Dateline Rice for June 19, 2013

FEATURED ITEMS

3 ways MOOCs will change colleges
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have taken off in the last few years as universities have made classes available online, both directly and via services like Coursera. MOOCs were discussed at the U.S. News 2013 STEM Solutions Conference in Austin on Tuesday. Rice President David Leebron spoke at the conference and is quoted in the article.
U.S. News & World Report
http://bit.ly/17W5G3Y

Top-ranked universities that grant the most STEM degrees
Rice appears on a U.S. News & World Report list of national universities that grant the largest proportion of bachelor’s degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
U.S. News & World Report
http://bit.ly/1aoUyf7

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Texas senate approves bill that may close most abortion clinics
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 articles about legislation passed by the Texas Senate and property tax relief for seniors in Houston. Jones also authored a Texas Tribune op-ed about his research ranking the members of the Texas legislature. A separate article discusses the research.
Businessweek (This article also appeared on Bloomberg.com.)
http://buswk.co/1420vJW
Budget debate centers on raising seniors’ homestead exemptions
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared on the front page.)
http://bit.ly/102uhPF
Red state, purple legislation
Texas Tribune
http://bit.ly/10gyvpb
Area legislators not among the most conservative, but report shows they get things done
Amarillo Globe-News (This article also appeared in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.)
http://bit.ly/11LkKc7

US pressure on China over hacking to remain
Analysts say the recent leaks exposing top-secret U.S. surveillance programs may benefit China temporarily, but will not likely sway Washington from putting more pressure on Beijing to stop alleged Chinese cyber hacking against U.S. targets. Steven Lewis, the C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and associate director of the Chao Center for Asian Studies, is quoted.
Voice of America News (This article also appeared on MENAFN.com and TMCNet.com.)
http://bit.ly/17VvblP

Gas prices moving away from link to oil
Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies and adjunct assistant professor in economics, is quoted in an article about natural gas prices.
New York Times
http://nyti.ms/13SKTdq

Q-and-A: Bun B on the ‘incredible journey’ of creating his hip-hop coloring book
An interview with Houston rapper Bun B mentions that he will teach a class on religion and hip-hop culture at Rice again this fall.
Rolling Stone (This interview also appeared on Yahoo.com.)
http://rol.st/1amHJSI

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Rice professors win $100.000 MIT prize for health innovations
Rebecca Richards-Kortum and Maria Oden won the 2013 $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Global Innovation and are donating their prize money toward the construction of a new neonatal ward at the African hospital that has helped implement Rice’s low-cost, student-designed health care technologies since 2007. Richards-Kortum is the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering. Oden is a professor in the practice of engineering education and director of the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
West University Examiner
http://bit.ly/19gmAbt

57 graduating seniors receive superintendent’s scholarships
Rice is mentioned in an article about graduating seniors from Brownsville, Texas.
Brownsville Herald
http://bit.ly/19ip2hy

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Graphene nanoribbons promise to improve lithium batteries
Researchers at Rice University have come up with a new way to boost the efficiency of the ubiquitous lithium ion battery by employing ribbons of graphene that start as carbon nanotubes. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry and professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science, is quoted.
SolarNovus.com
http://bit.ly/11Z2qAp

US not immune from Saudi oil export disruption
An article discusses an energy forum hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Rigzone.com
http://bit.ly/1apTLe9

Park Brown strikes Houston oil recruitment market
A news brief reporting that Park Brown International named Joy Brown Kirst as managing director of its Houston office notes that Kirst once served as director of alumni and corporate relations at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.
Recruiter
http://bit.ly/1asGTDR

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Orthodox Christian and Jewish leaders hold historic meeting in Greece
Leading Orthodox Christian and Jewish interfaith officials, scholars and clerics discussed the crucial importance of protecting the environment and religious values and condemned growing incidents of anti-Semitism and religious prejudice around the world during a three-day conference in Thessaloniki, Greece. Shira Lander, the Anna Smith Fine Senior Lecturer in Jewish studies, is mentioned.
Jewish Voice
http://bit.ly/17XQp2t

How our kids are smart
An article about how parents cope with children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder mentions Rice.
ADDitudeMag.com
http://www.additudemag.com/web/article/569.html

SPORTS

Former UTEP tennis player wins scholarship
Articles discuss winners of Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. The awards are named for late Rice faculty member and coach Jim Castañeda.
KTSM.com (El Paso, Texas) (This article also appeared on KDBC.com [El Paso, Texas].)
http://bit.ly/10x3flX
St. Etienne earns Jim Castañeda postgraduate scholarship
SportsNOLA.com
http://bit.ly/13SKaJ0
Courtney Collins awarded C-USA postgraduate scholarship
GoTigersGo.com
http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/061813aac.html
Soccer’s Caitlin Leumas earns C-USA’s Jim Castañeda postgraduate scholarship
WHLT.com (Hattiesburg, Miss.)
http://bit.ly/19RdVid

49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Vance McDonald
An article discusses former Rice football player Vance McDonald’s performance with the San Francisco 49ers.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (This article also appeared in the Middletown Journal, the Palm Beach Post, the Dayton Daily News, AccessAtlanta.com, TodaysPulse.com, KIROTV.com [Seattle] and WPXI.com [Pittsburgh].)
http://bit.ly/1asPiHF

Bellaire sports teams won consistently in 2012-13 seasons
Rice is mentioned in articles about Bellaire High School and Kinkaid High School athletics.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/12JXVMa
Ambitious Kinkaid not satisfied with runner-up showing in SPC’s AD Cup
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1424WVh