BEER BIKE
RAIN or SHINE
THE RICE THRESHER | VOLUME 103, ISSUE NO. 23 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
illustration by tina liu
THE RICE THRESHER
2 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
NEWS
Anita Hill speaks at Rice on sexual misconduct, #MeToo SAVANNAH KUCHAR SENIOR REPORTER
workarounds in some way because of the sexual abuse that they experienced,” Hill said. “We will never know how Anita Hill, a law professor who gave much talent was lost, how many people sexual harassment testimony against changed their minds because of this then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence experience, because our colleges did not Thomas, discussed sexual misconduct in act, they did nothing to act.” In 2011 and 2014, the Department of the workplace and how to shift this from a personal to a public issue in a visit to Education put out guidelines for handling sexual assault at universities; this was Rice on Monday. Hill said her talk was meant to address the first time in a while this effort had been seriously made, according to Hill. assault in terms of a power imbalance. “Of course, none of those are perfect, “When I say sexual harassment, I’m really talking about behavior that falls on but I believe that those guidelines have saved lives,” the spectrum of abuse,” Hill said. “We Hill said. cannot afford to Hill addressed go back to the the 2018 Kavanaugh times of the ‘60s hearings that were You don’t want to be and ‘70s and ‘80s so similar to her own doing the minimum you and even before sexual harassment have to do. You need to when nothing testimony in 1991 was being done against Thomas, and be doing the minimum to address she talked how this was that is necessary to this problem both a pivotal moment provide people a safe on college and a setback for some place. campuses. We of the earlier progress. cannot turn the “No one had clock back.” imagined that we would Anita Hill Hill spoke be reliving a Supreme about the Court confirmation LAW PROFESSOR # M e T o o hearing with some of movement and the same facts, same issues and some of the same tactics of how society’s response to those stories silencing that we had experienced in can bring about desired change. “I believe that we are capable of 1991,” Hill said. “In October last year after the Kavanaugh hearings, literally changing,” Hill said. “But the real change hundreds of people reached out to me, is going to involve not only changing our anguished. Throughout our country, policies and our procedures, our laws, there was this profound sense of betrayal but it will involve changing the hearts that the government no longer cared and minds of people, the thinking of people about this behavior that we have about protecting the basic rights.” Hill addressed Title IX as well and known existed forever perhaps but which the history of the arbitrary nature within for years we said this is just something college sexual harassment policies, which you have to put up with because it’s a she said caused undeniable loss and matter of personal concern.” Her talk at the Baker Institute was a damage for women across universities. “What that meant was a whole part of the Center for the Study of Women, generation of young women either Gender and Sexuality’s Gray/Wawro left colleges, changed majors, did Lectures in Gender, Health and Well-
being. Melanie Gray, one of the donors behind the lecture series, introduced Hill as the 2019 PEN Courage Award winner. The PEN Courage Award recognizes champions of free expression and is given by the literary and human-rights organization PEN America. Hill received the award in recognition of her role in challenging sexual harrassment in the workplace and the abuse of power, according to the PEN America website. Brian Riedel, associate director for the SWGS Center and coordinator of this event, said that Hill’s discussion was important to bring to the Rice community. “The importance of this Gray/Wawro lecture by Professor Anita Hill is in no way limited to Rice University, though hosting her here does signal our community’s investment in working toward a more
just world,” Riedel said. “Her talk will help us understand that this #MeToo movement is the most current phase of decades of feminist work to identify and combat domination that operates through gender, sex and sexuality.” A student who requested anonymity said they attended the event because of their own past experiences. “As a sexual assault victim, I relate to what she experienced,” they said. “She’s truly inspiring and I’m excited to see her.” Hill addressed an audience question about preventing sexual assault at Rice by challeng the university as it re-evaluates its current policies. “You don’t want to just be doing the minimum that you have to do,” Hill said. “You need to be doing the minimum that is necessary to provide people a safe place in which to learn and grow and develop.”
courtesy sarah gao Anita Hill, who provided testimony in 1991 that then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her in her workplace, spoke at Rice on Monday. She discussed sexual misconduct at the college level, the Brett Kavanaugh hearing and the #MeToo movement. The event was hosted through the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality.
