LOCAL P. 6 SPORTS P. 13 A&E P. 7 Fighting human trafficking in Houston Tennis coach nets college fame An experiment in dance Houston Is one of the worst human trafficking hubs In Rice's head tennis coach was Inducted Into the Collegiate RDT offered a cornucopia of dancing the U.S. Learn what Rice students are doing about It. Tennis Hall of Fame last Friday. at their show "Dana Between the Lines.' thXCVIII, eISSUE NO . 2Ric7 STUDENT-RUeN SINCE 1916 FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 Un-Recap Baseball Visitors explore Rice defeats during UnConvention BY ELLEN LIU #2 A&M THRESHER NEWS EDITOR BY RYAN GLASSMAN Rice went on display to hun- THRESHER STAFF dreds of off-campus visitors last The Owls picked up their most em- Thursday through Saturday, April phatic win of the season on Tuesday 12 through 14. Faculty, staff and evening, overcoming an early 4-1 defi- volunteers around campus mo- cit with runs in the eighth and ninth bilized to host the inaugural Un- innings to defeat the No. 2 team in the Convention - a campus-wide open country in College Station. house to showcase the university to the public. With Rice trailing 4-3 in the top of the eighth, junior Christian String- With more than 120 events to er's sacrifice fly to left field with one offer, UnConvention succeeded Co-founder and CEO of Smart Office Energy Solutions Bryan out drove home sophomore Shane in fulfilling its primary goal of TEDxRice speakers Hoelscher to tie the ballgame at four attracting visitors to campus, ac- Hassin speaks to students about his experiences as a cleantech runs apiece. cording to Vice President for Pub- motivate students entrepreneur during the semiannual TedxRice talks last Sunday. lic Affairs Linda Thrane. She not- In the top of the ninth, Craig Man- I ed that Saturday had the greatest uel started the rally with a leadoff turnout of visitors. single. Two batters later, Hoelscher drove in sophomore Derek Hamil- "We built a lot of goodwill ton from second with a laser to left for Rice during UnConvention," Rice undergrads show off their research center. Hamilton's run proved to be Thrane said. "That should serve the decisive game-winner after J.T. the university well during the BY NICOLE ZHAO While last year's symposium "Whenever you do something so Chargois pitched a scoreless ninth rest of its centennial year and THRESHER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR took place in the Rice Memorial often, all the jargon becomes normal inning, securing his eighth save of into the future." Center Grand Hall, this year's RURS and to you. It doesn't seem like that the season. Director of Marketing Bill Court- It wasn't an athletic event that was held in Tudor Fieldhouse from big a deal anymore," Tabata, a bio- ney said Rice had not done anything turned heads at Tudor Fieldhouse 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. to increase the engineering major, said. "So it's nice like UnConvention since the last engi- last Friday, April 13. amount of space for presenters and to have RURS and to talk about your * neering show more than 50 years ago. The lith-annual Rice Undergrad- judges, co-coordinator and Martel research with someone who doesn't He said the entire Public Affairs team uate Research Symposium was held junior Mayleen Lee said. have the same background as you be- Defeating the No. 2 and around 500 volunteers helped or- there as part of the Rice Centennial Faculty judge and Dean of Un- cause you really see how much you've team in the country ganize and facilitate the events. Every UnConvention. It featured 230 stu- dergraduates John Hutchinson said learned and accomplished." school was engaged in some fashion dent presenters, an increase from this change in location substantial- This was Tabata's first year pre- on the road, Rice by staging lectures, talks or demon- the 180 last year, according to Chair ly alleviated overcrowding. senting at RURS. She said the sym- moved up to ninth in strations, Courtney said. of RURS Benjamin Chou. "It made it easier with the post- posium was less intimidating than the RPI rankings "[UnConvention] was a real com- This year's symposium differed ers more spread out," Hutchinson, she thought it would be. munity-building experience, and the from those held in previous years a chemistry professor, said. "I could "Everyone was really friendly. It Rice people enjoyed it as much as in the choice of venue, distribution hear the speakers better. I felt like it was a very positive atmosphere," their guests," Courtney said. "RUPD of monetary prizes, and the addi- was easier to have a conversation." Tabata