Special Projects

Serveries plan to remove all trays over spring break

While spring break will only keep students away from Rice for a week, trays will be taking a permanent vacation once spring break is over. Residential dining will go trayless beginning Sunday dinner on Mar. 8, which is immediately following Spring Break, Director of Residential Dining and Catering David McDonald said. On Feb. 9, the Student Association passed a resolution to support the removal of trays from serveries in an effort to reduce food waste by up to 33 percent and reduce ever-tightening budgets. The change is also expected to lead to a reduction in water and chemical waste when trays no longer have to be washed after every meal.

Waltz with Bashir: Embracing the Subjectivity of Emotional Experience

Admit it: The choice to use animation seems counterintuitive for a movie that sells itself as a documentary. Wouldn't a more typical, less fantasy-like form be more appropriate for a film that seeks to uncover past events? Wouldn't a normal documentary be more objective, more realistic, and more, well, true?This film challenges this kind of thinking and the notion that truth is specific to a certain kind of filmmaking. Actually, one can argue that it is impossible to be completely objective or "truthful" in any artistic medium.

Phils advance to finals in competition for first time

For the first time since their founding in 1995, the Rice Philharmonics will advance in an international competition. After competing in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella south quarterfinals last weekend in Athens, Georgia at the Morton Theatre, the Philharmonics will advance to the semifinals on March 14 in Greensboro, N.C., where they will compete against first- and second-place winners from each south quarterfinal.Also competing at the quarterfinals were the Accidentals of the University of Georgia, who took first place, With Someone Else's Money and Noteworthy, also from the University of Georgia and Clemson University's TakeNote.

Sunday's Sports Update: Women turn over win to SMU

The women's basketball team closed out its home season with a rough 63-41 loss to Southern Methodist University on Sunday afternoon. LeShandra Hill led SMU with 14 points, followed by Christine Elliott with 12. No one on the Owls was able to muster double-digit points, although the team had five players score a total of 36 points.The win leaves SMU tied for first place in Conference USA with a 10-4 conference record, while Rice's two-game winning streak comes to a close. The Owls are now 2-11 in C-USA.

Bus route shift allows more trips to Rice Village

Students can look forward to more ventures to Rice Village during the weekdays, as a new graduate apartment bus route features extended service from campus to the Village areaEffective since Jan. 20, the shuttle service for the graduate route now links the campus' Inner Loop Road and parking lots to the Rice Graduate Apartments on 1515 Bissonnet Street and the recently opened Rice Village Apartments on 2410 Shakespeare, which began leasing Jan. 10.

Wednesday's Sports Update: Owls top Cougs in baseball home opener

The first baseball home game at Reckling Park against the University of Houston opened with a bang. UH's Blake Kelso started off the game with a double, which he unsuccessfully tried to stretch to a triple. After another hit and a passed ball, Zak Presley scored the first run for the Cougars when Chase Dempsay hit a double but was again thrown out at third.Contrary to UH, the Owls used aggressive baserunning in their favor in the bottom of the second. Freshman Anthony Rendon singled, then moved to third on senior Jess Buenger's single. Freshman Jeremy Rathjen added to the montage of hits and scored Rendon for Rice's first run. After Rathjen stole second, Buenger scored on a groundout by senior Jimmy Comerota, and then Rathjen scored on a wild pitch. Later, in the bottom of the third, sophomore Rick Hague hit a solo shot to put Rice up 4-0.

In the Hot Seat ... Well, sort of

We sent out a list of questions to KTRU's Battle of the Bands contestants. Here's what some of them had to say:

Meeting mtvU's new stars: Anish Patel and Faheem Ahmed

A month ago, an anonymous A&E editor stumbled upon an email titled "Report at the Oscars w/MTV!", inviting ambitious, outgoing college journalists to send in videos showing why they should be chosen to represent their colleges as interviewers at this year's Academy Awards. Nonchalantly, the editor forwarded the message to the Thresher reviewer and Sketch Comedy founder who seemed the most comfortable in the public eye, Faheem Ahmed.Little did she know she had created a monster. A few weeks later, Faheem received a call announcing his and his cameraman Anish Patel's placement in the contest's top ten contestants. Hundreds of Rice kids and other supporters screamed, cried and voted online with fast fingers and high hopes. A triumph seemed near, and on Monday, mtvU announced that Rice's team had made the cut as one of the three picked to cover (and film!) pre-Oscar events and compete for the final honor of Red Carpet correspondent.

BSA sponsors King lecture

In honor of Black History month, Executive Vice President of Electronic Data Systems Corporation John Castle spoke to students Wednesday about how the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. have transcended racial and generational boundaries. In his lecture entitled "Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, Leader, Scholar", which was hosted by the Black Student Association and Leadership Rice, Castle detailed the story of King's civil rights movement and the qualities that made King a successful leader.

