Syed has been a Senator in SGA for a year and has been involved in a variety of bills and events geared toward communication. | Photo courtesy of Moiz Syed.

For Moiz Syed, one of the most pressing issues facing the University of Houston is that many students don’t know what’s happening on campus.

A political science and marketing sophomore, current CLASS senator and presidential candidate for the Coogs Unite party, Syed said the issue really became apparent to him after a lackluster turnout at a CLASS Career Fair he worked on last year.

“What typically happens is students go in and out without really getting involved in the University,” Syed said. “The best way to give them as many opportunities as possible is to let them know what’s going on.”

While running for the position of CLASS senator last year, Syed said he realized most students don’t know much about SGA. It’s been the same this year, he said. 

Syed said while campaigning during this election he asked many students if they know what SGA is or who their senators are.

“I don’t get much of a response,“ Syed said. “I want it to be at the point that students will know who their senators are and could see them walking and ask them about what’s going on.” 

One of the initiatives Syed hopes to accomplish if elected is instituting a grade replacement policy, which he thinks would help students who struggled to maintain their grades in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

“(Harvey) hit us hard and really bad, and a lot of people were focused on rebuilding their houses and making sure their families were intact and weren’t able to go to school and, as a result, failed a lot of their classes,” Syed said.

One key component to the Coogs Unite platform is campus safety. They hope to accomplish this by making sure resources are used correctly and that security guards are present in “high crime rate areas on campus,” he said. 

One specific action Syed plans to take to increase security is expanding the Cougar Pack escort program, which was started in Fall 2018. The program, which sees students escorting other students from the M.D. Anderson Library to their dorms and cars, operates from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, but Syed said he hopes to extend the program to run all week. 

“I want to make sure that commuting students can get to their cars safer and students can get to their dorms safely,” he said.

In preparation for the presidential debate Feb. 20, Syed said he’s been reading up on University of Houston policies and his campaign has been working on setting up a website.

Since he plans to graduate in 2020, Syed said he wants to do as much as he can for the University before then.

“Realistically, I’m only going to be here a year, and what I want to do in that year is make sure I help as many students as possible and make as much positive change as I can,” Syed said. 

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“Moiz Syed wants to engage more students with SGA” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

The EVERY COOG party wants to connect the University of Houston with the Third Ward. Johnson brings leadership from various on-campus organizations and as a resident assistant at Cullen Oaks. | Photo Courtesy of Claude Johnson

Student Government Association presidential hopeful Claude Johnson, who is with the EVERY COOG party, spent last semester working on the political world stage.

Alongside serving as the vice president for the Phi Beta Sigma, Johnson, a political science junior, has interned at the United Nations in New York, an experience that he said taught him about making bills and drafting legislation as well as the day-to-day side of politics.

“I was dealing with time-sensitive matters on my own that gave me experience that I think I can bring back to the student government and be of use to the student body,” Johnson said.

One of his main focuses in this campaign is sustainability, especially student sustainability when it comes to issues like mental health.

“We believe student health should be at the forefront of the University by revitalizing the CAPS system and making it more accessible,” Johnson said. “Hopefully lowering the price for low-income students so they don’t have to put their mental health as a choice.”

Another key component of Johnson’s platform is inclusiveness and representation. Though the University of Houston is one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, and in one of the country’s most diverse cities, Johnson said he doesn’t think that has translated to the highest levels of the school.

“Our plan is to create an intersectionality council with people from different demographics so we could truly have an accurate representation of what is needed at this University,” Johnson said.

The third and final main component of his campaign is accountability and increasing student access to and interaction with SGA, Johnson said. While he said the current administration has done good work in general, he wants to go further, especially with reaching students.

“We want to bridge that gap between student government and the students,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he answers any questions that come to his inbox on Twitter and has been tweeting his location on campus almost daily so students can come ask him about EVERY COOG, the election and how they can get involved in the campaign.

“We want to be a representation of all students, and we can’t do that without student support,” Johnson said. 

