What do the 1985 University of Indiana men's basketball team and the 2010 Rice women's track team have in common? Early in their seasons, both could be described as teams on the brink of greatness.
After taking a week's hiatus from the annals of pole vault lore, senior Jason Colwick reminded everyone at last weekend's Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational just why he is considered one of the preeminent pole vaulters in the world. Colwick won the event with a mark of 5.67 meters (18' 7.25"), good enough to break his own Rice record. Colwick's vault is also the 10th-highest vault in the world this year.
This week's installment of Taco Trek, the last of our four-part series, is all about simplicity. So often, in the heat of competition, restaurants attempt to one-up each other, seeking any tool to gain an advantage. Whether it be in the form of a bigger dining area, fancier menus, a waitstaff dressed to the nines or HDTVs on the wall, numerous strategies are employed to bring back customers, often at the cost of quality.
The five-story 'Mongol college,' sitting near Duncan Hall and the Inner Loop, is the 10th residential college established as part of Rice's residential college system. After a few early growing pains, it is clear that the college, named after Rice alumni Burt ('56) and Deedee ('56) McMurtry, is on its way to developing its own identity.Currently comprised of 74 freshmen, McMurtry College represented Rice's first foray into the growth of the college system in nearly a decade. But instead of being forced to grow on its own, McMurtry has had the experience of sharing close quarters with Will Rice College. With such close presence between the two colleges, it was unavoidable that the older college would have a heady influence on the new college's formation.
Reasons have begun to trickle out why Rice University and BCM failed to reach common ground under their Memorandum of Understanding last month.The two institutions ceased considerations of a merger Jan. 11, in advance of the Jan. 31 deadline set by the MOU. An e-mail notified the Rice community of the developments Jan. 12, while announcing the two schools would maintain a mutual commitment to collaborative efforts.
Had you told women's basketball Head Coach Greg Williams in July that his team would get off to the worst start in the program's history, he probably would have been shocked. Had you told him that over the next 14 games, his team would find 10 wins to get back to the .500 mark, he might have called you a liar. Williams' disbelief may be hypothetical, but these situations are all too real for the team this season. The Owls (10-10, 4-3 Conference USA) captured two key C-USA games this weekend - one against Southern Methodist University, the other against the University of Tulsa - to earn not just a .500 record but, for the first time this season, more conference wins than conference defeats.
The following were noted at the most recent meeting of the Student Association Monday.Campus-wide Beer Bike Coordinator Brian Henderson reviewed the Beer Bike poll results and announced that this year's Beer Bike will retain the same format as last year's event.
Prepare your plastic bottles and last semester's notes, because Rice is participating in the national contest of RecycleMania. This competition, which started Jan. 17 and runs until March 27, is intended to familiarize students with their campus environmental programs and instill in them a lifelong habit, according to the Recyclemania Web site, recyclemania.org. At Rice, the EcoReps at each residential college are responsible for publicizing the event, which is sponsored by Sustainability at Rice.
After a sound defeat at the hands of the University of Texas Jan. 23, a week's worth of practice and reflection was apparently just what the women's tennis team needed to resume its winning ways. Rice (3-1) began the road back to victory Saturday against Texas State University at the Galleria Tennis & Athletic Club, emerging with a 7-0 victory. Five of the six singles players defeated their opponents in straight sets, and every singles entry took their match.
Come March 20, students sober and inebriated alike will accompany a caravan of trucks around the Inner Loop toward the Beer Bike track, water balloons at the ready. Because recent changes proposed to the parade route were voted down, most of the participants will be familiar with the route, as this year's Beer Bike parade will hold the same format as last year's.The college Beer Bike coordinators voted Monday against the proposed changes, the majority electing to maintain the current parade format. The result of the vote matched the results from a recent poll conducted by the Student Association, which showed student support for maintaining the parade's current format.
Still looking for their first win of the year, the swim team went to the University of Houston last weekend to face conference rival Tulane University, No. 24 Louisiana State University and Houston in a two-day meet. Rice (3-4), which had lost to Houston in October, prevailed under pressure to pull off two victories against Tulane (236.5-96.5) and the Cougars (197-144).Though the wins were tempered by a loss to LSU (119-236), the two victories came at the right time for the team to carry over momentum into the conference championship later this month.
