Special Projects

Thunder Soul documents Houston band

Inspirational band director, Conrad "Prof" Johnson, was able to add unparalleled levels of funk and electricity to a struggling Houston high school jazz band, a band that would reunite after 35 years to pay tribute to their unequalled director. Thunder Soul is a documentary that follows the story of this remarkable reunion. Johnson turned Kashmere High School's band into the Kashmere band, taking them to multiple national high school stage band competitions and winning as the only black band.

Professor receives National Medal of Science

Coming from an immigrant family who was the first to go to college, computer and applied mathematics professor Richard Tapia never planned on winning any awards – especially one of the most prestigious in the country. Now, he is scheduled to receive he National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama in October.

Styling Tips of the Week

Centenni-Ale a huge hit

St. Arnold's Centenni-Ale was released at Valhalla this past Friday and the volume of sales was extremely impressive. The Thresher would like to extend a sincere thanks to Brock Wagner, Rice aulmnus and St. Arnold's founder, for celebrating his alma mater's centenial anniversary in such a distinct way. It is these sorts of small but unique happenings around Rice that make us who we are.

Photo: Salon of Beauty

Ana Serrano's new exhibition opened yesterday at the Rice Gallery. Her installation is a city scape made entirely of cardboard, focusing on the color and liveliness of Los Angeles'  hispanic communities.

Photo: South Cafe opens its doors

South Servery cafe is open for lunch. The cafe is aimed at being another place for graduate students and faculty to eat, offering servery food for purchase.

Chefs turn up the heat for culinary competition

Rice University turned up the heat hosting the 2011 Chefs Under Fire Regional Culinary Competition presented by the Keeper Collection at East Servery last Sunday.

National honor reflects Rice professors' commitment to education

Rice's own Richard Tapia was honored with the U.S. National Medal of Science this past week (see story, pg. 1). Tapia's work in the field of mathematics, paired with his contributions outside the class room, make him extremely deserving of the award. Tapia has been a member of the Rice community for over 40 years, and his long-term association with the university is a testament to Rice's ability to draw and retain the best faculty in the country.

Relish: Shiva is an exotic, easily accessible jewel

Shiva Indian Restaurant is one of the true gems of the Rice Village. Some of our readers may remember our "Veg Out" review from Oct. 2010, but we at the Thresher decided to give the restaurant a second chance and found ourselves converted. It is seldom the case that we find restaurants that are clean, affordable, in close proximity to campus and absolutely delicious, all of which apply ?to Shiva.

Hanszen alumnus speaks about experience as Texas Monthly editor

The senior editor of Texas Monthly, a popular American magazine about life in contemporary Texas and read by one out of seven Texas adults, came to Rice to reflect on his time as a Hanszenite and his thoughts on the presidential campaign of Governor Rick Perry.

Baptism by air: Griffin throws five touchdown passes

When the football team's schedule was released this summer, few could have guessed that Baylor University (3-0) would be the highest ranked team on the slate. But with a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate under center for the team, a receiver with 420 receiving yards and four touchdowns and a tailback with 294 yards and three touchdowns through three games, Baylor's offense has to be considered one of the most dangerous in the country.

BestFest successful, but poorly attended

Houston Press Best of Houston BestFest, held last Saturday and Sunday, may have been the most downplayed and underrated arts and entertainment festival in Houston this year. Whether the low turnout resulted from the METRORail service interruptions or the remarkably poor publicity efforts, no amount of free Monster Energy Drink, bar options or famous bands attracted crowds to the Midtown Superblock.

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

This week's editorial cartoon

Click the image to enlarge.

News In Rhyme

National

Twice is nice; Owls defeat Islanders yet again

With the women's cross country team posting a narrow win over Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi at the 36th Annual Justin F. Cooper Memorial Rice Invitational, it was the Islanders' turn to host the meet and take revenge by taking home top honors at their home meet, the Islander Splash. However, sophomore Farah Madanay had other ideas, as she took first place for the first time in her collegiate career, crossing the finish line of the three-mile race in 18:27. Senior Halsey Fowler, who missed the Rice Invitational on Sept. 16, finished fifth overall last Friday, 18 seconds behind Madanay.

What's Their Secret

Rumored to perform the best bike tricks no other professor can do, James McLurkin, an associate professor at the Computer Science department, is best known for his cool little robots, being funny and  his easygoing personality.

Facebook wields immense power today

I remember it clearly and vividly, as if it were but a week ago. I was lackadaisically reading class work when naturally I decided to visit Facebook. As soon as my homepage opened I knew something was wrong. The layout I had come to know and appreciate for months had changed yet again. On the left side, I had lists where I could now organize my friend into separate fields and rank like a high school lunchroom in a teen comedy. Above my chat sidebar, itself a new additon this summer, I had a constant newsfeed so I could see what all my internet acquaintances were doing at this very moment. My entire social network would never be the same.

RUPD Police Blotter

The following items were reported to the Rice University Police Department for the period Sept. 21 – 27.

Tulane, Southern Miss fall to volleyball at Tudor

 After a poor showing in their home opener against cross-town rival, the University of Houston (10-3, 3-0 C-USA), the Owls picked themselves up crucial wins over the weekend at home against Tulane University (5-8, 0-2 C-USA) and the University of Southern Mississippi (6-8, 0-2 C-USA).