The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, October 4, 2017

VOLUME 102, ISSUE NO. 6 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

BLURRY VISION SA V2C2 committee fails to include all students

MR. SADSIDE New album by the Killers fails to live up to expectations

SHOOT AND SCORE Soccer alone in first in Conference USA

SEE OPS P. 4

SEE RICETHRESHER.ORG

SEE SPORTS P. 10

TIME TO SHINE

Moody opens 'Waiting on a Prime-Time Star'

In the first exhibition since its opening, the Moody Center for the Arts features the works of artist Mickalene Thomas. Thomas' works explore representations of black women in art and popular culture and themes of personal and cultural identity. The exhibition opened Sept. 28 and will be on view until Jan. 13, 2018.

SEE REVIEW ON PAGE

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serena liu/thresher

Rice offers aid in wake of Harvey SA seeks student ideas to SHAMI MOSLEY THRESHER STAFF / SMM25@RICE.EDU

The Rice Emergency Student Disaster Assistance program is offering disaster financial assistance and reimbursements for flooded cars to some students affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Only off-campus students who are already receiving financial aid can apply for the disaster financial assistance, which includes up to $1,500 for costs not covered by insurance, according to Bradley Fralic, associate vice president of and university controller of Rice.

The money comes from donations to the Rice Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, which was established to support employees and students impacted by the hurricane as well as fund outreach efforts.

“We focused the assistance on meeting immediate needs not covered by insurance primarily because there’s only so many resources and we decided to focus on those who had the greatest need,” Fralic said. “Rather than get invasive and ask for all kinds of personal information, we decided to focus on those who had some type of need based aid as the best way to make that determination.”

McMurtry College junior Tram Nguyen said she applied to receive financial assistance after her apartment flooded with two feet of water, causing her to lose

every piece of furniture in her apartment.

“For me, as a low-income student, it’s a big deal to know exactly how money is coming in, so you can plan your whole entire semester and year around that,” Nguyen said. “Yes, there’s emergency funds, but re-buying furniture completely is a big sum, really for any college student. We all know Rice is already hard and to have that added burden of not knowing where this money is coming from, it affects your mindset academically.”

Wiess College sophomore Sam Robedee said he applied to receive disaster financial assistance but found he was ineligible because he does not receive need-based aid, although he does receive free tuition for eight semesters because he has a parent who is a faculty member at Rice.

Robedee met with Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson on Tuesday and said he will receive $500 of assistance through the Dean’s office, which he will use to pay apartment fees his landlord charged him even after he said his off-campus apartment became uninhabitable due to mold.

“The experience has been long and tiring, but good and helpful,” Robedee said. “I’m glad Rice is here to help.”

The program will also provide reimbursements to students who sustained damages to automobiles

with Rice parking permits parked on campus during the hurricane while they were out of town on approved Rice travel. Auto reimbursements are up to $500 for either the payment of insurance deductibles or completed repairs, depending on which is lower, according to an email sent to all students on Sept. 14 announcing the financial assistance program.

The experience has been long and tiring, but good and helpful.

I’m glad Rice is here to help.

Sam Robedee Wiess College Sophomore Before the storm, Rice Crisis Management announced that students with parking permits could park their cars in the Entrance 3 Garage or the BRC Garage to prevent their vehicles from flooding.

Because students who were out of town for Rice-related activities did not have the opportunity to move their cars to one of the garages, Fralic said the Rice administration thought it was the right thing to do to reimburse these students.

HARVEY CONT. ON PAGE 2

shape university vision

EMILY ABDOW & CAMERON WALLACE NEWS EDITOR & ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR ESA2@RICE.EDU & CFW2@RICE.EDU

The Rice University Student Association is gathering student ideas to develop the seven major goals of Rice’s Vision for the Second Century, Part Two, which President David Leebron outlined at a Rice town hall on Tuesday.

Leebron first announced the V2C2, an initiative to shape Rice’s strategic plan for the next decade, in February. On Tuesday, Leebron sent a draft of the V2C2 and its major goals to the Rice community.

“This is first and foremost a learning opportunity for the university,” Leebron said.

The seven major goals outlined in the V2C2 aim to transform undergraduate education, improve graduate programs, expand diversity, strengthen research, develop faculty, engage Houston and extend Rice’s impact.

To create the goals, Leebron gathered feedback through a survey that received over 4,500 comments from over 1,100 members of the Rice community between February and mid-March, according to the V2C2 website.

According to SA President Justin Onwenu, 187 of the survey respondents were undergraduate students. The SA’s 100 Ideas for

Rice’s Future Task Force, which was created on Sept. 26, consists of ten members selected by Onwenu from the applicant pool and aims to engage more students in brainstorming specific ideas for the goals, Onwenu said.

“The [V2C2] survey was pretty involved, so I wanted something that would be more accessible, to say, ‘don’t worry about funding, don’t worry about logistics, just give me your craziest ideas on how to improve Rice,’” Onwenu, a Sid Richardson College senior, said.

Leebron said that while he believes some of the 100 ideas will impact the final V2C2 document, they will have the greatest impact when implementation begins in December or January.

“It’s not that all of [the 100 ideas] will belong in a strategic document like this,” Leebron said.

“I have no doubt that some of them will end up with some reference in the document.”

The draft proposal establishes the goal of increasing the percentage of the endowment dedicated to financial aid from 38 percent to 50 percent, a process which will require raising about $160 million, as well as increasing research funding by about $250 million over the next 10 years.

V2C2 CONT. ON PAGE 3

NEWS

2

HARVEY FROM PAGE 1

CURATING ART, COFFEE

Moody Center for the Arts opens new cafe

The cafe will be open during the Moody Center’s public hours and is operated by Salento, which also runs locations at Brochstein Pavilion and in Rice Village. serena liu / thresher

WILL MUNDY FOR THE THRESHER / WSM3@RICE.EDU

A new cafe on campus has joined Coffeehouse as a caffeinated study spot.

The Moody Center for the Arts opened a new cafe on Friday, according to Alison Weaver, executive director of the Moody Center.

“The cafe, like the Moody, is a creative, open space, available to everyone,” Weaver said.

The cafe is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., similar to the Moody Center’s public hours. The cafe does not currently accept Tetra, but is actively working with Housing and Dining to implement the payment system, according to Weaver.

Salento, which has locations in Rice Village and Brochstein Pavilion, operates the cafe, according to Weaver. The cafe offers an assortment of dishes including a smoked

salmon wrap and a kale and cabbage salad and features a laptop bar with wifi, Weaver said. There is seating inside the cafe area, outside on the lantern terrace and in the second floor lounge. Food and drink are allowed throughout the building, except in the Brown Foundation Gallery.

According to Weaver, the most unique element of the cafe is the art in the space.

The cafe has two acrylic panels by American artist Gordon Terry, Weaver said.

The first panel, “Objects of Infinite Scrutiny, Fetishization, and Wonder,” is designed to show living organisms, while the second, “Anatomy of a Phenomenon,” reflects the relationship between “things seen and unseen.”

Jones College freshman Alex Deyanov said a cafe at Moody is an excellent idea.

“Moody is somewhat removed from the rest of campus, so having a cafe there provides

incentives to stay and do my work,” Deyanov said. “While I enjoy the art and aesthetic of the place immensely, I rarely stay there long.”

Grace Tan, a Brown College freshman, said she didn’t know that the Moody Center had food.

“I think I’d only go there if I was in the area,” Tan said. “The Moody Center does look like a good place to study though.”

Sid Richardson College senior Luis Zelaya, who works at Coffeehouse, said he was not aware there was a cafe.

“I mean, I’m all in on there being multiple places to get coffee,” Zelaya said. “I’ve been so-so on the Moody Center as a whole because I think it’s located in an inconvenient area, but I think pairing art and coffee has some merit to it. They both have a lot of love and a lot of care put into them. In a way, it’s similar to Coffeehouse.”

