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.

USA Today
An article reported that many students still prefer paper textbooks to electronic versions. Sidney Burrus, the Maxfield and Oshman Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said technological changes typically come in two phases — replication of older technology, followed by innovation. “We’re in the first phase, with electronic doing what the traditional paper has done. Nothing’s really novel,” Burrus said.

An article about recent attempts by President George Bush to bolster his approval rating quoted Richard Stoll, professor of political science and associate dean of social sciences. “It suggests that he’s pretty much down to his core supporters out there … and everyone else has left,” he said.

United Press International
An article reported that Néha Datta, a senior bioengineering major, discovered a new way to culture adult stem cells from bone marrow. Team leader Antonios Mikos, the John W. Cox Professor in Bioengineering and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was also featured.

Scripps Howard News Service
An article about the oil industry’s 2005 profits quoted 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. “The industry wasn’t 100 percent convinced that prices would stay high,” she said. “We’re just now at the point where they’re starting to spend more.”

An article reported on the history of the taboo against depicting Muhammad. David Cook, assistant professor of religious studies, said the prohibition against depicting Muhammad seems strong in the core Arabic-speaking lands of the Middle East, while restrictions were relaxed in Islamic areas, like Persia and Mogul India, that are outside that zone. “Knowledge of this history is with a small group of specialists,” he said. “Most of the evidence is in museums.”