Special Projects

Football outfights Army 38-31

The football team turned its bowl eligibility into a cemented bowl berth last Saturday with a 38-31 homecoming win over Army at Rice Stadium. The victory improved the Owls' record to 7-3, which ensures that they will play in a bowl game for the second time in three years. The team also set a new single-season Rice scoring record. "It used to be that when we got a win we were excited," senior quarterback and Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week Chase Clement said. "We're striving for so much more. We have such a talented team. We've done so much, we've come so far that just winning isn't enough. We want to get better so we can continue to win."

World of Goo will do you a world of good

Two guys who steal their Wi-Fi from coffee shops are about to destroy your GPA, and you're going to thank them for it. As the new independent game studio 2D Boy, Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, formerly of Electronic Arts, have lovingly crafted World of Goo into one of this generation's most innovative, accessible and entertaining games.World of Goo was released in October with a simple premise and a terrifying amount of detail. The main gameplay mechanism is easy to figure out. Each level is full of wide-eyed, amorphous Goos of varying colors and qualities. The player picks up a Goo and drags it toward a pre-placed cluster of other Goos, where the Goo grows appendages and affixes itself to the structure. Ultimately, the player seeks to move all the Goos to an exit pipe on the other side of the level. Each new Goo changes the weight and balance of the whole construction, making the game a limited physics simulator.

Visiting professors program seeks funding to continue

The International Visiting Fellows Program fosters collaborative work among Rice professors and researchers from diverse communities on environmental and sustainability issues, but the program may not be able to sustain itself if its co-directors are unable to secure future funds. The residence program is in its second year and runs out of Rice's Energy and Environmental Systems Institute. The program invites professors in engineering, the natural sciences and the social sciences to conduct a research project with at least one faculty member for a period of two to nine months, co- Director Carrie Masiello said.

VADA works to improve department, curriculum

Architecture. Music. Rice schools of the arts rank among the best around. In 2006, the Design Futures Council ranked Rice's Undergraduate Architecture program second in the nation. The Shepherd School of Music was one of eight music schools chosen by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for its Conservatory Project. However, when it came to visual and dramatic arts, Rice somehow slipped off the radar.Well, that's all about to change, according to Professor of Visual and Dramatic Arts Christopher Sperandio.

Changeling is moving, but slow-moving

The winter months and the end of the year are looming. With them, sprawling dramas, emotionally empowered cinematography and tear-inducing performances will soon inundate the box office, wooing audiences, critics and, most importantly, the Academy. A Best Picture nomination is viewed as the highest achievement for directors, a lofty goal reserved only for the cinematic elite.One of the films vying for the 2009 Oscars is Clint Eastwood's Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie (Mr. & Mrs. Smith). It's been a while since fans have seen a film with Jolie front-lining in a serious role (as much as I appreciated Wanted, in which she had approximately four lines and relied on her exotic eyebrows and luscious lips for 95 percent of the movie).

Professor leaves long legacy of kindness

Over the past week, I heard all the amazing things that Hispanic Studies Professor James Castañeda accomplished in his lifetime. They read like the accomplishments of not one great man, but of five or six. Some of the highlights include playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Cordele and Real Madrid, being decorated by King Juan Carlos I for his scholarly contributions to studies of Spain and spending 47 years as a professor at Rice. That's probably more than twice your age, and is almost half of the time that Rice has been around. In addition, he also served 21 years as a Rice baseball coach and 15 years as a Rice golf coach, during which the team attended the NCAA tournament three years in a row. He also published five books, numerous articles, 52 book reviews and accepted over 80 speaking engagements, and he worked with countless committees that helped push Rice forward both academically and athletically. Do you see why it is almost impossible to imagine what Rice University would be like without him?

The state of the arts

For the first time in decades the Rice Gallery will not be hosting the Visual and Dramatic Arts student art show this year during graduation. Many students and faculty are upset and taking action.Rice Gallery Director Kimberly Davenport, who took her post in 1994, said she decided not to host the VADA senior show after several years of dwindling attendance and interest.

Ben Braun era begins for men's basketball

For all intents and purposes, Division I basketball is back at Rice University. After playing their home games last season in front of sparse crowds at the Merrell Center and Reliant Arena, the Owls are returning home Saturday to play their first game on campus in over a year and a half. Saturday's game at 3 p.m., featuring the defending Big Sky Conference champions and 2008 NCAA tournament participant Portland State, will also mark the debut of first year head coach Ben Braun and the renovated Tudor Fieldhouse.

NCAA athlete graduation rates up

Rice student-athletes are graduating at higher rates than last year's figures, according to information from the National Collegiate Athletic Association released last month. Rice ranked seventh of 119 schools with an 84 percent six-year graduation rate and eighth with a 92 percent four-year graduation rate. In combined categories, Rice ranked sixth in the NCAA and first in Conference USA.There are two major athlete graduation rates reported by the NCAA, calculated slightly differently from each other to either include or exclude late arrivals and transfers in and out of the university. The first and most commonly compared is the Graduation Success Rate, which includes scholarship athletes who transfer into the university but not those who transfer out of the university in good standing. In this category, Rice ranked eighth out of 119 football bowl subdivision institutions, formerly the members of the NCAA Division I A. Compared to the nationwide 78 percent graduation rate, 92 percent of Rice student-athletes graduated that year.

