Dateline Rice for Dec. 2, 2014

FEATURED ITEM

Rice initiative aims to raise funds for scholarships, hands-on learning
Rice University’s new Initiative for Students is raising money to strengthen the quality of education, offer hands-on research, internship and externship experiences and provide additional financial aid to ensure that a Rice education is affordable for more students from all socio-economic backgrounds. Rice President David Leebron and Jones College sophomore Carmella DeSerto are quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1zLHxXU

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Controls are needed to test vaccines, not all Ebola drugs
Peter Hotez, a fellow in disease and poverty at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, argues for innovative clinical trial designs in a debate about ethically fighting Ebola.
New York Times
http://nyti.ms/1w0Aihz

Math that pursues, spins and swarms
Robots developed by James McLurkin, assistant professor of computer science, will be featured at Manhattan’s National Museum of Mathematics starting Dec. 14.
New York Times
http://nyti.ms/1wgEHfY

Texas universities broadening bandwidth for students, researchers
Local universities, including Rice, are preparing to expand their bandwidth to accommodate digital needs. Kamran Khan, vice provost for information technology, is quoted.
Government Technology (This article also appeared in Center for Digital Education.)
http://bit.ly/1zdvqTC

Op-ed: Straus track record: Thwarts will of the voters, gives ‘big gov’t’ moderates control
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor and chair of political science and fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is cited for his column in the Texas Tribune.
Breitbart
http://bit.ly/1HUJnLY

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Blackburn: Our bays and coast are under threat
Jim Blackburn, professor in the practice of environmental law in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and co-director of the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, authored an op-ed about the Texas’ failure to protect its bays and coasts from being destroyed by water development projects.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1yff3rq

Is the 4-year college degree a thing of the past?
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board graduation rate report, Houston schools have some of the lowest graduation rates in the state, aside from Rice.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1wkukI6

Obamacare: ¿Tienes que inscribirte?
The first year of the Affordable Care Act market will end soon and be reflected in tax returns for the first time. Rice is cited for its report on the health insurance market.
La Voz (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/1rSyKF8

5 things you need to know in Texas energy this week
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule to lower the threshold for ambient smog, which has upset energy and manufacturing sectors. Loren Raun, a faculty fellow of statistics, environmental analysis and decision-making, is quoted about Houston air pollution’s effect on asthma attacks.
Houston Business Journal (This article also appeared in Dallas Sun.)
http://bit.ly/1CBwfLH

Dans la Lune
The dance, film and art program “Dans la Lune” will show at Rice’s Recreation and Wellness Center Dec. 5 and 6.
Houston Press
http://bit.ly/1zM7Tcq

Take this job and love it
Alumnus Axel Weisheit ’05 is profiled.
Downtown Houston
http://bit.ly/1rSztWP

BROADCAST

Interview with Anderson Ta and Jordan Miller, researchers at Rice University, on 3-D bio-engineering
Anderson Ta, research technician II in the Department of Bioengineering, and Jordan Miller, assistant professor of bioengineering, discuss recent breakthroughs on the printing of vascular system and capillaries, bio-fabrication and new processes to create bio-materials.
All Things 3-D
http://bit.ly/1vLOF67

C-SPAN3
Alumnus Richard Sommers ’70 spoke about the Siege of Petersburg on C-SPAN’s American History TV.
http://bit.ly/1zecSm6

Music in the making
Rice’s Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra performs “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert, conducted by Larry Rachleff, the Walter Kris Hubert Professor of Orchestra Conducting.
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/1tA9tdJ

WCSH-TV (Portland, Maine)
Former Rice basketball player Dajuan Eubanks is interviewed.
http://bit.ly/1pNR9S0 (This also appeared on WLBZ-TV.)

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Graphene could find use in lightweight ballistic body armor
Rice University scientists use microbullets in experiments to show graphene is 10 times better than steel at absorbing the energy of a penetrating projectile. Edwin Thomas, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, is quoted.
Gizmag (Similar articles appeared in ECNMag.com and 27 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1tzkAmY
Graphene can turn you into man of steel: Better than Kevlar in absorbing impact of supersonic bullets
Tech Times
http://bit.ly/1rU7osv
Graphene could help scientists make tougher, more efficient bulletproof vests
University Herald
http://bit.ly/1wjrymr
Microbullet hits confirm graphene’s strength
Science Codex
http://bit.ly/1zdvcvy

Rice University builds on-ramp to cloud computing
Rice is building its own computing cloud that will allow for “bursting” to outside systems, offering researchers unlimited processing capacity for “big data” projects. Jan Odegard, executive director of Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology; Moshe Vardi, director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering and professor of computer science; Kamran Khan, vice provost for information technology; and Genevera Allen ’06, the Dobelman Family Junior Chair of Statistics and assistant professor of statistics and electrical and computer engineering, are quoted. Stephen Bradshaw, the William V. Vietti Junior Chair of Space Physics and assistant professor of physics and astronomy; Lydia Kavraki, the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science and of Bioengineering; and Ashok Veeraraghavan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, are mentioned.
PCB Design 007 (This article also appeared in SMT.)
http://bit.ly/1FLjCM9

The enigma of presidential ‘space’ politics
John F. Kennedy’s speech given at Rice in 1962 is mentioned.
The Space Review
http://bit.ly/1pNjDeH

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Camp Kesem will partner with GivingTuesday
Camp Kesem is partnering with GivingTuesday to help launch the #HelpCampKesem photo campaign across its collegiate chapters, which includes Rice.
Chicago 3 Media
http://bit.ly/1zMdG1B

Eagle Materials announces appointment of COO
Eagle Materials appointed alumnus Michael Haack ’04 as chief operating officer.
CemNet.com (This article also appeared in Global Cement and 15 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1HV5dz3

Majesco hires Chad Hersh
Former adjunct faculty member Chad Hersh was named executive vice president at MajescoMastek.
Insurance Networking News
http://bit.ly/12kPAQh

Bret Harte grad makes waves with weird science
Alumnus Chris Rich ’04 is featured.
Calaveras Enterprise
http://bit.ly/1CBWzVW

SPORTS

Men’s basketball adds Jones
Head basketball coach Mike Rhoades announced the addition of freshman Jeremy Jones to the team on Monday.
Conference USA
http://bit.ly/1tzSAzO

Dec. 1 football notebook
Rice football fell to Louisiana Tech University 76-31 at Joe Aillet Stadium.
Conference USA
http://bit.ly/1CC5arT

NEWS RELEASE

Path to more effective competition in health care is topic at Rice’s Baker Institute Dec. 8
Dr. William Sage, a nationally recognized health policy researcher, will speak at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Dec. 8 and discuss how policymakers and health care providers can partner to redefine the products and services that will give the most value to patients. This Baker Institute Health Policy Forum event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
http://bit.ly/1tIwXMK