Dateline Rice for Aug. 23, 2018

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Saudi Aramco is said to postpone its potentially record-breaking IPO
Jim Krane, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in several articles about the postponement of the initial public offering of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, the proceeds of which were to be used to implement the kingdom’s plan to diversify its economy beyond oil.
The New York Times (Subscription is required. This article also appeared on the front of the Houston Chronicle’s Business Day section in the Aug. 23 print edition with a different headline, “Saudi oil giant suspends plan to go public.”)
https://nyti.ms/2MN6ra5
Saudi Aramco’s stalled IPO will dent investor confidence
The Economist (Subscription is required.)
https://econ.st/2MO0t8Q
Saudi Arabia officials dispute reports that Aramco IPO is canceled
Houston Business Journal (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MFi0jN 
Generate
Axios
http://bit.ly/2NgBlVy (Scroll down to “2. Parsing Aramco’s IPO retreat.”)
Saudi Aramco’s teetering IPO
Axios
http://bit.ly/2MLvHO8

Your next recruiter could be an algorithm
Although computer programmers are making strides in machine-learning hiring practices, scientists caution employers and workers against investing too heavily in programs that have not offered strong evidence of efficacy because it’s “difficult to identify exactly what traits make an employee successful in the first place,” according to Fred Oswald, professor of psychology,
U.S. News & World Report (This article also appeared in Yahoo! News.)
http://bit.ly/2MIwWgY

Facebook, Twitter still have fake account problems. But they’re making progress
Dan Wallach, professor of computer science and of electrical and computer engineering and a Rice Faculty Scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in an article about Facebook’s recent discovery and removal of accounts participating in disinformation campaigns.
CNET
https://cnet.co/2MNP7Su

Michigan’s Ross School to launch an online MBA
An article about online MBA programs lists Rice among the “world-class universities that offer high-quality online options for students.”
Forbes
http://bit.ly/2NhGoEQ

UUK’s cynical Egypt links put profit before human rights
An article mentions that Tani Barlow, the George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities, signed an open letter concerning the plan for Universities UK and the British government to partner with Egyptian higher education and calling for the safety and freedom of expression of academic staff and students to be guaranteed.
MSN (This article originally appeared in The Guardian.)
http://bit.ly/2MJXdeO

Natural disasters widen racial wealth gap, Rice researchers find
Damage caused by natural disasters and recovery efforts launched in their aftermaths have increased wealth inequality between races in the U.S., according to new research from Rice and the University of Pittsburgh. Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research studied nearly 3,500 families across the U.S. from 1999 through 2013 as disaster damage of varying scale struck counties where they lived. Junia Howell, a scholar at the institute for and an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, is interviewed by Houston Public Media, and Howell and Jim Elliott, a professor of sociology at Rice and fellow at the institute, are quoted
Futurity (This article was featured in the Aug. 23 Futurity Today newsletter, and it also appeared in a previous edition of Dateline when the article was first posted online.) 
http://bit.ly/2Nfqtat

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Troubled waters: A year after Harvey, has Houston learned anything?
“No city in the world (could have) prepared for Harvey,” and more severe flooding events are likely, according to Jim Blackburn, a professor in the practice of environmental law and the co-director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center. A roundup of community events from The Leader mentions that Blackburn will speak Sept. 14 about “Neutralizing Our Individual Carbon Footprints” at the Houston Federation of Garden Clubs meeting.
Texas Monthly
http://bit.ly/2NbJoTp
Calendar of events — Aug. 25
The Leader
http://bit.ly/2Ncnu2j (Scroll down to “Houston Federation of Garden Clubs.”)

Houston housing market in uneven recovery 1 year after Harvey
Kyle Shelton, director of strategic partnerships at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, states that flooding from Hurricane Harvey has ultimately contributed to reducing the amount of affordable housing in Houston.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2NbOdMp

Texas schools rank among Forbes’ top colleges in 2018
An article mentions that Rice is ranked No. 28 in the U.S., the highest ranking for a Texas university, on Forbes’ list of America’s top colleges and universities.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2N8tEjV
http://bit.ly/2NcruzZ
San Antonio school ranks among Forbes’ top colleges in 2018
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2MFXEH9

Trump unveils major rollback of Obama’s Clean Power Plan
The Trump administration’s rollback of energy regulations to give states broad authority in determining how to regulate pollution from coal-fired power plants is unlikely to revive Texas’s coal plants, according to Daniel Cohan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
Fort Worth Business Press (This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune and was included in a previous edition of Dateline when the article was first posted online.)
http://bit.ly/2MK2Zx0

Tech nonprofit Houston Exponential confirms layoffs
An article mentions that Houston Exponential partnered with Station Houston and Rice to renovate and develop the historic Midtown Sears building into an innovation hub.
Houston Business Journals (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MKXLRK

Reflections on my first white coat
Alumnus Trevor Jamison ’18 authored an op-ed about his experience at the Baylor College of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony as a first-year medical school student.
Baylor College of Medicine News
http://bit.ly/2NcaKc4

