“There’s a big difference between politics and issue-based advocacy,” said James Lee, president of the TFN chapter at UH. “We definitely feel the need to bring up different issues that our representatives in Congress or our Senators can’t because they are limited to different political agendas.”

The organization has teamed up with the LGBT Advocates, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender organization on campus to educate students on a number of progressive issues, such as sex education and LGBT equality  —  two of their main concerns. Yesenia Chavez, new president of LGBT Advocates and active member of TFN, said UH is a great place for advocacy because of its diversity.

“This is something we should be focusing on our campus because it is so diverse,” she said. “A lot of people on campus aren’t really politically motivated; they’re just apathetic towards politics. (It is) a really sad fact that the youth are not involved in politics as they should be.”

In an effort to bring more activism to UH, the two organizations will be co-hosting a Valentine’s Day event called “Kiss In.” Their goal is to rally 214 people at Butler Plaza, in front of M. D. Anderson Memorial Library, between 12:30 to1 p.m., to commemorate a march held last year in support of LGBT faculty and staff. This year, they’ve made things a little sweeter.

“We’re bringing attention to the fact that our LGBT faculty and staff aren’t treated equally to their heterosexual counterparts,” Lee said. “We’re getting all these students from different organizations and different parts of campus to come, show up on Butler Plaza and at a specific time everyone is just going to kiss. It’s going to be this big thing just to show support.”

Kissing is not mandatory nor will it be the only way students can participate. There will be signs in shape of hearts and lips that read, “I support my LGBT faculty because…” and students will be able to fill in the blanks.

“The students who come to the event can fill out these posters and make it something that they really believe in or that they really feel passionate about,” Lee said. “We’re also going to be passing out condoms because (sex education) is one of the things we do as a student chapter. We make sure people have a means to get contraceptives.”

TFN also plans to host a music festival later in the year and will continue to be an available source for students who want to become more politically involved or reach out to the community. And although Chavez encourages people to become more involved, she says education is the ultimate goal.

“The more people that are involved in this, the more we’ll be able to do,” Chavez said. “The most important part of this organization is to get information to students so that they can get mobilize on their own if they wish to do so.”

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The program “Let’s Talk” is open to all UH students, faculty and staff and is recommended for students who aren’t sure about counseling, students who have a specific problem, students who want guidance to help a friend with an issue and faculty or staff members who are concerned about a particular student or individual, said Kay Brumbaugh, outreach coordinator and psychologist.

“We understand that meeting with a therapist can be anxiety-provoking. What’s great about ‘Let’s Talk’ is that it’s a drop-in service where students can have informal consultations without committing to therapy,” Brumbaugh said.

“What we have discovered is that some students feel more comfortable after ‘Let’s Talk’ and decide to make a follow up appointment at CAPS for continued services.”

After the 15 minute session, a therapist will make recommendations as to what the best option for help would be, which may be a referral to CAPS, another UH department or an outside agency, Brumbaugh said.

“I believe this program will absolutely help students with their problems,” Brumbaugh said.

“It’s a great opportunity to casually speak with a therapist, hear what recommendations they may have, and see how counseling might help.”

The “Let’s Talk” therapists are staff from CAPS and consist of licensed psychologists, post-doctoral fellows and advanced graduate trainees in counseling and clinical psychology, said Brumbaugh.

For more information on this and other CAPS programs, go to www.caps.uh.edu/.

Recreational events included sporting clays shooting, helicopter rides, battle re-enactments, military equipment displays and war dog demonstrations.

Buck Collins, who served for 24 years in the Special Forces, found solace in coming to support his fellow wounded warriors.

“I’m with the Jasper Wounded Warrior Association,” Collins said.

“I was wounded over in Iraq, and we’ve all been wounded in Iraq and in Afghanistan… and we’re happy to come out here and be here.

“Now’s our time when we can give support to our brothers and sisters in need.”

One of the services Homes For Our Troops provides is raising money to build specially adapted homes for wounded veterans.

“We have some very close friends that are very severely handicapped,” Collins said.

