The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, October 23, 2019

VOLUME 104, ISSUE NO. 8 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

42.3%

(2,806)

22.6%

5.2% of men reported some type of nonconsensual contact

of women reported some type of nonconsensual contact

said they took some type of action

witnessed a situation that they believed could have led to sexual assault at Rice

80.9% undergraduate men indicated so

54.2%

prevalence rate of nonconsensual sexual contact for non-heterosexual students

16.3%

for students who indicated a disability

5.5%

for heterosexual students

of undergraduate women

70.4%

4.2%

28.9%

90.2%

of undergraduate women at Rice said their offender was faculty or an instructor

of graduate women at Rice said their offender was faculty or an instructor

of students overall at Rice reported their offender was another student

Reported penetration by physical force (being held down) or without consent (while passed out, asleep or incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol):

8.2%

58.7%

transgender, genderqueer, questioning, nonbinary, or not listed students indicated so

undergraduate women indicated so

said they directly intervened in the situation

16.6%

79%

of all respondents thought it would be “very or extremely likely” that campus officials would take a report of sexual assault or misconduct seriously

81.4% 10.1%

of survey respondents identified as women

1.2%

of undergraduate men

13.0%

of TGQN students reported some type of nonconsensual contact

56.4%

1.3%

(3,379)

of survey respondents identified as men

(84)

of survey respondents identifed as “other” INFOGRAPHIC BY TINA LIU

SA RESPONDS TO SURVEY ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT SAVANNAH KUCHAR ASST NEWS EDITOR

In response to the release of the results from the Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct last week, the Student Association Senate held a town hall in Farnsworth Pavilion on Monday to discuss the findings of the survey as well as steps the university should take going forward in response.

At the town hall, members of the

Interpersonal Violence Policy committee presented data from the AAU survey along with their conclusions, followed by a discussion open to all students and administration in attendance.

“Our main conclusion that we came to was that while the reported incidents of sexual misconduct at Rice are below national averages, they still indicate a need for improvement in campus culture, policy and support,” Ashley Fitzpatrick, a member of the IVP committee, said.

Baker 13 restrictions revised BRIAN LIN THRESHER STAFF

With shaving cream for a costume, Baker 13 run participants will once again leave their mark on college windows this coming Halloween, as contact with glass and defenses have been reallowed under new official rules.

The official rules, which were approved Oct. 11, began as a proposal

from Baker 13 leaders after contact with glass was banned last fall amid concerns of student injury, according to Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman.

“I am impressed with how Baker 13 has responded to my concerns,” Gorman said. “I am optimistic that the new rules will facilitate a run that reduces the potential for injury to runners or damage to property.”

Although rear-ended slams onto glass

Findings from the data Among the 33 peer institutions that took this survey, Rice had the highest response rate at 71.6 percent of all undergraduate students participating.

In 2015, students at Rice completed the Survey on Unwanted Sexual Experiences, similar to the AAU survey and with a similar response rate of 72.3 percent. At that time, the SUSE found that 18.5 percent of female students and 4.9 percent of male students had experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact while at Rice.

are still prohibited, runners can express their comic potential by “fingerpainting” college windows, according to a summary of the new rules provided by former Baker 13 captain Michael Price. Price also noted that runners still cannot enter college buildings, and that defenses must be mounted from the ground floor.

“Our vision for defenses from now on is basically something like the Beer Bike water balloon fight, where we just go to the academic quad in front of Lovett Hall and throw water balloons at each other,” Price, a Baker College junior, said. “When

Results from the AAU survey saw a slight increase in these numbers, with 22.6 percent of female students and 5.2 percent of male students having experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact while at Rice.

Laney Baker, the executive director of Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-Free Environment, said she attributes the increase in the reporting of sexual misconduct outside Rice to broad cultural changes.

SEE AAU PAGE 4

runners come up, the defenders can launch water balloons, get garden hoses to spray, get pails of water to chuck at them.”

These defense stipulations would disqualify several college defenses — the free-flowing water cascaded down Sid Richardson College’s upper-floor balconies for the several past years, the pickle-juice and chocolate syrup whisking by runners at Hanszen College last Halloween and the firehoses spraying down intruders at Wiess College — according to Baker 13 captain and Baker junior Nicholas Lester.

SEE BAKER PAGE 4

THE RICE THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

NEWS

THE RICE INVESTMENT:

Students receive, respond to aid RACHEL CARLTON THRESHER STAFF

While the Rice Investment caused an increase in the number of applications and students receiving need-based financial aid, responses to the Rice Investment have been mixed.

The Rice Investment, which took effect for the 2019-2020 school year, resulted in a 29 percent rise in the number of applications and an increase from 44 percent to 50 percent of matriculating students receiving need-based financial aid, according to Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva.

“We were already anticipating an increase in applications, but I’d say probably half ... of the overall increase in applications came as a result of this new financial aid policy,” Romero da Silva said. “And that increase came from all over, all over the country and we had increased interest all over the world as well across all the disciplines that we have here at Rice.”

There was an overall increase of $7 million of financial aid granted, according to Romero da Silva.

The number of students receiving financial aid at each income threshold covered by the Rice Investment increased as well, she said.

My financial aid package is no longer aid where I have to pay it back ... It’s like actually a grant that can alleviate the long-term costs.

Molly Wancewicz BROWN COLLEGE JUNIOR Stephanie Kwak, a South Korean international student, said that Rice has not been generous in giving financial assistance to the international community.

“Now that they’re increasing the portion of financial aid to ... the people who have the citizenships, then that means they need more money out of us,” Kwak, a Lovett College junior, said. “Tuition increased a lot.”

The cost of attendance at Rice for the 2019-2020 school year rose to $63,252, a 3.1 percent increase from the year before.

The Rice Investment does not apply to international students, according to Vice President for Finance Kathy Collins. There are, however, options for international students in situations of financial hardship, Collins said.

According to Romero da Silva, Rice meets 100 percent of need for international students admitted with aid. Twenty-six percent of international students receive financial aid, according to Collins.

Jake Bhoi, a McMurtry College senior, said that he received less aid under the Rice Investment compared to years before.

“On the surface level, the amount of aid that I was given looks basically the same because they increased my work study to an obscene amount that wasn’t something that was possible, since all Rice jobs pay between $8 and $11 an hour,” Bhoi said.

Current job postings on the Rice job board have

salaries ranging from $8-$12 per hour, according to the Office of Financial Aid website.

Collins said that the only reason students would receive less aid is that their family circumstances changed, such as an increase in family income or a graduation of a sibling from college. Although his family situation has remained unchanged, Bhoi said that his aid still decreased.

“Our estimated family contribution was lower this year than it was the year before. But even with that, the amount of aid was decreased from, I think there was like a $3,000 difference or a $4,000 difference,” Bhoi said. “Both of my siblings are still in college.”

Molly Wancewicz, a Brown College junior, said the replacement of student loans with grants through the Rice Investment was a significant improvement.

“My financial aid package is no longer aid where I have to pay it back and pay interest and worry about it all the time, but it’s like actually a grant that can alleviate the long-term costs,” Wancewicz said. “That was something that wasn’t as publicized about [the Rice Investment], but that has made a big difference for me.”

Wancewicz said that the method of setting income threshold cutoffs warrants further discussion.

“These income cutoffs ... mean vastly different things in different parts of the country,” Wancewicz said. “I’m from Silicon Valley in California, so my parents’ income and ... the same amount of money in say Texas or Oklahoma can afford vastly different things. So it seems like a one-size-fits-all approach that is well intentioned, but there definitely should be some fine-tuning there.”

Romero da Silva said that several factors went into consideration for the income thresholds, including the median United States income level and the median income for families with college-age students.

“We wanted to simplify the process by using terms our families would easily understand, like income and grant aid to cover tuition,” Romero da Silva said.

“It’s giving them the knowledge up front that really makes the difference.”

Romero da Silva said the responses she has received from parents and students made her feel like Rice was doing the right thing.

“What’s really interesting is the anecdotal letters and messages that we would get from students and from parents,” Romero da Silva said. “I can recall one father writing thanking us for the Rice Investment because his daughter’s No. 1 dream was to come to Rice, but he was nervous to encourage her to apply because of the cost. But knowing that this is what they would qualify for, he’s like ‘go for it’ now.”

Romero da Silva said even students not directly benefiting from the Rice Investment have expressed appreciation for its mission of inclusivity.

“We even had students who wrote to us to say my family’s not going to qualify for the Rice Investment but I’m applying because I want to be at a place that’s willing to support families in this way,” Romero da Silva said.

Wancewicz said that she doesn’t have a strong opinion either way on the Rice Investment.

“I think they’re doing a good job of messaging Rice’s values of inclusion and accessibility, but I think they could probably improve on messaging the mechanics of their new financial aid program,” she said.

INFOGRAPHICS BY Dan helmeci

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 • 3 the whole situation,” the student said.

“Because of it, she broke down in front of the owner of the company, Ben. Since then he has felt very bad for a very long time. He’s been buying us stuff and doing a lot for us, so I really appreciate that.”

ILLUSTRATION BY YIFEI ZHANG

Off-campus leasing issues persist SAMMI JOHNSON SENIOR WRITER About 30 students who signed leases with Owl House Properties are now living in off-campus temporary housing, including four different Airbnbs, following delayed renovations on the original properties, according to company president Ben Bahorich (Will Rice ’10).

Earlier this year, the company was subject to complaints about maintenance and pest issues, along with concerns about the fairness of their leases. Bahorich said that the company has responded to the concerns by making changes internally to personnel and software. However, new student complaints have arisen following students’ placement in temporary houses with no stable move-in date.

Owl House Properties owns 21 properties and leases homes to over 100 Rice students, according to Bahorich. Bahorich said construction on the properties intended to be leased was supposed to be completed sometime in July, and the company had budgeted an extra month in case of any issues or delays. However, a month before classes started, Bahorich said students were contacted to arrange temporary living spaces paid for by Owl House Properties with the claim the students could move in within two or three weeks.

