Special Projects

Cleaning staff deserve fair treatment

The two new colleges have gotten off to a bit of a stunted start, with sinks falling off and motion-sensing lights going awry. Now, we have learned that the cleaning staff assigned to the new colleges has put the entire North College cleaning staff in a bind (see story, page 1). No new staff members were hired for the new colleges, straining the current staff and, with the H1N1 virus making its rounds, potentially putting the student body in increased danger of contracting a disease that, as we've seen, has made itself readily apparent.We understand that this was, and always has been, a temporary measure. However, members of the staff claimed they were not told of the plan, meaning that the reshuffling came as a surprise once Duncan College and McMurtry College opened. And while we understand that the process is already well underway to fill the ranks, we feel it necessary to say "thank you" to those who are already chronically underappreciated. Some type of recompense should be in order. After all, if this is to remain one of Houston's best places to work, it would behoove the university to treat its current employees with the respect, and admiration, they deserve.

Students head to D.C. for solar house competition

Decathlons, it seems, are not solely for athletes. In December 2007, the United States Department of Energy selected Rice as one of 20 teams, including international competitors, to compete in the Solar Decathlon, a competition that is designed to prove that solar technology is a viable solution for homes in the future. Rice's entry, the 15-by-50-foot ZEROW House finished last week by a team of students and professors, will be judged by professionals in architecture and engineering during the main event, held Oct. 8-21 at The National Mall in Washington D.C.

Phishing attacks bedevil unwitting new students

The next time you decide to supply a grammatically-challenged Internet stranger with your Rice e-mail password, think twice. Otherwise, you might become yet another victim of a recent string of phishing attacks. Last weekend, a widespread phishing scam netted 14 Rice accounts, 12 of which belonged to new students. Phishing, the practice of trying to obtain personal information by posing as a legitimate entity, is nothing new to Rice, but the past week's incident far exceeded the usual success rate for such scams.

On the Origins of Rice: the Travels of Edgar Odell Lovett

Just over 100 years ago, in the summer of 1908, Edgar Odell Lovett began a journey to "search among the universities of the two hemispheres for the educational and architectural ideas to be incorporated in the new university to be planned in Houston." The university to which Lovett alluded would come to be known as the Rice Institute, renamed the William Marsh Rice University in 1960. Lovett, then head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Princeton University, was selected by the Rice Board of Trustees to lead the new institute. Assisted by his wife, Mary, and his secretary, F. Carrington Weems, Lovett planned to circumnavigate the world and draw on the knowledge of universities from different international backgrounds. During the trip, Lovett recorded his trip in two blank bound volumes that he brought with him, with carbon-copy pages so he could keep a copy and send the original to the trustees back in Houston, who anxiously awaited his return.

Sprucing up the Pavilion

Opened in 1986 as part of the Ley Student Center expansion, next to the existing Rice Memorial Center, the Farnsworth Pavilion Art Gallery has become best known as a meeting space. Home to countless luncheons, Student Association meetings, dance classes and other random events, few people think of it as a true art exhibition space, especially when there are already two established art venues at either end of campus in Sewall Hall's Rice Gallery and at the Rice Media Center.However, two students are out to change that perception. Hanszen College junior Amy Lin and Lovett College junior Teresa Lee have paired up as the Visual Arts Program Coordinators for the Student Center, responsible for any and all artwork you see hanging throughout the building, from the splatter paintings hanging by Disability Support Services to the "big polystyrene white thing near Coffeehouse." By increasing the amount of student artwork being put on display in Farnsworth this year, both Lee and Lin hope that they can in turn increase the visibility and viability of the pavilion as another venue for exhibits at Rice.

Men win Johnny Morriss Invite

The men's cross country team knew it was going to have to rely on its newcomers for success this season. It just didn't expect their ascension to come about so quickly. The youths on the squad served up an important victory at the Johnny Morriss Invitational last Friday, as sophomore Michael Trejo and redshirt freshman Gabe Cuadra teamed with senior Scott Zivick to lead Rice to a first-place finish on the University of Houston intramural fields. Rice's 31 points defeated Houston's 43, Sam Houston State University's 58 and Houston Baptist University's 81.

