Special Projects

Tuesday's Sports Update: Owls unable to clinch win over Aggies

Pitching and hitting woes plagued the Owls Tuesday night, and under the watchful eye of former president George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, the second-ranked Owls fell 7-3 to unranked Texas A&M.Sophomore Travis Wright got the ball for the 25-9 Owls and only lasted one inning, giving up one run on two hits. Rice immediately got that one back in the bottom of the frame, when a double by freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon scored Holt. Both players finished the night with a team-high three hits.

New kid on the block

Anthony Rendon has been an unyielding force in the Rice lineup this season. He has started all 30 games, often batting clean-up in the lineup. He has played a solid third base, filling the wide gap left by junior Diego Seastrunk, who moved to catcher after Adam Zornes (Baker '08) was drafted last June. He leads the Owls in seven statistical categories, and he ranks second in four more. The freshman arrived on the scene this season as a fresh, local product of Lamar High School, singled in his first career at-bat in Rice's opening win against California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and has not looked back since.

New Lovett masters prepare for college life

The search is finally over: Lovett College will be welcoming Professor Matteo Pasquali and his wife Marie- Nathalie Contou-Carrere as its new masters next year. Pasquali and Contou-Carrere will replace current masters Bernard and Carolyn Aresu. Pasquali and Contou-Carrere said although they were initially hesitant about the job, they quickly warmed to the opportunity.

Letters to the Editor

Bikes-for-cars article erroneous

At bat with Rookie of the Year's Ryan Dunson

On April Fools' Day, The Rice Thresher had a phone conversation with Ryan Dunson of the North Carolina-based pop-rock band Rookie of the Year. Currently on their third album as a band, Sweet Attention, Rookie of the Year are playing at Java Jazz tonight. Their music can be heard at www.purevolume.com/rookieoftheyear.Rice Thresher: How did Rookie of the Year get started?

Inconsistent play brings men's tennis tough losses

If you heard a crashing sound last week, it was not Rice's new electric car taking a spill but the men's tennis team's season starting its tumultuous final stretch. After coming within a breath of downing then-No. 18 Pepperdine University at home on March 27, the then-35th-ranked Owls dropped a gut-wrencher against then-No. 41 University of Oklahoma last Sunday. But these losses - the Owls' seventh and eighth by a score of 4-3 - did not hurt nearly as much as a 5-2 face-plant against the then-No. 29 University of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane, which had been reeling with three losses in its last four games against ranked foes, showed Rice that it was still the team to beat in Conference USA.

Prospies flood campus

On Wednesday, approximately 450 students admitted to the class of 2013 - 20 percent of the total - participated in Owl Day, the annual event that hosts admitted students overnight on campus, Head of Overnight Hosting Alex Wyatt said. April 8 was chosen for Owl Day because the event had to occur after April 1, when admissions decisions were sent out. Wyatt, a Lovett College sophomore said they did not want to have Owl Day later during finals week, because students would be too busy.

Mikhalkov's dirty dozen

It takes guts to remake one of the greatest movies of all time, but 12, a new Russian retelling of the classic 12 Angry Men, brings interpretive daring to a new level. The plot is the same as the original - a jury votes on a suspect who appears to be guilty, but a lone dissenter changes all their minds - yet the movie bursts out of the confines of the American original, throwing in battle scenes, drug addictions and contemporary political statements to make a film that is thoroughly entertaining.Some film critics are unhappy with the changes, which take a classic movie where the camera almost never left the jury's deliberation room and turns it into a big, long, loud epic. But these critics fail to understand that this is not a remake; rather, it is a start from scratch, from a distinctly Russian point of view dealing with distinctly Russian problems. Although 12 does lapse into cliché and heavy-handed symbolism at times, it is as powerful as the American classic on which it is based.

Erratum

In the March 27 article "Bikes-for-cars for grad students," the Thresher incorrectly stated that the retail prices of the Giant Boulder-brand bicycles sold to the Rice Village Apartments retail for $735. They actually retail for $330. The Thresher regrets the error.

