Dateline Rice for Sept. 26, 2017

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Exxon says it will reduce methane leaks from gas drilling
Michael Maher, senior program adviser for the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and a former Exxon economist, is quoted.
Washington Post (This Associated Press article also appeared in more than 150 other media outlets.)
http://wapo.st/2wSeuLu

The Rohingya are the new Palestinians
Rice lecturer in sociology Craig Considine wrote in an op-ed that the Rohingya of Myanmar are emerging as a new symbol of global injustice for Muslims.
Foreign Policy (Subscription is required.)
http://atfp.co/2yF5iY7

Wisconsin strict ID law discouraged voters, study finds
A survey by two University of Wisconsin political scientists found nearly 17,000 registered voters in the state were kept from the polls in November. A 2014 Rice study on the effect of Texas’ voter ID law is mentioned.
New York Times
http://nyti.ms/2xCCzVp

Researchers develop ceramic filter to deal with fouling problem in shale oil drilling
A new filter produced by Rice scientists has proven able to remove more than 90 percent of hydrocarbons, bacteria and particulates from contaminated water produced by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations at shale oil and gas wells. The work by Rice chemist Andrew Barron and his colleagues’ work is featured. Barron is the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering.
Xinhua (A similar article appeared in Oil Gas Daily, EnvironmentGuru, Health Medicine Network and Nanowerk.)
http://bit.ly/2hubApx

In Puerto Rico, another desperate plea for help
Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, is quoted in an article on Washington’s response to destruction in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria and the possible political ramifications.
Politico
http://politi.co/2wTSYkH

Official: Russian hackers probed Pa.’s election system for vulnerabilities
Dan Wallach, professor of computer science and of electrical and computer engineering and a Rice Faculty Scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://bit.ly/2foW1eI
Philly.com
http://bit.ly/2fP1rQG

HOUSTON/TEXAS

John Sharp, Texas’ new straight-talking recovery czar, charges ahead
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, is quoted in a story about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointing John Sharp, a lifelong Democrat, to oversee the state’s recovery from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey. Jones also discusses weekend developments. His analysis of public policy in Latin America is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This story also appeared on the front page of the Sept. 26 print edition with a different headline: “Sharp’s no-nonsense approach helps speed storm recovery.”)
http://bit.ly/2xDzi8w
A new travel ban and President Trump’s comments on NFL players mark a busy weekend in politics
Houston Public Media
http://bit.ly/2xyZIXh
Una nueva mirada a las políticas públicas en América Latina
Inter-American Development Bank (No English translation is available.)
http://bit.ly/2wUw2Sm

E. coli levels up – way up – after Harvey
Data from the Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research and Baylor College of Medicine indicated high amounts of E. coli in the floodwaters after Harvey.
Rivard Report
http://bit.ly/2wibtjq

Permian Basin could yield 70 billion oil barrels in coming decades, IHS says
A slideshow includes a photo of Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics and senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and lecturer of economics.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the San Antonio Express-News.)
http://bit.ly/2xIC1Ol
http://bit.ly/2foUK7m

Houston Symphony lifts community spirits while settling into Rice University
A story on flood damage at the Wortham Theater Center mentions that the Houston Symphony has moved performances from Jones Hall to the Shepherd School of Music’s Stude Concert Hall.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This story also appeared on the front of the Star section in the Sept. 26 print edition with a different headline: “Symphony lifts community spirits.”)
http://bit.ly/2ftoeVd

Interview with Sue Deigaard
Alumna Sue Deigaard ’92 is seeking to win a Houston Independent School District trustee seat.
Houston Chronicle
http://bit.ly/2xJMclT

Visual Vernacular: Patricia Restrepo
Alumna Patricia Restrepo ’10, exhibitions manager at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, participates in a Q&A.
Free Press Houston
http://bit.ly/2yr5f19

Mickalene Thomas: ‘Waiting on a Prime-Time Star’
An exhibit by artist Mickalene Thomas opens Sept. 28 at Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts.
Houston Press
http://bit.ly/2xDlCKR

