Hilda and Hershel Rich Family Endowment for Student Community Service
Purpose:
The purpose of the Hilda and Hershel Rich Family Endowment for Student Community Service is to support student engagement with societal issues through a multi-faceted approach, including both individual and group activities, through volunteerism, internships, research projects, and other relevant activities. The projects are intended to make a distinctive impact upon society, raise awareness among the Rice community, and foster and encourage leadership and creativity among Rice students.
Application Process:
- Follow these instructions to join as a member of the OWL-Space collaborative site:
- Go to OWL-Space (https://owlspace-ccm.rice.edu).
- Click on "LOG-IN using NetID" and enter your credentials.
- Click on the "Membership" tab in the left margin.
- Click on the "Joinable Sites" link next to "My Current Sites" header.
- Under the "Worksite" list, find the title "Rich Endowment '09-'10" and click on the link "Join" located just below it.
- Click on the newly formed tab (Rich Endowment '09-'10), located next to the "My Workspace" tab at the top of the page.
- Once you have been added as a member, you will have access to the application, which is under the "Tests & Quizzes" tab on the left sidebar. You may save your progress at any time during the application process and return to complete it any time before the deadline.
- Complete the application by the appropriate deadline (see below).
Academic Year 2009-10 Funding Deadlines:
- 5:00pm on Wednesday, October 28, 2009
- Funding available for projects to occur during winter 2009, spring 2010, summer 2010, or fall 2010.
- Proposal revisions may be requested on Friday, November 13, 2009 and, if requested, are due on Monday, November 23, 2009.
- Award notifications will be made on Friday, December 4, 2009.
- 5:00pm on Monday, March 15, 2010
- Funding available for projects to occur during summer 2010 or fall 2010.
- Proposal revisions may be requested on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 and, if requested, are due on Monday, April 12, 2010.
- Award notifications will be made on Friday, April 23, 2010.
If you have any question about the fund or the application process, please contact Mac Griswold by e-mail (griswold@rice.edu) or phone (713-348-6163).
2008 Recipients:
Paige Bailey, Josh Kirlin, and Courtney Ng - $2,895.00
The Cheyenne River Youth Project is a nonprofit organization that operates in the town of Eagle Butte, South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation of the Lakota Sioux. It offers numerous activities and services for the youth of Eagle Butte, ranging from after-school enrichment for elementary school children to open gym nights for teens to the upkeep of a community garden and a newly opened library. CRYP also offers highly discounted membership to families for access to winter heating assistance and necessities like clothing and toiletries.
CRYP operates on donations from an international network of benefactors and supporters and is run by a small full-time staff. Individual and group volunteers, however, are the backbone upon which many of the projects newer initiatives depend. Our group plans to not only take part in the preexisting programs of CRYP, but to offer our unique skills during our stay. For example, we plan to expand upon the CRYP's Main University program, which introduces young children to new and interesting areas of study they would not otherwise encounter in school. During our Alternative Spring Break trip to CRYP this year, we created a series of classes on International celebrations such as Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, and the Day of the Dead. Josh, Paige, and I would like to run a class on each of our abilities, which include ballroom dancing, web design, and poetry writing. Our hope is to provide the kids with a welcome educational escape from the difficulties of their daily lives.
Rachel Carlson - $4,000.00
More than one-third of the world's population lives within 60 miles of a coastline and thirteen of the world's twenty largest cities are located on a coast. Such conditions make coastal cities, including Houston, one of the most vital topics of environmental discussion. These industrial and commercial hubs are critical contributors to global warming, and also stand most vulnerable to the effects of a climate crisis. As global warming threats become increasingly dire, Houston residents are confronted with urgent challenges to their economic and infrastructural sustainability. Populations may undergo social dislocation due to increased regulation on industry, and may also suffer the grave dangers of sea-level rise, flooding, air pollution, and storm phenomena. It is clear that coastal cities are in urgent need of collective environmental action among residents to prevent these calamites.
