Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, April 26, 2024 — Houston, TX

71 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.



Rice bookstore to offer rental option

(05/17/10 12:00am)

Buying textbooks just became a little easier. Beginning this fall, the Rice University Bookstore will offer textbooks for rental at less than half the cost of purchasing a new textbook.Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, which operates the campus bookstore along with 635 other campus bookstores nationwide, will begin the program this fall after testing in the previous year at 25 universities, Bookstore Manager Tim Jackson said.


Martel takes Sammy Cup in college battle, will receive cash prize

(04/16/10 12:00am)

With overall students, parents and alumni giving participation rates of 10.2 percent, Martel College took home the Sammy Cup in this year's College Battle. Winners were announced on March 20 at Beer Bike and Martel will be officially presented with the award by the end of the school year.Along with a trophy and bragging rights, Martel will receive $1,000 for its student budget. Martel will use the money to kickstart a savings fund, Director of the Rice Annual Fund Michele Boillotat said.


A rainbow for Rice

(04/09/10 12:00am)

Students put a new spin on diversity at Rice during spring recess by spray-painting bicycles for ColorCycle!, a large-scale, student-initiated, student-run art project in celebration of Rice's continuing commitment to culture and innovation. Funded by an Envision Grant, the project aimed to reclaim abandon bicycles to add a vibrant installation on campus.Project Director Sam Jacobson said 64 students assembled at noon last Saturday in the academic quadrangle to spray-paint 85 reclaimed bicycles. Volunteer Coordinator Alex Tseng said the bicycles would be distributed among 236 bicycle racks located across campus.


Students debate health care

(03/19/10 12:00am)

Student debates were just what the doctor ordered. On Saturday evening, Hanszen College senior Sean Sessel and Ted Wieber (Hanszen '09) faced off against Hanszen sophomore Myles Bugbee and Jones College sophomore Kevin Bush to discuss the merits and drawbacks of healthcare reform in the United States. The debate, a collaboration of the Baker Institute Student Forum and Rice Young Democrats, and moderated by BISF President Robert Meister, paralleled ongoing congressional debates concerning federally mandated healthcare. The clubs asked for donations at the event to support the South Texas Colonia Initiative, Inc., an organization that provides medical aid to impoverished communities along the Texas-Mexico border.





Prof. Emeritus Gordon dies

(02/19/10 12:00am)

Distinguished Professor Emeritus William E. Gordon, age 92, died last Tuesday following complications that arose during a recent hip surgery.Gordon has been recognized worldwide for his invention of the Arecibo radiotelescope, a device that uses radio waves to observe the outer layers of Earth's atmosphere along with other atmospheric bodies. He oversaw the construction of a large-scale observatory based on his radiotelescope design in the karst foothills of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, for which the device is named. The Arecibo Observatory received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Milestone Award and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Landmark Award. Gordon was one of only a handful of people to earn both awards.


Rice alumna found dead in Haiti

(02/19/10 12:00am)

Diane (Berry) Caves (Baker '00), a Rice alumna who went missing shortly after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, was found dead earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The 31-year-old Caves, a program analyst for the CDC's Atlanta headquarters, arrived Jan. 6 at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, six days before the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country.


Online only: Rice alumna found dead after Haiti quake

(02/12/10 12:00am)

Diane (Berry) Caves (Baker '00), a Rice alumna who went missing shortly after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, was found dead last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Caves, a program analyst for the CDC's Atlanta headquarters, departed for Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Jan. 6, only six days before a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country.Authorities identified her body in the rubble of Hotel Montana, a popular hotel for Americans visiting Haiti, where she had been staying while on a three-week assignment to work on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Haiti. The hotel collapsed during the earthquake. Two other employees of the CDC who were in Haiti at the time of the disaster have since been found and are safe.


Rice set to refocus after merger falls through

(02/05/10 12:00am)

Reasons have begun to trickle out why Rice University and BCM failed to reach common ground under their Memorandum of Understanding last month.The two institutions ceased considerations of a merger Jan. 11, in advance of the Jan. 31 deadline set by the MOU. An e-mail notified the Rice community of the developments Jan. 12, while announcing the two schools would maintain a mutual commitment to collaborative efforts.


College course budgets face cuts

(02/05/10 12:00am)

Student-taught courses may soon want to include a lecture on thriftiness, because the pocketbooks of Rice University are rapidly shrinking.As the latest victim of the 5 percent university-wide budget cuts, college courses will have to work with a yearly budget of no more than $250 per college next semester, down from the initial $5,000 per college allotted in spring of 2008. After determining that most colleges did not use up their college course budget, the Dean's Office reduced funding for college courses to $3,000 for the current academic year. The subsequent reductions will go into effect next year.


Students discuss climate change in Copenhagen

(01/22/10 12:00am)

While most students spent their winter recess taking a break from learning, one group of students traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a firsthand look at the politics of climate change. Nine members of the Rice community - Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Pedro Alvarez, five undergraduates, two graduate students and a staff member - attended the second week of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, which ran from Dec. 7-18 at the Bella Center in Copenhagen. Representatives from 192 countries took part in the 15th annual convention, known as COP15, to discuss a binding global climate agreement.



Rice-BCM merger falls apart

(01/15/10 12:00am)

After more than a year of discussion, and only two weeks from the Jan. 31 deadline of their Memorandum of Understanding, Rice and Baylor College of Medicine have ended discussions to merge the two institutions. In a joint statement between Rice and BCM sent via e-mail last Tuesday, Rice President David Leebron and BCM Interim President William Butler informed their respective communities that while no formal merger will take place, there will be future efforts to strengthen the existing relationship between the two schools. In the joint statement, Leebron and Butler left open the possibility of expanding collaborations between the institutions, such as in the neuroscience and global health initiative programs.



New penalty structure set

(11/13/09 12:00am)

As if there were not already enough of a disincentive to cheat, the Honor Council has recently made several changes to its consensus penalty structure for the 2009- 10 academic year to strengthen and streamline its focus. Each fall, the Honor Council meets to adopt a standardized penalty structure, which dictates both the type and severity of penalties the council may allow for Honor Code violations. The starting penalty for deliberation under last year's penalty structure was a grade of F in the course and a two-semester suspension. The maximum penalty currently allowed is an F in the course and a three-semester suspension, but under unprompted self-accusations made in good faith, the maximum penalty allowed is an F in the course.


Committee seeks provost replacement

(11/13/09 12:00am)

Following Provost Eugene Levy's announcement to step down from his post in September, a provost search committee has been formed to find a suitable alternative. The committee is composed of 16 members: 12 faculty, one member of the Board of Trustees, one staff member, one graduate student and one undergraduate representative. Former Dean of Natural Sciences Kathleen Matthews will chair the committee. Sid Richardson College senior Claire Shorall and graduate student Nastassja Lewinski will serve as student representatives.



Four BB shooters arrested, two await trial

(10/02/09 12:00am)

Last week, four suspects involved in the Labor Day weekend BB shootings on the Rice campus and surrounding area were identified by Rice University Police Department. Arrests have been made for three of the suspects, and the fourth, a Rice student, turned herself in to authorities late last week.RUPD identified the suspects as Caitlin Barnett, 19; John Michael Chargois, 22; Paul Helton, 18; and Bonnie Mugg, 21. All four are charged with aggravated assault, a felony, Police Captain Dianna Marshall said. Harris County Jail set bond at $30,000 for each individual. Only Barnett and Chargois are accused of being involved in every reported BB incident.