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(05/17/10 12:00am)
Tucked away in the corner of a freshly built shopping center, Banana Leaf Malaysian Cuisine initially seems to be just another Chinatown restaurant. Its bamboo decor and thatched-hut kitchen may be Asian kitsch, but the charming, if small, restaurant delivers fresh tastes and complex flavors.Malaysian food is a melange of Indian, Eurasian and Chinese cuisines, with curries, herbal soups and stir-fried noodle dishes. These numerous influences give a comforting glimmer of familiarity to anyone setting out to experience Malaysian cuisine for the first time, while still allowing diners the experience of exploring a new cuisine. The many hefty cultural influences shaping Banana Leaf's extensive menu are presented phonebook-style, like at many of the surrounding restaurants,. Appetizers run from $2.95 to $7.95, and while the priciest seafood dishes can weigh in at over $20, depending on market prices, the majority of the menu items are well under $10 apiece. Lunch items, available on weekdays from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., are $4.95 to $5.95.
(03/26/10 12:00am)
One of the few North African restaurants in Houston, Saffron opened in 2004 to generally positive reviews. The Moroccan restaurant is located off nearby Shepherd Drive and owned by the same company that runs the Italian eatery Mia Bella next door. However, Saffron proves to have little of the charm and memorability of its sister restaurant, and instead disappoints with bland, overpriced offerings.Located on the opposite end of the building from Mia Bella, Saffron boasts an ambiance that tries desperately to evoke the sights and smells of Morocco. The heavy wooden front door is imported from Morocco, and bright yellow walls and red seats add a festive flair. However, large stained-glass windows establish much of the natural light in the large front room, which results in a surprisingly gloomy atmosphere - even for a sunny Thursday afternoon. Most noticeably, however, diners are initially greeted by the smell of stale incense. While this smell may enhance the exotic atmosphere, it is neither appetizing nor particularly appealing; in fact, we noticed a slightly foul underlying odor, which made us wonder what exactly the incense was trying to mask.
(03/12/10 12:00am)
Since it opened last semester, Giacomo's Cibo e Vino on Westheimer Road has had Houston foodies buzzing. It's easy to see why: Giacomo's is everything that Italian dining should be, serving high-quality food that's true to tradition without putting pressure on wallets or waistlines. The restaurant, named after the owner's dog, is an unpretentious, off-the-beaten-path eating establishment that introduces customers to European Italian cuisine, a welcome break from the generic Italian-American chains that populate Houston.In fact, Giacomo's demonstrates the type of counter-style dining one may expect to see in Venice. The modern retro interior is all clean colors and crisp lines, and features a wall bedecked with colorful trapezoids, itself a representation of the up-to-date attitude of the restaurant with traditional offerings and service. Upon their entry, guests are directed to a cafeteria line, where they can choose from three types of dining. The first is cibo subito (immediate food), which includes a selection of cichetti, or antipasti, soups and sandwiches. Diners may also opt to wait a short time for cibo rapido (fast food) of pastas and salads, or slightly longer for cibo lento (slow food), main courses of pastas and meats. Our party opted for a variety of the three dining options, and everything arrived promptly. Though we at first felt overwhelmed by Giacomo's unconventional dining options, we found the wait staff friendly and helpful, as they offered suggestions for entrees and antipasti options that were not featured on the menu.
(10/30/09 12:00am)
In an effort to make the club more open to students, the Rice Program Council is nearly doubling in size as it allows students to join as committee representatives. Last year, RPC boasted the Formals, Socials, Traditions, and Spirit and Morale Committees. This year, the club restructured into Socials, Traditions, Publicity, Concerts, and Arts and Entertainment Committees, RPC Vice President Nicholas Muscara said. Interested students could apply for every committee but Arts and Entertainment, which does not accept members based on applications.
(10/30/09 12:00am)
Each fall since 2005, President David Leebron has outlined the university's progress over the previous year, and its plan for the next, in his State of the University address to faculty and students. The session, which is coordinated by the Faculty Senate, has always been open to the Rice community and a Thresher reporter has always been present to report on Leebron's remarks for a news article the following week.Not this year.
(08/21/09 12:00am)
In an unconventional venture beyond the hedges, Rice is hoping to have established a beneficial relationship with a local business by appealing to their pocketbooks. The employees from a recently-opened H-E-B Grocery Store, located on Buffalo Speedway and South Blvd., have been parking in West Lot free of charge since the beginning of the month, and will continue to park there until next Monday, Aug. 31.The employees are parking in West Lot 5, the lot adjacent to the police station and post office, off University Blvd. Parking Manager Mike Morgan estimated that the H-E-B employees use 50 to 100 parking spaces at any given time. He said since the lot normally has 180 spaces and is infrequently used, parkers should not be impacted by the spaces temporarily in use.
(08/21/09 12:00am)
Edith Wyschogrod, a former religious studies professor, died July 16. She was 79.Wyschogrod, a native New Yorker, started her career teaching philosophy at Queens College of City University of New York. She advanced from lecturer to a permanent member of their faculty and, in 1967, to chair of the department. She held this position until 1992, when she joined the Rice Religious Studies Department.
(12/05/08 12:00am)
The commencement speaker this May for the class of 2009 will be Zainab Salbi, the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, the Commencement Speaker Committee announced this week. The organization provides women in war-stricken areas of the world, many of whom have lost their husbands, with financial assistance, education and job training to regain their pre-war status. Salbi is also the author of Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, a memoir about growing up in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime, and The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope.
