Dateline Rice for May 25, 2017

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

In these 6 states, half of mayors run against no one
Approximately half of mayoral elections in six U.S. states are unopposed, and unopposed elections are on the rise, according to a report from the Center for Local Elections in American Politics, part of Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Melissa Marschall, professor of political science, is quoted.
Futurity
http://bit.ly/2qnUCry
Half of mayoral elections in 6 US states are unopposed
Phys Org
http://bit.ly/2qThWRs

Trump’s energy budget leaves coal country in the cold
Christopher Smith, the Baker Institute Advisory Board Fellow in Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, authored an op-ed about President Donald Trump’s energy budget.
Forbes
http://bit.ly/2rlrjuO

Texas’ ‘Bathroom Bill’ Could Mean Economic Disaster
Mark Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies, professor of political science, fellow in political science at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, authored an op-ed about Texas’ “bathroom bill.”
Fortune
http://for.tn/2s07NA9
Lawsuits challenging legislature’s hateful agenda have already begun
Out Smart
http://bit.ly/2rVfDfx

What are the hot research areas that might spark the next big bang?
An article discusses research on green hydrogen by James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering.
Times Higher Education
http://bit.ly/2rZEFcv

Caroline Kennedy on JFK: I miss him every day
President John F. Kennedy’s famous “Moon Speech” delivered at Rice Sept. 12, 1962, is discussed.
CNN Politics
http://cnn.it/2qnTODi
What would JFK have said about clean energy?
Union of Concerned Scientists
http://bit.ly/2qTAUHT
John F. Kennedy’s hunky grandson Jack and his 2 sisters lead family tributes to the former president in new video ahead of what would have been his 100th birthday
Daily Mail
http://dailym.ai/2qTk4IW
What would JFK have said about the energy challenges of our times?
Eco Watch
http://bit.ly/2qksJBr
WBUR
http://bit.ly/2rZK2Zi (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 
http://bit.ly/2r0Odoq (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 
‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon’
CNN (This also aired on CNNI.)
http://bit.ly/2rZEMVg

Stable Afghanistan in the interest of peace in region: Aizaz Chaudhry
Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy is mentioned.
Online News
http://bit.ly/2rULxZs
Pakistan, US need close cooperation to fight terrorism: Aizaz
Daily Times (This also appeared in Pakistan Link.)
http://bit.ly/2rlmBwY
Modi finished ministerial corruption: Former US Ambassador David Mulford
News Bharati
http://bit.ly/2qohjfg

HOUSTON/TEXAS

What Brays Bayou needs: Ice house-like buildings for hanging out
Alumnus David Richmond ’13 authored an op-ed about improvements that can be made to the Brays Bayou waterway.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This appeared in the Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2qg2e4x

Gallery and museum listings: May 25-31
Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts will present Thomas Struth’s “Nature & Politics” through May 29 and teamLab’s “Flower’s and People, Cannot Be Controlled But Live Together — A Whole Year Per Hour” through Aug. 13.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in My San Antonio.)
http://bit.ly/2rDJThy
http://bit.ly/2qk22x1

The most popular bars in Houston may not be what you think they are
Valhalla on Rice’s campus is mentioned in a slideshow.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2rE01zI
http://bit.ly/2rDIOWY

Frisco, McKinney in battle for nation’s fastest-growing city, but a Texas rival edges them out
Michael Cline, associate director of Rice’s Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, is quoted.
Dallas Morning News
http://bit.ly/2r17Dvl

Texas Monthly wins big at the City and Regional Magazine Awards
Alumnus Paul Burka ’63 is mentioned.
Texas Monthly
http://bit.ly/2rDMiJf

Border wall can’t be built in flood plain, South Texas rancher says
Tony Payan, the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and director of the institute’s Mexico Center, is quoted.
Fort Worth Star Telegram
http://bit.ly/2r0wZHy

‘Sanctuary’ law will make Texans less secure, less safe
Alumnus Alex Triantaphyllis ’06 authored an op-ed.
Trib Talk
http://bit.ly/2rlAfAg

Q&A with David Vassar, ConTex director of programs
An article mentions that David Vassar worked at Rice.
UTSA Today
http://bit.ly/2rln7er

New UHS student regent makes history
An article mentions that Neelesh Mutyala interned at Rice.
Katy News
http://bit.ly/2rE9Ptr

BROADCAST

Texas leads the country when it comes to booming cities
Steve Murdock, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and director of Rice’s Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, is quoted.
KUT News (This also appeared in KERA News and KUOW.)
http://bit.ly/2qo9RRk

WSCL
Alumna Sasha Cooke ’04 is mentioned.
http://bit.ly/2rUTU7r (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 

KPRC
A broadcast mentions a student who will attend Rice.
http://bit.ly/2r1eFQM

WBFO
John Olson, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, discusses artificial blood.
http://bit.ly/2r0woWz (This also aired on WDDE, WBUR and KUT. Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.) 

