In front of a crowd of thousands, presidential hopeful Ron Paul said if elected, he would make it legal for Americans to once again drink raw milk.

The GOP candiate came to Hofheinz Pavilion Friday to tell his supporters he was in the race for the long haul.

“Every once and a while, we’ll notice the media will come out and say, ‘when are you going to quit?’ And, I say, ‘we are only getting going,’” he said.

“They say, ‘everyone else is dropping out,’ and I say, ‘yeah, they ran out of money, and they ran out of supporters, and nobody comes to their rallies.’”

Paul took to the podium dressed in a red polo and jeans that juxtaposed with the men in suits that introduced him and greeted the crowd with a thank you and “go coogs.”

His main talking points including decreasing the control of the federal government, ending the Federal Reserve Bank, his plan to fix the deficit in three years, ending the war on drugs and pulling out of wars.

“The message is of course the key issue and we can be very pleased that it is well received and of course we know that it’s well received by young people, but there are a lot of other people now, and all age groups and all kinds diversity that are enthusiastic about the liberty message,” he said.

Each point Paul made was met with chants from the crowd. One of the few comments met with “boos” was before Paul came to the podium when the CEO of UH’s Students for Ron Paul, who introduced the candidate, confessed he voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

The crowd went wild when Paul talked about ending the wars the U.S. is involved in and ,brining the troops home. An extra burst of applause came when a marine in the front row stood up to support his candidate.

“Accusations that have been thrown at me over the years, and probably at you as well, have been that if you don’t support the wars, somehow or another you don’t support the troops,” Paul said. “The question, if anybody asks about that, is ask them if that’s the truth, then why do the troops support Ron Paul more than any other candidate?”

John Beall, a mechanical engineering technology sophomore, said he was impressed by the rally.

“I wanted to see Ron Paul talk. I wanted to hear him defend his policies, and hopefully be inspired by his speech,” he said.

“He sounds like the only voice of reason amongst the presidential candidates.”

news@thedailycougar.com

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act is a bill that was passed in hopes of changing the unfair practices within the consumer credit plans.

What interested UH Law Center Assistant Professor Jim Hawkins was a revision to the 1970 Fair Credit Reporting Act, which said credit card marketing companies could not get information on anyone under 21 from organizations providing credit reports to offer credit cards. The bill also encourages limits on the promoting done by the companies on college campuses.

Based on Hawkins’ survey of over 500 students, 68 percent of students said they had received credit card offers in the mail within the past year, and 40 percent said they witnessed credit card marketing companies promoting gifts to students since the bill was put in effect in 2010.

“I was surprised that so many students reported they were getting so many offers in the mail,” said Hawkins.

The purpose of the bill was to make it harder for credit card companies to obtain people’s addresses, Hawkins said. He soon found out that wasn’t completely the case.

During his study, Hawkins also examined 300 credit card agreements between college students and credit card issuers. He discovered that about 64% of all the agreements evaluated had not changed since the bill was passed.

“In only two cases in all of the 300 agreements that I reviewed did I observe any mention of regulation as influencing the decision to end the agreement,” said Hawkins in a press release.

Despite his findings, Hawkins said the act is slowly having a bigger impact on credit card marketing companies.

If a student is interested in retrieving a credit card, Hawkins says they should know what they’re getting into.

“Credit cards can be really useful and really dangerous,” said Hawkins.

“It’s really easy to spend money on a credit card, so it’s important to be disciplined and not affect yourself and even your family members.”

news@thedailycougar.com

The vast majority of the funds raised by the event will go towards engineering scholarships for UH students, said UH alumnus and Adjunct Professor Benton Baugh, who was the vice-chair and treasurer for the event.

“Raising scholarship funds is a very important way to get kids through school,” Baugh said.

In addition to raising money for scholarships, the event brought about 6000 professionals on the UH campus, Baugh said.

“It’s a very good public relations event,” he said.

news@thedailycougar.com

The third and fourth levels of the garage are for students, the second is for faculty and staff, and the first floor will be open to visitors for an hourly rate.

Any UH students, faculty or staff with a current parking permit may park in the garage until the end of the summer semester.

The garage is located on the corner of Cullen and Holman, and will feature 2273 parking spaces and, eventually, retail space on the first floor.

The retail is still under construction, but will open by fall 2012, the release said.

Students, faculty and staff can register for a Stadium Garage permit online at www.uh.edu/parking.

news@thedailycougar.com

CAPS will provide free anxiety screening to students.

