The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, January 27, 2016

VOLUME 100, ISSUE NO. 16 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016

Seventh under scrutiny Sid Richardson College faces administrative backlash following sexual assault at unregistered party

(Re)actions Matter Words have weight when it comes to sexual assault

see Ops p. 4 Blast to the past

Photo exhibit breathes new life into old technique

see A&E p. 5 Winter is coming Hughes signs to Icelandic professional soccer club

see Sports p. 9

0see ASSAULT, page 3

Grad career paths reflect shifting market Class of 2015 Outcomes PLANS AFTER GRADUATION 48% Employed full time 30% Continuing education 9% Seeking employment 3% Seeking continuing education 2% Military/Volunteer/Caregiving/Other 8% Undecided/Unknown

RICE 2015 MEDIAN SALARIES

COMPARED TO 2014 NATIONAL AVERAGE SALARIES

80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000

$48,707

The Center for Career Development has monitored significant changes in job markets and career patterns of graduates coming from a variety of majors as well as departments.

“From the data we collect from students at graduation, students who self reported that they were going to be ‘self-employed/entrepreneur’ rose from 7 students in 2014 to 16 in 2015,” Andrew Tessmer, assistant director of career development, said. According to Tessmer, students across the board are now more interested in entrepreneurship and breaking away from the traditional nine-to-five job. Instead, students are looking toward more independent alternatives like startups, freelancing and

$67,998

For The Thresher

businesses that have inclusive environments, open work spaces and a focus on social service and the community.

“I went out and got a commercial real estate license, even though I will be graduating with a bioengeering degree,” Sam Vallagomesa, a Hanszen College senior, said. “I would eventually like to integrate my management and business skills with my technical abilities.”

Students like Vallagomesa are exemplify the entrepreneurial ambitions of recent Rice graduates. According to Vallagomesa, although his relationship with the CCD didn’t compel his initial entrepreneurial interests, it allowed him to strengthen his social and people skills and give him confidence to pursue entrepreneurship.

0see CAREER, page 3

$38,363

Elizabeth Myong

$50,000

“I’m sure there are plenty of gun nuts to take my place, though,” he said.

An opponent of open carry threatened the barbecue joint on New Year’s Day, the first day open carry was allowed.

“I’ll shoot up the place on Saturday,” a user on the Facebook page wrote. “Let’s see you how your guntoting patrons will stop me.”

Owner Trent Brooks notified the police and hired two off-duty constables to guard the truck, but the threat never materialized. What did materialize, however, were 300 patrons, of which 200 had guns on their hips.

Although his discount has attracted attention from news outlets nationwide, Brooks said he is focused on the food Brooks’ Place BBQ serves.

“I’m a businessman, not a politician,” Brooks said.

0see CARRY, page 2

Hutchinson said this assault was different from those usually reported to the university in that it was reported immediately after occurring, the survivor did not know the perpetrator and it occurred in a public setting with several witnesses. Whitehead said crime alerts have helped RUPD gain information in past cases, such as in the arrest of Nathaniel Simonette, who entered Lovett College and attempted to assault students in 2014.

$43,414

Trent Brooks Food Truck Owner

John Hutchinson

Dean of Undergraduates

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I’m a businessman, not a politician.

Someone was harmed violently as a consequence of the lack of safety precautions.

$38,365

Few things are more Texan than barbecue and guns — and now, at Brooks’ Place BBQ, you can have both.

After open carry became legal in Texas on Jan. 1, Brooks’ Place, a food truck located in an Ace Hardware parking lot in Cypress, began offering a 10 percent discount for customers who present their handgun license and openly carry their gun.

Many have left messages in support of the discount on the restaurant’s Facebook and Yelp pages, but not everyone is happy about the discount.

Yelp user Cliff M. wrote that he refused to eat at Brooks Place because of the discount.

A Rice University student was sexually assaulted early Saturday morning at an unregistered party, themed “Lads in Plaids,” on the seventh floor of Sid Richardson College, according to the Rice University Police Department. After an investigation in which RUPD sent several crime alerts to the Rice community, RUPD identified a male Rice student as the suspected perpetrator.

Following the party, whose theme imitated that of Sid’s discontinued Sid Schoolgirls party, the Sid community has struggled with questions of Code of Student Conduct violations and community values amid the initiation of an administrative investigation into the Lads in Plaids party.

According to RUPD Chief of Police Johnny Whitehead and Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson, the assault took place while the male student was dancing with the female at the party just after midnight. The assaulted student contacted RUPD, which began an investigation along with the administration and the Wellbeing Office, which were present to assist the survivor in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Hutchinson.

The administration and RUPD sent a crime alert to the university community by email later Saturday

which violated numerous university policies, the laws of the State of Texas and the Sid Richardson College community values,” Whitmire said in an email and a Facebook post directed at the Sid community.

Hutchinson said the administration was beginning an investigation into the party. According to students living on Sid’s seventh floor, who wished to remain anonymous due to the investigation, at least one student involved with organizing the party has received an email from Student Judicial Programs.

“From what we know of the details of the party, it violated all the terms of the alcohol policy,” Hutchinson said. “It was not a registered event and it was not a private event, so it was an unregistered public event, which is a serious violation. In due time, we will investigate this event, and if the investigation supports the allegations that the college master has made, there will be serious consequences.”

Sid President Lauren Schmidt also said the party had involved multiple violations of university and community standards.

“A private party turned public blatantly [violated] the alcohol policy, the theme of the party violated a community value Sid had established and the capacity of the lobby was exceeded,” Schmidt, a senior, said in an email to the college.

RUPD identified the suspect later in the day, after which they released a second alert. Whitehead said the assault survivor has chosen not to press criminal charges, though she could choose to do so in the future.

According to Whitehead, the university will carry out its own precautionary and judicial process.

“The university is continuing an administrative investigation and for the safety of the campus has separated the suspect from the university on an interim basis,” Whitehead said.

According to Hutchinson, the administration’s first priority since Friday night has been to address the sexual assault.

“Our focus for the last three days has been almost exclusively on the circumstances surrounding the sexual assault, supporting the survivor of the assault, closing the case around the sexual assault and providing support to everyone who has been affected by the event,” Hutchinson said.

However, Hutchinson said the administration was beginning an investigation into the Lads in Plaids party itself.

Sid master Ken Whitmire said that contrary to the beliefs of many students, RUPD did not shut down the party. However, he said this did not mean the party was acceptable.

“There are ... serious issues remaining — the nature of the party

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Thresher Staff

News Editor

morning to find witnesses to identify the suspect and to alert the campus that the suspected perpetrator was not yet in custody, according to Whitehead and Hutchinson.

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Elana Margosis

Drew Keller

$73,000

Restaurants split on open carry policies

jake nyquist/thresher

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Engineering

Humanities

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

All Majors Source: Center for Career Development

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NEWS

wednesday, January 27, 2016

the Rice Thresher

Renaissance man Dean Southern history gets a deeper Carroll passes away at 79 look in ‘Teaching Slavery’ ANITA ALEM

Hannah Todd

Former Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering Michael M. Carroll passed away on Jan. 17 at age 79. Carroll was also the Burton J. and Ann M. McMurtry Professor in Mechanical Engineering and a professor computational and applied mathematics.

Neal Lane, a Malcolm Gillis University professor and professor of physics and astronomy, who was Rice’s provost at the time Carroll was the dean of engineering, said he remembered Carroll as an outstanding member of the faculty. “[Carroll’s] infectious Irish humor and warm personal style were a perfect fit to the Rice collegial culture,” Lane said. “His contributions as dean raised the quality and stature of engineering education and research and added significantly to the enhancement of the university.”

Carroll, who was born in Dublin in 1936, wrote two plays, one of which was performed by the Rice University Players. He also contributed to crossword puzzles in the New York Times, Texas Monthly and California Monthly.

Prior to joining Rice, Carroll was a professor at University of California, Berkeley, as well as the Chairman of the Applied Mechanics Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1985, and the President of the Society of Engineering Science in 1986.

According to Lane, Rice’s former president George Rupp recruited Carroll, who joined Rice in 1988.

Under Carroll’s oversight as the dean of engineering for 10 years, Rice established its bioengineering program in 1997. He wrote more than 100 papers and patented his design of an athletic track with no disparity between lines in the total distance. Carroll also hired professors in the mechanical engineering, materials science and computational and applied mathematics departments.

