News Briefs

Massages
to raise money for HOOTS
…………………………………………………………………

HOOTS will offer
professional massages for $1 per minute Friday, Aug. 31,
at Kelley Lounge in the Rice Memorial Center.

HOOTS, which
stands for High Order of the Owls Tailgate Society, raises
money for Rice scholarships for the children of facilities
and engineering and food and housing employees. For more
information about the group visit the Web at <www.ruf.rice.edu/~hoots>.

Rail
construction could tie up traffic
…………………………………………………………………

Construction
of METRO’s light rail project is set to begin on Fannin
Street Aug. 31. Two lanes northbound and two lanes southbound
will remain open on Fannin and left turns into Texas Medical
Center facilities will be maintained weekdays form 6 a.m.
to 7 p.m. Delays should be expected, however.

On weekends,
various lanes and intersection medians will be closed, including
at Fannin and University, John Freeman, Ross Sterling and
North MacGregor. Faculty, staff and students should consider
alternate routes if traveling through the area.

Colvin
earns teacher-scholar award
…………………………………………………………………

Vicki Colvin,
associate professor of chemistry, has been awarded a Camille
Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award for 2001.

Colvin earned
the $60,000 award for her project titled “Protein Crystals
as Scaffolds for Materials Design.”

The award was
established by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
to strengthen the teaching and research careers of talented
young faculty in the chemical sciences. The Camille Dreyfus
Teacher-Scholar Awards Program is focused primarily on individual
research attainment and promise, and evidence of excellence
in teaching also is expected. A second award, the Henry
Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program, stresses teaching,
mentorship and the nominees’ accomplishments in research
and teaching primarily with undergraduates.

Institutions
may submit only one Camille Dreyfus or one Henry Dreyfus
nomination each year. In general, 15 awards of $60,000 each
are made annually.

Apartments
garner design award
…………………………………………………………………

The Rice Graduate
Apartments won the Pillars of Industry Award in a national
competition designed to honor excellence in the multifamily
housing industry. A panel of 10 of the industry’s top
building, marketing and design professionals chose the award
winners. The competition was sponsored by the National Association
of Home Builders.

The Rice Graduate
Apartments is the result of a collaboration of graduate
students, Rice faculty and staff and the professionals who
designed, built and maintain the building.

Lane
named to CISS
…………………………………………………………………

Neal Lane, university
professor and former science adviser to President Clinton,
has been named to the Committee on International Security
Studies (CISS) of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Founded in 1982,
the committee plans and sponsors multidisciplinary studies
of problems that affect the security of states and societies
around the world. CISS projects focus on emerging issues
with global implications and explore cooperative, multilateral
means of providing peace and security.

Lane also holds
appointments in the Department of Physics and Astronomy
at Rice and as senior fellow of Rice’s James A. Baker
III Institute for Public Policy. He served as assistant
to the president for science and technology and director
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and, prior
to that, as director of the National Science Foundation
in the Clinton administration.

First
women’s soccer game set for Aug. 31
…………………………………………………………………

Rice kicks off
its inaugural women’s soccer season by hosting Army
at home Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. Throughout the four-month soccer
season, the Owls will face several teams that are proven
contenders, including a 2000 NCAA Women’s College Cup
participant and four teams ranked regionally in the final
2000 central region poll.

The Owls open
the season with four straight home games. Following the
matchup with Army, Rice hosts cross-town rival University
of Houston Sept. 4, Southwest Texas State Sept. 7 and Stephen
F. Austin Sept. 12. Houston is an up-and-coming squad in
Conference-USA after finishing in the top half in the conference
in each of its first three seasons.

For the full
2001 schedule, visit the Web at <www.RiceOwls.com/sports/wsoccer/schedule.asp>.

Stoll
becomes associate dean
…………………………………………………………………

Richard Stoll
has stepped down as associate director of the James A. Baker
III Institute for Public Policy to become associate dean
of social sciences.

In his new position,
which became effective July 1, Stoll will assist Dean Robert
Stein with all matters and business pertaining to the School
of Social Sciences, including coordinating development efforts
for the school and overseeing the Center for the Study of
Institutions and Values as well as interdisciplinary majors
and Leadership Rice.

Stoll, a professor
of political science, also will coordinate research, teaching
and other collaborations with the Baker Institute.

International
students can rely on Friends
…………………………………………………………………

Rice has admitted
240 new international students this fall. While these students
will face the challenges of adapting to life in a new country,
there is a program they can turn to to help them adjust.

Through its
Friends of International Students program, the Institute
of International Education offers the opportunity for Rice
faculty and staff to be paired with a new international
student. The friends act as local contacts and invite the
students to join family meals, outings and other activities.
Friends are encouraged to meet with the students at least
once a month, especially during the students’ first
year in the United States.

For more information
contact Peggy Tennyson at (713) 621-6300, ext. 21, or <ptennyson@iie.org>.

Thresher
wins journalism honor
…………………………………………………………………

The Rice Thresher
won first place in the Four-Year Newspaper (weekly or less
frequent) category at the Associated Collegiate Press journalism
conference. Thresher staff members attended the conference
in Washington, D.C., Aug. 2-5. They submitted the Jan. 26
issue of the Thresher for the contest.

A full list
of the college newspaper winners can be found at <http://studentpress.org/acp/winners/dc01bs.html>.