Special Projects

All-star cast powers inventive 9

A movie about nine human-like rag dolls banding together to save the post-apocalyptic world does not sound like a rousing adventure story. But when Tim Burton produces it, there is no sense in ruling out the possibility. Burton, one of the visionaries of 9, transforms the rag dolls - called "stitchpunks" - into endearing, individual characters uniting to fight a destructive robotic beast. The film begins when the last human on earth crumples to the floor and his final scientific creation, 9 (The Lord of the Ring's Elijah Wood), first opens its mechanical eyes.

Clear forecast for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

With spaghetti tornadoes and ice-creamed neighborhoods, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs succeeds in making an entertaining 90-minute movie from a book that takes, at best, five minutes to read. While the plot of the film wildly diverges from Judi and Ron Barrett's best-selling children's book, audiences won't be disappointed with the changes.Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader of "Saturday Night Live") is an aspiring inventor living in the island town of Swallow Falls. His streak of failed inventions leads him to create something that would benefit the town as a whole: a machine that turns water molecules into food, a necessity since the town has been forced to eat sardines after their industry took a turn for the worse. This invention, however, is yet another addition to Flint's list of failures. After things go awry and Flint's machine ruins the town's tourism prospects, it is shot into the sky, where, to the town's surprise, it results in showers of cheeseburgers, pancakes and other foods.

Cleaning staff starts year shorthanded

Over a month into the school year, it is clear the new inhabitants of Duncan College and McMurtry College are not the only ones experiencing challenges. While certain students had to deal with malfunctioning air-conditioning units and nonworking locks, certain members of the custodial staff have had to deal with changes to their workload. Due to Housing and Dining's redistribution of custodial staff from Martel College, Jones College and Brown College to McMurtry and Duncan, H&D is currently in the process of transitioning its staff to a new college dynamic.

No shortage of laughs in RMT's Recession

Have you ever dreamed of dressing up fancy for a night on the town? Do you like to laugh at people? Is your grandmother going to be bored this weekend?If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, a heavy dose of quality theater may be in order. The Lighter Side of the Recession opened this month at Radio Music Theatre, and not only is it a fantastic show but, in the spirit of its title, admission is free for Rice staff and students for select shows through the end of the month.

KTRU Corner: Siamese Soul

When Sublime Frequencies burst onto the scene with the first volume of Thai Pop Spectacular two years ago, it faced a challenge, as historical Thai music was frequently overlooked. Fortunately, its refreshing insight into a vibrant and rich recording industry was a welcome addition to music libraries everywhere.The album featured a great mix of local styles, jazz and pop that melded together eclectic musical influences from surf, funk and disco. It was an exciting piece of history with a seemingly universal appeal.

Modern ballet gets a racy twist with colorful yet tragic love story of Manon

The themes of love, money and violence may be most commonly associated with Hollywood action films, but there is no rule against their driving the plot of a ballet production.The Houston Ballet opened its 40th season last Thursday with Sir Kenneth MacMillan's modern ballet Manon, demonstrating the culmination of years of growth and development as both a company and artistic community. Based on Abbé Prévost's 18th-century novel Manon Lescaut, the ballet traces the tragic fall of a young femme fatale and her lover, providing a rich plot line in a performance vibrant with complex choreography, fabulous costumes and demanding acting.

Online only: First women's XC meet cancelled

After eight months of preparation, the women's cross country team will have to wait another week to get their season underway. Rice's plans for the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas, were washed out last Saturday, pushing back the team's opening meet to tomorrow's Rice Invitational.Tomorrow's race - the only home meet of the year - will feature Houston Baptist University, Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University. The meet will begin at 8:20 a.m. at O'Connor Fields near the Jones School.

Men's tennis shows promise for spring

While Assistant Coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) was busy firing off "50-year-old" guns as part of his mandatory Turkish military service, the rest of the men's team used the summer as an opportunity to train. Fortunately, Ustundag's conscription lasted only three weeks, so the coach was able to help his players through the varied, though not necessarily difficult, competition at last weekend's Rice Fall Invitational. The Owls netted an impressive showcase at the Invitational, a mixture of singles and doubles draws. Bumped out of Jake Hess Tennis Stadium because of a weekend of rain, Rice sent all but one of its players - senior Bruno Rosa, arguably the most talented of the bunch - to face off with athletes from Louisiana State University, Southern Methodist University, Tulane University and Prairie View A&M University.

Borlaug's legacy leaves lasting lessons

When we think of great humanitarians, we often think of saints. We think of doctors, political activists and retired software tycoons. Many of these people grace the covers of our magazines and promote their causes on talk shows.But the greatest humanitarian to ever live did not sell microchips, did not appear on our televisions and, indeed, never became famous for his work. His name was Norman Borlaug, and he died last Saturday in Texas at the age of 95.

Red Raiders' offensive buzzsaw cuts down Owls

At halftime in last weekend's contest against Texas Tech University, the football team's chances of a comeback looked, if not quite promising, then at least decent. The Owls (0-2) were down 14-3 to a team that finished the 2008 season with the fourth-best offense in the nation, battling amidst the red-swathed sea at Jones AT&T Stadium. The Owls felt good about their odds.

