Special Projects

Palestine-Israel dispute: Permanent moratorium essential

Two weeks ago, the Israeli freeze on new settlement construction in the West Bank expired. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instituted the freeze 10 months ago in a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinian government.With its expiration, the flood gates are reopened for Israeli settlers to continue encroaching on Palestinian land and in some cases razing and completely replacing Palestinian towns, forcing the Palestinians out.

The Social Network

High school and college students are quite familiar with how much of their free time is consumed by social networking websites, and whether you love or hate its constantly changing de- sign and layout, Facebook has earned the distinction of being one of the most important communication tools of this generation. With its spectacular cin- ematography, dialogue and actors, The Social Network reveals the story behind the creation of the social networking behemoth and the minds that made it a reality.From the get-go, the audience is made aware of the fact that Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) is a nerd. After breaking up with his girlfriend, Zuckerburg creates a website out of spite called FaceMash, which allows students at Harvard to view and rate pictures of female students. His creation of FaceMash brings him to the attention of Cameron Winklevoss (played by Armie Hammer, 2081) and his friend Divya Narendra (Max Minghella, Syriana), who hire Zuckerburg to help them create a networking site for Harvard students. Instead, Zuckerburg decides to create his own social networking site, The Facebook, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Schamun sets record as volleyball cruises

Any player would openly admit that the goals of the team take precedence over her pursuit of individual records. However, that same player may secretly wish of having her name at the top of the list in a statistical category. Luckily for senior setter Meredith Schamun, neither desire came in conflict with the other as the Owls had a perfect weekend, beating both the University of Texas- El Paso 3-1 (10-7, 2-2 C-USA) and the University of Central Florida 3-1 (7-9, 0-4 C-USA), with Schamun breaking the Rice school record for career assists by making her 4,541st assist during the second set of the UTEP match. Rice's victories increased their record to 4-1 in conference and put them in third in C-USA behind Southern Methodist University (12- 3, 4-0 C-USA) and the University of Tulsa (13-2, 4-0 C-USA). On Friday, Rice hosted UTEP in what was a crucial game as the Miners were undefeated in the conference at the time. Rice won the match with set scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-18 and 25-19 to hand UTEP their first conference loss of the season. Junior outside hitter Ashleigh McCord had 20 kills and senior middle back Nancy Cole had 16. Senior libero Tracey Lam had 28 digs while Schamun added 57 assists.

Redefining indoor lighting

Leo Villareal's as yet untitled new artwork on the wall of the cafe at the BioScience Research Collaborative features 92 LED-filled tubes which constantly change color. The tubes, which radiate from a center point on the wall, were turned on Sept. 30.

Last week's online poll results

Rice just a business; donations purely optional for graduates

Tonight, as I sat down to unwind after another hard day as an anesthesiology resident in New York, I received a phone call. I didn't catch her name but she introduced herself as a sophomore at Rice. Immediately, I was thrilled to be connected, however tenuously, to my alma mater. I wanted to ask her what college she was at, what she studied and how she liked that new coffee place with the glass walls I had seen during a visit last year.But she was focused. After confirming my contact information she got straight to the point. Would I be interested in donating to the newest Rice alumni fundraiser?

Glasscock School of Continuing Studies planning new facility

The Glasscock School of Continuing Studies is officially slated to receive a brand new facility once the remainder of project funds is acquired (see story, page 1). The price tag? A whopping $24 million. Currently, $9.5 million (a seemingly common sum of money these days) has been collected and the rest is anticipated to be accumulated by the Centennial Celebration.While this new facility allows the School of Continuing Studies to expand and offer more opportunities to Houston-area residents, the Thresher feels it is a bit of a disappointment to see this extravagant sum of money being funneled into a project that will affect a disproportionately small portion of the undergraduate student population. This concern is particularly valid at this current time of undergraduate enrollment expansion; it seems that as greater freshman classes expand the student body there should be a truly concentrated focus on undergraduate student needs.

Soccer off to best start ever in conference play

If Holloway Track/Ley Field were equipped with a scoreboard showing the scores of other Conference USA matches, the soccer team would have been glued to the glowing numbers of one specific game. As Friday's slate of C-USA matches dwindled down, the Owls and the University of Texas- El Paso (9-4, 2-2 C-USA) were tied at zero. Across town, the University of Houston (9-2-1, 4-0 C-USA) was also deadlocked at zero with conference opponent Colorado College (4-4-4, 0-3-1 C-USA). With Rice, UTEP and Houston all knotted at 2-0 in conference play, whichever squad could tally a clutch goal in the waning moments was going to pull ahead of the others in the conference standings. For the second straight game, it was the Owls who scored the late-night goal, when freshman defender Hayley Williams headed in a deflected corner kick in the 81st minute. With time ticking away, junior forward Annie Kadota trapped the ball inside Miner territory before wisely kicking the ball off of a UTEP defender, sending it rolling over the end line to create yet another corner kick for the Owls, their fifth of the night. After junior forward Hope Ward curved the ball over the goal box, freshman defender/midfielder Britton Cartwright headed it to Williams, who followed her teammate's lead by heading it into the back of the net. The Owls' stalwart defense held off a late barrage of shots from the vaunted Miners' offense but managed to keep a clean sheet.

Facebook affecting normal social activity

It was early evening on May 11. The year was 1812 and British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was entering the House of Commons when a man sprung out suddenly from the foyer and delivered a fatal shot straight to his chest. The man was John Bellingham, and on that day in 1812 he earned himself the distinction of being the only man to have ever successfully assassinated a British prime minister.While Bellingham was swiftly hanged for his crime, many Brits applauded him. Those who did also glorified a figure known as Ned Ludd. These people were craftsmen who, in the preceding months, had rattled the rising industrial centers of England.