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“Claude Johnson brings United Nations experience to SGA election” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

With voting opening Thursday through Get Involved for the 2019 Student Government Association election, Monday night saw the first of two planned debates between executive candidates. Vice-presidential candidates faced off in the Student Center South Theater from 7-9 p.m., tackling topics from zone parking to controversial tweets. | Fiona Legesse/The Cougar

The vice-presidential candidates took to the stage Monday evening at the Student Center Theater for the 2019 Student Government Association Vice President Debate, co-sponsored by the SGA Election Commission and The Cougar. The candidates debated on and campaigned for several issues in which they and their respective parties hope to fix if elected.

This year’s election features three presidential candidates, each with their respective parties and platforms: Students Unite presidential candidate Allison Lawrence and her running-mate, vice-presidential candidate Maysarah Kazia; Coogs Unite presidential candidate Moiz Syed and his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Nader Irsan; and EVERY COOG presidential candidate Claude Johnson and his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Natasha Ulow.

“A great way to get to know the candidates is through the debates,” said Chief Election Commissioner Bo Harricharran. “All of the candidates that are running for the presidential ticket are really great and they’ve been out campaigning.”

The debate was moderated by Jorden Smith, opinion editor for The Cougar, and Sofia Sutterby, a representative from the SGA Election Commission. The lineup featured both general questions that were posed to all candidates and candidate-specific questions that were drafted prior to the debate. Moderators also asked questions tweeted in from audience members.

A particularly heated topic at Monday night’s debate was the focus on Irsan’s controversial resurfaced tweets, posted to his Twitter account in 2016 and 2017, which were recently deleted from the social media platform. In the tweets, Irsan used a racial slur and made comments that have been construed as homophobic.

“I did tweet those things and I was wrong, and I understand how I was wrong in doing it, and in hindsight, it is an issue that should be brought up,” Irsan said. “I’m bettering myself every day, isn’t that what the University of Houston is about? Bettering ourselves every day, becoming a phoenix and rising from our ashes, and bettering ourselves?”

In a rebuttal shortly afterward, Ulow said her intelligence and connection with marginalized communities extended far beyond what Irsan’s were when he published the tweets.

“In the context, they were not used in a racially motivated way. They were not derogatory in the use of them,” Irsan said.

Kazia also rebutted to Irsan’s statements concerning the tweets, saying they were, in fact, derogatory in nature.

“When you’re saying (the tweets) are not derogatory in nature but you’re saying you’d rather die than be gay, I believe that is derogatory,” Kazia said.

In further commentary regarding the tweets, Irsan said he has matured and that he never believed in the things he tweeted.

“Those were never my views, and my views have never changed,” Irsan said. “I am neither racist nor homophobic.”

Following a tweet-in question from an audience member, zone parking was another hot topic Monday night.

“If you were parked in one spot of the school and you have to go up all the way to the other side for class, when you’re coming back at night there’s a lot of different things that can happen on the way there,” Ulow said. “(With) the zones being so far out on campus, there aren’t a lot of policemen circulating the outer edges on campus as well as the inner core.”

Ulow said later that she believes parking closer to campus should be zone-free and that there should be more police patrols along the “outer edges” to prevent crime.

“I know zone parking has really been a big thing right now — there’s a lot of students who were really confused by it or not in favor of it,” Kazia said. “I think it’s important to remember that we’re a university of over 40,000 students. There are always gonna be students who have issues.”

Irsan said in his response that he believes there are positives and negatives to the zone parking issue.

“I definitely think zone parking is a step in the right direction,” Irsan said. “It’s definitely a foundation laid for us to build upon in the coming years, but I feel like it is something that still does need to be addressed and will always need to be addressed when it comes to parking and commuters.”

In a lighter “rapid fire” round following intermission, candidates were asked questions regarding their favorite Vine video, their favorite long-serving SGA justice, if they preferred James Harden or J.J. Watt, their least useful skill, and their least favorite vegetable.

“I would say my least useful skill, although it should be most useful, is my ability to speak multiple languages,” Ulow said. “I haven’t been able to showcase that here in the United States because English is used so regularly.”

Candidates were later asked whether they, as VP candidates, should be familiar with Registered Student Organizations, Greek Life and their respective issues on campus, which none of the candidates were particularly familiar with.

Irsan said he knows the senators in his party involved in Greek Life, but that he “(doesn’t) know what fraternity or sorority” and that they “kind of all sound the same (to him).”

Kazia said she knew the senator in her party involved with Greek Life, and Ulow said she could name all the candidates from her party, of which there is five total.

