Special Projects

Lack of institutional memory affects future of university

For most of us, Rice exists for four years. We matriculate; we grow up a little; maybe learn something; and move on. Occasionally, we are reminded of the evolution of the school by incoming freshmen: They know almost nothing of what happened before they arrived. The stories of legend from your freshman year never pass to them. There is no oral tradition here. Those legends die when you graduate.And so, when we experience a great shift, we see it as just that: one change among the years we spend here. We're content to watch as "progress" is forced upon us, not because we necessarily agree with the motives or purposes we see in it, but because we see Rice four years at a time. And how much can change in four years?

Football continues to win, faces UTEP away this weekend

The football team continued its pursuit of a bowl game with a 42-17 conference win over Tulane last Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome. The Owls won their second game in a row to improve their record to 5-3, 4-1 in conference. Rice needs to win at least one of its next four games to be eligible for a bowl bid, which would be the team's second in three years. Jumping out to a 35-0 lead by halftime, the Owls started firing early against the Green Wave with three touchdowns in the first quarter and two more in the second. Senior quarterback Chase Clement threw two touchdowns to sophomore wide receiver James Casey, one for seven yards and the other for 17, and accumulated two more himself with nine-and six-yard runs.

Choice of attorney reflects poorly on Rice

Who knew that Rice University employs the same lawyer as Roger Clemens, ExxonMobil, Enron's accountants and Anna Nicole Smith's ex-husband?Earlier this fall, Rice was served a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of a football player who collapsed and died at practice in 2006. The athlete, freshman Dale Lloyd II, suffered from undiagnosed sickle-cell anemia and died following a workout which allegedly included sixteen 100-yard sprints. Rice's reaction to the lawsuit was to bring in Houston's own celebrity attorney, Rusty Hardin, to arrange the university's legal defense.

Class opens recycling campaign

Rice students' lukewarm views about environmentalism and recycling could heat up with initiatives of the Environmental Studies 302 projects, which have renewed campus efforts to increase recycling and raise awareness about environmental issues. ENST 302: Environmental Issues: Rice in the Future, is co-taught by Sustainability Director Richard Johnson and Professor Elizabeth Long. As part of the course, students must design a project that will help make Rice more sustainable. One of the groups is holding an Intercollegiate Recycling Competition, which began Monday and will last through next Friday to promote environmental awareness and recycling habits on campus.

Page 2.5: Thresher's NBA preseason predictions with a twist

Let's take a peek at how 30 squads will compare to one another. And for all you cinephiles out there, try to spot the movie reference accompanying each team (which will be about as difficult as making Manu Ginobili flop)!

Far Cry 2 an ambitious, immersive experience

Most first-person shooters funnel players through level after level of monsters or Nazis, holding their hands telling them what to do next and waiting until the end of the game to give them all the badass weapons.Far Cry 2 is not most first-person shooters.

Soccer team clinches C-USA tourney berth despite dropping in seeding

On Friday, the soccer team reached their first milestone on the way to attaining their preseason goal of making the NCAA tournament. With a home win over Colorado College, which only competes in Conference USA in women's soccer, Rice clinched a spot in the C-USA Championship tournament. But after a Sunday loss at the University of Texas-El Paso, the Owls remain in fifth place, a point behind Colorado in the standings. Heading into Friday's match up, Colorado was favored to walk away with the victory, but Rice was ready to defend its home turf. The Owls began the game firing on all cylinders with early opportunities from juniors Erin Scott and Shelley Wong.

Debate team gets wins

The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice's Speech and Debate Team, has made a strong showing in three competitions so far this season. The team has defeated 55 teams in debate and has accrued 72 awards overall, including debate plus individual events and sweepstakes events. Team captain Aparna Bhaduri, a Jones College junior, has won more than 15 awards this season.After missing the first scheduled tournament in Liberty, Mo. due to Hurricane Ike, the team won the debate event and several individual events at a local competition in Kingwood, Texas.

East Wall: More than just another Chinese restaurant

East Wall is a small but busy restaurant tucked away in the Dunhuang Plaza of Chinatown. It is open from 11 a.m. to midnight every day, serving authentic Chinese food for lunch, dinner and late-night meals.The restaurant's primary focus is on meat and seafood dishes, but it also offers a variety of vegetarian platters, stews and desserts. In the beverage department, the restaurant offers soft drinks and juices as well as coffee, hot tea and milk tea.

High School Musical 3: third verse, same as first, a little bit shinier and sweatier

Most threequels don't make it in the box offices. In fact, they are usually absolute flops. Aside from the tremendously successful Spider-Man 3, other attempts, such as Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, turn out dry and boring and rely mostly on regurgitating the humor already used up in the first film. Disney's new High School Musical 3: Senior Year, however, is an exception to this rule. As the first of the High School Musical television films brought to the big screen, Disney produced a film whose quality goes beyond that of the usual threequel.As the title implies, High School Musical 3: Senior Year finds the characters of the original High School Musical cast in the midst of creating a play for their senior theater class while making decisions about where they want to go to college. Troy (Hairspray's Zac Efron) debates between playing basketball or further pursuing theater, and Gabriella (High School Musical 2's Vanessa Hudgens) faces saying goodbye to Troy when she heads off to Stanford. The supporting characters of Sharpay (The Suite Life of Zach and Cody's Ashley Tisdale), Ryan (College Road Trip's Lucas Grabeel), Taylor (High School Musical 2's Monique Coleman) and Chad (Jump In!'s Corbin Bleu) add to the flurry of college decisions and the school play.

