Issue 17, Volume 85

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Wednesday, January 22, 2020

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Issue 17, Volume 85

Dorm Hustlers From fried chicken sandwiches to a nail salon, students have created several businesses run out of their residence halls. | PG. 2

SPORTS Baseball’s new Player Development Center is a mecca of training and recruiting for the program. | PG. 5

opinion The Houston Hobbyist Guild exemplifies all the best qualities of a student organization. | PG. 7

2 | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

NEWS

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‘100 percent invested’ Meet the students who run businesses out of their residence halls

Finance and marketing freshman Qasharri Ludy runs her nail salon on campus, finding most of her clients through social media. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

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Coming out of a dorm room, one wouldn’t expect to get services like a fresh set of painted nails or gourmet street food, but some students at the University are creating their own businesses to help get through college.

“I actually started cooking and selling food during the summer, and over the summer I grew a lot,” Panha Chea said.

The pre-business freshman has had over 60 orders of chicken and waffles at one point, cooked out of a Cougar Village I communal kitchen.

Chea is one of many students who have created businesses run out of their dorms. They find their clientele almost exclusively through word of mouth or social media, such as Twitter or Instagram. Some are even using the extra funds to help pay their way through college.

He makes a specialty dish called a “Schmaccc-wich,” which consists of garlic buttered toast, three cheese mac and a piece of fried chicken.

His orientation leader was the

one that talked to him about bringing his business to Twitter to advertise his food from the SchmacccHouse.

“I try to do these things mainly at UH, because sometimes you don’t want to eat at Moody or Cougar Woods,” Chea said. “It’s easier and it’s cheap. Most of my meals are never over eight dollars.”

Before arriving at the University, Chea was offered a scholarship to a cooking school that he didn’t take because he did not want to be limited to just cooking. Growing up, Chea said his dad always told him that to be successful, he had to have more than one source of income.

“When I feed people, I don’t feed them just to limit it,” Chea said. “I want to put a whopping handful, because it makes them want to come back.”

Reaching a unique market Other students run services such as a nail saloon and a smartphone screen repair shop.

Known on Twitter as “Nail’d

by Q”, finance and marketing freshman Qasharri Ludy runs her nail salon right on campus.

“Other nail techs aren’t on

campus, so my marketing strategies are very specific to college students,” Ludy said.

“That’s why my prices are lower than any nail salon or any other nail tech that does specialized sets.”

Ludy’s clients do not come from only the University but from all around Houston. The money she makes from Nail’d

By Q she uses to pay for her schooling at the University.

Ludy said she started doing her own nails in the seventh grade, which led to doing her friends nails for them and gave her the idea to turn it into a business.

“I’ve done people’s nails before college and they paid me for it, but it wasn’t to the (extent) it is now where I have a business, I have a page, I have set prices and different policies,” Ludy said. “I am a businessperson and this is something that I am passionate about right now, so I have no problem providing the service.”

Ludy says the smell of acrylic is very strong, so she was kicked out of her old location at Cougar Village II. Now, she has a designated floor at Cougar Village I and tries to move her

station around to avoid the smell bothering the residents.

“Right now, I’m taking classes based on my major, and they are all business classes,” Ludy said.

“So it is stuff that I can apply to my business.”

Ludy said she is an entrepreneurial person, so once she graduates and establishes her business, she sees herself running a nail salon and having other people do the nails.

“I am 100 percent invested in the customer being happy and satisfied with the whole experience,” Ludy said.

Both Ludy and Chea were interested in possibly starting a group under the name Entrepreneurial Hustlers Association. Even though the organization is not official, Chea said they are looking to invite people who are entrepreneurs to just talk about what’s trending and what are some good ideas.

“We were just talking about it to try and find other people who were business oriented,” Ludy said. “Because there are a lot of people who have businesses on campus, but they have to be

dorm hustlers

Continues on page 4

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 3 ian everett, EDITOR

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community

BOUNCE program aims to improve underserved childrens’ health i

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Issue staff Closing editors

Michael Slaten Katrina Martinez COPY EDITING

BOUNCE said it observed that 20 percent of children were able to lose up to 16 pounds in four weeks and maintained the weight loss. | Courtesy of BOUNCE

janet miranda

staff writer

Elementary and middle-school children from underserved communities in the East End and Third Ward who participated in a UH nutrition and exercise program are seeing lower rates of anxiety and sleep deprivation, according to the

COVER

program’s executive director.

