Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Monday, May 20, 2024 — Houston, TX

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Track closed due to accident

(03/13/09 12:00am)

The Beer Bike track in the Greenbriar lot was temporarily closed after an accident occurred on Feb. 25, B.J. Almond, Director of the Office of News and Media Relations, said. The track closed officially on Feb. 27 for spring break and reopened March 9 for bikers. Almond said a student biking on the track collided with a car that was crossing the track but had stopped when the driver saw the cyclists.


Political science chair to depart

(02/27/09 12:00am)

After five years as the Department of Political Science chair, Rick Wilson has announced he will step down on June 30. Though Wilson will retire from his leadership position, he will remain at Rice as a member of the political science faculty. Wilson, who was appointed in 2004 by former Dean of Social Sciences Robert Stein, has served as department chair from 1991-94. The Department of Political Science rotates through chairs every three years, but Wilson's current term included a two-year extension beyond the standard three years because current Dean of Social Sciences Lyn Ragsdale asked him to stay.


Clinton recognizes microfinance club

(02/20/09 12:00am)

Owl Microfinance was one of 12 student groups nationwide to receive recognition from former president Bill Clinton at last weekend's Clinton Global Initiative University in Austin, Texas. Dillon Eng and Joshua Ozer, Owl Microfinance co-presidents, traveled to the University of Texas-Austin, along with Internal Vice President Tommy Fu and External Vice President Elena White, to attend lectures and workshops on poverty alleviation. The Rice students' organization works with independent clients to loan money to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing countries that could not otherwise afford to sustain their initiatives, White, a Martel College freshman, said.


Blanket taxes find ballot spot

(02/13/09 12:00am)

Peppered among the names of student-government hopefuls on the 2009 Student Association spring election ballot will be a number of blanket tax proposals. Rice Program Council is requesting to increase its per-student blanket tax by $23 in two separate measures, adding $8 to its general fund and adding a new concerts fund tax of $15. Additionally, KTRU is requesting a $3 increase in its blanket tax, Open magazine and The Rice Review are asking to add a $1 blanket tax each and SA Internal Vice President Akshay Dayal proposed to eliminate The University Blue's $1 blanket tax. In order to pass, the proposals - all of which have already been approved by the SA senate except Open's request, which will be proposed at the next SA meeting Monday - must be separately approved by two-thirds of the students voting in the general election Feb. 20-25, with at least 20 percent of the student body voting.


Final decision on add/drop deadline reached

(02/06/09 12:00am)

After much debate and discussion, the Faculty Senate voted Jan. 14 to make the final amendments to the add/drop deadlines for the 2009-'10 academic calendar. Faculty Senate Speaker Deborah Harter said the final vote sets the add deadline at two weeks and the drop deadline at seven weeks. Students may add or drop courses during this time period via ESTHER without any fees. Previously, students had four weeks to add a course, two weeks to add it without a fee, four weeks to drop a course without a fee and 10 weeks to drop a course with a fee of $25 per class.



Rice team wins Ike contest

(01/09/09 12:00am)

Before the Owls reigned victorious in the Texas Bowl, a different group of Owls beat over 200 participants to claim first place in Houston's Recycle Ike Contest. A group of Rice faculty and staff members led by Wiess College senior Jeremy Caves and Earth Science Postdoctoral Research Associate William Hockaday created a proposal to turn the 5.6 million cubic yards of debris, including fallen trees and other green waste, left by Hurricane Ike into atmosphere-friendly biomass charcoal known as Biochar. "There are two things you can do with dry plant material," Assistant Earth Science Professor Carrie Masiello said. "You can burn it, which is to combust it in the presence of oxygen, or you can pyrolyze it, which is to heat it in the absence of oxygen."


Natelson named one of the top 20 scientists under 40 by Discover

(11/21/08 12:00am)

Rice has a great number of accomplished professors, but only one has been called the Benjamin Franklin of nanoscience and could potentially be the science adviser to President-elect Barack Obama. Discover magazine made the connection between the revered figure of the American Revolution and Associate Astronomy and Physics Professor Doug Natelson in its December issue. The magazine named Natelson as one of the Top 20 Scientists under 40 years old.


Course investigates vote tampering

(11/07/08 12:00am)

If you give a Rice student electronic voting machine source code, he may want to tamper with it. He may if he is taking COMP527: Computer Systems Security with Associate Professor of Computer Science Dan Wallach.The course focuses on computer systems security in a broad sense, surveying topics such as cryptography, the encryption of data for security purposes; operating system design; and web security and distributed systems security, Wallach said.


Debate team gets wins

(10/31/08 12:00am)

The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice's Speech and Debate Team, has made a strong showing in three competitions so far this season. The team has defeated 55 teams in debate and has accrued 72 awards overall, including debate plus individual events and sweepstakes events. Team captain Aparna Bhaduri, a Jones College junior, has won more than 15 awards this season.After missing the first scheduled tournament in Liberty, Mo. due to Hurricane Ike, the team won the debate event and several individual events at a local competition in Kingwood, Texas.


Rice receives B- for sustainability, highest in Texas

(10/03/08 12:00am)

Rice received a B-, just above the national average of C+ last month for its sustainability efforts from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The rating, which has been in existence since 2005, is based on colleges' efforts in nine categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.Rice received A's in categories such as Green Building and Investment Priorities, but received an F and a D in Shareholder Engagement and Endowment Transparency, respectively. Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson said Rice's grade, the highest in Texas, was admirable, considering the best grade in the country was an A-.


Masden to leave Rice

(09/26/08 12:00am)

After holding down the fort for five years, Director of Student Activities Heather Masden will step down from her position Tuesday to return to Florida with her family. Assistant Dean of Students Catherine Clack will begin the search for a new director this semester, Masden said. As director of student activities, Masden oversees Rice clubs, provides students with opportunities to engage in leadership positions and organizes campus events.