Special Projects

Literary sex magazine debuts

Harvard may have the H Bomb and Cornell may boast the SMUT, but next Friday, Rice will join their ranks with Open, its first sex magazine. Editor in chief Rachel Solnick plans to distribute the 68-page black-and-white magazine's 1,500 copies to Rice and the surrounding Houston community.The magazine is composed of seven sections: Perspectives, which features individuals speaking as part of a group; editorials; articles, which cover news and historical events; short stories; poetry; the post-secret section, from campus-distributed postcards which garnered student input; and the results of an online sex survey from earlier this semester, which received over 800 responses.

Demands strain on-campus housing

An increased demand for on-campus housing led to panic for many students at room draw this year. At some colleges, room draw coordinators were forced to change their plans to deal with the increased demand for an ever-smaller number of spaces.At Jones College, students are normally bumped off-campus according to their seniority, with juniors and seniors at the highest risk of being bumped. Students get an exemption if they move off campus early.

Rice's national surveys should be expanded

Rice's department of public affairs recently conducted a small survey of Rice's reputation both locally and nationally, focusing specifically on the east and west coasts (see story, page 6). Although the small sample size of 800 means the survey's results are extremely rough at best, we feel the study's implementation was time well spent for Rice. First of all, it was a good preliminary investigation into Rice's national presence. With the university looking to expand enrollment and gain national recognition for campus research, those in charge of marketing have to know where and how to target their efforts. This introductory indicator provided some general information that could help with that mission.

Offense edges defense 44-43 to round out spring season

Whether it is new positions or innovative techniques, spring football is a time for learning.Because of its didactic nature, it was no surprise that the offense's 44-43 win over the defense in the spring game was sloppy. The contest was the capstone to an entire semester of practice, which saw much improvement and change for many of Rice's players.

Baseball takes season series from Texas

Although they have witnessed stretches of poor pitching and lethargic offense, fans seem to be only a little worried about the baseball team's ups and downs this year. True, in the last two weeks Rice (24-10, 7-2 Conference USA) has dropped two games against the University of Southern Mississippi and one to Dallas Baptist University (20-9). But the Owls also swept Memphis University, thumped Lamar University (20-11) and walked away with more wins in the season series than the 13th-ranked University of Texas for the first time since 2003. But through all the streakiness, the Owls have still landed on soft ground, with the most wins in Conference USA and a No. 6 national ranking to their name.The Owls continue their current homestand this weekend against the University of Alabama-Birmingham, which is currently dead last in C-USA. But records do not always tell the whole story - the underdog Blazers (13-17, 1-5 C-USA) have beaten Tulane University and the University of Alabama this season, and are led offensively by Ryan Keedy's .429 batting average and 29 RBIs. UAB will also be counting on pitchers Mitch Kloskowski, who has 35 strikeouts in 42.1 innings, and Kyle Roberson, who has 25 strikeouts in 26.1 innings, to silence the prominent Rice bats. The three-game series begins tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Reckling Park.

Walking with dinosaurs spares much expense

Walking With Dinosaurs? More like Walking With Dino-SNORES! Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience should have been amazing. With a $92.5 million budget, it should have been balls-to-the-wall dinosaur action. It should have provided lots of dinosaur carnage for the bloodthirsty first-grader inside of me. It should have shown dinosaurs that caused the Toyota Center to tremble with each step. It should have boggled the minds of young children everywhere and then blown them away with a mighty roar. But it didn't. What it did have was a couple of incredibly lifelike robot dinosaurs that didn't really do anything.The dinosaurs are very detailed. Their skin hangs off of them like a fat lady's cellulite, their tails sway back and forth with every step they take and one can even count the number of teeth inside their giant dinosaur mouths. Much time and effort has obviously been spent on making them look as realistic as possible, or like what one might imagine dinosaurs looked like back then.

Men's tennis regroups, trashes Aggies

Just when it seemed that the wheels had fallen off of the men's tennis team's season, the repairman showed up in the guise of Texas A&M University. On a tense senior night at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium last Wednesday, No. 24 Rice defeated the 21st-ranked Aggies 4-3 to patch their wounds from back-to-back losses against Conference USA foes.While the losses to No. 9 University of Tulsa and No. 60 Southern Methodist University may have squashed Rice's hopes at hosting an NCAA Regional, the Owls, currently 13-7 on the year, will get a chance to redeem themselves in the upcoming C-USA Tournament. Rice will enter the tournament, scheduled for April 18-20 in Dallas, as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year.

Sans serif soliloquies:Untapped power of college system: shenanigans

In the rigmarole that is a Rice education, it's easy to lose focus. We spend so much time occupying the floors of Fondren Library and pounding cappuccino at Coffeehouse that schoolwork overshadows the rest of our lives. And, with what little remains, we fail to appreciate the one thing that should save us from the mundane routine into which each semester eventually falls: The college system.While many universities have their own local rivalries, Rice finds itself in a rather unique position. With our proclaimed academic rivals residing thousands of miles to the northeast and our academic equals spread across the south, we find ourselves without any unifying force to pull us together as a student body.

Grits and gesundheit: Government partly at fault for tuition hikes

Americans tend to link a college education to financial success. Sometimes I wonder whether a college education is worth the price we pay, or, to put it in the language of economics majors, if what we pay in time and money is an economically efficient use of resources. While politicians, interest groups and certain segments of society accuse and condemn oil companies and pharmaceutical enterprises of price gouging, it always strikes me as odd that colleges and universities are able to escape such criticism.The net price of college tuition in the United States has consistently been rising at a rate far faster than inflation. In the last five years, the cost of four-year colleges rose 31 percent above the general inflation rate. A press release published by the House Democrats in 2006 pointed out that since the year 2001, tuition at public universities has increased by $2,000 (or 57 percent) and at private universities by $5,000 (32 percent).

