Dateline Rice for Nov. 17, 2017

FEATURED ITEM

‘House Hunters’
Rich and Lauren Spain, former Duncan College resident associates, were featured on an episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters” that included footage of the couple on Rice’s campus.
HGTV
http://bit.ly/2zKulMZ (Click the video button to watch the broadcast.)
Richmond area couple featured on HGTV’s ‘House Hunters’
Richmond Times-Dispatch (This article also appeared at Fredericksburg.com.)
http://bit.ly/2AOozGO

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Tentacles of FIFA graft trial reach Argentine presidency
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 an article on alleged bribes connected to former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and the telecast of professional soccer matches in the country. Jones also is quoted in an articles on negotiations to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement and Texas Democrats’ efforts to build on election victories across the country.
Washington Post (This Associated Press article appeared in more than 100 media outlets.)
http://wapo.st/2mAivQj
NAFTA talks resume Friday with tariff-free auto parts on the table
Dallas Morning News
http://bit.ly/2jyzp0y
Democrats debate how best to seize anti-Trump election opportunity shown in other states
San Antonio Express-News (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2hHK1cS

3-D-printed ‘schwarzites’ could build all kinds of stuff
Rice engineers are using 3-D printers to turn structures that have until now existed primarily in theory into strong, light and durable materials with complex, repeating patterns. The porous structures called schwarzites are designed with computer algorithms, but the Rice lab of Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and chair of the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, found they could send data from the programs to printers and make macroscale, polymer models for testing. Postdoctoral researcher Chandra Sekhar Tiwary and graduate student Peter Owuor are quoted.
Futurity (Similar articles appeared in more than 10 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/2zPyay3

Friendship forged for the good of young nation
Professor of History Douglas Brinkley reviewed “Friends Divided,” a dual biography of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson authored by Gordon Wood.
Boston Globe
http://bit.ly/2yQrLRN

Pemex logra dos farmouts, ‘desairan’ aguas someras
Miriam Grunstein, contributing expert and scholar in the Mexico Center at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is quoted in an article on Mexico-owned petroleum company Pemex.
El Financiero (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/2zbNN5G

‘Maya Soifer Irish: Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile’
“Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile. Tradition, Coexistence, and Change,” a book authored by Maya Soifer Irish, assistant professor of history, is reviewed.
Sehepunkte
http://bit.ly/2mEr50u

‘Når man kan få skyer til at regne, hvorfor skubber man så ikke bare orkanerne tilbage i havet?’
Former Vice President Al Gore, a member of the board of Rice’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders, spoke on climate change Oct. 23 at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Informatión (An English translation is not available.)
http://bit.ly/2mzQvvZ

HOUSTON/TEXAS

Virtual conversation: Has Houston’s tech community reached ‘critical mass’?
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship is mentioned in a Q&A.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This article appeared on the front of the Business section in the Nov. 17 print edition with a different headline, “‘Critical mass’: Is Houston there yet?”)
http://bit.ly/2jr7rDY

Another strikeout for Mexican-American studies in Texas
David Brockman, nonresident scholar at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Religion and Public Policy Program, authored an article on the Texas State Board of Education’s failure to approve instructional materials for Mexican-American studies.
Texas Observer
http://bit.ly/2mzK2kU

Artist Karin Broker mixes feminism, realism and romanticism in her art and home
The home of Karin Broker, professor of visual arts, is featured.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2jzjMWo
Editor’s letter: It’s been a wild ride, Houston
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required.)
http://bit.ly/2hAMrGH

In search of a flood fix, one Houston community turned to a golf course
Phil Bedient, the Herman Brown Professor of Engineering and director of Rice’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center, is quoted in an article on a shuttered golf course in Clear Lake, Texas, that is being retrofitted to contain detention ponds.
Texas Tribune (This article also appeared in The Eagle.)
http://bit.ly/2hEVk5y

Unsafe streets killed my mother. It’s time to act.
Colleen Corcoran, whose mother, Marjorie Corcoran, was killed Feb. 3 in a train-cyclist accident in Houston, wrote an op-ed on dangerous intersections and possible solutions. The cutline for a photo that accompanies the op-ed mentions that Marjorie Corcoran was a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice.
Houston Chronicle (Subscription is required. This appeared in the Chronicle’s “Gray Matters” online magazine.)
http://bit.ly/2zQu6O4

League of American Bicyclists names Texas State ‘bicycle-friendly’
Rice is mentioned as being designated a “Bicycle-Friendly University” by the League of American Bicyclists.
San Marcos Corridor News
http://bit.ly/2A60nn6

