The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, March 20, 2019

THE RICE THRESHER | VOLUME 103, ISSUE NO. 22 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

thank u, next

jordan foreman / courtesy conference usa

Owls sweep C-USA, punch ticket to NCAA Tournament ERIC BARBER SENIOR WRITER

The regular season and conference tournament champion Rice Owls are headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005. Even though the Owls moved up three spots in the Associated Press poll to No. 21, they were selected as the No. 12 seed in the Chicago region of the tournament bracket. In its first-round matchup, Rice will face Marquette University, the No. 5 seed, in College Station on Friday.

Rice earned an automatic berth into the field of 64 teams by winning the Conference USA tournament this

past weekend at The Star in Frisco. The Owls were the top seed, having gone undefeated in conference play during the regular season. The team won three games in the tournament on its way to lifting the first Conference USA tournament title in program history.

In the quarterfinals, the Owls took on the University of North Texas, cruising to a 61-43 victory. Next, in the semifinals, Rice faced Western Kentucky University.

Junior guard Erica Ogwumike, the newly crowned C-USA Player of the Year, carried the Owls to a doubledigit-deficit comeback victory, winning 64-57. In the championship game against Middle Tennessee State University, the Owls again found themselves down at the

Former Houston mayor to give commencement address EMILY ABDOW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Former Mayor of Houston Annise Parker (Jones ‘78) will return to her alma mater to deliver the commencement speech for Rice’s class of 2019.

Parker, a Houston native, graduated from Rice with a degree in anthropology, psychology and sociology. She became the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city when she assumed office as Houston’s 61st mayor in 2010 and served three consecutive terms until 2016.

“The greatest honor of my life has been to serve the citizens of Houston in [elected] office,” Parker said in a press release. “But I became an active volunteer in my teens and have served multiple community organizations in many capacities throughout my adult life, and that passion was strengthened and nurtured by my experiences at Rice. Rice’s commitment to preparing students to be leaders both in their fields of study and as engaged citizens

ANNISE PARKER

courtesy rice office of public affairs

in a rapidly changing world keeps inspiring me.”

After graduating from Rice, Parker worked in the oil and gas industry for 20 years as a software analyst.

She also co-owned Inklings, a lesbian/feminist bookstore, for ten years. She remained connected to Rice by founding the Gay and Lesbian Support Group in 1979.

On her third try, Parker won a seat on the Houston City Council in 1997, becoming Houston’s first openly gay official, and was re-elected for two consecutive terms. In 2003, she was elected City Controller and was also reelected for two consecutive terms.

In 2010, Time Magazine named Parker one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Parker is the current president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund and Victory Institute. She was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Community Development for nonprofit BakerRipley, where she assisted with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and as a member of Barack Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.

At Rice, she has served as a fellow at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders and a professor in the practice for Rice’s School of Social Sciences.

“We’re delighted to welcome one of our very own Rice Owls back to campus to deliver this year’s commencement address,” President David Leebron said in a press release. “Mayor Parker’s remarkable commitment to public service is an inspiration for our students and we look forward to the insights she will share with our graduates.”

half. However, in the second half Rice outscored the Blue Raiders by 23 points en route to a 69-54 win. Sophomore center Nancy Mulkey was named the tournament’s most valuable player, her second award of the week: just a few days earlier, Mulkey was awarded C-USA Defensive Player of the Year Honors. According to her, the championship victory was particularly meaningful.

“It’s definitely been an honor to break multiple records this year and to finally be playing in the postseason again,” Mulkey said. “To give that back to this university, to our fans, our coaching staff, my teammates, it means a lot.”

SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 10

‘At least i have you, egg.’ brings whimsy to the Media Center CHRISTINA TAN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

A series of illustrations drawn onto eggs have replaced the old film advertisements that typically line the walls of the Rice Media Center. They provide a quirky first impression for visitors and serve as the introduction to “At least i have you, egg.”, the 2019 Mavis C. Pitman Exhibition.

Each year, the Mavis C. Pitman Exhibition Fellowship sponsors visual and dramatic arts students by funding and hosting an original body of their work in the Rice Media Center. This year, students Julia Casbarian, Anna Fritz, Helena Martin and Abbey Perez bring a diverse body of work for viewing, engaging and questioning. The students were picked individually through an application process and provided grants to create their work.

And what about the eggs?

“Anna had ‘At least I have you, egg.’ written on a piece of paper and we all just thought it was funny,” Casbarian, a Baker College junior, said. “Our pieces are all so different that it made sense to use a completely unrelated title.”

Upon entering the Media Center’s main gallery, viewers are confronted with Casbarian’s and Fritz’s large sculptural works. To the right, Casbarian’s “Telefrag” imitates a cat’s play place and features a winding path formulated by hand-woven walls. Bright colors and wire peek out from every curve of “Telefrag”, culminating in a playful bunny sculpture to the front of the piece. According to the exhibit’s handout, “Telefrag” seeks to “transport human viewers into the world of a cat,” consequently shrinking the viewers’ gaze.

SEE EGG PAGE 8

Baker College junior Julia Casbarian’s sculpture, “Telefrag,” seeks to place the viewer in the perspective of a cat. christina tan / thresher

THE RICE THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

NEWS heard AR

UNDcampus

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL AKIN BRUCE Lovett College senior

DISAPPOINTED BUT...

“I’m honestly surprised that people are surprised that this is happening.”

COCKTAIL GOSSIP

NATALIE ZUR Brown College junior

“It’s bullshit that people ignore the systemic ways the upper middle class takes advantage of the college admissions process and instead focus on [this].”

MARCUS TIERRABLANCA Lovett College sophomore

TAKING 5 LPAPS

“I think it’s even funnier that the kids involved don’t even care about getting into college.”

MANDY QUAN Will Rice College junior

YOU HEARD HER “I’m so done. Take them down.”

infographic by sydney garrett

Pompeo recruits at Rice ERIC STONE OPINION EDITOR Secretary of State Mike Pompeo encouraged Rice students to consider a career with the U.S. Department of State as part of an effort to expand and diversify recruitment.

“I’ll be honest, I think government agencies in Washington, D.C. focus a little too much on schools on that are on the East Coast. That’s one of the reasons I’m [here],” Pompeo said.

Pompeo’s appeal comes at a difficult time for the State Department. To serve in the department as a foreign service officer, applicants must first take the foreign service exam — and the number of hopefuls taking the test has dropped sharply, according to NBC News reporter Dan De Luce.

A recent Texas A&M University graduate who was granted anonymity said he’d considered foreign service but recently decided against it. Though he has the right background for the department — an internship with the State Department and a stint in the Peace Corps — he’s deterred by what he sees as mismanagement. “[Former Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson and Pompeo have totally hollowed out the upper management of the department, while the president’s office has been terrible at appointing ambassadors. It’s a blatant disrespect for the role of [the] State [Department],” the graduate said.

Asked about the graduate’s concerns, Pompeo pushed back.

“Yeah, I’d just tell him he’s just wrong,” Pompeo said. “I’d tell this gentleman that every day, I learn from career foreign service officers. I hear them, I see them, I take on board their ideas.”

The nonpartisan nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which tracks federal government employee morale, noted declines in State Department employee engagement

in the past two years. Less than half of surveyed employees expressed confidence in the department’s senior leadership.

Jones College junior Matthew Brehm, who plans to intern with the State Department this summer, said that a State Department internship does not seem like a popular option for Rice students. Brehm said he only knows of two others who applied.

Elizabeth Stone (Brown College ‘18), who interned with the State Department in 2017, emphasized the university’s role in promoting careers in civil service — she said that in her time at Rice, no one spoke to her about working for the government.

“Rice does not advocate for or encourage civil service or foreign service careers, and I am not sure why,” Stone said.

Ambassador Eric Nelson (Lovett College ‘83), who is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that the department relies on people with varied areas of expertise.

“If we only had political scientists and law degree holders in the State Department, we’d be pretty limited in our effectiveness,” Nelson said.

illustration by esther tang

After shooting, students speak on Muslim experience AMY QIN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The shooting was so disturbing because it happened in such a peaceful place.