Football player Parker Smith said he received $500 for his flooded car, which he left parked in Greenbriar Lot while in Australia for Rice’s game against Stanford. Smith, an accounting graduate student, said he and other members of the team provided insurance information to Assistant Athletic Director Rick Mello who handled the rest of the process.

“I think we all want more considering we were all stuck in Australia, but Rice has no obligation to pay for us so we are just blessed to be receiving anything at all,” Smith, a Hanszen College senior, said.

Fralic said 25 students have qualified to receive either financial disaster assistance or the automobile assistance so far.

Off-campus students who would like assistance must contact Emily Villarreal at the Controller’s Office for an appointment, according to the email. An application form was attached which asks students to describe the damages to their personal residence and belongings and expenses incurred.

Nguyen recently applied for assistance and said the process was straightforward.

“Overall, it was an easy process,” Nguyen said. “They made it very accessible.

Maybe within a week I’ll get a reply.”

Fralic said that while he is just one of many people involved in the process, meeting with students affected by Harvey has been both rewarding and humbling.

“For me personally, it’s hard to talk about actually,” Fralic said. “When you see the pictures and they tell you their stories of all that they’ve lost, that’s the emotional part. But it is very encouraging when you’re able to help them in some small way and you see the relief on their face and in their voice.”

Nguyen said with this program Rice is trying to eliminate some financial barriers.

“This is more than just making sure that we can go events and feel included,” Nguyen said. “This is so the financial aid students have a place to stay, have things to meet their basic everyday needs. Rice can’t solve every problem with financial inequality but this is definitely a great step in the right direction.”

New look, new priorities for Women’s Resource Center ANNA TA NEWS EDITOR / AXT1@RICE.EDU

Students are taking advantage of the Rice Women’s Resource Center’s updated space after a summer renovation and a redesigned logo, according to co-director Zulfa Quadri.

Co-director Julian Wilson said the center repainted the doors and walls and received new carpeting, a couch, blankets and string lights after she and Quadri decided to rebrand the center to be a more comfortable and accessible space. They also added a cabinet, a tea kettle and reusable mugs.

“Both Julian and I believed that how we present ourselves to the Rice community is very important in who comes in, who gets involved and who shares our space,” Quadri said. “We felt that the current logo and the office space at the time did not reflect the more inviting, welcoming organization we wanted to be.”

In coordination with past directors, Wilson, a Baker College senior, and Quadri, a McMurtry College senior, met with alumnus Rahul Kothari (Lovett ’17) to design the new logo. According to Quadri, they spent roughly two hours picking the new colors for the logo, moving away from the traditional purple of the RWRC and toward maroon and orange, which they felt was more neutral.

Mari Zertuche, who has volunteered with the RWRC for the past year, said she notices more people coming in during a shift this semester.

“I’ve only worked there the past year or so, but I think with the renovation the center [received], it seems like people are more comfortable coming in,” Zertuche, a Will Rice College senior, said. “I also have worked more during the day, so that could be a factor.”

Quadri said the center is becoming more visible.

“I think making the space more inviting and comfortable for people had a lot to do with that,” Quadri said. “The number of people poking their heads in the office to learn more and get more involved has skyrocketed. We also have seen a lot more men coming in which is always a plus.”

Alex Rusakevich is one of at least two men who are volunteering at the center this year. Rusakevich said most people still have the misconception that the center is only a resource for women.

“It seems to be improving this semester though, as I’ve had several male visitors come to talk and purchase our merch,” Rusakevich, a Duncan College senior, said. “Hopefully, word is spreading that we’re here for everyone.”

Quadri said the feminist movement cannot work without everybody’s involvement.

“We need men to be a part of the con versation because that’s how complete progress happens,” Quadri said. “People who have the privilege, in this case, men, need to be activists just as much as women because this affects them too.”

Zertuche said that while she has had great conversations with men at the RWRC about what it means for them to be feminists, the men who utilize the center are not the ones who have the most to learn from it.

“While at Rice there is a general sense that we have a socially conscious student body, I think there are at least a few dudes on this campus that are in desperate need of a fucking clue,” Zertuche said. “Men at Rice need to do a better job of holding each other accountable, and a great way to start figuring out how to do that is talking to the volunteers at the Women’s Resource Center.”

More students are spending time in the redesigned Women’s Resource Center, which features new couches, string lights and color palette.

jessie li / thresher

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

NEWS

3

Banned: Federalist Society hosts immigration debate ALICE LIU THRESHER STAFF / ATL3@RICE.EDU

Two scholars debated the constitutionality of Trump’s immigration executive order at an event hosted by the Rice Federalist Society last Thursday.

Trump’s most recent presidential proclamation, released Sept. 24 and taking effect Oct. 18, added Chad, Venezuela and North Korea to the list of countries with suspended or restricted immigration for certain citizens and lifted restrictions on Sudan. Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen remain on the list.

As opposed to the previous 90-day suspension, the new restrictions are condition-based and have no set time limit.

On Monday, Muslim immigrants and an advocacy group filed a lawsuit against the latest ban, according to Reuters.

John Malcolm, a legal director at conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, said the Supreme Court should uphold the president’s authority to implement his revised executive order.

“This case is not about whether you like Donald Trump, or whether you think extreme vetting to combat terrorism is a good policy or a bad policy,” Malcolm said. “This case is about whether, under the constitution and current Supreme Court precedent, the president and Congress get to set that policy.”

Randall Kelso, a South Texas College of Law professor, said that the intentions behind the executive order were likely political.

It really depends how you view Trump’s actions. Do you view them more as a Muslim ban, ethnicity driven, or more as national security driven?

Randall Kelso South Texas College of Law Professor “It really depends how you view Trump’s actions. Do you view them more as a Muslim ban, ethnicity driven, or more as national security driven?” Kelso said.

Malcolm said Supreme Court precedent and statutory authority give the legislative and executive branches chief control over immigration and national security policies.

“Congress explicitly granted the president the authority to suspend entry of aliens [in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952],” Malcolm said.

Kelso said the more relevant statutory provision is the Immigration and Nationality

President David Leebron outlined V2C2’s major goals at Rice’s town hall on Tuesday.

chenglin yang/ thresher

V2C2

FROM PAGE

1

“The challenge of a four year education is not, unfortunately, just for lower-income students where we’ve been doing pretty well, but increasingly for middle and upper-middle income students,” Leebron said. “We have to figure out how to address that as well.”

Specific proposals in the V2C2 draft include “Central Quad 4.0,” a vision to elevate the Central Quad to the “academic hub and focal point” of the university through renovations to Fondren Library and the Rice Memorial Center, and the creation of the multicultural center and a new academic building.

Other goals in the document include having five graduate programs ranked in the top 10 in the country and 12 in the top 20.

The draft also calls for recruiting qualified graduate students by strengthening the graduate community, possibly through a graduate student residential college.

The proposal also outlines plans to expand undergraduate research opportunities and study abroad experiences, including summer programs and travel as part of courses for students who cannot study abroad due to curricular or university obligations.

When the SA’s 100 Ideas for Rice’s Future initiative concludes on Oct. 30., the task force will present the administration with a report of the 100 ideas and host a SA meeting for students to pitch ideas to Leebron and other administrators, Onwenu said.

The task force members are divided into a survey and social media pod, a club engagement pod, a focus group pod, and a pop-up pod, according to Onwenu.

Survey and social media pod member Constantine Tzouanas, a Wiess College junior, said the survey released today will allow students to submit ideas for each goal in the V2C2 draft.

The club engagement pod will use the new “genre” system, which groups clubs in categories, and targets two clubs in each genre with a focus on cultural clubs, according to engagement pod member and Lovett College sophomore Ariana Engles.

Wiess freshman Tim Thomas, who is organizing the pop-up pod, said booths will be set up to gather input. Thomas said the booths will be in varying locations to ensure a range of voices are represented.

According to focus group pod member and Will Rice junior Isaac Goforth, the pod will organize two meetings at each residential college focusing on different sets of topics.

The meetings will focus on what makes the Rice experience unique.

