The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, November 13, 2019

VOLUME 104, ISSUE NO. 11 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 NEWS

Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof to speak at graduation CHRISTINA TAN & ANNA TA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & MANAGING EDITOR

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TINA LIU PHOTOS COURTESY “ASTROWORLD” and GREG NOIRE

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Second Astroworld Festival lives up to hype SANVITTI SAHDEV & SMARAN GARLAPATI THRESHER STAFF | FOR THE THRESHER

“The man who left this city with nothing and conquered the world,” said surprise guest Dave Chappelle as he introduced Travis Scott at the second annual Astroworld Music Festival in Houston’s NRG Park last Saturday.

Astroworld was a glimmering day-long celebration of the special connection that Houston shares with hip-hop, of which Scott is now a legendary embodiment. Last year’s inaugural festival followed the release of the rapper’s 2018 album “ASTROWORLD,” named after Houston’s defunct theme park Six Flags AstroWorld, cementing his deep relationship with Space City’s hip-hop legacy. Buoyed by

Scott’s nostalgia and love for the park, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has expressed interest in building a new amusement park similar to AstroWorld. Until then, Scott’s festival proves to be a temporary but electrifying substitute.

BEST VIBES: SMOKE AND NEON Festivalgoers were greeted by a giant inflatable head of Travis Scott at the entrance of Astroworld, a stark, silver-colored skeletal rendition of the golden sculpture that fans associate with his 2018 album cover. The festival’s atmosphere echoed this evolution.

Smoke machines sprayed gray mist into the air, with the vibrant neons of carnival rides such as the ferris wheel and kamikaze puncturing the sky. Inside, fans found yet

another purple inflatable head to pose in front of and a giant Astrodome featuring space projections, prompting an undeniable sense of being transported to an alien world.

The festival grounds pulsed with energy and rhythm, not just from the performers, but also from the 50,000 festivalgoers who weaved their way between the “Chills” and “Thrills” performance stages and thrived in the sprawling celebration of hip-hop stretching from noon until midnight.

BEST AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: DABABY A relative newcomer to rap’s everexpanding scene, Charlotte-based rapper DaBaby had the best engagement with his SEE ASTROWORLD PAGE 8

NEWS

The Ion sparks conversation on inequity RYND MORGAN ASST NEWS EDITOR

Since it was announced in April 2018, The Ion, an innovation hub, has been a topic of discussion for Rice University and the local community, culminating in the formation of a community coalition and their proposed community benefits agreement.

The Ion, currently being built in the old Sears building at 4201 Main St., is headed

by Rice Management Company, which is responsible for Rice’s endowment and real estate holdings, in partnership with Station Houston, a tech startup facilitator.

After The Ion was announced, the Student Coalition for a Just and Equitable Innovation Corridor, part of a broader Houston group, formed in an effort to protect the surrounding community. The student coalition formed out of students from local Houston universities, including Rice, Texas Southern University and the University of Houston.

Since then, Rice Management Company and Station Houston broke ground on The Ion in July. Since July 17, Rice Management

rynd morgan / THRESHER

The Ion, an innovation hub, is being currently constructed in the old Sears building at 4201 Main St. The old Sears building sign has been removed and placed in an adjacent parking lot.

Company and Station Houston have been meeting with the Student Coalition.

Creation of Ion According to Gaby Rowe, the former CEO of Station Houston, the development of The Ion started when Houston, along with

many other cities in the United States at the time, wrote a proposal to bring the second Amazon headquarters to Houston.

After they found out that Houston was no longer in the running for the new Amazon headquarters, Rice and Station Houston SEE ION PAGE 3

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist, CNN contributor and author who has brought attention to global human rights issues through his writing for over 30 years, will deliver the 107th commencement speech for the class of 2020, according to Rice’s Office of Public Affairs.

Kristof won his first Pulitzer in 1990 alongside his wife Sheryl WuDunn for their coverage as Times reporters of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Sixteen years later, Kristof won his second Pulitzer for his columns in the Times, which drew attention to the genocide in Darfur through deep reporting which, “at great personal risk … gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world.”

Kristof has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist five additional times. Most recently, in 2016, Kristof’s “courageously reported and deeply felt” columns surrounding the plight of Syrian refugees earned him a nod from the jury.

According to his New York Times columnist biography, Kristof grew up in Oregon and worked in France after high school, later backpacking in Asia and Africa. Kristof earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and later a law degree from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. At Harvard, Kristof was on the Harvard Crimson staff, where he worked as the “Campus News” tracker, following higher education outside of Harvard.

Kristof has lived on four continents and has traveled to over 150 countries.

At the Times, Kristof also began an annual essay contest, through which undergraduate and graduate students are given the opportunity to travel with him on a reporting trip and have their own report published by the Times. In 2012, the winner was a Rice undergraduate. Jordan Schermerhorn, then a Martel College senior and bioengineering major, traveled with Kristof to Lesotho, which was at the time Africa’s largest garment exporter to America.

Kristof spoke at Rice in 2009 on a book tour for the third book he coauthored with WuDunn. Since then, he and WuDunn have published another book, “A Path Appears,” with a fifth forthcoming Jan. 14.

Kristof, a self-described progressive, has also written multiple columns concerning echo chambers on college campuses.

“While I admire campus activism for its commitment to social justice, I also worry that it sometimes becomes infused with a prickly intolerance, embracing every kind of diversity except one: ideological diversity,” Kristof wrote in a June 2019 column. “Too often, we liberals embrace people who don’t look like us, but only if they think like us.”

Kristof will follow his wife’s lead — in 2017, WuDunn delivered the commencement speech at Rice.

President David Leebron said in 2016 that WuDunn was recruited by Y. Ping Sun, Leebron’s wife.

Leebron wrote in a press release that the decision to pick Kristof was made primarily by a student committee.

“His work has sought to explore the fundamental challenges affecting human wellbeing around the globe,” Leebron wrote. “It is incumbent on all of us to seek to understand the plight of our fellow human beings, and to ask what might be done to improve it.”

THE RICE THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

NEWS

Social mobility trails graduation rates BRIAN LIN

THRESHER STAFF

Graduation rates for Pell Grant students at Rice have trailed the university average for the past three years, according to the 2019 common data set released in May by the Office of Institutional Research. The finding highlights issues in social mobility and underscores the university’s No. 204 placement in the U.S. News and World Report’s Top Performers on Social Mobility.

DIFFERING GRADUATION RATES Comparing students who matriculated in 2012, 92.5 percent of those who received Pell Grants and 95.3 percent of those who received neither Pell nor Stafford Loans graduated within six years.

Figures for those who matriculated in 2011 show a similar disparity, with 87.3 percent of Pell and 92.8 percent of non-Pell/Stafford students graduating within six years, and for those who matriculated in 2010, 88.8 percent versus 93.9 percent, respectively.

While the graduation rates of Pell recipients have consistently trailed the university average, the disparities in graduation rates between Stafford loan recipients and students who received neither Pell nor Stafford remain more unclear.

This disparity has a direct effect on rankings, with Rice’s ranking in social mobility. According to U.S. News, the social mobility rankings were largely determined by the Pell Grant graduation rate performance, a metric that compares the six-year graduation rates between Pell students and non-Pell students.

Another component of this ranking is the percentage of Pell Grant students who graduate. Although this metric rose 5.2 percent in the last year to 92.5 percent, Pell graduation rates continually lagged behind the rest of the university.

Vy Pham, an ambassador for Rice’s FirstGeneration and Low-Income program, and a Will Rice College junior, points to resource disparities as a cause of lower rates of graduation among FLI students.

“They might not have access to someone who can guide them through college if they encounter problems,” Pham wrote in an email. “If they are low-income they may spend a lot of time working just to survive and less time focusing on school. Both of these can contribute to lower rates of graduation or delayed graduation.”

U.S. News reports that Pell Grants are typically awarded to students whose family incomes fall below $50,000, while Stafford Loans are awarded to students who do not make the cutoff of $200,000 in family

income for a loan-free financial aid package, according to an Office of Public Affairs report.

For students who matriculated in 2012, 95 percent of those who received Stafford Loans and 95.3 percent who received neither Pell nor Stafford graduated within six years. For those who matriculated in 2011, 88.2 percent of Stafford and 92.8 percent non-Pell/Stafford students graduated within six years. For 2010 matriculants, the opposite occurred: a greater percentage of students receiving Stafford loans graduated within six years compared to those who received neither — 94.6 percent versus 93.9 percent.

One possible explanation of the No. 204 placement is that U.S. News adjusts the rankings to give more credit to schools with larger proportions of Pell students, according to an article released by U.S. News data analysts. John Cornwell, OIR director, said he believes this calculation has caused the low ranking.

Data from the OIR reveals that the percentage of Pell recipients at Rice has wavered between 15 percent to 17 percent for the past five years.

“If you go to a big public school, it will be 50 percent,” Cornwell said. “I would say that including the Pell Grant and looking at the two graduation rates is probably something that has not helped us, but it also has been a negative impact for many other schools.”

Rice’s No. 204 placement is comparable to that of other private schools — Harvard University sits at No. 186 and Cornell University is ranked No. 224 — but pales in comparison to public institutions like No. 3 University of California, Irvine and No. 34 University of Florida.

An alternative metric used by the New York Times in 2017 ranked schools by the percent of students who came from the top 1 percent compared to the percent of students who came from the bottom 60 percent, with a lower ranking being better in terms of measuring socioeconomic diversity.

In this ranking, Rice was placed at No. 95 with 9.8 percent of students coming from the top 1 percent and 19.9 percent coming from the bottom 60 percent. In comparison, Harvard ranked No. 62, with 15.1 percent of its student body from the top 1 percent and 20.4 percent from the bottom 60 percent, and the University of Texas, Austin at No. 201, with 5.4 percent of its students from the top 1 percent and 22.7 percent from the bottom 60 percent.

