Dateline Rice for May 19, 2015

FEATURED ITEMS

Rice is mentioned in two stories that appear on the front of the Sports section in today’s Houston Chronicle:

Texans rookie lineman Covington has pedigree for NFL success
Former Rice football player Christian Covington is featured. Head football coach David Bailiff is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1JwAKJ9

New ball looks like a home run for college game
The NCAA baseball committee is receiving favorable results from a recent ball change, which have produced an increase in home runs at this week’s conference tournaments. Head baseball coach Wayne Graham is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1edjhJF

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

VC John Doerr, wife make record donation to Rice University
With a $50 million gift from venture capitalist John Doerr ’73 and his wife, Ann ’75, through their private family foundation, Rice University is planning an unconventional approach to developing students into leaders. Retired Brig. Gen. Tom Kolditz, who has headed leadership training at Yale and West Point, will direct the Doerr Institute for New Leaders.
Upstart Business Journal
http://bit.ly/1EheYSz
VC John Doerr, wife make record donation to Rice University
Silicon Valley Business Journal
http://bit.ly/1JwPqrA

Mapping Mount St. Helens magma progresses, 35 years after eruption
Geoscientists have produced promising insight from their seismological survey of Mount St. Helens 35 years after its massive eruption. Alan Levander, the Carey Croneis Professor of Earth Science, is quoted. He was the lead scientist for the study.
Reuters (This article also appeared in Yahoo! News and 14 other media outlets.)
http://reut.rs/1AcJcv8

Scientists are growing anxious about genome-editing tools
Gang Bao, the Foyt Family Professor in Bioengineering and the director of Rice’s Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines, is featured for his research in the Department of Bioengineering through a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
The Washington Post (This article also appeared in MSN.)
http://wapo.st/1LhEME7

Hippies, nudity and Don Draper: Inside Big Sur’s Esalen Institute featured in ‘Mad Men’
Jeffrey Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, discusses people identifying as spiritual, but not religious in an article about the Esalen Institute.
SFGate
http://bit.ly/1HpWGTR

The mystery of Columba Bush
Alumnus George P. Bush ’98 is mentioned in an article about his parents, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Columba Bush.
The Atlantic
http://theatln.tc/1c2pgzm

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Texas should ease regulatory hurdles for aquifer storage and recovery programs
Regina Buono, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and postdoctoral research associate Katherine Zodrow authored a blog post about Texas’ need for better groundwater resources protection.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1IJhgBU

Houstonian was the man behind Letterman’s ‘Flunky the Clown’
Jeff Martin, who created and played the character “Flunky” on “Late Night with David Letterman” in the early 80s, is featured. The article mentions that his parents worked at Rice and that he sold soda at football games.
Houston Chronicle (This appeared on the front of the Star Home section. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1GmqaDr

What Greg Abbott’s pre-K gambit says about his politics and priorities
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 quoted about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s strong pitch for prekindergarten legislation to improve early childhood education.
Austin American-Statesman
http://atxne.ws/1EVbLsG

BROADCAST

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell delivers Rice commencement speech
Retired Gen. Colin Powell delivered Rice University’s 2015 commencement address.
CW39.com
http://bit.ly/1EZLiuW

KAVU-TV (Victoria, Texas)
Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business is hosting a public casting call for the ABC show “Shark Tank.”
http://bit.ly/1JwNy20

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Doping graphene with boron to make wearable supercapacitors
Flexible, wearable electronics may benefit from graphene microsupercapacitors infused with boron and made with a common laser. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted. Graduate student Zhiwei Peng is mentioned.
The Engineer
http://bit.ly/1HeQV91
Boron-infused graphene microsupercapacitor to double up wearables’ efficiency
World Industrial Reporter
http://bit.ly/1c2HAbw
Wearables may get boost from boron-infused graphene
Product Design and Development (This article also appeared in Science Daily and 15 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1EUWbwX