said. "I was surprisingly The bullpen work was once again got into the spirit by letting children tion of a new oral presentation op- Martel sophomore Mika Tabata comfortable and focused on hav- outstanding for Graham, especially sit in their patrol cars and even blow tion geared toward humanities and said she thinks presenting one's re- ing a one-on-one conversation with against one of the best offenses in the sirens. social sciences research projects, search keeps the research exciting someone about my research." the country. After the Aggies scored Chou, a Martel College junior, said. for the student. S3 see RESEARCH, page 4 S3 see UN-RECAP, page 4 four runs before an out was recorded in the first inning, sophomore John Simms came in and pitched six shut- Rice to have top computing power in world out frames, striking out eight without a walk and allowing just three hits. BY TINA OU and enable more personalized and Junior Tyler Duffey and senior Tay- THRESHER STAFF effective treatment plans for certain lor Wall combined with Chargois to conditions. pitch the final three innings and held While many companies are The Blue Gene systems, first in- A&M hitless. aiming to shrink their technology, troduced in 2004, have been used Defeating the no. 2 team in the the opposite is happening at Rice, for computational studies in radio country on the road. Rice moved up which will soon be receiving its astronomy, protein folding, climate to ninth in the RPI rankings, adding third supercomputer from IBM. research, cosmology and drug de- a huge win to its resume as it looks The Blue Gene supercomputer velopment, Talbot said. to potentially host a regional and will be the first of its kind in Texas "I believe these new computa- earn a national seed for the second and will be located in Rice's off- tional methods will enable some consecutive season. The Owls are campus data center. of the next major breakthroughs in now 28-11 on the season and ride a IBM envisioned building a enhanced treatments options and six-game winning streak into their unique supercomputing resource cures for these complex disease crucial weekend series with ECU. three years ago for research in the processes," Talbot said. With Rice's sweep of Marshall life sciences, and with the Blue The Blue Gene platform is an University, University of Central Gene computer, Rice will have example of a step toward person- Florida's series win against the more supercomputing breadth alized medicine in the future, Tal- University of Southern Mississippi and depth than any other univer- bot noted. and East Carolina University drop- sity in the world, Richard Talbot "You don't have to look very far ping a game against Memphis Uni- (Lovett '79). Director of Product to find people who have been dev- versity, the Owls and Knights both Line Management at IBM Power astated by these complex disease moved to 9-3 in C-USA play. The RICE NEWS AND MEDIA Systems, said. processes," Talbot said. "We hope two teams remain the only confer- Talbot said the Blue Gene su- this partnership someday enables ence schools ranked in the Base- Rice has joined forces with IBM to build the university's third super- percomputer has the capacity to at least one doctor to keep one ball America poll (Rice is no. 7; UCF decompose human DNA structure, family from experiencing a simi- computer, known as the Blue Gene supercomputer. When completed, is no. 15) and lead the conference in help researchers understand what lar tragedy." this device will be used for biological analysis and other types of research. respective RPI rankings. causes complex disease processes. O see BLUE GENE, page 4 O see BASEBALL, page 13 INDEX Heard through the grapevine You son of a beach Let the celebration commence Opinion 2 News It turns out today is the last day of classes. Classes are done and the final school bell has Join hundreds of sniffling parents in a flurry 4 Local 6 Better start studying for your finals so you rung! The only thing that is keeping you from of pomp and circumstance at Rice's 99th com- Arts & Entertainment can finish this school year in a blaze of the sun, sand and surf is a little nuisance mencement on May 12,2012. Say goodbye to 7 Features 12 glory. It is also 4/20, so you could end in called final exams. Bummer. But weep no your senior friends as they leave to begin the Sports 13 a different blaze. Either way, I would say more! Let the Martel Beach Party from 10 rest of their lives. And don't stand there smil- 1 Calendar PLEASE RECYCLE that it is high time to celebrate. p.m. to 2 a.m. tomorrow sweep you away. ing so cheekily.