Track teams travel to Austin for Texas Relays (Women's)

While their classmates enjoyed the long weekend, the women's track and field team went to work at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas last week. Their work paid off as the team medaled in three out of the six relays at the meet and qualified two more runners for regionals. The distance medley relay led the way for Rice as the foursome of senior Lennie Waite, junior Brittany Washington and freshmen Keltie John and Sophie Peters placed second in 11:26.01 on Saturday. The sprint medley relay team of juniors Shakera Reece and Vicki Walker, sophomore Alex Gibbs and Washington finished third in 3:59.72. Rice's impressive relay performance was rounded out by a third-place finish by the 4x800 meter relay, run by Waite, Peters, Walker and John in 9:03.56.

High testosterone highly disadvantageous

Last year, I discovered that my testosterone levels are nearly three times that of a normal man. For those who know me, this fact probably comes as no surprise. But to me, it was like discovering my race or gender for the first time at the age of 23.The explanatory power of testosterone levels, I soon discovered, is at least equal to that of any other sociological category. Testosterone levels can predict what type of job you are likely to work, how often you've been injured in your life, your criminal history, your sexual promiscuity and even how often you smile. And these are just some of the dozens of traits that correlate with the presence of this hormone in one's body; the list could be extended to fill this entire article.

Student assaulted near academic quadrangle

A male student was physically assaulted while walking past the academic quadrangle on College Way with a female student at 2 a.m. Tuesday, Rice University Police Department Captain Phil Hassell said. The assailant was described as a 20-25-year-old black male, about 5'7" and 150 pounds with "big eyes," short hair and a medium complexion. Hassell said the assailant stepped out of his vehicle, yelled at the student and then struck the student. At that point, another member of the assailant's vehicle dragged him back to a dark four-wheeled car before departing.

Making the big time

Former Rice tight end James Casey works out for scouts from 28 NFL teams during Rice's pro day on March 26 in preparation for the NFL Draft held in New York City April 25-26.

Students look for explanations, solutions to genocide

One week after Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, announced he would expel 13 humanitarian aid groups in the country, three scholars fielded student questions on ethnic conflict and genocide at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on March 31.Michael Emerson, Professor of Sociology; Gale Stokes, past chair of the History Department and Dean of Humanities; and Mary Lee Webeck, Director of Education at Holocaust Museum Houston, spoke to students on the commonalities of ethnic conflicts and the factors that lead to genocide.

Emergency alert system requires updates

Not long ago, a member of the Rice staff had been violently assaulted and the perpetrator, a man with a clear description, was on the lam, putting the entire Rice campus at risk for another attack. We wrote - nay, pleaded - with the Rice University Police Department to properly implement and utilize the Emergency Alert System that was put into place almost two years ago ("Safety measures need revamping," Jan. 30). We asked RUPD to alert us whenever the information was pertinent to our safety and well-being. We didn't mind having our inbox full or text messages eaten up, so long as the information sent kept us free from harm and our belongings safe at hand.After all, that's what the system was created for. And while we were eventually alerted of the assault, the details of the situation escaped in an infuriating trickle.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

I Love You, Man: Best bromance ever

The 21st century has ushered in many things: iPhone, text messaging, blogs and ... bromantic comedies? This new genre has been spearheaded by comedic guru Judd Apatow, who has brought us a slew of smart and funny films with a dash of love such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Apatow has also made stars such as Paul Rudd (Role Models), Seth Rogen (Superbad) and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) household comedic names.But when Apatow is not involved in that comedic vein, it can show. Such is the case of I Love You, Man.

Art around Willy's statue to honor donors

The statue of William Marsh Rice in the academic quadrangle may be getting a new neighbor. Construction has been planned in the academic quad to honor the members of the Rice University Legacy Society, a group of approximately 50 corporations, foundations and individuals who have contributed at least $4.6 million to the university, the amount Rice gifted in his will to establish Rice University. Construction may be completed in 2012, Rice President David Leebron said.

No change in parking lot prices

If the current economic situation has a silver lining, it is next year's on-campus parking rates, which will not increase for the 2009-'10 academic year, Director of Administrative Services Eugen Radulescu said. "Everything stays the same," Radulescu said. "Everything is frozen ... for everyone: for faculty, for staff, for students, for visitors."

News in Brief: 30Nights canceled, April Fools' Day email hoax, Rice, Baylor merger update

30Nights Canceled