During the event, students will be able to make their own stress balls, eat free snacks and take part in free relaxation and meditation sessions at noon and 1 p.m.

Students can also enter to win a massage gift certificate or a bowling party at the event.

news@thedailycougar.com

energy drinks from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday in the M.D. Anderson Library.

The event, called Finals Mania, will also feature board games and free massages.

Visitors will include the UH Marching band, Shasta and Sasha, UH President Renu Khator and several UH Deans.

Finals Mania is free and open to all students with a valid student ID.

news@thedailycougar.com

The amendment, which was proposed by SGA Chief Justice Taylor Kilroy, would prevent students from being tried in the Student Government Court of Appeals by the same people in the University Hearing Board for the same incident.

“If we had a scenario where, purely hypothetically, two candidates got in a fist fight, what would happen is the election commission would hold them responsible, as candidates. Meanwhile, the Dean of Students would hold them responsible as students,” Kilroy said.

“If these two candidates felt that these punishments were unjust or unwarranted, they could appeal them. The penalty as candidates from the election commission would go to the Court of Appeals, whereas the penalty from the Dean of Students office would appealed to the University Hearing Board.”

The issue, Kilroy said, is that the same students who serve on the University Hearing Board also sit on the SGA Court of Appeals.

“We can’t have the same people voting twice — that just isn’t fair. At the end of the day, that just doesn’t seem right. Especially in a scenario where there’s accusations of bias or something like that. You want entirely fresh eyes on both sides,” he said.

Because the SGA Constitution was created by the students, a student vote is required for the amendment to be passed, according to SGA Speaker Stephen Cronin.

The referendum may occur during next year’s general election or in a special referendum. Kilroy said the SGA wants to make sure the referendum is held at a time where students will be on campus and informed enough to vote.

Motorcycle legislation

Also discussed at the meeting was Graduate College of Social Work Senator Josephine Tittsworth’s bill that would allow motorcycles with only state issued handicap permits to park in UH handicap spaces.

Administration and Finance Committee member Isaac Norris said after talking to UH’s head of transportation, the committee learned that in order for a motorcycle to park in a handicap spot on campus with valid state permits, students just need a sticker on their license plates. The sticker can be obtained through the Department of Transportation.

Norris said the Department of Transportation is going to update its website to reflect this information.

news@thedailycougar.com

In 2006, the NIH awarded UH with an initial five-year grant for $7 million for the research, and a team of psychologists, educators, statisticians and neuroscientists from UH, University of Texas at Austin and UT Health and Science used the money to conduct a study on reading disabilities and develop curricula for use as treatment in schools.

“We’re always focussed on intervention studies and trying to figure out better ways to help children who are struggling with improving their reading,” said Jack M. Fletcher, the UH professor who is the administrative leader of the research team.

“In the previous project, we had studies of kids in middle school and studies of kids in the early grades.”

The research focussed on developing diagnostic methods for evaluating the children’s progress and the brain functions of children learning to read.

“We image kids over at the University of Texas before and after they participate in an intervention and measure the changes that happen in the brain as they learn,” Fletcher said.

“We’re doing what’s called functional neuro-imaging, which means imaging signals that we use to locate what parts of the brain are involved.”

In order to become skilled readers, children must develop a neural network between the visual and language centers of the brain.

“This is basically a network that gets built through experience,” Fletcher said.

“There are genetic (factors) on how readily your brain can adapt to reading.”

Sometimes, genetic factors will make it difficult for children to develop this network. These children are “at-risk,” Fletcher said, and can be treated in school with the kind of curricula the Texas Center is developing.

The research team has found that while children in the first grade react well to the curriculum, it’s more difficult for sixth graders.

“One of the things we demonstrated is that it takes a couple years to have a lot of impact on a sixth grader’s reading ability,” Fletcher said.

“So in the new study, we’re going to do interventions of kids in fourth grade … We want to see if we can’t do a better job in getting kids ready for middle school.”

news@thedailycougar.com

Activities, such as board games and free massages will be offered to students who need a break from studying.

The event will also have pancakes, turkey sausage and Monster Energy Drinks for students.

“Last year, we served (more than) 1,800 students, so we are expecting 2,000 students this semester,” said University Services Marketing Coordinator Billy Garner.

Stephen Fuller, a MIS senior, said he is ready for the event.“I have five classes I have to study for in order to graduate this semester. I will be living in the library all week,” he said.

“I’m glad UH is finally going to feed me for a change. I’m really excited to get a free massage too.”

The marching band, Shasta, UH President Renu Khator and several deans are expected to make an appearance.