“And for them to get homes and be a part of those homes, especially at the vast costs we’ve seen… It’s a great thing.”

Each home costs approximately $350,000 to be totally adapted, said Ken Clifton, a Vietnam veteran.

Halls and doors have to be widened, roll in showers need to be installed, and carpet has to be replaced with other flooring.

“The government should be doing this, instead of us having to chase people and beg for money,” Clifton said.

“It’s like the house at Brooks Army Medical Center, (the Patriot Guard Riders) raise money every year to buy amenities for the wounded warriors. The military gives them housing, but it doesn’t give them anything else, and a lot of (them) need constant care.”

The charity raised close to $900,000, falling short of its $1 million goal for the weekend, but Clifton said that the event was worth it and means a lot to the veterans.

“For every penny raised out here, there’s more money toward the homes of wounded warriors,” Clifton said.

“And if you talk to any of them, you’ll never see nothing but a smile on their faces. Just seeing people out here participating to raise money for them makes their spirits soar.”

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Seniors Louis Casiano, Anna Gallegos and junior Audris Ponce, along with 21 other students, put out a paper covering local news in Tucson every day of the two-week program under the guidance and instruction of New York Times and Boston Globe editors and writers, Casiano said.

“When I got there, I was kind of nervous,” Ponce, news editor of on-campus newspaper The Venture said. “But (the staff) treated us with so much respect, and they were so approachable and down-to-earth.”

The students had to work 14 to 15-hour days in the newsroom set up at the University of Arizona.

“I am so grateful for the experience, but I was tired all the time,” Casiano said. “You have to be prepared to really work. It’s not a vacation.”

Fortunately, he found the experience to be “well worth it.”

“I really felt like a journalist. It felt so right,” Casiano said, describing a protest that he covered with a fellow student in which demonstrators had broken through a barricade in order to confront the police.

Ponce said the New York Times Student Journalism Institute program was a great learning experience,.

“I really grew, not just as a student, but as a journalist,” she said.

Gallegos, editor-in-chief of The Venture, heard about the program through the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, she said, and encouraged her fellow students to apply.

The program takes place annually during the first two weeks of January. Each year, the location of the program switches between the University of Arizona in Tucson and Florida International University in Miami.

The program paid for all of the students’ expenses.

“If there was anything we needed, they took care of us,” Ponce said.

Casiano offers this advice to the students who go next January:

“Be prepared to get edited and be prepared to take criticisms. It gets better.”

To view the students’ work online, go to http://tucson12.nytimes-institute.com.

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The event brought students from different colleges together as they competed to close auto insurance sales in mock situations with young adult customers.

The UH team, which consists of Grace Moceri, Daniel Rodriguez, Rebekah Elliott and Alex Lyons, placed second. Moceri also won first place for her work in the Sales Role Play portion of the competition.

Teams of students representing different countries came together on Saturday at Melcher Gymnasium to test their skills at the UH Mini World Cup.

The event brought together 10 teams to play more than 20 games in a seven hour period for two purposes: To bring awareness to a niche campus activity and to generate interest in a new club on campus.

“We’ve had a ton of people come out and support it, and that’s my favorite part,” said Julian Gomez, a marketing major.

“We are also generating a bunch of interest because a lot of people did not know that there was an indoor team forming.”

Gomez added that organizing with the tournament brought numerous benefits as he continued to develop the team.

Jose Pablo Ramirez, a management information systems major who has worked at previous Mini World Cups, elaborated on the benefits and origin of the tournament.

“We organized this tournament for numerous reasons; economically, we want to help pay for some of the expenses that come with forming a club, like jerseys, equipment and everything else,” Ramirez said.

“We got together and decided to change it a little, so we brought it (the tournament) indoors. Ultimately, we organized it to generate interest in the indoor soccer club here on campus.”

The tournament was also used as a scouting event.

As the indoor soccer club developed, Ramirez and Gomez agreed that a tournament of this magnitude would be an ideal way to gather players.

“We scout the games and if we notice someone special, we’ll send them an email so that we can contact them for future events and meetings,” Ramirez said.

