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NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Rice grad student places 11th at Houston marathon

By Jonathan Myers

Most undergraduates at Rice do not venture into the dark bowels beneath Keck Hall that house Valhalla, the graduate student pub. We all surmise that amidst the crazy paintings on the wall and the loud music pumping against the walls, some of America's brightest graduate students are sharing a beer or two, discussing ideas far beyond undergraduate comprehension. What undergraduate students do not know, however, is that there is an elite runner among them. Colin Carroll is his name, a native Connecticuter who rises every day at 5:30 a.m. and runs loops around the Buffalo Bayou. At the Chevron Houston Marathon last Sunday, his time of 2:30:26, was good enough for a 13th-place finish overall, 11th among men and the fastest by any Texas resident.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Forum fails to give balanced viewpoints

By Daniel Ledeen

The "Crisis in Gaza" forum held last Thursday was far from the kind of balanced conversation that had been promised. Rather than presenting both the Palestinian and Israeli perspective on the most recent events in Gaza, three of the four professors were pro-Palestinian and the lone Israeli speaker was far from enthusiastic about having to represent the Israeli voice on the panel. As a result, students left the forum having heard a wildly one-sided point of view on the Arab-Israeli conflict.The audience flowed out of Herring Hall with a full dose of pro-Palestinian propaganda absent any defense for not only Israel's incursion into Gaza but, more fundamentally, Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. No speaker on the panel discussed Hamas' self-proclaimed mission to wipe Israel off the map as part of its larger dream to massacre the world's Jews. A brief glance at Hamas' charter reveals an anti-Semitic organization whose sole purpose is the destruction of Israel with zero possibility for any peace agreement.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Former Human Genome Project director blends faith, science

By Anna Wilde

To many, science and religion are polar opposites. Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the Human Genome Project and a devout Christian, hoped to dispel this notion of absolute separation by speaking to the Rice and Houston community at the Veritas Forum Wednesday evening in the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management's Shell Auditorium. Over 1,300 people attended the forum, more than half of whom were Rice students and faculty. Five overflow sites were made available for those who were not able to view the event in person.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Wihl to leave Rice for Wash U

By Margeux Clemmons

After five years as the dean of humanities, Gary Wihl is leaving Rice to accept a position as dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Wihl was hired in 2003 and was contracted through 2010, but was recently actively recruited by Washington University, University Art Director Molly Hipp Hubbard said.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Initial women's meet brings two provisional times

By Natalie Clericuzio

After winning both the conference indoor and outdoor championships last season, as well as earning a No.1 ranking in Conference USA, the women's track and field team entered the 2009 season with plenty of expectations. With a win in their first meet of the season last Friday, where they defeated the University of Texas and the University of Houston, perennial track and field powerhouses, the Owls proved they could still outmuscle the best.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

U.S. should re-examine support of Israel

By Arturo Munoz

It always makes me chuckle to see how different Americans are from the rest of the world. Take the current situation in Gaza. Newspapers in Europe are calling for investigations into war crimes Israeli armed forces are committing against the citizens of Gaza. Europeans love the underdog, though it was not always that way. They say that the two World Wars sharpened their sensibilities and made them see with clarity the guiding light of cosmopolitanism built on entirely new principles. The American academy, being ever fascinated with the deep and rich historical heritage of our sophisticated ancestors, fell over itself to follow suit.The U.S. empathizes with a very different type of underdog: the one that will win eventually. European sensibilities are guilt-induced: the redrawing of borders, the oppressive colonial regimes, the economic and political meddling - the liberal media in Europe cannot help but shed a rainstorm of tears for the failed pet projects of its states. The United States came into being under very different circumstances: It was once an underdog itself, so its empathy is not guilt-induced; it is a form of vanity.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Men's track team starts season with key win

By Jonathan Myers

If you witnessed last Friday's Leonard Hilton Invitational at the University of Houston, you would have watched a men's track and field meet that was a competition in name only. Rice used incredible individual performances in all events to earn an impressive 82.25-point win, easily besting the University of Texas-San Antonio's runner-up total of 68.25 and Houston's third-place grab of 65.25. Head coach Jon Warren (Jones '88) said even though Houston's showing was incomplete, the same was true for Rice.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Jewish studies minor holds promise for future programs

