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NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Sony's Killzone 2: Here come the Helghast

By Joe Dwyer

Sony's first killer app of 2009 is finally here, and while the gameplay takes some getting used to, fun and frantic multiplayer modes along with PlayStation 3's most beautiful graphics to date make Killzone 2 a solid entry in any gamer's library.Killzone 2 picks up where the PS2's Killzone and the PSP's Killzone: Liberation left off. Interplanetary Strategic Alliance forces are invading the planet Helghan in an attempt to capture Scolar Visari, leader of the Helghast forces, and put an end to the ongoing war. Obviously, things do not go as planned: Stuff explodes, people die all over the place and players find themselves trying to survive on the hostile surface of Helghan as Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, member of the elite Alpha Team.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Seniors finish with exemplary performance

By Yan Digilov

The expectations were low for the women's basketball team as they entered the Conference USA tournament last Saturday. After losing to the University of Central Florida by 25 points earlier in the season, few could have expected the performance the Owls (7-23, 2-14 C-USA), stuck with the lowest seed, would put up. Fortunately, seniors Maudess Fulton and Emery Carter knew they had it in them all along.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Endowment must be handled responsibly

By Gislaine Williams and Richard Treadwell

After the failings of Stanford Financial, Lehman Brothers and AIG, the current economic crisis has shown us the true importance of investing in companies that follow ethical and sustainable practices. Universities, as some of the largest shareholders in the country, have a vested interest and a huge amount of influence in making sure that companies commit to socially and environmentally responsible practices.Rice for Peace is calling on Rice University to join a growing movement of schools committed to responsible endowment management. We have created a proposal asking Rice to establish an Advisory Committee for a Responsible Endowment so we can use the university's power as a shareholder to promote social and environmental responsibility. Investments in companies that guarantee ethical practices and contribute to community development will, in both the short- and long-run, be the most beneficial to growing Rice's endowment as well as its standing in the academic and international communities.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Under the hood with Watchmen

By Faheem Ahmed

Oscar for "Best Trailer," then director Zack Snyder would have a couple of gleaming trophies sitting on his mantle. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, trailers used to be four minutes long, voiced over by a dude who sounded like he had emphysema and summarized the entire plot of the film.Enter the recently deceased Don LaFontaine: Using his deep iconic voice, LaFontaine single-handedly revolutionized the trailer concept. Since then trailers have become much tighter, featuring quick, exciting montages and samples of some of the best scenes from the film in an effort to garner audience interest. Snyder has absolutely perfected this method.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Hanszen snatches Senior Gift victory

By Josh Rutenberg

Taking the adage "what you give is what you get" literally, Hanszen College beat out the competition last week by claiming victory in the Senior Gift Giving challenge.Hanszen senior Ted Wieber said a number of different factors pushed Hanszen to lead the competition.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Men's tennis triumphs during West Coast trip

By Casey Michel

The men's tennis team has not always had the best luck playing doubles. Despite owning a singles set that has clinched top 30 rankings throughout the decade, the doubles teams have consistently hung like a cloud over the beginning of each match, creating question marks that always mocked Rice's progress.But this year seems to be different. After one of the Owls' top players, 49th-ranked junior Bruno Rosa, faltered early on, and junior Chong Wang, the third-best Owl, departed due to off-court issues, Rice's singles play has been marked by relative struggles.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Berry leads Owls in toppling top-ranked A&M

By Dylan Farmer

Junior pitcher Ryan Berry needed only a week of warming up to get the offseason rust out of his system. Bouncing back from a disappointing performance against California Polytechnic State University in the baseball team's season opener, Berry, Conference USA Pitcher Of the Week, pitched a complete-game shutout against formerly top-ranked Texas A&M University two weeks ago at the Minute Maid College Classic. Last Saturday, he followed up with an almost identical performance against Notre Dame University in Rice's own Academy Sports and Outdoors Rice Classic tournament.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Willy week approaches

By Jocelyn Wright

Start planning jacks, filling water balloons and pumping air in your tires: Willy Week begins Monday and will culminate with Beer Bike on Saturday, March 21. The theme of this year's Willy Week, which is organized by the Rice Program Council, is WhataWilly Week, a spin off of the Whataburger fast-food chain. T-shirts will be on sale for $5 throughout the week.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Track closed due to accident

By Jaclyn Youngblood

The Beer Bike track in the Greenbriar lot was temporarily closed after an accident occurred on Feb. 25, B.J. Almond, Director of the Office of News and Media Relations, said. The track closed officially on Feb. 27 for spring break and reopened March 9 for bikers. Almond said a student biking on the track collided with a car that was crossing the track but had stopped when the driver saw the cyclists.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Tuesday's Sports Update: Baseball beats back No. 1 Longhorns at home