“This is also why we’re trying to make money, so we can alleviate some of the economic pressure that comes with joining a team. It’s more appealing when you have good equipment to offer and a low membership fee.”

The tournament was initially rescheduled, creating numerous problems for the organizers who spent months planning the event.

Another problem organizers encountered was how teams would register and pay at the last minute.

“We’ve found that last-minute changes can challenge teams to make payment and registration deadlines,” Ramirez said.

“Some things are just out of our control.”

Gomez echoed Ramirez and said that in future events, he will be more strict with earlier registration deadlines.

Students interested in obtaining more information or joining the UH indoor soccer club can visit their Facebook page by searching University of Houston Indoor Soccer Club Team. They also hold scrimmages on Thursday evenings at Melcher Hall.

“This game is very different,” said Muhammad Alkassab, a Geology major and Netherlands team member.

“It requires a different skill, a better touch — and understanding of the game.”

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On Thursday, pharmacy students lined the grassy area by the University Center Satellite with multi-cultural splendor as they celebrated the 15th annual International Day Festival.

Students dressed up in cultural attire and served ethnic food to represent 11 countries from around the world, including France, Mexico, Italy, Japan and Vietnam.

“This is a celebration of our diversity and collaboration as a class,” said Trang Mai, event coordinator and pharmacology student. “We worked so hard since the end of August.”

The event, hosted by the graduate class of 2015, was run by pharmacy graduate students, who volunteered to represent their respective countries.

“111 of 112 (students) participated,” said additional event coordinator Brittney Bussell.“It gives us a chance to get to know everyone in our class and get to know where everyone comes from.”

The scene was filled with men wearing Indian kurtas, women donning áo dài Vietnamese dresses and South Korean Hanbok dresses. There was even one student sporting a beret to represent France.

“It supports our school and diversity,” said Thuy Vo, a first year graduate student. “We are a diverse group and have a lot of respect for different cultures.”

The festival raised money by selling food, with the class deciding on how all funds from the event will be spent.

According to Lamar Pritchard, the dean of the College of Pharmacy, the class of 2011’s  fundraising money was split 50-50, half going toward Japanese tsunami relief, the other half to the college itself.

“It warms your heart,” Pritchard said. “It’s a resurgence in our students in their charitable causes; investing time and limited funds.”

He said each class raises money throughout the students’ four years in the school. Each group of students makes a final decision on how to use it before graduating.

Aside from the traditional plates such as Mexican tamales, Thailand’s sweet and sour chicken, Italian pasta and Greek yogurt, the students entertained visitors by showcasing their talents.

“Each country was responsible for a performance,” said Diane Doan, another pharmacy school graduate student.

The event had students performing Vietnamese Vovinam martial arts, a runway show modeling their clothes and a special performance by the singing group Pharmony, who said their group is an awesome creative outlet from the sciences of the school.

“We have no ethnic majority in our college,” said Pritchard, as he spoke of the diversity in backgrounds, cultures and thoughts of the students.

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The College of Pharmacy gave back to the UH community Thursday when 56 of its Phi Delta Chi fraternity members set out to clean up the campus.

Students met in front of the Science and Research Building 1, where they put on latex gloves, grabbed trash bags and spread out across campus to pick up trash in several organized groups from 4 to 5 p.m.

PDC members Marwan Ahmed and Trang Tran paused while determining their routes to discuss their motivations for helping.

“We’re pledging for Phi Delta Chi,” said Ahmed. “PDC is all about service and giving back to the community, so cleaning up the campus is our method of helping out.

“PDC is a pharmacy-based fraternity, and it’s a professional fraternity. One of our projects in the pledging process is to do a service event, so we decided to help clean up our campus because we want it to look nice and to keep it tidy,” said Tran.

According to The American Pharmacists Association, October is American Pharmacists Month, which calls for a time to recognize pharmacists’ contributions and to educate the public and other health-care professionals about the role of pharmacists.

Part of being a Tier One University is taking note of such occasions and being involved in giving back, said Daniel Nguyen, a PDC member.

