Rice Magazine Issue 12

8/2/2019 Rice Magazine Issue 12

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Right BraiViews

A Look at the Arts

The Magazine of Rice University No. 12 | 20

18 A PLACE FOR ART20 THE ART OF THE UNIVERSITY26 ARTISTIC PASSION28 A NEW STAGE32 ONE JOURNEYS END IS THE

BEGINNING OF ANOTHER34 AROUND THE WORLD IN 88 KEYS36 MOB RULES

7| The UnConvention 8|Looks Matter 9| Better Violins 11|Mothers Worries 14|Asthm


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28

10And the CAREERAwards just keep on

oming.

5 Rice alumna makesTIMEs People WhoMattered list

5 Shepherd Schoolalumna gets Grammy

8 When youreinterviewing for a job,

36

Contents6 Battling bugs with

rhythm

9 Designing betterviolins by applyingmathematics

11 What worries motherswhen their childrenplay outside?

12 The demographicsof Islamic terroristdetainees

7 The UnConventioncomes to Rice in April.

4 The rankings are in:Princeton Review,Leiden Ranking andFinancial Times.

3 FivePrime founder electedto the Rice board

17

7

Owls help HISD kick off sustainability initiative

On the Cover: Geoff Winningham's photography students studied a

special display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, of the photography

of Irving Penn, including this portrait of Pablo Picasso in 1957.

Photo: Tommy LaVergne


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Students

Features18 A Place for Art

There are good reasons why Edgar Odell Lovett

pened Rices doors to art a century ago, and

today, art is at the core of Rices spirit.

B y D a v i d W . L e e b r o n

20 The Art of the UniversityTo the outside world, Rice has been decidedly

left-brained, but one look at the Department

f Visual and Dramatic Arts will change that

perception.

B y A l y s o n W a r d

26 Artistic Passion

Rice artists arent limited to the traditionallyreative majors, such as studio arts or English.

Musician Amy McCarley is forging her own path.

B y L e s l i e C o n t r e r a s S c h w a r t z

28 A New StageAs the Rice theater program comes into its own,

tudents and audiences have more options

than ever before.


32 One Journeys End Is the Beginning

of AnotherWhat happens when a professor prods a

hy student to expand her artistic scale? Ask

photographer Gena Dawn.

B y K e l l y K l a a s m e y e r

34 Around the World in 88 KeysPianist Kimball Gallagher is out to conquer the

world, one small concert at a time.

B y J e s s i c a C . K r a f t

36 MOB RulesThe Marching Owl Band has been poking fun,

reating controversy and making football crowds

laugh for 40 years.


20

28

36

Students14 If you need an app for asthmatic

check out mobileSpiro.

15 The Matchbox Gallery hasn t golarger, but its still showing grea

student art.

16 Intern to the world helps launchVirtual Student Foreign Service.

17 Senior Rowan Canter helps deva sustainable energy model for

Arts40 A lot of people live in model

neighborhoods, but not like the

created by Ana Serrano.

41 One of Rice s newest sculpturelarge bronze owl, presides over

new Hindman Garden.

42 A new piece of artwork by JaumPlensa draws people inside

literally.

Bookshelf44 Welcome to Houston: 1 million

and no zoning.

44 Adrenaline, the latest from thriwriter Jeff Abbott, will get your

moving.

45 Jeff Kripal boldly goes where fereligious studies professors hav

gone before.

Sports46 Whats it like behind the scenes

pro football? Ask Will McClay.

48 Introducing the newest additionRice Stadium.

Rice Magazine No. 10


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Houston, Touston, TX

F O R E W O R D

2 www.rice.edu/ricemagazine

This is an auspicious time for the arts at Rice.When I began editing Rice Magazine more than

17 years ago, art had a presence on the Rice campus, but you had to look for it. There were acouple dozen portraits hanging in various buildings, and half a dozen sculptures occupied thequads and other open spaces. Fine arts majors had to share a department with art historians anddid not have their own dedicated exhibition space. And the Shepherd School of Music had justbuilt Alice Pratt Brown Hall and was beginning to develop its stellar international reputation.

Today, as Rice approaches its centennial, it seems as if Edgar Odell Lovetts dream of thearts taking their rightful place alongside the sciences and letters is finally coming to fruition.Sculptures have cropped up all over campus inside buildings as well as on the grounds.Paintings and photographs now grace the walls of many interiors. And the area just east of AlicePratt Brown Hall is the site for the new skyspace, a permanent environmental ar t piece by JamesTurrell scheduled for completion this spring. In fact, just recently, Rice dedicated a new sculptureby renowned international artist Jaume Plensa.

Rice has become a destination for art lovers, but the artworks that adorn the campus arejust the most obvious examples of the arts at Rice. Art majors now have their own department

that includes theater and film in its offerings, and the university boasts four exhibition spaces:Rice Gallery, the Matchbox Gallery, the EMERGEncy Room and the exhibition space in the RiceMedia Center. And just as important for the future of the arts at Rice is the establishment ofthe Rice Public Art Program, which is working to further enhance the campus with thoughtfuland intriguing pieces of art.

In this issue, we strive to bring you the breadth and depthof the arts at Rice, first by taking a look at the Departmentof Visual and Dramatic Arts, then by surveying a numberof other artistic offerings and achievements that are takingplace here. Among our features are one on the Rice TheaterProgram and profiles of three young alumni who recentlylaunched artistic careers in the public sphere.

I am as pleased to present this survey of the arts at Riceas I am astounded at the changes that have been wrought

here in the arts and other disciplines since I began editing Rice Magazine. Then, of course, it

was titled Sallyport, and it, too, has undergone several transitions over the years. And now it,and I, are preparing for another major change. It is time for me to move on to other projects,and this will be my final issue as editor of Rice Magazine. I will miss my co-workers and friendson campus, but I will miss even more having the opportunity to showcase the best of this greatuniversity to its most ardent fans and supporters. My successor is Lynn Gosnell, former editorof Sombrilla, the magazine of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Please welcome her withas much generosity as you have shown me during my time here.

May you and Rice prosper.

Correction: The last issue of Rice Magazine contained an error in the feature on the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies,For Love of Lifelong Learning. The article stated that the fund for the new Continuing Studies building is just a shade under our 24 million

goal. The sentence should read, just a shade under halfway toward our 24 million goal. Our apologies to the Glasscock School of ContinuingStudies and to our readers for this regret table error.

Christopher Dow

[email protected]

Rice Magazine

No. 12

Published by the Office of Public Affairs

Linda Thrane, vice president

EditorChristopher Dow

Editorial DirectorTracey Rhoades

Creative DirectorJeff Cox

Art DirectorChuck Thurmon

Editorial StaffB.J. Almond,staff writerJade Boyd,staff writer

Amy Hodges,staff writerJenny West Rozelle, assistant editor

David Ruth, staff writerAlyson Ward, staff writerMike Williams,staff writer

Photographers

Tommy LaVergne,photographerJeff Fitlow, assistant photographer

The Rice University Board of Trustees

James W. Crownover, hairman; DBucky Allshouse; D. Kent Anderson;

Keith T. Anderson; Laura Arnold; SubhViswanathan Barry; Suzanne Deal Boot

Robert T. Brockman; Nancy P. CarlsonT. Jay Collins; Lynn Laverty ElsenhansDouglas Lee Foshee; Lawrence GuffeyJames T. Hackett; John Jaggers; Larry Kellner; Ralph Parks; Lee H. Rosenthal

L. E. Simmons; Charles Szalkowski; Robert B. Tudor III; James S. Turley;

Lewis Rusty Williams; Randa Duncan Williams.

Administrative Officers

David W. Leebron,president; GeorgeMcLendon provost; Kathy Collins, vipr es id en t fo r Fi na nc e; Kevin Kirbyice president for Administration; ChrMuoz ice president for Enrollment

Alli son Kend rick Thacker, vice presidefor Inves tments and tr easur er; Linda

Thrane, ice president for Public AffaiRichard A. Zansitis, vice president and

general counsel; Darrow Zeidenstein, vpres ident for Resource Development.

Rice Magazine is published by the Officof Public Affairs of Rice University and

is sent to university alumni, faculty, stafraduate students, parents of undergrad

ates and friends of the university.

Editorial Offices

reative ServicesMS 95P.O. Box 1892

Houston, TX77 51-1892

Fax: 713-348-6757 Email: [email protected]

MARCH 2012 RICE UNIVERSITY

ONLINE AT: WWW.ISSUU.COM/RICEUNIVERSITY
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SallyporT H R O U G H T H E

My Rice education was a great springboard

for many aspects of my professional andpersonal life. I am truly honored toserve on the Rice board.

