Dateline Rice for June 30, 2020

Stefan De La Garza
– June 30, 2020Posted in: Dateline Rice

COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Can a renewables boom put Texans back to work?
Ken Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Texas Monthly (This article will also appear in the July print and digital editions.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-medlockFree, low-cost job retraining available to help you land a job
David Vassar, assistant dean of professional and executive programs at Rice’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, is interviewed about the school’s Back to Work initiative, a series of five interactive online workshops launching July 16 to teach everything from basic work-searching skills to techniques for turning a job interview into a job offer.
Fox 26 Online (This segment also aired on KRIV-TV in Houston.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-vassar-glasscock-school

Rice shares grant for AI-driven COVID-19 research
An article featuring Todd Treangen, assistant professor of computer science, mentions he received a C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute Award for computational biology research applying artificial intelligence models to COVID-19 mitigation.
R&D World
http://dateline.rice/june-30-treangen

Researchers propose health safety grading system for restaurants amid COVID
Researchers at Rice’s Texas Policy Lab propose creating a system for grading businesses on COVID-19 safety similar to the health inspections restaurants are subject to, which they hope will help consumers make informed decisions amid the pandemic. Co-authors mentioned include E. Susan Amirian, research scientist at the Texas Policy Lab at Rice’s School of Social Sciences; Snejana Nihtianova, director of research operations at the lab; and intern Megan Rafferty.
Rose Law Group Reporter
http://dateline.rice/june-30-amirian-nihtianova

Le coronavirus, une épée de Damoclès pour les non-assurés du Texas
Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Center for Health and Biosciences, is quoted.
Yahoo! Actualites (An English translation is not available. This article originally appeared in RFI, and it appeared in MSN France and The World News.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-ho

COVID-19’s coming mental health toll is a ‘disease of despair’
An article cites results from Rice’s collaborative COVID-19 Registry, which aims to compile a demographic portrait of the pandemic’s impact on Houston, that found a quarter of respondents were feeling moderate or severe anxiety related to the pandemic.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article appeared on the front page of the June 30 print edition and a previous edition of Dateline.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-covid-registry

Mimir Chamber Music Fest takes the digital stage
Alumnus Curt Thompson is quoted and alumnus Johan Fröst is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle’s “Preview”
http://dateline.rice/june-30-thompson-frost

Virtual medicine during the COVID-19 era
Alumna Neha Vyas authored an article.
Yahoo! News
http://dateline.rice/june-30-vyasDLA Troop Support holds first virtual event to mark LGBTQ Pride Month
Alumna and former Houston Mayor Annise Parker is featured and pictured.
DVIDShub.net
http://dateline.rice/june-30-parker

Brazos Valley Bombers ready to open modified TCL season against Round Rock
An article mentions that Rice’s baseball team was defeated by Texas A&M University March 10; it was the last game of the shortened season.
The Eagle
http://dateline.rice/june-30-eagle

RACE IN THE U.S.
Disaster loans foster disparities in Black communities
Jim Elliott, professor of sociology and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted.
E&E News
http://dateline.rice/june-30-elliottSienna Plantation in Missouri City to remove ‘plantation’ from name
James Sidbury, the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities, is quoted.
Majic 102.1 Online
http://dateline.rice/june-30-sidbury

Two Rice alums are building solidarity between Asian American and Black communities
Alumni Joey Yang and Dolly Li, founders of the Plum Radio podcast, are featured.
Texas Monthly
http://dateline.rice/june-30-yang-li

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Plasticity may make neurons vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, study explains
An article features collaborative Rice research into the vulnerability of neurons to Alzheimer’s disease. Co-lead author Vicky Yao, an assistant professor of computer science, is quoted.
Yahoo! News (This article originally appeared in ANI, and it appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-yao
Why memory-forming neurons are vulnerable to Alzheimer’s
The Rockefeller University News
http://dateline.rice/june-30-yaoDaniel Graham’s ‘Presocratic Philosophy’ published in Persian 
An article mentions that Daniel Graham formerly taught at Rice.
Tehran Times
http://dateline.rice/june-30-tehran-times

HOUSTON/TEXAS
Two Houston universities offer the most bang for your buck in Texas
A roundup mentions that Rice is the No. 1 university in Texas according to SmartAsset’s list of schools that provide the best return on investment.
Houston Chronicle (This article also appeared in more than 25 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-no-1To love Houston is to accept that making sense of it is futile
An article authored by Sukhada Tatke mentions that her husband began conducting postdoctoral research at Rice in 2014.
Texas Monthly
http://dateline.rice/june-30-tmonthly

