Dateline Rice for March 14, 2012

Office of Public Affairs
News and Media Relations
March 14, 2012

FEATURED ITEM

CNN ‘The Situation Room’
Rising gas prices are starting to affect the 2012 elections. Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, examines why gas prices are on the rise. (Editor’s note: A correction on the spelling of Jaffe’s name has been requested.)
http://youtu.be/AEBoCCkgQ18
KHOG-TV (Fort Smith, Ark.) ’40/29 News Sunrise’
http://mms.tveyes.com/transcript.asp?StationID=3720&DateTime=3/14/2012%205:25:05%20AM

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Daily deal sites push premium memberships: Are the new membership programs worth the money?
Research by Utpal Dholakia, professor of marketing at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, is cited in an article about daily deal websites such as Groupon.
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-201203131215usnewsusnwr201203120312dailydealmar13,0,2962896.story
Will the Groupon bubble ever pop?
QSR
http://tinyurl.com/6pyp36g

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Passion to serve leads Rice student to help others here, abroad
Brown College junior Melody Tan wants to motivate others to help the less fortunate. A photo by Tommy LaVergne, university photographer, accompanied the story. The article also mentions Rice’s Community Involvement Center and Beyond Traditional Borders.
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Passion-to-serve-leads-Rice-student-to-help-3403820.php

It’s time to take a stand against TAPPS
An op-ed mentions a Rice study that shows Houston has become the most ethnically diverse large metro area in the nation.
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/news/falkenberg/article/It-s-time-to-take-a-stand-against-TAPPS-3400881.php

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

KTRK-TV ’13 Eyewitness News at 10 p.m.’
March 14 is Pi Day — a celebration of the numerical value of pi (3.14) — as well as Rice University founder William Marsh Rice’s birthday, so the school is celebrating by handing out more than 2,000 pies on campus.
http://mms.tveyes.com/transcript.asp?StationID=994&DateTime=3/13/2012%2010:15:59%20PM

KRIV-TV ‘Fox in Focus’
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor and chair of political science and fellow in political science at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, discussed the GOP primaries held Tuesday in Mississippi and Alabama.
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/120313-USGOP-Campaign-21st-LdWritethru_39351361

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Breakthrough promises to speed research in cancer epigenetics
Cancer is usually attributed to faulty genes, but growing evidence from the field of cancer epigenetics indicates a key role for the gene “silencing” proteins that stably turn genes off inside the cell nucleus. A new study from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine promises to speed research in the field by rapidly identifying the genes that epigenetic proteins can target for silencing. Jianpeng Ma, professor of bioengineering, is quoted.
R&D Magazine
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/03/Life-Sciences-Genomics-Breakthrough-Promises-To-Speed-Research-In-Cancer-Epigenetics/
Cancer epigenetics: Breakthrough in ID’ing target genes
MedicalXpress.com
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-cancer-epigenetics-breakthrough-iding-genes.html

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

U-M project seeks to relieve hunger in West Africa
Diana Strassmann, professor in the practice of humanities, and Anne Chao, lecturer in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, are helping a University of Michigan anthropologist raise funds to save the people from starvation in the Sahel region of West Africa.
http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/20271-u-m-project-seeks-to-relieve-hunger-in-west-africa

Music of the night
An article highlights the battle against cancer by a student, who plans on attending Rice, as a vocal performance major.
Maryland Community News
http://www.gazette.net/article/20120314/ENTERTAINMENT/703149775/1148/music-of-the-night&template=gazette

Robotics team visits Rice University engineering classroom
Lanier Middle School students visited the engineering classroom of James McLurkin, assistant professor of computer science, at Rice University Feb. 24.
Ultimate West U
http://ultimatewestu.com/stories/337068-robotics-team-visits-rice-university-engineering-classroom

SPORTS

Behind pitcher Benak, No. 8 Rice upends No. 6 Arizona
Rice pitcher Andrew Benak is quoted on Rice’s defeat of the University of Arizona Tuesday night at Reckling Park.
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/sports/rice/article/Behind-pitcher-Benak-No-8-Rice-upends-No-6-3404301.php#photo-2617384

Springtime football for Owls
An article discusses the Rice Owls football team’s preparations for the fall season. Head coach David Bailiff is quoted.
CBSLocal.com
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/03/13/springtime-football-for-owls/

Jorgensen honored
A news brief reports that head baseball coach Wayne Graham will be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Stevens Point Journal (Wis.) (This news brief also appeared in the Appleton Post-Crescent.)
http://tinyurl.com/7tmh3fl

New York Mets spring training report: Breaking down biggest roster battles
Former Rice baseball player Tim Byrdak is mentioned in an article about the New York Mets.
BleacherReport.com
http://tinyurl.com/74u3q93

Villescas to run at Rice University
A news brief reports that a Boerne Champion High School student-athlete has signed a national letter of intent to run cross-country at Rice.
Boerne Star (Texas)
http://tinyurl.com/7lgsbyu

NEWS RELEASE

Cancer epigenetics: breakthrough in ID’ing target genes
Cancer is usually attributed to faulty genes, but growing evidence from the field of cancer epigenetics indicates a key role for the gene “silencing” proteins that stably turn genes off inside the cell nucleus. A new study from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine promises to speed research in the field by rapidly identifying the genes that epigenetic proteins can target for silencing.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=23558