The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 5, 2008 Page: 1 of 20
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live water for Christmas
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Matt Youn was paid handsomely for his column on the
tragedy of the commercialization of Christmas.
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The Wake is only half-dead
Mattel's student-written fall production gets down to the
details, sometimes too much.
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Texas two-step
77>e volleyball team qualifies for the NCAA volleyball tour-
nament for the second time in Rice's history.
the Rice
VOLUME XCVI, ISSUE NO. 14
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008
Owls will
play bowl
game in
Houston
by yan dlgilov
Thresher Editorial Staff
At a Wednesday press conference,
athletics director Chris Del Conte of-
ficially announced that Rice had ac-
cepted an invitation to play in the
2008 Texas Bowl Reliant Stadium on
Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. The game will be
the final chapter in the saga of a se-
nior class that has made an imprint
on nearly every column of the foot-
ball team's history books.
"To be able to come and have
our student athletes, our fans, our
faculty, and students to participate
in a bowl game right here in the
city of Houston, we couldn't ask for
anything better," Del Conte said.
"Rice belongs in a bowl and not
on a plate."
After finishing the regular season
9-3, Rice considered offers from both
the GMAC Bowl, to be held on Jan. 6
in Mobile, Ala., and the Texas Bowl.
The decision to forgo a road trip for
a game less than three miles away
was well received by members of the
team that went undefeated at home
all year.
"It was the bowl we wanted," head
coach David Bailiff said. "It's another
opportunity for the city of Houston to
go watch these Rice Owls. It is going
to be another opportunity for Chase
[Clement] and Jarett [Dillard] to hook
up at home."
Speculation over the Owls' op-
ponent began even before the offi-
cial announcement was made. The
Texas Bowl is usually affiliated with
Conference-USA and the Big 12 Con-
ferences, but it is highly likely that a
representative from the Big 12 will not
be filling the spot.
The team most expected to take
the other slot is the University of
Notre Dame, which is unaffiliated
with a conference, but could be giv-
en at at-large bid. The Fighting Irish
are one of the most storied football
programs in the nation, but have
struggled since star quarterback
Brady Quinn departed in 2007.
Other opponents could be selected
from the Atlantic Coast Conference,
the Big Ten Conference, or the Big
East Conference. Rutgers University, a
Big East member, has also been men-
tioned in contention for the spot.
"I really want a tough opponent,
because that makes you up your
game," senior wide-receiver Jarett
Dillard said. "Everybody in a bowl
game is going to be competitive, but
you want that opponent that nobody
gives you a chance with, that you
don't even have a shot, and every-
body is telling you that you are going
O see bowl, page 15
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Rice Athletics Director Chris Del Conte, Texas Bowl President John Huff, Texas Bowl Manager Heather Houston, and Coach David Bailiff spoke Wednes-
day at a press conference to announce Rice Football's participation in the Texas Bowl after the team secured their spot in a win over the University of
Houston. The game will be held at Reliant Stadium on Dec. 30th at 7 p.m. The Owls' opponent has not yet been announced.
Alumni give $15 million
to engineering dept.
Donation to establish the Rice Engineering
Leadership Center to focus on communication
2008 Commencement
speaker announced
by Michelle Jin
Thresher Staff
The engineering department
will soon expand the diversity of its
program content to include social
lessons in leadership. Rice alumni
John (Lovett '73) and Ann (Jones
'75) Doerr donated $15 million to es-
tablish the Rice Engineering Lead-
ership Center, which is expected to
open next fall, Dean of the George
R. Brown School of Engineering
Sallie Keller-McNulty said.
The Doerrs' contribution will be
designated to helping Rice students
remain at the forefront of new de-
velopments in engineering. The
gift, specifically for the engineer-
ing department, was a rarity, since
donations of such magnitude often
go to the university as a whole,
said Keller-McNutly, who also men-
tioned the donation will fill a need
in the department.
"It's very difficult to find fund-
ing to support cross-cutting edu-
cational needs," Keller-McNulty
said. "You can get grants for that,
but they have short time horizons,
so you get programs started and
it's difficult to continue them in a
sustainable way. A gift like this al-
lows us to build some permanent
infrastructure."
The Rice Engineering Leader-
ship Center will focus on integrat-
ing ethics, sustainable technology
and humanities with engineering,
as well as enhancing students'
professionalism.
"|The Center] will be focused
on things that transcend the
boundaries of the department,"
Keller-McNulty said. "An example
would be communications. What
do we do to help our students de-
velop really great communication
skills? It's not just about writing,
it's not just about oral communi-
cation — it's how you and I techni-
cally can interact, or how you as
an engineer can explain to a poli-
tician something in engineering.
It's aimed at how our students can
gain really strong intercommuni-
cation skills."
Some of the Center's education-
al focus will be embedded in class-
o see ALUMNI, page 7
by Sarah Rutledge
Thresher Editorial Staff
The commencement speaker this
May for the class of 2008 will be
Zainab Salbi, the founder and CEO
of Women for Women International,
the Commencement Speaker Com-
mittee announced this week. The
organization provides women in war-
stricken areas of the world, many of
Zainab Salbi
2006 Commencement speaker
whom have lost their husbands, with
financial assistance, education and
job training to regain their pre-war
status.
Salbi is also the author of Between
Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny:
Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam,
a memoir about growing up in Iraq
during Saddam Hussein's regime,
and The Other Side of War: Women's
Stories of Survival & Hope.
This year's announcement is four
months ahead of last year's, which
was made in March.
According to Assistant to the Pres-
ident Mark Davis, Salbi will speak
without payment. The university
will donate an as-now undetermined
amount of money directly to her char-
ity Women for Women International,
he said. Committee chair and Bio-
chemistry and Cell Biology Professor
Mike Gustin said the committee had
discussed establishing a tradition
of donating money to the speaker's
cause.
The committee met in April, be-
fore last year's commencement, to
brainstorm ideas for speakers. Gustin
said Salbi's name was brought up at
the committee's first meeting.
Sid Richardson College senior
and committee member Ian Feldman
said he ran across Salbi's name while
E5 see SPEAKER, page 10
Out of class and out of this world Bad music and black lights
The Dean's and President's cosmic-themed
study break will offer students a few hours
of fun and free food at the beginning of dead
week. The event will take place in the RMC
this Sunday from 7-10 p.m.
The Architecture Society is holding a dance
party this weekend titled Soft Space, Hard
Rave. The party will begin tomorrow at 10 p.m.
in Anderson Hall, and will be completely civi-
lized and appropriate for the holidays.
OMG it's finally over!
Today is the last day of classes. Take a break
during dead week from now until Dec. 10, when
exams begin. There will be no Thresher until Jan-
uary, but it'll be fine. We promise no news will
happen while we're gone.
INDEX
Opinion 2
News 4
Arts & Entertainment 11
Sports 1A
Calendar 19
Backpage 20
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 5, 2008, newspaper, December 5, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443148/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.