Dateline Rice for Aug. 20, 2021

FEATURED ITEMS

Rice University announces switch to online classes for beginning of school year
Numerous media outlets mention that Rice will delay the start of its semester to Aug. 25 and transition to virtual learning until Sept. 3 due to the rapid rise of COVID-19 in Houston. Several outlets cite letters to the Rice community by Provost Reginald DesRoches, Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates, and Kevin Kirby, vice president for administration and chair of the Crisis Management Advisory Committee.
The Hill (This article also appeared in MSN.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches-gorman
Rice University shifts to online classes as COVID cases rise
Bloomberg
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches-gorman
Rice will start semester online
Inside Higher Ed
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches-gorman
Live updates: Latest news on coronavirus and higher education
Inside Higher Ed
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches-gorman
Three Senators positive; US schools face havoc: Virus update
BNN Bloomberg
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-gorman
Live COVID-19 updates: Texas sending more relief medical workers to hospitals, adding new antibody infusion centers
The Texas Tribune
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-gorman
Rice moves first 2 weeks of fall semester classes online

COVID live updates: HISD approves $500 stipend for vaxxed employees, Rice shifts online
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches
Delta surge leads Rice to retreat from in-person classes for two weeks
Houston Press
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches-gorman-kirby
Rice University extending online learning and delays first day of classes amid rising COVID-19 cases
Fox 26 Online
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-gorman

Rice University to start school year with virtual learning due to COVID surge
MSN (This article originally appeared in KHOU Online, and this segment aired three times on KHOU-TV in Houston.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-msn
5 things to know today, including a major highway closure this weekend
Houston Business Journal
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-hbj

COVID-19 protocols and updates for Houston area colleges and universities
Defender Network
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-defender
‘Wake Up! with SallyMac & Lina’
KRIV-TV (Houston)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kriv (This segment aired four times.)
’13 Eyewitness News at 3 p.m.’
KTRK-TV (Houston)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches (This segment aired three times.)
‘KPRC Channel 2 News’
KPRC-TV (Houston)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kprc (This segment aired five times.)
‘Fox 26 News’
KRIV-TV (Houston)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kriv (This segment aired twice.)
‘NBC 5 News’
KXAS-TV (Dallas)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kxas (This segment aired three times.)
‘Good Morning Memphis’
WHBQ-AM (Memphis)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-whbq
Texas Public Radio
KSTX-FM (Dallas)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kstx (This segment aired on 20 affiliate stations across Texas.)
‘4 p.m. newscast for Aug. 19, 2021’
Houston Public Media on Google Podcasts (This segment also aired on KUHF-FM in Houston.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-hpm
‘6 p.m. newscast for Aug. 19, 2021’
Houston Public Media on Google Podcasts (This segment also aired on KUHF-FM in Houston.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-hpm
The Taliban takes over Twitter
KTRH on Spreaker (This segment also aired on KTRH-AM in Houston.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ktrh
KTRH-AM (Houston)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ktrh (This segment aired six times.)
KRLD-AM (Dallas)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-krld (This segment aired twice.)
WIOD-AM (Miami)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-wiod (This segment aired three times.)
WCBS-AM (New York) 
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-wcbs
KOA-AM (Denver)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-koa

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Quake-hit Haiti failed to learn building lessons after 2010 disaster
Provost Reginald DesRoches is quoted in The Wall Street Journal, and he is interviewed in a podcast by The Washington Post.
The Wall Street Journal (Subscription is required.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches
Disaster on repeat in Haiti
The Washington Post’s “Post Reports” podcast
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-desroches

Middle East rivals scramble to retain influence as Taliban rises in Afghanistan

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Yahoo! News (This Independent article appeared in yesterday’s Dateline.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ulrichsen

Border report: Number of migrants from Mexico increasing
Tony Payan, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Las Cruces Sun-News (Subscription is required.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-payan

HOUSTON/TEXAS

BROADCAST

KERA-FM (Dallas)
A broadcast features collaborative Rice research into how federal recovery funding after a disaster may disproportionally benefit white entrepreneurs. Co-author and graduate student Asia Bento is interviewed.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-bento

BBC Radio 3
A radio broadcast on the legacy of composer John Powell mentions that he gave a lecture at Rice in 1923.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-bbc

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

A better estimate of the amount of carbon in the Earth’s outer core
An article features collaborative Rice research that better estimates the amount of carbon in the Earth’s outer core. Co-author Rajdeep Dasgupta, the Maurice Ewing Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, is quoted.
Tech Explorist (This article appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-dasgupta

This senior federal scientist works to stop outsourcing
An article mentions President John F. Kennedy’s “moon speech,” which was delivered at Rice Sept. 12, 1962.
Federal News Network
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-kennedy

Shale oil investments may be protected from nationalization, experts say
An image is credited to Rice.
The OGM
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ogm

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

National 2D materials research center wins NSF funding
An article features the Center for Atomically Thin Multifunctional Coatings (ATOMIC), which focuses on designing and developing 2D materials, with unique physical, optical, electrical and chemical properties. Jun Lou, associate chair and professor of materials science and nanoengineering and Rice’s ATOMIC center director, is quoted.
Penn State News
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-lou

Teams with a diversity of thought find more creative solutions: Study
An article features a new Rice study that found that teams may benefit when they are comprised of people who are opposites. Jing Zhou, the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management and Psychology at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, is quoted.
The Florida Star
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-zhou

Three Alaskan volcanoes simultaneously erupting
Gerald Dickens, professor of Earth, environment and planetary sciences, is quoted.
Everything Grande Prairie (This article also appeared in 10 other media outlets.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-dickens

FSU Libraries chosen to participate in OpenStax’s Institutional Partner Program
An article features OpenStax, a Rice-based publisher of open educational resources.
Florida State University News 
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-openstax

New chancellor builds bridges to AFIT mission
An article mentions that Walter Jones formerly taught at Rice.
Dayton Daily News (This article also appeared in Wright-Patterson AFB News.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ddn

SPORTS

WSOC: 2021 Preseason team and poll announced
No. 22-ranked Rice soccer has been chosen as 2021 Conference USA preseason division favorites by the league’s 14 head coaches. Owl Mijke Roelfsema has been named as the C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and Roelfsema, Bella Kilgore and Delaney Schultz have been named to the preseason team.
Conference USA (This article also appeared in Bowling Green Daily News, GoBlueRaiders.com and MeanGreenSports.com.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-cusa
North Texas picked second in C-USA women’s soccer poll heading into season opener Friday
Denton Record-Chronicle
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-drc

Former college basketball player David Chadwick is helping student-athletes through his RealResponse reporting platform
An article mentions that former Rice basketball player David Chadwick founded RealResponse, an anonymous reporting platform for athletic teams, organizations and over 50,000 athletes.
WBGO Online (This segment also aired on WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-chadwick

Two tournaments, trip to Kansas highlight UTEP men’s basketball schedule
An article mentions that Rice’s men’s basketball team is slated to play the University of Texas at El Paso Feb. 5 and March 3.
El Paso Times (This article also appeared in KVIA Online.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-mbb

Angelina M. Vera, MD joins Crovetti Orthopedics, adding expertise with dance injuries to the world of sports medicine
An article about orthopedist Angelina Vera mentions that she has formerly worked with Rice’s football and track and field teams.
Nevada Business
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-nb

Angilau, Thompson named to awards watch lists
An article mentions the 2019 football game against Rice and the University of Texas at Austin.
TexasSports.com
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ts

Texas A&M’s offensive versatility, Texas’ defensive outlook and the best in-state nonconference games: Ask the Texpert
Rice is mentioned.
The Athletic (Subscription is required.)
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-ta
Best-case, worst-case scenarios for North Texas football in 2021
Denton Record-Chronicle
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-drc

NEWS RELEASES

CPRIT grant establishes Genetic Design and Engineering Center
Rice faculty members led by bioengineer Gang Bao have been awarded a $4 million grant by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to establish the Genetic Design and Engineering Center.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-news-release-bao

As Taliban tightens grip on Afghanistan, Rice expert available to discuss perceptions of Islam
As the Taliban tightens its grip on Afghanistan and the world wonders what its implementation of Sharia law will mean for the country’s citizens, Rice sociologist and Islam expert Craig Considine is available to discuss the international perception of Islam and Muslims and the experiences of minorities in Afghanistan.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-news-release-considine

Texas’ drug policy exposes challenges to ending ‘War on Drugs’
Legislative developments outline the challenges Texas will face in ending the war on drugs and other policies that contribute to systemic racism, according to a policy brief by Katharine Neill Harris, the Alfred C. Glassell, III, Fellow in Drug Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.
http://dateline.rice/aug-20-news-release-harris

About Stefan De La Garza

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