The conclusion of the debate featured full closing statements by Ulow and Kazia. However, Irsan was unexpectedly cut short of the full two minutes. Chief Election Commissioner Harricharran, who kept time during the debate, has already issued an apology.

“I believe that the last 30 seconds of the debate was wholly unfair due to the skewing of time,” said journalism sophomore and Communications Director for Coogs Unite Tweegee Nuguid. “I expect a better moderation panel in order to keep the (presidential) debate as fair as possible.”

Media policy and political science sophomore Melanie Louch, who is running for CLASS Senator with Students Unite, said she thought each candidate had equally good representation but hopes to see more from the presidential candidates in that debate.

“I know (Syed) is a really charismatic, well-spoken guy, so I want to see how he can kind of make up for what happened tonight,” Louch said.

Political science sophomore Kaden Lewis, who is running for Undergraduate Senator-at-Large with EVERY COOG, said he thought it was important that Irsan’s tweets were addressed, but that there are also “two very strong, female (vice-presidential) candidates” that students should focus on.

“What I do hope to see, at least from the three presidential candidates, is a true passion for representing students and a true passion for creating an environment where students can flourish and be successful,” Lewis said regarding expectations for the presidential debate.

On expectations for the presidential debate, Nuguid said she wants a fair debate and hopes to hear about policy implementation from each party.

“I hope to see a debate on policy and how each party addresses their initiatives because after all, one of these candidates will be the face of our university for the next year,” Nuguid said. “I truly want to see how they will enact their own policies so I will keep them accountable for what they promise to do.”

The Presidential Debate will take place from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Center South’s Houston Room. The debate will be moderated by representatives from both The Cougar and the SGA Election Commission. Students will again have the option to tweet in questions for candidates using #SGAszn19.

Editor’s note: In an effort to make fair the situation in which VP candidate Nader Irsan’s closing statements were cut short, The Cougar agreed to publish his closing statement here. This statement has not been edited. Irsan’s closing comments:

My opponent’s character assassination attempt on me was ill-fitting behavior of a Vice-Presidential candidate. Keeping a level head in the midst of that chaos displays my qualifications for the position of Vice-President.

President Barrett who is running with Students Unite exemplifies hypocrisy by allowing current members of SGA to run again when last year he campaigned against the very thing he is doing. Over half of Students Unite’s party is currently in SGA. 

Regarding my past tweets that were brought up. I take full responsibility for my actions, but at the same time ask you the students to understand my situation and have an open mind. Being placed in Child Protective Services for almost two years and being taken in by an African American family for most of that time played a big part in those tweets, but this is not an excuse. To anyone that has never made a mistake in your life, you have an absolute right to criticize me, but no one is perfect, myself included. We have all made mistakes. I have learned from my mistakes and have grown as a person because of them.

As students, we need to raise each other up and not tear each other down. That is what the University of Houston is all about; overlooking each other’s flaws and mistakes. To judge someone not based on a mistake, but rather to look at what they have done to help others and make an assessment on their character based off that.

In that regard, I feel my character and accomplishments make me the most qualified candidate for Vice-President and I hope you will stand with me in this endeavor. 

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“Vice-presidential candidates spar in first SGA debate of election season” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

Before the auditorium was locked, someone hung a sign warning of black mold being present in the building. A UH spokesperson said this was not true. I Courtesy of Billion Tekleab/ The Cougar

The abrupt closing of an engineering auditorium last week due to mold, which had bloomed across large portions of the ceiling and other parts of the room, caused commotion among students and professors whose classes were suddenly moved.

Adding to the confusion and chaos was a rumor — somewhat bolstered by a sign hung on the auditorium’s doors before the building was locked — that the mold was a deadly “black mold.” The mold types were common, however, and not at levels that were dangerous, according to a spokesperson from the University.

“No students were ever in danger,” said UH Media Relations Director Chris Stipes. “We do regular inspections for mold, and that’s how we caught this.”

The mold bloom, which stretched horizontally across most of the ceiling in one section of the Cullen College of Engineering Auditorium 2 and sprouted across several corners of the building, was caused by a broken fan in the auditorium’s bathroom, Stipes said.

