Financial Fundamentals

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posted by Chelsey

What stops a person from pursing higher education?

Ask any John, Jake, or Joe-Bob on the street and, chances are, there will surface one common answer from among them: money. So far, it has not been a good decade to be a student. Tuition prices continue to climb, which also leads to higher textbook costs and campus fees. Feeling backed into a corner, many a student has resorted to one of the following courses of action: borrow money, or leave school. Luckily for its students, the University of Houston-Victoria has and continues to offer one of the lowest tuition rates in the state of Texas. However, that is not meant to imply that all students on campus are free of financial burden. Even now, as the spring semester is coming to an end, some individuals are already crunching numbers to see how many hours they need to work this summer to pay for their education in the fall.

As a means of assistace, I have assembled a list of handy-handy sources for future reference:



FAFSA: Submitting an application via FASFA is perhaps the most important step in obtaining collegiate financial assistance. While not everyone can qualify to recieve a Pell Grant, the scoring this form gives students goes back to the university for further review. At least, if Uncle Sam doesn't come through, qualifying for local patronage is still an available option.

Internships: While an it is still technically a job, the mention of an internship on a resume will open a number of doors in the professional future. While landing a paid internship is ideal, not all companies are willing or able to make such an offer. However, even if it is not possible to get paid, taking part in an internship might eventually led to the saving of funds in the future. Many schools, for instance, are willing to reward such extracurricular activites with college credit. (Please contact the dean of your respective school for more information.) To scope out potential opportunities, please consider visiting Internships.com; or even consult scholarship websites such as Fastweb.

Scholarships: While on the note of Fastweb, scoping out scholarships are an excellent way of scrounging additional aid. Apply for anything and everything, whether a sweepstakes or an essay; it leads to more favorabe aids.

Borrowing: While loan should be a last resort, considerng how quickly they lead to debt, borrowing is still a viable choice. Only two recommendations: 1) never borrow more than $10,000 an academic year; and 2) do not borrow more than can be earned in a single year (post-graduation).



With all of these options available and more, there is no reason that a person should have to forfeit a college education just because of money.

Class Registration

Today is the day to plan for your future. Or, at the very least, your future here at UHV. As of 0800 hours this morning, class registration for the both the summer and fall 2012 semesters has begun. And while it may be tempting to procrastinate, to think that there will still be a seat or two empty by the end spring finals week, my advice is this: DON'T! Considering that certain classes follow a particular course rotation, it is best to register as soon as possible. Do not gamble with your graduation date!

Visit MyUHV A-S-A-P!

What would make you happy?

My friends and classmates:

I am sure you are all aware that UHV has only recently become a 4 year destination university.  Previously, students took two years of classes at Victoria College or another Community College, then progressed on to UHV to finish their BA or BS degrees.  As a student in the school of Education, working in the Adult and Higher Education program, a lot of my coursework gets me thinking about what kind of transition that makes for the students, faculty, and staff of the university.  A lot of questions are being posed by the faculty and staff as to how to best suit the needs of these new students.

Well, here is my problem: I entered UHV as a Junior a couple of years ago, and I am not sure I ever had my needs met as an older student.  As an undergraduate, English/Humanities major, I could at least track down my advisor when I needed assistance.  I never met my professors in person, but that was OK.  That worked for me in my situation.  Now, as a graduate student, I am having a harder and harder time having my needs met.  I know the school is based in Victoria; I can read the name of the school.  But services in the Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch locations are really suffering.  Speakers go to the main campus; fellowships are offered through the main campus; I feel left out.

Keep in mind that I am (was) a non-traditional student.  It took me 15 years to earn a BA, and 13 of those to find a home at UHV.  Also keep in mind that I love UHV.  I have had a better experience here than I have at any of the 6 universities I tried before ending up here. 

The question I would pose to you today, though, is how could it be better?  (Um, this might help me with a major assignment if you would take a moment and answer.)  The student services staff would love to know as much as I would.  What would make your UHV experience more rewarding?  Please post here.  I really want to know.  This is my current field of study, and my future.  Take a few minutes and share your thoughts.

Bowling On Staurday Night

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posted by Jassmin

My family and I have not been bowling in a number of years. But today was my mom's birthday: a perfect opportunity to break our hiatus. And while no one within our party scored higher than 118 (in a single game), none of that mattered in comparision with the number of smiles exchanged between us. Many of the other families and friends who were sharing the lanes beside us might have similar testimonials to share.

Century Lanes, located on John Stockbauer, is an excellent place to bowl and to bond. While the lanes are mostly occupied by local leagues from Monday through Thursday, the solo stricker can enjoy a few frames of glow bowl on "late" Friday and Staurday nights. And Super Sunday is ideal for those looking to bowl as much as they want for a reasonable fee ($10 per person from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; $12 per person from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.).

