Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, April 26, 2024 — Houston, TX

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Arrests made in Labor Day weekend BB gun shootings

(09/25/09 12:00am)

Update: According to Rice University Police Chief Bill Taylor, Caitlin Barnett turned herself in sometime between Thursday and Friday afternoon, paid bond and was released. Bonnie Mugg also paid bond and was released. The two remaining suspects are currently in jail.Four suspects involved in the Labor Day weekend BB shootings on Rice campus and the surrounding area have been identified by Rice University Police Department. Arrests have been made for three of the suspects, and a warrant has been issued for the fourth.


Endowment falls 18 percent

(09/25/09 12:00am)

While Rice may not have lost as much as of its investments as other universities, its endowment still took a hit during the most recent recession. For fiscal year 2009, Rice incurred an 18.2-percent loss on the endowment's investment returns, worth about $838 million. The university also spent $215 million of the endowment, $55 million of which was recouped in endowment gifts, according to unaudited reports issued from the Office of the Vice President for Investments Treasurer.


On the Origins of Rice: the Travels of Edgar Odell Lovett

(09/17/09 12:00am)

Just over 100 years ago, in the summer of 1908, Edgar Odell Lovett began a journey to "search among the universities of the two hemispheres for the educational and architectural ideas to be incorporated in the new university to be planned in Houston." The university to which Lovett alluded would come to be known as the Rice Institute, renamed the William Marsh Rice University in 1960. Lovett, then head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton University, was selected by the Rice Board of Trustees to lead the new institute. Assisted by his wife, Mary, and his secretary, F. Carrington Weems, Lovett planned to circumnavigate the world and draw on the knowledge of universities from different international backgrounds. During the trip, Lovett recorded his trip in two blank bound volumes that he brought with him, with carbon-copy pages so he could keep a copy and send the original to the trustees back in Houston, who anxiously awaited his return.


Students attacked on the outer loop

(09/11/09 12:00am)

This weekend, eight incidents were reported on or near the Rice campus in which people were attacked with air-propelled pellets from BB guns, airsoft guns or a similar type of weapon. Rice University Police Captain Dianna Marshall said two of the attacks took place Sunday, while the other six cases occurred Monday. Although four of the attacks occurred on the perimeter of campus near entrances 3, 4 and 17, another four cases occurred in the areas surrounding Rice: two similar instances occurred in Rice Village at the intersection of Morningside Drive and University Boulevard, one at 1815 Bissonnet Street and another on Interstate 45 South at Scott Street.


Rising book prices drive students online

(09/04/09 12:00am)

Amidst all the financial constraints swirling in 2009, students are looking to cut costs at every corner. For most, that entails pinching pennies in textbook fees.From scouring online marketplaces, to turning to the Student Association, to settling for the stacks at Fondren Library, students like Erica Herris have gone to many lengths to save money on their books.


New BRC opens OC

(08/28/09 12:00am)

Following eight years of planning and months of construction at the corner of University Boulevard and Main Street, the BioScience Research Collaborative opened its doors on Monday to Rice students and faculty. The new center, designed with the intent to facilitate interdisciplinary interactions between Rice researchers and the Texas Medical Center, will focus on improving human welfare through scientific research. "There is an extraordinary frontier in biomedical science," Provost Eugene Levy said. "Fortunately, [Rice] is situated across from one of the world's best medical centers," he said of the Texas Medical Center.


Rice remains top-20 university

(08/28/09 12:00am)

Rice has once again secured a spot among America's top colleges, tying for 17th with Emory University and Vanderbilt University in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2010." In addition to being named one of America's top universities, Rice also received the spotlight for its attention to undergraduate students and its top engineering program.The methodology used to rank national universities consists of multiple criteria, with a quarter of the weight attributed to a peer assessment, 20 percent weighted on retention rates, 20 percent based on faculty resources, 15 percent for student selectivity, 10 percent for financial resources and the remaining 10 percent split evenly between graduation rates and alumni donations.


Finding their identities

(08/21/09 12:00am)

As the newest additions to the residential college system since Martel College in 2002, Duncan College and McMurtry College have already begun forming their own unique cultures and traditions. While the question of how to integrate the new colleges has long been in the works, Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman and others working on the transition are confident that the colleges will be able to find their own identities. "On move-in day, McMurtry and Duncan won't have independent governing bodies," Forman said. "It will take them some time to develop a sense of what it means to be a residential college."


