Wiess Road reopensWiess Road, which is located between Wiess College and Autry Court, will officially reopen today. The road has been closed since the summer because of construction on the South Plant - Rice's new energy efficient source of power.
We said it before, and we will say it again: One of the great things about Rice is that students are treated like adults ("End PIN paternalism," Nov. 16, 2007). With the recent overhaul of the registration process and the removal of PIN requirements and mandatory advising sessions, Rice has taken another big step in making that statement true across the board (see story, page 1). The old system was a broken one. Standards for major advisors varied greatly across departments, and with tension between independent-minded students and busy professors, actual advising often got lost in the shuffle. A system without PINs changes this. The forced aspect is removed, meaning students have the opportunity to act with the responsibility they have, keeping on top of major and graduation requirements of their own accord.
The downside of reaching the top is that, theoretically, there is no room for improvement. Nevertheless, as the outdoor season commences, the women's track and field team will be looking to improve on its early-season finish: first place at the Conference USA Indoor Championships.Rice's first attempt at improvement took place last weekend at the Texas Southern University Relays on the University of Houston campus, where the Owls earned no fewer than four first-place finishes. Senior Desarie Walwyn and junior Jenny Glover both posted NCAA-regional qualifying times in the 100 meter dash and triple jump, respectively.
The Student Association passed Bylaw Amendment 13 Monday creating the Committee on Constitutional Reviews, which is assigned the task of periodically reviewing the SA's constitution and by-laws and proposing legislative changes to them (see story, page 7). While the committee can review any aspect of the constitution and bylaws it sees fit, we feel that one of its first tasks should be an assessment of the make-up of the SA; more specifically, we believe that the committee should propose legislation to create more student representation.
The Rice Thresher spent a few quality moments in the RTV5 studio getting to know the faces in front of and behind the camera of the new Rice Sketch Comedy spin-off, The Connor O'Hoolihan Experience, before the satire-driven show takes on an independent life of its own.The mock news phenomenon stars Baker College sophomore Connor Hollowwa as the show's namesake and features writing by Jones College junior Barr Reed. Hanszen College senior and Thresher cartoonist Dan Derozier heads up filming and production. The show's third episode premiered online on Thursday.
Rice University was ranked fifth on the list of "Best Values in Private Colleges" in the April 2008 Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Rice is preceded by California Institute Technology, Yale University, Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in order of the rankings, followed by Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Duke University and Emory University. Kiplinger's publishes a ranking of the best value colleges and universities every two years, in which academic quality and affordability are measured, with the latter counting for a third of the ranking total. Its 2006 report ranked Rice fourth on the list of best value colleges.
As someone more famous than me once said, "Life has its poetry." It's a good phrase, but, being the entitled English major that I am, I'm going to fix it up a bit: "Life has its irony." Granted, I completely changed the meaning of the original phrase, but "irony" happens to be the word that captures the essence of a situation I encountered last Saturday - at least better than any Yeats ode or Eminem ballad ever could.With a brilliant afternoon beaming through my windows, March Madness was busy lighting up the faces of me and my friends. Couch sagging, eyes focused and Duke-hate-mongering all around, the holidays of hoops had arrived.
Whether you are for it or against it, there is no denying that over the last year Rice has gotten noticeably more eco-conscious. In the past year alone, the Rice Thresher has published 39 articles related to environmental issues, compared to 13 the year before. Student groups on campus have organized everything from anti-coal protests to a North vs. South College energy competition, and even Rice's administration got in on the act by requiring all entering freshmen to read the environmentally-focused text, Field Notes from a Catastrophe. Despite environmentalism's apparent popularity on campus, many students have nevertheless begun to lash out against environmental, particularly climate-change centered, activism. These students argue that global climate change has become the "cool issue" for our generation to care about and that environmental activists are more concerned with following a fad than trying to create real change.Before I address the issue of activists' sincerity, I want to begin by dispelling the conception that climate change itself is a fad. For one thing, those advocating carbon dioxide reduction policies are not doing so based on a whim or on minimal scientific evidence. In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the hundreds of scientists it represents have been studying climate change since the United Nations convened the body in 1988. Furthermore, simply searching "global warming" on Google brings up 46 million responses, which makes it hard to argue that global warming is a new or understudied field.
Last Wednesday, students across campus may have found interesting additions to their usual lunchtime routine of conversation and servery food as members of the Board of Trustees joined them in their college commons to discuss campus issues, with some members returning to the college they attended during their years at Rice. Campus growth under the Vision for the Second Century, student diversity and the differing styles of President David Leebron and former president Malcolm Gillis were popular conversation topics.Marc Shapiro, a former Vice Chairman at J.P. Morgan Chase and current Director of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, ate at Martel College along with Leebron. Shapiro explained to students the board's actual role at Rice, which is approving budgets and working with the president on long-term planning.