Emotional weekend for soccer brings first win

It's amazing how quickly emotions can turn. One second, you're riding high from a spectacular, come-from-behind victory against Stephen F. Austin University. Not two days later, you find your mouth agape, staring in bewilderment as Texas Christian University pulls the same mini-miracle on you. Such was the case of the soccer team last week.

KTRU Top 35: Week of 9.6.2009

Professors win $40,000 grant

With Houston as their backdrop, a team of Rice and University of Houston researchers will put Mother Nature to the test by evaluating the city's sustainability. After being awarded a $40,000 grant from the Shell Center for Sustainability, which is based out of the School of Social Sciences, the researchers will team up to craft a set of measurements to determine whether or not Houston's progress is feasibly sustainable.The areas of specialty for the three researchers - Jim Blackburn, professor in the practice of environmental law; Stephen Klineberg, sociology professor and director of the Urban Research Center of Houston; and Barton Smith, economics professor and director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston - represent three key areas to test Houston's sustainability.

Arctic Monkeys explore new musical paths

As is the case with many aspects of Arctic Monkeys' latest album, the title Humbug draws attention because of its unexpectedness. The word's meaning nowadays is akin to "nonsense" or "gibberish," but fortunately for listeners the songs themselves are anything but. Arctic Monkeys reach in very different directions for influence and inspiration this time around, and the resulting collision between their old and new styles works impressively well.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Letters to the Editor

Intelligent design explains creation

Slideshow: Food, water and shanties

What happens when over 70 students, surviving on only the bare minimum, set up camp in the Central Quad shanties? Beans, stench and, for a lucky few, a spot on the nightly news. //

Welcome to the shanties

Students participating in the $2 A Day Challenge moved in to their shanty town on Tuesday, laying out blankets and spray-painting their shacks. To see what else the students did while living in the Central Quad, see Food, water, and shanties.

Jones coordinator to leave

After 17 years at Rice, Jones College Coordinator Lisa Bryan has announced she will be leaving her position in November. She will be joining her husband, English professor Dennis Huston, as he goes on sabbatical at the beginning of December through next August. Her last day as coordinator will be Nov. 6.Bryan had a long history with Rice before she joined Jones College in March 2005. Before assuming the position of college coordinator, Bryan worked in the Office of Admissions as Assistant Director of Admission from 2004-05. Prior to that position, Bryan and Huston were masters at Hanszen College from 1992-98.

Football falls to UAB as new crop continues adjustment

Last time we saw the football team, it was delivering an indisputable beat-down on Western Michigan University in the 2008 Texas Bowl, the big shining Texas star atop a seven-game winning streak to end the season. But with graduation and the NFL draft taking their victims - namely James Casey to the Houston Texans, Jarett Dillard to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chase Clement to consulting - suddenly there are different Owls responsible for running, catching and throwing the football. These new faces had their debut last Saturday, along with many others, falling 44-24 in a conference battle against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

HedgeHopper expands reach

Thai food, gyros, ice cream, glasses and bicycles are just some of the discounted items students, faculty and staff can purchase with this year's HedgeHopper cards. The cards, organized by the Student Association, were distributed during the first week of classes by the college coordinators.The card offers discounts at all previously featured restaurants, including popular eateries Swirll and Niko Niko's, SA External Vice President Amber Makhani said. She also said additional businesses with more practical services such as Today's Vision and Bike Barn were added this year.

Mike Judge Extracts a winner with latest comedy

When peering into the blue-collar workplace, Mike Judge's Office Space is at the top of the paper heap. Judge brings his comedic intelligence back to the stack in his latest movie, Extract, focusing on the owner of a food extract company in Podunk, U.S.A. in this smart and smarmy satire.While Extract is unable to live up to its iconic predecessor - and may not have the cultural impact of Milton's stapler- that doesn't mean that it is not worth the cost of admission. A strong cast combines with an original and realistic plot, allowing Extract to be the intelligent comedy that will fill the current vacuum.

Online only: This week in photos

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RUPD forced to cut number of officers

Last year, each department at Rice was forced to cut its budget by 5 percent. No area was left untouched, and the Rice University Police Department was no exception. However, RUPD was not simply forced to make cuts in both materiel and personnel - it was forced to scrap plans of expansion, made all the more necessary by the fact that Rice now has the largest student population its campus has ever held.