“Mike hired outstanding young faculty, many of whom have emerged as national leaders in their field,” Lane said.

How do people in the South perceive the Civil War and what does slavery mean to them? In the United States, race is prevalent in conversation, from the Black Lives Matter movement on university campuses to immigration policies proposed by presidential candidates. According to Stan Deaton, senior historian and the Elaine S. Andrew’s Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, history must be discussed honestly and openly and he has done such with the Civil War.

News Editor

NEWS IN BRIEF Hebl wins national teaching award including $250,000 Andrew Ligeralde

Assistant News Editor

Psychology professor Mikki Hebl is the 2016 winner of Baylor University Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, one of the most prestigious national teaching awards given to academics. The award honors those who have a positive, long-lasting impact on their students in addition to a record of distinguished scholarship, according to the award’s website. Hebl will receive a prize of $250,000, a teaching residence at Baylor and $25,000 for Rice’s department of sychology.

Last year, Hebl was a finalist for the Cherry Award and the 10th faculty member to win Rice University’s George R. Brown’s Certificate of Highest Merit, designed to honor outstanding performance in the classroom. She is currently abroad as part of the Semester at Sea teaching program, during which she will sail to 11 countries and teach psychology and management.

Thresher Staff

Michael Carroll Sid Burrus, the Maxfield Oshman Professor Emeritus and research professor in electrical and computer engineering, who was also a former dean of engineering, told science writer Patrick Kurp that Carroll was a true Renaissance man.

“His leadership style was to enable his faculty’s visions rather than imposing his visions on the faculty,” Burrus said. “That style served him and Rice very well. He touched us in many, many ways and we will all miss him greatly.”

After serving as the dean of engineering, Carroll returned to the National University of Ireland, where he taught and conducted research. The journal Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids published three consecutive monthly issues dedicated to Carroll for his 75th birthday in 2011. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Gahagan, two children and three grandchildren. There will be a memorial held for him in the future.

We are not having an honest conversation about the greatest attempt to destroy the United States.

Stan Detaon Historian

“After the Charleston shooting, people are starting to feel ready to discuss what the history here was, what historians really do,” Deaton said.

Deaton proceeded to speak on this growing conversation regarding the Civil War and slavery in his talk “Teaching Slavery in Public (in the former Confederacy)” on Jan. 21 at the Wiess College master’s house as part of a series of lectures on “Problems in African American History.”

Deaton is also the Emmy award-winning writer and host of “Today in Georgia History” and managing editor of the Georgia Historical

Quarterly while also leading major efforts on historical markers and educating secondary and college teachers.

“I wear a lot of hats,” Deaton said. “Over 20 years I have gotten to talk, write, speak and think about history.”

In Georgia, Deaton said he faces the question of how to remember the Confederacy.

“People have [a] vested interest in how it is remembered,” Deaton said. “Everything is about language.”

According to Deaton, many Georgians and other Southerners utilize the “lost cause” narrative as a model for the Civil War, with false claims that the basis for the war was states’ rights.

“To many, it is a concession to say that slavery was a part of the reason for the Civil War,” Deaton said. “The Civil War was fought to preserve it as an institution but instead, many turn to a litany of complaints about everything other than that.”

Deaton said he is disappointed in many of the conversations about the Civil War and found that it was full of false narratives.

“We are not having an honest conversation about the greatest attempt to destroy the United States,” Deaton said. “This is political correctness, revision history.”

At the time of the Civil War, people were proud to be fighting to keep slavery and maintain their way of life, according to Deaton. “[Southerners] weren’t ashamed to honor [the Confederate soldiers], we must be honest,” Deaton said.

Deaton said historical markers are an important way of shifting people’s perspective on the Civil War. “Historical markers say something to the future about what we knew then,” Deaton said. “We can’t turn a blind eye to something simply because it doesn’t fit our narrative.”

Deaton said the past, although not necessarily an easy thing to face, is important to both our and our country’s identity.

“The past is not a happy place,” Deaton said. “We don’t go there to feel good. However, we can’t let our ancestors think for us and it is our duty to be intellectually honest.”

0CARRY FROM PAGE 1 In contrast to Brooks’ Place’s discount, many establishments have banned both concealed and open carry on their premises by posting 30.06 and 30.07 signs, which legally allows the establishment to ban weapons. Several large chains including Target, HEB, Fiesta and Whataburger, will not permit open carry. A number of local restaurants, including Torchy’s Tacos, House of Pies and Amy’s Ice Cream, also prohibit open carry. Torchy’s Tacos released a statement on their website late December citing customer concern and safety for the restaurant’s open carry ban.

Duncan College sophomore Evan Flack said that Torchy’s decision to ban open carry would not affect his decision to go to the store.

“I don’t feel threatened,” Flack said. “But I can see how it would definitely affect some people’s decisions who feel less safe around people who were open carrying.”

Whataburger CEO Preston Atkinson released a similar statement on the Whataburger website.

“We’ve had many customers and employees tell us they’re uncomfortable being around someone with a visible firearm who is not a member of law enforcement,” Atkinson said. “[Thus], we don’t restrict licensed concealed carry but do ask customers not to open carry in our restaurants.”

Some chains, like McDonalds, will leave the decision to individual franchisees, and some larger stores, including Walmart and Kroger, will allow open carry. courtesy torchy’s tacos

wednesday, January 27, 2016

0CAREER FROM PAGE 1 Jessica Campbell, assistant director of Employer Relations, said that employees don’t intend to stay in the same job the rest of their lives and job transition happens every two years on average. Compared to past years, new graduates have more flexibility in the job market without the expectation of lifetime employment.

While some trends are consistent across different fields of study, the career prospects for students vary across departments. Campbell said career paths for the science and engineering tend to be more linear, and students have a clear idea of their future careers. However, for those in other majors, it can be difficult to navigate the number of options available. Both Tessmer and Campbell agreed that there are steady growth rates of jobs in the social science and humanities fields. An extremely visible trend is the rise in the number of consulting companies eager to hire Rice students for their ability to solve problems and communicate.

It’s not enough just to have a fantastic Rice degree.

You still have to sell yourself.

Nicole Van Den Heuvel

Director of Career Development

However, Campbell said that some industries are struggling. For example, decline in the oil and gas field affects graduates in specific majors like chemical and biomolecular engineering. According to Campbell, oil and gas companies are still recruiting, though not in the same numbers. This encourages students in these fields to be more open-minded and to look toward small and medium-sized companies that may have previously been overlooked.

“I feel like a lot more [chemical and biomolecular engineering majors] in my grade are going into finance and consulting because oil and gas is not hiring at the rate it’s been in past years,” Katherine Stiles, Hanszen College senior, said. According to Stiles, graduating students are feeling the effects of the falling gas prices and looking elsewhere in response.

With the competitiveness of current job markets, students are coming to the CCD as early as freshman year. Students are exploring their career options and learning how their major, personality and interests can fit future jobs. Tessmer said he encourages this sort of proactive thinking.

“Starting career exploration your freshman year, rather than second semester senior year allows you to have a better idea what your career will look like and allow you to gain the necessary skills,” Tessmer said. According to Tessmer, many students lack the experience to rework their skill sets and best display what they are bringing to the table, and students need to learn how to show confidence, interview and connect with employers.

In providing assistance, the CCD offers internships, externships, job shadowing, workshops on resume building and career readiness, consultations and the career expo. The career expo is an important opportunity to network, build relationships with recruiters and discover new positions.

However, some students have expressed concern about the expo being focused solely on STEM majors.

Campbell said that while it is true that certain types of companies with the ability to forecast needs in advance and build large recruiting teams will be scouting STEM majors, the opportunities are not limited to just STEM. According to Campbell, some companies eagerly seek the skill sets social science and humanities majors possess.

“There are key attributes employers are looking for and it’s not enough to just have a fantastic Rice degree,” Director of Career Development Nicole Van Den Heuvel said.

“You still have to sell yourself.”

the Rice Thresher

0ASSAULT FROM PAGE 1 “Most unfortunately and disturbingly of all, a member of the Rice community was sexually assaulted at the party.”