The program, Behavior Opportunities Uniting Nutrition, Coaching, and Exercise, was founded in 2005 by Norma Olvera, a University professor and BOUNCE’s executive director at the College of Education. BOUNCE is a

community outreach and research initiative dedicated to reducing obesity-related diseases among underserved Hispanic and African American communities.

“The BOUNCE program started from a class I took as a Ph.D. student at UH that

centered on childhood obesity,” Olvera said. “We looked at the literature, and we realized that there were very few programs that targeted minorities so there was a need.”

The program began small, with

How the XFL will affect UH raven wuebker

staff writer @ravenwuebker

Houston Roughnecks games will also provide job opportunities for students that are interested in part-time work on campus. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

said nursing freshman Payton Ray. The Houston Roughnecks will offer ticket discounts to the stadium’s faculty and staff members, Tagliarino said, but he is unsure about student discounts at this time. The games will also provide job opportunities for students that are interested in part-time work on campus.

“This will provide our students the opportunity to enjoy some great entertainment on campus,” Tagliarino said.

“Furthermore, with the plans and initiatives by the Houston Roughnecks organization developing special offers for students, faculty and staff to come out and enjoy their games.”

Some students said being

Kathyrn Lenihan

i

Center for Student Media uh.edu/csm

About CSM

BOUNCE

The Center for Student Media provides comprehensive advisory and financial support to the university’s student-run media: The Cougar newspaper, CoogTV and Coog Radio.

able to easily attend Houston Roughnecks games is an opportunity they’re looking forward to.

“I think it would be worth a shot to go to a game because it would be a new experience not many in the city have seen yet,” said journalism sophomore Ryan Hampton.

With XFL season nearing, Parking and Transportation Services along with Houston Athletics have developed a parking plan for the games that take place during the day. The games will primarily utilize Lot 12A/B, Lot 9B/C and the Stadium garage.

Since it’s the XFL’s inaugural season, all eight of the XFL teams were hosted in the Houston-area for a leaguewide training camp at various colleges and high schools from Jan. 5-21.

Political science junior Marco Venegas said he thinks that the XFL coverage will cause more students to attend UH, and he’s interested to see the effects of the national coverage.

“I would like to see how this first season goes hosting the XFL and how it will affect UH by bringing more students in,” said Venegas.

Part of the Student Life portfolio in the Division of Student Affairs, the CSM is concerned with the development of students, focusing on critical thinking, leadership, ethics, collaboration, inter-cultural competence, goal-setting and ultimately, degree attainment.

While our students are engaged in producing and promoting media channels and content, our goal is to ensure they are learning to become better thinkers and leaders in the process.

Continues on page 4

Campus

TDECU Stadium will host the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks practices, home games and possible playoff games after signing a five-year contract.

XFL season starts Feb. 8 and goes until April. The Houston Roughnecks games will be shown on ESPN and FOX, which deputy athletic director David Tagliarino said will bring widespread attention to the University.

“The partnership with the XFL will deliver a lot of positive benefits to UH, including the opportunity to bring a lot of new visitors to campus and showcase our great University to people that may not otherwise come to campus,” Tagliarino said.

With this national recognition, some students say they’re excited to see the University get a new level of exposure.

“I feel that this will put our name on the map because people will see that they are practicing at our school and more will know who we are,”

Mason Vasquez

news@thedailycougar.com

Center for Student Media

(713) 743-5350 csm@uh.edu www.uh.edu/csm N221 Student Center University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4015 Advertising

(713) 743-5340 advertising@thedailycougar.com thedailycougar.com/advertising Design Team Ruchi Khakta

4 | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

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Student entrepenuers show their work

Finance junior Jonathon Woods, who fixes cracked smartphone screens out of his dorm, started his business after he saw how expensive screens were to repair. | Deaunte Johnson/The Cougar

dorm hustlers

Continued from page 2 business people.”

