In the News

“In the News” features a sampling of faculty, staff and administrators who have been quoted in newspaper or magazine articles or have been interviewed on radio or television. 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.

New York Times
An article reported that three U.S. representatives from Massachusetts changed their minds about the war in Iraq and that the change brought about pleasant political consequences. Earl Black, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science, commented, “For those contemplating a presidential effort, this helps to get out in front of that issue three years before the first primaries, so they are on record as not waiting until the primaries to change. That goes for others who are not running for president as well.”

United Press International
An article featured research conducted by Andrew Perkins, assistant professor of management at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. His findings suggest that TV commercials featuring unfamiliar celebrity voice-overs are the most effective.

MSNBC
An item reported on the decline in support for the death penalty in the U.S. Professor of Sociology Stephen Klineberg reportedly found that “even in Harris County, where more defendants are sentenced to die than anywhere else in the country, support for the death penalty fell from 68 percent in 1999 to 60 percent this year.”

A story reported on the fifth anniversary of the International Space Station orbiting in space continuously, with humans living and working aboard. Paul Cloutier, professor of physics and astronomy, said when humans first started living in space, many were optimistic, but also naive about the challenges of long-term orbital trips. “Just the fact that it is up there is a major accomplishment,” he said.

An item reported on the enormous profits made recently by the major oil companies. Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and associate director of the Rice Energy Program, said, “The question increasingly is going to be, what is the industry going to do with this money?”

CNN
Edward Djerejian, director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, was one of the guests on a program that announced the hospitalization of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon following a stroke.

Houston Chronicle
An article reported that Galveston Island’s economy is booming, but that the island itself is sinking. John Anderson, the W. Maurice Ewing Chair in Oceanography and professor of Earth science, was quoted. “What I am afraid of is that people living there will one day look back and wonder why, if scientists knew changes were occurring to the island, they didn’t do anything about it,” he said.

Rice student Erica Flor was quoted in an article about synesthia, “an artful and harmless merging of the senses.” Flor described the colors of the letters in her name and added, “I can hear a few colors too, but mostly it’s numbers and letters having their own colors. So do the days of the week and the months of the year. I can tell you that six is always green. Nine, I don’t know why, doesn’t have a color.”

An article reported on efforts by Houston’s Muslim community to aid victims of the Pakistani earthquake. Ahmad Durrani, professor of civil and environmental engineering and an earthquake specialist, was reported to be one of a number of Houstonians with Pakistani connections who went to Pakistan following the quake and took supplies.