The Lads in Plaids theme was intended to recreate Sid Schoolgirls, a Sid public party that occurred for many years in the spring, according to Whitmire. Amid rising concerns that the Schoolgirls theme sexualized underage women, the party was renamed Sid Academy in 2014. Last year, the theme was completely changed to 1960s-themed Sidstock. At the time, reactions were mixed, with some students expressing a desire to preserve the old theme while others welcomed the change.

In his email to the college, Whitmire said holding the party conflicted with Sid’s decision to stop hosting a Schoolgirls party.

“The college determined that the offensive and sexualizing nature of Schoolgirls was inappropriate,” Whitmire said. “This was not a decision that was forced upon the college by the University, but rather one that was made with full discussion of the Sid Richardson community because it was the right thing to do.”

One student on Sid Rich’s seventh floor said the floor’s decision to hold the party has resulted in strained relations with Whitmire and other adult leaders at the college.

“There is a lot of tension now because our floor in particular is being heavily blamed by our college master and our A-team for the party, even though this party was planned and attended by all of Sid, not just seventh,” the student said. “Things are definitely tense between the A-team and seventh floor in particular.”

Whitmire said in his email, however, that the entire college must face its responsibility in holding the event. According to Schmidt’s email, Sid Council will address the situation Tuesday night.

“A significant part of [the] investigation will center on the culpability of the college, not just the organizers, in facilitating the event,” Whitmire said.

Students on the seventh floor said they expected the party to be popular, but it was even

more crowded than expected. However, one student said there was nothing unique about the party.

“I don’t think there was anything particularly unsafe about the party besides the fact that it was very crowded,” the student said. “It wasn’t much different from other parties that seventh has thrown or other colleges have thrown, and even though this isn’t at all making small of the sexual assault, I think that a large portion of all this scrutiny is because of [it].”

Hutchinson said that the frequency of Code of Student Conduct and alcohol policy violations at parties creates an unsafe environment, which at Lads in Plaids resulted in the assault.

“Circumventing [the rules governing parties] almost de facto means that you are putting people at risk, because you are undermining the very specific purposes of the procedures we’ve put into place to assure the safety of everyone who attends,” Hutchinson said. “In this particular case, we didn’t just have the risk, we had the reality — someone was harmed violently as a consequence of the lack of safety precautions that went into creating this event.”

Whitmire and Hutchinson both said the alcohol policy and party rules were designed with student safety in mind. Hutchinson pointed out that the alcohol policy was written by students three and a half years ago, but said student attitudes toward the policy need to change.

“What I’m concerned about is a very deliberate attempt by some students to circumvent those rules, not recognizing that in doing so they are putting people at risk and the reality that people get harmed because they’ve done this,” Hutchinson said. “That’s what needs to change; there needs to be an understanding among the student body that adherence to these rules is vital to the safety of everybody on this campus.”

Whitmire said college presidents and masters from across campus raised concerns about students’ lack of awareness of the alcohol policy with regards to private parties at a meeting Monday night.

Hutchinson said the enforcement of the alcohol policy and other rules relies primarily on student government, with RUPD and the administration taking a supporting role. He said in this case, there was a question of whether the Sid college court was able to carry out their responsibilities under the Code of Student Conduct.

NEWS

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“If enforcement has been lax, we need to have another conversation with the student body leadership to say, do you no longer feel capable of accepting this responsibility under student self government,” Hutchinson said. “What is not an option is not enforcing the rules.”

Hutchinson said he believes the student body must work to better follow and enforce the rules that are in place.

“I’d like to ask the entire student body to join in the effort to commit to the rules that exist that are embedded in our system of student self governance, that rely on our system of student self governance as a primary mechanism by which we keep our campus safe,” Hutchinson said.

Lovett College junior Bridget Schilling said she was impressed with RUPD’s response to the report of the assault, which she said was handled like any other crime.

“I am hopeful if this is the new norm,” Schilling said. “I think it speaks volumes that campus police are treating sexual assault as a crime with a suspect and a victim and hopefully students will come to expect this to be standard practice.”

However, Schilling said she was discouraged by comments several students made anonymously on Yik Yak doubting the veracity and details of the assault. As an example, Schilling pointed to many comments which falsely claimed the perpetrator was not a Rice student.

“I wish that we were at a place where people outside of the situation didn’t feel comfortable conjecturing about their idea of the truth of what happened with so little information,” Schilling said. “It’s also consistently disappointing when people need to hear every detail of a story before they are willing to consider believing it.”

As conversations continue at Sid and across campus regarding the assault and party, Schmidt said discussion must focus on changes to improve student safety.

“We cannot stop people from committing heinous acts against fellow human beings,” Schmidt said in her email. “We can, however, work together as a community to discuss what we must do to make our home safe for Sidizens and Rice students alike that want to have fun in a reasonable, respectful, and responsible way.”

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Letter to the Editor: Parking garage short-sighted Atmosphere still dismissive of survivors Sid Richardson College is embroiled in controversy after a female undergraduate reported that she was sexually assaulted by a male undergraduate at a private party on the college’s seventh floor (see p. 1). The Rice University Police Department sent an email Saturday announcing an investigation into the assault that allegedly occurred at 12:30 a.m. the same day before announcing later that night that they had identified the suspect.

While RUPD handled the reported assault professionally and with the utmost care, the response of other segments of the Rice community in the aftermath was disappointing. Posters on Yik Yak, a forum rife with controversial opinions protected by anonymity, reacted with skepticism. Some speculated that the survivor was lying, and others joked that they would enjoy someone grabbing their butt. By the end of it all, a poster said they were now less likely to report an assault after seeing how the community reacted: in other words, not what the Rice community, or the survivor, needed.

Houston broadcast news did not help either in the aftermath. Sunday night, click2Houston, the local NBC affiliate, led its 10 p.m. newscast with a segment about the incident. The reporter interviewed a “resident” on camera, ostensibly someone unaffiliated with the university, who said, “The first thing that comes to mind is at a party there’s alcohol and when that occurs or when that’s present, people can tend to go overboard and lose their judgment.” Notably, click2Houston chose not to cover the Survey on Unwanted Sexual Experiences released earlier this year, which showed that 24 percent of female undergraduate and 7 percent of male undergraduate responders had experienced unwanted sexual contact. What these news outlets completely gloss over is that for many students, what happened at Sid isn’t an exceptional scenario ripe for media sensationalization — it’s a reality and a constant threat that can’t just be explained away by alcoholic consumption.

Moving forward, conversation about the alleged assault should focus on three things: prevention, reporting and the campus climate.

Rice students should ask, “What could we have done to prevent the assault, which happened on the dance floor and presumably in view of others? What can we do to encourage more reporting from students who want to take that measure? And what does my reaction to the allegation say about my own attitudes toward sexual violence?”

While the party was undoubtedly a publiclike gathering masked as private, it would be dishonest to blame the assault on the party or its organizers. The assault could have happened in any number of contexts on campus; likely, few would be questioning the party if RUPD had not sent a campuswide email about the alleged assault. Let’s save the argument over the distinction between public and private parties and the alcohol policy for later. Right now, we must address sexual assault on campus, firstly to ensure that it doesn’t happen and secondly to ensure that if it does, the survivor can feel confident in their choice to report.

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

The office/parking garage article in the Jan. 20 Thresher indicates that Rice students are quite supportive of the new six-story office building and seven-level parking garage south of Allen Center. Similarly broad support was apparent from my communications with faculty and staff about concerns over the construction plans. Senior Rice administrators met with me and demonstrated that they had carefully designed the project to maximize benefit to the Rice community and minimize sustainability concerns. But darker concerns persist.

Campus buildings have a typical lifetime of 50 to 100 years. The new office building thus perpetuates our bloated bureaucracy — a major contributor to our large student

tuition increase since 2001. The trend of universities creating bureaucratic empires by milking students through increased tuition has magnified the national student debt crisis. A plausible backlash may streamline university bureaucracies toward the spartan European tradition. The new office building could then be transformed gradually into classroom and study space.

In contrast, the parking garage will inevitably become an anachronism. Current Rice students, faculty and staff show strong loyalty to automobile transportation, which is a major contributor to climate change.

Scientific breakthroughs will never make cars tolerable unless the human population is decimated. Already the confluence of cli-

mate change (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2015, vol. 112, p. 3241), overpopulation and consumerist ideology is creating an intractable geopolitical crisis: See George Soros’ Jan. 4, 2016 interview in WirtschaftsWoche, “Europa? Gibt’s doch nicht mehr,” and condensed translations.

