The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, November 1, 2017

VOLUME 102, ISSUE NO. 9 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

SPORTS

Swimming takes down defending C-USA champ ANDREW GROTTKAU SPORTS EDITOR / ABG4@RICE.EDU

For three straight years, Rice swimming has finished second in the Conference USA Championship.

For three straight years, Florida International University has finished first. It wasn’t the conference championship meet, but on Friday, the Owls exacted some revenge on FIU, defeating the Panthers 136.5-84.5 in a dual meet in New Orleans, Louisiana.

According to senior Kaitlyn Swinney, it was a signature win for Rice.

I think this win was a huge confidence boost.

Kaitlyn Swinney Senior Swimmer

“There are few times that I’ve been as proud of our team as I was Friday night,” Swinney said. “We fought from start to finish and just didn’t let up. I think this win was a huge confidence boost for us because we’ve never bested them in any meet since I’ve been here.”

SWIMMING CONT. ON PAGE 11

SPEAKING UP Assault survivors’ stories are not just a hashtag

ROUGH RIDE Cycling and triathlon team’s 177-mile ride cut short

FUTURE PRO Ellerbee remains a force in his senior season

SEE OPS P. 4

SEE SPOTLIGHT P. 6

SEE SPORTS P. 10

Students pitch ideas to shape Rice’s future CAMERON WALLACE ASST. NEWS EDITOR / CFW2@RICE.EDU

Sixteen students had a chance to sell their ideas for improving Rice to University President David Leebron at the Student Association’s 100 Ideas Senate on Monday, with over a hundred students looking on.

Provost Marie Lynn Miranda and Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson were also present at the event.

The ideas were chosen by the SA 100 Ideas task force, which blindly read through and ranked over 450 ideas according to SA President Justin Onwenu. Students presented for three minutes with slideshows in the Rice Memorial Center Grand Hall. The event was open to all students, and there was free bubble tea, cookies and donuts to entice them. Those who submitted top-ranked ideas were then contacted and asked to present. “[The pitch session] was really great. It’s exactly the kind of process that generates ideas to think about,” Leebron said. “I thought the students overall were actually very positive about Rice, but offering ‘Here’s something else we could do,’ I think that makes all of us want to do more.”

One of the presentations,

by Alex Amari, a Jones College senior, suggested that Rice pursue a Rice-NASA Scholars program similar to the Rice-Baylor Medical School program. Amari also proposed that Rice invest in creating a space laboratory comparable to the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“I think Rice will be the first school to have a study abroad campus on Mars, in space, whenever that is,” Amari joked in closing. “It might be a few decades down the road, but I think we’re positioned to get there.”

A presentation by Valerie Kass, a Sid Richardson College sophomore, argued that Rice should increase campus sustainability by investing in solar power. According to Kass, many of the buildings on campus are already fitted for solar panels, but the spaces have not been utilized.

“As students and faculty members of a research university, we have the resources to learn and design solutions to this crisis,” Kass said. “We must use our education as a renewable resource.”

Jennifer Kroeger, a Lovett College junior, suggested that every student should have a mandatory senior project. Kroeger said that many departments already encourage some type of senior project, so implementation would be as easy as standardizing project requirements.

“This would mean that seniors who leave here would leave with something really tangible to show to future employers, to their grad school applications, to their professional school applications,” Kroeger said. “Rather than just leaving Rice with the number on your GPA and a diploma, you would have something to show people.”

Natalie Zur, a Brown College sophomore, said the Rice Memorial Center should be renovated to be more accessible as a collaborative and academic commons for students.

During Leebron’s comments after the event, he said

IDEAS CONT. ON PAGE 3

IMPROVING ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE Compulsory senior projects

Living, learning community at Rice Centralized research database

ENHANCING CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY Redesigning Rice’s energy infrastructure

EXPANDING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Rice-NASA scholars’ program Health-based hackathon Scientific diving certification

ESTABLISHING MENTORSHIP INITIATIVES Cohen House student-faculty voucher program Mentorship program for low income students

BROADENING AREAS OF STUDY Investment banking and consulting courses Journalism/communication major

CONNECTING RICE INTERNATIONALLY Grant for immersion after language aquisition Establishing abroad campus

UPDATING FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS Reimagining Beer Bike track Improving athletics

Renovating RMC infographic by sydney garrett and christina tan

NEWS

Evening of Elegance attendance surpasses NOD for first time EMILY ABDOW NEWS EDITOR / ESA2@RICE.EDU

Two parties competed for the attention of Rice students on Oct. 21: Wiess College’s Night of Decadence and Chi Alpha’s Evening of Elegance.

Attendance at NOD dropped to

around 800 students this year from around 1,100 last year, according to estimates by current and past Wiess social vice presidents, while Chi Alpha Assistant Director Eric Mingle said attendance at this year’s Evening of Elegance surpassed 1,000 attendants compared to less than 700 last year.

ATTENDANCE OVER THE YEARS EVENING OF ELEGANCE 1000

data from thresher reporting, chi alpha, weiss socials 650 500 350

2014

2015

2016

2017

NIGHT OF DECADENCE 1500 1200

1300

1400 1100 800

2008

2009

2010

2011

2016

2017

infographic by sydney garrett

NOD, a public party hosted

by Wiess starting in 1972, drew national attention in 2012 when 10 students were hospitalized during the party. This year, zero students were transported the night of NOD, according to Wiess social vice president Sarah Silberman.

Silberman said this year’s costume contest and clothing drive may have made students feel more comfortable coming to NOD more clothed and reduced their need to pregame before the party.

“I think that having a safe party culture on campus is extremely important, and I feel like NOD this year was very safe,” Silberman, a sophomore, said. “I also feel that NOD can be a great time to express body and sex positivity, two things that are integral to Rice’s culture.”

Chi Alpha started EOE four years ago to provide an alternative to NOD, according to Chi Alpha staff member Mathison Ingham (Hanszen ’14). Ingham said the increase in EOE attendees likely occurred as students who had fun in past years invited their friends.

“We decided to throw a party that would be a true alternative so that people wouldn’t feel like NOD

was the only socially acceptable option,” Ingham said. “We wanted to create an event that gave dignity to people and let them have fun in an uplifting atmosphere.”

NOD attendees could pay $10 for a ticket before the party or $15 the night of the party. This year, about 650 of the around 800 tickets sold were bought before NOD, Silberman said, while last year, Dickman said around 800 tickets were pre-sold.

The decrease in this year’s ticket sales may have been caused by the rainy forecast or the $15 entry price at the door, Silberman said.

I like the idea of being able to be both elegant and decadent.

Simran Rahman Wiess College Sophomore Wiess spent $14,500 on this year’s NOD, Silberman said. Last year, Wiess spent $15,000 with over half of the budget covering

security costs that include the Rice University Police Department and Rice Emergency Services, according to Kristina Dickman, who coordinated the event last year.

EOE was free to attendees with over $20,000 raised for this year’s party, which included horse-drawn carriage rides, a silk climber and a live band. The funds came from donations by individuals and churches such as West University Baptist Church, according to Ingham.

McMurtry College freshman Tyler Sakakeeny said he felt he had to attend NOD after hearing all the hype surrounding the party.

“I personally was looking more to dress down than dress up,” Sakakeeny said. “To be frank though, I thought NOD was a little overrated.”

Wiess sophomore Simran Rahman attended both Evening of Elegance and NOD. “[EOE] was something straight out of a romcom,” Rahman said.

“For NOD, as a Wiessman, I love to see so many students involved in security and caregiving — the culture of care is evident. I also love the body positive aspect of it. I like the idea of being able to be both elegant and decadent,” Rahman said.

NEWS

2

Sales rocket at Campus Bookstore after new management, price match TRACEY DIBBS FOR THE THRESHER / TD19@RICE.EDU

Business is booming at the Rice Campus Store, as more textbooks are being sold and rented this year.

As of Sept. 30, the Campus Store saw a 76 percent increase in used textbook sales since last year, as well as an 86 percent increase in textbook rentals and a 157 percent increase in digital textbook sales, according to store manager Matthew Erskin. The only department to decrease in sales was new textbooks, by 20 percent.

Altogether, this represents an overall increase in combined textbook unit sales and rentals by 6 percent.

According to Erskin, who can release only percentages by company policy, the vast increase in non-new textbook sales this year is due in part to the store’s earlier communication with faculty, allowing the store to source more used books.

“We spent the summer asking [faculty members] if they’re using the same books that they used last year,” Erskin said.

“Then we made a purpose of trying to find those books and bringing the price down.”

The decrease in sales of new textbooks is due to fewer edition changes this semester as well as the Campus Store’s improved ability to source used books following a July 2016 transition in bookstore operation from Barnes & Noble to Follett, which provides more used and rental books, Erskin said.

“Used books for us are what help us keep the textbook department going,” Erskin said. “We know that sales go up as used book levels and rental book levels go up.”

Following the 2016 company transition, the store implemented price match, which

Erskin said has also contributed to the increase. Price match is a program that compensates students for price differences between books sold at the Campus Store and books shipped from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

By showing the store cashier lower prices of identical books sold on these competitive markets, students can receive gift cards to use for future transactions. The average price match transaction saves students around $24 per book, and the Campus Store has price matched approximately 200 transactions this semester, Erskin said.

