Dateline Rice for June 10, 2015

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Immigration reform 2015: Obama’s policies working, undocumented migrants entries dropping, Homeland Security secretary says
Illegal immigration across the southwestern border is on pace for the lowest year since 1972, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said during an appearance Monday at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
International Business Times
http://bit.ly/1I1D2eA
White House, reality not in sync on immigration
KTRH-AM
http://bit.ly/1QLQg3Q
Homeland sec: Terrorists crossing US-Mexico border ‘not the thing I most worry about’
Breitbart
http://bit.ly/1KpYsHp

Nicaragua Canal Project: Scientific panel criticizes weaknesses in environmental impact study
Nicaraguans are anxiously waiting for the government to make public a long-anticipated environmental-impact report on the $50 billion interoceanic canal project. But while the public waits, some independent scientists have already seen the report — and aren’t happy about it. Pedro Alvarez, the George R. Brown Professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is quoted.
International Business Times
http://bit.ly/1BYOaXA

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Houston isn’t Silicon Valley. Let’s be ourselves.
Will Rice College senior Senthil Natarajan authored this column urging Houston and Rice to embrace their uniqueness.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine.)
http://bit.ly/1GdWXcq

Emails explore how Texas brand is shaped
Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology and founding director of Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, responds to a letter to the editor.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1f2Hq6n

Missouri City Juneteenth Festival grows with new art feature
For the Missouri City Juneteenth Celebration, Rice graduate student Aundrea Matthews will transform Missouri City’s civic center into a wall-to-wall cultural art exhibit showcasing an array of artistic mediums from canvas paintings to sculpture to fabric art.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/1f2MnMs

Texas governor signs sweeping border-security measure
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into a law a sweeping $800 million border- security bill, which drew hard criticism from one El Paso lawmaker. Tony Payan, the Baker Institute’s Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and director of the institute’s Mexico Center, is quoted.
El Paso Times
http://bit.ly/1S4h0zj
Cruz says threats remains significant at border
San Antonio Express-News
http://bit.ly/1JFkaba

Student leaders urge Abbott to reconsider campus carry
Gov. Greg Abbott is poised to sign the campus carry bill into law, but it’s still facing fierce opposition. Student body presidents from 13 colleges across Texas have teamed up to urge the governor not to put pen to paper. Sid Richardson College junior and Student Association President Jazz Silva is quoted in the KJTV-TV article. KJTV-TV
http://bit.ly/1GsclmA
UTSA, Trinity join student leaders in asking governor to say no to campus carry
San Antonio Currant
http://bit.ly/1GyAWbl
Private colleges haven’t pulled the trigger on campus carry
Corsicana Sun
http://bit.ly/1B6jski

BROADCAST/WEBCAST

YNN-TV (Austin, Texas)
The Texas Senate approved Sen. John Whitmire’s filed bill that would require private university police departments to obey requests under the Texas Public Information Act. Rice is mentioned.
http://bit.ly/1HqIiwp

News 14 Triangle (Raleigh, N.C.)
A “Moment in Sports History” recalled that in 2013 North Carolina State hosted its first Super Regional against Rice University.
http://bit.ly/1B64gDH

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Architects’ choice: Design books
Sarah Whiting, dean of the Rice School of Architecture and the William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture, shares her favorite texts and why they continue to inspire.
Architect Magazine
http://bit.ly/1IFCBMM

Researchers make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements
Researchers at Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) have discovered a new way to make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements at optical frequencies on high-speed nanoscale electronic components. Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy, and materials science and nanoengineering, and Fangfang Wen, a Rice graduate student at LANP, are quoted.
Phys.org
http://bit.ly/1FS0cCY

Pace of global innovation rises at slowest rate since 2009 global recession
American research institutions are dominating in the field of telecommunications. Rice is mentioned.
IP Watchdog
http://bit.ly/1I1xgcU

Ancient algae found deep in tropical glacier
Rice, Nebraska and Ohio State researchers looking for carbon in equatorial ice cores found diatoms, a type of algae. Their presence is evidence of what the landscape around the Andes in Peru might have been like more than a millennium ago. Ed Billups, professor of chemistry, and alumnus Bruce Brinson ’04 are quoted.
Environmental Research Web
http://bit.ly/1Tb9rIA

‘Optical biopsy’ improves esophageal cancer screening in clinical trial
In a clinical study of patients in the United States and China, researchers found that a portable, low-cost, battery-powered microendoscope developed by Rice bioengineers could eventually eliminate the need for costly biopsies for many patients undergoing standard endoscopic screening for esophageal cancer. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering and of Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health Technologies, is quoted.
Optics & Photonics
http://bit.ly/1L1nYDZ

More bandwidth per user: Keeping up with student demand
At colleges and universities across the country, IT executives are responding to the current mobile explosion by taking a close look at their wireless networks. Rice is mentioned.
Campus Technology
http://bit.ly/1I1Heez

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

OIT, KCC gear up for graduation
Alumnus Robert Kester ’11, chief executive officer and co-founder of Rebellion Photonics, will deliver the Oregon Tech’s 67th commencement address.
Herald and News
http://bit.ly/1QLYr00

National Repertory Orchestra presents opening concert, ‘The Red Violin’
Timothy Steeves, a graduate student at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music, is mentioned.
Summit Daily
http://bit.ly/1QLTZyz

The Pennington School Class of 2015
The Pennington School valedictorian Niral Ramesh plans to attend Rice.
My Central Jersey
http://mycj.co/1MIrBNf

Mandeville High School Class of 2015
Mandeville High School graduate Zoe Madeline Levert plans to attend Rice.
New Orleans Advocate
http://bit.ly/1B2qmr6

SPORTS

Rice’s Jordan Stevens and Leon Byrd were selected in the second day of the 2015 MLB draft. (Similar articles also appeared on KFBB-TV [Great Falls, Mt.], KAUZ-TV [Wichita Falls, Texas] and in more than a dozen other publications.)
MLB draft 2015: Day 2, live, rounds 5-7
Minor League Ball
http://bit.ly/1JFlESK
Power pitching remains Rangers’ focus
MLB.com
http://atmlb.com/1B6lr84

2005 draft: The roster (and what happened)
A retrospective examines what happened to Minnesota Twins draft picks from a decade ago. Former Rice player Christopher Kelley is mentioned.
Star Tribune
http://strib.mn/1dwgsmk

What’s the best plan for Tyler Jay?
Former baseball standout Tyler Duffey is mentioned.
Twins Daily
http://bit.ly/1JEZBvt

Mavs take Mickey Mantle twin bill from Clear Creek
Memorial High School earned an 8-3 victory over Clear Creek and a sweep of their Bay Area Mickey Mantle League doubleheader at Mavs Field Tuesday night. Rice’s Reckling Park is mentioned.
Pasadena Citizen
http://bit.ly/1FRRuo9

NEWS RELEASES

Rice researchers make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements
Researchers at Rice University have discovered a new way to make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements at optical frequencies on high-speed nanoscale electronic components.
http://bit.ly/1F8w2up