By Meghan Hall

Two freshman starting pitchers-Texas's Austin Dicharry of Klein Collins High School and Rice's Matthew Reckling of Kinkaid-went to high school less than 20 miles from one another in the Houston area but ended up facing each other last Tuesday night. Fourth-ranked Rice took on longtime rival University of Texas, which, according to Baseball America, is the best team in the nation.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Tuition increase troubling

By Staff Editorial

The recent tuition hike, announced by President David Leebron on Wednesday, comes with a mixed welcome (see story, page 1). On the one hand, we are pleased to see the university implementing a tuition increase that, percentage-wise, is less than the increases of recent years, and is considerably less than the 14 percent increase instituted of a few years ago. In such an economic climate, we are happy that the administration is taking students' financial needs into consideration, namely with the increase of the loan threshold to $80,000 for the incoming class. Additionally, it is commendable to see that Rice's 2009 percentage increase is less than almost all comparable universities outside of the Ivy League.However, we are worried by the fact that, in the last decade, our tuition has nearly doubled. What was once a selling point - Rice offering a comparable education for pennies on the dollar - has become lore. Even though we can still compare ourselves to other schools who are also increasing their tuitions, the national trend of staggering tuition increases affects us, and is more than a bit troubling. It has to end somewhere, and we hope that end is in sight.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Men's tennis finds groove in doubles

By Casey Michel

The men's tennis team has not always had the best luck playing doubles. Despite owning a singles set that has clinched top 30 rankings throughout the decade, the doubles teams have consistently hung like a cloud over the beginning of each match, creating question marks that always mocked Rice's progress. But this year seems to be different. After one of the Owls' top players, 49th-ranked junior Bruno Rosa, faltered early on, and junior Chong Wang, the third-best Owl, departed due to off-court issues, Rice's singles play has been marked by relative struggles.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Students helm investment group

By Michelle Jin

In these times of economic crisis, the safest place to invest your money may be the newly-formed Owl Investment Group. Founded by Martel college sophomore Chris Kopczynski, the Owl Investment Group seeks to give Rice students hands-on experience in investing and provides financial news to students.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Correction

By Staff Editorial

In the Feb. 27 issue, a graphic on page 8 mistakenly listed Jackie Ammons, Kelsey Zottnick and Andrew McElroy Patterson as Honor Council winners in their respective years. However, Honor Council Representatives are not selected based on the one with the highest votes. The elections were uncontested and allowed for multiple winners. The Thresher regrets the error.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Former Rice professor dies in Kenya

By Margeux Clemmons

Atieno Odhiambo, groundbreaking African history scholar and Rice professor of History for nearly two decades, died Feb. 25 after being diagnosed with a degenerative illness. He was 63. A contributor to 14 books as author, co-author and editor, Odhiambo also wrote countless articles and chapters concerning African historiography, colonialism and various aspects of historical development in East Africa.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Students devote spring break to serving others

By Ly Hoang

Instead of basking in the tropical sun, over 100 students volunteered at various non-profit organizations throughout the country as part of Alternative Spring Break (ASB), which was sponsored by the Community Involvement Center. Eight groups of approximately 12 students worked in Colorado, Virginia, Mississippi, California, Washington, South Dakota, Illinois and Costa Rica, and one group of 40 volunteers visited Galveston. With an application pool twice the number of available spots, the selection process was highly competitive. Though participants were asked to pay a $250 registration fee, the rest of the money for the trips was raised by each team through special events and personal solicitations. Some groups chose to fundraise by holding a raffle for gift cards at nearby restaurants and stores, while others held bake sales or sold Valentine's goodies.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

Taking a ride on the West Side ... Story

By Timothy Faust

With tremendous productions like Urinetown (2007) and Hello, Hamlet! (2008), in recent years Wiess Tabletop Theater has established itself as the annual college musical theater powerhouse. But the reputation is double-edged: this year's production, West Side Story, carried with it fantastic potential and extraordinary expectations. When the stars align and all the gears within the production synchronize, the product is riveting. Unfortunately, these moments are spread too thin across the production's two-hour runtime. Wiess may have bitten off more than it can chew.West Side Story, written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, is a 1957 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that replaces the feuding Montague and Capulet families with two Hell's Kitchen street gangs: the all-Anglo Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. The show has become one of the more influential works in the history of American musical theater, largely because of the unprecedented complexity of its choreography and innovative music. Producing the show necessitates a fastidious attention to the details of its dancing and its music, and for the most part Wiess's production succeeds with only a few lapses.

NEWS 3/12/09 7:00pm

MSA hosts Irish Muslim convert

By Cindy Dinh

If she were not wearing her hijab, most passersby might not notice that Fidelma O'Leary was a devout Muslim. O'Leary, who teaches neuroscience at St. Edward's Universtiy in Austin, spoke on campus last Tuesday, not about the intricacies of neurons, but about religion and her struggle as a converted Muslim. The lecture, entitled "A Muslim Woman's Jihad," is the first in the Islamica series sponsored by the Muslim Student Association.

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