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Wednesday, January 29, 2020 — Houston, TX 46°

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NEWS 1/28/20 11:09pm

Housing & Dining Launches Composing Initiative at North Servery

By Kelly Liao

In an attempt to increase campuswide sustainability, Housing & Dining has adopted a new composting initiative that includes a composting trial at the North Colleges Servery. Over the past two years, Rice has made multiple updates to the recycling system in order to try to meet a 40 percent recycling rate goal by 2020, according to Richard Johnson, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management at Rice.

NEWS 1/28/20 11:06pm

Toxic Tour brings students to polluted sites

By Brian Lin

On a "Toxic Tour" of Houston, led by the Houston Air Alliance, 15 students visited gas-flares, a polluted section of the Buffalo Bayou and a neighborhood encircled by refineries. The event was hosted by the Green Dorm Initiative and wound through the Second Ward, crossed Galena Park, touched the Buffalo Bayou, circled back toward the Fifth Ward and ended at Manchester.  

NEWS 1/28/20 10:05pm

Rice Management Company defends Ion

By Rynd Morgan

Allison Thacker (Baker ‘96) and Ryan LeVasseur (Wiess ‘01, School of Architecture ‘03) from Rice Management Company gave a presentation to dissuade Student Association members from supporting Senate Resolution #8, a resolution advising that Rice and the Board of Trustees enter into a Community Benefits Agreement with the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement at the Student Association Senate Meeting on Jan. 27.

NEWS 1/28/20 10:01pm

Wickerson to appoint interim parliamentarian

By Sammi Johnson

After the resignation of both the Student Association Parliamentarian Freddy Cavallaro and Deputy Parliamentarian Emma Donnelly and with elections around the corner, SA president Grace Wickerson has yet to appoint an interim parliamentarian for the remaining few weeks of the term. 

NEWS 1/28/20 10:01pm

Rice launches free Coursera courses for Rice students

By Hajera Naveed

At the beginning of this semester, Rice launched Coursera for Rice which provides students, faculty and staff with full access to all Rice courses on Coursera for free. This effort is part of the Coursera for Campus program, which provides campus-specific courses taught by professors affiliated with the school.

NEWS 1/22/20 12:09am

O-Week PAAs will no longer be affiliated with O-Week groups

By Serene Lee

Beginning the fall of 2020, Orientation Week Peer Academic Advisors will no longer also serve as O-Week advisors. The Office of Academic Advising instituted this change to lower the mental and physical strain for students chosen for those positions, according to Aliya Bhimani. 

NEWS 1/21/20 11:59pm

First week of school: Campus has no cool

By Talha Arif

Due to ongoing construction at the Central Plant, the campus has experienced disruptions in air cooling at both residential and academic buildings over the past week, exacerbated by a heat wave that culminated in a record-high 83 degrees on Wednesday.

NEWS 1/21/20 11:52pm

Students demand community benefits agreement for Ion

By Rynd Morgan

In response to continued development on Rice’s Innovation District on the border of Midtown and the Third Ward, members of a student coalition and 16 student organizations published a letter asking Rice to sign a community benefits agreement with Houston community members on Monday, Jan. 20. 

NEWS 1/14/20 11:48pm

Last semester’s TABC charges delay Pub opening

By Amy Qin

Willy’s Pub will remain closed for the first weeks of the semester as management begins to implement changes to improve its compliance with Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission policy, according to an email from General Manager Emily Duffus. 

NEWS 1/14/20 11:46pm

Rice admits 19 percent of Early Decision applicants to the class of 2024

By Brian Lin

Rice welcomed 385 students into the class of 2024 through the university’s binding early decision program, according to Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva, as well as 55 students through QuestBridge National College Match. This year, Rice accepted around 18.9 percent of the 2,042 applicants on Dec. 12, according to Romero da Silva, a higher percentage of students admitted than last year. 

NEWS 1/14/20 11:43pm

Rice Ph.D graduate known as ‘CRISPR Baby’ scientist sentenced to three years in prison

By Riley Holmes

A Chinese court sentenced He Jiankui (Ph.D. ‘10), who revealed that he had genetically-edited twin girls last year, to three years in prison on Dec. 30, 2019. The questions surrounding his PhD advisor, Rice University bioengineering professor Michael Deem’s involvement in the He’s experiments, remain unanswered. In November 2018, Rice began a full investigation into Deem’s role in the research.

NEWS 1/14/20 11:38pm

First classes held in Kraft Hall as construction continues

By Kelly Liao

The new four-story home for the School of Social Sciences, Patricia Lipoma Kraft ’87 and Jonathan A. Kraft Hall for Social Sciences, completed a substantial portion of its construction over the break, according to Larry Vossler, senior project manager for Facilities Engineering and Planning. While classes have begun in the building, extractors and remaining debris can be seen on the grounds next to the building. 

NEWS 1/14/20 11:36pm

RUPD names new chief

By Savannah Kuchar

Captain Clemente Rodriguez will assume the role of Rice University chief of police starting this Thursday, following the departure of current chief James Tate to George Washington University. 

NEWS 12/13/19 12:33pm

Dean of Engineering Reginald DesRoches to become ninth provost

By Christina Tan

The provost is considered the chief academic officer of the university, overseeing “academic, research, scholarly and creative programs and activities,” according to the provost’s office. 65 years after the first provost took office, DesRoches will be the first Black provost in Rice’s history, following Miranda’s appointment as the first female provost. 

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