Special Projects

Graduate student concerns omitted from hurricane plan

While I am grateful that all faculty, staff and students pulled through the recent storm without injury, I must comment on the disquieting attitude of the administration both before and just after what remains one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history - an attitude that has severely injured the relationship between the administration and graduate students.As I have spent four years as an undergraduate at Rice, followed by several more as a graduate student, I can personally attest to a different standard of treatment of undergraduate versus graduate students. Most recently, even as undergraduates and parents were being soothed and reassured in the face of the hurricane, faculty and graduate students were told they were "nonessential" personnel, and were banned from campus unless they were in Rice housing.

Newman's life a unifying model for Americans

On Friday night, the presidential candidates fought a rhetorical battle of words for their respective visions of America. Sadly, that same night, a quintessential American lost his fight with cancer. Surrounded by loved ones, Paul Newman, the film legend, philanthropist, war hero and family man died Friday at age 83.The news was somewhat overshadowed this weekend by grave financial and political matters, but Newman was a man whom we should all take pause and remember as we move forward into what looks to be an uncertain and ominous era. While times are hard, politics are divisive and we struggle with the banalities of every day, our memory of Paul Newman can instill in all of us a renewed faith in humanity. Whoever you were cheering for in Friday's debate or however you feel about the current financial bailout, we can unite in a shared admiration of this impressive man who truly did make a difference.

Letters to the Editor

Valhalla closing unfair measure

Palin's religious fervor reveals cracks in political morality

To the Honorable Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska:Earlier this month, just days after your nomination for the vice presidency, we learned that your teenage daughter, 17-year-old Bristol Palin, is pregnant. Already the talk about the miniature scandal is dying down, but you must still be distressed that this calamity occurred in your own family and that it was thrust into the national spotlight. The purpose of this letter is to demonstrate that you have greater reasons to be alarmed. You must accept that you and your misguided political and religious beliefs are the primary causes of poor Bristol's troubles.

Venue change first step in reviving Esperanza

Last week, the Thresher wrote a staff editorial encouraging Rice Program Council to increase its visibility and relevance in light of its massive budget increase for the 2008-'09 school year ("With great budget comes great responsibility," Sept. 19). This week, we are reporting on Esperanza, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, at the end of homecoming week (see story, page 1).RPC revealed this week that Esperanza will be held on campus in an outdoor tent between the Shepherd School of Music, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, but more than just an average tent, this particular locale will boast walls, a hardwood floor, bathrooms and ice sculptures.

Rice fumbles graduate student issues during Ike

When Hurricane Ike headed towards Houston last weekend, Rice did a great job communicating with undergraduates about shelter and food. However, graduate students seemed to be left out of the loop (See story, page 1). It wasn't until Thursday evening that graduate students received any definitive word about plans for Hurricane Ike from Dean of Graduate Students Paula Sanders, who e-mailed graduate students notifying them that they could not seek shelter at Rice because the school would be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Students housed in the Rice Graduate Apartments were told they may be able to find shelter at Rice. Unsurprisingly, this e-mail threw a wrench into the plans of everyone who had made an evacuation to Rice part of their safety plans. Then, the Crisis Management Team e-mailed graduate students Friday morning to inform them that Rice would provide shelter in the Janice and Robert McNair Hall and the Rice Memorial Center until Monday, but it would only be provided for students living in the Graduate Apartments, who were under mandatory evacuation.

Rice endowment decreases $60 million

As the Wall Street collapse earlier this month indicated, times are tough for investments. Reflecting this trend, Rice's endowment this year has decreased $60 million from $4.67 billion to $4.61 billion. Nationally, Rice ranks 19th for the size of its endowment, and ranks sixth in amount per student according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers Endowment Study. The endowment is a permanent investment that the university uses to support the general operation of the school, faculty chairs, scholarships, fellowships and departmental programs. The endowment is invested in U.S. stocks, international stocks, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity and real assents - which include real estate, oil and timber. It is invested with over 100 different investment managers and partnerships around the world.

Volleyball sweeps tournament for landmark win

After three years of trying without success to come out on top in an in-season tournament, the volleyball team finally reached their goal in Ohio at the Best Western Invitational last weekend, recording their first tournament win since 2005. In what was a big weekend for the Owls, Rice defeated Hofstra University 3-1 on Friday night and swept Saturday's matches over Bowling Green State University and Binghamton University by 3-1 and 3-0 scores, respectively. Rice looks to build upon last weekend's performance as they open the conference season against the University of Texas-El Paso on Friday at 8 p.m. in El Paso. Coach Genny Volpe plans to caution her team against looking ahead of UTEP to Sunday's match against Tulane University in New Orleans at 1 p.m.

News in Brief: Beer Bike coordinators chosen

This year's Beer Bike coordinators will be Brown College junior Mary Chapman and senior Mark Eastaway, Rice Program Council President Michelle Kerkstra said at the club's meeting Tuesday. Both Chapman and Eastaway have been involved in Beer Bike before, but they will not participate in Brown's activities this year.