Unmatched convenience Finance junior Jonathon Woods, or “JayRepairs” on Twitter fixes cracked smartphone screens out of his dorm.

It all started for Woods after he shattered the screen of his own iPhone 7.

“One thing that I hate is a

bounce

Continued from page 3 Olvera working with a group of Hispanic and African American girls ages 9-14 in summer workshops.

Olvera, whose research interest centers around childhood obesity, said they observed that 20 percent of children were able to lose up to 16 pounds in four weeks and most importantly, they were able to maintain the weight.

BOUNCE has quantified the improvement of their current students in their most recent program, and they found positive results for the children’s waistlines along with their anxiety and sleeping patterns.

“We found that our exercise program called Lace-Up and

Pre-business freshman Panha Chea serves up “Schmaccwiches,” which feature fried chicken and three-cheese mac wedged between pieces of garlic toast. | Courtesy of Panha Chea

Exercise science sophomore Treva Ray offers hair extensions and other beauty products to “girls like her” through her company Royal Lengths. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

cracked screen, because when I was younger I had a cracked iPod touch and I’d always prick my fingers, which irritated me a lot,” Woods said. “I looked up about how much it was to fix screens and the prices were crazy… so, I learned how to do it and fixed it.”

Woods said he actually enjoyed learning how to repair phones and decided he wanted to learn how to fix other models.

Woods’ clientele consists of UH students. He sometimes will do the repairs in his own dorm, but most of the time he will fix a student’s phone in their dorm for them. Last semester, Woods said he fixed about 15 screens.

“A thing I’d want people to know about the business is that it’s convenient,” Woods said, “because you could go to class and by the time you come out your screen could be fixed.”

Social media has become

more of a tool used for students to advertise their business.

The owner of Royal Lengths, exercise science sophomore Treva Ray, is no exception.

She’s used Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to promote her hair extension company.

The project was just launched in 2020, and she hopes to offer more beauty products after college.

Ray acts as a customer for her own line as well. She said what

started her business was buying hair extensions for herself, but she was tired of giving all of her money away to get her hair done.

“I decided to cut my beauty bill in half and begin profiting money instead of losing money,” Ray said. “With that mindset I wanted to cater to girls just like me. I love making others feel good about themselves.”

Move, made a difference to our participants,” Olvera said. “The children in the experimental group were able to decrease their anxiety level and sleeping pattern compared to the children in the comparison group.”

BOUNCE has grown into a variety of classes and afterschool exercise and nutrition programs that benefit children and their parents. Other activities include gardening, a summer wellness program, shopping tours, nutrition education programs for parents, cooking demonstrations and 5K Fun Run/Walks.

This year, BOUNCE celebrates its 15th anniversary and its impact on the surrounding University community. With

more than 20 participating elementary and middle schools, 10,000 families reached and 2,500 participants in their BOUNCE Fun Run/Walk, Olvera is exploring new initiatives and partnerships that could positively impact the local community.

“We’d like to create summer programs in which we actually incorporate STEM components related to nutrition and exercise for minority girls,” Olvera said.

In this program, Olvera aims to instill a love for learning the scientific concepts of food science. Students can learn why different kinds of food have different effects on the body and the processes of how exercise helps decrease anxiety and improve moods.

Along with summer programs, BOUNCE is continuing its expansion of gardening classes in local schools. Children can learn to grow vegetables and incorporate them into their meals.

BOUNCE has presented their research in national and international conferences, most recently in Cuba.

They have also received recognition and awards from state-level organizations, such as the Texas Public Health Association and the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The program recently opened applications for their “Eye to the Future” paid internship for UH students interested in nutrition and public health. The

internship hopes to develop the next generation of childhood obesity educators, and its deadline to apply is March 5.

Olvera said it’s a way to support the local UH community and good experience for students who are interested in going into the health or nutrition fields.

“The University of Houston has an excellent opportunity being surrounded by the Third Ward community and the East End,” said Olvera. “We can encourage children to form healthy habits and teach them how to be active. It’s a great way for our students to gain experience and provide their expertise for a good cause.”

news@thedailycougar.com

news@thedailycougar.com

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 5 jhair romero, EDITOR

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baseball

Newly opened Player Development Center ‘covers all the bases’ The privately-funded facility was the last piece of head coach Todd Whitting’s decade-long ‘master plan’ to enhance that product.”

