The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, November 4, 2015

All for one, or one for all?

Proposed senate bill should prioritize student feedback

see Ops p. 4

“

Cosmic exhibit invades Matchbox Gallery

- Jake Nyquist, SA Senator

see Ops p. 4

volume 100, issue no. 10

Run like the wind

Out of this world

All students must be invested and on board with the plan, not just one.”

Women’s cross country team takes conference title

see A&E p. 6

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Senate bill raises concerns Drew Keller and Amber Tong News Editor & Assistant News Editor

Student Association President Jazz Silva officially introduced a bill creating a task force to spearhead the design of a mandatory Critical Thinking in Sexuality course for incoming freshmen at the Oct. 28 Senate meeting. Since her presentation, an amendment to mandate a second round of SA voting has been added to the bill. The vote, which was originally scheduled to Nov. 4, will now take place on Nov. 11. Students across campus continue to express concerns to their representatives before they vote on the bill.

The task force created by Senate Bill #4 is charged with developing a course addressing healthy relationships, sexuality perspectives, safe sex, bystander intervention and sexual assault prevention. Silva, a Sid Richardson College senior, first announced her proposal on Oct. 21, following a campus-wide discussion of the results of Survey of Unwanted Sexual Encounters on Oct. 7.

Task Force According to Silva, the task force will work with the Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum to develop the course outline, which will then be presented to the Faculty Senate for approval. The legislation names three initial members of the task force from the SA: Duncan College President Colin Shaw, who coproposed the legislation with Silva, Hanszen College President Angela Masciale and Sid Richardson College New Student Representative Ramee Saleh. The initial task force also includes Women’s Resource Center Co-Director Cristell Perez and Brown College junior James Carter, referred to as a “General Student Body Representative.”

“The task force members consist of students who are highly informed about the SUSE results, bring a variety of perspectives to the table, feel passionately about the program, and can think critically about the program,” Silva said. “Most of these people have been working on the proposal for quite some time.”

Carter said Silva asked him to be on the task force for his perspective as a black male and role as a past Orientation Week Coordinator.

“While I don’t have an official position that entitles me to have an opinion, I think that was something else Jazz wanted to have on the task force: someone who doesn’t have a pointed position, who wasn’t already on the SA, someone who’s just a community member,” Carter said.

Recalling the task force’s first meeting, Carter said the five members brought different perspectives and opinions, though they were all appointed by Silva.

“Everyone in the room was critical, not in a bad way – there was a 0see SB#4, page 2

courtesy anastasia bolshakov

‘We are human.’

Wiess College senior Blaque Robinson and Martel College senior Chavonte Wright organized a demonstration to support black women after an incident of a school sheriff throwing a black female student at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina. About 80 students attended the demonstration, which also featured music and spoken word.

Demonstration in solidarity with black women draws professors, students Anita Alem News Editor

Rice University students held a demonstration in the academic quad to show support for black females following an incident of a school sheriff throwing and dragging a black female student at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.

From noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, students held signs bearing statements such as “Black female lives matter,” and black women linked arms in front of Willy’s Statue. Several students also performed spoken word, sang and wrote cards to the student who was thrown by the officer, as well as her friend, who filmed the event and has been charged with disrupting school, a misdemeanor in South Carolina. About 80 students attended, including black males and females as well as other stu-

dent and professor allies.

The main organizers of the event were Martel College senior Chavonte Wright and Wiess College senior Blaque Robinson. At the close of the event, Robinson said a few words to summarize their goals.

“We will not just be angry women,” Robinson said. “We will not just be your booty-popping party girl. We will not just be the girl you have sex with to see what black ass is like. We are black women and we are human.”

Robinson said she wanted students in attendance to not walk away having just supported black women for the day but to continue to recognize black women.

“Thank the black women who cook your food and clean your room,” Robinson said. “Don’t just walk by like they don’t exist. Smile and say hello. Thank the black women administrators and

staff who work behind the scenes to make sure your Rice experience is all that it can be.”

According to Director of Multicultural Affairs Catherine Clack, the Office of Multicultural Affairs provided the supplies for posters and cards but was not involved in organizing the event itself, which was part of Wright and Robinson’s Activism Initiative under the OMA. “This is a beautiful event [and] a worthy event,” Clack said. “I’m tremendously proud of Rice University for responding in the way that it has today because this issue affects all of us. We need to all be aware and all care about what’s going on.”

Wright said she hoped the demonstration would not be seen as a response to an isolated case of police brutality.

“The purpose of the Black Lives

Matter movement is to call attention to underlying issues in this country that are produced by racism, capitalism and patriarchy, and how those come to victimize black people more than [they do] any other demographic,” Wright said.

Videos of the incident at Spring Valley High School have gone viral since they were first released Oct. 26. According to reports, after the student refused the teacher’s request to leave the classroom, a white sheriff ’s deputy who served as a coach on the football team, was called in. The officer wrapped his arm around the student’s neck, flipped her out of her seat and dragged her across the floor. The officer has since been fired with no charges; the charges against the two students have not been dropped. On Friday, approximately 100 students at the school staged a walkout in support of the officer.

Honor Council seeks student feedback Anita Alem News Editor

The Honor Council Working Group may consider major structural changes depending upon the responses gathered from the Survey of All Students, released on Monday, Nov. 2. According to Honor Council Chair Alex Metcalf, the working group hopes to hear from both student and faculty experiences to explore the Rice community’s understanding of the honor system.

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson, the Co-Chair of the working group, said the Faculty Senate established the group as a joint effort of

the faculty, Student Association, the Honor Council and the administration.

“The working group is charged with reaffirming this core value [of academic integrity] by assessing the vitality of the honor system,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said the group has met throughout the fall semester and plans to present recommendations in the spring semester.

Metcalf said most students are aware of the honor system at Rice only in terms of the honor code that they sign on assignments and exams.

“Everybody signs an honor code, everybody is under the honor code at all times,” Metcalf said. “It’s when it

comes to enforcement that it gets a little hazy in most people’s minds.”

The Honor Council recently held its annual Consensus Penalty Structure meeting, a public meeting allowing students to discuss the factors the council considers when administering sanctions. This year, members of the Honor Council brought up several concerns and proposed changes, which have been passed on to the Honor Council Working Group, according to Metcalf.

At the meeting, Metcalf expressed concern over the number of cases left in the semester. Metcalf said the receipt of a statistically significant number of cases at the end of the spring

2015 semester has led the Honor Council to have difficulty reviewing every existing case within this semester.

“The receipt of that many cases has made our job more arduous this semester,” Metcalf said. “They all share a common thread — they were not all just random cases.”

An investigation begins when the Honor Council receives a letter of accusation from a professor or student.

The accused student is called in to an investigative meeting to look through the letter of accusation and provide a verbal opening statement; the student later provides a written statement that 0see HONOR, page 2

2

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wednesday, November 4, 2015

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0SB#4 FROM PAGE 1 lot of thought that went into the conversation we had,” Carter said. “It wasn’t like everyone in the room was on board with how everything was being presented already.”

Perez, a Baker College senior, said she gave feedback as Silva was developing the class proposal, leading Silva to invite her to join the task force.

“We kind of had the same visions for certain initiatives and approaches for addressing different issues,” Perez said. “I think I do bring a lot of different aspects to this task force, but definitely we still need more diversity. I think we need more people of color as well as more queer people.”

Silva said the task force will add more members, though she said it could not add too many without losing effectiveness, with a hypothetical maximum of seven or eight members. She said students who are not on the task force can still get involved in the process by submitting feedback.

“I’m going to make sure every single piece of feedback, whether it be completely in line with what I believe, or completely outlandish, it’s all on the table,” Silva said.

Amendment After the presentation of the bill, the Senate added an amendment requiring the task force to present a detailed course outline to the SA for approval before final approval by the Faculty Senate.

The amendment was proposed by Brown College President Tom Carroll. Carroll, a senior, said the amendment’s goal is to allow students the opportunity to stand not just behind the spirit of the course but also its logistics, which he said seems to be many students’ major concern.

“Some students are wary of giving final support before they know more about what the final

structure of the class would look like,” Carroll said. “This amendment results in a proposal which better balances the urgency of getting this course implemented in a short time span with the critical need for student engagement and buy-in throughout the unprecedented process creating this course would involve.”

Silva said while the task force may not be able to present a detailed course outline before meeting with the Faculty Senate, it will provide updates to the Senate later in the development process.

“The spirit of the amendment is that throughout the process the task force will be reporting and [Senate] will have some sort of voice of whether they agree with how the process is going,” Silva said. “As a governing body that is trusting, we are just going to respect what the spirit was.”

Carroll emphasized the function of additional voting by the SA under his amendment is simply to gauge student opinion, not halt the process of creating the course.

“This final vote will not be a restriction for the working group going forward with the [Faculty] Senate,” Carroll said. “It would just be to get an idea of where the students stand on this.”

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson said in the meeting the administration is willing to support whatever initiatives the student body decides to implement. He said the language of the legislation is similar to the initial proposal to create First-Year Writing Intensive Seminars in 2012, which was also voted upon before the curriculum was completely outlined.

Delay At the Oct. 28 meeting, voting on the bill was planned for the Senate meeting a week later on Nov. 4. However, in an email distributing the agenda for the Nov. 4 meeting, SA Secretary Brianna Singh announced that voting would be delayed.

According to a website created by Silva supporting the bill, voting is now planned for the Nov. 11 Sen-

ate meeting.

“Timing is everything, and we wanted to make sure you all have adequate time and notice to discuss this at your colleges,” Singh, a Hanszen College sophomore, said in the email.

Jake Nyquist, the Senator from Will Rice College, said minor revisions were made to the legislation before and after the bill’s presentation on Oct. 28, but a full copy of the revised bill was not distributed at the meeting or posted online immediately afterward. Nyquist, a sophomore, said he reached out to the Cabinet and SA Parliamentarian Annabelle McIntire-Gavlick, for a final copy but did not receive the final text for two days.

The SA Constitution states that a full copy of a bill must be provided at a Senate meeting at least a week before voting occurs. So, according to Nyquist, the delay in voting was required because a vote on Nov. 4 would be unconstitutional. McIntire-Gavlick, a Lovett College junior, and Perez confirmed that the constitutional requirement of prior notice was the reason for the voting delay.

Responses At the SA meeting, Duncan College Senator Reagan Kapp said she is concerned about how to evaluate the course’s success.

“We need to be concerned about the practical implementation and effectiveness of the course in the long run,” Kapp, a sophomore, said. “It is crucial that we be able to ascertain whether or not our response is helping fix the problem.”

In response to Kapp’s question, as well as others regarding implementation, Silva said she would defer practical judgments to the task force.

Silva also addressed the suggestion that the course should include general well-being topics.

“What we have at Rice is a lot of catch-alls,” Silva said. “Right now what we’re trying to solve is this problem of sexual assault on campus. We are going to give that its own attention.”

