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NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Men's tennis continues slide against LSU

By Casey Michel

Most Rice students across campus were in pain last week because of collisions with not-so-stray water balloons. The men's tennis team, on the other hand, was hurting for an entirely different reason. For the second week in a row, No. 17 Rice lost to a lower-ranked opponent at home, falling 4-2 to No. 26 Louisiana State University and dropping to 9-5 on the year. The defeat came one week after the Owls, then ranked 11th in the country, fell 4-3 against then- No. 17 Florida State University.Rice, which has only played two matches in the last two weeks, will pick up its leisurely pace this weekend. As host of the Rice Invite, the Owls will have matches against three ranked opponents in as many days. The first will be today at noon at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium against No. 49 University of Iowa. Iowa recently played the cutting board for the Ohio State University buzzsaw - the nation's No.2 team promptly routed the host Hawkeyes 7-0.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Commencement choice needs more consideration

By Staff Editorial

After a long delay, and well after its usual fall semester timeline, Rice announced Tuesday that this year's commencement speaker will be former Rice president George Rupp (see story, page 1). While we know Rupp will provide an excellent speech and we appreciate the selection committee's decision to choose a familiar speaker, we feel that in the future the committee should focus on attracting people whose public notability has a wider reach. Certainly, former Rice presidents are active enough in the wider community to offer much poignant advice to graduates, but there is plenty to be said about choosing a speaker who is not necessarily "from the family," yet who can still deliver a Rice-relevant message.In addition, we hope next year's selection committee convenes earlier in the year. The most sought-after speakers receive invitations many months or even years in advance, and if Rice wants to give itself the best chance possible to land one of these people, it should not be one of the last schools to start looking.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Guest column:Return of student activism combats sympathy fatigue

By Julia Lukomnik

What is your reaction when faced with a problem? How about 10,000 problems? The Internet and general trade patterns have made the world a much more accessible place over the last 20 years, not only bringing us closer to our fellow man but also bringing us closer to his problems. Look at the front page of a newspaper and you're bound to read about worker exploitation in China, suicide bombing in Iraq, sex trafficking in Eastern Europe or, more recently, genocide in Sudan. It is absolutely overwhelming, and the constant barrage of negative imagery that persists can have detrimental effects, especially on the most idealistic. This condition is called sympathy fatigue.Sympathy fatigue is much like apathy and occurs when a person feels the weight of so many problems that they stop taking any sort of action to combat the problems. We might also call it getting jaded.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

SA, FE&P install more bike racks on campus

By Jocelyn Wright

The bike racks across campus may be a little less crowded after Facilities, Engineering and Planning installed a total of 215 new slots over spring break. FE&P worked with Brown College senator Patrick McAnaney and Lovett College senator Fiona Adams to determine locations for the new bicycle racks, which will go by the academic buildings and around Rice Stadium. FE&P Communications Manager Susann Glenn said her department had been given $50,000 for additional bike racks in academic, administrative and athletic areas. Glenn said this budget will provide enough racks to hold 335 additional bikes.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Grits and gesundheit:Listen to celebrities; support the war

By Caroline May

Pop Quiz: Who recently wrote this in a Washington Times opinion piece? "What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made. In fact, we should step up our financial and material assistance ... I would like to call on each of the presidential candidates and congressional leaders to announce a comprehensive refugee plan with a specific timeline and budget as part of their Iraq strategy. As for the question of whether the surge is working, I can only state what I witnessed: United Nations staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq." Your choices: A) Senator Joe Biden, B) General David Petraeus, C) President George W. Bush or D) Angelina Jolie. If you guessed A, B or C, you would be wrong. While some may attempt to brush aside the good reports, empirical evidence and success stories, the truth is becoming harder and harder to ignore. Even Jolie, the ever-difficult-to-label, yet prominent media figure has even weighed in on American progress in Iraq.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Commentary:One fan's pilgrimage becomes fortunate musical discovery

