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growing up in Houston my next door neighbor had a PhD in nuclear physics from FSU and was in the oil business his entire life....he was also an adjunct professor at UH in Chemical Engineering

UH currently has graduate level PE degrees in the CE department

and when talking to my neighbor he stated that CE, ME, CS and a number of other engineering degrees could just as easily get you a Petroleum job if you desired and if the bottom dropped you could always flip back to a job in your "major" where a PE degree is much more difficult to transfer into another job

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If they are only gonna fund 2 more, I think UH and Texas Tech should get the extra funding...

I don't think Dallas would be willing to walk away empty-handed. There are more politicians with jurisdictions that fall within the Dallas sphere of influence than any other part of Texas...and Denton is more of a politically-neutral site within that region than Richardson, so I think it'd go to UNT.

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I don't think Dallas would be willing to walk away empty-handed.

It's hard not to be a conspiracy-theorist on higher education funding when you remember what happened back in 2004.

If you'll recall, the presidents of UH and Texas Tech worked the state legislature for several years to get "excellence funding" to help move those two universities forward towards "Tier I" status. After their years of hard work, UH and TT were rewarded by the state lege with something like $17 million per year for two years ($6 million for Texas Tech and $11 million for UH each year for two years is what I recall).

Those "excellence funds" to UH and TT were promptly vetoed by Gov Rick Perry, citing the state budget deficit. However, Perry turned around and 3 months later and awarded $50 million of "discretionary funds" to UT-Dallas as a "Business Enterprise Fund" to spur business development.

As the legendary Bill Yeoman says, "It's hard being a Cougar."

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Rick Perry's man-love for UTD and TI.

Simply Smashing use of the development fund! That was a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

But then again you have to bribe TI not to get GITI with (give it to India).

Edited by MidtownCoog
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I don't think Dallas would be willing to walk away empty-handed. There are more politicians with jurisdictions that fall within the Dallas sphere of influence than any other part of Texas...and Denton is more of a politically-neutral site within that region than Richardson, so I think it'd go to UNT.

http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/ClosingTheGaps/UnivMeasRank.xls

UNT does the least amount of external research (17 million) of all emerging research universities except UTSA that does 14 million....UNT has a VERY SMALL and very underfunded engineering program that is in shambles because of the poor administration of UNT in general.....UNT has a DO school in their pseudo system, but no other medical program to work with and UNT has zero professional programs on their main campus and none besides the DO school in Fort Worth

UNT is also hamstrung by a failed system center that has failed multiple times to meet enrollment projections in south dallas and UNT is also trying to take over the UCD in dallas and is not doing well with their ideas for it....like purchasing some lofts for student residences against the recommendations of THECB....and they have admitted that the occupancy of those lofts is below expectations

UNT is trying to start a law school in dallas as another pork project to aid dallas redevelopment even though most feel there is no need for another law school in Texas especially a "low cost" one that will lag at the bottom of rankings for decades....and the business school at unt is large, but lack luster and unt has an extremely small endowment for a university of its size....UNT also has UTD and UTA right down the road and UTD is a better university for research and UTA is quickly moving past them as well

so unt will be last or next to last in line to ever receive funding to do major research.....and projections by the THECB also show that

Edited by TexasVines
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Texas has only three nationally competitive research universities...Such institutions are considered vital to a region's economic growth

Then why has it taken so long to get done?

These are all powerful numbers. But Khator can't be the only one shouting them.

It will take a team of business leaders, foundations, alumni and other individuals to win the race.

Who does UH have to do that?

--------

Also...

Different subject here. A proposal to add improvments to Robertson.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5916575.html

Edited by lockmat
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
I see theaters, shopping and entertainment in this very spot for the future.

Must have had some do some research of how other popular campus' have progressed. One of the best examples of what this can be like would be UCLA campus or Westwood Village:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood,_Los...les,_California

http://www.seeing-stars.com/shop/westwood.shtml

It can be done, let's do it! :D

Si se puede!

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  • 1 month later...

Thought you guys may want to see some of the updates on-campus in their current state. These were taken with my iPhone yesterday, and the sun was on its way down, so they're not the best quality. Let me know if you want to see any photos of other things on the campus, and I'll snap some. I'm a current student at the university, and live on-campus so it's no big deal.

Here is the new professional/graduate student housing known as Calhoun Lofts near Entrance 1 from Spur 5:

post-7432-1230724609_thumb.jpg

This is the new retail area also on Calhoun next to the Recreation Center. The location consists of Maui Wowi (a tea/drink franchise http://www.mauiwowi.com/), Subway, Pizza Hut (take-out only), a textbook buyback/reseller, and a nice new bar called "The Den". These guys have an High Definition projector, and several TVs with satellite.

post-7432-1230724645_thumb.jpg

This is Moody Towers being restored/sealed. They're currently sandblasting and painting the exterior, and they're not done yet, so it's crazy looking.

post-7432-1230724707_thumb.jpg

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Is there anything on the second floor of that retail?

Here is the new professional/graduate student housing known as Calhoun Lofts near Entrance 1 from Spur 5:

And I was gonna say in that first pic, some power washing of the concrete in the forefront wouldn't hurt.

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Is there anything on the second floor of that retail?

It's a faux second floor exteriorly. The only business that utilizes it is The Den with a tall ceiling and a faux second floor interiorly...I hope that makes sense. Let me know if I need to clarify. :P

Yeah, and Moody Towers apparently really needed the restoration. Here's UH Plant Operations' info regarding it. It apparently is at about a million dollar cost.

