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NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Men's first win of 2008 will have to come in fall

By Kushagra Shrinath

On the same night that one Houston basketball team won its 20th game in a row, another dropped its 20th consecutive contest. The men's basketball team's season came to an end Wednesday in a disappointing yet telling way, as Rice dropped a 59-50 contest against the University of Southern Mississippi in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis, Tenn. The defeat ended what could be claimed as the program's worst season in its history - not only did the Owls (3-26, 0-16 C-USA) become the first team ever in C-USA not to win a single conference game, but they failed to win any games at all in 2008.However, the dismal record may be a bit deceptive. Prior to their season-ending loss, the Owls lost three hard-fought games during spring break. After trailing by more than 16 points in the first half, the Owls closed to within two points late in the second half before folding 68-60 to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. Later in the week, senior forward Patrick Britton scored a career high 40 points on 14-18 shooting, but the Owls lost 75-68 to East Carolina University at home.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Willy Week jacks reach outside of the box

By Sarah Rutledge

Although spring break may have allowed students a relaxing respite from school, Willy Week, which began Monday, more than made up for the previous week's lack of activity. Mock Beer-Bike, the Beer Debates and Willy's Picnic may have enhanced the Willy Week experience, but colleges were the real stars of Willy Week with the many jacks they executed across campus.Late Sunday night, members of Martel College sprayed WD-40 in trashcans filled with water balloons at Brown College to pop the balloons.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Commentary: Softball uses forgotten play as means for success

By Casey Michel

The game of baseball has many great moments any fan loves to see - a do-it-yourself triple play, a successful "daylight" pickoff move or a squeeze like the one our very own Jimmy Comerota executed to perfection against UH. Not only do these plays result in gleeful grins from fans in attendance (and, if we're lucky, Wayne Graham), but since the years of yore, baseball writers have scrounged for nicknames to describe them for the next morning's newspaper readers. From "basket catches" to "worm-burners," all were cleverly coined yet all were easy to picture.But despite following the game since I was a diapered little dude, there was one phrase which had origins outside my experience - the "Baltimore Chop." Cleaving downwards with the bat, a batter aims to bounce the ball off the area around the plate and sky it into the air while the impatient fielders squirm underneath. Rarely is this play utilized; rarer still is its success. Those who unleash the Chop are few in number and must be quicker than a chameleon's tongue on smack, i.e. Ichiro or Jose Reyes.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Women's track uses potent team effort to defend indoor title

By Natalie Clericuzio

Even though track and field is not always recognized as a conventional team sport, the members of the women's track and field team were anything but individualistic in defending their league title two weeks ago at the Conference USA Indoor Championships. Despite placing first in only two events, Rice used 15 top-three finishes to pull out a nearly twenty-point rout to best second -lace University of Texas-El Paso 133.5-114.5 at University of Houston's Yeoman Field House.The Owls will get a chance to rest this week - none of the members earned a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships. However, more Owls were on the provisional list than in previous years: Senior distance runners Callie Wells and Lennie Waite, senior pole vaulter Rachel Greff, senior sprinter Desarie Walwyn and sophomore Sarah Lyons all posted provisional qualifying times during the season.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

SA, RUPD create lost-and-found site

By Jocelyn Wright

In response to Rice University Police Department's anti-theft policy implemented at the beginning of last semester, Brown College senator Patrick McAnaney, Lovett College senator Fiona Adams, and Student Association Director of Technology J.D. Leonard worked with Police Sergeant Jesse Salazar and Police Captain Phillip Hassell to create a searchable database of all the items RUPD has taken as well as any other items that are lost or found.McAnaney, a sophomore, first thought of the idea when a friend had his backpack confiscated by RUPD and spent time looking for it at many lost-and-found boxes within separate buildings before finding out that RUPD had it. Adams, a sophomore, said the database would eliminate those unnecessary steps by listing the lost and found items in one central location.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Owls leap to second at C-USA Championships

By Brody Rollins

The men's track and field team has grown by leaps and bounds this year, mainly due to its impressive ability to leap and bound. The Owls flew into second place at the Conference USA Indoor Championships two weeks ago, helped by first-place finishes in both the heptathlon and pole vault. Freshman Shea Kearney cleared a mark of 16 feet, 11 inches, to grab first in the pole vault on his third and final jump of the afternoon.Unfortunately for the Owls, host University of Houston managed to make up those points in other events and notched 152 points to repeat as champions. Rice finished with 116.5, followed by the University of Memphis' 104. The University of Texas El-Paso and the University of Tulsa rounded out the top five with 100 and 88.5 points, respectively.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Tuesday is made for gypsy punks: Gogol Bordello comes to town

By Bursten

Imagine taking the Grandmaster Flash out of Gnarls Barkley and replacing it with a Weird Al vs. Borat bar brawl: Presto, you would have Gogol Bordello, the self-described gypsy punk band that is slated to confuse, enthrall and energize audiences at the Meridian on Tuesday. The eight-piece set of rockers from New York City, by way of custom, furiously blends metallic core rhythms with instrumentation that is decidedly out of the mainstream. Accordions and fire buckets, as well as percussive dancing, are common fare for Gogol stages. This is not your mama's world music. It is no goodwill musical mission, no sweet-voiced cultural petit four. It is impossible to walk away from Gogol feeling like you have witnessed a quaint foreign concert, a Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The gypsy punks do not allow audiences to just listen to the snarling, heavily accented songs and lyrics: Listeners have to meet Gogol head-on and immerse themselves in the bizarre culmination of five continents' worth of musicians, or they will end up running away screaming.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