“We all know how stressful finals can be. So, hopefully we can relieve some of that stress by providing some entertainment and delicious food,” Garner said.

Finals Mania is free for all UH students with student IDs.

“UH will say goodbye to a lot of graduating seniors this year, and I’m glad I’m one of them. I can’t wait till finals are over,” Fuller said.

“Freedom at last.”

news@thedailycougar.com

UH’s Lynn Eusan Park was filled with games, raffles and music as the Alumni Association threw a going away party for seniors Wednesday.

Sammy Butts, an architecture senior, said he enjoyed Senior Sendoff.

“This is a pretty good amount of people,” Butts said. “I wish there were a little bit more out there, but this is a pretty good turnout. It’s nice for the students to come out and enjoy it and participate and to see that there’s ways to stay connected even after they graduate.”

Cameron Bailey, president of the Student Alumni Connection, said the event serves as a final goodbye to outgoing seniors.

“Pretty much the goal is to have one last party to say goodbye to all the seniors and congratulate them,” said Bailey, a senior marketing major.  “We just want to give back to the seniors that are graduating.”

Not as many attended as expected, but Bailey said he sees the event becoming more popular in the future.

“I think some of the seniors like it,” he said. “I really feel like not that many seniors know about the event yet, but I think as we continue to have it, it’ll become more of a tradition, and hopefully people realize what we’re doing this for.”

news@thedailycougar.com

The two were inspired to become co-hosts of the show after discovering that they had a love for hip-hop and rap music ranging from the Midwest, to the east and west coasts — the name of the show then became an easy decision.

“I started my musical journey when I was a DJ in middle school,” Pechacek said. “I then started attending music concerts that inspired me to write about music.”

Ayala brings a fresh taste to the show by offering music suggestions. An avid concertgoer, he has found his niche in music as well.

“Listening to underground hip-hop is what I enjoy,” Ayala said. “The sounds of Dr. Dre and Jay-Z have really made me appreciate music. Talking to people has always been one of my favorite things to do. Now that I have a show where I can do both makes it all worth it.”

Pechacek and Ayala entertain their listeners by playing a variety of hip-hop music.

While the show plays music by popular chart-topping rappers of today, it also aims to please fans of old-school hip-hop as well.

DJ Screw, Outkast and The Notorious B.I.G. are just a few of the hip-hop veterans that the DJs like to include in their show. Both DJs like to keep their show modern by playing music from fan-favorite artists Drake, Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy.

The show gives both Pechacek and Ayala a chance to open up about their personal tastes in the hip-hop genre as well by conduct conversations over the air about the diverse styles of rap and hip-hop music from the different regions of the U.S.

Pechacek, who also writes for The Daily Cougar, likes to keep listeners informed about the music that “Coast 2 Coast” airs, so he makes sure to do his homework on his subjects.

“I get on music blogs an hour a day; it’s like reading the newspaper,” Pechacek said.

The two DJ’s also like to incorporate a little humor in their show.

One of the segments both Pechacek and Ayala have produced was a remake of R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet.” The two called their segment “Trapped in the Studio.”

The comical pair wants to stand out from typical rap radio shows.

“We like to inform our listeners with the knowledge of getting to know a mixture of every coast artist around,” Ayala said.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article mistakenly identified host Gregorio Ayala as Greg Orio.

Republican nominee hopeful, Ron Paul, will bring his campaign to UH at 7 p.m. Friday in the Hofheinz Pavilion.

The congressman, who represents Texas’ 14th district, will discuss his limited government platform, restoring American’s civil and economic liberties and “Plan to Restore America,” according to his campaign website.

UH is Paul’s last stop in his tour of Texas universities. He was at University of Texas at El Paso on Wednesday and will be at University of Texas tonight before coming to UH.

Paul is one of three candidates left campaigning for the Republican nomination to run for the US presidency. According to both Wall Street Journal and CNN, Paul is behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich when it comes to delegate support.

The event is free and open to the public, and to register for a guaranteed seat, go to ronpaulatuh.eventbrite.com.

For more information on Paul, go to www.ronpaul2012.com.

news@thedailycougar.com

This bill, written by Chief Justice of the SGA Court of Appeals Taylor Kilroy, deals with the fact that some of the students on the SGA Court of Appeals also sit on the University Hearing Board.

“Most of the time that’s cool,” Kilroy said. “It fails, though, when you have election complaints go to the dean of students.”

