VOLUME 104, ISSUE NO. 9 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Cartoonist Leela Corman speaks on visual storytelling SANVITTI SAHDEV THRESHER STAFF
According to cartoonist Leela Corman, you can make a comic out of anything. She makes hers out of watercolor paints, activism and personal experiences with trauma. During her visit to Rice last Thursday, Corman talked about the process of visual storytelling with students. Her first book is a collection of short stories titled “We All Wish for Deadly Force,” after which she came out with the acclaimed graphic novel, “Unterzakhn.” Her comics frequently deal with the trauma of the personal loss of her daughter, as well as the generational trauma of World War II. During her talk, she showed examples of her work and discussed her creative process as well as her artistic influences. For me, the most inspiring part of her talk grew out of the discussion with students, when a question about the strong resonance of the memory of the Holocaust in the Jewish community led Corman to passionately and thoughtfully expand upon how experiences of the Holocaust inform her storytelling and activism in an American context.
QUEER IN THE COUNTRY:
Rice students talk LGBTQ+ identity and country music ILLUSTRATION BY YIFEI ZHANG
LILY WULFEMEYER THRESHER STAFF
Leaning into Texas’ big personality is a fun way for Rice students to connect with the state’s lifestyle and aesthetic, as they two-step through the Houston bar Wild West and attend parties like Don’t Mess With Texas and DuncStep. But for some LGBTQ+ students, living in a state with a notoriously poor track record for respecting and protecting marginalized communities can be a challenge in balancing identity. Music — as well as other art media — can help these students carve out a space for themselves in a state where everything is “bigger and better.” And fortunately, “Brokeback Mountain” is no longer one of
the only representations of queer culture in rural America. There has been a notable rise in queer country music recently, with the release of albums such as “Two Birds, One Stone” by drag queen Trixie Mattel, “Pony” by Orville Peck and the song “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. In the midst of this cultural movement, five students from the LGBTQ+ community speak about their experiences with Texas, country music and identity.
QUEER PEOPLE AND COWBOYS
“I live for wlw [women-loving-women] country content,” writes Brown College senior Sarah Bradford in a Rice GroupMe for queer women, femmes and gender nonconforming people. Coming out to her close friends her senior
year of high school in East Texas, Bradford struggled with bisexual invisibility and with validating her identity in a religious family. It was in these teen years that she rejected the country music she was raised on. But as she has grown older and more accepting of herself, she said that she has been indulging in her passion again. Later that night, she headed to a concert by Orville Peck, a new gay country music sensation with the voice of a classic crooner. “Seeing someone that is very openly gay and also makes traditional Western gun ballad outlaw type music — it just makes me so happy,” Bradford said. “We can enjoy these cultural themes and still make them gay, and enjoyable and accessible for us.” SEE COMMUNITY PAGE 6
I always interrogate my use of the Holocaust in my work because there have been so many holocausts. America’s built on two. Leela Corman CARTOONIST “I grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors, and so I always instinctually understood that mass traumas worldwide are connected,” Corman said. “I always interrogate my use of the Holocaust in my work because there have been so many holocausts. America’s built on two.” Corman is currently working on “Victory Parade,” a graphic novel set during the Second World War in Brooklyn, New York and at the Allied liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp. She said that she was in the process of working on it during a time of increasing racist and neo-fascist rhetoric that accompanied the 2016 American presidential election of Donald Trump. Corman explained that this political climate has provided new context for her writing about World War II. SEE CORMAN PAGE 9
NEWS
Colleges introduce leadership restrictions SERENA SHEDORE FOR THE THRESHER
Several colleges have already added or are in the process of adding variations of a constitutional bylaw to create a formal process that prevents students on disciplinary probation from running for leadership positions, according to Hanszen College President Landon Mabe. Students on disciplinary probation by Student Judicial Programs are already not allowed to run for any leadership
positions in university-sponsored organizations, such as the Peer Academic Advising program, according to the Code of Student Conduct. However, a formal mechanism to enforce this has been missing at the residential college level, according to Mabe, a senior. Because Student Judicial Programs decisions are confidential, students serving as college election representatives do not have the ability to verify candidates’ eligibility. According to Mabe, the Hanszen bylaw would ensure that students on probation
would not be able to run for a position. Candidates would have to submit their intent to run to the college coordinator or magisters, who would then send the list of names to SJP to verify their eligibility. Brown College and Lovett College also use this system in their legislation. The details of the proposed process vary from college to college, but the purpose of preventing students on probation from running for leadership positions is the same, according to Mabe. SEE LEADERSHIP PAGE 4
Courtesy Schocken Books
THE RICE THRESHER
2 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
NEWS Student confronts convicted sex offender at homecoming event RACHEL CARLTON THRESHER STAFF Content Warning: This article refers to sexual assault of a minor. The Homecoming Kickoff Rally, put on by the Student Activities Homecoming Committee in the Central Quad on Sunday, featured a Michael Jackson impersonator who was also accompanied by a selfreported sex offender, according to Aliza Brown. The Facebook event for the rally said students could expect photo opportunities with the impersonator, along with putt putt golf, a bounce house and free hot dogs. Brown, a Will Rice College sophomore, said she was walking through the quad on her way to Rice Coffeehouse when someone tapped her on the shoulder asking if she wanted to take a picture with “Michael.” “I turned around and there was a fucking Michael Jackson impersonator just standing there,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘No, I do not want a picture with Michael.’ Immediately, I was like, ‘this is really messed up.’” Jackson stood trial in the spring of 2005 for charges of child molestation and was acquitted in June of that same year, according to National Public Radio. In March 2019, HBO premiered the documentary “Leaving Neverland,” in which two men accuse Jackson of sexually abusing them as children. Brown said she was directed by a student in charge of the event to Petre Freeman, the associate director of campus events, who was in attendance at the kickoff rally. When Brown asked Freeman why the impersonator was invited, Freeman said it was part of the theme, which was “Thriller.” “Planning for homecoming consists of reviewing the budget, planning activities that are interactive as well as aiming to keep the activities to align with the homecoming overall theme and day subthemes,” Freeman said. Brown said she told Freeman that inviting the impersonator was a huge oversight and incredibly insensitive and asked that Freeman dismiss the impersonator. “They basically brought a walking trigger onto campus,” Brown said. “As a survivor, this was obviously deeply
disturbing and triggering.” According to Freeman, the presence of the impersonator was in no way intended to negatively impact students. Freeman said she stepped away to inform the planning committee of Brown’s concerns. “She worked quickly and I’m grateful for that, but why was this event ever approved in the first place?” Brown said. “What students thought this was a good idea to bring this person on campus?” The chair of the homecoming committee did not respond to requests for comment at the time of print. Once Freeman left to talk to the planning committee, Brown said she began to take a video of the Jackson impersonator and was approached by an unidentified colleague who worked with the impersonator. The three-minute video opens with the Jackson impersonator walking around as the song “Ghosts” plays. The colleague walks up soon after the start of the video and speaks to Brown. “Michael Jackson was never convicted,” the man says unprompted. ”He’s not a child molester.” Brown responds by saying that Jackson was a child molester, initiating a Q&A style confrontation with the colleague. Based on video footage provided by Brown, Brown centers the conversation on the accusations toward Jackson and the recent discussions about sexual assault at Rice. A third unidentified individual attempts to intervene, and the man colleague changes the topic of the confrontation. “You understand, I’m a Black man,” the man said. “OJ [Simpson] was accused of killing someone [and] got found not guilty. He’s still called a murderer. You’ve got Michael that’s been accused 30 times of child molesting. These people still brought their kids [to the Neverland Ranch] because he never touched them.” After another minute of back-and-forth between Brown and the man, the man changes the topic once more. “Listen, the reason I’m so vehement about this, I just went to jail for six months on false charges of sexual assault of a minor,” the man says. Brown tells the man she will not comment on his case. The man continues with his story. “I have never touched a child in my life,” the man says. “They had DNA
Illustration by DALIA GULCA
evidence that I supposedly raped this girl. They came and locked me up, locked me up. Lost my fiancée while I was in jail. But [the] DNA wasn’t mine.” The video ends as Freeman escorts the man away. “I have no way of knowing if what he told me was true, but the situation was just absolutely absurd,” Brown said. “It was just an enormous, insensitive oversight.” According to Brown, many students took pictures with the impersonator. She said the recent discussions on campus regarding sexual assault are just the beginning of educating students. “You can’t support survivors on campus and simultaneously celebrate artists who are perpetrators of sexual violence,” Brown said. Karen Qi, the associate director of Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-free Environment, was not
present at the event but was willing to comment on the incident. “I understand why [the student committee] thought it would be entertaining to have the Michael Jackson impersonator,” Qi, a Hanszen College senior, said. “But I would encourage [the committee] to question their choices because there can be things that are just as entertaining without having such a harmful impact on other people.” According to Qi, people should think deeply about their ties to perpetrators regardless of their celebrity. “I think it’s especially important to recognize there are people who we may have once held with high esteem, such as a friend or a celebrity,” Qi said. “When we find out that information, we need to really question our relationship to this person. It is really privileged to be able to say we can ignore that relationship.”
