Issue 22, Volume 85

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wednesday, february 26, 2020 issue 22, Volume 85

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Three generations

Sophomore catcher Kati Ray Brown is a third-generation UH athlete who’s finding success on the field just as her family has before. | pg. 2

NEWs

coronavirus hits close to home

some students are worried for their families in wuhan, china where the coronavirus outbreak became an epidemic. | pg. 2

OPINION

students need to use on-campus polls The hilton until friday is host to a early voting poll site. we have the responsibility to ourselves and the community to participate. | pg. 8

Est. 1934

2 | Wednesday, February 26, 2020

NEWs

INtERNAtIONAl

autuMn REnDaLL, EDITOR

thEDaiLYCougaR.CoM/nEWS

@thEDaiLYCougaR

‘I was so afraid’

coronavirus outbreak worries uh students with families in wuhan

auTumn REnDall

nEWS EDitoR @autuMnREnDaLL

Jingjing Wu can’t stop checking her newsfeed.

The marketing doctoral student’s mood fluctuates with the hourly updates on the coronavirus outbreak because her family lives in Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in China and an area that has been on lockdown since Jan. 23.

“Every morning when I wake up, besides getting my phone and checking the messages, I want to check the news,” Wu said. “Normally, I don’t read the news first thing in the morning, but now I’ve been checking on the numbers of people diagnosed, suspected and died of (coronavirus).”

Wu is just one student with family in the affected area that faces a need to always be properly informed about new outbreak updates. For students from Wuhan and other affected areas in China, the effects of the coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, are personal.

Over winter break, Wu was one of the many people around the world going back to China to visit their families for the Lunar New Year. At first, everything on her trip was fine, but then rumors about the outbreak started to spread.

“There’s a very direct and strong influence of everyone’s daily life,” Wu said about the outbreak’s effects on Wuhan.

“Especially because it happened in a very special time, which is the Lunar New Year.”

When she arrived back in the U.S., Wu found some of her fellow peers had misconceptions about the coronavirus, and they had assumed she was at risk for having it.

Wu told them her exact travel dates and that the proper amount of time had passed for herself and the people around her to show any symptoms, but for some this was not enough.

Wu felt she had said everything she could and did not want to waste any more time making the situation worse. However, she was saddened that someone she thought was a friend could distrust her.

Juana garcia/The cougar

Compared to other more drastic results of people having misconceptions about coronavirus, such as businesses in Houston’s Chinatown suffering because of false rumors about the outbreak, Wu said her experience could have been a lot worse.

“That’s the thing that I have been through, but I don’t feel it’s as severe as the other persons that have been abused,” Wu said.

Before the outbreak, Wu said she talked to her parents weekly. Now, every day she checks on her family to see how they’re doing.

“I think they’re fine, but I would definitely say that I think getting the food supplies is an issue,” Wu said. “But, the central government was sending fresh fruits and vegetables to the neighborhood.”

Raising awareness on the state of the coronavirus, how to prevent it and doing what they can to help affected areas is important to Wu and her fellow

member Sunny Wang of UH’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

The moment Wang was aware of the coronavirus outbreak, she sent information to her family about how to prevent its spread. She also asked them to purchase masks — a necessity that has since faced a dangerous scarcity.

“When I realized how heavy the virus was being, I was so afraid,” Wang said. “I am very worried for my family.”

CSSA has made efforts to raise money for masks to send to affected areas in China facing a wipeout of these products.

“The news can be shocking or heartbreaking, or very encouraging,” Wu said about how she is hopeful Wuhan’s situation will improve. “Reading their stories can make me very moved or very encouraged. We are determined to fight this virus.” news@thedailycougar.com

stigmas related to cOvID-19

The risk of getting coronavirus is low in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but ‘fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma towards Chinese or other Asian Americans.’

- viruses cannot target people from specific populations, ethnicities, or racial backgrounds.

- people from china in the u.s. may be worried or anxious about friends and relatives who are living in the region. facing stigma can make fear and anxiety worsen. social support during this outbreak can help them cope.

- people who’ve returned from china more than 14 days ago and don’t have symptoms aren’t infected with the virus and contact with them won’t give you the virus.