While students were originally informed that the construction on the properties would be finished by the Sunday before the semester began, tenants will begin moving into their houses no earlier than Oct. 27.

Bahorich said delays were due to personnel issues.

(Editor’s Note: The Thresher granted anonymity to some students speaking about their rental contracts to protect them from legal repercussions.)

Miscommunications According to one anonymous student, they signed a lease through Owl House Properties with their five housemates for a six-bedroom duplex property. The student said Owl House Properties had promised the house would be demolished and completely reconstructed with granite countertops, luxury flooring, six bedrooms and low rent near campus.

“Owl House Properties made it sound really good,” the student said. “When we read that, we were like, this is way too good to be true, this is the perfect opportunity for us. It was almost kind of fishy from the

start.”

The student said communication between their housemates and one of the leasing agents was bad from the beginning, because the agent would not let the students see the house and pressured them into signing the lease.

“They would be like, ‘we get you have a lot of questions, but if you don’t sign this lease right away, we are going to sign with other people,’” the student said.

“Sort of blackmailing us to get us to sign really quickly even though we didn’t know much about the house, which led to lots of arguments among our friend group.”

According to the student, the company told them the reason they could not see the property was because the house was going to be demolished and rebuilt. The student said that they were not given much information about the progress of construction over the summer, but now the company sends them weekly construction updates.

Housing stress is almost a whole ’nother class in my life right now.

Anonymous Student Another anonymous student said Owl House Properties used predatory tactics to try to coax their housemates to all sign the lease for this school year. The student said that the leasing agent would call the students individually and tell them that all their housemates except for them had signed the lease. However, none of the housemates had signed the lease at all.

“They’ve actually been sending us text messages and they lie to us too,” the student said. “We know that none of us have signed the new lease yet, which is kind of furthering our anger with them. They’re really trying to play us at this point.”

Another anonymous student said they signed a lease with the intent of renting a two-bedroom apartment with another student, but they were not allowed to see the property before signing because it was under renovations. When the student finally received the apartment, it was a 1.5 bedroom, leading the student to move back on campus last minute.

“Why would I pay $800 a month to live in a studio?” the student said.” the student

said. “Owl House Properties tried to say we couldn’t break out of the lease, but I said it was signed on good faith and I would pay part of the security deposit but I’m going to break out of the lease, and they threatened legal action.”

Bahorich said that sending a demand letter from the legal department after breaking leases without legitimate cause is standard practice.

To avoid any more discussion of legal action, the student said they paid the security deposit in full to break the lease and moved back on campus after a discussion with one of the coordinators at their residential college during Orientation Week.

Temporary Accommodations When some students returned for the fall semester, they were placed in a combination of Airbnbs and other unoccupied properties owned by the company, according to Bahorich.

“At first we didn’t think too much about where they would go besides ‘this place can fit this many students,’” Bahorich said. “It was more about size. But then we realized we were putting too many [in one place]. We were thinking short-term.”

Multiple students requested additional Airbnbs to accommodate the number of students in their groups after being given an inadequate amount of space for the tenants.

An anonymous student said that Owl House Properties originally offered their group of eight students a three-bedroom and onebathroom Airbnb when their house was still under construction.

According to the student, their housemates found the space inadequate and asked for another property. Owl House Properties then provided them with an unrenovated apartment unit for two of the students to occupy.

“There are some problems with it,” the student said. “The person who is supposed to live with me wouldn’t live there.”

According to the student, the unrenovated apartment unit has no warm water and is relatively old. They said they contacted Bahorich, who provided them with a third property in Montrose for their housemate to move into alone. Now, six of the students in their group are in the threebedroom, one-bathroom Airbnb while the other two are temporarily living alone in separate apartments, all paid for by Owl House Properties. “[My housemate] was pretty upset about

Reparations To accommodate the displaced students over the past three months, Owl House Properties has paid for their rent at their temporary living spaces, provided compensation for Ubers used to get to campus, paid for storage units for furniture, bought furniture and household items and said that they would hire movers to pack and unload all the displaced students’ belongings on their move in date to compensate for their mistakes, according to Bahorich.

“I think [Bahorich] understands that their company really let some people down, and I think that they’ve done everything in their power to remedy that, so overall in my book he’s good,” Samantha Fowler, a McMurtry College senior, said. “I get people being upset, but because they’ve been so helpful throughout this process, I think it’s overall been net positive.”

Bahorich said three months ago, he was thinking about the situation from a business perspective. After meeting with displaced students in person, though, he said he decided to disregard the money the company was losing and focus on making students feel comfortable.

“It happened when I was face to face with these parents and students, talking to them about the problems they were facing and the stress,” Bahorich said. “In that moment, I was just like, I get it. It’s not about the rent money. It’s about making sure that these kids get taken care of.”

While Owl House Properties has paid for the students’ Airbnbs for the entire time the students have been in them, one anonymous student said that Bahorich attempted to get money to cover the costs of the housing from the students’ parents.

According to the student, Bahorich made an unannounced visit to their temporary home to ask for their parents’ contact information to request funds to house the students.

“After all that they put us through, and he came into our house and was like let me talk to your parents and ask for money for this service we’re providing you,” the student said. “I was like, ‘how can you have the audacity to do this?’”

Bahorich said that he had asked for donations from some parents to cover part of the rent that the students would have paid during that time period.

To address previous concerns brought to Owl House Properties, Bahorich said one of the leasing agents, Ronnie Reynolds, who has been subject to multiple student complaints, has been moved to the accounting department. However, he also said she still communicates with some students she worked with before switching roles. He also said the company stopped using their previous lease in favor of a standard Texas lease contract following complaints about a clause in the old lease claiming the lease would be terminated if the property was not delivered to the tenants within 90 days of the original move-in date.

“Housing stress is almost a whole ’nother class in my life right now,” an anonymous student said. “It’s a major focus on trying to find a new lease, it’s been something on my mind carrying over from all of nearly February or March of last year through the summer. We just have not had a stable housing situation. A firm date on when they could have the house to us would have solved so many issues.”

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NEWS

4 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 AAU FROM PAGE 1 “Between 2015 and 2019 we had the election of [President Donald] Trump and we had the #MeToo movement, both of which gave everyone ... an opportunity to talk about what sexual harassment is and what sexual harassment looks like,” Baker, a Martel College senior, said. “I wasn’t surprised by the increase that was there [in the AAU survey results].”

Grace Wickerson, president of the Student Association, said that just looking at the data alone does not reveal the entire story.

“Something to think about is that at other universities across the country their numbers went up,” Wickerson, a Brown College senior, said. “More people are recognizing forms of sexual violence and actually reporting forms of sexual violence that go beyond penetrative sexual assault. And so even in our day and time and education where more people are recognizing more forms of sexual violence, Rice’s number stayed mostly constant.”

Culture of Care Baker said that in order to improve campus climate, Rice needs to reevaluate how they use the term “Culture of Care.”

“Rice to some degree uses the culture of care to silence the experience of survivors,” Baker said. “It can’t be ‘Culture of Care [means] we don’t have sexual harassment and sexual assault here,’ we know that’s not true clearly based on these results. So we need to instead change the conversation [around the Culture of Care] to, ‘When [sexual misconduct] inevitably happens, we take care of survivors, we lift up their voices, we believe them.’”

Wickerson said that there is no official definition of Culture of Care and that for a large majority of Rice students it is primarily associated with issues regarding alcohol.

“How do you make this term have legs when it doesn’t hold any formal basis?”

Wickerson said. “The SA [Senate] actually has existing data from [the previous Survey of All Students] on Culture of Care and when you look at the data you see ... like 500 or so

responses are related to alcohol or partying but so much fewer responses are related to supporting survivors of sexual assault.”

Bystander Intervention According to Kusha Gupta, director of the IVP committee, Rice’s self-reported bystander intervention numbers overall were higher than the national averages. Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman said she attributes this to Rice programs such as Critical Thinking in Sexuality.

“I was encouraged to see significant rates of bystander intervention,” Gorman said.

“This reflects our Culture of Care and the content of our CTIS course, which both [then] freshman and sophomore students who took the AAU survey had completed.”

The bystander intervention statistics from the AAU survey were self-reported; students answered yes or no as to whether they had witnessed various forms of sexual misconduct since coming to Rice. Eighteen percent of respondents said they had witnessed someone acting in a sexual way that made someone else feel uncomfortable, and 10.1 percent said they witnessed a situation they thought could have led to sexual assault.

However, at the town hall students and administration discussed a need to still improve bystander action and ways that this could be accomplished.

Allison Vogt, associate dean of students and deputy Title IX coordinator, said a barrier to effective bystander intervention may be confusion among students regarding behaviors to watch out for.

“We’re looking for these very egregious behaviors that we might see on TV or in movies,” Vogt said. “As opposed to ... someone adding more alcohol into someone’s drink. Or even just running up on someone on the dance floor and groping them. I think sometimes we don’t think those are intervenable areas, but they absolutely are.”

Transgender, Genderqueer, Nonconforming (TGQN) Population At Monday’s town hall, Nathan Spindler-

Lovett college junior Kusha Gupta, director of the Interpersonal Violence committee, presents AAU survey data at the townhall.

Channing Wang / THRESHER

Krage, a member of the IVP committee, said that a focus for the IVP committee was on the data regarding the experiences of the TGQN population with sexual misconduct.

“One of the things that the committee is looking to do ... is partner with Rice Pride to gain more knowledge and to gain more specific answers about the experiences of genderqueer students and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole,” Spindler-Krage, a Sid Richardson College freshman, said.

According to the AAU survey results, 20.6 percent of TGQN students reported having experienced intimate partner violence, and 13 percent reported having experienced penetration or sexual touching without consent since entering college.