Coffeehouse plans first public party SAMMI JOHNSON SENIOR WRITER In celebration of Rice Coffeehouse’s 30th anniversary, the managers are planning a public party to occur either Dec. 6 or 7. The party will take place within the Rice Memorial Center, and the week leading up to the public will feature multiple events to commemorate the business’s birthday, according to General Manager Mandy Quan. According to Quan, a Will Rice College senior, the weeklong celebration will begin Dec. 2 for the current Keepers Of Coffee and alumni with a small, exclusive event. Then the celebration will open up to all customers on the official 30th birthday of the business, Dec. 3, with birthday cake and affogato for visitors. “Coffeehouse turning 30 is a big deal for a student-run business,” Quan said. “We are the oldest [SRB] at Rice, and I think it’s
a way to celebrate the legacy of the KOCs that have come before us, the work we have put in and the future of Chaüs.” Quan said one of the managers is coordinating with Willy’s Pub to host a joint trivia night Wednesday, Dec. 4, and Coffeehouse will have games with prizes to win throughout the day in-house Thursday, Dec. 5. Willy’s Pub said they are not aware of this event at this time. On Friday, Quan said that Coffeehouse is planning a public education event on the coffee preparation process, from its cultivation to its purchase by a consumer. “We really value knowing where our products come from and being ethically sourced,” Quan said. “We want to put on an event on what the art and soul of what coffee farming is, from farm to table to the hands of baristas and roasters.” According to Quan, Coffeehouse is arranging to hold the public somewhere other than the cafe in the Student Center
Illustration by Chloe Xu
due to the small maximum capacity of the space. For the party, Quan said they want to bring in kegs of non-alcoholic nitro cold brew coffee from Katz Coffee and possibly include a coffee garden instead of a beer garden. “Most of our events are non-alcoholic, but 30th birthdays are driven by alcohol
sometimes,” Quan said. “We’ve spoken to the student-run business advisors and the Student Center Office, and as long as we’re under regulation and have everything set up legally and logistically, I think we are really excited to have a fun and safe public. We always joke we are the best college, so it’s time to throw a public party.”
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 • 3
Students, faculty discuss pass/fail TALHA ARIF FOR THE THRESHER The Faculty Senate working group that is investigating the use of pass/fail at Rice sent out a survey two weeks ago to all students to gather their perspectives on the policy and the various ways in which students are using it. According to Scott Solomon, the chair of the pass/fail working group, the goal of the working group is not to eliminate the pass/fail option but to gather relevant information from students and faculty to recommend alterations of the existing policy to better suit the purpose it was created for. While students received the survey two weeks ago, Rice faculty members received a similar survey at the end of August. Solomon said that the reason that the student survey was sent out later than the faculty survey was to get more student responses. Along with the survey, the working group is gathering student opinions through focus groups to better understand the use of the pass/fail option. The focus group discussions were divided into natural sciences and engineering majors and minors, and all other majors and minors.
One of the intended uses of pass/fail was for students to take courses outside their comfort zone without having to sacrifice their GPA. Sanat Mehta MCMURTRY COLLEGE JUNIOR According to Sanat Mehta, the Student Association representative of the pass/ fail working group, the focus groups were divided as such because the working group believes the two categories of students use pass/fail differently. “One of the intended uses of pass/fail was for students to take courses outside their comfort zone without having to sacrifice their GPA,” Mehta, a McMurtry College junior, said. “Obviously, what your comfort zone is varies depending on whether you’re STEM or not. For STEM students, D1 and D2 courses are generally outside their comfort zone, whereas if a student is majoring in humanities or social sciences, something like COMP 140 would likely be outside their comfort zone.” MISUSE OF PASS/FAIL Part of the reason the pass/fail system at Rice was created, according to Solomon, was to encourage students to take courses outside their major or that might be a bit of a stretch for them without as much concern for the grade they get. However, Solomon said that a potential area of concern is the use of pass/fail on major requirements during critical times such as applications to graduate schools. According to Office of Academic Advising policy, students cannot pass/fail courses used to meet major requirements, but if a major requirement is pass/failed the OAA will automatically replace the “Pass” with the letter grade during the final degree audit. Because of this, students can “temporarily” pass/fail major requirements. Wills Rutherford, a Will Rice College sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said that the whole purpose of pass/fail is commonly misused among engineering students. “Most engineers pass/fail the same
difficult classes,” Rutherford said. “Because certain companies and jobs have specific cutoffs (you have to have at least a 3.5 GPA to apply, for example), if I’m applying for a company like that, my goal will be to apply with whatever it takes.” Ohifeme Longe, a Jones College junior majoring in electrical engineering, said that he believes allowing major requirements to be taken as a pass/fail is more beneficial than harmful. “Certain major courses that are required aren’t necessarily entirely wellorganized courses,” Longe said. “Some students may generally not do well in that class as a result — in that case, pass/fail really comes into play. It’s not because students want to do less work in the class, but just because they know that even with the amount of work they’re doing they may not get a good grade in that class.” Shami Mosley, a peer academic adviser and a Jones senior, said he thinks that students’ majors have an effect on the use of a pass/fail . “As a humanities major, I believe that, yes, humanities majors tend to have more time in their schedules to take classes that don’t relate to their major or even the humanities,” Mosley said. “While for other schools, especially engineering, you have less courses you can take that are outside your major, outside engineering, and also count as distribution. This means that it is more likely for an engineering student to use a pass/fail on a distribution than students in other schools, especially in the humanities.” In the survey to all students, multiple questions ask about this use of pass/fail for major requirements. Solomon said that a potential change of this aspect of the policy would be to allow the “P” to remain on the transcript rather than having it taken off in the final degree audit. IMPACTS ON UNIVERSITY REPUTATION According to Solomon, there is some concern from faculty, students and the administration that if the issue of using pass/fail on major requirements during application periods is prevalent for a long enough period of time, it could have negative consequences for students and for Rice’s overall reputation. According to Stephen Zeff, a faculty member of the pass/fail working group from the Jones Graduate School of Business, certain policies that may contribute to grade inflation can adversely affect Rice students. “Certain graduate schools, when they look at undergraduate transcripts, have an image of how much grade inflation there really is at certain universities,” Zeff said. “I’ve seen universities bumped up or knocked down depending on their reputation as easy or tough graders. We don’t want to do anything that causes Rice GPAs to not be taken at full face value.” Another related question, given on both the faculty and student survey, asked whether the pass/fail option should be given back to students if the “P” is uncovered and is converted to a letter grade. Solomon said that this feature of pass/ fail as a whole, when compared to several other universities, is an unusual feature, and that getting the pass back after uncovering it is also very uncommon and possibly unique. “If a course is designated pass/fail, and there are only four [pass/fails] that you can use, the idea that uncovering the grade then returns one of those pass/ fails back into your bank of pass/fails seems to be an aspect of our system that is unusual, and might not be ideal for accomplishing the goals of what the pass/ fail system seems to be intended to do,” Solomon said.
