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NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Amorous relations revisited

By Kern Vijayvargiya

Don't stand so close to your professor! The Faculty Senate updated its Statement on Consensual, Amorous Relations with Students for the first time in over a decade last month. The new statement, which goes into effect in September, prohibits any romantic relationships between faculty and all undergraduate students, and between faculty and graduate students directly under their supervision or in their department. The updated statement, which was approved in a 17-2 vote by the Senate on April 15, includes stricter language and more precise definitions of expected behavior, Faculty Senate Speaker Deborah Harter said.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Owls' pitching unable to hold up against Tigers' big bats

By Meghan Hall

Rice's (43-17) success this season seems inversely related to the numbers of pitchers the team employs. Considering five arms got work in tonight, the team's chances did not look good. Junior Mike Ojala (5-0) got the ball for the Owls Saturday night as they took on LSU (50-16) in Game 1 of the 2009 NCAA Super Regionals. Ojala, coming off a win last Friday in the opening game of the Regionals, is pitching with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that will require postseason surgery.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Women's track looks to defend outdoor championship this weekend

By Natalie Clericuzio

Even though classes have been finished for a month, the Rice women's track team has been training hard and busy competing in three major meets. The team has used the extra free time that comes after finals conclude to prepare and rest for the Conference USA meet this Thurdsay, Friday and Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., on the campus of the University of Tulsa.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Rice's Indian dance team snags first place

By Cindy Dinh

Catching on to the dance fever, the Rice Chowl Bhangra team earned its place in fame by securing first place at Nasha 2009, a state-wide competition in traditional Punjabi dances held at the University of Houston on April 10. Chowl Bhangra, which means Rice Bhangra in Punjabi, competed against six other collegiate and dance academies in Texas, placing first overall.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Silversun Pickups' latest album guaranteed to make you Swoon

By Joe Dwyer

One of the things I got out of my brief stint as a KTRU DJ was a copy of Silversun Pickups' debut album, Carnavas. A fellow DJ suggested them to me after I told him I was a big fan of The Smashing Pumpkins, and once I had spun a few of their songs and listened to their Pikul EP, I was hooked. These guys were good. Hailing from Los Angeles, Silversun Pickups have been enjoying more and more mainstream exposure after playing at Coachella and Austin City Limits in 2008, touring Great Britain and Ireland and performing at this year's SXSW festival to promote their latest effort, Swoon. If you've played Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour lately, chances are you've heard a song or two by them on there as well.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

A Word With Your Wardrobe: Dressing for Rejection

By Deanne Nguyen

Dear seniors (or, should I say, graduates): This one's written all for you. Here at Rice, you've been given a lot of yes's: Clubs, grants, letters of recommendation, parking fee waivers, friends and even boys. Granted, there may have been some minor obstacles along the way, but in the end, those sweet words of approval were always within reach.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Student video contest shows perspectives on life at Rice

By Jocelyn Wright

First Rice, then Hollywood? The winners of the Rice University Student Video Contest "Lights, Camera, Action: Your Life at Rice" were announced April 22. The contest was sponsored and coordinated by the Center for Civic Engagement, the Community Involvement Center, the Digital Media Center, Fondren Library, Information Technology, the Office of Sustainability, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates and the Wellness Center.Nine submissions were made, either to the general category or one of five special categories: Environment/Sustainability Issues, Alternative Spring Break, Health and Wellness Issues, Residential College/Student Organization and Research. All films had to be five minutes or shorter, Digital Media Center Director Lisa Spiro said.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

For fourth time, Tulsa trounces Rice

By Casey Michel

If the University of Tulsa's men's tennis team parades out next year against Rice in red, white and blue jerseys, twirling basketballs and whistling a happy tune, don't be surprised. They're only filling the roles they've earned: That of the Harlem Globetrotters to the Owls' Washington Generals. But the Generals, the Globetrotters' longtime whipping boys, may have had it easier than the Owls. At least Washington's audience had the foresight to know Harlem was going to end on top. The Generals couldn't plead the proud naiveté that Rice has exhibited over the last four seasons, all of which have ended in defeats to Tulsa in the Conference USA finals.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Leebron Q&A

By Catherine Bratic

This interview continues the Thresher's monthly question-and-answer series with President David Leebron to ask him about current events, university issues and anything else of interest to the Rice student body. To submit a question for a future interview, email threshernews AT gmail.com.Rice Thresher: How is the new puppy, TexWilly, doing?