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Readying your robots and workforce for industry 4.0
Rice is mentioned.
Robotics Online
http://bit.ly/2qnUNDk

New battery prototype stores 3 times as much energy
Rice scientists have created a rechargeable lithium metal battery with three times the capacity of commercial lithium-ion batteries by resolving something that has long stumped researchers: the dendrite problem. The battery stores lithium in a unique anode, a seamless hybrid of graphene and carbon nanotubes. The material first created at Rice in 2012 is essentially a three-dimensional carbon surface that provides abundant area for lithium to inhabit. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, is mentioned.
Inverse
http://bit.ly/2rUBCCZ
Graphene-nanotube hybrid boosts lithium metal batteries
Energy Daily
http://bit.ly/2rDRo8l

Zap! Graphene is bad news for bacteria
Scientists at Rice University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that laser-induced graphene is a highly effective anti-fouling material and, when electrified, bacteria zapper. James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering, and graduate student Yilun Li are mentioned.
Science Daily
http://bit.ly/2r0suwT
Researchers show laser-induced graphene kills bacteria, resists biofouling, Rice University study
BioSpace
http://bit.ly/2r0sLzK

Subsea Systems Institute launches digital upstream project
Rice is mentioned.
World Oil
http://bit.ly/2rZuVPp

Nanocar is the 1st step toward a controlled transport system at the molecular scale
The Rice and University of Graz team finished first in the inaugural international Nanocar Race in Toulouse, France, April 28.
Phys Org
http://bit.ly/2qo2IAK
‘Bobcat nanowagon’ is a 1st step toward creating a new academic field
Nanowerk
http://bit.ly/2rUEIHf

New tool could help predict, prevent surging waters in flood plains
U.S. and Chinese geologists studying China’s Yellow River have created a new tool that could help Chinese officials better predict and prevent the river’s all-too-frequent floods, which threaten as many as 80 million people. The new tool, a physics-based formulation to calculate sediment transport, can also be applied to study the sustainability of eroding coastlines worldwide. Jeffrey Nittrouer, assistant professor of Earth science, and postdoctoral research associate Hongbo Ma are mentioned.
Environmental Research Web
http://bit.ly/2rZl4cz

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

Q&A: 57 questions for soprano Alexandra Smither
Alumna Alexandra Smither ’16 is featured.
Musical Toronto
http://bit.ly/2qgEkFM

Freestanding emergency rooms offer costly convenience
The rapid growth of freestanding emergency departments in Texas has been accompanied by an equal increase in use at relatively high prices that lead to sizable out-of-pocket costs to patients, according to new research by experts at Rice, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics at the Baker Institute and professor of economics, is quoted. Ho is also quoted about the American Health Care Act.
Messenger-Inquirer
http://bit.ly/2rDulua

Gene-editing technology may replace antibiotics in the future
Gang Bao, the Foyt Family Professor in Bioengineering, is quoted about CRISPR technology.
Infowars
http://bit.ly/2r1eSDo

Texas University students growing lettuce, spinach and kale indoors
A team at Rice, cleverly named Lettuce Turnip the Beet, has designed a produce cultivation machine — a hydroponic garden that grows plants without soil. Instead, a pump recirculates 55 gallons of water through tiers of PVC pipe, using little energy and no waste to grow lettuce, garlic and other vegetables. Undergraduate students Sanjiv Gopalkrishnan, Dominique Schaefer Pipps, Jared Broadman and George Dawson are mentioned.
Fresh Plaza
http://bit.ly/2qgGndd

Daily news briefs, May 24, 2017
A news roundup mentions an op-ed written by Kyle Shelton, director of strategic partnerships at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, about Texas highways.
Tolls Roads News
http://bit.ly/2qk1bwg

New provincial council appointed for US province
An article mentions that Raymond Cook is director of the campus ministry and chaplain at St. Mary’s at Rice.
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
http://bit.ly/2qgHgSK

Peggy Whitson: Groundbreaking, record-holding astronaut
Alumna Peggy Whitson ’86 is featured.
Bear Essential News
http://bit.ly/2rDNTOR