INCREASING SOCIAL MOBILITY Cornwell said that the figures being used to calculate social mobility, such as the six-year graduation rates of Pell Grant recipients, have not adequately reflected the implementation of the Student Success Initiatives in 2013 and

Percentage of Pell Grant Recipients in Undergraduate Class by Academic Year 2015-2016

15%

2016-2017

14%

2017-2018

15%

Six-year graduation rate for Fall 2010 cohort recipients of a federal pell grant

88.8%

recipients of a subsidized stafford loan

94.6%

did not receive either

93.9%

Six-year graduation rate for Fall 2011 cohort recipients of a federal pell grant

87.3%

recipients of a subsidized stafford loan

88.2%

did not receive either

92.8%

Six-year graduation rate for Fall 2012 cohort recipients of a federal pell grant

92.5%

recipients of a subsidized stafford loan

95.0%

did not receive either

95.3%

*according to the Rice Office of Institutional Research INFOGRAPHIC BY TINA LIU

the Rice Investment last year.

The Rice Investment grants students whose families earn less than $65,000 a year full tuition, room and board, as well as full tuition to students whose families earn between $65,000 and $130,000. Cornwell said that due to the six-year graduation rate timeline, recent policies would not yet be reflected in social mobility data.

“Remember what they’re comparing are six-year graduation rates. That occurred six years ago, and so all these things that we’ve put into place would not affect this graduation rate,” Cornwell said. “If you look at SSI, they run programs to work with staff and faculty to help work with students who are first-generation or from a lower socioeconomic status.”

This program, according to SSI Associate Director Jessica Bowers Chukwu, is called the Rice First Network Supported Training and has been offered twice a month to around 1012 faculty and staff in each session.

“We talk about who are first-year, lowincome students at elite institutions because their experiences look a little different. And then we talk about how to support and best advocate for these students,” Chukwu said.

Last year, the SSI opened a food pantry that provides non-perishable food items and hygiene products. According to Chukwu, the SSI also hosts a FLI Friday lunch.

“Fridays out of the month we invite FLI students to eat lunch with us. We normally have it in a servery, and if you live off-campus, then we pay for your meal,” Chukwu said.

RUPD forwards 47 calls to wrong number RISHAB RAMAPRIYAN NEWS EDITOR

The Rice University Police Department and Rice Emergency Medical Services dispatch phone line accidentally forwarded 47 calls to the wrong number on the night of Nov. 6. Some students reported being redirected to a man who did not appear to be a member of RUPD, while others were sent straight to voicemail.

According to RUPD Captain Clemente Rodriguez, one of the RUPD dispatchers accidentally activated a call forwarding function that diverted calls made to RUPD dispatch to another phone number starting at approximately 11:56 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Rodriguez said that RUPD learned about the issue from a student, Alvin Magee, who was trying to contact RUPD after being locked out of their room.

“The [student] flagged down an RUPD officer and said a call to dispatch had gone

ILLUSTRATION BY TINA LIU

to an unknown voicemail,” Rodriguez said.

“The officer contacted the dispatcher on duty, who immediately disabled the call forwarding function and fixed the problem.”

Magee said he was redirected to an unknown individual who was not affiliated with RUPD.

“[The] guy who picked up said he was the devil,” Magee, a Duncan College senior, said.

“We just asked him if we could get key service and he said not to call the number again.”

Magee said that he and his friend were planning on driving to the RUPD station, but were able to find an RUPD officer parked.

“We just asked them about it and they called the station themselves,” Magee said.

“Honestly I was just a little worried about what would happen if a real emergency was going on but glad everything got fixed quickly.”

Rodriguez said that after the student reported the issue, it was immediately fixed at 1:49 a.m. According to Rodriguez, RUPD worked with Rice Telecom to conduct an internal investigation and determined that 47 calls were forwarded from 11:56 p.m. to 1:49 a.m.

Rodriguez said that RUPD has attempted to call all the numbers from which dispatch was called during the downtime, and they have not identified any emergency calls that were made during the timeframe.

“RUPD is taking measures to rectify the issue that caused this problem. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our campus community,” Rodriguez said.

NEWS FROM PAGE 1

ION

started a conversation about how to help the city rebuild through innovation, according to Rowe. Rice decided that its Midtown Sears property, which had been put up as part of the initial Amazon bid, would be used as a place to develop opportunities in technology for Houstonians, according to Rowe.

“Rice University, and really President [David] Leebron, stepped forward and [...] put The Ion, at that point the Sears building, forward to be an innovation hub that was going to be developed to create an engine for innovation opportunity in the city of Houston,” Rowe said.

According to a Third Ward Community Needs Assessment published by the Baker Institute for Public Policy in 2019, most residents in the area were interested in working in health, food and hospitality sectors. Very few respondents wanted to enter energy or technology fields, according to the report.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 • 3

Caregiver leave inequality extends to non-tenure-track 80% pay available for all faculty and staff for 5-7 weeks* 0% pay available for all faculty and staff for 5-7 additional weeks* During the additional five to seven weeks, staff have the option to use their available paid time off to cover lost wages. Non-tenure-track instructors do not have this option as they do not receive paid time off. Tenure-track faculty have the option to use their one semester of paid time off.

100% pay for tenure-track faculty for 1 semester INFOGRAPHIC BY TINA LIU

*depends on type of delivery

FORMATION OF THE STUDENT COALITION Mary Claire Neal, a member of the Student Coalition, said that when she first learned about The Ion project, she was relatively familiar with the Third Ward area where The Ion would be built.

“I knew there was a homeless encampment and that it was sort of ironic to hear all this language about the progress and innovation, just erasing their existence there,” Neal, a Jones College junior, said. “[It] like they were deliberately erasing a population that was the most local.”

Neal said that the move toward a community benefits agreement between the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement and the Rice Management Company stemmed from a need for both engagement and accountability expressed by the community.

A community benefits agreement is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhood. According to Neal, the agreement is meant to act as a form of accountability.

“What the [agreement] does is it makes sure [...] that the developers are taking what the community says seriously,” Neal said. “For there to be trust between these two groups, there has to be that formality.

[Trust is] not something that you can build in just a few years, and there’s not that trust between Third Ward and an institution like Rice, because ... I don’t know, why should they trust Rice?”

LEGACY OF DEVELOPMENT According to the Baker Institute’s Third Ward Needs Assessment, recent neighborhood development had many residents concerned about displacement, and a majority of Third Ward residents were “extremely” concerned with a loss of African American culture in the Third Ward.

Jolen Martinez, a senior from Baker College and another member of the Student Coalition said that The Ion is only one part of an ongoing pattern of commercial development changing the landscape of major cities throughout the country.

“It’s very visceral, too, for Third Ward populations themselves, but it’s something that has been historically ongoing in Houston and you see it in cities around the country too,” Martinez said. “It’s the same trajectory, it’s the same narrative, and we’re just caught in the middle of it. I think what Mary Claire [Neal] has done is draw attention to that moment.”

Neal said that while Rice may not be able to solve gentrification in its entirety, it has the potential to do something different.

“There are so many examples across the country of coalitions of community groups that have gotten together to ask for an agreement from a development,” Neal said.

Construction on The Ion is set to be completed by the spring of 2021.

This story has been condensed for print.

To read the full story, visit ricethresher.org.

SAVANNAH KUCHAR ASST NEWS EDITOR

In response to a Thresher story about the discrepancies between staff and faculty, multiple female professors pointed out that despite being faculty, non-tenure-track faculty are not eligible for the same leave benefits that tenure or tenure-track faculty are.

Carissa Zimmerman, a senior lecturer and director of Social Sciences Quantitative Methods Program, said this distinction leaves non-tenure-track faculty feeling overlooked.

“I believe that full-time, benefits-eligible faculty should receive the same caregiver leave, regardless of whether they are on the tenure track or not,” Zimmerman said.

The Family Medical Leave Act is a United States labor law that guarantees eligible

employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave within a 12 month period. According to Rice Policy, all employees at Rice University are eligible to receive 80 percent pay during the first five to seven weeks of their leave under the Short-Term Disability Act. The remaining 5-7 weeks of leave are unpaid. The length of the employee’s paid leave depends on the circumstances of their delivery: five weeks for vaginal birth and seven weeks for cesarean section delivery.

According to Rice Policy 417, during the remaining five to seven weeks, staff have the option to use their available paid time off to cover that unpaid period. Non-tenuretrack and tenure-track faculty do not have this option as they do not receive paid time off, an exception being non-tenure-track faculty in the research professor ranks, who

according to Policy 327 are governed by the same vacation policy as staff.

Rice Policy 204 outlines the Primary Caregiver Leave, which gives eligible faculty the option to take a semester long leave at full pay. According to Policy 201, tenured and tenure-track faculty and non-tenure-track faculty in the teaching professor ranks are eligible for this benefit. Other non-tenuretrack faculty are not eligible for this benefit.

“Rice took a step in the right direction when they extended primary caregiver leave to those in the teaching professor ranks, but the current policy still excludes a large portion of the [non-tenure track] faculty body,” Zimmerman said. “According to the Rice directory, there are currently 20 NTTs in the teaching professor ranks … whereas there are 264 lecturers and 17 senior lecturers.”

Rice receives Army grant amid concerns SERENA SHEDORE THRESHER STAFF Last week, Rice announced a new fiveyear, $30 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army to research next-generation wireless networks and diamond materials manufacturing for use in electronics, according to Yousif Shamoo, vice provost for research. This agreement has been in progress since General John Murray, commander of U.S. Army Futures Command, visited Rice in April 2019.

According to a Rice news release, there will be two teams with different research focuses on this new agreement: a diamonds team and a networks team. The diamond team will focus on formulating diamond structures and materials for use in electronics, while the networks team will work on creating more secure wireless networks that have the ability to sense attacks.

According to Shamoo, faster and more secure communication networks will benefit both soldiers and civilians who depend on networks in phones and computers. These devices rely on silicon-based technology, and diamond materials have the potential to be more efficient than silicon materials.

Pulickel Ajayan, chair of the materials science and nanoengineering department, will co-lead the diamond team with a member of the Army Research Lab, and Ashutosh Sabharwal, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department, will co-lead the networks team with another member of the Army Research Lab. “We plan to establish a world-class facility in diamond growth and a materials program that will lead to innovative device ideas utilizing diamond heterostructures,” Ajayan said.

According to the news release, the networks team is working to reduce the time needed to establish wireless networks.

Innovations from the diamond materials team could benefit the networks team.

Ajayan said this relationship between the Army Research Lab and Rice will benefit Rice

Channing Wang / THRESHER

Rice is partnering with the U.S. Army to conduct research on next-generation wireless networks and diamond materials manufacturing for use in electronics. Pictured is the Engineering Quad.

students and faculty through opportunities for the exchange of students and researchers, as well as the opportunity for Rice students to engage in innovative research.