On-Campus Resources Baker said that she found the statistics regarding students knowledge about resources on campus encouraging.

“If you look at the numbers of knowledge of resources on campus and comfort accessing resources there are great improvements since 2015,” Baker said. “We can look to that as a signal of success of things that Rice is doing as far as STRIVE and CTIS and other initiatives but I don’t think that it means that there’s no room for improvement.”

According to the AAU survey results, only 5 percent of students were not aware of any of the resources offered to survivors by Rice.

Gupta said the statistics on reasons why survivors of sexual misconduct chose not to report stood out to her, specifically the number of people who said they did not contact any resources because they felt that their experience was not serious enough.

“That was a big number for us. How can we validate survivors’ experiences, how can we make sure people are educated about how regardless of alcohol or drugs or the type of sexual misconduct, their experiences are serious and they are valid?” Gupta said.

According to the AAU results, 57.1 percent of female students and 90.8 percent of male students never contacted any resources about their experience with penetrative sexual assault, and 85.3 percent of female students and 88 percent male students never contacted any resources about experiences with sexual touching. The top two reasons for BAKER 13

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FROM PAGE 1

Will Grimme, a Will Rice College senior, described leading a defense against a riled band of runners — who edged the Will Rice quad bleating their F-word-inclusive chant — by lobbing water balloons off the building’s first-floor deck. This deck can no longer be used under the new rules, something Grimme would like reexamined.

“Defense is so important because there’s a lot of people who are uncomfortable participating in Baker 13 as a runner, and this gives them some way to get involved,” Grimme said.

In the face of a water balloon onslaught, runners can no longer retaliate with shaving cream-laden hugs, a change of pace from the “attack if attacked” rule of the previous Baker 13 guidelines, according to Price. Although this tradition has not caused any known incidents, Gorman said banning physical contact between participants is a precaution against unwanted engagement. “[If] you’re naked, you shouldn’t be running up to another person and trying to touch or engage with them if they are not asking for that,” Gorman said. “Keep it outdoors, which has the benefit of … not putting someone in a position of feeling like they’ve had someone

not reporting selected by these students were that they thought their experience was not serious enough or because they thought that they could handle it themselves.

Improving Campus Climate At the town hall, the IVP committee explained their initiative to increase transparency about these issues through publishing infographics. One of these proposed infographics includes a model Student Judicial Programs case that goes through the process of reporting and investigating a sexual assault case.

Baker said that STRIVE is aiming to educate more people about these issues.

“I think we still culturally have this image of [sexual assault as] this man in a mask in a dark alleyway but that’s not necessarily true,” Baker said. “It can be anyone of any gender in your classes, in your room, and so I think we just need to continue humanizing this issue.”

Wickerson said they hope the timing of the results can lead to productive discussions going forward as well.

“It’s interesting to see this data set come out after everything that happened in September,” Wickerson said. “Maybe this data is a way to center that focus [and] provide legitimacy to the concerns that people have raised but also add new questions.”

Gorman said in the town hall that participation in the AAU survey is part of Rice’s ongoing effort to reduce sexual violence on campus.

“It was a substantial investment for us to do it but this is money well spent,” Gorman said. “It gives us a good overview of our campus climate and where we are right now.

It gives us a reference to reflect back on over the past four years from the last time we did one of these [surveys].”

Gorman said that Rice will more than likely participate in future surveys as well.

“Our intention would be to participate again the next time that they do a round of this [AAU survey], which I’m assuming will be probably about four years from now,” Gorman said. “After we did the SUSE in 2015 we always intended to have follow-up to that and a four year time frame is actually a good gap because it gives us the opportunity to have an entire cohort move through Rice.”

who’s not wearing clothes touch them when they haven’t asked for that.”

Incidents of glass breakage, most notably the shattering of a $15,000 Fondren Library window during a 2011 run, has drawn the concern of administrators for several years. The fracturing of a Sid Rich window last fall became the breaking point of administrative tolerance and the cause of the now-overturned ban on contact with glass, according to Gorman.

“And, you know, I feel like movies don’t do us any favors. Every movie you’ve ever seen where someone goes through a window, they all look fine,” Gorman said.

Although attendance of Baker 13 has sagged after the bans, with only 60 to 70 people donning shaving cream for last year’s senior run, an event that has historically drawn 100 to 150 runners, Price envisions that reallowing contact with glass and defenses will reverse this trend.

“The big thing about Baker 13 was the interaction between runners and the [defenders]… and that was kind of lost in the past year,” Price said. “When we had hands on glass back on the 13th it was completely like, ‘Oh my God, I’m having so much fun again.’”

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL

OPINION

Consider more than horse-drawn Treat linguistic minorities equally carriages in your weekend plans This weekend, students have the options of going to Wiess College’s Night of Decadence and Chi Alpha’s Evening of Elegance.

EOE, an event sponsored by the Christian student organization Chi Alpha, has gained popularity in recent years and occurs on the same evening as NOD. Framed by former EOE student coordinator Timothy Crouch as an alternative to NOD, EOE surpassed NOD in estimated attendance for the first time in 2017 since EOE began five years ago. Last year, we argued that EOE’s $30,000 budget made it a competing event. This year, we wanted to draw attention to the way in which Assemblies of God, the organization that governs Chi Alpha, publicized the event as a “God-honoring” success. While Chi Alpha leaders have framed EOE as an alternative and not a competitor, the Assemblies of God article shows a clear motivation in actively dissuading students from NOD. Chi Alpha is enabling the Assemblies of God, an outside religious organization, to influence our student life; yet more problematic is how the Assemblies of God achieves this by utilizing slut-shaming and moralizing rhetoric.

In the article, missionary and Rice Chi Alpha founder Josh Bell is quoted saying in reference to NOD, “In 2014, we asked the Lord, How do we answer this party?” The answer apparently lies in almost $30,000 in funding with unclear sources. According to the Assemblies of God article, alumni donations fund EOE, but according to Crouch, local church donations make up 10 percent of the funding. This funding goes toward horse-drawn carriages, a live swing band and hors d’oeuvres. In comparison, Wiess spent $13,000 last year on NOD, almost half of which was spent on security.

OPINION

Bell continues, saying “We felt like we were setting free half the campus. That continues to be our goal.” This frames EOE as a solution to the problems that Assemblies of God consider unique to NOD, an event they describe as having “[s]tudents donning only their underclothes — or less — attend the iconic campus party fueled by an unlimited supply of alcohol” and “[m]any leave stumbling and drunk, often in tears.”

NOD is by no means a perfect party. There is work that we as a student body can and should do to make sure that partygoers feel comfortable, should they choose to attend.

However, these experiences are not unique to NOD — in fact, the only differences between NOD and any other public party are the dress code and the more explicit sexual theme. Arguably, NOD is also not even the most highly attended public party. So why pinpoint this party as the one that requires the $30,000 alternative?

The framing of NOD by the article suggests that the drinking and clothes students wear to NOD contributes to how many students experience “unwanted sexual experiences,” perpetuating the slutshaming belief that a survivor is asking to be assaulted because of what they wear or drink. The rhetoric that Assemblies of God uses is a problematic depiction of EOE as God’s answer to NOD’s immorality.

Lastly, EOE is the only event on campus that has such a strong outside influence on campus based on masked religious motivations. The student body deserves transparency from Chi Alpha concerning the purpose and resourcing of EOE so they can make an informed decision about their Saturday night plans.

NOW

The value of

What if we treated our time at Rice like what it actually is — a convergence of the world’s greatest minds and four years of unfettered access to the intellectual pillars of the past and the promise of the future? Dear Rice, your Orientation Week friends could one day change the world, and many of your professors and mentors already have.

The wacky man who teaches you sociology is the Max Weber of our generation and the guy hungover in the back of the classroom could very well be the next Ernest Hemingway — the quiet girl listening intently, the next Alice Walker. The computer science major knocking back two fistfuls of boba could be fueling up to knock Uber out or to finally push Microsoft the way of the dodo.

The nameless face you pass in the Rice Memorial Center could very well be the forefather of the next new interdisciplinary field, the discoverer of tomorrow’s buckyball

or futuristic penicillin, the next Steve Jobs, Lupita Nyong’o, James Baldwin, J.K. Rowling, Octavia Butler, Elizabeth Warren, Christian Siriano, Mahershala Ali or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The point is that you never know, yet it’s the infinitude of the possibility that should be inspiring. So strike up that conversation, sit down at that table and introduce yourself. With the way life works, that one conversation could be the spark or the start of a chain reaction to great things.

We’re surrounded by thinkers, dreamers and doers as well as those who have thought, dreamt and done. What if we didn’t treat Rice like a means to an end? What if we dared to attack it — to live each passing moment at this university fully and robustly? Your impact on and engagement with the world doesn’t start when you leave Rice or when you’ve proverbially “made it.” It starts when

My mother country is home to more than 190 nations. Some nation-related incidents, especially concerning minority nations, have taken place this year.

Sept. 10, Izhevsk. Udmurt cultural activist Albert Razin burns himself down in front of the regional parliament building after an action of protest. April 14, Panayevsk. Nenets informal leader and activist Yeyko Serotetto is accused after organizing a meeting against building a gas pipeline. March 29, Murmansk.

Sámi representatives send a letter to the UN after facing threats from local authorities.

These three nations — Udmurt, Nenets and Sámi — live in the territory of the socalled “federative” state Russia. Its name implies democracy and equal participation of different subjects in the government, analogous to the American states. But in reality, the national and language minorities do not even have access to basic human rights. These three incidents are just parts of a huge chain of oppression, which indigenous nations in the Russian territories have been experiencing for more than 15 years already.

