THE UNIVERSITY 2007-08 HOUSTON TENNIS The City OF Houston FACTS ABOUT HOUSTON A large, cosmopolitan city with a small town feel, Three city blocks will be transformed into down- Houston is unique among other major cities due Population: 1.9 million/city town Houston’s premiere entertainment, retail to its southern hospitality and can-do attitude. 4.5 million/metropolitian and urban living hub. The Houston Pavilions is With over 5,000 restaurants, teams in every major Population Rank: 4th a $200 million project encompassing almost professional sport, golf 365 days a year, world- Area of City: 617 square miles 800,000 square feet of space. Scheduled to open class shopping, nationally renowned museum County: Harris in fall of 2008. and theater districts, cruising and the beach just Founded: 1836 a short drive, Houston has it all! Time Zone: Central Discovery Green, Houston’s new 12-acre devel- Industries: Energy, Medicine, Aerospace (NASA) opment will be located in front of the George R. With 60,000 rooms in the Greater Houston area, Leisure: Theatre, Arts, Sports, Shopping, Recreation Brown Convention Center. The WiFi connected the city welcomes visitors with comfortable ac- Annual Rainfall: 48 inches park will offer restaurants, an amphitheater, commodations in every category, from elegant Avg. High in Summer: 91 F picnic areas, dog runs, a pond, jogging trail and Houston hotels to affordable family inns and Avg. High in Winter: 66 F playground. The park is scheduled to open in charming bed-and-breakfasts. Avg. High in Spring/Fall: 79 F early 2008. Houston is every diner’s dream offering more than 5,000 restaurants to choose from. Houston Hotel ZaZa, a 315-room, 12-story property features a dynamic mix of guestrooms, bunga- dining represents more than 35 countries and American regions. Houston’s culinary scene is lows and suites, boasts luxurious amenities, a spa and gourmet restaurant. Scheduled to consistently ranked among the best in the country. With the average meal under $18, it’s open in June 2007. no surprise that Houstonians eat out more than residents from any other city. Whether in the mood for sizzling fajitas, delicious BBQ or gourmet fare, Houston has just the place for Twenty-one acres of prime Galleria-area land will become BLVD Place, a major mixed-use every taste. site for retail, office, hotel and condominiums, anchored by Houston’s flagship 80,000- square-feet Whole Foods Market. The project is set to open in 2009. Some of Greater Houston’s top attractions include, Space Center Houston, the Houston Zoo, Downtown Aquarium, The Galleria, Museum and Theater Districts, Moody Gardens, Minute For more information about Houston log on to www.VisitHoustonTexas.com or call 1-800- Maid Park and the Galveston Strand. 4HOUSTON. In the next three years Houston anticipates many new and exciting developments to add to its list of accolades. 26 26 Houston WAS ranKed THE SIXTH-best SPorts city in the U.S. by SPorting News (2005) Best Place to Relocate • The Houston region ranked 3rd on Site Selection Magazine’s list of top metropoli- tan areas for new and expanded facilities (2006). Best Place to Stay Healthy • Houston is home to the world’s largest medical center, Texas Medical Center, which includes 45 institutions. Best Place to Get Cultured • The Houston Museum District is the fourth largest museum district in the country with 18 museums within walking distance. The Galleria is the fourth largest shopping center in the nation, with more than 375 stores. Best Place for Sports Fans Best Place for a Great Meal • Houston is the only city to boast two • ForbesTraveler.com ranked Houston as the 6th best restaurant city in IT’S GOOD TO BE...HOUSTON retractable-roofed stadiums—Minute Maid Park and Reliant Sta- America, behind New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and dium. With the addition of the Toyota Center arena, nearly every New Orleans. Best Place for an Out-of-this-World Experience professional sport in Houston can be played indoors. • Houston is home to the Johnson Space Center and its Official Visitors • Houston is home to the first domed stadium, the Reliant Astrodome Center, Space Center Houston. Houston was the first word spoken on and is the birthplace of Astroturf. the moon when, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong said, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Best Place for Diversity • Black Enterprise named Houston the No. 4 city in the U.S. for African Best Place to Do Buisness Americans, based on 24 quality of life factors. (2007) • With nine of the nation’s 25 largest publicly traded oil and gas ex- ploration and production firms headquartered in Houston, Houston Best Traveling Experience truly is the energy capital of the world. • Continental Airlines, based in Houston, topped the list of airlines in Fortune magazine’s 2007 list of America’s Most Admired Companies. Best Place for Big Ideas • Houston ranked by The Wall Street Journal as No. 11 in a listing of Best Place to Rest