According to Erskin, price match allows the Campus Store to be more competitive and fosters customer loyalty, which is an important feature of the store’s mission.

“We believe that if, as a company, we focus on customers, everything else falls into place,” he said.

Erskin said most student feedback about price match has been positive.

McMurtry College freshman Arija Forsyth, who saved $15 price matching two books this semester, said she plans to continue using price match in the future.

“It’s super convenient,” Forsyth said.

“The only thing that I care about is price when it comes to buying textbooks.”

Hanszen College senior Brianna Singh, however, said she had never heard of price match. Singh, a chemical engineering major, said she and her friends purchase their books outside of the Campus Store because it’s cheaper.

“We usually get our books online or from Amazon,” Singh said. “A lot of us buy books from older chemical engineering students.”

Along with implementing price match, the Campus Store launched its

book delivery program last summer. The program is a free service that ships books to residential colleges within a business day of purchase.

“It’s not always talked about,” Erskin said. “[But] every semester since we’ve launched it, it’s grown.”

Looking ahead, Erskin expects the price match system and book delivery program to remain in place for the foreseeable future, as long as Follett

maintains its relationship with Rice. He also hopes for a 5 to 10 percent growth in sales each semester until a 50 to 60 percent market share is achieved. Market share refers to the amount of customers willing to purchase products from the Campus Store.

“It’s a pretty lofty goal,” Erskin said.

“The goal is to get the percentage up so that students know that [the Campus Store] is an option.”

The Rice Campus Store has increased book sales by stocking more used and rental textbooks. The shift away from selling new textbooks is a result of the store’s switch from Barnes & Noble to Follett as store operator.

jasmine zhou/thresher

Jones changes O-Week coordinator selection process SHAMI MOSLEY & ELLIOT STAHR THRESHER STAFF / SMM25@RICE.EDU & ERS9@RICE.EDU

Jones College, the only residential college that chooses Orientation Week coordinators through a student election, is changing its selection process for the coming year, according to Jones College coordinator Michelle Bennack.

For at least nine years, students formed teams of three and ran for election by the college in the spring semester. This year, the adult team will first create the list of candidates who will then form teams of three and run for election, according to Bennack. The adult team will review candidate’s applications and may choose to meet with some applicants to discuss time commitment and scheduling to create the list.

Jessica Ha, one of Jones’ 2016 O-Week coordinators, said the old system for selecting coordinators had the potential to produce unqualified coordinators.

“The [past] process [had] significant holes through which someone who is not qualified for the position can be considered and even elected,” Ha said. “Past Jones O-Week

coordinators who may have had to deal with an incompetent partner have suffered as a result of these holes.”

The 2017 Jones O-Week coordinators and Ha created the new process, Bennack said.

Jones then implemented the process after the 2017 Jones O-Week coordinators led a cabinet discussion about the new selection process and received positive feedback from the college,. The 2017 Jones O-Week coordinators declined to comment on their reasons for change.

Jones has faced pressure from First Year Programs to change its process in the past to align with other colleges, Bennack said.

Most colleges, including Brown, Martel and Hanszen Colleges have a system where three candidates are chosen to be coordinators by their adult teams and past coordinators, according to several O-week coordinators.

FYP Associate Director Araceli Lopez, who began in the position this year, said she has no concern with Jones’ election process and applicants forming their own teams.

“I understand and appreciate how each [college] has their own respective leadership, constitution and traditions,” Lopez said, “If

change should happen, the students should lead that charge.”

Ha said this year’s changes had to account for the fact that Jones students want to keep the existing election system.

“A paper application which ensures that prospective coordinators are vetted and facilitates the team creation process was introduced because it would not interfere with traditions Jonesians hold dear,” Ha said.

Wiess College is also considering changing their coordinator selection process, according to 2017 O-Week coordinator Abbey Perez.

In the current system candidates apply and are interviewed by last year’s coordinators, graduating seniors who have advised and the adult team, whoe then deliberate and decide who will be the next coordinators. Perez said she and her fellow coordinators would like to have only the coordinators and adult team conduct interviews and deliberate through a constitutional amendment.

Hanszen O-Week coordinator Ethan Lau said a non-election system allows colleges to evaluate how individuals may fit into a wide variety of teams instead of just one.

“This selection process prevents a

popularity contest where people are selected solely based on how liked they are by the college rather than their actual coordinating ability,” Lau, a junior, said.

However, an election allows students to have a say in their college’s legacy, according to Jones senior Justin Bernard.

“To let a group of five or six people decide the future of the college without asking the current college is not necessarily the best,” Bernard said. “We are inextricably tied to the future of the college, and I think students voting on the teams is ideal.”

In addition, the adult team might know more sensitive information about applicants and have a more mature perspective about potential downfalls for the team, according to Martel junior and former O-Week coordinator Thresa Skeslien-Jenkins.

Ha said the coordinator selection process should be adapted year after year to ensure the smoothest possible transition for new students into Rice during O-Week.

“This process is quite new,” Ha said, “We’ll need to refine it in the future. But progress cannot be made if we continue to do the same thing over and over again.”

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

NEWS

3

Students surveyed on LPAP expansion proposal JUAN SALDAÑA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / JDS15@RICE.EDU

Students can weigh in on a proposed curriculum change in this year’s Survey of all Students.

The first segment of the mandatory survey focuses on the proposed replacement to the Lifetime Physical Activity Program, despite pushback from some Student Association Senate members regarding its placement on the survey.

The proposal advocates for replacing the LPAP requirement with a broader Lifetime Enrichment one credit hour requirement, consisting of courses in physical activity, mental well-being, financial literacy, cultural enrichment, leadership and civic engagement.

At the Oct. 23 SA Senate meeting, SA President Justin Onwenu announced his decision to include the proposal in the SAS to get the full student body’s feedback on the idea, rather than only relying on the SA. Onwenu, who attended some college discussions, said the discussions often sidetracked to a broader discussion of the curriculum, rather than specifically focusing on the LPAP requirement.

“I admit, this hasn’t been the most

straightforward process and that is due to the fact that expanding the LPAP to [Lifetime Enrichment] and addressing larger curriculum concerns seemed to be getting intertwined in the same discussion,” Onwenu said.

The decision to alter the the SA’s usual method of gathering feedback via college presidents and senators was not without opposition from some in the SA. According to an Oct. 24 email to Baker College from senator John Michael Austin, many in the SA were upset with Onwenu’s decision to include the question in the SAS. “So many other senators and I are unhappy with this decision to bypass Senate’s regulatory capacity entirely and place questions directly on that survey,” Austin, a junior, said in the email.

Austin declined to comment for this article.

Onwenu said he took feedback from the senators and presidents in order to come up with the current timeline and proposal.

“When the SAS approach was pitched it was originally received as ‘avoiding Senate,’” Onwenu said. “To make it clear that I trust Senate to represent students accurately we decided to make it crystal clear that Senate will have a final debate

and vote on this proposal.”

Martel College President Dylan Dickens, one of the members who proposed the original piece of legislation, said Onwenu was not going around Senate but simply expanding the traditional process.

“If it was just SAS I would worry that there is bypass,” Dickens, a senior, said. “The process has been through a couple of iterations, some of which have been concerning, but the current plan is essentially the regular process in addition to SAS survey data the way I see it.”

Duncan College Senator Juliette TurnerJones and Brown College Senator Grace Wickerson, the two SA senators involved in creating the original proposal, declined to comment.

According to Onwenu, he worked with college presidents, senators, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness to ensure an unbiased question on the SAS. The proposal is included in the SAS accompanied by a blurb for and against the change.

However, Dickens said he was concerned about the lack of interest students place in the SAS. At the Oct. 23 Senate meeting, he suggested placing a dummy question in the survey to assess the validity of the Lifetime Enrichment question results.

“I have some general concerns about the effectiveness of a referendum when voters have little incentive to critically think about the question being asked,” Dickens said.

Moving forward, Onwenu said Senate will revisit the proposal after getting the results of the SAS in mid to late November.

Depending on student support, Senate can then decide whether to introduce legislation in support of this proposal.

Senate approval would suggest student support for the program, which would then be discussed by the University Committee for Undergraduate Curriculum, Onwenu said. This committee would go on to provide a recommendation to the Faculty Senate, who holds the final decision making authority over curriculum changes.

According to Onwenu, the logistical details of creating the Lifetime Enrichment program would be up to the CUC to deliberate. He said that in order for classes in the targeted areas to exist, they would likely need to be part of the program.

“In general, courses must fall under a funded program to be offered [for] students,” Onwenu said. “While I would hope that these courses can be created even if [Lifetime Enrichment] is not supported it is hard to say.”

TIMELINE OF LIFETIME ENRICHMENT PROPOSAL Oct. 16

Lifetime Enrichment program presented at Senate IDEAS FROM PAGE 1 he liked the idea, and is interested in creating a Central Quad 4.0 with RMC or library renovations as part of V2C2.

Sergio Santamaria, a Duncan College senior, said the university should increase the salaries of athletic coaching staff to compete with top-ranked sports programs and improve athletic facilities in order to improve Rice’s visibility on the national sports stage.

Other ideas included establishing a journalism or communications major, a mentorship program for lowincome students, a scientific diving certification and marine research program, a health-based hackathon, a study abroad subsidy for students with demonstrated interest in foreign languages, more career-oriented courses for students interested in consulting and investment banking, residential research cooperatives, a new bike track with banked curves to improve safety, a database centralizing research resources from all over campus and a Rice campus abroad.