Before committing suicide, Albert Razin was struggling for more than 25 years to protect Udmurt culture and language from dissolution. He saw the process of assimilation, when children lose their identity because of an aggressive social environment. The waves of Razin’s attempts were broken down by a stonewall of local bureaucracy. The authorities think of Udmurt people as secondary people and of Udmurt language as a secondary language.

They think it is beneficial to oppress cultures because they can send a positive report to Federal Security Service about eliminating possible separatism risks. That is the way people think in a country that claims to be a “federation.” In fact, it is still an empire, with

you decide. I’ve found that you don’t have to wait to be great. You, yes you, can enact change now. Your ideas and thoughts are substantive, magical and revolutionary now.

Do a research project for the sake of exploring an intellectual curiosity; read ahead of class; have that midnight conversation about the complexities of the world; attend a talk on a topic you know nothing about; be “that guy” and draw out the class conversation by going down a rabbit hole; approach the professor that you think is cool and ask them about their life story; sit in on a class; go to office hours with your philosophical rants about the syllabus readings; start that oddball project with your roommate; critically engage your classmates over servery meatballs or do some wild combination of them all.

Don’t waste your time here. These are the formative years. Make the best of them.

All too often, we, as goal-oriented people, have a tendency to hyperfocus. I know that a lot of us, especially those of us with undue weight of feeling like we “have to” succeed, work doggedly toward our professional goals with no real concern for the day-to-day, seeing it as frivolous or wrought with mundanity.

What if I were to challenge you to consider

one nation in priority and all the others as “colonized” ones.

You cannot survive in Russia without knowing the Russian language. In Russian “republics,” subjects of the federation, the situation is far from this. As a linguist, being able to observe the situation through all my life there, I can say that Russian now is a language predator. People have to learn it, and simultaneously, they forget their native languages. For instance, the Unified State Exam, which is mandatory for all citizens, can be taken only in Russian. No more than three indigenous languages out of 150 are taught in high school. If a nation does not have its own “republic,” the chances for their language to survive are close to zero.

This is not normal. If a country claims to value human rights, people must be sure that every citizen can own their land, speak their language, celebrate their holidays — overall, realize their culture without worries about being insulted or threatened. As long as they lack such opportunities, the country is in apartheid. Such a country cannot succeed in the international community.

When traveling in the world around us and facing various values, different from ours, such as nation, religion, mother language or traditions, our mission is to treat those equally and fight against any discrimination. This is Culture of Care on a global scale.

IVAN GAMOV

MARTEL COLLEGE FRESHMAN

a soft reevaluation? What if we’ve drawn a dichotomy that’s too rigid and ultimately too simplistic? Imagine if we were to, while not casting aside our duties and responsibilities, loosen our grip on the reins of the future just a little bit?

I can say with pretty solid confidence that whatever doctor, policymaker, entrepreneur, engineer, writer, economist or statistician you want to be, you will be it. I can also say with almost as much assuredness that taking time to live consciously, radically and unconventionally in the moment while we have so much knowledge and so many resources could make the difference in what kind of doctor (or whatever) you become.

We must be cognizant of tunnel vision, or living with blinders on. Be cognizant, Rice. Be conscious and seize the moment.

After all, access to these moments is a privilege in itself.

SUMMAR MCGEE

HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

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THE RICE THRESHER

6 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

FEATURES From I-PREP to graduation: the international student experience U.S. on a student visa, has played a role in this tendency.

“I was very focused on academics and careers and jobs especially because I’m trying to stay here in the U.S. after I graduate,” Hsiao said.

According to Cano Miñarro, being an international student led to higher scrutiny in many situations.

“I felt like a lot of people wanted to help me, and that was pretty nice like ninety percent of the time,” Cano Miñarro said.

“The other ten percent, you feel absurd because everybody is trying to help you so much that they’re observing you to see if you’re doing things right.”

Chien, on the other hand, said being an international student didn’t play too much of a role in her interpersonal interactions.

“Personally, the fact that I’m an international student hasn’t really come up that often in a day-to-day basis,” Chien said. “I don’t really consciously think about whether [my decisions or interactions are] relevant to the fact that I’m an international student.”

illustration by chloe xu

RACHEL CARLTON THRESHER STAFF

Being airdropped into a foreign country to fend for yourself may sound like the stuff of spy movies. But for 11.4 percent of Rice’s population, it’s just life as a college student.

This article follows the journey of six international students and one exchange student; from choosing Rice to InternationalPreparation and Regulatory Education Program and Orientation Week, and through their freshman year, these students had a lot to say about life in the United States.

THE DECISION Like all students, international students come to Rice for different reasons.

Matheus Barbosa, a Brown College sophomore, found that Rice offered him better opportunities than in Brazil, where he’s from.

“I was looking for studying abroad because for internal reasons in Brazil, the sciences specifically [in] my area [are] not doing as well,” Barbosa said. “The new government doesn’t invest as much as the previous one in science and technology.”

Becky Shepherdson, an exchange student from the University of Cambridge, said she appreciated that U.S. school systems allow students to major in more than one area.

But for Wei-Lin Hsiao, a Duncan College junior from Taiwan, the U.S. offered an alternative to the dynamics at home.

“My parents have been telling me that I need to get out of Taiwan just because they’re worried about the political situation there,” Hsiao said.

COMING TO THE UNITED STATES When choosing Rice, many students had preconceptions of what the U.S. or Texas would be like. Stephanie Kwak, a Lovett College junior from South Korea, said she had heard about Southern hospitality.

But not all preconceptions were as harmless as cowboy boots and accents.

Tona Akerele, an international student from Nigeria who grew up in Ireland, said her time at a U.S. embassy school in Nigeria played a part in her negative views on the U.S. “I don’t think I ever experienced racism in Ireland,” Akerele said. “Then I go to this school in Nigeria, literally my parents’ home

country, and we’re all black, and I have these American teachers, and they’re the ones teaching me about racism. I thought the U.S. was racist.”

Although she knew of some stereotypes, Marta Cano Miñarro, an international student from Spain, came to Rice with an open mind.

“I just wanted to start building my memories here without any stereotypes,” Cano Miñarro, a Brown sophomore, said.

I-PREP All international students participate in I-PREP, a program before O-Week coordinated by the Office of International Students and Scholars. For many students, I-PREP is their first time in the U.S. “I flew from Brazil direct to I-PREP,” Barbosa said. “I haven’t been here [in the U.S.] before for any longer period of time than half a day.”

According to Student Success Initiatives, I-PREP serves as a time to review immigration regulations and legal information, as well as assist students with the logistics of moving in.

“It was really helpful because ... I didn’t have a bank account,” Shepherdson said. “I didn’t even know Chase was a type of bank.

Things which I think a lot of people take for granted are just not common sense at all.”

For Kwak, however, some time during I-PREP could have been spent better.

“Cultural stuff was really weird,” Kwak said. “They taught us slang, so like, ‘Oh, you slayed girl’. You guys [are] really just spending an hour to teach us about this stuff?”

The three-day program led to some interesting dynamics, according to Yvonne Chien, a sophomore from Taiwan who went to school in Singapore.

“People of the same race, they would come together even if it’s just on the first day,” Chien said. “When you’re just entering the lobby and you see a group of this race, a group of that race, a group of that race, it only felt right for me to join the Chinese group or the Asian-looking group instead of going to the other ones.”

Several students, like Shepherdson, said they still maintain their connections from I-PREP. “It was really nice to turn up having done I-PREP and then at least you have people who you know,” Shepherdson said. “You

have inside jokes with them, you’ve done the same stuff already, so you do have some kind of bond internationally.”

O-WEEK Despite some help from I-PREP, many international students said they found the transition to O-Week challenging.

Shepherdson, who was in charge of her university’s orientation, said O-Week highlighted major cultural differences between the U.S. and the U.K. “I was expecting way more bitching and sarcasm and ‘Oh, why do we have to do this,’” Shepherdson said. “I found people here were just a lot more up for everything in a very enthusiastic way.”

Shepherdson said that one particular high-energy event during Martel College O-Week exemplified the attitude differences.

“Maptek I think is probably the best example,” Shepherdson said. “You could not force a group of 18-year-old Brits, sober, to do anything that we did that night. Not at all.”

Since Cano Miñarro came to the U.S. speaking a medium level of English, she said the language barrier affected her, especially during icebreakers.

“I just felt so young,” said Cano Miñarro.

“I felt much younger than I actually was because you’re in that learning process.

You’re learning 24/7.”

For Akerele, language wasn’t the reason she was more reserved.

“I feel like I just didn’t understand the humor,” Akerele said. “I was trying to understand the humor because people were laughing at stuff and I was like, ‘Oh, I should be laughing too.’ Americans are definitely very quirky.”

NAVIGATING RICE As an international student, life at Rice can come with a host of difficulties.

Kwak said her first year was the hardest because those interactions were her first outside of Korea. “[In Korea], I was really outgoing,” Kwan said. “I would be the one who initiated the conversations. But the freshman year was like, I can’t do the talking. English is so hard.”

According to Akerele and Hsiao, many international students feel that they focus a lot more on education than their domestic counterparts. Hsiao said that his F-1 status, which allows him to stay in the

CULTURE SHOCK AND IDENTITY CRISIS Faced with a new culture and a new environment, international students can find themselves overwhelmed by the cultural differences between their home country and the U.S. Hsiao said he found the fast-paced culture surprising, especially compared to his experiences in Taiwan.

“It’s a lot more reserved [in Taiwan], a lot more quiet, a lot more calm,” Hsiao said.

However, Shepherdson said that her experience in America isn’t so different from life in the U.K. “The same kind of patterns of generally what it’s like to be a teenager I guess is a really ubiquitous experience,” Shepherdson said.

According to Hsiao, navigating stereotypes of international students added an additional burden to this identity crisis, especially when he found that being Taiwanese had become a larger part of his identity.

Akerele originally joined the African Student Association, but later found that RISA was a better fit because of the experiences she shares with other international students.