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Women's track grabs third-straight C-USA outdoor championship

By Natalie Clericuzio

While the first female horse in 85 years was winning the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore today, the Rice women set a record of their own this evening in capturing their third-straight Conference USA Outdoor track and field championship. The championship mirrors the Owl's three consecutive C-USA Indoor track and field championships, as does the naming of Head Coach Jim Bevan as the Coach of the Year once again. Rice Sports Information covered the event.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Rice wins third-straight game against the ropes to advance to Super Regionals

By Meghan Hall

It took five games in four days, but Rice clawed their way out of the losers' bracket to take the 2009 NCAA Houston Regional with a 13-4 win and advance to one of eight Super Regionals, against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The path the team had to take increased the gratification at the end."It's even better when you come out of the losers' bracket," Head Coach Wayne Graham said. "It speaks to the character of the team . I think this team likes each other so well they wanted to keep playing."

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Spontaneous Asphyxiation

By David Rosales

Will Rice College senior Josh Levin rescues Timothy Faust (Brown '09) while other members of Slow Burn, a student long-form improvisational comedy troupe, look on gleefully during a particularly breath-taking scene in the group's final performance of the year.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Semifinal finish pushes women to winning record

By Prem Ramkumar

In a season that was consistently middling, it makes sense that the women's tennis team was bounced from the Conference USA Tournament in the middle of competition. Despite home court advantage, the fifth-seeded Owls finished their season with a 13-12 record after being bounced in the semifinals to Southern Methodist University after impressive wins against the University of Southern Mississippi and fourth-seeded University of Houston. On April 16, junior Rebekka H?nle, senior Rebecca Lin and sophomore Alex Rasch steered the Owls to a 4-0 sweep with wins in singles against the Golden Eagles in the tournament's opening round. H?nle won her eighth straight match 6-1, 6-0. Lin closed out her match 6-3, 6-1 while Rasch finished third with a 6-4, 6-1 win - much to the disappointment of junior Jessica Jackson, who was racing Rasch for the clinching point after going up 6-1, 4-1.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Owls finish strong heading into C-USA championship

By Jonathan Myers

If you thought Jason Colwick would slow down after his indoor national championship season, think again. The junior vaulted 5.70 meters to win first place at the Texas Invitational in Austin May 2 on his way to his third Conference USA male athlete of the week award for the outdoor season.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

South lot spaces reduced

By Jaclyn Youngblood

The South Colleges will have to say goodbye to some of their parking lot next year. Project Manager for the South Colleges Renovation Larry Vossler spoke with all the college presidents about the changes in a meeting on April 30.Vossler declined to comment further than what he discussed in the meeting.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Owls unable to bounce back against Tigers, ending season in the Super Regional

By Meghan Hall

Though the Owls were able to stave off elimination three times in the Regional, they were not able to complete that task once in the Super Regional. Junior starter Ryan Berry (7-2) got the start for Rice (43-18) in this afternoon's win-or-go-home game against LSU (51-16), but in Game 2 of the 2009 NCAA Super Regional the Owls fell 5-3 to the Tigers.As the visiting team in this second game, the Tigers began early with second baseman DJ LeMahieu's double to the right field corner and two walks. Berry emerged from the first inning for the most part unscathed, but LSU picked up one after a fielders' choice off the bat of center fielder Mikie Mahtook.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Overinvolved students expose pretension

By Christine Pao

Rice is home to some of the brightest young minds in the country. Students hail from all sorts of backgrounds, and there is no denying that we are all highly intelligent and capable. There is no doubt at all that Rice is a prestigious university - but prestigious universities attract overachievers.Coming from a competitive high school, I felt immensely pressured to get involved in school and extracurricular activities. All around me, overachieving students participated in several sports and academic teams, were very active in several clubs and held positions in student government - all while maintaining stellar grades. I was brought up to believe that this standard was normal, so I gave in and joined the overinvolvement bandwagon, even though I didn't particularly enjoy half the clubs and teams I was a part of.

NEWS 5/14/09 7:00pm

Summer time, when the weather is fine

By Staff Editorial

That's all, folks. The Thresher is closing up shop, shuttering the shades and tossing out all the trash littering the office. Summer is here, and we're done.Well, for a couple weeks, at least. Fingers crossed, a road trip to Omaha will be in our future, watching the baseball team battle in its fourth consecutive College World Series. We may not have home advantage during the Super Regionals (thank you, University of Central Florida), but an 11-6 road record should keep us in the running for another National Championship.

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