As construction enters its final phases, the near-completion of the Brochstein Pavilion presses students to consider the building's purpose and to take action to help ensure that the newest architectural addition to campus serves that purpose by serving students. The main goal of the pavilion lies in enhancing Rice's sense of student vibrancy, which can only be accomplished if students voluntarily and continually use it.Student vibrancy, as described in the Vision for the Second Century, is defined as a sense of a university community that students acquire by using space
Through leaps, hops and a few shoulder shrugs, Rice's traditional Punjabi dance team, Chowl Bhangra, which translates to Rice Bhangra, danced its way to third place last weekend in the Virsa Punjab Da competition at North Carolina State University. The club is in its second year on campus.Wiess College sophomores Sukhdeep Kaur and Monique Gill started the team last year.
Despite coming up short during the indoor season, the men's track and field team was in midseason form at the first meet of the outdoor season last weekend. Four Owls posted NCAA regional qualifying marks, one fewer than the total number of athletes that were able to do so all of the last outdoor season.The team competes again this Friday and Saturday at the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic, the first meet of the year at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. Notable visiting teams include Harvard Univeristy and the University of Texas, which is currently ranked ninth in the nation.
When the 2008-'09 men's basketball season opens, the renovated Autry Court will not be the only new sight for fans. On Sunday, Ben Braun was announced as the new head coach at Rice, replacing the departed Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82) who led the team for the past 16 seasons.Braun has an extensive resumé as a Division I coach, having helmed the men's basketball team at the University of California-Berkeley since 1997. The Chicago native led Cal to a 219-154 record in his 12 seasons to compile the second-highest number of wins in the school's history. However, Braun's teams have struggled of late, missing the postseason from 2005-'07 and falling to Ohio State University in the second round of this year's National Invitation Tournament.
While an 11th place finish would be disheartening to most, it was particularly disappointing for the golf team. After finishing in the top 10 in its last three tournaments, Rice was 11th out of 15 teams at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate in Springfield, La., which concluded last Tuesday. Through three rounds of play the team shot a cumulative score of 943, 62 strokes behind victorious Middle Tennessee State University.After a two-week break, the Owls will look to right themselves at the North Carolina State Tournament, which runs from April 11-13 in Wallace, N.C. and will feature some of the Atlantic Coast Conference's toughest contenders. The team that will give Rice the most trouble will most likely be host NC State - the Wolfpack recently outperformed seven top 20 opponents to take the top spot at the Hootie @ Bulls Bay Invitational last Tuesday.
The University Standing Committee on Parking, composed of students, faculty and staff met Wednesday to draft a letter of recommendation to President David Leebron for next year that includes changes in parking policy and rates. The committee suggested a plan to redesign the Greenbriar Lot to hold more spaces and to return to the tiered system of parking. Hanszen College senior Eric Max, who serves on the committee, said the committee is trying to decrease all parking rates but will more likely focus on one low-priced student option.
Despite rain and near-freezing temperatures, the baseball team managed to keep their arms warm enough to sweep Marshall University before returning to the sunny South and handing a loss to Texas State University on Tuesday. Unfortunately, No. 12 Rice's (18-7) win streak ended at ten games Wednesday night when cross-town rival University of Houston handed the Owls an 8-5 loss, although senior Jordan Dodson's two-out fly ball in the ninth came within feet of sending the game into extra innings.Looking ahead, the Owls will be enmeshed in a tough series this weekend with the University of Southern Mississippi. The homestand, which begins today at 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park, will give Rice a chance to pad its conference record, which stands at 4-1. The Golden Eagles (15-7) have been one of the streakiest teams in Conference USA this year - after a five-game losing streak earlier this month, they have taken nine of their last 10 to climb back above .500.
Last week, Sid Richardson College Resident Associate Katherine Kuster (Brown '99) announced that she will step down from her position in May. A search committee has been formed and is looking to appoint a new RA by late April.Kuster, an outreach coordinator at the Rice Gallery, is moving to Japan with her fiancé, who has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue research on pollution in the upper atmosphere.
Yesterday, both Panic at the Disco and The Raconteurs released their sophomore efforts, and in my excitement, I bought them both. As a way early Christmas present to myself, I first opened Pretty.Odd., the beautiful Panic at the Disco album, drawn to the gorgeous nineteenth-century-style cover, thick with flowers and butterflies.As the first song, "We're So Starving," came on, I remembered why I love them so much. It's not because they're indie-cool (because they're not). It's not because they're technically the best musicians (because they're not). It is because of their fast, upbeat, fresh sound, a sound that evokes smiles even when the lyrics are filled with prostitutes, adultery and sleazy hotels. Unfortunately, as the album continued, I realized that these snarky pop kids seem to have thrown out their old sound for something much sunnier and, sadly, much more boring.
Drillbit Taylor. College Road Trip. Never Back Down. Do any of those titles make you want to run to the movie theater? Me neither. With the Oscars over and all the good movies of the year scheduled to come out during either summer or fall, Hollywood is beginning to feed us a steady stream of crap. What is a movie lover to do?My solution is to start renting older movies. There are hundreds of forgotten films from decades past just waiting for us to rediscover them. Here are some recommendations to start things off: three obscure, but great, movies from the '70s, ‘80s and '90s.