Shamoo said that undergraduate students will be able to get involved with this project either through taking an undergraduate research course for credit or by working with a professor who is a part of the project.

“I fully expect Rice undergraduate and graduate students to be important members of our research teams,” Shamoo said.

According to Shamoo, the Army Research Lab established this research agreement with Rice because of its reputation as an international leader in materials science. “[Richard] Smalley and [Robert] Curl won the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the buckyballs [in 1996] and since then Rice has always been at the forefront of materials discovery and innovation,” Shamoo said.

Shamoo said that this technology will not only modernize the Army but will

help Americans lacking access to highspeed internet.

Rice Left, a student political organization raised concerns over the repercussions of the agreement in an email sent out to its members.

“Rice helping the Army ‘modernize’ means Rice is directly making U.S. imperialism more efficient and more deadly,” Rice Left wrote. “The U.S. Army has carried out countless war crimes, in the Philippines, in Korea, in Vietnam. Since 9/11, the war on terror has resulted in over 244,000 civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

Mezthly Pena, a Duncan College sophomore, expressed concerns on Twitter.

“Rice claims to care about sustainability yet still collaborates with one of the biggest polluting organizations in the world,” Pena tweeted.

Editor’s Note: The Thresher requested a comment from Shamoo about student concerns and will update the story online.

NEWS

4 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Right turn on Sunset closed to improve safety SAMMI JOHNSON SENIOR WRITER

In order to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety near Entrance 1, the right turn from Sunset Boulevard to Fannin Street will be closed off and replaced with a median to facilitate traffic, according to Director of University Relations Greg Marshall.

To implement this change, Marshall said Hermann Park/Rice U METRO station was also closed on Friday and will not reopen until after Nov. 17. After the construction is finished, drivers will no longer be able to turn right from eastbound Sunset Boulevard onto southbound Fannin Street. Until the median to facilitate traffic is installed, construction signs divert traffic to turn either left or right onto Main Street.

Marshall said the changes follow a letter President David Leebron sent to Mayor Sylvester Turner over the summer with requests for the city of Houston, conveying specific requests and issues identified by the mobility safety committee in their report issued in spring 2018.

“Personally I am a big fan of the METRONext proposal, but it will nonetheless be a huge inconvenience for the METRORail to be shut down,” Lovett College sophomore Mary Liebig said. “I don’t use it for my to and from campus commute, but I use it to go downtown or to other places, and it will not be fun to not have access to it.”

A small roundabout for pedestrians and cyclists will be put in between Fannin Street and Main Street, according to Rice University Cycling and Triathlon President Mary Natoli.

Channing Wang / THRESHER

The right turn lane from Sunset Boulevard to Fannin Street will be permanently closed in order to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety.

According to Natoli, a bioengineering graduate student, the changes were prompted following the deaths of two cyclists affiliated with Rice. Rice physics professor Marjorie Corcoran was struck and killed by a light-rail train in February of 2017. Sudipta Roy, wife of postdoctoral research associate Ujjal Bhattacharjee, was killed in a collision with a dump truck near campus in 2018. According to Natoli, many advocates called for change after these tragedies, organizing a demonstration on bike safety in May of last year.

“As the number of employees and students at Rice has increased in recent years and more and more people are using modes of transit other than motor vehicles, Rice has been increasingly concerned about the safety of those who travel to our campus,” Marshall said.

Marshall said that following Corcoran’s death, they created a mobility safety committee to evaluate safety needs on and around campus and draw up a report recommending improvements. He said the committee’s work was delivered in spring 2018 and was integrated into the five primary requests Leebron mentioned in his letter to Turner. Natoli said the mobility safety committee has not met since spring 2018 but she thinks they should be meeting continually.

“I hope the changes will make the crossing to Hermann Park less stressful and will make both the park and the METRO more accessible to Rice students,” Natoli said. “I also hope making the area more people-friendly will help condition drivers to watch out for pedestrians and cyclists in general, and will inspire more

people-oriented development at other dangerous intersections.”

Recently, Hanszen College senior Catie Choi was injured after being hit in a collision at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Main Street.

“I think that the fact that accidents keep happening in the same intersections is not a coincidence,” Choi said.

“There is obviously a problem with [the intersections], and it should be a priority as these accidents have serious consequences.”

Along with adding a median, Marshall said the construction will add new traffic signal hardware to enable more responsive pedestrian-operated walk signals. The changes will also add pedestrian and bike crosswalks leading to Entrance 1 and signs to prevent right turns on red from Sunset Boulevard onto Main Street. The construction is projected to be finished by summer 2020.

Natoli said that although the changes are a step in the right direction, there remains much more progress to make in improving biker and pedestrian safety.

According to Natoli, some improvements that could improve safety that have not been implemented include zebra striping on all crosswalks and a one-way contraflow bike lane around the inner loop.

“The administration stepped up traffic enforcement, cooperated with the designs for Sunset/Main/Fannin, and supported major improvements to the intersection,” Natoli said. “I think that this response was appropriate, but [more needs to be done].”

Theft at Duncan prompts safety concerns AJAY KUMAR

FOR THE THRESHER

Duncan College sophomore Daniel Han said he woke up the morning of Nov. 1 to find over $3,000 worth of personal belongings missing — including his laptop, iPad, wallet and phone.

Han, an off-campus student, decided to sleep in the common area of an open suite — a group of six singles and a common space that are accessible from the hallway — at Duncan after working until 2:30 a.m. that night. Han said that he has slept on campus before and had his stuff in the suite, where his friends lived.

“I thought it was a safe space,” Han said.

“But when I woke up the next morning at 9 a.m. everything was gone … It was so jarring for me because you wouldn’t expect that to happen when you’re sleeping in the same room.”

In December 2017, Rice University Police Department partnered with Housing & Dining to install security cameras in the residential colleges in order to help solve crimes that take place in the colleges. RUPD Captain Clemente Rodriguez said these cameras were placed with the ultimate goal of enhancing student safety while respecting privacy.

“We have at least 200 cameras or more in the residential areas,” Rodriguez said.

“We’re now using cameras more so than we’ve ever used in the past … We will use them for every incident that is feasible to look at.”

According to Rodriguez, the cameras are

not monitored in order to protect student privacy, but footage can be used to look for evidence of a crime after filing an official police report.

“I think the way we are currently using the cameras is probably the best practice,” Rodriguez said. “If there were no cameras, people might feel like, what’s the use of reporting a crime … But if they see a camera they might think, ‘Oh the camera might’ve saw who did it. I’m gonna report this crime so I can maybe get my iPad back.’”

Upon learning his stuff has been stolen, Han filed an online police report with RUPD and asked if he could review the security camera footage. According to Han, they told him that no one outside of RUPD is allowed to look at the tapes.

“I found it extremely weird because I’d be able to help them with the case,” Han said. “It’s very frustrating not knowing if they’ve gone through every single piece of footage. Maybe they missed something.”

According to Rodriguez, there needs to be solid evidence when using the camera footage.

“Really we’re just looking for suspect[s] who have conducted specific crimes we were made aware of,” Rodriguez said. “If a student’s walking in with something in their hand, [even if] it’s something that is prohibited or illegal, it would be very difficult to be able to prove [what it is] just from a camera angle.”

After receiving no updates on his case in the days following the incident, Han said he called RUPD again who directed

Channing Wang / THRESHER

Channing Wang / THRESHER

A theft occurred in an open suite at Duncan College. A student reported that an estimated $3,000 of personal belongings were stolen while he was asleep.

him to the Criminal Investigation Division, which reviews footage from the security cameras on campus. Han said they told him that they review cases on a first-come, first-serve basis, but could not let him know where he stood on that waitlist due to privacy reasons.

“I asked, ‘So what you’re telling me is all I can do at this point is just sit and wait?’

And they said ‘yes,’” Han said. “At that point I knew I wasn’t gonna get much help from RUPD.” However, Han said that he doesn’t blame the open-suite system because they are fun and welcoming for everyone, but there needs to be measures to keep stuff safe.

“There has to be more preventative measures taken to help open suites be more secure,” Han said. “At this point, like, open suites are just too vulnerable to theft and there’s nothing RUPD can do to stop it.”

Han said this experience has led him to question the security of the residential college system.

“Part of my belief of the college system was that I’d be safe inside the dorms [and] this just serves as a wake-up call that you really need to take extra preventative measures to secure your things,” Han said.

“It definitely broke my illusion that the campus is a safe environment that you can treat as home.”

Dynamic and Energetic Teachers wanted. Pay rate is $24 to $38 per hour.

We provide all training. Email your resume to rice-jobs@testmasters.com

THE RICE THRESHER

5 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL

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Rice has work to do to improve social mobility Conversations around wealth inequality on campus have picked up in the past few years, with initiatives ranging from food pantries to stipends for student leaders created with the intent to bridge the gap. However, all the free Beer Bike T-shirts in the world don’t make up for that fact that Pell Grant recipients at Rice face a lower graduation rate than students who do not receive financial aid. Research from the Office of Institutional Research (see News, p. 2) points to a greater issue of weak social mobility at Rice, evidenced by our ranking as No. 204 in Top Performers on Social Mobility by U.S. News and World Report. Even with subsidized tickets and T-shirts, students can’t enjoy Esperanza or Beer Bike if they’re worrying about making it to graduation.

The Rice Investment does not bridge this gap. It doesn’t matter if Rice is receiving more applicants from lower-income backgrounds and admitting an economically diverse student body (side note: there’s plenty of work to do) if low-income students are not given the right tools to succeed.

Upon matriculating at Rice, the 15 percent of Rice students who are recipients of Pell

Grants are told about resources that, while available, are not highly accessible. Rice’s food pantry, created by Student Success Initiatives a year ago to address food insecurity, is open a total of three hours per week. Applications to use magisters’ funds are not standardized across colleges, so some students do not know how to obtain funding. Even if these resources are available, asking for assistance can feel intimidating and demeaning at a university where over half of the student body doesn’t need help paying for college at all and almost 10 percent of students came from the top 1 percent as recently as 2017. Other students can also do more to prevent the imposter syndrome that results from being part of a small, invisible group of students without economic resources. The status quo is still not enough. In light of the OIR data, both the administration and student body should double down on efforts to support lowerincome students through proactive outreach from support structures, greater allocation of money and resources to those structures and increased self-awareness of the privilege gaps that remain in the student body.