Sixteen classes being taught in the auditorium had to be abruptly moved because of the mold. This nearly caused some classes to be cancelled without notice, such as an Anthropology 2302 class taught by Elizabeth Farfán-Santos, who informed her students of the situation via email minutes after finding out that her class could potentially be cancelled, she said.

Farfán-Santos could not be reached by The Cougar despite multiple attempts, though the students in her anthropology class said she was frustrated with the University’s response to the situation and encouraged them to speak out about the issue.

“I’m extremely disappointed at how they handled this,” said public relations junior Marbles Sanchez. “There wasn’t any communication with the students, and not only that, we missed important instruction time.”

Aside from causing disruptions to the class’s structure and lesson plans, the incident raised concerns for students in the class who attend UH with the help of financial aid and grants such as Pell Grants, which are given out by the federal government.

“We need a full course load to maintain the grants,” said Brandon Talbert, a broadcast journalism junior in Farfán-Santos’s course who attends UH with the help of Pell Grants.

By Thursday, all 16 courses that were being held in the auditorium had been relocated, according to a University spokesperson. Farfán-Santos’s anthropology course was moved to the College of Graduate Studies while the room undergoes a cleaning process, which is expected to take two weeks.

Despite the change of venue, mold concerns are still at the forefront of several students’ minds.
While Farfán-Santos was unable to be reached for comment about the mold incident or the relocation, some of her students said they appreciated how she spoke up about the sudden moving of their class.

The remediation process for the auditorium is expected to last two weeks while crews work to scrub away various mold blooms, according to a spokesperson from the University. University maintenance alone would handle removal of small mold blooms, but blooms of over 25 square feet require extra procedures as dictated by the state.

While the mold’s spread was imposing, all mold types present were common and posed no danger to anyone inside the room, according to the University. Air quality tests reportedly showed the presence of mold in the air inside the auditorium did not exceed that of the air outside, Stipes said.

The University has a mold control policy that includes regular checks and cleaning of buildings, Stipes said. The school isn’t going to be making any changes or enhancements to their procedures in response to the auditorium incident.

“We live in Houston, there’s a lot of humidity and mold pops up from time to time,” Stipes said. “Is anything additional being done? No, because we’re constantly checking for things like this.”

While the mold bloom was ultimately harmless and the University said no other school buildings are facing issues with mold, the incident has brought issues of building disrepair to the front of the minds of students whose classes were moved.

“The sports facilities are state of the art and would never have mold, but these classrooms that we pay thousands of dollars to sit in are disgusting, unsafe and (in) poor condition,” Sanchez said.

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“Mold bloom forces sudden move of 16 classes” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

A series of tweets from a vice presidential candidate in the Student Government Association election that contain racial slurs resurfaced Monday afternoon when several were sent to The Cougar.

Four times between June 2015 and June 2017, political science junior Nader Irsan, vice presidential candidate for the Coogs Unite Party, tweeted using the N-word. He did this twice in his comments while retweeting other posts — in one case the original tweet to which he responded was deleted at some point after being posted — and in two original tweets from his account.

“Looking back now, I’m ashamed of what I did tweet,” Irsan said when called about the matter. “I don’t think I was in the right to say that, but people have to understand that I was younger.”

Alongside those four tweets was one between Irsan and another user from January 2015. In this tweet, he responds to a user referring to him as their “gay friend” by tweeting, “don’t play games with me u know id rather die then be gay but you have your mom don’t u.”

Irsan is neither African American nor does he say he identifies as gay.

Irsan said despite his tweets he does not have nor has ever had any problem with homosexuality and supports LGBT rights.

“My views have never changed. I am a firm believer that you can do whatever you want with your body and that doesn’t concern me,” he said.

Before being brought to the attention of The Cougar, the tweets had not been discovered by the UH community at large nor had they gone viral by any means. Monday evening, none held more than a single like, comment or retweet.

“I don’t believe in dirty politics in this campaign, but apparently my opponents don’t share those same values,” Irsan said.

With the SGA vice presidential debate happening Feb. 16, Irsan said he worries these tweets will be used against him by his opponents during the debates in the lead up to voting, which lasts from Feb. 28 to March 2.

“They’re gonna say it wasn’t a joke even if it was and go after my party, who has worked hard and has great ideas and enthusiasm for this University,” Irsan said. “I know my opponents will bring this up that those are my stances when they’re not and prey on people’s fears and prejudices.”

