Special Projects

'LuOwl' offers tropical break

If you're in need of a stress-buster before finals period kicks into full gear, Sunday's President and Dean's Study Break, which runs from 9-11 p.m., will offer an opportunity for just that.This year's Hawaiian-themed event is entitled "LuOwl" and is sponsored by the Rice Program Council. Approximately 1,400 students are expected to attend, Assistant Dean of Students Boyd Beckwith said.

Graphic: Show me the money

College transfer system creates complications

In their short life spans, Duncan College and McMurtry College have already faced more than their fair share of challenges. The colleges opened with malfunctioning air-conditioning units, broken locks and virtually nonexistent cell phone reception. They encountered growing pains in meshing with Baker College and Will Rice College. There have been moments of triumph, to be sure - look no further than Monday's remarkable Powderpuff championship for McWill (see story, page 10) - but the moments of morass seem to outweigh the minor miracles.Yet another moment of chagrin seems to have come to pass over the past few weeks. The administration chose to forgo methods used to populate Martel College in 2002 (see column, page 3), instead sprinkling random transfer invitations to the new colleges among the original nine colleges, with a select number of guests attached to each invitation. The university purposely overshot the number of invitations, correctly anticipating a certain number of students would decline the invitation.

News in brief: University may cut general budget; Barnett trial date rescheduled

University may cut general budget

McWill takes down Martel for Powderpuff crown

Also be sure to check out the Rice Powderpuff 2009 slideshow.In a season filled with overtimes, upsets and spectacular finishes, it was only appropriate that the championship game between Martel College and Will Rice College-McMurtry College would come down to the final play.

Thresher winter break

With the end of classes (and the coming of Houston snow, surprisingly enough), the Thresher will be undergoing its annual winter break hibernation. But this won't be a traditional hibernation -- while our first issue of the spring semester won't be out until Jan. 15, there will be plenty of sports updates during the break while we keep tabs on the goings-on of the men's and women's basketball teams. So tune in early and tune in often, and keep tabs on the Owls' march to the Big Dance.

Photo: Deck the horns

The Rice Jazz Ensemble took a break from studying to provide festive cheer to Sammy's Wednesday.

Sports Notebook: Swimming takes second at Nebraska

From Nov. 19-22, the swim team competed in the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Invitational. After four days of competition, Rice placed second to host Nebraska, who finished with 1,902 points to the Owls' 1,309. South Dakota State University placed third with 725.5, while the University of Nebraska-Omaha finished fourth with 568.5. Rice's performance is especially impressive considering the Owls do not compete in diving events, thus lowering the number of possible points for them to earn. Senior Angela Wo led Rice in the Invitational, winning the 100- yard butterfly with a season-best time of 56.10 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke in another season-best 57.87. Wo also swam on both of Rice's top-finishing relays, the 200-medley relay and the sprint medley. Wo's performance was strong enough to earn her Conference USA Swimmer of the Week.

Volleyball nabs C-USA championship

And so the road to the Final Four begins. The volleyball team booked its second-straight ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a victory over the University of Tulsa in the Conference USA Championship final Nov. 22. A victory over then-17th-ranked Louisiana State University Friday evening was the icing on the cake for a regular season that ended just the way the team hoped.

Wednesday Sports Update: Cross-town rivals defeat Rice

For the seventh straight time in a row, the Owls were overcome by their cross-town rivals the University of Houston in a 83-66 loss at Tudor Fieldhouse on Wednesday. The match at was Rice's Conference USA opener, a bad omen for coach Ben Braun's squad which is still trying to show signs of improvement from last season.Freshman point guard Tamir Jackson led Rice with 19 points, but only posted three assists and two turnovers, compared to 11 points, ten assists and two turnovers from his Houston counterpart Desmond Wade. The game high 23 points came from Cougar Guard Maurice McNeil who surprised the home team with his offensive outburst and contributed to a dominant 42 points in the paint, compared to Rice's 22.

Despite differences, Rice and Columbia share equal worth

To the 99 percent of people at Rice whom I have yet to meet: Hi. My name is Shamsa, and I'm a visiting student and sophomore who will be here for a year. Normally, I attend New York City's Columbia University.When I tell people in Houston that I live in New York City, this usually prompts eyebrow raises and incredulous gasps of "What? What are you doing here?" These queries are typically followed by long, boisterous speeches about how exciting the city is, how Times Square is the most enchanting place ever and, inexplicably, how great the street-vendor hot dogs taste. I smile politely, agreeing that New York is a fascinating city and that Columbia is an incredible university.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

KTRU Corner: Hexlove's Es Noonar Covencha

Noise and distortion are two genres that, admittedly, get played quite a bit at KTRU. Much of the noise that we play over the air is styled in traditional explosive noises and ambient soundscapes, but it's always a pleasant surprise when something takes the traditional form of a genre that itself is not traditional (noise) and bends it to loosely follow the conventions of one that is (pop). Hexlove's Es Noonar Covencha is one such musical funfest.Hexlove is the project of Zac Nelson, who has been featured in bands such as Who's Your Favorite Son, God? and Prints. Nelson's non-Hexlove work has leaned primarily towards the more conventional indie-rock side, so Hexlove comes as a bit of a surprise to those familiar with his work.

