Dateline Rice for Aug. 24, 2018

HURRICANE HARVEY: 1 YEAR LATER
As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall approaches, several Rice experts are quoted in articles and broadcasts about the impact of the storm and the measures that can be taken to prevent future catastrophic flooding events.

On Harvey’s anniversary, Houstonians set to decide on historic flood control bond
Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and director of Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center (SSPEED), and Jim Blackburn, a professor in the practice of environmental law and the co-director of SSPEED, state in the Texas Tribune that fixing dams and increasing their flood pools “should be the No. 1 priority” for allocating funds from Harris County’s proposed flood mitigation bond; election day is Aug. 25. Another important measure for the future, according to Blackburn, who is quoted in CityLab and interviewed on National Public Radio, will be to buy out homes and vacate areas in flood plains. The Houston Chronicle quotes Bedient, who says he is encouraged by the changes in Houston’s flood policies in the wake of Harvey. The article mentions that the storm had little impact on the Texas Medical Center because its hospitals, clinics and office buildings were protected by a sophisticated Brays Bayou warning system developed by Rice scientists, and it cites a report from Rice experts that determined that previous 100- and 500-year flood plain maps are no longer accurate and will need continual updating due to the effects of climate change.
Texas Tribune
http://bit.ly/2MLGasM
Houston’s multibillion-dollar bet to survive the next Harvey
CityLab (This article also appeared in Mother Jones.)
http://bit.ly/2MKMtgg
How Texas is doing, 1 year after Hurricane Harvey hit
National Public Radio (This “All Things Considered” segment aired on over 700 affiliate stations.)
https://n.pr/2PyYaVQ
Never again: ‘Paradigm shift’ on flooding emerging in Houston a year after Harvey
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MNaGlT

‘Good Day Austin’
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, is interviewed by KTBC about the flood mitigation measures Houston plans to implement to prevent future flooding, and he is quoted in a Houston Chronicle article that investigates the source of the largest donations to the Fight Flooding Political Action Committee. Jones is also quoted in E&E News about Houston’s lost property tax revenue due to Hurricane Harvey.
KTBC-TV (Austin)
http://bit.ly/2MMajIt
Flood bond group’s top donors: Builders
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article appeared in a previous edition of Dateline when the Chronicle first posted it online.)
http://bit.ly/2MURIKx
Houston area’s tax revenue slows after floods
E&E News
http://bit.ly/2P4OBx0

Final EV turnout for the flood bond referendum
Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science at Rice, is quoted in an article about early voting in Houston’s flood mitigation bond election.
Off the Kuff  
http://bit.ly/2NfxhEP

Hurricane Harvey, as told through social media
Associate Professor of History Caleb McDaniel is quoted in an article about how Harvey was “the most digitally mediated natural disaster in U.S. history”; the article also mentions that Rice created the Harvey Memories Project, a new digital archive that aims to prevent the loss of valuable Harvey-related memories by preserving them within Rice’s digital collections. KTRH mentions that the public can add videos and images to the archive at HarveyMemories.org.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2MNZp53
http://bit.ly/2MNgjk1
KTRH-AM (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2MQdEpK

Among countless losses to Harvey, a few treasures saved in Houston
An article quotes Joshua Furman, the Stanford and Joan Alexander Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies, and mentions that he helped create Rice’s Houston Jewish History Archive, which archives families’ belongings in addition to documents and historical records.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MNaLpH

FEMA misses hurricane damage reported on Twitter
Co-author Carlos Villegas, an urban and metropolitan governance staff researcher at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted in Futurity and interviewed by Houston Public Media about a recent study that determined almost half of Hurricane Harvey’s damage reports provided by social media users were not captured by Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates. Villegas is quoted and Kinder Institute colleagues and co-authors Matthew Martinez, a research scientist, and Matthew Krause, a GIS analyst, are mentioned in an article from Phys.org.
Futurity 
http://bit.ly/2MQR2pa
Federal authorities missed nearly half of social media distress calls during Harvey
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/2OXSGCM
Social media provides critical information missed by FEMA 
Phys.org (This article also appeared in GISuser.com and Long Room.)
http://bit.ly/2MLR7dU

