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.

The New York Times
An article examined the effect the Sept. 11 attacks have had on history and history classes. Thomas Haskell, the Samuel G. McCann Professor of History, was among the university professors interviewed. Haskell said that in his classes, he is emphasizing “the tyranny of the majority,” which seems to recur throughout American history.

National Public Radio
A story featured the results of a survey of Katrina evacuees who fled to Houston that showed 69 percent of them plan to remain here despite the fact that fewer than 20 percent of them have jobs and only half have health insurance. Quoted was Rick Wilson, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science and professor of statistics and of psychology. Wilson conducted the survey with Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science.

Houston Chronicle
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, was quoted about the significance of a new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico.

Los Angeles Times
An article reported on differences that have sprung up within the Christian Coalition and mentioned that the decline of the organization does not mean there is a corresponding decline of the religious right. Commenting on the issue was William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute and professor emeritus of sociology.

Austin American-Statesman
An article compared the career paths of George W. Bush and the late former Texas Gov. Ann Richards. Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, said that Bush’s win in Texas in 1994 “set the tone for his brand of Republican politics that electorally was very successful. In many ways, he was the candidate the Republicans were looking for in the post-Reagan period.”