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 • 3
Rice holds Deer Park talk
SA to hold special election
ANNA TA NEWS EDITOR
RISHAB RAMAPRIYAN ASST NEWS EDITOR
Concerned community members gathered on Saturday for a town hall to discuss the potential long-term and short-term health risks in the wake of the petrochemical Deer Park fire. Students paused last week in the middle of the academic quad to look up at the ominously grey cloud hanging in the sky, wondering if rain was coming on an otherwise sunny day. They were actually seeing a plume of smoke coming from a fire in Deer Park, a small city on the ship channel within Harris County, that ignited the night before and was only extinguished the following Wednesday, March 20. The fire released toxins including benzene, naphtha and xylene into the air, causing officials to issue shelter-in-place alerts for communities in the vicinity of the blaze. Saturday’s town hall took place in Herring Hall and featured speakers including professionals in academia and neighboring communities. Panelist Bryan Parras, from the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, compared the fire, also known as the Intercontinental Terminals Company fire, to Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston in 2017. “These are two major incidents that have exposed hundreds of thousands of people in just the last two years,” Parras said. “That really scares me.” Air quality levels were listed as “good” or “moderate” in the Houston area for much of the fire, but health officials warned of side effects from exposure to these chemicals.
Panelist Dominic Boyer said that Houston must improve regulations to decrease the danger to those living near the petrochemical plants along Houston’s ship channel. “We know there are all kinds of unauthorized emissions that have happened,” Boyer, a professor and director of Rice’s Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences, said. “One of the most concerning things that have come out of the Houston Chronicle coverage is that there is a lawsuit that alleges ITC also let loose a lot of hazardous waste during Hurricane Harvey, not because it had to, but because it was opportunistic to do so to save millions of dollars.” The primary concern is the detection of elevated levels of benzene in the air over the last week, according to the Houston Chronicle. Short-term health effects of concentrated exposure include dizziness, nausea, headaches, drowsiness, tremors and loss of consciousness, according to a report from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. According to the American Cancer Society, benzene is known to cause cancers such as leukemia and other cancers of blood cells. Several shelter-in-place warnings have been put in place and consequently lifted in the surrounding area following the start of the fire. The town hall at Rice took place as part of a three-part series, with two other town halls that weekend in other parts of Houston, East End and Pasadena. “What disturbed me most was the seeming indifference of a lot of people to this, from all walks of life; in Houston, we kind of shrug,” Boyer said. “We can do better. We should do better.”
student body must vote and at least twothirds of the votes must be cast in favor of the amendment. Jerge said that the changes The student body will vote on a would go into effect immediately should the constitutional amendment to broaden referendum pass. McMurtry College President Joyce Chen, a sponsorship standards for Student Association legislation in a special election junior, was the only dissenting vote against passage of the amendment at the March 18 that opens on April 8. Senate voted 24-1 at its meeting on March SA Senate meeting. Chen said the current 18 to pass the constitutional amendment, restriction ensures students consult with which was part of Will Rice college junior student leaders. “Elected representatives provide valuable Freddy Cavallaro’s presidential platform and would allow any undergraduate to sponsor institutional knowledge and familiarity with resources, and that students should SA legislation. The SA Senate constitution currently discuss legislation with their representatives requires all legislation to be sponsored by at or other colleges’ prior to taking this very formal action of least one voting member introducing of the SA Senate. legislation on the According to legislation Senate floor,” Chen co-sponsors Nick Jerge, said. “Realistically, the SA Parliamentarian, People who do have this would also and Grace Wickerson, ideas in mind should potentially allow the SA President, the be able to put them for a ton of joke current requirement legislation that restricts opportunities forward. This lowers would waste for students not involved the barrier for students Senate’s time.” in the SA Senate to to get involved in [SA] The SA Senate express their opinions. Senate. also voted March “As a 18 to deem this parliamentarian, I amendment timedo believe that it’s Nick Jerge sensitive so that completely rational to SA PARLIAMENTARIAN a special election remove the requirement may be held. that legislation has to be sponsored by at least one voting member of Jerge said that without the time-sensitive [SA] Senate,” Jerge, a Sid Richardson College designation, the amendment would only be sophomore, said at the March 4 SA Senate voted on by students in the general election meeting. “People who do have ideas in mind of the 2019-2020 academic year, which is should be able to put them forward. This scheduled for February of 2020. The ballot will be presented at the SA lowers the barrier for students to get involved Senate meeting on April 1, where SA Senate in [SA] Senate.” According to Jerge, in order for the members must vote to approve the ballot for amendment to pass, at least one-fifth of the the election to take place.