Hurricane season not only brings destruction and death but rising inequality too 
Junia Howell, a scholar at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research and an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote an op-ed on a study she co-authored showing that natural disasters and recovery efforts launched in their aftermath have increased wealth inequality between races in the U.S. Study co-author Jim Elliott, a professor of sociology at Rice and fellow at the Kinder Institute, is mentioned. Elliott is quoted in an article from the Pacific Standard, and ThinkProgress also cites the research.
Los Angeles Times (This article originally appeared in The Conversation, and it appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
https://lat.ms/2PBnYkg
What have we learned in the year since Hurricane Harvey?
Pacific Standard
http://bit.ly/2NhrkHE
The most vulnerable Texans never recovered from Harvey
ThinkProgress
http://bit.ly/2MKYl1I

Donors made Harvey one of history’s top disaster-related charity causes
An article mentions that while donations to help victims of Harvey have reached almost $1 billion, Houston enlisted experts from Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research to identify the most vulnerable populations with the greatest needs.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MLKHvk

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

This bizarre parasitic ‘love vine’ turns wasps into mummies
Articles feature Rice research that reported the first-known example of a parasitic love vine tangling with a gall wasp that parasitizes a shared host plant. Co-authors Scott Egan, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and graduate student Mattheau Comerford are quoted. Glen Hood, Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, is mentioned. A Rice video of Egan and Comerford discussing their research and its importance is included in the Futurity article. Egan is interviewed in
Newsweek (Editor’s note: A correction on Egan’s name has been requested.)
http://bit.ly/2NfGxZF
Killer love vine leaves mummified wasps in its wake
Futurity (This article also appeared in Earth.com, The Global Plant Council and The Right Coast.)
http://bit.ly/2PEYJO2

Why a federal rule change has some scholars worried they’ll be priced out of their own research
Joshua Eyler, director of Rice’s Center for Teaching Excellence and adjunct associate professor of humanities, is quoted in an article about new federal guidelines that could lead to universities charging fees for the use of their institutional review boards for research involving human subjects, which may inadvertently hurt the careers of young scientists or reduce the amount of research being conducted.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://bit.ly/2NfmTNl

Iron-based MRI contrast outperforms less safe method
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, is quoted along with graduate student Luke Henderson. Diagrams are credited to Henderson.
Futurity (This article also appeared in Research News, Newsline, Bionity, NewsCaf and Tdnews.)
http://bit.ly/2MM1ONA

ShareBackup could keep data in the fast lane
Rice research that developed ShareBackup, a strategy that would allow shared backup switches in data centers to take on network traffic within a fraction of a second after a software or hardware switch failure, is featured as “News From the Field.”
National Science Foundation
http://bit.ly/2NiTuC9

Models give synthetic biologists a head start
Rice research that developed the tools to build complex, computer-like DNA circuits that sense or trigger activities in cells is featured as “News From the Field.”
National Science Foundation
http://bit.ly/2P190Tq

Why the IPO of Saudi Arabia’s crown jewel has stalled
Jim Krane, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in an article about the postponement of the initial public offering of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, the proceeds from which were to be used to implement the kingdom’s plan to diversify its economy beyond oil.
CNN Money (This article also appeared in 15 other media outlets.)
Shelved Aramco IPO hits at heart of Saudi prince’s reforms
U.S. News & World Report (This article appeared in more than 50 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/2NisNNX

The fictional world in Trump’s head is about to crash headlong into the real world
History Professor Douglas Brinkley is quoted in an article about the difficulty in fact-checking all of President Donald Trump’s statements.
The Huffington Post 
http://bit.ly/2MPPvQe

HOUSTON/TEXAS

6 Texas races could determine whether Democrats flip the House
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, authored an op-ed in about six Texas House races that could flip the House to the Democrats.
TribTalk
http://bit.ly/2Nfltm9

Listen: A Gen Z’s take on Houston housing and affordability
An article mentions that Cite, a publication of the Rice Design Alliance, analyzed home affordability in Houston from the perspective of the wealthiest and the poorest to highlight the disparities that exist between the two.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the Aug. 23 print edition with a different headline, “A Gen Z take on housing and priciness.”
http://bit.ly/2MPWetm

