Lorraine Schroeder is the director of the LGBT center. She is on a mission to end discrimination and increase awareness. | Courtesy of Lorraine Schroeder

Earlier this month, the College Student Educators International held its annual convention in Las Vegas for the American College Personnel Association’s award ceremony. CSEI invited hundreds of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Awareness directors  that have made significant contributions in that area.

Director of the UH LGBT Resource Center Lorraine Schroeder was awarded with this year’s Val DuMontier New Professional Award from the ACPA Standing Committee for LGBT Awareness. The committee highlighted Schroeder’s work to improve the social climate on campus.

“It feels great to win an award, but I’m glad that UH got the recognition for the different programs they offer to help better the students,” Schroeder said.

The Val DuMontier Award is given to professionals specializing in LGBT awareness that have been working in that field for less that five years. Schroeder has been working at the LGBT center for three years.

Because of Schroeder’s contributions to the community, she hopes her dedication will be recognized by the administration so the center can receive more resources to better help increase awareness. Schroeder is a half time director of the LGBT Resource Center and is making an effort to expand the awareness.

“The number one thing is to devote more resources for the LGBT center, and that can come in the form of making me full time and giving more help to the students,” Schroeder said.

The LGBT center offers programs for students to be part of the community and to help with diversity issues.

Pre-nursing freshman Devin Hill says he is excited that Schroeder received the award. He is proud of the LGBT director and that she is finally being recognized for the work she has done for the community.

“She devotes a lot of time,” Hill said. “It takes a lot to be who you are and to go out there and do the things that help the community and herself.”

Schroeder plans on educating students about diversity and LGBT awareness around campus. She feels that the most derogatory remarks are made against the LGBT students and staff. She welcomes students to the Resource Center and sends out newsletters so they can be updated and educated about the awareness.

“Students know that I’m always there and that I am involved with the community. I care about what’s going on with them and to let them know that they can come to me for help,” Schroeder said.

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Members of the music-loving community who spent the latter half of the week in Austin for South by Southwest missed a fantastic performance by Local Natives at Fitzgerald’s on Friday.

The Shout Out Louds, a Swedish band, performed Friday at Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden. The band played tracks from its latest albums “Work” and “Optica,” giving the audience a sound of its new music. Its performance was 30 minutes long, but the band managed to give the audience a good vibe that lasted thorough out the show and the rest of the night.

Festival patrons engaged in traditional Palestinian style dance. One of the goals of the festival was to break the negative stereotypes of Palestinians and Palestinian culture. | Aisha Bouderbaden/The Daily Couga

The unmistakable scent of flavored hookah smoke settled over Jones Plaza as loud drumbeats and fast-paced music met the ears of passers-by.

The third annual Palestinian Gala and Festival was well underway.

“The Arab-American community, for many years, has been misrepresented in American media,” said George Elhaj, chair of the Palestinian Gala and Festival.

“Most Americans have no opinion or a negative opinion. We face a very negative stereotyping. We want to show who we are and what we look like.”

Sitting on chairs and stone steps, Arabs of all descents, not just Palestinians, filled the Plaza. Men and women took turns singing on stage as large groups of people performed the dabke, a type of Palestinian dance.

“This is our attempt as Palestinian-Americans to keep our culture and heritage alive,” Elhaj said, “and expose our children to it as well as our American neighbors and friends.”

Palestinians — Christian and Muslim alike — have the desire to perpetuate the Palestinian culture, Elhaj said.

The festival did not just have cultural displays, but also had activities and booths. Vendors sold flags, books, clothes and trinkets. Other booths held activities for children, such as face-painting and henna.

One vendor, nutrition alumnae Lana Kesbeh, whose family runs a flag store on Harwin Drive, said this was her first year running a booth at this event.

Many booths were run by “self-supporting” Palestinians, said English and Spanish alumnae Marie Brignac, meaning that mostly everything that could be purchased at the festival would benefit the craftspeople and creators.

“Community-run and fair trade business appeals to me,” Brignac said. “Building and celebrating the community is important.”

Volunteers were present, collecting the entrance fee from attendees and stamping their hands.Omar Amin, a business and supply chain management senior and volunteer, said he is glad he volunteered and said he encouraged his peers at UH to attend as well and see “what Palestinian culture is about.”

“I volunteered to help a greater cause that serves the Palestinian community,” Amin said.

Elhaj agreed that UH students should take advantage of and attend this celebration of culture, no matter your heritage.