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Is it on campus or on the outskirts? It looks like street side strip center to me, or is the picture deceiving?

I'm pretty sure it's considered to be officially on-campus. It's pretty much in between the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center and the Catholic Newman Center in what was part of the parking lot for the rec center. The land is owned by UH, and in this case the building is owned privately by a company called "Lovett Commercial". Sort of like the operations that Cullen Oaks, Bayou Oaks, and Cambridge Oaks run on-campus. This is opposed to the Welcome Center across the street, where UH owns the land and the physical facility, but lease space for retail.

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It's a faux second floor exteriorly. The only business that utilizes it is The Den with a tall ceiling and a faux second floor interiorly...I hope that makes sense. Let me know if I need to clarify. :P

Yeah, and Moody Towers apparently really needed the restoration. Here's UH Plant Operations' info regarding it. It apparently is at about a million dollar cost.

Makes perfect sense, thanks.

And is that new color what it originally looked like? It's a 100% improvment.

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I'm digging that retail concept.

The great thing is that even though most of the campus is dead right now due to the holidays, that bar is still lively, and Pizza Hut looked to be busy. More areas like this are key to making students want to stay on-campus outside of class.

And is that new color what it originally looked like? It's a 100% improvment.

I can't say if that's the original color, maybe somebody else knows...

Edited by Brian Reading
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  • 1 month later...

UH I believe has now approved the construction of three new buildings, with two of them being around the business/engineering section and the third to be an addition to the optometry school.

http://uh.edu/plantops/fpc/Bauer_Business_Building_III.html

http://uh.edu/plantops/fpc/Engineering_Stu...s_Building.html

http://uh.edu/plantops/fpc/Optometry_Addition.html

as a UH student, I'm thrilled that the school is expanding.. but they need to start focusing on other parts of the campus instead of that corner where Bauer is.

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Okay, so here's a look at the progress now.

Calhoun Lofts appears to have gotten a lot of exterior work done on it.

3257051698_1453750a6a_b.jpg

Especially on this side (towards Law Center)

3257124308_87514b13cf_b.jpg

Here's an empty lot across from Calhoun Lofts. It's apparently privately owned, and the retail advisors, Page Partners have a sign prominently displayed in front of it. Visiting their website, they have some info on it, and call it the "Cougar Den Plaza". Let's hope they actually do something with this soon, as it's really a premium location for retail.

3256324987_69552b4b14_b.jpg

Across from Melcher Hall, right outside the parking lot also on Calhoun I saw this sign marking the location for the "East Parking Garage".

3257111200_e1733e5957_b.jpg

And finally, here's what's going on with the new Michael J. Cemo Hall. It's really just a pile of dirt out there. I'm sad that they hadn't done more. Maybe there's just a lot that you can't see.

3256340689_b52444592b_b.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

This may be old news to some, but UH Regents have approved a new undergraduate dorm to be built between the Towers and the Quad on Wheeler St. The dorm will house almost 1,100 students. This is in addition to the 1,000 new beds at the Calhoun Lofts that are nearing completion.

From the scuttlebutt I've heard, the next move will be to knock down the Cougar Place efficiencies at the corner of Cullen and Wheeler and replace them with another new dorm.

The leadership at UH has taken to heart the idea to build alumni pride (and donations) by putting more students on campus. Those that live on campus are more likely than commuters to build strong ties to the university and become committed alumni.

"In Time"

http://www.uh.edu/uhtoday/2009/02feb/02190...enovations.html

February 19, 2009

REGENTS APPROVE NEW RESIDENCE HALL, RENOVATIONS TO DINING FACILITIES

The University of Houston System Board of Regents recently approved two major construction projects that will play key roles in building a stronger "Cougar Nation."

The regents approved a new undergraduate residence hall and a major renovation to Moody Towers

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As of today they have done mostly utility excavation at the Cemo site, and are beginning to build the formwork and lay the hot & cool water pipes coming from the central plant. I'll get pics next week. They are also starting to level grade the parking garage across from the Calhoun Lofts.

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They could spend 100 billion dollars on a new dorm, but it's still Aramark food service.

Uh, you been to campus lately??? The food is a hell of a lot better than it was when I was a student (I work there now). With all the new restaurants like Chili's McAlister's Sonic and the Pita place in the UC, UH has worked very hard to improve options. They're about to sign a deal where Cougar Cash can be used at EVERY campus eatery too. The Cafeteria food is really imporving... especially when the full student population is around.

Great news about the new dorms... this is deserately needed, b/c Cougar Place is just holding us back!

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I dunno...if whatever replaces Cougar Place is more expensive, then I think it's a bad idea.

Edit: also, because it's already such a crowded campus, I think the school should look into building dorms (particularly upperclassman and grad student dorms, since those are the most likely to be tired of campus living) off-campus along the proposed LRT route and save space on-campus for academic buildings and stuff like that.

Edited by N Judah
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  • 2 weeks later...
I dunno...if whatever replaces Cougar Place is more expensive, then I think it's a bad idea.

Edit: also, because it's already such a crowded campus, I think the school should look into building dorms (particularly upperclassman and grad student dorms, since those are the most likely to be tired of campus living) off-campus along the proposed LRT route and save space on-campus for academic buildings and stuff like that.

the new calhoun lofts are for grad students, and i'm pretty sure if they dont get enough grad students they will open it up for upperclass man as well.. also there is a plan in the works to build new dorms off of wheeler in the summer so UH is definantly making an effort to increase the on campus population

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