An interview with Mike Frost on the evolution of Houston’s hip-hop album covers
Archivists at Fondren Library’s Woodson Research Center will display designer Mike Frost’s work, and Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research’s Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning will host a panel discussion Oct. 14. Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, former distinguished lecturer at Rice, is mentioned.
Glasstire
http://bit.ly/2fv8yAL

Houston Endowment boosts the Harvey Arts Recovery Fund
With Art League Houston closed, Trenton Doyle Hancock’s 2017 Artist of the Year show opens Sept. 29 at Rice’s Sewall Hall.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2fPpGhH
http://bit.ly/2wS3wpy

21 best things to do in Houston this week
The Houston Symphony will present Russian Masters, featuring works by Borodin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, Sept. 28, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at Rice’s Stude Concert Hall.
Houston Press
http://bit.ly/2y6ZPwu

BROADCAST

KUT-FM (Austin, Texas)
David Brockman, nonresident scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Religion and Public Policy Program, is quoted in a story about five-term Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.
http://bit.ly/2wRiD2q (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.)

In Mexico, oil and gas theft from pipelines is on the rise
According to a Rice report, the loss of oil and gas from Pemex pipelines is more than $1 billion a year. 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.
Marfa Public Radio (The Texas Standard)
http://bit.ly/2xIV23k
KUT-FM (Austin, Texas)
http://bit.ly/2fP0LdW (Click on the audio button to listen to the broadcast.)

KVUE-TV (Austin, Texas)
Sticker shock often encountered by patients who visit free-standing emergency rooms or urgent care facilities was researched 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.
http://bit.ly/2yGwYfs (Click on the video button to watch the broadcast.)

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Installation showing the perspective of a self-driving car aims to evoke empathy for artificial intelligence
Urtzi Grau, the Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice’s School of Architecture, and studio assistant Guillermo Fernandez-Abascal were co-creators of Driver Less Vision, an installation at the 2017 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.
ArchDaily
http://bit.ly/2wRdmrG

Donald Trump has accused Iran of plotting with North Korea
Rice Professor of History Douglas Brinkley is quoted.
AppsForPCDaily.com
http://bit.ly/2hwphR7

4 elements make 2-D optical platform
Rice scientists discovered a two-dimensional, four-component alloy with an optical bandgap that can be tuned by the temperature used to grow it via chemical vapor deposition.
Science Magazine
http://bit.ly/2hunH5Q
Band gaps, made to order
The UC Santa Barbara Current
http://bit.ly/2huqPyM

Nanotechnology
An Aug. 8 presentation at the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers Optics + Photonics conference by Naomi Halas, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of chemistry, bioengineering, physics and astronomy, was reviewed.
Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers
http://bit.ly/2yoQVq2

Space City’s appeal: 3 sites in Houston for Amazon’s massive 2nd headquarters
President John F. Kennedy’s “Moon Speech,” given at Rice Sept. 12, 1962, is referenced. Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science, is mentioned.
Realty News Report
http://bit.ly/2k1POKu

Higher goals for higher education
University of Georgia System Chancellor Steve Wrigley mentions a survey by Rice on textbook expenses in a Q&A on raising the quality of education while keeping costs manageable.
Georgia Trend
http://bit.ly/2y3CsE6

Is USA on the brink of energy crisis?
Charles McConnell, executive director of Rice’s Energy and Environment Initiative, is quoted.
Environment Guru
http://bit.ly/2xDr3JG

The use of machine learning for automating provisioning of DevOps resources taking the burden off IT teams
Alumnus Ajay Gulati ’05, co-founder of ZeroStack, will speak at the upcoming Cloud Computing Expo in Santa Clara, Calif.
MicroservicesExpo Journal (A similar article appeared in Open Web Developer’s Journal and Bergen County Real Estate.)
http://bit.ly/2fxfFsq

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

While Harvey’s floodwaters have receded, the health risks linger
Qilin Li, professor of civil and environmental engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, is quoted.
Route Fifty
http://bit.ly/2hwzr8h