Masden to leave Rice

After holding down the fort for five years, Director of Student Activities Heather Masden will step down from her position Tuesday to return to Florida with her family. Assistant Dean of Students Catherine Clack will begin the search for a new director this semester, Masden said. As director of student activities, Masden oversees Rice clubs, provides students with opportunities to engage in leadership positions and organizes campus events.

Search begins for new college masters for Hanszen, Lovett

Although this school year is far from over, some colleges are already preparing for next year. Since this year marks the end of their masters' five-year terms, Lovett and Hanszen Colleges are beginning their search for new college masters this fall.Wes and Barbara Morris, the Hanszen masters, and Bernard and Carolyn Aresu, the Lovett Masters, will be leaving their positions in May.

This week's Editorial Cartoon

The Women is a chick flick worth missing

Imagine a hybrid film that combines the metropolitan feel of The Devil Wears Prada, the sappy sweetness about four friends of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the high drama of "Gossip Girl." All great to watch separately, these elements absolutely fail when combined into one movie like the newly-released The Women, based on the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce.A chick flick without a directed plot line and a drama without enough ethos to make the viewer feel for the characters, The Women is a disappointment.

Esperanza IV: A new hope

Esperanza this year will not be held at an aquarium or a baseball stadium. Rather, Rice Program Council will host its fall formal on campus, in a tent located between the Shepherd School of Music and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. Esperanza will be held Saturday, Nov. 8 from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. RPC Formals Committee co-Chair Maggy Taylor said ticket costs are still up in the air. Though the official theme is undecided, RPC is considering a "blue and grey" motif, RPC President Michelle Kerkstra said.

Temporary triage center set up in Oshman Kitchen

Rice hosted its first medical triage center last week in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen in an attempt to keep the hospitals in the Texas Medical Center from overflowing with patients arriving after Hurricane Ike. The triage was planned to remain on campus for several weeks, Jim Parisi, Memorial Hermann Hospital System Executive for Emergency Services, said. In another effort to help the overburdened medical center, the university opened its Greenbriar lot last week as a landing pad for five helicopters.

Grad students protest Ike plans

When Hurricane Ike tore through Houston two weeks ago, it was expected that most of the city would lose electrical power. However, many of Rice's graduate students found themselves completely in the dark in other ways, as lines of communication with the university broke down. Last week, Graduate Student Association President Michael Contreras met with Dean of Graduate Students Paula Sanders to discuss the way the university handled the graduate student population during Ike. The GSA also provided an open forum Tuesday night for graduate students to share their thoughts. Contreras, a fourth-year civil engineering student, will assign a focus group to review the university's hurricane steps and to draft a proposal to Sanders next month outlining the ways in which the university could have better planned for the event.

Common reading lacking common goal

Dear Common Reading, this is for you. I think you should ponder this candid review. You're hogwash, you're toothless, you're gonna be great. I believe in you truly, but first I berate. A text is a means, not an end to pursue. An author's deficient with one point of view. To your book-centric past please now say adieu for a transfiguration I here beg of you.Oh Common Reading, I must beat you blue but I'll do it with love; I'll do it for you. Your name, to be frank, is an earful of sigh. No import, no fanfare, no reason to fly. This gift with a spine is just one I don't want. It's pressure; it's hazing; a high school haunt. This shared ID is a humorous plea. I'm Hanszen! I'm MechE! I'm Three Cups of Tea! This dialogue's missing a who, where and how. Professor Plum in the library by the candlestick now? Your issues are passive, enslaved by a book. What's cheaper? What's easy? Where shouldn't we look? You're present at orientation each year. Those freshmen, those suckers! Upperclassmen drink beer. And most sorry yet, you're still thinking small. We're Rice and we're hedged, but we can be tall. You salute our new presence by having us read or sit in a theater to hear of a need. But what of our talents, our minds and our hearts? We're not just some sponges; we've got moving parts!

SAC makes changes to tours

Love it or hate it, most students remember their Rice campus tour. Due to a series of changes to the Student Admissions Council this year, hundreds of students may now experience essentially the same tour regardless of the tour guide. Guides will now be paid, follow a script and dress code and will be hired by faculty rather than by a student panel. Changes to the SAC most significantly affect the campus tour program, in which current Rice students guide visitors on an informative walk around campus. Associate Director of Admission Fitima Jackson said tour guides will now be paid per hour, instead of volunteering for the activity. Aesthetic changes have occurred as well. Instead of blue t-shirts bearing the SAC logo, guides will wear a more professional polo with "tour guide" on the breast pocket. Additionally, tour guides are provided with a training handbook to prime them on features of the developing campus.

Cross Country squads start season at A&M

Men's Cross Country

The deadly Dillard-Clement connection

As the offense runs plays in practice, senior quarterback Chase Clement drops back and fires the ball. And whether it's a long spiral downfield that leads him across the goal line or a short, hard pass over the middle, senior receiver Jarett Dillard catches it. The problem for other Conference USA schools and the rest of the teams on the Owls schedule? The two often made make it look as easy in games as they do in practice.