Texas routs Rice 9-1 at Reckling Park

By Jessica Cannon

The baseball team book-ended the last two weeks with a sweep of the Minute Maid Park College Classic and a 7-3 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi University, but there were a few bumps in the road in between. Not only did No. 15 Rice (9-6) drop two one-run games in a row against Sam Houston State University and Dallas Baptist University on the road, but the Owls were smashed 9-3 by Michigan State University in the opener of the Rice Classic. While the team rebounded with wins over Western Carolina University and Creighton University, the Owls rolled over against the 19th-ranked University of Texas to even the season series at 1-1.The Owls will look to defend their home field once more this weekend, facing Winthrop University four times in as many days, starting today at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles (3-10) have yet to beat a ranked opponent this year, falling three times to the University of Southern California and once to the University of North Carolina. Before the week is over, the Owls will also take on the University of Louisiana-Lafayette at home at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

NEWS 3/13/08 7:00pm

After jump in ranking, men's tennis falls against No. 17 Florida State

By Casey Michel

For the men's tennis team, the confines of Jake Hess Tennis Stadium are a welcome sight. In most instances, that is. The Owls, ranked 13th in the nation, found themselves rudely treated by a visiting Florida State University, which pulled out a 4-3 come-from-behind win last Tuesday. Rice's loss to the 17th-ranked Seminoles came on the heels of a California road swing that saw them drop two ranked opponents. However, those wins sandwiched a 7-0 blowout loss to the No. 6 University of California-Los Angeles on March 5, Rice's first road loss to a top-50 opponent this year.The Owls finally get a reprieve from their strenuous schedule, with an entire week off until their next match - a home contest against No. 26 Louisiana State University next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. The Tigers have been streaky of late, winning three in a row after dropping a pair of matches to ranked foes, and boast only one player, No. 86 Michael Venus, in the top 115.

NEWS 8/24/07 12:00am

Construction commences

By Stephen Whitfield

Students moving back on campus this weekend will notice a university far different from the one they left last spring. A number of construction projects at Rice have given the campus the look and feel of a giant work zone, something that students will continue to experience for the next few years. 

NEWS 8/24/07 12:00am

Jones School proposes Ph.D.

By Evan Mintz and Julia Bursten

A doctoral program in management may soon become a reality at Rice. The Graduate Council unanimously approved a proposal for the Ph.D. program put forth by the Jones Graduate School of Management at the end of last semester, Graduate Council chair Jim Faubion said. If approved by the Faculty Senate, the program could improve the Jones School's international reputation, strengthen connections between the Jones School and other academic departments, and provide new research opportunities for undergraduates.  

NEWS 8/24/07 12:00am

Outer Loop needs blue light special

By Thresher Editorial Board

In case the massive fences and mud pits did not make the fact obvious, Rice is undergoing a surge of construction. But beyond the large-scale additions of the pavilion, new power plant and two new colleges, there are also subtler improvements in campus life — notably, replacing and upgrading the emergency phone system.  

OPINION 8/24/07 12:00am

Work hard, play hard: a dangerous myth

By D. Michael Lindsay

During college, most undergraduates undergo a process of self actualization, of becoming who they want to be. This week another class of talented, resourceful students began this journey through Orientation Week. Some of the nation's best and brightest become part of the Rice family every August, and before long they will become beloved members of the Rice community. 

OPINION 8/24/07 12:00am

Campus energy policy powered by irony

By Patrick McAnaney

When I opened up my letter this summer from Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman, I was delighted to find that Field Notes from a Catastrophe had been chosen as the common reading. Over the course of my first year at Rice, I had often found that the issue of global warming was little more than an afterthought for most students.  

OPINION 8/24/07 12:00am

Exploring the true drains on American society

By Ian Ragsdale

 In America , we have been told who the drains on our society are. They arc people on welfare, undocumented workers, hippies, hobos and basically anyone who hasn't made a million dollars — and thus hasn't demonstrated his or her ability to put in a hard day's work. Apparently, in America, a hard day's work entitles you to a million dollars.  Yeah, right. Let's wake up and look for the real drains on society. 

OPINION 8/24/07 12:00am

Let’s give hazing a second chance, Rice style

By Evan Mintz

Hazing gets a bad rap. And with the associated deaths, alcohol poisonings and homoeroticism, it is quite understandable that hazing at Rice has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. But there used to be a time when hazing was a grand and glorious tradition on campus.  

NEWS 8/24/07 12:00am

Remembering Norman Hackerman

By Evan Mintz

 Former Rice University President Norman Hackerman, who served from 1970 to 1985, died June 16 in Temple,Texas at age 95. Hackerman, who was Rice's fourth president, oversaw the founding of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the Shepherd School of Music. 

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