By Staff Editorial

The idea of the planned Jewish studies minor, set to be implemented after achieving $10 million in donations, has convinced us that the administration's focus on academics is expanding and extending in the right direction (See story, page 1). As the first specific religious studies program at Rice, a diverse student body will have the opportunity to extend their knowledge into new realms, and potential students will have yet another reason to look at Rice with intrigued eye.But let us not stop here with this sole program. We hope that this new curriculum, slated to begin next fall, will be the harbinger of better things ahead. There is no reason for us to assume that this will be the last minor established at Rice, let alone the lone religious studies program offered by the university. However, we would like to call for the continued growth in both areas.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Duncan, McMurtry O-Weeks well arranged, but hurried

By Staff Editorial

The freshmen coming in next year at Duncan and McMurtry colleges will be in the unique positions of defining their colleges' identities, traditions, and unique nomenclatures. And according to the plans, they will have some help, as Baker and Will Rice colleges will be having separate yet collaborative orientation weeks with Duncan and McMurtry, respectively. (see story, page 1).The plan in and of itself - with O-Weeks maintaining their separate identities amidst an atmosphere that will foment Rice's two newest colleges - is admirable, if not entirely perfect. We respect the administration's desire to avoid the situation that arose with the inception of the most recent college, Martel, which was populated almost entirely with those who didn't mesh in the other eight colleges' lives. This stew of anxiety and awkwardness did not foster an ideal situation, and while Martel has since come into its own, its beginnings were impeded of lack of planning.

NEWS 1/22/09 6:00pm

Bride War's Hudson and Hathaway all fluff, no stuff

By Jackie Ammons

Wedding movies are arguably the ultimate form of chick flick, for they are simultaneously romantic, sentimental and funny. The newly-released Bride Wars puts a spin on the stereotypical wedding plot by capitalizing on the misfortunes of two crazed, catfighting brides to produce a movie with little substance, little originality, but lots of tulle.Narrated by famous New York wedding planner Marion St. Claire (The Women's Candice Bergen), Bride Wars doubles the typical wedding movie fun by presenting two weddings and two brides, Emma (Rachel Getting Married's Anne Hathaway) and Liv (My Best Friend's Girl's Kate Hudson). The two best friends have dreamed of getting married in New York's Plaza Hotel in the month of June ever since they were little girls and have finally found the right guys (Wanted's Chris Patt and "Reba"'s Steve Howey) to complete their perfect wedding pictures. There's just one problem: The wedding planner accidentally books their ceremonies on the same day, and madness ensues from this fatal flaw in the brides' plans.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Chao Center for Asian Studies welcomes new directors

By Cindy Dinh

While the rest of Rice may be experiencing a temporary hiring freeze, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Studies welcomes new leadership. Earlier this month, Tani Barlow started her five-year term as the inaugural director of the Chao Center after being selected from an international pool of applicants in May 2008. Barlow, who previously worked as a professor in history and women's studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, takes over where interim director Richard Smith left off.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Goyer gives birth to a stinker with The Unborn

By Faheem Ahmed

The only thing this movie got right is its title, because after a single viewing, viewers will wish it had crawled back into its cinematic womb and died.The Unborn churned out a solid financial performance at the box office - $21.1 million - on a very slow weekend with little competition. When news of its low critical approval, which reached a pathetic 13 percent on RottenTomatoes.com, spreads to the public, its box office total should plummet. But how did the film sell out hundreds of theaters on opening night? The trailer.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

In the eye of the sun

By Michelle Phillips

Throughout the world, the importance of the energy crisis is clear. At Rice University, the need for clean, efficient energy has prompted innovative solutions.Since 2004, the Chemistry Department has been searching for a way to build solar cells based on the model of the human retina's rods and cones in order to provide a cheaper and more efficient way to utilize solar power. In conjunction with Swansea University in Wales, Chemistry Department Chair Andrew R. Barron and student researchers have been coating carbon nanotubes with semiconductor particles to generate electricity using photons. This semester, the Chemistry Department has made advances in revolutionizing the way that solar panels are used by making them more efficient and accessible to common consumers.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Backpage's Voyages Through the Annals of History

