THE DAILY COUGAR
T H E
O F F I C I A L
S T U D E N T
N E W S PA P E R
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Issue 37, Volume 79
H O U S T O N
S I N C E
1 9 3 4
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM
The final steel — the student and donor beams — were placed in the southeast corner of the new stadium on Monday. | Emily S. Chambers/The Daily Cougar
FOOTBALL
Stadium construction reaches high point UH places final two steel beams in place, which marks halfway point in construction Channler K. Hill Editor in chief
Head coach Tony Levine trades in his headset for a bullhorn at the topping ceremony for the new football stadium. | Emily S. Chambers/The Daily Cougar
About 40 minutes before the last two support beams — one signed by students and the other by donors — were placed in their new position supporting the University’s stadium, head coach Tony Levine stepped out of a meeting with coaches and staff members in preparation for Thursday’s game against USF to pay homage to another team of hard workers.
Levine told his staff that he had to thank the men and women who are on the project. “I’m fortunate that I’m able to drive by this facility twice a day — on my way in to work in the morning and on my way home late at night,” he said. The placing of the beams marked the halfway point of stadium’s construction, which will open August 2014. The student section will take up 5,000 of the available seats, some of which will be field level, putting the students closer to the game. According to the stadium website,
MILESTONES Nearing the opening ¸ December: The demolition of Robertson Stadium begins. ¸ July: The first steel was placed on the new stadium, symbolizing vertical progress. ¸ Monday: The final two steel beams were placed in the southeast corner of the eventual stadium. ¸ August 2014: The new stadium opens. For more photos from the stadium topping ceremony, visit thedailycougar.com.
STADIUM continues on page 7
CAMPUS
Threat keeps students out of class Jessica Crawford Assistant news editor
The Charles F. McElhinney Hall was evacuated around 12:45 p.m., according to students and the UH Department of Public Safety. An email sent from UHDPS at 2:11 p.m. said that the evacuation was linked to a non-specific handwritten bomb threat. By 7:30 p.m., UH Police Chief Ceasar Moore said UHDPS had swept all main campus buildings and no suspicious devices were found. Large groups of evacuated students and staff
awaited more information behind the Lamar Fleming Jr. building after being told to exit the building. Anthropology junior Sims Hardin said that news of the evacuation came just before his class started. “Three police officers came in and told people not to panic and that they had to evacuate the building. I think everybody was pretty confused,” THREAT continues on page 3
Student evacuate Charles F. McElhinney Hall after a letter threatening a bomb was found in the building. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar