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SPORTS 1/14/15 10:34am

Vandalism, theft strike club crew team boathouse

By Jessica Kelly

This winter break, burglars broke into the Rice Crew team’s boathouse, tagging their boat with graffiti and stealing solar light panels. The vandalism and theft occurred some time between Dec. 24 and Dec. 26. The boathouse is located in the Buffalo Bayou/East End area, a location known for its graffiti culture. This incident of graffiti and theft marks the fourth burglary of the team’s first semester on the Bayou.Coach Mike Matson told ABC13 that professional paint repair costs for the tagged boat could be anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500.The team looks forward to the completion of their new permanent structure, which will have high-tech security features. In the meantime, the team is seeking assistance from the local Houston Police Department, along with support from other rowing teams in the Houston area and the Rice community. Vespoli, manufacturer of the team’s tagged boat, has reached out to the team as well.“It sure is sad that these people are that desperate to be breaking into our boathouse to try to steal what few things we have and even go so far as to vandalize our boats,” Laura Nicholson, a McMurtry College freshman, said. “But in the words of our coaches Mike and David, Rice Crew will continue to push [forward] and rise and rise again through these challenges.”Coach Mike Matson has been a strong voice of support for the team, addressing this issue while keeping the team focused on the future championships. Matson said the burglary will not affect the team’s performance.“This was an unfortunate occurrence, but certainly not a setback,” Matson said. “We learned from the experience and have properly adapted our security working in conjunction with the police. Our focus now shifts to the championship season ahead and sending Rice’s first boat to the SIRA championships in over a decade to proudly represent the Owls.”The team is set to meet with the East End Graffiti Abatement team on Friday to remove the graffiti from their boat.

SPORTS 1/14/15 10:31am

Athletics unveils $31.5 million training facility

By Maddy Adams

The Rice Athletic Department recently announced the proposed construction of a new student athlete development building. The Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center will be located at the north end of Rice Stadium and will cost $31.5 million to build. The 60,000 square-foot building will house a weight room, a home team locker room, staff offices, an auditorium, a football team lounge and areas dedicated to training and sports medicine. These facilities will be available to all Rice student athletes.According to Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard, these renovations will benefit students and coaches on and off the field.“The Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center affords our student athletes and coaches a better environment for training and medical care than we currently offer,” Karlgaard said. “I believe our football players and other athletes will be better prepared and healthier as a result of the new building.”Karlgaard said that these facilities will also help recruitment efforts.“I hope young men and women who seek a world class academic and athletic experience will see this facility as a key component of their skill development,” Karlgaard said. The tarp-covered area that encompasses the north end of the stadium will be demolished to make room for the building. The existing scoreboard will also be removed and will be replaced by a new one that will be on top of the new center.According to Karlgaard, however, these renovations will not reduce seating capacity.“I’m not sure this facility will have a tremendous impact on our fan experience,” Karlgaard said. “We are working towards further renovations that will create an excellent atmosphere for spectators in our stadium.”The Dallas-based architecture firm HKS will be designing the new building. HKS designed Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas and Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.Donors have pledged the funding necessary for construction, which will begin in early 2015 and will be completed in time for fall 2016.

NEWS 1/14/15 4:18am

2015 at the movies: A&E editor Kaylen Strench picks out the most promising and anticipated films of the upcoming year

By Kaylen Strench, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Okay, I know it’s not even Oscar season yet. That said, it’s never too soon to start planning which films you’re going to spend $20 to see. In all seriousness, 2015 has all the makings of a golden year for cinema. From Fifty Shades of Grey to a new Star Wars flick to works by the entire spectrum of elite directors, the competition for top place at the box office is sure to be brutal. Fortunately, the Thresher has filtered through the mountain of promising releases to pick out those that you should actually invest your time and money into seeing. The following movies are sure to spark conversation and define film this year. The Quirky IndieTitle: That’s What I’m Talking AboutDirector: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)Starring: Ryan Guzman (Step Up, All In), Zoey Deutch (Vampire Academy), Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf)Plot: Ambiguous, something about college baseball players in 1980s Texas.What’s the Deal?: Though Linklater’s been an indie-film king since his sleeper hits Slacker (1991) and Dazed and Confused (1993), he moved into the mainstream consciousness this year with his Best Picture contender, Boyhood, a coming-of-age story filmed over 12 years. There’s some pressure for him to top his previous success — quite a challenge, particularly since he has only a fraction of the time to work. Whatever happens, Talking is sure to be deep, artistic and enlightening. The Promising ComedyTitle: MastermindsDirector: Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite)Starring: Kristen Wigg (Bridesmaids), Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover)Plot: A humble night guard attempts a colossal bank robbery.What’s the Deal?: This comedy, which won’t be released until mid-August, isn’t being discussed much yet. With such a proven, knockout cast and director, however, it seems hard to go wrong. Expect Masterminds to be as silly as Bridesmaids or The Hangover, but with an added edge of intelligence, similar to the vibe in Hess’s cult hit Napoleon Dynamite.  The ThrowbackTitle: MacbethDirector: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown)Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Marion Cotillard (Inception)Plot: See SparkNotes.What’s the Deal?: Why should you care about yet another Shakespeare on film piece? First, there’s Justin Kurzel, the mysterious, fresh face known for his 2011 critical hit Snowtown, a chilling tale of murder in a small community. Kurzel’s sure to provide a dark take on Macbeth that you couldn’t have anticipated during your No Fear Shakespeare skim in high school English. Furthermore, the combination of Fassbender and Cotillard, two of the most impressive and star-studded actors in Hollywood, is worth watching in itself.  The Sure ThingTitle: SilenceDirector: Martin Scorsese Starring: Liam Neeson (Taken), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Adam Driver (Girls)Plot: In the 17th century, Jesuit priests go on a dangerous mission to Japan to meet up with their mentor and convert people to Christianity.What’s the Deal?: Scorsese may have the best resume of any living director in Hollywood. He’s been making classics for over 40 years — from Taxi Driver to The Wolf of Wall Street. Even more interesting, however, is the strange plot synopsis he’s released for Silence and the eclectic cast. It seems like Scorsese has left cocaine and yachts far behind, and it’ll be fascinating to see what he does with this dark period piece. The Violent WesternTitle: The Hateful EightDirector: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher), Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained)Plot: A group of bounty hunters get stranded during a blizzard in late 18th-century Wyoming. Eventually, things take a strange turn for the worst.What’s the Deal?: We all know Tarantino can hit a home run, something he’s proven again and again with classics like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. What’s interesting about this film is its unexpected star, Channing Tatum. Tatum’s range seems to have no ceiling; he’s excelled in both comedic roles (21 Jump Street) and in extremely intense, complex characters (Foxcatcher). That  said, Tarantino’s violent, aggressive characters require a style of performance likely to pose a new challenge for the young actor. And no matter what happens, we’re sure to get an exciting, bloody thriller with a layer of intellectual complexity. The Sci-Fi Action FlickTitle: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Director: J.J. Abrams (Lost)Starring: Harrison Ford (42), Mark Hamill (Star Wars Episode IV), Carrie Fischer (Star Wars Episode IV)Plot: All we know is that it’s set 30 years after Episode VI and is a continuation of that film.What’s the Deal?: What can I say? It’s Star Wars, it speaks for itself and it’s a proven formula of a deep plot with rich themes, complex characters and all the fun of the sci-fi genre. The main novelty of this film is director J.J. Abrams, who solidified his reputation for expressing suspense and creating top-notch action sequences with the series Lost and movies like Mission Impossible III. Hopefully Abrams can infuse something fresh and unexpected into this series, which, to be honest, is getting a little stale (sorry Star Wars fans).  Kaylen’s Pick:Title: Knight of CupsDirector: Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)Starring: Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)Plot: A man gets caught up in the life of the rich and famous and loses himself as a result.What’s the Deal?: It’s really difficult to vocalize the beauty and power of Terrence Malick films unless you’ve seen them. The beautiful cinematography and spiritual themes of his movies are deeply moving. This film, a follow-up to his weird, wonderful The Tree of Life, could be Malick’s magnum opus. It is already dominating film festivals and receiving attention across the industry. Watch the trailer – you won’t need any more convincing that this is the 2015 release we should be most excited about.

OPINION 1/14/15 3:54am

Hutchinson’s decision to cancel Cheer Battle strips students of voice

By Thresher Editorial Board

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson has made an executive decision to not allot time to Cheer Battle during Orientation Week 2015 (see p.1). However, O-Week coordinators will retain the option of organizing an unofficial Cheer Battle during O-Week. According to Hutchinson, Cheer Battle “doesn’t represent who we are at Rice anymore” and violates Rice’s harassment policy requiring a non-hostile environment.

OPINION 1/14/15 3:50am

Charlie Hebdo attacks affirm place of free speech

By Tina Nazerian

For its Jan. 19, 2015 edition, The New Yorker chose the sketch “Solidarité,” by a Spanish artist named Ana Juan. Below the Eiffel Tower is a sea of blood, and the tower itself is dark, only becoming grey when it starts morphing into a pencil — a pencil that writes in red.

OPINION 1/14/15 3:49am

Cheer Battle cancellation solves nothing

By Ilina Terziyski

I am not surprised that the administration has decided to remove Cheer Battle from Orientation Week. As any O-Week 2014 Coordinator can tell you, it was clear that there was push back on Cheer Battle from the administration. The time allotted to teaching and performing cheers was shortened and the traditional cheer routes were changed so that fewer colleges met up. The changes to Cheer Battle were simply presented to the O-Week Coordinators, and despite a majority disagreement, the changes remained. Some of our opinions were heard but not taken seriously. I quickly learned that our voices as student leaders are not as strong as they are advertised to be.

SPORTS 12/7/14 7:12pm

Football accepts bid to Hawai'i Bowl

By Evan Neustater

The Rice University football team has accepted a bid to play in the 2014 Hawai’i Bowl, according to reports. The Owls (7-5, 5-3 C-USA) will head to Honolulu, Hawaii for their third consecutive bowl appearance, a school record.Rice will take on Fresno State University (6-7), who lost to No. 22 Boise State University on Saturday, Dec. 6, in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game. Junior quarterback Brian Burrell leads the Bulldogs offensively and has thrown for 2,576 yards and 22 touchdowns, good for second in conference. Junior running back Marteze Waller is third in the MWC in rushing, recording 1,292 yards and 11 touchdowns for the season.Fresno State has the No. 101 ranked defensive unit in the country, allowing 32.6 points per game, and has given up at least 20 points in each of their last seven games.The Hawai’i Bowl is scheduled for Christmas Eve (Wednesday, Dec. 24) at Hawaiian Airlines Field at Aloha Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will air nationally on ESPN.

NEWS 12/4/14 7:34am

Ferguson rally organizers to host vigil for Garner

 

Rice students Osaki Bilaye-Benibo and Blaque Robinson, two of the organizers of the Ferguson rally, are holding a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. in the academic quad. This event comes after a grand jury declined yesterday to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the choking death of Eric Garner.

SPORTS 12/3/14 2:44pm

Women's basketball wins three of first five games

By Michael Kidd

The Rice University women’s basketball team began the 2014-15 season by winning three of their first five games, including four of five at home.After an opening day victory over Prairie View A&M University, the Owls lost to Associated Press No. 5 Texas A&M University on the road despite trailing less than 10 points for the majority of the game. Since then, the Owls have won two of their last three games.On Monday, Nov. 24, the Owls defeated Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi with a final score of 59-54. Following the victory, Rice defeated Alcorn State University 61-33 on Friday evening. With the wins, the Owls improved to 3-2 on the season. Ten of the 11 Owls who entered the game against Alcorn State recorded points. Sophomore forward Jasmine Goodwine led the team in scoring with 15 points while junior forward Megan Palmer snagged a season-high 13 rebounds. Rice won the battle of the paint with a 40-18 point margin, thanks in part to a balanced attack of post play and drives to the basket.The offense built an early lead due in part to Rice’s best defensive performance of the season. Rice allowed just seven points to the Lady Braves throughout the entire first half. Alcorn State shot 3-32 from the field (9 percent) and 1-8 from three-point range. The seven points allowed in the first half tied a Rice record, and the 33 points for the game were the sixth-fewest points allowed in school history. With a mix of returning players and new additions to the squad, Head Coach Greg Williams said he was pleased with the balanced attack the offense showed on Friday night. “We feel we are able to play nine or 10 players each game and figure out who is playing well on any given night,” Williams said. “Hopefully as we play more games we can get some more consistency, individually and as a team.” Williams said the team will rely heavily on the play of seniors, especially forward Christal Porter, in order to be successful this season.“We have five seniors, and [we] are counting on them to finish their Rice careers with strong seasons,” Williams said. “Christal [Porter] is our most experienced returning player, and we are hoping she has a breakout year. She has been rebounding well to start the season, and we hope her scoring will follow suit as she is capable of being a double-double performer each game.”Williams said he is also optimistic about the incoming crew of freshman in his arsenal. “Freshman Shani Rainey has started our first five games, so she has made an immediate impact,” Williams said. “Wendy Knight has been solid in practice, and we have a lot of confidence in her.”The Owls next face off against the University of Houston on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. on the road. The Owls will then return to Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday, Dec. 6 to face Stephen F. Austin University before taking a two-week recess for final exams. 

SPORTS 12/3/14 2:44pm

Men’s basketball loses three in Alaska tourny

By Kevin Mohanram

The Rice University men’s basketball team lost all three games this past weekend in the Great Alaskan Shootout, an annual early-season tournament held in Anchorage, Alaska. In the first match, Rice played Mercer University, who beat No. 2 ranked Duke University in the NCAA Tournament last year. The game went into overtime, with Rice eventually losing 77-71. The next day, Rice lost 76-74 to Washington State University. Rice lost its final game on Saturday, their third in less than 40 hours, to Division II University of Alaska, Anchorage 65-54. Senior forward Seth Gearhart led the team in scoring over the weekend, with 49 points total, including a season-high 22 against aWashington State.Head Coach Mike Rhoades said the team continually got better throughout the tournament but was stunted by fatigue at the end of the week.“The crazy thing about [the tournament] is we got better, we just didn’t get the results we wanted,” Rhoades said. “We played three nights in a row, with our last two games being real quick turn arounds. We didn’t have much left in the tank on the third night. No excuses, we still have to find a way and overcome being tired.”Rhoades also said the team had trouble closing out games.“We just couldn’t put 40 minutes together to pull out a win,” Rhoades said. “That was disappointing. ... This is going to be a process. One thing I can say about our guys is they have a great attitude about it. They know this process is going to take time, but we’re close.”The Owls’ next game is Wednesday, Dec. 3 against Houston Baptist University, followed by a game against St. Edward’s University Saturday, Dec. 6.

SPORTS 12/3/14 2:43pm

Bowl destination difficult to predict despite eligibility

By Evan Neustater

With Rice University’s regular football season in the books, the Owls now await their postseason bowl destination. For the first time in school history, Rice will head to its third consecutive bowl appearance after winning the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl over the Air Force Academy 33-14 and losing last season in the Liberty Bowl to Mississippi State University 44-7.According to NCAA Bowl regulations, a team must earn six wins to become bowl eligible, although it does not ensure a bowl appearance. Seven wins in a season essentially guarantees that a team will earn a bid to a bowl game. With Rice’s seventh victory against the University of Texas, El Paso on Nov. 21, Rice practically guaranteed itself a position to play in a number of possible bowl games.According to postseason bowl procedures, the winner of the Conference USA Championship automatically chooses which C-USA-affiliated bowl game to participate in. This season, Marshall University and Louisiana Tech University will play for that right in the C-USA Championship Game in Huntington, West Virginia on Saturday, Dec. 6. C-USA is one of the only conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision that does not have a pecking order for bowl games. Typically, teams are assigned to bowl games depending on their final rankings within their conference. For C-USA, however, bowl-eligible teams (programs with six or more wins) must wait for an invitation from each bowl’s representatives and accept or decline the invitation. Each of the bowls will typically offer invitations to the schools that they believe will bring in the most revenue via ticket sales and television deals. Therefore, larger schools will usually receive invites from more prestigious bowls over smaller programs, even if they have fewer wins, because of their larger fan bases that are often willing to travel to bowl games.C-USA has five primary bowl tie-ins: the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, the Boca Raton Bowl, the Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, and is secondarily affiliated with the Duck Commander Independence Bowl. The Boca Raton and Bahamas Bowls are both in their inaugural seasons, and this is the first year the New Mexico Bowl has been affiliated with C-USA.For Rice, any of those bowl games are possible destinations, although some think certain bowls are more likely than others. Rice football beat writer Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle said he believes Rice’s most likely bowl destinations are the New Mexico or the Hawai’i Bowls. According to Phil Steele, a college football pundit with the most accurate bowl predictions for the past 16 years, Rice will most likely head to the Hawaii Bowl to face Fresno State University on Dec. 24.  The article originally stated that the winner of Conference USA could choose the Liberty Bowl, which is no longer accurate as of 2014. Furthermore, the Independence Bowl is only secondarily affiliated with C-USA.

SPORTS 12/3/14 2:42pm

Not Your Average Joe: Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard hopes for big payoff from four-point athletics initiative