New shortcut to solar cells
Rice University scientists have found a way to simplify the manufacture of solar cells by using the top electrode as the catalyst that turns plain silicon into valuable black silicon. Andrew Barron, the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Professor of Chemistry and a professor of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted. Rice postdoctoral researcher Yen-Tien Lu is mentioned.
IDTechEx
http://bit.ly/1Ehq6Po

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Earthquakes reveal deep secrets beneath East Asia
A towering rock structure deep under East Asia has been indicated in research work involving 3-D supercomputer simulations using data from 227 earthquakes that hit the region during 2007-11. Min Chen, a postdoctoral research assistant in Earth science, is quoted. Fenglin Niu, professor of Earth science, is mentioned.
Primeur Weekly
http://bit.ly/1S7utqT
Earthquakes unveil deep rock structure under East Asia
The News Today
http://bit.ly/1JXn87G

The nanotechnology energy revolution
The late Richard Smalley is quoted in an article about nanotechnology’s relevance in research and commercial production.
Boston.com (This article also appeared in BioSpace and 10 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1AiYw9q

SPORTS

Colleges: Rice, UH win outright baseball titles in C-USA, AAC
Rice baseball beat Florida International University 3-2 in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader at Reckling Park to clinch the 2015 Conference USA regular-season title outright.
Houston Chronicle (Similar articles appeared in over 160 other media outlets. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1LhGBkv
KRIV-TV
http://bit.ly/1EZEBJn

15 years go: Olympic gold medalist graduates from River Oaks
Head baseball coach Wayne Graham is included in a slideshow of notable athletes in Houston.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1cN31hI

Clutch City once more
Will Rice College junior Senthil Natarajan authored an essay about the Houston Rockets.
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1L6j84W

Closing kick has Cougars confident heading into AAC tournament
University of Houston’s baseball coach Todd Whitting is quoted about his speech at Reckling Park after his team’s loss to Rice April 14.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1IOjIoY

Byrd guard Chad Lott headed to Rice
Byrd High School basketball player Chad Lott signed a letter of intent to play for Rice.
Shreveport Times (Similar articles appeared in over 15 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1Ki6Bi2
Flying away; Byrd’s Chad Lott signs with Rice
KTBS.com
http://bit.ly/1EVd6iW
Chad Lott chooses Rice; Kamady goes one on one with the future Owl
ArkLaTex.com
http://bit.ly/1FxrWmq
Chad Lott picks Rice and explains why
KSLA.com
http://bit.ly/1EhsgOT

Stoudamire to rejoin Memphis coaching staff
Former Rice basketball coach Damon Stoudamire rejoined the men’s basketball staff at the University of Memphis.
Arizona Wildcats (This article also appeared in KVVU-TV, WSMV-TV, WECT-TV, WMBF-TV, KOLD-TV, WWBT-TV and WTOL-TV.)
http://bit.ly/1FlPTdf
Damon Stoudamire leaving Arizona Wildcats to join Memphis Tigers as assistant coach
Oregon Live
http://bit.ly/1L6wP43

Rebecca Kates-Taylor named to Cowgirl staff
Former assistant basketball coach Rebecca Kates-Taylor was added to Oklahoma State University’s women’s basketball coaching staff.
Sports Page Magazine (This article also appeared in Oklahoma State.)
http://bit.ly/1HeX19i
Kates-Taylor added to OSU women’s basketball staff
News9.com
http://bit.ly/1IJcPXL

NEWS RELEASES

Oklahoma City mayor to discuss how urban planning made his city healthier at Rice Kinder Institute event May 26
In 2007, fueled by his 42-pound weight loss, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett put his city on a diet and challenged them to lose 1 million pounds to help change the culture of obesity in the city.
http://bit.ly/1cN1IiI

Seashell strength inspires stress tests
Engineers at Rice and the Indian Institute of Science analyze seashells to see how their shapes contribute to their remarkable strength.
http://bit.ly/1PvcZG0