- communicators and public health officials can help counter stigma during the cOvID-19 response. source: cDc.gov

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 3 autuMn REnDaLL, EDITOR

thEDaiLYCougaR.CoM/nEWS

NEWs

@thEDaiLYCougaR

cAMPUs

The Quad to host five living learning communities

There will be five Living learning communities hosted in The Quad that aim to bring together students with similar goals and interests such as speaking a certain language or leadership. | Kathryn lenihan/The cougar

DOnna KEEya

aSSiStant nEWS EDitoR @DonnaKEEYa_

With the opening of The Quad this fall, five Living Learning Communities will be lodged in the accompanying townhouses for students to live with others that have similar interests.

The Quad’s Living Learning Communities will include Bauer House, Impact, Languages and Culture (Chinese, French and Spanish), Minority Male Leadership and Women in STEM. These communities are focused on bringing together students who have similar

interests to each other.

Students already involved in Impact highly recommend the experience, as it fosters community with fellow members. Impact’s service goes beyond the Living Learning Communities, collaborating with other service organizations such as the Metropolitan Volunteer Program.

“It definitely gives me a community,” said computer science sophomore Annabelle Poer. “Any service event I go to I know at least five people there.”

Applications to participate in one of The Quad’s Living Learning Communities this fall opened on Feb. 5 and will remain active with the application priority deadline ending on March 13.

From these communities, Impact and Minority Male Leadership are preexisting, with Impact currently hosted in Cougar Place and Minority Male Leadership in Bayou Oaks.

All of The Quad’s Living Learning Communities will

share the same objective of creating a sense belonging in the community and at the University, according to a newsletter released in January.

Each community encourages students to get more invested in the topics they’re already interested in. For example, students participating in Bauer House will be allowed to live with people pursuing a similar degree and have networking access to their peers, faculty and staff.

“Our hallway has turned really close-knit,” Poer said. “Since we all live in the same hallway, we have a really good community there.”

The Languages and Culture House is an outlier among the other Living Learning Communities, combining students who speak Spanish, French and Chinese.

Beyond the variety of languages, the community will group students who are in the process of learning one of the three respective languages with native speakers.

The requirements to live in The Quad’s Living Learning Communities are to have sophomore standing or higher, be at least 20 years old by Sept. 1 and be a returning resident who participates in priority room selection. Exceptions might be made allowing first-year students in certain communities.

“I do enjoy doing service at this University, so I thought it would be really cool to get a community,” Poer said.

Some students believe the experience of participating in the Living Learning Communities expands beyond housing and becomes a way to build close relationships.

From decorating each other’s rooms to eating dinner together in the dining hall, the peers in her community have become family, Poer said.

“This is the first year I think Impact has gotten really close outside of doing service. We just hang out,” Poer said. news@thedailycougar.com

AcADEMIcs

Honors College making history, creating change with new minors syDnEy ROsE

aSSiStant nEWS EDitoR @SYDnEYRoSE1029

Since the Honors College was established in 1993, creating change and making history has been the goal.

The latest addition to the college’s history books is the talk of some new minors. Global Engagement & Research along with Data & Society will be offered as a minor as early as Fall 2020. Both minors still must receive final approval through the provost’s office.

“One job that an honors college can do to serve a university is to help animate the spaces between the disciplines,” Honors College Dean William Monroe said.

Honors professor Daniel Price will be the director for the Data & Society program when it is implemented.

Price said Data & Society, as a discipline, allows more humanistic type questions to integrate into science and data.

The first mention of honors at UH was the Committee on Honors Courses and Graduation with Honors in 1947.

This would soon become Honors Program Committee.

Director of Office of Global Engagement & Special Programs Keri Myrick wrote in Houston History magazine that Honors Program Committee became Honors Program Council before an actual college was created for the studies.

Although there has been an increase in enrollment in recent years at the Honors College, according to the magazine, some students still see the benefits of small teacher to student ratios within their Honors classes.

“The classes we take for Honors are a lot more intimate because it’s very one on one with the teacher and there are a lot of discussion classes,” said biomedical sciences senior Shelbin Mattathil.

Most of Mattathil’s social group comes from the Honors College after they all met at a retreat their freshman year.

The Honors College every year has an overnight retreat at Camp Allen in Navasota before the fall semester begins.

All students at the Honors College go through in completing a course over two semesters called The Human Situation. Part of the coursework is examining

texts from different cultures and interpretations of cultural traditions.