By Evan Neustater and Maddy Adams

When he came to Rice University in the summer of 2013, Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard knew the limitations he had to work with. Having worked in the athletic departments at Stanford University and Oberlin College, Karlgaard knows what it takes to run an athletic department at a school that values academics as its first priority.Karlgaard said Rice was an appealing destination to him due to the school’s emphasis on academics as well as the potential to increase the visibility of the athletic programs.“What brought me here was the academic profile first and foremost and the fact that Rice has a long and very storied history of competing at a high level in Division 1 athletics,” Karlgaard said. “Those two things together coupled with the idea that athletics is a little undervalued and that we could be a bit better than we are now — all of those things in equal amounts drew me to the program.”Karlgaard released a new “Vision for Rice Athletics” this past summer. Upon being hired from Stanford where he was an assistant athletic director, Karlgaard came to Rice as the university’s new athletic director in September 2013. Since coming to Rice, Karlgaard has made his goals for the program publicly clear. In his “Vision for Rice Athletics,” Karlgaard listed four principles that he hopes will drive the future of Rice Athletics. First, Karlgaard said he wants Rice to have athletic competitiveness. That is, all 16 varsity sports should compete for conference championships and national Top 25 rankings. Second, there should be an emphasis on academic success. According to Karlgaard, Rice student-athletes should graduate at or above the Rice average percentage.The third principle is life education and achievement. According to Karlgaard, this will work to prepare student-athletes for life after collegiate athletics.The fourth and final component of the Vision is what Karlgaard refers to as “Rice Values.” This will consist of having the athletic department’s goals remain consistent with the goals of the university and the “Vision for the Second Century” outlined by President David Leebron.According to Karlgaard, he has spent his first year acquainting himself with Rice students, student-athletes, alumni and fans to gauge interest and get ideas on how to move the athletic department forward. Karlgaard said while he had goals coming into Rice, he wants to make sure his actions reflect the interests of the Rice community.“I had one overarching original goal, and that was to make the place better,” Karlgaard said. “But I didn’t quite have a feel of how to do that and what would be important to our community and people in the surrounding community.”According to Karlgaard, his plan on gauging the interest of the Rice community has lasted longer than he originally anticipated.“I thought I’d spend 90 days going around talking to people, finding out what was important to them, testing things then synthesizing that information,” Karlgaard said. “It turns out, it took way longer than 90 days. I wanted to make sure I got it as right as I could get it.”According to Karlgaard, talking to people in the Rice community has increased belief in the future of athletics.“I think there’s a healthy sense of optimism around Rice,” Karlgaard said. “People believe in the vision we have for Rice athletics, and people believe things can get better.”With Karlgaard’s Vision in place, the Rice athletic department will be looking to conduct fundraising and employ new economic strategies to help programs succeed. Karlgaard said his goals include generating revenue, which will in turn help programs achieve athletic success.“My main goals include putting new facilities and endowments in place, selling more tickets, arming coaches with the tools they need to be successful and developing better relationships with our students athletes,” Karlgaard said.With such a small student body and alumni base, Karlgaard said raising funds for athletics can be a challenge. However, Karlgaard said he embraces the challenge and believes he can achieve his goals.“I think it’s challenging to try and fund what we do given our size,” Karlgaard said. “If you’re at a large state institution, you’re the beneficiary of tax dollars and student fees. However, when we’re out raising money from our alumni, we only have around 45,000 living alumni. In order to raise enough funds, we have to think about how we sell Rice athletics to other people in the Houston community. The funding issue is not insurmountable, but it’s challenging.”Despite the challenges of fundraising, Karlgaard has extensive experience in the field. At Stanford, Karlgaard was responsible for balancing a $90 million annual budget and led the Athletics Department’s efforts in raising $52 million in 2012, the greatest single-year increase in the school’s fundraising history.One of Karlgaard’s primary concerns for the near future is the renovation of Rice Stadium, a 64-year old facility that has not had improvements in decades. The plan for renovation includes a $30 million dollar project that calls for a new North end zone facility that will replace the otherwise empty endzone and scoreboard on that side of the field, in addition to other minor improvements. The design calls for a 60,000 square foot facility in the end zone that will attract recruits and fans.Karlgaard said the fundraising for the project is almost complete.“We are 85 to 90 percent through fundraising with this,” Karlgaard said. “We just have a few verbal commitments we need to button up.”Other tangible accomplishments during Karlgaard’s tenure include the hiring of new men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Rhoades from Virginia Commonwealth University and generating a new five-year contract for head football coach David Bailiff. Rice has also claimed six conference titles during Karlgaard’s tenure. Last academic year, Rice won five conference titles, a school record. This year, Rice has already claimed a conference title in soccer after winning the Conference USA Tournament. According to Karlgaard, the end goal is to have athletic programs that are competitive on the local and national stages. Karlgaard said he believes that goal is attainable in the near future.“Everyone has a chance to win the conference,” Karlgaard said. “We won five conference titles last year and I think we have a chance to win five more. We are a relevant player on the national level; we want to be in a conversation with our peer institutions both regionally and academically.” 

