Special Projects

Women prepare for tournament

After a couple of tough losses, the Rice women's basketball team still heads to the Conference USA tournament in El Paso in a great position - sitting on a first round bye and avoiding a potential matchup with powerhouse Houston until the final game. The Owls, going into the last few weeks of the season, needed to win one game of the next three to clinch a first-round bye, an important few days off for a team at the end of a long season. They had games against three of the very best teams in C-USA: Tulane, Houston and Southern Methodist University - all of which could earn byes inside the tournament.

This week's editorial cartoon

Physics moves to Brockman

Brockman Hall, the new building for Physics and Astronomy, is near completion and the Physics Department began moving in during February.Most of the Physics faculty are moving to Brockman Hall, with the exception of the High Energy Astrophysics faculty, who are staying in Herman Brown Hall.

Meetings set college alcohol policies

All residential colleges held mandatory meetings on Monday night to discuss each college's response to the recent campus-wide moratorium on hard alcohol and to inform students about the circumstances that led up to the administrative action.Each college was given the freedom to specify its own enforcement policies, definition of a private party and other aspects of moratorium that were mentioned in the letter from Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson on Feb. 24.

Lax, trusting drinking culture key to healthy consumption

As a freshman at Rice University last year, I was thrown into a new atmosphere of college parties and drinking that was largely unfamiliar to me. But, as I quickly learned, there was no safer or more open place than Rice when it came to alcohol policy. Through a combination of private gatherings, public parties and Rice EMS services, this campus struck a perfect balance when it came to providing freedom and safety for students. Never once when I was intoxicated at gatherings (private or public) did I feel I was in the least bit of danger. Knowing RUPD was usually reasonable and emergency services were available allowed students to party and have fun together without living in constant fear. Moreover, students at Rice constantly looked out for one another. This year, with the administration's new heavy-handed approach to alcohol policy, things have certainly changed for the worse. Let me first concede that the rise in Rice EMS intoxication calls this year is a troubling statistic, and a problem that students have been trying to address since it was brought to our attention. Although these EMS calls cannot simply be explained away, I certainly think that the administration has handled the issue poorly from the get -go. The alcohol forum was an effective means of creating an open dialogue, but it only involved a small portion of students who were willing and able to attend and was never followed up by a formal address from Dean of Undergraduates, John Hutchinson. Why now, only a month after the initial alcohol forum that was meant to get the students involved in the process, are we facing harsh sanctions from the administration? If the intent was to warn students about possible consequences and give them an opportunity to turn things around, a month is hardly enough time for 3,000 students to implement changes within the colleges and show a measurable improvement. The only thing the Rice administration has succeeded in doing is making themselves look responsible to outsiders and creating animosity amongst the student population.

Men's track finishes sixth at C-USA Indoor Championship

After third- and fourth-place finishes in 2009 and 2010, respectively, the track team took a step back with a sixth place finish during the Conference USA Indoor Championship held at Yeoman Fieldhouse at the University of Houston on Feb. 25-26. While four Owls medaled last year, only two took the podium this year, including junior Dan Sloat, who finished third in the 800-meter run for the second straight year and redshirt sophomore Clayton Chaney, who came up short of his goal of being C-USA champion in the heptathlon. Despite the ultimate decrease in standing amongst their conference peers, Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) had a rational explanation for Rice's performance. "We've got two guys that we missed during indoor, [senior] Philip Adam and [redshirt sophomore] Jack Spinks," Warren said. "Philip doesn't have more indoor eligibility, and Jack broke his leg, so we're kind of playing him by ear in terms of getting him back for the majority of the outdoor season. If we have those guys, then we're easily third."

Tuition increases for incoming Rice students

Students matriculating at Rice in the 2011-2012 school year will face an annual tuition increase of $1,780 more than last year bringing the total price of attendance to $47,821. Rice announced this 5.4 percent rise last Monday and concluded that the tuition cost specifically will be $34,900. Its growth rate has fluctuated slightly over recent years; last year, the tuition went up 5.3 percent from 2009, and between 2008 and 2009, there was a 5 percent price increase.

