The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, January 30, 2009 Page: 1 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The campus' literary sex magazine Is more literary than
you think, and unjustly dismissed as smut.
P» 11 SPORTS
The Inner Loop is your runway
Rice Is more style-conscious than one might guess, says
the Thresher's first fashion columnist
Getting out of the hole
Aftera disappointing fall season, the golf team hopes to
rebound In their season opener this weekend.
the Rice
VOLUME XCVI, ISSUE NO. 18
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009
Merger
may add
new minor
by jaclyn youngblood
Thresher Staff
Rice University's acquisition of
Baylor College of Medicine could not
only bring Rice a medical school, but
also a new minor.
Sid Richardson College freshman
Nazima Zakhidova and Wiess College
junior Tommy Sprague have spear-
headed a team to discuss adding a
neuroscience minor to the short list
of minors offered at Rice.
Zakhidova, a biochemistry and cell
biology major, came to Rice wanting
to major in neuroscience but instead
found a cognitive psychology major
with a limited neuroscience track.
The neuroscience courses currently
available are graduate-level courses
offered by Baylor faculty, rather than
Rice faculty. However, since these
courses are available to graduate stu-
dents, Rice argues that it offers stud-
ies in neuroscience, Sprague said.
Sprague said he was frustrated
with how difficult it was for an under-
graduate to sign up for and excel in
neuroscience courses at Baylor.
"I was told specifically that be-
cause 1 was an undergraduate, I
would not get an A," Sprague said.
Sprague and Zakhidova agree
that student interest in a neurosci-
ence minor is present and growing.
Speaking with the Student Admis-
sions Council, Sprague found that
the second most often asked question
during 2008 Owl Days was whether or
not Rice had a neuroscience option.
Zakhidova created a Facebook group
to further discern the level of student
interest. The group's Web page fea-
tures a neuroscience interest survey
that has been taken by over 200 stu-
dents, and its membership currently
totals 85 students.
Computational and Applied Math-
ematics Professor Steven Cox also
found the student interest promising.
"There really was sufficient inertia
to start meeting," he said.
Zakhidova found Sprague when
she sent an e-mail to all the residen-
tial colleges trying to determine the
level of student interest in a neurosci-
ence minor. Since then, Sprague and
Zakhidova have met biweekly with
the team to discuss the development
of the minor.
Neuroscience is the study of the
nervous system. Neuroscience, like
cognitive psychology, endeavors to
explain psychology at the physical
level and memory, thought and emo-
tion at the biochemical level.
"It's not quite down to that point
yet, but it's that idea of explaining
what it is to be human," Sprague said.
Zakhidova said, at this point, the
proposition for the minor is contingent
on the merger between Rice and Baylor.
S3 see Neuroscience, page 8
New colleges near completion
Work rolls on as Orientation-Week deadline looms
f r-
Duncan and McMurtry
college construction See feature, page 4.
The Thresher and the college presidents viewed the sites of
future Duncan and McMurtry College buildings last Friday.
DAVID ROSALES/THRESHER
Steffensen chosen to lead 0-Week
by Margeux Clemmons and
Vinny Singh
Thresher Staff
A new campus-wide Student Di-
rector of Orientation was appointed
last Wednesday — Brown College ju-
nior Peter Steffensen.
The committee that chose Stef-
fensen convened last fall and con-
sisted of several former Orientation
Week coordinators, former student
director Megan Hermance and Assis-
tant to the Dean of Undergraduates
Kate Noonan, and applications were
released over winter break.
"I am both really excited and
humbled by the position," Steffens-
en said. "When I was given the op-
portunity to be the student leader of
0-Week, I jumped at it: 0-Week had
played such a large role in my life
... in setting a tone and standard for
one's entire career here, academic,
social and otherwise."
His term begins immediately and
Peter Steffensen
Student Director of Orientation
lasts until next January. Steffensen will
lead a coordinator retreat Feb. 7-8, at
which he will outline the goals for all
the coordinating teams from every col-
lege, Director of First Year Programs
Shelah Crear said.
