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Cindy Dinh

OPINION 9/21/11 7:00pm

New voting laws may lessen voting participation at Rice

By Cindy Dinh

Last year, more students at Rice came out to vote in the gubernatorial election – a quadrupled increase – than in the last mid-term election. Achieving similar success may now virtually be impossible. Voters everywhere in Texas have been struck by a blunt force with the Texas Legislature's passage of S.B. 14, a new law requiring voters to have photo identification and a listed address that matches their voter registration to be eligible to vote.

NEWS 3/10/11 6:00pm

McMurtry master wins award for 15,000

By Cindy Dinh

The Thresher sat down with Composition and Theory Professor Karim Al- Zand, who was one of four composers to receive the 2011 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for $15,000 in music. These national awards are given annually to artists, writers, composers and architects. Al-Zand, a McMurtry College master, will apply half of his award toward a recording project for a

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Online only: Rice hosts annual law panel

By Cindy Dinh

Eight local lawyers, judges and law professors joined students Monday at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy for the annual Legal Career Panel hosted by Legalese - Rice's pre-law society, the Baker Institute Student Forum and LOVE 237: Introduction to Law course. The panel is hosted every year to give students some insight on various areas of law, what lawyers do, what a typical day is like and how they got their positions, Assistant District Attorney for Fort Bend County Rudy Ramirez (Lovett '01) said.

NEWS 9/23/10 7:00pm

Voting an important way to stay involved with the Houston community

By Cindy Dinh

IT'S THAT TIME of the year again: a time when employers allow their employees to leave work early, professors permit students to slink into class late, a time where we collectively take a break from our usual daily routine to perform an act bestowed upon us as citizens of the United States. Yes, it's election season! Most elections kicked off their campaigning on Labor Day weekend, but another important date is looming upon us: the voter registration deadline. The prerequisite of all prerequisites. The unfortunate reality is that many of our fellow students either forget to vote (via absentee ballot or in person) or feel so disconnected to the candidates' platforms that they don't even bother to vote. I used to accept these excuses from my friends when they told me why they didn't vote in the last election, until I found out that a Rice student who registers to vote using their residential college address can vote on campus!

NEWS 9/9/10 7:00pm

PSL studies leaders

By Cindy Dinh

Vision, drive, humility - these are the makings of a leader, according to some of this year's undergraduate fellows within the Program for the Study of Leadership. The new program, which focuses on the scholarly study of leaders and their role in society, was launched this summer. This year, 15 undergraduates received a yearlong fellowship to conduct research under PSL Director D. Michael Lindsay.The PSL is housed under the Institute for Urban Research, which launched in May under the direction of Institute for Urban Research co-directors Michael Emerson and Stephen Klineberg.

NEWS 5/16/10 7:00pm

Colonel reflects, compares Rice to West Point

By Cindy Dinh

What does a public institution that trains military personnel have in common with Rice? At their essence, both have leadership development and the ability to enhance social-cultural relationships as Colonel Daniel Ragsdale, a visiting administrator from West Point, noted from his year observing Rice. As part of the American Council on Education Fellowship, Ragsdale, vice dean for education at West Point Academy in West Point, New York, has spent the past year at Rice meeting with faculty members, administrators, program directors and students to observe how the school runs. Since 1965, between 40-50 fellows in the program are selected from nominations to spend an academic year at a host institution, immerse themselves in the culture and work directly with the institution's presidents and administrators as part of a leadership development program in higher education. Next year, Rice's own Joel Thierstein, Executive Director of Connexions and Associate Provost for Innovative Scholarly Communication, will be an ACE fellow for the 2010-2011 academic year.

NEWS 2/18/10 6:00pm

Chefs enter culinary combat in today's Samurai showdown

By Cindy Dinh

Three top chefs from North, South and West Serveries will duke it out today in a cooking competition complete with sugar, spices, flames and knives. The Servery Samurai showdown, which begins at 3 p.m. in West Servery, gives chefs two hours to prepare a nutritiously balanced entrée using all of the ingredients from a five-ingredient mystery basket. The winner will possess the title of Culinary Shogun 2010.

NEWS 2/18/10 6:00pm

News in brief: Rice musicians to set sail with song

By Cindy Dinh

Next year, a trio of Shepherd School faculty members will be hitting the high C's in more ways than one. Professor of Orchestral Conducting Larry Rachleff, Lecturer of Voice and soprano vocalist Susan Lorette Dunn and Professor of Violin Cho-Liang Lin will perform classical music on board the Celebrity Mercury, a luxury Caribbean cruise from Celebrity Cruise Lines, next January.The group will be featured as guest artists on the inaugural debut of the Symphonic Voyages, a Caribbean cruise designed with fans of classical music in mind. Rachleff will conduct the 60-piece Symphonic Voyages orchestra, whose members are professional musicians from the East Coast. Symphonic Voyages, which invited Lin, Rachleff and his wife Lorette Dunn to perform, will hold auditions to determine the members of the orchestra.

NEWS 1/14/10 6:00pm

Government officials discuss border safety

By Cindy Dinh

Rice, like the rest of Houston, is a short trip from the U.S.-Mexico border, and is directly impacted by immigration, making the campus an ideal site for discussions of border security and U.S.-Mexico relations. Both Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary of the Office of International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs, and Undersecretary of the Interior of Mexico Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández spoke about U.S.-Mexico border security at Rice Wednesday in Duncan Hall. Bersin, who is responsible for developing strategy on security, immigration, narcotics and trade matters affecting Mexico, describes the two nations' relationship as "friendly but proper."

NEWS 11/12/09 6:00pm

RTV5 set to feature new health show

By Cindy Dinh

Sex on television is no longer as taboo as it once was, so it may come as little shock that RTV5 is combining business with pleasure by creating a new show that mixes entertainment with a healthy dose of sexual education. The main objective of the show, "Strapped for Rice," will be to highlight different health issues as well as provide artistic performances in what religious studies graduate student Aundrea Matthews, the creator of the show, calls "edutainment."

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