“I get along well with African people ... but at the end of the day, international students, we all have shared common experiences with visa and stuff like that and just finding employment, and our experiences like culture shock and transition,” Akerele said.

For Chien, who has lived in several cities in Asia, identity hasn’t been as clear-cut for her as it is for other people. “[Students] would have one place they identify with and then that would be their go-to answer,” Chien said. “For me personally, because I’ve had the opportunity to move around, it was slightly harder for me to identify a place that I belong to or strongly identify with.”

Hsiao found that living in different places has given him insights more broadly into the human experience.

“The definitions of what a person should be like, what is masculinity, what is the role of adolescence, of like childhood and growth and learning, all those, you kind of see those from two different ways and it kind of gives you a new perspective that says hey, all this stuff is kind of made up,” Hsiao said.

Hsiao said his experience as an international student has helped to shape his identity.

“You can kind of pick and choose and say this is what I want to be,” Hsiao said.

“Sometimes it’s going to be pulled a bit more from Taiwanese influence or a bit more from the American side. So you get a very good perspective of paths in life and what you want to be as a person. I feel like it’s the biggest cultural benefit I’ve had.”

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 • 7

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ACROSS 1) will be on the ballot in March 4) “...as __ it...” (“in our opinion”) 9) fulfillment, and a hint to the puzzle’s theme 11) surgically removed 12) tiny software program 15) middle of Finland 16) Ginsberg poem 19) Petunia, to Harry 20) June birthstone 21) Rice BIOE grad track 22) upper echelon 23) Home for Willy and Sammy, abbr.

24) gender prefix 25) review sesh host 27) VSCO girl’s concerns 29) precedes St. Helens and Rushmore 30) features of Froot Loops 31) Troy and Gabriella’s domain

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Answers will be posted on ricethresher.org and on the Thresher Facebook page.

Bolded clues and colored squares correspond to the theme.

Senior Spotlight: Alex Dunbar KAVYA SAHNI FOR THE THRESHER

For Alex Dunbar, one of the most special places at Rice is the Turrell Skyspace. He said he loves seeing Skyspace on cold winter mornings when the rest of campus is silent.

“Sometimes, early in the mornings … late November, early December, offseason training, it’s still dark outside, it’s nice and cold, there’s Skyspace lit up and there’s not much going on around campus,” Dunbar, a Lovett College senior, said. “It’s really pretty.”

Dunbar gets to see Skyspace during offseason training for cross-country and track. He wasn’t originally on the team, but walked on during Orientation Week, and says he now has a support network for which he is very grateful.

“Coming to Rice and running track and cross-country … I just know it’s the best decision I’ve ever made,” Dunbar said.

Waking up every morning at 6:30 a.m. for practice isn’t always fun, but Dunbar said that he ends up looking forward to it.

“I feel like I’m definitely going to miss it next year,” said Dunbar. “Coach [Jon] Warren has been phenomenal. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better college coach.

He’s a Rice alum[nus] so he kinda gets how things work here, and I’m just super grateful for everybody.”

Dunbar is also thankful for his teammates, who he said have had a huge impact on his college experience.

“It’s all the different ranges of personalities, different interests, the support network,” Dunbar said. “And I really think that just knowing that they’re there has been huge for me.”

Having this support system helped Dunbar with the difficulty of having a different schedule from most of the students at Rice. He said that as an athlete, his participation in certain events has been highly restricted.

“I don’t remember the last time that Lovett had an event that I’d be able to

participate in with my athletic schedule,” Dunbar said. “I don’t know if the culture around sleep is really what it is, but there’s a very big separation between the general student population, and the athletics population, and I think it’s really sad, to be honest.”

Despite the challenges, Dunbar said being an athlete has helped him academically.

“It forces you to really plan ahead and use your time wisely, because you can’t be up until 4 a.m. doing an assignment if you have a big workout at 6:30,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar is majoring in mathematics and chemistry, and hopes to attend graduate school. For Dunbar, both math and chemistry are about trying to understand structures around him, and build up from primary principles.

“I really liked Dr. Varilly-Alvarado’s Algebra III course. It was a really interesting way to look at the structures underlying a lot of different areas in math,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar came in wanting to be a mechanical engineer and work for NASA, but he soon discovered that he’d much rather be a mathematician. While deciding what to do over the summer last year, he realized that he would only be happy doing research and continuing to learn about math.

“There’s something really special about the way math looks to answer problems in the world around us, and looks to describe what goes on,” Dunbar said.

When he’s not in the classroom or on the track, Dunbar enjoys playing the guitar to relax. In high school, he and his friend started a heavy metal band. Although he said they weren’t good, he enjoyed it.

“I’m a real bad guitarist, [but] I enjoy being bad at it,” Dunbar said. “I like having music to be something that I can enjoy doing with absolutely no pressure attached to it.”

Dunbar said he’s definitely going to miss Rice after he graduates.

“The next six and a half months, they’re going to fly,” Dunbar said.

DOWN 1) tile in a yellow bag 2) when paired with W or TI, a peeved text 3) first stage of Freudian development 4) what a neglected succulent might do 5) H, for Zeus 6) utilize a tuffet 7) puritanical party, abbr.

8) __, be-all 10) purple yam dessert 13) what your GPA might do after a midterm 14) freaks out 16) Rihanna and Awkwafina’s criminal collaboration 17) quick or instant breakfast goop 18) “saved a __ like me” 20) toilet paper layers 22) Narcissus’ cursed admirer 26) Shrek’s best friend, for one 28) infinitive indicator, in English

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THE RICE THRESHER

8 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

ACL 2019 Relive ACL Weekend 2 and read a conversation with Eric Rachmany of reggae-rock band Rebelution.

See more at ricethresher.org

KTRU Halloween Show brings local talent Paul Otremba

photo courtesy vikram nayar

Nate Dietrich of ’90s-inspired alternative r0ck band Goodgirl performs at KTRU Halloween Show on Saturday, Oct. 19 outside Valhalla. The band was the second act in a lineup of three local artists, which also included rapper Kenner Wells and psych-rock group Wax Dream.

SANVITTI SAHDEV THRESHER STAFF

For its second annual Halloween Show, KTRU brought out a large crowd under the Valhalla lights for pizza, merchandise and concert ticket giveaways and live music from fresh Houston talent.

The concert featured musical performances that crossed multiple genres.

From hip-hop act Kenner Wells to dreamy ’90s-style rock band Goodgirl to the fun garage rock of Wax Dream, everyone that turned out for KTRU’s music show found something new and inspiring to groove to.

Shelbi Armstrong, small concerts director at KTRU, scouted and reached out to local artists to perform in the show.

“The goal is to bring the Rice and Houston area community together and expose them to local artists and more eclectic music that they might not have heard about before,” Armstrong said.

According to Alice Liu, a Duncan College senior, her favorite aspect of the show was how distinct all three acts were.

“They all had very different energies,” she said. “Purely music-wise, I liked the second one, but the last one was really fun because everyone was dancing.”

The show’s opener, hip-hop artist Wells, started the night off at 7 p.m. to a crowd that hadn’t yet fully arrived. Nevertheless, his rapid flow didn’t dwindle for a moment, setting the upbeat energy for the night.

Wells said he draws inspiration from a diverse range of musical influences, including The Beatles; André 3000; Kendrick Lamar; Earth, Wind & Fire; Michael Jackson and Ravi Shankar.

“I’ve grown up listening to literally every single different kind of music. Now I’m just trying to find a way to blend all of those and rap over the top of that,” he said.

According to Wells, he comes up with a lot of his lyrics on the job while waiting tables.

“The bad thing [about being a new artist] is that it’s very hard to make money,” he said. “There is a lot of competition. But I don’t worry about that too much because every time I get out on stage, it feels like that’s exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

Following Wells, the next act to take the stage was Goodgirl, a ’90s-inspired alternative rock band that nailed the Halloween theme in blood-spattered outfits.

Goodgirl’s dark yet sweetly laced melodies drew the crowd to the front of the Valhalla stage. Their greatest strength was an easy dichotomy of loud and fuzzy guitar offset by the dreaminess of lead singer Valentina Daboin’s vocals. Their music resonated passionate assertions (“I want it all right now”) toned with enough ethereal witchiness to sweep an entranced audience off its feet.

According to guitarist Nate Dietrich, the band’s sound is not tethered to genre because each member draws from diverse influences, including FEELS, Cherry Glazerr, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Grouper, Preoccupations and True Widow.

“What we’re doing now is exploring playing dark music that’s also pretty and has almost a melancholy feel,” he said.

Dietrich emphasized Goodgirl’s creative collaboration, which he said is what makes their music particularly special for him.

“It would not be possible without us as individuals, which I think is what a band is,” he said. “What’s the point of playing with other musicians if you’re not going to all have this hive mind kind of thing?”

For guitarist Gisselle Lizama, spontaneity is an important factor in every live performance.

“From the setlist to the songs to the way it’s arranged, everything that we do, we want to hit you with it, we want you to feel it,” Lizama said. “Whenever we practice, it’s dope because you hear a lot of good stuff, but that’s no guarantee until you play it.”

The Halloween Show concluded with its third and final act, Wax Dream. According to their Bandcamp page, “they have been cracking skulls, unpeeling brains and pouring themselves in all across Texas for the past two years.”

The band members refer to their music as garage rock, with a variety of other influences.

“We try to bring a certain amount of musicianship to an otherwise very straightforward genre,” bassist Connor Mitchell said.

Audience members who stuck around for the final act were treated to the carefree enjoyment brought by the band, who took to the stage completely barefoot. Their danceable blend of catchy melodies, loud guitars and psychedelic sounds ended the night on a high and sweaty note.

According to drummer Chris Collier, their approach to performing live is to be accessible to audiences outside the genre of psychedelic rock.