Raidah Ahmed BAKER COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

Muslim students in the Rice community reflected on their experiences both at Rice and outside the hedges in the wake of the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week that killed 50 people and injured 50 more.

Naimah Sarwar, a McMurtry College senior, said she was in the middle of leading an Alternative Spring Break trip when she received the news of the shooting over a phone call.

“I honestly didn’t know what to feel or think. I felt numb,” Sarwar said. “It wasn’t until the next day, Friday, our holy day, that I slowly began to process. Words cannot express how inundated I felt by news updates, learning about the victims and this unshakeable heaviness in my chest.”

Raidah Ahmed, a Baker College sophomore, said that hearing of the shooting affected her on a personal level.

“The mosque is a very sacred and special place for my family,” Ahmed said. “It’s where I spent a good amount of my childhood, laughing away with my best friends. It’s a safe place where we worship and come together. The shooting was so disturbing because it happened in such a peaceful place and it happened to people who just as easily could have been us.”

Simi Rahman, a Wiess College junior, said she is sending love and prayers to the Muslim community in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“This devastating shooting took the lives of so many Muslims, on the

holiest day of the week in their place of worship,” Rahman said. “It absolutely terrifies me that an act of violence of this scale is real, happening in countries we assumed to be safe, in the places we assume to be the safest.”

Sarwar said she is both touched by the outpouring of support toward the victims of the shooting from the rest of the world and impressed by the New Zealand Prime Minister’s pledge to tighten gun regulations.

“Videos of students performing the Haka dance and showing up in solidarity with the Muslim community have been incredible to watch,” Sarwar said.

“What has been perhaps most surprising has been the swift response of the government of New Zealand in response SEE CHRISTCHURCH PAGE 3

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 • 3

CHRISTCHURCH FROM PAGE 2 to gun violence and their commitment to support the families of victims.”

Ahmed said that she and fellow Muslims were unfortunately not surprised at the occurrence of another tragedy fueled by hate.

“Being a Muslim in America, in the current political climate, this news wasn’t shocking,” Ahmed said. “Islamophobia is present almost everywhere, and from a young age I had to learn how to deal with it.”

At Rice, Ahmed said she has found a small but supportive Muslim community, and that Rice students as a whole have generally been accepting.

She said, however, that there is a dearth of other Muslims with experiences similar to hers.

“Sometimes I go weeks without seeing another hijabi on [Rice’s] campus and it feels very isolating and lonely,” Ahmed said. “I wish I had a stronger support system on campus.”

Saad Yousaf, president of the Muslim Student Association, said that although the Rice community has largely been supportive of the Muslim community, some underlying Islamophobic sentiment is still present.

“Many groups on campus have been so willing to help out,” Yousaf, a McMurtry College senior, said. “At the same time, the Muslim community knows that whatever we do is almost never enough, and sentiments of Islamophobia still persist.”

A vigil will be held at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Willy’s Statue in the Academic Quad to honor the victims of the Christchurch shooting. It is organized by MSA and the Islamophobia Resistance Campaign, according to Sarah Smati, a member of IRC. Several students will be speaking at the vigil, along with Craig Considine, a lecturer in the sociology department and an IRC sponsor. The vigil will also consist

of a Quranic recitation and a moment of silence to honor the 50 fallen, according to Smati.

Yousaf said he also coordinated with the Jewish Studies department, Rice Hillel and the Student Association to put together the event. SA President Ariana Engles has created a guiding document in case such vigils need to be planned in the future, according to Rahman.

On Monday afternoon, Rice President David Leebron sent an email to the student body expressing solidarity with members of the Muslim co m m u n i t y.

He encouraged Rice students to attend the vigil on Wednesday night.

Leebron will be in attendance at Wednesday’s vigil, Smati said.

“I hope all who can attend will do so for several reasons,” Leebron said in the email.

“First, to demonstrate our common humanity and solidarity with those who are the victims of hate and persecution everywhere. Second, to stand in support of our values of tolerance, inclusion and non-discrimination. And third, to express to the Muslim members of our community that we recognize their pain and fear due to this attack, and that we stand with them.”

Sarwar said that she hopes the vigil will provide a space for students to grieve but that it will also motivate concrete change for the future.

“I am always so moved by the quick response students at Rice have in organizing vigils in the face of tragedy, in solidarity with the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, Syria and France amongst others,” Sarwar said. “That said, each time it becomes harder and more heartbreaking to show up. I hope that we take this time to grieve but also that part of our collective healing can be working together against xenophobia and for policy change that can end this kind of senseless violence.”

The Muslim community knows that whatever we do is almost never enough, and sentiments of Islamophobia still persist.

Saad Yousaf MCMURTRY COLLEGE SENIOR

N THE RADAR VIGIL FOR CHRISTCHURCH VICTIMS March 20 @ 8 p.m. // Willy’s Statue

Please join the Muslim Student Association at Rice for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening to commemorate the victims and stand in solidarity with the Muslim community and all impacted by this vicious attack.

FACULTY ARTS SHOWCASE

March 20 @ 7 p.m. // Moody Center for the Arts Join the faculty in arts, music and creative writing this Wednesday evening as they present and discuss their current creative projects and works. The presentation will be followed by a wine and cheese reception.

2019 RISE LECTURE: CHRIS SIMS March 21 @ 5 p.m. // Duncan Hall

On Thursday, March 21 in Duncan Hall, the Rice School of Social Sciences is hosting Chris Sims, the 2011 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to deliver the Rice Initiative for the Study of Economics lecture series.

CIVIC DUTY RICE VDVR TRAINING March 23 @ 2 p.m. // Sewall 303

Join Civic Duty Rice to get trained as a Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar. Under Texas law, anyone who wishes to register voters must be deputized as a VDR by the county in order to handle completed voter registration forms.

CONVICT LEASING SYMPOSIUM April 12 @ 8:30 a.m. // Glasscock School

Join this opportunity for education and scholarly discussion on the history of convict leasing in the American South. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees must pre-register as space is limited.

Refreshments and boxed lunches will be provided to participants.

infographic by sumin hwang

NEWS

4 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

English major to include specializaitons, new course RYND MORGAN THRESHER STAFF

“We thought of the areas as a way to help you think about what you’re doing, and to make choices along the way to help The English major will include you define for yourself what you’re doing, specializations and a new course for senior so that you have a sense of design or shape to your interests … [and] ultimately have English majors beginning in Fall 2019.

The English Department will add some relationship between your area the Senior Seminar and Workshop of specialization and career prospects down the road,” Experience, a twoComer said. semester, six credit The Senior hour course, according Seminar and to Associate Professor W o r k s h o p Sarah Ellenzweig. The I think this [course] Experience is class will be optional is a space where you also meant to for English majors who compliment the matriculated before Fall can all get ot know four new areas 2019, and the previous each other and feel specialization English senior capstone like you’re united in a of within the updated courses will still be English major, available for students common, productive according to Ian who matriculated before cause.

Schimmel, Lecturer Fall 2019. in Creative Writing.

The Senior Seminar Ian Schimmel “The broad and Workshop LECTURER IN CREATIVE goals of [The Experience will WRITING Senior Seminar and consist of ten large group meetings and two small group Workshop] and the reason why we felt we meetings each semester, according needed something like this is because the to the department’s sample syllabus. specializations need to go somewhere,” During the fall semester, the students Schimmel said. “By three years of study, will be required to compile annotated you’re ready to do something, you’re ready bibliographies, a research prospectus to make something, and say something, or experiment with something.” and some completed written work.

According to Schimmel, the The course was created in part as a response to student concerns about department intends for the Senior the current senior capstone courses, Seminar and Workshop Experience to serve as a source of community and according to Ellenzweig.

“There was a sense that the capstones support, in response to English majors could be frustrating, that it seemed like who expressed the major does not there were never enough of them offered, provide as many community-building and that the topics seemed really narrow, opportunities as other majors.

“I hear a lot from our majors that, and that because of that [English majors] weren’t necessarily in this final research ‘Oh, you know we don’t have a lot of opportunity doing the research that [they] community because we’re not like MECHEs, we don’t have study groups,’ would want to do,” Ellenzweig said.