Admit rate drops to historic low after application surge AMY QIN ASST NEWS EDITOR Rice University accepted just 8.7 percent of applicants in the 2019 admissions cycle, according to Vice President of Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva, setting a record for the lowest acceptance rate in the university’s history. In all, combining both regular decision and early decision applicants, 27,084 students applied and 2,364 were accepted. Romero da Silva said the high number of applications followed the increased interest in Rice after the September 2018 announcement of the Rice Investment, which will offer full tuition scholarships for domestic students from families with incomes up to $130,000. “We were already seeing an increased interest in Rice going in the admission cycle,” Romero da Silva said. “For some students, knowing upfront what their families would be eligible for in the way of financial aid made the Rice education more attainable. Scholarships to cover tuition for families earning up to $130,000 is a lot of money and goes a long way.” In January, the university announced that applications to the matriculating Class of 2019 increased roughly 30 percent over last year. According to Romero da Silva, Rice experienced a greater increase in applications than other peer universities this application cycle.
“So far, I have not heard that other of our peer institutions are up as much as Rice is in applications,” Romero da Silva said. “Some are down slightly or on par and a few are up in applications but none, to my knowledge, are up overall as much as Rice.” Romero da Silva said that although the demographics of acceptance students are similar to that of last year’s, the incoming class may have a different demographic breakdown depending on who accepts Rice’s offer of admission. One notable exception was the amount of domestic students who applied, according to Romero da Silva. “While we increased applications across nearly all demographics in the class, there were some areas where we saw even greater increases,” Romero da Silva said. “For example, applications were way up for domestic students both in and out of the state of Texas. This may result in slightly higher numbers of domestic students in the enrolled class.” Despite the drop in acceptance rate, Romero da Silva said that the admissions office anticipates a similar yield to last year, when 41 percent of admitted students accepted their offers of admission. This year’s early decision application cycle saw similarly large increases in applications. 408 applicants were accepted at an admit rate of approximately 15.5 percent. The total number of early
8.7% Rice’s acceptance rate for the matriculating Class of 2019
infographic by sumin hwang
decision applicants, 2,628, was a 39 percent increase from the previous year. The year before, the early applicant pool had increased by 18 percent. Last year’s admissions cycle also set records. The regular acceptance rate was historically low at 10.3 percent, while the early decision acceptance rate was 18 percent, according to the Rice admissions website. The overall acceptance rate for the 2018 admissions cycle was 11 percent. More than 20,000 students in total applied to Rice in the 2018 cycle, a 16 percent increase over the previous year and the highest number in Rice’s history at the time.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Rice experienced a 59.8 percent decrease in admissions rate from 2006 to 2018. Out of 51 schools analyzed by the BusinessStudent.com study cited by the Chronicle, the average drop in admissions rate from 2006 to 2018 was 37 percent. Romero da Silva said she hopes the increased interest in Rice will continue. “We know that once students learn about the incredible offerings of a Rice education they are hooked,” Romero da Silva said. “If they make it to campus they can really see how amazing the community and environment truly is.”
THE RICE THRESHER
4 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL
OP-ED
A cloud often hangs over the student was never communicated by the Crisis body as it returns from spring break. Management Team. Harris County Usually, that’s a product of mixing officials warned residents not to touch Frio 6.0, Red Bull and sunshine. This ash that may have fallen from the plume year, though, that cloud was the result — a warranted concern given the toxic of a massive fire at a chemical storage materials that went up in smoke — but facility on the bank of the Houston Ship this information never reached most Rice students. Channel (see p. 3). The Rice community doesn’t just The plume was visible from suburbs of San Antonio. It dominated include those in Houston. It includes the Houston skyline and caught the family members who, upon seeing the news, also sought out answers about attention of national media outlets. safety on campus. Despite the fire’s Given the national magnitude, Rice’s nature and the spread Crisis Management of misinformation in Team provided the Students and the wake of the fire, Rice community with faculty rely upon Rice should have no information about kept family members this high-profile the university for updated on social disaster. Students information — both media, just as they and faculty rely upon when situations did during Hurricane the university for Harvey, even if the information — both aren’t safe and when only message was that when situations they are. everyone was safe. aren’t safe and when Though the Texas Commission on they are. No official statement or text alert regarding outside air quality left Environmental Quality’s air monitors community members unsure of whether have shown no reason for Rice students or not they should be taking precautions. to be concerned, this information was Rice’s Crisis Management Team never disseminated by Rice. After the should have have reached out fire, authorities ordered Deer Park immediately through text and email residents to shelter in place because of alerts, assuring the community they a benzene release. Crisis management were tracking the situation. They should should have informed the community have then used this alert system to that the cloud was not expected to reach send updates on the latest from local Rice’s campus. Ultimately, communication is authorities if the situation changed. A March 21 article in the Texas needed not only to alert in times of Medical Center News encouraged emergency but also to comfort in times people in the medical center area of uncertainty. The Crisis Management with respiratory issues to wear masks Team should have been there to reassure in response to the fire and that they community members and their families should contact health professionals that the air was breathable. Unsigned editorials represent the if they experienced symptoms like coughing, difficulty breathing or skin consensus view of the Thresher Editorial irritation in the days after the fire. Board. If you’d like to respond to this or This is pertinent information to some anything else you’ve seen in the Thresher, members of the Rice community, and it email thresher-ops@rice.edu.