The SA placed ideas in eight categories based on the pillars of V2C2.

The categories were a combination of the six subpillars of the undergraduatespecific portion of V2C2 and two university-wide pillars, Onwenu said.

Wiess College senior Rebecca Lopez said that many of the ideas presented were already present in students’ minds.

“I think for the most part [the presentations] were not original, because I think we all think them, but it was good to hear them out loud,” Lopez said.

Will Rice College President Michael Devine said the presentations showcased the spirit of the 100 ideas initiative, and would help to keep student input in Leebron’s mind.

“There were a lot of good ideas,” Devine said. “Some of them I think could have been implemented very quickly; others are more sweeping. I think it was invigorating.”

Oct. 16 - 23

SA gathers feedback from colleges

Oct. 23

Onwenu announces Lifetime Enrichment question on SAS

mid to late Nov.

late Nov.

SA receives results of SAS

Legislation presented if students support proposal

OPINION

4 STAFF EDITORIAL

Sexual assault and alcohol consumption are not issues exclusive to NOD Another year, another Night of Decadence — only this year, an alternative event on campus had higher attendance (see p. 1). The decline in NOD participation over the past several years points to its reduced significance as a component of Rice culture, but campus institutions — and the messaging around the party — still tend to treat the event as if it’s as prevalent as it used to be.

It’s true that NOD is in some ways unique as a Rice event, and the “NOD talks” that are held across campus are a useful experience in that they provide an environment to educate students on sexual consent. It’s important that an event like NOD does not encourage people to believe that wearing fewer clothes leads to to a lower bar for consent, and the NOD talks are necessary in that they have the ability to dispel the tendency to associate sex with factors that are actually unrelated.

However, the amount of attention that NOD receives may send a message that it — or by extension, the other large, well-known parties at Rice — is the primary situation where sexual assaults take place. Consent and sexual

assault prevention matter in every situation, not just in an underwear party. While ensuring that students are safe at NOD, efforts to prepare for it must avoid sensationalizing the event, and anti-sexual assault efforts are no less urgent now that the party is over.

In addition, messages about safe alcohol consumption should not end with NOD. Along with the new alcohol policy, such efforts appear to have been effective given the improvement from the many hospitalizations of past NOD, such as the 10 transports in 2012.

However, once again, we believe the emails from CJs regarding consumption should not be exclusively linked to NOD. Last year’s Bacchanalia, for example, had several transports, compared to none at this year’s NOD. Ultimately, while NOD remains an ingrained part of Rice’s culture, we believe its impact (as evidenced by declining ticket sales) should not be overemphasized. Instead sexual assault and alcohol consumption must be viewed as issues that can occur anywhere, not just at a party where most attendants are wearing their underwear. illustration by areli navarro magallón

OP-ED

Sexual assault survivors need to be heard, with or without #MeToo On Jan. 23, 2016, I was sexually assaulted. On Jan. 27, the first article about my assault, “Seventh Under Scrutiny,” was published in the Rice Thresher. Two op-eds accompanied it.

Over the course of the semester, there were at least nine total articles and op-eds about my assault, but the entire time, those close to me told me to not let anyone know that I was the one assaulted at Sid School Girls. I was told people would think I only reported it to get the Critical Thinking in Sexuality workshop implemented, or they would blame me for the sanctions against Sid Seventh.

While everyone on campus was talking about my assault, I was told to remain silent.

My best friend at the time, who helped me report it and had told me he would be there for me through it all, chastised me if I shared an article about it or said anything that might hint that it was me. Last fall, I wanted to write an article about sexual assault using my own experiences as a lens. I was told by that same best friend, a STRIVE liaison at the time, that I wasn’t qualified because I wasn’t a liaison myself.

Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Title IX Support Allison Vogt has since told me that that person should never have

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

leveraged their liaison status that way, but the pain of being told that I, an assault survivor, wasn’t qualified to talk about an assault, one that every other person on campus had talked about, still lingers with me. I still doubt my own qualifications.

If we want to support survivors, we do that by listening to them on their own terms instead of forcing them to on ours.

About two weeks ago, the #MeToo campaign came about in order to show how widespread sexual assault and harassment are. It was initially started in 2007 by Tarana Burke, but popularized by actress Alyssa Milano (who claims she had no knowledge of the earlier movement). We were encouraged to tweet #MeToo if we had been assaulted or harassed (the lumping together of the two being yet another problem I see with this campaign) and to

share our stories. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing mine, but as I scrolled through my newsfeed, I felt pressured to. I saw #MeToo posted by nearly all of the women in my friend list, and I saw debates over the usefulness of the campaign break out — but people who hadn’t shared a #MeToo post were assumed to not be survivors, and therefore had no weight in the conversation.

In order to speak out about the problems we saw with the campaign, we had to give in to the very pressure we sought to challenge. The goal was to raise awareness for sexual assault, but instead it forced assault survivors to out themselves and guilt-tripped the ones who didn’t. A friend and former Rice student even messaged me asking if it was OK for her to not share her story. She felt obligated to, but didn’t want to revisit that part of her past.

For nearly two years, I’d been told to keep quiet about my assault because I wasn’t qualified to talk about it, no one wanted to hear it or people would hate me for it. The #MeToo campaign aimed to give us a platform and shine the light on us, but the problem is that outside of cute hashtags, no one wants to listen to survivors. People still doubt the women who came forward about Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein.

arts & entertainment Lenna Mendoza* Editor Naomi Pringle Asst. Editor

copy Sarah Smati Editor Catherine Soltero Editor

backpage Joey McGlone Editor Isaac Schultz Editor

business operations Tom Wang Advertising Manager Sara Lopez Marketing Manager Grace Earick Distribution Manager Sanvitti Sahdev Business Designer

design Christina Tan Director Sydney Garrett News Designer Katrina Cherk Sports Designer Ellie Mix A&E Designer Tina Liu Spotlight Designer Areli Navarro Magallón Illustrator Esther Tang Illustrator

opinions Julianne Wey* Editor

photo Sirui Zhou Editor Charlene Pan Asst. Editor

sports Andrew Grottkau* Editor

video Clara Tian Editor

online Charlie Paul Web Editor Alice Liu Digital Content Editor *Editorial Board member

People tell us that they don’t want to hear about it unless it furthers some type of goal or is in a socially sanctioned setting. Our stories cannot be reduced to a sanitized five-letter hashtag that allows others to tell themselves they are listening without actually having to listen.

If we want to listen to survivors, we believe them rather than going on Yik Yak and typing that it was “probably just a butt slap” or that someone “probably tried to grind on them and they overreacted” — as had happened with me. If we want to support survivors, we do that by listening to them on their own terms instead of forcing them to on ours.

So here it is, on my terms: My name is Alex Bergin, and I am a survivor. I was assaulted at Sid School Girls. Though I am still not OK, I will not be silenced, and my voice matters.

ALEX BERGIN

Wiess College Senior aeb7@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.

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

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THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

OPINION

5

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A response to ‘Counting Sheep’: In an op-ed manifesto, a lesson on ignorance The revolution that we need may not be compatible with silence, but that does not mean we have to shout. Last week’s “Counting Sheep: An Exposé on Ignorance” was a list of grievances, complete with a lamentation of capitalism, a jab at the campus newspaper which the authors hypocritically see as a suitable platform for their ideas, and a problem of presidential proportions. The opinion was rife with contradictions, and its grandiloquence was difficult to follow — were the authors promoting social justice or anarchy?

As “Counting Sheep” was an opinion piece, its writers are perhaps entitled to their hypocrisy in a way that the Thresher’s fact-based reporting is not; however, that does not mean it should be enabled. The authors argued for individuals to stand against “guilty parties … as an act of love for our fellow citizens of the universe.”

While I can appreciate the inclusion of extraterrestrials in their altruism, the writers’ “love” evidently fails to encompass the 46.4 percent of Americans who are “cretins,” and fails to respect the right of every person to believe in their chosen god(s). I am not religious, but it doesn’t take a degree in religious studies to know that each person in this country has the right to freedom of religion. My friends’ faiths are not something I aim to subvert or overturn, but rather something to engage with tolerance and genuine curiosity.

There are some principles on which the authors and I agree — for example, that scientific proof should be taken seriously, and not swept under the rug in favor of ephemeral things like profit. But we differ in our methodology. I hope that all Rice students realize the importance of engaging in debate critically, with careful

ASK THE STAFF What is your favorite V2C2 idea?

“Please fix the Wi-Fi.” – Sarah Smati, Copy Editor

“CRUSH THE COMPETITION. Also fund humanities.”

– Cameron Wallace, Assistant News Editor

“Put some seasoning on the servery food.”

– Catherine Soltero, Copy Editor

“Have Harry Styles headline the KTRU outdoor show.”

– Emily Abdow, News Editor

“Let us walk our hypotenuse paths in peace.”

– Ellie Mix, A&E Designer

“Fix the sprinkler system so it STOPS SPRAYING THE SIDEWALK.” – Julianne Wey, Ops Editor

“Short-sleeve button down uniforms.”

– Drew Keller, Editor-in-Chief

“Allow student pets on campus.”

