Special Projects

KTRU pickin'-of-the-week: Joe Bussard's Desperate Man Blues

Every week at KTRU, eager DJs scribble out short reviews of music's cutting-edge albums. KTRU's Music Department uses these reviews to judge the quality of the albums it receives and to provide information for the DJs who play them. Each week, a DJ polishes one of these reviews so that KTRU's riches can shine for the larger Rice community.Desperate Man Blues is a compilation of 1920s and '30s American roots music released concurrently with a documentary of the same name. Both are based on the immense collection of Joe Bussard, a 72-year-old Maryland man who has spent his life amassing over 25,000 vintage 78-RPM early Americana records, many of which are the only known copies in existence.

Steffensen chosen to lead O-Week

A new campus-wide Student Director of Orientation was appointed last Wednesday - Brown College junior Peter Steffensen. The committee that chose Steffensen convened last fall and consisted of several former Orientation Week coordinators, former student director Megan Hermance and Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduates Kate Noonan, and applications were released over winter break.

Dawson searches for future for Rwanda

Dale Dawson, a University of Texas graduate and successful entrepreneur, spoke last Thursday at the Jesse H. Jones School of Management on his work, which involves building schools and bringing entrepreneurship skills to people in Rwanda. In a lecture presented by Rice 360ø, the Institute for Global Health Technologies, Beyond Traditional Borders Initiative and the World Affairs Council of Houston, Dawson described how he was drawn to Rwanda's plight.

'Open' critics need to update their views

Recently, ABC News released an article titled "Student-Run Sex Magazines Surface Across U.S." in which Rice University's very own Open Magazine was featured. The article truthfully exposes the origins and the nature of Open, while comparing it to other sex magazines that have been springing up in various schools, including Washington University in St. Louis, Columbia University and Harvard University. After reading through the article, however, I noticed that a host of readers had posted scathing comments criticizing Open for a range of reasons, and I realized that those who have never opened the magazine are interpreting it in entirely the wrong way.What people unfamiliar with Open don't seem to realize is that it is not a porn magazine containing stories of erotica, promoting casual sex, exploiting women or preaching promiscuity. Its approach to sex is completely different: As the mission statement asserts, the magazine "aims to promote a healthy attitude toward sex by presenting a wide range of perspectives on the interplay of sex and culture through articles, editorials, interviews, poems, short stories, photos and art." It's fine to critique Open, but unfair to condemn it without even knowing what it really stands for. It appears that people are getting the wrong impression, that the magazine promotes casual sex while exploiting women, when in reality it serves as an outlet for students to express their viewpoints on various sexual issues.

Injury-plagued Owls unable to pick up pieces

The women's basketball team (5-14, 0-6 C-USA) was knocked down twice last week, and with the 10-count almost over, they are showing no signs of getting up to fight again. After a crushing 77-52 loss at the University of Central Florida (6-13, 4-2 C-USA) on Jan. 22 and a demoralizing 65-50 loss at home against the University of Southern Mississippi (12-7, 5-1 C-USA) on Sunday, the last place Owls are putting their hopes on the return of freshman point guard D'Frantz Smart. Though Smart is listed as day-to-day, she said that she is ready to play as soon as the coaches let her, even though she is currently walking with a brace on her foot. She was expected to make her return yesterday on the road against the University of Tulsa, but the results of that contest were not available at the time this article went to press.

Wednesday Sports Update: Women's basketball tripped up against Houston

The women's basketball team fell to the University of Houston Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse in the first of two back-to-back match-ups between the cross-town rivals. The loss keeps Rice winless in nine conference games, and moves them to 5-11 overall.Freshman Megan Elliot and junior Tara Watts made consecutive three-pointers to start the scoring for Rice and tie the game at six after five minutes of play. Houston then scored five unanswered points before freshman Brianna Hypolite grabbed an offensive rebound to make the score 11-8 with 13:11 left in the first half.

Commentary: College football deserves an improvement on BCS

College football should be better than the NFL. I know most of you probably think that is ridiculous to suggest, especially as we're reaching the culmination of the NFL playoff season. Prof e s s iona l football is the highest-grossing sport in the country, and it attracts bigger television audiences than any college coach could imagine.

