Special Projects

New Zealander pushes Rice to strong conference finals

With Kenyans, Brits, Scots, Canadians and a single New Zealander comprising 13 the top 15 runners at Saturday's Conference USA Men's Cross Country Championship, the winner's circle was a lesson in geography. Luckily for the Owls, that lone Kiwi was none other than Rice senior Simon Bucknell, who powered the Owls to a third-place finish at the meet behind the University of Tulsa and the University of Texas-El Paso. Bucknell's seventh-place finish was a personal best, and was shortly followed by redshirt sophomore Michael Trejo and senior Scott Zivick. Finishing out the scoring for Rice were redshirt freshmen Gabe Cuadra and Matt Carey, who finished 20th and 28th, respectively. True freshman Sammy Abuhamra and redshirt freshman James Llamas rounded out the effort for the Owls.

Surging Owls trample Herd, Pirates

The volleyball team kicked off the weekend with a victory over East Carolina University to end a three-game losing streak and concluded it with a big win over Marshall University, giving the team its first 2-0 weekend since late September. Rice (16-8, 8-5 Conference USA) opened its weekend Friday evening against a struggling ECU (9-16, 2-11 C-USA) squad that has managed two paltry wins on the year. The Owls took care of business handily, dispatching their opponents in the minimum three sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-17).

Photo: Good practice for NOD

A group of students pass by in nothing but skin and shaving cream during Halloween's famed Baker 13 run. Despite conflicting with NOD, the tradition retained a large turnout.

Class works to preserve art

In a rare combination of joining humanities with engineering, Bioengineering Lecturer Matthew Wettergreen joined four students in creating better storage for artwork at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The collaboration between Rice and the MFAH began when Interim Dean of Humanities Gary Wihl asked the museum's administration about the possibility of collaboration between itself and Rice's engineering department, MFAH Conservation Director Wynne Phelan said.

Relish: Chowing down at the tasty new Ciao Bello

When you have a special occasion that demands a romantic setting, such as a birthday or an anniversary, you may typically settle for something a little less fantastic than you'd prefer due to the limits of your college budget. Fortunately, you are limited no more, for there exists a place where you can stun your date without having to spend excessive amounts. Welcome to Ciao Bello, the Galleria's recently opened Italian offering.

Academic communication format ineffective, outdated

In less than two months, I will graduate with a bachelor's degree in ecology. Shortly thereafter, if graduate school applications go as well as I hope, you'll find me in a Ph.D.-track program for conservation biology or environmental science. Like most seniors around this time, I'm as excited as I am nervous. However, I have a secret. It's not much of a secret for those who know me, but considering you probably don't, and in light of what I've just told you, this may come as something of a surprise.

Underclassmen carry women's cross country to third

For most sports teams, the loss of four top athletes would be a season-ending handicap. But not, apparently, for the women's cross country team. Six underclassmen and one senior were burdened with carrying a team whose coach had elected to redshirt four talented veterans earlier this season, and did so impressively and admirably. The Owls took third place at the Conference USA Championship meet on Saturday, finishing behind behind second-place University of Texas-El Paso and first-place Southern Methodist University.

College transfer process not yet flawless

As Duncan College and McMurtry College begin filling up with sophomores and juniors from across the nine other colleges, we tip our hats to the Dean of Undergraduates office, specifically Assistant Dean Matt Taylor, for making the process both smooth and transparent (see story, page 1). Through the entire process, Taylor has kept students informed of the ins and outs of transfer plans. Many projects across campus are either shrouded or clouded, but this system was a fresh change.That being said, we feel this process was not as seamless as it could have been, for two main reasons. First, we feel the selection process should have been limited only to rising juniors, not both rising juniors and rising seniors. We wonder what well-adjusted rising seniors, those not disenchanted with their current situations, would abandon their college for new pastures in their final year at Rice. Unlike the rising juniors, whose two remaining years provide enough time to create lasting improvements to the colleges, seniors will be one-and-done, flitting and flipping through the system in extraordinarily little time.

McWill runs past BaDunc

The powderpuff playoffs do not begin until a week from Sunday, but one wouldn't know it after watching the past weekend of action. With nine teams vying for four playoff spots, the weekend's slate of games contained a postseason atmosphere as the quality of play reached new levels. Jones College looked to solidify its chances at a playoff berth in its match-up against Brown College, while the game between Sid Richardson College and Martel College provided the most surprising result of the season. But for this week, the spotlight was on the battle between Will Rice College-McMurtry College and Baker College-Duncan College. With each team on the cusp of clinching a spot in the playoffs, the pivotal encounter had major implications for the postseason and, as such, earned Game of the Week honors.