The new areas of specialization and I think that’s true, we don’t have include culture and social change, those opportunities that form early literature and literary history, visual on that form those bonds,” Schimmel and comparative media and science, said. “I think [the Senior Seminar and medicine and the environment. One of Workshop Experience] is a space where the purposes of the new specializations, you can all get to know each other and according to Professor Krista Comer, is feel like you’re united in a common, for students to discover what specifically productive cause.”

The course also provides a way for they are interested in as they progress in students to pursue less traditional and the major.

interdepartmental forms of research, according to Assistant Professor of English Lacey Johnson.

“Research is a process, but the product that it makes can take many, many forms,” Johnson said. “There’s a sense of devaluing of the kind of research we do. But I think an opportunity like this, where we dedicate not just time and attention but a whole year to the questions that are urgent and pressing for you is a tremendous opportunity to conduct research and to share it.”

For students who intend on graduating in December or plan to study abroad during their senior year, the course can be started in their junior year and completed in their senior year.

The English Department will also be teaching Rice’s literary magazine, R2: The Rice Review, as a course next fall. Since 2004, the literary magazine has been operated as a student organization. This year, R2 more than doubled submissions by accepting artists Houston-wide.

Ellie Mix, one of the current editors-inchief of R2, said that she is thrilled that Schimmel will be teaching the R2 class.

“As one of the EICs of R2, I have learned so much about the intricacies of the publishing industry,” Mix, a Martel College junior, said. “Following the magazine from start to finish has been such a fruitful experience — this course will give you a glimpse of all the things that happen behind the scenes.”

New Departmental Requirements Senior Seminar and Workshop Experience - 6 total credit hours - Required for those who matriculate Fall 2019 and after

New concentrations within major studies - Culture and Social Change - Literature and Literary History - Visual and Comparative Media - Science, Medicine and the Environment

Companion courses for students involved in R2: The Rice Review infographic by sumin hwang

NEWS IN BRIEF Rice Emergency Medical Services named EMS organization of the year

The National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation named Rice EMS the organization of the year out of over 250 collegiate organizations at the 26th annual NCEMSF conference in February.

Kinesiology lecturer Lisa Basgall has been the organization’s director since 2009.

“Receiving this award was a moment to stop and be grateful for everyone who has contributed in so many ways to REMS over the past 23 years, and to look forward to the future and dream of new possibilities,” Basgall said in a Rice News story.

According to Rice News, Rice’s organization last won the title of organization of the year in 2000. REMS recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of its founding, having answered its first calls in 1996.

REMS is also recognized as a HEARTSafe Campus, which according to the NCEMSF’s website, “recognizes quality campus-based EMS organizations and their communities and hold them out as examples to other campuses as a means to improve overall cardiac arrest care.”

According to Rice News, the group responded to 652 emergency calls and provided 2,029 hours of coverage for events, including athletic games and public parties, in 2018. The year before, REMS

responded to 627 emergency calls. 250 required transport to a healthcare facility, and REMS treated the other 377 on-site.

In 2018, REMS has 75 undergraduate volunteers and 30 part-time staff members, as well as 21 alumni, who taught EMS courses and provided coverage support for major events,

according to Rice News. REMS also has six physicians who provide medical support and training for the volunteers.

illustration by esther tang

ANNA TA NEWS EDITOR

THE RICE THRESHER

5 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

More to the story

OPINION

Read and share the full version of Abigail Panitz’s eye-opening op-ed online this week.

See more at ricethresher.org

STAFF EDITORIAL

Cut class & head to College Station Friday

The women’s basketball team received potentially great news on Monday: when it tips off its opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 1 p.m., it will do so a mere two hour drive from its home court — in College Station on the campus of Texas A&M University. Rice has a chance to send enough fans to make it feel like a home game. That could matter. A lot.

Owls are undefeated at home this season, and they are 30-1 at Tudor Fieldhouse dating back to the opening game of the 2017 Women’s Basketball Invitational. Given the Owls’ excellent performance in front of a home crowd, the presence of Rice fans could

make the difference between a first round exit and a Cinderella tournament run.

Sure, the game is in the middle of a school day. But if you’ve cut class because you didn’t want to get out of bed, you can definitely cut class for the most important Rice sporting event in recent history. Since the 2016 women’s tennis season, no Rice team has advanced past the opening stage of the NCAA Tournament in any sport. The women’s basketball team has a chance to do that on Friday in front of a national audience on ESPN2.

If you don’t have a car, Rally Club has already sent out emails and made Facebook

posts saying that the club is organizing transportation. If you leave around 10 a.m., you’ll get back around 6 p.m. It’s a large time commitment, but it’s one that Rice students should be willing to make in order to cheer the Owls to victory. Professors, too, can make a difference by excusing student absences if they can prove they attended the game.

Watching the women’s basketball team compete in the NCAA Tournament is going to be a treat for all of us. But it is beyond fortunate that Rice has the opportunity to play its opening matchup so close to campus.

Let’s make College Station feel like it’s inside the hedges on Friday.

OP-ED

Rice’s anticlimactic process of desegregation Though it reports to rank highest in themselves. These assumptions skirted the race-class interaction, Rice is not the most possibility of actually integrating students socially aware campus in the United States through direct outreach and support. Several by a long stretch, nor does it advertise itself professors interviewed, including Galambos to be. Having researched the cultural climate and Gruber, mentioned that they met offof Rice in the 1960s last semester, I’d argue campus to discuss this and other social issues that this isn’t a new phenomenon. While we in small groups, but Faculty Senate records can’t change the core of our student culture, show their ideas were not implemented.

When looking back on the most dramatic we can and ought to think more critically about our social history, which is necessary to instances of student and faculty-driven acknowledge as we shape our current culture. protest on campus in the 1960s and early ’70s, The recent uncovering of photographs of the professors I interviewed mentioned nonstudents in blackface and other records racial events. It is not surprising that Rice did of racism on campus — cultural artifacts not have a campus-wide summit or reckoning hidden in plain sight in public archives — or cultural shift upon desegregating. What we have demanded our attention and sparked now remember as monumental social shifts conversations among students, faculty and in fact only inspired minimal reactions from administrators. The fact that Rice fits into university administrations across the nation, a larger pattern of racism and exclusionary and one could even argue that Rice was on the more productive side tactics across American of the coin. Rice students campuses does not voted as an overwhelming mean we should cast majority to desegregate this history aside. Little changed before campus in a Rice We ought to critically or after desegregation, the Thresher poll that followed engage with our history a SA Senate referendum as a predominantly but this inaction is calling for desegregation in white institution, and troubling: I would December of 1961. Overtly pointing out where and argue this lack racist op-eds published when infrastructure has of activity made in our newspaper were failed our institution’s students of color is a members of the school typically met with chiding responses in the following good place to start. socially complacent. week’s Thresher issue from When I started researching the desegregation of Rice for my faculty and students. The campus was not final paper in HIST 421: Race, Education and violently shaken by race riots. In short, little Society in the American South, I assumed changed before or after desegregation, but that the announcement of the university’s this inaction is troubling: I would argue this desegregation would have produced a lack of activity made members of the school wide range of reactions in the news, in socially complacent.

