The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 16, 2009 Page: 1 of 20
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OP-ED P. 3
Loop hazards run lull-circle
Both pedestrians and drivers may be In the dark when It
comes to safety on the outer-loop.
A&E P. 11
Merrlweather Post Pavilion
Eric Doctor reviews Animal Collective's new album and
deems It an orgasm of sound.
SPORTS P. 14
Track and tennis rock the house
Men's and women's tennis hold their opening matches while
track sprints through their first meet this season at home.
the Rice
VOLUME XCVI, ISSUE NO. 16
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009
Rice
ranked
4th best
value
By Josh Rutenberg
Thresher Staff
Rice was ranked fourth last week
on both the Princeton Review and
Kiplinger's Personal Finance maga-
zine's lists of best value private
schools for 2009, falling from the
number one position it held on last
year's Princeton Review and improv-
ing by one spot on Kiplinger's list.
The lists compiled data from pri-
vate campuses across the country.
Schools were ranked on the basis of
academic quality, student opinion
and financial aid packages. Other
consistently high-ranked institu-
tions include Princeton, Harvard
and Yale universities.
Princeton Review ranked Rice as
first in 2007 and 2008 on its "Amer-
ica's Best Value Colleges" list. Ki-
plinger's ranking of Rice as a best
value college has remained fairly
consistent over the past three years,
fluctuating from fourth in 2007 to
fifth in 2008.
"We tend to bounce a little from
year to year, but we have a strong
track record of being within the top
five schools," Vice President for Fi-
nance Kathy Collins said.
She attributed Rice's fall from
first to fourth to the sweeping
changes Harvard, Princeton and
Yale made to their financial aid
policy last year. Harvard began
limiting tuition to 10 percent of a
student's family's income. None of
these schools require students to
take out loans as part of financial
aid packages. However, Collins says
she is not worried about the change
in rankings.
"Look at the company we're in,"
Collins said. "Rice makes a point of
wanting to be affordable and be a
high quality place, so it's great to
have that affirmation. And it's great
publicity to be right up there with
really top schools."
With the recession looming
overhead, families are sure to pay
close attention to the tuition rates
of major universities, an area where
Rice has consistently outperformed
its competition.
The rankings reflected changes
made in December 2007 for the
2oo8-'o9 academic year, including
the increased no-loan threshold
from $30,000 to $60,000.
Vice President for Enrollment
Chris Munoz said Rice has con-
tinued to make accommodating
undergraduate financial need its
number one priority by raising the
no-loan threshold this month from
$60,000 to $80,000 and lowering
the loan cap to $10,000 for students
matriculating in 2009.
O see VALUE, page 7
10,818
Applications for 2013 class surpass 10,000, break records
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
1
2000
0
(A
*->
C
3
0>
u
a>
a
</>
o
Accepted
I Rejected
'05 'o6 '07 *o8 '09
Class
*11 '12 '13
GRAPH BY IAN WHITE
By Michelle Jin
Thresher Staff
Exceeding last year's count of over 9,700 appli-
cants, Rice University broke records again, attract-
ing more than 10,000 applications this year for the
first time in its history.
For the class of 2013, Rice received 720 applica-
tions for Early Decision, compared to 661 applica-
tions in 2007 and 517 applications in 2006. Of the
720 applications, Rice accepted about 200 students.
Not only did Rice experience a 5.5 percent in-
crease in the number of ED applications, which in-
creased for the second year in a row, but also a near-
ly 12 percent increase in applications in the overall
applicant pool with 10,818 applications.
Last year Rice filled about 26 percent of its 2008-
'09 entering freshman class through Early Decision.
With the opening of Duncan and McMurtry col-
leges this fall, the university aims to increase the
entering freshman class from 789 to 850 students as
per President David Leebron's Vision for the Second
Century, which plans for a 30 percent increase in the
number of undergraduate students by 2012.
Pursuing the aims of the Vision for the Second
Century, the Admission Office reported consider-
able increases across the board this year. Foreign
national applicants increased by more than 28 per-
cent, African-American applicants increased by
more than 11 percent, and non-Texan applicants
increased by 12.7 percent. Applications from Texas
residents grew by 10.5 percent.
The increase in the number of foreign national
applicants this year constitutes a particularly signifi-
cant increase, compounded on last year's 62.3 percent
O see APPLICATIONS, page 4
Owl see you in
the kitchen
Hanszen College sophomore Courtney Ng and Jtones College seniors Carolina
Simao and Chuan LI adom a brownie In the shape of an owl during the Rke
Memorial Center's Snack Attack Wednesday night in the Grand Hall.
Chao
directors
chosen
By Cindy Dinh
Thresher Editorial Staff
While the rest of Rice may be
experiencing a temporary hiring
freeze, the Ting Tsung and Wei
Fong Chao Center for Asian Studies
welcomes new leadership. Earlier
this month, Tani Barlow started her
five-year term as the inaugural di-
rector of the Chao Center after be-
ing selected from an international
pool of applicants in May 2008.
Barlow, who previously worked
as a professor in history and wom-
en's studies at the University of
Washington in Seattle, takes over
where interim director Richard
Smith left off.
"Really, the leadership transition
is to honor the work of the people
who founded Asian Studies at Rice
and look forward to creating a Chao
Center that has an international re 1
search profile," Barlow said.
She credits her predecessors — in-
cluding Smith and Professor Stephen
Lewis — with helping to develop the
Chao Center, which was created with
a $15 million endowment from the
Chao Foundation in 2007.
"We're building on a great foun-
dation, so my vision for the future
includes intellectuals, students
working together across national
lines," Barlow said.
The Chao Center is a new re-
search oriented center, whose staff
is housed in various locations on
campus including Fondren Library,
Rayzor Hall and the Humanities
Building. Though the Chao Center
is separate from the Asian Studies
program, they will continue to work
closely together, Barlow said.
it
We're building on a
great foundatoin, so
my vision for the fu-
ture includes intellec-
tuals, students work-
ing together across
national lines
Tani Barlow
Director of Chao Center
99
The overarching focus this year
is on the transnationalism move-
ment ideas, people, products and
technology moving across borders
which makes Asian Studies at Rice
distinctive. Barlow said.
"When people are studying
Asia, their interest and expertise
tend to stop at the national bor-
der," Barlow said. "What has been
significant about our focus from
S3 see CHAO, page 6
Registrar deadlines
Today is the last day to add or drop courses
without a fee and the last day to convert Pass/
Fails from last semester to a letter grade. For
those of us graduating this spring, today is the
last day to add or drop courses via ESTHER.
Afterward, it will be a pain. Better do it now.
No classes on Monday!
The first day off of the semester is finally
here, and not a moment too soon. We at the
Thresher will be spending the day catching up
on lost sleep and work we're already behind
on. Then again, some of us will sit around and
watch TV. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Inauguration procrastination
The editor recommends that all Rice students
skip their classes from 10 a.m.-i p.m. on Tuesday
to go to the inauguration viewing party in the Rice
Memorial Center's Grand Hall. Any professor who
tries to stop you from attending hates hope and
change.
INDEX
Opinion 2
News 4
Arts & Entertainment 11
Sports 14
Calendar 19
Backpage 20
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 16, 2009, newspaper, January 16, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443051/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.