McMurtry College President Walden Pemantle said he is impressed with the task force’s strategies to gather a range of ideas.

“People at my college have been anxious to share ideas, so I hope this becomes an ongoing way for the SA to collect ambitious and relevant ideas,” Pemantle, a senior, said.

Act of 1965, which bans discrimination in the issuance of an immigrant visa based on a person’s race, sex or nationality.

The Supreme Court is justified in questioning Trump’s true intentions, considering his pardon of sheriff Joe Arpaio, Kelso added.

“That is a dagger blow at the rule of law,” Kelso said. “That is just outrageous. [Arpaio] was found in criminal contempt.”

Malcolm said Trump’s motive for the immigration ban does not matter if his stated reason of national security is legitimate.

Jones College senior Ellie Persellin said the assertion that the ban was purely about national security was unconvincing.

“There was no discussion as to President Trump’s business ties with Saudi Arabia, and that we have political incentives to keep diplomatic intentions with them,” Persellin said.

Citing Kliendiest v. Mandell, Malcolm said that when the executive branch restricts immigration, courts should neither look at the intent behind the decision nor the constitutional interest of those who might be affected.

Anthony Saliba, an attendee, said he enjoyed how Malcolm supported his argument with specific court cases.

“It was interesting to hear a debate on this topic free from a lot of the bluster that the mainstream media portrays,” Saliba, a Duncan College freshman who knew of Malcolm through the Heritage Foundation, said.

When Persellin asked about Trump’s explicit use of the phrase “Muslim ban” in a tweet during his campaign, Malcolm said it was a “relatively uninformed” statement but called it campaign rhetoric designed to appeal to his base.

“Judges should not second guess presidential authority based on some hidden intent divined from tweets by the president,” Malcolm said. “It is the job of judges to apply the law, not to try to psychoanalyze the commander in chief.”

Kelso said that, looking at the executive order itself, it’s still not clear that Trump is addressing a concrete national security issue.

“None of the countries in the first ban, the second ban, or the third ban, has ever had an individual immigrate to the United States and cause a national security problem,” Kelso said. “None, not in forty years.”

But Malcolm said the countries were placed on the list based on their government’s willingness to cooperate with the U.S., the level of vetting by the countries themselves and their institutional capacity issues.

Persellin said she thought Malcolm dismissed aspects of the travel ban with little justification.

“That Venezuela and North Korea are now included does not make it a ban that does not primarily target Muslim nations,” Persellin said.

OPINION

4 STAFF EDITORIAL

100 ideas task force may prove influential Just yesterday, President Leebron sent his Vision for the Second Century, Part Two draft to each and every one of us, inviting feedback on his goals for the future of Rice (see p. 1). The seven goals to extend Rice’s impact, outlined in his 55-page draft, concern undergraduate education, graduate programs, diversity and inclusiveness, research achievement, faculty standards, urban participation, and digital expansion.

These seven major goals are appropriately expansive, but do not focus on undergraduate student life beyond academics and faculty-student engagement. In addition to the proposed goals, development of the non-academic undergraduate experience is an important part of any strategic plan for coming years.

The creation of the SA’s 100 Ideas for Rice’s Future Task Force is intended to make sure the undergraduate voice is heard.

Given that Leebron’s survey does not appear to gather ideas outside the established goals, the SA committee should serve as the best platform to promote ideas that do not fit into one of the already determined categories, such as the non-academic student experience. While it’s important to complete Leebron’s feedback form, the SA is better equipped to help us bring new ideas to the administration’s table that will shape the vision for the undergraduate experience of the future.

Andrew Grottkau recused himself from the writing of this editorial.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Parking isn’t the problem — cars are Rice will never have enough parking.

This is the reality we must accept.

As the Thresher noted last week (“Searching for space: Students struggle to find spots amid lot closures, illegal parking,” Sept. 27 issue), Rice’s parking lots have reached capacity, and there is no longer enough space to accommodate everybody with a permit. While this is certainly a frustrating problem, the solution is not to simply build more parking. Like adding lanes to highways to “solve” traffic congestion, we cannot build our way out of this parking quagmire.

There is no space left for an additional surface parking lot at Rice, unless we further compromise our school’s aesthetic character by reclaiming green spaces for more acres of asphalt. Building more structured parking, like the new garage next to the Allen Center, would also be a poor choice. Above-ground garages cost, on average, $18,600 per space to construct. It would be unwise for the administration to sink millions of dollars, which could be used for far more valuable things like improving our residential facilities, into gigantic concrete boxes which would only slightly increase our parking supply.

Parking garages, like the lots they replace, are dead spaces which hold our cars for the 95 percent of their lifetimes they sit unused. Constructing additional garages would not only be expensive and environmentally wasteful, but it

would also force Rice to incorporate enormous, uninhabitable buildings into our human-scaled campus. The efforts to disguise the new Allen Center garage are admirable, but it is still quite obvious that it is an eight-story concrete tower which sticks out like a sore thumb next to our campus’s more tasteful (and useful) buildings. Imagine that being reproduced all across campus — it would be a catastrophic amount of ugliness.

The only solution to our current parking crunch is to rethink the role that automobiles should play in our daily lives. Not everybody who currently parks a car on campus needs to do so.

For many of us who live at our residential colleges and do not have an off-campus job, having a parking permit is a luxury that enables us to go to distant places like Chinatown with little hassle. It’s not a necessity. Currently, Rice sells parking permits to whoever will shell out the $450+ necessary to get one, without considering how much they need one.

Our permit system should be reformed to prioritize those who actually need to commute to and from campus on a daily basis. Commuters should receive permits first, and whatever is left over should be made available to everyone else.

Even for those who live off campus, driving should not always be necessary.

Rice should help students moving off campus find housing that is within walking or biking distance of campus, or near a direct bus or light rail line. We

should also encourage faculty and staff to use these modes if they can, possibly by subsidizing transit fares or the cost of a bike. We are fortunate to have some of the best transit accessibility in the entire Houston area, and the neighborhoods around Rice are very walkable. Extending the Rice shuttle system to areas with a high density of students, like the cluster of apartments on Brompton Road, should also be considered.

Before Rice Stadium and its environs were constructed 60 years ago, a creek called Harris Gully meandered across the western third of campus. When Rice was founded, it was one of the only places on campus with native trees.

Building West Lot required obliterating that entire ecosystem and placing the creek into a massive pair of underground concrete culverts, which still exist to this day. The stadium lots now consume 30 acres, a full 10 percent of our campus.

Destroying what could have been productive, beautiful, natural spaces so tons of metal can bake in the sun for hours a day is the high price we pay for automobile dependence. If Rice is truly unconventional, we should avoid the impulse to build more parking and instead strive for a future where driving is optional — even in Houston.

Justin Raine Will Rice College Senior Rice Urbanists President

OP-ED

V2C2 committee’s bureaucracy may fail to obtain strong ideas from students The Student Association voted last week to create a 10-member standing committee that will enumerate 100 or more ideas for Rice’s Second Vision for the Second Century. The original Vision for the Second Century motivated Rice to construct McMurtry and Duncan Colleges, expand the international student population and fund more research on campus. V2C2 may incite changes of similar magnitude, and so while we’re pleased that students are being consulted in this vision for the next 100 years at Rice, the current plan for obtaining student input is remarkably problematic. Because of the structure of the committee and the process through which ideas will be chosen, the student body as a whole will have limited influence on V2C2.

The members of the SA committee will be selected via applications that will be evaluated by SA President Justin Onwenu with no input from the rest of the SA or the student body. For a committee that is charged with identifying students’ long-term goals, this is a problem. The goals cannot be truly reflective of all of

STAFF Drew Keller & Juan Saldaña* Editors in Chief Jasmine Lin* Managing Editor Shannon Klein Business Manager news Emily Abdow* Editor Anna Ta Editor Cameron Wallace Asst. Editor spotlight Elizabeth Rasich Editor

the students at Rice if only 10 people are collecting these ideas.