“We are trying to represent what a Tier One student should be like. We are graduate students so we want to show that we like UH,” said Nguyen. “We do a lot of service and usually go off campus, but this is one thing where we are actually on campus giving back to our own school.”

Pharmacy student and Vice President of PDC Thuy Vo organized the cleanup event in honor of Pharmacists Month and to let students know that The College of Pharmacy exists.

“We all had on maroon shirts. People kept coming up and asking us what we were doing; I think it was a good way of spreading the message,” said Vo. “I don’t know if there’s still going to be a ban on smoking on campus, but we picked up a lot of cigarette butts.”

While other fraternities from The College of Pharmacy are aimed at accomplishing a variety of things, PDC member Nancy Johnson sees her fraternity as one with a specific goal in mind.

“Each of the fraternities from pharmacy stand for one thing, and we are known for our service. We are even active with St. Jude,” said Johnson.

“All of the fraternities do good things, but we are just trying to give back,” said Nguyen. “I don’t think you usually see graduate students get out, because we are usually studying, but we want to show that we do get out.”

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The University was chosen for the competition from a pool of 50 schools and will run against the University of California Los Angeles, New York University and the University of Pittsburgh.

“I’m excited,” Account Director Kimberly Guel said. “There wasn’t that much advertisement for USPHS, and it is giving us an opportunity to do much more. We also have much more to work with. We were paving a new way for recruitment and advertisement for USHPS.”

Instructional Professor Larry Kelley is leading the students and said he looks forward to challenging them.

“The beauty of this particular curriculum is that every application process is real,” Kelley said. “They have a real client and real money to spend. They do real work, and it will be out in the market place.”

The campaign is currently in the briefing stage. The team presented its plan to its client Tuesday and will have to wait for approval to implement it.

“We’re focused and treating this as a real job,” Media and Public Relations Director Joseph Jass said. “Everyone at Cougar Concepts takes this seriously. We don’t think of this as a class — but as a job. We are getting paid to do this and execute this. So we want to do the best job possible. We are jumping in. We aren’t just tapping our toes in the water. We’re soaked.”

Participating students said they are working to surpass the set of challenges and expectations Kelley has set for them.

“He (Kelley’s) has asked for our commitment, and he made it clear that we are not just representing ourselves; we are representing the communications school and the University of Houston,” Guel said. “Our name is on it so it needs to be the best product we can produce. ”

The students involved will benefit from the experience and will also have a good addition to their resumes.

“In the end we will produce a plans book and we will be able to use this when we are looking for other jobs or internships,” Account Director Wenkin Siu said. “We will be able to say we did this and I did this.”

The competition will be graded based on results and creativity, and will conclude with a video chronicling every step of the competition.

“I’m going to go back and look at where I can improve,” Jass said. “Whether it be timeline or execution and use this as another step to starting a prosperous career.”

Go Coogs Day will display the meaning of The Statue of Four Lies and will take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Lynn Eusan Park.

The purpose of Go Coogs Day, an event created by both the Student Alumni Connection and the Homecoming board, is to unite the student body and educate the community about UH traditions.

“We want students to get more involved on campus by showing up to events and possibly joining some of the organizations or participating in traditions here at UH. This University is a great place to go to school, and gets better every year,” said Torin Garfield, the SAC Homecoming Chair.

This event will showcase the meaning of “The Statue of Four Lies”, and to encourage students to get more involved and give back to the University.

“I hope that this event starts a long standing tradition at the University of Houston that lasts for many years, but that all depend on student body participation,” Garfield said.  “We truly go to a school to be proud of, so come out one and all to show your cougar pride.”

To commemorate the event in UH history, organizers will cap the event with a photo opportunity.

“In honor of the significance behind the event, we will be forming a large Cougar Paw in front of Cougar Village with all of the students who come out,” said Cameron Bailey, president of SAC. “We will then take a picture of the group in the Cougar Paw and it will be displayed in various places throughout campus.”

The Bauer Graduate Real Estate Club is having its first general body meeting to how the current economic situation has affected the real estate market at 5 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the M.D. Anderson library.