Beyond the Hedges

National

Parade plans changed

Whereas students involved in past water balloon fights have paraded slowly along the inner loop, a lack of trucks to carry the balloons means that students will now fight solely on Founder's Court, and then make their own way to the track for Saturday's races - if they so choose.Due to last-minute cancellations by truck rental companies, only six trucks were still reserved by the colleges as of Wednesday - not enough to have the parade as in years past. Instead, students will gather on Founder's Court at 10 on Saturday morning for the balloon fight before the races begin at 11:30.

HIV stigma poses huge hurdle in society

As you are probably aware by now, LIVE CONSORTIUM is in the first week of its University HIV Anti-Stigma Campaign at Rice. The goal of the campaign is to educate the Rice community about HIV, the negative effects of stigma and how we, as a community, can create positive change. This article is the first in which I will write about the current HIV epidemic in Houston and what we can do together to solve the HIV problem. Current HIV statistics for Houston and The United States are astounding. Over a million Americans are currently living with HIV. Houston ranks eigth nationally in the number of total reported AIDS cases and one in 90 Houstonians is living with HIV. In Houston, African Americans represent 55 percent of all HIV infections and African American women represent approximately 75 percent of all women infected with HIV. Nationally, HIV remains one of the leading causes of death for persons age 25-44 and young people, ages 13- 24, are at greatest risk for acquiring HIV/AIDS.

Yes: revitalizing progressive rock

There aren't too many bands still around that can claim they have affected generations with their live performances. Seminal progressive rock group Yes is among the longest-lived bands in the history of popular music. I have a personal connection to the band's staying power: In 1976, when my mom was 16, she saw Yes play in Fresno, CA for a packed house. I saw the same band (with some alterations to the original line-up) last spring at the House of Blues here in Houston. While the average age of the crowd has certainly increased, there was no mistaking the same energy and devotion of the Yes fans that had left my mom's ears ringing for three days after the Fresno performance that she is still complaining about 30 years later. While I appreciated the kinder acoustics of the House of Blues, I found myself yearning for the raw sound that I imagined numbing my mom's eardrums back in the day and signaled the beginnings of the progressive rock movement. Yes' seasoned performers are some of rock 'n' roll's most accomplished musicians, and had their start in the same incubator as legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Jethro Tull, King Crimson and the Moody Blues at the Marquee Club in London. Happily, because the group was in town to kick off their Rite of Spring mini-tour of North America in Houston last Sunday, I had the privilege of speaking with the preeminent bassist Chris Squire over spring break about Yes' long performance career and their newest album, set to be released this coming summer.

Baseball looks to gain consistency in San Francisco

With nearly a quarter of the season in the books, many pundits would wave off any sweeping generalizations about what the 9-6 record of the baseball team bodes for their postseason hopes. But while it may be optimistic to ignore such prognostications, it's clear to anyone who has paid a visit to Reckling Park this year that the Owls are still in search of the consistent play that is a hallmark of any Omaha-bound squad. Rice began their slate of spring break games with a series against the University of Southern California on Feb. 25-27. The Owls got off to a quick start with a 10-7 victory on Feb. 25. After USC took a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth inning, the Rice bats woke up, with the Owls scoring three runs before the Trojans recorded an out. Eleven batters later, the side was finally retired but not before a two-run home run by redshirt sophomore right fielder Ryan Lewis and a two-run single by junior center fielder Jeremy Rathjen had made the score 7-3. While junior pitcher Matthew Reckling was pulled after four innings, a four-hit, four-run combined effort from junior Taylor Wall, redshirt sophomore Andre Benak, and senior Abe Gonzales helped preserve a Rice lead that ballooned to 10-7 after a two-run home run from junior designated hitter Anthony Rendon. Saturday's contest was different in that Rice took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning, courtesy of a Rendon home run and two one- RBI singles from Rathjen and freshman shortstop Derek Hamilton. The Trojans stormed back in the sixth inning, sending freshman pitcher Austin Kubitza packing after giving up a two-run home run to right field from Alex Sherrod and then hitting a batter with the bases loaded. Still, the bullpen provided some semblance of order for Rice as senior pitcher Tony Cingrani tossed two scoreless innings, giving the Owls time to collect three runs in the eighth inning, ultimately ending in a 6-5 victory for Rice. While the series victory had been clinched, Rice looked to earn the sweep on Sunday with freshman John Simms on the mound. Simms went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on an inside-the-park home run.

