Dateline Rice for Sept. 27, 2013

FEATURED ITEM

Texas’ Davis is expected to enter race for governor
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, comments on the expected gubernatorial candidacy of Texas Sen. Wendy Davis. An analysis by Jones of Texas legislators, including Davis, is mentioned in the KHOU-TV coverage.
New York Times
http://nyti.ms/1771vka
Wendy Davis to stand as Democratic candidate for governor of Texas
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
http://bit.ly/15wGewL
KHOU-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/16wjPFH

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Rice University students build robotic arm for teen who has rare bone disease, amazing smile
Three Rice students built a device that allows a Houston-area teen to manipulate a robotic arm fitted to his motorized chair. Rice students Matthew Nojoomi, Nimish Mittal and Sergio Gonzalez are quoted in a video produced by Public Affairs and picked up by the Huffington Post. A story on the robotic arm was also distributed by social media news outlet Buzz60 and rebroadcast on 13 other broadcast outlets and in 30 news outlets.
Huffington Post
http://huff.to/1bf3fw2 (Click broadcast.)
Buzz60/NewsLook.com
http://bit.ly/1bcJi5m (Click broadcast.)
DKSK-TV (St. Louis)
http://on.ksdk.com/14O6eX9 (Click broadcast.)
Detroit Free Press
http://on.freep.com/15zE0lp
TheNorthwestern.com (Oshkosh, Wis.)
http://oshko.sh/16w0zIv (Click broadcast.)
Rice University students build robotic arm
Guam Pacific Daily News
http://bit.ly/19FeacN (Click broadcast.)

21,000 people sign petition against Roxy ‘surf’ video
The article mentions that Krisa Comer, associate professor of English, joined pro surfer Cori Schumacher at a meeting with executives from Roxy Pro, a surf clothing company, to discuss women’s images in advertising.
Huffington Post
http://huff.to/176hn6i

The colleges most obsessed with squirrels
Rice is included on a list of colleges most obsessed with the bushy tailed rodents.
Huffington Post
http://huff.to/1gXExgI

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Ballet learns to dance with danger
Rice is mentioned as one of the Houston-area institutions that have participated in a training program for how to respond to a shooter on campus.
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared on the front page of the print edition)
http://bit.ly/178oECM

Big climate change report out: What does it mean for Houston?
The blog mentions the 2013 Rice Design Alliance event on climate change held last summer. John Anderson, the W. Maurice Ewing Chair in Oceanography, professor of Earth science and academic director of Rice’s Shell Center for Sustainability, is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1fusIDq

20 years of excellence: Baker Institute builds bridge between ideas and action
Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy is turning 20 this year.
HoustonCultureMap.com
http://bit.ly/16O9pvv

Texarkana College helps with textbook costs
To help reduce the costs of books for students, Texarkana College is using Rice’s OpenStax free textbook publisher for six courses.
ArkLaTexHomepage.com (Shreveport, La.)
http://bit.ly/1dLBdFJ

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

KHOU-TV (Houston)
As Houston’s real estate market booms, voters favor more controls on development. In a poll conducted for KHOU-TV and KUHF-FM by Rice’s Center for Civic Leadership, voters who supported tougher land use restrictions outnumbered those who opposed zoning. Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, fellow in urban politics at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and faculty director of Rice’s Center for Civic Leadership, is quoted. Stein also comments on voters’ concerns for crime and road conditions, support for a conversion of Houston’s Astrodome into a multipurpose event-center and overwhelming support for a ban on texting while driving — topics also addressed in the poll.
http://bit.ly/15zxxXI (Click broadcast.)
KHOU-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/1bh7A1x (Click broadcast.)
TXCN-TV (Dallas)
http://bit.ly/16F01sX (Click broadcast.)
KTRH-AM (Houston)
http://bit.ly/15ypwwZ (Click audio.)
KUFH-FM (Houston)
http://bit.ly/18a0CXx (Click audio.)

KTRH-AM (Houston)
Five years after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, hurricane damage prevention experts gathered at Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center this week to discuss the area’s vulnerability to future storms.
http://bit.ly/177AAEP (Click broadcast.)
WOAI-TV (San Antonio)
http://bit.ly/19LTb6U (Click broadcast.)
Researchers: Texas not ready for next hurricane
Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Texas)
http://bit.ly/1avs6Hg

KPRC-TV (Houston)
Elena Marks, scholar in health policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, comments on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace insurance exchange.
http://bit.ly/189zp7x (Click broadcast.)