Whitting agrees.

“It’s 20,000 square feet of nothing but player development,” Whitting said, admiring his brainchild.

“Everything a kid needs to come here, he can’t go to any other school in the country and have any more than you have now at the University of Houston.”

Eye-catcher

The new Player Development Center, the brainchild of Whitting,, recently became fully operational ahead of the Cougars’ 2020 campaign. | Photos courtesy of UH athletics

Jhair romero

sports editor @justjhair

When Todd Whitting was hired in 2010 to return to his alma mater and become Houston’s eighth-ever head baseball coach, he arrived with an ambitious list of long-term goals to help elevate UH into prominence.

Since then, many of Whitting’s goals for the program have been checked off that list.

Introducing an artificial turf field at Schroeder Park? Check.

Installing one of the largest video boards in college baseball?

Check. Renovating batting cages, building new bullpens and padding outfield walls, among other things? Check, check and check.

Ten years and $10 million later, his “master plan,” as it came to be known by him and those around the team, is complete with the advent of Houston’s Player Development Center, essentially UH’s baseball HQ. Inspired by Whitting’s travels to other facilities around the country and specially designed along with operations director Traci Cauley “down to where every electrical outlet is,” the PDC is now fully operational.

“Nothing but player development” One of the biggest advantages

of the PDC, Whitting said, is having all baseball operations, including his office, weight rooms and athletic trainers, in one building.

“It allows us to bring our entire operation in-house,” he said. “Now, our weight room is upstairs. We’re able to have our own space to be more thorough with our strength and conditioning workouts.”

As for the pitching staff, UH can now incorporate more analytics into its development.

Screens inside the PDC display important stats like spin rate, crucial to pitch trajectory.

“We’ve got a building that covers all the bases,” said

associate head coach Terry Rooney. “It covers the bases both from a physical development standpoint and an analytical standpoint… When you look at all the areas, it’s going to allow you to perform at your highest level.”

Rooney has already familiarized his hurlers with the facility, including the privatelyfunded PDC’s “pitching lab” fitted with artificial turf and mounds.

“One of the things that we pride ourselves in this program is development,” he said, citing former players going pro in recent years. “That building is going to do nothing but continue

The Cougars now have an indoor “pitching lab,” as Rooney calls it, equipped with mounds, artificial turf and screens displaying analytics.

Naturally, the PDC has helped attract the lifeblood of collegiate programs across the nation — recruits.

“Kids want two big things,” Rooney, also Houston’s recruiting coordinator, said. “One, they want to go somewhere they’re going to win and have a chance to go to Omaha. Two, they want to go somewhere they’re going to develop and hopefully put themselves in a position to play professional baseball.

“We’ve done both of those things at the University of Houston. This building is going to help us build on that.”

Over the last few cycles, the PDC has worked as a strong recruiting tool for Whitting and the Cougars.

Just in the 2020 recruiting class, UH landed big-name recruits like pitcher Rome Shubert, 2019’s Galveston County Player of the Year, out of Santa Fe High School.

The incoming talent hasn’t just been from high school.

The Cougars’ JUCO recruiting classes in recent years have ranked among the best in the country, even reaching No. 1 for the 2019 class.

“We’ve already seen the repercussions of this building over the last two or three classes

as construction was going on,” Whitting said. “Now that you can actually take them into a live building, one that’s up and running, it’s even going to help more.”

Major upgrades For the Cougars, the PDC’s new clubhouse is a sight for sore eyes after dealing with outdated facilities for years.

“This is a game changer for us,” said Whitting, who fundraised all the money to build the PDC along with Cauley. “We went from a very small, cramped, dilapidated, leaking clubhouse to one of the best in the country.”

The new clubhouse, spacious unlike its predecessor, is tricked out with flat-screen TVs, gaming consoles, a pingpong table and a golf simulator.

And players have begun to take advantage; the player lounge is no stranger to Fortnite or NHL 20 being played on its Xbox Ones or Playstation 4s.