Whitson returns home with even more records to her name
Astronaut and Rice alumna Peggy Whitson ’86 set a new mark of 665 days in space — the most by a U.S. astronaut — upon returning Sept. 3 from her third long-endurance mission aboard the International Space Station.
Creston News Advertiser
http://bit.ly/2fmwmmw

Amount of water in stem cells can determine its fate as fat or bone
Frederick MacKintosh, the Abercrombie Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a professor of chemistry and of physics and astronomy, was part of a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Harvard University
http://bit.ly/2yqV1Ou

A physicist looks at cancer metastasis
Herbert Levine, the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Bioengineering and professor of physics and astronomy and of biochemistry and cell biology, will speak Sept. 26 at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Georgia Institute of Technology
http://b.gatech.edu/2xBhPxC

Psych. lecture on subtle discrimination
Mikki Hebl, the Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Chair of Psychology, professor of psychology and professor of management, will speak Sept. 27 at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
Hamilton College
http://bit.ly/2yqurFd

This open learning platform could improve education for 264 million children around the world
Rice-based nonprofit OpenStax is mentioned.
Global Citizen
http://glblctzn.me/2jYj6tu

Connecticut proposed an unprecedented $300 million cut to its top public college that would ‘decimate’ the university
A slideshow featuring the most selective universities in each state includes Rice.
AOL.com
http://aol.it/2fOQezA

SPORTS

Pat Narduzzi press conference: Previewing Rice
University of Pittsburgh head football coach Pat Narduzzi talks about the Panthers’ Sept. 30 game against Rice.
PittsburghPanthers.com
http://bit.ly/2fOuX97
Narduzzi’s press conference leaves questions
The Pitt News
http://bit.ly/2yqqOis

Conference USA power rankings Week 4
The Rice football team is No. 12.
Underdog Dynasty
http://bit.ly/2fn6KGg

Before they were postseason-bound: Red Sox
Former Rice baseball player Brock Holt is mentioned.
MLB.com
http://atmlb.com/2wikn0x

No longer ‘football-only’: SEC basketball making the jump
Former Rice basketball player Egor Koulechov ’17, who now plays at the University of Florida as a graduate transfer, is mentioned.
247Sports.com
http://bit.ly/2yqvncH

Rockets won’t stick to sports, plan response to Trump’s tweets
A slideshow includes a photo of Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul from an Aug. 20 charity basketball game at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article also appeared in the Beaumont Enterprise and the Laredo Morning Times.)
http://bit.ly/2fw1eoI
http://bit.ly/2jYSngz
Rockets, Chris Paul keep Hurricane Harvey recovery in mind
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2yEB9Z6
http://bit.ly/2fmUQvW

VB: Sept. 25 players of the week
Rice volleyball sophomore Grace Morgan shares the Conference USA co-offensive player of the week honor with Marshall University sophomore Jac’cara Walker. The Owls’ Nicole Lennon is the freshman of the week.
ConferenceUSA.com
http://bit.ly/2xJEXuh
VolleyMob
http://bit.ly/2wSqiNT

Rising high school athletes from the San Antonio area
San Antonio Churchill’s Hannah Lopez, who has committed to play at Rice, is featured in a slideshow.
San Antonio Express-News
http://bit.ly/2foon8K

WSOC: Sept. 25 players of the week
Rice soccer senior Samantha Chaiken is the Conference USA offensive player of the week for the second time in a row.
ConferenceUSA.com
http://bit.ly/2fnjDQP

Curry earns singles championship at Cajun fall classic
The Rice Invitational, set for Sept. 29-30, is mentioned in a story about Texas Tech University men’s tennis.
Daily Torreador
http://bit.ly/2yElcSS

Kononova, Kutubidze lead tennis to strong weekend showing
The Rice Invitational tennis tournament is mentioned in a story about the University of North Texas’ women’s team.
North Texas Daily
http://bit.ly/2hx3etM