“It is my understanding that intellectual centers have a better understanding (of the Palestinian situation). UH, being an intellectual center, can help disseminate our image,” Elhaj said.

When the numbers are tallied up at the end of the event, Elhaj said he estimates the attendance to be at about 6,000.

“The three festivals have been a success,” Elhaj said. “The number is larger every year. The first year we had 4,000. The second year we had 5,000.”

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The Daily Cougar: What does it mean to be an artist in residence?

Bernard Roumain: That means that I am working with the Mitchell Center towards a creation of new work. It’ll be a series of new projects — the first one is “En Masse Studies & Etudes,” which is 12 five-minute pieces for musicians ranging from five to 500. We’re going to be doing “En Masse Studies & Etudes” with the marching band here at University of Houston. And I think that being in residence means that I’m coming here — I’m on campus, working with the campus and also doing projects off campus — connecting deeply with the community and surrounding communities. As is the case with “En Masse,” because we’re doing it at Discovery Green Park, and because it’s four hours long, a free event, this is a really good example of how this residency is taking performing arts work and making it relevant and accessible. And — I don’t think it’s an unfair word — easy.

TDC: What has working with the Mitchell Center done you and your art?

BR: First and foremost, you have the support. We have a wonderful staff, and you have an organization that can help you build relationships with other organizations — so you have access, and with all that comes great responsibility, of course, but I think being in residence here lets me dream and discover. …  I’ve always wanted to do a piece that was big and kind of brash and bold, and to put it in a public place — in some ways like an installation.

TDC: Last night the students of the UH marching band performed at Mid Main; how did that go?

BR: It was fantastic. You had a dozen or so, really brave students out there playing their music, and for me, it was important to see the reactions of people. … The reactions were everything from laughter and wonder, to excitement. You know, a sense of ownership, but in a good way — a sense of recognition. There’s something about the uniform, those instruments, the sound that I think a lot of people — myself included — find very reassuring. The uniform of a marching band, the instruments of a marching band, the music and cadences of a marching band, it’s just very reassuring, and it somehow speaks to nationalism, community, identity — for something that’s essential. I don’t think an orchestra or a ballet company walking down the street, doing their thing, would have quite the same response — it would have a response, but I don’t think it’d be the same one; it’d be something different. And that’s something important for me as a composer to recognize, and be able to account for in the piece “En Masse.”

I can say, I think I have accounted for it, because the very first piece in “En Masse Studies & Etudes” is very difficult — it’s very fast, but it’s very up-tempo — and it’s designed for everybody to be playing in unison. So I hope that actually happens, because it’ll be good for the piece.

TDC: What has it been like working with the UH students?

BR: They are so fearless — I saw that last night. They are really great performers. It’s such a different thing, because I work a lot with orchestras and classical musicians, and there tends to be a certain distance — even coldness in some ways. But these marching band kids, you tell them to do something — they go into a bar and play and get everyone’s attention and trust, and they’re just brilliant. It’s so great to write music for musicians who can deliver — and they can really deliver. I didn’t even realize that as much as I did last night. It’s very cool to witness that.

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After a 20-year survey of his work, the Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series welcomed Tony Feher  to discuss his career and the inspirations behind his sculptures. Although he focused on work not displayed in the gallery, the ideas in the variety of his work remained a constant.

The purpose is to illuminate the beauty of common objects through its own state without having to transform or to recycle them, he said Wednesday.

“The great revelations of art are sometimes hard to find,” Feher said. “While walking one day, I noticed the color, shape and texture of these objects from an arm’s length, and I took advantage of them. All the components of a sculpture were just there.”

Often using bottles, colored water and tubes to intake and to reflect light, he also used blue painters tape in his work such as “A Day in Oaxaca” to create geometric shapes resembling stained glass and to imitate brush strokes.

“I wanted to make the color blue palpable,” Feher said. “I wanted the color, texture and atmosphere to come forth even through tape.”

Feher addressed the importance of utilizing space in a gallery and said he arranges his objects in a specific array to portray a certain familiarity in the items’ context.

“I let one object dictate its significance and let it lead to the next object, allowing us to make no judgments,” said Feher.

Sometimes described as a sculptor with a painter’s eye, Feher said he lays his pieces in the gallery with a perspective much like a pop-up book.

“I love the play of scale in my galleries,” he said while describing his one of his large-scale works, “The Big Red Wedge.”

“Everything in my work stands in its own field of reference, and I am so blessed to have gallerists who let me take chances.”