‘Our votes, our rights’ “A number of Rice students who tried to vote at the RMC did not have an equal opportunity due to gross violations of one of our most essential rights.”

HANNAH KAPLAN, TESSA SCHREIBER, MEREDITH MCCAIN, CAROLYN DALY, MADDY SCANNELL & ANTHONY SALIBA MCMURTRY, DUNCAN, MARTEL & HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIORS AND SENIORS

‘Show solidarity against the Bolivian coup’ “We need to reject the narrative that it was the people’s decision and instead denounce these events as an egregious attack against the value of democracy we hold dear. ”

JEFFERSON REN

JONES COLLEGE JUNIOR

‘The degradation of classical liberalism’ “For a community that views diversity as paramount, it is imperative that we protect diversity of thought with the same vigilance that we protect other forms of diversity.”

DAVID GETTER

Correction

WILL RICE COLLEGE FRESHMAN

Because of an editing error, the number of reported rapes at Vanderbilt in “Crime levels rise but fewer drugs violations” is incorrect — the correct number is 2.613 reported rapes per 1,000 students.

want to write your own opinion? we take submissions through email at thresher@rice.edu!

OPINION

Rice devalues non-tenure-track faculty in primary caregiver leave policy Last week, the Thresher published a piece highlighting the differences in Rice’s maternity leave policy for faculty and staff.

What it left out was that not all faculty are treated equally under the current policy: Tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty receive different caregiver leave benefits.

When I found out that I was pregnant, I was a non-tenure-track lecturer who taught three classes each fall and two classes each spring. Under Rice’s Policy 201, which governs the responsibilities and promotion of faculty members, I was not, and still am not, eligible for primary caregiver leave or paid time off; I would receive short-term disability benefits, which allowed me to receive 80 percent of my salary for six to eight weeks. My daughter was due at the end of January, which meant that I would teach my spring classes for a couple of weeks, leave to deliver my baby and recover from childbirth, and then return at the beginning of March to finish out the semester.

In contrast, when a tenure-track faculty member gives birth or adopts a baby, they are eligible for primary caregiver leave — a full semester of time off with full pay. Furthermore, Rice’s caregiver leave for tenure-track faculty applies to both

women and men; if a male tenure-track faculty member’s partner gives birth, that man can take a semester of fully paid leave. As it currently stands, male tenuretrack faculty receive more paid leave than female non-tenure-track faculty, and non-tenure-track parents who do not physically give birth, including LGBTQ+ faculty, receive no paid leave at all.

The parental leave policy for nontenure-track teaching faculty is not only worse than it is for their tenuretrack counterparts, but also worse than the parental leave policy for staff. Staff members accrue paid time off (i.e. sick days and vacation days) that they can use to supplement their leave after it ends.

Like tenure-track faculty, non-tenuretrack faculty do not have sick days or vacation days; if we want to extend our leave beyond what is covered by shortterm disability, we must do so completely without pay.

The faculty as a whole is fortunate that Rice has a generous caregiver leave policy, but that policy systematically excludes a portion of our community. Non-tenuretrack faculty are still faculty, and there is absolutely no reason for lecturers to be excluded from a benefit that is offered to all other faculty members. I have raised

this issue with a variety of people in Rice’s administration and can only hope that some of those discussions contributed to the extension of the semester-long leave policy to the non-tenure-track teaching professor ranks. However, when faculty members continued to object to the disparity in primary caregiver leave at a 2017 Faculty Senate meeting, our point was dismissed. The university could have used this opportunity to reduce the difference in benefits among faculty members, but instead it created more levels of inequality.

Rice prides itself on the values of “Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence;” these values reflect our respect for one another and our desire to never stop growing and improving. The university should take this opportunity to truly embrace these values by making Rice a better place for the non-tenuretrack faculty members in our community who contribute so much to our mission of unsurpassed teaching.

CARISSA ZIMMERMAN SENIOR LECTURER

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Response to maternity leave policy The Thresher’s Nov. 6 report and staff editorial highlight inadequate maternity leave policies at Rice. We, the undersigned*, agree that institutions like Rice should strive toward “equal maternity leave for all,” including the extraordinary and valuable members of our community whose classification happens to be “staff” or “non-tenure-track faculty.” In addition to supporting this general argument, we also call attention to the need to extend such policies to men in these roles.

Gender equality in the workplace will not be achieved until men are as expected, encouraged and supported in caregiver roles as women. This discussion should be about parental leave, not just maternity leave. Fairness in parental leave policies for all members of the Rice community serves the mission and values of our institution. *alphabetical order

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STAFF Christina Tan* Editor-in-Chief Anna Ta* Managing Editor

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FEATURES Ivanka Perez* Editor

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DESIGN Tina Liu* Director Dalia Gulca A&E Designer Joseph Hsu Features Designer Katherine Hui Sports Designer Anna Chung Ops Designer Dan Helmeci News Designer Yifei Zhang Illustrator Chloe Xu Illustrator

The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is published each Wednesday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice University.

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Letters to the Editor must be received by 5 p.m. the Friday prior to publication and must be signed, including college and year if the writer is a Rice student. The Thresher reserves the rights to edit letters for content and length and to place letters on its website.

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THE RICE THRESHER

6 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

FEATURES Ahimsa, karma and justice How religious values shape students’ lives IVANKA PEREZ FEATURES EDITOR

If you search the word “church” on Google Maps, the results show at least 40 churches of various denominations within two miles of Rice. Coming from California, Snigdha Banda says she wasn’t used to seeing so many churches.

“I think organized religion wasn’t something I was really exposed to,” Banda, a Wiess College senior, said. “[The churches made me] realize it’s a big part of the South and the geography here.”

Emma Siegel, a rabbi’s daughter from Chicago, says the large presence of Christian churches in Texas was a shock for her too.

“I was taught in Jewish settings for my whole life, a lot of my perspectives are based [on] that experience,” Siegel, a Martel College junior, said. “So I think that coming to a school in Texas where you drive in and you see these huge churches, it was definitely an adjustment for me.”

When Ariana Engles came to Rice, she hadn’t expected the students to be involved in religious activities.

“As a prospective student, I had a host who told me … Rice [isn’t] religious,” Engles, a Lovett College senior, said.

“I came to Rice and I was actually very surprised. I felt like there were a lot more people of faith here — and of every faith.”

Engles grew up Catholic, but found herself beginning to doubt her faith in high school. To figure out what her beliefs were, she began tagging along with her friends to their various religious activities — having weekly Shabbat dinners, going to Hindu temples and celebrating Muslim holidays.

“It was, for me, a very eye-opening experience into what other people felt,” Engles said. “There are so many beautiful faiths … and I have a great amount of respect for each and every single one.”

Given the presence of large-scale events like Evening of Elegance and the Christian group that hosts it, Chi Alpha, Christianity may seem to some like a dominant religion on campus. Banda says that after beginning to doubt her Hindu faith in high school, the presence of Christianity at Rice helped her learn about a faith she wasn’t familiar with.

She began sitting in on a Bible study hosted by Michael McDowell, attended

by Christians and non-Christians, which taught her about the similarities and differences between Hinduism and Christianity. One difference she noticed was how Hindus and Christians view the decision-making process.

ILLUSTRATION BY YIFEI ZHANG

“For me, the options that I encounter in my life are in my control. Both good and bad options, the weight of that is on me, you know, and so I have to create the doors for myself and I have to walk through them,” Banda said. “[But Christians] believe … [they’ll] be okay because [they] have this belief in a higher power.”

Saad Ehsan, a Baker College senior, says that his Muslim faith also teaches him to leave the results of his choices up to God. “As a Muslim, part of my belief is that I am supposed to do my due diligence in whatever work that I do, but ultimately, [the] results are up to God,” Ehsan said.

“I shouldn’t and I can’t really stress about something that happened to me if I put in the work, because that’s not in my control.”

One similarity that Banda noticed between Hinduism and Christianity is a shared emphasis on justice.

There are so many beautiful faiths ... and I have a great amount of respect for each and every single one.

Ariana Engles LOVETT COLLEGE SENIOR “I think in Hinduism, the one value that was very central to me was justice … this idea of karma and reincarnation,” Banda said.

Elizabeth Jowers, who is involved in Chi Alpha and Bible studies on campus, says justice is one of the main values she takes away from her Christian faith.

“I think that in order for us to be the kind of people that we’re supposed to be in the world, we have to have a robust conception of justice,” Jowers said.

“That’s something that I see Jesus doing in his life — he really embodies this idea that the people who are on the outskirts of society or the fringes of society, people who have been pushed down and silenced, are worthy.”

Of all the teachings in Judaism, Siegel says she relates most to the emphasis on social justice.

“I don’t really know necessarily if I believe in God, but Judaism places a lot of social justice values at their core and faith through action,” Siegel said. “I

think that, for me, that’s sort of where I connect [to my faith].”

Banda says religions explore the different reasons why a person should act morally.

“I think Hinduism helped me understand that being a good person matters for the sake of being a good person,” Banda said. “[Especially] the idea of selflessness, doing good for other people.”

There was one other non-Christian student in Banda’s Bible study — Raj Dalal, one of a handful of Jains at Rice.

According to Dalal, one major difference between religions is how they hold people accountable or encourage people to be kind.

“I think the way that these religions account for things may differ, but a lot of the values are similar and a lot of them kind of converge upon how you can be a good person and be a contributor to your larger community,” Dalal, a Wiess senior, said. “I think the accounting system in Jainism is karma, whereas the accounting system in Christianity or maybe another religion is a God looking down on you.”

Dalal estimates that there are only about four practicing Jains at Rice, and a few others who were born into the religion but are less involved. He says being part of a religious minority has posed challenges for him.

“We’re like a minority religion amongst minority religions,” Dalal said.

“Growing up, I didn’t really know any Jains and I don’t think it was until high school, when I started actively seeking out the religion to learn more about it, that I found a community of Jains.”

Since discovering a community of Jains in Houston, Dalal has found that he relates to them in many ways. Ahimsa, the Jain value of nonviolence and respecting all forms of life, is one value Dalal says he has noticed in many of his Jain friends.

“It’s hard to pinpoint what exact values, but I just genuinely found them to be people that understood me and I felt like I understood them,” Dalal said.

Dalal says the connection is about more than simply religion — it spans culture as well.

