Special Projects

Obama's Tucson address reinvigorates him

I was worried; I mean, I really was. I had begun to have my doubts about President Obama. Don't get me wrong: I was and still am a huge supporter of the president, but I wondered whether he still had it - that campaign magic, that ability to inspire, that capacity to engender hope. I feared he may have lost his mojo. I wondered if he could even get legislative victories. Then, he struck a compromise on the Bush tax cuts, and I thought it was over. I feared he had caved under the pressure.

Commentary: Au revoir, Lance

Ladies and gentlemen, Lance Armstrong has finally left the peloton. In perhaps the most uncelebrated retirement of an athlete of his stature, Armstrong exited professional international cycling Sunday after the final stage of the Tour Down Under, which ended in Adelaide, Australia with more than 772,000 people having watched the six stages of the race, a record for any South Australia sporting event. Without the familiar sight of a yellow jersey, champagne, oversized stuffed animals and kisses from statuesque women that dwarf the vertically challenged cyclists, it didn't really seem like the end had actually arrived. Even the doping officials, who hung around Armstrong so much they could be considered part of his entourage, were nowhere to be found. For perhaps the greatest cyclist ever, his 65th overall finish in the race was a lackluster result, so much so that Armstrong refused to speak with any members of the media. While Armstrong had already retired once in 2005, he pulled a Brett Favre/Michael Jordan and returned to professional cycling, competing in the 2009 Tour de France, Tour of Ireland and Giro d'Italia. For now, Armstrong will only race in small U.S. races for RadioShack, hoping that he has finally exited the center stage of the cycling world for good.

Fate of KTRU money in hands of committee

Fulfilling a request from President David Leebron, a 10-member student-administrator committee will represent student opinion concerning how $6 million of the KTRU sale proceeds will be spent. The committee is composed of four members of the Student Association - President Selim Sheikh, Lovett College sophomore Jennifer Dayrit, Duncan College junior Kevin Bush and Brown College senior Kevin Schell - three members of the Graduate Student Association and three administrators - Associate Dean of Undergraduates Matt Taylor, Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Paula Sanders and Director of Student Activities Kate Abad.

Time stands still at Rice Gallery show

Mary Temple transforms Rice Gallery into a naturalistic illusion in her new installation "Northwest Corner, Southeast Light," due to open Feb. 3 and running through May 25. The largest in her "light installations" thus far, the work resembles a giant shadow cast against one side of the gallery. The shadows of craggy trees, twisting vines and undergrowth sprawl across a large square of wooden flooring in the central space of the gallery. A canopy in silhouette creeps up the gallery's expansive white walls and subtly dominates the northwest corner. Two sturdy tree trunks frame the main scene, but outlines of bits of vegetation delightfully wind, coil and bend across the floor and walls.

Photo: Burying for the future

McMurtry College senior Aaron Varnell shovels dirt on the McMurtry time capsule, which will be dug up in 15 years.

Photo: Basketball stars hold court

Elvin Hayes, David Lattin and Don Chaney take questions from audience members at "Final Four Revisited" held in Keck Hall by the SMGT 260 class to get former players' perspectives on the Final Four.

Classic Flicks: Jacques Tati

Sylvain Chomet's recent animated film, L'Illusionniste, is based on a script the great French comedic filmmaker Jacques Tati (1907-1982) wrote in 1956 for an unproduced live-action film. (He had intended to shoot the movie with his estranged daughter, but his attempt at reunion unfortunately never came to fruition.) It would do viewers of this film some good to know the history behind Tati and his original work.Mr. Hulot's Holiday is a foreign film originally released in 1953. The film is foreign not only because it is in French but also because it is strange and exotic. Mr. Hulot's Holiday is far removed from the film comedies of its era. At heart, it is a silent film, sans spoken words but with murmurs of human voices, sound effects aplenty and a soundtrack composed of a single jazzy motif. Tati's experience as a mime is readily apparent - Mr. Hulot seems unable to speak, but his trademark slouched posture and childlike shenanigans are insights into the workings of a perpetually bemused man at odds with the rapidly evolving world around him.

Relish: Hot dogs that are made of real meat

Haters gonna hate. But not on Moon Tower Inn, an exotic meat hot dog establishment that looks like someone's huge-ass backyard. Featuring a fantastic, affordable beer selection and incredible hot dogs made of exotic meats such as pheasant, elk and duck, Moon Tower Inn is totally worth a trip out to the second ward.We parked a few blocks away from the restaurant (for no particular reason), and watched the neighborhood slowly gentrify as we walked between row houses and trendy condos. We know Rice kids get super sketched-out by words like "ward," "second" and "trendy," but don't worry; we overcame our middle-class backgrounds to buy hot dogs from hipsters. Our least favorite former Thresher arts and entertainment editor was so scared, he decided to stay in the car while crying on the shoulders of a certain Wiess College president and listening to the Smashing Pumpkins (that suck) on his Zune.

Women split games, remain in middle of pack

With only one senior on the roster, Head Coach Greg Williams should probably be pleased with his team's standing in the middle of Conference USA - but he isn't. He knows they are one or two big wins away from launching themselves into a serious talk about a deep postseason run, and he isn't relenting until they get there. Six games into the conference schedule, the Owls are an even 3-3 in C-USA but are certainly poised to jump into the top slots. The Owls had a chance last weekend to put themselves into a tie for third at the top with two conference games but only managed to find a split.