At the meeting, Wiess College freshman Avery

Johnson questioned whether lack of knowledge is the real cause of sexual assault.

“Are these high rates of unwanted sexual experiences at Rice University due to under-education about consent or due to Rice being a ‘wet’ campus?” Johnson asked. “This proposal, although having good intentions, may be unnecessary.”

Carroll said he thinks solving sexual assault requires a novel and aggressive approach, which is why he supports the legislation and wants to ensure its smooth passing.

“What we’ve seen around the country is that traditional programming has not been sufficiently effective at combating sexual [misconduct],” Carroll said. “This is the only potential solution I’ve heard of that brings everyone to the table in a way [to] allow for meaningful discussion and creation of a shared understanding of community values.”

Senators from several colleges, including Duncan, Lovett, Martel, Wiess and Will Rice Colleges, have been seeking feedback from their constituents. According to Kapp, who initially believed Duncan to be generally in support of the proposal, results from the anonymous survey revealed an alarming split. Kapp said she is concerned the current discussion atmosphere is making dissenters reluctant to share their opinions for fear that their views will not be respected or considered seriously.

“The conversations that we are having in public about the proposed course might not be representative of the opinion split of the entire student body,” Kapp said. “The fact that these results surprised me so much makes me worry that those who do not support the course do not feel comfortable sharing their opinions in public discourse.”

Martel College Senator Marisa Hudson said she has received mixed responses from Martel.

Hudson, a sophomore, said most concerns revolve around a few aspects of the class: enforcing mandatory attendance, finding appropriate teachers, course duration, inclusion of LGBT classes and students who may be triggered by these topics.

SENATE BILL #4, CRITICAL THINKING IN SEXUALITY: THE CAMPUS RESPONDS “Do you support the proposed mandatory education course in SB#4?”

12% I DON’T KNOW 50% 50% YES NO DUNCAN of 138 responses

66% 34% YES NO WIESS of 122 responses

0HONOR FROM PAGE 1 can be used as evidence. If Honor Council investigators decide to proceed with the hearing, they reach out to professors, teaching assistants and Owlspace administrators. Expert depositions serve to clarify assignments, according to Metcalf.

Honor Council Secretary Isabel Alison said it can be difficult for Honor Council members to be involved in cases regarding technical subjects with which they are unfamiliar.

“Expert depositions rely on context for the case, and it’s difficult to convey this for complex, technical cases,” Alison, a Duncan College sophomore, said. “Expert depositions can be unhelpful in those cases.”

Metcalf said there are currently no plans to limit panels regarding technical cases to members with technical background. He said he encouraged members to instead continue to ask for more information from professors.

If nine members unanimously find the accused in violation, they move to penalty deliberations, requiring a two-thirds consensus. Student Judicial Programs and the Office of the Registrar

60% 38% YES NO MARTEL

–Survey respondent from Wiess College

of ~100 responses

are responsible for implementing sanctions.

Metcalf said investigations can span from days to months, depending on when accusations are submitted.

“We have language that strongly encourages people to submit accusations in a timely manner,” Metcalf said. “We occasionally receive accusations from professors after a semester is over.”

Martel College Honor Council Representative Elliot Baerman said he felt there should be a deadline or statute of limitations when a violation occurs requiring a professor to report the violation within a certain deadline.

“There are issues with [accused students] where they forget what occurred and we could potentially lose key information,” Baerman said.

“This could sway us one way or another with regards to penalties.”

Metcalf said he agreed that the possibility of a statute of limitations and other changes deserve more consideration.

“Changes within the honor council are important to the rest of the community,” Metcalf said.

“If we are going to modify [our constitution], we want to make sure that whatever proposal we have has common acceptance from the students, faculty and Honor Council.”

HONOR COUNCIL CASE OVERVIEW 2014-2015 (as of Oct. 17) 53 cases IN VIOLATION 34 cases NOT IN VIOLATION 7 cases Letter of reprimand

1 case 1/3 letter grade reduction 0 cases of 2/3 letter grade reduction 0 cases of F in course + 3 semester suspension

12 cases 1 letter grade reduction

9 cases 2 letter grade reduction

“Certain religious groups are already disrespected enough on campus, and a disregard for religion by the nature of this course is a slap in the face.”

–Survey respondent from Duncan College

“College is a place to grow and get out of the comfort zone, so honestly students should just deal with it because this mandatory Critical Thinking in Sexuality course will help so much.”

8 cases 7 cases F in course 3 F in cases +2 cases course semester suspension 5

3 letter grade reduction F in course + 1 semester suspension

1 case Expulsion

“If the argument initiating this solution is that students aren’t aware enough, what about the ones who are? Is it becoming the role of the university to be the parents of students?”

–Survey respondent from Wiess College

“This is absolutely essential to begin to have the conversation about sexual health and the culture of sexual safety. It needs to be discussion oriented and mixed-gender to be successful.”

–Survey respondent from Will Rice College

yasna haghdoost/thresher

Representatives of the Houston Unites coalition advocating HERO were located adjacent to the polling place, a possible violation of the Texas Election Code and a Class C misdemeanor.

HERO lobbyists risk violation Anita Alem News Editor

Representatives of the Houston Unites coalition, a lobbying group supporting Proposition 1, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, were potentially violating Texas election code on Election Day at the Rice Memorial Center polling place. Two members wearing shirts promoting HERO were within the RMC less than 10 feet from Miner Lounge, where polling stations were located. They asked passersby whether they were registered to vote and their stance on HERO and offered food to voters.

According to Texas Election Code Title 6 Chapter 61.003, “a person commits an offense if, during the voting period and within 100 feet of an outside door through which a voter may enter the building in which a polling place is located, the person electioneers for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.” A violation is considered to be a Class C misdemeanor.

Trevor Chandler, one of the coalition representatives situated within the RMC, said the group

was hoping to get out the vote in a race with a slim margin. When asked if he was aware of the legality of lobbying adjacent to the polling place, Chandler said he would be happy to acquiesce if the election official requested they move.

“We’ve been here and the polling officials have been here and no polling or election official has told us to move, so as of right now, we’ve been having a very uneventful time,” Chandler said.

The presiding Election Judge Gwendolyn Claybon said she was unaware of the lobbyists or of the rules against electioneering for specific measures as opposed to candidates.

“I was told if [a lobbyist] didn’t have any candidate’s name on [his] shirt, there’s no problem,” Claybon said. “All they have to do is turn it inside.

Just go in the restroom and flip [the shirt] over.”

Claybon, after being shown the Election Code and notified the lobbyists were not Rice students, asked the individuals to move outside beyond the distance markers. They were compliant.

“I have distance markers outside and they were like, ‘I didn’t see it,’” Claybon said. “How can you not see that big old sign?”

wednesday, November 4, 2015

NEWS

the Rice Thresher

3

BELOW EXPECTATIONS: RICE UNDERPERFORMS BY THE ECONOMIST’S CRITERIA DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXPECTED AND ACTUAL EARNINGS OF GRADUATES

FACTORS

å Average SAT scores å Sex ratio å Race breakdown å College size

EARNINGS

USED TO DETERMINE EXPECTED INCOME

-$10,267

-$9,590

RICE

YALE

$22,3778

-$4,396

$8,184

$12,734

UNIV of CHICAGO

MIT

HARVARD

WASHINGTON & LEE SOURCE: THE ECONOMIST

Rice’s impact on graduate earnings ranked 1,271 of 1,275 Drew Keller News Editor

Rice University placed 1,271st out of 1,275 American four-year colleges under a new ranking created by The Economist, a major weekly newspaper.

According to a description by The Economist, the ranking system is based on a comparison between the median earning of a college’s graduates 10 years after graduation and the expected earning of those graduates based on several characteristics, such as SAT scores, demographic information and location. Based on The Economist’s model, Rice graduates make $10,267 less than expected 10 years after graduation, placing them in the zeroth percentile of the ranked colleges.

According to The Economist, the new ranking was inspired by a famous study by Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger. That study, published in 1999, found that the financial outcomes of students accomplished enough to be accepted into selective colleges were generally the same whether or not they actually attended those schools.

Chris Munoz, Rice’s vice president for enrollment, said he regarded the ranking as an outlier.

Other rankings tend to give Rice a higher position: Rice is 18th in the country by the influential US News and World Report’s criteria, and fifth according to popular review website Niche.com.

Other universities that have traditionally placed highly in rankings are in varied positions under The Economist’s system: Harvard University

Teaching consultations draw faculty interest Andrew Ligeralde Assistant News Editor

Rice’s Center for Teaching Excellence offers services such as teaching consultations, in class observations and workshops to help individual instructors develop effective teaching methods.

According to CTE Director Joshua Eyler, 34 percent of instructional faculty utilized these services from the center’s founding in 2012 to March 2015.

“We always want more, but we are very pleased with that figure,” Eyler said. “In comparison with our peers, that’s high. We are at least on the same curve as our peers like Northwestern [University], which has a very established center that’s been around for decades.”

Faculty schedule appointments with the CTE on an individual basis and can have CTE members sit in on their classes to follow up. All consultations are confidential and operate independently of the university’s official evaluative structure, which deals with tenure, promotion and student evaluations, according to Eyler.

“Faculty can come to us without any worry about how it will affect their career,” Eyler said.

“For someone to talk about their teaching, that’s a very personal thing.”

Due to the confidentiality policy, there is no public record of courses that have been changed or restructured through consultation services.

Baker College sophomore Alex Hayes said he wants to see more transparency in how teaching consultations may improve courses.

“I would like to know if utilization of CTE services actually results in improved courses,” Hayes said. “We have course review data, so this shouldn’t be difficult.”

According to Eyler, there are no reliable ways to measure course improvement.

“There are methods to measure effectiveness of our services but none are perfect,” Eyler said.

Steven Cox, a CTE fellow, said the center does not gather data on course improvement.

“The CTE is a resource for teachers at Rice,” Cox said. “Those that seek consultations with the CTE expect and deserve a consultation fitted to their unique station rather than to a generic rubric. As no metric is applied, no data is gathered.

Baker College sophomore Emily Rao said she would like to see the effects of student feedback.

“Increased transparency especially in large intro classes would be really helpful,” Rao said.

Cox said student evaluations of courses are sometimes used in CTE consultations.

“As each consultation is tailored to the individual, it is up to that individual to bring student evaluations into the mix,” Cox said.

Student feedback has been incorporated into several of the CTE’s counterpart programs. Northwestern University’s Searle Center for Advanced Learning and Teaching, established in 1992, offers discussion groups for students to provide constructive feedback directly to their professors, according to the Searle Center’s website.

Duncan College sophomore Manlin Yao said she is in favor of a dialogue between professors and students about the quality of instruction.

“Even with the end-of-semester course reviews, there might not actually be a change in instruction,” Yao said. “Students would also be more honest if they knew that their reviews are actually being considered.

Hayes said the faculty are inconsistent in considering student evaluations.