SPORTS 12/3/14 2:40pm

Louisiana Tech reels of 42 unanswered in win

By Evan Neustater

The Rice University football team (7-5, 5-3 C-USA) had its worst defensive outing of the season against Louisiana Tech University on Saturday, Nov. 29, losing 76-31 in a game that decided the victor of the Conference USA West Division.The Owls struck first in the game on a field goal from senior kicker James Hairston on their first offensive drive but would not hold a lead for the remainder of the game. Louisiana Tech went on to score three touchdowns in the first quarter and added another in the second. The game went to halftime with Louisiana Tech up 28-17.Despite narrowing the lead to 28-24 early in the second half, Louisiana Tech scored 42 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters to give the Bulldogs their season-high score, while also giving Rice its third-worst defensive performance in school history and the worst since surrendering 77 points to Louisiana State University in 1977.Louisiana Tech recorded 677 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs had three receivers — junior Paul Turner (122), sophomore Trent Taylor (120) and freshman Carlos Henderson (114) — record at least 100 yards receiving on the day. Junior running back Kenneth Dixon finished with 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns.The Rice defense allowed multiple big plays, allowing touchdowns of 72, 35, 31, 58 and 35 yards.Junior quarterback Driphus Jackson had his best statistical day of the season in the loss. Jackson completed 25 of 40 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns, along with three interceptions. Jackson now has 2,524 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season.Senior wide receiver Jordan Taylor had 10 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown, and senior wide receiver Mario Hull added a pair of touchdowns for the Owls. Rice recorded only 34 yards rushing on the day, one-fifth of the season average of 170 yards per game on the ground. Sophomore running backs Jowan Davis and Darik Dillard led the rushing attack, and had 19 and 16 yards rushing, respectively. The rest of the team combined for -1 yard.Rice must now wait to find out its bowl destination. Possible bowl games are the Heart of Dallas Bowl, the Hawaii Bowl and the Boca Raton Bowl, among others. Rice has had three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history and will be going to its third straight bowl game.

NEWS 12/3/14 7:21am

Local journalist discusses future of spaceflight

By Sarah Frazier

Houston Chronicle journalist Eric Berger spoke on the current state and possible future of America’s space program Nov. 19 at Duncan Hall.Berger, who has researched the American space program for the past year, said one of his driving questions is the disparity between the U.S. government’s stated goals and their actions for space exploration.“How could a functional government that valued a space program — and knew literally for decades that the space shuttle's end would come — fail to put in an adequate plan to replace the shuttle?” Berger said. “To some extent, the U.S. government is dysfunctional, and, sadly, space flight doesn’t rank as high on the political agenda as a lot of us would like.”Berger said America’s lack of progress in space exploration is partly due to a lack of clear vision for the space program."Every president since Kennedy has failed to articulate a clear goal for NASA and provide the resources necessary to reach that goal," Berger said.Officially, NASA’s goal is to reach Mars by the 2030s, but that may not be possible at this point, according to Berger.“To achieve [a human landing on Mars], not in the 2030s but in the 2040s or 2050s, more likely … we would need the kind of commitment to NASA we haven’t seen in a long time,” Berger said. “NASA’s own advisory committee … suggested NASA is probably going to stay [near the Earth and moon] for the next 20 to 30 years.”Berger said NASA’s unrealistic timeline for reaching Mars will not help the organization’s image.“If you’re telling everyone you’re going to go to Mars in the 2030s and then you don’t get there, you just basically set your whole agency up to fail,” Berger said.Berger said a common suggestion among people he interviewed is for NASA to plan missions to the moon as precursors to a Mars mission.“Why not the moon?” Berger said. “It’s close, you can prove a lot of technology you need to go to Mars and … all of the international partners that NASA works on [the International Space Station] with want to go to the moon.”According to Berger, the moon’s ice may even prove an important resource for space exploration.“There’s enough fuel on the moon in form of water … to launch the equivalent of a space shuttle every day for 2,000 years,” Berger said. “If you’re going to go out and explore space, water is essential — you can drink it, shield yourself from radiation [and] provide breathable oxygen or hydrogen for fuel cells.”Berger said the rise of less-expensive vehicles produced by commercial space companies may help promote space exploration.“To really open up space, you have to lower the cost of getting stuff into orbit,” Berger said. “NASA advisors told Congress that the space shuttle would lower the cost … down to $25 a pound. The actual cost, over 135 missions in 30 years, was $25,000 a pound.”Berger said his personal prediction for America’s space program is not optimistic.“[In] the most likely scenario, unfortunately, not much changes at NASA,” Berger said. “It continues to talk boldly about going to Mars in 2030. The president or Congress or both say, ‘We’ve had enough of the budget situation and we don’t want any more major international partnerships.’ We don’t think about bringing China or India or other countries into the ISS partnership. NASA ends up with a rocket that looks great, is totally badass to launch, but is too expensive to fly very often. After the space station stops flying … what is [Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center] doing? Flying a manned mission every three or four years? Maybe the center will revert back to where it came from — Rice University.”