By any present-day standards, Rice Rice publications and other sources. I was mistaken. As evidenced by records from failed to support the Black students that The Thresher, local Houston and Texas it actively went out and recruited. During newspapers and through interviews of the period between desegregation and professors like Ira Gruber, Davidson and Louis today, a lack of infrastructure undoubtedly Galambos, it is very likely that the social shift hindered the black student experience. This did not bring about a monumental reaction absence of support was not for lack of trying. or event of any kind in the days, weeks and Professors had the drive to lead productive even months after the decision. Rice was conversations and develop programming that legally permitted to desegregate in 1964 after would critically support the Black experience the Board of Trustees voted to change the of the first classes of Rice students. The late founding charter, but the institution endured Alan Grob led a body called the Minority a lawsuit that eventually upheld the ruling by Admissions Council, which was a standing 1967. By the time Rice got court approval, many committee of the Faculty Senate that grew top-tier universities and Southern neighbors to add student involvement through the had already desegregated, so there wasn’t SA but unfortunately only lasted for a much worth noting in newspaper coverage. couple of years, as Faculty Senate records That said, internal Rice documentation of the in the Woodson Research Center Special process, at least what’s available for public Collections & Archives show. Given access, is sparse. There are very few records the lack of attention paid to the of meetings between board members, faculty, cause in the Faculty Senate administration and others on how to prepare archival documents, it Rice for desegregation. The university is evident that the changed the general admissions strategy administration’s overall, as indicated by Faculty Senate lack of attention interest, records and in faculty interviews, but the or administration and Board of Trustees made i n t e n t i o n a l otherwise, no other significant efforts to accommodate or black students. As Black students began to c u r t a i l e d potential enroll, it appears that administrators assumed the they would settle into the pre-existing of such ideas. it structure and carve out a Rice experience for Unfortunately,

would take decades for preparatory programs to emerge (the Rice Emerging Scholars Program, for example, started in 2012). The Faculty Senate minutes acknowledged Grob’s ideas but show that the Senate did not discuss them nor allocate funding or personnel to see them through. The Minority Admissions Council, arguably one of the most progressive initiatives proposed to the Senate over these years, was limited in scope to recruiting high school students rather than welcoming and preparing admitted students to life at Rice.

Mentorship programs and affinity groups emerged over time, but they were not given funding and faculty support soon enough.

We cannot change the fact that Rice was not an ideal place for students who matriculated in the wake of the Charter trial.

But we can be cognizant of the way that this institution has ignored the needs of nonwhite students. We must chronicle their experiences through historical and sociological research and interviews more fully; without anecdotal evidence, we have no way of concluding where and how Rice has improved its support mechanisms for non-white individuals within the predominantly white institution.

It is important to remember that Rice is not the product just of its forward-thinking, and mostly inclusive student body and faculty. We are an institution affected by our problematic past, just as any other. Without further recognition, research and dedication to these issues, we risk complacency.

This piece has been condensed for print.

Read the full piece online at ricethresher.org

ABIGAIL PANITZ HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

STAFF

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

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

Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center: 6100 Main St., MS-524 Houston, TX 77005-1892 Phone (713) 348-4801 Email: thresher@rice.edu Website: www.ricethresher.org Andrew Grottkau* & Emily Abdow* Editors-in-Chief NEWS Anna Ta* Editor Rishab Ramapriyan Asst. Editor Amy Qin Asst. Editor FEATURES Elizabeth Rasich* Editor Ella Feldman Asst. Editor SPORTS Michael Byrnes* Editor Madison Buzzard Asst. Editor OPINION Eric Stone* Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Christina Tan* Editor & Designer Katelyn Landry Asst. Editor BACKPAGE Simona Matovic Editor & Designer PHOTO Charlene Pan Editor Sirui Zhou Editor COPY Vi Burgess Editor Bhavya Gopinath Editor ONLINE Ryan Green Digital Content Editor Charlie Paul Web Editor Nick McMillan Video Editor DESIGN Sydney Garrett Director Sumin Hwang News Designer Jennifer Fu Features Designer Tina Liu Sports Designer Dalia Gulca Opinions Designer Esther Tang Illustrator BUSINESS OPERATIONS Prad Biswas Ads Manager Mai Ton Social Media/Marketing Manager Isabella Gandara Distribution Manager Karoline Sun Special Projects *Editorial Board member The Thresher is a member of the ACP, TIPA, CMA and CMBAM. © Copyright 2019

cartoon by dalia gulca

THE RICE THRESHER

6 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

FEATURES

omaha

san francisco las vegas

colorado springs

baltimore

cincinnati kansas city

ELIZABETH RASICH

FEATURES EDITOR

Madison Nasteff needed to find a way to fill her summer before starting her job designing running shoes for Nike. Then the perfect opportunity arose: a 49-day, 4000+ mile relay across the country. The run, 4K for Cancer, fundraises for the Ulman Foundation, which provides resources for young adults with cancer.

“I wasn’t sure it was a legit thing,” Nasteff, a Baker College senior, said. “I saw it from an Instagram ad.”

But Nasteff had been thinking about running across the country for a while.

She hypothesized that maybe Instagram’s algorithm picked up on her internet searches and determined she was an avid runner. The chance to raise money for cancer patients and cancer survivors made the opportunity all the more worthwhile.

“It seemed like a really cool cause,” Nasteff said. “I could actually be making a real difference.”

Nasteff is starting in San Francisco and running to Baltimore in a team of 30. The group will tag-team running in 2-3 mile spurts as pairs. When they’re not running, they’ll rest in a van that heads to the next checkpoint.

She’ll run a total of 10-15 miles a day. To prepare, she’s been training extensively.

“I’m definitely there in terms of [running] ten minute miles,” Nasteff said. “I’m just working on building up to exercising for 6 days a week.”

She won’t be running every day, though.

“Some of them are rest days where we just get to hang out in whatever city we’re in at that time and then some days are service days so we go and interact members of the

community,” Nasteff said. “Ulman does a scholarship program for cancer survivors so we get to deliver two scholarships on the way, which’ll be really fun.”

All of the team’s food and lodging is donated. Each day two of the people who aren’t running ride in a van to secure food for the day.

“They drive to Chipotle or pizza places or grocery stores and ask them if they’ll donate whatever food for the day,” Nasteff said.

Nasteff is one of three directors of the run, so she’s taken on the responsibility of helping to ensure that the team will have a place to stay each night.

She said she’s excited that the route goes through Kansas City, Missouri, her hometown, and she’ll be securing hosts for that day.

“My parents will get us dinner and I’ll get to see my dogs and my family,” Nasteff said.

“That’s what I’m most excited for.”

One requirement all runners must fulfill is raising $4,500. By asking family members, doing a fundraiser at Chipotle and other events, Nasteff has raised $3,328.35 so far.

Ian Frankel, a Martel College senior who donated in Nasteff’s name, said that after training for and running the Houston Marathon with Nasteff, he knows that she is mentally and physically tough.

“Physically running across the country is reason enough to be amazed,” Frankel said.

“Running across the country to help others is reason to admire her.”

Frankel said he was happy to donate.

“If she’s running 4,000 miles, the least I can do is donate $40,” he said.

New magisters head over heels for Hanszen IVANKA PEREZ STAFF WRITER

Hanszen College’s new magisters, Fabiola Lopez-Duran and Carlos Martinez-Rivera, are an adventurous couple. From their love of travel and the fact that they have lived in three different continents, it’s clear that they enjoy excitement in life. But many Rice students might not know their most adventurous choice — getting engaged only one week after they met.

“It was a shock for [Martinez-Rivera’s] entire family,” said Lopez-Duran.

Lopez-Duran met Martinez-Rivera through his cousin Simón, who she met while in graduate school in Italy. They were such good friends that she visited his hometown — Caracas, Venezuela — every chance she got. She actually met Simón’s entire family before she met Carlos. In fact, Lopez-Duran and Simón were so close that Lopez-Duran said Martinez-Rivera’s family expected her to marry him.

But about twenty-five years ago, while visiting Caracas for the festival Carnaval, the two ran into each other and immediately hit it off. They spent the next few days sneaking away from Martinez-Rivera’s family to spend time together.

“I [felt] for the first time like a bad woman,” Lopez-Duran said. “I love[d] it.”

Although their quick engagement mirrors that of many current celebrities, it was a shock to both of their families. Not only did they barely know each other, but Lopez-

Finally, Martinez-Rivera and Lopez-Duran Duran said that she and Martinez-Rivera were also as different as could be. Martinez-Rivera were reunited in Houston when Lopez-Duran was a “country man” who worked in fields, became an art history professor at Rice.

After facing the adventure of a long-distance whereas Lopez-Duran was a city girl.