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NEWS
4 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
channing wang / THRESHER
The auto theft occurred at the intersection of Stockton Drive and University Boulevard, following an accident on University Boulevard. The RUPD police station is located at this intersection as well.
Auto theft occurs near campus BRIAN LIN THRESHER STAFF In an auto theft near campus on Oct. 22 that did not involve any Rice students, a woman was robbed of her car after a minor accident on a section of University Boulevard near the Rice University Police Department building. THE INCIDENT At 3:30 p.m. last Tuesday, a driver was heading west on University Boulevard when her black Subaru Forester was struck from behind by an unidentified silver sedan, causing her to steer onto Stockton Drive to assess the damage, according to an RUPD mass email. As she stepped out to examine the rear of her car, one passenger from the silver sedan rushed into her Forester and took off southbound down Stockton,
LEADERSHIP
while the other two suspects fled in their silver sedan, speeding westbound toward Rice Village, according to RUPD Captain Clemente Rodriguez. “She wasn’t harmed in the incident. It was just a crime of opportunity by her getting out of the vehicle and the vehicle being on, the passenger was able to just jump in and take it,” Rodriguez said. In an event that Rodriguez imagines would have lasted less than a minute, the victim became stranded on Stockton Drive until a passerby picked her up and flagged down an RUPD officer, who brought her to the RUPD station. Since the incident occurred on a city street, Rodriguez said, Houston Police Department officers were dispatched to take the victim’s statement and draft an official police report. “It wasn’t a Rice student or anybody who’s affiliated with Rice. They were just passing the campus when the accident and
FROM PAGE 1
Brown was the first to pass such legislation. Brown President Frances Williamson said Brown created a working group last year to write the bylaw, and this group worked with SJP and the Title IX office during the drafting process. According to Williamson, Brown’s bylaw passed Sept. 24 at the biweekly cabinet meeting. “We were happy to work with Brown as they drafted accurate and thoughtful language regarding student leadership eligibility,” Emily Garza, director of SJP, said. “If other colleges are considering adopting similar bylaws, I would encourage them to reach out to our office to ensure that their actions are consistent with the Code of Student Conduct and any other policies that might speak to this issue.” Wiess College President Tim Thomas II said that the legislation was introduced at their cabinet meeting two weeks ago, following Brown’s development of the legislation. “We have a part of [our] constitution that says students aren’t allowed to be on probation, but nothing in the bylaws that says this gets verified by SJP, which is what will be added,” Thomas, a junior, said. Mabe said that all colleges are working to implement a form of this bylaw, if the college has not already. Hanszen passed this bylaw in September, according to Mabe. Amendments to Hanszen’s election code require a three-fourths vote of the cabinet or three-fourths vote of the college if half of the students participate. Duncan College and Lovett passed amendments last week implementing similar procedures, according to Lovett President Chloe Oani and legislation provided by Duncan
theft occurred,” Rodriguez said. THE AFTERMATH As the HPD officers were driving the victim home, they learned that the vehicle had been recovered on 7300 Tours St., 10.4 miles from the scene of the crime and approximately 24 minutes away, according to HPD spokesman Kese Smith, who said he suspects that the vehicle was driven for a short time and then abandoned. Smith said the perpetrators could not be apprehended, and warned that the suspects remain at large. “We met her at RUPD, took her statement and then we were driving her to her home, as a courtesy ride, when we learned that her vehicle had been recovered, so [a] relatively short period of time,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, the three suspects remain at large.” Rodriguez suspects that relatively few
President Louis Cole. Other colleges are in the process of implementing changes to their bylaws. In addition to Wiess, Jones College is currently in the process of introducing amendments to its constitution but has not passed any legislation yet, according to Jones President Kyle Bartsch, and Will Rice College introduced an amendment last Wednesday, according to Diet minutes. Mabe said the changes arose out of a wider campus conversation about having perpetrators of sexual assault in leadership positions. “We started looking into this change at the behest of students who were vocal about barring students from running for office who were found in violation of Rice’s sexual misconduct policy,” Mabe said. Because students on disciplinary probation are already barred from running for positions, these new bylaws do not change SJP’s process. The Code of Student Conduct states that students may not run for or hold positions in university organizations while on disciplinary probation. According to Garza, this stipulation has always been enforced directly with students on disciplinary probation. When a student is put on probation, they are required to resign from leadership positions, according to Garza. “We often have various staff members from different departments on campus contact our office and ask if a particular student would be eligible to hold a certain position in an organization that is affiliated with that office [or department],” Garza said. “If the student is on disciplinary probation, then our answer to that staff member would be that the student is ineligible.”
drivers were wary of the two pulled-over cars on the side of Stockton Drive, a quiet residential street. As a result, the victim, who left her phone in the stolen car, wasn’t able to file a report until the officer who was physically notified brought her to the RUPD station at 3:50 p.m., according to Smith. In similar past incidents – none on Rice campus – perpetrators of auto theft have instigated minor accidents to lure unsuspecting drivers out of their vehicles before either robbing the driver or stealing the vehicle, according to Rodriguez, who added that these stolen cars are either stripped for their parts or used for other purposes and dumped. In this instance, HPD was unable to determine the use of the vehicle, just that it had been left shortly after the incident. STAYING SAFE To safeguard against auto theft, Rodriguez suggests remaining in the vehicle after a light accident until an officer arrives. “If someone is ever involved in an accident and they don’t feel comfortable, they should call for a police officer to come to the scene and they can let the other person know ‘I’m calling for an officer to come to scene,’” Rodriguez said. “If they do feel like it was a legitimate accident and they’re going to get out of the vehicle they should always keep their keys with them [and] secure their vehicles.” As the incident occurred near Entrance 8 of the Rice campus, Rodriguez hopes to install security cameras adjacent to campus entrances, a measure he explains would help future investigations. “If we can get that done in the future that will be another tool we can use to possibly investigate when these things happen ... and we can share [it] with the HPD,” Rodriguez said. “If we see some folks that are pulled over or even if it’s a minor accident, [we can] check on them.”
