Dateline Rice for April 30, 2013

FEATURED ITEMS

Students’ math shows path to success for BARC
Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care is trying to cut its euthanasia rate. Rice students are helping with high-level mathematics. Martel College senior Bryan Wigianto is quoted in this front-page article. Martel College senior Lilibeth Mata and Lovett College seniors Katherine McConachie and James Rigby are mentioned. A live CultureMap.com Web chat with Houston Mayor Annise Parker included a photo of her holding a poster describing this research.
Houston Chronicle (This article also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Norwalk Citizen, the Greater New Milford Spectrum and the Darien News.)
http://bit.ly/12LZxCq
Mayor Parker answers your questions live on CultureMap.com
CultureMap.com
http://bit.ly/15SKN8h

NBA veteran Jason Collins comes out as gay
Jason Collins, an 11-year NBA veteran who this season played for the Celtics and Wizards, went public Monday as the first active athlete in any of the four major U.S. professional team sports to disclose that he is gay. Brandon Mack, assistant director of admissions, who has done research on race, gender and sexuality, is quoted in this front-page article.
Houston Chronicle (This article also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Stamford Advocate and the Greenwich Time.)
http://bit.ly/12Knc5Y

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The top 12 American boomtowns
Steve Murdock, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and a former director of the U.S. Census Bureau, is quoted in a photo slideshow of America’s fastest-growing cities.
Bloomberg.com (This slideshow also appeared on Yahoo.com.)
http://bloom.bg/11C8gXi

Al Jazeera English’s ‘Empire’
Mahmoud El-Gamal, Chair of Islamic Economics, Finance and Management, professor of economics and statistics and Rice Scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, appeared on Al Jazeera English’s "Empire" to discuss oil geopolitics.
http://bit.ly/12P2Qss

Elections in 2014 may not hinge on economic gains under Obama
Presidents like to take credit for economic recoveries, just as President Barack Obama is angling to do now. Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
HuffingtonPost.com (This Associated Press article also appeared in the Greenwich Time, the Kansas City Star and nearly 70 other media outlets.)
http://huff.to/10RzHzZ

Moving beyond textbook rentals to ‘student hub’
Rice’s OpenStax College is mentioned in an article about the website Chegg.com.
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/138793/

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Nine finalists named for women’s health award
University Representative Y. Ping Sun will serve as the keynote speaker at a breakfast celebrating National Women’s Health Week.
Texas Medical Center News
http://bit.ly/10pJvtD

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

KUHF-FM
Rice University students de-stressed and shared hugs with dogs of various breeds during finals week at the university’s Fondren Library. Agnes Ho, retention counselor, and McMurtry College senior Sam Newman are quoted.
http://bit.ly/10pyxnP

WBUR-FM (Boston)
Ray Bowen, lecturer and distinguished visiting professor in mechanical engineering and materials science, is interviewed about education in Texas. (This interview also appeared on WDDE-FM [Philadelphia].)
http://bit.ly/18a7sga

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Full steam ahead on tax overhaul, thanks to Camp-Baucus duo
An op-ed about tax reform efforts cites research by George Zodrow, the Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Chair of Economics and Rice Scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Tax and Expenditure Policy Program, and John Diamond, adjunct assistant professor in economics and the Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Tax Policy at the Baker Institute.
RollCall.com
http://bit.ly/ZRHr1s

Students devise a way to make great coffee in space
Some Rice University engineering students think they can make the perfect cup of coffee with a 3-D printer for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Duncan College sophomore Colin Shaw, Will Rice College sophomore Robert Johnson and Jones College sophomore Benjamin Young are mentioned. A Rice-produced video is featured.
Geek.com
http://bit.ly/ZTA2ie
Matt’s favorites: SpaceShipTwo test, Path grows, Siri competition and much more
CBSLocal.com (Detroit)
http://cbsloc.al/ZwOsW5

Director leaving on a high note
David Berman announced his retirement as director of the Humanaires choral group. Leone Buyse, the Joseph and Ida Kirkland Mullen Professor of Flute and chair of woodwinds, is quoted.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
http://bit.ly/154YZfi

Digital expert hired as university librarian
Geneva Henry, executive director of Rice’s Center for Digital Scholarship, has been hired as university librarian for George Washington University.
GWHatchet.com
http://bit.ly/17tAzJS

Social media censorship offers clues to China’s plans
What gets removed from China’s social networks shows how censorship strategies are advancing and can hint at the government’s plans. Rice is mentioned.
Mashable.com
http://mashable.com/2013/04/29/social-media-censorship-china/

SPORTS

Rice coach wins C-USA honor
Head women’s tennis coach Elizabeth Schmidt was named Conference USA women’s tennis coach of the year.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/12OPUCY

Rice to play on Thursdays in ’13
Two Conference USA road games on Rice’s 2013 football schedule have been moved to Thursday.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/12OPUCY

When 49ers leaped past Seahawks for TE
Lovett College seniors Vance McDonald and Luke Willson were picked by the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL draft.
ESPN.com
http://es.pn/12h2Vm2
KFDM-TV (Beaumont, Texas)
http://bit.ly/Yb2AmQ

Game in review
An article recapping a basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets mentions that the Thunder used Tudor Fieldhouse for practice.
NBA.com
http://www.nba.com/thunder/news/preview_rockets_130429

NEWS RELEASES

Silicone liquid crystal stiffens with repeated compression
Scientists at Rice University have discovered that the liquid crystal phase of silicone becomes 90 percent stiffer when silicone is gently and repeatedly compressed.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=44310

Professional culture contributes to gender wage inequality in engineering
Women engineers are underpaid for their contributions to technical activities, due to cultural ideologies in the engineering profession, according to Rice University research.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=44340

VitaLink monitors infants from afar
The ideal system for monitoring a baby’s health would be as simple as one, two, three. Three teams of senior engineering students at Rice University are working to do so wirelessly in neonatal wards in the developing world.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=44335