Dateline Rice for April 15, 2013 (Weekend Edition)

FEATURED ITEMS

You’ve got 60 seconds with Warren Buffett: What’s your pitch?
Articles discuss the Rice Business Plan Competition.
Fortune/CNN.com
http://bit.ly/10R4qYE
How to win a business plan competition
Fortune/CNN.com
http://bit.ly/10QXUBc
Big new ideas meet investors in annual Rice competition
Houston Chronicle (subscription required) (This article appeared on the front of the Business section.)
http://bit.ly/XCi3fi
Rice business plan winners look to future of batteries, biotech
Houston Business Journal
http://bit.ly/XC3mcd

CCTV News
David Alexander, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Rice Space Institute, and Mike Massimino, executive director of the Rice Space Institute, are quoted in a story about the International Day of Space Flight. Alexander and Massimino are also quoted in a story about a space exploration conference at Rice.
http://english.cntv.cn/program/bizasiaamerica/20130413/103311.shtml
KUHF-FM
http://bit.ly/10XorwL

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Perfecting bullet-proof glass from the nanoscale up
An article features research to create more effective bullet-proof materials by Ned Thomas, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Jae-Hwang Lee, research scientist in mechanical engineering and materials science.
Stars and Stripes (subscription required)
http://1.usa.gov/YDZbhS

Houston homebuilder Bob Jack Perry dies
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor and chair of political science and fellow in political science at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in articles about the death of Houston homebuilder Bob Jack Perry, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and the Texas legislative session.
United Press International
http://bit.ly/11gEx5R
Perry, backer of GOP causes and Houston builder, dies at 80
Houston Chronicle (subscription required) (This front-page article also appeared in the Albany Times-Union, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Norwalk Citizen, the Greater New Milford Spectrum, the Greenwich Time, the Darien News and the Connecticut Post.)
http://bit.ly/15acbhM
Can Mayor Julian Castro turn Texas blue?
Newsweek/The Daily Beast
http://thebea.st/XGBmq3
Harmony in Texas Senate a far cry from 2011
Austin American-Statesman
http://bit.ly/XxtHbm
Drug test bills gain ground
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://bit.ly/110digb

National Public Radio’s ‘Science Friday’
Hanszen College sophomore Zack Kopplin appeared on National Public Radio’s "Science Friday" to discuss his fight against the teaching of creationism in public schools. (This interview also appeared on NorthCountryPublicRadio.com [New York], WGBH.org [Boston], Minnesota.PublicRadio.org, WNYC.org [New York], KSMU.org [Arkansas], Ideastream.org, KenyaStar.com and TorontoTelegraph.com.)
http://bit.ly/10YQrQX

Transitions: People in academe
Gerry Sanders, professor of management at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, has been named dean of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s College of Business.
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://bit.ly/14pR2Rw

Alumni embrace the MBA student loan business
An article about alumni-sourced student loans mentions Rice.
Businessweek (This article also appeared on Bloomberg.com.)
http://buswk.co/ZPQ6Eu

Weibo, China’s microblogging site, officially expands into Thailand
China’s most popular microblogging site officially expanded into Thailand. Rice research is cited.
International Business Times
http://bit.ly/16XXVY3

USA prepares shale gas bubble for feverish Europe
An article about shale gas production cites research by former Baker Institute energy fellow Amy Myers Jaffe.
Pravda (Russia)
http://bit.ly/Zs5FvU

HOUSTON/TEXAS

For evangelicals, a shift in views on immigration
As Congress is about to start a debate on overhauling the immigration system, conservative Christians are rethinking their views on immigration. Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/11abbVH

Rice piano student vies for $100,000 prize
Andrew Staupe, a graduate student in music, is a finalist in the ProLiance Energy Classical Fellowship Awards, a yearlong contest run by the American Pianists Association. Staupe is a student of Jon Kimura Parker, professor of piano.
Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
http://bit.ly/17vQA2R

Difference between MetroRail ridership and fares is vast
Since the 7.5-mile rail line opened in January 2004, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has carried more than 100 million riders and collected $40.3 million in fares, far below what a $1.25-per-ride ticket price would indicate. What appears to be a disconnect from basic math, however, is more complicated. Baker College junior Hector Alvarenga is quoted in this front-page article.
Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
http://bit.ly/12dFIV1

UT Tyler wins first in concrete canoe contest
Rice is mentioned in a story about a concrete canoe competition.
Tyler Morning Telegraph
http://bit.ly/ZvUa5F

College journalists nab awards for publications
Rice is mentioned in an article about awards given by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
Tyler Morning Telegraph
http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130415/NEWS08/130419868

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

KROI-FM
Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, appeared on KROI-FM to discuss the Rice Business Plan Competition. A link to this broadcast is not available.

KSAT-TV (San Antonio)
Rice is mentioned in a story about a La Vernia High School student-athlete.
http://bit.ly/14pLTJs

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

The wild west of MOOCs
An article about massive open online courses mention’s Rice’s OpenStax College.
InfoToday.com
http://bit.ly/YpcWfV

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Jewish atheism and Jewish theism in America
Research by Elaine Howard Ecklund, associate professor of sociology, director of the Religion and Public Life Program and Rice Scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is cited in an article about Jewish atheism and Jewish theism.
Los Angeles Jewish Journal
http://bit.ly/10ZyH6d

‘I wouldn’t change any of the decisions I’ve made’ — Salazar
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in an article about Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
EENews.net
http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2013/04/12/1

Employers’ costs, not technology, threaten jobs
An op-ed about changing job markets includes a comment by Moshe Vardi, the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering and professor of computer science, about routine jobs being performed by robots.
Portland Press-Herald (Maine)
http://bit.ly/11fRltm

More efficiently capturing CO2 at power plants
In some of the first results from a federally funded initiative to find new ways of capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants, Rice University scientists have found that CO2 can be removed more economically using "waste" heat — low-grade steam that cannot be used to produce electricity. A Rice-produced video is included.
OverclockersClub.com
http://www.overclockersclub.com/news/33963/

SPORTS

Rice walks 10 batters in 11-7 loss to UCF in 12 innings
Articles recap a baseball series between Rice and the University of Central Florida.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/104aHoJ
Rice rallies in 9th to tie, but loses in the 12th inning
West University Examiner (Coverage of this series also appeared in the Bellaire Examiner, the Memorial Examiner, the River Oaks Examiner, the Orlando Sentinel and CentralFloridaFuture.com.)
http://bit.ly/XMNJRw

No. 20 Rice turns back Utah on Senior Day
An article recaps a women’s tennis match between Rice and the University of Utah.
Examiner.com (A similar article appeared on CSTV.com.)
http://www.examiner.com/article/no-20-rice-turns-back-utah-on-senior-day

With 2.89 ERA, Humber could use a little help
Articles discuss the performance of former Rice baseball player Philip Humber with the Houston Astros.
Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
http://bit.ly/15act8z
Humber could use offensive support from Astros
Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
http://bit.ly/137uZup

Tom Franklin out as UH football, basketball voice
Tom Franklin will not return this fall as the radio voice of University of Houston football and basketball. Rice is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/12W9EUr

NEWS RELEASES

Rice to create lab for study of recovery from brain damage
A $1.5 million grant from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation will enable researchers at Rice University to build out the Texas Medical Center’s first core laboratory devoted to studying neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to reorganize itself after traumatic injury or neurological disorders.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=43419

Chloroform cleanup: just the beginning for palladium-gold catalysts
Researchers from Rice University, DuPont Central Research and Development and Stanford University have announced a full-scale field test of an innovative process that gently but quickly destroys some of the world’s most pervasive and problematic pollutants.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=43432