SPORTS

Rice tops FAU to open C-USA Tournament
Rice baseball defeated Florida Atlantic University 5-3 first round of the C-USA Tournament. The team will play Old Dominion University May 25.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2qobZZf
http://bit.ly/2r0EApP
Young delivers Monarchs to playoff victory
Prince George Citizen
http://bit.ly/2qjLMw4
ODU rallies for 3-2 win over FIU at C-USA Tournament
WDAM
http://bit.ly/2qgCPaT
ODU, Rice pick up wins to begin play in C-USA Tourney
Sun Herald
http://bit.ly/2qgCiFC
Baseball: FAU unable to complete comeback, fall to Rice in 1st round of C-USA Tournament
University Press
http://bit.ly/2qkunmG
Fans turn out for 1st day of C-USA Tournament
WLOX (This also appeared in WDAM.)
http://bit.ly/2r0mGU7
UTSA update — Wednesday, May 24
UTSA Athletics
http://bit.ly/2r0suwK
Owls fall in C-USA Tournament opener to Rice
Sun Sentinel
http://bit.ly/2rlFdgl
C-USA Baseball Championship schedule and lineup
The Best College Sports News Network
http://bit.ly/2qgCd4K
Endless odyssey: The stumble, brief fall and frantic comeback of Rice Owls baseball
College Baseball Central
http://bit.ly/2rDLuUC
Biloxi’s MGM Park gets positive reviews from C-USA coaches
Sun Herald
http://bit.ly/2r0up4l
Base: Championship — Day 1
C-USA
http://bit.ly/2rDVf5a
ODU rallies for 3-2 win over FIU at C-USA Tournament
WTVM (This also appeared in WAFB and WMC Action 5 News.)
http://bit.ly/2rlKjJN
WLOX
http://bit.ly/2qgxQql
KPRC
http://bit.ly/2rlLclp
http://bit.ly/2qk5kAm
http://bit.ly/2rlW8zJ
KRIV
http://bit.ly/2qo5PbI

Tech’s Hargrove among semifinalists for Bragan Slugger award
Will Rice College sophomore Dominic DiCaprio has been added to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://bit.ly/2r0uUeA

Vintage pictures show Houston as it was in 1977
A slideshow includes a photo of Rice Stadium.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required. This also appeared in My San Antonio and LMT Online.)
http://bit.ly/2r0Uouw
http://bit.ly/2rDKxeU
Astrodome architect’s home for sale in Houston’s Museum District at newly-reduced price
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2rlxzTi
http://bit.ly/2qklYzy
See what Houston was up to 40 years ago
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/2qTveh9

Houston HS baseball/softball primer: May 26
Articles mention high school baseball games that were played at Rice’s Reckling Park.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2rZkLOK
http://bit.ly/2qkl8D8
Bulldogs sweep Evadale in region quarterfinals
The Cameron Herald
http://bit.ly/2qTurgc
Dawgs rally to down Evadale, No. 1 Refugio on deck next
Rockdale Reporter (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2qnYzwI
Rickett leads Travis over Katy and into regional semi-finals
Fort Bend Star
http://bit.ly/2rVhj8P

Texas looks to its defense as Big 12 baseball tournament begins
Rice baseball is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription required.)
http://bit.ly/2rlGTGC
Examining the national seed race
Frogs O’ War
http://bit.ly/2rlr2rI

Summer traveling trivia from the towns of Texas
An article mentions that the Heisman Trophy was named after former Rice coach John William Heisman.
Bandera County Courier
http://bit.ly/2qgOKVV

Mariners routed again, 10-1, by Nationals
Former Rice baseball player Anthony Rendon is mentioned.
Union-Bulletin
http://bit.ly/2r1cywg

How I became a fan of the Mountain West
Rice football is mentioned.
Mountain West Connection
http://bit.ly/2qk1rev
2017 C-USA football helmet schedule
FB Schedules
http://bit.ly/2rDJknH

Arizona State’s Todd Graham can build coaches, but what about a program?
Former Rice coach Todd Graham is featured.
SB Nation
http://bit.ly/2r1mwhf

‘Good Morning Football’
Former Rice football player Christian Covington is featured.
NFL Network
http://bit.ly/2r0zaek
http://bit.ly/2qowZzi

NEWS RELEASE

Rice U. experts available during 2017 hurricane season
The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1, and Rice University has experts available for media interviews about storms as they approach the United States and their aftermath.
http://bit.ly/2r0S98J