Although Lopez-Duran’s family was marriage for so many years, they have decided pleased that she was engaged after years of to pursue a new adventure: being college vowing she’d never get married, they were magisters. Lopez-Duran, who was already also hesitant about how little the couple teaching at Rice, said she applied because she knew about each other. But Lopez-Duran wanted the chance to be part of the student reassured them that marriage was the right experience outside of the classroom.

Mar tinez-River a, move, telling her mom, however, had slightly “I’m having fun!” different reasons for “Every year for our wanting to apply. anniversary, [my mother] Although his wife formed calls me and she always [Being] magister is an immediate connection asks, ‘Are you still having perfect for me. [It with Rice through her fun?’” Lopez-Duran said. provides] a sense of job, his connection grew “Which is so sweet.” belonging to Rice. slowly. First, it was a place But a few years after to play pick-up soccer getting married, they with the neighbors. Then, encountered a major Carlos Martinez-Rivera obstacle: distance. After INCOMING HANSZEN MAGISTER he found work making and editing videos in years of working, LopezDuran decided to pursue a doctorate in Fondren Library’s Digital Media Commons. the history, theory and criticism of art and He began spending more and more time on architecture at the Massachusetts Institute campus until he found himself wanting a personal connection to the university. of Technology. “[Being] magister is perfect for me,” But Martinez-Rivera had to stay in Venezuela for his job, forcing them to Martinez-Rivera said. “[It provides] a sense of commute between Caracas and Boston for belonging to Rice.”

Although Martinez-Rivera and Lopezfour years. When Martinez-Rivera finally joined her in Boston, she had to leave to Duran applied to all three open magister pursue opportunities in France and then positions — at Sid Richardson College, Lovett College and Hanszen — Martinezthe University of California, Berkeley.

Although difficult, Martinez-Rivera said Rivera said that he felt an instant connection this distance was more manageable because to Hanszen. After talking to Madison Grimes, a Hanszen junior and the chair of Hanszen’s they were finally in the same country.

magister search committee, it clicked for Martinez-Rivera.

“I told Fabiola, ‘That’s the place,’” Martinez-Rivera said. “[It was] what we were looking for [and] exactly what we were thinking of.”

Both Martinez-Rivera and Lopez-Duran already have plans for their time as Hanszen magisters. Their main goal is to make Houston — especially its opportunities, diversity and culture — more accessible to Hanszen. They are excited about sharing photography, films and art with Hanszen students to emphasize the significance of humanities, something they both strongly believe in. MartinezRivera is particularly excited to share his experiences volunteering at the Red Cross for Hurricane Harvey and at incubator kitchens in San Francisco.

Lopez-Duran and Martinez-Rivera are looking forward to taking part in the residential college system, which they feel is an important and unique part of Rice.

Unlike many universities, which organize dorms by fields of study, both believe that the diversity of Rice’s residential colleges motivates important ideas such as ethics and innovation. “[Residential colleges foster] diversity in every single sense — not only in terms of race and gender, but also in terms of knowledge,” Lopez-Duran said.

If their goal is to encourage diversity at Hanszen, Lopez-Duran and Martinez-Rivera — who have lived in countless cities in at least three different continents — might just be the perfect couple to do so.

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 • 7

The time has arrived for student surveys.

The Survey of All Students (SAS) launches March 22 and the Senior Exit Survey (SES) launches April 19.

• Student surveys are critical to the continued improvement of Rice University. Responses can impact academic and administrative policies. Student surveys exist to provide a voice to the student population at Rice.

• The AAU Climate Survey is a new module administered in partnership with dozens of other research universities in the Association of American Universities (AAU). This critically important survey will help inform university efforts to combat sexual misconduct.

Spring 2019 Undergraduate Survey of All Students

Personal Survey Portal

AAU Climate Survey module deals with sexual misconduct.

Spring Academic Experiences survey module asks questions related to students’ experiences involving research, design, publication, and inquiry-based learning.

Academic and Personal Goals and Interests survey module asks questions pertaining to academic pursuits and commuting.

Student Association and Residential Colleges survey module asks questions related to student life on campus.

Student Groups survey module asks questions about student participation in groups and clubs on campus.

COFHE Enrolled Students Survey module contains some overlap with questions asked in other modules. However, survey data allows Rice to benchmark against peer universities.

• The SAS and the SES are divided into separate modules.

Modules can be completed individually and at your convenience.

• The COFHE Enrolled Students survey module is administered in partnership with the Consortium of Financing Higher Education and permits Rice to benchmark against peer universities such as Stanford and MIT. • An excellent example of providing student voice is the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey administered last semester in order to hear from students about their health and permits Rice to benchmark against other similar universities.

• Please review, complete, and submit all modules. All holds will be removed within one business day (Monday through Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm) after completing and submitting all survey modules. Please report any issues to oiehelp@rice.edu

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Let ________ dogs lie “Ideas worth spreading” group _____ dog has its day It’s _____ing cats and dogs Gel for a BIOC major Grain on a cob At your ___’s end Chest muscle, briefly The best-laid plans of ____ and men ____ one’s coattails Unwanted email The ball’s in your _____ She, they, and you in German Make a mountain out of a ________

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THE RICE THRESHER

8 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

‘Captain Marvel’: hit or miss?

For the first time in 11 years, Marvel Studios has released a superhero flick featuring a woman. Read our writer’s review.

See more on ricethresher.org

The main gallery of the Rice Media Center hosts Julia Casbarian’s “Telefrag” and Anna Fritz’s “Zwischenraum,” two sculptures made specifically for the Pitman exhibition.

FROM PAGE 1

EGG

“I made a small sculpture in class that was two plaster bunny heads connected by a plastic purse handle, which really reminded me of teleportation accidents in cartoons, especially one episode of SpongeBob [SquarePants],” Casbarian said. “When I decided to make a giant cat play space, I thought it fit perfectly with this idea of a teleportation machine, so I just went with it very naturally.”

Casbarian also said that she intends for viewers to interact with the sculpture and come away with their own conclusions through their activation.

One interesting aspect of the sculpture is a window, left at a lower height in the sculpture. When peering through it, viewers can glimpse a literal window into Fritz’s piece, which stands adjacent to “Telefrag.”

Fritz designed and built “Zwischenraum,” a tall wooden set that viewers can also walk through. Resembling a gallery space, “Zwischenraum” is born from a critique of boring, staid gallery spaces.

“I came up with my concept for “Zwischenraum” in a sculpture class last year,” Fritz, a Baker junior, said. “The prompt was to design an art exhibition for the Rice Art Gallery. Instead of using paintings and sculptures to fill the space, I became fascinated with the idea of creating false exhibition walls to create a

new gallery experience, which would be Perez credits “everyone on eBay who sold me lots of 500 floppy tapes, and more entirely void of traditional art works.”

Fritz, who is also majoring in art history without batting an eye.”

“I took Handmade Film last semester, and architecture, said that she finds the museum experience to be highly individual which is all about working with 16-millimeter and sometimes boring, an experience film, and I discovered that I really like handthat she expects when entering galleries. editing film,” Perez, a Wiess College senior, “Zwischenraum” seeks to challenge this said. “I got the idea for this project when I was sitting in class dematerialization of in the Media Center artwork, confronting and there was an old viewers with a blank TV monitor in front of gallery wall and the screen. Dr. [Tish] only solid colors to It wasn’t a conscious choice to be different, Stringer was pulling up entertain them. a YouTube video, and “I kept but we all came up with for a moment, the play envisioning a scene our ideas separately so button was projected of people entering a onto the side of the gallery and seeing all of our pieces were monitor. I just thought nothing but gallery very different because of it was a cool image, walls and empty that. and it started me down frames and not the rabbit hole that led knowing what to Julia Casbarian to this project.” do,” Fritz said. “I BAKER COLLEGE JUNIOR Perez took this thought this might offer a new way of approaching ‘artworks,’ accidental inspiration to heart, hand where visitors were confronted with a bleaching and painting 16-millimeter film. spatial experience as opposed to any clear She mapped the film clips using theater technology in an effort to bring new object to look at.”

The Media Center doesn’t seem to suffer life to a medium that may otherwise be the same problem of gallery monotony considered outdated.