Last week's online poll results

Owls soar over Memphis Tigers

Sitting within arms reach of the players warming up at halftime on Saturday night in Tudor Fieldhouse, Athletic Director Rick Greenspan's message to the men's basketball team was a short one. "Finish it!" Greenspan yelled emphatically to each player that walked past on the layup line, with just 20 minutes separating the Owls from their first ever win against the University of Memphis (21-7, 9-4 C-USA).

Online-only: Grande-Allen elected to AIMBE

The Thresher sat down with Bioengineering professor Jane Grande-Allen, who was recently elected a fellow for the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.How do you feel about being elected a fellow for AIMBE?

IT survey deadline extended

Rice Information Technology stated that it will probably be keeping its annual survey open for two more weeks after falling short of desired response levels. To gather feedback on the campus's technology resources and usage from undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty, IT has conducted this survey for almost six years and incorporated incentives to motivate more responses.Carlyn Chatfield, the manager of IT communication, said that the survey was created through Rice's Inquisite software. IT published the link through Twitter, Facebook and a Thresher ad. It also sent three or four e-mail messages to students, faculty and staff members and through college and employee mailing lists. In addition, fliers were distributed to be posted in common gathering areas.

Alcohol: Probation announced

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson sent out an e-mail yesterday placing the residential colleges on alcohol policy probation, effective immediately. Hutchinson cited the abuse of hard alcohol - which he defined as anything other than beer, wine or ale - and the danger it was creating for students as the impetus for this decision.Martel College president Kevin Tran said that each college will enforce a probation on serving and providing hard alcohol to minors. However, the exact policy enforced by each college and the method of enforcement will vary by college.

Sports notebook: Women's tennis splits matches in desert

With the desert winds whipping up to nearly 20 miles per hour at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., it seemed that Mother Nature was providing enough competition for the women's tennis team to deal with. Unfortunately for Rice (7-3), the Wildcats and the wind proved to be too much for the team to handle on Saturday, as Arizona (8-2) notched a dominating 6-1 victory over the Owls. The doubles matches were no indicator of the lopsided nature of the match, as Rice and Arizona split the first two matches before the Owls succumbed in the final doubles matchup. Senior Jessica Jackson and sophomore Daniela Trigo provided the only Owls' victory in the doubles round. The singles matches started off well for Rice, as freshman Kimberly Anicete had a quick 6-2, win over Arizona's Jane Huh, bringing the score to 2-1 Wildcat lead. The tide turned in Arizona's favor from there on out, as they tallied two straight two-set victories to clinch the match. The remaining matches were played out, but with no different results for Rice as Sarah Landsman defeated senior Rebekka Hanle in three sets in the top-seeded contest and Susan McRann took out junior Alex Rasch in two sets (6-3, 7-5). Hanle had battled back to win the second set 6-4 after a 6-4 defeat in the first set, but the third set was all Landsman, who made quick work of Hanle by winning the third set 6-0. While Arizona was ranked 59th compared to Rice's ranking of 48th in the nation, the match was not considered an upset due to the unfavorable weather conditions and home-court advantage enjoyed by the Wildcats.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Muslim-Americans still face social dissent

In the past year and a half, public anti-Muslim sentiments have become increasingly toxic and vitriolic. A Florida pastor threatened to burn Qurans, gaining worldwide media attention. The proposed mosque in Nashville, Tenn., has faced protests, arson, graffiti and even gunshots. The great state of Oklahoma has even passed an overwhelming referendum that banned the use of "Sharia law" in the state. Nationally, overall Gallup poll data shows that American impressions of Islam have decreased in favorability in the last five years. Muslim-American claims now comprise 25 percent of discrimination claims to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Tea Party-leaning politicians increasingly argue that Muslims will never be able to assimilate into America, some even stating that all Muslim-Americans are a threat to ?"normal" Americans.