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THE RICE THRESHER
5 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL
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TAKE PRIDE IN HOUSTON With the Astros having been on the national stage for the World Series, hopefully you’re feeling some Houston pride. When Beyoncé or Travis Scott top the charts, it’s fun to take their shoutouts to H-Town a little personally. Spending four years in a city like Houston is the perfect opportunity to explore a city that we may never have the chance to live in again — it’s time to use the METRO system and actually get out of the hedges to understand what Houston has to offer. Around campus, we’ve overheard people use negative rhetoric when referring to the Houston METRO system, calling it sketchy or dangerous. But the METRO system actually reflects one of Houston’s greatest assets — its accessibility. Rather than paying for an Uber or finding someone to carpool with, the METRO system allows Rice students to explore the city, essentially for free. The METRO is also an excellent resource to explore one of the main things Houston is known for: its food scene. Just last year, GQ wrote that “Houston may, sneakily, be America’s best food city.” Venture beyond the Chipotle in the Medical Center, and even further, beyond the convenient options in Rice Village. You can find Mexican, Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Greek establishments — to name a few — all within Houston’s city limits. Before venturing outside of the hedges, it is critical that we shake off stereotypes of the city we all now live in. Although the METRO is a great resource, it’s fair to say that
Houston’s overall infrastructure leaves much to be desired. As you’ve been introduced to the city, you have likely heard warnings to avoid the Third Ward and other ‘dangerous’ areas. But before you pass judgment on an area that looks less infrastructurally developed, consider how city-wide gentrification and long-standing income equalities are disenfranchising its residents and preventing progress. Becoming engaged involves understanding the workings of such a large city. Rather than adopting a privileged vernacular of bemoaning crime rates and labeling poor communities as “dangerous,” think about why this rhetoric is perpetuated by local law enforcement in the first place. Consider for a moment that crime rates do not only emerge from the level of crime in a particular area, but also by the level of policing which may be influenced by stereotypical notions regarding drug use and inherent violence of communities of color. The widespread generalization of Houston as a sprawling, crime-ridden dystopia is an inaccurate and destructive rhetoric that disregards the city’s dynamic range of cultures and lifestyles and perpetuates social inequality that degrades and alienates its residents. If you’ve been fed this one-dimensional narrative, make an effort to recognize the city’s complexity. Yesterday, we hope you cheered for the Astros. Today and every other day, check your biases at the hedges and learn to love your new home — it’s a place like none else.
“Who told you about Africa?” “It always breaks my heart that most of what people know about my home is the sorrow, poverty, instability and other things of the sort. It is true that Africa has its own problems, but the progress that is constantly being made should also be given a spotlight. It is the combination of Africa’s problems and progress that makes its whole story.”
GRACE ISHIMWE
WIESS COLLEGE FRESHMAN
“A no-nonsense narrative on Kashmir” “With a protesting body that diverse, it is a gross misrepresentation to represent the protest as focusing solely on the abrogation of Article 370, the subject of the opinion piece “Call for a balanced narrative on Kashmir.”
DAANISH SHEIKH
BROWN COLLEGE FRESHMAN
want to write your own opinion? we take submissions through email at thresher@rice.edu!
Corrections The Rice Investment story in last week’s News section contained an incorrect graph. The correct graph is online. Alex Dunbar, who was featured in last week’s Senior Spotlight, is majoring in mathematics and computational and applied mathmatics, not chemistry. OPINION
I am not a monster
After a psychotic episode, I was deferred from Rice for a year. During Orientation Week my freshman year at Rice, I suffered a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia. I said what the voices were telling me and ended up saying inappropriate things. I was escorted by a Rice University Police Department vehicle to the emergency room, where I was then locked up in the psychiatric ward for six days. In those six days, I got better. My mental health improved, and I stopped hallucinating. I thought that would be the end of it. I would be released from the hospital and I would resume my studies at Rice. Hopefully, I could use what I learned to someday find better therapies for mental illnesses. But I was wrong. Because of the things I said during my psychotic episode and the way my case was handled, it felt as if the administration deemed me a threat to the Rice community. Ultimately,
due to my schizophrenia, I was deferred for a year from Rice University. Am I a monster to you? Never during those times did it feel like the administration heard me. Barely was my opinion considered throughout the process. In a letter sent to me by Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman, she wrote that I made the decision to leave Rice, but I never made that decision. Instead, I felt forced into that decision. The administration assumed what they were doing was for the best and uprooted me from the future and threw me into the past. I was left in pain and without a voice. Is it because I’m a monster to you? According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1.5 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia. You would think that a common disorder like this would be understood and cared for. But you’re
wrong. Millions of people with schizophrenia like me suffer in silence, for we fear the stigma around it. We are scared to be shunned. We are scared to be called monsters. And it is no different at Rice, despite its “Culture of Care.”
But one day, even through all this chaos, change will occur. Call me delusional, but I believe that the stigma will not last forever. By ousting a student with schizophrenia for having a psychotic episode, I feel that the Rice administration has promoted the stigma against people with schizophrenia. This
leaves students with schizophrenia to further live their life in silence for fear of punishment. Am I still a monster to you? Despite being forced into a decision I was not willing to make, I still have a voice and I want to be heard. What the administrators did to me has not helped me and other students with schizophrenia. Instead, it leaves us suffering under the social stigma against our mental illness. But one day, even through all this chaos, change will occur. Call me delusional, but I believe that the stigma will not last forever. Whether it will be one year from now or many years, Rice administrators will have to let go of their stigma and give students with schizophrenia voices again. And I can promise you I will be back for that. Because I am human. Editor’s Note: The author of this opinion was granted anonymity to protect their identity. All claims are fact-checked in advance.
STAFF Christina Tan* Editor-in-Chief Anna Ta* Managing Editor
OPINIONS Elizabeth Hergert* Editor
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THE RICE THRESHER
6 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
FEATURES FROM PAGE 1
COMMUNITY
NB Shaper, a Baker College junior and native Houstonian, is another fervent admirer of Peck and also attended his Houston concert. They are particularly drawn to Peck’s storytelling and evocative aesthetic defined by his antihero persona and a fringed mask he is never caught without. “Peck talks about his performances being an extension of drag, and I find that a very compelling concept,” Shaper said. “He talks about the contradiction between men standing up and singing, and being these manly masculine men, but in rhinestone outfits.” Shaper sees fewer degrees of separation between the cowboys in country music and queer people than one might expect. “So many of the ideals and the songs are about the individual, the lone rider. And I also think that is a narrative that speaks a lot to the queer experience because [being queer] is not inherited,” Shaper said. “There is a point in time in which every queer person feels alone in their identity, which sucks and will hopefully change. But at the moment it’s an incredibly uniting experience.” For Luna Gonçalves, a Jones College sophomore, being out in Texas and at Rice is a new experience. An international student from Goiânia, Brazil, Gonçalves publically came out as a transgender lesbian this past move-in day. “When I came to Texas, I didn’t identify as LGBTQ+ yet,” Gonçalves said. “But I was
already very comfortable inside the queer community [and] my identity was already very connected to it … So I was kind of scared [about Texas] because I liked diversity and it is how I can accept me … [But] my first week here was like, whoa, actually, I think I’m in the best place I could be.” NAVIGATING THE TEXAS IDENTITY Even as she gets excited about artists like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and the Dixie Chicks, Bradford acknowledges that her love for Texas and country music is complicated by some of the state’s outmoded values. “We’re a very conservative state and do not have a lot of civil rights protections that other states like California or Washington maybe do,” Bradford said. “I like the country identity a lot, but a lot of what it represents to people is conservatism, and I don’t like that. I like the new era that’s happening of younger leftist people who are into country things.” As Gonçalves settles in at Rice, she said she is beginning to explore the connections between the Texas identity and her own experiences. “In certain ways, it’s very similar to my culture in Brazil. Because we have country music, the style is kind of similar, as well as different of course,” Gonçalves said. “But when you focus on the differences, you see what’s very different and then that’s what I focused on before. Maybe now I’ll see the nuances a little bit better.” Christina Stoner, a Martel College junior, also expresses hope for a new generation of Texans that is more open-minded. Stoner
grew up in Dallas and loves Texas’ unique flair. “I used to have a problem with feeling a connection with Texas because I didn’t really see myself represented,” Stoner said. “When you think of Texans, you probably think of conservative White cowboys with guns. Now I realize that there are strong Mexican roots in anything Texan … It is an important part of my identity which I am proud of now, knowing I can be Mexican, Texan and queer and all of these identities can coexist.” Although Stoner used to reject more “traditional” country music, the emergence of queer content in the genre has provided a space to further explore her identity. “Hearing Brandi Carlile sing about loving women on such a classic country song was incredibly healing in a way that I could finally fill that gap and own that identity,” Stoner said, referring to "If She Ever Leaves Me" by the Highwomen. “[Queer content] is something so rebellious in a music genre that’s typically pretty conservative, which feels like such a strong statement.” FINDING COMMUNITY Editor’s Note: Ev was granted partial anonymity because they are not fully out to their community. Ev, a Brown College junior, grew up in southwest Louisiana. In high school, they used to dream of going to college and finding safe queer spaces and community. Now that they are
the president of Rice Pride, they find joy in working on programming, advocacy initiatives and forging strong friendships in the community. While they are enthusiastic about Houston's identity and a country culture that encourages them to wear their pink cowboy hat and embrace the eccentricity of rodeos, Ev says they understand that Texas can be a scary place for queer students and students of color. “Honestly, I’ve felt more unsafe [in Texas] as a Black person than a queer person, but there are always resources for safety for every marginalized community,” Ev said. “There are Black queer communities in Rice, Houston and Texas that are designed to accept and uplift Black queer people in a state that may at times be daunting.” Ev also shared words of advice for queer students, especially those of color, in Texas: “Be cautious, but try not to be consumed by fear. Learn your resources as well as possible. Engage with social media in the queer community.” Shaper, too, urges queer students to connect with their communities. “I would really encourage people to ask for help. I think that the only requirement that you need to ask for help is to want help.” For Bradford, the door is always open for fellow country-loving community members. “If you’re a country gay and you want to be friends, just talk to me, I’ll be friends with you,” Bradford said. “I always want more country gay friends.”