“I know that I have grown up in the digital — viewers can move from Fritz’s and Casbarian’s dynamic pieces to Martin’s and age, so a lot of analog stuff seems to me like Perez’s, located upstairs. Perez’s “VHS, it’s less convenient or extremely outdated,” CRT, Celluloid, Remixed” installation Perez said. “But I wanted to give all the old features a set of stacked televisions playing stuff that I found a new life and use it in a remixed, bleached film. On the handout, way that it was never intended to be used.”

christina tan / thresher

Behind Perez’s installation lurks a somewhat ominous entrance to Martin’s work, “Push/Pull.” Hosted in its own separate room, “Push/Pull” was inspired by projected forms: shadow puppetry, magic lanterns and slide shows. The installation is composed of floating paper lanterns, onto which geometric, animated and abstract shapes are projected. Martin said that she and Perez intended to emphasize the physical nature of projection and light.

“When you’re projecting an image, you work with a surface which you illuminate, and the areas which do not have light on them create the image,” Martin, a Lovett College senior, said. “‘Push/Pull’ is meant to pull at the boundary between illuminated and illuminating. Because the projection surfaces of my installation are lanterns, the viewer is made aware of the luminescence of the medium.”

Although all four artists were chosen independently, the four installations create interesting dialogues between each other.

“Our pieces are all very different, but I think that’s the beauty of the Pitman show,” Casbarian said. “It wasn’t a conscious choice to be different, but we all came up with our ideas separately so all of our pieces were very different because of that.”

“At least I have you, egg.” is on view at the Rice Media Center until March 28.

The center is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

THE WEEKLY SCENE

ARCHI-ARTS Join the School of Architecture on Saturday evening from 8 - 10 p.m. for Archi-Arts: Circus. This annual event will include student art from across campus including sculpture, photography, music and dance. ArchiArts will also display the winners of its namesake mini-charrette. Food will be served and admission is free.

Anderson Hall

FIRST DATE: THE MUSICAL

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Sid Richardson College Theatre and Martel College Theatre will host “First Date,” a rom-com musical about a blind date. Play times are at varied intervals on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and next Friday, and tickets will cost $5.

Live music, singing and dancing will take over Baker Commons for Bakershake’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a 90-minute play set in the 1920s. Tickets are free for Baker students and $5 for other Rice students. Play times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Sid Richardson Basement Big Room

Baker Commons

SOUL NIGHT 2019 Join Rice Black Student Association on Saturday for Soul Night. The cultural show is themed “Do You Remember?” and will include song, dance, spoken word performance and food. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 presale and $10 at the door.

RMC Grand Hall

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

south by southwest

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 • 9 FILM

Us makes horror a relatable experience RYAN LEE

THRESHER STAFF

Three Thresher writers headed to Austin for South by Southwest, an annual film, music and comedy festival mashed up with a tech conference.

Check out their current and upcoming content online:

best of, worst of Lavina Kalwani writes on her favorite and not-so-favorite aspects of the experience, from seeing political activists to listening to people complain about the rain.

interview with the daily show correspondents Kalwani was able to catch the Daily Show correspondents Roy Wood Jr. and Jaboukie Young-White. Read on about their take on comedy.

shami’s film sprint Coming soon: Shami Mosley caught 20 films and TV episodes at SXSW’s film festival.

He will give his take on all 20, from the good to the bad.

ryan’s top five films Coming soon: In addition to Us, Ryan Lee was able to catch films like Go Back to China.

Check online later for full reviews and his top five picks.

Want more action? Follow @ThresherArts on Twitter for SXSW live tweets and more.

US Genre: Horror Run time: 121 minutes Release date: March 22 Where to see it: Edwards Greenway Grand Palace

As a general rule, I normally avoid watching trailers because there is nothing quite like walking into a film and just letting everything about it take me by surprise. I would recommend that strategy for a horror film like Jordan Peele’s Us, because the horror comes from the element of surprise. But while other movies of this genre hang their entire plot on a single scary concept, this film contains several of them. In his follow-up to Get Out, Peele expertly unveils multiple layers of his mythology and manages to surprise the audience throughout the entire 121 minutes of runtime.

Us follows a family of four who fall under attack during their vacation by doppelgängers of themselves. Lupita Nyong’o plays Adelaide, the mother of the family whom the story centers around. She has two children, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and her younger brother Jason (Evan Alex). The film jumps back and forth between the present and Adelaide’s childhood, a time in her life when she suffered through an unspoken trauma.

As a result of childhood experiences, Adelaide is fiercely overprotective of her kids, which is only amplified when their lives are threatened.

The most surprising thing about this film is how funny it is. Peele draws from his comedic roots to make the film as much a comedy as it is horror.

The beginning of the film actually feels like a situational comedy, which helps communicate the relationships between

the family members. And while comedy at the beginning of a horror film is not necessarily unexpected, comedy sustained throughout the entirety of the film is surprising.

The very first encounter with the doppelgängers is when the dad, Gabe (Winston Duke), comes out of the house with a baseball bat to scare them off. In the trailer, that scene is dramatic, but in the actual film, it exists for laughs. While the doppelgängers pose a real threat, Gabe had not realized it and comes off as a complete buffoon.

We all know that scene in every horror movie where a character runs into something that will change everything they have thought about their world.

Usually that character’s reaction is a complete spiral into despair. But Peele went for a direction that is both counter-intuitive and conducive to the horror — Gabe maintains a sense of disbelief throughout the film, never really acknowledging the absurdity of his new reality. He continues to crack jokes throughout because all that is left for him to do is to laugh in disbelief. Us handles its characters like real-world people. Real-life people will respond in humor, even if it is nervous laughter, throughout a near-death experience.

And because I can imagine that I myself will react the same way, Us is a whole lot scarier for me.

Us also presents a good puzzle. Like Peele’s first directorial feature Get Out, there are clues hidden throughout the movie that culminate in a scene where everything is explained in a satisfying way. In Us, instead of one explanation, there are several, and the movie leads us through a series of mind-bending twists and turns. Without spoilers — the last revelation left me feeling genuinely disturbed, but afterwards my brain did a complete flip, and I thought, “Actually, that really does not matter…” And I wasn’t alone. Many people I talked to afterwards read the film in a different way than I did, and even now, I don’t think I understand it entirely.

If there is one criticism I have about this film, it is that there is perhaps one plot twist too many. But what I like about this puzzle of a movie is that it is made by the hands of a very thoughtful director, and that even if I feel initially confused by the ending, I can make sense of it if I watch it enough times. Peele is a director who trusts the audience to figure out the puzzle and find their own answers.

Us will begin showing at movie theatres nationwide this Thursday.

courtesy universal pictures

Lupita Nyong’o plays Adelaide, the central character of Us. She, along with her family, battles demons that look just like them during a family vacation to a childhood haunt.

LOCAL ART

Museum of Fine Arts’ ‘Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art’ immerses viewers NAOMI WENTZ SENIOR WRITER

Vincent Van Gogh is arguably one of the most iconic artists of the 19th century, although his work wasn’t fully appreciated until after his death. The exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which includes over 50 of Van Gogh’s works, presents five periods in his life: The Early Years, Paris, Arles, Saint Rémy and Auvers sur Oise. This showcase not only displays his unique style but also gives the audience insight into his sad, tumultuous life.

The MFAH goes beyond simply presenting Van Gogh’s masterpieces by including recreations and artifacts of his time. When entering the first room of the exhibit, museum-goers are greeted with a wall-sized portrait of the artist himself, evocative of the pencil sketches that composed his earlier works. On every wall, there are sketches of the French countryside where Van Gogh resided.

These sketches create a backdrop each of the paintings, bringing life and continuity to his body of work.

Visitors are also provided audio guides for the exhibit which supply sounds from periods in his life. When entering the final room of the showcase, audiences are met

with a large reproduction of one of Van Gogh’s most notable works, “Wheatfield With Crows,” which was created the same year he died after struggling with epilepsy, mania and depression. This mural provides a poignant ending to the museum’s display, reminding viewers of the Dutch painter’s artistic talent and his tragic death by suicide.