“I was frustrated to learn that one of my professors from last year didn’t even know she had received student feedback,” Hayes said.

According to Eyler, the best route for a student is to raise concerns about a course directly with the professor first, with the department chair second and with the school dean third.

“Because the CTE is not an evaluative office, we would not be involved with complaints in this way,” Eyler said.

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson said students have approached him with such complaints in the past.

“There are a number of cases of students letting me know of their concerns about the teaching in a specific course, Hutchinson said. “Students do come to me for advice or assistance, and we are always able to work through a process that results in improvement.”

All statistics available at the CTE are presented publicly at the annual Advisory Board Meeting in March.

is fourth with graduates making $12,734 more than expected, while Yale University is 1,270th with graduates making $9,590 less than expected, similar to Rice’s performance.

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson said quantitative rankings cannot include all factors that measure a college’s success, while some of the factors that are included may not be valuable to all students.

“Each student, in deciding whether to attend Rice or any other school, must decide for themselves what ‘counts’ for them,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson also pointed to weaknesses in the methodology of the rankings.

“Even The Economist seems not to believe much in their own ranking system, since they

state that their premise is ‘simple, if debatable,’” Hutchinson said.

According to The Economist, some drawbacks of their system include the facts that the rankings are not based on a fully representative sample of students, use graduate information from just one year, only track 10-year earnings and exclude any non-financial benefits offered by a college.

“Maximizing alumni earnings is not the only goal of a college, and probably not even the primary one,” the ranking’s description on The Economist’s website read. “For students who want to know which colleges are likely to boost their future salaries by the greatest amount … we hope these rankings prove helpful. They should not be used for any other purpose.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

courtesy anastasia bolshakov

Student health services issues warning on asp caterpillars following increase in EMS calls for venomous stings Squirrels are no longer the only species on campus that students should watch out for. According to Student Health Services, Rice Emergency Medical Services has handled a large number of cases of asp caterpillar stings over the past week.

Asps, also known as flannel moths, reside primarily in trees and shrubs during the fall months and are characterized by their teardrop shape and yellowish or reddish brown fur. But don’t be fooled by their furry appearance. Asps are coated with venomous spines that sting the skin upon contact, causing a painful rash.

Health Services said that if stung by

an asp, it is best to rinse the affected area with soap and water, use tape to pull out remaining hairs, apply ice to the area, take an oral antihistamine (such as Benadryl) and apply a topical hydrocortisone.

If the symptoms persist or are more severe, such as shortness of breath, Health Services said EMS should be called immediately. Those with a history of allergies to insects should seek immediate care.

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson warned the Rice community about the asps on his Facebook page.

“These things are quite unpleasant,” Hutchinson said.

Leebron addresses faculty, staff at biannual town hall meeting President David Leebron presented strategic initiatives to faculty and staff at a biannual town hall meeting on Nov. 2. The audience for the discussion filled Rice Memorial Center’s Grand Hall.

The three initiatives Leebron addressed were based on Rice’s mission statement: research competitiveness, teaching quality and a diverse community. In particular, Leebron highlighted the creation of the Rice University Academy of Fellows, which Provost Lynn Miranda announced on Oct. 31.

The Academy of Fellows is a scholarly consortium of faculty and postdoctoral fellows that hopes to facilitate intellectual exchange, according to Miranda. The Academy would also raise Rice’s overall research profile.

“This [inaugural program] signals our ambition to engage the most challenging research questions, create the best possible environment for inquiry and innovation, and further elevate the research enterprise across Rice,” Miranda said in a letter to faculty, as quoted in Rice News.

4

One student can’t decide for every student

SB#4 task force demands proper representation Following her proposal to implement a mandatory critical thinking and sexuality course for new students, Student Association President Jazz Silva has introduced Senate Bill #4 that creates a student task force to develop the course’s content and structure (see p. 1). Students should pay attention to the debate and outcome of this legislation, no matter where they stand on the original proposal; currently, no one knows what the course will look like, just that the composition of the task force will play a significant role in shaping it. Silva must thus ensure the task force accurately represents campus.

So far, Silva has added members to the task force based only on the interest they have expressed to her in helping to develop the class.

While it is important that members of the task force are invested, this selection process could lead to a group consisting exclusively of those who strongly support the project as it has already been envisioned. Silva must take care to include not only the loudest voices or only supporters. A small group of members who are self-selected or chosen by just one person could easily become an echo chamber unable to fairly judge valid criticism.

The task force should include those with reservations about the proposed course. Instead of disregarding a substantial proportion of the student body – over 30 percent of the students who voted in surveys at several residential colleges – that does not support the class as proposed, the task force must work to understand and address their concerns. Whether expressed openly or not, differing sentiments present in the student body now will also be present in incoming freshmen who would be mandated to enroll in the course. The best way to create a course that will challenge students to think critically is for dissenting perspectives to have a voice throughout its creation.

Silva should delegate the responsibility of appointing further members to the Senate or an impartial party. In doing so, Silva would ensure that her advocacy of her proposed class does not conflict with her duty as president to include all parts of the student body.

At the very least, to uphold strong ethical standards, Silva should address her conflict of interest as both the proposer of the course and creator of the task force. The Senate should consider whether this situation necessitates a constitutional change to mitigate any future conflicts of interest for proceeding presidents who propose bills.

More Senators should be appointed to the task force, as they have already gathered representative feedback from their colleges and have legitimacy as elected officials in representing their college’s voice. Concerned students have a right to be a part of the task force, but it’s important to acknowledge and address that these students are not representatives of whatever groups in which they are a part, whether that be college, ethnicity, religion, gender or otherwise.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the piece’s author.

Editorial Staff Andrew Ta* Editor in Chief Yasna Haghdoost* Managing Editor Miles Kruppa* Senior Editor news Anita Alem* Editor Drew Keller* Editor Andrew Ligeralde Asst. Editor Amber Tong Asst. Editor Justin Park Designer

Over the past two weeks, the Student Association, led by President Jazz Silva, has promoted an innovative mandatory class aimed to improve Rice’s culture of sexual misconduct.

Although her efforts so far have been commendable, Silva’s decision to advocate for her own plans conflicts with her responsibilities as SA President. It is the SA president’s duty to convey the opinions of the Senate and of all students, not just her own, to the faculty and administration. While I believe this course could be beneficial, the current process proposed to create it shuts out many students’ opinions.

Last week, Silva and the Duncan College President Colin Shaw introduced Senate Bill 4, which would create a task force to develop a curriculum for the Critical Thinking in Sexuality course. While introducing the legislation, Silva outlined details of the course not specified in the legislation’s content that should be left for the task force to determine. When the members of the Senate vote on this legislation, they will be forced to vote on the idea of the class regardless of its content. While many students support the idea of the course, far fewer support all of the technically undecided details. SA members must consider whether the task force will actually debate issues relevant to developing the course or simply accept the solutions Silva proposes.

Silva first mentioned her idea for a mandatory first-year sexual education class to the SA Senate one week before receiving feedback from students at the well-attended “It’s Up to Us” town hall. Senators made numerous suggestions to Silva that, for the most part, were not addressed and did not make it into the proposal. Silva first

informed the college presidents about the details of the class only after she released them to the Thresher, giving the presidents no time to offer her their feedback. Silva has dismissed others’ views while considering the course, revealing the problems inherent to her conflict of interest. As a result, Silva should limit her influence on the course development process.

Creating a task force should help create a balanced solution so long as its members explore the breadth of student opinion. Accordingly, I support the creation of a task force to construct the curriculum. In order to increase the task force’s accountability, Senate approved an amendment proposed by Brown College President Tom Carroll requiring the SA’s vote of approval on the plan the task force produces before it is presented to the Faculty Senate. A vote of approval would indicate to faculty members if students support the class before they conduct their own vote. Surprisingly, Silva informed the Senators that she interpreted this amendment to allow the Senate vote to occur after the Faculty Senate had already approved the course for the curriculum, depriving the Faculty of an opportunity to gauge student support of the curriculum change.

Still, in theory, a task force should resolve this issue by ensuring its product fairly represents student opinion. The Senate often votes to select members of task forces, but according to the legislation, only the SA president can appoint members of this task force, allowing Silva deep control over the legislation’s direction and making it possible to build a task force unrepresentative of the breadth of student opinion.

If the Senate is able to appoint members to the task force and vote on the proposal for a curriculum change before the faculty vote, the final course will better serve the community.

The SA president has served our community admirably by taking an aggressive stance against a culture allowing sexual assault on campus, but the Senate should not treat Silva’s proposal any differently than one proposed by another student. In order to ensure that one student’s voice does not dictate a policy that will affect generations of future students, Silva should separate herself and her strong opinions from the debate, planning and implementation of the course, and she should not be responsible for appointing members to the task force. Furthermore, Silva should allow the Student Senate to vote on the proposal for curriculum change before the Faculty Senate initially votes on it, staying true to the spirit of Carroll’s amendment. For this course to succeed and for students to engage its mission, all students must be invested and on board with the plan, not just one.

Jake Nyquist is a Will Rice College sophomore, SA Senator and the Thresher Photo Editor

Letter to the Editor: #ThinkAbtWar

On October 22, we in the “Dear Rice Community” received an email notifying us that an Army Apache helicopter and Stryker armored vehicle would be on campus, inviting us to admire them and take advantage of the photo op. The idea behind this event, which coincided with a Rice v. West Point football game, was presumably to celebrate the work of the military in a time of ongoing war. As an anthropologist who studies the ramifications of war violence in the lives of American soldiers, veterans, and their families, I think acknowledging that hardship and labor, and thinking carefully about what it really entails, is extremely important. And this is exactly why I was profoundly disturbed by this stunt.

Treating these deadly weapons as an opportunity to snap a selfie simultaneously erases and glorifies the violent power of war. Were we to think about what happens when metal meets flesh, we might not treat it so cavalierly.

If we are going to make a space on campus for acknowledging the work of war, we must do so as part of a public conversation. And we must think carefully about the violence that is the heart of that work. A campuswide email enjoining us to celebrate a sanitized image of war’s power with a “go owls” chant shuts such conversation down.

In this instance, evidence of this horrifying power is readily available. The notorious “Collateral Murder” videos released by Wikileaks in 2010 depict a 2007 US aerial assault in Baghdad in which at least 9 innocent Iraqi civilians, including a Reuters journalist, and dozens of others were grievously injured, including two children in a van whose driver was attempting

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to rescue the wounded. These videos were shot from onboard the Apache helicopters from Fort Hood’s First Cavalry Division who carried out the assault.

If the Apache on our campus this weekend was one of those used in the 2007 attack, would we still be happy to pose for a picture with it? And if it was not, why should we feel any different?