“I wasn’t too interested in reading before college, and the entire theme of my class so far has really changed my mindset and the way I think about things,” said computer science sophomore Neeriyah Butler about The Human Situation. “It changed my perspective on life too, it’s opened me to something I’m not really used to.”

David Rainbow has taught The Human Situation since 2015 and said one of the great things about the Honors College is how it is integrated into the entire University.

“We have students from every other college and probably every major, which makes our classes full of interesting perspectives,” Rainbow said.

Many programs and organizations stem from the Honors College such as Bleacher Creatures, Club Theater and Honors Ambassadors.

The Honors College’s mentorship program began in 2010 and acts as a way to group incoming honors students with experienced upperclassmen.

The Honors College is located inside MD Anderson Library. The college is hoping to offer two new minors starting Fall 2020. | Kathryn lenihan/The cougar

“Until this semester, I didn’t really have anyone that I was close within the Honors College,” Butler said. “But, I think I’ve been encouraged to join an organization to be more connected with the Honors College.”

Originally, the Honors College was meant to be built in the renovated Quadrangle, but in 1999 plans were announced that MD Anderson Library would build a new wing to house the college.

Under Monroe, the Honors College has had several landmark accomplishments, including the granting of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter, which was one of Monroe’s favorites.

“The University had been seeking a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for almost 30 years,” Monroe said.

“This is a typical timeline.”

The University applied for the granting of the chapter five times and the successful application began in 2012 where it was approved by a council in 2015, Monroe said.

With the new additions to the Honors College over time, to the now seven minors that are offered to students, Monroe said change was a goal of the college throughout the years.

Monroe quotes his predecessor, Dean Ted Estess who directed the program in 1977, who believed the Honors College was a leader on campus.

“It’s always about the larger institution and the Honors College leading the way,” Monroe said. “’The (tip) of the spear’ is the desire to be the leading edge of the University and getting better.” news@thedailycougar.com

4 | Wednesday, February 26, 2020

sPORts sPORts

JhaiR RoMERo, EDITOR

thEDaiLYCougaR.CoM/SPoRtS

@thECougaRSPoRtS

tRAcK AND FIElD

cougars set sights on aac championships Jala masOn

StaFF WRitER @MaSonJaLa

With the American Athletic Conference indoor season coming to a close, the Cougars have recorded nationally-ranked performances and are riding the momentum to the 2020 AAC Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.

Houston’s men have won the championship five years in a row, tied for the program’s best title streak after the Cougars’ 2007-11 run in Conference USA, while the women look to win their second in a row after winning their first in 2019.

Since its season opener in December, Houston has performed well, walking away with a slew of first-place finishes and record-breaking results.

The Cougars have continued to find success all season, picking up several weekly American Indoor Track and Field honors.

Houston will rely on seniors Travis Collins and Dayo Akindele and junior Naomi Taylor on the track, while senior Taylor Scaife, along with juniors Miles Marhofer and Antonio Ruiz anchor the Cougars in the field events.

On the track Posting a conference-best and a collegiate sixth-best time at the Texas Tech Raider Invitational, Taylor has consistently grounded the 60-meter hurdles for Houston.

In the American title meet, she will face strong AAC opponents with quick times,

Senior thrower Tailor Scaife has collected two American Athletic Conference weekly awards and four first-place finishes in her last five events, including a throw that ranked as the second best in the nation this season. | photos courtesy of uh athletics

like USF’s Adriana Janic, who ran an 8.58 at the Howie Ryan Invitational in Houston.

For the same event on the men’s side, Akindele will represent the Cougars.

At the Leonard Hilton

Senior sprinter Travis Collins has been a force for UH this season on the track, earning multiple top-10 finishes in the 60-meter hurdle and 200-meter dash.

Memorial Invitational, Akindele tallied a 7.78 in the 60-meter hurdles, tying for the eighthfastest time in the nation.

The senior also broke a facility record at the Texas Tech Red Raider Invitational and has continued to demonstrate solid performances throughout the season for Houston.

In the 60-meter dash, Collins proves to be a tough competitor.

Collins logged the conferencebest and 17th-fastest time in the nation at the Red Raider Invitational, recording a secondplace finish with senior Terence Ware following right behind.

Collins went on to pick up several more top-ten finishes throughout the season, most recently first in the 60-meter hurdles and second in the 200-meter dash at the Charlie Thomas Invitational.

One of Collins’ biggest threats in the event is UConn sophomore Josiah Thompson, who recently set a 6.82 personal record in the 60-meter hurdles.