Brockman receives over $11 million in NIST grant

(08/21/09 12:00am)

Despite a tough economy and cutbacks in spending, Rice received $11.1 million in funding this summer from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to aid in construction of the Brockman Hall for Physics. Rice competed for and was awarded one of NIST's construction grants as part of federal stimulus funding. A previous donation from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust allowed for construction of the building. With a new, additional source of funding, money originally slated for use on Brockman Hall construction will be freed up for use on other projects, a spokesperson for the development staff, who asked to remain anonymous, said.


Brothers remembered for community service

(08/21/09 12:00am)

Stone Taylor Weeks, 24, and William Holt Weeks, 20, died in a car crash July 23 en route to Washington, D.C. The brothers, both researchers at the Baker Institute of Public Policy, were traveling to visit family and friends, and to attend a party celebrating the release of history professor and Baker Institute fellow Douglas Brinkley's new book, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. Within the history department, Stone worked for Brinkley as a research assistant after graduating with a B.A. in History from the University of Delaware in 2007.


Inside the New Colleges

(08/21/09 12:00am)

// Not only did they open at the same time, but McMurtry College and Duncan College share many of the same measurements and features. Both measure 125,700 square feet, for a total of 281,200 square feet, including the joint-servery. Each features five floors and 324 beds, split among 150 singles and 87 doubles. While the bottom four floors of each college have an internal hallway, the fifth floor is characterized by a single-width hallway with a terrace. The new colleges also have their own servery, complete with private dining rooms and libraries.


Man shot near Rice

(05/15/09 12:00am)

Metro Police shot and killed a man carrying a knife last week just outside of the Rice campus. The police had been following the man after he became involved in an altercation at METRORail's Dryden/TMC station, south of campus. When he took off along the outer loop, Metro Police fatally wounded the man, Rice Director of News and Media Relations B.J. Almond said. According to the Houston Metro Police Department, the incident was the first fatal shooting in the history of Metro's law enforcement division.


Rice receives grant for compiler research

(04/17/09 12:00am)

A team of Rice scientists are a chip off the old block, or rather, their work will be. Five Rice professors received a $16 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for their research on improving the efficiency of programs running on processors. Comprised of specialists spanning various sectors in the fields of computer science and probability and statistics, five Rice scientists have come together to work on the platform-aware compilation project, also called the PACE project. Computer systems, including ones found in iPhones and other cell phones, use compilers to translate human phrases and code into binary zeroes and ones that a machine can operate on, computer science professor Krishna Palem said.


Kissinger, Baker discuss future of Chinese-American relations

(04/10/09 12:00am)

What was once a cool relationship between the People's Republic of China and the United States is now an open relationship, helped, in part, by Rice. To honor the 30th anniversary of full diplomatic relations between these two nations, Rice's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy hosted a conference on April 3 entitled, "America and China: The Next 30 Years." The event consisted of a panel of distinguished guests, including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James A. Baker III, and China's Ambassador to the U.S., Zhou Wenzhong.


New Lovett masters prepare for college life

(04/10/09 12:00am)

The search is finally over: Lovett College will be welcoming Professor Matteo Pasquali and his wife Marie- Nathalie Contou-Carrere as its new masters next year. Pasquali and Contou-Carrere will replace current masters Bernard and Carolyn Aresu. Pasquali and Contou-Carrere said although they were initially hesitant about the job, they quickly warmed to the opportunity.



Rice Debate advances to nationals

(03/20/09 12:00am)

Rice Debate will have a chance to defend its title as a top-10 school at speech and debate nationals this month when the 14-member team debates March 27-29 at the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.In 2008, Rice placed fifth in the national sweepstakes, with their highest performance in recent memory being second place in 1998.



Jewish studies minor passed

(02/27/09 12:00am)

Mazel tov! Rice will offer a new minor in Jewish studies beginning this fall. The minor, which was approved by the Faculty Senate last week, is the start of a long-term effort to bring a full-fledged Jewish studies program to Rice. Professor of Judaic Studies Gregory Kaplan, along with Professor in Biblical Studies Matthais Henze, both members of the Religious Studies Department, spent the past three months obtaining approval for the minor by working with professors from a multitude of disciplines.


Rent increases proposed for pubs

(02/13/09 12:00am)

[Editor's Note: Upon receipt of an e-mail from Student Center Director Boyd Beckwith containing corrected numbers and additional information pertaining to the proposed Valhalla rent increases, the Thresher editorial board updated the following story (update posted to Web on Sunday, Feb. 15). The original story stated that Vahalla's proposed increase amounted to a 147 percent change.]Valhalla's reputation for inexpensive beer may soon take a hit as the graduate pub attempts to make up for a proposed 30 percent rent increase next year.