(11/14/08 12:00am)
The building formerly known as Autry Court now has a new name and a new face, after almost two years of construction. Former Rice basketball player Bobby Tudor (Hanszen '82) fulfilled a longtime dream when he donated $7 million for Autry renovations, which began in February of 2007. Tudor Fieldhouse had its grand opening last Friday and will open for the 2008- '09 basketball season tonight when the women's basketball plays California State University-Northridge. The athletic court itself will keep the name Autry in honor of Mrs. James L. Autry, whose daughter donated to the gymnasium building. Assistant Athletic Director and Media Relations Director Chuck Pool said a new Autry Court has been a dream for a very long time. Bobby Tudor, after whom Tudor Fieldhouse is named, was told that renovations to Autry Court were on the table when he went on his high school recruiting trip to Rice 31 years ago. The plans became a reality when Rice received a $7 million contribution from Tudor and his wife, Phoebe. Tudor is a former Rice basketball player and is now chairman and CEO of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., LLC.
(11/14/08 12:00am)
Due to student complaints about the vagaries of honor code violation notifications, the Honor Council voted Tuesday to specify the information in the initial e-mail sent to students under investigation. Students will now be notified of the class in which the honor code violation is being contested before their initial investigative meeting with the council. The council hosted a mock trial Tuesday to show students how an honor code violation is dealt with, the result of concerns raised at its Consensus Penalty Structure meeting in October, President Jackie Ammons said. After the trial, the floor was opened to discussion and afterward, the council voted on an issue raised by students in previous weeks about the transparency of the process, Ammons, a Brown College junior, said.
(11/07/08 12:00am)
Hispanic Studies Professor James Castañeda died last Saturday at age 75. Castañeda had taught at Rice for 47 years and served as Will Rice College master from 1969-'76. When Castañeda was hired in 1961, the Spanish department was part of a conglomerate of language programs. Associate Hispanic Studies Professor Lane Kauffmann said Castañeda saw that the Spanish department needed a doctorate Ph.D. program. In 1971, Castañeda started a masters program in the Department of Hispanic Studies.
(11/07/08 12:00am)
Republican Ed Emmett (Lovett '71) won Harris County judge on Tuesday, defeating Democratic candidate David Mincberg. Emmett was appointed to Harris County judge in March 2007 by the Harris County Commissioner's court. In 1978, Emmett ran for the legislature and served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
(10/31/08 12:00am)
President David Leebron spoke to a packed crowd in Duncan Hall last Thursday while delivering his fourth State of the University Address.Citing Hurricane Ike and its aftermath, Leebron said the year has turned out to be a historically different year for Rice. On Tuesday, Sept. 16, classes resumed after the hurricane with 75 percent of faculty and staff on campus. Leebron said this showed resilience and compassion in responding quickly to the storm. After Ike, the campus suffered $3 million in damage.
(09/26/08 12:00am)
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.
(09/05/08 12:00am)
Physics and astronomy professor Gordon Mutchler, 70, died Aug. 15 of a heart attack.Mutchler worked at Rice almost 40 years. He was highly respected and well liked among his colleagues, Physics and Astronomy Department Chair Barry Dunning said.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
Emma Hutchinson, daughter of former Brown College masters John and Paula Hutchinson, died Saturday after a long battle with polycystic kidney disease. She was 20 years old.The Rice Memorial Center provided 600 chairs in the Grand Hall for Hutchinson's memorial service Tuesday afternoon. Every seat was taken.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
Beginning next year, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences will get a facelift. Dan Carson, professor and chair of the department of biological sciences at the University of Delaware, will take over from Kathleen Matthews when she steps down in January. Carson was offered the position in June. Provost Eugene Levy had organized a committee to search for the new dean last semester.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
Former Rice student Matthew Wilson was found Aug. 13 at the University of California, Berkeley campus. According to the Houston Chronicle, the prosecution dropped all charges - which included trespassing, lying to a police officer and possessing stolen property - against Wilson.Wilson, then a Hanszen College junior, had been missing since December. Police found no clue of Wilson's whereabouts until June, when members of the Berkeley Police Department located his car in a Berkeley neighborhood after it was tagged as an abandoned vehicle. After finding Wilson in a UC-Berkeley classroom Aug. 13, BPD took him into custody. Currently, Wilson is being held in a San Francisco mental hospital on suicide watch, the Houston Chronicle reported Wed.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
Orientation Week is the only week of the year in which on-campus residents are expected to follow a strict dry policy, meaning that they will not consume alcohol from midnight the Saturday prior to O-Week to the following Saturday at noon.But it appears a group of students this week did not bother to read the fine print. Assistant Dean of the Student Judicial Program Don Ostdiek confirmed that a group of students participated in a party earlier this week.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
Over 700 freshmen got their first taste of the academic life Monday when they crammed into the Stude Concert Hall for the Orientation Week faculty address. Director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Edward Djerejian spoke to the new students about better understanding international conflict, tying in global politics to this year's common reading, Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea.Djerejian began his speech by men-tioning the beginning of the common reading, in which Mortenson writes to the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan had close military ties to Al-Qaeda, a situation worsened by the Taliban taking over the Afghan government, Djerejian said. And while the U.S. primarily focused on Iraq in the War on Terror, it should instead have focused on Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said.
