In The News

Each month,
Rice News will publish a sampling of faculty, staff and
administrators who have been quoted in newspaper or magazine
articles or who have been interviewed on television or radio.
To obtain a copy of the clipping packet from which the In
the News items are collected, contact the Office of News
and Media Relations, (713) 348-6774.

The New York
Times
In an article about college students studying abroad after
the Sept. 11 attacks, Mark Scheid, executive director of
international programs, was noted as saying that it’s
nearly always been true that study abroad is safer than
being in the United States, and this is probably even more
true now.

Time
A photo featuring Gil Whitaker, dean of the Jesse H. Jones
Graduate School of Management, appeared. The photo caption
mentioned that he made it a top priority to increase black
and Hispanic enrollment. Whitaker was mentioned as saying
that having more minority students attracts more corporate
recruiters, which in turn draws more, better-qualified applicants
to the school.

Business
Week
In an article about graduates honing job-hunting skills
for a tougher job market, Peter Veruki, executive director
for career planning and admissions at the Jones School,
commented that business schools that never would have come
to Rice for field trips are coming because of energy companies
in Houston. Jones School graduate student Saul Keeton discussed
his attempts to get a job with an energy company.

Chicago Tribune
Scheid commented that students who study abroad return feeling
that they have changed, and students who were studying abroad
during Sept. 11 will return to a nation that also has changed.
Underscoring the importance of study-abroad programs, Scheid
commented that the events of Sept. 11 were not caused by
too much international understanding.

usnews.com
Commenting on the expected boom of applications to graduate
school because of the tougher job market college graduates
are facing, Cheryl Matherly, director of the Career Services
Center, noted that Rice expects to see the same increase
it saw in the early 1990s. She added that students should
think about finding a first job on which to build a long-term
career, rather than trying to find the perfect first job.

Science
Richard Smalley, the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor
of Chemistry and professor of physics, commented on the
Nobel Prize and the luster associated with it. A timeline
mentioned that Smalley, Harold Kroto and Robert Curl, the
Harry C. and Olga Keith Wiess Professor of Natural Sciences
at Rice, received the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry for
the discovery of buckminsterfullerenes.

Los Angeles
Times
In an article about an airport security scanner that can
effectively strip people of their clothing, Kenneth Laughery,
the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Psychology, said that
a panel found that the public would not accept sacrificing
dignity for safety, at least pre-Sept. 11. He noted that
the public may change its attitude about this trade-off
over time.

An article reporting
the recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics mentioned that
the lab of Randy Hulet, the Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics
and Astronomy, was involved in the race to be first to create
a condensate, having created one in 1995.

Hamid Naficy,
the Nina J. Cullinan Professor of Art and Art History, was
quoted in an article about Americans’ romance with
airplanes. He said the thing that has made planes and airports
so powerful is the vision of elsewhere and other times.

The Dallas
Morning News
Neal Lane, university professor, commented that there is
a lack of recognition about the relevance of science to
society’s problems and that sound scientific advice
is crucial for dealing with the sort of threats that terrorists
pose. He added that the United States should have a national
research plan outlining how the government is going to address
the research and development needs for fighting terrorism.

Houston Chronicle
Evan Siemann, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary
biology, said that climate change is real, that data show
increasing temperatures and that people need to start thinking
about the consequences of these changes now.

In an article
about the investment performance of university endowments,
Scott Wise, vice president for investments and treasurer,
noted that Rice’s spending policy looks at endowment
value over a three-year period and that a one-year decline
will not have a direct impact.

In an article
about the hysteria surrounding reports of anthrax, Roberta
Diddel, adjunct instructor of psychology, commented that
the terrorist threat makes people feel out of control and
depressed. Diddel also offered guidelines to cope with the
threat of terrorism.

A news brief
announced the election of Baruch Brody, professor of philosophy,
to the Institute of Medicine.

An article about
tuition increases mentioned that Rice’s increase was
smaller than the national average. Ann Wright, vice president
for enrollment, was noted as saying that Rice’s tuition
is lower than that of other highly ranked national institutions
because the university runs an efficient operation and typically
uses more of its endowment to pay for operating costs.

Fox News
Channel
Edward Djerejian, director of the James A. Baker III Institute
for Public Policy, commented that keeping the coalition
against terrorism together as time goes on will be more
difficult.

KTRH-AM
Clifton Morgan, the Albert Thomas Professor of Political
Science, said that the Pentagon has a public relations problem.

KTMD-TV
Lily Lam, associate director of international students,
commented that tighter controls on foreign students studying
in the United States will likely not affect enrollment.
In another story, Rice was mentioned as one of several Houston
employers that offer benefits for domestic partners.