A variety of demographic, attitudinal, and even geographical factors may impact a population's propensity to engage in collective environmental action. For example, high income, education, or environmental awareness may predict a strong willingness to act toward the public environmental good. Other factors may impede participation. The purpose of this project is to determine the factors that either hinder or fuel collective environmental action. From this analysis, researchers can devise effective strategies for promoting environmentalism in Houston.
The City of Houston is currently directing a series of workshops under the slogan "Low Carbon Diet." These workshops are intended to help participants develop sustainable living behaviors and are active in around 20 neighborhoods in the Houston metropolitan area. The workshops chiefly involve monthly information sessions, which are conducted by environmental technicians and advocates. According to Ms. Sarah Mason, an environmental analyst who directs "Low Carbon Diet," the workshops could be substantially improved. Firstly, no follow-up surveys have been conducted to determine workshops' effectiveness (whether or not participants really do purchase more green products after a workshop, for example). Additionally, the workshops operate in diverse neighborhoods, where different demographic or attitudinal factors may impact environmentalism. Workshops operate under a generic model, and could be more valuable if tailored to the traits of their target populations.
This research will first involve the statistical determination of collective action correlates. This will be accomplished by surveying Houston residents and analyzing their traits and behaviors. From these evaluations, researchers can devise practical strategies for improving workshops by tailoring environmental promotions to the social dynamics of target neighborhoods. The effectiveness of different workshop programs can be tracked using post-workshop surveys.
The research questions for this project include:
- To what extent do certain sociological factors predict populations' participation in environmental behaviors?
- Which traits of populations are most prominently correlated with environmental collective action efforts?
- What are the most efficacious strategies of promoting environmental behavior in various Houston neighborhoods?
- What is the nature of populations' responses to environmental promotions, and to what extent do participants improve environmental behaviors after participating in workshops?
2009 Recipients:
Engineers Without Borders (Matthew Wesley, Daniel Jouas, Maggie Murphy, and Samantha Teltser) - $10,000.00
This Engineers Without Borders project will work with the people of El Pital in Chalatenango, El Salvador to improve the quality of community health through the installation of a water distribution system. Thos goal of the project is to provide clean water to houses in the community and to emphasize community ownership of the project by giving the community enough practical and technical knowledge so that they can run their water system independently once it is completed. Another hope for the project is to extend the scope of impact to other nearby communities by acting as a prototype for their own water purification and distribution needs.
The project will significantly improve the health of the El Pital community, which consists of about 300 people, by providing them with increased access to purified water through a sustainable distribution infrastructure. During the organization's assessment trip in August 2006, they identified the specific needs of the community by conducting individual health and water surveys at individual households. Residents were asked about topics such as cases of diarrhea and gripe in the community, latrine type and latrine maintenance, purification of water, and annual cost of healthcare.
Based on the group's assessments, they determined that the community had a need for a system capable of purification, storage, and distribution. To address this need, they designed a project consisting of four phases. First, water will flow from the natural spring into a nearby water storage tank. Next, water for the top half of the community will be pumped from this lower tank into an upper water storage tank at the top of the community. From these tanks, water will be distributed through gravity fed pipeline to central distribution points in the community where families can make hose connections to their homes. The final stage will be to implement a water purification system to reduce the negative health effects due to contaminated water in the community. To date, both upper and lower storage tanks have been built, seven distribution headers have been constructed, and the piping between the two tanks has been initiated. On their most recent trip, which lasted from December 14-23, 2008, they began installing pipe between the two tanks. They left the community with instructions to finish the piping between the tanks and to begin the installation of the distribution lines throughout the rest of the community that will connect to the headers that are already constructed. This funding will allow them to return to return to El Pital in May of 2009 to continue progress on the project.