Students disqualified from SGA elections because of fraud could appeal to the University Hearing Board if they think university rules were broken during their original hearing. If this happens, Kilroy said, some of the students who heard the original fraud case would be on the bench at the next court.

“Fundamental ideas of unbiased tribunals and fair hearings are implicated when the same student members judge two different stages of the same matter,” the bill says.

The bill will be the first of many reforms to the SGA’s various codes and bylaws, but the rest of the reforms may not be so quick to appear, Kilroy said.

“We’re trying to make sure these are good changes and lasting changes,” Kilroy said. “It’s better to do a good job then a quick job.”

Bandoh set the task forces to work on the reforms partly in response to the problems SGA experienced during the last two election seasons, but they cover much more than the election codes; Bandoh said he wants SGA to “clean house.”

“Part of it does stem from elections … (but) we’re doing a complete overhaul of SGA,” Bandoh said. “If we’re going to be effective in the things we do, we have to clean up internally.”

The three task forces are going over the SGA constitution and bylaws, which govern the general operation of SGA: the election codes and procedures and the judicial codes. When the task forces finish their work, they will package the reforms together in one bill, which will be presented to the SGA senate sometime in the summer, Bandoh said.

“Hopefully the senate will pass it and send it to my desk to sign,” he said.

news@thedailycougar.com

Bauer School of Business students took six of the top 10 spots in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group Commodity Trading Challenge, a competition mimicking the world of energy trading on March 31.

The two-phase competition, organized by the Finance Association at the University of Houston, gives students the opportunity to simulate the CME’s trading floor, using hand gestures, shouting trading terminology and reacting to the fast-paced energy market.

The second portion of the competition gives participants the opportunity to meet with representatives of the industry.

“We put this event together so that students who are interested in commodity, options and equity trading industry can have a hands on feeling and meet companies and professionals who are currently in this industry,” said Yvette Cruz, finance and entrepreneurship junior and corporate relations officer for the association.

The first phase of the competition gives teams the opportunity to experience real-time electronic trading, and the second phase uses the open-outcry method commodity traders use when executing orders on their clients’ behalf.

“I love it because while getting to compete, you also get to network with traders and listen to what their job is really like behind all the glamour and money,” said Blythe Perez, pre-business sophomore and the third-place winner.

The competition judges participants based on how well they execute their clients’ orders and also awards scholarships.

“I personally met representatives from OTC Global Holding, Topstep Traders, Flow Traders, Shell, CME group (and) BP,” Cruz said.

“I learned about the different jobs in the commodity industries.”

Cruz, who competed in 2011 but was not able to this year because of her position, is already planning to compete next year.

“I love the experience,” Cruz said.

“I remember the feeling of waiting to hear your trader name and hear that you pass to the next and final round.”

Sameed Gagai, Alyson Quintana, Ben Barr, Pete Watson and Lateef Frierson were the other five Bauer students who placed in the top 10. The members chosen to compete began practicing in the fall.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” said Perez who is also the treasurer of the Finance Association.

“When can you say you hung out with traders of the New York Stock Exchange?”

news@thedailycougar.com

Marketing junior Colleen Seitz currently has an internship with UH’s Athletics and Marketing Department. She finds the environment comfortable and easy to work in.

“There’s no sort of, ‘You have to do the grunt work and I’m your boss.’ That mentality is not there at all. It’s very much, ‘If you need help, I’ll help you,’” Seitz said. “It’s kind of like a big family in a sense because I spend so much time with them.”

Seitz says she has gained valuable insight into the inner workings of a sports marketing position and is receiving hands-on experience with the types of projects she could face in her future career.

“They respect that we’re there to work and to learn,” Seitz said. “Anytime we express an interest in something, they’ll try to make an opportunity for us to learn if we haven’t been given that yet.”

For journalism junior Jennifer Pearson, her experience with the Houston Chronicle is much different. She has done photo galleries, but she has not received direct credit for her work.

“I’m stuck in a position where I’m kind of doing menial tasks,” Pearson said. “I know other students who have really good supervisors and are getting the work they need to show for their portfolio. It depends on the people that you begin with.”

She is obtaining credit through UH for the internship, but Pearson is not sure whether the experience is helpful.

“I paid for the college credit and if I get that credit, it’s fine. But the experience along the way to obtain that credit is not wholesome,” Pearson said. “While I’m not wasting money, I don’t think I’m wasting time.”

Anthropology senior Jene Harper believes the chance to gain experience outweighs the monetary expenses. He holds an internship at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and helps veterans adjust to civilian life.