RA to leave Wiess, Rice to pursue master's

Wiess College Resident Associate Christa Leimbach will be leaving Wiess and Rice after this year to get her master's degree in higher education. On her third year as an RA, Leimbach said that she is sad to leave Wiess but is excited for the future as well."Being an RA has been an absolutely amazing experience," Leimbach said. "I've gotten to share my life with the Wiess students and it's been a lot of fun."

Leebron, Ping win

Rice University is expanding both inside and outside the hedges. While construction has been creating new buildings and facilities to improve the campus, the Rice administration and faculty have been working on increasing the university's international presence. Their efforts have been recognized by the Greater Houston Partnership, who named President David Leebron and University Representative Y. Ping Sun as Houston's International Executives of the Year Sept. 30.

DSS director begins year

Alan Russell took the helm of Disability Support Services at the beginning of the academic year. As director, he said he wants to remove physical and academic barriers for disabled students at Rice."Disability is a social issue, not a medical issue," Russell said. "Lack of access to [education, jobs and the physical environment] is what disables a person."

Veg Out: Happily holed up at Hobbit Cafe, LOTR style

Hobbit Cafe is one of those rare themed restaurants that manages to be cool without being annoying. The Lord of the Rings-themed decor is omnipresent, to be sure, yet subtle enough that it doesn't invade your dining experience like a horde of raging Orcs. A section of the menu features sandwiches with whimsical names such as Dwalin and Smaug's Delight, but most of the menu is that of a regular burger and sandwich cafe. Unlike your average hole- in-the-wall cafe, Hobbit's food is actually tasty. A glance at the menu shows sandwiches in two sizes, slim and regular, but don't be fooled - slim is so enormous I had to take half of my sandwich home, and I almost never do that. I can only imagine how big the regular sandwich is. Each plate also comes with a variety of sides - some for an extra charge - like fruit, a heaping pile of fries or potato chips or, oddly enough, a mound of shredded carrots. Considering the amount of food served on each plate, you definitely get your money's worth at Hobbit Cafe.Size issues aside, the quality of the food is tasty as well. The Bilbo the Magnificent sandwich is a lovely blend of soft guacamole and crunchy cucumber and actually manages to make sprouts taste good, which I thought was impossible. Hobbit's fries are well-seasoned, with just a hint of a kick.

Sid Rich claims defensive battle against McMurtry

Wrapped up in their second defensive struggle in as many weeks, Sid Richardson College held McMurtry College scoreless in the first quarter but were unable to produce any points of their own. In the second quarter, Sid Rich senior quarterback Bianca Santos capped off a drive into the red zone, finding sophomore wide receiver Julianne Roberson on a flag pattern in the end zone to take the lead. Sid Rich converted the extra point, taking a 7-0 lead into the half.The second half was more of the same, as both defenses held their ground and kept their teams in the game. The Game of the Week became a field position battle, with both punters backing up the opposition in their own territory to keep the scoring down. Sid Rich and McMurtry exchanged possessions in the third quarter, with the Sid Rich offense on the field to begin the fourth quarter.

SCS building announced

Plans for the new School of Continuing Studies are moving forward thanks to a donation made by Houstonians Susanne and Melbern Glasscock. The School of Continuing Studies offers courses for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate teachers, English as a second language and foreign languages, philanthropy and nonprofit research and a master's degree program, as well as other courses for personal development.

Golf grabs sixth place in Louisiana; looks to N.C. next

Needing a solid final-round performance, senior Michael Whitehead delivered for the Owls, moving the golf team into a tie for sixth place on Tuesday at the Squire Creek Intercollegiate hosted by Louisiana Tech University in Choudrant, La. The Sugar Land native started off with an opening-round 66, the second-lowest round recorded by any Rice golfer since the mid-1980s.Rice shot a cumulative three-round score of 912 to tie the team with Sam Houston State University. The Owls' final-round score of 304 was the third lowest during Tuesday's third round of play and moved Rice out of a tie for eighth into sixth.

Owls' secondary torched by SMU air attack

If football games only consisted of the first and fourth quarters, Rice would have tied or won every game this year. For some reason, the football team has not come up with the same sterling results in the second and third quarters of their contests, including last weekend's game against Southern Methodist University (3-2, 2-0 C-USA), which the Owls lost 42-31. Whether it is conditioning, coaching or something else, Rice simply cannot continue to be so soundly defeated on the bookends of halftime if the team hopes to win games. With the predictability of the rhythm of the games, this season almost seems scripted. Rice plays great in the first quarter, giving up an average of 4.8 points - a pretty respectable number with its difficult schedule.

2014 rep announced

Jones College freshman Stephanie Tzouanas has been selected by the Rice Centennial Commission to represent the class of 2014 in the planning of Rice's Centennial Celebration that will take place Oct. 10-14, 2012. "I was definitely ecstatic and thrilled," Tzouanas said. "I am incredibly honored to have been chosen."

Women take 12th in race featuring nation's top teams

While the state of Texas boasts wide-open spaces, down-home barbecue and the best two-steppin' this side of the Mississippi, the Lone Star State has yet to attract top-tier teams to collegiate cross country races. In search of stiff competition, the women's cross country team traveled to the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn. In Minnesota, the Owls ran against eight nationally ranked schools as well as regional foe Baylor University. Rice finished 12th overall in the field of 29 schools, led by senior Britany Williams' 32nd place finish in 21:51 minutes, beating Baylor, who placed 14th.

Prez reflects on college

The Thresher sat down with President David Leebron to find out what he was like as a college student. Leebron received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1976.Ruby Gee: How is college different now in comparison to when you attended as an undergrad?