Moreover, these 10 students will be selected on the basis of a poorly publicized application. The application process has inherent selection bias because the students who applied to this committee were likely motivated by emails sent out from the SA itself or from SA senators.

This means that other members of the student body, like those who might place more value on academics, athletics or other extracurriculars, will not be part of the committee. While it is important to include the goals of students who are part of or wish to be part of the SA in the V2C2, these students represent a minority of the student population and should not be overrepresented.

In addition, the arbitrary number of ideas will limit student influence over the V2C2 because it encourages the submission of poorly thought-out ideas.

The application claims that the committee wants ideas that are limitless and encourages students to not worry about logistics or funding. We should expect

enough maturity and intelligence from Rice students to request ideas that are well thought-out, with concerns for funding and logistics in mind. We should strive for quality over quantity. There is very little benefit to gathering 100 ideas if they are not 100 good ideas. It might be fun for the administration to say that its students came up with 100 ideas, but it’s certainly not necessary.

Furthermore, because there will be such a large number of ideas, the administration will be able to filter out some ideas without backlash. The huge scale of the project means that many student-created ideas will be brushed under the rug, and the administration will have the power to choose which ones to prioritize. Instead of a bulk submission of 100 ideas, there should be a back-and-forth between the administration and students about our values, a few topics at a time. This way, the administration would understand how and why students want specific things implemented; they will not simply see a list of 100 ideas they may or may not be obligated to pursue.

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The simple solution should be to encourage democracy in our student government, which is missing from this process. The students, either the SA or the undergraduate population, should elect the committee. In addition, this committee should gather ideas from around the university, synthesize them and then present them to the students of Rice. We should not put forward 100 ideas to the administration, but rather submit the ideas that receive a certain favorability rating based on a student vote. If Rice students were able to see all the ideas and choose which are most important to them, we would have a Second Vision for the Second Century that is truly representative of the undergraduate population.

SYDNEY GARRETT & ANDREW GROTTKAU

McMurtry College Juniors Thresher News Designer & Sports Editor scg5@rice.edu abg4@rice.edu

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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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

THE RICE THRESHER

OPINION

5

cartoon by esther tang

EDITOR’S COLUMN: MY WEY OR THE HIGHWAY

Students have the right to want more from the CCD A couple weeks ago, the Thresher covered the career fair, and chose to make the expo’s shortcomings the focus of our editorial. Unfortunately, the point, in many instances, was completely missed by readers, particularly people who have already graduated from Rice and hold jobs (perhaps jobs they found themselves without any help from Rice).

First of all — hi, I’m an English major.

Maybe you have something to say about my complaints in particular. Trust me, any veiled insults you may wish to throw my way (“Don’t expect jobs to be piling up at your doorstep,” “Yeah you can major in a ‘passion,’ but that was your choice and not the CCD’s fault”), I’ve told it all to myself before. That’s not the point; in fact, it’s almost never the point.

I can’t emphasize enough that I, and so many other students who are dissatisfied with the Career Expo and of course the Center for Career Development, absolutely do not expect opportunities to just bloom in front of us. I don’t believe in things just being handed to me, just because that does not happen (unless I’m the most well-connected and/or privileged person ever).

The fact is, we’re paying a lot to be here. I see the value in my degree (even though it took me a long time to reach that point), but for me, and for all students, at least half the value of Rice isn’t purely academic. So much of the real world requires applicational skills that we simply do not learn in the classroom. We’re here for the social aspects too, obviously, and the opportunities that arise from the connections Rice can give us.

But beyond that, I expect my school to show that it cares about the academic community I belong to. I don’t expect it to cater to me, but I think at the very least I should be afforded an outward appearance of effort. All the practical concerns and drawbacks of having

certain desired companies at the career fair are well-placed and reasonable; but if this many people are consistently complaining year after year, there’s something that needs to be changed overall.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to “change my outlook.” I think I deserve to get the job I want. It might not happen — in fact the likelihood of that is almost always very slim, but I deserve to try and I deserve as much opportunity as other majors to get a shot at that. I’m sick of ONLY hearing congregations of certain majors and career interests discussing their recruitment cycles. I literally have no other student to talk to about job applications, because I don’t have the resources to do so. My (few) humanities and even social sciences friends and I attend zero info sessions, because we have none to attend. In fact, just hearing “info session” incites in me a gag reflex because I know what it’ll be about — consulting, oil and gas, investment banking, etc.

After the expo ended and after our paper covering the expo came out, I actually opened an email from the CCD. Lo and behold, it regarded a presentation on “arts, entertainment, and communication.” I looked at the list of speakers, and even though I’m sure those people are great, overall, I felt a wry disappointment. Believe me, I wanted the CCD to prove me wrong. I don’t think it’s that hard to find people, even if they’re students, who have had experience in some fields that are not explored whatsoever. I got an internship at a legit dream company this summer, and that happened without any help from Rice. I’ve never learned anything about that industry whatsoever while at Rice, and I’ve heard of literally one other Rice student who got an internship in that field. I know I can take responsibility for

my future, and I think all students here do — but wouldn’t it be great if I had someone to talk to at Rice about that particular avenue?

To be honest, I don’t think it’s that hard. I’ve looked for jobs and internships on New York University, Wellesley College, and Boston University’s websites. It can be a simple matter of redirecting students to certain companies and openings; the CCD can say, “Here — why don’t you take a look at these companies? They have this and this open, and that could be wellsuited for your major,” rather than saying, “Just Google it” (a CCD counselor actually said that to a student, by the way).

Diversity in the student body in turn requires a diversity of resources and opportunities. Rice is not lacking in money, connections or reputation. It doesn’t matter if there are fewer humanities and social sciences majors than STEM majors.

We exist, and therefore, we should have a say and a chance at the resources Rice can and should offer. If we are a part of the student population, then we too ought to be afforded the same benefits as other majors that people would so rudely declare more “practical.”

At the end of the day, we chose Rice.

It is a huge privilege to be here, and I’m grateful that Rice admitted me. But I, among many others, chose to apply to Rice, and we chose to come here out of many other options available to us. At the very least, we deserve to see appropriate returns for our commitment.

JULIANNE WEY

Thresher Opinions Editor Jones College Senior jsw7@rice.edu

OP-ED

Keep spinning ‘Po-um (Lyric)’

I see that the spinnable statue previously located by Herzstein Hall, “Po-um (Lyric)” by Mark di Suvero, has been relocated to near the Moody Center for the Arts. Perhaps the Moody insisted it be moved there as a condition of the building donation. Perhaps the art coordinator wanted the general public to have easier access to the spinning experience.

Perhaps conservators overprotective of art decided spinning a spinnable statue was bad for longevity and, wanting to preserve it, moved it closer to the police station to inhibit spinning. Whatever the reason, cupidity, magnanimity or suppression, the statue is now over there, not by Herzstein Hall.

So all of you who wanted to celebrate some life milestone by spinning the statue for luck/guidance/fun, but found it missing, do not despair. It is just farther away from where you sleep, and there is no convenient stick leaning on the drainpipe to push it with.

You will have to bring your own stick, or find one nearby. The parking gate arm is about the right length. It takes an allen wrench of the right size to remove it, but be sure and put it back on after you push the statue. Maybe you could find some lengthy thing next to a tree or in the parking lot among the wheel curbs or blocks, or whatever those things are called that you bump your tires on when you park.

The new setting has topography, so it is more interesting (complicated) to spin the statue now. The turf is new, so maybe give it a few weeks to rest before you go step all over it.

Be safe, but remember to have fun.

ROBERT DUFFIELD

Baker College Alum, 1987

SPOTLIGHT

6

GARDEN TO TABLE

EVA MA / THRESHER

Members of the Rice Urban Agriculture Club work in their South Servery garden. Many of the vegetables grown by the club are used in the servery’s meals. Participating in planting and mainting the garden is a requirement for Joseph Novak’s community agriculture course.

gardens currently available future garden location

Many students who dine at South Servery have no idea that some of the vegetables they eat everday are grown in their own backyards.

