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NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

'Tinker Tailor' disenchants with bona fide portrayal

By Anthony Lauriello

James Bond has a host of complicated gadgets, such as deadly lasers and car missiles, to name a few. Jason Bourne arms himself with every imaginable type of firearm when not utilizing his incredible martial arts skills. In the beginning of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the protagonist and MI6 spy George Smiley (Gary Oldman, The Dark Knight) is outfitted with a pair of  geriatric-looking bifocals. While certainly not as exciting as the tools of his fellow cinema spies, the glasses allow Smiley to coolly and objectively observe events and gain a power comparable to Bond's suaveness and Bourne's brawn.

NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

The Flowers of War revisits Nanking

By Thierry Rignol

Arguably the most anticipated Chinese production this year, The Flowers of War is a poignant retelling of the Nanking Massacre that fails to convey genuine pathos. Praised for its depiction of a pivotal point in Chinese history – the Rape of Nanking – the film has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards and received a nomination for the 69th Golden Globe Awards. With a budget of $94 million, the movie is the most expensive Chinese production to date. The film stars Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), newcomer Ni Ni and Tong Dawei (Lost in Beijing).

SPORTS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Owls swimmers compete at the Austin Grand Prix

By Louis Lesser

After finishing the first week of the new semester, the Owls headed out to Austin last Friday to take part in the USA Swimming Grand Prix Tournament. A total of five Owls competed in the events. The action began on Friday, when freshman and Austin native Erin Flanigan finished 27th out of a field of 39 entrants in the 400-meter freestyle. Her long-course time of 4:23.28 is equivalent to 4:52.77 in short-course yards. Also, Flanigan was one of two Rice swimmers in the meet's 100-meter butterfly. She was 41st in the prelims with a 1:04.50 (converts to 56.57 in short-course yards), while fellow freshman Casey Clark swam a 1:03.98 (56.11 SCY). Clark was also 51st out of 186 swimmers in the 100-meter freestyle after finishing with a time of 59.31 (a season-best 51.84 in SCY).

OPINION 1/17/12 6:00pm

Baker College junior raises funds for Baker 13 incident with help of generous Rice community

By Staff Editorial

Baker College junior Duncan Eddy has officially raised enough money to pay for the Fondren library window. Eddy's posterior was the butt of Baker 13 jokes across campus after his gluteus went crashing through a Fondren window on the Halloween run. Fortunately, the damage is behind us. However, initially the incident was no laughing matter since Eddy was told he owed the university $15,000 if he was to stay enrolled.

NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Rondelet Canceled

By Thierry Rignol

For the third time in the last four years, Rondelet has been canceled. The Rice Program Council announced the decision last Friday at the Rice Memorial Center and through Facebook.

NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

'Toxic Avenger' musical wastes your time

By Christine Jeon

As an avid theatergoer, I was intrigued and amused when I heard that Toxic Avenger, an action figure from the silver screen, was about to show off his superpowers on the musical stage. Joe DiPietro and David Bryan, who collaborated on the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis, wrote the book and music for The Toxic Avenger Musical.

NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Featured App: HeyTell

By Anthony Lauriello

Remember back to the telecommunications innovations of your childhood. The cups attached with string. That one thing on the playground you could whisper in. Playing the game "telephone." All of these things had their appeal, but they did not hold a candle to the wallkie-talkie. The wakie-talkie was both effective and awesome. In your hands, you held the same type of device used by firefighters, spies and construction workers. The simple joy of saying "over" or "copy" was enough to send even the most cynical child into fits of joy.

OPINION 1/17/12 6:00pm

As election season heats up, try to not only get involved but to understand the issues

By Anthony Lauriello

With the resignation of John Huntsman Jr., yet another one of the Republican primary candidates has thrown in the towel on his presidential ambition. It now seems almost inevitable that Mitt Romney will clinch the nomination, and if he wins in South Carolina it is highly likely the remaining opposition will have no choice but to concede. The campaign is now driving full force out of the farcical circus of last year's colorful contenders and entering the long brutal general election that is the "Super Bowl" of American politics.

NEWS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Mitchell granted to alumna

By Molly Chiu

This August, Rachel Carlson (Martel '11) will be traveling overseas for postgraduate education thanks to the George Mitchell Scholarship. Out of 300 applicants, Carlson was one of 12 chosen to receive the scholarship for the 2012- 2013 academic year. She will study at Trinity College Dublin where she will pursue an master's in Environment and Development.

SPORTS 1/17/12 6:00pm

No distance runners, no problem for men's track

By Thresher Staff Reports

At the Leonard Hilton Invitational held at the University of Houston last Friday, the men's track team didn't even have to go the distance to come away with a solid performance in the meet. With only one participant in the mile and no participants in the 5,000-meter run, Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) did not see the need for the distance runners to compete at the year's first indoor meet, preferring to eschew the element-free environment in favor of more practice for his runners.

SPORTS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Men's tennis rolls to an easy 2-0 start

By Dan Elledge

After a heartbreaking loss to Texas Tech University in last May's NCAA championships, the Owls have been waiting for their chance to get back on the court. Rice wants to prove all the doubters wrong and show that it does have the players and the talent to win Conference USA and make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

SPORTS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Women's basketball gets hit by Hurricane

By Teddy Grodek

For years, sports fans have tried to explain why it's so much easier to win at home. The rims are still as high and the free-throw line is just as far as away, but there is just something about playing in your home gym that makes it easier to score points.

SPORTS 1/17/12 6:00pm

Freshman Beazant stars for women's tennis

By Dan Elledge

After a rough 14-10 record last season with which the team could not secure a berth to the NCAA tournament, the women's tennis team was hoping for a fresh start with a trip to the University of Central Florida Invitational to commence the season. Along with Rice and UCF, Texas Tech University was also a part of the three-day invitational.

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