Verreaux Collective inaugurates chamber music series in The Woodlands
An article featuring and picturing The Verreaux Collective mentions that members Andrew White, Julia Simpson, Sebastian Stefanovic, Paul Novak, David Danjul and Arin Sarkissian attend Rice’s Shepherd School of Music.
Woodlands Online
http://bit.ly/2NcelHb

BROADCAST

‘CNN Tonight With Don Lemon’
History Professor Douglas Brinkley appears on a television broadcast discussing the recent admission by Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, that Trump told him to arrange payments to women during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep them from speaking publicly about affairs they claim to have had with the president.
CNN  
http://bit.ly/2NceTg3

‘Political Roundup’: Manafort verdict, and Trump’s attorney pleads guilty
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science, fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, participates in a panel discussion on the political news of the day in an episode of “Houston Matters.” Jones is also interviewed in a television broadcast about the admission by Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, that Trump told him to arrange payments to women during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep them from speaking publicly about affairs they claim to have had with the president.
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/2MJGV5v
‘KPRC Channel 2 News at 10 p.m.’
KPRC-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2NcUUOk

On 1st anniversary of Harvey, Harris County votes on $2.5 billion flood control bond
Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters Center, and Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science at Rice, are interviewed about the Harris County flood control bond election. Stein is quoted in a Houston Chronicle article about how Harris County mistakenly suspended almost 2,000 voters.
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/2Ncixq6
Harris County mistakenly suspends voter registrations after GOP challenge
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News, and it appeared in the Aug. 23 print edition of the Chronicle with a different headline, “Error leads to Harris voter suspensions.”)
http://bit.ly/2Nah6sh

Harvey Memories Project created by Rice University to document storm’s impact
Several broadcasts feature Rice’s Harvey Memories Project, a community-driven digital memory bank that collects stories, images, video and audio documenting the human impact of Hurricane Harvey. Caleb McDaniel, associate professor of history, and Lisa Spiro, the executive director of digital scholarship services at Fondren, are interviewed; Jonathan Rodriguez, Rice Facilities, Engineering and Planning groundskeeper, is interviewed by KRIV about how the university community rallied to help renovate his home in the wake of the flooding.
KPRC Online
http://bit.ly/2Nde0Eb
KRIV-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2MItcfq
‘NBC 5 News at 6’
KXAS-TV (Dallas)
http://bit.ly/2MJbyrL

Opera singer David Daniels accused of rape
A radio segment and article mention that alumnus Samuel Schultz ’09 decided to “say #MeToo” in order to inspire others to come forward about abuse.
NPR (This “Morning Edition” segment aired on over 700 affiliate radio stations and WNYW-TV New York; related articles also appeared in over 30 other media outlets.)
https://n.pr/2BOC92H

KTRH-AM (Houston)
President John F. Kennedy’s “Moon Speech” given at Rice Sept. 12, 1962, is mentioned in two radio broadcasts.
http://bit.ly/2MJnGco
WTOP2-AM (Washington, D.C.)
http://bit.ly/2MLRiG9

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Reimagining MRI contrast: Iron outperforms gadolinium
Rice nanoscientists have demonstrated a method for loading iron inside nanoparticles to create MRI contrast agents that outperform gadolinium chelates, the mainstay contrast agent that is facing increased scrutiny due to potential safety concerns.
Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy, and of materials science and nanoengineering and the director of Rice’s Smalley-Curl Institute, and graduate student Luke Henderson are quoted. Diagrams are credited to Henderson.
Phys.org (This article also appeared in Nanowerk, Radiology Business, Health Imaging, Medgadget and Imaging Technology News.)
http://bit.ly/2MNlS21

‘PyDev of the Week’: Jessica Ingrassellino
An article mentions that Rice offers free online computer coding classes.
DZone.com
http://bit.ly/2MO4Z7w

Novel technique for diagnosing quantum computers
An article features the research of Anastasios Kyrillidis, the Noah Harding Assistant Professor of Computer Science, who developed an unconventional method that can act as a diagnostic tool for powerful, next-generation quantum supercomputers.
AZoQuantum  
http://bit.ly/2MJvniF

Rice engineering students develop urban greenhouse
Six Rice engineering students created an automated indoor greenhouse that is unlike others: While most indoor gardens are hydroponic, meaning plants are planted in water mixed with mineral nutrients, Rice’s design uses a soil trough for planting. Co-creators and alumni Harrison Lin ’18, Jack Kaplan ’18 and Mary Bao ’18 are mentioned in the article and featured in the accompanying Rice video, and alumni Mike Hua ’18, Colin Losey ’18 and Lingbo Chen ’17 are mentioned in the article. The design won the Shared Space Challenge at the HSB Living Lab competition in Gothenburg, Sweden. A video of the awards ceremony includes interviews with Lin, Kaplan and Hua.
Engineering.com (Similar articles have appeared in over 40 other media outlets since the original was published in a previous edition of Dateline.) 
http://bit.ly/2MHpyT5
Winners of the Shared Space Challenge announced at prize ceremony
Johanneberg Science Park AB
http://bit.ly/2Nczhh8