Rusty Williams

Rusty Williams Elected to Rice Board

Lewis T. Rusty Williams, founder of San Franciscobased biotech com-pany FivePrime Therapeutics, has been elected to the Rice UniversityBoard of Trustees.

FivePrime Therapeutics specializes inthe discovery and development of innovative protein and antibody drugs.

Williams serves as the companys executive chairman and president. The1971 Rice alumnus is a member of theNational Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Artsand Sciences.

Rusty Williams is known for hispioneering work in drug discovery,

collaborations with other institutions inthe Texas Medical Center. Our growingbiomedical and bioscience research isaimed at discovering breakthroughsthat will contribute to better healtharound the world and to the economic

vitality of Houston, and Rustys recordas an innovator and entrepreneur inthat arena will help Rice realize those

aspirations.Williams, who graduated from Rice

fficer and a member of the board irectors of Chiron Corp. and presidef Chiron Technologies, a biopharmeutical company, where he was instr

mental in applying genomics researcto its drug research and developmenPrior to joining Chiron, Williams w

Howard Hughes Medical Institute ivestigator at the University of CaliforniSan Francisco.

He also is a co-founder of COTherapeutics Inc., which before beincquired by a larger company, specia

ized in therapeutic products for treatin

nd preventing acute and chronic caiovascular diseases.

Our growing biomedical and bioscience research is aimed at discovering breakthroughs that will contribute to better health around the world anto the economic vitality of Houston, and Rustys record as an innovator and entrepreneur in that arena will help Rice realize those aspirations

David Leebron

and his work has led to breakthroughsthat are improving health and medicaltreatment today, said Jim Crownover65, Rice board chairman. Were veryhonored that he has agreed to bring his

valuable experience to the Rice governing board.

We are thrilled that Rusty is joiningour board, as he brings a wealth of experience and accomplishment in highereducation, science and innovation,Rice President David Leebron said.Rustys expertise will be especiallyinvaluable as Rice expands its research

with a bachelors degree in chemistry,also has an M.D. and a Ph.D. in physiology, both from Duke University. He completed his residency and a clinical fellowship in cardiology at MassachusettsGeneral Hospital and served on thefaculty at Harvard Medical School.

My Rice education was a greatspringboard for many aspects of myprofessional and personal life, Williamssaid. I am truly honored to serve onthe Rice board.

Before Williams founded FivePrimein 2002, he served as chief scientific

Williams received the Basic ResearPrize from the American Hea

Association in 1997 the same year was elected to the National Academy Sciences section on medical geneticematology and oncology for his co

tributions to the understanding of thprocess of signal transduction in cells

Williams also serves on the boarf Juvaris BioTherapeutics, Beckmaoulter Inc. and Berklee College

Music.B.J. Almo



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Rice MBA Ranks inTop 20 Nationally

Rice Universitys Master of BusinessAdministration (MBA) program is amongthe top 20 fulltime MBA programs inthe nation, according to new rankingsfrom the Financial Times. In addition, theprogram at the Jesse H. Jones GraduateSchool of Business is still best in Texasand the Southwest. Last year, the pro-gram ranked No. 21.

We are pleased with the continuedrecognition from publications suchas Financial Times on the quality ofour programs, students and faculty research, said Bill Glick, dean of the JonesSchool. Considering the increase in application volume, increasing selectivityand ongoing development and recruit

ment of world-class faculty, I am veryhappy with the positive momentum inthe rankings.

The Rice MBA Full-Time Programprovides students with a comprehensiveMBA learning experience that combinesspecialized course work and real-worldexperience to improve and amplify theirstrategy, leadership and creative credentials. The program features innovativeclasses, expert faculty and a diversegroup of candidates who often becomecolleagues for a lifetime. Unlike otherrankings, the Financial Times also considers alumni success three years post

graduation. On this metric, Rice MBAalumni rank 16th in salary increase.Amy Hodges

View the Financial Times rankings:

www.ft.com/home/us

For information on Rice MBA programs, visit: business.rice.edu

Rice Among Princeton Reviews Top 5Best-value Private Universities

ice University is one of the countrys top five best valuamong private schools for 2012, according to the Princeteviews newest rankings.

The rankings are based on data about theuality of academics, cost of attendance and

financial aid, and student opinion surveysollected from 650 colleges and universi

ties. During the past decade, Rice has beenmong the Princeton Reviews top 10 best

values almost every year, and three times ithas been the No. 1 best value.

Rices consistently high ranking on the

best-value lists by the Princeton Review,Kiplinger and others reflects its success atkeeping its high-quality education affordablend accessible to talented students from all

backgrounds, Rice President David Leebronaid. The word value is important here

because it encompasses not only our comparatively low tuition, generous student-aidprograms and need-blind admission, butlso the dedication of our faculty membersnd their personal engagement with our stuents made possible by one of the lowesttudentfaculty ratios in the country.

The 2012 edition of the PrincetonReviews The Best Value Colleges notes

that in addition to Rices terrific financial-id policy, the university offers a number of

merit scholarships. Even for students whoreceive no financial assistance, Rice remainsne of the best values in higher education.

With tuition set thousands of dollars lowerthan Ivy League and other peer institutions,Rice walks the walk of keeping the highestaliber of education affordable for all.

Rice admits students regardless of their

ability to pay and provides financiapackages that meet 100 percent of studdemonstrated need. Since 2009, entefreshmen from families with incomes oto $80,000 do not have to take out loand Rice has limited loans to no more $10,000 for need-eligible incoming freshfor their four undergraduate years.

The Princeton Review refers to Ric

one of the top universities of the naand notes that Rice offers students theportunity to develop a strong rapport their professors, and the tier-one reseinstitution offers robust and extensiveportunities for research and internships.

The profile notes that Rice has branked No. 1 for best quality of life byPrinceton Review three years in a rowis also currently ranked No. 1 for hapstudents.

In addition to Rice, the other prschools on the top five list are WillCollege, Swarthmore College, PrincUniversity and Harvard College. Kiplin

Personal Finance magazine has ranked as its No. 4 best value among private schfour years in a row.

B.J. A

For more information on the Princeton Reviewrankings, visit: ricemagazine.info/109

http://www.ft.com/home/ushttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazinehttp://www.ft.com/home/ushttp:///reader/full/business.rice.eduhttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazine


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Her TIME

Rice University alumna Virginia Moyer 74, a highprofile professor of pediatricsat Baylor College of Medicine, was named one of TIME magazines People WhoMattered in its Person of the Year 2011 edition.

The magazine cited her work as chairwoman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, first convenedby the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984 and responsible for providing rigorous, independent assessments of a range of clinical preventive services. The panel is considered to be the gold standard forsuch recommendations and has far-reaching impact on decisions by Medicare, health insurers, clinicians and medical schools.

TIME noted that in October the task force set off shock waveswhen it recommended healthy men do not need routine screenings for prostate cancer. The findings followed five clinical trials thatshowed the tests, which measure levels of prostate-specific antigen(PSA) in the blood, not only do not save lives overall, but also putpatients at risk of harm in the form of needless surgery, impotenceand incontinence.

The fact is we considered it extremely carefully, Moyer said.We went over the data with a fine-tooth comb, and our conclusion

was that the downsides of screening outweigh any potential benefits.I say that carefully because it is not clear that there is any benefit.

She noted that biopsies commonly show that what look like cancer cells under a microscope do not behave like cancer and perhapsshould not be called cancer. She also said that two-thirds of men age6585 have cancerous cells in their prostates, and the vast majorityof them will never be affected by it in their lifetimes. So finding it out is not going to benefit them.Better tests would be most welcome, she said. If we could find a new biomarker for aggressive

prostate cancer, that would be terrific.Moyer said that credit for the recommendation should not be hers alone but belongs to the 16-mem

ber panel of health professionals who look at many issues. We have between 70 and 90 topics in ouractive list, some of which have not been revised in a while, and we have several new topics under way,Moyer said. Another that recently came out was a draft recommendation to counsel young peopleabout exposure to ultraviolet light, to avoid skin cancer. Another had to do with falls and the elderly.

For all of us, our passion is getting the science right, Moyer said. We are not advocates, and thatis what most significantly distinguishes the Preventive Services Task Force from other groups that areinterested in prevention. The most important thing is to get it right and not promote preventative activities that might not be beneficial. One of the reasons is that they take time away from things we knoware beneficial. Mike Williams

Shepherd School Alumna Gets Grammy

Praised in The New Yorker for her fresh, vital portrayal, bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keensense of verbal nuance and a flair for seduction, Cooke has performed at such famed venues as Carnegie Hall and the John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is the recipient ofnumerous professional awards and honors.