Looks like GQ has discovered Houston
James Turrell’s “Twilight Epiphany” Skyspace on the Suzanne Deal Booth Centennial Pavilion is featured in a slideshow.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MKu5UJ

Most-admired nonprofit CEO: Amber Newman
An article featuring and picturing Amber Newman mentions that she attended Rice.
Houston Business Journal
http://bit.ly/2MUGhm5

Gardening calendar: Aug. 25
A roundup of community events mentions that 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, will speak Sept. 14 about “Neutralizing Our Individual Carbon Footprints” at the Houston Federation of Garden Clubs meeting.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2MM5xea

Pay attention to the ‘noise’ in your brain
An article features research from co-author Andreas Tolios, adjunct associate professor of electrical and computational engineering, that explored how neural activity changes when your attention is focused on an object or when your attention is split.
Baylor College of Medicine News (This article also appeared in Scienmag and Bioengineer.)
http://bit.ly/2MMU6Tu

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Mexico rounds ‘planned for 2-year halt’
Francisco J. Monaldi, fellow in Latin American energy policy at the Center for Energy Studies, the Mexico Center and the Latin America Initiative at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and a lecturer in energy economics at Rice, is quoted in two articles about changes to Mexico’s energy policies, and he is quoted in Law360 about the recent arbitration decision that allowed the seizure of shares of Venezuela’s Citgo oil company by Crystallex.
Upstream Online (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2NeM56B
Ruiz in the frame at Pemex
Upstream Online (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MQ36Hl
Citgo ruling has queued up brawl over Venezuelan assets
Law360
http://bit.ly/2MQhrDy

SWE Awards recognize engineers in the STEM community
An article mentions that alumna Saheba Bhatnagar ’18 won the Society of Women Engineers’ Outstanding Collegiate Member Award.
InsideHPC
http://bit.ly/2MQjbwA

Evidence of matter-matter coupling
Junichiro Kono, professor of electrical and computer engineering, of physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering, and graduate student Xinwei Li are quoted in an article about their discovery of the first example of Dicke cooperativity in a matter-matter system. The accompanying illustration is credited to Li.
Science Daily (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/2MPQT5o

Biomaterial could keep tooth alive after root canal
A novel application to prevent the loss of dental pulp by using an angiogenic hydrogel, which was first developed at Rice by former postdoctoral researcher Vivek Kumar, is featured. Kumar will present this research at the 256th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
Laboratory Equipment (This article also appeared in Domain-B.com.)
http://bit.ly/2Ndx4lz

SIUE’s Gopalan receives 2018 Teaching Career Enhancement Award
An article mentions that Rice participated in a research study on “flipped classrooms,” which introduce new information outside of the classroom, allowing more time during class to process the information and practice the content through a variety of active learning strategies.
Virtual-Strategy Magazine (This article also appeared in River Bender and EdGlen Today.)
http://bit.ly/2MTr58M

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

The exclusionary turn in GCC politics
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, fellow for the Middle East at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, authored an op-ed about the political strain placed on the Gulf Cooperation Council by Saudi Arabia’s recent break in diplomatic relations with Canada.
Lobe Log 
http://bit.ly/2Ndp6J3

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.
Long Room
http://bit.ly/2OXCu4s

NAU ecologist Yiqi Luo part of team awarded $6.4 million NSF grant to study how warming climate affects drylands
An article mentions that Tom Miller, the James and Deborah Godwin Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, will be a co-collaborator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico to better understand what drives environmental changes in arid ecosystems
Northern Arizona University News
http://bit.ly/2Ni5xPQ

Bill seeks to name street in front of NASA after ‘Hidden Figures’ stars
An article mentions that the mother of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attended Rice.
KLTV Online
http://bit.ly/2MKSABe

Mary Ann Sullivan was professor emerita at Bluffton University
An article mentions that alumna Mary Ann Sullivan ’63, professor emerita at Bluffton University, died Aug. 22 at the age of 77.
Bluffton Icon
http://bit.ly/2Ng4Jv5

