Special Projects

At A&M, Colwick ups vault again

The Texas A&M Invitational held last Saturday in College Station, Texas, was simply another day at the office for junior Jason Colwick. The pole vaulter set a Rice record for the third consecutive week, vaulting high above the competition to the tune of 5.61 meters, besting last week's mark of 5.60 meters. He was named the Conference USA Male Athlete of the Week for the third straight week, and he topped the meet record for the pole vault for the third straight time as well, this time setting a Gilliam Stadium record. Colwick has also moved up in the national and world rankings, as his vault Saturday was the third best in the nation, 14th in the world and still tops in the NCAA. Colwick's first-place finish contributed 10 points to the Owls' total of 47, which was good enough for fifth place out of 18 teams.

SA election demands widespread vote

Quick! Think of what makes you ecstatic.Not "happy." I don't want simple contentedness. I don't give a shit about warm bagels or chocolate or your iPod or how you feel when you make eye contact with that cutie in GenChem. I want ecstasy - a sensation so powerful, so moving, that it compels you to clench your toes so hard you can feel it in your soul. Think about bliss: What have you done recently that filled you so wholly with raw delight that you wanted to freeze time and space and never move again lest the slightest disturbance in the universe break that rapturous moment?

Men's basketball drops pair of close contests

For the second time this season, the men's basketball team lost on a game-winning shot in the final seconds. This time it was not a layup, however, but a three-pointer in overtime from several feet beyond the arc that doomed Rice's hopes for its first Conference USA road victory. The Owls (8-16, 3-7 C-USA) have struggled mightily on the road this season in conference play, losing by an average of 22.5 points per game, with the team accumulating the majority of that deficit in the first half. Last Saturday's 91-88 road loss at the hands of East Carolina University was a different story, but, unfortunately, that makes no difference in the loss column.

Errata

Two weeks ago, the Thresher mistakenly reported that the speaker at a debate regarding the U.S. Public Service Academy was USPSA co-founder Chris Myers Asch ("Debate considers pros, cons of public service academy," Feb. 6). In fact, the speaker was USPCA co-founder Shawn Raymond. Asch was not present at the debate, and all quotes attributed to him should have been attributed to Raymond. The story has been updated online at www.ricethresher.org.Last week, the Thresher reported that the proposed future rent rates for Valhalla totaled a 137% increase from current rates ("Rent increases proposed for pubs," Feb 13). However, we were unaware that the current rent numbers do not include custodial fees, while the newly proposed number does. Re-calculating the numbers and taking this into account, the increase becomes 30 percent, instead. The story has been updated online at www.ricethresher.org.

Friday's Sports Update:Women's basketball downs Tulsa

Houston -- Maudess Fulton scored a team-high 16 points, including a key basket late in the contest, as Rice defeated Tulsa 62-56 in a Conference USA game at Tudor Fieldhouse.Tulsa (6-19, 2-11) was led by Larrisa Williams, who tied her career-high with 27 points. Williams made 9 of 23 field goals and 9 of 12 free throws.

Clinton recognizes microfinance club

Owl Microfinance was one of 12 student groups nationwide to receive recognition from former president Bill Clinton at last weekend's Clinton Global Initiative University in Austin, Texas. Dillon Eng and Joshua Ozer, Owl Microfinance co-presidents, traveled to the University of Texas-Austin, along with Internal Vice President Tommy Fu and External Vice President Elena White, to attend lectures and workshops on poverty alleviation. The Rice students' organization works with independent clients to loan money to individual entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing countries that could not otherwise afford to sustain their initiatives, White, a Martel College freshman, said.

Academy Awards: Where the laughs at

Each year, I get more excited about the Academy Awards than my friends do when they anticipate the season premiere of "The Office" or the season finale of "24." This year's ceremony starts on Sunday at 7 p.m., and the Oscars will be, like they are every February, a summary of everything I've seen in the past year: the best fashion, the best movies and the best movie stars all rolled into one beautiful three-hour package.The Academy Awards also function as a sort of documentary by recording the year's history in movies: Best Picture winner Gone with the Wind will forever be known as the classic film of 1939, and Audrey Hepburn's performance at the young age of 24 in Roman Holiday is immortalized thanks to her win of the Best Actress award in 1954.

Golf finishes second at home

It has been eleven years since the golf team has finished in second place or better in competition, a near-eternity in college sports. But finally, the streak is over. The Owls overcame a subpar start with a strong finish to place second in the Rice Intercollegiate, the team's only home event of the year, which ran from Monday through Tuesday. The tournament, held at Westwood Golf Club, saw Rice shoot a final round even-par 288 to finish only two shots behind tournament champion University of the Pacific. Three of Rice's golfers placed in the top 13 of the individual portion of the tournament.