American mezzosoprano and Shepherd School of Music alumnaSasha Cooke 04 received the 2011 Grammy Award for Best OperaRecording for her performance as Kitty Oppenheimer in theMetropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams Doctor Atomic.

ooke earned a Bachelor of Music from Rices ShepherdSchool of Music, where she specialized in vocal performance.She also has a masters degree from the Juilliard School.

Amy Hodges

Rice: A ScientifiPowerhouse

Rice University has been raNo. 4 among the worlds touniversities for the qualityimpact of its scientific pubtions, according to the LeRanking 2011/2012, a proof the Centre for ScienceTechnology Studies at LeUniversity, Netherlands.

The rankings are based on

ntific publication data the Thomson Reuters WeScience database covering

years 200509 and are noized for university size.

The rankings depend ily on the proportion of a

versitys presence in topercent publications, definthose most frequently cite

well as collaborative indicThe top-ranked MassachuInstitute of Technology hadver a quarter of its publicain top 10 percent publica

Rice had 22.2 percent, fracf a percentage point behinPrinceton and No. 3 Harv

iew the complete rankings:

ricemagazine.info/108



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Rhythm

We found that the plantswhose clocks were inphase with the insectswere relatively resistant,whereas the plants whoseclocks were out of phasewere decimated by the

insects feeding on them.Danielle Goodspeed

BattlingBugs With

When you walk past plants, they dont

look like theyre doing anything, saidJanet Braam, an investigator on the new

study, which appeared this week in the

Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences. Its intriguing to see all of

this activity down at the genetic level.

Its like watching a besieged fortress go

on full alert.

Braam, professor and chair of Rices

Department of Biochemistry and Cell

Biology, said scientists have long known

that plants have an internal clock that

allows them to measure time regard-

less of light conditions. For example,some plants that track the sun with

their leaves during the day are known to

reset their leaves at night and move

them back toward the east in anticipa-

tion of sunrise.

In recent years, scientists have be-

gun to apply powerful genetic tools to

the study of plant circadian rhythms.

Researchers have found that as many

as onethird of the genes in Arabidopsis

thaliana a widely studied species in

plant biology are activated by the cir-

cadian cycle. Rice biochemist Michael

Covington found that some of these

circadianregulated genes were also

connected to wounding responses.

We wondered whether some of

these circadianregulated genes might

allow plants to anticipate attacks from

insects, in much the same way that they

anticipate the sunrise, said Covington,

now at the University of California, Davis.

Danielle Goodspeed, a graduate

student in biochemistry and cell biol-

ogy, designed a clever experiment to

answer the question. She used 12hour

light cycles to entrain the circadian

clocks of both Arabidopsis plants and

cabbage loopers, a type of caterpillar

that eats Arabidopsis. Half of the plants

In a study of the molecular underpinnings of plants pest resistance, RUniversity biologists have shown that plants both anticipate daytime raby hungry insects and make sophisticated preparations to fend them

were placed with caterpillars o

regular daynight cycle, and the ohalf were placed with outofpha

caterpillars whose internal clo

were set to daytime mode during

hours that the plants were in nightt

mode.

We found that the plants wh

clocks were in phase with the ins

were relatively resistant, whe

the plants whose clocks were ou

phase were decimated by the ins

feeding on them, Goodspeed sai

Wassim Chehab, a Rice faculty

low in biochemistry and cell biolhelped Goodspeed design a follow

experiment to understand how pl

used their internal clocks to resis

sect attacks. Chehab and Goodsp

examined the accumulation of the

mone jasmonate, which plants us

regulate the production of metabo

that interfere with insect digestion

They found that Arabidopsis u

its circadian clock to increase jas

nate production during the day, w

insects like cabbage loopers feed

most. They also found that the pl

used their internal clocks to regu

the production of other chemical

fenses, including those that pro

against bacterial infections.

Jasmonate defenses are

ployed by virtually all plants, inclu

tomatoes, rice and corn, Chehab s

Understanding how plants regu

these hormones could be impor

for understanding why some p

are more damaging than others, a

could help suggest new strategie

insect resistance.

The research was supported

the National Science Foundation

Rice University. Additional coaut

include Amelia MinVenditti 11.

Jade

Watch a video about this research: ricemagazine.info/111


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Rice Launches Center for College Readiness

Local school district administrators and Rice K12 leaders gathered oncampus in September for the launch of the Center for College Readiness, adivision of the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Formerly

known as Teacher Professional Development, the center was renamed toreflect the growing diversity of its K12 outreach programs.

TheUnConventio

ers and students have believed anything is possible that ddevotion and innovative thinkingturn ideas into achievements. call it unconventional wisdom. us celebrate an unconventional tury at the UnConvention, a camwide open house April 1214. Wnviting all of Houston to vennside the hedges and explore through tours, demonstrations, certs, lectures, athletic eventsexhibits and more.

For details, visit unconvention.rice.edu

With its first teacher training in 1995,the Glasscock School began its journeyto provide top-level programming to ensure teachers were properly prepared forthe classroom experience. The schools

Advanced Placement Summer Institutehas been offered 17 consecutive years andis now the largest such training in the nation, attracting more than 2,200 AP teachers this past summer.

Over the years, the school has addedtraining for International Baccalaureateteachers as well as programs for administrators, counselors and secondary students. Other programs include extensive

two years. Of those who take remedial courses in their first year of college, only 1739 percent will earn a degree.

The research is incontrovertible, Gigliottisaid. Rigorous course work in high school,such as AP and IB, better prepares studentsfor postsecondary education and helps ensurethat more students will successfully completetheir university degrees.

The center will continue to offer its currentAP and IB programming, she said, adding that

Rice is the only institution offering training inboth of the two major college-preparatory curricula. The center will offer specific new programming that will focus on closing equity

We have so many fine K12 programs at Rice. With this new

role, we look forward to working with them toward our shared

goal of improved education in our community.

training in American history, Chinese-language teaching, a Global EducationCertificate program, and customized district work for teachers and administratorsfocused on building and sustaining successful AP programs.

To date, more than 30,000 educators and students from all 50 states and37 countries have taken part in the programs. Since 2007, annual enrollmentshave increased 102 percent, now standing at more than 5,700. This growth anddiversity necessitated the name change toCenter for College Readiness.

At the launch celebration, JenniferGigliotti, executive director of the center,said the programming has and will continue to be centered on innovative strategies and content to increase the collegereadiness of students.

Only 45 percent of students enrolledin postsecondary education will earn abachelors degree, Gigliotti said, primarilybecause many students find it necessaryto take remedial course work in their first

Mary McIntire

and achievement gaps among students, build

ing a college-going culture, and supportingstudents as they navigate the path to college.

Also at the launch, George McLendon,Rices Howard R. Hughes Provost and professor of chemistry, announced that through theCenter for College Readiness, the GlasscockSchool of Continuing Studies would take amore central role in coordinating K12 outreach efforts throughout the campus.

We have so many fine K12 programs atRice, said Mary McIntire, dean of ContinuingStudies. With this new role, we look forwardto working with them toward our shared goalof improved education in our community.

Carol Hopkins

For more information on the Center for College

Readiness, visit:

www.collegeready.rice.edu

www.facebook.com/RiceCCR

http:///reader/full/www.collegeready.rice.eduhttp://www.facebook.com/RiceCCRhttp:///reader/full/www.collegeready.rice.eduhttp://www.facebook.com/RiceCCR


10/52

Looks Do Matter

People with birthmarks, scars and other facial disfigurements are mo

likely to receive poor ratings in job interviews, according to a nestudy by researchers at Rice University and the University of Housto

Discrimination Against Facially StigmatizedApplicants in Interviews: An Eye-Tracking andFace-to-Face Investigation, published onlinein the Journal of Applied Psychology, is onef the first studies to examine how individuals

with facial blemishes fare in job interviews.When evaluating applicants in an in

terview setting, its important to rememberwhat they are saying, said Mikki Hebl, Riceprofessor of psychology and management,

who co-authored the paper with Universityf Houston assistant professor and Rice alum

Juan Madera 05. Our research shows if yourecall less information about competent canidates because you are distracted by charac

teristics on their face, it decreases your overallvaluations of them.

The research included two studies, thefirst of which involved 171 undergraduatetudents watching a computer-mediated in

terview while their eye activity was tracked.After the interview, they were asked to recallinformation about the candidate.

When looking at another person duringconversation, your attention is naturally di

rected in a triangular pattern around the eyesnd mouth, Madera said. We tracked themount of attention outside of this region and

found that the more the interviewers attendedto stigmatized features on the face, the lessthey remembered about the candidates inter

view content, and the less memory they hadbout the content led to decreases in ratingsf the applicant.

Our research

shows if you recall

less information

about competentcandidates because

you are distracted

by characteristics

on their face, it

decreases your

overall evaluations

of them.