While Van Gogh himself is no longer able to shed light on his personal life, the MFAH exhibit gives viewers insight into his mind by displaying some of the 820 letters he wrote to his younger brother Theo and to other artists. Fragments of the correspondences are printed in huge font on the walls, flowing neatly around the works of art. Accompanying one of his first major works, “The Potato Eaters,” is a full length letter that Van Gogh wrote to Theo. In it, Van Gogh explains how he wants to depict the hardships of rural life in “uncompromising realism.” These letters reveal Van Gogh’s motivation behind some of his most recognizable pieces in addition to shedding light on his struggles as an artist.

Nowhere is more immersive than the MFAH’s companion display, “Van Gogh Up Close.” This exhibit is admittedly more catered to children with interactive features

naomi wentz / thresher

MFAH’s “Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art” includes printed recreations of his early sketches and later letters, as well as an interactive component.

and a chance to recreate Van Gogh’s famous work, “Sunflowers.” However, “Van Gogh Up Close” provides unique experiences for all museum-goers, recreating his most notable works with physical sets and providing a way for audiences to truly immerse themselves in Van Gogh’s art.

“Vincent Van Gogh: His Life in Art” gives visitors more than just a chance to

view some of the most famous artworks of the 19th century. It provides audiences with a chance to understand the motivation behind some of Van Gogh’s most iconic pieces and his struggle with his mental health.

“Vincent Van Gogh: His Life in Art” runs until June 27. Admission is $20 for students with ID.

THE RICE THRESHER

10 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

SPORTS EDITOR’S COLUMN: WOMEN’S B-BALL

Owls deserve better than 12-seed

jordan foreman / courtesy conference usa

The Rice’s women’s basketball team poses for a photo after its 69-54 victory over Middle Tennessee State University to clinch the Owls’ firstever Conference USA Tournament championship. Rice will play Marquette University on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

BASKETBALL FROM PAGE 1 Now the Owls will face one of their toughest tests of the season. Marquette is currently ranked No. 18 in the country in the AP poll. The Golden Eagles play in the Big East conference and won the regular season conference championship before falling in the championship game of the conference tournament against DePaul University. The team’s record sits at 267, while its record in conference play sits at 15-3. Marquette played a tough nonconference schedule, squaring up (and losing) against two of the top-10 teams in the country in the University of Notre Dame and Mississippi State University.

Marquette has a high-powered offense.

The Golden Eagles are No. 4 in the nation in points per game, No. 6 in the nation in scoring margin per game, and No. 14 in the nation in field goal percentage. This game will be a case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, as Rice’s defense is no slouch. Nationally, the Owls rank No. 6 in opponent points per game allowed and No. 9 in opponent field goal percentage allowed. Head coach Tina Langley said she sees the Owls’ matchup as a challenge.

“I think that we have very tough competition in Marquette,” Langley said. “[They are] an extremely talented team that can score a lot of points [and] defends very well. It’s going to be a tough game ... Marquette is a very experienced team. They start four seniors, they’ve been in the tournament [and] they’re incredibly well-coached.”

Some national experts believe that even though Rice is a double-digit seed, the Owls cannot be overlooked. ESPN’s Graham Hays said he believes Rice is better than its seed

would suggest, and Mechelle Voepel, also of ESPN, picked Rice as her tournament Cinderella. According to Ogwumike, the Owls aren’t paying too much attention to seeding.

“You can only control certain things,” Ogwumike said. “At the end of the day, all we can do is focus on ourselves. I think we’re going to take [our] matchup and run with it, because we also know that numbers don’t mean a lot. The number right in front of your name — the seeding — doesn’t mean much once the game starts.”

2019 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Bracket to Regionals

MARQUETTE MARCH 22, 1 pm ESPN2

RICE REGIONALS

MARCH 30

MARCH 24

TEXAS A&M MARCH 22, 3:30 pm ESPN2

infographic by tina liu

WRIGHT STATE

RECAP

Men’s basketball finishes season with loss JOSHUA ANIL THRESHER STAFF

Rice men’s basketball’s season ended in an 82-65 first round loss to Marshall University in the Conference USA tournament held in Frisco. The Owls finished the season with a record of 13-19.

The tournament appearance was the first of head coach Scott Pera’s tenure, as the team failed to qualify for the C-USA postseason during the 2017-2018 season.

The No. 11-seeded Owls came into the tournament off a 3-1 end-of-season stretch that allowed them to clinch a postseason berth. They had defeated No. 6 seed Marshall 74-69 in their previous regular season meeting at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Rice’s second battle against the Thundering Herd played out much differently from their regular season meeting. The Owls didn’t score until five minutes into the first half, by which time Marshall had already built a nine-point cushion. Marshall never trailed at any point in the game, and its lead ballooned to 32 points in the second half.

Marshall’s quick start and 53.6 percent field goal percentage proved too much for the Owls to overcome. According to Pera, the Owls’ slow start put them in a very difficult situation.

“One of our biggest fears coming into tonight was the start of the game: trying to break their rhythm and not let them get comfortable, and they came out really clicking and kinda hit us between the eyes early, and it makes the hole hard to dig back out of,” Pera said. “They deserve to win the game, they played better.”

Throughout the season, Rice’s opponents averaged 34.5 percent shooting from 3-point range, but Marshall was able to sink 13 3-pointers. Marshall senior Jon Elmore, the all-time C-USA leader in points and assists, led his team in scoring, putting up 32 points on 10-for-13 shooting and making six of his nine shots from distance.

“Elmore’s really good,” Pera said. “You know, the guy is a tremendous player ... He certainly got in rhythm. He was feeling good.

It didn’t matter what we did, some of those were challenged pretty hard, and he still shot with confidence.”

Junior Robert Martin, the Owls’ leading scorer this season, said Rice’s defensive breakdowns against Marshall, the defending C-USA Tournament champions, were attributable to inexperience.

“Our biggest challenge was our lack of experience and their extra experience,” Martin said. “[Marshall has] two seniors, both of them are their leading scorers.

They’ve been here before. They won last year.

We really only have one guy who had had postseason experience because we weren’t here last year … but I think we learned a lot from today, and we will be a better team next year when we are in this position.”

Despite its first-round exit, Rice won six more games and twice as many contests against C-USA opponents than last year’s 7-24 team. Throughout the season, the Owls played several close games against some of the top conference teams: Rice lost to eventual C-USA champion Old Dominion University by only four points and defeated Southern Mississippi University, the conference’s No. 3 team, by eight points. Though the Owls were below .500 in conference play, Rice was competitive, leading or within a point in the second half of six of their ten C-USA losses.

Five freshmen players appeared in at least 30 games for the Owls, and Chris Mullins was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team after averaging 12.0 points per game. Pera said even after acknowledging the difficulties of the season, he remains encouraged by the growth he witnessed in his players.

“Our schedule was hard,” Pera said. “I saw a ton of growth, a lot of good ball, some very tough and frustrating losses … So, it’s been a fun season; it’s been a rollercoaster when you have five freshmen playing that many minutes, but hopefully will bode us well for the future.”

On Monday, ESPN (somewhat prematurely) released the bracket for the 2019 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Like many of you readers, I was shocked to see that Rice was a No. 12 seed. And no, I’m not being sarcastic this time. I was completely, unequivocally flabbergasted.

Rice is ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll.

They’re No. 23 in the coaches’ poll. They’re No. 31 in RPI. They’re 28-3 on the year and 16-0 in conference games. They haven’t lost since before Christmas: that’s 21 wins in a row — and they’re 22-1 since sophomore center Nancy Mulkey joined the rotation, their only loss coming in her second game back. They’ve allowed the sixth-fewest points per game in the country on the ninthlowest opponent field goal percentage.

And somehow, they’re a No. 12 seed?

Has the selection committee watched any of Rice’s games? Have they not seen Mulkey, the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, stifle opponents in the paint to the tune of 3.9 blocks per game, the best mark of any player in the country with more than 20 games played? Have they not seen C-USA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike’s ball-handling, rebounding, slashing and scoring? Have they not seen head coach Tina Langley’s consistently superb secondhalf adjustments and Rice’s ability to play absolutely lockdown defense, no matter who the opponent?