Chris Borzor of Cincinnati is also tough competition for him, as the sophomore sprinter

beat out Collins for first in the 200-meter dash at the Charlie Thomas Invitational on Feb. 8.

strong arms With four first-place titles and the second-farthest collegiate toss in the women’s weight throw, Scaife has dominated the event this season.

Scaife has collected two AAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors for her performances.

In the men’s weight throw, Marhofer broke a program record in his Houston debut at the Texas A&M Reveille Invitational with a 20.83-meter throw.

Since then, he’s tossed for the 10th-best throw nationally at the Charlie Thomas Invitational and went on to shatter this record three more times.

Marhofer also picked up fourfirst place finishes this season.

As for the rest of the conference, Memphis’ DeeNia McMiller poses the largest threat for the women’s weight throw.

The senior recently claimed titles in the shot put at weight

throw at the Redhawks Open last Friday with 49-5.75 and 69-11.5 marks, respectively.

Houston’s Ruiz has wowed lately in the pole vault, breaking the program record he set just one week prior by clearing 5.50 meters at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational.

history on houston’s side Houston swept the 2019 AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships as both the men and women were victorious.

Scaife helped bring home the win for the women, as she represented the Cougars in the weight throw last year.

Taylor also added to the win as she took home first in the 60-meter hurdles.

Collins picked up a secondplace finish in the 60-meter dash, only behind a fellow, nowgraduated Cougar.

Having won the title last year, with several returning athletes, Houston looks to be one of the stronger competitors going into the meet. sports@thedailycougar.com

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 5 JhaiR RoMERo, EDITOR

thEDaiLYCougaR.CoM/SPoRtS

@thECougaRSPoRtS

legacy

sPORts

sOFtBAll

Kati Ray Brown, a

third-generation cougar, embraces her family’s rich uh heritage anDy yanEz

aSSiStant SPoRtS EDitoR @aYanEZ_5

Sophomore catcher Kati Ray Brown is up to bat. Her “Star Wars” walk-up song, Doshka

by Mus Kat and Nalpak, echoes throughout Cougar Softball Stadium.

On this particular overcast Sunday in a game against Oregon State, Brown goes perfect at the plate, drawing a walk in her first at-bat, blasting a go-ahead two-run homer the second time around and hitting a single in her final at-bat.

Success within UH athletics is nothing new for Brown. She has been around it her whole life.

There is a picture of Brown when she was a 1-year-old with her sister, Kendall Brown, who was 5 years old at the time, and they are both in UH cheer uniforms at a football game.

The siblings have countless memories attending sporting events growing up similar to the one captured in the picture as they are both third-generation athletes. Kendall Brown played softball for the Cougars in 2015.

Their grandfather, Charles Edward Brown, and uncle, Chuck Brown, played for the football team at UH. Their father, Billy Ray Brown, was on the golf team from 1982-85 and was a big part of why they made it to the national championship in three of the years he was a student. Billy Ray Brown went on to compete in golf professionally and even battled against Tiger Woods.

He is also a 2004 UH Hall of Honor inductee.

Brown said her father was the most influential person in getting her to follow the UH path. “(My father) made his mark,” Brown said. “He really taught me what being competitive is all about, and he really showed me what loving your university is like.”

Brown and her sister also had plenty of motivation to go to UH coming from her mother, Cindy Lee Brown, who was a cheerleader at the University. “(My mom is) a crazy sports fan, and she made us crazy sports fans,” Kendall Brown said.

“She kind of taught us to bleed red more than my dad.”

Even though both Brown and Kendall Brown ended up coming to UH, their mother never forced them to continue the tradition, but when she saw that both of her daughters were going on that path, she embraced it.

“Realizing (Kati and Kendall were going to UH) was awesome,” Cindy Lee Brown said. “It is awesome to see your child get to wear that name that we are so proud of, and we’re so connected to. It’s also been a blessing for us because we get to be at all the games too.”

Growing up, Brown and Kendall Brown’s lives revolved around UH. From the two young girls going to Hofheinz Pavillion for basketball games to their mother having a license plate that read “Go Coogs,” it certainly made their bond stronger.

“We’ve been best friends since forever,” Brown said. “We just pulled so hard for the Coogs even when we were so tiny, but it was so fun that we got to do it together.”