KTRU Pick of the Week: The Snowbringer Cult

The cover art of The Snowbringer Cult is a gorgeous pen-and-ink drawing of a giant hand emerging from the earth. Cupped in its palm is a tiny human figure who wears a mystical amulet and thrusts one arm, with a tribal drum clutched in his grasp, towards the sky. He seems to be trembling but staring resolutely into a heavy gust of wind. It calls to mind The Indian in the Cupboard, the children's book about a boy who has a pocket-sized Native American friend. The drawing is childlike and whimsical, with the miniature man grasping the huge index finger with a fuzzy mittened hand, yet it also has epic aspirations.The artwork accurately reflects the music it holds: ambient, innocent soundscapes that evolve into dense and otherworldly trances. The resulting sound falls somewhere between post-rock and psychedelic folk. If you like both the gentleness of Iron & Wine and the vaguely ethnic cacophony of Animal Collective, The Snowbringer Cult might be for you. Alternately, its subdued and meandering melodies would make an excellent soundtrack for anyone walking through a quiet snowy field. Too bad we live in Houston. I recommend at least snuggling up in a blanket with a cup of tea - preferably chai, to match the album's pseudo-Eastern vibe.

SA presidential candidates debate future of Rice

The Student Association Presidential Debate on Monday addressed concerns about the economy, Duncan and McMurtry Colleges, and the future of the SA. The contenders are Brown College junior Patrick McAnaney, Martel College sophomore Nicholas Muscara, Martel College senior Alexander Crompton and Jones College junior Matthew Weingast. The debates were hosted by RTV5 and the Rice Thresher and moderated by Backpage co-editor Timothy Faust, who is also the SA Director of Elections.

Baseball 2009 Preview

Be sure to check out the special section in this week's edition that contains stories on the 2009 Baseball Owls!Click here to jump to the Baseball 2009 Preview section.

Letters to the Editor

METRO public transit overlooked

Backpage's Voyage through the Annals of History

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.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Friday the 13th underwhelms

Mid-February is a special time dedicated to romance: setting up candlelit dinners, frolicking under the covers with a loved one, gorging upon chocolate delicacies and, of course, watching a group of horny teenagers get hacked to death by a sociopath. Don't you just love Valentine's Day?The past three years in Hollywood should be anointed the "Age of Remakes and Sequels". After the successful reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre back in 2004, which was only successful in my eyes due to 80 minutes of Jessica Biel in tight jean shorts, director Marcus Nispel resurrected another iconic horror franchise: Friday the 13th. This film marks the twelfth movie featuring the hockey mask-wearing, machete-wielding Jason Vorhees. Were any of its prequels remotely good? No. Each successive film in this series has been crappier than the one before, culminating with 2001's Jason X, a sublime epitome of craptastic comedy that centered on Jason being cryogenically-frozen and sent to the future. Would Nispel's new Jason flick bring a much-needed breath of fresh air to this stale franchise? Sorta.

Voting choices must be well considered

At midnight this morning, the six-day-long Student Association General Election period commenced. Students have until Wednesday at noon to cast their ballots, which will be available both online at sa.rice.edu and at several college sites throughout the week. Besides the SA position races, this semester's ballot includes a number of changes to SA by-laws and the constitution.Regarding the by-law changes, the Thresher offers the following recommendations:

NADA exhibit explores many levels of nothing

Eyeing a ball of lint, hair and dust poetically pinned on the wall, I fully realized that the NADA exhibit, on display at the Rice Media Center until March 5th, is not figurative in its claims of "nothing" art.Other pieces of work on display include a series of metallic-foiled, rectangular canvases depicting nothing through the reduction of the human form into mere quadrilaterals; exposed film strips gradually progressing from white to black, signifying nothing becoming nothing; and a sitting, hollow doll made of splintered wood, representing nothing by defeat. Overall, the exhibit features more than fifty pieces of work spanning all sorts of mediums, genres and styles.

Student Association General Election

Voting for the Student Association General Election begins today and lasts through Wednesday at 2:00 P.M. Voting is conducted entirely online at sa.rice.edu. Candidates are chosen by voters on a preferential basis, with each voter ranking their choices in each race. Voters are encouraged, though not required, to make a selection for each race and for each amendment and blanket tax proposal.After the ranked votes are tallied, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes will be eliminated and their votes redistributed among other candidates according to the voter's second-choice pick. This process will be repeated until only one candidate remains, who shall be deemed the winner of the contest.

With solid bats and strong arms, baseball is back

It is funny how quickly members of the Rice community get greedy. Though the memories of the Owls winning the College World Series in 2003 - Rice's only national championship in any sport-are still relatively fresh, this team is itching to reach the CWS for the fourth year in a row and end what seems like an eternal five-year championship drought. Though fall ball numbers can be deceptive, they have been nevertheless encouraging for the 2009 season. After four exhibition games, the Owls emerged with a clean slate. They opened the fall season with an 8-4 win over Texas State University, then beat the fourth-ranked University of Texas 13-6 twice and capped off the preseason with a 21-2 trumping of McNeese State University.

Dark Was the Night sets goal for a bright future

I had the pleasure of meeting Bryce and Aaron Dessner when The National came to play here for the All Rice Picnic during homecoming week. They are both rather subdued and unassuming - almost awkward, perhaps. They both sport unshaven faces and unibrows - not the look that one would expect out of indie rock's unofficial curators.The Dessners have assembled a veritable who's-who list of indie darlings - Sufjan Stevens! Bon Iver! Yeasayer! Feist! That guy from TV on the Radio! - into Dark Was the Night, a charity compilation album whose profits go towards the Red Hot Organization, a group committed to fighting HIV/AIDS through pop culture. Since 1989, Red Hot has released 20 compilation albums to raise both funds and awareness. It's kind of like Product (RED), except without the sweatshop controversies and expensive corporate branding.