Construction causes cable outages

Duncan College and McMurtry College are not the only colleges which have faced construction troubles this semester. In the past two weeks, the south colleges have encountered issues that include cable and electricity outages and noise and water problems. According to both Project Manager Larry Vossler and Manager of Communications for Facilities Engineering and Planning Susann Glenn, Sid Richardson College and Lovett College have suffered the brunt of the construction discomforts, as they are located near the Baker College and Will Rice College renovations. On the other end of the south campus, both Wiess College and Hanszen College have also run across issues from construction.

Powderpuff opens with Sid win, Martel shutouts

During the long offseason, fans across the Rice campus have resorted to the filler entertainment of professional sports. Thankfully, last weekend provided deprived fans with their wishes: powderpuff. The newest installment of intramural women's flag football officially began last Saturday, but aside from the first use of "tandem teams" - Baker College pairing with Duncan College, Will Rice College pairing with McMurtry College - there were few surprises. Defending champions Martel College shut out both matches of their double-header weekend, but neither of their contests were games of the week. That honor went to the South College Showdown, which saw Sid Richardson College throttle Hanszen College.

Emotions swing for soccer after weekend's games

Only in the sports world can you have your best performance one night and leave slightly disappointed, then give a sub-par performance a few days later but leave the field perfectly content. This is exactly what happened to Rice's soccer team this week. The Owls (2-4-1) suffered a demoralizing defeat Friday night against Oklahoma State University, only to rebound and experience the thrill of a Sunday afternoon victory against the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Longing for home possible to alleviate

No one else seemed to be having a problem. It was as though everyone was okay with living on, what seemed to me, an alien planet - a world devoid of everything I had ever known and loved. I am not exaggerating. College made me feel miserable and terrified, but most of all, alone in my misery and terror.Showing up at Rice was one of the most heart-wrenching moments of my life. And I know you're probably re-reading that sentence to make sure I had written it correctly. Did she say "heart-wrenching?" Is she insane?

Commentary: Robinson's dedication cements heroic status in San Antonio

While most people's TV time this weekend centered on Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, I instead turned my attention to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday evening. And while nearly everyone's Facebook and Twitter feeds were clogged with cries of outrage as Kanye West stole Taylor Swift's moment, the NBA world was abuzz following Michael Jordan's speech.In contrast to his Hall of Fame classmates - David Robinson, Vivian Stringer, Jerry Sloan and John Stockton - who focused on thanking the people who had helped them rise to this moment, Jordan used his moment to taunt those who had motivated him during his playing days. As Jordan's speech was the finale for the evening, all who watched were left with a bitter taste in their mouths.

New bike policy aims for safety

Zivick runs into Rice's much-needed leadership role

Like any sports team, class project or '80s hair metal band, Rice's men's cross country team is defined by its leaders, the guys who make the engine run and fix it when it's broken. Senior Scott Zivick is one of those guiding forces for this year's edition of the team. Even before Zivick, 21, stepped through the Sallyport in fall 2006, the Houstonian had shown flashes of what this year had in store. His sixth-place finish at the Texas 5A state cross country meet his senior year of high school, as well as his eighth-place finish in the 1600-meter run at the state track meet were just a few of his prep accomplishments. However, Zivick freely admits that the team experience at Humble High School was nowhere near to the camaraderie and unity he has experienced with the cross country team at Rice.

Online Only: Denver provides relationship advice

Dear Denver, I just realized I like a guy for very superficial reasons. I think he's honest, but I can't tell. After he called me open and straightforward, I started thinking the same about him, but there's nothing to justify that. He's so loyal to, and defensive of, his possessions, and I want him to have that same attitude about me. I admire his social interactions, but I ignore how he acts around other girls, and I ignore the fact that he doesn't make me feel special in any way.

Erratum

In last week's article, "RUPD forced to cut number of officers," the Thresher incorrectly reported that two Rice University Police Department officers were cut due to the 5 percent budget cuts. Only one officer was cut. The Thresher regrets the error.

New bicycle policy necessitates new racks

In early 2008, the Bicycle Safety Committee came together to hammer out a bike policy that would keep bikes moving and pedestrians safe. Eighteen months later, the plan is out, with details finalized and policy enacted (see story, page 1). We look at this new policy as a necessity, for obvious reasons - there have been one too many times when we've been traipsing along the sidewalks, minding our business and chatting with friends on the phone, when a blur flashes in our periphery and, our life flashing before our eyes, we realize just how close we came to eating pavement, at no fault of our own. It's not that the passing bikers carried any malicious intent; rather, they were either distracted or saw themselves as a bit more skilled at maneuvering than we pedestrians perceived.The new policy's stipulations are both sensible and well-known. The bell-and-yell policy is nothing more than common sense, and the bike registration policy, now mandatory, has been on campus for years. The quiz that has been added is a nice touch, reminding students of the requirements before they can endeavor to ride their two-wheelers.