PUMPED UP KINS
Crossword by Sam Rossum Thresher Staff
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ACROSS 2) Water near Watergate 6) Hightail it 7) Org. with a style guide 9) “Take a Walk” indie band 12) Will Shortz’s paper, for short 13) Descriptor for high waisted jeans 14) “Toro y__” 16) Otherworldly glow 18) Oft riduculed comic? 19) Typical pumpkin beverages 23) One assembling a jury of piers? 24) Syrup used in many cocktails
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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.
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DOWN 1) The sound of two ghosts, perhaps? 2) Pumpkin pies e.g. 3) Yoga Class chants 4) Band aid? 5) Concern for Thunberg 6) Easy two-pointers 8) One observing Yom Kippur 9) Prestigious scientific journal 10) Innertube water polo is one (abbr.) 11) Loc. for Breaking Bad 15) Orbiting lab (abbr.) 17) Antioxidant rich berry 18) Eye ailment 20) Freddy Krueger’s street 21) Swimming unit 22) Tool for a carpenter
FEATURES
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 • 7
Students reflect on political atmosphere at Rice KELLY LIAO FOR THE THRESHER
This fall has been marked by a series of political events for Rice students, ranging from the climate action strike to the protests against Baylor’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the halftime show. Many of the recent political events at Rice have been varied, reflecting the general political climate at Rice. Connor Rothschild, the vice president for student engagement for the Baker Institute Student Forum, said he believes Rice is predominantly liberal with a small yet present group of conservatives. Alissa Kono, the event committee chair of the Rice Young Democrats, is active in the political scene on campus and said she has been engaged with politics since high school. “I’ve been in Young Democrats club in high school and through that I participated in lots of local-level events with the Democratic Party,” Kono, a Wiess College sophomore, said. After coming to Rice, she said one of her most memorable experiences with politics was the protests against Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy in April 2019. “I was excited to see so many people united over one issue … because we talk about how Rice is a blue campus all the time, but it only matters when people actually come to these events and show that they care,” Kono said.
Everyone at Rice has principles and knows what they believe has an impact, so they are more confident to express their political ideas. Sophia De Leon-Wilson BAKER COLLEGE FRESHMAN Sophia De Leon-Wilson, a Baker College freshman, said she feels that Rice’s political atmosphere is more active than the one at her high school. While describing her high school classmates as apolitical, she said she appreciates how Rice students are passionate about politics. “Everyone at Rice has principles and knows what they believe has an impact, so they are more confident to express their political ideas,” De Leon-Wilson said. However, political involvement does not always bring pleasant memories to students on campus. Morgan Bates, a Wiess College sophomore, addressed her frustration with people’s reactions to her Republican beliefs on campus. “I would never tell people I am [Republican] at Rice because oftentimes I am not able to without being prematurely judged,” Bates said. According to Bates, one of her professors stopped calling on her in class because of her conservative political
illustration by yifei zhang
beliefs, and some of her classmates reacted to her beliefs as well. “Sometimes my conservative perspectives may come out from my questions asked in class,” Bates said. “[After that] I wasn’t invited to the crawls and I wasn’t invited to any group project.” Bates said her unpleasant experiences were not limited to the classrooms. “When people [find] out that I’m literally moderately conservative, they treat me like a radical crazy person that is [undeserving] of their friendship,” Bates said. “There [was] one time somebody literally pushed me on the ground, calling me a racist, [saying] that I deserved to die.” Qingge Chen, a Brown College freshman from China, expressed his nonchalance to political events at Rice. Even though he mentioned he had heard about some ongoing political issues such as climate change strikes and LGBTQ+ protests, he said he was not very motivated to get involved with them. “Politics does not mean much to me at Rice. I think this is because I am not an American citizen and I do not know much about American politics,” Chen said. When asked about what they hope to change, the students shared similar opinions that open communication should be encouraged across campus. Bates said that Rice students tend to have misconceptions about the role of the Rice University College Republicans. “Our role is essentially to educate people about conservative beliefs and help bridge the gap between super farleft people and moderate conservatives,” Bates said. Noticing that many students voice their opinions on social media about important issues but fail to get involved in political action, Kono spoke about her wish for Rice Young Democrats to
read more online: "In the Rice spirit, colleges go beyond — sometimes with traditions that would seem strange anywhere outside of the hedges. While a few traditions are shared across campus, others stand out as trademark features of their respective colleges." From " Ambushes and serenades: birthdays at the residential colleges" by Nicole Lhuillier, For the Thresher on ricethresher.org.
help create an inclusive environment on campus. “My hope is that Rice Young Democrats can become a stronger and larger coalition of students that is representative of the diverse student body and their views on campus,” Kono said. For Rothschild, the role of BISF is to provide a space for people of all partisan stripes to talk openly about their political
beliefs by hosting panel discussions with experts of different political affiliations and semi-annual debates between the Young Democrats and the College Republicans. “College is a time in which many students change and grow in many ways — including politically — and I think one goal of BISF is to ensure that political expression is open enough that that growth can occur,” Rothschild said.
THE RICE THRESHER
8 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
a moment for people to reconnect to the indigenous roots of the holiday. “It’s a mixture of the indigenous and the Spanish, and that’s what’s beautiful about it,” Herrera said. “Even through all the pain and suffering that colonization brought, we are still able to transform that negative energy into something positive.” According to local resident Jay Francis, Casa Ramirez has been hosting Día de los Muertos events for almost thirty years, and he’s been going to them for almost as long. While Francis is not Hispanic himself, he said that when his family immigrated to the U.S. from Poland, close family friends also left their hometown to move to Mexico, and that family connection made the Mexican culture a part of his personal development.“En mi corazón, soy Mexicano,” said Francis, which means, “In my heart, I am Mexican.” The Latinx folk art gallery is owned by
Macario and Chrissie Ramirez. According to their website, Casa Ramirez “promotes and celebrates the rich and vibrant Latino culture, especially that of Mexico, Texas and the Southwest, through related exhibits and shows on Latino cultural traditions and the sale of its art, folkart and crafts.” According to Chrissie Ramirez, every year the shop offers lessons on how to build altars, hosts a community Día de los Muertos Procession and showcases community altars in honor of the holiday. Altars, or ofrendas, are an integral aspect of Día de los Muertos and a longstanding tradition for many Latinx families who wish to honor those who have passed. In addition to adorning altars with flowers and candles, those honoring the dead will also place their deceased loved one’s favorite foods and commemorative tokens from their life such as cigarettes, jewelry, silverware and numerous other mementos. One of the community altars showcased this year was made by Judy Turner, a local resident. Turner said her altar was inspired by current events affecting women and said she wanted to pay tribute to friends and family with her altar. She shared with me that she has been building community altars at Casa Ramirez for many years; she began doing so after taking a Día de los Muertos altar-building workshop given by the owners. After that experience, she went to Mexico, where she had a touching experience with a man who was cleaning the grave of his eight-year-old sister who had passed after being hit while riding a bicycle. Turner recounted to me how impactful the practice is to her and how it paralleled her own family’s tradition of decorating their family plot for Memorial Day. The Día de los Muertos procession at Casa Ramirez shows a few things; first, this shop is truly a cornerstone of the Hispanic community in the Heights. It is also a living testament to how open and inviting the shop’s proprietors have been in sharing their culture with Houstonians. At this procession, anyone can interact with ancient traditions alongside new ones. Everything is a mezcla, or a mixture. What I found most touching was witnessing grandmothers share with their grandchildren the tradition of the altar and ofrendas, watching dancers carry on ancient indigenous traditions and everyone being able to celebrate Día de los Muertos together, regardless of their background.