Because Kendall Brown walked on the path of softball first, she was able to give Brown plenty of advice and prepare her to be an athlete at the University.

“I definitely got to learn so much from her being at UH,” Brown said. “It showed me that I just love the atmosphere at the softball team. … She taught me how to be mature, so I was able to grow up and play like an older kid because of her.”

The biggest piece of advice that Brown has received from her sister is to always remain even keel.

“You just have to stay calm

Sophomore catcher Kati Ray Brown is off to a successful start in 2020 season. She has six home runs, which leads the American Athletic Conference, and 11 RBIs. | courtesy of uh athletics

in all situations,” Brown said.

“You’re going to fail. (Softball) is a game of failure. The game doesn’t (always) love you back, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to try to make it love you back.”

Despite having a long, successful lineage behind them at the University, neither Brown nor her sister felt like they had any extra expectations to live up to when wearing the Cougars’ uniform.

“It was more of a legacy I could fulfill,” Kendall Brown said. “They paved the path for me then I kind of walked into it and then allowed for (Kati) to walk into it.”

For Brown, playing for a school that has strong ties to her family is an honor.

“I feel privileged,” Brown said.

“I just think it’s really cool I get to lead this legacy of Cougars and hopefully, one day when I have kids, they’ll want to come to this university. I love it.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Kendall Brown spent a year with the Cougars in 2015 and gave her younger sister advice when her time at Houston came around. | courtesy of uh athletics

6 | Wednesday, February 26, 2020

sPORts sPORts

JhaiR RoMERo, EDITOR

FOOtBAll

thEDaiLYCougaR.CoM/SPoRtS

@thECougaRSPoRtS

‘he’s the man’

holgorsen assures Tune is houston’s starter JhaIR ROmERO

SPoRtS EDitoR @JuStJhaiR

Quarterback Clayton Tune threw for over 1,000 yards after being pushed into the starting spot as a sophomore in 2019. | Trevor nolley/The cougar

Heading into spring practices, there was no question for head coach Dana Holgorsen that junior quarterback Clayton Tune would be Houston’s go-to guy under center.

“He’s the man, alright,” Holgorsen told media on Tuesday morning. “For being a true junior, he’s got a lot of experience.”

Holgorsen laments Tune, who was forced into the starting spot four games into 2019, did not get an extra year as a redshirt, but the second-year coach said the 6-foot-3 slinger was lucky enough to get playing time his freshman season.

“Unfortunately he didn’t get that redshirt his first year, but he played in five games,

which got him good experience and helped him go into his sophomore year where he got a lot of good reps,” Holgorsen said.

In 2018, his freshman campaign, Tune filled in at the starting spot after quarterback D’Eriq King went down with an injury, throwing for 795 yard and eight touchdowns.

But after seven games (he sat against UConn with a hamstring injury) as the head of the Cougars’ offense in 2019, Tune, Holgorsen said, has gotten comfortable as a team leader.

“It feels like this is his team,” Holgorsen said. “I think it’s going to make him a better player, just knowing that he’s the guy.”

The junior threw for 1,051 yards last season, passing for seven touchdowns on the way and rushing for another.

With the Cougars going into their second year under Holgorsen’s offense, the coach expects Tune to continue getting better in the spring.

“His overall game has improved,” Holgorsen said of his man under center. “Year two in this system is always a lot better than year one… He’s in complete control.”

Despite there being three other quarterbacks in Houston’s pocket, including his son Logan Holgorsen and freshman-to-be Soffian Massoud, Holgorsen assured Tune will be the Cougars’ leader from here on out.

“The good news is he’s the clear No. 1,” Holgorsen said. “There’s no quarterback controversies whatsoever.” sports@thedailycougar.com

MEN’s BAsKEtBAll

gorham’s ‘game transitioned quickly’ after redshirt year anDy yanEz

aSSiStant SPoRtS EDitoR @aYanEZ_5

When Justin Gorham stepped foot on the University for his first visit, his soon-to-be teammates were out on the baseball field doing workouts.

The 6-foot-7 forward’s eyes widened when he got to witness the Cougars’ work ethic first-hand, and he was instantly drawn to the intensity and commitment he saw from the program.

“When I came down here, I loved it,” Gorham said, now a redshirt junior. “(The) family atmosphere, (the team) was very welcoming.”

Gorham’s transition from Towson University to Houston, however, has not been a seamless one as he has had his growing pains and also had to adjust to playing a new role.