SPORTS

‘KPRC Special: Fall Football Guide’
A television broadcast that features Rice football ahead of the Owls’ season-opener Aug. 25 against Prairie View A&M University features Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach Mike Bloomgren. The Houston Chronicle and Yahoo! Sports feature and picture Bloomgren, and the Houston Chronicle also quotes player Zach Abercrumbia, mentions assistant coach Robbie Picazo and pictures Bloomgren and Athletics Director Joe Karlgaard (image 2) in a slideshow. Bloomgren and former head coach David Bailiff are mentioned in the Dallas Morning News. Athlon Sports & Life mentions Bloomgren and Bailiff, former players Miko Smalls, Calvin Anderson, Emmanuel Ellerbee, Brian Womac, Preston Gordon and J.T. Ibe and the late Blaine Padgett; it also mentions current players Abercrumbia, Jackson Tyner, Sam Glaesmann, Shawn Stankavage, Martin Nwakamma, Roe Wilkins, Aaron Cephus, Sam Pierce, Nashon Ellerbe and Austin Walter. Assistant coach Drew Svoboda is mentioned in a second Houston Chronicle article.
KPRC-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/2PAeQME
Practice no comparison to the games
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
http://bit.ly/2NbtSa2
The making of Rice football coach Mike Bloomgren
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the Aug. 24 print edition with a different headline, “Chasing his dream,” and a similar article appeared in Yahoo! Sports.)
http://bit.ly/2MLtF0d
Conference USA preview: North Texas projected to reign supreme in West; Lane Kiffin’s FAU locks down the East 
Dallas Morning News (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2MQ5628
Prairie View A&M Panthers versus Rice Owls prediction and preview
Athlon Sports & Life
http://bit.ly/2NfG8q3
HS notebook: Clear Springs strengthens non-district schedule
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2NibrR0

16 amazing facts about the 2018 college football schedule
An article mentions that Rice will play its second game of the season in Hawaii.
FBSchedules.com
http://bit.ly/2MTt1OA

Live music, a wine festival and more: 8 events happening in the Greater Houston area this weekend, Aug. 24-26
A roundup of community events mentions that the inaugural Bayou Bucket 5K will take place at Rice, and it mentions that the University of Houston football team will play the Owls Sept. 1.
Community Impact Newspaper
http://bit.ly/2MPUa4G
Rivalry game at forefront of Bayou Bucket 5K
The Galveston County Daily News (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2Ng0gsc

Chris Boswell signs new 5-year contract with Steelers
Former Rice football player Chris Boswell is featured and pictured.
Bleacher Report
http://bit.ly/2MQ8gDd

Opponent preview: Navy Midshipmen
Rice’s football team is mentioned.
Down the Drive 
http://bit.ly/2MQ8OZN

Four home meets, 5 SEC matchups highlight 2018-19 Arkansas slate
An article featuring the University of Arkansas swimming and diving team mentions that the Razorbacks will compete against Rice Jan. 12.
Swim Swam
http://bit.ly/2MOSk44

A&M baseball to play 2 exhibition games, Omaha Cup in the fall
An article mentions that the Texas A&M University baseball team will play an exhibition game against Rice Oct. 26.
247Sports.com
http://bit.ly/2NiblsC

2018 high school football preview: District 21-6A
Rice Stadium is mentioned in a slideshow caption.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2NcFyti

NEWS RELEASES

Rice’s Baker Institute, Carnegie Corporation to present findings on state of pluralism, inclusion in Middle East
The findings from a two-year study led by the Center for the Middle East at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Carnegie Corporation of New York on the state of pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East will be presented at a conference Sept. 13 in Washington, D.C.
http://bit.ly/2MQcjPQ

Nanotubes change the shape of water
Rice materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and his team used molecular models to demonstrate their theory that weak van der Waals forces between the inner surface of a nanotube and water molecules are strong enough to snap the oxygen and hydrogen atoms into place. The research provides valuable insight on ways to leverage atomic interactions between nanotubes and water molecules to fabricate nanochannels and energy-storing nanocapacitors.
http://bit.ly/2MNAWfX