The Rice community seems oblivious to these powerful forces shaping our future.

Will our parochial optimism withstand the profound global instability that awaits us?

Please think hard about the consequences of future building projects.

William K. Wilson Research Scientist Department of Biosciences

Evaluating Rice’s sexual assault response

Along with the rest of the Rice community, I received a crime alert Saturday morning that a female student had been sexually assaulted at a party at Sid Richardson College the night before. The university and student body reactions that followed have been mixed, with the administration responding better relative to than the students.

The good That the student reported the assault at all is noteworthy. Sexual assault frequently goes unreported for a variety of reasons and few assailants are ever prosecuted. According to the Rape, Incest, Abuse National Network, nearly 70 percent of sexual assaults are never reported, and 98 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail. This pattern holds true at Rice. While the Survey of Unwanted Sexual Experiences reports that nearly one in four female undergraduate students will experience some form of unwanted sexual contact at Rice, I had never received a crime report about a sexual assault until Saturday.

It is significant that the student felt comfortable enough reporting her assault to RUPD in the first place.

RUPD reacted appropriately and treated the sexual assault as a crime like any other.

The emails sent by RUPD matched the tone and content of previous crime alerts and updates. RUPD’s follow-up email alerting the Rice community that they identified the suspected assailant and took “proactive steps” to ensure campus safety reaffirmed that the administration would take the case seriously instead of simply looking the other way.

RUPD’s treatment of the suspect as an active, ongoing threat to campus security is fitting, considering the fact that most assailants are repeat offenders. A 2002 study

opinions Mitch Mackowiak* Editor sports Maddy Adams Editor Evan Neustater Editor Sarah Nyquist Designer art Carrie Jiang Director Jake Nyquist Photo Editor Jessica Kelly Asst. Photo Editor arts & entertainment Kaylen Strench Editor Walden Pemantle Editor Samantha Ding Designer

copy Jasmine Lin Editor Julianne Wey Editor backpage Joey McGlone Editor Riley Robertson Editor * indicates member of the Editorial Board

by David Lisak and Paul Miller, researchers from the University of Massachusetts and the Brown University School of Medicine found that nearly 65 percent of rapists have committed multiple acts of assault. So, while the number of actual assailants is very low, each repeat offender is likely to commit an average of about seven assaults. For RUPD to remain inactive during this time would have been irresponsible and potentially dangerous.

of sexual assault occurs at the same rate as false reports of other crimes, at roughly 2 to 8 percent, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. So why are reports of sexual assault routinely called into question when reports of other crimes don’t cause any controversy at all? It is likely that the individuals concerned about the veracity of the report were well intentioned, but misinformed.

The bad Student response to the report has been mixed. In person, the vast majority of people who have said anything about the assault have been respectful and many expressed support for RUPD’s swift response and transparency. That said, the people I discuss sexual assault with may not be representative of the student body.

The response on anonymous message board app Yik Yak has been decidedly less positive. Messages and comments have been posted calling the student’s report into question and doubting the veracity of the report. This creates a toxic environment that discourages reporting. Indeed, one user wrote, “The response to this makes me really grateful I didn’t report my sexual assaults.”

Another user responded that “all victims should be encouraged” to report their assaults, but keeping in mind the threat of further harassment survivors face, how realistic is this goal? If we are serious about increasing reporting rates, holding an anonymous kangaroo court on the Internet is just about the last thing we should do.

Sexual assault seems to be the one crime whose victims get this sort of undue harassment in comparison to the victims of other crimes, but the data shows that false reports

Going forward Rice’s track record on sexual assault is hardly exceptional. The results of the Survey of Unwanted Sexual Experiences show that Rice’s rates of unwanted sexual experiences fall squarely into the national averages. The kinds of posts that cropped up on Yik Yak are nothing unique to Rice either. Evidently, Rice students aren’t immune to contributing to a hostile environment towards survivors of assault.

It is clear that Rice students are firmly against sexual assault in the abstract sense. But when individual cases come to light, Rice students must also extend their convictions to these cases.

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.

Letters to the Editor must be received by 5 p.m. the Friday prior to publication and must be signed, including college and year if the writer is a Rice student. The Thresher reserves the rights to edit letters for content and length and to place letters on its website.

Elana Margosis is a

Duncan College freshman

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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arts

ENTERTAINMENT

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Zombies breathe new life into literary classic Ryan Lee

Thresher Staff

courtesy keliy anderson-staley

Keliy Anderson-Staley studied photography in New York City before moving to her current position teaching photography at the University of Houston. Her latest exhibition, ‘[hyphen] Americans,’ is a decade-long project in the making. It revives the tintype photo-making process, a complex 19th-century technique that involves taking a photograph as a positive on a thin tin plate. Her project is now on display at the Rice Media Center.

‘[hyphen] Americans’ makes photography personal Lenna Mendoza Thresher Staff

Keliy Anderson-Staley’s photo exhibition “[hyphen] Americans” opened Thursday at the Rice Media Center. The collection of portraits was made using 19th-century photographic techniques and equipment. As an exploration of the variety of American identities, it is well-suited to the context of Houston, often considered one of the most diverse cities in the country.

Anderson-Staley is a photography professor at the University of Houston and has had a long-held fascination with older photographic techniques.

“I had been excited about historic photo processes and had been doing them for many years before I learned the tintype process,” AndersonStaley said. “I learned the wet plate collodion tintype process at the perfect time in my life.”

According to Anderson-Staley, the process of making the tintypes is itself an art.

“I think that because the process is challenging, that’s what keeps me interested in using it,” Anderson-Staley said. “A lot can go wrong in shoots in terms of chemistry ... And sometimes, even though I’ve been working with it for a long time, sometimes something can happen one day during a shoot that is a complete mystery and I can’t figure out why it’s happening. Some of that has to do with humidity or temperature. But having a shoot that works out, [during which] you make great images that are all well-exposed and ready to exhibit doesn’t often happen, so when it does happen it can be kind of thrilling.”

The organization of the exhibition does excellent work on the emotional experience of the viewer. The Media Center’s open, light-filled lower floor features several large inkjet prints made from scans of the tintypes. Upon entering this room there is an instant sense of vulnerability.

The size and intimacy of the portraits make one a tad self-conscious, as most of these subjects look straight into the camera, and consequentially

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

straight at the viewer. However, this vulnerability goes both ways: The amount of detail in the photographs means that one can see each wrinkle, blemish and scar. The detail also creates an illusion of closeness, as if you’re standing only a few inches away from the subject’s face.

Upstairs are dozens of eight-by-10 tintypes, the space gets smaller, and the sense of intimacy is maintained. Here the primary effect is an impressive sense of human diversity. The subjects include people of many different races and ethnicities, economic backgrounds, ages, dress and gender presentations. Some smile into the camera, others look meekly away and others still give a tough, defiant stare.

As a whole, the collection of photos has an overwhelming sense of warmth. Aside from portraits of individuals, the exhibition includes tintypes of families, friends and couples, whose relationships can be derived only from the way they pose together. The pieces are also pleasantly anachronistic. The wet plate collodion tintype process’ resulting messy edges and color palette don’t feel like they belong in this century, which clashes with the modern dress and diversity of the photographs’ subjects.

Part of Anderson-Staley’s inspiration for this series is the history entrenched in the wet plate collodion tintype process.

“One of the reasons I use this process is I think that history is automatically embedded in it because a lot of the images look like historic images,” Anderson-Staley said. “I’m interested in seeing how we perceive people through photographs and how photographic technology has shaped our ideas of people ...

I’m interested in exploring that and also making sure that I don’t add to the problematic history of how photography was used to label people or put people into categories.”

The diversity of subjects is due in large part to Anderson-Staley’s desire to have as many

different subjects as possible.

“I shoot anybody that will agree to sit for me,” Anderson-Staley said.

Subjects have included friends, family, students and people she has met during shoots at non-profit institutions such as the California Museum of Photography. The only information offered about the individuals in her portraits is the subject’s first name as the title of each photograph, so that people can confirm whether or not they know the subject. The Rice Media Center doesn’t even include the titles, and this anonymity places a common humanity before anything else.

