Special Projects

Sid's '80s fails to impress

The generally accepted expectation of a public party is that it is to be a social gathering in which all are permitted to enter. It would thus seem that Sid Richardson College failed to truly throw a public party last Saturday. The fire alarms and subsequent fire-code enforcement were a repeat of Sid's last party, School Girls. This recurring exclusion of scores of students from Sid parties is becoming a nuisance and is frankly unacceptable.Sid needs to take steps to secure its parties against these false fire alarms. As the freshman classes continue to grow and high party turnouts persist, it's undertandable that these sort of acts will happen from time to time. However, Sid is the only college to have parties fail, twice, because of this sort of activity. The Thresher hopes this does not become a trend.

Beyond The Hedges

National

To find a career, look past the paycheck

Information sessions, application deadlines and the career fair: It's that time again. As recruiters and job opportunities continue to arrive on campus, from listservs to the Huff House, anxious seniors, hopeful juniors and enthusiastic sophomores prepare for interview season. While students' main job focus may be on the industry, the payment or the job description, another criterion that is often overlooked might be just as important: The employer's code of conduct. While applicants have sometimes spent their undergraduate experience working toward a particular job, they often forget that they should be just as demanding of the employer as the employer is of them.Finding the perfect job seems like an impossible task. How is one supposed to find a professional position that suits one's interests, pays well, is within a good company, provides benefits and aligns with one's objectives? Many times, this combination is an ideal that cannot be found right away and one aspect of the job must be sacrificed. When looking for a job this year, Rice students will hopefully not overlook a crucial point: the employer's ethics. Oftentimes, myself included, students do not take enough time to truly know the position they are applying for. While they might know what the job is about, they sometimes forget to be as analytical when considering the employer.

Crumbs

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Voting an important way to stay involved with the Houston community

IT'S THAT TIME of the year again: a time when employers allow their employees to leave work early, professors permit students to slink into class late, a time where we collectively take a break from our usual daily routine to perform an act bestowed upon us as citizens of the United States. Yes, it's election season! Most elections kicked off their campaigning on Labor Day weekend, but another important date is looming upon us: the voter registration deadline. The prerequisite of all prerequisites. The unfortunate reality is that many of our fellow students either forget to vote (via absentee ballot or in person) or feel so disconnected to the candidates' platforms that they don't even bother to vote. I used to accept these excuses from my friends when they told me why they didn't vote in the last election, until I found out that a Rice student who registers to vote using their residential college address can vote on campus!

$32 billion industry

Students surround Willy's Statue for the Human Trafficking Vigil Sept. 19. Houston is one of the top ports for this crime.

Hanging with the Fresh Rice Breakers

Forget Step Up 3-D. The Fresh Rice Breakers are the real deal. The Thresher gets the scoop by chatting with three of the five guys that keep this reviving dance group strong.

Parker discusses leadership, economy

Houston Mayor Annise Parker (Jones '78) visited the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business last week to give the first presentation of its Thought Leadership series. This program was hosted and attended by the Jones Partners, a group of business professionals who work to encourage collaboration between the Jones School and Houston's business community, and geared toward bringing leaders of multiple sectors to speak at the Jones School. Parker came to Rice on Sept. 20 to discuss Houston's future and the importance of a partnership between the city and the Jones School.

New Walkmen album bends genres, shows versatility

Formed in 2000, New York City- based indie-rockers The Walkmen have created an eclectic piece of work with their sixth studio album, entitled Lisbon. As a whole, the album shines; its varied influences and thoughtful lyrics result in a delightfully enter- taining experience.An album of astonishing range, Lisbon in many ways seems undeni- ably modern and yet in even more ways seems to evoke the charming melodies and musical techniques of yesteryear. For instance, on "Torch Song," The Walkmen produce a doo-wop throwback - think Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, minus Frankie's superhuman falsetto, with a little bit of Vampire Weekend's New York swagger thrown in for good measure.

Last week's online poll results:

RU Press funding stops after 4 years

Rice University Press, Rice's digital academic press, will stop receiving university funding at the end of the month. The decision to cut RUP's funding, which has consisted of $150,000-$200,000 a year since its revival as a digital press in 2006, came after a report by a group of consultants said that RUP would require significantly more cash in order for it to achieve its original goal of being a leading digital university press.RUP, in its previous incarnation a traditional university press, was initially shut down in 1996 but was then brought back in 2006 as an all-digital press. Publications were published through Rice's Connexions project and could be accessed digitally for free, but bound copies could also be purchased. Former Provost Eugene Levy said that although RUP was never intended to make a profit, the publications that had so far been put forward by RUP had not really attracted a market.