“The guys are always around,” Rooney said of the clubhouse.

“They’re here all the time, 24/7. I think it helps the bigger picture.”

Although the PDC opened only recently, Rooney has quickly seen the impact it has had on the Cougars.

“It’s a place that our players call home now,” Rooney said.

“It’s not just a place that you’re going to come here and practice and play. Now, it’s a place where you’re going to be around each other.”

For Whitting, the PDC is serving its purpose.

“I have a hard time getting them to leave,” he said, chuckling. “They have everything here they need.” sports@thedailycougar.com

The PDC, part of Whitting’s privately funded renovations worth approximately $10 million, includes a locker room that replaces UH’s old facilities.

6 | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

SPORTS

jhair romero, EDITOR

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men’s basketball

‘Sometimes you got to shake things up’: How Sampson’s lineup trickery has worked for UH so far andy yanez

assistant sports editor @ayanez_5

The Monday following Houston’s Jan. 11 loss to Tulsa, head coach Kelvin Sampson announced on his radio show that he was going to change the lineup. Since then, the team has responded well to the moves in both practices and games thereafter, “Sometimes you got to shake things up,” Sampson said, with the team now ranked No. 25 in the nation. “I said, ‘If you’re not going to play the way we want to play, then I’m going to play somebody else.’ ” In their loss to the Golden Hurricane, UH’s first conference defeat of the season, the Cougars were outscored 9-1 in the final five minutes of the game and turned the ball over 15 times.

Freshman guard Marcus Sasser, redshirt freshman Caleb Mills and junior guard DeJon Jarreau

combined to score 52 points, an impressive feat, but the problem was the rest of the Cougars combining for only nine points.

Heading into its home matchup against SMU, Houston went with a different starting lineup that included Sasser, Jarreau and senior center Chris Harris Jr. Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes, who’s been struggling since the American Athletic Conference play games, has averaged only 6.8 points per game since Jan. 3 and was benched along with Mills and junior center Brison Gresham.

The starters combined for 51 points in the win against SMU, and Mills added 15 points as a reserve.

Houston knows its roster is flooded with talent, so the Cougars have not let lineup changes bother them.

“I think we got a lot of (players) that can potentially start,” Sasser said on his mindset in practice

after being moved to the starting lineup. “Just coming in and going at them every day, (it’s) just getting us better as a whole, and I think we put the best group out there on the floor.”

The switch in the starting lineup changes has worked, however, translating to stronger performances in practices and games.

“Every practice is a competition basically: red versus white,” Sasser said. “Whoever had a week of good practice, that’s who he’s going to be put in the starting lineup.”

The Cougars have won twostraight games with the new starting lineup, including a 65-54 win against No. 16 Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.

In those two games, the starters are averaging 48.5 points and the bench is averaging 19.5 points per contest.

On top of the changes in the

Sophomore guard Quentin Grimes was notably absent from the starting lineup following Houston’s loss to Tulsa. | Jiselle Santos/The Cougar

starting lineup, Sampson has also tried out a different combination of pairings, which has included going small at times.

Against SMU, the Cougars trotted out lineups that did not use a traditional center and instead had four guards on the floor, which saw sophomore guard Nate Hinton playing the power forward position and junior forward Fabian White Jr. playing center.

“We’ve had success (with the small-ball lineups) in the past,” Sampson said. “When we played at Cincinnati last year to clinch the conference championship, I think we finished with a lineup of DeJon, Nate, Corey (Davis Jr.) and Armoni (Brooks) with Fabian in there.”

Being able to try a variety of combinations comes down to the strengths of Houston’s personnel.

“Nate and Fabian up front with three guards, we are comfortable doing that,” Sampson said. “The reason that works is because Nate rebounds so well at the four spot.”

For Sampson, the reason behind any changes is simple. The goal is to win, and he is not afraid of shaking things up if they aren’t working.

“I’m not going to keep rolling the same (players) out there and expect a different result,” Sampson said during his radio show. “Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Well, I ain’t insane.” sports@thedailycougar.com

men’s basketball

Manager Games: an underground world where UH student managers are among the best james mueller

staff writer @jdm2186

Being a student basketball manager is a lot of work.