It is a disturbing irony that at the very same moment we are voicing our grave concerns, even our disgust, at the idea of guns on our campus, we seem willing to ignore, or even celebrate, the presence of these other weapons. In the campus carry conversation here at Rice, many have noted that weapons and the aura of violence they bring are incompatible with the environment of learning we seek to create. Surely, then, before inviting military vehicles onto our campus we would want to at least consider the effect of the presence of these behemoths armed with 30 mm and .50 caliber machine guns, hellfire missiles and rocket launchers.

What might the spectacle of weapons of war on our college campus signify to the members of this community whose diversity we prize?

What terrible histories might this reenact? For our Egyptian or Palestinian colleagues whose universities have been specially targeted for military oppression? For members of our community involved in #blacklivesmatter, catalyzed both by the state-sanctioned killing of young black citizens and also by the militarized violence that meets their protests? For those among us whose lives are marked by the threat and use of military weapons on the Tex-

The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is published each Wednesday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice University.

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as-Mexico border? For those who remember all too well that mere decades ago, military weapons on American college campuses threatened and took the lives of students? Or for those who have themselves fired these weapons, who do not have the luxury of glamorizing their violent power, or who know in their aching bones what it feels like to be blown up inside a Stryker (a vehicle that might save you, but not your buddy, or might keep you alive and shattered at the same time)?

We owe it to our community to think carefully about such things. And if the aim of this stunt was indeed to acknowledge the work of the military in this time of ongoing war, let us please think carefully about that too. Now, in anticipation of Veteran’s Day, we have an opportunity to do just that. Between now and November 11, learn something new about lived experiences of war in America today. Share something you know about it with other members of the Rice community. Ask your students to consider what the military weapons on our campus this weekend showed, and what they hid. Talk to your friends about what they think.

Share this letter on social media. And tweet your thoughts with the tag #ThinkAbtWar. Zoë H. Wool Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology Rice University Related media submitted alongside this letter to help start a different kind of conversation about war can be found at ricethresher.org/ opinions.

Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center: 6100 Main St., MS-524 Houston, TX 77005-1892 Phone (713) 348-4801 Email: thresher@rice.edu Website: www.ricethresher.org Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the piece’s author.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

We cannot call Rice exceptional yet Earlier this year, the University of Texas, Austin came under fire for what many called a racist border patrol themed frat party. Media outlets from all over the country reported on the dynamics of the party, how the university administration was responding and what students were saying. In the wake of these events I heard a lot of Rice students expressing what I can only call Rice Exceptionalism: the belief that Rice is inherently different or better than all the other universities across the country.

Students said, “That would never happen at Rice,” or “Did they actually think they would get away with promoting an event like that,” or my personal favorite, “ Did no one tell them that was a bad idea?”

Because I had also “taken the red pill” and believed Rice Exceptionalism, I shared these sentiments. It wasn’t until Brown’s College Night that I realized maybe we aren’t as different as we think. Titled “The Presidential Election: Trump ’16: There’s Hell Toupee (Make Brown Great Again!),” College Night included a slew of activities, movies, trivia, food, etc.

However, the superlatives activity was most revealing and troubling to me. Among a pagelong list of seemingly playful and harmless “most likely to” statements the one that caught my attention read, “Most likely to be a bitch ass nigga.” Originally I thought I read it wrong: There was no way that in 2015 at Rice University

a group of students thought it okay to not only give this superlative to a fellow student, but to plaster it all over both elevators in the tower.

If we are truly to be an exceptional place, we must be cognizant of how our actions impact our peers and have the audacity to speak out against injustices.

Obviously it isn’t the first time I’ve heard this word while at Rice — usually I hear it when the college stacks blast rap on Friday afternoons, or when someone feels close enough to me that they can use the term endearingly.

Even though its usage isn’t uncommon, I am often perplexed why people want to use a word that carries centuries of oppression. I pondered this quandary for hours before I decided

to address it, ultimately hoping I wouldn’t have to do it all. That I as one of the few active black students at Brown and former diversity facilitator, wouldn’t have to be the one to point out racial insensitivities. While I got a lot of support and apologies from my peers, I was saddened and disappointed that no one else stood up and said anything.

If we are truly to be an exceptional place, we must be cognizant of how our actions impact our peers and have the audacity to speak out against injustices. Of course the incident at Brown is drastically different from the one at UT, but both incidents are rooted in ignorance, inconsideration and disrespect. Don’t get me wrong: I am extremely blessed and honored to be at Rice, but I definitely believe we have a long way to go before we can honestly be exceptional.

James Carter is a

Brown College junior

The academic menagerie of knowledge

The other day I learned that a solution to Einstein’s field equations, found by the mathematician Kurt Gödel, calls for a rotating universe that (in theory) permits travel between any two points on the space-time continuum.

The same day, I also learned of the Elliott Wave Principle as a method of economic analysis that can predict market trends, as well as how I will probably never fully understand what Wittgenstein meant by “The world is everything that is the case.” Funny thing is, I didn’t learn any of these things in the classroom, but from simply engaging my peers in conversation.

When we do meet those in disparate disciplines, through chance acquaintances or student clubs, how often do we bother to inquire deeply about what they’re learning in their favorite class, or what their research project is all about?

This illustrates what I’d call cross-pollination learning. Rice students are scattered across 53 majors, 18 minors and several other

OP-ED

the Rice Thresher

interdisciplinary programs and certificates.

So it’s odd we don’t normally consider the academic diversity around us. Think about it: When and where else in our lives will we be in an environment so packed with individuals with such heterogeneous intellectual interests, yet still united by this unadulterated thirst for knowledge and learning? I know a junior who’s read Goethe’s “Faust” and another who’s currently ploughing through Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu” — in their original German and French, respectively. A friend of mine is using organic semiconductors to build electronics on the molecular scale, while another can parse a Mahler symphony into its most basic harmonic and formal components and explain the logic behind each measure.

The collective breadth and depth of people’s knowledge and capabilities here is staggering.

We come to college to study under professors, but we can learn a lot from each other as well, scholastically speaking. As Nathaniel Hawthorne observed, “It contributes greatly toward a man’s moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.”

But in our day-to-day activities on campus we rarely partake in this cross-pollination learning. Even though our social lives are spent in close proximity with students from all disciplines, we generally wind up clustered together with those who take the same classes, or are in the same major and division, as ourselves.

When we do meet those in disparate disciplines, through chance acquaintances or student clubs, how often do we bother to inquire deeply about what they’re learning in their favorite class, or what their research project is all about?

It’s never pleasing to find out how much we really don’t know, how confined we are with our existing knowledge and skills, but that’s exactly what Socrates realized after all his philosophizing, isn’t it? It’s an experience at once profoundly humbling and tremendously conducive to the refining of our minds. No one ever complained about getting more educated. Learning a bit more about astrophysics, mathematical finance, analytic philosophy and the other fields I’ve stumbled across through my chats with other students in my five semesters here, has only imparted on me a more sincere appreciation for the diversity of human knowledge, for how far we’ve come in comprehending the confusing, farcical, sacred, tragic, surprising and infinitely intricate world around us and its inhabitants.

A function of education is obviously to acquire knowledge, but it also shows us the limitations of our knowledge and helps us press on despite those limitations. Our peers are thus a substantial resource we can harness to grasp this. So next time you meet a fellow student, try starting up a conversation about his or her intellectual passions. It will be worth your while.

Henry Bair is a Baker College junior

R2

5

RICE WRITES

Editor’s Note: The phrase “taking a secret to your grave” has become colloquial to the point where we don’t stop to think about its deeper implications. While many of the pieces we received had outstandingly creative takes on that colloquial meaning, this story really stood out to us in its raw and real interpretation of what it means to take a secret to your grave — how sometimes, it is the secret itself that takes you to your grave.

-Bailey Tulloch, R2 Monthly Contest Committee Head Powder

by Tina Nazerian I went to Iraq to tell a story. Two years ago, I had sat in the Big Boss’s office in New York, where he told me that if I reported on the war for a while and gave him a stellar story, he’d give me what people in the business would kill for — the nightly news anchor chair. How long I’d be there, he didn’t know, but he assured me that the soldiers would keep my crew and me safe.

The first month, seven American troops and 102 civilians died when a suicide bomber blew up a food market in the city’s center. The Big Boss loved the emotional touches in my story. The third month, the soldiers discovered two members of a suicide bomber network. The Big Boss applauded how my story showed America’s war progress. The fifth month, I overheard some troops at my base talk about how they raped the women when they burst into civilian homes. My story never ran.

Eventually, I got a letter in the mail, a warning from the Big Boss to not push the line.

I saw them on the outskirts of Baghdad, during the eight month. I’d been following two of the troops on a mission to kill a trainee suicide bomber, and we stopped on the road so one of them could pee. Less than half a mile away, we saw a father carrying his infant son. He was sunburned across his face, and was swaying as he walked, wheezing. After the soldier zipped up his pants, he pulled out his machine gun, firing twice. First at the father – to spare him the pain of watching his son die, he told me later that day – and next at the child.

“It’s always good to eliminate any potential problems,” he explained.

Those words kept cycling through my head that evening back at the base.

They still do. Every time I finish reading the nightly news, I go back to my Manhattan apartment, wash off the powder, and sleep, only to have the words and the father and son creep into my dreams.

Sometimes I play the tape of the story I reported that night – two American troops ended the life of a suicide bomber before he ended anyone else’s – and I press my fingernails hard against my skull, hoping for it to break.

November Prompt: “Coming Home” We welcome everyone to submit a piece!

Email a short story or poem up to 600 words in length to r2ricereview@gmail.com. Winners receive a $25 Coffeehouse gift card!

We must revise and individualize Rice’s grading system

“And as I like to tell the ‘C’ students, you too can be president.” This statement seems a bit absurd to the general grading policy as an indicator of success; however, President George W. Bush gave this statement in a commencement speech to the graduates of Southern Methodist University. What on earth is the former president talking about?

This statement exposes the gap between what grades claim to measure and what they actually measure. Further, the grading system may severely injure student motivation and how students behave when hoping to achieve that existential mountain top of success. In order to understand this injury, we will explore the claimed intent and results of grading, and how this system of measurement may hurt motivation. Finally, we will look at tangible solutions that redefine grading and how we might better measure success.

The grading system exists to score and measure a student’s level of mastery in a particular subject. The system attempts to inform an individual how well they understand particular ideas or concepts. Its intent is to objectively report you know what you learned; however, it subjectively assigns points for how well you do. Grading is intended to cause an intrinsic desire to understand concepts as best as possible, and to see this under-

standing in the grades you receive. However, the system quickly turns students into competitors as they battle amongst themselves for the highest grade. Students with top marks receive the most attention and opportunity; thus competition only increases as the number of top marks and jobs available to students are capped. Could the pressure of this system explain why students take their lives? If nothing else, we find symptoms of “On the Folly of Rewarding A while Hoping for B” in which students become consumed by the idea of meeting top marks and beating others along the way, rather than learning for the sake of wisdom.

