The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 11, 2008 Page: 4 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, APRIL 11.2008
Two comedians spotlight interfaith differences
TAYLOR JOHNSON/THRESHER
Comedians Azhar Usman and Rabbi Bob Aiper take a collective bow after their Tuesday night show "Comedy's Odd
Couple," which was held in the Baker College commons. The event was sponsored by Rice Hillel, the Muslim Student
Association and the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance.
by Jane Lee
THRESHER STAFF
"Comedy's Odd Couple," a show
featuring nationally known comedi-
ans Rabbi Bob Alper and Muslim
Azhar Usman, came to the Baker
Commons Tuesday as part of an
interfaith event to promote tolerance
on campus. The comedians' routines
covered their family backgrounds,
current lives, religious experiences
and the elephant in the room, as Alper
referred to it: Their separate faiths.
Usman, a Chicago-born Indian
Muslim has served as a lecturer and
lawyer, community activist and co-
founder of the Allah Made Me Funny
Comedy Tour. He told the audience
of his experiences with religious and
racial intolerance.
"People see me and they can't help
but think, 'Bin Laden ... Saddam ...
Obama?'" Usman said.
Alper, an author and an ordained
rabbi for 14 years and a Ph.D from
Princeton University Theological
Seminary, followed Usman's rou-
tine. Alper's routine covered his
experience as a rabbi. After their
individual acts, the two shared the
stage to discuss how they came to
work together.
Alpher, who had previously done
a comedy routine with a Muslim
comedian, looked for another
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partner when the two went their
separate ways.
"When [AhmedAhmed] decided
to move back towards movies, I had
to find another partner, so I Googled
'Muslim Comedian,'" Alper said.
Usman said Alper found him be-
cause there were not many Muslim
comedians to choose from.
"If you googled ['Muslim co-
median'], I'm going to come up,"
Usman said.
The two comedians discussed
their religious differences and ani-
mosities, as well as their similari-
ties. Forexample, Usman said Jews
and Muslims are similar in that
they are willing to spend $1,000,000
on a temple or a mosque but not
on a $50 sound system at a garage
sale. The two finally displayed their
idea to arrive at interfaith peace via
Irish dancing.
Rice Hillel President Lauren
Henderson and executive board
member of the Muslim Student
Association Zabeena Merchant,
who cosponsored the event, said
she hopes the show will be the
beginning of further dialogue on
Jewish-Muslim interaction.
Henderson, a Will Rice College
junior, learned of the comedy act
earlier this semester through her
rabbi, Houston Hillel's Executive
Director Kenny Weiss, an acquain-
tance of Alper's.
"I thought it sounded amazing,
and I thought it would be even more
amazing if we could cosponsor it
with MSA and the Boniuk [Center
for Study and Advancement of
Religious Tolerance at Rice]," Hen-
derson said.
The show fits into the Boniuk
Center's Bridge Builders Initiative,
which supports religious events put
on by cross-faith campus groups.
TTie show occurred April 8 to fit
the comedians' schedules, but the
large venues in the Rice Memorial
Center were already occupied by
this time, so the Boniuk Center
booked the Baker commons to get
a comedy club feel, Boniuk Center
Special Projects Coordinator Calvin
Preece said.
Preece said he considers the
$5,000 the Boniuk Center paid
for the comedians' performance,
transportion and hotel rooms to
be well-spent.
Both comedians said they will con-
sider returning to Rice in the future.
"I love being invited into this kind
of environment [with college kids]
because there's an opportunity there
not only to make people laugh but
also to make them think in a way that
can actually have some long term
effect on their perception of reality,"
Usman said. "I take the responsibility
seriously and hopefully the impres-
sion you got is a positive one."
CONSTRUCTION
From page 1
traffic, which will extend around die
north and west sides of the site. Crew
vehicles will enter from Entrance 20
and exit via the Inner Loop. He said he
does not anticipate any road closures
due to the construction.
The completed complex will be
a considerable improvement over
current facilities at Autry Court,
Buchanan said. Designed primarily
of brick and glass in a similar style
to nearby buildings, it will house in-
door and outdoor basketball courts,
four racquetball courts, two squash
courts and a weight and cardio room.
It will also house an Olympic-sized
swimming pool and a smaller 2,500
square foot pool intended for recre-
ational use. A smaller wing in the
building will house offices and the
Wellness Center.
Buchanan said the Rec Center will
accommodate the expected increase
outlined in student body of President
David Leebron's Vision for the Second
Century. With the exception of the
swim team, varsity athletics will have
their own training facilities at other
locations, such as Autry Court
" [The new Rec Center] will be, first
and foremost, a recreational facility -
one that accommodates athletics," Uni-
versity Architect David Rodd said.
Due to the ongoing renovation work
at Autry, the present weight room,
dance studio and recreation check-in
will move to a temporary building
located between the Jake Hess Tennis
Stadium and Autry. The move is sched-
uled for late June, and those facilities
will remain until completion of the
new Rec Center. The former recre-
ation spaces will be demolished to
make way for a concession stand
as well restrooms.
Project cost and donor financ-
ing will be announced at the Rec
Center's groundbreaking cer-
emony April 22.
Collaborative Research
Center
The tallest Rice building reached
its maximum height of ten stories
last month. On March 28, Houston
leaders gathered for a topping-
out ceremony at the $300 million.
480,000-square-foot CRC. Construc-
tion started in December 2006and is
expected to end April 2009, according
to the FE&P Web site.
The CRC is an attempt to spur co-
operative efforts in medical research
between Rice and Texas Medical Cen-
ter institutions, such as BaylorCollege
ofMedicine, Texas Children's Hospital,
the University ofTexas M.D.Anderson
Cancer Center and the UT Health Sci-
ence Center at Houston, according to
a Rice News press release.
Building tenants have not
been finalized.
The CRC will house eight floors of
research space, a 280-seat auditorium,
a 100-seat seminar room, classrooms
and three levels of underground park-
ing. Retail space has been set aside
for a restaurant and coffee shop.
In addition, planners designed the
site with the possibility of building
a second research tower with up to
200,000 square feet of space.
Soon-to-be completed
On Thursday. April 24, the
Brochstein Pavilion adjacent to
Fondren Library will open. The
glass-encased structure will house a
new coffee shop and feature a large
outdoor plaza. Major landscaping
work is currently underway on the
grassy central quadrangle between
Herring Hall and the Rice Memo-
rial Center. When completed, the
pavilion will contain new grass, new
sidewalks, an elm grove, fountains
and seating. In an effort to control
the flooding issues that occur in this
section of campus, the design plans
factor in a new irrigation and drain-
age system.
Weather-induced delays in the
project forced KTRU to move its an-
nual Outdoor Show from the RMC to
the IM fields. However, preparation
is underway for opening day. FE&P
Manager of Communications Susann
Glenn said.
"Work will be 99.9% complete
when it is reopened on April 24,"
Glenn said.
A major headache for south col-
lege students will also disappear in
the next few months, as construction
concludes on the south plant. Susann
Glenn-The plant, located south of
Wiess College, will become fully
operational on July 31.
Crews have started to remove
fencing from around the work site
and have already pulled back on
Alumni Road south of the Inner
Loop. The FE&P Web site said the
road beside Wiess College will be
reopened by April 30, and all fencing
should come down by July 1.
I
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 11, 2008, newspaper, April 11, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443166/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.