ELLA FELDMAN FOR THE THRESHER / EMF6@RICE.EDU

Seated behind his desk, Joseph Novak looks like any other professor. But seeing him work soil hand in hand with about 15 undergraduates under the hot sun of a Tuesday afternoon, the unique connection he has with his students becomes clear as day.

Novak, who came to Rice from Texas A&M University in 2014, teaches a course on community agriculture every semester.

He is also the faculty advisor of Rice Urban Agriculture, a student run organization that oversees Rice’s community gardens.

“I’m 73,” Novak said. “At this point, I don’t ask a lot of questions. I just find that a lot of people are interested in what I’m trying to do and just come out and do it too.”

That was the case for Richard Arthur Goldman and Sebastian Gonzalez, two juniors at Lovett College who were inspired by Novak’s love of gardening.

“You take the class with Joe Novak and he’s basically a genius,” Goldman said. “He got me and Sebastian really passionate about gardening.”

While taking Novak’s course, Goldman and Gonzalez decided to bring their gardening skills to the second floor of Lovett, where they grew a variety of vegetables on the sundeck, including a turnip named Timmy Turner.

“Seeing the entire process, from when you have a seed to when it’s actually fruitful, when you can actually eat it, was incredible,” Gonzalez said, unable to keep a smile from his face. He is now vice president of RUA. A requirement of Novak’s class is that students spend time actually working on the gardens. Currently, Rice has three gardens: one behind Martel College along Sunset Boulevard, one alongside South Servery

and one along Wiess College, on the curve of Alumni Drive. Although the Rice website refers to these spaces as community gardens, Novak prefers another name.

“I call them holistic gardens. Holistic means for everybody,” he said.

This concept is central to Novak’s approach to gardening, with specialized tools, elevated gardening beds and plenty of benches to accommodate all people.

“Somebody who’s had a stroke, no reason they should not continue gardening. We just have to adapt the garden to meet their special needs,” he said.

Novak’s gardening philosophy also stresses sustainability, which has come to be a major focus of RUA. The club, which was founded in the fall of 2015, has since developed a composting program. Max Ronkos, a senior at Lovett College and co-president of the club, fondly remembers the development of this program.

“It had been a long time coming,” Ronkos said. “Getting a golf cart that I was able to use, talking to the chefs, convincing them to save materials, and then finally being able to drive it around, going in through the back doors of the serveries, talking to people in there and just watching all of our compost materials start to pile up in the back of the golf cart was really cool.”

Ronkos heads RUA with Emily Foxman, fellow senior at Lovett College, whom he calls the “gardening czar.” Similar to Goldman’s and Gonzalez’s, Foxman’s passion for gardening started with Novak’s class, especially the physical gardening requirement.

“You’re sitting there watching a PowerPoint and you’re like, ‘Okay, yeah, gardening is nice,’ but gardening is so nice,” she said.

Like many fellow RUA members, Foxman came into the club with no prior gardening

experience, but slowly grew from being unable to identify a cucumber plant to running entire gardens pretty much by herself. She’s spent her past two summers taking care of Rice’s gardens and using the produce she grows in her kitchen, an experience she called “meditative.” Food is very important to the members of RUA. “The first time we grew snap peas, we were so into the snap peas. We ate so many snap peas,” Foxman said.

Ronkos shares her love of podded peas.

“There are some fruits and vegetables that you can get from the store and they’ll taste the same, but specifically sugar snap peas and tomatoes are exponentially better when they’re homegrown,” he said.

While some of the produce grown in Rice’s gardens is enjoyed by RUA members, most of it gets sold to the chefs at South Servery, an experience Gonzalez considers extremely valuable.

It’s a side of these people that are behind the scenes tha you don’t usually see. It takes all these intersecting places and brings them together.

Sebastian Gonzalez Rice Urban Agriculture Vice President “It’s a side of these people that are behind the scenes that you don’t usually see,” Gonzalez said. “It takes all these intersecting places and brings them together.”

The club members are especially fond of Chef Ed Castillo, who runs the kitchen at North Servery and previously worked at South.

“He’s like, super into it. We’d talk to him and be like, ‘What do you want us to grow?’ And he’d be like, ‘I want beets! I want cilantro!’ And then we could do it. That was pretty neat,” Foxman said.

Foxman and Ronkos are exploring the possibility of developing a student-run business, where students would work in the gardens for an hourly wage that would be funded by the sale of produce.

But their current focus is on helping Novak with the development of a fourth Rice garden.

This garden will exist along the Media Center, and will reflect the values of community and sustainability so central to Novak and RUA. Novak has secured a grant for its development and hopes to complete it by second semester.

Among his plans for the space are a fruit orchard, a butterfly garden, a storytelling area and an African keyhole garden, a raised plant bed made out of recycled materials. He also hopes to create a space where students can escape the rush of campus.

“You’re out in the middle of everything when you’re sitting at most places on campus, and some people really want to focus and concentrate,” Novak said. “Nature is restorative, it really helps you relax, calms you. So we want little pockets of places for students to just sit, relax and think.”

Novak is counting on student involvement to develop this garden and hopes to create a space where he can share his love of gardens with a broader set of people.

“That’s what I’m trying to do with these students at Rice, show them all these magical things that happen in a garden,” Novak said. “Few things are more beautiful than a bluebird singing in the spring.”

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

SPOTLIGHT

Minter, these characters felt like people they already knew.

Dunlevie’s first interaction with Minter was in an English class his first semester of freshman year. Though the 20th century American poetry course was far above his credentials as a first-semester freshman, Dunlevie stuck the semester out.

[He was] no shrinking violet [and] it’s an aspect of his personality that should not be ignored. Being a tough Texan was fundamental to his self image.

COURTESY STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND RICE DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Late Rice English professor David Minter (right) had a formative influence on his student, alumnus Bruce Dunlevie (Sid Richardson ’79, left). Dunlevie is now a successful venture capitalist who once wanted to follow in Minter’s footsteps as an English professor.

Minter’s lasting influence JAECEY PARHAM THRESHER STAFF / JLP9@RICE.EDU

David Minter’s legacy lives on through Rice alumnus Bruce Dunlevie (Sid Richardson ’79), who remembers the late professor as a hero in his life. As an undergraduate, Dunlevie admired Minter to such an extent that his life almost turned out very differently.

According to Dunlevie, Minter grew up working in Texas oil fields and thus was no stranger to hard labor. The result, despite its humble showing, was a spirit of steel. “[He was] no shrinking violet [and] it’s an aspect of his personality [that] should not be ignored,” Dunlevie said. “Being a tough Texan was fundamental to his self image.”

Minter’s southern roots were mirrored

through his scholastic specialty, William Faulkner. Dunlevie said he believes Minter’s fondness for Faulkner was grounded in their shared backgrounds. Faulkner’s narratives were set in southern locations based on his home state, Mississippi. He is regarded as the quintessential writer for Southern literature.

Minter was born in Midland, Texas but spent most of his life in various Texas cities: Gonzales, Woodville, Alice, Denton and Houston. Just as Minter was Texan born and bred, so was Dunlevie — a similarity that Dunlevie believes helped form their relationship. Dunlevie said Faulkner’s characters of the South are often read by northerners as outrageous and unbelievable. But for Dunlevie and

Bruce Dunlevie Sid Richardson ’79 But Dunlevie only became close with Minter in his sophomore year. On a whim, Dunlevie applied to a study abroad program at Trinity College, Cambridge in England. Minter was a force behind the program and a key liaison between Trinity College and Rice. Dunlevie was completely unaware of Minter’s involvement with the program until he received a call from Minter telling him he was accepted. In later years, Dunlevie would joke with Minter by saying there was only one reason Dunlevie was selected for the program: He was the only applicant.

The two stayed in contact while Dunlevie studied abroad, even meeting up in England at one point. Dunlevie reminisces, saying that he began to aspire to be just like Minter. It was during Dunlevie’s senior year, however, that the two spent countless hours together. He took as many classes from

7

Minter as possible on subjects ranging from early American literature and poetry to the works of William Faulkner. Dunlevie was also writing a senior English thesis under Minter’s direction. The subject matter was, unsurprisingly, Faulkner.