When he was with the Tigers, Gorham primarily played center.

With the Cougars, he had to switch over to being a forward, which meant being out in the perimeter more often instead of in the paint.

While the redshirt year helped Gorham in many different ways, like learning Houston’s culture, it also slowed him down a bit too.

“We worked on so many things his redshirt year,” said assistant coach Kellen Sampson. “I think for the longest he was trying to do all of them instead of figuring

out, ‘Hey, I got five tools in my tool belt, and only two of them are really sharp. I got to focus on being great at those tools and leave (the others) alone right now.’”

For Gorham, his biggest strength is shooting corner 3’s. He’s shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc this season, which is a good mark for a forward, especially one that played primarily center just two seasons ago.

“His game transitioned quickly,” said senior center Chris Harris Jr., who was at the workout when Gorham made his first campus visit. “He didn’t miss a beat. I was honestly surprised that he was a five.”

The redshirt season not only provided Gorham with an extra opportunity to adjust to Houston away from the spotlight, but it also gave his teammates and coaches a chance to see what he is all about.

“When he got here, he already played hard, so he didn’t get that from us,” Harris said.

‘self-starter’ The life of a student athlete during a redshirt year can be chaotic. A lot of the times there is no set time for workouts. Every day is different, and it really tests the character and personality of the individual.

Some struggle to embrace and trust the program they are in,

which can be seen from their body language, and it can spread into their on-court work, Kellen said.

For Gorham, his attitude was never a problem, and he jumped at every opportunity to get better.

“Whether it was seven in the morning, (or) eight in the morning, (it would be) hey Jus, I got thirty minutes here to get one in with you. Let’s make it work,” Kellen Sampson said. “And (Gorham would be) like ‘great coach.’ You never had to turn his keys. You never had to get him going. He was always a self-starter when it came to individual work.”

As Gorham, and the entire Cougars’ team, near the end of a season that has had plenty of ups and downs, the coaching staff is excited for the leap he can make going forward.

“When you are going to find how good Justin is, is next year when he is a senior,” said head coach Kelvin Sampson.

Both Kelvin and Kellen Sampson compared him to Devin Davis, who similarly to Gorham, redshirted when he first got to Houston and made a big jump in his final year with the Cougars in the 2017-18 season.

In his first season playing for Houston, Davis averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds per game on 45.8 percent shooting from the field.

In his senior year, Davis raised

Justin Gorham in the game against the Memphis Tigers. His 33 percent 3-point shooting is fourth on the team. | Kathryn lenihan/The cougar

those numbers to 10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds per contest on 48.8 percent shooting.

That jump for Davis, however, did not come without challenges.

“For Devin, it took him a whole first year of humility and going through some humble moments and then an offseason (to adjust),” Kellen said. “Senior year he finally surrendered and started trusting the program.”

In Gorham’s case, his mindset was miles ahead of Davis’. The trust in Houston’s program is already there, which has the future looking bright according to some of the coaches.

“That lightbulb is starting to flicker on now, which is perfect for us as we head into the stretch run,”

Kellen Sampson said.

Gorham, on the other hand, is not looking too far ahead. He was around last season when Houston made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and he got to experience a taste of the excitement that comes with the NCAA tournament.

“Selection Sunday is the best day in college basketball,” Gorham said.

“That was a fun experience.”

His goal to end this season, however, is simple.

“I’m playing this year; I can’t wait to get there,” Gorham said.

“We want to win the conference championship, and shoot, we want to win every game of the tournament.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 7

Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy Parker November 14, 2018

ACROSS 1 Be a truck driver 5 Ear section 9 Be useful 14 It’s bear-ly visible up there 16 Utter gall 17 Inchingalong result 19 Big pig 20 Like most kits (abbr.)

21 Youngster 22 Welts relatives 24 Ivory tinklers 29 Daisy of comics 30 Georgetown student 31 Pampered creature 32 Intense feeling of love 35 Bag that holds a lot 36 “What ___ you thinking?”

37 “I appreciate you doing this,” e.g.

40 Type of division 41 Mayberry boozehound 42 Like days past 43 Mandela’s org.

44 Lake of ballet 45 Cool quantity?

11/14

46 Super young plant 48 Money not in a wallet 51 Nightfall, in poetry 52 Employ 53 Fermented taro root 55 Honest direction?