School becomes not about how well one can learn but what job or accolade will accompany performing a little better than the next person. This entrapment causes a fall in overall productivity, as can be seen in research showing that intrinsic motivation causes positive results more effectively than extrinsic motivation. We can see this system is flawed, and we should create a renewed assessment to create an environment most conducive to great results.

What’s the solution? How do we appeal to a greater measurement of understanding concepts?

Removing grades might be a solution. Universities such as Johns Hopkins University and Massachu-

setts Institute of Technology do this for a semester or two, and some have removed the GPA system altogether. Perhaps a holistic and qualitative performance review would allow for student feedback on their own performance and indicate this performance to outside employers and spectators. This idea tailors to the individual and provides enough feedback for students to adjust their performance.

We must shift societal norms from the idea of extrinsic motivators in the abstract world of learning.

As Rice students, we must not forget that we charged the administration to enact new educational innovations last spring through the Rice Education of the Future Report, which reflects our thoughts that classroom learning and thus the grading system reflects only around 25 percent of what we take away from our Rice education.

I believe the grading system as a whole should be changed as we begin implementations. If our measuring of student success becomes more individualized, we will truly do something unconventional. This success may come through concepts recommended in the Rice Education of the Future Report such as an alternative Rice degree track that reflects more recognition of the types of accomplishments that we achieve as Rice students, or a presidential honor award like that which ex-

ists for academics.

Regardless of the solutions Rice creates, as a population in the current school system we must understand President Bush’s notion that success is not based upon a mark on GPA, but in what we choose to do from intrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivator will not be found in a universal grading system. It will be found in pursuing an individualistic, holistic approach not directly measurable against fellow students because we are all measured differently. I charge that grading be changed so it does not turn students against each other for the sake of marks on paper. This measure should challenge us to excel in a way that C students can be president because we are inspired by what cannot be measured as external reward.

Sawyer Knight is a McMurtry College junior

arts

ENTERTAINMENT

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Houston’s best late-night bites Walden Pemantle A&E Editor

It happened to me once. It was past midnight, I was downtown and I was hungry.

After being turned away at multiple bars (I swear, I just wanted some food), I went home and made myself a greasy bag of microwave popcorn. Don’t let it happen to you.

Houston has great food, but all too often when it’s late at night and you really want it, the good grub is nowhere to be found. These four spots have excellent food, convenient locations and, if you’re still awake when they close (if they close), you either have an orgo exam tomorrow or some serious insomnia. tiffany yip/thresher

tiffany yip/thresher

frankie huang/thresher

Left: Artist Emily Link discusses the exhibition with students and community members on opening night. Upper right: A purple ‘space puppet’ drives a rover in the front of Matchbox Gallery. Bottom right: Artist Nick Bontrager discusses the ‘core samples’ in the forefront with spectators.

‘Space Puppets’ land in Matchbox Gallery Kaylen Strench A&E Editor

Space puppets have invaded Rice University. That’s right, for the next month, Matchbox Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Space Puppet Relay Team: Project Terra,” will feature a couple of eccentric puppets and various space and earth paraphernalia, including brightly colored samples supposedly derived from extraterrestrial soil and a handmade space capsule.

The project was first initiated by Emily Link, a 2008 University of Houston graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio painting.

Though Link said she has always been interested in space, when she encountered a grant for a space-art project, she immediately passed it along to her friend Nick Bontrager, an artist in Fort Worth, TX, known for his interdisciplinary focus.

“Nick and I are both big space fans,” Link said. “So at first I sent the grant application to him. I said, ‘Nick, you’re a space nerd, why don’t you do this?’”

Link realized soon after, however, that the grant applied only to projects within 75 miles of Houston. In order for Bontrager to contribute from afar, Link would need to be on the project and the artists had to establish a “relay” system such that they could work together despite the distance.

“We had to use FedEx as our ‘mission control,’” Bontrager said. “We mailed a lot of things to each other: Emily would send me fabric, I would send her a lot of 3-D printed stuff.

So that’s our space program right now; it kind of exists off the highways of Texas.”

Both Link and Bontrager said this creation process helped inform their work.

THE WEEKLY SCENE The editors’ picks for this week’s best events. Time to explore the wonderful world of Houston.

“We decided to each make a traveler and his or her vessel, and they would be shared between us,” Link said.

“Travelers” is left intentionally vague, as these puppets represent both space voyagers and conduits between Link and Bontrager.

“More than anything, they’re terranauts,” Bontrager said. “They don’t really leave the planet, but they have all these fun sci-fi influence and interplanetary artifacts and objects.”

The travelers are felt, abstract creatures.

One is purple, and one is small and green.

Link said she and Bontrager drew their inspiration from the classic television show “The Muppets.”

“We’re both Muppets fans, having grown up in the ’80s,” Link said. “So we both had an interest in making puppets together, not necessarily functioning puppets, just forms that resemble them in figure and movement.”

Besides the puppets, at least a dozen core samples are scattered throughout the exhibition in various shapes, materials and colors.

All demonstrate incredible intricacy. Some feature minute, detailed carvings, while others have clearly been made from tedious paper cutting and folding.

“We imagined these travelers were collecting core samples or surface samples,” Link said. “So it is very imaginary in a way, but also involves a lot of space travel references, especially early space travel.”

Though the samples look abstract, Bontrager said they were inspired by information pulled from the NASA public domain and other authentic sources.

“Many of my core samples are carved from publicly available data from NASA,” Bontrager said. “And Emily designed a lot of her little

gem objects by looking at images online and doing thorough research.”

In terms of materials, Bontrager and Link both said they used everything and the kitchen sink: brass, aluminum, felt, acrylic paint, oil paint and more.

“It’s really hard to think of a medium we didn’t use,” Bontrager said.

The same was true of the artists’ methods. Bontrager said he and Link utilized every technique from woodworking to laser cutting to sewing. He said their collaboration and the idea of small-scale sculpture allowed for an interesting melding of traditional practices and emerging technologies. “[Link] was gluing pieces of felt together at the same time I was waiting for a high-definition 3-D laser printer to finish,” Bontrager said. “And that allowed us to again, reference this idea of a burgeoning space program where you’re seeing what’s on the cusp of technology in the arts, but you’re also utilizing what’s well practiced and has a history.”

Link said she did not choose Matchbox as the location for the exhibition, per se, but that it has turned out to be perfect for the show.

“Through the grant, [Matchbox] was the space [the show] was programmed into,” Link said. “But it is nice that it’s a small space, because [in SPRT] you’re trying to think up and imagine these huge things, like rockets, on a small scale.”

As for the intriguing name for the exhibition?

“We wanted to choose a name that could create an interesting acronym,” Link said. “‘SPRT’ brings to mind ‘spirit,’ and honestly, that really informed the work.”

“Space Puppet Relay Team: Project Terra” will be on display at the Matchbox Gallery in the Sewall Courtyard through the end of the month.

The Best of Downtown: The Flying Saucer 705 Main Street For late-night munchies when you’re stuck downtown, The Flying Saucer might just be ideal. Open until 2 a.m. on weekends, the bar has a laid-back vibe and impressive list of satisfying sandwiches, appetizers and drinks. Specialty hot sandwiches like the Sheboygan side-by-side brat and Boar’s Head French dip go especially well with the extensive list of craft beers.

Worth the Drive: Moon Tower Inn 3004 Canal Street When I said that these places were conveniently located, Moon Tower was the exception. Nestled among a block of warehouses in the Second Ward, you’ll probably never find yourself in the neighborhood.

Nevertheless, Moon Tower’s wild game hotdogs and incredible appetizers are among the best bar food in Houston. Open until 3 a.m. on weekends, with a monster wall of 66 beers on tap, Moon Tower is well worth the drive regardless of whether you go to drink, eat or both.

0see FOOD, page 8

POTTED POTTER

ZOOZOO

MESS WITH TEXAS

BOOK FAIR

If you like Harry Potter and a good spoof, don’t miss the Hobby Center’s newest production. “Potted Potter,” a play which crams all seven Harry Potter books into a laughter-filled 70 minutes, will run nightly until this Sunday, Nov. 8. There’s no better opportunity to unconventionally connect with your past.

If you cross Main Street this weekend, you’ll find not just one, but two zoos across the street. That’s right, at 7:30 p.m. Imago will host ZooZoo, a crazy show with comedy, music, acrobatics and live animals, including polar bears, penguins, frogs and hippos.

Need we say anymore?

This Thursday, the Aurora Picture Show invites art enthusiasts and film geeks to “Mess with Texas” in a series of new video productions created by a range of Texan artists. The videos feature source footage from Texan newsreels, home videos and television shows. Screening begins at 7 p.m. and tickets start at $10.

Save the books! From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, the Printing Museum is hosting a book fair selling both used books and some rare collectible volumes. A book collector’s panel discussion will also take place at 1 p.m. to introduce visitors to the world of book collecting.

Hobby Center 800 Bagby St thehobbycenter.org

Miller Outdoor Theater 6000 Hermann Park Drive milleroutdoortheater.com

Aurora Picture Show 2442 Bartlett St aurorapictureshow.org

The Printing Museum 1324 West Clay St printingmuseum.org

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

A&E

the Rice Thresher

7

Rice club uses music to heal Minoti Kale

For the Thresher

Rice has several clubs geared toward meeting the demands of many varied student interests, but few unite those coming from backgrounds as different as the humanities and medicine. Music MDs, a music therapy-based Rice club that was founded in fall 2014, does just that. Music MD’s roots lie in Florida where the club’s founder, Duncan College junior Varun Bansal, originally started the organization in high school. The club consists of a group of student musicians, each highly proficient in their chosen area of music, who play music for patients at Houston Methodist Hospital.

photo courtesy mei tan

The cast of ‘The Altruists’ from left to right: Martel College freshman Alan Kim flexes for the camera, Jones College sophomore Justin Bernard rests an elbow on Sid Richardson College freshman Abby Sledge and Lovett College freshman Hannah Tyler glances at Brown College senior Chris Sanders.

‘The Altruists’ blends experience, new talent Ryan Lee

For the Thresher

Most protests are reactions against injustice, but sometimes, people protest for the sake of protesting itself. “The Altruists,” written by Nicky Silver, explores the lives of three such self-identified “professional protesters,” whose “sticking up to the man” mantra results in one of them being framed for murder. Directed by Rice alumna Susannah Eig (Jones ’14) and produced by Lovett College junior Mei Tan, the Rice Players Company’s performance of “The Altruists” captures the beating heart of a satirical and whimsical true story.

The Rice Players chose “The Altruists” as their fall production for several reasons: First, the play is a comedy, and thus a unique departure from other works they have chosen in the past. In addition, the five-person cast and the 90-minute runtime suit their relatively small team. Finally, according to Eig and Tan, the show shares great thematic relevance to the Houston community.

Eig explained that the plot, which centers on society pinning a crime on the wrong man, has special meaning in a city with one of the nation’s highest crime rates among the lowincome and minorities.

