Dateline Rice for Nov. 22, 2016

FEATURED ITEM

Shannon LaBove: Rice University’s great debater
Shannon LaBove, lecturer and associate director of forensics, and Rice’s George R. Brown Forensics Society are featured. Will Rice College junior Allison McKibban and David Worth, senior lecturer of humanities and director of forensics, are mentioned.
Houstonia (This appears in the December 2016 issue of the magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2fnltll

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Distance cuts both ways for WA gas
Amy Myers Jaffe, a former energy fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is mentioned.
Business News Western Australia
http://bit.ly/2gcmOJu

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Rice U. study: About 1M Texans gained health care coverage due to Affordable Care Act
Texas has experienced a roughly 6 percentage-point increase in health insurance coverage from the Affordable Care Act, according to new research by experts at Rice and the Episcopal Health Foundation. This translates into just under 1 million Texans who have gained coverage due to President Barack Obama’s health care law. Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics at Rice’s Baker Institute and professor of economics, and Elena Marks, a nonresident health policy fellow at the Baker Institute and president and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation, are quoted.
TMC News
http://bit.ly/2gdPGos

Evan Garza named director of Rice Public Art
Evan Garza, assistant curator of modern and contemporary art at the University of Texas at Austin’s Blanton Museum of Art, has been named the new director of Rice Public Art. He will report to Alison Weaver, the Suzanne Deal Booth Executive Director of the Moody Center for the Arts, and begin his position in December.
TMC News
http://bit.ly/2fBwywS

Hunt for cause of Huntington’s yields clues
Rice scientists have uncovered new details about how a repeating nucleotide sequence in the gene for a mutant protein may trigger Huntington’s and other neurological diseases. Peter Wolynes, the D.R.Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science, professor of chemistry, of biochemistry and cell biology, of physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted.
TMC News
http://bit.ly/2fYWi7b

In search of the urban suburb: Report challenges assumptions about area’s growth
Houston’s suburbs must share innovations, successes and lessons learned from mistakes to ensure long-term prosperity, according to a new study commissioned by Urban Land Institute – Houston and conducted by Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/2flgKxo

#CalExit backers submit official ballot proposal to Attorney General
A slideshow mentions Rice.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/2fYKQIq

New Orleans latest city to grapple with Airbnb
Leah Binkovitz, staff writer for Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, authored an op-ed about short-term rental businesses in New Orleans.
Rivard Report
http://bit.ly/2ghT9j7

Where to run in Houston
Rice’s outer loop is mentioned on a list of the best places to run in Houston.
The Buzz Magazines
http://bit.ly/2ghZ9IK

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

2016 AAAS fellows honored for advancing science to serve society
Mason Tomson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world and publisher of the journal Science.
AAAS
http://bit.ly/2gGnRqb

Synthetic proteins click on DNA repair, give snaps of early cancer
Scientists from Rice, Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions are using synthetic biology to capture elusive, short-lived snippets of DNA that healthy cells produce on their way to becoming cancerous. Graduate student Qian Mei is mentioned.
GEN
http://bit.ly/2ghSZs2
‘Freeze-frame’ proteins show how cancer evolves
R&D (This also appeared in eCancer News.)
http://bit.ly/2gguU5A

Newly developed open-source optogenetics platform expands technique’s reach
Graduate student Karl Gerhardt and Rice colleagues have created the first low-cost, easy-to-use optogenetics hardware platform that biologists who have little or no training in engineering or software design can use to incorporate optogenetics testing in their labs. Jeff Tabor, assistant professor of bioengineering, and graduate students Evan Olson, Lucas Hartsough, Brian Landry, Felix Ekness and Sebastián Castillo-Hair are mentioned.
BioOptics World
http://bit.ly/2gguXy2

Molecular imaging hack makes cameras ‘faster’
A new Rice technique grabs images of chemical processes that happen faster than most laboratory cameras are able to capture them. Christy Landes, associate professor of chemistry and of electrical and computer engineering, and Kevin Kelly, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and applied physics graduate program chair, are quoted.
Space Daily
http://bit.ly/2gi1VOg