“I’ve gotten life lessons and experiences that are much more valuable in the long run than financial compensation,” Harper said.

“The trade-off in spending that time and having the chance to gain the currency of human experience is far more valuable than getting $10 an hour.”

news@thedailycougar.com

More than $349.5 million will be used toward the construction and renovation of several academic and student facilities around campus, as well as for some off-campus sites.

One of the more anticipated is the estimated $80 million University Center Transformation project, which includes the UC and the UC Underground renovations along with the construction of two additional attachments on the north and east ends. Student fees will cover 95 percent of the money for this project.

“The result will be the complete transformation of this central facility which offers financial, functional and aesthetic benefits to a Tier-One university’s campus,” said project manager Katherine Miller.

“It will be the focal point for students, faculty, staff and visitors alike, and we aim for it to be the venue of choice on campus for all significant events.”

The east addition will be two stories and expand into parking lot 1E near Melcher Hall. The ground floor will include all food service operations, a bookstore support area and a new 400-seat theater for classes, movies and other events. The second floor will be composed of several meeting spaces, including two large event spaces, Miller said.

Also two stories, the north addition will be constructed over the UC Underground. The first floor will house most of the student organization spaces that currently reside in there. The second floor will include a new Student Government Association Senate chamber and other UC special components.

An elevated walkway will connect the north building to the UC, creating a multi-use plaza in between that will feature seating, a performance stage and a gathering space.

The main UC and UC Underground will be completely reworked to fix the current maintenance and code compliance issues and modernize the outdated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, Miller said.

The bookstore will be relocated to the east side where the food court currently resides and will also utilize additional basement space. It will not experience any downtime because of construction, Miller said.

The now-open arbor space will be enclosed and transformed into a multi-faceted central space. Several lounge and retail spaces will be added throughout the building, and all current offices and meeting rooms will be updated, Miller said.

The UC Transformation project will be worked on in two phases. The first phase will begin June 2012 and last through December 2013 – it will include the north and east additions as well as some renovations. The second phase will occur from December 2013 to December 2014 and include all the renovations for the existing UC.

Next to this construction is the approximately $41 million Classroom and Business Building. Construction on the first two floors will be complete for the fall 2012 semester, while the upper levels will be finished in spring 2013.

“It’s a multi-use facility. The first two floors will be used for general classroom use for multiple programs,” Miller said.

“Floors three, four and five will be for Bauer College of Business, primarily their executive MBA programs, and some student organizations.”

Near the current Optometry Center, construction is already underway on the approximately $80.5 million Health and Biomedical Building, which will house the College of Optometry, student and faculty research labs and offices for the faculty and graduate students. It will be completed for the fall 2012 semester, said project manager John Posch.

“The facility will serve as the home of an inter-disciplinary research program, which includes BSL-2 level containment area, ambulatory surgical center, specialized research area, seminar spaces and classrooms and vivarium space,” Posch said.

Approximately $38.7 million is being used for additions to the Central Plant, which is located at the center of campus near the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library and provides utility services to much of the campus.

“The expansion will accommodate three new chillers and a new office suite for the plant on the ground floor,” Posch said.

“The project also includes the purchase and installation of three new low NOx high-efficiency boilers, replacement of all four cooling towers and the addition of one new cooling tower.”

Construction on this project will begin pulling back and removing fencing in June 2012, but it will not be entirely complete until fall 2013.

Renovations and expansion to the Blaffer Museum will be finished in summer 2012 and will cost approximately $2 million. These include a new north-facing entrance and several changes to the galleries, Miller said.

“The expansion will be to the north and that will basically provide a more public entrance,” Miller said.

“We’ve moved the stairs to the north side of the expansion and we are renovating all of the gallery space so that it functions better and is basically up to twenty-first century museum standards.”

Construction is also taking place in the Science and Engineering Research Center building, where approximately $13.9 million is being used to insert more lab space on the second and fourth floors. The fourth floor will be completed in summer 2012, and the second floor will be finished in spring 2013.

“When they built it, a lot of it was what we call shell space, which is empty space,” Posch said.

“We’ve done a series of remodels to fit it out with labs over the years. So, we are finishing up the last two sections of it now.”

Also filling in space, an approximately $35.8 million build-out to the fourth floor of the Science Teaching Building will allow for additional research space and will be complete in Jan. 2013.

Several buildings will be undergoing life and safety upgrades, primarily fire alarm and sprinkler updates. These include the Lamar Fleming Jr., Old Science, Science and Research 1 and Science Teaching Lab buildings. The overall cost will be $57.6 million, and the construction will occur at various times through the fall 2013 semester.