She said the show asks of its audience, “Are we just allowed to use people as scapegoats and say we’re good people at the same time?”

Tan also noted that the play demands an examination of the way the criminal justice

system affects individuals, and not just the world at large.

“The play should resonate, especially in a society where we can go on Facebook and share a cause, and we can hit ‘like’ on something that we feel is good for humanity,” Tan said. “‘Do we actually care about the people at the core of this?’ is the question that it asks.”

Both directors have extensive backgrounds in theater. Eig started building her acting and directing experience in high school. Throughout her years at Rice, she continued to develop her skills by directing and assisting on plays such as “Baltimore’s Waltz” and “The Mystery Plays.” Tan’s participation in theater also began during high school and carried into college. Her freshman year, she acted in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” where she first met Eig. More recently, she has assisted with costume design for the Rice visual and dramatic arts department’s “Paganini” and “The Heidi Chronicles,” directed theater at Lovett College and assisted with a campus production of “Twelfth Night.”

The Rice Players strive to achieve a professional production quality with a cast of unprofessional actors. For example, many students, including the stage manager, costume designer and set designer, had minimal to no production experience prior to “The Altruists.” To Tan, these limitations actually provide the actors and crew with more growth opportunities and freedom to develop their artistic vision.

“One of the main pillars of Rice Players Company’s philosophy is that we want to be a teaching company,” Tan said. “You want [the team members] to see this as a place where they can experiment.”

Tan and Eig said the production process has thus far been both plagued and blessed by surprises. At one end of the spectrum, various contractual and scheduling conflicts with professionals, including the prop and lighting designers, led to a scramble to fill gaps in the crew. At the other end, unexpected aid came in the form of an email from the playwright, Nicky Silver, who provided an updated version of the 14-year-old script, intended to fix some now-anachronistic details.

Eig said she predicts that audience members will not pick up on the months of planning and preparation it took to pull off the play. She noted, however, that this is intentional. “[The audience members] literally sit there, and the lights come on, and they don’t have to think,” Eig said. “That’s our goal — to get the audience to be so lost in what’s happening in front of them that they forget their grocery list, they forget what they had for dinner — they’re just in this story.”

Eig is currently working as actor and director in the theater business and applying for graduate programs in theater. As for Tan, after “The Altruists” ends, she plans to work on a production of Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice.”

Rice Players will perform “The Altruists” from Nov. 12 to 21 in Hamman Hall.

What we’re trying to do is try to restore the normalcy of that environment and facilitate interaction with other people, which is something that several of these patients may miss out on.

Varun Bansal Founder, Music MDs

“What we basically do is go up to patient floors and play in individual patient rooms after asking the patients if they’d like to hear some music,” Bansal said.

The members of the organization also have to meet the Methodist volunteer requirements and are a part of the general Methodist volunteer group.

Though club members have not gone through formal therapy training, the club operates on the basic principles of music therapy. Though a relatively new health profession, music therapy has been proven to be very effective in assisting with physical therapy, and is also a positive motivator for patients who are undergoing intense medical treatments. The music session dates are organized by the club, in conjunction with the hospital, at the beginning of each month, and members sign up for the times when they are available. Usually a group of around seven people sign up and split into smaller groups of two or three people per room. Each group then plays a short selection of pieces for the patient.

The pieces played are usually chosen by the students before they go to the hospital, based on their varying levels of experience. The repertoire covers a wide range of musical styles, though according to Bansal, it is more common for classical pieces and folk music to be requested.

0see Music, page 8

8

A&E

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

the Rice Thresher

WHAT’S HIP RIGHT NOW APP:

Who’s Down

TV:

by kaylen strench

ART:

“Jessica Jones”

TECH:

Looping

Robo-buddy

courtesy robo-buddy courtesy wikipedia courtesy google

In a phrase: Or who just doesn’t want to hang with you.

Where to find it: Google Play Store, Apple App Store.

If you are not feeling socially ostracized enough in the harsh world of social media, you should probably look into this app. It’ll do the trick. Essentially, users who have been invited (Strike 1: invite-only policy) can either set their status as down or not down. If you’re down, the idea is that your friends will see that that’s the case and invite you in on their plans. Another option is for you to specify what you’re down for, so other people can attempt to jump in on your idea.

The obvious drawback to this app’s existence is that it totally cheats you out of lying to get out of hanging out with a person you definitely don’t want to hang out with but who has asked you like five times if you’re free. In the old world, you could’ve just said, “Sorry dude, not feeling up to it,” and then go hit the bars with a couple of friends and untag yourself in the photos afterward. Now, though, you either have to hang out with this (perhaps truly awful) person, stay in completely or perhaps, tell her straight to her face. Yikes.

0 FOOD from page 6 Closest to Campus: Mai’s Restaurant 3404 Milam Street There’s something almost miraculous about Mai’s. Open until 4 a.m. on weekends, Mai’s boasts an encyclopedic menu of Vietnamese, Thai and other Southeast Asian specialties. Occasionally the food can be badly over-seasoned,

0 MUSIC from page 7 “We also have to make sure that the pieces we choose aren’t too long so we don’t interfere with medical care and other hospital protocols,” Bansal said.

Though the pieces are generally selected by the students, patients can also request to have specific pieces played beforehand. Some more spontaneous song choices include playing “Happy Birthday” for the patients as a part of hospital birthday celebrations.

“Patients in the hospital are out of their normal social environment,” Bansal said. “What we’re trying to do is try to restore the normalcy of that environment and facilitate interaction with other people, which is something that several of these patients may miss out on.”

According to Bansal and Jones College junior Julia Zhang, the music they play essentially serves as an icebreaker for conversation.

“It allows us to engage with the patients.

Bansal said. “Many times patients enjoy talking about famous musicians they’ve seen and they often have a child or a grandchild who plays an instrument, so playing music for them really helps with generating conversation.” Having such conversations has been clinically proven to help the patients feel happier and more socially connected, which is important to the healing process.

Interacting with patients, however, isn’t always easy. According to Bansal and Zhang, students have to learn to not take rejection personally. Many of the hospital patients the students play for have been through long, difficult surgeries and are often in a lot of pain.

In a phrase: At long last, a real superhero.

Where to find it: Released on Netflix Nov. 20.

Everyone’s beginning to get antsy about all of those November Netflix releases, and with good reason. First, there are few pleasures in life better than stealing away from your extended family for three or four hours during the holidays to binge-watch some quality tube. More importantly, however, there are actually some pretty good shows on the horizon, the best of which may be the surprising new Marvel hero concept “Jessica Jones.”

Based on an American Marvel comic, the show features a tough, smart heroine, Jessica Jones (duh), played by Krysten Ritter.

At the beginning of the season, Jones struggles with her career switch from superhero to private investigator. In the background, however, Jessica must also negotiate trauma resulting from a past abusive relationship. Due to this willingness to explore deeper issues, the show has been critically praised thus far. It may very well be a good viewing candidate for you this Thanksgiving dinner.

courtesy blogspot

In a phrase: Underwear street parties in NYC. Where to find it: NYC for now, but the movement’s spreading.

Looping is very difficult to explain, and I doubt you will fully understand this description until you have watched some videos online. Alas, I will try. Last spring, Matthew Silver and Fritz Donnelly decided to start organizing “adult play-times” in NYC, and they are still continuing today. Essentially, people strip to their undies and run around and wrestle each other like wild animals.

The founders say that this “looping” helps people cope with stress, though I’d be inclined to say that it is more of a performance art. Either way, it’s clear that everyone is not totally on board with the movement — police have been trying to shut sessions down due to lewdness and disturbance of the peace. On the other hand, I suppose it may allow for a healthy expression of inner angst and give adults permission to play. You be the judge: To loop or not to loop? That is the question.

In a phrase: No more long, lonely drives.

Where to get it: Just now being test-piloted

by Toyota.

Ever since I saw “I, Robot,” I knew this day was coming — the day when robots not only replace low-wage labor, but when they also start replacing our friends. Toyota is currently working on creating such a thing: a four-inch-tall robot that can talk to you, compute tons of data quickly and accurately and can fit in your cup holder.

Kirobo Mini is designed to read emotions, speech patterns and even gestures.

In the immediate future, the hope is simply that Kirobo will entertain you enough to where you won’t fall asleep at the wheel and drive your car off a cliff. Eventually, however, scientists hope that the little guy can be used to collect better data on people: Most people do, after all, spend a lot of solitary time in their car doing weird shit (we’ve all belted Adele at least three or four times). If this doesn’t scare you already, keep in mind that Kirobo Mini would just be the first of its kind to go in cars. Conversational, emotionreading robots have existed for decades.

All I’m saying is, they better program the “Three Laws of Robotics” right this time.

but friendly service, late hours and sheer vastness of the menu make it an easy choice if you don’t want to stray far from campus.

The Classic Spot: House of Pies 3112 Kirby Drive This Rice student mainstay has earned its reputation. Excellent diner food, anytime breakfast and, of course, pies, are all draws for House of Pies. Open 24/7, the restaurant is a serious upgrade from the Waffle Houses and Whataburgers you might otherwise end up in.

“If a patient doesn’t want to hear something, you need to be understanding about that,” Bansal said. “Patients sometimes also have very strong opinions about things that you don’t necessarily agree with, but you have to be very sensitive to these feelings and ideas and must be very conciliatory in such situations.”

Despite some difficulties, both Bansal and Zhang have found the program incredibly rewarding and several students in the club have received many positive testimonials and feedback from the patients they have played for. According to Bansal, his most memorable experience with the club came from a session with a patient who had recently had open-heart surgery. “She said that she felt like with the music that was played, every note was going right into her heart to heal it,” Bansal said. “That was very touching.”

According to Zhang, the club also provides a distinctive experience for students and musicians to experience the medical environment in healthcare in a way that is very different from traditional shadowing. “It feels very involved,” Zhang said. “I think the program gives you a better idea of the empathetic side of what being a doctor would be like — interacting with them, caring for them, talking about their day and trying to help them feel better; and I feel like it is a really unique experience that you don’t really get when you generally volunteer in the hospital.”

Though the organization started in Florida, it already has a branch in Massachusetts, in addition to this newest one through Rice.

“We might also try to expand our Houston program to Texas Children’s Hospital as well and to other public hospitals like Memorial Hermann,” Bansal said. “But we will definitely continue with Methodist as it has been a great experience.”

the queer agenda events

fact of the day

November 4 “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” Gray/Wawro Lecture at 6 p.m.

Documentary screening and discussion with Mary Dore

MSM (men who have sex with men)

November 8 Rice Queer Coffee at 2 p.m.

Men who engage in same-sex behavior, but who may not necessarily self-identify as gay or bisexual.

Queer Resorce Center Facilitator Meeting at 3 p.m.

art from the community

GLBT Political Caucus General Membership Meeting at 6:30 p.m.