NEWS 12/3/14 7:19am

Crack Team to propose new blanket tax system

By Isabella Zevallos

The Rice University Student Association’s legislation to create the Blanket Tax Crack Team was passed at SA Senate on Nov. 12. The new team is now looking to review processes that involve the current blanket tax system and to propose a better model for the system as a whole, according to team chair Nick Cornell.Cornell, president of Sid Richardson College, said the BTCT is an extension of the Blanket Tax Pod, a committee formed by the SA earlier this year to look into the blanket tax system. Cornell said an evaluation of the system as a whole was overdue, and the issue was separate from the controversies involving Honor Council.“The motivation for having a pod consider [the blanket tax] had little to do with Honor Council,” Cornell, a junior, said. “The general intuition was that what we’ve always done for the blanket tax may no longer meet the needs of students. We tried to keep our discussion at a higher level than a knee jerk response to recent events.”Cornell said the BTCT is composed of people familiar with the blanket tax system who can provide leadership and knowledge. The team is thus composed of University Court Chair Brian Baran, Thresher Editor-in-Chief Miles Kruppa, SA Treasurer Joan Liu, SA Parliamentarian Zach Birenbaum and current at-large Blanket Tax Standing Committee member Giray Ozseker.According to the SA Senate Bill #5, the BTCT has three key goals: to examine current processes and propose new mechanisms; to outreach stakeholders in the process; and to present new text to be proposed as constitutional during the 2015 spring general elections.Cornell said the BTCT first met Thursday, Nov. 20, but the pod had already proposed a new model to the SA. Cornell said the model and alternatives had not yet been fully fleshed out because blanket tax is such a comprehensive and complex process.“Our work is much bigger than any one blanket tax process,” Cornell said. “We’re trying to consider the entire system from multiple perspectives. This means taking into consideration how organizations can get blanket tax funding, how and whether we should distinguish different types of investment and spending, how blanket tax funding can reflect student priorities, how to make sure organizations have predictable cash flows, etc.”During the recent SA Senate meeting, the BTCT gave key questions they will seek to explore:How can aggregate blanket tax revenues be regularly reviewed and realigned with student priorities?How can the standard review move immediate action on an organization due to technical violations or failure to use funds in line with the organization’s meeting?Can different types of expenditures be considered at the campus-wide level when distributing funds to normalize these differences in organizations’ financial plans?Cornell said he predicts that the BTCT will have drafted models to share with the SA by the end of the semester, and they will begin with comprehensive outreach next semester. “This is going to be a crucial process, as we want both students and organizations to be better served, on average, by a new model,” Cornell said. “The end goal is to have amendments that propose our final recommendation in time for elections.”

NEWS 12/3/14 7:18am

186 solar panels to top Jones College south roof

By Michelle Tran

Rice University Housing and Dining began the installation of 186 solar panels on the roof of South Jones College as a new source of sustainable power for student inhabitants at the beginning of November. This solar panel project is the start of an institutional investment toward making Rice more eco-friendly, according to H&D Senior Operations Manager David Brown.“Our main intent is to reduce our electrical demands from the normal utility and generate some of our own green, renewable power to help [lower] costs and improve our environmental footprint,” Senior Electrical Engineer and Project Manager Jason Hochstein said. According to Hochstein, aside from the power generated directly from the solar cells, there are additional energy conservation benefits from the solar panel project.“The panels provide a degree of shading,” Hochstein said. “The goal there is to reduce the solar load to the building’s roof [to] reduce the air condition requirements for the facility.”Hochstein said the panels will also help prevent the ultraviolet breakdown of the roof and protect the internal parts of the building, including the insulation and air conditioning system. In the long run, the solar panels will extend the life of the building, according to Hochstein.According to Brown, Facilities Engineering and Planning is considering additional solar panel installments on other residential colleges and academic buildings. North Jones College is tentatively slated for a solar panel installment next summer. Brown said Jones was chosen to pilot the project because its roof structure best accommodated solar panels.“One of the things that Housing and Dining is hopeful about is that if this is worth what we invested up to this point, we will continue to invest and add more solar panels to more buildings and make Rice a greener place,” Brown said.The solar panel project at Jones is a learning experiment for both Rice as an institution and the student body according to Brown.“We want to look at how going to a green source will benefit us and the university, and I am hoping that we can really set an example not just for other colleges, but for the students as they graduate and move on and take this lesson with them and share it wherever they go,” Brown said. Because many students have expressed interest in the development of this project, there will be an educative component for the student body focused on explaining how the panels operate and benefit the building and the environment. “As an educational feature, we will be mounting a 42-inch television monitor in the main lobby of South Jones College that students will be able to look at to learn how the system is performing,” Hochstein said. Student involvement played a significant role in advancing this sustainability project.“The solar panels at Jones have been a long time coming,” Lead Campus Eco-Representative Zach Bielak said. “For a while now, students have been pushing for more responsible and sustainable sources of energy, and it’s phenomenal that Rice has finally responded in a tangible way. Hopefully, this project will pave the way for future energy projects at Rice — perhaps even solar panels on top of Lovett Hall!”According to Brown, the sustainability projects at Rice involve support from institutional staff and students alike.“Students are a part of this [green initiative],” Brown said. “Everyone plays a part in the conservation.”