By Ingrid Norbergs

I've been through a lot to see my favorite band, Two Gallants, play live. I've narrowly escaped police brutality (Google their October 13, 2006 show at Walter's on Washington if you're curious) and braved hordes of studded belt-wearing and self-consciously-smoking scenester teens when 2Gs opened for the emo-punk band Against Me. But I have never before driven six hours round-trip to see them, or any band, play. Zombie driving through the wee hours may not compare in shock value to witnessing a crazed cop with a Taser, but it was probably at least as dangerous.I had hatched this plan months ago after I found out 2Gs were playing in Austin, a location well within reasonable driving distance. The fact that they were playing during the annual South by Southwest music festival and conference was, at the onset, entirely secondary. I had always been interested in attending SXSW, as it is called, especially after my stellar first experience with Austin's other major music festival, Austin City Limits, but conference passes cost ungodly amounts of money and the confusing Web site provided little information on any other way to experience it. I gladly resigned myself to seeing only Two Gallants and didn't think much more about it.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Global scholars discuss Judas, scriptures at Codex Judas Congress

By Bryan Ellis

Though Rice may have been taken over by the excitement of Willy Week and Beer-Bike, the academic community was focused on another big event on campus last week. The Codex Judas Congress, which was put together by Religious Studies Professor April DeConick, took place Mar. 13-16 in Farnsworth Pavilion, and various buildings across campus. Thirty scholars from around the world came to discuss the recently rediscovered Tchacos Codex, a fourth century collection of Gnostic documents from the Judeo-Christian tradition. In addition to the scholars invited to participate, there were also five papers presented by graduate students, including religious studies graduate students Chad Day, Franklin Trammel and Claire Villarrael. Other graduate students attended as auditors, as did several members of the Houston community.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Té provides variety and spice

By Rachel Solnick

Often neglected by college students for having less caffeine than coffee, tea is a delight well worth discovering. The taste of tea avoids the burnt and acrid tinge to which mediocre coffee falls victim, just as its culture contrasts with the routine-confining, addiction-inducing lifestyle that plagues coffee drinkers. A good cup of tea is steeped in hospitality, relaxation, and simple elegance. To be a connoisseur of tea is to be a connoisseur of life's more delicate, nuanced pleasures, which is a worldly pursuit worth cultivating. Luckily, that pursuit is only a 15-minute bike ride from Rice.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Unauthorized jack injures student

By Jocelyn Wright

Willy Week jacks are typically harmless, humorous and a minor inconvenience. However, an unauthorized jack by Will Rice College --- in which members of the college strung up spiderwebs made of fishing wire across campus -- broke this tradition when two students got caught in them. At about 1 a.m. Thursday morning, Martel College sophomore Jen Pan was riding her bicycle and hit one of Will Rice's spiderwebs strung in the path from Lovett College to Lovett lot. She said the wire twisted around her neck and cut her.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Offensive explosion propels Rice to sweep

By Jessica Cannon

As if five wins were not enough to make last week cause for celebration for the baseball team, head coach Wayne Graham also tacked on career victory No. 750 to his resumé. The wins - four of which came against Winthrop University and one against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette - may have coincided with the end of sophomore third baseman Diego Seastrunk's 19-game hitting streak, but freshman shortstop Rick Hague more than made up for it with a .588 batting average over the weekend, including in six RBIs on two homers in a single game.The ninth-ranked Owls (14-6) swept Winthrop (3-10) in a four-game series this past weekend before defeating La.-Lafayette (6-11) by a score of 17-6 on Wednesday evening at Reckling Park.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Golf uses strong final round to continue recent success

By Yan Digilov

With a solid first round and an exemplary third round at last week's Border Olympics, the golf team was reminded why golf is a game of endurance and mental toughness. Despite a near free-fall in the middle of tournament play, the Owls rebounded to finish ninth in the 54-hole tournament, which was held at the Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas. The team will be back in action on Monday and Tuesday, taking part in the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate in Springfield, La. The 15-team tournament will feature a mixture of colleges from all across the southern part of the country, most notably Southeastern Conference powerhouses University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University, who are ranked 29th and 37th in the country, respectively. The toughest competition, however, will come from No. 13 University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, which boasts No. 37 Jonathan Hodge.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Richards-Kortum first woman appointed to National Academy of Engineering

