U H Home Search University of Houston
UH Today News

Office of Internal Communications
Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8196

August 22, 2005

IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME

During the summer, the University of Houston was busy with numerous events and activities while more than 12,000 students attended classes.

MAY

  • Malcolm Davis, a veteran UH police officer and alumnus, was named UH’s executive director for public safety and police chief following the retirement of Bob Wilson. Davis now leads the UH Department of Public Safety (UHDPS), which is comprised of UH’s Police Department, Fire and Physical Safety Department, Parking Enforcement and Security Division.

  • The campus was alive with the sounds of the 2005 Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival, which was held from late May to early July. The festival offered students a chance to polish their performance skills under the supervision of professional musicians at UH’s Moores School of Music. It also provided music aficionados with a wealth of entertaining concerts and recitals from some of the world’s brightest young musicians.

  • The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) launched the university’s first-ever Weight Watchers at Work. The 15-week session ended Aug. 12, but WRC plans to sponsor another session in the fall. The group is open to faculty, staff and students. For more information on Weight Watchers at Work, contact Susan Rosthal at 713-743-8156 or srosthal@uh.edu or Brandy Damon at wwbrandy@aol.com.

JUNE

  • The UH Global Energy Management Institute sponsored the “Is Deregulation Good for the Consumer?” conference. Panelists included electricity suppliers and marketers; industrial, commercial and residential consumers; regulators; and academics. Keynote speakers were C. John Wilder, chairman and CEO of TXU Corp., and Paul Hudson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

  • Broadway veteran and Tony Award -winning composer Jerry Bock debut his latest work, “The Land of Broken Toys,” at UH’s 2005 Children’s Theatre Festival. This year’s festival also included “Snow White” and “Peter and the Wolf.”

  • National experts on drug abuse in the Latino community converged on campus for the National Hispanic Science Network’s Summer Research Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Abuse. More than 20 pre- and post-doctoral fellows attended the event, which was sponsored by the UH Graduate School of Social Work’s Office for Drug and Social Policy Research, the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
JULY

  • Donald J. Foss began his tenure as UH System senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

  • This summer’s Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF) paired “As You Like It” with “Hamlet.” UH’s School of Theatre produces HSF, which is co-sponsored by the city of Houston.

AUGUST

  • UH began installing additional security cameras to reduce crime on campus. The cameras are tied into the UH Department of Public Safety’s virtual patrol room and covered parking lots, buildings and high-pedestrian traffic areas. Cameras were not installed in restrooms, dressing and locker rooms, living quarters and examining areas in the UH Health Center. The university now has 155 security cameras monitoring the campus.

  • Renovations and construction projects continued including the Science and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex (SERCC). The UH System Board of Regents approved a $7 million increase for SERCC’s $51 million construction budget. Other projects include the $25.8 million parking garage and Welcome Center, which is being built next to the Hilton University of Houston Hotel and Moody Towers. The garage will be ready for use by January 2006.

    Projects scheduled for completion this fall are the $49 million M.D. Anderson Library expansion, the $17 million Cullen Oaks expansion and the $4.5 million renovation to the building that houses the School of Theatre and the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre.

Francine Parker
fparker@uh.edu