Mikki Hebl

The second study involved face-to-facterviews between candidates who had a fbirthmark and 38 full-time managers enroin a part-time MBA and/or a Master of Sciin a hospitality management program, a

whom had experience in interviewing aants for their current or past staff positio

Despite the increase in age, experind education, the interviewers had a to

time managing their reactions to the stiMadera said. In fact, the effects of the sti

were actually stronger with this group, whe attributed to the face-to-face interviewting. It just shows that despite maturityexperience levels, it is still a natural hureaction to react negatively to facial stigMadera said.

Both Hebl and Madera hope the resewill raise awareness about this form of wplace discrimination. The bottom line ishow your face looks can significantly ience the success of an interview, Hebl There have been many studies showingpecific groups of people are discrimingainst in the workplace, but this study tak

step further by showing why it happens.llocation of attention away from memorythe interview content explains this.

The study was funded by Rice Univers

Amy H

Watch a video of Professor Hebl talkingbout the research:


www.rice.edu/ricemagazine8
http://www.rice.edu/ricemagazinehttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazine


11/52


Turning

Math IntoMusic

Standing in his office beside a white board scrawled with equations,Sean Hardesty lifted a violin to his shoulder and played the opening

of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

His instrument has an angular, asymmetrical body painted black andred and was built of balsa wood and carbon-fiber laminates by a boatdesigner in Maine. In his Duncan Hall office, with the door closed, itssound is piercing and precise.

This is an experimental violin, said Hardesty, a postdoctoral research fellow and lecturer in computational and applied mathematics(CAAM). Its a work in progress, not a finished product. I think itsounds pretty good.

Hardesty distills sound to its mathematical essentials; he is working to design violins by applying the tools of optimization to shellstructure acoustics.

For a decade he has been a regular participant in the acouworkshops sponsored by the Violin Society of America (VSA) and

built a violin top using a mathematical model he devised and sf-the-art 3-D printing technology. During a recent VSA gatherinberlin College in Ohio, Hardesty played a Stradivarius, often jud

the instruments sonic ideal.He noted that the Stradivarius violin known as The Hamm

which sold at auction for $3.54 million in 2006, was built in 1707year Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler was born. You couldily be tempted to believe that violin making is one of those rare fif human endeavor that has become drastically worse over the

300 years, he said. But this view undervalues the best contempotraditional makers and leaves nothing for the future.

Hardesty, like other avant-garde violin designers and builderstends to challenge the supremacy of the Strad and other traditio

Sean is working at the intersection of mathematics, music and materials. Specifically, he is developingmathematical and computational tools to model and ultimately design violins.

Matthias Heinkenschloss

Sean is working at the intersection of mathematics, music andmaterials, said Matthias Heinkenschloss, professor and chair ofCAAM and Hardestys former Ph.D. thesis adviser. Specifically, heis developing mathematical and computational tools to model andultimately design violins.

For Hardesty, the well-documented relations between music andmathematics have been a living fact since childhood. His family wascasually musical. My mother put a violin in my hands when I was 2or 3 years old, said Hardesty, who began taking lessons at age 5 andcontinued through high school, when he began thinking about the

physics of musical instruments.I realized in college, he said, that I was more interested in

violin physics than in quantum physics.Hardesty went on to earn his B.S. in physics from the California

Institute of Technology in 2004 and his masters degree and Ph.D.in computational and applied mathematics in 2006 and 2010, respectively, from Rice. From 2007 to 2009, Hardesty played viola withthe Doctors Orchestra of Houston (now the Texas Medical CenterOrchestra), and until 2011, he served as the groups principal violist.

esigned instruments. With the violin, there isnt a best soundaid. It depends entirely on the taste and skill of the player.

Key to the sounds produced by a violin is the resonating r soundboard, which turns the energy of the vibrated strings

the instruments distinctive voice. Hardestys task is to turn a plaubjective reactions to that sound into the mathematical essen

that produced it.Every instrument is different, said Hardesty, who would lik

ustomize instruments to the precise tastes of their owners. Yoways get something, and then you lose something. Most profess

players end up making trade-offs, one quality for another.At the opposite end of the skill spectrum, Hardesty also fore

esigning and manufacturing inexpensive but comparably sophated violins for students just beginning their studies.

I would really like to make it possible for more people to playviolin and to play it well and produce a good sound, he said. I khow much pleasure Ive derived from making music and listeninit all my li fe.

Patric

Watch Sean Hardesty discuss his work: ricemagazine.info/106



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CAREER WinnersNational Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Developme(CAREER) Awards support the research and educational development young scholars expected to become leaders in their fields. With on

about 400 per year given out across all disciplines, the grants are amothe most competitive NSF awards, and so far this year, three are from Ri

Bridging the Gap

When Amina Qutub turned her attentionfrom the chemistry of oil to the mysteries of the brain, she liked what she saw.

An assistant professor of bioengineer ing,

Qutub is working to understand brainprocesses using methods that bridge thegap between computational biology andclinical application. Her research maylead to new treatments for victims ofstroke and neurodegenerative diseases.

Qutubs research has progressedfrom work to understand the blood-brain barrier to a focus on the way thebody responds to hypoxia or lackof oxygen. With her computationalbackground, shes uniquely positionedto look at the way brain cells behave

when they lack oxygen, such as af terstrokes or during neurodegeneration.

The goal is to know how cells processinformation and to learn to direct howthey make decisions, especially understressful conditions like hypoxia.

We want to know what makes cellsmore responsive so they can be more viable under hypoxic conditions, Qutubsaid. In the case of a stroke, for instance, we might learn to regrow areasof the brain.

Imagining Better Imaging

How molecules get from here to there in varius environments is a fundamental question

Rice University chemist Christy Landes wouldlove to answer. Now Landes, the Norman

Hackerman-Welch Young Investigator and anssistant professor of chemistry, will get thehance to do so with the help of the National

Science Foundation CAREER grant.Landes and her group will develop state

f-the-art single-molecule spectroscopictechniques to help researchers understandnd control the transport of molecules acrossharged polymer membranes, particularly at

water/membrane interfaces. The work hasimplications for energy and water purificationpplications.

Its also a departure from the biomolecularresearch for which Landes is already known.Last year, she imaged protein-binding process

s using a unique mathematics tool developedt Rice for a project that advanced research intomemory, learning, and the roots of Alzheimersnd Parkinsons diseases and stroke.

She said the project is perfectly suited forRice because it involves chemistry, physics,materials science, environmental science andpplied mathematics. Im interested in lots of

things, Landes said, and I like my students tolearn in an interdisciplinary environment.

Mathematics and Mentor

Danijela Damjanovic liked numbers an early age, and mathematics felt a natural choice for a career. It wasconventional choice for a young wom

and often she was the only womaher classes. Now, she wants to useCAREER Award to help young wo

who might want to become mathemcians as well as to support her reseand teaching.

Damjanovic studies dynamical tems objects together with their evtion in time. One of the main goato understand not only the current of the objects under consideration,also past and future behavior, she Does a small perturbation of that sysmimic the behavior of the simple systeDamjanovic asked. Or, after a pertu

tion, do new phenomena arise?Each spring, Damjanovic planoffer a semester-long extracurricscience course for high school wothat lets them work together on plems and projects and gives thechance to interact with women have built prominent careers in mand science.



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Examining Motherly FearsNeighborhood poverty is likely to make a mother more fearfulabout letting her children play outdoors, according to a newstudy by sociologists at Rice University and Stanford University.

Its no secret that children play outdoors less now than in recentdecades, and research shows maternal fear as one reason why,

said Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, Rice assistant professor of sociology.Her paper on the subject, co-authored by Ariela Schachter, a Ph.D.student in sociology at Stanford, appeared in the journal FamilyRelations. This study addresses reasons why mothers do or donot let their children play outside, Kimbro said.

Kimbro and Schachter theorize that a mothers fear of herchild playing outside is a major component of her decisions regarding the childs free playtime. They tested maternal, householdand neighborhood characteristics that may be related to maternalfear and discovered the following:

A mothers household economic status, education, employ-ment and physical/mental health all influence maternal fear.

Perception of a neighborhoods collective efficacy (sharedvalues and goals, social support) is associated with maternalfear. Mothers who believe they live in neighborhoods with

shared values and goals are less likely to be fearful of theirchild playing outdoors, and vice versa.

Poverty and the percentage of blacks in a neighborhood areassociated with increased maternal fear.

Its not entirely surprising that poverty aligns with greatermaternal fear, Kimbro said. When considering the characteristics associated with many impoverished neighborhoods lackof playgrounds, good sidewalks and the potential for crime itmakes sense that mothers might be more fearful.