Stone's W lacks dimension, depth of real-life Bush

With a timely release that coincided with the presidential campaign, director Oliver Stone presents his new political film, W, as a caricature of soon-to-be-former President George W. Bush. Through this caricature, Stone creates a unique hybrid film that successfully incorporates the characteristics of both a documentary and a drama so as to effectively reach beyond the limited audience of a traditional documentary by highlighting - or, rather, sensationalizing - the more scandalous events of Bush's life.W tells the story of the life of Bush (American Gangster's Josh Brolin) by mixing the events of his years in the presidency with events that occurred during his college days and his journey to the Texas governor's office. The audience sees a young Bush partying at Yale, dealing with strained relationships with his parents (Spider-Man 3's James Cromwell and The Stone Angel's Ellen Burstyn) and meeting his future wife, Laura (Lovely, Still's Elizabeth Banks).

Republican Party faces difficult recovery

For the Republican Party, the question after the 2008 Presidential Election is: What happens next?Its losses in Congress and its defeat in a transformative presidential election have Republican leaders wondering where they went wrong and how the party can recover. On these questions conservative pundits are divided into two rival camps, which may be poised to launch a civil war of ideas.

Student travels to faith-based colleges for LGBT rights

Some Rice University students spend a semester abroad perfecting their French in Paris or studying native cultures in Argentina. But Brown College junior Cait MacIntyre is choosing to spend hers traveling through the Southern United States being verbally abused, socially rejected and even arrested. MacIntyre is traveling with the members of a civil rights group called Soulforce on its second annual Equality

News in Brief: James Castañeda dies at age 75; Alumnus Harry Chavanne dies

James Castañeda dies at age 75

Campaign funds should be used with care

Today, Rice announces that it is seeking to raise an unprecedented $1 billion with its Centennial Campaign to honor Rice's 100th anniversary in 2012 (see story, page 1). Currently, Rice has raised $500 million, although some of this money includes donations given to Duncan and McMurtry colleges and other current projects.Getting more money is not a bad thing - we certainly think it's a good idea that Rice is raising money through this campaign considering the student expansion it is facing in the coming years, and we are impressed with the $400 million President Leebron stated he wants to spend on undergraduate and graduate programs. Nevertheless, the administration must use its money wisely and concentrate spending on what really matters.

Honor council processes require fixing

Many years ago, back when I was a high school senior, I faced a choice between many excellent colleges and universities. In the end, I decided on Rice. There were a number of reasons why I made this decision: financial aid, my time as a prospective student and the knowledge that the Rice name would take me far. And there was one other thing that really struck me - the Honor Code. None of the other places mentioned anything like it, and I was really impressed that Rice trusted its students enough to give them a fair bit of flexibility with their papers and exams.As my Rice career draws to a close, I can say that the Honor Code has worked very well for me. I appreciate being able to do my math and physics in the Rice Memorial Center with a steady supply of coffee and to be able to take a test when it's most convenient for me. Though I've had some very long timed exams (those 5+ hour ones), the problems I've had to tackle are extremely interesting. And I like being able to consult my notes and books during a test; memorizing a bunch of formulas is a pain, and in real life I can generally look something up if I don't know it.

Commentary: True Rays fan rewarded after decade of struggle

When I first met Rob Meister during Orientation Week 2006, he was a human impossibility.Here stood a living, breathing oxymoron, proof that you really do meet the strangest people in college.

Vision for the next century

Rice's Centennial Campaign, which aims to raise $1 billion for the university by Rice's 100th anniversary in 2012, will be announced today at an "All-Rice" picnic for students, faculty and staff that includes a performance by indie rock band The National. The campaign's $1 billion goal is double that of Rice's last campaign, "Rice: the Next Century," which ended in 2004. President David Leebron said the $1 billion goal was determined by thinking about what was possible and then going beyond that figure. Since Rice has already raised $500 million for the campaign, Leebron said the gamble had paid off.

Nudist breaks window

While running the Halloween Baker 13 last Friday, Martel College sophomore Will Meyers jumped against a window at the northeast corner of Fondren Library, breaking the window and cutting his upper leg, RUPD Captain Phillip Hassell said. Baker 13 was running back to Valhalla to be a part of a wedding ceremony that was taking place when Meyers crashed into the window, Wiess College sophomore Jeremy Goodreau said.

Election Editorial Cartoon

Women's XC places second at C-USA championship

Luck definitely has not been on the side of the women's cross country team this season. Even though team members had been battling knee problems and sickness since Hurricane Ike, the whole team was prepared to go into conference with a healthy squad. Then a week before conference, sophomore Becky Wade - consistently one of Rice's top runners last season and only recently recovered from a cold and knee problems - caught a case of the flu and could not run for five days. And, because the downward sloping terrain at the Conference USA Championship meet in Memphis, Tenn., last weekend, freshman Michaela Reynolds triggered a lingering back injury from early in the race.