"The Student Director position is
probably the top position that a stu-
dent can have in the orientation week
process — it is a pretty big job, " Stef-
fensen said.
Crear said the leadership role is
also an extremely demanding posi-
tion to apply for. While other 0-Week
coordinators are nominated and
elected by their respective college
communities, a prospective student
director has to fill out an extensive
questionnaire as well as go through
a complex interview process. Crear's
position was introduced last year,
and fall 2009 will be her first time
spearheading O-Week at Rice.
As student director, Steffensen will
serve as a liaison among student co-
ordinators, faculty, and staff involved
in 0-Week, including Director of Aca-
demic Advising Brian Gibson, Dean
O see Steffensen, page 8
Rice staff
member
assaulted
Attacker escapes,
RUPD still search-
ing for suspect
by Cindy Dinh
Thresher Editorial Staff
An investigation is in progress to
find a man who assaulted a Rice staff
member late Tuesday night. At ap-
proximately 10:57 P-m- a staff mem-
ber in the Humanities Building radi-
oed in a call for help after she found
a man sleeping on a table in Room
327. When she asked him to leave, the
man got up and ran toward the staff
member where a struggle ensued.
She used a university radio to call for
help and escaped to the women's re-
stroom. The man followed her in and
physically assaulted her. However, he
fled the scene after hearing feedback
from the radio from those respond-
ing to her call. The staff member then
locked herself in the bathroom stall
before the Rice University Police De
partment and co-workers arrived, ac-
cording to Captain Dianna Marshall.
The suspect is described as a male,
white, about 25-28 years of age, 5 feet
6-7 inches tall with light brown hair
and eyes. He had three pre-existing red
scratches on the right side of his face.
At the time of the incident he was wear-
ing a black jacket and black gloves.
RUPD has not located the man,
Marshall said. It is unknown whether
the worker was alone or working with
others in the building, she said.
The doors to the Humanities Build-
ing are typically secured in the eve-
nings at 7:30 p.m. every night via the
electronic card reader where entry is
permitted using university identifica-
tion cards. However, the schedule was
modified to accommodate evening
classes on Tuesday, Marshall said. The
doors remained open until 11 p.m.
"We have people who frequently
check buildings on campus," Mar-
shall said. "We try to hit them as often
and as frequent as possible."
The Rice Emergency Notification
System which sends e-mails and text
messages to the Rice community was
not employed, Marshall said. The de-
cision whether or not to use the system
is determined by the Crisis Manage-
ment Team, which is chaired by Vice
President for Administration Kevin
Kirby, who could not be reached for
comment at the time of publication.
However, Director of News and Me-
dia Relations B.J. Almond said RUPD
spent several hours interviewing the
victim, after which a crime alert email
was sent to all departments.
As a result of the events. Facili-
ties, Engineering and Planning has
implemented a new "buddy system"
for all staff.
You can be president
Not just anyone can grow up to become presi-
dent, but even you rould become SA President! Pe-
titions for the 2009 SA Election went out Monday,
To enter, visit sa.rice.edu or email awesome@rice.
edu. Petitions are due Feb. 6 at noon in the RMC.
A date to keep you up all night
Find your Valentine's date early at the Archi
Date Auction tonight from 5 - 7 p.m. in Willy's Pub.
If you're lucky and can put up the cash, you might
even get mounted on chipboard.
Registrar deadlines
Today is the last day to designate a class as
pass/fail or audit, add a class (with a fee), adjust
variable credit, or drop a class on ESTHER. Start-
ing tomorrow, it will cost you $25 to drop a class.
Hey, nothing in life is free.
INDEX
Opinion 2
News 4
Arts & Entertainment 9
Sports 13
Calendar 19
Backpage 20
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, January 30, 2009, newspaper, January 30, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443157/m1/1/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.