Student managers put in countless hours each day charting stats, rebounding for players, helping coaches as needed, doing the team laundry and completing many other tasks.

Despite all the work and time they put in, many still find time to have fun — especially on the court.

Manager Games, a league made up of teams of student managers in college basketball, has become a popular pastime between programs across the country.

“I love playing (in Manager Games) just because it feels like I’m back in high school playing for a team,” freshman manager Jake Van Alstine said. “We take them pretty serious, so it makes it more fun.”

For typical games, one team of managers reaches out to the managers of the opposing program coming to town via Twitter, set up a time to play, normally the night before the two programs’ game.

After the conclusion of each game, scores are sent to the official Manager Games Twitter account.

Each week, the Manager Games

When UH’s managers aren’t busy being the 17th-ranked squad in a league of over 150 teams, they can be found assisting in practice. | Courtesy of UH athletics

Twitter account releases an intricate ranking of all 155 teams through KPI Sports, an analyticsbased index similar to RPI. Where does UH rank among the best managerial teams in the nation? No. 17 in the nation.

Many, including league co-director Thomas Northcutt, believes it’s a way of thanking those who do a thankless job.

“They are the most important people you’ve never heard of, and they deserve some love and praise,” Northcutt said. “This is the way we give these hard working individuals the love they deserve.”

Junior manager Jay Silver

finds the games bring a unique combination of competitiveness and talent.

“I enjoy the competitive spirit in the games,” Silver said. “It can be hard to find that competitiveness along with a decent spread of talent.”

That talent is shown off at the end of the season when the league’s Twitter account ranks the top 64 manger teams, seeds them and pits them against each other in a March Madness-style bracket.

For obvious logistical reasons, there is no way all these manager tournament games can be played, so Manager Games uses Twitter to

help decide the outcome of each game.

This has led to “no real ‘fight’ for seeding,” Northcutt said.

To decide the outcome of each matchup Manager Games uses KPI Sports’ regular season stat tracking to calculate the projected score if the two squads were to actually play.

Accounting for 50 percent of the score, the KPI Sports data is supplemented by the will of Manager Games’ fans, who get to vote on the other half of the total for which team they want to advance on the league’s Twitter page.

This process is repeated until eight manager teams remain.

As for the strategies that teams employ to get fans to vote for them, it’s a toss up.

“Anything,” said Northcutt of the wacky tactics used by teams.

“Lots of getting big name grads to get fans to vote… I lose track of all the names sometimes; it’s pretty surreal.”

When the final eight manager teams are offered the opportunity to go to the Final Four Fan Fest to compete for the Manager Games Championship.

The final eight teams then

square off in a single elimination tournament until a champion is crowned.

How seriously do teams take it?

“Pretty serious,” Northcutt said.

“It’s a real game to them. It’s all real to us.”

But off the court, Manager Games offers a chance to meet others, especially in a business in which most participants wish to stay in after college.

“I really like the networking opportunity manager games brings,” freshman manager Owen Gray said. “It’s always cool connecting and meeting other managers from around the nation.”

Northcutt, who started with Manager Games in 2016-17 as a student manager at Auburn, said he has also built relationships, personal and professional, on and off the court, through the league.

“It definitely builds a community,” he said. “Everyone is so willing to help each other out, so it gives that contact for both work purposes and beyond.”

But on the court, Northcutt said, one thing is for sure.

“You never know what you’re gonna get out of a manager game.” sports@thedailycougar.com

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 7 SanTIaGO GaUGHan, EDITOR

THeDaILYCOUGar.COM/OPInIOn

OPiniOn

713-743-5304

clubS

Houston Hobbyist Guild: a space where the diverse flourish

EDITORIaL BOaRD EDITOR In CHIEf

Michael Slaten manaGInG EDITOR

katrina Martinez CREaTIvE DIRECTOR

Jiselle Santos nEws EDITOR

autumn rendall fEaTuREs EDITOR

Ian everett

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

sTaff EDITORIaL The Staff editorial reflects the opinions of The Cougar 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

jiselle santos/The Cougar

aK aLmOumEn

OPInIOn COLUMnIST

The University prides itself on being one of the most diverse colleges in the nation, yet it could do more to promote student-run organizations that embrace a wide variety of cultures. The funding and promotion opportunities are scarce for some organizations.