With Oympic Trials approaching, Greff's vault lands her top spot in nation

While recent worldwide newspapers indicate that many people could boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, there is at least one member of the women's track team who may be in China to see them firsthand. Senior Rachel Greff's vault of 13 feet, 9.25 inches, at the Texas Relays in Austin last weekend was high enough to qualify for the Olympic Trials with a B-level ranking. With the same jump, Greff also moved to the top of the NCAA standings with a little over a month to go until the Conference USA meet.Along with Rice's other throwers, jumpers and sprinters, Greff will now travel to El Paso for the University of Texas-El Paso Invitational this weekend. Head coach Jim Bevan said the fast track, warm weather and high altitude could provide for personal-best performances.

Colwick enters record books, national rankings

Sophomore sensation Jason Colwick vaulted from behind the hedges and into the national spotlight this past weekend at the Texas Relays in Austin. Colwick's mark of 18 feet, 2.5 inches in the pole vault not only earned him first place but also broke Rice's oldest men's track and field record. One of Rice's most distinguished athletic alumni, Dave Roberts (Will Rice '73), set the record in 1972 with a vault of 18-0.25. Roberts' height came in the middle of a career during which he became the first vaulter to ever win three straight national championships. When done setting Rice records, Roberts moved on to the world stage and twice broke the world record before winning a U.S. national title. Roberts also won a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Letter to the editor

Home-schooling law threat to future pupilsTo the editor:

The buzz with BotB winners the Social Insects

At KTRU's 17th Annual Outdoor Show on Sunday, Rice's population of music fans and lawn loungers might find themselves distracted from the buzz of mosquitoes by the sounds of some much larger insects. As the winners of this year's Battle of the Bands, also sponsored by KTRU, the eclectic trio of Will Rice College students known as the Social Insects ---- made up of senior Mary Jane "MJ" Kwan, senior Kellie Simon and junior Josh Levin - has embraced their newfound campus fame like a child dropped in a swimming pool: With surprise, flailing limbs and a grasp at what had seemed impossible. The Thresher invaded their practice session in Will Rice Room 204 to preview the Insects firsthand and is still scratching the itch.Thresher: How did you get together? Have you played together in the past?

Guest column: Housing and Dining staff deserve respect

Looking back at my freshman year, I have two regrets: Not being very involved in Rice University or my college and not getting to know the staff that I interacted with each day. Today, some of the most rewarding daily interactions I have are with the housing and servery staff of Sid Richardson College.When I had a horrible case of the flu, Custodian Julia Hernandez, who works on the fifth floor, came in to check on me. Food Production Associates Gabriel Aguilar, Mary Tibbs and everyone else at the Sid Rich servery always ask about my day at every lunch and dinner and worry about me when I am not there for meals. Chef Gabe will make me a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich whenever I crave it. When I got my first job and finished my first gigantic paper, Mary celebrated with me. And those specific examples are not exceptions to the rule: The staff members of Rice - from my college coordinator to the Community Involvement Center staff to Housing and Dining - enrich my life as much anyone else here.

Braun chosen as new men's basketball coach

When the 2008-'09 men's basketball season opens, the completed renovations to Autry Court will not be the only new sight for fans. On Sunday, Ben Braun was announced as the new head basketball coach at Rice, replacing 16-year coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82), who was released March 14.Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said Braun brightens the program's future prospects.

Editorial Cartoon: Triple Crown

Kings of the Diamond

At Rice, it is not difficult to see what reigns as king between the hedges: baseball. With just a glimpse of the Reckling Park scoreboard,piercing the night's humidity with its smoky blue "R's," anyone can see the varsity baseball team's ownership of the campus. Not many college teams can boast a slogan sans proper grammar - "Rice Baseball, 'Nuff Said" - and get away with it, nor can many hoist a National Championship banner to the same level as the Texas State Flag.It is kind of an exclusive club, to say the least.

Two comedians spotlight interfaith differences

"Comedy's Odd Couple," a show featuring nationally known comedians Rabbi Bob Alper and Muslim Azhar Usman, came to the Baker Commons Tuesday as part of an interfaith event to promote tolerance on campus. The comedians' routines covered their family backgrounds, current lives, religious experiences and the elephant in the room, as Alper referred to it: Their separate faiths.Usman, a Chicago-born Indian Muslim has served as a lecturer and lawyer, community activist and co-founder of the Allah Made Me Funny Comedy Tour. He told the audience of his experiences with religious and racial intolerance.

Welcome, Ben Braun

Roughly three weeks after announcing the release of head men's basketball coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82), Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced at a press conference Monday that Ben Braun would be his successor (see story, page 1). Braun is welcome here as a new spark who we hope can rekindle a slow-burning program. We hope he keeps in mind, however, that he can certainly find winning players who also have academic abilities to match their athletic talents. Basketball honors at Rice are attainable, despite our academic standards, and we wish Braun the best of luck in winning them.

Commentary: In the end, it's 'Rock, Chalk, Thank you, Jayhawks'

To the University of Kansas: Thank you.Thank you for doing what previously only the University of Tennessee was able to do - knock off an overrated team that kept getting lucky.