– Christina Tan, Art Director

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A response to ‘Counting Sheep’: A defense of constitutional order against revolution The authors of “Counting Sheep: An Exposé on Ignorance” lament what they consider “social decay,” but their revolutionary thinking contributes to precisely this situation. They begin by quoting Richard Dawkins, who writes, “the truth does not necessarily lie midway between” two viewpoints, implying that only one is correct. But the next paragraph criticizes a “culture … dominated by dogmatic beliefs,” like “My god is greater,” and ends by asking, “How do you really know that you know anything at all?” Herein lies the piece’s essential contradiction.

On one hand, the authors advocate uncertainty — questioning whether one’s worldview or beliefs are correct. On the other hand, they express that certain viewpoints are objectively incorrect and seem to reject compromise when dealing with such perspectives, saying in their own words, “some beliefs are plain wrong.” The authors criticize what they call the “consensus of truth,” but then claim their own access to some form of higher truth, derived from their “climb[ing] the ladder of consciousness.”

They’d like to undermine some notions of truth while also preserving their own.

Perhaps they don’t proclaim, “My god is greater,” but they certainly express, “My values are greater.”

So great do the authors hold their values that they prioritize them above the legal-constitutional order, pluralist discourse and democratic procedure.

They criticize the declaration that “my god is higher than any other,” yet criticize their ideological adversaries (supporters of the president) as “asinine” and “cretins,” and then ask “how we can blatantly allow” Donald Trump to be president. Because he was elected, no?

The authors reveal that their own values — their own god, in a sense — stand above not only others’ values, but also above the constitutional order that elected the sitting president.

The problem with their quoting Dawkins is that the quotation may apply to scientific truths but not to politics — and especially not democratic politics.

Pluralist democracy must be committed to the integration of opposing elements into a shared procedure for deliberation and conflict resolution. In 2016, the insurgent forces of nationalism and populism may have won, but as a result, they are tasked with governance and absorbed into the political discourse and the constitutional order. The set of common procedures that incorporates citizens into this system is the only objective element in politics — the process to which all participatory citizens subject themselves.

Elections should diffuse tensions through this process of incorporation. But wholesale rejections of the constitutional regime only push each side toward more extreme, more violent and more revolutionary aims. Instead of treating those with whom they disagree as equals within a shared political order, the authors portray them as the “guilty party” whom they must resist. Is this the “revolution we so desperately need”? Or can a revolution based on a certainty in one’s rightness and the other’s wrongness result in anything other than totalitarian intolerance?

The authors go so far as to attempt to define what it means to be human, writing, “It is our job as humans to demand and fight for justice, love and truth.” But these terms are nebulous, and only contribute to the authors’ tendency to think that it is our job as humans to agree with their conception of revolution. And if that is the case, then what is someone who doesn’t partake in the fight? The “guilty party” effectively becomes less than human, and this dangerous way of thinking leads to the very “time of social decay” that the authors claim we have entered.

Nikolai Hood Duncan College Senior

articulation and respect for the fact that everyone has grown up in different environments. These backgrounds — what the previous op-ed’s authors call “the ideologies we are force-fed from birth” — are what make each of us unique. Yes, people can be flat out wrong, but rejecting those views through petty insults only serves to aggravate the other side.

It is crucial that we understand why people think what they think, or have the beliefs that they do. Rather than calling religious individuals members of a “choir of cattle” or “slaves,” we should realize that there are many reasons an individual is a member of a given faith. Rather than disposing of politically correct language (this I found particularly disturbing), it is more important that we maintain an air of professionalism in resisting affronts to individual liberties. Maybe rather than reaching for the nearest thesaurus to

outline the strings that control the system, we should reach out to those whose decisions or worldviews we oppose, and challenge them without forgoing empathy.

To invoke my own world-renowned scientist, Isaac Newton once said, “Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.” One would be hard-pressed to convince anyone to change his or her mind if the argument is alienating and offensive.

I certainly am not exceptional in this regard; being open-minded is something to strive for, not something one can simply be. The first step in this struggle is to accept that you don’t know it all.

Isaac Schultz Thresher Backpage Editor Duncan College Senior

OP-ED

Don’t just tell a story; tell the full story On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Abdel Razzaq Takriti of the University of Houston presented a talk on the “Digital Humanities of the Underground,” covering his work on a website documenting the “Palestinian Revolution.” The website, co-curated by Takriti, is designed to be an “online learning resource that explores Palestinian revolutionary thought from the Nakba of 1948, to the siege of Beirut in 1982.” While Takriti’s credentials as a scholar and his commitment to intellectual discourse are valiant, the content of his presentation and the online resource were deeply disconcerting.

On an intellectual and practical level, Takriti’s presentation and the website present a narrative that is suspect at best and plainly sinister at worst. The world has learned — and relearned on many an occasion — the very real costs of teaching history that glorifies violent struggle and humanizes its participants, while ignoring the humanity of “the other.”

Yet Takriti seems determined to press on, regardless of the consequences.

In the website’s extensive trove of documents, interviews and summaries designed to present “a new way of examining the Revolution,” the linguistic and intellectual gymnastics performed by the curators to exclude alternative viewpoints is extraordinary. Not only does the project in its current form reflect an act of historical whitewashing, it demonstrates a remarkable contempt for the lives of innocent civilians, murdered on account of their faith by people whose beliefs Takriti has gone to excruciating lengths to normalize and even place on a pedestal.

In the very semantics of Takriti’s presentation and research, Palestinian “revolutionaries” are presented in the most vivid and human terms: young idealists stirred into a revolutionary fervor as part of a global revolt against oppression only to see their utopian hopes and dreams crushed under the weight of imperialist tanks. This depiction is earnestly moving, especially when juxtaposed with sterile and meaningless terms describing “armed struggle” or “Anti-Imperialism.” Such presentation can carry away almost any audience — especially when it isn’t accompanied by pictures of the bloodied floors of the Israeli delegation’s rooms at the 1972 Munich Olympic Village or recordings of survivors of the 1978 Coastal Road massacre, when Fatah hijacked a bus full of Israeli civilians, killing 38 people (including 11 children).

The way Takriti romanticizes the intellectual diversity, utopianism and idealism of the “Palestinian Revolution” lies at the heart of this problem. Takriti’s descriptions of Palestinian “parties,” “groups” or “factions” at times depict them as scarcely different in legitimacy or

structure from U.S. Democrats or British Tories. Not once does he acknowledge that groups including the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were internationally recognized as terrorist organizations. Depicting groups and individuals who were unambiguously dedicated to the destruction of the Middle East’s only democracy (both from 1948 and to this day) and (in most cases) ideologically committed to the forced expulsion and/or ethnic cleansing of its Jewish citizens, as legitimate and valiant freedom fighters is indefensible from an ethical and intellectual standpoint.

In a world in which anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement on social media, fueled by a skewed understanding of history, runs rampant with deadly consequences, contributing more fodder amounts to an aberration of a historian’s responsibility to bear witness on behalf of truth and prevent the repetition of past mistakes. In a world that even now features neo-Nazis marching down American streets declaring that “Jews will not replace us,” European Jews attending services under the guard of soldiers and Israeli Jewish families getting stabbed inside their own homes while eating dinner, any discussion of a revolution that was designed to destroy the nationstate of the Jewish people must account for this reality.

One doesn’t need to look far to understand this point. At the very end of the presentation, another Rice undergraduate and I found ourselves at the end of a publicly aired and shamelessly anti-Semitic dog whistle.

As Takriti and Makdisi (who hosted the event), attempted to conclude the discussion, they were interrupted by an audience member who demanded to know whether Takriti had “experienced any pushback from our Jewish friends” in regards to his work. Her voice was filled with contempt, and her eyes fixated upon the two of us Jews. While Takriti handled the remark appropriately and courteously, the episode showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that the discussion of such topics in a vacuum, without serious reflection of opposing arguments, leads to a climate of yet more animosity and in this case verbal, but in another context, very conceivably, physical violence. I can think of nothing more contrary to Takriti’s stated intention to promote debate and openness.

GARY DREYER

Hanszen College Senior gmd2@rice.edu

SPOTLIGHT

6 ON A MISSION ELIZABETH RASICH SPOTLIGHT EDITOR / EAR4@RICE.EDU

What do pickle juice shots, hail and sheltering in a porta-potty have in common? All three happened at this year’s Bike Around the Bay, a two-day fundraising endurance ride from Baytown to Galveston and back. Fifteen members of the Rice University Cycling and Triathlon team participated in the approximately 177-mile ride this past weekend. No one was able to complete the full 177 miles this year, but not for lack of trying. Instead of pedaling across the finish line on Oct. 22 they returned via Uber due to a storm that waylaid them on the second day of the ride.

BIKE AROUND

THE BAY

COURTESY PRABHATH BOYA

Bike Around the Bay is not a race; the challenge is endurance. On Day 1, cyclists ride about 100 miles, and on Day 2 about 77 miles.

Rice’s Assistant Director for Enrollment Management Operations John Michael Cuccia has been road biking for three years and often participates in distance rides like BATB. “For me the hardest part of rides like these is usually the mental stamina,” Cuccia (Sid Rich ’09) said. “I hit about 75 miles and start to tank – even though I can physically do it.”

The ride was fully supported, meaning volunteers arranged rest stops along the route.

“We took pickle juice shots at one [rest stop], played banana phone at another, and were approached for photos by fans of Rice,” Mary Natoli, a bioengineering graduate student and RUCT president, said. Cyclists drink pickle juice for its high concentration of electrolytes.

After they finish the first part of the ride and electrolytes are no longer necessary, they turn to beer, according to Cuccia. ”At the finish line on day one, you ride straight through and they put a cold Saint Arnold beer in your hand,” Cuccia said.

“Beer is never colder or tastes better than that precise moment.”

About a third of the way through the second day’s ride, a fierce storm hit.

“We hit a point where the temperature dropped instantly, like I’ve never felt before,” Cuccia said.

The wind pushed cyclists so hard at its peak that they had difficulty staying in the bike lane, and many were forced to get off their bikes and walk. Road bikes are designed to be aerodynamic, and the highest quality bikes have carbon fiber frames that weigh almost nothing. Heavy wind can be

dangerous in addition to slowing riders down as it is easier to lose balance.

Ecology and evolutionary biology graduate student Shannon Carter hit the weather front while biking over an exposed dyke along the bay.

“Even standing was challenging in the wind,” she said. It started to rain, and the rain soon turned to hail. For shelter, she crouched behind a metal sign along with approximately 20 other cyclists.

Cycling forces you to experience every contour of the road, take in every sight and smell along the way, and be fully present in the moment.

was,” Natoli said. “From his positive mood, we assumed he was somewhere comfortable.

It wasn’t until later that we learned he had been sheltering in a porta potty the whole time, near other porta potties that had blown over from the wind.”

Natoli arranged Ubers for the team to return to Baytown once it was clear that the weather would prevent them from continuing.

“I’m really proud of the way the team handled the ride,” Natoli said. “About half the members of our team had never done a longdistance ride, and trained hard in order to finish the 100-mile ride on Day 1. When faced with crazy Gulf Coast weather and being cold and wet for hours on Day 2, everyone stayed safe and positive.”

This is the fourth year RUCT has been participating in BATB. RUCT is a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. Some have years of cycling

experience; others are new to the scene. They train together by going on rides every week as well as running and swimming practices.

Cuccia appreciates the social aspect as well as the fitness benefit of being part of the team.

“The time you spend together as a team off the bike is just as important,” Cuccia said. “You make a lot of connections there – the usual team bonding. This kind of stuff is a high – you disconnect from whatever problems, issues or other work you have in your life.”

For Natoli, cycling gives her an opportunity to see the world in a different light.

“Cycling forces you to experience every contour of the road, take in every sight and smell along the way, and be fully present in the moment,” Natoli said. “There are so many things that you miss when you are driving.”

Mary Natoli RUCT President “We were all icicles at [that] point and had to wait another hour until one of the [support and gear] vans were available to let us pile in,” Carter said. “It was pretty stressful and miserable, but in the end it was a fun bonding moment with the other cyclists and more memorable than another day of riding.”

Another Rice cyclist, Satya Rao, had to shelter in a porta potty.

“Thankfully it wasn’t stinky,” Rao, a bioengineering graduate student, said.

Natoli recalled talking to Rao during the storm. “[Rao] was as cheerful as ever, and told us he was fine, but didn’t specify where he

COURTESY DAVID SANCHEZ

From left to right: Rice University Cycling and Triathlon Club team members Sid Byrd, Jessica Santiago, John Michael Cuccia, Kirill Evdokimov, Elliot Marks, Gisele Calderon (front), Valerie Du, Satya Rao, Mary Natoli and Jim Aman take a break from the endurance ride Bike Around the Bay.

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

SPOTLIGHT

7

IN FOCUS

Sophomore embodies entreprenuerial spirit

Grace Wickerson speaks at the 2016 Jefferson Awards. With the Foundation’s support, her startup made over 80,000 survivor packs with toiletries, journals, and notes from students.

COURTESY JEFFERSON AWARDS

EMILY ABDOW NEWS EDITOR / ESA2@RICE.EDU

Grace Wickerson is a vegan-cookie-baking taekwondo black belt who is using her powers for good.

At only 19, she is the founder and CEO of a national nonprofit advocating nonviolence and co-founder of a startup that aims to serve.

She’s also a full-time college student majoring in materials science and nanoengineering.

“I’m an idea person,” Wickerson, a Brown College sophomore said. “I like to think of things and how can I make them happen.

Whether it’s building things in a physical sense or building ideas out on paper, I think that’s where I get really excited.”

Wickerson’s nonprofit, Kickin’ Violence, engages young people across the country in nonviolence advocacy through education and martial arts. This year, she was named one of Her Campus’ 22 Under 22 Most Inspiring

College Women for her organization, which began as her Girl Scout Gold Award project.

“Why martial arts?” Wickerson said. “It’s about being proactive to end any violent confrontation before it can even become violent as well as being respectful and peaceful and just.”

For her Gold Award, Wickerson created an anti-violence group and class taught by a local domestic violence shelter at her high school, which had no required curriculum about relationship violence. But her efforts didn’t end with her award. Since then, she has partnered with two school districts totaling at least 30 schools to start nonviolence student groups, and has created her own free curriculum to give young people the tools to build nonviolence education programs at their own schools.

“As a queer person, I’ve included a lot more education about queer issues, how do you deal with an added layer of power and

Be Chiro-

control when someone you’re dating could out you,” Wickerson said. “In the U.S. we don’t have a lot of organizations that do queer domestic violence.”

With the help of the Jefferson Awards Foundation, Kickin’ Violence has also made over 80,000 survivor kits with over $1 million.

Survivor packs come with full-sized toiletries, journals for thoughts and handwritten notes from students.

“There’s someone out there who cares about you and you might not know who they are, but there’s someone who is thinking about you and thinking that you add value,” Wickerson said. “Because [in] a lot of unhealthy relationships, the key way is they make you feel like you’re not valuable.”

Wickerson is working to bring her nonprofit to Rice by training students to engage with Houston schools and youth organizations and create survivor packs.

“It has been wonderful to work with someone so dedicated to her personal and professional mission,” Allison Vogt, who works in Rice’s Title IX office, said.

On top of running a national nonprofit, Wickerson is also the co-founder of Solver Labs, a nonprofit which aims to equalize the job market through a hiring platform that focuses not on resumes, but on a person’s portfolio of work.

So far, Wickerson and her team have interviewed over a thousand hiring managers to create their platform, which they hope to make free for Rice professors who incorporate project-based learning into their classes.

“Grace often seems superhuman,” co-founder of Solver Labs Phil Hedayatnia said. “She has a genuine passion for everything she does and a gift to work collaboratively with people.”

One of the biggest challenges, Wickerson said, is having her work taken seriously as a

young person. A word she never likes to hear describe her work: cute.

“I don’t want to be knocked down a peg because [some adults] are incapable of thinking young people can have any sort of impact,” Wickerson said. “Once they hear your age, they can devalue you in a way.”

Wickerson spent this past weekend flying across the country to San Francisco to attend a conference for her startup. Though she rubs the tiredness out of her eyes, she comes alive talking about her goal of working in emerging technologies and her love of vegan food.

“I’m like the token vegan of Brown,” Wickerson said. “When people are like, ‘Man, I wonder what’s vegan,’ they text me like, ‘Hey Grace, is this vegan?” I’m like, ‘Indeed.’ I cook a lot. I make these bomb-ass vegan chocolate chip cookies.”

Janice Jean, Wickerson’s roommate and fellow vegan, confirmed the cookies are, in fact, delicious, as was the Thanksgiving meal the two cooked together when Jean spent the holiday with Wickerson’s family in Florida.

“I love how she makes it so I feel at home,” Jean said.

Whether it’s eating vegan or working to bring her nonprofit to Rice, Wickerson said the most important thing is to focus on why she is doing something rather than what she is doing.

Her current why: providing equal opportunities for everyone. It is a why she achieves through flying across the country for her startup, sharing her love for martial arts, and maybe, she jokes, by increasing the availability of vegan chocolate chip cookies.

“It’s a much different mindset because all the way along, no matter what boxes you’re checking to get there, you always have an answer for [what your purpose is],” Wickerson said.

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ARTS entertainment

8

R2 MONTHLY CONTEST WINNERS R2 Editor’s Note: This piece was written as a satirical response to an article about the career fair previously run in the Thresher and does not represent the views of R2 or the Thresher as organizations.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE LACK OF STEM REPRESENTATION IN THE HUMANITIES by DANIEL KOH

TELEVISION

courtesy netflix

‘Stranger Things’ maintains momentum in second season

MICHAEL VERMEULEN THRESHER STAFF / MAV6@RICE.EDU

STRANGER THINGS Episode length: 42 minutes Rating: TV-14 Genre: Drama/Horror

Last summer, Netflix released the ’80s-inspired TV show “Stranger Things,” created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, to little anticipation. However, word of mouth quickly made the series one of Netflix’s most popular. The show’s hyped second season, which dropped on Oct. 27, mostly recaptures the quality of its predecessor, though narrative missteps make it slightly inferior.

The self-dubbed “Stranger Things 2” picks up almost a year after the first season. The returning characters are still attempting to deal with the repercussions, especially Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), who has recurring visions of the alternate dimension The Upside Down. Eventually, a supernatural threat reappears in their fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and they must fight against an impossibly strong evil once more.

The show’s strongest asset continues to be its phenomenal ensemble cast. The group of child actors is easily among the best ever assembled, elevated even further this season by the considerably increased screen time of Schnapp as Will Byers. Though his character was vital to the first season’s plot, Schnapp only truly appeared in the first and last episodes. This season, he demonstrates a level of intensity and emotion that could easily get him nominated for an Emmy. Joe Keery as former-bully-turned-good-guy Steve Harrington proves to be the most likeable and interesting of the teenage performances, and Winona Ryder and David Harbour still shine as the mature centers of the series.

Additions to the cast give it even more depth. “The Lord of the Rings” star Sean Astin is lovably goofy and nerdy as Joyce Byers’

boyfriend, and Paul Reiser is simultaneously sweet and unnerving as the new leader of the sketchy government laboratory from which the show’s otherworldly problems stem.

Max (Sadie Sink) provides welcome female spunk to the group of kids, and her mean step brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) is a pitchperfect ’80s high school tough guy.

The show’s production value has increased significantly. “Stranger Things” is the definition of a blockbuster television show, a fact not lost on Netflix. With $8 million per episode, the production team creates stunning sets, cinematography and special effects that rival those of “Game of Thrones,” the industry standard for TV visuals.

The writing of season two is more sprawling and uneven than season one.

Characters are separated from each other for large chunks of the season, most notably the superpowered Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).

Her storyline is mostly self-contained, to positive and negative effect. While Eleven has more depth and personality, an allEleven episode disrupts the season’s pacing, introduces uninteresting caricatures and seems to be a financially-minded setup for seasons to come. Another substandard plot point of the season is a forced romance that feels unearned and unnecessary.

Luckily, these ill-advised chapters are outliers in an otherwise excellent tale. The dialogue is clever and funny, the characters never act in opposition to their established behaviors and events flow naturally, culminating in a climax that tops the first season and is “Stranger Things” at its best: tons of charming, memorable characters interacting and working with each other in order to save their home.

Overall, the second season of “Stranger Things” lives up to the expectations set by its phenomenon-producing forerunner. It’s fun, exciting and emotional, liberally pays homage to the ’80s while putting unique spins on its cliches and gives audiences more time with incredibly enjoyable characters. While it falters more than the first season, it matches and even tops enough aspects that it doesn’t come close to disappointing. It is everything fans want out of “Stranger Things,” which is all anyone can really ask from a sequel.

R2 is Rice’s premier, awardwinning literary magazine. It is open to submissions from all students and even offers a monthly contest with prizes, but some students and alumni in STEM says that R2 does not offer them enough opportunities.

Computer Science major Cam Tutenn, who admittedly has never opened a copy of R2, says he would like to pursue a career in software development, and is happy to have gotten his D1 and D2 requirements over with.

“Nothing in R2 is anything remotely close to what I want to go on to do with the rest of my life and my Rice degree,” Tutenn, a Will Rice College junior, complained.

“Look, it’s just not fair that there’s not a coding contest in the literary magazine. I mean, I’m writing code. Writing is in the name of the activity!”

Rice is an open and accepting place, and organizations like R2 are the exact opposite of that. It is not fair that R2 prevents STEM students from showcasing their STEM knowledge.

“There’s so many STEM majors on campus that we deserve to get more opportunities. Clearly, there is no such thing as a hard D1 or D2 assignment. As a D3 major, I know what difficult work is, and I demand respect. I mean, if you really want to do something about the cutthroat competition in STEM,

just take opportunities from the D1 and D2 scrubs so that we can all get some,” suggested Jen Kem, a Wiess College junior.

English major Daniel Koh argues that despite the fact that R2 is an English literary magazine, that there must be some opportunities for STEM majors in there somewhere.

“R2 has a website, on the Internet no less, so I don’t think it’s as humanities-focused as people think,” Koh, a Jones College sophomore, said. “And you know what? Those STEM majors’ first mistake was not choosing a major that would help them with the opportunities offered by R2. Why’d they have to choose some wishywashy major like BioE instead?”

It’s simply outrageous that our literary magazine does not offer engineering design or app development. In 2017, we’re supposed to be accepting of all majors, so R2 should take it upon itself to change everything about itself, if necessary, to accommodate for STEM. Unfortunately, the D1 and D2 people just don’t seem to get it.

Regardless of major, writing for R2 is a valuable experience, Koh said. “Even if you don’t think you’ll get anything out of it, you still get stuff out of it that’s intangible,” Koh said. “You get the extra practice typing on a keyboard. And every year you get flip through a glossy booklet, it’s great.”

WHO’S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL by JUSTIN BISHOP

THE WEEKLY SCENE

THE SHINING If you didn’t get a chance to celebrate Halloween on Tuesday, don’t fret. A midnight showing of Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic “The Shining” this Friday or Saturday is the perfect opportunity to make it up. Tickets are $11.

River Oaks Theater 2009 West Gray landmarktheatres.com/houston

TRAJECTORY OF A CURVE The Skyspace reopens this week with a new work by Kurt Stallmann that combines a light show and live music. Come watch this Wednesday at 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The Skyspace events.rice.edu

SHINE FEST This Saturday at sundown, come see the sky lit up with thousands of sky lanterns and launch one of your own. The event opens at 2 p.m., so come early to enjoy live music and food trucks. Tickets are $27.

Lonestar Motorsports Park 9281 SW I-10 Frontage Road

ART @ DISCOVERY GREEN This weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, browse 80 artist booths, enjoy the beer garden and check out live music at Discovery Green. The event is free.

Discovery Green Labranch at Lamar

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WHAT’S HIP RIGHT NOW TECHNOLOGY: Summer TBTs

courtesy rentcafe

In a phrase: Wish I were back on the beach right now…

Where to find it: Your Instagram feed Years on Instagram betray the same pattern: November ushers in a wave of TBTs, or Throwback Thursdays. Maybe it’s the relatively cool temperature that sparks nostalgia or maybe we’re validated by a recent slew of hot Halloween photos and want to keep the streak going, but people seem to find the dead days between Halloween and Thanksgiving prime for posting pictures they didn’t this summer. Casual beach poses and forgotten architectural shots from that study abroad trip you didn’t post enough about considering how life-changing it was will soon make their comebacks. Far from deriding, however, I respect the hustle. I honor the pain of deciding which photo to upload, knowing you’re excluding tons of great material, and dedicate a moment of silence to those photos that won’t make it.

FASHION:

Luxury lighter holders

courtesy @eurodoes

MADDIE FLAVIN

THE FLORIDA PROJECT Episode length: 115 minutes Rating: R Genre: Drama

Hollywood creates a portal to escape into worlds where dreams come true and everyone gets a happy ending. It tends not to spend money producing movies about people who neither live the high life nor get there by the time the credits roll. “The Florida Project,” written and directed by Sean Baker, is one of those movies. In spite of its setting in the same city as the Happiest Place on Earth, the story at the center of this independent dramedy is one of hidden homelessness and the inevitability of innocence’s destruction.

Moonee is a carefree, troublemaking 6-year-old who lives at the Magic Castle motel near Walt Disney World. She spends her summer vacation hanging out with fellow rascals Scooty, who lives one floor below her, and Jancey, who lives in the Futureland motel next door. Whether they’re getting “free” ice cream at their favorite ice cream shop or checking out abandoned condos, every day is a spontaneous adventure in their sunny world. While Scooty’s mother and Jancey’s grandmother are responsible parental figures, Moonee’s mother, Halley, is the blaring opposite. An excessively pot-smoking punk who had Moonee as a teenager, Halley is so recklessly immature that she could easily be taken as Moonee’s sister or bestie. As Halley goes to

BEAUTY:

Brandless products

courtesy brandless.com

In a phrase: Off brand on a budget Where to find it: brandless.com

You can imagine my, I mean someone’s, excitement at first seeing one of @eurodoes’ lighter cover designs on Instagram. Promised to be “authentically handcrafted and designed,” the quality of the product shines through the photos of various millennials posing with their stylish lighter jackets, hanging off keychains or held up to the neatest manicure. Closer inspection, however, reveals that they are made with Louis Vuitton and Gucci leathers, thus rendering them entirely inaccessible as they are about $275 each. Shockingly, human beings actually purchase them in the name of never losing their lighters again.

For those of us who prefer to use said sum towards a textbook or our yearly Postmates funds, there are less glamorous options to be found on Etsy.

It’s a conservative grandfather’s worst fear. Some damn commies created an online store of “brandless” products at $3 each. They aim to singlehandedly destroy American values and economic prosperity by eliminating the BrandTax™ that inflates prices for allegedly no additional quality.

They do so by establishing a direct link between the source of their products (anything from mechanical pencils to granola), and their headquarters, circumventing the pricey markups of name-brand factories. Shopping Brandless is guaranteed organic, nonGMO, gluten-free, vegan, kosher and is devoid of animal testing. Signing up grants you $1 shipping and with every purchase, Brandless donates a meal with Feeding America. Appalling.

‘The Florida Project’ tackles childhood, parenting struggles THRESHER STAFF / MF37@RICE.EDU

ARELI NAVARRO MAGALLÓN THRESHER STAFF / AMN9@RICE.EDU

In a phrase: What’s lit right now Where to find it: @eurodoes

FILM

increasingly risky ends to provide for them, her growing desperation could ultimately bring a cruel end to Moonee’s paradise.

Brooklynn Prince, who plays Moonee, is particularly stunning. In a film where improvisation was encouraged even with a set script, everything Prince says sounds exactly like the words of a real 6-year-old.

“We were doing an experiment,” she says when caught putting a dead fish in the motel pool. “We were trying to get it back alive.”

While so many films try to make their child characters look angelic, Prince is unafraid to go in the opposite direction. Her ability to make Moonee fluctuate between lovable and irritating on a dime, and even play both simultaneously, suggests a maturity beyond her years and the beginning of a great career. First-time actress Bria Vinaite, who Baker found on Instagram, makes Halley compelling even when the character is nerve-grating. Halley makes the audience continually shake their heads at her poor decisions and out-of-control attitude. But Vinaite also emphasizes how much Halley really does love Moonee, going to great lengths to feed and shelter her. Tragically, that love can’t save them. Willem Dafoe gives a warm, patient performance as Bobby, the motel’s tough yet understanding manager. Even though the kids’ antics drive him crazy, he has a soft spot for them, as demonstrated by his struggle to stay pokerfaced during a situation involving Child Protective Services.

“The Florida Project” takes place in a dead-end world where wishing on a star won’t change fortunes, and the characters’ financial situations will never allow for a vacation. The people here live day by day, never knowing what’ll come next. This happens every day, everywhere in America, and even the obliviousness that comes with childhood can’t keep cold, hard reality from eventually setting in.

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TRENDING: Tata towel

courtesy tatatowels.com

In a phrase: Ending the age-old battle against boob sweat Where to find it: tatatowels.com Tata towels are relatively new and simple in design, fulfilling that sweet spot in design where one thinks, “Why has no one come up with this yet?” Breast-havers are raving about this product that’s been featured on Cosmopolitan and the “Today” show for its convenience and efficiency in providing continual protection from boob sweat. You may be shocked to learn that the flesh underneath a breast also has pores that sweat like all nonboob flesh. The bodily function afflicts mainly larger breasts and is reportedly a nuisance when getting ready for the day.

Most Rice students may not find a need for such a design, but the towels can be perfect gifts for mom or a pregnant/ breastfeeding friend.

SPORTS

10

SOCCER

Soccer begins C-USA tournament run SPENCER MOFFAT THRESHER STAFF / SM114@RICE.EDU

Senior linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee chases down the ballcarrier during Rice’s 42-28 loss on Saturday against Louisiana Tech University. Ellerbee is among the conference leaders in tackles for the second straight season. frankie huang/thresher

FOOTBALL

Ellerbee continues defensive dominance MICHAEL PRICE THRESHER STAFF / JMP12@RICE.EDU

First in Conference USA and sixth in the nation in tackles per game. Second in Conference USA in total tackles. Conference USA All-Academic Honors. These are just some of the many feats senior linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee has achieved during his career at Rice. With his tenure as an Owl coming to a close, he is hoping to accomplish even more.

Ellerbee, a Houston native, graduated from Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, an all-male school located near Alief, Texas.

There, he recorded 236 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles and two field goal blocks. According to Ellerbee, his high school prepared him well for Rice academically and athletically.

“At Strake Jesuit, I learned the importance of hard work,” Ellerbee said. “I learned that it’s going to take a lot of late nights to get [to] where I want to be.”

According to Ellerbee, the reason he decided to go to Rice was due to not only its great athletic opportunities, but also its rigorous academics.

“I chose Rice because they gave me the opportunity to play [Division I] football at a high level,” Ellerbee said. “Also, I wanted to be an engineer. There are not many other [Division I] schools that give you the opportunity to play football and study engineering.”

After leading the conference in tackles per game last season, Ellerbee is again at

the top of his game. He is second in C-USA in tackles after being named the preseason defensive player of the year. According to his head coach David Bailiff, he has improved even from last year.

“I think that there is just a toughness and a presence about him this year,” Bailiff said.

“When you walk off the field (at practice), he’s normally out there trying to do a little extra. He’s probably the hardest working young man in the program.”

Ellerbee has succeeded on and off the field. He is currently majoring in civil engineering and his 3.23 GPA earned him Conference USA academic honors.

According to Ellerbee, the civil engineering program has given him many opportunities both academically and socially.

I do want to play in the NFL, but if that does not work out, I just want a fiscal life for myself after college.

Emmanuel Ellerbee Senior Linebacker “Rice has definitely allowed me to work on being a better people’s person,” Ellerbee said. “Being an engineer and an athlete, you mix two different types of people, so you have to learn how to communicate effectively to those two groups.”

This year, Ellerbee strove to become an effective captain of the team. He said he believes that honesty, encouragement and accountability are the most important qualities that a leader of a football team must have.

“Honesty is important, but encouragement is a big part of it. You have to try to rally people together,” Ellerbee said.

“Accountability is also vital. You have to hold people to high standards without ever wavering on your standards.”

With just four games left in the regular season and graduation a few months away, Ellerbee said he has begun planning his future after graduation.

“Obviously, the big one is to graduate from here and get my degree. But we still have plenty of games left so I want to concentrate on those,” Ellerbee said. “I do want to play in the NFL, but if that does not work out, I just want a fiscal life for myself after college.”

According to Ellerbee, one piece of advice he can give to incoming freshmen athletes is to take advantage of every opportunity to meet new people.

“Just because someone might be different than you does not mean they are strange or weird,” Ellerbee said. “It just means they have different ways of expressing their ideas.”

The Owls are currently 1-7 on the season and 1-3 in C-USA play after a 42-28 loss to Louisiana Tech University. Up next, Ellerbee and the Owls are on the road to face the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m.

The Rice women’s soccer team didn’t finish the regular season with a perfect record in Conference USA play, but it didn’t lose either. Entering the game against the University of North Texas on Oct. 27, the Owls had a perfect conference record with nine wins, no losses and no ties. Rice held a 1-0 lead until the 89th minute before the Mean Green scored to tie the game at 1-1. The Owls were forced to settle for a tie to finish the conference season 9-0-1.

Rice now heads into the conference tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

The Owls face the University of North Carolina, Charlotte on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Boca Raton, Florida in the first round. A win would put Rice in the semifinals against the winner of Old Dominion University against Louisiana Tech University.

The last time the Rice Owls won the conference tournament, the eight seniors on the team were all freshmen. Those seniors now look to end their final season accomplishing the same feat. According to senior midfielder Samantha Chaiken, a championship would bookend the seniors’ careers perfectly.

“This group started off extremely strong our freshman year, winning conference tournament, and now as seniors, we are ending our final year with a regular season championship and hopefully more to come,” Chaiken said.

Last year, the Owls, who were seeded number two overall, exited the C-USA tournament in the quarterfinals after losing 1-0 to seventh-seed University of Texas, El Paso.

This past regular season, Rice was only shut out once in a 0-0 tie against Baylor University. This year, the Owls are averaging 2.75 goals per game, which Chaiken said has impressed her.

“We have been very happy with our offensive performances thus far,” Chaiken said. “We will continue working on our finishing so that we can make the most of the chances we get during the tournament.”

When asked about some of the defining characteristics of the 2014 team that won the C-USA tournament, Chaiken said leadership and chemistry were key.

“The seniors made a difference because their leadership and dedication to the team empowered everyone else to rise to the occasion,” Chaiken said. “Our team chemistry in 2014 was also very good and similar to how it is this year.

This year our seniors have been great leaders and our team gets along very well off the field.”

Sophomore defender Louise Stephens said the team has even more to achieve this season.

“We have had very clear goals from the beginning of the season,” Stephens said. “We wanted to win regular season, be ranked number one seed, and go on to win conference tournament. Our expectations have changed because they have only increased as we continue to get better.”

The Owls will now take on Charlotte Wednesday morning. In their last game against the 49ers, the Owls won 1-0 with junior forward Annie Walker scoring Rice’s only goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Maya Hoyer had six saves for Rice.

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

SPORTS

11

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Pera ready to take reins MICHAEL BYRNES THRESHER STAFF / MEB18@RICE.EDU

Last year, Rice men’s basketball had one of the best seasons in the history of the program. The Owls went 23-12, reaching the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament and receiving a bid to the College Basketball Invitational. Both sophomore guard Marcus Evans and junior swingman Egor Koulechov were named to the All C-USA First Team — the first set of Owls teammates to be selected First Team All-Conference since 1954. In short, prospects were good for Owls basketball.

But after last year’s success came a tough start to the offseason for the Owls. Head coach Mike Rhoades resigned to take the same position at Virginia Commonwealth University, and both Evans and Koulechov announced their plans to transfer, joining junior guard Marcus Jackson and freshman forward Corey Douglas on the list of departing Owls. A talented team that had been filled with promise now faced an uncertain future.

On March 25, Scott Pera was introduced as the new head coach, the first step in making the Owls’ future a more tangible reality. Pera had been the Owls’ associate head coach for the past three years after having spent the previous eight years serving as an assistant coach at Arizona State and Penn, following a successful high school coaching career during which Pera’s teams won 258 games and two California state championships.

At Pera’s official introduction, Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard said the choice of new head coach was clear.

We are excited about the future, we are excited about the present, and we can’t wait to get started.

Scott Pera Men’s Basketball Coach “We had two big goals as we launched our search [for a new coach]: One was to keep the culture and philosophy of the program intact, and the second was to continue the push of positive momentum that we’ve generated over the last three years,” Karlgaard said. “It didn’t take us very long to figure out what we needed to do.”