“I think some of the values like ahimsa is instilled in a lot of [Jains] — like a lot of them are vegetarian,” Dalal said. “I think a lot of it is also just the infusion of Indian culture and growing up as an Indian, that we relate to.”

For Bilal Rehman, culture is the most relatable aspect of his Muslim faith.

“I’ve come to see Islam more as a vehicle for my cultural kind of

background and traditions, and less as a set of deeply held beliefs about how the world was created,” Rehman, a Duncan College senior, said.

To Rehman, being part of a religious minority in the United States means that he encounters many people who don’t fully understand his faith.

“Growing up … other people were talking about Christmas or whatever holiday,” Rehman said. “For me it was always things like Ramadan, Eid [alFitr], and other Muslim holidays — those were always the things that I was looking forward to.”

When Ehsan encounters people unfamiliar with the core tenets of his Muslim faith, he says he often compares the values to those of Judaism and Christianity.

“They’re very similar religions, like [they] stem from the same background, so it’s a useful and important comparison to make,” Ehsan said.

Ehsan says he values his faith because it provides him with moral directions, guiding him in making certain decisions.

According to Ehsan, one of the main attributes he has developed from practicing Islam is self-discipline.

“As a student, a college student, always getting up [before sunrise] to pray and then doing whatever I need to … I think that’s instilled in me a certain self-discipline that carries with me throughout my life,” Ehsan said.

Despite differences between Christianity and Islam, Jowers and Rehman both say they have faced similar faith challenges, specifically trying to reconcile certain views of life with their faith backgrounds.

“I think [Muslims] have to ask questions about human rights, generally, like things like gay marriage [and] the treatment of women,” Rehman said.

Jowers says that although she struggled with certain interpretations of Christian Scriptures, since coming to Rice she has discovered a community of Christians who interpret Scripture the same way she does.

“I was raised in a tradition that doesn’t have female pastors, doesn’t support egalitarian views of marriage, but rather a complementarian view in which a wife has a sphere and a husband has a sphere,” Jowers said. “I don’t have that reading of Scripture anymore.”

Ultimately, Dalal says attending a Christian Bible study taught him that most religions have a similar end goal: treating others well.

“I think at the end of the day, a lot of religions just want you to be kind to others,” Dalal said.

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 • 7

Black at Rice: Jayson Taylor

channing wang / thresher

THOMAS RUSSO

interest in environmental work and an affinity for STEM, a combination that steered him toward civil engineering.

“It’s a major where you can actually directly affect people, you can see your impact, whether it’s on the road or whether it’s a building that’s being constructed,” Taylor said.

Like many Rice students, Taylor has survived the academic stress of high school, struggled with imposter syndrome and stomached the modest debauchery of Rice publics. However, unlike 93 percent of Rice students, Taylor is Black.

Growing up in a predominantly Black county in Maryland, Taylor said race was never much of an issue. It wasn’t until after Taylor walked through the Rice Sallyport that being one of the 7 percent became more than just a statistic.

“Coming to Rice was a very big shock,” Taylor said. “First I walked into my room and I was the only black person in my suite. It was like me and three other White

FOR THE THRESHER

Succulent fruits, green vegetables, bright hues and caterpillar-nibbled leaves. Jayson Taylor is a gardener, but he cultivates more than just plants.

Taylor began gardening the fall of his freshman year on a friend’s suggestion. Along with the fresh food and the environmental benefits of composting, the tranquility gardening provides has kept Taylor’s thumb green.

“It’s very enjoyable,” Taylor, a Lovett College senior, said.

“Gardening is a hobby that a lot people don’t consider doing, but it’s very relaxing and a good time to meet other people.”

Taylor has also been a Beer Bike coordinator and is currently the president of the Rice Urban Agriculture Club. He will graduate this May with a major in civil engineering and a minor in energy and water sustainability.

Coming into Rice, Taylor had an

people. For me it was a very weird environment. It felt uncomfortable and I felt [internal] conflict getting used to being the only Black person there.”

Although he hoped to acclimate to his new environment, he said feelings of discomfort continued to accumulate in his First-Year WrtingIntensive Seminar class.

“There were only 15 people, it was the first time I was the only Black student. That’s where it hit, that this is sorta reality,” Taylor said.

Taylor said that one particularly unsettling facet of this new reality occurred only a week into his first semester during Martel College’s “Don’t Mess with Texas” public party.

“Went there with my O[rientation] Week group, had a good time. Then ‘Gold Digger’ started playing, and then everyone said the N-word, and then I was just like ‘yikes.’ I had never heard so many people say it at once in person and I was just like, ‘Is this what Rice is going to be like?’” Taylor said.

Another discouraging moment for Taylor occurred during his O-Week, a time meant to foster inclusivity. Taylor said he overheard two students discussing standardized test scores. One student joked that the reason the other student got into Rice with his lower scores was because his skin was darker.

“My scores were lower than that, and I was already feeling imposter syndrome and unease,” Taylor said.

Throughout this first tumultuous week and into his freshman year, Taylor said he also had difficulties making friendships with other Black students due to their lack of availability. In particular, he was perturbed by the lack of Black

upperclassmen at Lovett.

“Is that what my future is gonna be like at Lovett or is that all Black students’ future?” Taylor said he asked himself.

However, with the passage of time, Taylor said he’s made more Black friends at Rice and has begun to feel more comfortable in his own skin.

“Find the Black students at your college. They are going through the same thing as you. Go to the first [Black Students Association] and [Rice African Students Association] meetings, see how you like it, find new people,” said Taylor. “You’re able to find people who connect on culture.”

Beyond these particular memories, Taylor points to numerous microaggressions as the primary cause of racial unease. The most common? Hair.

“Our hair is different. I’m insecure about my hair. I have people say ‘Your hair is so cool. You look beautiful. You should wear your hat less often.’ When people keep rubbing your hair, it’s a very small thing, but when it’s so many people that do it and touch it and you get it so often, if feels more like a fetish, a weird fetish for being different. I know it’s something small but something annoying that a lot of students also don’t think about,” Taylor said.

Taylor also emphasized the positives of having the Black community at Rice.

“When we come together as one, we have so much fun. We have so much confidence, so much energy.

That’s because we are the only ones that can truly experience how we feel,” Taylor said.

As a proud member of the National Society of Black Engineers,

Taylor said attending a NSBE conference this year was one of the highlights of his entire experience at Rice. “[S]eeing so many Black engineers in a room, it’s just like ‘wow,’ because we are usually the only ones but just knowing that there’s so many great people that share the same identity, the struggle as you, trying to get and share the bag. It’s just so powerful. That’s my favorite thing, coming together as one community,” Taylor said.

After Rice, Taylor plans on pursuing graduate school and continuing his studies in civil engineering with a focus on either low-impact development technologies or green infrastructure.

This upcoming summer, Taylor plans on working for the same civil engineering company he interned at last summer.

Taylor said that transitioning from his homogenous Maryland community to the hodgepodge student body of Rice has irrevocably altered his view of the world. “[Rice] made me more weary, because I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t really face a lot of this stuff until I got here. It’s made more weary and a bit more [aware] of things, of situations that may happen, like microaggressions,” Taylor said.

Besides coming to terms with his own racial identity, Taylor feels that Rice’s diversity has opened his eyes to a broad spectrum of new perspectives. “[At Rice] I have learned about other cultures and their experiences,” Taylor said.

Editor’s Note: This is an installment of Black at Rice, a features series intended to highlight and celebrate Black voices on and off campus.

HEALTH INSPECTION!

Crossword by Sam Rossum Thresher Staff

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Bolded clues and colored squares correspond to the theme.

ACROSS 1) Nav. system 4) Fiesta alternative 7) Infested Provençal vegetable dishes 11) “The Great”, for Alexander 12) Originator of many a task force 13) “__ California”, RHCP song 14) Letters on a metronome 15) Suffix with bicy- and vehi16) Compromised cheese puffs, ___ Booty 18) It means “I love you” in dinosaur 19) Talking tree, for Tolkien 22) Jacksonville footballer 24) Perfume label word 25) “Buon-___!”, Italian greeting 26) Lightly burns 28) “All the Stars” R&B singer 29) “Seinfeld” gal 30) Little bit DOWN 1) Overrun parmesan for sprinkling 2) Vatican related 3) “Goosebumps” author R.L. 4) “Come again?”

5) “Old MacDonald had a farm, ___-I-O” 6) Deli staple 8) Soul singer Redding 9) Question asked many times over the past weeks 10) Rival club to Costco 14) Ravaged German sausage 16) Words of tribute 17) “Othello” baddie 20) Hammer target 21) “You can tune a piano but you can’t ___ fish!”

22) The answer is JGEN (sorry, nobody’s perfect) 23) Suggestion from 1-Across 27) __ Bill, provider of veteran benefits

THE RICE THRESHER

8 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Cherry Reading Series: Bryan Washington

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

New creative writing faculty member holds reading of his short story collection “Lot.” See more at ricethresher.org

HOUSTON CINEMA ARTS FESTIVAL COMING TO CAMPUS The Houston Cinema Arts Festival will bring diverse programming, from foreign films to experimental cinema to Rice Media Center this weekend, Nov. 14-18. Eight screening events will be held, some of which include discussion with award-winning filmmakers, for $10 a ticket. Here are a few of the films coming to campus this weekend:

photos courtesy houston cinema arts society

Space Dogs Making its North American premiere, “Space Dogs” bounds onto the big screen this Friday at 8 p.m. The Russian language documentary tells the story of Laika, a stray dog from Moscow whose expedition to space made history but whose death was eclipsed, forgotten and burned upon reentry. According to an urban legend, Laika’s ghost roams the streets of Moscow, where her descendants continue to hunt for scraps. Told from the perspective of two modern day dogs and spliced with never before seen archive footage from the Soviet cosmic era, “Space Dogs” tells a complicated story about the brutality of progress and the survival of man’s best friend.

ASTROWORLD FROM PAGE 1 audience out of all of Saturday’s performers. Starting off with his hit song “Suge,” DaBaby quickly fired up the crowd.

As he performed “Baby on Baby,” two large inflatable dancing babies made their way to the stage. In the spur of the moment, the rapper began removing his jewelery in preparation for crowd surfing. As his security team tried to pull him back, he climbed the barricade and jumped into the crowd, all while continuing to rap. After safely making it back on stage, DaBaby encouraged several audience members to jump the barricades and join him on stage.