Sid Richardson RA Stein to leave at semester's end

Sid Richardson College Resident Associate Evan Stein announced at the Sid Council meeting Tuesday that he will be stepping down at the end of the semester. In addition to his work at Sid, Stein is the associate director of recreation programs.

SA presidential candidates, keep these points in mind

Just in case the numerous flyers covering tables at the serveries have not given enough indication, we will make it clear here: The Student Association elections for the 2009-'10 school year are right around the corner. Presidential debates are scheduled for Monday at 10 p.m. in the Farnsworth Pavilion, and the general election period starts Friday. To the three canididates running for SA president, Brown College junior Patrick McAnaney, Martel College sophomore Nicholas Muscara and Jones College junior Matty Weingast, we offer the following:It was nearly two years ago today that the Thresher Editorial Staff crafted a rather scathing indictment of the SA's policies ("SA needs its own Vision," Feb. 23, 2007). Our critique at that time was that the SA was slowly becoming "a rubber stamp for administrative interests." We complained then that SA members had apparent trouble with the concept of providing "strong, clear voices representing [the] majority opinion of their constituency" in the form of resolutions.

Saturday's Sports Update: Rice Falls in Overtime, 91-88

GREENVILLE, N.C. East Carolina's James Legan connected on a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds to play in overtime as the Pirates defeated Rice 91-88 Saturday in Minges Coliseum.

Ron Paul speaks on economy, smaller government

Republican Representative for Texas Ron Paul spoke to Rice students last week to share his personal opinion on the state of the economy and discuss how to restore the United States back to a responsible fiscal system. "The system we have today has failed," he said.

Head 2 Head: Fanboys

Brian's Take:

Comic: Candy Roses A Phils serenade

Wednesday Sports Update: Miners clip men at Tudor with late break

After seven lead changes and eight ties, the University of Texas-El Paso's basketball team pulled away in the final minutes for the 67-58 victory over Riceª at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Miners used a stifling full-court press to slow down the improving Owls offense, which came into Wednesday night's game averaging over 75 points in their last four contests.

Blanket taxes find ballot spot

Peppered among the names of student-government hopefuls on the 2009 Student Association spring election ballot will be a number of blanket tax proposals. Rice Program Council is requesting to increase its per-student blanket tax by $23 in two separate measures, adding $8 to its general fund and adding a new concerts fund tax of $15. Additionally, KTRU is requesting a $3 increase in its blanket tax, Open magazine and The Rice Review are asking to add a $1 blanket tax each and SA Internal Vice President Akshay Dayal proposed to eliminate The University Blue's $1 blanket tax. In order to pass, the proposals - all of which have already been approved by the SA senate except Open's request, which will be proposed at the next SA meeting Monday - must be separately approved by two-thirds of the students voting in the general election Feb. 20-25, with at least 20 percent of the student body voting.

Thursday's Sports Update: Miners pick away victory over Owls at home

The women's basketball team came home for the first of a four-game home stretch tonight against the University of Texas-El Paso. The game turned out to be a near repeat of their last match-up. Both teams stuck close to one another for most of the game, but a late game collapse by the Owls gave the visiting team a sizable final margin of victory, 69-57.From the start of the game, though, Rice showed their determination to bring their 11-game losing streak to an end, pulling out to an early 9-4 lead seven minutes into the game. The Miners were struggling with a scoring slump, shooting only 23 percent from the field after the first ten minutes.

KTRU interview: behind the genetic memory mystery with Matt Weston

I was driving with some friends recently when we suddenly heard a high-pitched screech punctuated by harsh thuds. "Do you hear that?" someone asked. "I think there might be a problem with the car." My friend laughed and pointed to the stereo, dialed to 91.7. "No, it's just KTRU."We were listening to a track from Matt Weston's album Not To Be Taken Away, released this past July on his label 7272music and currently in rotation on KTRU's playlist. Weston is a percussionist and electronic musician who is also a member of the experimental bands Barn Owl and Thrillpillow. This is his second full-length solo release after 2000's Vacuums.

Coming to America

Someone should really consider following Alexander Zinchenko to men's track meets with a boom box. That way they could blare the spooky electronic music that announced Ivan Drago's triumphant entrance into the arena before his bout with Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV. A fog machine wouldn't hurt either. The Brown College freshman, who matriculated at the beginning of the spring semester and had spent all of four weeks in the United States, is quickly establishing himself as a member of the Fantastic Four who comprise Rice men's shot corps. Rounding out the Four are freshman Will Meyers, junior Philip Adam and sophomore Clay Baker, who took first place at the Feb. 16 Leonard Hilton Invitational. However, Zinchenko, a 6-5, 250-lb. behemoth, is the only one who originated from across the pond.