In a written statement delivered to The Cougar Monday, Irsan followed up on his tweets, saying he attributes his use of the N-word to having spent several years as an adolescent living with an African American family and alongside many African American teens because of Child Protective Services. According to him, he never said these words in conversation but he became acclimated to the word and at the time did not recognize the harm in using it as he did on Twitter.

“In hindsight that was a wrong assumption,” Irsan wrote. “But it is the one I humbly present to you, the students of the University of Houston in hopes of seeking your forgiveness.”

Irsan also went on in the letter to apologize for his comments regarding homosexuality, writing that he has gradually learned since then about the impact of statements like that.

“I believe that everyone is equally deserving of respect for their choices and would go as far as to say those who have come out deserve even more respect for standing up to societal norms and truly being themselves with no regard to how others see them,” Irsan said, closing the letter. “I see their bravery and courage as a standard we should all aspire to be like, myself included.”

Since he spoke with The Cougar Monday, all five of Irsan’s tweets have been erased from his Twitter account, which was also set to private.

Irsan said Coogs Unite was not aware of the tweets before being contacted by The Cougar.

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“SGA vice presidential candidate’s tweets containing racial slurs resurface” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

A student was robbed of their cellphone early Monday evening while crossing the street at the intersection of Calhoun Rd. and Wheeler Ave by two suspects, according to a security alert sent out by UHPD.

The suspects approached the student walking in the opposite direction and struck her before grabbing her phone and running in the direction of University Blvd.

The whole incident was reportedly witnessed by one bystander, who described the two suspects as young black males who were approximately 5’4 to 5’5 and wearing dark clothing. Neither of the suspects were armed, according to the report.

More to follow.

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“Breaking: Student robbed near Calhoun and Wheeler” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

With the Graduate Student Bill of Rights, students aim to ensure more transparency and communication with the University in regard to scholarships, stipends and healthcare. | Corbin Ayres/The Cougar

After an incident at a financial stability panel last year sparked frustrations within the graduate student community, the Graduate and Professional Student Association took matters into their own hands.

Modeled after the U.S. Bill of Rights, graduate students at UH have created their own Graduate Student Bill of Rights in a push for better treatment and more communication from faculty and the University.

“They told a student getting paid $400 a month with a family of four to budget better,” said GPSA Treasurer Jesus Cruz-Garza, who was president of the organization at the time.

GPSA President Sydnee Spruiell Eldridge said this was the event that sparked the students into action. 

“It seemed a little tone-deaf,” Eldridge said.

The Graduate Student Bill of Rights is designed to aid in situations when students feel they are subject to unreasonable treatment. If passed, it will lay out expectations students have of the University so they and faculty know how to proceed when problems arise.

This is done through the nine rights granted to all graduate students in the document. It addresses transparency about student scholarships, as well as ways to solve issues students have with health insurance stipulations. 

“(It) will give graduate students something to lean back on if they feel they are being mistreated,” said Eldridge when she pitched the bill to SGA Jan. 23.

Request for clear communication 

Every year, international students flock to UH with hopes of getting a Tier One education. These students pack their bags and leave their loved ones to live in Houston.

One of GPSA’s goals with the proposed bill is to increase overall transparency and awareness to international students in an effort to give them some peace of mind during their time at UH.

“Coming from a different country, I don’t know what type of rights we actually have,” said Cruz-Garza, a Mexico native.

He said that uncertainty leads many international students to believe it’s the norm when they see their U.S.-born peers also receiving poor pay and being overworked.

On top of that, most international students have to face uncertainty with their scholarships, which are only guaranteed for three years, said education, curriculum and instruction international graduate student Glenda Wui. International students come here on the notion that UH will pay for the first three years of their education, then if funding allows, they are granted money to finish their degree.

“It’s terrifying to know that,” Wui said. “We are on our toes to make sure we make it to the fourth year.”

The Graduate Student Bill of Rights proposes immediate communication from the staff to the student in an event where funding isn’t likely for the entire duration of their degree in the bill’s ninth granted right. 

Through this, faculty has to communicate with their students about the likelihood of whether or not they will be able to continue to support the student to the end of that fourth year, Eldridge said.