He rewarded those who made it onstage with water bottles and instructed them to spray fans with the water. The water surely cooled down fans who were beginning to sweat in the daytime performance.

BEST CROWD: PLAYBOI CARTI Aside from Travis Scott’s performance, Playboi Carti drew the most energetic crowd. The rapper’s notoriously wild fanbase formed several mosh pits as the baby-voice rapper performed such hits as “Magnolia,” “Shoota” and “Kid Cudi.” Though at points we were scared for our lives while being pushed around relentlessly by the crowd, the energy was on a different level. As Scott proclaims in the lyrics to his song “Stargazing,” “it ain’t a mosh pit if ain’t no injuries.’’ Playboi Carti’s crowd had no trouble meeting

Around the World in a Day

Brokeback: Short Films Program Starting this Saturday at 12:30 p.m., HCAF is bringing together unique perspectives on the intersection between cowboy culture and LGBTQ+ community with “Brokeback,” a curated screening of five short films.

From “Queers ‘N Steers,” a 1992 documentary on the Texas Gay Rodeo Association, to the experimental, semi-animated “La Mesa,” the Brokeback collection offers audiences an opportunity to explore the overlay of queer identity with the vast Texas landscape.

Brokeback is one of five HCAF screenings in “The Yeehaw Agenda,” a sub-series of films dedicated to a new generation of Western-influenced cinema.

Scott’s criterion as we saw several fans get injured in the frenzy. Following the set as the crowd parted to make way for an injured man being transported to the medical tent, we heard him say that it was worth it.

BEST SURPRISE GUEST: KANYE WEST After the festival lineup was announced, fans expressed disappointment that rumors of performances by Drake or West did not come to pass. However, it soon became clear that Scott was saving the best surprise for last. In the middle of his setlist, Scott earnestly introduced the next performer as the man who took a chance on him early in his career. Excitement rose to a pitch as fans guessed the identity of his secret guest, and sure enough, West walked on stage with a beaming smile and a rendition of his song “Follow God” from his latest album titled “Jesus is King.” Next, Scott and West performed the latter’s instantly recognizable “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” after which the two artists embraced before West left Scott to an even more feverishly energized crowd.

BEST SETLIST: TRAVIS SCOTT Capping off the day was Scott, the founder and headliner of the festival. All 50,000+ attendees funneled to the Chills stage to catch the performance. After a thirty minute delay and a brief introduction from comedian Dave Chappelle, Scott made his way to the stage in front of a roaring crowd. He began his set with songs off of his

Rice is a home for the unconventional, so HCAF is bringing a collection of innovative experimental short films to campus this Sunday starting at 1 p.m. With six films from four different countries, “Around the World in a Day: Experimental Cinema Now” intends to shed light on unorthodox filmmaking and its power to fuse disparate artistic mediums. Sky Hopinka’s “Lore” uses an overhead projector to shape and construct fragments of images while Ja’Tovia Gary’s film “The Giverny Document” composes a cinematic poem to the safety and autonomy of Black women.

Ben DeSoto: For Art’s Sake Few Houstonians have gotten as up close and personal with the city’s early underground music scene than Ben DeSoto has. Copresented by the Houston Latino Film Festival, HCAF presents “Ben DeSoto: For Arts Sake,” a deep dive into the turbulent life and work of one of Houston’s most prolific photographers. As a photojournalist for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post for 30 years, DeSoto has rubbed elbows with countless musicians and captured poignant moments in Houston’s punk counterculture.

Read the full list of films online at ricethresher.org Katelyn Landry, A&E Editor

most recent album and festival namesake “Astroworld.” As he towered above the crowd in a construction crane-like stage structure, he took fans down memory lane as he performed “Upper Echelon” from his debut mixtape “Owl Pharaoh,” followed by “Mamacita.” He took fans on a journey as he performed “Antidote” from his debut album “Rodeo,” followed by “Way Back” and “Beibs in the Trap” from his second album “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.”

Additional surprise guests such as Gunna, Swae Lee, Kodak Black and Roddy Ricch also made their way to the stage to perform with Scott. After loud chants from fans, Scott finally performed “Sicko Mode,” arguably his most popular song, with a magnificent fireworks display, marking both the end of his performance and the day long festival.

WORST SECURITY HAZARD: CROWD One of the worst aspects of the festival was the immense crowd that resulted in long waits. Lines were inescapable: at the box office, entrance, food stands, water stations, merch booths and even at the exit. Entering the festival took around an hour itself as we had to wade through a sea of slowly moving people being funneled through few security gates. Rather than waiting in line, some eager fans tore down a barricade, allowing hundreds to storm into the festival all at once. The stampede resulted in three festival-goers being transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital

for minor leg injuries, according to the Houston Police Department.

WORST CROWD: ROSALIA When the lineup of performers was released the day before Astroworld, most fans were confused by two performers, Marilyn Manson and Rosalía. Though her set was lively and colorful, the Spanish artist attracted one of the smallest crowds of the day. This might’ve been because attendees simply were not familiar with the international artist or they just wanted good spots for Scott’s performance which immediately followed Rosalía’s. Festivalgoers watching Rosalía perform seized the opportunity to rest for the first time in hours as they sat down on the concrete floor in anticipation of the night’s grand finale.

MOST POLARIZING: MARILYN MANSON Manson’s performance saw a similarly low turnout, as hip-hop fans unfamiliar with the rock band used the opportunity to grab food or rest their feet. This had no effect on the band’s performance as its namesake lead singer Manson delivered on his notoriously theatrical stage presence, draping himself on stage props and basking in the eerie red lighting. The band’s menacing cover of the famous Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams” even saw the eventual formation of an impromptu mosh pit.

This article has been condensed for print.

Read the full story online at ricethresher.org.

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 • 9

Politan Row food hall opens to public VARUN KUKUNOOR FOR THE THRESHER

Last weekend, long-awaited food hall Politan Row opened in Rice Village, expanding nearby restaurant options beyond tried-and-true Rice Village favorites.

While most universities boast giant fastfood names like McDonald’s or Subway on their campuses, Rice’s unique culture allows student-run businesses and other smaller eateries to dominate the food scene outside of the serveries. Thus, in search of more choices, many students find themselves repeatedly wandering to Rice Village joints like Yoyo’s Hot Dogs or heading downtown to try out some of Houston’s famous food halls such as Finn Hall and Conservatory. Politan Row helps bridge that gap by offering a cozy study space and a dozen diverse culinary options, all just a short walk from campus.

Houston doesn’t get recognized enough for its amazing food scene.

Will Donaldson POLITAN ROW FOUNDER & OWNER Think of a food hall as a food court without the department stores or screaming children attached. Politan Row brings together twelve chef-entrepreneurs, some of whom have already made names for themselves in Houston’s food scene, together in one spacious venue. Vendors bring a diverse range of flavors from Japanese-Peruvian fusion to Caribbean-inspired cuisine.

For those of us in desperate need of a new study spot, Politan Row is perfect. With plenty of tables, spacious sofas and a diverse coffee and snack selection, you can work comfortably with free Wi-Fi while enjoying some of Houston’s delectable cuisine.

As an attendee to Politan Row’s press preview event, I was able to try a dish from each stall, and I can affirm that the careful selection of chefs did not go unnoticed.

Each chef told a story through their food,

and the dishes served as a microcosm of the beauty of the cuisine’s culture. Phillip Kim, the mastermind behind Breaking Bao, delivers with his signature savory bao sliders while Victoria Elizondo of Cochinita & co. translates her Mexican roots and love for Houston with locally-sourced tacos. From signature cocktails to vegan dessert bowls to shrimp tempura sushi and everything inbetween, my stomach had the happiest night it has had in months.

The interior of Politan Row is extremely well organized. When entering, Bar Politan takes center stage with towering, postmodern architecture. The bar is Politan Row’s first agave-focused bar, chocked full of specialty spirits for Rice Villagers (of age) to enjoy. With drinks like “Thee Hot Girl” and “Tejano Queen,” the New Orleans-based food hall shows its love for Space City.

Will Donaldson, the founder and owner of Politan Row, is an innovator in the food hall industry and said he wanted to bring his chef-driven vision to the Rice Village neighborhood. Donaldson is the entrepreneur behind the Politan Group, a company formerly known as Helpful Hound, that has seen staggering success at its New Orleans food halls St. Roch Market and Auction House as well as its Chicago Politan Row location. This award-winning family of food halls are designed to be collaborative spaces for people to work and mingle, according to Donaldson.

Donaldson said he chose Houston as a target location due to its cultural diversity, which he says is incomparable to most other parts of the nation. “Houston doesn’t get recognized enough for its amazing food scene,” Donaldson said. With that lack of recognition comes a myriad of underrated chefs who sell amazing products but may only reach limited audiences. With Politan Row, Houston food lovers can benefit from the diverse talents of local chefs while enabling those entrepreneurs with a platform to showcase their unique cuisine.

Politan Row is located in Rice Village at 2445 Times Blvd. The food hall is open every day — Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. - 11 p.m.

varun kukunoor / THRESHER

Politan Row is the fourth food hall opened by Politan Group, a New Orleans-based company whose unique approach to dining has earned praise from food-lovers all over the country. The newest addition to Rice Village brings together 11 local chef-entreprenuers together with the food hall’s in-house agave-focused bar, Bar Politan, pictured above.

REVIEW: FKA twigs’ “MAGDELENE” is a masterpiece

courtesy young turks

CHRISTINA TAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MAGDELENE Genre: Alternative / Indie Top Track: ‘home with you’

The creative process of multi-genre singer, producer and dancer FKA twigs (Tahliah Barnett) is one of deliberation and perfection — a quality that has left fans waiting years for new music. Five years after her debut album, twigs delivers with her sophomore album “MAGDALENE,” a ninetrack triumph released Nov. 8.