November 10 mSociety M-Men Mission Training Our Bodies, Our Lives exhibition at the Montrose Center Fine arts photography collection presented by the Change Project November 13 mSociety Keke Ball For young gay/bisexual men who are involved or interested in the ballroom community November 15 Rice Query Meeting November 18 Transgender Women of Color United for Change’s Transgender Day of Remembrance

if you want to be featured in the Queer Agenda, please submit your art piece to riceqrc@gmail.com

9

CONFERENCE USA CHAMPS

The Rice University women’s cross country team won their third Conference USA title in school history and their first since 2007. Five Owls tabbed individual All-Conference performances at Spero Kereiakes Park in Bowling Green, KY. Rice junior Cali Roper won her second consecutive C-USA individual title with a winning time of 17:22.6 in the 5K race, becoming the first C-USA athlete to win back-to-back titles since 2009-10.

The victory marks Rice’s first conference title of the 2015-2016 school year.

courtesy mike clark/wku

Soccer freshmen shine on Senior Night Michael Kidd Thresher Staff

The 2015 Conference USA tournament field is set and the Rice Owls are looking to bring home the championship. As the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Rice must win three consecutive games to earn the title and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Owls have momentum on their side after their Senior Night 4-0 shutout of the University of Texas, San Antonio. Despite the talented offensive group of seniors including Lauren Hughes, Holly Hargreaves and Danielle Spriggs, the underclassmen led the way against the Roadrunners. With the win, Rice closed out the regular season with a 10-6-2 record (6-3-1 CUSA).

Before Thursday’s final regular season game, the graduating seniors of the 2015 squad were highlighted for their commitment to Rice soccer and quest for excellence over the past four years. Once the game started, however it was the freshman who made a statement that the program is in good hands moving forward.

In the fifth minute of the match, the scoring opened when freshman midfielder Dominique Mazero intercepted a pass in the midfield and fired off a shot on goal to give Rice the early 1-0 advantage. In the 35th minute of the match, the Owls scored again when sophomore forward Nia Stallings received a cross from junior transfer Madeleine Lundberg and deposited it by the far post for the 2-0 lead. Rice finished the half with a 15-3 advantage in shots and forced the

UTSA goalkeeper to come up with six saves.

Rice came out in the second half with complete control of the match both offensively and defensively. The Owls were able to make substitutions and provide rest for some of their regular starters. The bench did not disappoint, netting two goals as well and preserving the shutout.

In the 75th minute, freshman defender Darcy Mickalow scored her first career goal for the Owls on a header after a sharp cross from senior midfielder Danielle Spriggs. Freshman midfielder Gabby Martinez found forward Marissa Topolski on the far right wing of the field.

Topolski then played in a bending ball for freshman forward Annie Walker in the 81st for the fourth goal of the match. Senior goalkeeper Kara Dugall closed out the match and preserved the shutout as every healthy member of the Owls squad made an appearance in the game.

Head Coach Nicky Adams said the seniors have been a model class for the university.

“This senior class has been amazing for the program,” Adams said. “They have set the staple of expectations for this program and [are] leaving us with the most wins we’ve ever had, along with the most championships. They’re leaving a legacy and set the standard for the rest of the teams to follow as years go on.”

Adams and the Owls have to win a total of four games in a row to get to the NCAA tournament level, but Adams said they are confident they have the capability to do so.

“We’re definitely going to do our best [to win the tournament],” Adams said. “We’re actually in

our fourth season now with preseason, regular season, conference and now postseason play and [we’ve] been playing all year for this. We need to sharpen up and be our absolute best against whoever we play in the conference tournament.”

According to Dugall, the team wants to recreate its feeling from winning last season’s conference tournament.

“I think our biggest thing is staying focused on the goal and not looking too far ahead but rather take it one game at a time,” Dugall said.

“That feeling of winning conference and beating [the University of] North Texas was special for us last year and we want that feeling again.”

The No. 4 seed Rice Owls will face the No. 5 seed Middle Tennessee State University on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. The two teams battled to 0-0 double overtime tie back on Oct. 18 at Holloway Field. Rice held the clear advantage in that matchup, taking 26 shots compared to Middle Tennessee’s 13 but were held in check by the Blue Raiders’ goalkeeper, who registered 13 saves.

The winner of that matchup then likely plays the No. 1 seed of the tournament, the University of North Texas. Rice defeated the Mean Green in the 2014 Conference USA championship game last season and may have the opportunity to bump them off once again. The Owls narrowly lost to North Texas by a 2-1 score when they met on Oct. 25.

The Conference USA tournament begins on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The tournament is hosted by Florida International University in Miami, FL.

C-USA Conference Tournament First Round, Nov. 4 North Texas WKU Rice MTSU Marshall LA Tech FAU Old Dominion

Semifinals, Nov. 6

Finals, Nov. 8

Football drops pivotal C-USA matchup Aniket Tolpadi Thresher Staff

After sacrificing 320 yards and four touchdowns from Louisiana Tech University redshirt senior quarterback Jeff Driskel, the Rice University football team fell to Louisiana Tech 42-17.

The loss dropped the Owls to 4-4 (2-2) on the season.

In a game that had major implications in the Conference USA West Division, the Bulldogs struck first on their opening drive, with junior wide receiver Trent Taylor catching a 47-yard touchdown pass from Driskel on third down. While the Owls tied the game on their ensuing drive with a four-yard touchdown run from redshirt freshman Samuel Stewart, the Bulldogs went up 14-7 when Driskel connected with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Carlos Henderson from 14 yards away from the end zone.

The teams traded punts until midway through the second quarter, at which point the Bulldogs went on a drive that would be the turning point of the game. Louisiana Tech marched down the field to the Owls one-yard line with an opportunity to take a two-possession lead in the game. After the Owls stuffed senior running back Kenneth Dixon on consecutive plays, they forced an incompletion on third and goal, appearing to come up with a huge third down stop that would keep the game close.

Redshirt freshman safety J.T. Ibe was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play — his second personal foul penalty of the drive — giving Louisiana Tech another chance to put the ball on the end zone.

Dixon took advantage with a two-yard touchdown run, and the Bulldogs never looked back: The rushing score initiated a string of 28 unanswered points that would put the game out of reach.

Rice Head Coach David Bailiff said he was upset with Ibe’s penalties, as well as several others by other players at key points in the game.

“Those are selfish penalties, and we’re not going to have a selfish football team,” Bailiff said. “We start every year talking about how we’re going to be the hardest, smartest working football team in Conference USA; that’s not smart football, it’s got nothing to do with hard work.”

According to Bailiff, his team’s inability to sustain momentum was a key reason for the defeat.

“After that first half, we got into the locker room and they had three big plays and that was the difference in that half,” Bai0see Football, page 10

Swimming splits pair of dual meet matches Andrew Grottkau Thresher Staff

Rain and cool weather did not deter the Rice University swim team as it hosted two dual meets over the weekend against fellow Texas schools. The Owls defeated the University of North Texas 139-67 on Friday and fell to No. 21 Southern Methodist University 152-136 on Saturday to bring their record in dual meets to 3-2 on the season.

On Friday afternoon, Rice competed in its third Conference USA dual meet of the season against North Texas. The Owls started out strong, winning the first seven events of the meet. After the Owls opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay (3:50.27), freshman Hanna Huston recorded her first career victory in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:11.17) to lead a trio of Owls finishing first, second and third in 0see Swimming, page 10

10 SPORTS

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

the Rice Thresher

0from FOOTBALL page 9

nick macmillian/thresher

Junior running back Jowan Davis attempts to stiff-arm a defender during a 42-17 loss against Louisiana Tech University. Rice is now 4-4 on the season and needs two more wins to become bowl-eligible.

0from SWIMMING page 9 the event. Huston said she was happy to win her first race.

“I honestly didn’t know where I was in the race,” Huston said. “So that was exciting when I looked up and saw that I won.”

Rice continued its success with wins in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.03) and 100-yard freestyle (51.24) by sophomore Alicia Caldwell, a win in the 50-yard freestyle (24.01) by sophomore Jaecey Parham, and a win in the 100-yard butterfly (57.37) by sophomore Kiley Beall. Sophomore Kaitlyn Swinney finished first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.53) before posting her lifetime best time (5:01.17) to lead a 1-2-3 Owls finish in the 500yard freestyle.

According to Swinney, a good week of preparation helped her and the team post strong performances.

“We’ve had a lighter training week to prepare for this meet, and I think it showed in our times,” Swinney said. “We were really ready.”

The Owls closed the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:37.23). Overall, they won nine of the 11 events on the day to cruise to a 139-67 win. Head Coach Seth Huston said he was pleased with the team’s performance and credited the Owls’ strong start with helping lead the team to victory.

“I think we were really outstanding,” Huston said. “I was really pleased with how we got out of the gate fast. We set ourselves up really well.”

Rice was back in the pool on Saturday to take on nationally ranked SMU. Despite delays due to the weather, the meet began after a shortened warmup. Following the Mustangs’ win in the 200-yard medley relay (1:44.07) to begin the meet, the Owls won the next three events. For the second straight day, Hanna Huston led the Owls to a 1-2-3 finish in

liff said. “We thought we could run the ball by throwing the ball around a little bit, but a lot of the woes offensively were where we could move the chains and we’d have a drop or have a stupid penalty, and you can’t do that playing a good football team.”

Redshirt senior quarterback Driphus Jackson acknowledged Louisiana Tech’s prowess as a team, but said the loss came from the Owls’ inability to execute.

“They were a fast, physical team, but this is one of those games that I thought we lost it more than they actually won it,” Jackson said.

“I’m not saying that to take away anything that went on in the game, but I think that [Quarterbacks] Coach [Larry] Edmondson called a great game. Offensively we didn’t execute at all.”

In all likelihood, the loss to Louisiana Tech has made the Owls’ chances of winning the Conference USA West Division — and thereby earning a trip to the Conference USA title game— extremely slim. The loss dropped the

the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:17.28, and Alicia Caldwell won the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.73). Sophomore Julie Litver then recorded her first ever victory by winning the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 57.97 seconds. Litver said she was proud to win her first race at Rice, but her teammates may have been even more excited.

“My roommate, Kaitlyn [Swinney], actually got second after me, and she touched the wall and yelled out ‘Yes Julie!’” Litver said.

“That felt really good.”

Southern Methodist won the next three events before Caldwell recorded her second victory of the day in the 100-yard freestyle (51.17). According to Caldwell, this meet was one of her strongest performances of the season.

“I was really happy with my swims,” Caldwell said. “I know there’s still room for improvement and I know we all raced well; it was a close meet against a good team.”

Swinney turned in a second straight day of

Owls to 2-2 in Conference USA play, while the Bulldogs and the University of Southern Mississippi are tied atop the division with a 4-1 record.

According to redshirt senior defensive tackle Stuart Mouchantaf, the team can draw on their recent season for belief that they can pull off the feat.