hiding behind the tarp walls. After all, nothing could be more terrifying than the caffeinated frenzy of midterms. But when I arrived at the Haunted Hall that night, there was already a line of students that extended as far as the building’s windows. The entire campus seemed to have gathered in the hall, eagerly anticipating their turn to walk through the house of horrors. As the line inched forward, my group and I were guided into a dark room where only the outline of a tent was seen. Terrified screams pierced through the undertones of conversation, prompting nervous laughter from the crowd. When we finally reached the front of the line, a towering wooden door loomed in front of us. We heard trailing laughter and startled shrieks from just beyond the door as someone ran into the wall. A student volunteer swung open the door and gestured for my group to enter. With nervous glances at each other, we stepped over the threshold and descended into darkness. Almost immediately, we were greeted by a string of human skulls hanging from the ceiling of the entrance. The skulls earned a couple of laughs until we got closer and saw the blood streaks across the small skulls. I gingerly moved the infantile skulls away from my face before following the others. When we turned the corner, a strobe light suddenly began flashing, disorienting our vision. While I was attempting to regain use of my eyes, a girl next to me cried out. She was staring at a rather gruesome figure of an old man whose legs had been chewed off.
His intense red laser eyes followed us as we disappeared behind a canvas. “That wasn’t so bad,” I whispered to the others. As we trudged onwards, a masked figure cloaked in a black robe jumped out at one of the students in the front, pushing him up against the wall. The masked creature scurried away before we could even fully register its presence. We shared a moment of stunned silence before breaking into a fit of laughter. Laughing at the situation seemed to be the only way to keep our sanity. The sound of giggling children filled the room as we spilled into a nursery that looked like it had been stolen from a horror movie set. I glanced in a crib to see a baby surrounded by deranged dolls and grimaced. “Is this what childhood is like?” one of the girls jokingly asked. To be honest, it probably was. After we passed through a narrow corridor covered in fluorescent strings, we came to an unsettling scene of a butcher’s shop with a chainsaw mounted on the wall. While marveling at the array of mutilated body parts, a clown jumped out at us. When no one screamed, he seemed intent on at least unsettling us by trailing our footsteps and crowding us in. I have to admit the clown’s persistence was rather admirable. After escaping to the exit, we took a breath of relief as the flashing lights and ominous sounds gave way to reality. The Haunted Hall had certainly been worth the 30-minute wait. This piece has been shortened for print. To read the full story, visit ricethresher.org
ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE XU
DANCING WITH THE DEAD:
Dia de los Muertos Procession at Casa Ramirez ARIANA ENGLES THRESHER STAFF
Across from Latinx folk art gallery Casa Ramirez, a large group of around 100 people gathered around on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 26 to watch Danza Azteca Taxacyolotl, a Houston Aztec-dance group. The smell of copal, an incense made of tree resin traditional to pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, was thick in the air. Families lined up holding crosses with pictures of their loved ones at the center, and the crowd followed the Aztec dancers and the beat of their drum down the street towards Casa Ramirez for the gallery’s annual Día de los Muertos community procession. As I watched, I was instantly transported back hundreds of years, and it is easy to feel the ancient Aztec culture come alive. “The feathers [on our costumes] signify
the sun, because the birds fly closest to the sun,” said Javier Herrera, one of the Danza Azteca Taxacyolotl dancers. “The fringe is representative of the wind, because the wind blows and moves the fringe. The chachayotes, the rainmakers, are representative of the rain because it makes that sound, and then the outfits, [are] made of cotton or leather, so that’s representative of the earth.” Herrera explained that the dance his group performed originated near Mexico City. When the Spanish came, indigenous families hid the dance and practiced it only among themselves to avoid persecution. Eventually, the Catholic church incorporated the dance tradition into their religious festivals in Mexico, and the dance has been revived by migrants to the U.S. who have reintegrated it into their cultural tradition. Herrera described the procession as
KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER
A Night of Chills and Thrills in the RPC Haunted Hall RISHIKA CHIDANANDA FOR THE THRESHER
Something dark and twisted appeared on campus last Friday. While students were hiding from the cold that unexpectedly swept through the city, a large circus-like tent materialized in the Rice Memorial Center Grand Hall. Unknown creatures were heard shuffling behind the tapered sheets, murmuring in incomprehensible voices. When the clock struck 9 p.m., the Grand Hall door swung open and students crowded to catch a glimpse of the beings lurking in the tent. The Rice Student Center organized the
Haunted Hall event as part of their Owls After Dark programming series. The Owls After Dark program hosts a variety of events throughout the year ranging from live entertainment to outdoor movies. “We’re aiming to enhance campus vibrancy and increase students’ sense of community by offering fun and engaging activities throughout the school year,” said Ryan Morgado, assistant director of campus events, said. “Our overall hope is that students see these events as a way to hang out with friends and socialize late [at] night on campus.” Having heard the buzz of the haunted house, I decided to drop by to see the horror
Black Food Truck Festival
Houston’s Black-owned food trucks make mouthwatering return to 3rd annual festival See more at ricethresher.org
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 • 9
COURTESY SONY MUSIC
Rex Orange County ‘Pony’ Review MORGAN GAGE FOR THE THRESHER
PONY Genre: Alternative / Indie Top Track: “It’s Not the Same Anymore”
With “Pony,” indie pop artist Rex Orange County makes his debut with a major label while sticking to his genre-defying roots. The overall sound of the album is nigh impossible to define as songs alternate between crooning over gentle acoustics to rap to synth-pop. Despite this, each song in the album is connected by a common thread in the utter genuinity in Rex Orange County’s delivery. “Pony” was preceded by three singles before its release on Oct. 25, none of which are particularly memorable but ultimately
capture the range of style on the album. The first single “10/10” leans into electronic instrumentals more heavily than any of the other songs on “Pony.” But in doing so, “10/10” fails to capitalize on Rex Orange County’s unique vocals, eclipsing the artist’s strength with overproduced, warbling autotune a la the early 2000s. Despite this shortcoming, “10/10” acts as an excellent opener, capturing the spirit of the album well. After a surprisingly quick rise to success, he writes that he’s been left feeling downtrodden by the weight of his own burgeoning fame but retains a sense of optimism and commitment to his craft, claiming that, “And though it’s still hard work to find the words / I’m still gonna write this fuckin’ song.” The second single “Pluto Projector” makes use of gorgeous, undistorted vocals for a more emotionally moving song that captures the introspective nature of Rex Orange County who is “still a boy inside [his] thoughts.” The singer does not necessarily provide a unique take on any of the introspective struggles the album tackles, but in “Pluto Projector” and on “Pony” as a whole, he discusses them with earnest. Throughout the course of the album, he does not shy away from anything at his disposal be it rap, autotune, acoustics or any combination of musical elements. In “Never Had the Balls,” he makes use of a backing track of birds chirping, delighting and surprising the listener while singing of his fear of rejection. The song itself is upbeat and feels like a dance track that was hollowed out and filled with a sense of yearning as he tells us he “never had the balls” to risk admitting to his feelings. To his benefit, the 21-year-old artist’s songs appeal to younger listeners, tackling issues such as the struggle to find a place among genuine friends. In “Face to Face,” he mourns the loss of genuine human contact in the age of FaceTime with a bittersweet love song that seems perfectly fit for 2019. On the following track “Stressed
Out,” he contends, “They wanna lie and still be friends / But when you’re at your worst, they’re not there.” However, the album truly hits its stride towards the end with “Every Way,” a track that blends a strong instrumental piano track with an achingly sincere ode to someone who stood by him in his “darkest stage.” While the penultimate “It Gets Better” narrates a fairly unoriginal love story and is ultimately a forgettable track, it does pave the way for the optimism that defines the real showstopper of the album,
The singer does not necessarily provide a unique take on any of the introspective struggles the album tackles, but ... he discusses them with earnest. “It’s Not The Same Anymore.” In it, Rex Orange County laments the changes in his life and the passage of time amidst truly gorgeous acoustics. However, he turns the song around on itself: “It’s not the same anymore / It’s better.” It is this message of hope that brings the album full circle. Although the individual songs are, for the most part, not particularly memorable and borderline unoriginal, it is an album ideal for a Spotify devotee. The variety in the album lends itself well to repeated streaming and the range of tone makes it easy for the songs to wedge their way into several playlists. If listeners are willing to embrace the sincerity of Rex Orange County’s delivery, the album is worth a listen for its sheer inventiveness and stylistic range alone. “Pony” is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube music and Amazon music.
