The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, September 28, 2001 Page: 1 of 28
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W.'Of-
the Rice Thresher
Vol. LXXXIX, Issue No. 7
S//VCE
Bush picks dean for NEA
Shepherd School's Michael Hammond nominated as 8th chairman
Friday, September 28, 2001
by Jenny Rees
EORTHI- THRESHEK
After studying topics ranging
from philosophy to neuroscience at
universities in the United States,
Great Britain and India, Dean of the
Shepherd School of Music Michael
Hammond is preparing to head the
National Endowment for the Arts.
On Sept. 19, the White House
announced President George W.
Bush's intention to nominate
Hammond, who has served as dean
of the Shepherd School since 1986,
to the position.
If the U.S. Senate confirms his
nomination, Hammond will serve as
the eighth chair of the NEA succeed-
ing musician and folklorist Bill Ivey.
The appointment is for a four-year
term. The NEA a federal agency es-
tablished in 1965, annually oversees
the distribution of almost $105 million
in grants for the arts in all 50 states.
Hammond, 69, is prohibited from
speaking with the press about the
nomination until his appointment is
finalized, but he emphasized that he
had not applied for the position.
'They found me," he said. "I don't
know how."
In an official NEA press release
he said he would accept the
president's nomination if confirmed
by the Senate.
"I am deeply honored by President
Bush's confidence in me," Hammond
said in the press release. "The Na-
tional Endowment for the Arts is an
increasingly important agency. The
arts can help heal our country and be
a source of pride and comfort."
The nation's state of crisis fol-
lowing the terrorist attacks Sept.
11 influenced Hammond's decision
to accept the nomination, Provost
See NEA, Page 12
Students to regain stadium seats
by Meredith Jenkins
THRESHER STAFF
After two meetings between stu-
dents and Athletics Director Bobby
May, both sides are optimistic stu-
dents will be allowed back into the
first seven rows of the student sec-
tion for home football games at Rice
Stadium.
Rice's Athletics Department de-
cided to rope off the first seven rows
of the student section for the Sept. 8
football game without consulting
student organizations. Students
found out about the decision two
days before the game.
May cited a confrontation be-
tween a football player on an oppos-
ing team and a police officer last
year as the reason for closing the
first rows. During the Oct. 5, 2000
game against Fresno State Univer-
sity, a female in the student seating
section threw a plastic football at a
Fresno State football player. After a
subsequent altercation with a police
officer, the football player was re-
moved from the game.
The football player blamed his
anger on harassment from Rice fans
in the front of the student section.
Traditionally, this section is occu-
pied by members of the Rally Club
and Sally Club.
Hie Rally Club is a student-run
male spirit group that drinks beer
before games, sits near the playing
field and cheers for Rice athletes
and against opponents. The Sally
/A
Getting all the MOBsters in a row
Members of the MOB's percussion group perform during the Sept. 8 home football game against Duke
University. See News Feature, Pages 10-11.
ALEX SIGEDA/THRESHER
Club is the female equivalent of Rally
Club. The two clubs are not official
Rice student organizations.
In response to May's decision,
Rally Club President Sean McSherry
met with May to discuss the possi-
bility of allowing students to sit in
those rows. The college presidents
also met with May, and the issue
was brought up at the Student Asso-
ciation meeting Monday.
At the SA meeting, a group of stu-
dents including McSherry, Sally Club
President Polly D'Aviguon and the SA
Athletics Committee Chair Ryan
Keedy said they would meet with May
again in hopes of resolving the issue.
Keedy is also the president of Stu-
dents for Athletic Spirit and Support.
See STADIUM, Page 13
MIRIAM BARRY/THRESHER
Speaking out for peace
Baker College senior Daniel Mee wears a shirt with the words, "This is
not another Vietnam" to the Rally for Peace at noon Sept. 20. The rally
was sponsored by Houston Students for Peaceful Justice.
Esperanza to be at NASA
by Rachel Shiffrin
THRESHER STAFF
Esperanza, the annual fall formal
sponsored by the Rice Program
Counsel, will be held at the NASA
Space Center Nov. 10 from 10 p.m.
to 2 a.m.
