss of life. But with the rejection of a recommendation on exactly how to honor the commitment to do better,” Richie said. “It appears that support for student wellness is conditional and limited.”

When a visit to Counseling and Psychological Services can be between life and death, they should be funded adequately, he said.

The postponed vote on the SFAC proposal came almost a year after two students committed suicide on campus, which sparked debate over the state of mental health on campus. Khator pledged to increase student outposts for mental health services and created CoogsCare in response to it.

During the meeting, students questioned Khator about caring for students and making them a priority when her actions have shown otherwise.

Ashley Lubben, an SGA Honors College senator and a part of the CAPS advisory committee, said that while there are many gaps to be filled to address the mental health crisis properly, SFAC’s original recommendation provides a direct path for students to allocate needed resources toward mental health.

“Renu Khator, you issued a statement saying, ‘Students are our first priority.’ Right now, we, as students, are telling you that statement is not being honored. SFAC is recommending an avenue to show your students just how much of a priority they are,” Lubben said. “If you claim that Coogs care, it is time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Student complaints aside, UH Chairman Tilman Fertitta made it clear that athletics will receive its funding. In an exchange with Kadi, Fertitta agreed that, despite of SFAC’s objections, Athletics would receive the funding it needs regardless of if it came out of student fees, CAPS or another campus resource.

After consulting with UH General Counsel Dona Cornell, Fertitta moved to table the motion and said he would form  a four-person committee consisting of Kadi, Vice President of Student Affairs Paul Kittle, Administration and Finance Vice Chancellor Raymond Bartlett and General Counsel Dona Cornell to meet and come up with a solution.

Kadi said that he hopes that the board members will come to the table and be ready to tackle the problem as delaying will not solve anything.

“I don’t table things unless we are going to come back with a solution,” Fertitta said.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Board of Regents vote to delay SFAC budget recommendation” was originally posted on The Cougar

Len Duenas/The Cougar

In years since Texas’s near-total abortion ban came into effect, the state continues to face its impact.

The 2021 abortion ban in Texas affected Hispanic women the most, a recent study by the Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality at UH found. Hispanic women in Texas and Harris County saw a large increase in birth and fertility rates in 2022 than women from other backgrounds.

In Texas, data from October 2023 suggests about 13,503 additional births in 2022 occurred among Hispanic women between the ages of 15 to 44.

“The results don’t signal that individuals of other groups are unaffected by the abortion ban, but they indicate that Hispanic women as a group are facing more challenges in accessing reproductive care, including both contraception and abortion,” said Elizabeth Gregory, IRWGS director in a press release. 

The study suggests that while the abortion ban affected individuals of other groups as well, the effect was more prominent among Hispanic women, who faced more challenges in accessing reproductive care.

“That doesn’t mean that individuals in non-Hispanic groups were not also strongly affected by the ban, but summaries most clearly document where there is evidence of notable change in group fertility rates, either in a shift in direction or in the pace of rise or decline,” according to the study.

The study found that while the overall state fertility rate grew by 2%, however, there is approximately a 5.1% increase among Hispanic women and a 0.9% increase among non-Hispanic. The fertility rates among Hispanic women 25 and older rose by 8% in Texas and 8.5% overall.

Human development and family sciences junior Ashley Cardona said the culturally Hispanic women tend to have bigger families and many pregnancies throughout their life and many lack the awareness for proper birth control, something that is needed.

“A lot of these women are also low income. Many low-income families tend to have larger families because they’re less knowledgeable on these topics of birth control financing,” she said. “I think there should be more awareness on how to prevent it instead of them just signing it off and moving forward from that.”

Travel to access abortion were also hurdles that many individuals could not face due to various different reasons.

“Travel to access abortion in other states requires money, time off work and in many cases childcare. The need to care for children already at home might be a key factor in the rising birth rates among women 25 and older,” Gregory said.

The study also found that in reverse to the state trend of steady teen birth decline since 2007, there is a slight increase, approximately 0.39%, among Texas teens. The 2022 teen fertility continued to rise slightly among Hispanic, Black and Asian teens and declined among white teens.