“We just try to have fun, and hopefully the crowd will connect and also have fun,” vocalist and guitarist Quinn Decker said.

“But sometimes they don’t and we’re like, fuck it, we’ll just goof off.”

RANKING ‘FIRST DAY OUT’ SONGS #1: TEE GRIZZLEY “First Day Out” almost feels like a Build-a-Bear for the perfect first-day-out song. In terms of personal storytelling, “First Day Out” is simply one of the best rap cuts of the decade, ranking in the upper echelons with Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” and Kendrick Lamar’s “m.A.A.d. city.” The beat does everything you want it to do and more. When it comes to conflicting emotions of freedom, Grizzley does a beautiful job articulating the sequence of his thoughts through a flow of consciousness rap. “First Day Out” by Grizzley is unambiguously the GOAT of first-day-out songs.

remembered LILY WULFEMEYER THRESHER STAFF

Before passing away this June from cancer, Rice professor Paul Otremba got to see an early print of his third book of poetry, “Levee.” Published posthumously in early September, “Levee” received a launch party and reading this past Thursday at the Menil Collection, hosted by Inprint, a local literary arts nonprofit organization.

In addition to being an assistant professor of English at Rice, Otremba taught in the low-residency Master of Fine Arts program for writers at Warren Wilson College. He also authored two other books of poetry, “The Currency” and “Pax Americana,” as well as multiple essays, poetry reviews and food writing. Although Otremba was not able to read from “Levee” in his famously melodic voice this Thursday, six nationally esteemed poets came together for the evening to bring his words to life.

Framed by the dynamic “Tjala Tjukrupa” painting from the Menil’s “Mapa Wiya” exhibit, Holly Holmes, Otremba’s wife, shared how significant the museum was to her husband and his work in her opening remarks. Holmes began to cry as she thanked the guests and those who helped her to organize the event.

After a long pause, she shared a chuckle with the crowd as she said, “If you make your font too small [for your speech] and you start crying, then you can’t read it, by the way.”

Poet Kent Shaw also needed a moment of silence after reading, “The grounds outside the prison in Huntsville / are full of horses,” from Otremba’s poem “Good Morning, People.” The speakers’ tearinduced caesuras allowed for moments of communal mourning, and for the unrelenting strength of Otremba’s words to wash over the audience.

In a way, the pauses also reflected Otremba’s own teaching style in the classroom.

Annabelle Crowe remembered in particular the feeling of safety that he nurtured in his advanced poetry course.

“It has to do ... with how perceptive, compassionate, and calm he was,” Crowe, a Sid Richardson College junior, said.

“When we were reading poetry … we took it very slow. There were sometimes long pauses; it was okay, in this class, to take time to think before you spoke.”

Ana Paula Pinto, who took two workshop classes with Otremba, also remarked on Otremba’s introspective nature, and how it manifests in “Levee.”

“Paul often talked about bringing the world into poetry,” Pinto, a Brown College senior, said. “This idea about writing that is simultaneously so personal and recognizable.”

This piece has been condensed for print.

To read the full story, visit ricethresher.org.

Immediately after her release from prison Oct. 8, JT of the rap group City Girls released a blistering track “JT First Day Out.” In doing so, JT joins a long list of rappers who have released “first day out” songs. To celebrate a worthy addition to the genre, we’ve come up with a ranking of 15 first-day-out songs. To read the full ranked list, visit ricethresher.org.

#2: GUCCI MANE #3: CHIEF KEEF #4: CITY GIRLS Jacob Tate, for the Thresher

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 • 9

katelyn landry / THRESHER

Armani White performs at Austin City Limits Music Festival on Saturday, Oct. 12. The hip-hop artist has recently performed at the 2018 Made in America music festival, 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, 2019 SXSW and in support of Vince Staples’ “Smile You’re on Camera” tour.

A conversation with Armani White KATELYN LANDRY A&E EDITOR

After enduring a freakishly cold first day of weekend two at Austin City Limits Music Festival, the prospect of having energy before noon was inconceivable — until Armani White hit the stage.

Festivalgoers passing the T-Mobile Stage on Saturday morning stumbled upon a full-fledged hype fest complete with bags of fruit snacks being thrown out into the crowd by White and his bandmates. White

was joined by drummer Bradley Pockets, vocalist Christian Eason and Jah the DJ, also known as Ohmyjah. From the infectiously happy chorus of his hit single “Onederful” to the buzzing bass and cutting lyricism of “Public School,” every single song electrified the bouncing 11:45 a.m. crowd.

ACL was only the latest in a string of recent high-profile performances. White performed at the 2018 Made in America music festival, 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, 2019 South by Southwest and in support of Vince Staples’ “Smile You’re on Camera” tour.

With his whirlwind rise to fame behind him and plenty of ambition, White discusses his roots, his goals and the serendipity of it all.

KL: Hello! It’s very nice to meet you.

AW: Hey, how are you? My name is Armani White, your name is?

KL: My name is Katelyn.

AW: Do they know your name?

KL: They know my name.

AW: Do they know my name?

KL: They will.

AW: Okay, cool (laughter). I’m with that.

KL: I saw your set earlier, it was awesome. I brought my brother to it too; he had never heard you before and he loved it.

AW: That’s great, did y’all catch the fruit snacks?

KL: Yeah, we did actually! When did that whole tradition of the fruit snack throwing start?

AW: So, we played a show at an art gallery in 2014 or something, one of my first early shows. And I didn’t know if anyone was gonna come so I wrote on my Twitter, “Hey if anybody comes, I’ll give you guys free fruit snacks.” And I don’t know why I just had a box of fruit snacks on me and so, when I got there we were playing a song, we were playing a set, we were two songs in and somebody was like “Where’s the fruit snacks?!” And I was like aww, dang.

So luckily, I grabbed some and we threw ‘em out in the crowd and ever since then, it’s just become bigger crowds, more fruit snacks — we got five more boxes, so. It’s been a thing for a while now and it’s fun every time.

KL: When was it that you decided you wanted to do music? And how did your family react to it?

AW: So, I heard a song called “Kill You”

by Eminem. It’s not a good song to tell your parents you want to make music [like], but from there, I told my dad and he was very curious to see if I would actually follow through with it. My mom was on the fence with it and not even because of how I was trying to make music, but more so because she’s very traditional. She finished college, she has a master’s degree, she also went into the military so she’s very like, “You have to do solid things that you know [are] gonna work.” And I was like, “I know this [is] going to work, mom! Trust me!” And so we clashed on it for a while up until MTV dropped an article that was like “Top artists to watch for next year” and I was on that list and my mom instantly switched over, she was like “You know, I seen that

MTV interview, when’s your next show?”

And so, yeah my mom is very accepting to it now so I think that’s a good part of it.

KL: I read your Billboard interview about how your niece helped you come up with the lyrics to “Onederful.” In the interview, you said it was a “beautiful accident” and I thought that was very beautiful. So I wanted to ask, have any beautiful accidents happened lately, musically or otherwise?

AW: Yeah I mean, a beautiful accident was being able to play the show with James [Blake] last night. A beautiful accident was this show in itself . . . Every song I make in some form or fashion is a beautiful accident. The fact that I’m able to be on stage with those three people all are in some variation a beautiful accident. Only reason Ja is my DJ is because my [original] DJ, his equipment wasn’t working one night and from there he moved on and he tagged Bradley along with him, and Christian — I just so happened to be at a park one day and heard him singing and I was like, “Yo, this is amazing.” So, these are all beautiful accidents. They all pull themselves together to make what we have today. I’m happy about that.

KL: If you could be any artist for a day, living or dead, who would you be?

AW: James Brown. James Brown is the man, Oh my gosh. Well like, pre-cocaine crack era James Brown. Like, legendary James Brown. Like the sparkling red suit James Brown.

KL: Do you feel like Austin is male or female or somewhere in between?

AW: Austin is female. Austin is a White woman with dreadlocks. (laughter) I do think Austin is a woman, could be White or Black, but it’s a woman with a tapestry in her room somewhere, preferably with some kind of scented candle and essential oil going up at the same time.

KL: Last question — you mentioned Houston earlier and you said you haven’t been there. May I take some words from you back to Houston?

AW: I love you guys, I’m coming. Houston has the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen! And I really want to see [the city] in person. I don’t even want to play a show, I just want to come and experience it. I’m putting it on my bucket list: within the next six months I’ll be in Houston for something. Something! Whatever it is.

This interview has been condensed for print. To read the full story, visit ricethresher.org.

Coffee comes second in new Espresso Yourself: Art gallery RISHIKA CHIDANANDA FOR THE THRESHER

Campus cult-favorite Rice Coffeehouse saw slightly more patrons than usual last Thursday. Amid the frenzied typing and tides of friendly conversation, students also gathered in Coffeehouse to admire the new art installments that now grace the cafe’s left wall as part of the Espresso Yourself art gallery opening.

Espresso Yourself: Art has been a long-standing tradition among students who sought to share their art with the Rice community. This semester, Espresso Yourself drew inspiration from Bauhaus, a prominent German art school that greatly shaped the global art scene. Coffeehouse embraced this ideal of free artistic expression not only in their support of Rice creatives but also through their new limited edition drink, the GingerHaussmann.

The display showcases a variety of visual art forms, from collage to photography to crocheting. This unique selection of artwork shines a light on the diversified experiences of the student body.

Pete Sirithanachai, a Lovett College freshman, illustrated the enormity of the world in his photography piece “The Real World,” which depicts skyscrapers and flashing billboards in Times Square towering over a lone figure.

“The subject in this picture is portrayed as small and insignificant compared to the screens, which illustrates how we are just one out of billions of people in the world,”

Sirithanachai wrote in the exhibition catalog.

While this piece aims to bring attention to the vastness of our surroundings, another piece by Wiess College junior Sarah Easley revealed the exact opposite: the individuality of human existence. Easley created a linocut print of her friend’s portrait and named the piece “Untitled” in order to emphasize the subject as the focal point.