Maybe there’s something I’m missing.

Let’s take a stroll over to the NCAA website, where they list out 12 relevant criteria for selecting teams to the tournament, to see how Rice stacks up.

1) Availability of talent: Mulkey and Ogwumike constitute legitimate starpower.

2) Bad losses: Rice has just one, a 21-point loss to the University of North Carolina (which was also in Mulkey’s second game back). Both other losses were to top-25 programs on the road, by 11 and nine points respectively, and the team was without Mulkey for both of those.

3) Competitive in losses: Again, Rice had only THREE losses all year and was competitive in two of those.

4) Conference record: Rice is 16-0.

5) Early competition versus late competition: The Owls started out 7-3 and are 21-0 since.

6) Non-conference record: Rice is 12-3.

7) Overall record: Rice is 28-3.

8) RPI: Rice is No. 31 in the country.

11-seed Missouri State is No. 52. 10-seed Auburn is No. 50. 9-seed Michigan State is No. 43. 8-seed Central Michigan is one spot behind Rice at No. 32. You do the math.

9) Common opponents: Rice beat North Texas three times by at least 12 points each.

Missouri State lost to North Texas by seven.

10/11/12) Strength of schedule/strength of conference/significant wins: RPI already takes this into account: it’s 75 percent composed of strength-of-schedule metrics, which includes “significant wins.” This shouldn’t be counted twice.

Clearly, Rice deserves a better seed. I don’t know why the committee chose the way they did. Maybe the system is extremely biased toward Power Five conferences.

(It is.) Maybe they’ve never watched Rice play a game. Maybe they have a personal vendetta against owls. All I know now is: Rice has got to prove them wrong. We’ll see who’s doing the talking come Friday.

MICHAEL BYRNES

SPORTS EDITOR HANSZEN JUNIOR

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 • 11

EDITORS’ COLUMN: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Rice Athletics must prioritize Langley

cloris cai / thresher

Sophomore Sumit Sarkar stretches for a backhand slice during his 6-1, 7-5 singles victory over the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley’s Yehonatan Kaufman on Jan. 27 at Rice’s George R. Brown Tennis Center. The win was one of four that Sarkar registered on the weekend.

Sarkar channels Federer with strong play MADISON BUZZARD ASST SPORTS EDITOR

Sophomore tennis player Sumit Sarkar grew up taking the subway to the U.S. Open every year from his home in New York City.

“I’ve been going every year for the past 19 years,” Sarkar said. “My favorite tennis player growing up was Roger Federer [who has won five U.S. Open titles].”

Sarkar said he began playing tennis by emulating Federer’s all-round court game but has grown to favor heavy cross-court balls and offensive baseline play. It’s a strategy that has led him to a great deal of success during his short Rice career.

Recently, Sarkar defeated the No. 4 singles player in the country, University of Texas, Austin’s Christian Sigsgaard, in straight sets. According to Sarkar, his match against Sigsgaard was a confidence-builder.

“Texas was an extremely tough road match for us,” Sarkar said. “At the time we played them, they were No. 3 in the country.

We lost a hard-fought doubles point that all of us were very upset about. Going into my singles match, I went down 4-0 in the first set extremely fast, as the doubles loss still lingered in my mind. As the match progressed my confidence grew. I played a strong tiebreak [in the second set] and in the end was able to come out on top.”

In an earlier match this season when Rice lost to Louisiana State University, Sarkar registered the Owls’ lone point in singles.

Sarkar is currently on a three-match winning streak in singles, where his record this season is 10-4 in dual matches and 13-6 overall.

Sarkar said he was proud of his straightset victory over LSU No. 1 Shane Monroe.

“Looking around, I saw that we were down on almost every court so I tried to stay focused on my match,” Sarkar said. “It was a fun match for me to play and one of my better ones this season.”

In doubles, Sarkar is 12-7 and has partnered with junior Eric Rutledge, sophomore Jacob Eskeland, senior Daniel Warren and sophomore Conrad Russell. Sarkar said his playing style is complemented by competing alongside all-

rounder Rutledge, Rice’s No. 2 singles player.

“I’ve enjoyed playing with them all and each of them brings something different on the doubles court,” Sarkar said. “My current doubles partner, Eric Rutledge, and I are very comfortable with each other and I think we make a very strong team.”

Sarkar came to Rice as part of a recruiting class that included Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, Russell and Eskeland. Abdel-Aziz was born in Newcastle, England and trained in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Eskeland trained in Oslo, Norway. Sarkar said he believes college tennis recruitment is diffusing into the international sphere.

“As time moves forward, the number of international tennis players in the collegiate tennis circuit only continues to grow,” Sarkar said. “If you look at the top-20 players in college, you’ll find that [only] five are Americans. I think that this shows how dominant international tennis players are in collegiate tennis.”

Last season, all four new recruits played major roles on the team. Russell and AbdelAziz tied for Rice’s lead in dual match singles wins and Sarkar finished the season on a six-match winning streak in the Owls’ No. 2 singles spot. According to Sarkar, his class continues to ascend.

“We’re lucky to have a strong foundation of sophomores,” Sarkar said. “Each one of them brings different aspects to the team. [Abdel-Aziz] brings a lot of energy into practice and in matches. [Russell] is athletically gifted and also brings a lot of energy on and off the court. [Eskeland] is a role model for all of us and a professional on and off the court. He is well-respected by all and is a very important asset for us.”

Sarkar said being thrust into competitive matches as a freshman enabled his rise.

“I think the largest growth for me as a player is experience and maturity,” Sarkar said. “I’ve learned better which shots to go for, as well as how to play the important points while being less nervous. This was a bit of a roadblock for me last year — playing the important points correctly. I still have a lot of growth to do as a player and [will] continue improving every day.”

When Tina Langley was named the head coach of Rice women’s basketball in 2015, the program was in dire straits. The Owls hadn’t posted a winning record in four years, and they hadn’t won a postseason game since 2006. Now, after four years of improving Rice’s win totals, recruiting at a consistently high level, scaling the postseason tournament ladder and firmly establishing women’s basketball as Rice Athletics’ preeminent national force, we strongly believe Rice Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard should prioritize providing Langley with a long-term contract extension as soon as possible.

After a 9-22 first season as head coach, the Owls made their way back to the postseason in Langley’s second year, capping off a 2313 season with the Women’s Basketball Invitational title. In her third year as head coach, Rice again won 23 games and reached the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. And this season, Rice has reached unparalleled heights, rewriting practically every record in the book, from single-season wins to the first top-25 ranking and C-USA tournament title in program history.

Alongside the improved on-court success, Langley has demonstrated an excellent recruiting strategy. Over the past three years,

Langley has recruited senior forward Nicole Iademarco, junior guard Erica Ogwumike and sophomore center Nancy Mulkey as transfers. Together, the trio has formed the backbone of Rice’s tournament-winning squad. Also, in each of the past two seasons, Langley has attracted the No.1-ranked recruiting class in C-USA, and entering next season, Rice’s freshman crop is ranked in the top 50 nationally by ASGR Basketball.

Langley’s accomplishments should not be taken lightly. Rice’s recent history is somewhat checkered in retaining top coaching talent. Former men’s basketball head coach Mike Rhoades and former soccer head coach Nicky Adams both established successful programs at Rice before leaving to join teams in more prominent conferences.

Despite the women’s basketball team’s unprecedented C-USA success this season, Rice was still named a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament, leaving open the possibility that Langley will see more opportunity for growth elsewhere. Rice Athletics needs to reaffirm its commitment to becoming a nationally competitive athletic program by ensuring its most successful current coach the security of a lucrative long-term contract.

MICHAEL BYRNES SPORTS EDITOR MADISON BUZZARD ASST SPORTS EDITOR

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BACKPAGE

12 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019

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The Backpage is satire, written by Simona Matovic with help from her Division I Design Team, Simona Matovic. For her Amazon wishlist, please email JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu

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