Some weeks are for burritos, and some weeks are for fajitas. But last week, fellow taco enthusiasts, was a week for tacos. Which is why, along with unusually cold weather and the terrifying prospect of imminent exams, this week brings us another installment of Taco Trek.Last week, our taco trailblazers traveled to The Original Ninfa's, where they encountered a meal so far off the mark that it threatened their will to ever return to the famed Taco District.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association suggests that, should temperatures fall below 50 degrees during a match, play be moved indoors. Last Saturday, Rice met Oklahoma State University in College Station, Texas, while the temperatures dipped into the mid-30s. But moving indoors required bagging up all the gear, restarting the bus and beginning the warm-up routine all over again. So coaches from Rice and Oklahoma State huddled, conferred and decided that they would gut out the cold snap.
Nearly 50 years after the Freedom Riders took to the road to end racial segregation, a new group is riding to campaign for another form of social justice: rights for LGBT students. This diverse group of 22 young men and women, the 2010 Soulforce Equality Riders, come from various religious and cultural backgrounds across the country but are united in their desire for change. Since the Equality Rides began in 2006, the riders have visited and advocated for change at over 50 of the approximately 200 schools in the United States whose policies actively discriminate against LGBT students.
Another chance led to another dropped lead for the men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as Rice (7-15, 1-8 Conference USA) dropped a frustrating 76-65 loss to one of the nation's top teams, University of Alabama- Birmingham. Freshman Arsalan Kazemi led the squad with 15 points and 13 rebounds, followed by senior Cliff Ghoram with and junior Trey Stanton with 12 points each.It was a first half to remember for the Owls. Sophomore guard Lucas Kuipers set the tone early with a three-pointer to start the game, and right off the bat, the home team got back on defense. Holding UAB (19-4, 7-2 C-USA) to 30 percent shooting, Rice's stifling defense produced 13 points off of turnovers in the first half alone.
Just off the Sewall Hall courtyard, flashes of Houston scenery from two projectors travel acros loops upon loops of white string, intricately threaded into a multilayered sculpture that appears to float in the middle of the Matchbox Gallery's black walls. Lovett College senior Nico Gardner's exhibit, Intersections: Houston, opened last Thursday at the Matchbox Gallery and captures a view of Houston that is both deeply personal and visually intriguing.Gardner said the idea of a "map of Houston" was a plan he had considered for some time. The projected footage was recorded on two cameras Gardner mounted to his car, one pointing up and the other forward, so both the Houston skyline and his most-traveled routes were recorded.
Houston's incredibly diverse population is complemented by its array of ethnic restaurants, especially Asian-themed ones. We have always enjoyed chowing down on various cultural cuisines, so it was about time we paid a visit to Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant, located off the METRORail's Ensemble/HCC stop. If you love Asian food and are prone to a case of the midnight munchies, but lack a car to help you curb your cravings, Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant is the place for you. If you're not a fan of the light rail, Mai's delivers until 3 a.m.
While certain individuals have found success this season, the men's track and field team began the season as just that: a collection of individuals with individualized performances and individualized competition. Granted, most track and field events are individual, but injuries and the track's reconstruction have kept the Owls from truly gelling in a team format. No more. The team finally came together Saturday for the Houston Indoor Invitational at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse, marking the first time this season a majority of the squad competed at a meet. Boasting both veteran experience and poised freshmen, Rice was able to take much away from this meet, according to Head Coach Jon Warren (Jones '88).
The administration has decided to postpone a final decisionregarding the potential installation of granite rings around Willy's statue in the academic quad to commemorate donors giving at least $4.6 million - the amount which William
In a much-needed boost of confidence Rice beat Texas A&M International today at Tudor Fieldhouse by a score of 73-66. Freshman Arsalan Kazemi led the Owls with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Trey Stanton and sophomores Lucas Kuipers and Connor Frizzelle also finished with double figures, scoring 16, 15 and 12, respectively.Just two days after a demoralizing loss to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the Owls seemed to be fighting off fatigue from the start of the game. Rice went down by two points after only two minutes of play, a gap that widened to seven over the next three minutes.