By Tim Faust & Eric Doctor

Welcome to the Backpage's Journey through the Annals of History! Because the Backpage can't go online each week, we've chosen to dig up an article from the Thresher's past and put it online for the world to rediscover. We've also recorded two audio readings in case all these words get too burdensome on your eyes. Please enjoy and send any comment to backpage@rice.edu.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Animal Collective's newest album makes even cloudy days Merriweather

By Eric Doctor

When Animal Collective released Feels in 2005, reviewers deemed it their most accessible album to date. When they released Strawberry Jam in 2007, reviewers once again slapped the "accessible" label on its cover.Merriweather Post Pavilion will inevitably receive the same treatement, and while the assertion is not entirely incorrect, to say that anything Animal Collective produces is more "accessible" than anything they have previously released is to miss the point entirely.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Applications for 2013 class surpass 10,000, breaks record

By Melissa Tsang

Exceeding last year's count of over 9,700 applicants, Rice University broke records again, attracting more than 10,000 applications this year for the first time in its history. For the class of 2013, Rice received 720 applications for Early Decision, compared to 661 applications in 2007 and 517 applications in 2006. Of the 720 applications, Rice accepted about 200 students.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

KTRU's pick of the week

By Miguel Quirch

The compilation Bollywood Steel Guitar, on the Sublime Frequencies label, is an engaging collection of some of the best Indian steel guitar pop music from 1962-'86. The album contains 21 tracks collected by Stuart Ellis and features such greats as Van Shipley, Kazi Aniruddha and Charanjit Singh in their finest moments performing for Bollywood film soundtracks.The music featured on Bollywood Steel Guitar is highly evocative. Each artist's individual style brings to mind the setting of their respective movies without the need for a visual aid, a feat that few modern movie soundtracks can accomplish on their own.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Women's 2009 Track & Field Preview

By Natalie Clericuzio

The women's track and field team has built an expectation for excellence with winning performances over the past two seasons. With four conference championships, as well as a host of national qualifiers and scorers, these runners, jumpers, vaulters and throwers want only to continue their successes this year. The quest for repeat championships begins this Friday at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational held at the Yeoman Fieldhouse on the University of Houston campus. The meet will feature varied competition for the Owls, including No. 1-ranked Texas A&M University. Other competition will include the University of Texas, host school University of Houston, McNeese State University, University of Texas-San Antonio, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas State University and Lamar University.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Two tallies tout Rice as fourth best-value university

By Josh Rutenberg

Rice was ranked fourth last week on both the Princeton Review and Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's lists of best value private schools for 2009, falling from the number one position it held on last year's Princeton Review and improving by one spot on Kiplinger's list. The lists compiled data from private campuses across the country. Schools were ranked on the basis of academic quality, student opinion and financial aid packages. Other consistently high-ranked institutions include Princeton, Harvard and Yale universities.

NEWS 1/15/09 6:00pm

Best value ranking sits a little low for comfort

By Staff Editorial

Rice has always been about getting a good education for the best value. From the free-tuition policy that lasted more than 50 years after the university's opening day to the No. 1 "Best Value" ranking in last year's Princeton Review, maintaining the ability to educate students more effectively while charging less than our competitors has been central in Rice's institutional goals since day one. This is why we hope that Rice's placement of only fourth-best on two separate best value lists is only temporary (see story, page 1). It is true while we fell from the top spot in the aforementioned Princeton Review, we did rise one slot from fifth in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, but it might be worth asking: why did we stop the ascent at number four?Certain other universities took the spots ahead of us: Swarthmore, Harvard and Princeton in the Princeton Review, and California Institute of Technology, Yale and Princeton in Kiplinger's. Most of these schools sport tens of billions of dollars in endowment funds, and, consequently, no-loan thresholds higher than the clouds - a factor to which both sets of rankings give great weight. Rice has some reason to complain, though, since the rankings came out before the administration announced a raise in our own no-loan threshold from $60,000 to $80,000 ("Rice modifies financial aid," Jan. 9).

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