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Jocelyn Wright

NEWS 8/20/11 7:00pm

Prohibition: Redefining the sophisticated beverage

By Jocelyn Wright

Warning: Prohibition is a classy establishment. Be prepared to feel awkward in nothing less than your smart-casual best, and certainly do not show up in jeans and a T-shirt (as we did, unfortunately). You'll just feel even more out of place than you already do as a Rice kid who's ventured far enough beyond the hedges to end up at the new bar next to Saks Fifth Avenue. After the bouncer miraculously let us in, despite our uncouth garb, we found ourselves in the midst of some weird fusion between 2011 and 1922: a piano playing 1920s-style covers of new music, bartenders dressed in suspenders and hats, and a crowd of people who were doubtlessly as confused as we were but doing a better job of not showing it. We shuffled in as inconspicuously as possible and slid into one of the tables not reserved for people getting bottle service. (For future reference, all the tables are generally reserved for parties getting bottle service, but our waitress took pity on us and was really nice about the whole affair; she even moved us to a larger table once our party grew.) That said, once we sat down and got over the fact that we were pathetically underdressed for the place, Prohibition became quite a delightful experience.

NEWS 2/10/11 6:00pm

Teach-in panel discusses source of unrest in Egypt

By Jocelyn Wright

More than 100 people crowded Keck Hall 100 to listen to three panelists speak about the riots in Egypt and Tunisia Tuesday. The teach-in, called "Witness to Revolution: A Teach-In on the National Protests in Egypt and Tunisia," began with speeches by History Professor Ussama Makdisi, Mark Bebawi, founder of the radio program "The Monitor" on KPFT 90.1, and Economics Department Chair Mahmoud El-Gamal, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.History graduate student David Getman introduced the speakers and the situation in Egypt and Tunisia. He said most Americans' immediate reactions to the images of the protesters was one of immediate sympathy.

NEWS 2/3/11 6:00pm

Honor Council seeks update

By Jocelyn Wright

The Honor Council is proposing four separate referendums to amend its constitution in order to clarify both its language and procedures and enlarge the council's size. Students have the opportunity to vote on the referendums during the Student Association General Elections, which begin on Monday and conclude Feb. 14 at 11:59 p.m. Each of the four referendums requires the approval of 75 percent of the student body.The first referendum will update the language of the constitution, which has been amended but not altered since the constitution was written in 1948. Honor Council Chair Hilary Baker-Jennings said the idea for the rewrite came from reading through the constitution and realizing how many parts of it were obscure and outdated. She said this had led to a great deal of confusion among some students.

NEWS 1/27/11 6:00pm

RUPD seizes alcohol from college areas

By Jocelyn Wright

At last Wednesday's alcohol forum, one of the issues students expressed was a concern that the Rice University Police Department had changed its attitude and philosophy in enforcing the policy and is now becoming stricter.In particular, students cited two incidents at Duncan College and Jones College over Martin Luther King Day weekend in which RUPD seized alcohol from public areas.

NEWS 1/13/11 6:00pm

Cook had love for physics

By Jocelyn Wright

Baker College sophomore Brandon Cook died Jan. 7 after a year-and-a-half battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 21 years old. More than 300 people attended Cook's memorial service Tuesday in Tomball, Texas.

NEWS 10/21/10 7:00pm

Short films compete

By Jocelyn Wright

Lights, camera, action ... boobies? Three aspiring filmmakers found a humorous way to promote breast cancer awareness while competing for a $10,000 prize. Wiess College senior Austin Lipinski, Sid Richardson College sophomore Adrien Pellerin and Wiess sophomore Gabi Chennisi submitted two one-minute videos to the YouBoob funniest video contest, which promotes breast cancer awareness. They submitted their videos on Oct. 11 and voting for both will continue until Oct. 27 at 10:59 p.m.

NEWS 10/7/10 7:00pm

Cooper takes over as Baker pres

By Jocelyn Wright

Baker College junior Christine Cooper took over as Baker president Wednesday. Former president Megan McSpedon stepped down a week ago citing personal reasons. As president, Cooper hopes to continue helping Baker students get used to their new building, improve interactions between freshmen and upperclassmen and rewrite the bylaws and constitution.

NEWS 9/23/10 7:00pm

Investigation of data theft ongoing

By Jocelyn Wright

Two weeks after data theft was announced via campus e-mail Sept. 10, the Rice community is still trying to piece together exactly what happened and how such an incident can be prevented in the future.All of the 7,250 affected people were sent letters delivered to their campus and home mailing addresses, when available, Sept. 17 with steps to prevent identity theft.

NEWS 9/16/10 7:00pm

Device with personal information stolen off campus

By Jocelyn Wright

A file containing the personal information of 7,250 students, faculty and staff, including names, birth dates, salaries, emergency contacts and Social Security numbers, was stolen from an off-campus location at the end of August. Rice announced the theft in an e-mail to the campus community Sept. 10. The Rice University Police Department is conducting the investigation of the theft in conjunction with the Houston Police Department. The device contained two files copied from a computer which contained the personal data of the 7,250 employees on Rice payroll as of January 2010. The data on the device was not encrypted. Senior Director of News and Media Relations B.J. Almond said the police requested he refrain from giving any additional details about the device or the information contained on it to prevent the thief from gaining any potentially useful information. As of Sept. 15, Almond said none of the information on the device had been used maliciously.

NEWS 9/2/10 7:00pm

CSL offers certifications

By Jocelyn Wright

Wish you could major in Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese or one of the six other languages offered by the Center for the Study of Languages for which there is no major? A major will still only be available in German Studies, French Studies and Hispanic Studies, but, beginning this year, all Rice students will be able to apply for a Certificate of Language Proficiency in any of the 12 languages offered by the center. "We saw that students were taking advanced-level [language] classes; a lot of students at Rice do go abroad and we wanted to be able to offer them some type of concrete evidence for themselves and possibly for future employers that they were able to speak and write at a high level in the language," CSL Director Wendy Ring Freeman said.

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