NEWS 12/3/14 7:17am

New entrepreneurship courses to be offered

 

Next semester, two courses in entrepreneurship will be offered to undergraduate students. BUSI 460 and BUSI 461: Foundations of Entrepreneurship I: Strategy, and II: Financing, are the first undergraduates courses offered by the Jones Graduate School of Business to deal with entrepreneurship, according to Kris Ramesh, the deputy dean of academic affairs at the Jones School.“[The Jones School] is at a stage where we can actually start to invest more in the undergraduate program,” Ramesh said. “Several years ago, we started the undergraduate business minor program, which is flourishing. This seemed like the natural next step.”Ramesh said Yael Hochberg, the Ralph S. O’Connor Associate Professor Of Entrepreneurship at the Jones School, made the courses possible.“[Hochberg] is considered one of the foremost experts on accelerator programs, is very passionate about [these courses], and wants to reach out to as many undergraduate students as possible,” Ramesh said. “When she was hired, she was very focused on making this happen for undergraduates students.”According to Ramesh, the two courses are the first part of a new four-course sequence of entrepreneurship curriculum designed based on observations of best practices at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University and Cornell University.“The vision is that undergraduate students will have a critical number of courses they can take in entrepreneurship,” Ramesh said. “We don’t know exactly what will happen down the road. The plan is for a new, full course sequence in entrepreneurship curriculum for undergraduates, but whether that will lead into an entrepreneurship certificate or minor or whatever, we don’t know at this stage. But these courses are here for the long run and hopefully a start of a greater focus on entrepreneurship.”According to Ramesh, the offering of the new undergraduate courses signifies the embracement of early entrepreneurship by Rice.“The whole university is thinking about entrepreneurship,” Ramesh said. “Everybody, including the Jones Business School and [business incubator] Rice Alliance, will be more focused on undergraduates.”Ramesh said the courses, which have no prerequisites, are designed for all students, not just those looking to obtain a business minor.“If you look at Rice undergraduate students, they’re all brilliant, innovative and creative, and the next thing is to translate that to commercial success,” Ramesh said. The two courses are each 1.5 credits and half a semester long, with BUSI 460 in the first half of the semester leading into BUSI 461 in the second. BUSI 460 deals with strategic considerations and decisions for startups, while BUSI 461 covers seed and early-stage funding.SA Executive Vice President Trent Navran said the new coursework is very welcome, and that Hochberg is well qualified to lead the effort.“These courses represent a fantastic development in offering legitimate coursework for the entrepreneurially inclined,” Navran, a McMurtry College senior, said. “[Hochberg], who has participated in the [SA’s] Rice Education of the Future Initiative, brings extensive entrepreneurial knowledge and experience to Rice. Having been at Technion (Israel), Stanford, Northwestern and MIT, she knows what it’s going to take to take Rice to the heights it aspires to in entrepreneurship.”Navran said that although the new courses will help, Rice will need an organization dedicated to facilitating entrepreneurship within and from the university itself.“We both agree, however, that courses are only the beginning, and that Rice needs a full-fledged inward facing entrepreneurship organization and space that can truly bring together the ideas and efforts of undergraduates, faculty and graduate students,” Navran said. “The Rice Alliance is excellent at its mainly outward-facing activities, and an inwards facing version of the Alliance is absolutely necessary to catalyze entrepreneurship on campus.”

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