I’m interested in seeing how we perceive people through photographs.

Keliy Anderson-Staley Photographer of ‘[hyphen] Americans’

Anderson-Staley isn’t done with “[hyphen] Americans,” a project which has already been going on for over a decade.

“I’m just really curious to photograph as many different people as I can, from different places in their lives,” Anderson-Staley said.

Keliy Anderson-Staley’s “[hyphen] Americans” will be on view weekdays at the Rice Media Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Feb. 19.

In a world where matchmaking is everything and “sensible” ladies are confined to the drawing room, the last thing the Bennet sisters need is to fight off a horde of zombies, yet that’s exactly what happens in the upcoming film “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”

Austen purists might object: “Subtlety is all but ruined in this heightened culture of ours.”

Zombie aficionados might lament: “I find it hard to believe Lizzy Bennet can knock down an actual zombie while wearing a corset.”

Notwithstanding, whether one be posh or nerd or somewhere in between, I believe there does exist a Venn diagram where the Victorian gentry and the walking dead overlap. The film comes to theaters on Feb. 5.

Any modern moviegoer might recognize that Hollywood has long been infected by zombie fever. The undead seem to cross genres, from the eye-candy series “Resident Evil” to the rom-com “Warm Bodies.” Since the classic novel entered the public domain, filmmakers have taken Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” to both the silver screen, notably in the BBC series starring Colin Firth, and the big screen in the 2005 adaptation starring Keira Knightley. By combining zombies to Austen’s prim and proper world, some might worry that the film will erase Austen’s nuances. Lily James, who plays Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet, disagrees.

“What we all found that was kind of crazy was that it took something so surreal and strange of zombies and “Pride and Prejudice” … The themes and relationship in the book become heightened,” James said. “It was just interesting how the zombies kind of contributed.”

Despite being undead, the zombies breathe life into the film. Co-star Matt Smith, who plays the insufferable Mr. Collins, described portraying a character in the world of the living dead.

“When there are zombies in the film, somehow that allows you to make bold choices because the laws of the universe are slightly heightened,” Smith said. “[You can] reinvent characters much like you would play Hamlet.”

On the flip side, one might wonder whether a sophisticated commentary on class hierarchy and 19th-century feminism would drain the lifeblood from a zombie flick. Take, for example, the poised and reserved Jane Bennet, whose characteristic restraint is not your typical zombie apocalypse material. In this revamped version, even Jane, played

by Bella Heathcote, gets to express herself in the form of slicing an animated corpse to bits, an element of the character which Heathcote says she enjoyed depicting.

“It’s pretty rare that I get to kick ass as I usually get cast as the girl-next-door wallflower type,” Heathcote said. “So it’s a good thing to have a physical role and actually get to beat the crap out of someone.”

Some may still think that Jane Austen’s classic is untouchable by mortal hands and immutable by time. Likewise, it might seem like the slew of cannibalistic corpses that we so love and Hollywood’s appetite for zombies know no end. To have both under the same sun, however, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” may be all we get — unless they make a sequel, of course.

MUSEUM EXPERIENCE DAY

SCI-FI SCREENING

HOUSTON AUTO SHOW

HOUSTON BLUES JAM

How about high quality art for a college student budget? Check out Museum Experience Day, Saturday, Jan. 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hosted by the Menil Collection, the Rothko Chapel and the Houston Center for Photography, this free event will feature live music, art and a photography scavenger hunt.

If you’re looking for something weird to do this Wednesday night, you should definitely check out this screening of “Fantastic Planet” at 7:30 p.m.

This French/Czech co-production concerns the degradation of the “Oms,” human-like creatures on the futuristic planet Yagam.

Over 30 car makers, 700 cars and 700,000 square feet of exhibition space promise to make this year’s Houston Auto Show a monster event.

This year’s show even includes an “extreme off-road parkway” at the entrance. Tickets are $12 and the show runs from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31.

I promise the venue isn’t a strip club — I checked myself. Instead, the Big Easy Social & Pleasure Club offers live blues until the wee hours of the morning. This Thursday, blues enthusiasts can get in coverfree to watch the Club’s monthly jam, featuring plenty of local artists.

The Menil Collection 1533 Sul Ross St menil.org

She Works Flexible 1709 Westheimer Rd sheworksflexible.com

NRG Center 1 Reliant Park houstonautoshow.com

Big Easy Social & Pleasure Club 5731 Kirby Dr. thebigeasyblues.com

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A&E

the Rice Thresher

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The best TV you will watch all year: 4 series to binge watch Sophie Newman A&E Editor

Let me begin with this disclaimer: I watch a lot of TV. When people ask me, “Have you seen this show?” and I have, I try to brush it off casually, as in, “Oh, I’ve passively watched a few episodes, but I definitely didn’t see the entire three seasons in one binge session on Saturday night when I should have been socializing, eating or otherwise experiencing life outside my bed.”

But, I’m coming clean. So trust me when I tell you that these are the best darned shows you are going to find on TV right now. To facilitate your viewing experience, I have organized them for you by taste and location. If you’re lucky, you can be like me, abandoning all semblances of a social life in favor of absorbing yourself completely in these on-screen worlds — and not regretting it one bit.

“Rectify” Closest Relatives: “True Detective,” “Top of the Lake,” “Bloodline” Where to find it: Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Xbox

“Outlander” Closest Relatives: “Game of Thrones,” “The Tudors,” any historical drama Where to find it: Starz, or on Amazon through seven-day free trial with Starz

You’re in luck, because you can still catch up on this gem before it airs its fourth season this year on Sundance.

The story revolves around Daniel Holden (Aden Young), an ex-convict, whose sentence is vacated after spending 19 years on death row for the murder of his high school girlfriend. This show is the crowning jewel of Southern Gothic genre: It’s brimming with unusually complex and mentally unstable characters who exist just beyond the limits of society. Morality, loyalty, conscience and even supernatural forces all feature in this subtly absorbing portrayal of family feuds and small town dynamics that could easily be adapted from a Faulkner classic. Stop what you’re doing right now and go watch this show immediately. I mean it.

For people who don’t like “Game of Thrones” because it is too sensationalist and tends to kill off all of its likeable characters, which, despite what people who read the books tell you, is annoying, this show is for you.

Like “Game of Thrones,” it’s based on a series of novels, and takes place somewhere in Scotland in 1743. It has perhaps the most badass female protagonist, a World War II nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), who finds herself transported back to this bloody historical period after accidentally happening upon a time travel machine. It also features the hottest male lead you will ever see on television (Sam Heughan) and yes, you get to see him naked. Watch if you love a good historical drama and some bangin’ Scottish accents.

“Transparent” Closest Relatives: “Girls” (maybe, but it’s pretty stand-alone) Where to find it: Streaming on Amazon Prime

“Master of None” Closest Relatives: “Parks and Recreation,” “Louie,” “New Girl” Where to find it: Streaming on Netflix

This show is truly unlike anything you’ve seen before, and yet it captures everything you know all too well. But beware — it’s not for the faint of heart or for watching with your mother (unless you two are really close). The storyline follows the story of the Pfeffermans, a Semitic family from Silverlake, CA, a set-up which might already sound dangerously familiar. What is not familiar is that the father, Maura Pfefferman (Jeff Trombley) comes out as transgender to his children after living his entire 60-something life as a man. This show really has a little bit of everything — quintessential LA Jewishness, millennials struggling with startling amounts of selfishness, weird sex and even a taste of a Holocaust drama. And it makes these transitions seamlessly, with an ease that makes you feel like the Pfeffermans are both people you would never want to associate with and also, maybe, your closest friends.

Just through with its first season, this show is a budding masterpiece, starring the well-known actor and comedian Aziz Ansari as a 20-something son of immigrant parents who, like the rest of us, is just trying to figure it all out. What makes this comedy shine is its cutting self-awareness, simultaneously subtle and deeply critical of contemporary racial, gender and sexual biases. It somehow navigates the line between being a stand-up, an indictment of modern society and a perfectly honest millennial drama. I have to admit that I was not a huge fan of Ansari before I watched this show, and now I think he might be the prophet of our generation. If you want a relaxed yet thought-provoking experience, settle down with this one.