The meeting will feature Dan Bellow, the president of Jones Lang LaSalle company, as its guest speaker.

“This presentation by Bellow will provide students with insight into commercial real estate in the greater Houston area and give them a feel for how the current economy has affected this market,” said Keith Richards, president of the Bauer Real Estate Club.

Students are encouraged to attend and ask questions at the end of the presentation.

“This event will hopefully increase awareness of the Bauer Graduate Real Estate Club and what we do, as well as generate more interest in the UH Bauer Graduate Real Estate program and Real Estate careers in general,” Richards said. “This event brings a highly experienced and knowledgeable person from industry to campus so that students may learn from this knowledge and experience.”

Bellow serves on the Jones Lang LaSalle’s Leadership Council and the Americas Executive Committee. He has more than 38 years of experience and received a Bachelor Science degree from UH.

“I believe that this will be a very exciting and informative event for all (those) who attend,” Richards said.

Students can RSVP in the Bauer’s Real Estate Club web page and admission is free.

UH continued its nearly decade-long tradition of ushering in a new school year as thousands of students, staff and alumni packed the University Center for The Cat’s Back event on Wednesday.

Students were treated to an afternoon filled with free refreshments, music from Houston’s New Hot 95.7 and giveaways sponsored by student associations.

The Houston Rockets, Dynamo and Aeros sponsored a slap-shot contest and gave away more than 100 free tickets to the former Calder Cup Champions 2011-12 season.

The afternoon was not all about free food and goodies.

The Cat’s Back was a chance for students to develop a sense of school spirit and become more aware of the activities and student organizations that are available.

“It’s somewhere where the whole school all gets to join together,” civil engineering sophomore Maria Gutierrez said.

“I’m having a great time and I love the free stuff.”

The Student Government Association was on hand to help drive that spirit forward with a Car Bash – an event where students have a chance to take a hammer to a late ’90s model Saturn that is lined with the names of the rivals on the upcoming football schedule.

The Cat’s Back is designed to “entertain, inform and inspire” students for the impending school year.

Each year’s event is centered on a theme that is selected by The Cat’s Back planning committee, made up of students and staff.

This year’s theme, “Be One,” encompasses aspects from the University’s new standing as a Carnegie-designated Tier One institution, as well as the sense of community that comes from being a part of something bigger.

Keith Kowalka, the chairman of The Cat’s Back and assistant vice president for student development, hopes many new and returning students will draw inspiration from such a theme.

“I hope for three things; one, that they’ve met friends, two, that they feel part of something larger than the event — that being the University of Houston — and three, that they really generally have a good time. Both from a social perspective but also from an educational perspective,” Kowalka said.

As much as this event serves as a school introduction for students, it is also a chance for over 520 UH student organizations to recruit new members.

“This event is a great chance to get our organization out there,” said Scott Gilbert, president of the American Advertising Federation.

“The more students we can get involved the better opportunities we can provide for our members,” Gilbert said.

The Cat’s Back is the official welcome event of UH.

It was founded nine years ago in 2003 by Kowalka and two other university employees because they felt that the school was missing something for the opening week of classes.

Understanding that UH is a commuter school, the group felt that a weekend orientation — which many universities have — would not be successful.

“The thing that was missing was some major event on campus that would be open to everybody,” Kowalka said.

“That was really the reason we started The Cat’s Back.”

According to the school’s website, the event is one of the single largest events on campus, as well as the biggest student organization fair of the academic year.

Preparations for such an event took a collaborated effort from all students and staff involved.

What began as an eight month process — starting this previous January and involving bi-weekly meetings between three event, marketing and budget committees — culminated into a popular, growing school tradition.

“It’s a great way to get people connected,” Kowalka said.

“It’s also a great way to set up their year in a positive way.”

The event, now in its ninth year, will have free food, games and music available for all students that attend.

There will also be an organizations fair with numerous students and a pep rally featuring the UH football team and marching band.

“The excitement and anticipation for this event continues to grow; it offers students the perfect opportunity to make friends, have fun and learn what Cougar pride is all about,” said Keith Kowalka, the Assistant Vice President for Student Development, in a press release.