The Rice University Press closes down

For many members of the Rice community, the news that the university's digital press is being shut down (see story, page 1) illicits a common reaction: The university had a digital press? While losing this resource puts an end to an innovative experiment we would love to see continue on campus, the Thresher believes that in the current economic situation, the viability of maintaining this press would be under question. Though the press was producing at an admirable capacity, taking into account its limited support, its contribution to the campus and to elevating Rice's national standing was negligible. Having produced 18 pieces of work in the last two years is a lot for a $200,000 annual operating budget, but according to some figures, it would take nearly twice that to even begin to make Rice University Press a recognizable entity on the national scene.

Veg Out: Field of Greens

Field of Greens is a health-conscious vegan's paradise. The atmosphere is laid-back, and the self-serve condiments include Braggs Liquid Aminos and Stevia packets that can be found right next to the unprocessed cane sugar. Counter service makes the place feel more like a café than a restaurant, but I like to call it a deli with benefits. Not only can you get more than just sandwiches - there is a full menu of food selections, just like a normal restaurant - but Field of Greens also offers a few salmon and tuna dishes, as well as classic vegetarian dishes like eggplant Parmesan, so you can bring along your less adventurous omnivorous friends without feeling like you're pressuring them into eating tofu.

East Servery to be ready by spring semester

From a distance, the glass-walled structure near Will Rice College and Lovett College may not look like much, but upon students' return from winter break, the building will house the East Servery. Scheduled to open its doors on the same day students return for the spring semester, the new servery, which broke ground last February, will replace the old serveries at Lovett and Will Rice.

Volleyball takes three of four in return to Houston

After a trying tournament the weekend before at Louisiana State University featuring some of the nation's top teams, the women's volleyball team returned home to feast on some lesser out-of-conference opponents in the second edition of the Rice Invitational. The return to Tudor Fieldhouse turned out to be just what the Owls needed as they posted a 2-1 record in the tournament. Although Rice lost to Arkansas State University 3-2 in its first match last Friday, the Owls played much better in their final two games of the weekend as they beat Samford University 3-1 later that night and Stephen F. Austin University 3-0 on Saturday.

Youth movement carries cross country to first

The men's cross country team dominated the competition on the slightly damp Rice intramural fields last Friday at the 35th-annual Justin F. Cooper Memorial Rice Invitational, with four true freshmen finishing among the top eight Rice runners. Redshirt sophomore Gabe Cuadra led the way for the Owls once again by taking fourth place overall. Freshman John Cavallo followed nine seconds later, with redshirt junior Michael Trejo following in seventh place with a time of 17:52 minutes. Redshirt sophomore James Llamas followed one second behind and freshman Wyatt Doop, running unattached, turned in a time of 18:14 on the 5.6-kilometer course to round out the top five for Rice. Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) is thankful to have a group of young runners that have contributed so early in the season.

Relish: Great hours, underwhelmng food at One's A Meal

Sunday night, Dan's laptop charger suddenly died, and he was reduced to tears. In order to cheer him up, Siegfried offered him a meal on the Thresher's dollar at One's A Meal, a local 24-hour Greek diner at Westheimer Road and Montrose Boulevard.Since we're both too fabulously wealthy to drive our own cars, we had our driver Peter bring us to One's A Meal around midnight on Sunday. Or Monday. We're not totally sure. Like our uncertainty about how time works, we're also pretty ambivalent about returning to One's A Meal. While not particularly remarkable or desirable, the food was also edible and available at ?weird hours.

Soccer plays tough match against ranked BYU

Trejo understands the team's mentality going into this important benchmark race. "Jon and the team recognize the OSU meet as our first real test," Trejo said. "The course is eight kilometers and it is run over a more real cross country terrain than we're used to in Houston. I think our team has gotten a feel for where we stand fitness-wise and I'm confident going into this meet that we can compete with some of these teams."

RMC kiosk encourages recycling with incentives

Going green at Rice is about to get bigger. A recycling kiosk about the size of three vending machines was installed over the Labor Day weekend in the Rice Memorial Center near the entrances of the Rice University Bookstore and 13th Street. The recycling kiosk is part of a pilot project by the Greenopolis Group at Waste Management, a national company that handles Rice's solid waste. The Greenopolis Group is the division of Waste Management focused on developing technologies to increase recycling levels. The kiosk is on a one-year trial at Rice University, according to Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson. It is capable of storing up to 9,000 aluminum cans and 1,700 bottles, roughly corresponding to 300 pounds of aluminum and 170 pounds of plastic.