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

School outreach program may reduce African-American student mobility
Outreach programs that build relationships between families and schools may reduce the number of students who change schools for reasons other than grade promotion, according to a new study from researchers at Rice, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University. Ruth Lopez Turley, associate professor of sociology and director of the Houston Education Research Consortium, is quoted.
RedOrbit.com
http://bit.ly/1h7Z8Pr
Phys.org
http://bit.ly/1b99dLr
e!ScienceNews.com
http://bit.ly/186ifra
ScienceNewsline.com
http://bit.ly/1h8DsTm

Rice University creates BOLD system to handle big data
Rice researchers hope their new Big data and Optical Lightpaths-Driven networked system research infrastructure, or BOLD for short, will be the solution to store big data from the university’s labs. T.S. Eugene Ng, associate professor of computer science and of electrical and computer engineering, is quoted.
eCampusNews.com (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/18tKv86

Innovations save lives of mothers and children
A $400 version of a bubble continuous positive airway device developed by a Rice undergraduate student was one of 10 innovations singled out by PATH, an international nonprofit organization focused on global health through innovation.
RedOrbit.com
http://bit.ly/1bcX2Nw
10 inexpensive, proven systems could slash death toll of mothers and children by 1.2 million
MedLexicon.com
http://bit.ly/1dNLQrK

Medical device security in a heartbeat
Rice researchers have designed a secure way to dramatically cut the risk that an implanted medical device such as a pacemaker, insulin pump or defibrillator could be altered remotely without authorization. Their technology would use the patient’s own heartbeat as a kind of password that could only be accessed through touch.
FierceComplianceIT
http://bit.ly/19FySt3

Charles D. McConnell to discuss US energy policy at national conference
Charles McConnell, executive director of Rice University’s Energy and Environment Initiative, will discuss U.S. energy policy at the National CHP 2013 and WHP 2013 conference in Houston next month.
AZOCleanTech.com
http://bit.ly/1fNp3y4

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Between the Lines: No twerking required
The article mentions that a young musician who performed for a live taping of the NPR weekly radio show “From the Top” travels monthly to Rice to take lessons with Paul Kantor, the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Professor of Violin at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music.
The Vermillion Plain Talk (Vermillion, S.D.)
http://bit.ly/1bLY1Hs

Cronkite biographer to speak
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, will speak in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Oct. 3. Brinkley is quoted.
CDAPress.com (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)
http://bit.ly/19EkjG3

Stanbrough named semifinalist for scholarship
High School senior Elizabeth Stanbrough, a national merit scholarship semifinalist, mentions that she is considering Rice.
The Alexander City Outlook (Alexander City, Ala.)
http://bit.ly/1ftUlfN

Ralph Lawrence Williams
The article notes that Ralph Lawrence Williams, who died at age 82, was formerly a senior ROTC instructor at Rice.
Bandera Bulletin (Bandera, Texas)
http://bit.ly/14OVqI9

SPORTS

Watch: Rice University placekicker uses a soccer ‘rabona’ to execute an onside kick
Rice senior kicker Chris Boswell, a soccer player since the age of 3, used the signature soccer move to pull off an onside kick that nearly helped the Owls beat the University of Houston last Saturday. Boswell is quoted.
Major League Soccer (Click broadcast.)
http://bit.ly/15w22Zn

Owls’ Ross looms as questionable for C-USA opener
Rice leading rusher Charles Ross is questionable for Saturday’s Conference USA opener against Florida Atlantic University. Rice football head coach David Bailiff is quoted.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1h8MVKy
Football preview: FAU could steal road win in 1st-ever meeting with Rice
The Owls of Rice will face the Owls of Florida Atlantic University at Rice tomorrow.
UPressOnline.com
http://bit.ly/15yTw10
WPBF-TV (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
http://bit.ly/1dNTXoi

EA to settle suits, won’t produce college football game in 2014
Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts and Collegiate Licensing Company on Thursday agreed to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of former and current college athletes, leaving the NCAA alone in the legal battle over whether athletes should receive money for use of their likenesses. Potential beneficiaries include Rice quarterback Taylor McHargue, who is quoted.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/14P8VHW
KRIV-TV (Houston)
http://bit.ly/1bh9mQp

Gridiron Heroes makes stop on Rice campus
Rice football head coach David Bailiff is helping the Gridiron Heroes Spinal Cord Injury Foundation raise funds. The foundation was at Rice Thursday.
Houston Chronicle (Click broadcast.)
http://bit.ly/15ySnGO

Utah Jazz: Jazz sign free agents Mike Harris, Scott Machado and Dominic McGuire
Former Owl Mike Harris was signed by the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
DeseretNews.com (Salt Lake City)
http://bit.ly/15YbN67

Johnson and Rizzo on Anthony Rendon; 2014 Nats’ 2B
Former Owl Anthony Rendon played second base for the Washington Nationals.
FederalBaseball.com
http://bit.ly/18snBvN

NEWS RELEASES

Poll finds large majority of Harris County voters would support state ban on texting
Eighty-eight percent of Harris County likely voters would support a Texas state law to ban texting while driving, according to a new poll conducted by Rice University’s Center for Civic Leadership. The poll found that only 10 percent would oppose a ban. The poll was overseen by Rice political scientist Bob Stein and prepared for KHOU-TV and KUHF-FM as part of a series of studies announced this week.
http://bit.ly/177wdcZ

Grant to Rice, UTHealth will push regenerative medicine
A $75 million Department of Defense grant to improve technologies to treat soldiers injured on the battlefield and advance care for the public will involve bioengineers at Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The five-year Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) grant announced today by the lead institution, the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, continues a program that began in 2008. Through AFIRM-II, researchers at Rice led by Antonios Mikos, a pioneer in the field of tissue engineering, and Kurt Kasper, a Rice faculty fellow in bioengineering, expect to advance the art of craniofacial reconstruction. The grant funds research at more than 45 academic institutions and industry partners.
http://bit.ly/15zN4XC