FROM PAGE 1
CORMAN TACKLES TRAUMA, ACTIVISM IN ART “This stuff is happening right in our faces and so if we’re not looking at history, we will miss what is happening right in front of us,” Corman said. “It feels ever more vital, but in a way that cannot be insular in our community. It has to be connected to broader human history and to the vast network of atrocities that people perpetrate on each other, and this is why I’m doing this work now. This is my activism now.”
The older you get, the more opportunity you have to touch the rail of your own power. What can you bring into the world that has never existed before? What can you channel? Leela Corman CARTOONIST An example of her storytelling about World War II is found in “Bearing Witness at Buchenwald,” an excerpt from the forthcoming “Victory Parade” that Corman shared with students on Thursday. In the comic, a Jewish American soldier’s dreams are haunted by the horrors he witnessed while liberating the Buchenwald concentration camp. The visceral and vibrant ghosts proclaim their names even as they are pulled back to the world of the dead, and tell Arensberg, the soldier, to give their regards to his family. According to Corman, she wanted to
put names on the dead. “The best way to dehumanize people is to starve them, shave them and put them in a mass grave,” Corman said. “So I wanted to give them their names back and their faces at the very least.” Corman emphasized the intense periods of research that go into the creation of her comics. She said that researching the impact of trauma was particularly interesting for her. “The more you look at it, the bigger it gets and the more vast the subject gets. The less neat and the more messy it gets,” Corman said. Trauma is not the only messy thing that Corman grapples with. In addition to teaching at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Florida, she also holds comic art workshops all over the world in countries including Australia and Denmark. As a teacher, she prefers to focus on the knotty bodily experience of making art. “What’s really important to me is getting people comfortable with making a mess, and the tactile, visceral, full body experience of drawing,” Corman said. Corman’s talk powerfully addressed the role of art in processing experiences of trauma and recognizing the interconnectedness of historical oppression, and underscored the need for an integrated response to injustices occurring right now. She motivated student-artists and student-writers to recognize the power and responsibility that comes with their growing bodies of human experience. “The older you get, the more opportunity you have to touch the rail of your own power,” Corman said. “What can you bring to the world that has never existed before? What can you channel?”
FUND YOUR INITIATIVE. Have an innovative and creative project that will improve undergraduate life at Rice? Fund that idea with the Dr. Bill Wilson Student Initiative Grant. Application information can be found at: drbillgrant.rice.edu Application Deadline is Thursday, October 31, 2019 @ 11:59 p.m.
THE RICE THRESHER
10 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON PREVIEW MICHAEL BYRNES SPORTS EDITOR
Last year, Rice women’s basketball had its most successful season in program history. The Owls won a program-record 28 games (including 21 in a row) and posted a perfect 16-0 record in Conference USA play, the first team in conference history to do so. Rice also achieved its first-ever top-25 ranking on its way to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. This year, Rice will look to build upon its previous season’s success while integrating its newcomers to a young team. After losing their first-round matchup in a closely-fought battle to Marquette University last year, the Owls boast nine returners to the team, as well as five new faces. According to senior guard/forward Erica Ogwumike, Rice’s takeaways from last year’s tournament game were positive, despite the loss. “I think it was a great experience that allowed us to visualize what it looks like when a team comes together for one collective goal: making each other better and focusing on the process,” Ogwumike said. “I believe that [after] having a majority of the team experience that firsthand, we have an innate motivation now to strive for excellence and to uplift our teammates as we do it. I don’t think anything negative came out of the NCAA experience.” RETURNING TEAM Much of the team’s core this year remains the same as last year’s squad. Of the primary rotation last year, the Owls have lost starting forward Nicole Iademarco, sixth woman and guard Lauren Grigsby and backup forward Shani Rainey, all graduated seniors. But four of the five starters from last year have returned, including guards Jasmine Smith
and Sydne Wiggins, a sophomore and junior respectively, junior center Nancy Mulkey and Ogwumike. Tina Langley returns for her fifth season as Rice’s head coach after signing a five-year extension during the offseason. Last season, Ogwumike and Mulkey headlined the Owls’ cast. Ogwumike became the first player in program history to win C-USA Player of the Year while also earning her second consecutive C-USA First Team selection. Mulkey was last season’s C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and NCAA Division I leader with 3.92 blocked shots per game. Prior to this season, Ogwumike was named the preseason C-USA Player of the Year and joined Mulkey as a member of the 2019-20 C-USA Preseason Team. Ogwumike and Mulkey were Rice’s top two scorers last year, averaging 16.5 and 13.9 points per game respectively. But the topscoring returning Owl outside of those two was Wiggins, who averaged 6.9 points per game last season. According to Ogwumike, integrating the newcomers on the team will be crucial to success this year. “We will certainly have to work and study more this year to combat what seems like a lack of experience,” Ogwumike said. “I think focusing on being prepared … will help fill those gaps. We definitely have to make an adamant effort to do that, but these freshmen and returners are already doing just that.” NEW FACES There are five freshmen on the Owls’ roster this year. Guards Destiny Jackson and Katelyn Crosthwait supplement Rice’s backcourt, while forwards India Bellamy, Lauren Schwartz and Ashlee Austin will bolster the frontcourt rotation. According to Mulkey, the freshmen have a lot to learn but
are quickly learning the ropes. “Having five freshmen join our team this year has been unique … in the sense that we have so many offenses to learn in such a small amount of time and [throw] at the freshmen,” Mulkey said. “But the freshmen have done a great job with handling everything that Coach Langley has given them.” Ogwumike is the only senior on the roster this year. According to her, that experience increases her profile as a team leader. “I definitely am in a more defined leadership role this year,” Ogwumike said. “I think it’s great though because it pushes me every day because I can never just be thinking about myself … I think my job is to just inform so ultimately [I] can provide autonomy to those younger players and they can do the same when [I graduate]. It’s a neat position to be in this year.” SCHEDULE Rice will start its season with a pair of home games, first facing off against Nicholls State University on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. before taking on the University of Arkansas, Little Rock on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. The Owls’ toughest test this season will likely be their Nov. 17 matchup against Texas A&M University, who was ranked No. 9 in ESPNW’s preseason top 25. Overall, Ogwumike said she anticipates another season of strong performances for Rice women’s basketball. “I’m just looking forward to competing with my teammates and providing the wonderful Rice community with an exciting season,” Ogwumike said. “Rice is always such a powerhouse of an academic institution so it is such an honor to be one small factor in getting Rice recognized in women’s basketball as well.”