I’m thankful Coffeehouse can be a site of discussion for student interaction with art on campus.

Jenny Wang MARTEL COLLEGE SENIOR “I became tired of making block prints of my own face because I’ve been doing a lot of self-portraits,” Easley said. “So I asked [Areli Navarro Magallon] for a picture of herself that she liked. She sent me this picture that was very selfie-esque and I decided to really lean into the selfie nature of her picture.”

Espresso Yourself also contains pieces that shine a light on the diversity of Rice students and their backgrounds. Drawing on his Mexican heritage and family ties, Jose Martinez Negrete, a Sid Richardson College senior, created an ensemble of three family portraits called “Campesino,” “Abuelo Sagrada” and “Tiempo.”

Inspired by his annual visits to his hometown in Mexico, Negrete photographed his grandparents during one of his trips to the rural farmlands.

Having descended from generations of field workers, he said he sought to visually represent the hardworking nature of his family’s farming community.

“I wanted to capture the hardships of my family, reflected upon their aged skin and tired clothes, and through extension, the lifestyle of the Campesino,” Negrete said.

Through a candid portrait of his grandparents and older uncles, Negrete said he hoped to memorialize the simple beauty of a farmer life through these images “even if they’re not alive in the future.”

Like many of the other artists featured in Espresso Yourself this semester, Easley began working on her piece as a side project with no intention of displaying it to the hundreds of students who pass through Coffeehouse.

“Ninety-nine percent of the things I make are not out in the world and that was supposed to be one of them,” Easley said.

However, when her printing became “a finished piece,” she found herself submitting it to Espresso Yourself.

Easley also said that her job as a manager at Coffeehouse propelled her to contribute to the cafe’s lively art scene.

“It feels right to have my stuff here because Coffeehouse is already such a big part of my life,” Easley said. “I’m glad to be a part of not only the management team but also the culture of Coffeehouse and its community.”

Katelyn landry / THRESHER ORIGINAL PHOTO BY JOSE MARTINEZ NEGRETE

While every artist has their own style and media form, they universally agree on the significance of displaying art pieces in Coffeehouse.

Jenny Wang, a Martel College senior, wrote in the gallery catalog, “Art at Rice has faced a lot of challenges in displaying student work and hosting performances.

I’m thankful Coffeehouse can be a site of discussion for student interaction with art on campus, and I hope to contribute to the excitement surrounding visual art through Coffeehouse.”

THE RICE THRESHER

10 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

SPORTS

BUI FLOATS LIKE A BUTTERFLY

courtesy RICE ATHLETICS

Junior swimmer Brittany Bui lifts her head above the pool surface to catch a breath while extending her arms out to complete a butterfly stroke, her swim stroke specialty. Bui claimed first place in the 200-butterfly and second place in the 50-butterly during last weekend’s Dual-A-Pool-Ooza in Miami. Rice earned first place in the meet and is undefeated on the season.

SMARAN GARLAPATI FOR THE THRESHER

At the crack of dawn, set foot on campus and you might see someone speed past you, hurriedly biking toward the Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center. That person might be none other than junior swimmer Brittany Bui. Bui is on the Rice swim team and specializes in the butterfly and individual medley events. During the Rice Invitational two weekends ago, Bui finished first in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard IM and third in the 200-yard butterfly. For her performance, Bui garnered the title of Conference USA’s Swimmer of the Week.

But Bui said that she is more interested in overall team success rather than individual accolades. “[The award was] really no big deal,” Bui said. “I just wanted to do the best I could for my team.”

Bui said she began swimming at age 7, but only after trying several other sports.

“I did every sport: soccer, gymnastics,

tennis,” Bui said. “I was awful at all of them, so my parents’ last resort for me to stay active was swimming and I ended up being actually good at it.”

Bui stuck with the sport and improved.

Around the end of her junior year of high school, Bui said, she realized her potential for swimming at the collegiate level when she began receiving offers from several colleges. According to Bui, it was only after speaking with coaches, going on recruiting trips and carefully weighing her options that she made her decision to attend Rice.

Bui said she credits her decision to the impressive balance between education and athletics the school fosters. Bui said she didn’t know much about Rice in high school, but accounts from a swim team friend who attended Rice got her interested.

“I would catch up with [the friend] when she came back over the holidays and she would tell us how amazing Rice was and how she loved the swim program here,” she said.

According to Bui, the team dynamic in collegiate swimming is very different

from middle school or high school swimming programs.

“In middle and high school, we used to swim for ourselves, to compete and get the fastest times,” Bui said. “In college, that mindset changes. You are not swimming for yourself, you are swimming for the team.”

Bui said there are several lessons from her experiences with swimming that have transferred to her everyday life, the most important being time management. As a mechanical engineering student, Bui said she not only has to attend two swim practices a day but also must get through her heavy coursework.

Bui said that being on the swim team has led her to develop a tight schedule that packs in homework, practice and classes, along with time for catching up with friends at her residential college and pursuing hobbies such as cooking and baking.

“It can be really challenging to maintain [a work-life balance] sometimes but I enjoy it,” Bui said.

Just 2.1 percent of NCAA studentathletes are Asian American, according to

a report published in December 2018. Bui said said she didn’t realize that she was a minority in sports as a child, but it became obvious at the collegiate level. Regardless, she said Asian American youths involved in athletics should follow their passions.

“As long as you are passionate about what you are doing, don’t let your environment affect your choices or keep you from doing what you like to do,” Bui said.

So far this season, the swim team is undefeated and Bui said she looks forward to helping the team continue to improve.

“I am really excited to see what our team can do and how much better we can get from last year,” Bui said. “Each year we are learning and improving not just our [swimming] times but also how to be a cohesive team.”

Bui said that graduating from Rice will mark the end of her competitive swimming career. According to Bui, once she graduates, she hopes to enter the workforce. Until then, Bui said she hopes to continue having fun while helping her team succeed.

home runs. He was also named National Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and was a national semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy (presented to the top national college baseball player) and the Golden Spikes Award (awarded to the United States’ top amateur player).

Rendon’s sophomore season was even more productive than his freshman one.

He won the Dick Howser Trophy, along with two other National Player of the Year awards. He was again among the nation’s leaders in home runs and RBIs, and he was named to the U.S. National Team before being sidelined with an injury. In honor

of his success on the field, then-Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the city council designated June 29, 2010 “Anthony Rendon Day in Houston.”

Rendon was widely regarded as one of the top talents in the 2011 MLB Draft, and was projected to go in the top two picks by multiple mock drafts. But due to injuries, he dropped to the sixth pick where the Nationals selected him.

Rendon will be hitting third and playing third base tonight in game two of the World Series. The game will get underway in Minute Maid Park at 7:07 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox.

A Rice World Series BEN BAKER-KATZ

THRESHER STAFF

Once called the “complete player” by former Rice baseball head coach Wayne Graham, former Rice student and MLB All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon kicked off the World Series with the Washington Nationals last night against the Houston Astros.

The former Rice star, who played for the Owls from 2009-2011, had an MVP-caliber campaign in the 2019 regular season, posting a .319 batting average with 34 home runs and an MLB-leading 126 runs batted in. Additionally, Rendon’s defense has been on display during the regular season and playoffs, including three separate runsaving catches against the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

Astros star pitcher Gerrit Cole, who is one of the frontrunners for the 2019 American League Cy Young Award, said that Rendon poses problems for pitchers with his hitting ability. “[Rendon] is one of the greatest hitters in the game,” Cole said in a recent press conference. “There is no real way to get him out. You kind of hope he misses some balls or scorches them right at your guys.”

During his seven-year career, Rendon has posted 32.7 career wins above replacement — a statistic widely used in baseball circles to evaluate player value — according to Fangraphs, placing him third among active players who have played

seven seasons or fewer. When his contract expires this season, he is likely to sign a long-term contract worth more than the $210 million contract offer he reportedly turned down from the Nationals earlier this year.

According to Nationals manager Dave Martinez, Rendon deserves to win multiple awards this year.

“For us, he’s the guy that makes our lineup go,” Martinez told NBCSports Washington earlier this month. “I think he’s the MVP, [and] I think he should [also] win a Gold Glove this year. He’s been phenomenal this year, all the way around.”

Rendon has been impressing coaches long before he reached the major leagues.

According to John Sullivan, assistant communications director for Rice Athletics, when Rendon was still an Owl, an opposing coach said a play by Rendon during an NCAA Tournament game caught his eye: When a low dribbler was hit up the line at Rendon, he simultaneously charged in on the ball and rubbed his throwing hand on his pants leg. According to the coach, Rendon must have already been thinking that he didn’t want the ball to slip, in case he had to make a barehanded play.

“I mean, just how slow does this game seem to him compared to the rest of us?” the coach asked.

At Rice, Rendon made an immediate impact when he arrived on campus. During his freshman year, he led Conference USA in batting average, slugging percentage and

ILLUSTRATION BY MILKESSA GAGA

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 • 11

SOCCER DEFEATS MARSHALL AND WKU

ALLEN SELLERS / thresher

Senior forward Louise Stephens takes a touch on the ball with her right foot to move away from a Western Kentucky player. Stephens has scored five goals for Rice this season.

MADISON BUZZARD SPORTS EDITOR

Rice soccer earned two wins over Conference USA opponents this weekend at Holloway Field, beating Marshall University 2-1 Friday evening and Western Kentucky University 1-0 Sunday afternoon. Rice remains undefeated against C-USA foes and now holds an overall record of eight wins, four losses and two draws.