Having taken more classes from Minter than from any other professor by his senior year, Dunlevie asked Minter if he would write him a recommendation letter for graduate school. Dunlevie was planning to pursue a doctorate in English. To Dunlevie’s surprise, Minter discouraged his plans for graduate school despite having happily agreed to recommend him.

“He knew that my interest in [going to graduate school] was just to become more like him — and he knew that wasn’t an authentic enough rationale for becoming an English professor,” Dunlevie said.

Per Minter’s guidance, Dunlevie pursued a career in business instead, later receiving his MBA from Stanford University. He has become a leading venture capitalist, cofounding Benchmark Capital Management.

Dunlevie also played a key role in the e-commerce revolution by assisting in the creation of the Palm Pilot and eBay, Inc. Caroline Levander, Rice’s vice president for strategic initiatives and digital education and the Carlson Professor in the Humanities, is also one of Minter’s ex-students. She received her doctorate in English while under Minter’s direction. She remarked that the profundity of Minter’s guidance in Dunlevie’s life is the utmost example of Minter’s ability to impact others.

“It wasn’t clear [at the time] that Bruce was going to become the Bruce he is today [but] it was David’s foresight and care that at this crucial juncture in a young man’s life, set his direction,” Levander said.

Students are invited to a memorial service for Minter on Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. in the Rice Memorial Chapel.

&

ARTS entertainment

8 ART

‘Waiting on a Prime-Time Star’ explores black womanhood

ARELI NAVARRO MAGALLÓN THRESHER STAFF / AMN9@RICE.EDU

The Moody Center for the Arts’ latest exhibit, “Mickalene Thomas: Waiting on a Prime-Time Star,” opened last Thursday.

The first collection to debut since the center’s inaugural selection of exhibitions, its opening was much anticipated and celebrated, as students spent their Friday nights at the Moody’s organized student party commemorating Thomas’ first solo exhibition in Texas. The event was modest, providing a retro soundtrack for ambiance as viewers enjoyed light refreshments and each other’s company. The main event, independent of its imperfect exhibition design and inconsistent advertising, did not disappoint.

On first entering Thomas’ installation, the viewer is greeted by a large tableau that seems to occupy the majority of the room’s open space. Vibrant colors immediately draw the viewer in, where they discover the arresting details of Thomas’ interior design, all bathed under the warm glow of lights.

Only after having taken in the patchwork of fabrics and household objects can the viewer tear their gaze from the lifelike living room, and survey the two accompanying pieces that are displayed rather haphazardly on neighboring walls.

To experience the remainder and majority of her collection, one must enter an adjacent room, separated by a door.

Here, Thomas’ work is arranged in no particular order and viewers are free to wander the space, immersing themselves in the photography, video, collaging and massive wood panel paintings displayed.

Thomas’ artistry is partly characterized by its diversity of practice; her final products often involve an extensive process that includes several different media. Thomas often begins by creating an interior tableau and photographing friends within the cultivated environment. She then cuts up the photographs and collages the scraps before creating paintings from the resulting images. The pieces exhibited at the Moody showcase this process, as there are versions of every step of her procedure shown. This detail is lost on viewers, however, as there is no section label to explain this, so they enter unaware of the relationship between the wall of sketchy, small-scale collages and her polished, standalone paintings. Still, despite a divided gallery space and a lack of accompanying information, Thomas’ collection stands out in its singularity of intent. It resonates in its utter cohesion.

Moody’s webpage lists identity, sexuality and power as three thematic concerns of Thomas’ work; while these are evidently fundamental to Thomas’ work, it is not until one enters the Moody itself that black womanhood in particular is mentioned.

To advertise the collection without this specification seems inauthentic, as it is

clear that Thomas’ artistry is an ode to black women. Thomas’ mother and friends serve as her subjects and their frequently recurring images foster a sense of intimacy and trust that arises from their shared identity. With sequined afros, a Diana Ross record and ornate acrylic nails, black feminine imagery is arguably the most important component of her work. Thomas is no doubt all too aware of the mainstream consumption of black culture and seems to claim agency in the depiction of black aesthetics. She turns, in particular, to interiors, creating environments that reflect the less-appropriated manifestations of black culture. The result is a generous repetition of several overarching motifs that draw on unapologetic animal prints, bold rhinestone detailing and bright colors, all combined with a keen eye for design to create environments that toe the line between authenticity and realism; the pieces simultaneously depict an idealized, abstracted truth and hint at the depiction of an already existing world.

Thomas’ artistry is partly characterized by its diversity of practice; her final products often involve an extensive process that includes several different media.

Thomas’ work is also very clearly influenced by her close study of art history; nods to artists such as Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet can be found throughout the exhibition. By replacing the subjects of famous pieces with the figures of her muses, Thomas creates spaces for black women in a context that has traditionally excluded them. Thomas not only recognizes black beauty and its need to be represented in the fine arts, but as the artist behind them, she can truly celebrate black women without exploiting their images. Moreover, her particular approach of collaging and bedazzling subverts the conventional methods of the artists she references, asserting her presence as a black woman within the context of art history, one whose practices seek to dialogue with, not emulate, the classics.

Though her work relies on the past in its classical allusions and interior design, there is a decidedly contemporary tone to the collection, a feeling supported by the fact that American singer-songwriter Solange’s 2012 album, “True,” uses a commissioned collage from Thomas as its album art. As one surveys the collection, they witness something true and whole as Thomas investigates the virtues of black womanhood introspectively, exploring the power, solidarity, and art that exists within the community.

THE WEEKLY SCENE

RUN THE JEWELS See hip-hop duo Run the Jewels perform with Danny Brown Oct. 5.

Tickets are $30 - $35 and doors open at 7 p.m.

Revention Music Center 520 Texas st. reventionmusiccenter.com

R2 MONTHLY CONTEST WINNERS R2 Editor’s Note: Every month, R2: The Rice Review invites undergraduates to submit writing and art in light of a chosen theme. For September, our theme was Neighborhood. These winning submissions magnify interactions between the individual and the broader community, illuminating a shared sense of nostalgia when it comes to the personal construction of a neighborhood. Enjoy! Submissions for October’s theme, Disguise, are open now through Oct. 22.

CHLORINE by ALLISON YELVINGTON

She used to love the neighborhood pool. She would beg her mother to go, offer to trade best behavior and early bedtimes for a chance to step across the hot concrete next to the community center and into the shallow end of the water. These days she drove past it devoid of desire, exercising instead an adult level of disgust for the communal bath of germs and piss and for little boys on the cusp of puberty who swam too close to legs with goggles on and eyes wide open.

Still, at times, when she hit a red light and eyes wandered, the memories of the pool would break the surface of her mind and swim lazy laps for a moment, and she could almost taste the chlorine.

There was the single time she and her siblings had convinced her father to join them. They had piled into the minivan with pasty sunscreen faces clutching their towels, and arrived at an empty parking lot and the sign “POOL CLOSED MONDAYS.” And there were the years spent walking to end of the diving board and curling her toes around the edge, and then turning back again in terror and shame, climbing down to watch her younger sister jump instead.

She still shuttered at the sensation of running into the shirtless belly of someone else’s father in a game of Marco Polo, and remembered the way her fingertips would wrinkle, and how the rough bottom of the pool would tear at the skin of her big toe.

Most of all, she remembered the feeling of laying on her back, feeling light and as if she could float into the sky above her. These were the moments that most felt like poetry, and sometimes, just for an instant, she thought about entering the cast iron gate to the pool once more. She imagined climbing in fully clothed, to the confusion of the tweens and helicopter moms and high school life guards, and just floating on her back.

“It’s been two years since I’ve written a poem,” she would say.

But then the light would change to green, and the instant was gone, the memories would submerge themselves once more, and she would keep driving.