last season’s record
28-4
conference record
16-0
conference rank
1st
ERICA OGWUMIKE
senior guard/forward
16.5
points per game
10.5
rebounds per game
1.6
steals per game
NANCY MULKEY junior center
13.9
points per game
5.8
rebounds per game
3.9
blocks per game
MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON PREVIEW last season’s record
13-19
conference record
8-10
conference rank
11th
ROBERT MARTIN senior forward
12.2
points per game
6.2
rebounds per game
42.6
3-point percentage
AKO ADAMS
senior guard
11.2
points per game
2.6
assists per game
37.9
3-point percentage
ERIC BARBER ASST SPORTS EDITOR
The men’s basketball season is almost here, with the Owls’ season opener less than a week away. Last season, Rice finished No. 11 in Conference USA and finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in conference play. Both of those win totals improved from the 2017-2018 season, where the Owls finished with seven wins overall and four in C-USA. Scott Pera returns for his third year as head coach of the Owls. Pera said that he hopes the team will continue to show improvement this season. “We’ve had some peaks and valleys and we’re working towards being more consistent,” Pera said. “That’s going to be a huge key.” RETURNING TEAM Rice experienced massive roster turnover over the past two years due to transfers and graduating students. In both the 2017 and 2018 offseasons, six players transferred to other universities. The returning teams in those seasons were composed of almost half new players, making it difficult to replicate chemistry and experience. This season, however, Rice brings back all but four of its players from last season. Graduate students Jack Williams and Dylan Jones ran out of eligibility, senior Oliver Xu graduated and freshman Quentin MilloraBrown transferred to Vanderbilt University. Last season, the Owls finished fourth in C-USA in points per game. Last year’s top three scorers, senior forward Robert Martin (12.2 points per game), sophomore guard Chris Mullins (12.0) and senior guard Ako Adams (11.2), will look to remain productive in Pera’s up-tempo offense.
According to Martin, having a lot of experience on the roster will work to the team’s advantage. “It’s honestly a new feeling,” Martin said. “I’ve never really had a returning team with this amount of guys throughout my four years of college … It’s exciting and that’s part of the reason why our expectations are so high because every single year we’ve had to start new and rebuild something. This year we can build off something that we started last year.” Sophomore guard Trey Murphy III is poised to be a key contributor as well. Last season Murphy showed that he could score in bunches through a stretch where he scored at least 18 points per game over three games. According to Murphy, he feels more comfortable this season, now that he has a season in college under his belt. “The game slows down tremendously [with added experience],” Murphy said. “It just seems like the basketball IQ of this team as well as like the younger guys is really growing a lot.” NEW FACES The Owls welcome five freshmen to the team this year: guards Quincy Olivari and Reed Myers, as well as forwards Max Fielder, Zach Crisler and Ben Moffat. According to Adams, the new Owls will make an immediate impact. “[Olivari’s] a sharpshooter; he’s letting [shots] go,” Adams said. “I think [all the freshmen are] gonna help.” Additionally, two transfers join the Owls this year. Graduate student guard Tommy McCarthy comes in from Harvard University and junior forward Malik Ondigo transferred from Texas Tech University. Ondigo will have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules; McCarthy does not due to his graduation.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES While Pera declined to name a starting five for the season, Adams is the likely starter at the point guard position. He has started every game in the last two years while being among the Owls’ scoring and assist leaders. Pera said Rice’s depth is a strength of the team this year. “There’s a few guys I think that I could say if we played tomorrow, would start, but I couldn’t name five of them right now,” Pera said. “I think that’s a real good thing because it shows our balance … There may not be a set starting five every night. I think we have seven, eight [or] nine guys that could maybe be a starter and on different nights contribute as a leading scorer.” Rebounding is a potential issue for this year’s team. The departed duo of Williams and Millora-Brown were the Owls’ top two rebounders last year and Rice will depend on freshmen for much of its height this season. SCHEDULE In addition to their usual C-USA foes, Rice will play a 14-game non-conference slate to open up the season. The Owls open up the season Nov. 5 in a road matchup against a Power Five conference opponent in the University of Arkansas. Upon returning home, the Owls will face the University of Pennsylvania, Pera’s former team. While the team was picked to finish No. 13 in C-USA in the preseason coaches’ poll, Martin said that the team can have reasonably high expectations for this season. “A good goal for us would be to finish top six in the conference,” Martin said. “I think it’s a realistic expectation. We have a lot of returning guys with experience. Some older guys, some young guys bringing new things to the table.”
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 • 11
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12 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019
How to Rice Rumba
With DuncStep coming up on Friday, you may want to learn how to do the Texas TwoStep. But if you want to try a dance that hits even closer to home, the Rice Rumba might be more up your alley. These are simple steps, some of which you may have practiced already, that will help you dance the night away — if you can really call 8 to 11 p.m. “night.” Here’s an easy diagram of the moves you can pull out at Duncan this Friday.
1. One step forward, two steps back. You’re very familiar with this move — it reminds you of just the other day when you finally did your laundry instead of studying for the midterm that you skipped a class to prepare for. Or perhaps it evokes the way you awkwardly walk when you see someone in public but don’t know them well enough to say hi.
5. Nervously pace back and forth. This is your shot at true love, you’re sure of it. It’s perfect timing in the semester: Pumpkin grades have passed, so it’s okay if they’re a freshman; the temperature has been in the freezing territory of low 70s, so it’s cuffing season; your workload is piling up and you’re convinced that the solution to your stress is fixing your loneliness to mask deeper feelings of lack of fulfillment; if it doesn’t work out, it’ll naturally fizzle out over Thanksgiving. But how do you get their attention?
2. Side step … your responsibilities. Be honest with yourself: Your goal in going to DuncStep is because it’s an early, dry event and you intend to go back to doing some work tonight. Go ahead and side step them a little more. Your deadlines aren’t until November (even if Friday IS November)!
3. Walk away from the dance floor. Grab some food, get some air, avoid checking your Canvas and email, end up checking both, try to redirect your attention to “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
4. Walk back to the dance floor. Let the country roads take you home. It’s the weekend, you deserve a Texas-sized break. Is that cute person checking you out? What do you do?
6. Walk toward the mechanical bull. You don’t want to talk to them, but you want them to notice you. Your plan is foolproof: Impress them with your riding skills and get them to post a Rice Missed Encounter about you, a.k.a. “Unknown, Unknown, Generic Description, Duncan (Riding the bull).” 8. Fall off the mechanical bull. Ouch. At least you abide by the golden rule, “no ass on glass,” and manage to be thrown onto the ground rather than into a window.
9. Crawl away. A crawl at Duncan? Is that even allowed anymore?
7. Ride the mechanical bull. You’ve imagined riding so many times in your life. You dream about it, you see it on the internet, you hear about it. You just have to mount the beast and take control. You should be great in theory, even if you don’t get to do it much (or ever) in practice.
The Backpage is satire, written by Simona Mambo-vic and designed by Samba-na Matovic. For comments or questions, please email JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu.
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