The album, born out of heartbreak by the end of twigs’ three-year relationship with Robert Pattinson as well as twigs’ struggle with fibroid tumors, plays with complex themes of religion, womanhood and internal pain. Twigs’ tendency to mix electronic sound with her strong, ethereal vocals shines true on “MAGDALENE,” which prominently features ballad-like choruses in which twigs’ pain is evident. Flawless production by big names like twigs herself, Skrillex, Nicolas Jaar and Benny Blanco lends additional layers to the intricate album, from full-blown vocal mixing to dramatic drum instrumentals. “cellophane,” the last song on “MAGDALENE,” was released as a single in April, making it twigs’ first release since 2016. The stripped-back production and instrumentals of “cellophane” allows the full strength and range of her vocals to shine, offering listeners a full display of vulnerability and pain conveyed through building tension throughout the song. In “cellophane,” twigs asks, “Didn’t I do it for you / why don’t I do it for you / why won’t you do it for me / when all I do is for you,” a repetitive series of questions that pulls listeners deep into twigs’ pain as she grapples with the familiar feeling of not being good enough.

A glimpse into the three years preceding “cellophane” helps reveal the intensity at which twigs works: one of those years was spent perfecting the art of pole dancing, the central theme behind the music video for “cellophane.” Through pole dancing, twigs offers viewers an incredibly vulnerable and artistic performance juxtaposed with impressive core strength, a contrast that echoes throughout “MAGDALENE.”

In “MAGDALENE,” twigs balances these moments of vulnerability with intense displays of anger (as seen on “fallen alien”) and brooding moments (“home with you”), packaging the album so chock full of emotion that it feels almost unbearable at times. Every buildup, however, is perfectly timed, letting listeners gasp for air after unwittingly holding their breath. This oscillating tension is best displayed in “sad day,” which features club-music-like builds and drops interleaved with the repetitive, echo-y question: “would you make a, make a, make a wish on my love?”

The mix of emotions on “MAGDALENE” also signals twigs’ tie-in to religion, seen on “mary magdalene,” where twigs draws comparisons between her and the Biblical figure. Twigs notes Mary Magdalene’s long-standing reputation as a prostitute through provocative lyrics (“I do it like Mary Magdalene / I’m what you desire) but pairs it with a general critique of societal treatment of women (“A woman’s war / unoccupied history”). This duality is thematic — twigs, through her tormental moments, emphasizes that women are far from onedimensional. The dark, church choruslike backing vocals of “mary magdalene” further entrenches its religious theme, simultaneously referencing and critiquing religion’s role in typifying women.

“MAGDALENE” only has one feature which may be surprising to some — rapper Future, who comes in on the hypnotic “holy terrain.” The song on first listen sounds disjointed, primarily due to the introduction of Future’s heavily-autotuned vocals in contrast with twigs’ solo voice on every other song, but on second listen the collaboration feels natural and intentional. “holy terrain” is at its core an anxious dialogue between twigs and her lover, in this case performed

by Future. Twigs asks, “will you still be there for me, now I’m yours to obtain?” to which Future responds “I hope you never take my love, yeah, in vain.” Their duet chorus subsequently weaves a story of difficult love between two insecure lovers.

Because each song on the album could be dissected even more thoroughly than the three above, it is hard to truly encapsulate the masterpiece that is “MAGDALENE” in a few hundred words. Its complex and heady mixture of electronic sound, trap beats and raw vocals make it much more than the next radio hit or casual study music. Instead, one should listen to the album in full, in a quiet room with headphones on — and listen again, and again.

“MAGDALENE” can be found on all major streaming platforms.

THE RICE THRESHER

10 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

SPORTS Volleyball loses to WKU, ends 13-game win streak SPENCER MOFFAT SENIOR WRITER

On Sunday, No. 17 Rice volleyball lost for the first time since Sept. 14, in a five-set loss against No. 22 Western Kentucky University.

The loss to WKU also marked the end of the Owls’ 13-match winning streak.

Rice began its weekend slate with a defeat against Florida Atlantic University on Friday. Against FAU, Rice found themselves down four points at 5-9 in the first set. Junior outside hitter Nicole Lennon said the team wasn’t nervous despite trailing early in the match.

“My team is really good at staying calm and composed,” Lennon said. “We’ve been down quite a few times this season and we’ve often rallied back to come and win the set.”

Despite the deficit, Rice fought back and secured a first-set win. Rice then secured the sweep after winning the second set and closing out the match with a 25-13 third-set victory. Lennon led Rice’s offensive attack with 15 kills, and she and senior libero Lee Ann Cunningham combined for 32 digs to lead the team defensively. According to Lennon, Cunningham’s defensive performance was exceptional.

“Not only did [Cunningham] get digs, but she nailed the digs and they were perfect,” Lennon said.

My team is really good at staying calm and composed. We’ve been down quite a few times this season and rallied back to win the set.

Nicole Lennon JUNIOR OUTSIDE HITTER Entering Friday’s match, Rice had gone to more than three sets in only one match since its last loss on Sept. 14 against Stephen F. Austin State University.

After the match on Friday, Volpe said Rice needed to remain consistent to perform well against WKU.

yIDI WANG / THRESHER

Senior libero Lee Ann Cunningham prepares to serve for Rice during the Owls’ match against Western Kentucky University, which WKU won in five sets. Cunningham registered 17 digs.

“[To win] we [should] stay not changing much about what we do,” Volpe said before the WKU game. “We just need to not allow Western Kentucky to not get on any runs because they have a pretty stout offense as well.”

On Sunday, Rice played Western Kentucky on Rice’s Senior Day, in front of of 1,899 fans. The match was the first time in program history that both the Owls and their opponent ranked in the top 25. Rice started off the match uncharacteristically, losing the first two sets for the first time this season.

According to Volpe, the Owls struggled to make early adjustments against WKU. “We weren’t executing well in the first two sets, although Western [Kentucky] was,” Volpe said. “I felt like it took too long to make some adjustments defensively today.”

But Rice battled back in the third set, securing a 25-19 set victory to extend the match to a fourth set. Volpe said she wasn’t surprised that no team walked away with a straight-set win.

“We knew that today was going to be a battle and that it was probably going to go more than three sets for either team,” Volpe said.

The Owls carried their third-set momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to an early lead. Rice extended its lead to 19-12 on a play that led to a major increase in noise from the student section.

Lennon completed a kill that nailed Western Kentucky’s libero in the face and quickly

prompted the Rice Volleyball Twitter account to post a replay of the ball bouncing off the face of the Hilltoppers’ libero, while adding the hashtag “#SCtop10” in the subject of the post.

But after Rice finished off their fourth-set victory, the Hilltoppers responded with a 1614 victory in the pivotal fifth set. According to Volpe, Rice should seek several areas for improvement following the match.

“It could have gone either way and we are just on the wrong side of it today,” Volpe said.

“Western [Kentucky] definitely exposed some weaknesses that we need to work out heading into the last two matches of conference play.”

On the note of Senior Day, Volpe said each of the five seniors on the team has contributed to the program in a major way.

“They have all dealt with adversity in one shape or form,” Volpe said. “They have just left their mark going from a program that was really close to top-25 status as freshman to achieving top-20 in the nation and a lot of that has a ton to do with these seniors.”

Volpe also said the leadership of the five seniors on the team will be integral to the program’s future success.

“I think they have set strong examples for the younger players that will last a really long time,” Volpe said.

The Owls will look to continue adding to the resume of the five seniors in their final two conference games this season before the Conference USA quarterfinals begin at Tudor Fieldhouse on Nov. 22.

Women’s club soccer set for trip to nationals MADISON BUZZARD SPORTS EDITOR

Rice women’s club soccer will travel to compete in the Championship Division of the women’s club soccer national tournament from Nov. 21 - 23 in Round Rock, Texas. The Owls qualified for the national tournament by placing first in the Texas Club Soccer League Southeast League and claiming the Region IV South tournament title. During the regular season, the team finished undefeated.

This will be the first time the Owls compete in the Championship division of the national tournament. In 2015 and 2017, the Owls qualified for the lower-ranked Open Division via an at-large berth, according to co-captain Elizabeth Hoffmann, who also said this season is the first year Rice has won a regional tournament.

Each team competing in the national tournament will play at least three games against teams from their subdivision; then, two teams from each subdivision will qualify for a four-team, single-elimination playoff to determine the champion.

According to club president Elisa Arango, the Championship division semifinals and final will be played Saturday, Nov. 23.

In addition to having Arango, a Martel College senior, as its president, the

team has two co-captains: Hoffmann, a McMurtry College senior and Paula Ayala, a McMurtry junior.

Ayala said the training regime used by the team is intense.

“We’ll go into a possession game that incorporates transitioning from defense to offense, some technical drills, followed by fitness which is prescribed by our coaches,” Ayala said. “We are definitely doing more fitness than our last season and it has really paid off in games.”

The two coaches for Rice, Anna Klineberg (Will Rice College ’17) and Claudia Leon (Baker College ’15), are former Owls who played club soccer. Ayala said Rice is lucky to have Klineberg and Leon as coaches for the team.

According to Arango, the practices scheduled by Klineberg and Leon prepare the team for high-stress situations.

“We always start practices with a quick warm-up and stretching,” Arango said.

“We then move on to a couple of technical drills and a possession drill to work on transitions and moving the ball under high pressure.”

According to Klineberg, the starting players are subject to change prior to the national tournament.

“For the next [two] weeks, a starting position will depend on consistency and

dedication from the players leading up to Nationals,” Klineberg said. “I have an idea in mind of who I would like to start each game, but like I said, it’s dependent on who shows up to play each day, as well as who we are scheduled to play against.”

Ayala said the Owls are balanced and possess many playing strategies.

“Our style of play definitely changes depending on who we play,” Ayala said. “Sometimes we’re playing a more defensive game, sometimes more offensive. Regardless, we do a great job of building plays from the defense, through the midfield and onto our forwards. We are not a purely offensive or purely defensive team. We have great players in all three thirds of the field so we get to be flexible and creative.”

Ayala said the team is close-knit and the players like to compete together.

“It’s hard work but we each come ready to play and it helps that the team feels like a family, as cliche as that sounds,” Ayala said. “We enjoy being together on and off the field.”

According to Arango, Rice will play two matches on Thursday, Nov. 21 and one match Friday, Nov. 22. Rice will qualify for a semifinal match Saturday, Nov. 23 if the team finishes either first or second in its subdivision after Friday.

EDITOR’S COLUMN

Three takeaways from volleyball’s loss Rice volleyball lost on Sunday to Western Kentucky University, marking the Owls’ first loss in almost two months. Though the match ended on a sour note, it was a closely fought contest, with Rice battling back from an early deficit to force a decisive and dramatic fifth set that featured tense moments on nearly every point. Here are three notable takeaways from the match.