For a full list of Cat’s Back activities and events, visit http://www.uh.edu/thecatsback.

The four teams competing in Seattle from April 8-12 are Team Righteous Noodle (Windows), Team STC (Xbox360), Team AAMP (Windows Phone 7) and Big Impact Bear.

Team leader of Righteous Noodle and computer science undergraduate Jack Chaiyakhom gave his ideas about the team and competition.

“My team competes in the PC/Xbox game design category,” Chaiyakhom said. “In the game design category, we can be creative and imagine a non-existing technology to solve an existing problem. The problems that I am referring to are related to UN Millennium goals. These problems include poverty, wide-spreading disease and lack of education.”

Team Righteous Noodle has created a game, Eva Frontier, which is a humanitarian mission game that involves delivering food and medicine to needy villagers.

“I believe my team will win this year,” Chaiyakhom said. “Eva Frontier is more original and has more depth than the games I have seen so far.”

The team’s mentor, computer science professor Chang Yun, explained his affiliation with the competition and how he and UH got involved with the Imagine Cup.

“Since 2008, I have taught Interactive Game Development courses and I have served as mentor every year since then,” Yun said. “It was back in 2007 when Bradley Jensen, the Microsoft Academic Relationship Manager, approached and informed me about the Imagine Cup competition. Since then, I have encouraged my students to participate in the International Imagine Cup competition each year.”

Yun talked briefly about the success of UH teams in the past and how they achieved high-ranking positions in the Imagine Cup competitions.

“We have been successful in this competition, one in top 20 in 2008, one in top 50 in 2009, four in top 150 in 2010 — and our new competition record is six in top 50. We beat our own record.”

Yun also described details about the competition itself.

“The Imagine Cup … brings together young technologists worldwide to help resolve some of the world’s toughest challenges,” Yun said. “The Imagine Cup compromises of five major technology competitions, including Software Design and four challenges.

“Competitors create projects that address the Imagine Cup theme, ‘Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.’ Started in 2003, it has steadily grown in size, where in 2010 more than 325,000 competitors representing 100 countries and regions registered for the Imagine Cup with 400 finalists coming to the worldwide finals in Warsaw, Poland.

“This is the first time the International competition will be held in the US,” Yun said.

Though the UH teams will be participating in both the national and international competitions, the team’s first task will be the US competition in Redmond, Wash., the location of Microsoft headquarters. After that, they head to New York City for the international competitions in July.

Even with the extreme competition coming in from the US and worldwide teams, Yun said the team’s chances of winning are similar to last year’s UH teams — they placed 2nd and 3rd in the Imagine Cup 2010.

“Despite the fact that the UH gaming program is relatively unknown, both internally and externally, the students’ skill levels and their games are highly competitive,” Yun said. “We expect both good results in this year’s competitions.

“There are two divisions — PC/Xbox 360 and Mobile. In the US competition, our games are contenders in both divisions. In the international competition, one of our teams has a significant chance to advance to the final (top five in the world). This is significant because only one US team has ever made it to the finals in the past three years.”

According to Yun, the teams already have the upper hand in the competition.

“This year, UH has the biggest representation, four teams in US, of any university in the US competition,” Yun said. “We also set a record in the international competition with a record of six teams ranked as top 50 in the world.”

Ranking in the top 50 and beating their own record makes it a guarantee that this year’s team will come out on top — which will hopefully lead to an awarding outcome.

First-place participants will earn $6,000 and a potential internship. Second to fourth place winners will earn a lesser amount of money, though they will still have the same internship opportunity.

Regardless of whether the UH teams take first place, Yun still wants his students to come away from this competition with more knowledge and experience.

“It will be a great experience for my students,” Yun said. “In the end, I want them to have successful careers. They may not end up having game-related professions, but having international finalists on their resumes helps.”

Yun wants everyone to realize how much work his students put into their games.

“In addition to other school works, my students contribute 10-40 hours per week to perfect their games,” Yun said. “It’s no wonder why UH teams are so successful in both national and international settings.”