The theme has not yet been de-
termined, but tickets will cost $20
and will go on sale about two weeks
prior to the event.
No food will be served at
Esperanza this year.
"N ASAhas exclusive caterers and
all they serve are chips," Lovetf Col-
lege sophomore Poonam Mehta
said.
Mehta, who is planning the
event with Hanszen College sopho-
more Tiffany Tavernier, said she
did not think the absence of food
would be a problem since most
people do not eat while there.
Tavernier said plenty of drinks
would be available.
Jones College RPC Representa-
tive Kiltie Cox said the absence of
food would not be a large issue be-
cause most people going will already
have eaten dinner, but the food might
still be missed.
"If you're paying a lot for your
tickets, you expect more out of your
experience, so you might expect to
have food," Cox, a sophomore, said.
Because it takes over 30 minutes
to drive to NASA from campus, some
worry student attendance may be
affected. However, Tavernier said
she hoped this would not be the
case.
"I want to be optimistic and say
that [the location] wouldn't lower
attendance because it's a really cool
place, but on the realistic side, 1
think it probably will because it is so
far," Tavernier said.
However. Tavernier said the site
might encourage some students to
come to the event.
"We're hoping that the location
itself will get people to go. just
because it is NASA." Tavernier
said.
"I wasn't really planning on go-
ing, but I'm really into space. Even
though it's so far away, I would con-
sider it because I'd love to go to
NASA," Will Rice College sopho-
more Katie Garcia said.
Lovett junior Katie Southard, who
planned the event last year, said she
See ESPERANZA, Page 9
Nanotech receives $10.5 million grant
by Mark Berenson
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF -
A National Science Foundation grant of $10.5
million awarded last week will help keep Rice at
the forefront of nanotechnology research. Rice
will use the grant, along with $4.5 million of its
own, to establish tin- Center for Biological and
Environmental Nanotechnology.
Rice was one of six schools to receive a
grant for creating various nanotechnology
centers. The awards ranged from $10 million
to $11.6 million. ()ther centers will be located
at Columbia I'niversity, Cornell University,
Harvard I diversity, Northwestern I University
and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The center will be directed by Chemistry
Associate Professor Vicki Colvin and Chemis-
try Professor Rick Smalley. Smalley received
the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his
earlier work in nanotechnology, when he
helped discover buckeyballs, spheres made
up of 60 carbon atoms.
Nanotechnology concerns the creation and
study of objects made up of just a few atoms.
The applications of nano-objects include mak-
ing stronger and lighter materials, faster com-
puter processors and advances in medical
technology.
The overarching goal of funding the cen-
ters was to get past the road-block issues in
nanotechnology, Colvin said.
"Science moves in tits and jumps," Colvin
said. "So right now there are two big roadblock
issues. One iscan you make the materials cheaply
enough and in large enough quantities to make
it practical for people to consider an application.
See NA\()TI:CH\()I.(K;N, Page
INSIDE
Come up with a plan
Oct. 5 is the deadline to apply for the
second annual Student Initiative Grant.
The grant is awarded by Wiess College
Resident Associate Bill Wilson, and the
total for all grants awarded is about $5,500.
Any Rice student can submit an applica-
tion for the money. Applications should
be submitted to Wiess Masters Katherine
Donato and Dan Kalb, MS 738.
Quote of the Week
"No longer do you have to take your corpora
tions over the border, to Indonesia, to the
Philippines bring them to South Carolina."
— Labor activist Ken Riley, about the lack of
unionization in South Carolina, during a
speech Wednesday. See Story. Page 7.
OPINION
Hanszen dining situation elitist
Page 4
A&E Pages 14-15
New books by Recknagcl, Wood
SPORTS Page 22
Football opens WAC play
Weekend Weather
Friday
58-82 degrees
Saturday
Mostly su
Sunday
Partly sun
degree"
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, September 28, 2001, newspaper, September 28, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443118/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.