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL
Using laser-welded sugar, Rice bioengineers build 3D vessel networks for lab-grown tissues

An article features collaborative Rice research that created complex blood vessel networks from templates of 3D-printed sugar, capable of feeding a constructed organ. Co-authors Jordan Miller, assistant professor of bioengineering, and graduate student Ian Kinstlinger are quoted.
Fierce Biotech (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-millerTech: Cartwheeling light reveals new optical phenomenon
An article features Rice research that discovered details about a novel type of polarized light-matter interaction with light that literally turns end over end as it propagates from a source. Quoted or mentioned include Stephan Link, professor of chemistry and computer and electrical engineering and associate chair for graduate studies, graduate student Lauren McCarthy and alumnus Kyle Smith.
Tunisie Soir (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-link

Physicists see surprisingly strong light, high heat from nanogaps between plasmonic electrodes

An article features collaborative Rice research into the unexpectedly strong light emitted by tunneling electrons between gold electrodes. Doug Natelson, professor of physics and astronomy, of electrical and computer engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, and the department chair of physics and astronomy, is quoted. Postdoctoral researcher Longji Cui and graduate student Yunxuan Zhu are mentioned.
Phys.org (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/june-30-natelson

Watch Gilharmonic on Violinist.com, Episode 3, with Gil Shaham and Tessa Lark!
An article featuring Brown College sophomore Faustina Housner mentions she is studying with Kathleen Winkler, the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Classical Violin at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music.
Violinist.com
http://dateline.rice/june-30-housner-winkler

FYI This Week highlights upcoming science policy events and summarizes news from the past week.
An article mentions a Baker Institute for Public Policy webinar titled “U.S. Policies on Scientific Cooperation with China: Furthering National Security, Diplomacy, Competitiveness or Discrimination?” Speakers Neal Lane, a senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute, and Steven Lewis, the C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow at the Baker Institute, are mentioned.
American Institute of Physics News
http://dateline.rice/june-30-lane-lewis

Converting toxic industrial gases into carbon nanotubes and fibers
An article mentions the industrial-academic partnership between Rice and Shell to develop a method of capturing methane emissions, turning them into carbon nanotubes and then using the carbon nanotubes to make carbon nanofibers.
AZoNano
http://dateline.rice/june-30-nano
edX MicroBachelors programs are designed with input from Fortune 1000 companies to help students build marketable skills
Rice is a participating institution in edX’s new MicroBachelors program.
Business Insider
http://dateline.rice/june-30-edX

Congratulations to Thomas H. Routt Scholarship recipients
An article featuring Caleb James, recipient of a Thomas H. Routt Scholarship, mentions he plans to attend Rice in the fall.
African American News & Issues
http://dateline.rice/june-30-aani

ATG news you need to start the week June 29, 2020
A roundup mentions the installation of small, free libraries on Rice’s campus.
Against the Grain
http://dateline.rice/june-30-library

Getting into elite colleges may just have gotten easier
Rice is mentioned.
Wealth Management
http://dateline.rice/june-30-wm

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST
Eye of the hurricane: Notre Dame’s next provost understands crisis leadership
Marie Lynn Miranda, former provost and professor of statistics at Rice, is featured.
University of Notre Dame News
http://dateline.rice/june-30-miranda

SPORTS
Houston’s plan to redshirt marquee players in 2019 could lead to huge progress in 2020
Rice’s football team is mentioned in several articles.
CBS Sports
http://dateline.rice/june-30-cbs
SI’s realignment proposal would bring back UT-A&M rivalry
Sports Illustrated’s Longhorns Country
http://dateline.rice/june-30-si
What could a hypothetical college football conference realignment look like for LSU?
Sports Illustrated’s LSU Country
http://dateline.rice/june-30-si
2020 opponent preview: Getting to know Ole Miss
247Sports.com
http://dateline.rice/june-30-247

NEWS RELEASE
Cartwheeling light reveals new optical phenomenon
Researchers at Rice have discovered details about a novel type of polarized light-matter interaction with light that literally turns end over end as it propagates from a source. Their find could help study molecules like those in light-harvesting antennas anticipated to have unique sensitivity to the phenomenon.
http://dateline.rice/june-30-news-release-link

About Stefan De La Garza

Stefan De La Garza is a news analyst in Rice University's Office of Public Affairs.