Talkin' to the Cool Kids

The Warehouse Live's packed house erupted at the first 808 beat as Chicago-based rap duo The Cool Kids hit the stage last Sunday on the last stop of their "Road to the H-Town Sneaker Summit" tour. While some people reserve their day of rest to worship in a more traditional sense, these fans were taken to church and rap-baptized by two 20-something indie rappers in a crowded nightclub, which is no small feat in a city that holds its hip-hop holier than most.The Cool Kids sport a style that seems to meld the braggadocio, clever lyricism of the east coast ("I'm the new cat diggin' in cans in the alleyway/Fuck Simon - you should do what Mikey say,") with the thick, syrupy bass of the South. They've carved out a niche with young fans who appreciate metaphors over melodies and subs over samples. The group played a combination of tracks from their 2008 EP The Bake Sale, their digital-release mixtapes and their long anticipated upcoming LP, to be released through a promotional deal with PepsiCo.

Photo: Beer pong, K'Nex style

Students build with K'Nex for the second ASME Design Competition in the Wiess College Commons.

Last week's online poll results

Photo: Rondelet got us fallin' in love again, so dance dance

Rondelet attendees pack the dance floor at the Trevisio restaurant Jan. 22, dancing up a storm to remixes of popular hits and covers by local band Tiger Lilly. Songs of the night included "Billie Jean," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Hey Soul Sister," "Grenade" and "OMG.

RESET projects innovative

The RESET blanket tax that is paid by every undergraduate at this university has not gone to waste (see story, page 1). Half of the funds, approximately $15,000, have been allotted to six projects which are aimed at making environmental sustainability improvements. These initiatives are wonderful; they are a testament to the initiative of Rice students and to the commitment of Rice to support its students and its environment. Furthermore, the program is planned to continue each year that RESET is funded by blanket taxes; over time, the number of sustainability projects implemented will make a

KTRU proceeds spending

Let's assume the KTRU sale isn't stuck in legal battles for the next ?five years. The sale would net $9.5 million for the university, and the committee established to spend proceeds of the sale would need to go to work (see story, page 1). Subtracting pre-allotted amounts, the committee will advise the administration on how to spend about $6 million. The Thresher believes the funds would be most effectively spent in two capacities: improvement of the Rice Memorial Center and Rice Program ?Council endowments.The RMC is quite frankly outdated. A quick comparison of the RMC to counterpart facilities at peer universities immediately exposes the dramatically poor condition of our student center. With the exception of Willy's Pub, the RMC lacks popular lounge-like spaces that are conducive to relaxing or hanging out; the lack of study space is also something that needs to be addressed. On the food front, the RMC also lags behind its peers. While most student centers provide food that college students find attractive, such as Whataburger, Taco Cabana or another popular chain restaurant, Rice students are stuck with 13th Street's boring sandwiches and boxed sushi. As Rice continues to grow, the Grand Hall's grandeur also seems to be lacking a bit. Functions such as the Screw Yer Roommate reception and the South Asian Society's Dhamaka are simply too big for the Grand Hall, and Rice needs to quickly implement changes to establish new spaces so it can continue to foster the cultural and social university-wide events that make Rice special.

Network fails, revived

Students and faculty across campus started reporting issues with Internet connectivity last Monday night around 9 p.m. A computer bug had caused the firewall to go down. The lagging network was especially apparent when browsing graphically intensive websites such as Facebook and YouTube. After troubleshooting, Information Technology determined that the firewall needed to be rebooted in order to fix the problem.Networking Manager Dylan Jacob said websites would take a long time to load, if at all.

ASB trips fundraise

Ranging from bake sales to a foursquare tournament, members of Alternative Spring Break trips are getting creative to raise money. ASB sends students to various locations in the U.S. such as New Orleans, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, where students volunteer in projects and learn about different issues during the week of spring break.Community Involvement Center Director Mac Griswold said that the CIC covers the basic expenses, such as ASB T-shirts and the two-day training prior to the trips, but trip members are responsible for paying the expenses of the actual trip, such as plane tickets and living expenses. Excluding the $250 registration fee, the rest of the money comes from fundraising.

Politics as usual epitomized by gridlock

With congressional midterm elections as a prime example, we are witnessing the polarization of politics. There is an increase in personal attacks and the constant attempts to humiliate the opposition. Our elections and our politicians' rhetoric are no longer about why their particular policies or views are better for the country: It is now all about how America will be driven into the ground if we elect their opponent.Of course, they never discuss any real reasons of why that will happen or how they will do better. The reality is that fear-mongering is alive and practiced widely in today's political scene and comes from both major parties. The Republicans decry everything done in the past two years, regardless of whether the policies enacted are those they wished for (such as health care reform). Meanwhile, the Democrats portray the Republican party as little more than the party of "no" and paint a bleak picture of economic destitution and failure if Republicans are reelected. Neither of these platforms focuses on issues of real substance. That could be a symptom, not of the people in charge, but of the people who voted them there.

Photo: Lost Boys live at Pub

Jason Ward plays guitar and Renee Ed sings for '80s cover band the Lost Boys at Willy's Pub on Jan. 20.

Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:In the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, the Rice community emergency services, EMS and police, were very busy with medical emergencies and were stretched thin. These medical calls also placed high demands on the Houston Fire Department ambulance services.