Your Head the top 20 most inventive towns in America, based on the number • Hotel Icon and The St. Regis Hotel were both listed in Conde Nast of patents issued in 2005. Traveler’s Gold List, based on a reader survey that selected the 700 top hotels, resorts and cruise lines in the world (2007). Be a part of the NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as the University of Houston hosts the 2008 South Regional on March 28 and 30 at Reliant Stadium. This is the second SOUTH REGIONAL • HOUSTON, TEXAS • RELIANT STADIUM • MARCH 28-30, 2008 weekend of NCAA March Madness® and will include two sessions, the Friday semifinals (two games) and the Sunday championship game. The Regional will determine one of the four teams that will advance to the Men’s Final Four™ in San Antonio, Texas. FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 832-667-1514 or visit http://www.reliantpark.com/2008houstonregional/ 27 The UNIVERSITY OF Houston The University of Houston was founded in 1927. Acreage was acquired for a permanent campus UH is the most ethnically diverse research university in the nation. The 34,334 students enrolled in 1936, and the first building, the Roy Gustav Cullen Memorial Building, opened in 1939. in fall 2006 were 38.5 percent white, 19.5 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 19.3 percent Hispanic, 13.2 percent African American, 7.3 percent International, 0.4 percent Native American, and 1.8 In 1945, UH was separated from the Houston Independent School District and operated as a percent unknown; 76 percent undergraduate and 24 percent post baccalaureate, graduate, and private university with a Board of Regents headed by Hugh Roy Cullen, the university’s first professional; 48 percent male and 52 percent female; 89 percent Texas residents. benefactor. In 1963, the University of Houston became a state-supported institution. In 1977, state law officially established the UH System, which now includes UH, UH-Clear Lake, UH- Our 560-acre campus includes lush greenery, fountains, sculptures, and recreational fields sur- Downtown, UH-Victoria, and two multi-institution teaching centers: the UH System at Sugar rounding modern classrooms, high-tech laboratories, and study facilities, and affords students Land and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. Over the years, the University of Houston has grown a well-equipped setting for academic pursuits and proximity to the heart of the nation’s fourth- into a major public research institution. largest city. Campus landmarks include the Welcome Center and Parking Garage, Campus Rec- reation and Wellness Center, the Athletics/Alumni Center, the Moores School of Music, Science UH public service and community activities, such as cultural offerings, clinical services, policy and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex, the LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for studies, and small-business initiatives, serve a diverse metropolitan population. Likewise, the Public Broadcasting, which houses KUHT-TV/HoustonPBS (the nation’s first educational televi- resources of the Gulf Coast region complement and enrich the university’s academic programs, sion station) and KUHF-FM, the Center for Public Policy polling center, and television studio providing students with professional expertise, practical experience, and career opportunities. labs. In fact, more than 84 percent of our students secure career-level jobs within three months of graduation. UH has awarded more than 230,000 degrees, and approximately 75 percent of our Libraries at UH provide abundant resources for research, with total collective holdings of more alumni remain in the Houston area. than 2.4 million volumes, 4 million microform units, 20,000 research journal subscriptions, and various other research materials. The M.D. Anderson Library is technologically sophisticated, In 2006, UH commissioned a broad Master Plan that will serve as a blueprint for growth for the with more than 170 networked workstations accessing about 200 electronic databases, more next 20 years. It includes five distinct districts: Art, Professional, Undergraduate, Core Academ- than 26,000 electronic journals, approximately 60,000 electronic books, and Internet access to ics and Stadium. By 2020, UH will be a pedestrian-oriented campus with improved academic a wide range of Web-based resources for research. buildings and new “lifestyle” features such as stores, restaurants and gathering areas. Construc- tion of new graduate and professional student loft apartments has been approved. UH campus activities include more than 300 registered student organizations, a film series, con- certs, theatrical productions, art exhibits, and Division 1 NCAA athletics. The Campus Recreation UH offers 109 bachelor’s, 131 master’s, 51 doctoral, and three special professional degree pro- and Wellness Center offers students, faculty, and staff access to world-class exercise equipment grams through the university’s 12 colleges.