News briefs for Jan. 30, 2009

Lunch Bunch to visit Baker College Feb. 4
 
The next Lunch Bunch will be held at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 4 at Baker College. All Rice staff members are invited to enjoy a buffet-style lunch, meet and mingle with other staff and Rice students and learn interesting facts and history about the college from Carl Wischmeyer, the first master of Baker College.
 
Space is limited to the first 25 participants, and a $7 prepayment is required. Go to http://lunchbunch.rice.edu/ to register.
 
This event is sponsored by the Staff Advisory Committee and the Employee Activities Committee. 

Pictures requested for Campanile
   
The editors of Rice’s Campanile yearbook would like to include photos of each department in this year’s edition. They request group departmental pictures be submitted by Feb. 6. to yesle@rice.edu. Include the names of the people in the picture and the name of the photographer.

Ally Program to hold training session
   
The Rice Ally Program is hosting a training session Jan. 31 to raise awareness on how homophobia and heterosexism impact society. The program will focus on being an ally for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed persons. The session will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. and is open to all students, faculty and staff. For more information or to register, contact allyprogram@rice.edu.

Healthy lifestyle screenings return
   
Healthy lifestyle screenings are back. Benefits-eligible faculty and staff have the opportunity to get a free comprehensive review of their health by Methodist Wellness Services.
Screenings will be from 6:30 to 11 a.m. Feb. 23 and March 3-4 in Grand Hall, Rice Memorial Center.
 
Employees can get a review of their blood pressure, body composition, blood analysis, height and weight. They also can opt for tests of their C-reactive protein levels, bone density (for postmenopausal women) and prostate-specific antigen levels (for men). Results will be presented in a confidential personalized health profile. The program is free to the first 250 benefits-eligible faculty, staff or retirees to enroll.
 
Sign up by contacting Katie Walters at wellnesscoordinator@rice.edu or 713-348-3538.
 
Note the time you would like for your screening as well as your name, mail stop, employee ID number, date of birth and gender. Also indicate which optional tests you would like.

VADA’s Sparagana to sign book at Menil Bookstore
   
John Sparagana, professor of visual and dramatic arts, will discuss and sign his new book, “Sleeping Beauty: A One-Artist Dictionary,” at 6 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Menil Collection Bookstore, 1520 Sul Ross St.

Rice students’ video is top 10 contender in MTVU contest
 
Baker College senior Faheem Ahmed and Sid Richardson College senior Anish Patel are hoping to make it to the Academy Awards, but they need the Rice community’s help.
 
The duo entered an MTVU.com contest to win a stint as a red-carpet correspondent at the 2009 Oscars Feb. 22. Their video was selected among the top 10 submitted, and now they’re hoping to be voted among the top 3 and get a trip to Los Angeles to take part in the big event.
 
Visit http://www.mtvu.com/on-campus/contests-sweepstakes/oscars/faheem-ahmed-and-anish-patel/ to to watch the video and vote for Ahmed and Patel. Voting ends Feb. 6.

Lecture to explain archeological finds in North America

Michael Fuller, an expert on prehistoric Native American cultures, will speak at Rice Feb. 5 about Cahokia, a great civilization that grew at the junction of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers from 700-1300 CE.

Archaeological excavation has demonstrated that the size and complexity of Cahokia was on par with the great cities of Central America and larger than medieval London. Temple mounds, fortification walls, astronomical observatories and the tombs of rulers all attest to an advanced culture. But the once-magnificent urban center collapsed about 800 years ago.

Fuller will discuss how the city with the largest population in the world at its time simply disappeared. His presentation, “A Kingdom of Mystery: Cahokia Power in America,” will explain what archaeologists have found that could provide clues to the lives of this mysterious culture.

The lecture, which will be at 7 p.m. in Sewall Hall, Room 309, is presented by the Houston Society of the American Institute of Archaeology and cosponsored by the Department of Anthropology at Rice University. The event is free to the public.