Special Projects

Sid gets new college coordinator

Corinne Cammarata, who previously worked as a grant writer for the Houston Area Women's Center, has filled the vacancy for Sid Richardson College's college coordinator. She began work on Tuesday and will continue through the rest of the academic semester. The Sid College Coordinator Search Committee began fielding applications after the previous office coordinator, Kelly Penrod, announced her resignation in early December last year. She worked until the end of the fall semester before leaving for a position with a counseling center.

Letters to the Editor

Rec Center strives to improve facility

Director of Sponsored Research steps down from post

Director of Sponsored Research Nancy Nisbett said farewell to Rice Wednesday after nearly five years as a staff member. The Office of Sponsored Research is directly responsible for aiding faculty and researchers in submitting grant proposals to both federal agencies and corporate industries. All research projects must be submitted through the office, she said.

Women's basketball looks for spark against familiar foes

After completing half of the season's conference games, the women's basketball team has yet to register a win against a Conference USA opponent. Now, the team will be forced to put the past behind them and acquire a new attitude while playing against some familiar faces. The first of those attempts turned out to be a failure last week when the Owls (5-18, 0-10 C-USA) had consecutive games against cross town rival University of Houston. After losing a close game at Tudor Fieldhouse on Jan. 28, Rice delivered an unimpressive performance at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday.

This Week in Photos

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Track posts impressive numbers in Nebraska

To take a line from Aerosmith, the men's track and field team's performance this week was the same old song and dance. Although the team split up for two separate meets, the clear headliner was once again junior pole vaulter Jason Colwick, who vaulted an incredible 5.60 meters at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday to break not only the indoor record he set just last week, but also the outdoor record of 5.55 meters he set last spring at the Texas Relays.

Rondelet to be on campus, Moulin Rouge-themed

Break out your can-can outfits; Rice University's spring formal, Rondelet, will be Moulin Rouge-themed and will take place in the Rice Memorial Center's Grand Hall on Feb. 21, marking the second semester in a row that the Rice Program Council has opted for an on-campus formal event. The decision to keep the dance nearby was a direct response to student input about last semester's formal, Esperanza, which took place in a large tent rented for Rice Annual Fund events during Homecoming, RPC Formals Committee Co-Chair Esra Gumuser said.

Saturday's Sports Update: Women's basketball gains first conference win

Junior Tara Watts led the Owls with 15 points this afternoon as the women's basketball team snagged its first victory in 11 games, gaining their first conference win and improving to 6-19 overall. Rice dominated the University of Tulane (14-12, 6-6 C-USA) in a complete role-reversal from the last time the two squads met. The Green Wave won that match up by 28 points on Jan. 11, whereas today the Owls led by as many as 18 points and finished the game with a 62-54 victory.

Page 2.5: Ruminating on A-Rod's 'roids

Surprise at Alex's 'roid use totally unfounded

100 days until the real world

Students celebrate at the 100 Days dance party on Wednesday. This year's event was held at Houston social club 26ten.

Lovett masters complete tenure

Lovett College Masters Bernard and Carolyn Aresu will finish their five-year term at the end of this semester. French Studies Professor Bernard Aresu and Carolyn Aresu, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Administrator at the laboratory for nanophotonics, have been working at Rice for 30 years. They also served as masters of Brown College from 1982-'88, staying on an extra year to facilitate its transition from an all-women's college to a co-ed college.

Men's basketbll focuses on ECU

Were it not for University of Houston guard Aubrey Coleman, who played perhaps the finest twenty minutes of basketball the men's basketball team has seen all year, Rice's execution and patience on the offensive end would in all likelihood have ended the team's two-year losing streak against its crosstown rival. The Owls (8-15, 3-6 Conference USA) and the Cougars (15-7, 6-3 C-USA battled back and forth Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, but after the seventh lead change with just 3:21 to go in the game, Houston pulled away for the 72-65 victory.

