Dateline Rice for Aug. 7, 2014

FEATURED ITEM

Big 5 conferences on verge of more autonomy
Rice University President David Leebron, who is a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, comments on the governance restructure being voted on today and the potential benefits to student-athletes.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1uqF17v

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Saving lives at birth
Rice’s bubble CPAP machine, which helps increase the survival rate of newborns with severe respiratory illness, is mentioned.
National Geographic
http://bit.ly/1og8uBl

Are conservatives ‘hardwired’ to perceive threats?
John Alford, associate professor of political science, is featured for his collaborative research on political bias.
Futurity
http://bit.ly/1sAoMEG

USPS ‘prostituting’ its stamp program with commercial images, prominent former postmaster general says
Former United States Postmaster General Benjamin F. Bailar, the Joe Nelson III Professor Emeritus of Administration and a former dean of the Jones Graduate School, is quoted.
Washington Post
http://wapo.st/X4ckm4

Why it’s so hard to move up from majority leader to speaker
Paul Brace, the Clarence L. Carter Professor of Political Science, commented on the political path from House majority leader to speaker.
National Journal
http://bit.ly/1lDwcBM

Face-palm: Bill Fulton is quitting
William “Bill” Fulton will be the new director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
San Diego City Beat
http://bit.ly/1vfvEM5

Mexico oil is boon for Exxon to BP as frontiers teeter
Tony Payan, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and director of the Baker Institute’s Mexico Center, is quoted about energy reform and the dangers faced by illegal immigrants along the Texas border.
Bloomberg Businessweek
http://buswk.co/X4eCBK
Illegal immigrants face danger in hot Texas border region
Voice of America (This article also appeared in Turkish Weekly.)
http://bit.ly/1u1cqbo

Editorial: Nonprofit developing digital textbooks
Richard Baraniuk, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and founding director of Rice’s OpenStax College, is mentioned in an editorial on the benefit of personalized textbooks and the future of education.
Topeka Capital-Journal
http://bit.ly/1lDAoS3
A company looks at revamping the 1-size-fits-all textbooks
The Morning News (Florence, S.C.)
http://bit.ly/1sAghJC
Tech sightings, Aug. 6, 2014
Voice of America
http://bit.ly/1AXqJQ6

Pianist Jon Kimura Parker shares talent at Tuckamore Festival
Jon Kimura Parker, professor of piano, is featured.
The Telegraph
http://bit.ly/1zX82Lb

UOG: The Ecology of Bird Loss Project — Can seed dispersal be restored in Guam’s forests?
Haldre Rogers, the Huxley Research Instructor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is featured.
Pacific News Center (Guam)
http://bit.ly/1sACXua
Can seed dispersal be restored in Guam’s forests?
Saipan Tribune
http://bit.ly/1ogu0pz

Bryn Mawr College named top 20 LGBT-friendly school by Princeton Review
Rice is included on a list of the Princeton Review’s top 20 most LGBT-friendly schools.
Philadelphia Magazine
http://bit.ly/1ogtQyE

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Rice navigates growth amid changing landscape
President David Leebron is profiled for his leadership and achievements over the past decade at Rice. He is quoted, along with Deborah Harter, associate professor of French; John Boles, the William P. Hobby Professor of History; Donald Morrison, professor of philosophy and classical studies; Lovett College senior Daniel Imas; and alumnus Joey Yang ’12.
The Eagle (Bryan/College Station)
http://bit.ly/1sAA1O4

‘Visions for the Village’
Rice Design Alliance challenged teams to produce renovation plans for Rice Village.
Houston Chronicle (This article appeared in the Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine. Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/1sAZ03T

A breakthrough in bioengineering
Rice University bioengineers have created a hydrogel that instantly turns from liquid to semisolid at close to body temperature — and then degrades at precisely the right pace. Antonios Mikos, the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and graduate student Brendan Watson are quoted. Paul Engel, chair of Rice’s Department of Chemistry, and F. Kurtis Kasper, a senior faculty fellow in bioengineering, are mentioned.
TMC Pulse
http://bit.ly/1qYsHO7

Texas wins in more ways than 1 at Transplant Games of America
Rice hosted the 2014 Transplant Games of America.
TMC Pulse
http://bit.ly/1pEbsxR