You may not agree with my tastes, but you can’t deny the quality of these series. With some of Hollywood’s best acting talent, thoughtful writing and complex characterizations, trust me when I say that you are watching some of the best quality entertainment possible. Creations like these demonstrate the new yet increasingly popular notion that TV really is replacing movies with some of the best artistic content of the modern age. So, don’t feel so guilty about those late-night binge sessions or that time you totally forgot to attend your friend’s birthday celebration.

If you don’t already have these problems, it’s never too late to start. Indulge yourself — it’s no longer a worthless pastime.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

A&E

the Rice Thresher

WHAT’S HIP RIGHT NOW TV:

TECH:

‘X-Files’ Returns

Short Edition

by kaylen strench

TRENDING:

FOOD:

Oil barrel bargain menu

Black Tap

courtesy instagram

courtesy short edition

courtesy wikipedia

In a phrase: Scully and Mulder are back in all their glory.

Where to find it: Sundays, 9 p.m. CT on FX. Before there was “Fringe,” before there was “Black Mirror,” heck, before you were born, there was “The X-Files.” Maybe you haven’t heard of it, maybe you’re part of the cult following it; regardless, from 1993-2002, it was a pretty big deal. And now, after a 15-year hiatus, it is returning in all (or maybe some) of its glory to FX. The plot is the same: Two conveniently sexy FBI agents are assigned to solve “XFiles,” unsolved cases involving the paranormal. One of the agents, Fox Mulder, believes in aliens, while his partner, Dana Scully, adamantly denies their existence, and their differing beliefs are put to the test when they set out to address cases involving UFOs, mutants and government conspiracies, among other things. The show returns as a mini-series, one episode released every Sunday for six weeks.

Critics who have seen the first three episodes (that’s all that they can as of yet) say that while the first episode is god-awful, the new series gets back into its groove by the third week. Catch up before you start watching on Netflix, which has the entire original series.

In a phrase: Short stories to go.

Where to find it: France.

This is an embarrassing day for America, people. In the U.S., at least since the Food and Drug Administration banned cigarette dispensers, vending machines are used strictly for junk food — though calling “Snowballs” a food may even be pushing it. As you may recall, our most notable vending innovation was the damn “Cupcake ATM.” France’s newest quick dispensary creation? A freaking short story vending machine. Yep, that’s right; you put in a few euros, and the thing will spit out a long sheet of paper with a quick read. Publishing start-up Short Edition is rolling out new “distributeur d’histoires courtes” all around the country, in places like hospitals, train stations, airports and even amusement parks.

“But … how do they get enough material?” you ask? According to the New Yorker, a shocking 17 percent of French citizens have written a full manuscript at some point in their lives, though few ever publish. Short Edition’s new devices provide a platform to take amateur writers’ hobbies to the next level, as well as to publicize more popular stories beyond the bookstore window. Could we see these devices alongside U.S. Coke machines anytime soon?

In light of the existence of the Cupcake ATM, I am doubtful, but you be the judge.

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courtesy ouisie’s table

In a phrase: Consolation prize for chemical engineers.

Where to find it: Ouisie’s Table, a fancy restaurant in River Oaks.

In Houston, you can really only be so happy about the impending oil crisis. I mean, the energy industry’s laying off 250,000 skilled workers, Moody’s is going to downgrade Shell’s credit rating and off-shore drilling branches are getting cut like crazy (sorry to rub salt in the wound, all y’all who were hoping for jobs in the oil and gas industry).

At the very least, however, you can (maybe) now afford a fancy meal at Ouisie’s Table, a super hip Houston restaurant off San Felipe.

Each Wednesday evening, Ouisie’s will offer an “Oil Barrel Bargain Menu,” in which it will provide a three-course dinner, priced at the lowest official cost per barrel of oil for the previous week. That means this week, you could eat a freaking steak dinner with appetizers and dessert for $26. If oil drops to $20 a barrel? That’s right, $20 fancy-ass dinner. I still haven’t decided if this is a nice gesture or just mean-spirited, but hey, nothing eases the pain of unemployment like a little Black Magic Cake.

In a phrase: The Milkshake is back with a vengeance.

Where to find it: Black Tap in NYC, or make your own damn milkshake.

I’m such a nut for dessert trends. Cake balls are heavenly, the cronut was way cool and I’m still on the fro-yo train (I may be Swirll’s No. 1 customer). Well, the next hot, or cold (sorry, I couldn’t resist), thing in sweet treats is the over-the-top, crazy-good Black Tap milkshake. These are nothing like your 99-cent Dairy Queen chocolate shakes. They’re massive, exploding out of the glass and dripping with ice-cream, topped with entire cookies and slabs of cake. It’s heaven in a cup.

The flavor list rotates, but here are some of the highlights: Cotton candy flows out of the glass with pink and blue glory, rock candy, a giant lollipop, small candies and, of course, pastelcolored sugary fluff. S’mores features heaps of ice cream, melted marshmallows and cookies, and oozes chocolate sauce. Cookie dough is crowned with a mass of the real stuff and mashed with a giant ice cream-filled cookie sandwich. The list goes on. Although Black Tap is only in NYC, photos of the beautiful creations are all over Instagram, and lend themselves to self-made copies.

If you’re anything like me, the recreation won’t be as beautiful, but hey — with all those ingredients, it’s still going to taste amazing.

sean chu/thresher

We’ve got Seoul

Students perform at Korean Cultural Night, which was held last Saturday in the Rice Memorial Center Grand Hall. The event is traditionally hosted in the fall by the Korean Student Association, the Korean International Student Association and the Korean Graduate Student Association. It featured the Korean fan dance, a choreography performance and samul nori, which is a traditional drum performance. The acts were followed by a fair where students could explore aspects of Korean culture through food, clothing, games, toys and musical instruments.

2016 ENGINEERING COMPETITION Wednesday, Feb. 24 RMC – Grand Hall – 3-5 p.m.

- Open to ALL Rice students - Free registration at www.forum.rice.edu - Teams of 3 or 4 - Registration deadline is Feb. 19

Large gift card prizes for each team member

T-shirts

Door prizes

Pizza

Free phone pocket to the first 50 registrants

Sponsored by Rice Global E&C Forum Dean of Engineering and Fluor Corp

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A&E

the Rice Thresher

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

9

Basketball falls to top two C-USA teams Michael Kidd Thresher Staff

Over the past two seasons, “Rice Rising” has defined the recent zeitgeist surrounding the Rice men’s basketball team. The program has witnessed the onboarding of many talented, young players and the growth of an excited student fan base. Led by secondyear Head Coach Mike Rhoades, Rice seeks to improve its standing among NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams. Future improvements, however, will likely result only from trial and error. The Owls currently hold a 6-14 record (1-6 in Conference USA) and have now dropped three consecutive conference games.

This week, the Owls matched up against two conference competitors, the University of Alabama, Birmingham (No. 1) and Middle Tennessee State University (No. 2). On Thursday, Jan. 21, Rice traveled to Birmingham to face UAB. Last season, the Owls toppled the Blazers at Tudor Fieldhouse (82-73).

This time, however, UAB (15-3) defeated Rice with a final score of 82-70.

We were allowing them to ‘big boy’ us and body us but we can’t make that excuse. We didn’t follow the game plan in the second half and it was disappointing.

Mike Rhoades

Men’s Basketball Head Coach

Queen of the court

sean chu/thresher

Rice women’s tennis defeated the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 7-0 on Sunday Jan. 24 at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. Above, junior Alison Ho hits a forehand return against the Retrievers. Ho won her singles match in two straight sets (6-3, 6-3) and went on to win her doubles match alongside sophomore Lindsey Hodge (6-0).

On Thursday night, the Owls went into Birmingham looking to upset the leagueleading Blazers. With 10:55 left to play in the first half, Rice trailed just 20-19 despite allowing UAB to make their first six shots of the game. The rest of the half, however, belonged to the Blazers. UAB stretched the lead to as many as 14 and held a 42-32 advantage at halftime.

Rice, however, would not go away easily. The Owls came out strong to open the second half, rattling off 10 straight points to tie the game at 42. After Rice briefly led 4746, the two teams traded baskets until UAB went on a 10-2 run to take a 64-54 lead late in the second half. The Blazers would not look back as their lead ballooned to 16 before the final buzzer sounded on an 82-70 victory.

