Special Projects

Online only: Only an average ending for Shrek the Musical

A not-so-long time ago in the land of New York City, the story of Shrek originated. The ogre's adventures became well-known in 2001, when the animated DreamWorks film Shrek was released. Now there is an entire stage production, Shrek the Musical, dedicated to the green, emotionally layered ogre. Generally, musicals that are adapted from blockbuster movies are neither well-remembered nor extraordinary; unfortunately, despite some incredible technical elements, Shrek the Musical aligns with this trend.Unlike the movie, the musical begins with the childhood of both Shrek (Eric Peterson) and Princess Fiona (Haven Burton). Then, it dives into the familiar story as Shrek and Donkey (Alan Mingo, Jr.) travel to Duloc in order to prevent Lord Farquaad from dumping unwanted fairytale creatures in Shrek's swamp. To retrieve his swamp, Shrek must go on "a noble quest" and rescue the fair Princess Fiona for Farquaad to marry and become a real king.

Weather and line-up make ACL incredible

Held in Austin, Texas at Zilker Park from Oct. 8-10, this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival was a success not just from the astounding quantity and quality of music on display over the span of three days, but by two things altogether unrelated to music: clear blue skies and a cool breeze. In fact, the near-perfect weather, which lasted the entire weekend, contributed to one of the best overall ACL experiences in recent years - a stark contrast from the ankle-deep mud that characterized ACL last year.Not for the faint of heart, ACL can be arduous for the ill-prepared. With enormous crowds increasing in number every year, simply moving from stage to stage can be an ordeal. And, although this year was not as hot as it has been in the past, staying hydrated always poses a challenge. Fortunately, this year ACL offered more efficient (and free) water bottle filling stations, part of festival organizers' efforts to "go green." As evidence of this initiative, there were even booths located in various locations across Zilker Park where festival-goers could sign up to collect recyclables and receive a free T-shirt in return.

Congrats, Rice football

The Thresher would like to congratulate the football team for its upset victory against rival University of Houston (see story, page 11).The season began with a solid performance against the University of Texas Longhorns, the #5 team in the country at the time. The Owls followed up with a close victory over the University of North Texas but were then held disappointingly winless in their next four games until this past Saturday against Houston. The win puts Rice at 2-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play. More importantly, the Owls were able to defeat their rivals, capture the Bayou Bucket for the second time in six years, and do it all in front of a spirited homecoming crowd. The thrilling victory and offensive explosion certainly creates optimism for the remainder of the season; the Bayou Bucket victory could very well be the staple win in the Owls' season and provides reason for the student body to support the team as we attempt to ride the momentum into the season's home stretch. The Thresher encourages all students to support not just football games, but all athletic events on campus.

Men's cross country cruises to title at HBU

In facing any tough situation, preparation is key. For the men's cross country team, the races leading up to the Conference USA Championship on Nov. 1 are important to get a feel for how they run as a team. If the Owls' performance in the fourth-annual Houston Baptist University/Puma Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 8 is any indication, they are well prepared for the Conference USA Championship to be held at the Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Rice took home first place in the meet with five runners finishing among the top 10. Redshirt junior Michael Trejo was named Conference USA male cross country athlete of the week for his fourth-place finish, besting freshman teammate John Cavallo by two seconds. The true freshman assault continued with Wyatt Doop and Travis Roberts finishing seventh and 10th, respectively, with redshirt sophomore James Llamas sandwiched between them in eighth place. Rounding out the runners for the Owls were freshman Anthony Urbanelli and sophomores Sammy Abuhamra and Anthony Lauriello. Rice did an excellent job of running as a pack, with only 1:04 separating Trejo and Lauriello.

Veg Out: Kubo's is boring for vegetarians

Kubo's boasts the reputation of being one of the best sushi places in Houston, and for carnivores this is probably the case. But for vegetarians, Kubo's is rather dull. Don't get me wrong, the quality of the food is perfectly fine. It is the lack of variety that makes dinner at Kubo's a thoroughly uninspiring experience. The appetizers are predictable sushi-house fare, but on the whole tasty. The edamame is addictingly good; however, anyone can achieve the same result with a frozen package of store-bought edamame and a microwave and get a whole lot more beans for their buck. The seaweed salad is also excellent, but in no way unique - the taste is the same as anywhere else; the seaweed no more tender or flavorful. The only standout among the appetizers is the vegetable goma-ae, which consists of chilled, cooked broccoli, spinach and asparagus, coated with a sweet and tangy sesame sauce. The flavors are mild, yet complex, keeping you guessing as to the ingredients.