Rice talks with Baylor College of Medicine

Wednesday morning, the Houston Chronicle printed an article divulging that Rice and the Baylor College of Medicine have been discussing the possibility of an institutional merger. Wednesday afternoon, President David Leebron sent an e-mail to campus addressing the issue (see story, page 1).We sincerely hope the university pursues the acquisition of BCM for several reasons. First, BCM's reputation would instantly enhance Rice's prestige on both a national and international scale. The university could boast ownership of both a business and medical school, immediately boosting our ability to compete with peer institutions like Washington University in St. Louis in terms of post-graduate programs. Secondly, BCM would find in Rice a more stable financial future, which can only help in increasing its status as a top medical school. Thirdly, any possible merger could be made very smoothly thanks to Rice's long collaborative history with BCM, and the fact that the medical school's administrative and physical structures are already in place. Lastly, but very importantly, the merger would probably have a minimal effect on the day-to-day life of the average undergraduate. There would be no on-campus construction or increase in on-campus foot and vehicle traffic, and undergraduate institutions would be (we hope) largely unaffected.

Letters to the Editor

Critical statistics misreported

Rice to consider merger with Baylor College of Medicine

Rice University is considering a merger with Baylor College of Medicine that would give Rice its own medical school, according to a joint statement from Rice and BCM Tuesday. "Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have a long history of valuable collaborations and are exploring the possibility of a closer affiliation," the statement said. "Preliminary talks between the two institutions are under way. No further details are available at this time."

Commentary: Down-under ex-editor finds new Aussie sport

Is it any wonder that Australian Rules Football shares nearly all distinct traits with a kangaroo? I'm not talking about gnawing on grass or disemboweling opponents - although I suppose that would up the ante. No, I'm talking about the basics: the kicking, the punching, the bouncing; you know, all the stuff people love about kangaroos.

Recycling competition needs advertising

Environmental Studies 302, a class focused on raising awareness about sustainability issues on the campus, kicked off an all-college recycling contest on Monday (see story, page 1). The idea is a good one - students generally respond positively to inter-college contests, especially when prize money is involved. Also, it is nice to see a campus recycling program initiated by students, rather than by a faculty member or administrator. There is nothing wrong with initiatives coming from the top, but students tend to subscribe more to grassroots movements instigated by their peers.While the contest's concept is commendable, however, its implementation suffered from one of Rice organizations' biggest problems: inadequate advertising and communication. The competition's kickoff was accompanied by little gusto and fanfare, meaning most students were unaware of it. This obscurity is something that should be remedied in the next few days, and hopefully, even though the contest ends a week from today, students can still make up for lost time.

Comic: Cingle Cellularity

Zach and Miri let it all hang out in new comedy

Kevin Smith, director of cult classics like Clerks, Mall Rats and Chasing Amy, is notorious for his love of filthy dialogue, filthy sex and poignant romances . er, filthy poignant romances. His new comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, contains all of the above and then some.As a thriving industry earning billions of dollars each year, pornography has played a large role in determining which forms of video technology will become popular. Mainstream porn picked VHS tapes to replace Beta, DVD to replace VHS and has just chosen Blu-ray to overtake HD.

Golf for Grads

Juniors and seniors looking to improve their professional networking skills can do so through Golf for Grads, a new program for Rice students organized and designed by Houston real estate company Redstone Companies, which teaches students golf skills and fundamentals. The program starts next semester and costs $85 per student and consists of six Sunday sessions in which participants learn golf in partnership with a mentor from the industry they are studying, Laura Klein, associate director of the Center for Student Professional Development, said. No prior golfing experience is required, and students are provided with clubs, balls and other golfing necessities.

Looming election demands educated vote

In a few days, a special event that only appears once every few years will come to pass. No, I'm not talking about Hello Hamlet! or a surprising but expected announcement of yet another building to be erected on our lovely campus. I'm talking about the Nov. 4 election that will change the destiny of the country and shape our future. With only a handful of days until the 2008 presidential election, it is more important than ever to get politically educated and motivated to vote.Now, while I am encouraging everyone to exercise his or her often taken-for-granted-or-ignored right to vote - something people in Zimbabwe and other politically unstable nations across the world wish they could exercise as easily we can - I am not saying that you should show up on Election Day at the polls and select whichever candidate you think has the better window-dressing and overall image. An uneducated vote is as worthless as an unused vote because it is backed by no substance, conviction or understanding of the issues and concerns this country faces.

Eats and treats abound at Ruggles in the Village

Wandering aimlessly down Rice Blvd. will lead you in either of two directions: into Hermann Park, or to a place where great food, wine and class meet: Ruggles Café and Bakery in the Rice Village. Quite a popular establishment, especially with the Rice cross-country and track teams, Ruggles offers some of the best food in Houston and uses the finest and freshest ingredients.The downside of its popularity is that the line is often out the door. Luckily, superb service makes the daunting wait fly by with a quick and accurate cashier staff and a simply amazing cooking staff that turns out orders quickly. On days when the line is doable and the weather is beautiful, customers can take the patio seating and even bring their own wine. The café will provide glasses for free.