Painting senior Hillaree Hamblin was fascinated by Feher’s use of simple everyday objects in his work.

“I particularly liked how he incorporated references to systems complex patterns and references to systems into his work using basic, readily-available materials,” Hamblin said. “Many of his ideas and concepts were really straightforward and simple, but the results were lovely and thoughtful.”

Hamblin was curious to understand how Feher used objects close at hand sometimes including trash, or “debris,” to represent an idea.

“Feher’s work exposes a lot of the students to new ways of thinking about concept, materials and what constitutes art,” Hamblin said. “It’s such an elegant exhibition, and we’re so fortunate to have it on campus.”

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Spring Break — even before the semester starts, students look forward to it. For some, the break will include partying with friends, while others catch up on homework and sleep.

Hotel and restaurant management junior Shantae Rudulph-Crosby will be taking care of her grandfather, who is dealing with a severe case of arthritis, in California.

“I am going to be taking care of my papa. My grandma passed away not too long ago and he’s dealing with arthritis too. I want to make him a lot of soups and help him feel better,” Rudulph-Crosby said.

Media production junior Joel Cirilo is an avid music enthusiast who will be attending one of Texas’ most popular music festivals. “I will be attending South By Southwest in Austin next week. I will spend Wednesday through Sunday out there watching live music, eating great food and indulging in adult beverages,” Cirilo said.

Kinesiology freshman Molly Delaney will be going back to her home in Galveston. “I’m just going back home to hang out with my family and catch up with them, I think most people will just try to go to the beach and relax,” Delaney said.

No matter where Spring Break takes students, they need to remember to keep their eyes open and make healthy choices, said Gail Gillan, the director of learning at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

“(Students) need to focus on healthy choices and staying with friends and letting them know where they are. If they are traveling, they should beware of and keep track of their surroundings,” Gillan said.

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From Veterans to students a wide range of audience members showed up to the Screening and discussion of the Invisible war a documentary dealing with the issue of rape in the military. | Aisha Bouderbaden/The Daily Cougar

To start off Women’s History Month, “The Invisible War,” a documentary on rape and sexual harassment in the military, was shown in the University Center Houston Room on Wednesday.

Put together by the Veteran’s Services Office, the Women’s Resource Center and the Student Feminist Organization, breakfast was offered as students and faculty learned about the problems the military are facing.

“The movie was emotionally powerful and persuasive and obviously brought up some important legislative issues,” said psychology and anthropology senior Jessica Broom.

The documentary tells the stories of a of women and one man who had undergone sexual trauma. When the movie was over, a panel that served in the military was set up so the audience could interact with it and ask questions.

Business sophomore and army veteran Robert Darigo, had worked with hundreds of military women in Walter Reed Army Medical Center for two years.

“These documentaries are made to get emotions out of people,” Darigo said.

The documentary revealed that Congress responds to the women’s case by ruling rape to be “an occupational hazard” of serving.

Broom said while rape is an occupational hazard in a hostile environment when serving in the field, it is necessary to have no tolerance for it within the military itself.

“I got out in 2005, and it seems to be getting better,” said Michael Huebner, army veteran panelist. “I think there is a lot of work to be done.”

The documentary reveals that more than 20 percent of women in the military report sexual assault or rape while serving, and retired Sgt. Yvonne Chapman was a survivor on the panel and pointed out that sometimes it’s “easier” for women to just not report because of the stigma that comes with that accusation.

Accusations of rape could mean the end of a woman’s career if the soldier accused was “popular” or a “favorite.”

“I’m speechless that Congress would rule that,” said Pfc. Lauren Bradberry, who is serving in the Army Reserve, about the documentary’s final statement.

Bradberry sat on the panel to give her insight on her experiences with sexual assault in the military and how to go about reporting the harassment.

“The military needs a real change from the top,” said a military member of the audience who did not want her name published. “Punishment and lack thereof allows people who are going to assault see that the penalty isn’t that great.”

“This program gave us the chance to work with the Veteran’s Services Office on a vital project that concerns both offices,” said Beverly McPhail, director of the Women’s Resource Center.

arts@thedailycougar.com

From Veterans to students a wide range of audience members showed up to the Screening and discussion of the Invisible war a documentary dealing with the issue of rape in the military. | Aisha Bouderbaden/The Daily Cougar

To start off Women’s History Month, “The Invisible War,” a documentary on rape and sexual harassment in the military, was shown in the University Center Houston Room on Wednesday.