Kimbro said that, contrary to what one might expect, mothersare more concerned with issues of social support than crime rates.The fear of children playing outside is not completely rational,

she said. You might think that a logical response is to keep yourchild inside when crime rates are higher, but our research shows

that factors closer to the mother, such as how she feels about herneighbors, are more likely to influence her feelings of fear.

Childrens outdoor play is an important indicator of overallhealthy development, Kimbro said. Although neighborhood poverty strongly influences maternal fear, mothers of sound mentalhealth living in impoverished areas are less likely to be fearful oftheir children playing outside. Our results suggest that efforts tominimize depression among mothers living in poverty could havesignificant, positive impacts on parenting behaviors and particularly in the promotion of childrens outdoor play.

The study, Neighborhood Poverty and Maternal Fears ofChildrens Outdoor Play, is the third paper to come from Kimbrosbroader research project exploring the links between neighborhoods and childrens outdoor play using data from the FragileFamilies and Child Well-Being Study.

The research was funded by the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation through its national program, Active Living Research.

Additional support for the Fragile Families and Child Well-BeingStudy was provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NationalInstitute of Child Health and Human Development and a consortium of private foundations.

Amy Hodges

Read the study: ricemagazine.info/112

Rice Magazine No. 12 20

You might think that a

logical response is tokeep your child insidewhen crime rates arehigher, but our researchshows that factors closerto the mother, such ashow she feels abouther neighbors, are morelikely to influence herfeelings of fear.

Rachel Tolbert Kimbro


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The Demographics of Islamic Terrorist Detainees

Sixty percent of people arrested for Islamic terrorist activities betweJanuary 2009 and April 2011 were American citizens, according to a nereport from Rice Universitys James A. Baker III Institute for Public Poli

The study of 104 people who were arrested included U.S. and non-Ucitizens living in America or abroad.

The report, Analyzing the Islamic Extremist Phenomenon in the United States:A Study of Recent Activity, was authored by Joan Neuhaus Schaan, a fellow inhomeland security and terrorism at the Baker Institute. Jessica Phillips, an internwith the Baker Institutes homeland security and terrorism program, provided re-search support for the study.

ing data from international and U.S.news reports, general Internet media, public records and official court documents,

the researchers set out in November 2010 tonalyze information on the status of Islamicxtremism in the United States. They also

looked at some of the unanswered questionsraised by U.S. Rep. Peter Kings Committeen Homeland Security hearing, The

Extent of Radicalization in the AmericanMuslim Community and That CommunitysResponse. King, R-N.Y., and chairman of theommittee, held the hearing March 10, 2011.

Providing policymakers this dataan allow for a factual discussion and di

minish rhetoric, Neuhaus Schaan said.Consequently, policy can be crafted to adress current and future needs in the face of

hange and adaptation by those determinedto bring harm to the United States.

Information on birthplaces and converion to Islam was available for 77 of the 104

people arrested. The data revealed that 60percent of the group was born outside theU.S. Of the 31 U.S.-born persons where reliion of origin could be determined, 14 were

born into Muslim families and 17 convertedto Islam.

Other key findings from the reportinclude:

Of those for whom birthplace datawas available, half were born in theU.S., 22 percent were naturalized citizens and 7 percent were dual citizens.

Of the 104, 5 percent entered the U.S.on a visa.

Of those who converted to Islam, 63percent had a known prior criminalrecord.

Of the 14 American converts with aprior criminal history, at least 55 percent had converted to Islam in prison.

Ninety-two percent were male.Sixty-four percent were 30 years old

or younger.

Sixty-six percent had traveled or werein the process of traveling to theMiddle East, Somalia, South Asia orthe Balkans.

Of the 104, 70 percent had an association or were attempting anassociation with an internationallyrecognized terrorist organization;al-Qaida and its associated branches

were cited most.

Of the 29 persons with no knassociation to a group, 11 had bactive on terrorist-related chat roand websites.

Overall, 38 percent had been invoin this type of Internet activity.

Only 10 of the 104 are what thethors would consider lone wolvmost in the cohort had ties to otin the group or to an organization

The Internet and prison conversionthe two biggest new trends that policymers need to look at more closely, NeuSchaan said. Weve seen a major chain how people become associated withtremist groups in the past 20 years, andneed to adapt.

The report concludes that approximtwo-thirds of those involved in extreactivity are men under the age of 34, no single, all-encompassing profile canmade of the analysis group of 104. NeuSchaan said that the Baker Institute will tinue to compile data and issue an updreport annually.

Davi

Read the report:




15/52


16/521444 rice.edu/ricemagazine4

An Android for Asthma SufferersMobileSpiro, a portable device Rice students designed to measure lung capacitin children with asthma, is winning competitions as well as the hearts of children

Created by a team of Baker College sophomores Peter Chang andHasitha Dharmasiri, Lovett College junior Nonso Anyigbo andalumnus Sid Gupta 07 under the auspices of the George R. BrownSchool of Engineerings Scalable Health Initiative, mobileSpiro isdesigned to make it simple for asthma sufferers to self-test theirlung capacity, as many are required to do daily.

Typically, lung capacity is tested by a spirometer in a doctorsoffice. Spirometers are widely used to measure the volume of airinhaled and exhaled, but commercially available devices are expensive, all costing more than $500, according to the Rice team.The team priced component costs for its version at no more than$100 when the parts are manufactured in large quantities, withresults almost as accurate as a lab spirometer.

Last spring, the students paired their spirometer with the workof a Rice team that developed a game, Azmo the Dragon, intended to make it fun for children who suffer from asthma to checktheir lung capacity, as many are required to do daily. The programfinished third in the Game Design category at Microsofts high-profile Imagine Cup.

Though the Azmo game ran on Windows Mobile phones, mobileSpiro employs the Android platform for smartphones. The goal

From left, Hasitha Dharmasiri and Peter Chang with Gaurav Patel, Wireless OpenAccessResearch Platform project manager and mobileSpiro mentor

is to make mobileSpiro and its associated hardware accessible andeasy to use for self-testing and as a remote monitor that lets clinicians keep an eye on their patients between office visits.

ne component that makes it special is a Bluetooth transmitterthat sends results to the Android device for capture and analysis,but the students are equally excited about their open source code.

The thing I love about this project is, first, its applicability thefact that its really getting out there and a lot of people have expressedan interest, said Chang, a computer science major. Ive always been

rice.edu/ricemagaziner . c a azine

interested in health care and technology, so its rewarding to workthis project and apply what Ive learned in my courses.

hang said the team spent a lot of time at the beginning getup to speed on the health care issues involved. The first stage looking through the literature and talking to doctors to see what ut there and what problems we could solve by merging or crea

technology, he said.The team found that spirometers typically require a docto

technician to be present. We developed automated error-deteclgorithms to ensure the patient is doing the test correctly, Chaid. Such tests require a patient to breathe as deeply as possnd then exhale with maximum effort. The ideal test would be ontinuous cycle, with no coughing, hesitation or other interrup

that could skew the results.What young patients will ultimately experience is a game that

be fun to play, perhaps even with other asthma sufferers over a sonetwork. It also may someday give researchers hooks into a streamata that could prove valuable in many ways, not only about grof patients, but also about environmental conditions in a region.

The team presented mobileSpiro at mHealthSys 2011, an innational workshop on mobile systems, applications and serv

for health care held in Seattle in Novembewas among six academic teams to present seven to demonstrate their devices for judThey finished second in the paper competithang and Dharmasiri attended the event.

Ashutosh Sabharwal, an associate profeof electrical and computer engineering andteams faculty mentor, said mobileSpiro is pected to begin clinical trials this spring.

Mike Wi

Watch a video about mobileSpiro: ricemagazine.info/115

sh.rice.edu
http://www.rice.edu/ricemagazinehttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazinehttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazinehttp://www.rice.edu/ricemagazine


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Students

Thinking Outside the BoxAlthough only the size of a small office, Rices appropriately named MatchboxGallery has already had a substantial impact on the student population.

The only gallery on campus that is managed by students, the space showcases artby Houston-based artists and local students. Matchbox director and Rice senior

Elliott SoRelle listed one of his main goals for the space as exposure of interestingworks works that are not necessarily by artists from a specific major.Dolly Li, the gallerys assistant director, and I

have done as much as we can to reach out tomore Rice students who are not art majors,said SoRelle, who also is not, strictly speaking, an artist by trade he is a double majorin visual and dramatic arts and biochemistryand cell biology and plans to attend graduateschool in biophysics next year. Matchbox Gallery is unique because it

Honestly, there is nothing like Matchbox is student-run the faculty and staffon campus, said Li, a senior majoring in economics and visual and dramatic arts. This is get out of the way as much as possible.the first art gallery that has had such a close

John Sparaganaconnection to the student body.