“A few years ago we were in this position; we had to win six straight, and we did it,” Mouchantaf said. “We just need to remind the young ones that we can do this and we can keep it alive, but we have to believe and we have to work.”

Upcoming Games vs. UTEP

Nov. 6, 7:00 p.m.

El Paso, Texas

vs. Southern Miss Nov. 14, 2:30 p.m.

Rice Stadium

strong swims with wins in the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.25) and the 400-yard individual medley (4:24.32). Swinney’s two wins were the final two of the day for Rice, as they won six of the 14 total swimming events. SMU took points from the eight swimming events it won as well as the two diving events in which Rice does not compete. While Rice fought hard, they could not pull off the victory, losing 152136. Coach Huston said he was disappointed in the result but happy with how close the team came to victory against a nationally ranked opponent.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Huston said. “It was back and forth the whole way, and it came down to the last relay.”

Rice will have some time off to prepare for its next meet at the Phill Hansel Invitational hosted by the University of Houston from Nov. 19 to 21. During this event, the Owls will take on the University of Houston, North Texas, the University of Idaho and Tulane University.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

SPORTS

the Rice Thresher

11

Soccer senior class leaves legacy Volleyball upsets WKU in thriller Jeremy Reiskind Thresher Staff

Thursday night at Holloway Field, we witnessed the end of an era. Every year in college athletics a group of seniors leave, but the five seniors leaving from the soccer team have done amazing things to solidify themselves as one of the best senior classes in Rice soccer history.

To start, this class is the only class to secure multiple conference championships. In 2012, their freshman year, they won the Conference USA regular season with eight conference wins. Then after a disappointing 2013 campaign, the team rebounded in 2014 to win the C-USA tournament and secure a berth to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.

A great class normally needs a star player. This class does not have just one star but two. Holly Hargreaves and Lauren Hughes have been causing havoc for C-USA backlines for four years. Hargreaves and Hughes are the best scorers in Rice history; Hughes will finish her career first in goals, assists and points while Hargreaves will finish second in goals and points. They have combined for six First Team All-C-USA honors (three each), Hargreaves was named C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2012, and Hughes was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

Every superstar needs a strong supporting cast.

First there is Danielle Spriggs, the outside midfielder who runs more 40-yard sprints in a game than most collegiate football players preparing for the NFL combine. Over the last two years, Spriggs has become a constant on the wing, starting every

game and helping Hughes and Hargreaves put goals in the back of the net.

Next is Jasmine Isokpunwu, who has helped solidify the defense. She has played center back and center defensive mid, but she is most exciting to watch in the air. Isokpunwu is so strong in the air, winning 50-50 balls as well as using her head to redirect corners or free kicks towards the back of the net. Her play this year earned her Second Team All-C-USA honors.

Rounding out the five seniors is goalkeeper Kara Dugall. She has not started many games in her career, but has provided quality minutes in net when called upon.

However, I know for all the seniors on this team, the past does not matter. What matters is this week, the 2015 C-USA championship and defending their C-USA title. The Owls enter the tournament as the fourth seed, which means a potential semi-final match up against the University of North Texas, the first seed in the tournament, in a rematch of last year’s C-USA title match.

The two teams faced each other two weeks ago in Denton, TX on senior night, and the Owls dropped the match 2-1. Rice conceded two goals in the first 20 minutes. Afterwards, Rice calmed down and possessed the ball, however we were unable to complete passes in the offensive third and unable to put multiple quality shots on goal to test their keeper. Even in defeat, the team knows they can beat North Texas and wants a chance at revenge.

Hopefully this senior class gets at least five more games and can add another accolade to its legacy: The first ever NCAA tournament victory in school history.

Aaron Shi

For the Thresher

On Halloween afternoon, the Rice University volleyball team defeated the conference-leading No. 22 Western Kentucky University in a thrilling five-setter (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 16-14) at Tudor Fieldhouse, snapping Western Kentucky’s 17-match win streak and avenging Rice’s five-set loss to Western Kentucky last year in the Conference USA championship match.

With the win, the Owls hand Western Kentucky their first C-USA loss of the season and improve to an 18-8 overall record and 8-4 in conference play, placing them third in the C-USA standings.

According to Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe, the Owls performed and competed at a high level.

“Today was fun,” Volpe said. ”Our team has been up and down all season, but it seems like when we play strong opponents, we step up our game. It was a battle to the very end, and we happened to come out on top this time. It was great volleyball between two evenly matched teams that run a balanced offense.”

Rice recorded season-highs in kills (83) and assists (81) with three players posting double-doubles. The C-USA Setter of the Week, sophomore setter Madison McDaniel, set a career-high 70 assists in addition to notching 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Leah Mikesky led all players with 21 kills (.280)

complemented with 16 digs, and senior outside hitter Noelle Whitlock achieved a match and career-high 24 digs while also contributing 16 kills (.231). Whitlock also eclipsed 1,000 career digs late in the third set and became the 16th Owl in school history to reach such a feat.

Whitlock said the achievement helped propel the team to victory.

“I think [this achievement] helped me realize that this is going to be a big win,” Whitlock said after the match. “That would make that day so much better, just having both this win and 1,000 digs.”

Rice took the first set 25-23 without ever trailing and held Western Kentucky to a .222 hitting percentage. The Owls never trailed in the second set either, winning 25-21 and led by as much as seven, maintaining a match-high .465 kill percentage. However, the Toppers rallied from behind to take the second and third sets 25-22 and 25-23, respectively, to force a deciding fifth set. The Toppers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the fifth set, but the Owls responded with a 7-1 run and never looked back, winning 1614 to complete the upset.

Rice now prepares for their upcoming road games against the University of Texas, San Antonio on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Marshall University on Sunday at 12 p.m.

UTSA sits just above Rice at second place in the Conference USA standings, while Marshall is in eighth place with an even 6-6 record.

12

BACKPAGE

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

the Rice Thresher

We snuck our top investigative journalist into the oďŹƒce of one of Rice’s most influential voices. Take a look at Dean Hutch’s thoughts on some of the pressing issues on campus.

Proposed sexuality course pros

SS GRO

CONS

Sexually literate students Potentially set national benchmark for action against sexual misconduct I never learned what sex was til marriage – made things weird Maybe more kids will know what they’re doing at publics / Maybe publics would be less weird Anatomical pics of naughty parts Probably get free rubbers

Concealed carry pros

Paperwork Angry parents The wife might expect more from me This is no laughing matter They’ll probably talk about female condoms - gross $50,000 could be spent on study breaks (love me some Torchy’s)

CONS

Total power move over Leebron “Rice University: best degree you can get while packing a Nine on your hip� has a nice ring to it say something here Recreate the duel from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly� in the Academic Quad (only if I get to be Clint) Don’t Mess With Texas party could get rowdy Snub noses in Beer Bike swag bags

RUPD would want real guns instead of the water guns that are standard issue Don’t Mess With Texas party could get rowdy Everybody thinks Leebron would be a better Clint than I would

Take KTRU off the air again pros

CONS

Cash (more $$ = more Torchy’s) KTRU is weird as shit Remind people who’s in charge here

Might upset weird KTRU people Probably not that cool, I guess Love getting krunk at outdoor show - might not get invited Sometimes their events have Free Torchy’s

Rice

comes

last

The Economist released their ranking of the values of 1,275 U.S. schools this week, and Rice was ranked at 1,271st. To keep us humble, let’s note some schools that were ranked higher: ò Appalachian Bible School ò Sierra Nevada College ò Reed College ò King’s Square University ò Weed College ò Krunch-Barry School of Nautical Sciences (alma mater of Cap’n Crunch) But don’t worry, we’re still ranked higher than our rival, the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

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CLASSIFIEDS WANTED

TEACH FOR TESTMASTERS! Dynamic and Energetic teachers wanted. Starting pay rate is $20 to $32 per hour. Flexible schedules. We provide all training, all training is paid, and we pay for travel. Email your resume to jobs@ testmasters.com.

TUTORS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY! Rice Alum hiring tutors for Middle & High School Math, Natural & Social Science, Foreign Language, Humanities, and SAT/ACT prep. Reliable transportation required. Pay $30/hr+ based on experience. Contact 832-428-8330 and email resume to siyengar777@gmail.com OLD SCHOOL TUTORING is looking for Rice students with strong math skills to fulfill a part time child tutoring position. Oering schedule flexibility and $12-$14 an hour. Located across from Rice! Contact Bob Schmitt at OldschoolASC@gmail.com LOOKING TO HIRE a part-time assistant for a small law firm to help maintain oďŹƒce operations by receiving and distributing communications, maintaining supplies, and handling scheduling. Flexible hours. $12-14/hour. Contact sdb@mcconnellsovany.com if interested.

SPANISH TUTOR - Native speaker wanted to provide AP Spanish IV conversation & instruction for high school student. Walking distance from campus. 713-823-5050 STUDENT/GRADSTUDENT NEEDED for tutoring & driving elementary age children (4th grade boy & boy/girl twins in 1st grade) for a family in the Memorial area (near I-10 & Voss Rd.). Hours needed are 3-7 p.m., Mon. to Thurs. ... And if you’re able to swing it ... a bit later on Thursdays (maybe 10:30pm) so my husband & I could have a date night out ... such a bonus & needed break for us!! $18.00 to $20.00 an hour.Looking for someone that “likes� to teach children in an encouraging way. Ideally guiding them through homework BUT also enriching the experience by trying to make it as interesting & as fun as you’re able.

They don’t seem to have that curious spark for learning they used to have. All 3 have stated in just the last month, “I don’t like school� ...

So disappointing as a parent to hear. And not sure why this year schoolwork has become mundane for them : ( . Let me know if you’re interested in helping them gain confidence (through your own enthusiasm for learning) in

their academics & helping out our whole family in general. If this schedule will work with yours, let’s have a telephone conversation.

Then, if it seems to be a fit we can meet face to face. Must have good references & good gpa a plus. Past experience with children would be good (but not essential). Thank you for your consideration. Lisa Bandy (mom) lisa_gri@ hotmail.com Cell: 832 656-4522

ADVERTISING

We accept display and classified advertisements. The Thresher reserves the right to refuse any advertising for any reason. Additionally, the Thresher does not take responsibility for the factual content of any ad. Printing an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement by the Thresher.

Display advertisements must be received by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication.

First copy free, second copy $5.

WE NEED 1-2 female tutors 3-4 times a week.

We have three girls going into 7th grade. We will need help with languages, but mostly the focus will be on math and science. Please call 832-754-3138 ü (** '21256 :$17(' ò *LYH D IDPLO\ WKH chance at happiness. Receive $6,000 per cycle.

Qualify for FREE Egg Freezing & Storage. Apply at donate-eggs.com

Cash, check or credit card payment must accompany your classified advertisement, which must be received by 12 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication.

Juan Saldana Business Manager thresher-biz@rice.edu P.O. Box 1892 Houston, TX 77005-1892 (713) 348-4801