Rice initiative seeks to shore up financial aid, boost workplace training Carmella DeSerto grew up in the tiny northwestern Wisconsin town of Chetek. Her father was a middle school science teacher, and her mother worked in a nursing home. Their blue-collar incomes couldn't cover the rising cost of most colleges, so when it came time to apply, DeSerto said she was looking only at schools her family could afford. Despite Rice University's $54,000 sticker price, it was DeSerto's