Insurance

One other obstacle that graduate students are hoping to overcome with the Graduate Student Bill of Rights is the difficulties they face with medical insurance.

Of the $16,000 a year that the majority of graduate students make, $2,500 is owed to medical insurance in a mandatory fee from UH, Cruz-Garza said.

“It is a big chunk of the salary, and it really impacts the quality of life here in Houston,” Cruz-Garza said.

He went on to explain that some students are having to move every few months because they can’t afford to pay rent, insurance and for food with just a small stipend.

While the document won’t have the power to lower insurance rates or raise the students’ stipends, Eldridge said it will give students a say in the discussions about these issues and call for reasonable wages.

“The right to access affordable and comprehensive health insurance and housing options” is the fourth right in the Graduate Student Bill of Rights.

In addition, the ninth right listed above would give the graduate students the chance to be in future discussions about possibly changing the medical insurance plan to be more affordable for all students.

Dean of the Graduate School Sarah Larsen acknowledged the problems graduate students face with insurance and said she and UH are working on improving the issues involving health insurance.

“There is a lot of support for it,” Larsen said. “I wasn’t here for a week before I heard about how problematic health insurance is for the students.”

What’s next?

At this point, there are only a few steps left before the Graduate Student Bill of Rights is official.

SGA President Cameron Barrett explained how SGA and GPSA  have had to collaborate to make the document possible.

“Early on, (Eldridge) came to me in order to unionize the governing groups on campus to tackle the issue together,” Barrett said. “We realized we couldn’t unionize, but we wanted to make some sort of bill of rights. So I set up the meetings between her and Provost.”  

From this meeting, Eldridge then went to Larsen to form an ad hoc committee about the Graduate Student Bill of Rights. This means that Larsen, Eldridge, Barrett and assorted faculty all came together to initially lay out what the document would entail.

After this, Eldridge and Barrett presented the idea to SGA in a quick brief Jan. 23. SGA is voting on whether or not to pass the document in the meeting Wednesday.

On Jan. 31, GPSA held a roundtable on the subject. All graduate students were invited to attend and voice their concerns about both the program and the Graduate Student Bill of Rights. Larsen was in attendance as well as all of the GPSA staff members advocating for the bill.

Once this goes through, GPSA will submit the bill once again to Larsen as well as the UH Provost Paula Short. If they approve it, the bill will then move to the last two steps.

First, the bill will go to legal counsel. This is where UH lawyers look at the document and see if it can be legally be approved. Then finally, it will be taken to the Graduate and Professional Studies Council for faculty approval, Eldridge said in her roundtable brief to the graduate students.

If not, the bill will continue to get revised until both faculty and student representatives in GPSA agree on the final product.

“My hope is that the final document will provide a general framework of principles that will guide future policies focused on graduate student success,” Larsen said.

While the bill still has a long way to go, students like Eldridge and Cruz-Garza are motivated enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“I think now is a really good time for students to speak up about this,” Eldridge said. “We need to strike while the iron is hot and tell them right now this is a problem.”

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“Graduate students want more University protections” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

UH researchers have developed a silicon polymer material that allows for the easy removal of ice from treated surfaces. | Courtesy of UH Department of Mechanical Engineering

As a polar vortex cripples the United States, UH researchers have developed a new material that could help prevent the billions of dollars in damages caused by icy weather conditions every year.

In a publication released through Materials Horizons, a UH research team announced the creation of a durable coating that ice can’t adhere to. The material, a silicon polymer coating, was created using a theory the team has dubbed “stress-localization” in their paper.

“You put in the properties you want, and the principle will tell you what material you need to synthesize,” said Hadi Ghasemi, a Bill D. Cook assistant professor of mechanical engineering and an author of the report.

According to the research team, the theory can be used to bypass the long process of experimenting with new materials by modeling them beforehand.

Using the modeling system, the research team has been able to develop anti-fouling materials, meaning they prevent organic build-up on wet surfaces, Ghasemi said.

Ghasemi worked on the project along with a team of researchers from the UH Department of Mechanical Engineering and Daniel Araya, a former UH faculty member and member of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

While the theory proposed in their research could be used to develop other materials, the primary focus of the project is the development of an ice-repellent coating.