THE FRUIT SHOP DOWNSTAIRS by EVA MA

RUMORS

HOUSTON WEIRD HOMES TOUR

HOUSTON POETRY FEST 2017

This semester’s VADA production is a comedy set at a 1980s dinner party where everything that can go wrong does.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Oct. 5-7 and 1214. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for alumni, faculty and staff.

This Saturday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., take a self-paced tour of Houston’s weird houses. Start at any of the houses listed and pick up a guide and map. Tickets are $30 and proceeds will benefit Houston nonprofits.

Now in its 32nd year, the Houston Poetry Fest will include contests, professional and amateur readings and workshops.

Readings are free and open to the public.

The festival runs from Oct. 13-15.

Hamman Hall events.rice.edu

Various Locations weirdhomestour.com

Girard St. Building 201 Girard St. houstonpoetryfest.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

THE RICE THRESHER

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FILM

In ‘Battle of the Sexes’ the stakes extend beyond the sporting arena MADDIE FLAVIN THRESHER STAFF / MF37@RICE.EDU

BATTLE OF THE SEXES Running time: 121 minutes Rating: PG-13 Genre: Historical Drama

Forty-four years ago, 90 million people sat in front of their televisions and over 30,000 filled the seats of the Houston Astrodome to watch a tennis match that was far from ordinary. This coed match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs had one of the largest audiences for a tennis match in United States history and the power to equalize American professional sports on the gender front. From the husband-andwife directing team of “Little Miss Sunshine” comes a behind-the-scenes drama about that iconic “battle of the sexes,” and the chain of events that led to it.

By 1973, tennis player Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) has become the most successful female athlete of all time, with a reputation for championing women’s rights.

Upon discovering that she’s being paid less than the preeminent male tennis players, King teams up with magazine publisher Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman) and eight other female tennis players to launch their own tennis circuit in protest. As the new organization gains support in fans, finances and participants, one of the men who takes notice is retired tennis player Bobby Riggs

(Steve Carell). A gambling addict eager to get back in the spotlight, Riggs bets that he could take on any female tennis player and win.

After he defeats the women’s No. 1 player, Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee), thus threatening to undermine public perceptions of women’s sports, King agrees to face Riggs in a history-making match that will be her ultimate statement on gender equality.

Emma Stone’s fiery performance as Billie Jean King, her first post-Oscar role, is inspiring and unapologetic, like the real woman.

Fearless but without arrogance, assertive but not cruel, King doesn’t see herself as better than those around her. In her mind, even her detractors are her equals. She realizes that she must make her own opportunities if she wants to change things, and she’s always aware that her actions affect everyone, not just women. By highlighting his showmanship skill, Steve Carell humanizes Riggs, who espouses chauvinist philosophies that the hustler may or may not fully believe. Yet, underneath all of the banter, the two still respect each other, which pays wonderful homage to the real-life friendship between King and the late Riggs. Austin Stowell’s small role as King’s husband Larry leaves an astounding impression on the viewer because of his unwavering support for Billie Jean’s choices.

Margaret Court’s husband, Barry, played by James Mackay, serves as another example of this then-unconventional attitude for a man to have.

For Billie Jean King, the tennis court wasn’t a game of winners and losers. It was the great equalizer — a stage from which to implement social change. If there’s one thing that people from different walks of life have learned from her, it’s that, in the game of life, we’re all in this together.

read it online at at read it online ricethresher.org: ricethresher.org:

HOME OF THE STRANGE CONCERT REVIEW & MORE

christina tan/thresher

9

SPORTS

10

Soccer atop C-USA:

KICKING IT UP A NOTCH

Senior midfielder Samantha Chaiken makes a pass to a teammate during a recent Rice soccer home game. The Owls are 7-2-1 on the season and have won all four of their conference matches so far this season. Chaiken has won two Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week Awards during Rice’s current five-match winning streak.

courtesy eric glemser

ANDREW GROTTKAU SPORTS EDITOR / ABG4@RICE.EDU

The last time Rice soccer lost, it was early September. Students had just finished their first week of classes since Hurricane Harvey. The first public party of the year had not yet happened, and midterm exams were weeks away.

Rice added to what is now a five-match winning streak this past week by defeating Western Kentucky University and the University of Southern Mississippi 2-0 and 1-0, respectively. The Owls are now 7-2-1 on the season and 4-0-0 in Conference USA play. They sit alone in first place in the conference standings, having not lost since Sept. 8. Head coach Nicky Adams said she is extremely happy with how the team has played this season.

“Rice soccer is playing really good right now,” Adams said. “We have to focus on the things that are making us good and execute game plans.”

The Owls have allowed just two goals in their four conference wins, both in a 6-2 win over Florida Atlantic University to open the

conference season. Sophomore goalkeeper Maya Hoyer has recorded three straight shutouts and has conceded just 10 goals in 10 games this year. This week, she was named the C-USA Goalkeeper of the Week for her 10 saves over the course of the Owls’ two matches. Hoyer said the Owls’ defense has done a great job preventing bad errors.

“We’re really close this year,” Hoyer said of the defense. “If we make a mistake we have each other’s backs. We’re always there for each other no matter what.”

The Owls’ defense has not needed to be perfect because the offense has been one of the best in the nation. Rice was No. 5 in the nation in goals per game through last Thursday’s game against Western Kentucky. After scoring a goal in Sunday’s win over Southern Miss, the Owls are averaging 2.6 goals per contest. The top three scorers on the team are freshman midfielder Rebecca Keane with six goals, senior midfielder Nia Stallings with five goals and senior midfielder Samantha Chaiken with five goals. Keane said she is proud to be making an impact in her first year at Rice.

“Coming in with the team being so good already, it was difficult having to work really hard to get a chance to play,” Keane said. “But overall, it’s worth it. I hope I’ve helped the team.”

I think the Owls deserve a B+ [for their performance this season]. We’ve got a lot more growth to come.

Samantha Chaiken Senior Midfielder Despite the two wins this weekend, the Owls dropped from No. 25 to No. 35 in the Ratings Percentage Index, or RPI, largely due to teams ranked behind them beating higher-ranked opponents. Rice remains the highest rated team in C-USA by a wide margin; the University of Alabama at Birmingham is second at No. 94. Despite the team’s high ranking, Chaiken, who scored

Sunday’s game winner against Southern Miss, said the Owls can get even better.

“I think the Owls deserve a B+ [for their performance this season],” Chaiken said.

“We’ve got a lot more growth to come in the next few weeks and I’m really excited because I think we’re off to a great start. I think we’ve got some more surprises in us.”

Up next, the Owls come home to face the University of Texas, San Antonio on Friday and the University of Texas, El Paso on Sunday. UTSA is currently 2-9-0 overall and UTEP is 6-7-0.

Rice is on a mission to win its first C-USA title since 2014, the last time it made the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Owls’ season ended in a loss to UTEP in the first round of the conference tournament. The Owls have finished fourth and second in the regular season C-USA standings in the two seasons since their conference title, but they have not yet managed to repeat their postseason success. Hoyer said the key for Rice moving forward is to keep improving.

“We just need to focus on one game at a time and keep working on our weaknesses and we will get to the top,” Hoyer said.

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

SPORTS

11

Offense disappoints again in 42-10 loss Lennon making early impact MICHAEL PRICE

FOR THE THRESHER / JMP12@RICE.EDU

SPENCER MOFFAT FOR THE THRESHER / SM114@RICE.EDU

First in Conference USA with 265 total kills after 17 games. Those are not numbers you might expect from a freshman, but that’s exactly what Nicole Lennon has produced for the Rice volleyball team in her 17 starts this season.

“The season is going really well,” Lennon said. “We’re working great as a team.”

Rice has had to rely on freshmen because of its young roster, and Lennon has taken advantage of the opportunity.

Earlier this year, she totaled 64 kills and 37 digs as the Owls beat three different teams in two days in the Rice Adidas Invitational II. She was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Head coach Genny Volpe credited Lennon for much of the team’s success after the invitational.