Rice edged at home with Tulane last-second layup

Editor's Note: check ricethresher.org throughout the week for sports updates. We'll post them at the top of the home page.Tulane guard Kevin Sims's last-second layup capped an improbable, come-from-behind, 61-59 victory over the men's basketball team Wednesday evening at Autry Court

Taken takes the cake

If someone asked me who my favorite action star was, I'd conjure up images of Arnold Schwarzenegger smearing cakes of mud across his chest in Predator, Bruce Willis walking barefoot across broken glass in Die Hard and Keanu Reeves dodging bullets on a rooftop in The Matrix. But Liam Neeson? The dude from Schindler's List and the voice of that goofy lion from Narnia? No way. After watching Taken, however, I was forced to reconsider.Neeson has acted in dramatic films for the majority of his prolific career, with brief stints in the action genre in Batman Begins and Gangs of New York. His last major foray in an action movie dates all the way back to his critically-acclaimed performance in Rob Roy, over 13 years ago. For Neeson, apparently, the wait had been long enough.

Saturday sports update: Rice rebounds with strong win over ECU

The men's basketball team picked up its second conference win of the season Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse, beating East Carolina University 76-70 in a game Rice led from start to finish.With the victory, the Owls improved to 7-14 on the year, 2-5 in Conference USA, and looked to have rebounded from Wednesday's emotional collapse versus Tulane University.

Men's tennis breaks 17th-ranked Hurricanes' wave

You could say the men's tennis team's 4-3 win over the University of Miami on Sunday was the biggest of the season. You could say the success over the 17th-ranked Hurricanes was the most important match of a seven-week road swing, a victory against the highest-ranked opponent the 24th-ranked Owls have seen yet. You could say that the win will set the tone for the massive road trip, which in turn will set the course of Rice's season. You could say all that. Just don't ask assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) to reciprocate your feelings.

Merger may add new minor

Rice University's acquisition of Baylor College of Medicine could not only bring Rice a medical school, but also a new minor. Sid Richardson College freshman Nazima Zakhidova and Wiess College junior Tommy Sprague have spearheaded a team to discuss adding a neuroscience minor to the short list of minors offered at Rice.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Letters to the Editor

Senseless parking policies irritate

2009 Golf Preview

There's a reason teams play more than one match during a season: individual competitions alone do not determine a team's fate. Luckily for the men's golf team, disappointing finishes in three of the five fall tournaments did not eliminate them from postseason eligibility. Thus, the golf team hopes to build upon the fall's strong finish to create a repertoire that qualifies them for the NCAA championships. The golf team struggled with inconsistency and injuries throughout the 2007-'08 season. A lack of depth plagued the Owls, as an injury to then-junior Erik Petersen and the departure of another team member prevented them from fielding a consistent five-member group. While the team was not having a successful year to begin with, their performance in the Conference USA tournament, where they finished in 11th place, finally marked the season as a disappointment.

Safety measures need revamping

Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, a staff member working in the Humanities Building was assaulted as she made her nightly cleaning rounds (see story, page 1). Her assailant fled on foot, evading the Rice University Police Department and running through campus.Students were oblivious to most of this action, save for the few who saw the police cars crowding the inner loop near the Humanities Building, but it did not have to be this way. We're all aware that following the Virginia Tech massacre two years ago, Rice invested in a new measure of safety, compiling students' cell phone numbers and e-mails in case an emergency were ever to occur on campus. In the past few years, we've received texts informing us of on-campus flooding (Aug. 16, 2007) and strong-arm Sallyport robberies (Nov. 17, 2007), both good uses of the system.

Commentary: Walking beside the Braun Bandwagon

My legs are sore. All this climbing on, hopping off, struggling back up, it's wearing on me - making me stiff and disjointed, tired and upset. Yes, deciding my place on the bandwagon of Rice men's basketball is getting to be a chore.

Brown looks for new RA

Brown College Resident Associate Laura Villafranca (Sid '95) will be leaving at the end of this year. The Brown RA Search Committee hosted approximately 20 RA candidates at the Brown Master's house Friday. They will reach a decision before the beginning of March. RA Search Committee Chair Larissa Charnsangavej, a Brown senior, said they were looking for someone who is approachable.

Housing problem indicative of neglected graduate experience

One of Rice's Vision for the Second Century goals is to improve graduate student programs by providing "attractive campus amenities that will contribute to a stronger sense of community among our graduate students." My recent ordeal with the new graduate apartments, in which contracts between students and the university were ignored, suggests that the university may need to put more energy into meeting this goal. For months, graduate students have been signing pre-leasing contracts for rooms in the Rice Graduate Apartments, which opened last weekend. These pre-leasing contracts state: "This agreement is between you, ____, the Resident, and Rice University . You agree to rent apartment number ____ that is assigned to you . If [you] cancel [my] reservation after June 1, 2008, [you] will forfeit [my] deposit of $350.00"

Men drop difficult games against conference foes

After picking up their first win in Conference USA play in over a season last week against Southern Methodist University, the Owls took a step backward Saturday, losing 77-52 to The University of Central Florida. The loss drops the Owls to 6-11 overall, and 1-2 in conference play.