61 Regretting 62 Tub hooch 63 Boffo show 64 Private dinner?

65 Eatery tips DOWN 1 Grant of films 2 Common pointer 3 Grammatical subject 4 Little boy 5 Be a gobetween 6 Word on some turn signs 7 Jazz type 8 Do wrong things?

9 Painful heart condition 10 “Don Carlo” writer 11 “___ you there?”

12 ER drips 13 Paul of guitar fame 15 Dirty bird?

18 Greenlit 23 Surrounded by

24 Using a cell 25 Very minute bits 26 Break in a charge card 27 Third canonical hour 28 Noted painter Jan 32 Provider of worldly views 33 Major French river 34 Not just feel the music 35 Tennessee cheer solicitor 36 Washington city, when repeated 38 Some farm work 39 Vocally assertive people

44 Coldweather vehicle 45 Particles with strong interactions 47 Campus decisionmakers 49 Place with a rainy plain?

50 “’Deed I Do” singer Lena 52 Sci-fi ships 54 Caesar’s fatal day 55 Some high schoolers, briefly 56 Stomach, cutely 57 Creek of 49-Down 58 “I’m thinking …”

59 Certain digit 60 “Never heard of ’em”

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

11/13 © 2018 Andrews McMeel Universal www.upuzzles.com

MOVE ON By Timothy E. Parker

8 | Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Santiago gaughan, EDITOR

THEDAILYCOUGAR.COM/OPINION

OPINION

@theDAILYCOUGAR

Elections

The time is now for students to take advantage of on-campus early voting

Editorial Board editor in chief

Michael Slaten managing editor

Katrina Martinez creative director

Jiselle Santos News editor

Autumn Rendall features editor

Vacant

Chief Copy Editor

Mason Vasquez

sports editor

Jhair Romero photo editor

Kathryn Lenihan opinion editor

Santiago Gaughan assistant editors

Juana Garcia Donna Keeya Sydney Rose Lino Sandil Andy Yanez

COVER

Deaunte Johnson

Staff editorial The Staff Editorial reflects the opinions of The Cowugar Editorial Board (the members of which are listed above the editorial). All other opinions, commentaries and cartoons reflect only the opinion of the author. Opinions expressed in The Cougar do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Houston or the students as a whole.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Harris County residents can and should go out to vote in the primaries. Early voting will take place at the Hilton and will go on until Feb. 28. The primary will take place on March 3, which is also the last day for mail-in ballots to be recieved. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

Bryana Torres-Martinez

Opinion Writer

It is our civic duty to vote and engage in our system of government. We must be politically aware and active if we seek any changes in our government, or even here at UH, because voting now will impact the nation for generations to come.

There needs to be more emphasis on the real power we, as students, have with our votes.

This semester, many of my professors have spoken about voting. Although collegeaged people are typically more radical in their beliefs, I have seen quite a few of my peers believe there is no real obligation to vote.

Whether it’s in classes or

in conversation, we’re seeing the primary and presidential elections come up more around campus.

Early voting ends on Feb. 28 and on-campus voting for Harris County residents will be in the Hilton. The primary election day is March 3, which is also the last day for mail-in ballots to be received.

The power to stimulate change is in our hands.

Over 53 percent of the voting-age population, or 41.4 percent of the total population, participated in the 2018 midterms. This is the highest rate of turnout in a midterm election since 1914 and is comparable to both the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections.

Students were 99 percent more likely to vote in 2018 than in 2014, according to Forbes.

Voter turnout among people attending college nearly doubled in 2018. Our votes made up nearly 21 percent of the ballots. This proves our votes have a great impact on local, state and federal governments.

In a 2018 interview with Stephen Colbert, former congressman Beto O’Rourke said young voter turnout went up by about 500 percent

compared to 2014.

PolitiFact confirmed the statement, which proves young people are becoming more invested in elections.

The increase in young people voting brings attention to issues that effect us like healthcare, housing prices and student loans.

However, it’ll take more initiative to continue the increasing voter turnout in Texas for the upcoming elections.

The state has passed new legislation limiting accessible voting for people across the

state. This means we need to put more effort into getting the community to participate in the election, so we can get the change we want as a generation.

We have the privilege to be at a university with a polling station on campus.

We have the responsibility to ourselves and our community to participate in the changing world around us.

Bryana Torres-Martinez is a journalism freshman who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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