OP-ED p. 3 A&E P. 9 SPORTS P. 13 Joint Gaza Panel Biased Here Comes the Bride Citius, Altius, Fortius For some, the Gaza forum fell short In Its goals to present Despite solid casting, Bride Wars fails to deliver the The men's track and field team dominated last Friday's an unbiased view of the current conflict. goods of wedded bliss. Leonard Hilton Memorial, taking first place in three events. thVOLUME XCVI,e ISSUE NO . 1Ric7 STUDENT-RUe N SINCE 1916 FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009 McMurtry, Duncan t 0-Week plans drafted BY TIMOTHY FAUST THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF The residential college system is something so inseparable from the modern operation of Rice University, so ingrained into our personal habits and social traditions, that any change on the level of the addition of a new college becomes a matter of titanic significance that affects thousands of students. When two new colleges root themselves Wiess College students gathered in droves at the Wiess Masters' house to watch Barack into this little patch of Houston — in the same year, Witnesses to history even — the importance of their proper introduc- Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. tion into Rice life escalates exponentially. For this reason, groups of students, masters, administra- tors and faculty have worked eagerly for months to ensure that the opening of Duncan and McMurtry Former Wiess colleges next fall is as appropriate and effective a Jewish studies program, process as possible. Last year, a population committee headed by RA "Dr. Bill" dies Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman and com- prised of college masters, resident associates, ad- minor proposed for fall ministrators and students drafted a series of pro- of cancer at 65 posals regarding possible ways to populate the two BY VINNY SINGH AND CATHERINE BRATIC made for its establishment. In order to solidify colleges. The committee sent these recommenda- THRESHER STAFF the program, the newly-founded department BY JOCELYN WRIGHT tions to President David Leebron, who ultimately will need to hire additional faculty members as THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF chose a plan in which Baker and Will Rice colleges Rice University recently published a tentative well as fill in course gaps in the field, Henze said will move into Duncan and McMurtry, respectively, proposal to add another academic program to its at the reception. William "Dr. Bill" Wilson, electrical engineer- while their own facilities are renovated. Lovett Col- scholastic offerings: Jewish studies. Religious Studies Assistant Professor Gregory ing professor and Wiess College resident associate lege will remain in Lovett while its renovations Last Tuesday, President David Leebron held Kaplan, who along with Henze has been spear- for over thirty years, died Tuesday due to pancre- occur. Forman appeared in front of the Student a reception at his house with prospective donors heading the project, titles it as a "faculty-run" atic cancer at the age of 65. Association last semester to discuss the plan and in an attempt to raise the $10 million of funding program for now but sees it as an opportunity for Wilson is remembered as a mentor to genera- promised to keep the student body abreast of its that Rice estimates it will need to start such a students to delve into the area of study beyond tions of students, faculty and staff. development. program. If everything goes according to plan, the perspective of yet another religious studies The population committee attempted to offer the program will begin as a minor in the fall, course. Kaplan said he hopes the program will the best possible options to Leebron. "We wanted Associate Religious Studies Professor Matthias give students a cultural, ethnic and historical un- to really go back and look at previous ideas, par- Henze said. derstanding of the rich Jewish tradition. ticularly relating to Martel, to see what had gone Rice has been offered two grants for the ad- The blueprint for the proposal passed out at right and what had gone wrong," Teddy Bucher, vancement of this program. The Posen Founda- the reception, titled "Jewish Studies at Rice Uni- a senior at Jones and a member of the committee, tion at the Center for Cultural Judaism awarded versity: A Work in Progress" sets out most of the said. "It was sort of a balancing act. We tried to get Rice a three-year grant, and the American Israel program's goals. as much input as possible from students, masters, Cooperative Enterprise awarded a one-year grant The mission statement says: "Jewish Studies RAs and other employees of the university who to support Ranan Kuperman, the Alexander Vis- at Rice University provides students from all reli- would be working with and in the colleges." iting Israeli Scholar in Political Science. gious backgrounds the opportunity to