MARSHALL Rice’s Friday match against Marshall carried the theme “Soc’toberfest.” Free beer, free Bavarian pretzels, free socks and an opportunity to win a $10,000 scholarship were offered during the game. According to Rice Rally Club co-president Zack Murphy, Rice’s marketing department and Rice Rally Club collaborated to provide the experience. “[Soc’toberfest] was originally [the marketing department’s] idea but [Rice Rally Club] put it together,” Murphy, a Lovett College junior, said. “It seems like everyone had a good time and we had a really good student attendance.”

On the field, Rice attempted three shots during the first four minutes of the match but was unable to score a goal.

In the 17th minute of the match, with the game still tied at 0, Marshall had its first scoring chance. A high ball was played into Rice’s penalty box and before the ball hit the ground, Thundering Herd forward Farah Abu-

Tayeh lobbed the ball over two Rice defenders goal was converted by freshman forward Izzy and forward Marah Abu-Tayeh scored a close- McBride. According to McBride, her finish was relatively simple. range goal to give Marshall an early lead.

“It was just a volley out of the air,” McBride When Owls senior midfielder Lianne Mananquil drew a penalty kick during the said. “We practice that a lot, crossing and next minute, senior forward Louise Stephens finishing.”

According to head coach Brian Lee, Rice’s missed the penalty shot, kicking the ball above the crossbar. At halftime, Rice trailed strong endurance contributed to the team’s close-fought victory.

Marshall 1-0.

“It’s just another example of the character Rice senior forward Haley Kostyshyn of the team,” Lee said. responded with a “We’re fresh and we’re tying goal in the 47th fit. Adding up those two minute of the match, things, we are really good after sophomore in late-game situations.” midfielder Delaney [The wins are] another Schultz set up the example of the character WESTERN KENTUCKY goal with a pass to of the team. We’re fresh In Sunday’s match Kostyshyn inside against Western Marshall’s penalty and we’re fit ... We are Kentucky, Rice players box. Kostyshyn said really good in late-game donned pink jerseys to she was eager to shoot situations. support breast cancer when Schultz gave awareness, and the her an opportunity to Brian Lee Rice logo at midfield score.

SOCCER HEAD COACH included a ribbon “Scoring the goal to tie the match in the second half was crucial wrapped around it.

Rice started the match against WKU with for us,” Kostyshyn said. “We came back after halftime and knew we had to get on the board less offensive aggression than in its match quickly. It was a great feeling to be back in against Marshall. After 15 minutes of play, the game and gain that momentum going Western Kentucky outnumbered the Owls in shots, 8-0, and forced two saves from Rice forward in the second half.”

In the 86th minute of the match, with the sophomore goalkeeper Bella Killgore. The score knotted at one, Mananquil created a Owls attempted seven shots over the next 30 scoring chance for Rice with a low cross from minutes, but the game remained scoreless the right side of Marshall’s penalty box. The at halftime.

According to Lee, the Owls were unsatisfied with their performance in the first half.

“At halftime, we just talked about being a better version of ourselves,” Lee said.

“We were disappointed with our first half performance, more mentally than physically, with our thought process.”

The second half began with several corner kicks taken by both teams, but no goals resulted.

In the 64th minute, Rice created an opportunity to score. Schultz received the ball at midfield and dribbled toward Western Kentucky’s defense. When Schultz arrived near WKU’s penalty box, she lobbed a pass over a Hilltopper defender to Mananquil, who reached for the ball and simultaneously drew a foul for a penalty kick. Schultz then converted the kick for a 1-0 Owls lead.

Mananquil said she has good chemistry on the field with Schultz.

“Any time [Schultz] has the ball I think she’s dangerous,” Mananquil said. “I knew she was dribbling. We love to [combine passes] around the box so I knew she was going to play [the ball to] me. She chipped a little ball in and I just drew the foul.”

Lee said he was impressed by Schultz’s and Mananquil’s effort.

“The game was won on a piece of magic from Lianne and Delaney,” Lee said.

The Owls next travel to the Sunshine State to face a pair of C-USA teams: Florida International University on Friday and Florida Atlantic University on Sunday.

Men’s tennis competes in Rice Invitational SPENCER MOFFAT SENIOR WRITER

After winning both doubles matches and each of the six singles matches Friday morning to open the Fall 2019 Rice Invitational, the Rice men’s tennis team failed to maintain its momentum with no player making it to the A Flight final.

The doubles pairing of sophomore Karol Paluch and freshman Wes Barnett kicked off the Rice Invitational with an 8-4 victory against the University of the Incarnate Word. In a closer match, sophomore Adam Oscislawski and junior Conrad Russell defeated a doubles pair from the University of Texas, Arlington in a 9-8 victory.

But the attempt to replicate Friday’s success the next day was unsuccesful.

The Paluch/Barnett duo and Oscislawski/ Russell combo each lost their only doubles match on Saturday.

Head coach Efe Ustundag said Rice’s performance in doubles on Saturday failed to meet his expectations.

“I thought Conrad and Adam could have competed a bit better this morning,” Ustundag said. “Karol and Wes both had four match points to win that one early on and credit to Texas A&M [University] with some good serving to get out of the jam and it just didn’t go our way.”

Junior Jacob Eskeland and Barnett helped rewrite the narrative later in the day by each winning in their respective

singles matches. Eskeland rebounded after a first-set loss to defeat Solano Caffarena of UTA, advancing to a Sunday matchup with Patrick Poestinger of the University of Texas, San Antonio. Barnett defeated Incarnate Word’s Dennis Boisseau in a third-set tiebreaker to advance to the B Flight final.

In total, Barnett’s victory took over three hours in a tight match featuring multiple disagreements concerning players’ judgements of the ball being in or out. The length of the match in addition to the heat also caused Incarnate Word’s Boisseau to cramp up, further delaying the match when he sought treatment.

According to Ustundag, the conditions of the invitational were not harsh.

“To be honest with you, this is probably the most laid-back fall collegiate invitational they can have,” Ustundag said.

“It’s not that taxing on the body.”

But the Owls were not able to capitalize, losing each of their singles matches in two straight sets on Saturday. Rice was also hampered by injuries. Junior Sumit Sarkar was unavailable for the entire tournament, while Oscislawski sat out singles play Saturday because of stomach issues.

Ustundag said that Oscislawski played in doubles rather than singles because serving only one-fourth of the time in doubles play is slightly easier on the body.

On Sunday, Barnett lost in the B Flight singles to A&M’s Guido Marson. However,

junior Mohamed Abdel-Aziz earned a singles win in the consolation round for the Owls. The rest of the singles matches were defaulted, with Rice taking the losses in order to maintain the health of its athletes leading into next week’s ITA Texas Regional.

Ustundag said he is optimistic the Rice players will recover throughout the fall season.

“Hopefully between now and January, we can get the entire team to 100 percent,” Ustundag said.

One player who was rested during the Invitational for Rice is Sarkar, a junior who was named Conference USA Player of the Year last season. Sarkar was one of only 32 male players nationwide invited to play in the Oracle ITA Masters last month in Malibu, California.

Rice will head to Waco Oct. 25 for the ITA Texas Regional in its second-to-last tournament of the fall season. The team will next play at home Jan. 25, when it again takes on UIW at Rice’s George R. Brown Tennis Center.

courtesy rice athletics

Freshman tennis player Wes Barnett extends his racket through the ball during a forehand groundstroke.

BACKPAGE

12 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019

ParaNODmal Activity Costume Ideas

Night of Decadence is this weekend and you probably won’t get laid, so another great chance to score is by participating in the costume contest. Your costume doesn’t have to match the theme, but if you want to, the Backpage has you covered for the most creative ways to be uncovered.

Here’s how to have the spookiest, sexiest, sweatiest Saturday of your semester.

Frankenstein:

The Joker:

The newest depiction of the Joker came out at the beginning of this month and gives the title character a dark, disturbing origin story.

Absolutely chilling. The character himself isn’t what gives this costume its sex appeal to make it NOD-worthy. Rather, it’s the fact that the movie is entering the latter part of its run in theaters, which is a special time for any movie as it rounds out its month-ish long run.

Most people will have already seen it, which means it’ll soon be time for teens to get tickets to its final showings and hook up in the back row. Something about the dark theater, flashing lights and stereo sounds makes young adults want to obnoxiously make out and feel each other up — the same goal of the environment of NOD.

Before you think “actually it’s Frankenstein’s monster,” it’s not! A less conventional costume is Frankenstein himself, the creator of the monster often referred to as Frankenstein. But why Victor Frankenstein? He created a terrifying creature and then tried to kill it — pretty spooky. Yet, this creature was actually intended to be beautiful before it went horribly wrong — pretty kinky. Do you really think Victor Frankenstein made an entire, massive, sentient humanoid being with zero intention of having sex with it? As if. He may as well have invented the blow- Zombies are scary, but up doll. This sexually charged science geek look is they’re selfish lovers; ideal for any sexually repressed science geek going all they want to do is to NOD, which is most of its attendees. receive brain. If you dress as a normal person, you signal Clowns can be very scary both scary and sexy. when done right, and many If you’re living in an already have a phobia of apocalyptic world, clowns. Easy. But, what’s sexy you’ll need to be about a clown? Ask yourself slightly deranged and that, reader. Think about vicious in order to that one absolute clown in survive. But, you’re just your life that you’ve gone an average person, so back to, or keep going your fate is sealed: back to, after they prove You are guaranteed to themselves to be a bad eventually give head companion. (along with every other part of your body) AND someone’s going to get deep in your guts. Hot.

An Average Human in a Zombie Apocalypse:

A Clown:

A Severed Hand:

You may be asking, what’s sexual about a hand? Isn’t that just gory? Well, if you cut off your hand and masturbate with it, it feels like someone else is finally touching your genitals! Your grip strength might not be great when the blood is flowing out of your appendage, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get blood flowing around your appendages down there.

The Backpage is satire, written and designed by Simona Matovic. If you use one of these and win, she wants a 25% cut of your prize. For comments or questions, please email JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu.

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