BROADCAST

WHYY-AM (Philadelphia)
More than one-third of Latinos interviewed in a recent study believe science education may have a negative impact on the religious faith of their children, according to new research from sociologists at Rice. Study co-author Elaine Howard Ecklund, founding director of the Religion and Public Life Program and the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, comments.
http://bit.ly/2mCc0MI (Click the audio button to listen to the broadcast.)
Churches introduce science education into Bible study
WHYY.org
http://bit.ly/2irVZ7r

‘Future of Saudi leadership’
Kristian Ulrichsen, fellow for the Middle East at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, took part in a panel discussion on politics in Saudi Arabia.
C-SPAN2
http://bit.ly/2zPGTQP

TRADE/PROFESSIONAL

Rice University’s ‘compressed sensing’ technology could reduce MRI scan times
Patients who have to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging scan may be spared the ordeal of having to lie still in the scanner for up to 45 minutes, thanks to new technology patented by Rice, also known as “compressed sensing” technology. The technology was recently licensed by Siemens Healthineers. Richard Baraniuk, Rice’s Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is quoted, and Kevin Kelly, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and applied physics graduate program chair, is mentioned.
The University Network
http://bit.ly/2zQVqvK

World’s top 150 universities for employability
Rice is No. 97 on CEO World’s ranking of top universities for the most employable graduates.
CEO World Magazine
http://bit.ly/2j2YRXW

National Heritage Academies public charter school system to provide the STEMscopes digital STEM curriculum in schools around the country
An article mentions that Accelerate Learning and STEMscopes originated at Rice.
Tech & Learning (A similar article appeared at District Administration Online.)
http://bit.ly/2zLK6D4

Freedom Learning Group selected as vendor for OpenStax
Freedom Learning Group will create content for Rice-based publisher OpenStax, which develops open educational resources.
NB Herald (This article also appeared in Markets Insider.)
http://bit.ly/2APqOKc

eDNA tool detects invasive clams before they become a nuisance
Scott Egan, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is a co-author of a study that used environmental DNA to detect invasive clams in California and Nevada lakes.
AlphaGalileo
http://bit.ly/2zNJzAl

Hipwell named Governor’s University Research Initiative grant recipient
Alumna M. Cynthia Hipwell ’92, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, received a grant as part of the Governor’s University Research Initiative.
Texas A&M Engineering Communications
http://bit.ly/2AOAWmn

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

On the (book)shelf
“A Theory of Foreign Policy,” co-authored by T. Clifton Morgan, the Albert Thomas Professor of Political Science, is reviewed.
Friday Times
http://bit.ly/2irIOUm

Concert Sunday aids artist residency scholarship fund
Cellist Lucas Button ’15 will be the featured performer at a fundraiser Nov. 19 in Leonardsville, N.Y.
Rome Sentinel
http://bit.ly/2hA1FeQ

Strange but true!
Collaboration between IBM and Rice University on the Multi-Purpose Eldercare Robot Assistant is mentioned.
Daily Journal of Commerce
http://bit.ly/2AX1wKY

Probing the cosmic dawn
Alumnus Michael Eastwood ’12 is researching the origins of the universe’s first stars as a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology.
The Sheet
http://bit.ly/2hFYLsC

Talk Hawks soar to first place
An article on the Mustang Invitational, a speech tournament Nov. 3 at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif., mentions a team from Rice competed.
The Independent
http://bit.ly/2zPBBEQ

SPORTS

Friday’s 6:30 Prather Coliseum contest versus Rice marks return to play by Jalan West
The Rice men’s basketball team faces Northwestern State University Nov. 17 in Natchitoches, La.
NSUDemons.com
http://bit.ly/2zbzX3w

Records fall on day 1 of Phill Hansel Invite
The Rice women’s swimming team is competing in the Phill Hansel Invitational at the University of Houston, which continues through Nov. 18.
GoAirForceFalcons.com
http://bit.ly/2j3ZX5F

Balance, stifling defense lead No. 8 Florida over N. Florida
Former Rice basketball player Egor Koulechov ’17, who now plays at the University of Florida, is mentioned.
Houston Chronicle (This Associated Press article appeared in more than 50 other media outlets.)
http://bit.ly/2AXRZUb

Albermarle High School holds signing day for 6 Patriots
Albermarle High School’s Ryan Helmers signed to run cross-country at Rice.
NBC29.com
http://bit.ly/2zL4fcJ