A Word with your Wardrobe: Pre-Rondelet notes on the James Bond look

What happened to those days when men polished to the tips of their shoes and dressed to the nines simply to go out for brunch? Where is the man who makes ladies do double takes with raised eyebrows, intrigued not by his chiseled arms or exposed physique but by the thought of what his tie might look like loosened and discarded? What became of the men who left something to the imagination, the gentlemen on the forefront, those knights in their crisp suits? I sure don't know, but one thing is certain: They just don't make men like they used to.Granted, Rice males are 20-something-year-old students who have things to do, grades to save and little time to take care of their daily appearances, but what can be said about a man who seems to be under an even greater level of pressure, with stresses unrivaled? How does one explain why James Bond looks so damn good all the time?

This week's Editorial Cartoon

Louisiana State narrowly defeats men's tennis

Yes, the men's tennis team lost on Friday to No. 15 Louisiana State University. Rice's third loss in a row came by a score of 4-3 in Baton Rouge, La., dropping the 27th-ranked Owls to 7-3 on the year and marking the midpoint of a laborious, seven-week road trip. But that is not the main storyline to emerge from the Louisiana jaunt. The team fought tooth and nail for the win, but the Tigers' wins did not arise in the places one would expect.

Cliché-bashing He's Just Not That Into You tells it like it is

The new film He's Just Not That Into You claims that it is not a "typical" chick flick and that it goes beyond the conventional realm of the genre by cutting out clichés. The movie's iTunes podcast touts the film's lack of certain undesirable, overly-sentimental and formulaic scenes, such as random outbreaks into song, makeover montages or hysterical crying scenes. And it's true: He's Just Not That Into You avoids the traps of usual chick flicks and produces a funny, enjoyable and not-so-typical one.Based on the self-help book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, He's Just Not That Into You structures itself by first giving the audience a pearl of dating wisdom - "he's just not that into you if ." - and then showing how the proverb works in the relationships of couples in the movie.

Rent increases proposed for pubs

[Editor's Note: Upon receipt of an e-mail from Student Center Director Boyd Beckwith containing corrected numbers and additional information pertaining to the proposed Valhalla rent increases, the Thresher editorial board updated the following story (update posted to Web on Sunday, Feb. 15). The original story stated that Vahalla's proposed increase amounted to a 147 percent change.]Valhalla's reputation for inexpensive beer may soon take a hit as the graduate pub attempts to make up for a proposed 30 percent rent increase next year.

Senior gift greatly benefits underclassmen

As I struggle with the many obligations of senior year - completing classes, getting ready for graduation, finding a job and somehow managing to enjoy the last semester of college - I find myself engaging in one senior duty that I have never thought I would participate in: senior gift.A senior gift at Rice is essentially money raised by seniors that is given to the Rice Annual Fund to be used for things that directly impact student life: new Recreation Center equipment, scholarships and other student needs. Though a senior gift is nice in theory, as an underclassman and even well into my senior year, I always wondered why graduating seniors were expected to give money as a "gift." Why, after four years of paying money for tuition, housing, books and other university fees, should seniors be required to pay more money when most do not have jobs yet and, in some cases, will not for a few years?

Gettin' it on with The Vagina Monologues

Mushmellow. Powderbox. Coochi snorcher. Cunt. Dignity. Gladys Siegelman. Vagina. Orgasmic moans. Frank testimony. Righteous anger. You name it, The Vagina Monologues has it.Because it is mostly bare, the stage of The Vagina Monologues is set for good acting. Costumes are simple black outfits with small touches of red. The lighting is simple. Ultimately, the show is an intimate experience between the audience and the actresses.

Future of newspapers needs local support

In the midst of the current financial crisis, we hear story after story about the loss of jobs and Wall Street bailouts. But we are facing another threat that goes largely unnoticed. While banks and the Big Three - General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler - crowd around Congress to gather the remains of our tax money, printed publications are going silently into the night, as newspapers and magazines watch their advertising revenues disappear.It is a trend that started years ago with the invention of online classifieds, which have been siphoning away business from the historical cash-cows of the newspaper world. It has been a slow process, to be sure, but one soundly documented over the last decade. The most recently publicized event demonstrating the fall of the print media giants has to be The New York Times' decision to sell advertising space on its front page for the first time in over 150 years.