Mexican film director Arturo Ripstein came to speak for a film series based on his movies, last Friday and Saturday at the Rice Media Center.
Students looking for an after-dinner snack just got another option. For the week of Oct. 2-8, RechargeU, the campus convenience store located in the Rice Memorial Center, is extending its hours for a trial "Student Hours Week."
Hanszen College sophomore Caroline Gutierrez finds her date Duncan College junior Estevan Delgado at RPC's Screw Your Roommate.
Filling the field with an 80-yard model of the International Space Station, the Marching Owl Band honored Rice's 50-year partnership with the Johnson Space Center and NASA during the halftime show at the Rice vs. Purdue game on Saturday.
Students and workers who spend time in the BioScience Research Collaborative now have the opportunity to caffeinate themselves at the building's new coffee shop Java Pura which opened Monday.
There will be a campus-wide candlelight vigil on Sunday, September 11, at 8 p.m. in the Central Quad commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. This vigil will begin with a reading of Tony Kushner's "A Prayer for New York," include prayers from a variety of religious organizations, and close with the Phils singing the National Anthem.
After a summer of deliberation, grant and endowment proposals totaling nearly $3 million from the KTRU radio tower sale have been approved by the Asset Liquidation Funds Appropriation Committee and President David Leebron. The grants that were supported will go into effect this year while the endowments await approval by the Board of Trustees at their upcoming September meeting.
A new website for buying and selling textbooks called Textbook Madness was launched earlier this semester by Rice alum J.D. Leonard (Jones '09).
The alcohol probation period, which was initiated late last spring, is still in effect with no plans for being lifted in the near future.
The Student Association's Hedgehopper cards are back with more opportunities than before for Rice Students to head beyond the hedges.
Following suite of KTRU, the University of Houston has a new online-only radio station, COOG Radio.
The author of this year's Common Reading author spoke to an audience of about 100 people in the RMC Grand Hall on Tuesday about honor and respect explaining how they apply to specifically to Rice along with the rest of the world.
Around 2,000 students donned their cowboy hats and plaid shirts for Martel College's "Don't Mess with Texas" party last Friday. As the first party of the year, this event is usually well attended, but this year's numbers were much higher than in previous years, Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson said.
With the city of Houston in drought with lack of rainfall and experiencing record-breaking heat, Rice Facilities Planning and Engineering has a wide variety of water conservation projects and tips students can use to help save water on campus.
The days of constantly checking for open spaces in a class may soon be over.
Saint Arnold Brewing Co. will be toasting to Rice's Centennial Celebration with Centenni-Ale two beers specifically relabeled in honor of the university's centennial.
The new Dean of the School of Engineering Ned Thomas, who was appointed last spring, has now assumed his post in the department. His goals as dean focus on increasing the exposure and quality of Rice's engineering program by providing more opportunities for student leaders and competitions. Hailing from MIT's School of Engineering, Thomas was the head of the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering before coming to Rice. In addition to an academic background, Thomas also has experience in entrepreneurship, starting multiple companies over the course of his career since his undergraduate days at the University of Massachusetts. "Cambridge has that effect on people," Thomas said. "Once they drink the juice up there, a lot of them decide to start their own businesses."Thomas cited two examples of organizations he's founded: OmniGuide, a medical devices company founded in 2000 that specializes in making minimally-invasive laser surgical tools, and the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, a division of MIT focused on serving soldiers by developing lightweight army gear and creating devices that can seek out bombs remotely. He said the motivation behind these two creations sprung from his entrepreneurial experiences as an undergraduate and consequently, he wants to promote a similar environment for engineers at Rice. In Thomas' opinion, Rice – as a relatively small university – is the perfect size for cultivating excellence in engineering across the board. Thomas described his vision as encouraging engineering students to engage in competition, to experience leadership in preparation for the working world and to increase their capacities to innovate. He said he especially emphasized connecting with entrepreneurs, and expressed support for programs like the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership and Rice Alliance. "If a student gets involved in these programs, they may not eventually start their own company, but they'll meet people who might inspire them to explore the possibilities and innovate in other ways," Thomas said. Martel College sophomore and chemical engineering student Luz Rocha said she thinks Thomas will be an effective dean and that his goal for developing leadership within the school of engineering is heading in the right direction, especially with recent initiatives like RCEL. According to Rocha, RCEL helps engineering students connect with other engineering students outside of their major and year. She said she hopes the RCEL program will continue growing to include more events and ways to promote leadership and networking within the School of Engineering and she hope these efforts will extend the program's impact beyond Rice. However, Rocha said the new dean might face challenges in implementing engineering leadership programs in ways that students will both enjoy and feel are crucial to their engineering education. Still, she added that she was optimistic about the feasibility of Thomas' vision. "I think the vision can definitely become practical as leadership expands through engineering," Rocha noted. "I'm sure several engineering students are interested in that sort of thing and, given proper guidance, can definitely develop that interest into something more concrete that can eventually lead to entrepreneurship in engineering companies."
