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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In light of recent discussions of the proposed Rice-Baylor College of Medicine merger, we would like to remind students, faculty and staff of the beneficial side of this proposition. In the first place, if the merger happens, there will likely be a significant increase in research collaborations between the two institutions. At present, most academic research expenditures in the United States are dedicated to biomedical, rather than basic, research. With BCM on board, Rice would immediately gain a leadership position among its peer institutions in biomedical research.
If only the ball had bounced a few more inches to the right. If only the ball had slowed down a split-second. If only that tight game has gone the other way. If only the women's soccer team hadn't played a season full of "if only" finishes, its season wouldn't already have ended. It was only toward the end of the year that the women started playing with the heart and determination necessary to forget these scenarios and finally obtain the wins they had just missed during the bulk of the season.
While some partygoers may enjoy fond memories of Wiess College's Night of Decadence, others are still trying to figure out what exactly happened - or at least wish they were unsure. Approximately 1,300 Rice students and their guests - 100 more than last year - descended on the Wiess quad and commons for the four-hour Disney-themed party last Saturday.
In a push for more sustainable living, students will now have another, less scandalous reason to turn off their lights. The Green Dorm Initiative, which launched Wednesday, is a way for students to rate their dorm and receive incentives based on their levels of environmental friendliness. The Green Dorm Initiative committee, part of the Environmental Club, is working in conjunction with EcoReps and the Rice Student Green Building Initiative to encourage students to assess their current behavior and reward them for adopting more environmentally friendly practices, GDI committee leader Nicole Kwan said.
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So, I'm sitting here at work, wearing a blondish wig, heels and other high-fashion accessories, with eight babies on my hip, randomly yelling out, "JON!!! A little help over here!!! Gaaaaahhhh!!!"
Tomorrow, numerous childhood images from Rice's undergraduate population will be seen in a new light. The Wonderful World of NOD: Someday My Prince Will Come, this year's incarnation of Wiess College's public party, will feature a Disney castle front, an under-the-sea themed bar and a light-blue Sparky, the 10-foot "phallic object" that traditionally graces the Night of Decadence, as described by Wiess College Social Vice President Charles Dai. Students can buy tickets for $8 during the week and for $10 at the door. Shirts are $10 and can be purchased, along with tickets, in the colleges' commons during lunch.
After eight straight weeks of losses by the football team, everyone affiliated with the squad, from the players to the fans to the media, is ready for a week off. Most notably, Head Coach David Bailiff has big plans for the bye week after last weekend's conference loss to the University of Central Florida.
For any faculty member interested in becoming a college master, this may be the year to apply. A total of four residential colleges - Baker College, Duncan College, Martel College and McMurtry College - are looking for new masters for next year. Martel was the first to begin their search for a new master, assembling a Master Search Committee early this month. The committee will search for masters to take the position that will open up once Earth Sciences Professor Jerry Dickens' and Michelle McCormick's five-year tenure ends this May.