Ghasemi said he’s developed materials like it in the past but hadn’t overcome the problem of ice’s strong adherence until the research team developed their theory. The current iteration of the modeling system and material took around a year to develop, Ghasemi said.

The material is durable, able to withstand abrasions from sandpaper and a file and is able to remove ice by cooling it and allowing water to freeze on the surface, which allows for easy removal, as shown by Ghasemi here.

This material could effectively protect aircraft from frost by allowing the flow of air to remove ice buildup on the material, according to the research team. The coating is also strong enough to stand up to ultraviolet rays, which is important for aircraft that face exposure from the sun.

“There is a wide range of applications for these anti-icing surfaces including aircrafts, infrastructures, power transmission systems, ships and vessels traveling in the arctic, automotive industry and households,” Ghasemi said.

The coating could reportedly last up to 10 years without reapplication, according to Ghasemi.

“Freezing rain and ice are becoming more frequent in the northeast,” said Robert Talbot, professor of atmospheric chemistry at UH and Director of the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science. “This is due to warming where instead of snow precipitation, freezing rain falls.”

Ice created by freezing rain can cause significant damage to power lines by weighing them down and can create slippery surfaces on the road.

“This is very treacherous for driving and walking, so a material to make it safer would be welcome,” Talbot said.

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“UH research team develops new ice repellent technology” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

All three robberies happened south of Wheeler Ave.

River Phillips sat in his car in a dark corner of the Bayou Oaks parking lot. He’d just finished a phone call with a friend when two men opened his passenger and driver’s side doors. They pointed a gun at his face and demanded his phone, wallet and keys.

He gave them his wallet and phone, leaving the keys in the ignition. When the robbers couldn’t figure out how to unlock his phone, they gave it back and demanded he get out of the car to do it himself. Phone in hand, Phillips saw the robber glance away and took his chance to escape.

“As soon as the guy with the pistol looked into the car, I took off,” Phillips said. He ran to the back entrance of Bayou Oaks shouting for help while the robbers sped off in his Pontiac G6.

Phillips, a management information and marketing senior, was the third and final victim in a string of robberies that spanned two weeks in early January across campus parking garages and surface lots. All three robberies happened south of Wheeler Avenue and involved suspects taking the victims’ cars.

A student was rollerblading on the top floor of the Cullen Oaks garage Jan. 7 when he was attacked by two suspects after refusing to give them his phone and car keys.

The second robbery happened the evening of Jan. 12 in Lot 4A, when five suspects demanded a student’s keys at gunpoint before fleeing the scene on foot and in the victim’s car.

Phillips’s robbery occurred three days later, less than two blocks away.

Many students found themselves on edge from the resulting flurry of security alerts that had punctuated their first week of classes.

“I was definitely a little scared,” said biochemistry freshman Zaimab Asif. “This is my first time parking on campus, so I was feeling a little unsettled.” 

Search for suspects

The same morning that students received the email alert about Phillips’ robbery, UHPD Chief Ceaser Moore Jr. announced that campus security and police patrols would be increasing as they worked with HPD to track down suspects.

At the time, one arrest had been made: the driver of the vehicle in the second robbery who was apprehended within an hour and a half of the incident, according to UHPD.

“I want to reinforce our commitment to campus safety,” Moore said in an email to students and faculty. “Any crime against any member of the University of Houston community is a crime against all of us.” 

Six days later, Moore announced in a video to students and staff that eight of the 10 suspects had been caught and charged in connection to the robberies.

“Hello Cougar family,” Moore said in the video. “Last week, I informed you about three robberies on our campus between January 5 and 17. Today, I want to provide you an update. All three cases have been solved.” 

The video also revealed that all guns thought to be used in the robberies, specifically the final two, were in fact toy gun replicas.

As of late last week, a ninth suspect, a juvenile, has been arrested and charged in connection with the robberies. None of the suspects were involved in more than one of the robberies, according to UHPD.

Both suspects in Phillips’s robbery — David Augustine, 18, and a juvenile — were apprehended Jan. 17, two days after the incident took place. According to court records, UHPD obtained surveillance video and still photos from the scene and, with help from HISD PD, identified the juvenile in the pictures and an address where they might be able to find them.

After following leads to several addresses and speaking to a landlord, the suspect’s sister and a former teacher, police arrested the juvenile. Investigators were able to identify Augustine, who has no previous criminal record, through witnesses they spoke to during their investigation.