The student body will vote on a new amendment to the Student Association constitution in a special election that opens April 8. The proposition on the ballot is this: SA legislation shouldn’t need sponsorship from a voting member of the SA Senate. That’s an issue that enjoys wide support — the SA Senate voted 24-1 in favor of the change — but it is imperative that enough students vote in this special election for it to count. Though it seems like the amendment will garner wide support, there are a number of obstacles to its final passage. Two have passed: the SA Senate voted to approve the legislation earlier this month, and, this past Monday, the SA Senate scheduled the special election. Another obstacle is voter education — the student body has to understand what is on the ballot. There’s been a lot of progress made on that front. In the recent SA presidential election, Will Rice College junior Freddy Cavallaro staked his campaign on the idea of constitutional reform. Many of his proposed changes were aimed at allowing more people to have their voices heard at the SA Senate, increasing the diversity of the ideas presented before the body and getting more people involved with student government. At the SA presidential debates, current SA President Grace Wickerson cautiously endorsed some of Cavallaro’s ideas. The move to expand bill sponsorship to nonvoting members of the SA — that is, the entire undergraduate student body — is a chance to follow through, and they should be applauded for that. Opening bill sponsorship means more voices can contribute concrete ideas at SA Senate. Interest groups — the International Student Association or the Rice Vegan Society, for example — would be able to present legislation directly to the SA Senate without recruiting a voting member to join their cause. These organizations are intimately familiar
Communication vital in crises
Vote on SA amendment April 8 with the issues affecting their members. There is no reason that a legislator has to approve a group’s proposal by agreeing to serve as a sponsor before it’s presented to the SA Senate. This is not an issue that should require much debate among the student body. Cavallaro’s campaign, though unsuccessful in earning him the SA presidency, did an excellent job educating the student body about the myriad flaws in our governing body’s constitution. Students should be familiar with the particular ways in which our constitutional system seems to be broken. Now, the amendment faces its toughest obstacle: simply getting students to the polls. That shouldn’t be a tough thing to do — voting on a single issue won’t take more than a minute, and students can vote online anywhere they’d like — but in the last two weeks of classes, students will be drowning in papers, final projects and the like. You can do your part by taking 60 seconds out of your day to vote, and you can go above and beyond by encouraging your friends, roommates and classmates to vote as well. This constitutional amendment is an issue that brings the campus together. The two SA presidential candidates who backed some form of this constitutional amendment garnered 91 percent of the vote. Students should make their support known: vote to open bill sponsorship in the upcoming special election. If the required minimum of 20 percent of the student body doesn’t turn out for the election, we’ll have to do it all over again next year.
ERIC STONE
OPINION EDITOR WIESS COLLEGE SENIOR
Just a cloudy day
cartoon by dalia gulca
STAFF Emily Abdow* & Andrew Grottkau* Editors-in-Chief
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Christina Tan* Editor & Designer
NEWS Anna Ta* Editor Rishab Ramapriyan Asst. Editor Amy Qin Asst. Editor
BACKPAGE Simona Matovic Editor & Designer
FEATURES Ella Feldman Editor Ivanka Perez Asst. Editors SPORTS Michael Byrnes* Editor Madison Buzzard Asst. Editor OPINION Eric Stone* Editor
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 Opinion Designer Esther Tang Illustrator BUSINESS OPERATIONS Mai Ton Social Media/Marketing Manager Isabella Gandara Distribution Manager Karoline Sun Business Manager Prad Biswas Advertising Manager
*Editorial Board member
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.
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THE RICE THRESHER
5 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
BEER BIKE BEER BIKE THEMES MARTEL
The Emperor’s New Booze
Martel’s beer bike theme draws on Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. Martel sophomore and Beer Bike coordinator Jaylen Carr said they chose their theme through polls to avoid making their theme “characteristic of a vocal minority or niche interest.” Martel is continuing its tradition of having a build on the college grounds, Carr said. This year, the build represents different scenes from The Emperor’s New Groove. As far as how their bike and chug teams are doing, Carr said we’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out. “What I do know is that we have a varied roster of both people who have loved being involved in the past and newcomers alike,” Carr said, “And they’re working hard to make Martel a threat this year.”