1. Rice was rusty early on The Owls came out of the gates a step slow against a very good Western Kentucky team.

Since beating the No. 3-ranked University of Texas on Sept. 18, Rice’s opponents have averaged a current RPI ranking of No. 160, with none of the teams currently ranked in the top 75 nationwide. With all due respect to the rest of Conference USA (save WKU), Rice is clearly a class above its recent competition.

None of Rice’s recent matchups provided the Owls much of a challenge; prior to Sunday’s game, Rice had dropped just one set in its 11 conference matches.

Western Kentucky, currently ranked No. 22, was an entirely different beast. In the first two sets, Rice struggled to dig powerful attacks from the Hilltoppers’ outside hitters, and the Owls’ back row consistently fell victim to WKU dumping the ball just over the reach of the Rice middle blockers. The Owls’ setters also didn’t perform up to their usual standards in the first half of the match, with several wayward sets compromising promising opportunities. Against other conference opponents, Rice probably would have gotten away with these mistakes. But Western Kentucky punished the Owls for their slow start.

2. The Owls hit their stride in the third set Rice came out of the halftime break with noticeably improved energy. Though this was the first time all year that the Owls had gone down 2-0, you wouldn’t have known that the team wasn’t used to playing from behind by watching the game. Rice was collected, composed and completely in control in both the third and fourth sets.

The team’s digging — a sore point in the first half — was excellent. Senior libero Lee Ann Cunningham and junior outside hitter Nicole Lennon led the Owls’ defensive stand, helping limit WKU to a paltry 0.181 hitting percentage, and Rice fought back with a potent offensive attack to nearly double the Hilltoppers’ hitting percentage. Until the tide changed again in the fifth set, the Owls looked for all the world like they were on their way to a comeback victory.

3. The loss really didn’t hurt Rice too much Despite the loss, Rice’s RPI ranking rose two spots to No. 15: a reflection of WKU’s legitimacy as a formidable opponent.

Though the defeat still stings, a 16-14 fifthset loss against a top-25 opponent isn’t too much of an indictment against the Owls’ NCAA tournament hopes. Beyond that, Rice gained valuable experience competing against Western Kentucky, who they’ll almost certainly face again in the upcoming C-USA Tournament, and hopefully the confidence to know that they can rally from an early deficit even against strong competition. And playing an opponent that can actually compete against them was a necessary eye-opener for an Owls team hoping to make a deep tournament run against top-notch programs. Rice won’t always dominate like they’re accustomed to, but in the loss to WKU the Owls showed they have the grit and tenacity to fight back even when things aren’t going their way.

MICHAEL BYRNES

SPORTS EDITOR HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 • 11

SWIMMING FALLS TO TEXAS A&M JOSHUA ANIL THRESHER STAFF

No. 12 Texas A&M University defeated Rice in swimming 158-102 on Saturday at the Owls’ first home dual meet of the year.

The loss was Rice’s first of the season, dropping the team’s record to 3-1.

The Owls had a swimmer or relay team place at least second in 10 of the 14 events, and prevented A&M from sweeping the podium in any event.

According to Rice head coach Seth Huston, Rice fought hard against the Aggies and improved as the day progressed.

“I was pretty happy with how we competed today,” Huston said. “I know what we’ve been doing training-wise, as you could see a lot of our athletes are as tired as they’ve been all year. I felt like we weren’t very sharp in the first event or two, and really, across the board, I feel like we got better and better as the meet went on and they relaxed a little more, focused a little more on our details, racing, turns, and I think we raced really well and had some great swims today.”

Overall, the Aggies won 12 of 14 events.

But in the final event of the day, much to the delight of the Rice fans in attendance, the Rice quartet of senior Kate Nezelek, freshman Sini Koivu and sophomores Marta Cano-Minarro and Becca Evans defeated Texas A&M in the 200-yard freestyle relay with the fastest time in Conference USA so far this season. The Owls beat the Aggies by a little less than a second, completing their swim in 1:33.55 compared to Texas A&M’s time of 1:34.44.

yIDI WANG / THRESHER

Senior swimmer Sarah Nowaski performs a freestyle stroke during Rice’s home dual meet against Texas A&M University on Saturday. Nowaski, who specializes in distance swimming, finished third in the 500-yard freestyle race and third in the 1,000-yard freestyle race.

According to Huston, the Owls must maintain their focus against top-ranked swimming programs.

“If we want to compete at the highest level, we have to show up here and our girls really have to not be distracted with [their opponents’ ranking], and have their best game plan intact and execute it,” Huston said.

Despite the final results, the Owls had several strong showings. In her first collegiate 200-yard backstroke race, freshman Zoe Spitz won the event with a time of 2:04.95, giving Rice its only other win of the day. Spitz also placed second in the 100-yard backstroke.

Huston said Spitz’s performances stood out during the day’s competition. “[Spitz] hit her lifetime best time in the [100-yard backstroke] and she rarely

swims the [200-yard backstroke],” Huston said. “I know as a freshman that is her first collegiate [200-yard backstroke] and she [ended] up winning.”

Evans, named C-USA’s Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 23, swam in the 400-yard medley relay and the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races in addition to anchoring the final relay. Evans said her performance during the meet was up-and-down.

“Overall there were many good races; some people had tough races, including myself,” Evans said. “I didn’t have the best day, I made some mistakes, but by the end of the day, that last relay, that’s my favorite thing to do, so that kind of brought me back full circle.”

Huston said Evans’ attitude enables her to successfully anchor the Owls’ relay team.

“I think more than anything, [Evans]

races for the team, and you always want someone like that anchoring,” Huston said.

“And fortunately for us, I think we have a number of people who could fill that spot in any given relay. We have a lot of girls that put the team on their back and they’ll go for it.”

Several freshman competed in the meet, and many of their advisors and Orientation Week groups were present to support them, equipped with signs and loud cheers. Spitz said she notices the support.

“It actually makes a really big difference,” Spitz said. “It’s really nice when people come out to support [the swim team]. Just being behind the blocks and hearing them cheering, it just means a lot.”

The Owls next meet is the Phill Hansel Invitational at the University of Houston Recreation Center on Nov. 21.

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BACKPAGE

12 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Breaking: Rapper Drake announced as Rice’s 2020 Commencement Speaker

The Office of Public Affairs announced this week that Canadian rapper Aubrey “Drake” Graham will deliver the commencement remarks for the class of 2020. This is a slightly confusing pick given the poor reception the rapper recently received at Camp Flog Gnaw, Tyler, the Creator’s music festival. This past weekend, when attendees were expecting Frank Ocean as the festival mystery guest, they booed Drake offstage. The Backpage has obtained an exclusive interview with Mr. Graham himself. He asked to be referred to with the first name Greatest and last name Ever, but the Backpage refused and settled on including his self-described “legal title” with his well-known stage name.

Backpage: So, Drake, you’ve had a rough week. Fans were hoping that you might appear here in Houston at AstroWorld. Instead, you were booed offstage at Camp Flog Gnaw on Sunday — is that correct?

Young Money Cash Money Billionaire Drake: You know, a great man once said “Never pay attention to the rumors and what they assume.”

BP: Are you quoting your own lyrics? Is that from “Best I Ever Had”?

YMCMBD: Look, all I’m saying is that: If they don’t have a story these days, they’ll make one.

BP: Okay, that’s from your song, “9.” Are you okay? Anyway, are you implying that it’s false that you had to cut your set short at Camp Flog Gnaw? There are countless videos and Tyler, the Creator has already responded to the incident.

YMCMBD: That was in the past. So if you’re asking where I’m moving, I’m saying “onto better things.”

BP: I know that those are your lyrics from “10 Bands,” but would you really consider Rice commencement better than a festival with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance?

YMCMBD: Sometimes you have to start at the bottom to get places, but I know that my whole team will be there.

BP: That kind of makes sense. Is it true that bookers, venue managers and promoters have been canceling events with you in the wake of being booed offstage? Some Rice students have been speculating that this commencement speech is the only thing you could book right now.

YMCMBD: I don’t think Rice students, with all of their early 2000s playlists interspersed with “Mr. Brightside” and slightly out-of-date Hot 100 songs, are in a position to be critical of my status as an artist. I wouldn’t even use “YOLO” unironically anymore — and I’d make money off it — but y’all are the type to. So, cut the attitude.

BP: Oh. YMCMBD: I’m sorry, that was really harsh. It just really seemed like you were tryna make me feel a way on purpose. Like you’re throwing it back in my face, on purpose. And you’re talking down on my name, on purpose. And you don’t feel no way, you think I deserve it.

BP: No, you’re right. Plus, “Feel No Ways” was my favorite song on “Views.” Okay, we’re down to the last couple of questions. Even though you’re Canadian, you rap a lot about Houston, are you excited to be back in the city for this occasion?

YMCMBD: It’s like I once told my good friend DJ Khaled in private, H-Town my second home like I’m James Harden.

BP: I don’t know if a line from your verse on his hit single “No New Friends” counts as an intimate conversation, but that’s cool.

Finally, the logo for your merchandise, OVO, is an owl. And of course, we here at Rice are also the Owls! What do you think about that fun connection?

YMCMBD: Well, my team good, we don’t really need a mascot. That being said, we do have one, and Rice will be receiving a letter from my legal team demanding royalties.

BP: To be frank, that’s absolutely ridiculous. But quoting “The Motto” is very in line with Rice students’ musical savvy, so I cannot complain, I cannot.

YMCMBD: First of all, how dare you use the word “Frank” around me during this sensitive time. Second of all, you owe me $20 for quoting “All Me” and another $100 if you use it in print.

BP: Great, see you in May. YMCMBD: Speaking of May, may your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, angels protect you and Heaven accept you. Peace out.

The Backpage is satire, written by Young Simoney Matovic and designed by Nothing Was the Sameona Matovic. For comments or questions, please bling her hotline: JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu.

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ADVERTISING

We accept display and classified advertisements. The Thresher reserves the right to refuse any advertising for any reason. Additionally, the Thresher does not take responsibility for the factual content of any ad. Printing an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement by the Thresher.

Display advertisements must be received by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication.

First copy free, second copy $5.

Cash, check or credit card payment must accompany your classified advertisement, which must be received by 12 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication.

Lindsay Josephs Advertising Manager thresher-ads@rice.edu P.O. Box 1892 Houston, TX 77005-1892 (713) 348-4801