Isaiah Urdy, 18, was already in jail when police charged him for the robbery at Cullen Oaks, which occurred seven days before the attempted burglary of a motor vehicle charge that he was facing then.  The suspect’s rap sheet dates back to 2017 and includes several felony charges, including aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, evading arrest and trespassing, according to court records.

Increased awareness

Although aggravated robberies on campus may seem like frequent occurrences, UHPD’s crime log shows that there have only been three aggravated robberies reported in the past 60 days. Two of these incidents occurred in the first week of school.

Nonetheless, the incidents were a wake-up call for students.

“I was definitely more aware than afraid,” said advertising freshman Meriem Madi. “I was on edge.”

After the robbery in Lot 4A, UHPD told The Cougar the department was in the middle of hiring four new officers for high-visibility ATV patrols as part of an initiative that was planned and approved beforehand and was not directly in response to the robberies.

All cars that were stolen during the robberies were recovered within hours of each event, according to UHPD. Phillips’ car, however, was found wrecked with the headlights broken, the front passenger side of the car torn and parts of the bumper hanging off.

“I’ve been having to Uber everywhere because my driver’s license was in the wallet, too,” Phillips said.

Urdy is awaiting his court date, set for Feb. 28, and his bond is set at $1,000. Augustine’s bail currently sits at $30,000, and his court date is set for March 6. Phillips is unsure whether he will testify at Augustine’s and the juvenile’s hearings.

UHPD is still working to track down the final suspect.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Two weeks, three robberies, 10 suspects: UHPD makes headway in cases” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar

While University proceedings were largely unaffected by the 35-day federal government shutdown, students whose parents went without pay during that time suffered as a result. | Laura Contasti/The Cougar

After 35 days without pay, federal employees returned to work Monday thanks to a short-term bill that will fund the government for the next three weeks.

Signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, the bill is set to provide back pay to the 800,000 federal employees who have been affected by the partial shutdown — a relief for students whose parents work for the government.

“Both of my parents represent the two types of workers affected,” said honors biomedical sciences senior Alexander Le. “My dad works in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and if the shutdown had continued into mid-February, he would have likely been furloughed as the office runs out of funding.”

Le is one of the many students at UH who has been adversely affected by the shutdown.

“My mother works as a small food store owner in an IRS building that was closed during the shutdown, and though she wasn’t a direct employee, she was one of the millions of contractors that were affected and will not regain any income back from the shutdown,” Le said.

Despite being a part of the longest government shutdown in American history, however, most students at UH have been living life as usual.

“I haven’t been affected because neither of my parents are government employees, but I don’t ignore what’s going on in our country,” said psychology sophomore Rachel Reynolds. “I try my best to stay informed.”

The University itself remained largely unaffected by the shutdown.

Some faculty members whose research is funded by federal grants from the National Institute of Health, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation or other federal agencies likely were affected by the federal shutdown, said associate professor Jennifer Hayes Clark.

“The shutdown also put a halt on funding applications to these federal agencies by UH faculty,” Hayes Clark said.

Departments such as Veteran Services were untouched and will remain fully funded for the rest of the fiscal year, said U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie.

Likewise, the shutdown had little to no impact on students’ financial aid, according to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

“The United States Department of Education was open and funded, so federal aid, such as Pell Grants and Direct Student Loans were not impacted,” said Carl Gordon, Assistant Director- Advising of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Though loans and grants were not impacted, some students reported issues with filing for their FAFSAs.

“A system malfunction involving the IRS tax transcript retrieval tool made me miss the priority financial aid deadline,” said psychology junior Alyssa Rice.

The biggest effects felt by the Financial Aid Office came from shutdowns at agencies related to the school’s processing requirements, the IRS being one of those agencies.

All offices at the Financial Aid Office are up and running, Gordon said.

Students who were severely affected or experienced a significant amount of income or benefit loss are advised to speak to a financial aid adviser.

Though the partial government shutdown has been temporarily ended, worries remain among students and parents for what’s to come on Feb. 15.

“As long as congresspeople are able to get paid for not being able to do their job while ordinary workers suffer the consequences, I don’t think we can ever be relieved,” Le said.

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Government shutdown causes issues for some students” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar