VOLUME 102, ISSUE NO. 18 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, FEBURARY 21, 2018
see our ELECTION COVERAGE
In-depth coverage of each contested race and endorsements
p. 3-5, 12
AND THEY’RE OFF
charlene pan / thresher; photo illustration by christina tan
SA presidential candidates promote ideas, hopes for Rice’s future ANNA TA NEWS EDITOR / AXT1@RICE.EDU
As three Student Association presidential candidates prepared for their opening statements for the debate hosted by the Thresher last Friday night, students filed in past a large paper banner painted #letgillisdebate. Voting for all SA candidates begins tomorrow, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. and closes Feb. 26. The Thresher cited candidate Morgan Gillis’ lack of a serious platform in their controversial decision to not invite him. Gillis posted a letter on Facebook contesting his exclusion from the debate and held a town hall forum last Saturday to discuss his platform of changing the mascot to a “Despicable Me” Minion, building a fence around campus and providing free Chegg accounts. “My ideas may be harder to implement than the other candidates’ ideas, but this does not detract from their legitimacy,” Gillis, a Baker College junior, wrote. While candidates Rohan Palanki, Mahdi Fariss and Ariana Engles all agreed academic inclusivity, undocumented students and student engagement were priorities, they disagreed on which issue is most pressing for the student body.
Fariss said the most urgent issue is the lack of student engagement, as the least engaged students are often marginalized groups that are engaged with the least. “If students aren’t engaged, then our ability to actually accomplish our goals is decimated,” Fariss, a McMurtry College junior, said. “So while there are things that are urgent now, that are timely, I believe that the duty of the SA president is to make sure we are fostering a culture that encourages engagement with the values of our community and addresses those problems head on.” Palanki said Rice must have accessibility not only in social opportunity, but also in academics and well-being. “It should be accessibility in terms of academics so that each and every Rice student has the equal opportunity to pursue a Rice education,” Palanki, a Jones College junior, said. “It’s accessibility and awareness of these well-being resources, so that they’re not reactionary but rather preventative. Perhaps we need to restructure our approach and perhaps we need to make this campus more accessible to all.” Engles cited the March 5 expiration date for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and said she would use the presidency to support undocumented students that receive protection under it.
“I know I talk a lot about undocumented students a lot, but I really do think that is the most pressing thing,” Engles, a Lovett College sophomore, said. “March 5 is so close. We need to ensure that all of our undocumented students here at Rice are able to be supported, and I think by and large the Rice administration is able to do that, but I think we need to push, we need to have student buy-in, we need to ensure that every single member of our community feels welcome and supported.” Current SA President Justin Onwenu endorsed Farris as a value-oriented candidate and Palanki as a projectoriented candidate, citing concerns regarding Engles’ experience as a sophomore and her priorities as a candidate. SPECIAL POPULATIONS AND DIVERSITY Engles’ campaign statement specifically addresses support for DACA recipients, international students and those with recently removed Temporary Protected Status, stressing the urgency of these issues. Engles said she would also like to improve student-athlete inclusion. “A lot of how I tend to look at issues is students bring them up to me,” Engles said. “So for example with
DEBATE CONT. ON PAGE 3
SPOTLIGHT
Rice Philharmonics win 1st place at a capella competition ELIZABETH RASICH SPOTLIGHT EDITOR / EAR4@RICE.EDU
Every five minutes we were like, guys, we just won first place. That was us. Kaysie Tam Rice Philharmonics President
When the announcement comes — the Rice Philharmonics have won first place — the group of 15 Rice students, dressed in black, explode into motion. Together, they halfrun, half-walk to accept the award with hands over their mouths, holding hands and grabbing each other in disbelief. They have just won the quarterfinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella, advancing the furthest they had ever gone in the history of the group. Phils music director Veronica Zheng said that no one was expecting first place.
“We were completely shocked,” Zheng, a Baker College sophomore, said. “It was like a Pitch Perfect moment, honestly.” After a third place finish several years ago and failing to place at ICCA quarterfinals last year, the Phils were mostly just hoping to perform the best they could, Zheng said. “My expectation honestly was: go there, put on the best show that we can, tell a story,say something with our music — and if we did that I would have been happy,” Zheng said. As soon as they came off the
stage, they realized they had said something: That they were really, really good. It was, said Phils President Kaysie Tam, the best performance they had ever given. In addition to the overall first place, Phils member Munachi Uzodike received an award for the best soloist. The group performed three songs: “Let Me Love You” by Justin Bieber, “Final Song” by MØ and “Greenlight” by Lorde. The arrangement of “Greenlight” also sampled the first two songs. They had been practicing those three songs, over and over, for several months.
Former music director Matthew Greene (Sid Richardson ’17) was the only non-Phils member in Nebraska supporting the group. He arranged the Phils’ versions of “Let Me Love You” and “Final Song” last year. From the audience, he could see that the group was performing well. “At first I thought I was biased, but I could hear people around me whispering good things about them during their performance,” Greene said. “Their dynamics were solid, their choreography was tight, and the crowd loved all of the soloists.”
PHILS CONT. ON PAGE 7