New chief financial officer at Noble Corp.
Alumnus Adam Peakes ’95 is featured.
Scandinavian Oil-Gads
http://bit.ly/2fnbTz4
Adam Peakes will become Noble Corp.’s senior vice president, CFO
E&P (This also appeared in Oil and Gas Investor.)
http://bit.ly/2fNVhBf
Noble Corp. names new CFO
Offshore Engineer
http://bit.ly/2gGnV9b
Peakes joins Noble as SVP, CFO
Oil & Gas Financial Journal
http://bit.ly/2ghRrP1

USA are to export natural gas to Middle East
Jim Krane, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted about oil prices.
Oil Review Middle East
http://bit.ly/2ghVKtD

Who has the top ranked MBA programs?
The Master of Business Administration program at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business is ranked No. 8 (up from No. 19 in 2015) in Bloomberg Businessweek’s new analysis of the best full-time MBA programs in the nation. This marks the MBA program’s first top 10 ranking.
Chief Learning Officer
http://bit.ly/2gi0Ohk
Bloomberg: Top 25 business schools of 2016
University Herald
http://bit.ly/2fNV8gZ

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

In memory: The man who brought harmony to Billy Graham’s ministry
William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, authored an article about the late Cliff Barrows.
Christianity Today
http://bit.ly/2ghZk6J

What will the job market look like in 30 years?
Moshe Vardi, director of Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology, the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering and professor of computer science, expects that within 30 years machines will be capable of doing almost any job that a human can.
EJ Insight (Hong Kong)
http://bit.ly/2gGg63x

10 things you never knew about iconic billionaire Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes, who attended Rice but left before earning a degree, is featured.
Hollywood.com
http://bit.ly/2fBmyny

Now versus later: Conflicting views of the path to Mars
President John F. Kennedy’s famous “Moon Speech” delivered at Rice Sept. 12, 1962, is discussed.
The Space Review
http://bit.ly/2fO07OB

SPORTS

Rice baseball team heading to Cuba
Rice baseball will embark on a 12-day trip to Cuba beginning Nov. 23. Los Buhos (The Owls) will play five games against Cuban Baseball Federation teams, attend classes and explore Cuba’s culture. Rice Athletics Director Joe Karlgaard is quoted.
KPRC
http://bit.ly/2gckl1q

Rice’s David Bailiff not worried about job status
Rice football head coach David Bailiff is featured.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in My San Antonio.) 
http://bit.ly/2gcifib
http://bit.ly/2f2yx1d

Time to shine for Rice’s Jackson Tyner, J.T. Granato
Rice football will play Stanford University Nov. 26. Head coach David Bailiff and Tyler Stehling, Jackson Tyner, J.T. Granato and Zach Wright are mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/2fYLsxV
http://bit.ly/2fndrJl
Rice report: QB Tyler Stehling to miss season finale with knee injury
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/2gGjyey
Rice QB Tyler Stehling out for season finale at Stanford
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in My San Antonio.) 
http://bit.ly/2fBlT5w
http://bit.ly/2fndd4I
Stanford versus Rice prediction, game preview
Campus Insiders
http://bit.ly/2fnm5Y5

High school athletes of the week: Nov. 22
A Rice commit is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/2gciSIq
http://bit.ly/2flnnQb
LSUE baseball players sign to 4-year colleges
Daily World
http://bit.ly/2gxTzVw

Evans scores 24, helps Rice hold off Montana State, 83-78
Rice men’s basketball defeated Montana State University 83-78. Brown College sophomore Marcus Evans is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.) 
http://bit.ly/2flhZwH
http://bit.ly/2fNSI1Z
Monday’s college basketball
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/2fNRjbD

Coach Mike Davis is playing it forward at TSU
Rice is mentioned.
Houstonia (This appears in the December 2016 issue of the magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2fBqPqN

Source: Texas’ clumsiness wouldn’t deter Tom Herman
Former Rice coach Tom Herman is mentioned.
247 Sports
http://bit.ly/2gcbWLE

Marshall swimming records fall
Rice volleyball is mentioned.
Herald-Dispatch
http://bit.ly/2fnfaOS
Repsher named C-USA Freshman of the Year
Joplin Globe
http://bit.ly/2fBwQnq