Thirty-nine years ago the far wall in the UH Cougar Den was a smooth, curved ribbon of plaster.  Nine fee tall, 50 feet long.  Empty and blank.

"When I saw it, I couldn't stand it because it had that panoramic view.   It had the curves.  I knew I had to do something on that wall," said Mario Gonzalez, Houstonian, UH alum and one of two muralists who, in 1972, would do something on that wall. 

He and fellow UH student, Ruben Reyes—both members of the group MAYO, Mexican American Youth Organization—helped to locate the funds to paint what would become the Chicano Mural in the UH Cougar Den. 

"I painted the left section of the mural and Mario painted the right and we met in the middle, which is the future of the Chicano," Reyes said.  "We painted the past, the history of Mexico, our beginnings from the days of the Spaniards and the Aztecas.  We brought it to the far right (of the mural) to the Chicano movement."

The left side of the mural features images of Aztecs, farmers (campesinos) and images of Mexico's history—Sor Juana de la Cruz, Benito Juarez, Emilio Zapata, Pancho Villa.   On the right side of the mural, Gonzales painted images of historical figures of the 60s and 70s—Cesar Chavez, Alicia Escalante, Reies Lopez Tijerina, and a sea of people demanding change. 

"Here I show the church helping the people, pulling the people forward. There is hope," Reyes continued.  "And then we go to the center where we depict the students, the ones who have the possibility of making our future better."

The mural still stands, depicting the historical past and the turbulent present, meeting the student in the middle, encouraging him to remember...and be inspired.

"This is our identity. This is our history.  It needs to continue."

The Chicano Mural is part of what's happening at the University of Houston.  I'm Marisa Ramirez.

Telling the stories of the University of Houston, this UH Moment is brought to you by KUHF, listener supported radio from the University of Houston.

"Sleep either plays a very critical role in our species health and development and survival or it's the biggest mistake that evolution has ever made."  

Dr. Candice Alfano, directs the University of Houston's Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (or SACK), a community based research center and clinic that assesses and treats children with sleep and anxiety disorders, two of the most common behavioral problems in children. She describes some of the problems commonly seen at SACK.

"Children who have a tough time initiating sleep, staying asleep, waking up in the morning because they're so exhausted," she said.  "They get a bad case of the 'what ifs' at night, so they lie there thinking 'What if I don't do well on that test tomorrow? What if I miss the bus?  What if I'm not able to sit at the lunch table with my friends at lunchtime?"

Alfano points out that many sleep issues are developmentally appropriate and will resolve on their own. Others, however, require clinical intervention.

"The first thing we do is conduct a very thorough assessment, which consists of an interview with parents and children, she said.  "Sometimes we have kids wear an actograph. It's a small device that looks just like a wristwatch.  What it's really doing is collecting information when they're asleep based on the presence of movement."

Alfano alsosays that children who don't get enough sleep are at risk for a range of problems, including poor performance in school, weight gain and obesity, and, later, anxiety disorders and depression.  She says sleep health is as important as diet and exercise, and families need to make it a priority.

"If sleep weren't essential for development, growth, learning, health it probably wouldn't have survived thousands and thousands of millennia of evolution."

SACK is part of what's happening at the University of Houston.

Telling the stories of the University of Houston, this UH Moment is brought to you by KUHF, listener supported radio from the University of Houston.