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On Wednesday Google Transit finally added the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) to its list of available transit systems. This is great news for those of us who don’t trust METRO’s Trip Planner. That thing is just painful to use.

It’s also great for mobile users, as the Trip Planner is definitely not mobile friendly. The only thing METRO has done to keep up is to release some JPEGs of maps that can be used with iPods. Who really wants to do that? Meanwhile, Google Transit has native iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, Palm OS, and Java clients available via Google Maps.

I also have faith that Google will do more work to perfect their algorithms than METRO will. Let’s just hope that current information is given to Google when bus routes or maps change.

So the University of Houston–Downtown has decided they will be changing their name. There’s been a lot of discussion about new names, and UHD has ruled out any names that have “University of Houston” in it. That’s a big mistake in my book.

What nobody seems to talk about is the damage the name change will cause to the University of Houston System! Having “University of Houston” in the name is what allows for name recognition, not because of simply the flagship university, but because it’s part of something greater than just one university. Dr. Hoffman would probably hate to see what Max Castillo has done here.

Allowing a university in the system to disregard those system ties is signifying a weak brand recognition for UHS. Our system is fledgling as it is, we don’t need more fragmentation, but unification. Let’s look at some of the more prominent public university systems in the country. Do you think the universities in the University of California system don’t want to be associated with the UC name? How about the universities in the University of Texas System? The fact is that it actually helps to build a university, rather than tear it down.

Having a similar name to a “flagship” university in the system doesn’t stifle growth either. Just ask UCLA. The school made a name for themselves on their own. UTSA, UTEP, and UTD are starting to do it too. As Chancellor Khator has mentioned in the past, there’s nothing formally set-up that disallows UHD from being treated equally from UH.

Thus I recommend, if there is to be a name change, that it keeps the “University of Houston” in the name. My favorite was “University of Houston-Allen’s Landing”. It’s distinctive, nods to history, is highly Houston-oriented, and upholds brand recognition for the University of Houston System. Hell, it even could be a kinda catchy little abbreviation; UHAL.

So what’s going on with the situation right now? Well, upon Castillo and Khator agreeing on the new name “University of South Texas”, they presented it to University of System Board of Regents. They promptly rejected it for multiple reasons, and a new process will begin to determine a name. I hope that maybe those involved in the name change start thinking about UHS brand recognition, and allow for UH names again in the new process.

It was a disappointing last night for the Houston Cougars men’s basketball team. We were coming off an away game loss to Arizona, which got tons of national attention due to Aubrey Coleman apparently stepping on Arizona’s Chase Budinger’s face. Coleman was suspended from this game by Conference USA due to the incident. If you ask me, I think it’s purely because of the attention that he was suspended. If it had been a game against Rice, it would’ve been a non-issue.

Anyway, needless to say, the Cougars lost in the second half. This was the second time the Cougars played the Miners this season. During the last meeting in El Paso, it was the first time in history Houston came away with a win from an away meeting with the Miners. So I guess that somewhat makes up for it. Regardless, there were tons of students there, and less alumni. The attendance was nearly 4,000. The Cougars are now 12-6, which drops them down to fourth in C-USA standings.