Construction is also planned off-campus at the Energy Research Park as well as at other UH System locations, according to Director of Facilities Planning Mike Yancey.

news@thedailycougar.com

On February 22, an unknown attacker broke into La Nueva Casa de Amigos Eye Clinic’s database, which contained 7000 patient records from as far back as January 2006, from somewhere outside the U.S. and deleted the records.

“We have no proof that that information was copied,” said Chief Information Security Officer for UH and the UH System Mary Dickerson.

The information contained within the records included names, personal and contact information, medical information and insurance information. Although Social Security and driver’s license numbers and were not among the personal information that may have been stolen, affected patients are still encouraged to take steps to protect themselves from identity theft, said the announcement on the College of Optometry’s website.

“Please know that if anyone from La Nueva Casa de Amigos Eye Clinic contacts you by telephone about this incident, you will not be asked to provide or confirm your social security number, credit card information or driver’s license number,” the announcement said.

The reason there was nearly a month’s delay between the incident and the notification, Dickerson said, was that an investigation was undertaken first to ensure the accuracy of the information sent. Also, the notification process itself “took some time to address” due to how extensive it was, she said.

In response to the break-in, UH has sent letters to notify those whose information was compromised and is working with the clinic to instal additional network protections.

“There were many protections in place,” Dickerson said. “Unfortunately, there are many different ways that information can be compromised.”

While there were measures taken to protect the data beforehand, on-site UH databases tend have a much hardier security system.

“Because this was a remote clinic, some of those protections were not in place,” Dickerson said.

UH is working with law enforcement, including the FBI, to investigate the breach, Dickerson said.

news@thedailycougar.com

The lecture, given by Bruce M. Spiegelman, a professor from Harvard Medical School, will discuss Korsmeyer’s hormone research that identifies the benefits of exercise, according to a UH press release.

The lecture series will host five speakers talking about “Science Impact Health and Society.”

The event is free and open to the public.

news@thedailycougar.com

The event will feature live performances, refreshments, a film screening, games and a lecture.

Today’s event will include performances and henna, and will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Philip Guthrie Hoffman breezeway.

Wednesday will feature a showcase of Islamic art and architecture, an observation of Islamic prayer, games and prizes from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the PGH breezeway, followed by a screening of Jihad on Terror at 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Baltic Room.

Thursday will feature a multi-panel lecture titled “Before and After” on Islamic converts at 6 p.m. in the A.D. Bruce Religion Center, and Friday will be open congressional Muslim Friday prayer from 1:30 p.m. in the Religion Center.

news@thedailycougar.com

The report highlights how female administrators, faculty, staff and students are fairing at the University of Houston. In 1999, President Arthur Smith appointed the commission to explore the status of women in response to a harassment lawsuit, said associate professor of sociology and author Amanda Baumle.

“The UCW addresses issues dealing with faculty advancement for women, professional development issues for staff, child care on campus and policies that affect women on campus,” Baumle said.

For instance, the average salaries for tenure and tenure track faculty members are $89,250 for females and $109,566 for males. 60 percent of the staff members are female, with most working in administrative or student services, the report says.

In 2010, 50.1 percent of the students were female, and they also outnumbered men in the number of degrees earned — 3,839 compared to the 3,391 degrees awarded to males, the report says.

As a result of the first report, the UH community found it helpful in increasing awareness about gender disparities in leadership and salaries. However, it did not galvanize the campus community into action, said Director of the Women’s Resource Center Beverly McPhail.

“Today there seems to be greater momentum and a critical mass around gender issues with the recent submission of the ADVANCE grant to the National Science Foundation,” McPhail said.

“(The momentum comes from) the work of deans and chairs, such as the dean of engineering, Dean Tedesco and the physics chair Dr. Pinsky, to recruit and retain women, and the committed action of many women on campus — from the able leadership of President Khator to the work of the UCW.”

Reports like this are essential in pointing out where the gaps are in order to provide a blueprint to move forward. There are many ways the UH community can help and take action, McPhail said.

“Students, staff and faculty can read the report and share it with others. Students can ask their deans to make sure women are included as qualified candidates by all faculty search committees,” McPhail said.

“Professors can mentor female students, especially in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Students can attend more UH women’s athletic events and support increased funding for their coaches.”

The report is now available online at both the UCW website, www.uh.edu/ucw and the Women’s Resource Center website, www.uh.edu/wrc.

news@thedailycougar.com