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NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

New colleges' budgets low

By Staff Editorial

Duncan and McMurtry Colleges were well tended last year by their sister colleges. However, now as full-fledged colleges, neither Duncan nor McMurtry has the advantage of sharing sister college resources such as common room furniture, game room equipment and Beer Bike gear (see story, page 1). Instead, both colleges were forced to make heavy investments in their futures by purchasing a multitude of things that other established colleges do not need to budget for. Furthermore, most of the other nine colleges have the luxury of rollover money from previous years. Since these new colleges were not given any extra appropriations in the Dean of Undergraduate's college budgets, Duncan and McMurtry have received a disproportionate sum of the budget.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Vegas-themed NOD will dazzle

By Ruby Gee

Viva NOD Vegas: Go All In is tomorrow night, and students are going all out, or taking it all off, to prepare.Ticket sales for Wiess College's public party started Monday, with tickets selling for $8 each beforehand or at the door for $10. A t-shirt and ticket combination can be purchased for $15.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Baker Institute Student Forum debate: Re-elect Rick Perry for governor

By Mike Lee

Next Tuesday, Many of my Republican brethren are going to jump ship and vote for Bill White to replace Republican Governor Rick Perry as leader of our fine state. I, however, will not be one of them. In an election marked with heated mudslinging, allegations of corruption and other misdeeds I found myself almost leaning to the Democrats for answers this time. I realize it sounds cliché, but in making up my mind to vote for Perry I absolutely felt I was picking the lesser of two evils. Both men have pointed fingers at the others for misdeeds in their respective former (or current) office. Ads paid for by Perry's campaign allege White "redistributed" monies in Houston Police Department's retirement fund and profited from dispersing cleanup and power contracts after Hurricane Rita in 2005.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

New colleges strapped for cash

By Henry Deng

Despite a wide spectrum of budget cuts across the university, Rice has not reduced the budgets allotted to the individual residential colleges. Even with the addition of Duncan College and McMurtry College, the formula for determining how much money each college receives annually has remained unchanged.McMurtry and Duncan

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Neiliyo's new album better than others

By Connor Hayes

On Oct. 13, Austin solo act Neiliyo released his first full-length LP titled Runnin' #Errndz. A self-described "solo electro-funktionaire," Neiliyo has cited his biggest influences as artists from his childhood like Prince and Hall & Oates. The album, an ode to Neiliyo's interest in leisure, clothes, making music and other diversions from the mundane, is an upbeat and polished work that is a noticeable step up from his previous releases. Before even discussing the music, it is worth noting that the album cover for Runnin' #Errndz takes the work as a whole to another level. If Neiliyo's lyrics on the album aren't enough to clue the listener in to his carefree attitude and ghetto-fabulous aspirations, then the cover is a dead giveaway. With his name in giant, glistening gold lettering, Neiliyo is pictured cruising in a car filled with some of his favorite things: a keyboard, a tambourine, a guitar, button-down shirts, boat shoes and a boombox (all of which are also glowing).

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Baker Institute Student Forum debate: Elect Bill White for TX governor

By Gabe Cuadra

Perception is a powerful thing. And perception is a main reason why Bill White replacing Rick Perry as governor of Texas is essential for the state's future. Over his term as governor, Perry and those he supports have drawn national headlines for all the wrong reasons. In April 2009, he left open the possibility that Texas could secede from the Union if measures like President Barack Obama's stimulus continued to be passed. No matter one's position on Washington, Perry's statements about secession place his state in a poor, if not laughable, light.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Chevy's Volt not the answer for the future

By Joseph Capparella

In 1999, the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, the Honda Insight, was introduced to the U.S. market. Shortly after, the Toyota Prius joined the Insight, starting what was, at the time, thought to be a niche market phase that would die away as initial enthusiasts lost interest. However, as can be seen on the roads today, the hybrid movement has gone mainstream within the past 10 years, with the Toyota Prius at the forefront, surpassing 2 million cumulative sales in September. A new wave of electric cars has swept the auto industry as of the last two years. On Monday, Chevrolet brought its newest car, the Volt, to campus to offer students an opportunity to test-drive "the car of the future." Introduced in 2007 as a concept vehicle, the Volt is dubbed a " range-extended electric vehicle."

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Online only: SA minutes

 

The following items were noted at the most recent meeting of the Student Association on Oct. 25.President David Leebron presented to the SA on university finances, expansion of the student body and initiatives for the future.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Letters to the Editor

By Joe Grinstein

When I read Falan Mouton's letter to the editor about the Rice Annual Fund two weeks ago in the Thresher ("Rice just a business; donations are purely optional for graduates," Oct. 8), I had one of those "spit out your coffee" moments that Jon Stewart likes to use for comedic effect. Dr. Mouton seems to be quite upset that the Annual Fund calls her to ask her to support Rice. A large part of her complaint against Rice centers around the fact that she got too many parking tickets when she was on campus. I can't really argue with her there - parking on campus sucks, even when you chair the Annual Fund. Sorry. But I do have to argue with much of the rest of Dr. Mouton's letter. A lot of what Dr. Mouton gets wrong is financial. After noting Rice's $3.6 billion endowment, the market value as of June 30, 2009, Dr. Mouton asserts: "This is not money that goes to education. This is money that sits and hopefully collects interest."