Pera became the 27th men’s basketball coach in the history of Rice men’s basketball,

dating back to 1914. Though the program hasn’t quite been a powerhouse, it has experienced its share of success: The Owls have won 10 conference championships and reached four NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 1954. Pera said he’s proud of the school and its history.

“I think it’s just an honor for me to represent Rice University,” Pera said. “I have such tremendous respect for what it stands for, the students that attend here, and the guys who we recruit.”

Over the summer, Pera and his staff retooled their roster, adding graduate transfers in guard A.J. Lapray and forward Dylan Jones, as well as sophomore guard Josh Parrish from Texas Christian University, and three freshmen in guards Najja Hunter and Miles Lester and forward Malik Osborne. According to Pera, the efforts to replace their four departing starters were successful.

“We did a really good job of replacing those guys,” Pera said. “Obviously, Marcus [Evans] and Egor [Koulechov] and [Jackson] have [left] huge shoes to fill, but we replaced them with some veteran leaders like A.J. Lapray and Dylan Jones, and some very talented freshmen.”

Parrish won’t be able to play this year due to transfer restrictions, but Pera said that he will also play an important part when he returns.

“He’s going to be an excellent addition when he’s eligible,” Pera said.

It can be challenging for teams with such high roster turnover to integrate the new players while not getting ahead of themselves. According to Pera, the team has been working on this during the offseason by focusing on consistent improvement.

“Every day we just try to get better than the day before: I try not to have [the players] look too far ahead,” Pera said.

“Improvement from day to day, week to week, and hopefully month to month: That’s been our focus.”

That’s not to say that Pera doesn’t have long-term plans for Owls basketball.

According to him, the future is bright.

“We want to become a consistent contender in Conference USA, year to year,” Pera said. “Obviously, we’ll strive for that this year, but I think moving forward and looking at the big picture — that is our goal.

We are excited about the future, we are excited about the present and we can’t wait to get started.”

The Owls play an exhibition game this Saturday against Wayland Baptist University before opening their season at home on Nov. 10 against Eastern Kentucky University.

A Rice swimmer competes in the butterfly in an early-season meet. The Owls defeated conference rival FIU on Friday before falling to Denver and beating Tulane on Saturday.

Signature win over FIU propels swimming to 2-1 weekend frankie huang/thresher

SWIMMING FROM PAGE 1 The Owls took home first-place finishes in eight of the meet’s 11 events.

Swinney and fellow senior Lauren Rhodes each won two individual events to pace the team. Rhodes’ wins came in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle sprints, and in both events, a Rice swimmer finished right behind her in second place. Rhodes said she was thrilled with her performance in the win.

“I honestly was just focused on beating the person next to me,” Rhodes said. “FIU had really strong competitors in the sprint events so I was pumped that we had a chance to [finish first and second] in both sprint events.”

Senior Alicia Caldwell also won an event, the 500-yard freestyle. She said the event win was special particularly because it came against the Owls’ rival.

“Winning the 500 freestyle against the defending conference champion felt great,” Caldwell said. “The team had already taken a win in most of the races so I really wanted to continue that winning streak.”

After the win over the Panthers on Friday, the Owls had two meets on Saturday — one against the University of Denver and another against Tulane University. Rice fell to Denver 12676 before defeating Tulane 133-66.

According to Swinney, the team did not

match Denver’s intensity in the first meet of the day.

“Saturday morning was tough,” Swinney said. “We had just come off of a huge win that we had been honing in on for weeks, and Denver just shot out of the cannon and kept going the entire meet. The first couple of races didn’t go our way and it shook us up a bit.”

Thanks in large part to two individual event wins by junior Marie-Claire Schillinger, however, the Owls rebounded in the afternoon. She won both the 200yard and 50-yard breaststroke to lead the Owls to a convincing victory over the Green Wave. Schillinger said she was proud of the team’s performance in the second meet of the Saturday session.

“The whole team impressed me with their ability to come back after the loss to Denver in the morning and really kill it in the last session,” Schillinger said.

Up next, Rice will compete in the Phil Hansel Invitational at the University of Houston from Nov. 16-18. According to Rhodes, the team is exactly where it wants to be at this point in the season.

“We have been working really hard and we have our eyes set on winning and being our best,” Rhodes said. “I think as a whole we need to just work on the little details like starts and turns, but I really have no complaints so far.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Rice reacts to the World Series

read it online at ricethresher.org photographer/thresher

Langley hoping WBI title is just a start PREETHAM BACHINA THRESHER STAFF / PSB3@RICE.EDU

Head coach Tina Langley has helped transform the Rice women’s basketball team from a 9-21 record in the 2014-15 season to the a 22-13 record last season.

Under her tutelage, Rice had its first 20-win season since 2005. This year, she intends to continue improving Rice basketball and lead the team to postseason success once more. Langley said she is sure not to let the previous season’s performance affect how the team approaches the upcoming season.

“Every season we hope to focus on the process, striving for excellence in all that we do.” Langley said.

Despite losing top-tier talent and a strong veteran presence this past year with the departure of seniors Maya Hawkins and Jasmine Goodwine, Langley said she is not concerned. She said she expects the team will change and evolve for the better, and that other players will step up to fill in the holes they have left behind.

“Teams change every year and everyone has a chance to leave their mark as a leader.” Langley said. “Their leadership

is not lost, we will recall lessons they taught us and learn from them, and new opportunities for leadership will arise.”

Every season we hope to focus on the process, striving for excellence in all that we do.

Tina Langley Women’s Basketball Coach Moreover, the team has been able to recruit top-tier players to ensure that the Owls will continue to succeed. This year, the team is adding sophomore Erica Ogwumike and junior Olivia Ogwumike, two sisters who transferred to Rice from Pepperdine University. Erica was a top100 recruit and made the First-Team All-West Coast Conference during her freshman year with the Waves, and Olivia was second on the team in points per game her sophomore year. The team also adds freshman guard Sydne Williams, who is ranked the No. 30 shooting guard

in her recruiting class by ESPN. Langley attributes the team’s ability to recruit top talent to vibrant community here at Rice.

“We’ve been fortunate to recruit some of the best players in the country because of all that Rice has to offer,” Langley said. “Young women are seeking an environment where they can be surrounded by people of high character striving to be the best in the community, classroom and on the court. That’s Rice.”

While Langley acknowledges that the team only has a few returning players experienced in Rice’s basketball style, she said she is confident that her players will be able to adapt successfully and thrive.

“I know that each player will put the time in to learn and grow as individuals, and that will help our team address those issues,” Langley said. “Given the character of the young women in our program, I believe the challenges we face will only draw us closer and make us stronger.”

The Owls will travel to Grand Canyon University to start off their season on Nov. 10. Rice is looking to build on its success from last year and compete for the Conference USA championship.

12

THE RICE THRESHER

BACKPAGE

Tweets

Tweets & replies

David Leebron

Media

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

David Leebron

@davidleebron ∙ Oct 27

Replying to @davidleebron … paid to the peer institutions over us. #Ricefirst #V2C2 #DonateOrDienate.

@davidleebron ∙ 5h

I usually stifle my humanistic urges to avoid excluding the important Rice students, but I couldn’t help but share the song of my heart as we begin November together.

Greetings month ‘leven Missed – she comes with cooling kiss Now back to emails

4 David Leebron

2 @davidleebron ∙ Oct 27

Replying to @davidleebron … and if the folks are in town, tell THEM we need #ALLHANDS on deck, so they should bust out the benjamins! No more deals for this guy, no more...

3

David Leebron

@davidleebron ∙ Oct 31

Friendly reminders to all runners tonight: Stay jiggly, and always bring an extra can.

6 David Leebron

David Leebron

5 @davidleebron ∙ Oct 27

Replying to @davidleebron … to the follow-up email bc you DELETED the first one! Disrespectful but I will let it slide bc we r all in this together. #prezpardons #lazykids...

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@davidleebron ∙ Oct 31

Can’t believe everyone thought I was Johnny Cash. Don’t you know a Kid Rock costume when you see it?? #RockforSenate

David Leebron

2 @davidleebron ∙ Oct 27

Today marks the 264th day-aversary of announcement of V2C2, which is still hip-hop-happening and needs input! @RiceStudents plz respond …

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David Leebron

264

@davidleebron ∙ Oct 26

Woke up to a crisp fall morning, 42 degrees! Colder than a few random cities I’ll now name with no underlying agenda: Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Providence and New Haven. Hanover and Ithaca, watch your backs!

808

David Leebron

2.8K

@davidleebron ∙ Oct 29

@astros On 8th bday, I wished to be in MLB. On 18th, I tried to walk on Harvard team. Now = my last chance. #Determined

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12 David Leebron

David Leebron

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@davidleebron ∙ Oct 25

All this talk about controversial statues...Here’s an idea! LOL. But maybe?

Still just a kid from the block with big dreams.

@davidleebron ∙ Oct 28

LOL! Some classic hijinks by my friends in the alumni dept. Remember to #sendcash in order to make Rice better than ever. #puttheFUNinfunds

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**All these photos are real. Like, seriously. Check out Leebron's twitter. If you do some digging, you can find them all.

The Backpage is satire and written by Joey McGlone and Isaac Schultz. For comments or questions, please email farts@rice.edu.

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