Dateline Rice for Oct. 31, 2012

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Nature slams candidates with October surprise, brings gentler tone — for now, at least
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in an article on the effect of Hurricane Sandy on the presidential election. Brinkley also appeared on Fox Business Network to discuss the same subject.
Chicago Tribune (This Associated Press article also appeared in Newsday, Yahoo.com, HuffingtonPost.com and nearly 70 other media outlets.)
http://trib.in/SaylGo
Fox Business Network
http://bit.ly/PlFcjn

The science of Hurricane Sandy
Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, is quoted in an article about Hurricane Sandy.
Scientific American
http://bit.ly/Ph6hnT

Silicon Valley’s stealth incubator forging an identity
Michael Dietz, a graduate student in computer science, is quoted in an article about the Internet Identity Workshop.
ZDNet.com
http://zd.net/SuZ17p

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Hide your daughters and clippers: Mohawk Guy coming to Houston
Two members of the team that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars will speak at Rice University Nov. 1. 
Houston Chronicle (A similar version of this article appeared in the Celebrities section of the print edition.)
http://bit.ly/YkhfKJ
Mars Curiosity mission staff to speak at Rice University this week
Houston Business Journal (This article also appeared on i4U.com.)
http://bit.ly/V9bssG

Will the US lead the world in oil production?
Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute and adjunct assistant professor in economics, is quoted in a column about U.S. oil production.
Dallas Morning News (subscription required)
http://dallasne.ws/ShVyra

More drop formal ties with religion
William Parsons, associate professor of religious studies, is quoted in an article about the growing number of people who do not affiliate with a religion.
Houston Chronicle (This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News, the Beaumont Enterprise, the Danbury News-Times, the Stamford Advocate, the Greenwich Time, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Connecticut Post.)
http://bit.ly/SeGgn8

Little change
A recent study shows that racial attitudes in the United States have not improved much in the four years that President Barack Obama has been in office. Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology and co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is quoted.
KTRH.com (This article also appeared on Sunny99.com.)
http://bit.ly/TU368e

Schafersman well-qualified
A letter to the editor discusses alumnus Steven Schafersman’s ’83 State Board of Education campaign.
San Angelo Standard-Times
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/oct/30/no-headline—mossell/

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

KHOU-TV
Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science and fellow in urban politics at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in a story about the presidential race.
http://bit.ly/SuG9GP

KRIV-TV
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor and chair of political science and fellow in political science at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in a story about voter participation in Harris County. Jones also appeared on KXLN-TV to discuss straight-ticket voting in Texas. He is thanked for his assistance with a KPRC-TV political program and is quoted in an article about Texas’ influence on national politics. A link to the KXLN-TV broadcast is not available.
http://bit.ly/YkINiU
KXLN-TV
KPRC-TV
http://bit.ly/S8bfR6
Solid red status puts Texans on political sidelines
Stamford Advocate (Conn.) (This article also appeared in the Danbury News-Times.)
http://bit.ly/TU3G5X

KTRK-TV (Similar stories appeared on KTEN-TV [Sherman, Texas], KSAN-TV [San Angelo, Texas] and WOAI-TV [San Antonio].)
News reports follow up on Saturday night’s costume party at Wiess College. Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson and several students are quoted in the Connecticut Post article.
http://bit.ly/VCxRtG
Harsh light shines on Rice’s ‘Night of Decadence’
Connecticut Post (This article also appeared in the Stamford Advocate and the New Canaan News.)
http://bit.ly/RnAZId

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Plastic fantastic seals in speeding projectiles
Scientists have created a material that demonstrates how common plastics can bring projectiles traveling faster than a kilometer per second to a screeching halt. Ned Thomas, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is quoted.
ScienceNews
http://bit.ly/TUBobt

Electrically conductive carbon nanotubes for thin touchscreens
A Rice University team has hit upon a method to produce nearly transparent films of electrically conductive carbon nanotubes, a goal sought by researchers around the world. Matteo Pasquali, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of chemistry, is quoted.
Electronics-EETimes.com
http://bit.ly/VDrXbP

To empower students, let’s bring interactive learning tools into the classroom
Alumnus Troy Williams ’94 authored this op-ed about education technology.
VentureBeat
http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/30/interactive-learning/

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

New teaching guide brings Guam’s ecology into the classroom
Teachers in the Mariana Islands now have a teaching guide that allows them to teach ecology using plants that are found locally. Haldre Rogers, the Huxley Research Instructor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is quoted.
PacificNewsCenter.com (Guam)
http://bit.ly/RpxmBA

Multichannel marketing drives custom big data deployments
Alumnus Brad Terrell ’92 authored this article about multichannel customer communications.
ClickZ.com
http://bit.ly/ScHPSF

Reversing sculpture
An article discusses artist Yasuaki Onishi’s Rice Gallery installation. Rice is mentioned in the print version of this article.
Literal
http://www.literalmagazine.com/bilingual/reversing-sculpture/

SPORTS

Redwood grad Livingston is conference swimmer of the week for Rice
Wiess College sophomore Madison Livingston has been named Conference USA swimmer of the week.
Marin Independent Journal (Calif.)
http://bit.ly/TTRs7s

Rice, New Mexico State discussing football series
The Rice Owls are in talks to play a home-and-home football series against New Mexico State University beginning next season.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/SwRAwK

Rice basketball turns to sophomore for leadership, scoring
An article discusses the Rice Owls men’s basketball team.
Examiner.com
http://exm.nr/UeePZS

Johnson talks to media during Rice Week at Tulane football’s weekly presser
An article previews a football game between Rice and Tulane University.
SportsNOLA.com
http://bit.ly/X0ywdu

Former NFL players visit campus for seminar
Rice is mentioned in an article about an NFL Career Transition Program seminar.
StanfordDaily.com
http://bit.ly/Ud4lKj

Whitman junior pushes herself, teammates
Rice is mentioned in an article about a Walt Whitman High School student-athlete.
Gazette.net (Maryland)
http://bit.ly/RsvA67

NEWS RELEASES

Microbullets reveal material strengths
In the macro world, it’s easy to see what happens when a bullet hits an object. But what happens at the nanoscale with very tiny bullets? A Rice University lab, in collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, decided to find out by creating the nanoscale target materials, the microscale ammo and even the method for firing them.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=36535

Rice University experts available to comment on 2012 elections’ final stretch
Rice University experts are available to comment on the major topics at play as Campaign 2012 heads into the final stretch.
https://news2.rice.edu/?p=36571