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

DJ Earworm mashes up

By David Rosales

Last Friday, when Jordan Roseman, better known by his stage name, DJ Earworm, stood and played his laptop for two hours, it didn't occur to me until after the show and after my interview with him just how different his mashup style is versus that of Girl Talk, and why. Even though the two artists are lumped in the same mashup genre, some obvious characteristics separate the latter's densely packed, bouncin' dance party shows and the former's somewhat scattered live performance. Girl Talk's stage presence is undoubtedly magnitudes stronger, and when he confidently invites the "people in the back" to put their "hands in the air," the resulting wave of arms seems neither forced nor out of place. At the other end of the spectrum, it's difficult to imagine DJ Earworm successfully inciting the crowd like this, and rather than a thrashing, gyration-inducing beam of confidence and barrage of seamless samples, last week's show initially rubbed me as clunky and dorky.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

No magic to be found in Orlando for football

By Teddy Grodek

After a big win against crosstown rival University of Houston, it looked like the Owls' football program was finally turning the corner. It looked like it was all coming together, with a running game, a defense and a quarterback who could hold it all together. So much for that.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Online only: Medicine and Morals class offered by Jewish Learning Institute

By Molly Chiu

Should doctors be genetically engineering babies? Should they proceed with clinical trials at the risk of a patient's life? Should a doctor be able to force lifesaving but painful treatment on a patient? Medicine and Morals: Your Jewish Guide Through Life's Tough Decisions hopes to answer these questions and more through lessons from the Torah and modern Western ethics. The class is provided by the Jewish Learning Institute and is offered at the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center in classroom 160B. Classes are held on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 p.m. for six weeks, starting Oct. 26. Each of the six classes will cover a different issue of ethics in modern medicine, including patient autonomy, assisted reproduction, patient confidentiality, mental illnesses, organ donation and medical experimentation.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

New world lit department considered

By Brooke Bullock

After 15 years of fluctuating discussion, the French, Hispanic, German, and Classical Studies departments are considering a merger to form one World Literatures department. The merger would not result in any changes to staff or curriculum but would restructure the four departments into one overarching department making cross-listed courses and expansion easier to organize. Dean of Humanities Nicolas Shumway has set up a task force that is looking into a possible graduate program for the departments as well as what advantages there would be for combining the departments into one.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Pavilion changes hours

By Joey Capparella

The Brochstein Pavilion has found itself in the midst of various controversies since its inception, ranging from discussions about the building's appearance, service providers, Coffeehouse's unsuccessful attempt to make a bid for the space and, most recently, operating hours.As of last week, Brochstein's hours have once again changed. New hours will be from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Hybrid electric vehicle comes to campus

 

On Monday, a new car charged to the Rice campus, giving a glimpse at the future of the automotive industry: the electric car. The cars that students may have seen driving around the inner loop were examples of a new hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by Chevrolet called the Volt. In an event hosted by the Baker Institute Student Form, Chevrolet brought four Volts to campus to educate members of the Rice community about this new technology and give them an opportunity to drive and ride in these vehicles.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Radio licenses received

By Tina Ou

Earlier this month, students of PHYS 401: Physics of Ham Radio passed their amateur radio licensing exams, allowing them to independently broadcast on various frequencies.Three exam levels - technician, general and extra - give increasing orders of permitted access to frequencies. Passing the technician test permits broadcasting at 30 MHz and above; passing the general test permits broadcasting on all frequencies; passing the extra test permits the licensed user to use more modes and access additional band lengths. Eight students in PHYS 401 passed the technician level exam, only one student passed the technician and general levels and one student passed the general level, having taken the technician level several years ago.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Student input necessary

By Staff Editorial

Food at Rice may have its share of problems. Maybe it's not diverse enough, maybe it's not quality enough, maybe it's not vegetarian enough or maybe it's not healthy enough. Regardless of what complaints there may be against the on-campus servery food, let's cast away the protests and the shunning of serveries. Most of the common issues that students hold against H&D's meal offerings can be addressed if the administration can simply get a grasp on which concerns are of greatest priority.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

H&D sends out survey

By Ellen Liu

Housing and Dining is conducting a campus-wide survey of the overall quality of its eating establishments. The survey was opened to all students, faculty, and staff members on Oct. 25 and will be available online until Nov. 24. The survey is part of an annual national assessment of college cuisine that is administered by the National Association of College and University Food Services. NACUFS is a food services organization that includes over 1000 university members organized by region. Rice is in the Southern Region and will be compared to colleges both regionally and nationally.

NEWS 10/28/10 7:00pm

Soccer falls to Memphis, UAB; looks to Houston

By Ross Michie-Derrick

The soccer team may be healthier now than at any other point since conference play began, but that has not translated onto the field, where the team is limping toward its final game of the regular season. The Owls went into last weekend looking to win two tough games in hopes of setting up an intra-city showdown with the University of Houston (11-4-3, 6-2-2 C-USA) for the Conference USA lead. Instead, they lost both games, dropping their record to 8-8-2 overall and 5-3-2 in conference play.

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