Currently the team is preparing for the installation of the distribution lines and to begin pump and electricity implementation. They have selected a 33 GB 30 Goulds Pump to transport water from the lower tank to the upper tank. The conditions for the pump system are based on a flow rate from the spring of 13 gpm, 201 feet of pipe head, and a voltage of 230 VAC. It is a 3 HP pump with a frequency of 60 Hz and an output of 30 gpm. Based on the pump curve, the system has a Net Positive Suction Head Required of 15 feet, meaning that the pump will need to be installed at least 15 feet lower in elevation than the water level in the lower tank. Using the pump statistics, we ran a model of our system using EPANET 2.0, a software that models water distribution piping systems by performing extended-period simulation of the hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. We used the results to determine the appropriate diameter and pressure rating for our pipe. With 3”, 160 psi PVC pipe, we found that the system would have a flow rate of 46 gpm, with a maximum pressure of 61 psi with the pump operating and a maximum pressure of 56 with the pump not in operation. Given these manageable pressures and adequate flow rates, the piping network will be able to meet and exceed the projected daily water demand of the community. Meanwhile, we are continuing to work with community members on the challenges of ensuring the pipe is located in places where it will be protected, deciding when galvanized pipe is required, and minimizing all joint angles.
Michael Puente - $2,300.00
Michael will be returning to Cuzco, Peru to continue the work he began as a Loewenstern Fellow during his two months of service at Hogar Clinica San Juan de Dios - Cusco. While there, he will spend his time interacting with children, giving them personal attention they would otherwise not receive. The clinic houses 42 disabled children who have been abandoned by their familiees, usually for reasons of poverty. These children receive excellent rehabilitative care, but, at the same time, they are being raised without their parents and are desperate for personal attention.
His work at the clinic will vary significantly, day-to-day, depending on the needs of the staff and patients each day. Generally, his work will consist of hand-feeding the children breakfast and lunch, brushing their teeth, helping them use the bathroom, dressing them, bringing them to school or therapy, playing with them, and assisting the nurses in whatever ways he is able.
His main goal is to make the experience of hospitalization less difficult for the children living at the clinic. During this return trip, he hopes to gain a better understanding of all the services offered there, including various forms of therapy, traditional healthcare, and education. He will accomplish this by spending more time in each department of the clinic, diversifying his experience there.
Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice (HACER) Alternative Spring Break (Jennie Wilburn and Kristy Liu) - $6,000.00
This trip will give twelve Rice University student the opportunity to work at the Kan Tan Educaitonal Farm in Boruca, Costa Rica. The Kan Tan Educational Finca (or farm) Project, meaning Site of the Stone of Brunka, owes its name to the many stones that had been taken there from the Rio Terraba to mark ancestral graves. The project works to preserve these burial sites, which have been plundered by "huaqueros" (grave robbers). Located on 130 hectares of mainly primary forest, is is considered a sacred site, due to its cemeteries and some of the local legends that originated there. The Project Coordinators make every effort to ensure a truly ecological development, where weakened or almost extinct traditions are faithfully revived. Their indigenous culture and ecological development projects include protecting and preserving the art of building ranchos pajizos (thatched), traditional medicine and indigenous spirituality, and reviving and strengthening the indigenous culture.
The Kan Tan Project's goal is to implement a model of ecological development, which will make it possible to restore the Earth, rescue the local culture and find new ways of integrating the indigenous population to the economic life of the country. It does this through a wide variety of projects and initiatives. Some of the initiatives in which the students will be serving are:
- Construction Work - Includes removing the roof of the kitchen at Kan Tan, because the palm leaves have a lifespan of 4-5 years and it needs to be redone before the rainy season begins. After removing the present roof, new leaves need to replace the old ones that are removed.
- Community Work at the Local High and Elementary Schools - Abour 4-5 years ago, under the concept of Kan Tan as an educational place, a group of Indigenous Children was created. This group had the objective of learning about conservation/preservation of nature. These children are now leaders and are carrying out programs in the community, such as recycling and cleaning programs.
- Trail and Garden Maintenance - Kan Tan Educational Finca has a series of trails and gardens, such as the medicinal plant garden, which required maintenance during both seasons. In the dry season, irrigation is needed, as well as maintenance for the plants.