0see Basketball, page 10

Swinney and Schillinger qualify for Olympic swimming trials Andrew Grottkau Sports Editor

This summer, the best swimmers in the country will convene in Omaha, NE to vie for the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Two Rice University students, sophomore Kaitlyn Swinney and freshman Marie-Claire Schillinger, will be among those competitors. During the Arena Pro Swim this weekend, the Owls secured their spots in the Olympic Trials with qualifying times.

According to Swinney, the qualification is a dream come true.

“I tried to qualify four years ago and missed out,” Swinney said. “So getting it now, it was the most incredible experience of my life. I can’t put into words how awesome it feels to finally do it.”

Swinney posted her qualifying time of 4:54.67 in the 400-meter individual medley last Saturday. Competing alongside some of the best swimmers in the nation, she finished 20th out of 73 swimmers in the morning session of the meet.

Schillinger, meanwhile, finished with a time of 1:11.21 in the 100-meter breaststroke competition to place 28th out of 72 swimmers. Although she had already achieved

an adequate time to compete in the Olympic Trials before coming to Rice, her time was again good enough to earn her the right to go to Omaha. She will compete in two events during the meet, both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.

Billed as the biggest swimming event in the country, the Olympic Trial meet is truly a national stage. Swinney said she is most looking forward to the chance to represent Rice in such a big event.

“I love college swimming because it gives you a chance to represent your school and the people you’re with,” Swinney said. “I’m so excited to be able to be in Nebraska with

[Schillinger] and represent my favorite place in the world.”

According to Schillinger, the energy of the crowd and the talent of the swimmers around her will undoubtedly make the meet a memorable experience.

“These meets are very inspirational,” Schillinger said. “We got to watch Katie Ledecky set a world record in the meet this weekend and the whole place erupted. It’s amazing.”

While both swimmers said they are grateful for the chance to participate in the event, they are keeping their expectations for quali0see Swimming, page 11

10 SPORTS

the Rice Thresher

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Hughes signs with Icelandic premier league soccer club Maddy Adams Sports Editor

Selfoss, Iceland rests on the southern edge of Iceland’s Golden Circle. With a population of only 6,500, it is nevertheless the largest town in southern Iceland and a hub of commerce. Along with its impressive natural scenery, Selfoss boasts a highly ranked, 50-year-old soccer club. That club, UMF Selfoss, signed Rice’s senior forward Lauren “Lo” Hughes on Wednesday Jan. 20, and she will begin her professional rookie season in early May. Currently, the women’s team is ranked third in its league, Urvalsdeild kvenna. The league is Iceland’s premier division for women’s soccer, and its 10 participating clubs play a double round robin to determine its champion every season.

Thousands of young women play college-level soccer in the United States, and many hope to play professionally. In the United States, the National Women’s Soccer League only drafts 40 players each year, and its meager minimum salary ($6,842 per year) is well below the poverty line. Because of these harsh realities, many NCAA Division I players look to professional opportunities abroad, which offer better opportunities for recruitment and compensation.

0BASKETBALL from page 9 For Rice, junior forward Egor Koulechov and freshman forward Marquez Letcher-Ellis both registered double-doubles. A season-high five Owls scored in double digits, with Koulechov and Evans leading the way with 14 points each.

Freshman guard Connor Cashaw had 13 points, while junior center Andrew Drone and LetcherEllis each contributed 12.

On Saturday, Jan. 23, Rice traveled to Murfreesboro, TN to face the Blue Raiders. The Owls fell to Middle Tennessee (87-73) to lose their third consecutive game.

Early in the game, the Blue Raiders took control. Trailing 16-14, MTSU went on a 17-0

“There were actually quite a few teams in Iceland fighting for her, but this seemed like the best fit,” Adams said. “She seems very comfortable with the coaching staff, and the club and the environment.”

Hughes said that playing professionally has been a dream of hers, and, with her new position

on Selfoss, it is finally being realized.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so to actually see it happen is extremely exciting,” Hughes said. “I’m just so ready to go to the next level.”

During her final season at Rice, Hughes was named the 2015 Conference USA player of the year.

The Canada native also led C-USA with 10 assists, the most assists in a single season in Rice history.

By the end of her final season, Hughes was ranked the No. 60 Division I player in the United States.

Throughout her collegiate career, Hughes set a number of Rice records, including goals (39), assists (28), points (106), game-winning goals (14), shots (269) and shots on goal (129).

According to Hughes, her Rice career pushed her to achieve her current successes.

“Rice did a good job carrying me every season,” Hughes said. “My coaches were challenging me and pushing me to new goals that I wasn’t even sure I could make.”

In April, Hughes will depart for the Selfoss training camp in Spain. She will then return to Houston to finish her final coursework and immediately fly to Iceland once classes have ended. Her first professional season will run from May through September.

spurt over four minutes to take a 15-point lead.

The Blue Raiders continued to pad their lead, stretching it to 20 going into halftime.

The Blue Raiders managed to dominate the Owls. According to Head Coach Mike Rhoades, the Owls’ shortcomings resulted from their inability to follow instruction and maintain control.

“We were allowing them to ‘big boy’ us and body us but we can’t make that excuse,” Rhoades said. “We didn’t follow the game plan in the second half and it was disappointing.”

The Owls began to come back late and cut the deficit to single digits for the first time in the second half at 65-56 with just over 10 minutes left. Despite the effort, Rice could not sustain the momentum and lost by a final score of 87-73. The Owls shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half but could not get

enough stops on defense to make a significant dent into the lead. The star of the game was Guercy, who registered 20 points for the first time this season while playing 39 of the game’s 40 minutes.

Rhoades said his team will continue to strive for the best possible results despite their struggles this season.

“We fight and these teams at the top of the league are pretty good, but we have to keep grinding and figure out [ways to win],” Rhoades said.

The Owls will return to Tudor Fieldhouse this week for a crucial three-game home stand. The Owls are 5-5 at home this season and just 1-9 on the road. Rice will look to bounce back from these consecutive losses against the University of North Texas at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30.

According to Rice Head Coach Nicky Adams, many clubs in Iceland wanted to recruit Hughes, but Selfoss appealed to her the most.

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so to actually see it happen is extremely exciting.

Lauren Hughes Senior Forward

New Construction for Rent 200 feet north of campus Located 1 block north of Rice in a safe, family neighborhood Live closer to the Engineering Quad than south campus colleges Owned and managed by Rice alumni For more information and pictures: www.BolsoverProperties.com

Lauren Hughes courtesy rice athletic communications

Upcoming Games vs. North Texas Jan. 30, 7:00 p.m.

Tudor Fieldhouse

vs. Louisiana Tech Feb. 4, 7:00 p.m.

Tudor Fieldhouse

vs. Southern Miss Feb. 6, 7:00 p.m.

Tudor Fieldhouse

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Marie-Claire Schillinger

SPORTS

the Rice Thresher

11

Kaitlyn Swinney catherine levins/thresehr

0from SWIMMING page 9 fication in check. Competing alongside Olympic medalists, professionals and the best collegiate swimmers in the country, Schillinger said that she recognizes that the likelihood of joining the Olympic team is slim.

“You can have a goal to get as close as you can to finals,” Schillinger said. “But as far as the Olympics, this is as close as we are going to get and it’s very exciting.”

Swinney and Schillinger are each enjoying successful seasons as part of the Rice swim team. Swinney has earned two Conference USA Swimmer of the Week awards, including one this past week, and Schillinger has earned one of her own. They have helped to lead the Owls to a 4-3 record in dual meets and two invitational meet championships. According to Schillinger, the season has been even better than she had hoped.

“Since this is my first year I didn’t really know what to expect,” Schillinger said.

“But I liked it even better than swimming

for a club or high school team because of the camaraderie the team has here.”

The team’s success, however, cannot be attributed to the swimmers alone. Swinney gave credit to Head Coach Seth Huston for helping her to improve both this season and last. According to Swinney, Huston has made swimming much more enjoyable for her during her time at Rice.

“Coach Huston took me in at the beginning of my freshman year when I was really burned out and helped me find my love for the sport again,” Swinney said. “He’s been very instrumental in my progress here.”

Huston will lead the Owls into their next meet beginning Friday, Jan. 29, at the University of Houston. Rice will compete against Tulane University, the University of Houston and Louisiana State University in the meet. It will be the Owls’ final competition before the Conference USA Championships begin on Feb. 24. According to Schillinger, she and Swinney will be ready to lead the Owls the rest of the way.