Houston filmmaker hoping to raise cancer awareness
Independent filmmakers are creating a documentary about Rice junior James Ragan, who died in February after battling cancer.
News Fix
http://bit.ly/1AXlAaN

Filling the education gaps
Steve Murdock, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and director of Rice’s Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, is quoted.
Impact News (Austin)
http://bit.ly/V0Hfho

Long overdue
An op-ed discusses the need for to protect the Galveston coastline from hurricanes. Rice is referenced.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1vfLHta

Texas’ Gulf Coast, still battered from Ike, not ready for next storm
Jim Blackburn, professor in the practice of environmental law in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and co-director of the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center, is quoted.
My High Plains (Amarillo)
http://bit.ly/1pE8idq

BROADCAST

Net breach compromises billions
Webmasters all over the world are scrambling after a billion user names and passwords were stolen by an online hacker gang. Christopher Bronk, fellow in information technology policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
KTRH-AM
http://bit.ly/1lDuW1N

MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, discusses Ronald Reagan.
http://tinyurl.com/k8wgqme

KUT-FM (Austin, Texas)
William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, comments on marijuana legalization in Texas.
http://tinyurl.com/ldw9f3d

KHOU-TV
Rice Owls football is featured in a preview of their upcoming season. Head coach David Bailiff and player Driphus Jackson are interviewed.
http://tinyurl.com/lkv5pr9
College Football Preview: Rice Owls
KHOU-TV
http://bit.ly/1pEa26u

C-SPAN2
Doug Fine, author of “Hemp Bound,” mentions a talk he gave at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
http://tinyurl.com/l2cea69

WTOP-AM (Washington, D.C.)
Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow in history at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, discusses former President Richard Nixon.
http://bit.ly/1kp0JrZ

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Organist Grant Wareham is a musician on the rise
An article on an organist mentions his intention to attend Rice in the fall.
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)
http://bit.ly/1oHjhDn

Assemblies of God turns 100, and looks to a multi-ethnic future
Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology, discusses the diversity of the Assemblies of God denomination.
Christian Century
http://bit.ly/V0FmBv

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Writing a winning cover letter
Kenton Whitmire, associate dean for academic affairs for the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and professor of chemistry, is quoted in an article on the importance of good cover letters.
Science Magazine
http://bit.ly/1u1a3pc

Children in immigrant families more likely to be sedentary: study
According to a new Rice study, immigrant children are more likely to have lower levels of physical activity than U.S.-born white children. Rachel Kimbro, associate professor of sociology, and graduate student Mackenzie Brewer are quoted.
Med India
http://bit.ly/1ogmXxb
Children in immigrant families more likely to be sedentary
Science Daily
http://bit.ly/1sgMKXC

Lanyon appoints former Infogroup and Travelocity executive as chief financial officer
Alumnus John Mills ’95 is the new chief financial officer for Lanyon.
ShowMoney.com (This article appeared in more than a dozen other publications.)
http://bit.ly/1qYvpDi

SPORTS

Drew Carroll has kidney condition
Due to kidney disease, Rice football player Drew Carroll will not be able to play on the team, but he will serve as an assistant coach. Head football coach David Bailiff is quoted.
ESPN (This Associated Press article also appeared in the Boston Herald, Fox Sports and the Republic.)
http://es.pn/V4FgZg
Rice tinkering with right guard position
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1qYwBGK

Why elite athletes lose their drive once they move on from their sport
Alumna Jennifer Lushao ’02 is quoted.
The Bulletin
http://bit.ly/1ojYnKS

Shake, rattle and roll
Will Rice College junior Becca Koval is mentioned.
The Acorn
http://bit.ly/1uqCmKX

NEWS RELEASES

Data First puts science students first
If high school science teachers want their students to learn well, entice them to learn like scientists do.
https://news2.rice.edu/2014/08/07/data-first-puts-science-students-first/

Rice U. study: Stock prices of companies that use the same underwriter tend to move together
The stock prices of companies that use the same lead underwriter during their equity offerings tend to move together, according to a new study by financial economics experts at Rice University and the University of Alabama.
http://bit.ly/1smAVMj