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

A Houston homeowner has spent $100K on flood prevention. It’s probably not enough.
An article about flood mitigation strategies cites 2017 research from Rice and Texas A&M universities that determined that 75 percent of damage from Hurricane Harvey occurred outside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 100-year flood plain. The article also cites research from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters Center that determined that the lack of flood mitigation requirements from developments upstream of Houston contributed to the flooding.
Quartz
http://bit.ly/2MO0TMo

Harper partners with OpenStax to increase use of free textbooks
An article mentions that Harper College is one of nine institutions selected for the 2018-19 OpenStax Institutional Partnership Program to encourage use of free, peer-reviewed textbooks and other openly licensed course materials on campus. OpenStax is a Rice-based publisher of open educational resources.
Harper College News
http://bit.ly/2MLgo7P

The parasitic plant that turns wasps into mummies: Scientists discover vine that wraps itself around insect’s egg-containing growths and sucks the life from inside
An article featuring a Rice study that reported the first-known example of a parasitic love vine tangling with a gall wasp that parasitizes a shared host plant quotes and pictures Scott Egan, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
Daily Mail
https://dailym.ai/2Nc6Y2a
Deadly ‘love vine’ penetrates wasps’ homes (and drains their bodies)
Live Science
http://bit.ly/2MJih5a

Protests rock India, Bangladesh, overseas following arrest of top photographer-activist Dr. Shahidul Alam, students
An article mentions that Elora Shehabuddin, associate professor in humanities and political science, was one of over 100 petitioners who signed an open letter urging the government of Bangladesh to release well-known Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam.
Counterview (This article also appeared in Eurasia Review and the Bangladesh Chronicle.)
http://bit.ly/2MJPs8G

Tiffany Barnes receives Emerging Scholar Award
An article featuring and picturing alumna Tiffany Barnes ’08 mentions she has been selected to receive the Emerging Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association’s Legislative Studies Section. Barnes is also a previous winner of the John W. Gardner Award for Best Dissertation in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Rice.
University of Kentucky News (This article also appeared in The Lane Report.)
http://bit.ly/2Ni0qiw

Supes accept bid on Lucerne Hotel
An article mentions that The Romero Institute, a social justice-focused nonprofit law and public policy center based in Santa Cruz, Calif., recently purchased the Lucerne Hotel in Lakeport, Calif., with the intention of turning it into a four-year educational institution that will offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in Integrative Global Studies and a university extension program in partnership with Rice and other institutions.
Record-Bee
http://bit.ly/2N9Q04t

Former astronaut named as the fall McDowell Speaker
An article featuring and picturing former astronaut Mike Massimino mentions that he formerly held an academic appointment at Rice.
Transylvania Times
http://bit.ly/2NbkLX0

SPORTS

‘FOX 26 News at 9’
Two television broadcasts and an article feature the Rice Athletics program. Athletics Director Joe Karlgaard appears in a KRIV broadcast and is quoted by Best College Sports News Network on the establishment of the Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach endowment. Alumnus Bruce Dunlavie ’79 is mentioned. Head coach Mike Bloomgren is featured on KPRC ahead of Rice’s season-opener Aug. 25 against Prairie View A&M University, and players Jackson Tyner and Shawn Stankhavage are mentioned.
KRIV-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2MMkzAo
Rice coach Mike Bloomgren on his team and gift from donors
Best College Sports News Network
http://bit.ly/2o1VMdO
‘KPRC Channel 2 News at 6pm’
KPRC-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2MLUMIJ

Cougars crystal ball: Predicting Houston’s 2018 football season
An article featuring the University of Houston mentions that the Cougars will play Rice Sept. 1.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MN8efd

HS notebook: Clear Springs strengthens non-district schedule
Rice assistant football coach Drew Svoboda is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MHT9vH

Rice graduate transfer Calvin Anderson a key piece for Texas offensive line
Former Rice football player Calvin Anderson is featured and pictured.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2MSNbbv

Oracle Challenger Series brings new tournament at Rice University
An article mentions that an Oracle Challenger Series tournament will be held at Rice’s George R. Brown Tennis Center Nov. 12. Men’s head tennis coach Efe Ustundag is quoted.
Tennis World (This article also appeared in Tennis Panorama and WTA Tennis.)
http://bit.ly/2Nc6vNF

Marshall adds Connor Teykl to coaching staff
Former Rice baseball player Connor Teykl, now an assistant coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, is featured and pictured.
UTSA Athletics
http://bit.ly/2MQY3qk

Tuesday’s local clipboard: Wave win in tennis; UND holds volleyball scrimmage
Rice’s volleyball team will compete in the Red Raider Classic in Lubbock, Texas.
Grand Forks Herald
http://bit.ly/2MJVeqS

NEWS RELEASE

Rice U. lab finds evidence of matter-matter coupling
After their recent pioneering experiments to couple light and matter to an extreme degree, Rice scientists decided to look for a similar effect in matter alone. They didn’t expect to find it so soon. Rice physicist Junichiro Kono, graduate student Xinwei Li and their international colleagues have discovered the first example of Dicke cooperativity in a matter-matter system, a result reported in Science this week.
http://bit.ly/2MJsezs