A look at Abortion restrictions

In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed SB 8, also known as the Heartbeat Act, that banned abortion in the state after the fetus’s cardiac activity was detected, usually between four to six weeks of the pregnancy.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right for an individual to get an abortion with their judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This cleared the way for Texas’s 2021 “trigger” law to take effect that banned almost all abortions.

The trigger law increased civil and criminal penalties for individuals who have an abortion in the state. This law increases the penalty for performing an abortion up till life in prison, however it specifically exempts the pregnant individual from prosecution. The attorney general “shall” bring a lawsuit to seek a civil penalty for not less than $100,000 per abortion performed, according to the trigger law.

The trigger law has next to no expectations for emergency pregnancies A Texas Supreme Court case seeks to narrow the scope for “medical emergency” exceptions under the state’s abortion bans.

The data for the study draws from the CDC fertility analysis made public in Oct. 2023.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Hispanic women affected most by Texas Abortion ban, UH study shows” was originally posted on The Cougar

Anh Le/The Cougar

Last Thursday, Students for a Democratic Society held a small protest against Senate Bill 17 — the legislation which caused the demise of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion among other departments and programs — by hanging a banner at a Student Center bridge and gathering in front of the M.D. Anderson Library.  

The main purpose of the protest was to get the University’s attention to condemn the bill, said exploratory studies freshman Matthew Bohn. 

“Last year, Texas passed Senate Bill 17 which killed all the diversity, equity and inclusion programs at university campuses. And I think, UH, in our view, over complied with it. They closed all the offices a lot earlier than they needed to,” he said.  

The bill went into effect Jan.1 but UH closed its LGBTQ Resource Center and Center for Diversity and Inclusion on Aug. 31. The University was the first school in the state to close its LGBTQ Resource Center. 

“We think that SB 17 is very unjust, especially for the majority of students here who are people of color and for LGBTQ+ students,” said Psychology Freshman Arkady De Castro. “I personally know a couple of people who were either thinking of leaving or have left due to the fact that the LGBTQ resource center and CDI are gone.”

De Castro, who also organized the protest said that for a school that says they value diversity, UH’s actions tend to prove otherwise. 

“For a school that apparently values diversity so much, that’s a heavy violation of their values and to the safety of a lot of students here,” De Castro said. 

During the 2023 Texas Legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17 into law, which went into effect last month. The anti-diversity, equity and inclusion bill, prevents state universities from operating their DEI offices after the end of 2023. 

“The purpose of this subchapter is to prohibit institutions of higher education from requiring or giving preferential consideration for certain ideological oaths or statements that undermine academic freedom and open inquiry and impede the discovery, preservation, and transmission of knowledge,” the bill reads. 

 To replace the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the University opened the Center for Student Advocacy and Community in September.

“This center will make available wide-ranging advocacy, a support network for both undergraduate and graduate students, comprehensive basic needs services and resources, and facilitate a variety of events and programs to foster student success, achievement, and community building,” said associate vice president for student affairs Daniel M. Maxwell, in an email sent out in August.

The primary goal of CSAC is to foster a sense of community for students and help reduce barriers that might prevent them from reaching their personal and academic potential. The center offers resources for basic needs such as food, housing and transportation for its students. The official opening for CSAC was also on the same day as the protest, a coincidence De Castro was not aware of when he organized the protest. 

 “I think that organizing the center for student advocacy was a good half solution to what’s happening right now,” he said. “But a lot of the responsibilities that the CDI and LGBTQ resource center had are not just allocated to the center for student advocacy, but also they’ve been completely dropped on volunteers and student orgs.”

Resources that were offered at the LGBTQ Resource Center, like the lending library and pronoun pins are continued to be offered at CSAC. 

 news@thedailycougar.com

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“SDS holds protest, drops banner demanding UH condemn SB 17” was originally posted on The Cougar

Lily Huynh/The Cougar

Texas will get the chance to decide who they want on the ballot for the November 2024 election during the March primaries.