Short films compete

Lights, camera, action ... boobies? Three aspiring filmmakers found a humorous way to promote breast cancer awareness while competing for a $10,000 prize. Wiess College senior Austin Lipinski, Sid Richardson College sophomore Adrien Pellerin and Wiess sophomore Gabi Chennisi submitted two one-minute videos to the YouBoob funniest video contest, which promotes breast cancer awareness. They submitted their videos on Oct. 11 and voting for both will continue until Oct. 27 at 10:59 p.m.

Letting Bush tax cuts die would be a good riddance

The Bush tax cuts that were enacted in 2001 are set to expire at the end of this year. There has been much discussion about what action should be taken: Make the cuts permanent, extend them for two years, maintain the cuts only for lower-income Americans or just let them expire completely? While there is no obvious option, let me offer two solutions. The first, and more preferable, is allowing the tax cuts to expire while also using a small part of the generated revenue to enact a government stimulus program. The second, and somewhat less politically divisive option, is to extend the tax cuts for two years for Americans making less than $250,000 yearly.

SA, GSA hold first research mixer

Hungry for research? Rice's first-ever Research Mixer spiced things up with representatives from more than 40 labs manning booths alongside $2,000 worth of food from Thai Village.The research mixer, held Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. on the Central Quad, was a joint operation between the Student Association and the Graduate Student Association, organized by SA President Selim Sheikh and GSA President Corinne Allen.

Slow down and enjoy life once in a while

With midterms rolling around again, I have some advice I'd like to share not only with freshmen but also the rest of us who need to practice the art of living a little more than we do. Especially in a place like Rice where so much of our lives is oriented around schoolwork, it's easy to get swallowed up by studies, work and the academic desire to do better on tests and papers. We must take care to not let our lives and our enjoyment become only secondary features of our time here at Rice. College is - and should be - far more than classes. At no other time in our lives will we have so many opportunities. We have the chance to volunteer our time to things such as Alternative Spring Break. We can belong to and see so many different cultural clubs and events. Dance classes are available at an affordable price. We can take time to learn a new sport or go to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston or an orchestra concert put on by the Shepherd School of Music for free. Every day we get to meet people from other cultures and learn more about the world they come from and to easily make deep, meaningful relationships with many people that will last us a lifetime, long beyond our college experience.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Women's cross country misses prime opportunity

At the start of its season, the women's cross country team had three meets on its schedule that could have helped the team qualify for nationals. After the team's finish at the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., the Owls now have only one shot remaining: the NCAA South Central Regional.The Owls placed 13th overall in the White Race after competing against 40 teams overall and nine ranked teams. Rice finished ahead of then-No.27 ranked University of Florida and traditional cross country powerhouses University of Georgia and University of Wisconsin.

Campus bookstore begins selling new fair trade products

Since the beginning of this year, the campus bookstore has been selling a new brand of clothing known for paying their workers a livable wage. Created by the American company Knights Apparel, the Alta Gracia brand uses workers from the Dominican Republic who are paid wages approximately three times more than the minimum wage earned by other workers of the same industry and country.Like the fair trade coffee sold at Coffeehouse, the Alta Gracia products reflect Rice's efforts to address student concerns about the origins of the products sold on campus.

Photo: Dance dance dance

Partygoers at Esperanza don their finest dresses and suits and dance at the FiveSeven Grille in Minute Maid Park.

Golf plagued by late-round scores; Whitehead shines

While finishing strong is a mantra echoed by any and all mentors in the sports world, the Owls failed to heed this piece of advice last weekend in Baton Rouge, La. Looking for a solid performance at the David Toms Intercollegiate to generate some momentum into their season's winter break, the golf team was unable to build on a solid first round and finished in last place.With their two hardest events of the fall marking the end of the first half of their season and the beginning of their midseason break, the Owls knew their performance in Durham, N.C. at the Rod Myers Intercollegiate and the Toms Intercollegiate would be crucial. Despite senior Michael Whitehead's second-place finish at the Rod Myers Intercollegiate, hosted by Duke University, the team finished in 11th place, making this past week's event, hosted by Louisiana State University, that much more important.