By Jane Lee

This February, bioengineering chair and professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum received one of the highest professional distinctions in engineering when she was selected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Richards-Kortum is the first woman and the youngest of the 15 faculty members from Rice to be elected to the NAE. The NAE, a private institution with 2,227 U.S. members and 194 foreign associates, serves to aid the government in researching engineering issues. Richards-Kortum said committees within the NAE provide advice to policy makers on scientific and technical issues.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Women's tennis piles on Abilene Christian

By Rhodes Coffey

With a six-match winning streak under its belt, it would have been easy for the women's tennis team to become complacent. Add to that the distraction of Willy Week, and it would have been really easy for No. 64 Rice to let last week's match with Abilene Christian University slip through its fingers. But the Owls staved off complacency until after executing a perfect 7-0 victory over the Wildcats, choosing to take the rest of the weekend off to relax from their otherwise hectic schedule.Rice will continue welcoming local opponents to Jake Hess Tennis Stadium for the near future, as they take on Texas State University tomorrow at 3 p.m. and the University of Texas-Arlington Sunday at 1 p.m. Just as with recent opponents, the Owls should have little trouble with the Bobcats, who are 5-6 on the year, or the Roadrunners, who have lost their last three matches by a combined score of 16-5.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Commentary:Not only undeserved, Wilson firing sadly mishandled

By Casey Michel

At long last, it's over. All the pain, agony and suffering that has been piling up over the past couple months - no more. And that whooshing sound you heard the other day? No, that's not the deflation of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign - that's the collective sigh released by Rice men's basketball fans the country over.At long last, the basketball season is finished.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Former Rice president Rupp chosen for commencement

By Sarah Rutledge

On Tuesday, the Commencement Speaker Committee announced former Rice president George Rupp will be the speaker for commencement 2008. Committee chair Michael Gustin said Rupp, who serves as CEO and president of the International Relief Program, seemed a logical choice for speaker because of his ties to Rice and the larger global community.Gustin said since the committee was formed late last semester, this pushed the process off and led to the late announcement of the commencement speaker.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Publication of Willis firing poorly handled

By Staff Editorial

At 6 p.m. last Friday, the athletics department announced to the public that Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82), men's basketball coach for 16 years, would not be retained by the university. (see story, page 1) There were not many people around when the news broke; on campus, people were either gone for the weekend, at Reckling Park watching the baseball game or glued to television screens watching the Houston Rockets going for 21 straight wins. There was no ceremony, no real press conference, no farewell party for the longest tenured coach in Rice history. The news was broken, and then it was gone.We feel this hushed and hurried showing of the door is an insult to one of the most loyal men ever to walk on Rice campus. He was a stellar student athlete and alum, and although he took a great deal of flak for his coaching results, his devotion to his job and players was visible to the entire Rice community. Wilson deserves more than standard treatment for a college coach parting ways with a university. He deserves a chance to be thanked by the students currently attending his alma mater and the fans for whom he loved coaching so much. He deserves more than what he got.

NEWS 3/20/08 7:00pm

Wilson fired after 16 years with men's basketball

By Casey Michel

While winning may not constitute the entire purpose of sport, it is certainly one of the more important requirements of coaching a Division I athletic program. Because of this requirement, men's basketball head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82) was fired last Friday, two days after Rice was knocked out of the Conference USA tournament by the University of Southern Mississippi. The final loss dropped the Owls to 3-27 overall, and their 0-16 showing in conference play now stands as the worst men's basketball record in C-USA history.As the face of Rice basketball for the last 16 years, Wilson compiled a 219-246 record to become both the longest tenured and winningest coach in Rice history. However, Wilson's extensive experience could not lead the Owls around the numerous roadblocks they encountered during the course of the 2007-'08 season, and by the time the last whistle blew, the defeats added up to a 20-game losing streak, the third-worst run for men's basketball in school history.

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