“We have one goal after the next,” Schillinger said. “We got Olympic Trials, but now we have to set our next goal. We can’t just stop right here.”

Four straight losses for basketball Andrew Grottkau and Maddy Adams Sports Editors

Rice women’s basketball continued its losing streak this week with its third and fourth consecutive conference losses. The Owls fell to the University of Alabama, Birmingham (64-55) and Middle Tennessee State University (61-60). In their past four games, the Owls have started slowly — at halftime, Rice trailed against Western Kentucky University (27-19), Marshall University (42-24), UAB (32-21) and Middle Tennessee (30-26).

When the Owls hosted UAB on Thursday Jan. 21, the squad was looking to snap a twogame losing streak. The Blazers, meanwhile, came in riding a two-game winning streak.

Early on, UAB went on a 15-2 run to take control of the game.

According to Head Coach Tina Langley, UAB earned its lead over Rice, and the Owls’ mistakes in the first half were unacceptable.

“First of all, credit to UAB for coming out and really taking it to us in the first half,” Langley said. “We turned the ball over 13 times. A lot of those times were unforced by us. Those are the kind of turnovers you can’t have.”

The Blazers led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but a buzzer-beating layup by Rice junior guard Maya Hawkins cut the deficit to 11 points at halftime.

In the second half, Rice came out strong.

The Owls opened on a 19-9 run to cut the deficit to a single point, 41-40. Sophomore guard Wendy Knight scored eight of her 12 points during this stretch to key the comeback. The back-and-forth game continued, however, as UAB responded with a 14-4 run to stretch the lead back to 11 before the Owls immediately followed with a 9-0 run to come within 55-53 with just over four minutes to play. Rice would not come any closer. Blazers’ freshman guard Deanna Kuzmanic hit two 3-pointers to put the game out of reach as UAB won 64-55.

Langley said she is happy with the squad’s ability to bounce back in difficult situations.

“I am pleased with how we came back,” Langley said. “The team that we are, we were down 17 and cut it to one a couple of times. We had some people step up in big moments, and I thought we fought really hard in this game.”

According to Langley, the team’s weakness lies in its inability to close out games.

“Then we run into those moments where we’ve got to finish the game,” Langley said.

“Sometimes we don’t have the confidence we need to have attacking the basket.”

History repeated itself in the Owls’ game against Middle Tennessee as Rice lost by a single point after making a comeback in the second half. With four seconds to go in the game, Blue Raiders’ senior guard Brea Edwards hit a game-winning 3-pointer to turn a two-point deficit into a one-point lead and doom the Owls. Despite the loss, Langley said she was happy with her team’s performance.

“I’m really excited and proud of the way our team fought and executed and stayed in the moment,” Langley said. “We just kept moving forward and looking for the next opportunity to be successful. I’m just proud of this team, how they continue to fight and get better every game.”

For the second straight game, first-half turnovers hurt Rice. The Owls committed eight turnovers in the first quarter alone and fell behind 19-12. In the second quarter, a strong defense helped Rice come back. They cut the Blue Raiders’ lead to just four points at halftime. Senior forward Alyssa Lang led the Owls in the first half with six points and four rebounds.

In the second half, junior forward Jasmine Goodwine took control. She scored seven points in the third quarter to help bring the Owls back to tie the game at the end of the period. Goodwine then scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to finish off her team-high 22 points. Her jump shot with 31 seconds remaining put the Owls ahead and she hit one of two free throws to give Rice a 60-58 lead. Unfortunately for the Owls, Edwards drained the game winning 3-pointer on the next possession.

Langley said she recognizes the squad’s efforts and is proud of the strides the team has made and continues to make.

“I really couldn’t ask any more of them, and I’m excited going forward,” Langley said. “That’s what we talk about each day in the locker room, this is a process. We’re not worried about the outcome as much as the process. It’s not about wins as much as it is growth right now.”

To qualify for the NCAA tournament, Rice must finish first in the C-USA tournament.

Currently, the team is ranked at No. 12 out of 14 teams. If the Owls continue losing, they will earn a poor seed in their conference tournament, which may dash their chances at an NCAA tournament appearance.

The Owls will face off against the University of North Texas at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.

ryan cox/thresher

On the double

Rice men’s tennis beat the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 6-1 on Sunday, Jan. 24 at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. Above, junior Tommy Bennett and sophomore Jamie Malik prepare to return a serve from an opposing doubles team during the blowout victory.

THRESHER SPORTS be a star player

write for the sports section email mea5@rice.edu

12

BACKPAGE

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

the Rice Thresher

I woke up at 8 a.m. sharp. I needed to make sure that I could get in line at least 30 minutes before they opened up at 9. Sure, I had to skip my 9 a.m. for this, but I knew it would be worth it. The testimonies were resounding, the fliers were vibrant, and the trailers brought me from six to midnight. It was my time to experience it: the HTC Vive.

The rest of my day was a blur of eager anticipation. I skipped my 10 and 11 a.m. classes because I was too excited to learn about chemistry or physics. I also skipped lunch — too wound up to eat. By the time 2 o’clock rolled around, I was finally settling down.

Still, l decided to skip my 2 p.m. because I had such a good streak going for the day, and because fuck STAT. Eventually, it was 3:30. My time had come to experience virtual reality, a better reality.

“Ok, thirsty@rice.edu, it’s your turn! Step this way to try out the Vive by HTC.” First, I put on the Vive. (By the way, did I mention how cool that name is? Vive. Sounds like “verve,” another cool word!) The next thing I knew, I found myself transported to the bottom of the ocean. I was on a sunken ship; fish darted around me and a blue whale

loomed in the azure distance. It all looked so real. I walked around this underwater environment and thought, “Wow, the Vive is only gonna be like $700. That’s about 14 semesters worth of saved-up Tetra. No problem!”

In the next demo, my robot boss made me pour coffee, plug in computers, throw paper planes and talk to my co-workers. When I picked up the stapler, it turned into a staple gun which I could shoot over nearby cubicles.

Shouts of “Ouch!” and “Quit it, dick” pervaded the air. It was beautiful, and real, and practically made me lose touch with reality.

However, there were some flaws in the system that began to show through in this demo.

None of my co-workers made me feel inadequate, stressed or made me laugh at obscene jokes, for example.

The final demo was by far the most astounding. The Vive (once again, such a cool name. 10/10 would purchase. Your call though) was removed from my head, and a man asked me how the experience was. Going along with the ruse of the VR experience, I gave my resounding approval. As I walked through the new space (a to-scale 3-D environment of Farnsworth Pavillion, if you’d

believe it), I saw an open computer displaying the most recent news: a report read that Donald Trump was leading the presidential polls — and this site wasn’t FOX. Here, I had to protest to the laughable graphic. “C’mon, seriously? You guys aren’t even trying to make this look real.” The CPUs gave me a quizzical look, and returned to their robotic motions of checking and rechecking their phones.

I laughed, and poked one of the computers in the face with my virtual hands, complete with the same left finger that doglegs right from the pencil sharpener accident I had in middle school. The computer was so reactive — the character looked up at me, incredulously. It was so cool. I decided to take it a step further, so I threw my fist into the CPUs gut.

The next thing I knew, a digital RUPD officer came hurdling around the corner and I was feeling 50,000 virtual volts coursing through my body. Charged with public indecency and three counts of disturbing the peace, I was cuffed and thrown in the cruiser. Clearly, the officer forgot to include one count of being blown away by how realistic the Vive was! As we drove to the station, I couldn’t help but inquire, “When’s the demo over, guys?”

Pre-orders begin February 29th, and the Vive will be available for consumer purchase this April. Pricing starts at $1,300 for the mask, $200 for each HTC light tower, and $69 for the flux cooling coupler. Minimum technical specifications for the Vive: 6.0GHz octa-core processor, 2.5TB RAM, at least 32GB dedicated to graphics processing, and no fewer than 10 USB 1.0 ports (USB 2.0 support will be in the next release). HTC is not responsible for existential crises, eye irritation or facial injuries resulting from walking into walls while using the Vive.

The Backpage is satire and written by Joey McGlone and Riley Robertson, and this week Isaac Schultz collaborated. For comments or questions, please email thirsty@rice.edu.

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