Women off to worst start in history

Not once in the 31-year history of women's basketball at Rice has victory been so elusive. After six failed attempts at a mark in the win column, the Owls have only a goose egg to show for their efforts. Whether it be foul trouble or poor outside shooting, weak interior defense or the lack of a transition game, the combination of factors that led to Rice's start have been numerous, obvious and hampering.

Saturday Sports Update: Women's basketball finds victory at last, takes Gene Hackerman Invitational

This weekend the women's basketball team played in the Gene Hackerman Invitational held at Tudor Fieldhouse. They played their opening game against the University of Texas-Pan American Friday, then played Sam Houston State University in the championship on Friday.The Owls got off to a quick start Friday, quickly going up 6-0. Their fast start was hampered by sophomore point guard D'Frantz Smart's two reaching fouls in the first three minutes, placing her on the bench. UTPA hit some clutch shots from beyond the three-point line, but Rice countered with strong post play from sophomore forward Jackie Stanley. Stanley gave the Owls second chance looks. Personal fouls continued to be a problem for Rice as the Broncos had reached the penalty bonus with eight minutes left in the half.

Lack of discussion stigmatizes sexuality

It would be no novelty to discuss the complacency and apathy of young people toward many issues, from presidential politics to environmentalism to community service. But in no other domain have I experienced such denial and insularity as with the topic of sexuality.Too often, an interest in a sexual topic leads to certain assumptions about one's immorality or sexual experience, when sexuality is instead something that we should all publicly embrace. Rather than stifling interests in such a forbidden yet compelling realm, we should release this misconstrued Pandora's box of sinful temptations and allow ourselves to explore freely and openly, in the way that it is meant to be.

Longhorns down Owls

After opening the season with perfection, the men's basketball team has encountered its first taste of defeat in recent weeks. But the Owls' latest struggles, which came at the hands of formidable opponents, have shown the team what works and what needs improvement to help them win consistently. One area where Rice (4-3) has excelled is around the basket. Known for at times being timid underneath the basket, junior center Trey Stanton turned many heads in the team's 77-65 win against Furman University (4-1) Nov. 24, putting up a career high 23 points with nine rebounds.

Martel erroneously labeled as a mistake

I've been listening to people call the founding of Martel College a "mistake" for about a year now, and it's time someone set the record straight: The "Martel mistake" is a Rice myth. Admittedly, it's a pervasive one. So pervasive, in fact, that we allowed it to shape the way in which we most recently undertook the founding of our two newest colleges.First, let's rewind nine years. With the charge to form a new college at Rice, Martel's first masters, Joan and Arthur Few, selected the members of Martel's Founding Committee: a group of 16 students - two each from the eight existing colleges - whose charge was to create the foundation upon which Martel would be built. The Founding Committee met for the first time in October 2000, more than a year before any students would move into Martel, to discuss how to begin the first new college in 31 years.

Owls mauled by Cougars to end season

What a difference a week can make. After the football team's 30-29 win over the University of Texas-El Paso two weeks ago, things were looking up for the Owls (2-10, 2-6 Conference USA). Not only did the win come over a superior team and not only did the win send the seniors off in style, but the near-miraculous victory gave Rice its first winning streak of an otherwise horrendous season.

Power to the Paint

Combining Mormon imagery with vibrantly colored stencils from and inspired by Chilean stencilistas, anthropology doctoral candidate Michael Adair-Kriz has brought together two disparate subjects to create his new installation, Stenciling Power. More than just a slapdash collection of eclectic art pieces, Stenciling Power is the result of the two years Kriz spent in Santiago, Chile, doing field research and working with different groups of stencilistas.There are several different media at work in this installation, on display in the Rice Media Center Gallery through Tuesday, Dec. 15. The majority of Stenciling Power consists of rollered and spray-painted stencil images that confront issues including sexuality, religion, leftist politics and significant figures in the field of cultural anthropology. In addition to his original works, Adair-Kriz has reproduced or photographed dozens of authentic stencils from his time in Santiago, in doing so creating the best part of the installation.