The event is fun for the whole family. Spectators can watch hot air balloons fill the sky and enjoy the local cuisine. “The RE/MAX Ballunar Liftoff Festival is a great way to enjoy the great Fall weather outdoors, and features hot air balloons from all over the country,” said Mike Sumerlin, RE/MAX of Texas Marketing Director. “Unlike other festivals where admission is based on individual pricing, the RE/MAX Ballunar Liftoff Festival is only $10 per carload making it the best Fall festival value in the greater area.”

The festival also includes live music as well as arts & crafts exhibits.

“There’s something for everyone at the RE/MAX Ballunar Liftoff festival; we’ve got great live music from the Fried Ice Cream Band and Curtis Braly on Friday and Saturday; we’ve got a NASA Johnson Space Center open house on Saturday; we’ve got Radio Disney and performances from Sonny the Birdman and Texas Snakes and more,” Sumerlin said.

For more information about the festival please visit http://www.ballunarfestival.com or call 281-488-7676.

A weekend filled with mixers, celebrity guests and film screenings can be expected throughout Clear Lake, Kemah, Nassau Bay, Seabrook and League City as the 11th annual Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival will take place on September 17, 18 and 19. The festival will provide guests and participants the opportunity to mingle with internationally known members of the film community, as well as the chance to gain significant exposure in the industry

The Signal Staff

Kathy Tamer, United Space Alliance and UHCL distinguished alumna; Monica Stout, DMST major; Anne Henry, adjunct instructor, DMST; and UHCL President William Staples at the President’s Report to the Community breakfast March 25.

University of Houston-Clear Lake presented the 2010 Report to the Community and this year’s Distinguished Alumna and the Community Partnership award at a breakfast held at Lakewood Yacht Club March 25.

Dick Covey, president and chief executive officer of United Space Alliance, received the Community Partnership award. In his speech, Covey said that as one of the largest employers in the area, USA “looks to the UHCL as a resource.”

The report showed USA’s commitment to higher education through the programs they support at UHCL, a support re-emphasized by Covey in his speech. Although his speech began with laughter, Covey’s tone changed as he spoke about USA’s relationship with UHCL.

“Our employees and the people we want to hire have come through the University of Houston-Clear Lake system and that has meant a great deal to us over the years and that is why we find it important to support the university in the ways that we do,” Covey said.

One of the many programs sponsored by USA is the Digital Media Studies program. Monica Stout, a DMST major graduating in May, shared her experience, inspirations and career opportunities she now looks forward to after graduating. In her speech she said she was able to find her niche.

“I was thrilled when I came across the Digital Media Studies program offered here,” Stout said. “It was fairly new and rather small, but I immediately realized the great potential this program had to offer me.”

The room was filled with alumni who celebrated with UHCL as President William Staples highlighted new initiatives and the various milestones UHCL received. UHCL was awarded The Christa McAuliffe award given by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in November 2009.
This award recognizes outstanding achievements in preparing teachers through a hands-on program that allows them to intern at schools in the 23 partnering districts. The award was named for Christa McAuliffe who won the chance to become one of the first teachers in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger, which claimed the lives of her and six other crew members.

Also in December, Tina Farrell, assistant superintendent of Clear Creek Independent School District was awarded UHCL’s first doctoral degree in education leadership. This program requires 69 hours of coursework including 21 hours in leadership, 15 hours in research, nine hours in communication and 102 hours in an area of specialization.

“What made many of our successes possible are the partnerships that UHCL has developed with corporations, individuals, alumni, cities, foundations and our own employees to advance key initiatives at UHCL,” Staples said. “The University of Houston-Clear Lake has positioned itself as a partnership-oriented and community-minded university. This is a role for UHCL that we take very seriously.”

A photo slideshow created by The Signal reporter Mary Ann Wangler showing scenes of Halloween around Houston and the Clear Lake area.

Shelter, by Bethany Quillin (steel, wood).

Mary Ann Wangler

The Signal Staff

The Art Alliance Center at Clear Lake, located at 2000 NASA Parkway, is currently hosting “Flotsam & Jetsam: Artists Respond to Hurricane Ike.”

“To encourage creative interpretation of the theme and to diversify the art and the materials used to make it, we have tilted our August exhibition about Hurricane Ike, Flotsam & Jetsam,” said curator Debra Kendrick.

Flotsam is debris found floating or that has washed ashore, and jetsam is cargo cast overboard to lighten the load. Artists had the choice to use the hurricane as the theme or subject of their work, or they could use the “flotsam churned up by the storm or the jetsam cast off by its victims to create something fresh form all the devastation,” Kendrick stated.

Looking Up, by Che-Hwa Wang (dry plum leaves). The artist is a UHCL student.

“The invitational aspect of the show will include both; as well as works by Galveston artists and other coastal area artists who suffered particularly at the hands of Ike.”

Kendrick also said that several of the works on display are by current and former University of Houston-Clear Lake students.

The “Flotsam & Jetsam” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 8, 2009. The gallery is open to the public Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and accepts donations.