Students' response to servery issues overplayed

There is a seemingly growing trend of discrepancies present in the food being served across different campus serveries (see story, page 1). While McMurtry College and Duncan College students are privileged with some of the best food and most options on campus at West Servery, other students are left with smaller kitchens that have less capacity to produce great food. To make matters worse, students at Will Rice College and Lovett College are burdened with catered food from West Servery as they await the completion of East Servery. This catered food inevitably offers a less fresh and less varied menu. The fact that all students pay the same amount of money - an ever-increasing number - for meal plans aggravates this harsh discrepancy of food quality even further. Students of Will Rice and Lovett took matters in their own hands

Sports Notebook: Swimming shines at home versus UH, Fall Ball starts with competition

Swimming shines at home versus UH

Football jump-starts excitement with dramatic win

It all played out like a movie script on Saturday. A battered football team, struggling through their season, comes face-to-face with their much more talented rival on homecoming weekend. Their embattled quarterback, who had seen the bench only a few games before, storms forward to take control of the team along with the emergence of the running game that had been hiding all season. A third-quarter blowup, a perfectly choreographed go-ahead touchdown, a defensive stand on fourth down, fans storming the field; basically everything college football is meant to be. The Owls were struggling after their game over fall break at the University of Texas-El Paso (5-2, 2-2 C-USA), in which they fell to the Miners by a final score of 44-24. The final score ended up being closer than the game actually was, as the Owls were dominated from the start and were held hostage by the Miners' passing attack. Miners quarterback Trevor Vittatoe broke three career passing records in the game, moving into first place on the Miners' all-time list for touchdowns, passing yards and total offensive yards.

Victories keep volleyball in thick of hunt for first place

Going into this week, the Owls had been soaring through conference play, compiling a 6-1 record. After picking up two victories against Tulane University (5-15, 2-6 C-USA) on Oct. 8 and 9 in which they dropped only one game over the two matches, Rice vaulted themselves near the top of Conference USA. However, the Owls' flight isn't as strong at the moment, as they have put themselves in a small hole in the race for the regular season conference championship.The team suffered a tough loss last Friday at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (5-15, 2-6 C-USA), which had only one conference win coming into the match. The Owls lost 3-2 as they dropped a hard-fought fifth set 15-12. Freshman outside hitter Mariah Riddlesprigger led the team with 16 kills while sophomore middle blocker Nancy Cole added 14. Senior setter Meredith Schamun had 49 assists while senior libero Tracey Lam had 32 digs. Junior outside hitter Ashleigh McCord only played briefly in the first set as she suffered some stiffness in her legs and had to sit out for the rest of the match.

Soccer saddled with first conference loss

Though the last couple of weeks have neither damaged Head Coach Nicky Adams' confidence nor strained her of her usual enthusiasm, they have revealed some soft spots in the Owls' armor, which had appeared impenetrable in the opening games of conference play. The Owls met their first challenge, the first road conference game of the season, by handling the University of Southern Mississippi (3-11-2, 0-7-1 C-USA) 2-0 on the strength of goals by junior forward Annie Kadota and blue-chip freshman forward Jessica Howard, who was playing in her first game since returning from injury. The win moved the Owls to 5-0 in conference and, coupled with the University of Houston's loss later in the day, secured the Owls' position atop Conference USA.

Online only: Nobel Prize winner Geim speaks at "Year of Nano" conference

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the buckyball. On Oct. 12, in spirit of the celebration, Buckyball Discovery Conference guest speaker Andre Geim, the 2010 Nobel Prize winner in physics, discussed the importance of research and building on current knowledge to explore the possibilities of science. Geim was awarded the Nobel Prize Oct. 5 for his work on graphene, which has many possible applications in the field of nanotechnology. The conference was held to commemorate the buckyball discovery and discuss the impacts and possibilities of nanotechnology. The three major topics chosen for the conference were buckyballs, nanotubes and graphene.Director of the Smalley Institute Wade Adams said Geim was not able to be at the conference in person because he had been called into a meeting with the British prime minister and minister of finance. Adams said that despite this, Geim was determined to honor his commitment and made his speech through Skype.