It is not easy to find an engaging and safe space on campus where you can meet a diverse group of people who share an interest in nerd culture.

Enter the Houston Hobbyist Guild, a campus organization dedicated to maintaining an often forgotten aspect of what makes games so appealing: diversity.

While one might assume that a group dedicated to nerd culture would not be open to new ideas that’s not the case with HHG. HHG is an organization that embraces a variety of students from different races, gender and sexual orientations. This subculture is comprised of students who have a general love of board, card and video games.

During the week members of the organization can participate in board games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering all around

the student center.

Within those niches is an explosion of humanity that runs the gauntlet of true diversity.

The guild’s mission statement reads “Our goal is to create a community for UH students, faculty and friends to share their hobbies with others or discover new ones.”

That sentiment is a belief to their core. The guild masters celebrate the fact that they attract people proud of their immigrant heritage and gender identity.

HHG’s diversity is even more apparent when you look past the colorful characters their members become while playing D&D. This is good because it allows for ideas to spread among the community. I learned a lot listening to members talk about their culture, ideas and interests.

I have personally had conversations getting familiar with members’ stories about their hometowns in Mexico.

I had the opportunity to engage with others about their appreciation for podcasting.

Some members even went into a complex discussion about understanding cartoons through the lens of gender fluidity, while others lamented about the absurdity of certain

aspects of Japanese media as an exploration of the validity of a person’s identity.

Even listening to the guild members talk about mathematics and probability is captivating.

I can not deny how impressive it is to watch these people communicate in a language that is so foreign to a mediocre student such as myself.

From what I have seen,

sharing space on campus with these colorful characters is one of the most beautiful sights to witness at UH. HHG’s dedication to cultivating a diverse group of gamers shows how students are accepting of those who are different.

AK Almoumen is a media productions junior who can be reached at opinion@ thedailycougar.com

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8 | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg March 6, 2019

ACROSS 1 Installed, as tile 5 Japanese or Javanese 10 Geek ___ (nerdy style) 14 Otherwise 15 “You betcha!”

16 Dill, e.g.

17 Princess Anna’s sister 18 Video game pioneer 19 Cupid alias 20 Willie Nelson genre 23 “Laughing” critter 24 Say again 25 Start for “carte” 27 Open grazing area 31 Pampering place 34 Rush into battle 39 A dromedary has one 41 Borders on 42 “Ditto!”

43 Not in jail, perhaps 46 Gymnast’s top score 47 “Iron Mike” of boxing 48 Down in the dumps 50 Revolutionary War gun 55 ___ Dame 3/6

59 Salad ingredients that bookend 20-, 34- and 43-Across 62 Touched down 63 Employee’s reward 64 Redding of soul 65 Devil’s food ___ 66 Core i9 processor maker 67 Kurylenko of “Oblivion” 68 Sized up 69 Blasts of wind 70 Say it ain’t so DOWN 1 Human sponge 2 Brass or bronze 3 Problem 4 “Star Trek: TNG” character Troi 5 Rent-___ 6 Mythical goat/man 7 Slack-jawed 8 “Mad Men” agent, informally 9 Cacophony 10 They’re spotted on safaris 11 German mister 12 Press, as clothes

13 Eye-logo network 21 Baby powder 22 “Sharknado” star Reid 26 Captain with a whalebone leg 28 Pretty cool 29 Jacks, e.g.

30 Home for Adam and Eve 31 Whiskey glass amount 32 Peewee 33 Rock band gear 35 Lawyers’ org.

36 Dirt road groove 37 Sporty VW 38 Those, in Tijuana 40 Publicized

44 “Movin’ ___” (“The Jeffersons” theme) 45 Da ___, Vietnam 49 Be altruistic, say 51 Parsley garnish 52 Reeves of “Speed” 53 Makes a long story short?

54 Best Buy buy 56 Car owner’s paper 57 Queen’s rule 58 One-pager, for one 59 Potter’s wheel lump 60 Quarterback’s cry 61 Morays and congers 62 Miss no questions on

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