Put together by the Veteran’s Services Office, the Women’s Resource Center and the Student Feminist Organization, breakfast was offered as students and faculty learned about the problems the military are facing.

“The movie was emotionally powerful and persuasive and obviously brought up some important legislative issues,” said psychology and anthropology senior Jessica Broom.

The documentary tells the stories of a of women and one man who had undergone sexual trauma. When the movie was over, a panel that served in the military was set up so the audience could interact with it and ask questions.

Business sophomore and army veteran Robert Darigo, had worked with hundreds of military women in Walter Reed Army Medical Center for two years.

“These documentaries are made to get emotions out of people,” Darigo said.

The documentary revealed that Congress responds to the women’s case by ruling rape to be “an occupational hazard” of serving.

Broom said while rape is an occupational hazard in a hostile environment when serving in the field, it is necessary to have no tolerance for it within the military itself.

“I got out in 2005, and it seems to be getting better,” said Michael Huebner, army veteran panelist. “I think there is a lot of work to be done.”

The documentary reveals that more than 20 percent of women in the military report sexual assault or rape while serving, and retired TSgt. Yvonne Chapman was a survivor on the panel and pointed out that sometimes it’s “easier” for women to just not report because of the stigma that comes with that accusation.

Accusations of rape could mean the end of a woman’s career if the soldier accused was “popular” or a “favorite.”

“I’m speechless that the courts would rule that way,” said SGT Lawren Bradberry, who is serving in the Army Reserve, about the documentary’s final statement.

Bradberry sat on the panel to give her insight on her experiences with sexual assault in the military and how to go about reporting the harassment.

“The military needs a real change from the top,” said a military member of the audience who did not want her name published. “Punishment and lack thereof allows people who are going to assault see that the penalty isn’t that great.”

“This program gave us the chance to work with the Veteran’s Services Office on a vital project that concerns both offices,” said Beverly McPhail, director of the Women’s Resource Center.

arts@thedailycougar.com

Some pieces took a few few weeks to perfect others took less than a week. |  Maritza Rodriguez/The Daily Cougar

Nonstop twirls and the rhythm of music showed audience members that the students from the School of Theatre and Dance are not just a bunch of pretty faces. The public was welcomed to sit and watch short works that were choreographed and danced by students.

Monday March Madness was held at the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre. It featured an informal showcase of the students’ abilities. Dance professor Karen Stokes said the program helped the students show their unfinished work so the audience could get a glimpse of their progress.

“This is a chance for them to show their works in progress as a warm up opportunity for the upcoming shows this semester,” Stokes said.

The program introduced 12 choreographed works and used heavy dramatic lighting so the dancers could set the mood for the audience. Dancers also used different types of music that fit the individuality of their pieces.

While some dancers worked alone, others participated with their fellow classmates and helped them with their choreography. “S.I.R.” was a work created by dance senior Erica Henderson who also performed in “Dangle,” written by assistant dance professor Rebecca Valls. Henderson said dancing to another person’s choreography is different from her own work.

“I definitely enjoyed the other two works I was in because it was good to be somebody else’s sculpture,” Henderson said.

Like any dancer, each individual loved to show his audience his finesse and skill. Dance junior Katrina Woods loves to choreograph and thought the event was a good time to do it.

“When I found out about March Madness, I decided I really wanted to enter the piece I was working on and for the audience to view my progress in the dance program,” Woods said.

In some instances, dance routines can take many weeks to perfect, while others take less than a week to put together. Media junior Zondra Victor was one of the dancers who performed during the program. Her work, “Ego Altered,” took less than a week to choreograph, and her goal was to make the audience feel uncomfortable.

“I wanted to get that frustration out,” Victor said. “I used the intensity of my character so the audience can feel the anger and frustration of my movement.”

As the dancers bowed their heads to the round of applause, there was a sense of admiration among the audience. Students like education freshman Darnell Anderson said he was excited to see how the dancers worked and practiced their choreography.

“I loved how the students interacted with each other to help in one another’s choreography,” Anderson said. “You can tell they practiced really hard and pulled it off in the end.”

Dance senior Nadia Dosal choreographed her own work, “Soledad.” She said March Madness definitely helped the students and her practice more choreography for future auditions and to express themselves.

“It’s really important that the school gave us opportunities like this, since we are a choreography-based program,” Dosal said. “I’m very happy that they do present March Madness.”

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