Groovin' with The Ballad of Gay Tony

Gamers, grab your baseball bats. It's time to beat some more hookers.It's been a little over a year and a half since Rockstar Games blew the lid off the gaming world with its highly-anticipated installment in the venerable Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto IV. Mothers covered their children's eyes, politicians worked themselves into yet another completely unfounded hissy fit and gamers the world over took to the streets of Liberty City, the living, breathing, tongue-in-cheek parody of the modern-day Big Apple.

Photo: When Harry met Fido

A few participants meet in last Saturday's Howl-O-Ween Dog-a-Thon, an on-campus fundraiser for Rice women's athletics.

Second round of transfers begins

With the transfer process moving at full speed, McMurtry College and Duncan College are one step closer to obtaining an upperclassman population. As of last Friday, which was the transfer deadline for the first round of invited students, both new colleges received a total of 130 new members. McMurtry received 68 acceptances and Duncan received 62.

Mature themes still sneak into kids' movies

Have you ever watched a children's movie and found yourself saying, "This movie is not for kids"? Such thoughts ran through my head last week as I took in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a film that made me wonder which morbid visionary decided the tragic story of a deformed bell-ringer would make a good children's classic. Before continuing, I will say that the movie itself was amazing. I had not seen Hunchback before last week, and I was impressed by its thematic breadth, dynamic composition and array of good and evil. But this was the appreciation of an 18-year-old. I doubt it would have the same significance for a child 10 years younger.

Green initiative promotes environmental awareness

Contrary to outward appearances - most notably, that we print thousands of copies of the paper each week, and the recycling bins in our office are often neglected - the Thresher supports environmental efforts. The latest of these, the Green Dorm Initiative, the brainchild of Rice's own Environmental Club, began this week for members of Brown College (see story, page 1). The initiative aims to increase awareness about the amount of energy and water needed to perform everyday tasks. Students will self-report the lengths of their showers, the number of times they've shut down their computers, their light usage and other aspects of their existence, sustainable or not.Raising awareness is great, and a monetary reward for those who, at the end of the competition, have been judged to live most sustainably is even better. But who's likely to participate in the initiative? Those who take two-minute showers in the first place. The people who drive Priuses and insist on setting their thermostat at 78 degrees during the long, brutal Texas summer. The Tetra Points reward may be an incentive to some, but those in it purely for the money are unlikely to keep up the sustainable efforts after the 20-day competition. We feel that the spirit of the competition comes from the right place, though it's nothing new or groundbreaking and may not legitimately change the behavior of those not already invested in the green movement.

Dollar Desserts

When your sweet tooth is calling, you can't expect a 99-cent soft serve ice cream cone from the McDonald's drive-through to hit the spot. Sure, it fits the bill for a cheap dessert, but the quality is somewhat lacking, and the drive-through fails to provide the appropriate social environment. However, we're still college students, so we would be hard-pressed to shell out $10 for a slice of chocolate cake from The Chocolate Bar.

Online only: Student Association minutes from Nov. 2 meeting

The following were noted at the most recent meeting of the Student Association Nov. 2.SA President Patrick McAnaney announced that the Master Plan Committee, which oversees the university's 50-year plan, met last Wednesday. McAnaney, a Brown College senior, said the committee plans to conduct a university-wide survey soon. At the next SA meeting, the committee will present their plans.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Ministers reunite

While students prepared for Night Of Decadence weekend, a group of suited men reunited around the piece of the Berlin Wall in front of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Friday afternoon, nearly 20 years after the fall of the wall on Nov. 9, 1989. The former foreign ministers of France, the Soviet Union, and East and West Germany, as well as the former private secretary to the British prime minister, joined former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III in a panel Friday evening at the Baker Institute. The panel spoke to a mixed audience of more than 200 Rice faculty, students and alumni on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent quest for German reunification.

Men's Basketball Preview 2009: On the Rebound

With five much-heralded recruits, Ben Braun hopes to see his squad continue the improvements found last year.When the men's basketball team suits up for its first game next Friday, the perception will be that it is a team on the rise. Despite years of ineptitude, years of malaise and years of drudgery all burying the program under a pile of losses and defectors, the perception of resurgence exists.

The competition: A look at Conference USA

Conference USA has recently been the whipping boy of the University of Memphis, champions and national powerhouses for the last four seasons. But with the Tigers' summer disintegration, the conference is more wide open than it's been in years. Here's a look at which teams have a shot at capturing the C-USA title this season, from best to worst. MEMPHIS: With ex-head coach John Calipari basking at Kentucky, Tyreke Evans turning in early numbers with Sacramento and Shawn Taggart toiling in obscurity, the Memphis Tigers' dominance atop the C-USA standings will be the shakiest it's been in years. Last year's scoring has gone out the window, but that just means the floor will be open to the talent Calipari brought in to ride the pine last year.