Matchbox Gallery located in Sewall Hall,Room 258, and visible through the courtyardwindows is now in its third year of operation. Because student directors change everyfall, John Sparagana, professor and chair of theDepartment of Visual and Dramatic Arts, said that each year has had a differentfeel to it as each director brings his or her personality to the table. MatchboxGallery is unique because it is student-run the faculty and staff get out of the

way as much as possible, said Sparagana. Because of this, the student directoror directors significantly influence the tenor of the exhibition series in a given

year. But the initial vision of Matchbox as a small, fluid, active space in which arange of types of exhibitions can take place remains the same.

SoRelle agrees that, although he and Li sometimes ask for Sparaganas insighton a show, the student directors have had the chance to truly make the gallerytheir own. The staff helps out, but most decisions are made by us. Its nice to

have autonomy, but we also have help when we need it, said SoRelle.In fall 2011, SoRelle and Li concentrated on collaborative exhibits, such as

their own Repurposed, which was the first show of the academic year. This innovative exhibition featured recycled materials collected from students and recycling areas around campus to engage the floor space, and recycled photographic

works that were removed from their original contexts were joined together innew ways and suspended from the ceiling to engage the air space.

The directors also are proud of the number of people attending exhibit openings. Weve been very happy with the support the Rice community has given usthis year. We believe Matchbox is finally getting some of the attention it deservesas a student-run art space, said Li.

ne of the perks of the small Matchbox space is the courtyard right outside itsFrench doors. Matchbox has really utilized that area, said Sparagana. At art openings, they have KTRU DJs and refreshments to help make it a social space. Spectatorsmay even watch from the balconies above. Since the Department of Visual and

Dramatic Arts is spread out, its nice to have a place where students coalesce.SoRelle said that the gallery directors are interested in collaboration as well as

in expanding farther beyond the walls of the gallery. In spring 2012, a ShepherdSchool music student will conduct her recital in the courtyard. SoRelle and Li arelooking for an artist whose work will complement the music.

n pace to feature a total of seven exhibitions this academic year, SoRelle andLi are excited to be growing the program from previous years five or six exhibitsand want to hear new ideas for the space.

Jenny West Rozelle

Learn more:

www.matchbox.rice.edu

Dolly Li, the galleryassistant director, andI have done as much awe can to reach out to

more Rice students whare not art majors.

Elliott SoRelle
http:///reader/full/www.matchbox.rice.eduhttp:///reader/full/www.matchbox.rice.edu


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director of the Baker Institute. internship at the Baker Institutpast experiences with programstitute taught me the importancdiplomacy and that cultural engagtwo-way street, Sabbagh said. Justudents learn that our countrperiods of trials and conflict, I aabout their culture, educational ex

Sabbagh said he is currently wrenewing the lecture series thiwith discussions involving thand their respective embassi

Rice Intern Helps Introduce the U.S. toStudents Around the World

Many students around the world are interested in learning about theUnited States, even if they arent planning to visit. In 2009, the U.S. StateDepartment launched the Virtual Student Foreign Service program as away to connect people in countries across the globe without the costor the safety issues of travel.

encouraged more professing than Imdinarily comfortable with, he said. Q-and-A that followed the lecture, tho

was as dynamic as any classroom. It wgreat pleasure to field questions basedthe lecture in particular (a recapitulatioEarl Lewis fine work on Jim Crow Norand on black life in the United States in eral. Im grateful to Marc for the opportu

and for his initiative.Sabbaghs internship was with the Embassy in Baku, the capital of AzerbaBut the e-lectures were also webcast to

Armenian capital, Yerevan, and the Georcapital, Tbilisi. About 60 university studfrom the three countries participated in

weekly lectures.My favorite part of every presenta

was seeing the questions from the studappear on the screen in our Web room

As an eIntern for the program, Rice juniorMarc Sabbagh created and coordinated thechedule for an eight-part lecture seriesimed at students in Azerbaijan, Armenia andeorgia. The lectures featured professors

from Rice, the University of Pennsylvania,Texas A&M University and other U.S. collegs explaining elements of American history.

I believe it provided a unique opportunity for these students to essentially sitin on a college classroom lecture, even

though they were participating miles away,Sabbagh said. Students learned about speific periods of conflict in U.S. history and

had the chance to ask questions and discussthese topics in depth with the professors.

Two of the e-lectures were deliveredby Rice historians. Alexander Byrd, asociate professor of history and directorf the under raduate ro ram discussed

Allen Matusow, academic affairs director atRices James A. Baker III Institute for PublicPolicy and the William Gaines TwymanProfessor of History, spoke on the U.S. labor movement in the 1930s.

It was a strange experience, staring atscreen that showed only my picture and

My favorite part of every presentation was seeing the questions from thestudents appear on the screen in our Web room one after the other and seeing

the professors respond enthusiastically to the students input and questions.Marc Sabbagh

lecturing to unseen students in Azerbaijan,Armenia and Georgia about the GreatDepression, Matusow said. I didnt knowif anything I said got beyond the barriersf s ace and culture but when I ot their

(L R) Allen Matusow, Marc Sabbagh and Alexander Byrd

after the other and seeing the professorspond enthusiastically to the students iand questions, Sabbagh said.

Sabbagh also works as an intern fooffice of Edward D ere ian the foun

y stuandt theof pment as t

as flearerien

rkinsemestuds.

ranz B


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Sustainability InitiativeOwls Help HISD Kick O(L R) Gavin Dillingham,Rowan Canter and Bob Stein

Students

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) recently kicked offa new sustainability initiative, thanks to help from some Rice Owls.

S nior Rowan Canter spent the last monthsof 2011 as a Center for Civic Engagement(CCE) fellow. During his fellowship, he

worked directly with HISD to develop a sus

tainable energy model for the Green SchoolChallenge, a school competition designed topromote long-term behavioral changes, create awareness, reduce energy consumptionand water usage, and increase single-streamrecycling of waste.

Canter became involved with the projectthanks to Bob Stein, the Lena Gohlman FoxProfessor of Political Science and faculty director of the CCE. The project was a naturalfit for Canter, who is majoring in political science and environmental policy studies witha minor in sustainability. I went to ProfessorStein and told him I wanted to do some political science research for the summer, and

I told him my interest was in sustainability,he said. Luckily, hed just gotten this requestand passed it on to me.

Canter then submitted a proposal to theCCE and was accepted to work on the project. Rowan was an ideal student to work

with, Stein said. Not only did he have theanalytic, computational, oral and writtenskills needed to undertake this project, buthe really has a dramatic interest in this.

We believe thattaking simple steps inthe way we operate

our schools willresult in significant

savings for the district savings that canbe used to further

improve our schools.Gavin Dillingham

Stein also lauded Canters work eHe did an extensive amount of reseand showed the tenacity and persisteto get the information he needed, Ssaid. He really began to appreciate wthe administrators, teachers and studconfronted by engaging in this type oftainable behavior.

ver the course of the project, Caworked under the supervision of GDillingham, HISDs energy manager an2004 Rice alum. Together, they workedevelop the model by evaluating a numof variables of buildings throughout thetrict to predict what their energy consution should be. The model is the first okind for the HISD, developed specificallthe regions climate.

We believe that taking simple stepthe way we operate our schools will rin significant savings for the district ings that can be used to further improveschools, Dillingham said.

Stephanie Post, executive director oCCE, said this endeavor has been a peexample of the types of experiences theto coordinate for students. This is exthe kind of outcome we envision for tprojects, she said. The result is somettangible the partner can use and a wonful experience for the students.

Amy H



20/52

B Y D A V I D W . L E E B R O N

On reading the speech that President EdgarOdell Lovett gave on The Meaning o theNew Institution a century ago this coming

October, one o the surprising things to me isthe emphasis on art and beauty.

Surprising for three possible reasons. First, Lovetthimself had been a professor of astronomy and math

matics and was of a fairly practical bent. Second, as he himself acknowledged,Rice began with an emphasis on science and engineering because, in Lovetts

view, thats what Houston needed then. And finally, certainly through its firsthalf century or more, the Rice Institute became known primarily for its strengthin those fields.

But Lovetts insistence on the importance of the arts is pervasive. At the endf his remarks, he devoted himself to the spirit of the university and spoke of

the tripartite division of letters (or literature), science and art. He wrote:

Led by an instinct for knowledge, an instinct for harmony, an instinct for law, that [human] spirit has brought the twentieth centuryits most precious possessions: the love of reason, the love of art,the love of freedom.