study and On Jan. 16, Forman sent an e-mail to all under- While the program has not been formally an- experience the rich culture and the historical ex- graduates informing them of the plan as it then nounced because its funding has not yet been perience of the Jewish people." stood and encouraging them to participate the fully secured, tentative plans have already been B see JEWISH, page 6 opening of both colleges. In an interview with the Thresher, Forman emphasized that the Duncan and McMurtry plans are part of a set of ongoing discussions and that some details of the process Wihl to leave Rice for Wash U may not be resolved until Orientation Week. However, many aspects of the new col- BY MARGEUX CLEMMONS nected to the art and science community in Hous- leges' plans, pertaining to both their initial THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF ton," Hubbard said. "He created two programs 0-Week and the weeks and months beyond, with two major museums, and he did that in a very Bill Wilson have been settled. After five years as the dean of humanities, Gary strategic way." Electrical engineering professor Wihl is leaving Rice to accept a position as dean of These programs include a lecture series hosted 0-Week the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Washington Uni- with the Menil Collection, a program in collabora- Former Wiess Masters John and Paula Hutchin- For Duncan and McMurtry, 0-Week 2009 will versity in St. Louis. tion with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that son and current Wiess Master Michael Gustin all adopt a form never before seen as the new colleges Wihl was hired in 2003 and was contracted includes hiring individuals to act both as MFAH remembered Wilson as an invaluable resource enter a unique "mentor/mentee" relationship with through 2010, but was recently actively recruited curators and Rice professors in art history, and a when they first became masters. the established college sharing their facilities. by Washington University, University Art Director pilot medical humanities program. "If every master at Wiess could have had Bill While each college will have an 0-Week distinctly Molly Hipp Hubbard said. Wihl also helped establish the Campbell Lec- separate from that of their associated college, Wilson as a mentor, the college system could have "Somehow [Washington University] got word ture series with the help of a $1 million contribu- been perfect," Hutchinson said. a close connection with an established college of how successful he has been at Rice, and they tion from alumnus T.C. Campbell ('34). The series Gustin described Wilson as a Wiess insti- would give McMurtry and Duncan some guidance contacted him completely out of the blue;" said invites scholars to present original material in lit- tution. in their formative days. Hubbard, who worked with Wihl as the director of erature studies over three evenings and is sched- "He knew so much about Wiess and was part "By sharing events in separate 0-Weeks," For- special projects. "It's a big step up for him." uled to occur annually for 20 years. of the history of Wiess," Gustin said. "I can still • \ 9 man said, "[the new colleges] take advantage of During his time at Rice, Wihl started Rice's doc The Dunlevie Summer Writing Fellowship, see him out in the Acabowl wearing his golden- [Baker and Will Rice's] worldviews to help them torate program in art history and recruited several which was also created under Wihl's leader- rod shirt." get started." new art history professors for the program. ship, provides $1,500 each to 15 students and an Former Wiess RA [toward Hudlow said Wilson O see O-WEEK, page 5 "He decided that Rice needed to be more con- Osee WIHL. page 6 Osee WILSON, page 6 Sex in the City Starting on a Strong Note Seriously, You Need a Haircut INDEX Opinion Join Open Magazine at 7 p.m. tonight in the Let's Rock(appella), yo. The Rice Philhar- The Times Barber Shop will be offering $8 2 News Wiess movie room for a totally non-awkward monics join with the Princeton Footnotes haircuts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday in the RMC 4 screening of the movie Shortbus, a comedy and the Texas A&M Apotheosis for their first Grand Hall Lobby. And you know you need a hair- Arts & Entertainment 9 about New Yorkers struggling to differentiate concert of the semester at 9:30 p.m. Saturday cut. All of your friends will appreciate you taming Sports 13 between love and sex. Nothing serious. night in the Wiess College Commons. that thing on your head. Calendar 19 Backpage 20 FRIDAY, JANUARY 23,2009 2 EDITORIAL THE RICE THRESHER the Rice ^Thresher tevME is ,, Duncan, McMurtry Tri* "tcoNoms US QUI O-Weeks well arranged, £jCo/^MY VIZ but hurried The freshmen coming in next year at Duncan and McMurtry colleges will be in the unique positions of defining their colleges' VT OF identities, traditions, and unique nomenclatures.