News Briefs

Rice ranked among top 10 for Hispanics

Rice University has again been named as a top college for Latinos. In its March issue, Hispanic Magazine ranked Rice among the top 10, along with Stanford University, MIT, Harvard, Duke and California Institute of Technology. This is the seventh year Rice has made the magazine’s list of “superior centers of higher learning where Hispanic students are thriving.”

Women’s basketball earns NCAA invite

The Western Athletic conference (WAC) champion Rice Lady Owls will play Georgia Saturday in Dallas in first-round action of the NCAA tournament. Rice (24-8) is the 11th seed.

The Lady Owls shared the regular season conference title with Louisiana Tech before beating the Lady Techsters 86-66 in the WAC tournament final. The win earned Rice an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

This is the second NCAA tournament appearance for Rice. The Lady Owls also earned an automatic bid in 2000, where they upset the University of California–Santa Barbara in the first round.

The Rice basketball game can be seen on ESPN2.

Thresher ties for first in national contest

Rice’s student-run newspaper, the Rice Thresher, tied for first place at the Associated Collegiate Press’ (ACP) national contest for Newspaper of the Year in the four-year weekly category. The entries were judged on the quality of the reporting, writing, editing, design, photography and examples of special project reporting and editorial page leadership. Entries were submitted and judged at the ACP annual convention in February.

Rice tied for first place with the University of Nevada–Reno’s weekly newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush.

Baseball gets going

The 2005 Rice Owls baseball season is under way, and conference play will swing into action March 25 against the University of Nevada. Faculty and staff can get free tickets to this game or other home baseball games (except NCAA regionals or championships) by showing their Rice IDs at the Reckling Park ticket window on game day. Spouses or dependents who show their IDs can receive free tickets as well.

The home games against Texas A&M (April 12) and The University of Texas (April 20) are expected to sell out, so those who plan to attend should purchase tickets in advance by calling the ticket office in Autry Court or by phone at 713-522-OWLS. Reserved chair-back seats are $10 for adults, $7 for youth. Reserved seats in the bleachers are $7 for adults, $5 for youth. For more information, visit <www.riceowls.com>.

International Programs awards photo contest winners

Street musicians performing in Tibet, sheep crowding a Spanish street, Cao Daiists worshipping in Vietnam — Rice students studying or working abroad capture some extraordinary images of their experiences. Once again, the Office of International Programs is giving the Rice community a chance to see the people, places and intangibles that make the study abroad experience profoundly life-changing for so many students.

The sixth annual International Programs Photo Contest reception and awards ceremony will be held Monday, March 21, in Farnsworth Pavilion, Rice Memorial Center. Winners will be announced at the event, which begins at 4 p.m., and the exhibit will remain on display in Farnsworth through mid-April.

More information about the study abroad program is available at <http://abroad.rice.edu>, as are photographs from past photo contests.