In the following sentence, Lovett proclaims that the man has not arisen toay to us which [of science, letters or art] is the greatest of the three. And in the

penultimate paragraph of his speech:

Under her ancient promise, may Pallas Athena preside over theseacademic groves and guide men by the spirit of science and thespirit of art and the spirit of service in their search for the great,and the lovely, and the new, for solutions of the universe in termsof the good, the beautiful, and the true!

ne cannot in a short essay capture the importance of the arts to theuniversity. For some, the arts represent different and complementary ways ofunderstanding and thinking than the sciences. Lovett said, for example, thatscience progresses by inquiry, art under inspiration. Others have drawn aditional contrasts. The early 20th-century artist Georges Braque noted, Art is

meant to disturb, science reassures. And the 19th-century French physiologistlaude Bernard saw a fundamental difference between art and science: Art is

I; science is we.And yet others have seen a complementarity or even an identity in

the ways of thinking in art and science. Peter Medawar, a Nobel Prize winnerin physiology or medicine, stated, The kind of creative process that generatesn the one hand poetry ... is also that which operates in the context of science.thers have stressed the importance of beauty in both science and art. In a

imilar vein, Buckminster Fuller wrote: When Im working on a problem, Inever think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when Ihave finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.

And so, perhaps nowhere more than Rice, should we draw the connectionbetween art and beauty on the one hand and scientific creativity and insight onthe other. It was reportedly an inspiration from Fullers geodesic dome structurethat in part led Robert Curl, Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto to propose anearly identical structure for carbon 60 and thus laid the foundations for nanotechnology. The structures of nature are also the structures of art that is toay, human imagination, inspiration and creativity. Jean Cocteau asserted, Art

is science made clear. A sense of aesthetics underlies physics and mathematicsjust as much as it underlies art.

A Plac



21/52

or

Art at Rice, however, was not to be a mere adjunct to other instrucn the eve of the institutes opening ceremonies, a dinner was held in

residential hall. There were toasts and speakers and a speaker on each ofundamental disciplines. Rices architect, Ralph Adams Cram, spoke onubject of art:

Art becomes, not an accessory, but an essential, and as such itmust be made an integral portion of every scheme of highereducation. A college ... cannot do without the best of every artin its material form, and in the cultural influences it brings to

bear upon those committed to its charge, nor can it play its fullpart in their training and the development of their character unless, out of the history of art, it builds a philosophy of art that isnot for the embellishment of the specialist, but for all.

Lovett and Cram understood, at a very profound level, that the purpothe university is to foster our humanity. Art is one of the fundamental fof human expression, communication and understanding.

Our responsibility at universities, in teaching the problem-solvers ofuture, is to foster the greatest possible creativity and imagination in ourents, and to imbue in them an appreciation for the human spirit. This ca

be achieved without some appreciation of art. We do that through mul

pathways: through the public art on the campus that has grown so matically in recent years, through personal creativity by participation in

visual arts program, by encouraging engagement with our nearby musethrough the Passport to Houston, by studying art under our wide-ranginhistory faculty and even just by interacting daily with other students whobe more artistically inclined.

Lovetts ambitions for the arts at Rice reached even further, and he nin his opening address the planned future location for a School of Fineto the left of Founders Court. Although Lovett did not write specifically aampus art, he stressed the importance of the physical campus and its be

whether in its trees, paths or buildings. It is altogether fitting that thiLovett will get his own piece of art, a statue by sculptor Bruce Wolfe, tlocated in front of Keck Hall.

On the side of Lovett Hall are marble tablets celebrating the diffeisciplines. The tablet for art is below the head of Leonardo da Vinci, anit is inscribed an apparent variation on a quote attributed to the ancient Ghistorian Dionysius of Halicarnassus (and quoted by Robert Kennedy onnight of Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination): The chief function of art make gentle the life of the world. Each of us may have a different definf what constitutes art and what its function ought to be. But we can a

with Lovett that it lies, indispensably, in the core spirit of the university.



22/52From top: Geoff Winningham and


23/52

T H E A R T O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y

BY ALYSON WARD PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOMMY LAVERGNE

To the outside world, Ricehas always been decidedlyletbrained. Its a universitybest known or work done ina lab, not at an easel or in astudio. But the Department o

Visual and Dramatic Arts (VADA)may eventually give science

and engineering somecompetition by raising itsprofle, expanding its oncampus presence and makingsubstantial contributions tothe arts in Houston.



24/52

John Sparagana, proessor o painting and drawing and VADA department chabelieves it is prime time or art students and aculty. Were just exploding in termo activity on campus, Sparagana said, and with interactions with other instit

tions around town. More than ever, VADA programs oer students the chancesample the lie o a working artist. Art majors still develop their skills and leahow to produce solid work. But at the same time, they learn what it is to become artist in the 21st century and they get a taste o what it takes to launch a care

E

ach spring, the Mavis C. PitmanFellowship gives a handful ofstudents the funding to createa group art exhibition fromscratch: They create a bodyof work, then curate, display

and promote it. In the process, fellows get a

glimpse of art careers from every angle.Newer opportunities give students

the same sort of career experience. TheMatchbox Gallery, a small exhibit space thatopened in 2009, showcases student art. Thisgallery, just off the Sewall Hall courtyard,belongs to the students; they fill, curate andmanage it. (See story about the MatchboxGallery, Page 15.) And last fall, an exhibiton the Rice Media Centers second floordisplayed students work from Professorof Visual Arts Karin Brokers intermediatedrawing class.

The class which Broker called anexhibition lab had six members, all

women. Together they named the exhibitGirls on Top because the class met on the

top floor of Sewall Hall and their work wasshown on the upper level of the Rice MediaCenter. Their roughly 4-by-5-foot drawings

were hung throughout the second floor,with fresh work rotating in throughout thesemester. The students were given limitedtime to produce each work, a process thatrequired competence and efficiency, and the

warts-and-all exhibit rotation revealed theirevelopment as artists.

Art at Rice stretches beyond the campus, too: VADA is reaching out to buildpartnerships with patrons and organizationsthroughout Houston. Its such an interestingrt scene in Houston, Sparagana said. We

feel like part of our mission is to bring thatrt scene onto campus and also place ourtudents out there in the community.

Students also benefit from a collaborative teaching partnership with the Museum

VADA also is beginning to offer exhibiand programming that draw people tocampus from Greater Houston.

A number of successful VADA filmries, including an Iranian film festivalspring and a Mexican film festival in thehave brought in a variety of audiences.

November, the Festival of ContempoFilms From India introduced viewers half-dozen films that fall outside bothIndian art house and Bollywood tradit

And later the same month, Chilean d

Its such an interesting art scene in Houston. We feel like part of mission is to bring that art scene onto campus and also place our studeout there in the community.

f Fine Arts, Houston. The museum selects artists for one-year residencies in thesteemed Core Program, which attractsutstanding young artists on the verge of

launching their careers. While they are completing their residencies, Core fellows teacheveral Rice art classes. Students get to learn

from artists with varied backgrounds andtellar skills and now, Sparagana said,

theyre beginning to work with Core fellows on their projects, including the ProjectRow Houses effort in Houstons Third Ward.

John Sparagana

tor Patricio Guzmn attended screeningthree of his films on campus, engagindiscussions with the audiences afterw

A partnership with HoustonPBS/Cha8 draws in a more general film audieeach month, the HoustonPBS CommuCinema Series offers free screenings of ipendent films scheduled to air on PBS.

But the attractions go beyond Last February, VADA along with RHumanities Research Center, the Officthe Dean of Humanities and the Rice Pu



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Art Program helped bring part of theBlack List Project, a photo exhibit that featured prominent African-Americans, to campus. And a litt le more than a year ago, VADAteamed with the HERE Project (HoustonEnriches Rice Education) to offer a quilt exhibition that explored the roles and experiences of women.

Were also becoming more focusedbout the exhibitions in the Media Center,

Sparagana said. The Rice Media Center hasbright, wood-floored open space at its core

that holds a rotating schedule of exhibits.Last fall, the Media Centers main gallery

was filled with posters and album coversthat examined the work of two painters

Visitors can find plenty of art in Sewall Hall, even besides the Rice ArtGallery and the Matchbox Gallery. The newest addition is the EMERGEncyRoom Gallery on Sewalls fourth floor a small space devoted to workfrom emerging Houston-area artists.

Attracting art lovers to campus is a matter of making art on campus more visibleto Rice and the larger community alike,Sparagana said. VADA has ramped up itsart exhibits, expanding its gallery space theres simply more to see now on campus.

Visitors can find plenty of art in Sewall Hall,even besides the Rice Art Gallery and the

Matchbox Gallery. The newest addition isthe EMERGEncy Room Gallery on Sewalls

Albert Oehlen and Christopher Wool andthe intersection of music and art.

In fall 2012, a Media Center exhibit willremind us all of VADAs roots: The exhibit

will commemorate the early years of the famed Menilollection, when John and

Dominique de Menils as

emblage of artwork wastored and displayed at

fourth floor a small space devoted to workfrom emerging Houston-area artists. Twice asemester, a new artist arrives to show his orher work, offer a public lecture and critiqueart students work.

