On a campus with a football team that boasts a single win this season, a soccer squad that did not quite live up to expectations and two basketball programs dying to bounce back from disheartening 2008-09 seasons, the women's cross country team, competitors at the national tournament over the past two seasons, had the athletic hopes of an entire university on their shoulders. However, with five upperclassmen out of the mix this season, those expectations fell on the shoulders of an extremely young team - one comprised entirely of underclassmen, save for a single fifth-year senior.
It has been weeks since that fateful night at the hotel, and I still sit by my phone anxiously awaiting her call, hoping to have another chance, even if just one more night, to talk, to share my soul with her. But without so much as an "I'll call you in a week!" or "I'll be back in a month; see you then!", I know neither how long to wait, nor if the call is coming at all.But don't cry for me. No, this time it isn't a sexy one-night stand whose sequel I (still) await. This time, I have found myself in a situation that I would never, not in a million years, have thought I would stumble upon.
On Nov. 11, University Architect David Rodd spoke to the Student Association to outline Rice's Master Plan, a comprehensive overview of how Rice and its campus are expected to change over the next five decades. As he presented his plan, I couldn't help but notice the constant mention of words such as "expansion," "growth" and "increase," with reference to both the undergraduate population and academic resources. The question that came to my mind was whether the idea of growth is inherently at odds with Rice's character as a medium-sized, undergraduate-focused university charging relatively low tuition.
Nearly two months after the opening of the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, the Rice Dance Theatre has finally received the opportunity to showcase its talent in the facility's state-of-the-art dance studio. After one viewing, it is easy to see that the wait, while tedious, has been worth it.In preparing for "In Habit," the studio needed only minor tweaking to transform the Rec Center's dance studio from practice space to performance space. Come the night of the performance, the room finds itself adorned with black partitions lining the walls and black material covering the wood floor. Four light trees are employed on either side of the performance space; though there is only flexibility in light intensity, not color, the space is well lit and the company uses well-timed light fading to enhance their performances. Dancers emerge from the partitions and perform in the round - chairs surround the performance space on both sides, and there is not a bad seat in the studio.
This weekend, the C-USA volleyball tournament will be hosted at Tudor Fieldhouse. Tulane has been a conference powerhouse in past years, but this season, Southern Miss has emerged as the strongest squad. 1. University of Southern Mississippi (25-4, 14-2 C-USA): The Golden Eagles enter the tournament as the obvious favorite, having won 14 matches in a row. Southern Miss has experienced a resurgence of their program and has been led by seniors Angela Hlavaty and Maia Ivanova.
Holding Esperanza in the Health Museum was bound to provide an interesting setting for those in attendance. Brown College junior Wharton Wang and Jones College sophomore Grace Ching take a break from dancing to check out the museum exhibits last Saturday, one of the many bodily activities that night.
Dear Lance,By now, we're sure you've heard the news: Beer Bike is changing (see story, page 1). This year, the first in which the number of colleges runs into double digits, the most sacrosanct part of Rice's culture will look . different. See, two new colleges have ridden in on their environmentally friendly horses and decided to crash the party, changing up the game plan and turning this year's Beer Bike into a cauldron of concern and confusion.
The Faculty Merger Review Committee is an independent committee designed to evaluate the benefits and costs of a merger and, if necessary, provide advice to the Faculty Senate. Committe Chair Donald Morrison provided his outlook on the merger.The Faculty Merger Review Committee was formed April 23 due to a resolution passed by the Faculty Senate during a plenary meeting that same day.
For the first time in the university's history, the Rice Interfaith Dialogue Association, in conjunction with the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, hosted dinner talks Thursday at two residential colleges to discuss students' religious differences. The two sections, held at Brown College and Wiess College, accommodated eight and 12 students, respectively. The talks were led by RIDA moderators: Lovett College sophomore Katie Jenson at Brown and Martel College junior David Sorge at Wiess.
The possible acquisition of the Baylor College of Medicine is one of the biggest decisions Rice has faced in its 97-year history, and dozens of variables are to be taken into consideration before a final verdict is reached. President David Leebron, a high-ranking proponent of the merger, and professor Moshe Vardi, one of its most outspoken opponents, debate the merger's merits.Read President Leebron's argument below, or skip to Professor Vardi's.
Many head out to Los Angeles to become stars, but few succeed. One of these elite and talented individuals is Rice graduate Ron Bozman (Hanszen College '69) who has served as executive producer of box-office hits including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Failure to Launch, The Stepford Wives and Confessions of a Shopaholic. However, Bozman is best known for his production of 1991's Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Picture.Last week, Bozman visited Rice to share his experiences with students, and the Thresher chatted with this producer about his career at Rice and his experiences in film.
This week, the Thresher Sports Staff sits down at the roundtable to discuss the first win for the football team in the 2009 season. Jonathan Meyers breaks down the tough 10th place finish for the Men's Cross Country team, and Yan Digilov gives his analysis of the Men's Basketball team's impressive performance at the first annual Rice Basketball Challenge. Plus, POWDERPUFF ANALYSIS and much more.
While Rice's possible merger with the Baylor College of Medicine may have garnered much attention in recent months, the focus of Duncan College and McMurtry College students has centered on a different type of expansion across campus. The inception of the two new colleges has necessitated an expansion of the Beer Bike track.
The pomp and circumstance for the seniors last weekend could have ended with the flowers. It could have ended with the pre-game standing ovations, or with the hugs from family members, or the memories of four years past. Instead, it ended with a near-effortless 3-0 victory over the University of Houston, which, all things considered, was perhaps the best way to send off one of the strongest senior classes Rice has seen in recent memory.
This column has been removed due to violation of Thresher policy.
Twelve points. Mere seconds when speaking in terms of cross country placing. Exactly what separated the 10th-place men's cross country team from Baylor University in seventh place at last week's South Central Regional meet, held at the Cottonwood Creek Country Club in Waco, Texas. The amount keeping Rice from reaching a realistic goal, and the amount that turned the meet from an opportunity to a disappointment. "We were that close to being seventh," Head Coach Jon Warren said. "I thought we could have raced better, considering the good performances we had gotten from seniors Simon Bucknell and Scott Zivick at conference. As a team, we had a higher expectation for the meet."
The volleyball team capped off a terrific three-day run through the Conference-USA tournament with a dramatic victory over second-seeded Tulsa. The win gave the Owls an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, their second consecutive appearance in the 64-team tournament.Rice entered Sunday's tournament finale on a season-high seven-match winning streak, including their first two matches of the C-USA Tournament, which was hosted by the Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice defeated Marshall in three sets on Friday evening before taking out top-seeded Southern Miss on Saturday evening. The Golden Eagles entered their match against Rice on a fifteen-match winning streak, but Rice proved too hot for the tournament favorite. That victory set up Rice's matchup with Tulsa in front of a loud crowd at Tudor.
The hype has been there for months. Now, the results are coming in, and it looks like the immense promise that comes with the conference's top recruiting class is starting to pay off. The men's basketball team came racing out of the gate last weekend, and their stellar play resulted in a sweep of the inaugural Rice Basketball Challenge and a 3-0 start for the first time in five years.
In a repeat of last year's ranking, Rice came in fourth as a "best value" private school on both The Princeton Review and Kiplinger's Personal Finance rankings published earlier this month. The top 100 national schools were ranked. California Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Yale University precede Rice in the rankings.
