Dateline Rice for Aug. 10, 2015 (Weekend Edition)

FEATURED ITEMS

Rice wins large grant to improve water treatment
A Rice University-led consortium has won $18.5 million from the National Science Foundation to establish a national research center in Houston to develop mobile, off-grid water-treatment systems that can provide clean water to millions of people who lack it and make U.S. energy production more sustainable and cost-effective. Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who led the effort, is quoted. Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy, and materials science and nanoengineering, and the late Richard Smalley are mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (This appeared on the front of the City & State section. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1IZCgDF
3 new Engineering Research Centers will advance US resiliency and sustainability
National Science Foundation
http://1.usa.gov/1IyWrqx
National Science Foundation awards ASU world-changing technology center
Arizona State University
http://bit.ly/1TkeROv
KHOU-TV
http://bit.ly/1Mg56QY

Journalist Rather, grandson launch Texas education prize
Martin Rather, who will be a freshman at Rice this fall, discussed the Rather Prize, which is being offered in partnership with Rice’s Center for Civic Leadership, Austin-based nonprofit Greenlights and South by Southwest. The prize will be awarded for the best idea to innovate Texas education.
Houston Chronicle (This appeared on the front of the City & State section. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1IZjI6w
KEYE-TV (Austin, Texas)
http://bit.ly/1P1lwfu

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Dr. Emily Ballew Neff: Faces of Memphis
Alumna Emily Neff ’90 discusses her role as executive director of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
Style Blueprint
http://bit.ly/1KdMZHc

HOUSTON/TEXAS

For the Woodlands, imitation is sincerest form of flattery
Montgomery County’s plan for development emulates The Woodlands. Bill Fulton, director of Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, comments on the political pressure faced by attractive suburban communities.
Houston Chronicle (This appeared on the front of the City & State section in Sunday’s Chronicle. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1HBJoAL

Race and space: NASA’s first African-Americans
Economist and author Julianne Malveaux reviews the book “We Could Not Fail” by Richard Paul and Steven Moss. Rice is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1MkLkFP
C-SPAN2 – Book discussion
http://bit.ly/1TfY2tz

Study: Law discouraged more than those without voter ID
Confusion over Texas’ voter photo identification requirement potentially discouraged as many as 9 percent of registered voters from going to the polls in the November 2014 elections in the Latino-majority U.S. Congressional District 23, according to a new study by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the University of Houston’s Hobby Center for Public Policy. Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science and fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted. Jones also comments on presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz’s financial support in Texas, the outcome of the GOP debate and Pope Francis’ progressive opinion on human-driven climate change.
The Texas Tribune (Similar articles appeared in over 30 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/1KZKomY
ID law discouraged election turnout last year
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1MkKtVo
http://bit.ly/1f3DO3o
Poll: Voter ID law might have swayed Congressional race
El Paso Times
http://bit.ly/1IyIetz
New study suggests voter ID altered District 23 race
San Antonio Express-News (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1Tc43HA
Some say ruling on Texas voter ID law may have implications for Kansas
The Wichita Eagle
http://bit.ly/1HBw6UE
Study finds Texas voter photo ID requirement discourages turnout
Sugar Land Sun
http://bit.ly/1TkB533
Texas voter ID rules discouraged Hispanic people from voting
The Guardian
http://bit.ly/1MkJJQb
Study: ID law held back voters
The Columbus Dispatch
http://bit.ly/1gXwo3t
Controversial Texas voter ID law kept registered voters with proper ID from voting, study shows
Beaumont Enterprise
http://bit.ly/1ITmiX3
Ted Cruz leads pack in Texas money race
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://bit.ly/1DCw0BF
Texans Perry, Cruz rev up campaigns for next debate
McClatchy DC (This article also appeared in Sun Herald and Bradenton Herald.)
http://bit.ly/1EjMt8v
Minimizan en Texas alertas contra el cambio climático
El Diario (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/1MkKCIq
KTSA-AM (San Antonio)
http://bit.ly/1ITxumH (Similar broadcasts appeared in KUIK-AM, KXL-AM, KOMO-AM, WTOP-AM and KRLD-AM.)
KGO-AM (San Francisco)
http://bit.ly/1gXFFsn
KABC-AM (Los Angeles)
http://bit.ly/1Mg42N2
WBAP-AM
http://bit.ly/1WcLvG4
All News 106.7 (Atlanta)
http://bit.ly/1HBOoVS

Rice entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses at Bayou Startup Showcase
Eight teams of business-minded Rice students and alumni will present their startup concepts to Houston’s entrepreneurship community during the second Bayou Startup Showcase at the University of Houston Aug. 11. The members of Rice’s ShowCoach team are Wiess College junior Paine Matiscik and graduate students Jimmy Comerota and Daniel Purdy. Kerri Smith, managing director of Rice’s OwlSpark, is quoted.
Texas Medical Center News (This is featured in TMC Today.)
http://bit.ly/1Ke60sY
http://bit.ly/1L22ibz

ACA reduces uninsured in Texas, but would do more if state expanded Medicaid
Texas’ uninsured population remains primarily Hispanic and middle-aged, with low incomes and no college degree, according to a new report from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation.
Daily Kos
http://bit.ly/1IZyolX

BROADCAST

Equal Rights Ordinance opponents file yet another lawsuit against city of Houston
Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, comments on the inclusion of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance on the mayoral ballot.
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/1EjVw9o

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

‘Comfortably numb’
If the Rice University freshmen on the engineering design team Comfortably Numb have it their way, children will be less fearful and feel less pain when they go to the doctor’s office for a shot. The research team includes Greg Allison, Andy Zhang and Mike Hua.
Advance Healthcare Network
http://bit.ly/1WcNOJc

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

30 colleges with the best dorms, food and happiest students
Rice University has two No. 1 spots in the 2016 edition of the Princeton Review’s “The Best 380 Colleges”: best quality of life and lots of race/class interaction. Rice also appears on the list for happiest students, best health services, great financial aid and best-run colleges.
Seventeen
http://bit.ly/1IzfyAP

SPORTS

KHOU-TV
Head football coach David Bailiff appeared on Sports Extra to discuss Rice football and their upcoming season.
http://bit.ly/1MkShGE
KPRC-TV
http://bit.ly/1gtlOjH

New York Jets are the latest NFL team to try Strivr’s Oculus-based virtual reality tech
Rice signed a contract with STRIVR Labs to provide virtual reality technology for the football program.
Venture Beat
http://bit.ly/1TkkcWh

Houston Texans: Remember the name Christian Covington
Former Rice football player Christian Covington is featured.
Fansided
http://bit.ly/1HBALpE

Astros prospects: Interview with no-hit trio McCanna, Garza, and Person
Former Rice baseball player Kevin McCanna is interviewed.
Fansided
http://bit.ly/1UyM9Mk

NEWS RELEASES

Rice, ASU, Yale, UTEP win NSF engineering research center
A Rice University-led consortium has won $18.5 million from the National Science Foundation to establish a national research center in Houston to develop mobile, off-grid water-treatment systems that can provide clean water to millions of people who lack it and make U.S. energy production more sustainable and cost-effective.
http://bit.ly/1htpeDW

Tantalizing discovery may boost memory technology
Scientists at Rice University have created a solid-state memory technology that allows for high-density storage with a minimum of errors.
http://bit.ly/1IEIV2y