Whenever possible, we try to piggyback on Rice Gallery exhibitionopenings, said Christopher Sperandio,the assistant professor of visual and dramatic arts who created the EMERGEncyRoom. They already do a great job ofbringing the Houston arts communityto campus. The entire department hasembraced the goal of bringing more artlovers to Rice.

Rice and known as the Rice Collection. Itsood timing for a commemorative show beause, as Rice celebrates its centennial, the

Menil Collection will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Renzo Piano-designed museum

just a few blocks away.We thought it would be a good mo

ment to bring those two things together,Sparagana said. After all, the de Menilsbrought art to Rice. They financed the uni

versitys early art programming and built theRice Media Center. That building, with itspen floor space and a loft for faculty of

fices, was designed to be a temporary homen campus for art, photography and film.

More than 40 years later, its still in use.Today, VADA classes are taught in t

buildings Sewall Hall, Hamman Hallthe Rice Media Center that are dienough to discourage interaction amongflung students and faculty. A new facilitybeen a dream for years among art faand students. That dream might sooncome reality. The university is consideri

new visual and performing arts buildingcould accommodate the entire departmfrom studio space to a performance hall

Rice President David Leebron, inOctober State of the University specalled for Rice to increase our commitmto the arts and he announced that fing has been set aside for preliminary sies on a new art building.

Another possibility for the futurMaster of Fine Arts program, which w

allow the art department to becconservatory.There is a need for a really

ceptional Master of Fine Arts prograTexas, Sparagana said, and the circstances are right for that to happen here

Those possibilities are at least a years away, but VADA is laying the growork now to make Rice a real arts cent

Already, the Rice Public Art Programboosted the profile of art on campus. opening peoples eyes to what art canfor the university in terms of its internati

reputation, Sparagana said. Now VADwith new gallery space, strong partnerand the potential for future growth poised to raise its profile.

Were looking at a flowering of theat Rice.



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Brian Huberman

When Brian Huberman arrived at Rice to teach filmmakin1975, no one knew that students would soon have video cambuilt into thei r cell phones and that anyone with a camera wo

be able to post videos on YouTube for the world to discover.I used to joke: Well, youll make better home movies if you take my program, Huberman said. But students to

arrive with an unprecedented level of media literacy and comfort with the camera. Now the goal, he said, is to cut throthe great cacophony of media noise and teach the discipline and rigor real filmmaking requires.Huberman, an associate professor of filmmaking, has a clear view about what he wants his students to achieve in their o

work: to create film that burrows beneath the surface, that reveals the experience of life, not an idealized or scripted version of

Karin Broker

In some ways, Karin Broker has come full circle. In 1980, fresh outof graduate school, she was hired to teach drawing at Rice, but overthe years she gave up those drawing courses to teach printmakingand other skills. Now Broker has returned: For the past couple ofsemesters, the visual arts professor has made room in her schedulefor advanced and intermediate drawing.

I decided this is a new chapter for me at Rice, Broker said.And just as she returns to the drawing lab, Broker has made itinto something new. Last fall, she turned her intermediate drawing course into an exhibition lab. Students displayed their workall semester in the Rice Media Center. As the weeks went by, theexhibit evolved; new drawings replaced the old ones, revealinghow each students skills had developed.

xperience.That means pushing his students to challenge their own be

nd understandings. In my classes I want them to suffer a bit,aid. I want them to stretch.

Filmmaking is a pure art for Huberman, a simple act of collectruth and presenting it correctly. Every time I go out there withbag and that camera, there better be a reason, he said. I better omething. Otherwise, what would be the point of going?

And that something, he believes, can change the mind behindamera. Youre drawn to a subject, and youll have opinions abou

he said. But if youre not willing to be completely reversed in thfeelings by the end of it, then youre not ready to make that film.

When not teaching, Huberman is deep in his own work, jugghandful of projects at all times. He has devoted much of his do

mentary career to exploring the mysteries and myths of the Amer

In her own work, Broker shows a remarkable diversity. She makes prints, creates assemblagesusing found objects and bits of jewelry and produces enormous drawings with a Cont crayon onsheets of Formica.

I think of art as kind of a full-body contact sport, Broker said. I make large drawings, I get dirty,Im moving, Im energized, Im physically kind of dancing with the piece that Im making.

This spring, Broker will move into a new home studio she and her husband have built on theirfarm in Magnolia. She hopes itll give her room for her biggest drawings and provide a quiet space

where she can work uninterrupted, surrounded by her dogs, cats and horses.It took Broker, a Pennsylvania native, many years to warm up to Houston. But now she believes

she has found the perfect place to work as an artist. Houston is the last Wild West for art and art lovers, she said. People here are excited about looking at art. They donthave strict parameters for what art should be theyre willing to look

frontier. Hes wrapping up a 10-project called Alligator-Horseslook at the time of transition

was 1830s America. For anodocumentary, Geronimos CounHuberman is following a Viet

veteran as he traces the Apache in New Mexico and northern Me

Teaching, Huberman beliegoes hand in hand with his

work. Teaching classes, he creates a little hub of discoamongst like-minded souls feeds the spirit.

at anything. They embrace art in this city. Its like Paris in the 1920s. Not that we all share identical approaches to things, he sIn her classroom, Broker encourages the same boldness. She but there is this shared excitement. I think a good class with a

prods her quiet students, urging the women, especially, to be less interested souls in it can really keep the air clear and make the wnice and to speak up in the classroom and in their work. Its as thing seem worthwhile.

important to her as teaching them how to draw.I may be teaching them a skill, Broker said, but Im teaching them how to think, in a major way.



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Geoffeoff

Geo Winningham

G off Winninghams work resides at the intersection of wnd images.

The essence of what I do is bringing pictures and wtogether into books, said the photography professor, who graduated from R ice in 1965 and has tau

t Rice since 1969. I never exactly set out to do that; its just what Ive always done. Thats the waywork finds its final form.

Winninghams work has found its way into book after book since 1971, chronicling among other subjects Texas school football, professional wrestling, Mexican culture, and the Gulf Coast of Texas and Mexico. Along the way, he has bec

a real presence in the photography world; his photographs can be found in the collections of New Yorks Museum of Modern

John Sparagana

John Sparagana has spent a decade turning found images into art.He uses fashion photography, news photos and magazine pages,stripping away each ones role as an information source and turningit into something altogether new.

Sparagana, professor and chair of the Department of Visual andDramatic Arts, created the first of these pieces in the hours after 9/11;that day, he went to his studio and cast shadows on magazine covers, adding an undefined murkiness that lent an ominous sense offoreboding. It felt to me like an analogy of the feeling I had and Ithink a lot of people had around 9/11, he said. This was basicallyrevisiting those found images, but with a darkness that had entered.

About the same time, Sparagana found another way of expressing the same concept. A J.Crew catalog, after days in his backpack, was wrinkled and folded the perfect images on the page would neverbe undamaged again. Just the distress of this perfect cover tells of the potential for the flesh to age, forideals to become tarnished, for one to become disillusioned, he said. All those possibilities containedin this thing that we feel is completely under control.

Soon after, Sparagana began to break down pages even more, distressing them to the point that theglossy paper felt organic, like cloth. He fatigued the paper so its words and photographs blurred, thensliced and remixed multiple versions of the same image, stacking and layering the images. The result, hesaid, was like an abstract painting, but with text and images.

Sparagana continues to experiment with words and image. He nowintroduces abstractions. A recent work, for instance, features images ofprotesting crowds in Cairos Tahrir Square. Its layered with a Malevichabstraction from 1917 that has become an icon of revolution in art.

Sparagana has been teaching at Rice for 20 years and commutingbetween Houston and Chicago, where his family lives. He has builta thriving career in both cities his work was featured in a soloexhibition at a Chicago gallery last year and in another at the BryanMiller Gallery in Houston. And last summer, Sparaganas exposureexpanded to another continent when his work was featured at acontemporary art showroom in Berlin.

Sparaganas daughter, Marina, is a junior at Rice majoring in religious studies and English. Having her on campus, he said, has broadened his vision. No longer just a faculty member, Sparagana said he

the Metropolitan Museum of Ar t, and museums across Texasthe United States.

In fact, Winninghams latest project is a book. Its the thing Ive done that isnt in Texas or Mexico, he said. For this hes revisiting photographs he took on commission of small-tbuildings in Arkansas in the early 1980s.

Many of the buildings are gone burned down, blown ar just neglected to the point of destruction, Winningham s

But he has found people who, 30 years later, remember tbuildings, and hes publishing the old photographs with tories of a lost time and place. I have a very strong lov

place, Winningham said. Whenev

Rice Magazine Issue 12

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