“Lennon certainly has been a strong factor for us all season,” Volpe said.

Lennon first played volleyball at the YMCA when she was 7 years old, and began playing competitively at the age of 13.

“I just really loved competition and volleyball was a good outlet for me,” Lennon said.

Lennon certainly has been a strong factor for us all season.

Genny Volpe Volleyball Head Coach Before coming to Rice, she attended Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, Texas, where she totaled 817 kills in three years as a varsity volleyball player. As a student, she was a member of the National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society.

When asked what drew her to Rice, Lennon touted the academics and volleyball team as primary reasons.

“The academics are just amazing,” Lennon said. “I wanted to come here and get a good degree. In addition to that, I love the coaches and the environment of the volleyball team.”

So far, she has led the team to a 12-5 record. Lennon said she has been enjoying her time on the court and her time in the classroom.

“I love Rice. I love the people here,” Lennon said. “Everyone here is so caring. I love a challenge. I have been challenged in my classes but I’m not complaining.”

Lennon said the team’s camaraderie has led to on-court success.

“We’ve been having fun and that leads to us doing well,” Lennon said.

Lennon will look to continue her rate of 3.73 kills per set as the Owls march further into conference play. She will look to help the team win its first conference title since 2009.

NICOLE LENNON

courtesy rice athletics

The Rice Owls football team suffered another loss this weekend, this time to the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. With a final score of 42-10, this marks the Owls’ third straight loss, and brings their record to 1-4.

For the second straight game, junior quarterback Jackson Tyner started in place of injured freshman quarterback Sam Glaesmann for the Owls. The Panthers started off strong, scoring three touchdowns on their first three possessions and forcing the Owls to punt on their first five drives. Two of the Pitt touchdowns came from deep passes from senior quarterback Max Browne and the other came on a 10-yard run by junior running back Qadree Ollison. The Panthers finished the half by intercepting a pass from Tyner and held a comfortable 28-0 lead.

The game marked the third time this season Rice has dug itself into a deep hole early on. The first two instances came against Stanford University and the University of Houston, when Rice trailed 55-0 and 38-0, respectively, before scoring its first points.

While the Owls have given up just 13.5 points per game in their two conference contests, they have surrendered an average of 47.3 points per game in their three nonconference games. Earlier in the week, sophomore cornerback Justin Bickham said it was hard to pinpoint why Rice’s defense has struggled to hold nonconference opponents in check.

“I don’t think it’s two different defenses,” Bickham said. “I think we need to come out as confident as we were [against Florida International University] and against [the University of Texas, El Paso]. We’re confident in each other and we’re confident in our ability.”

The Owls gained some momentum in the third quarter with a field goal from junior kicker Haden Tobola, a turnover on downs

by Pitt and a 70-yard touchdown pass from Tyner to junior wide receiver Austin Walter.

Junior wide receiver Austin Walter makes a cut during Rice’s 42-10 loss to Pitt on Saturday. Walter scored the Owls’ only touchdown. courtesy ron pradetto

However, they were unable to come back.

Browne scored two more touchdowns for the Panthers in the fourth quarter, bringing the final score to 42-10.

Overall, Rice had 277 yards of offense, with 222 yards passing and 55 yards rushing.

Head coach David Bailiff said the offense’s struggles have been frustrating all season.

“We need to be more consistent in what we do offensively,” Bailiff said. “We’re not getting consistent drives and we’re not getting the points we need.”

Outside of a 31-14 victory over UTEP, Rice has not scored more than 10 points in any game this season. The Owls are last out of 14 teams in Conference USA in scoring offense, averaging just 10.8 points per game. They are 12th in yards per game, eighth in rushing and last in passing. According to Bailiff, the poor performance can be attributed to penalties and mistakes. “[We’re committing] a procedure penalty from a wide receiver, a holding penalty from a slot [receiver],” Bailiff said. “Those are the things that keep setting us back.”

Walter said Bailiff was right about the players’ mistakes on offense.

“To everybody, it would seem that it’s bad coaching,” Walter said. “It’s not. It’s us not doing what we’re supposed to do.”

On defense, the Owls were able to force one turnover, a fumble forced and recovered by junior cornerback J.T. Ibe in the second quarter. The Panthers totaled 479 total yards, with 410 yards passing and 69 yards rushing.

Ibe said the onus was on the players for the defense’s poor showing.

“I do not think coach [Bailiff] put us in a bad situation this game,” Ibe said. “I think we need to win on the one-on-one’s, and we just didn’t win those.”

With the loss, the Owls’ likelihood of qualifying for a bowl game continues to wane. Rice must win five out of its remaining seven games; however, the schedule includes opponents like the University of Texas, San Antonio, which is currently undefeated, Louisiana Tech University, which has qualified for a bowl for the past three seasons and current C-USA West division leader University of North Texas.

Up next, the Owls will face Army this Saturday at Rice Stadium. Kickoff will be at 5:30 p.m.

12

THE RICE THRESHER

BACKPAGE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

*DISCLAIMER: If you are one of the sad, lonely few who are not going to ACL, we advise you to put down this Backpage immediately. References will be graphic, and will discuss content which may sound distressingly fun to non-attendees. Not to mention the fact that we don’t even mention Griffin Palmer in this page, except to say that he’s not mentioned, and is also hot.

A little bit spooky, we know. Turns out all of Houston isn’t an arboretum. Who could have known? Not you. This is the furthest outside of the hedges you’ve ever been. Go ahead, try and slyly lock your door at the red light. You need that $8 to buy one single bud light at ACL, even though it’d probably get this guy asking for help two or three meals.

Make sure you bring your books along! For every hour spent at ACL – or the “Texas Undergraduate Research Day Symposium” that your parents fronted the $255 (+ $15 convenience fee) for – you better dedicate at least half an hour of studying. But there’s so many bands playing early in the day that you don’t know, and you won’t even start drinking until like 6 p.m., right?

New rule. Finish your beer if/when you find Jesus.

Ah, yes. N ame gracious dis d after the coverer of the New World. You haven’t tak en a history cou rse at Rice – too busy with gettin g all those pre-med requiremen ts out of th ew you can’t b e blamed fo ay – so r your ignorance.

Cheers, Co lumbus! *tips hat re spectfully*

New d r every inking gam e: On time y ed o two if you se u see a Buc rink -ee’s s e a bil help y lb ig o time T u find Jesus oard trying n, aylor . Thre t o Sw e Made Me D ift’s “Look for every o” com and yo What Y e u how b all laugh a s on the rad ou nd ma ad it i i o, s, ke listen to the but then pr fun of oc entire song. eed to

Your friend pulls out some road brews. Put that book down, and take off those sunglasses you got at college night – your friends know you can’t read.

Is it a chipmunk? A squirrel? It could be a muskrat, for all you care – this is an AC’d oasis, a haven-made heaven, and the most pleasant time you’ve had in a public restroom since the one with the glory hole back on I-10. Time to unbuckle your bible belt and find relieving rapture between that trucker giving you side-eye and that 8-year-old with his pants all the way down.

Imagine how you’d look with a beard that reaches halfway down your torso. Decide it’s probably not your look.

OK, so she’s not really your frie nd. But she’s your O-week sist er, you share the same astrological sign, and wouldn’t you know it, she lives in Austin. And yeah, you said it’d just be you crashing, but what are four oth er peo ple to a fellow music lover? After all, Pis ces are both compassionate and musical, so I’m sure she’ll actually be thanki ng me for meeting so many fell ow music fans.

Stop the car for an emergency puke. The beerbuds-fudge combo is better in theory.

You finally made it! And boy, it sure is good to be here, because as you’ve discovered on the drive, your friends are more into the “drinking and drug-using” aspects of music festivals. Luckily, you ditched them for these three cool girls – Lucy, Molly and Mary Jane.

The Backpage is satire, edited and written by Joey McGlone and Isaac Schultz. This week, Lizzy Kalomeris contributed, and Christina Tan continued doing them graphics. For comments or questions, please email farts@rice.edu.

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