Early voting for the primary will run from Feb. 20 to March 2, with the primary being held on March 5. The last day to register to vote, to be eligible to vote is Feb.5.

What are the primaries? 

The primaries determine who gets to represent each party in the general election in November. In Texas, the primaries are not just for the presidential election but are held for all different offices that are on the ballot.

“In Texas, the primaries are considered open, which means that any registered voter can participate and they get to decide whether to participate in the Republican or the Democratic primary, but you have to go Republican or Democrat across the board,” said political science assistant professor J. Bryan Cole.

The Texas primary is on Super Tuesday. During the presidential election cycle, different states take turns holding primaries and Caucasus. Super Tuesday is when the greatest number of states vote on the same day and Texas is one of them. Approximately 25% of all of the delegates are up for grabs on that day, Cole said.

For the Green and Libertarian parties, their candidates will be chosen through a series of local conventions starting March 12 and a state convention that each party will need to announce by that time. In Texas, voters can only vote in either the Republican or Democratic party’s primary and run off or in the third party’s convention.

Who is on the ballot?

Other than the presidential candidates, eligible Texans will be able to cast their votes for Texas officials running on the federal, state and local level.

“This will include the members of Congress, it will include Ted Cruz’s re-election and it will include the state legislature, some state officials and some county officials and lots of judges,” Cole said.

Other open seats include, three members of the Texas Supreme Court, five Chief Justices and various justices for the Texas Court of Appeals, seven state board of education members, among several other lower-level judges and local county officials. Voters in Harris County can view their sample ballots here. 

“Except for the presidential race, you have to get at least 50% of the primary vote in order to win. If you don’t, then there will be a runoff and the runoff will be the top two people in that office for that party,” Cole said.

The primary and a possible runoff on May 28, will set the state for the general election.

How to register to vote? 

Firstly, you need to check if you meet the requirements and are eligible to vote. To be able to vote, you need to be a U.S. citizen, be over 18 years old and you cannot be a convicted felon or be declared mentally incapacitated in a court of law.

The 1998 Higher Education Act requires that the University make a “good faith effort” to make voter registration forms available to students. There are voter registration forms made available to students at the various locations on campus, such as all the residence hall information desks, the student centers and at the dean of students office, according to the University website. 

Make sure to have the form filled out correctly and then turn it in at a nearby election office. Have documents such as your birth certificate and social security card handy to help you fill out the necessary paperwork.

The nearest elections office to the University is at Palm Center located at 5300 Griggs Rd, according to the Harris County voter registration site. If you need to check if you are registered to vote, you can verify your information at the Texas Secretary of State’s office.  

Out-of-state students will need to decide if they want to vote at their home precinct via an absentee ballot or vote at Harris County, for which they will need to re-register. It is important to note that it’s illegal to register in two states simultaneously.

Important Dates, Voting Locations 

Harris County will have 79 early-voting locations, which will be open from Feb. 20 to March 1. Voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, with the exception of Sunday Feb. 25, when the voting center will be open at noon instead.

The Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Fellowship Hall located at 53826 Wheeler Avenue, is the nearest early voting location to the University, according to the Harris County voter centers site. 

The University will host a voting location on election day at Student Center South on Election Day, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

What to bring to the voting booth?

Voters will need to bring one of the seven valid forms of photo identification with them to the voting booth. Valid forms of identification include a driver’s license, election identification certificates, personal identification card and a Texas handgun license.

Federal identifications such as a U.S. military identification card, U.S. citizenship certificate or a U.S. passport are also acceptable forms of identification.

If you do not have a valid photo ID, you might be able to fill a reasonable impediment form and show supporting documents such as a voter registration certificate, credited U.S. birth certificate, current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check to any other government document showing your name or address.

While there are no electronics allowed inside the voting booth, voters can bring a piece of paper with their list of candidates and research to make the voting process easier. Just make sure to take the paper back with you when you are done voting.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“2024 primaries: What to know before casting your vote in March” was originally posted on The Cougar