Although I may not have a future as a professional bowler, I have discovered a new way to make memories with my family and friends. If nothing else, I like to think that it made today extra special for my mom.

A Community Cinema Celebration!



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posted by Daiana



Beginning today, March 22nd, Victoria will be hosting its first Independent Film Festival – sponsored by the Texas Artists’ Cultural Alliance (TACA), a not-for-profit organization. The event is scheduled to span the course of four days, from Thursday noon until early Sunday eve. Hosted at both Victoria College’s Johnson Symposium and the Leo J. Welder Center downtown, attendees will have the chance to view a wide range of genres as well as take part in Q&A sessions for select films. A detailed schedule of showings is available for perusing on the main website (www.vtxiff.com).

FREE tickets for some Saturday showings are available to UHV via Student Services – limited two tickets per family. Please contact Janet Foerster at Jaguar Hall to reserve yours. Tickets for other events are available for purchase through the VTXIFF website.

Spring Break

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posted by summerforever

Ah…! Spring break has finally arrived! Midterms are over, papers are submitted, and life is renewed. At least for a week.

So, what do you do with your Spring Break? Personally, I love to go to my parents’ condo in Canyon Lake with the kids – spending a week playing in the river, driving through God's country, eating quiet poolside dinners. Admittedly a little change up this Spring Break…

For those of you who have a bit of a late start for Spring Break, here are some suggestions:

Choose a place. Essentially though, choose a place that suits you. I won't really get into lists of places to go; I think that has been covered in the median ad infinitum. Don't go party in Ft. Lauderdale just because all your friends think it is cool.

Plan well. Make sure you have a room waiting for you when you get there, and that you have a safe way to get home.

Please don’t drink. Especially if you are underage. The bartender will fill you up with sodas all night long if you tell him you are driving. My suggestion is to fill up the tank, and then tell all your friends that they have to pitch in for gas money. Drive around for a bit, drop off another friend, and then tell everyone who is left that they have to pitch in for gas money. Do this until you have dropped off your last intoxicated friend. Not only have you gotten everyone home safely, but you made enough extra cash to not be the designated driver next time!

Check out SXSW. Based out of the Austin Convention Center, it will be the source of the stories you tell your children in 20 years – like your parents talked to you about Lollapallooza or Woodstock. It rocks, and you will not regret it. And if you find any of my friends while you are there, they will probably buy you a drink and point you in the direction of the next best show!

Have a great Spring Break, guys! See you again next week.

A Soldier's Story: Tim O'Brien Comes to UHV



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posted by Elaina



My father once told me that if a war story is easy for a person to tell, then, more than likely, it is not true.

Extending back three generations, the military has gained a branch or two on my family tree: my grandfather, a decease army officer; my father, a former naval engineer; my uncle, a discharged army lieutenant; and my cousins, both Air Force officers. But of the previously mentioned five, only two of them –my uncle and a cousin –have seen and survived foreign conflict. And, to this day, neither will speak of it. Or if they do, the words they use are anything but proud or humane.

“If you go to war, it’s a little bit like being dipped in cray pas oil: It affects everything. You get black. Your attitudes toward the world… the words you use to express those attitudes and the frustration… the anger, the sorrow…” (Tim O’Brien)

On February 16, the American Book Review welcomed Vietnam veteran and writer Tim O’Brien as its second speaker for the Spring 2012 Season. There to welcome him that afternoon was an enthusiastic community of readers, as well as a few fellow veterans of Asian conflict.

From 1959 to 1975, the United States was engaged in conflict across the ocean in Vietnam –a jungle country divided by communism and smeared with the blood of nearly 60,000 American soldiers. When at last they came home, the animosity and difficulty that these young and broken men would could to face would haunt them for years to come.

From the excerpts O’Brien read from during his visit, it is easy to comprehend how he had come to earn his acclaim as a world-class war story writer. He touches a place in a soldier’s soul and illustrates their difficulties in such ways that other writers have been unable to do before or since. Some people might call his words and descriptions crude; but when they do, it is obvious that they are missing the point of not only the story but of writing itself.

 “My job is not to sprinkle Ajax over the world you all live in and clean it up for you, to tidy it up. The politicians can do that with their lovely sounding rhetoric. But a writer doesn’t do that. A writer lets you see it all –the love, the hate, the horror, the pity, the joys, the sorrow. All of it. And some of it’s not going to be pretty.”

While each of his works is noteworthy in their own right, the pieces that O’Brien will continue to be well known for are his short story collection “The Things They Carried” and the novel “Going After Cacciato.”