HANSZEN
Vodkabulary This year, the Hanszen coordinators are introducing a class battle during Willy Week. “We’re doing a series of events — like a kickball game, a tug of war and water balloon filling contests — that will give each class a chance to win points,” senior and coordinator Nik Liebster said. “At the end of the week, the class with the most points gets $250 in their class budget!” Liebster said Hanszen will be continuing many traditions, such as filling more water balloons than any other college, building a penis float and a wall between Hanszen and Wiess to “keep those rat bastards from ruining our fun.”
LOVETT
Bacardi McFly Lovett’s women’s bike team will be disqualfied according to Lovett Women’s Captain Alessandra Armengol. According to Natalie Siejczuk, Lovett College sophomore and Beer Bike coordinator, they might have a biker race twice. “There’s also a high chance of [a] Beer Run,” she added, “in which case we will have a full team.” Despite the setback, Siejczuk said Lovett is having an otherwise good Willy Week. They kicked off the week with a midnight toast last Sunday and are looking forward to a mock bike with Wiess among other activities.
WIESS
Avatar: The Last Bartender Beer Bike coordinator Carlos Tafur said that the theme is inspired by the popular animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is popular at Wiess. The college kicked off Willy Week with a Weenie Roast on Sunday. The coordinators came up with events for the rest of Willy Week based on the elements of Avatar: earth, wind, fire and water. “Monday [through] Thursday each have a theme based on different bending elements, and we’ll be having our Alumni [barbeque] on Friday,” Tafur said. Tafur was evasive when asked about his outlook for the bike and chug teams. “I dunno, why?” Tafur said.
WILL RICE
BIKEA: Brew it Yourself Will Rice chuggers and bikers have been working day and night in preparation for Saturday, according to Julia Coco, Will Rice sophomore and Beer Bike coordinator. “Our bike and chug teams are amazing,” Coco said. “And of course, we have to give a huge shoutout to our pit crew.” In addition to the typical Willy Week events, Coco said the coordinators have big plans for the night before the race. “It’s truly an amazing night,” she said.
MCMURTRY
Brooklyn Wine-Wine McMurtry’s sitcom-inspired Beer Bike theme was chosen by a March Madness inspired bracket, according to McMurtry College junior and Beer Bike coordinator Jake Bhoi. To match, Bhoi said McMurtry is putting a build inspired by the Brooklyn Nine-Nine bullpen in their quad — but with beer pong tables instead of desks. In addition to the traditional build, McMurtry has been planning a new event this year called Conchella, where student bands will play in the McMurtry quad, Bhoi said. They will also be participating in a North College capture the flag.
BROWN
Scooby Brew According to coordinator Conor Rork, Brown also went for a theme that evokes Rice students’ formative years. “We think the theme really brings out the childhood nostalgia in many of us, while also being fun and family-oriented, and a little retro, too,” Rork said. Brown is marking Beer Bike this year with some special events to honor resident associates Jordan and Amber Szymczyk and college coordinator Nancy Henry, for whom this year is their last at the college. “Brown will be honoring Nancy on Friday with a party celebrating all she’s done for the college over the years, and we’ll be collaborating with [the Szymczyks] to host a special edition of their weekly I Tube YouTube We All Tube for Ice Cream.”
JONES
Travis Scotch: Smashtroworld Night Ride is the most beloved event during Jones’s Willy Week, according to Rohan Palanki, Jones College senior and Beer Bike coordinator. “Jonesians paint up in our colors and squeeze into cars blasting music to do a victory lap around the inner loop,” Palanki described. “You’ll hear ‘All I Do is Win’ across campus, along with obnoxious horn honking and Jonesians practicing their victory chants for when we sweep the races on Beer Bike morning.” The coordinators introduced new events this year, including a bonfire on Sunday.
BAKER
Drank and Josh Baker College went with a throwback this year with their Disney-inspired theme. “We felt that this theme carries elements of [the] carefree fun of our generation’s childhood, which we hope to bring to Beer Bike and Willy week,” Emily Roy, a Baker College Beer Bike coordinator, said. The coordinators are adding a new tradition this year: a Jello Scoot with Wiess, similar to Mock Bike, but with scooters and jello to chug instead of water. Roy expressed confidence in Baker’s bike and chug teams. “They have all been practicing long and hard, and we hope their hard work pays off. Whether they win or not, we are still proud of them,” Roy said.
SID RICH
Earth, Wine and Fireball Sid’s theme invokes the much-memed song “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire. “The throwback theme pays homage to ‘70s disco, the same decade that Sid was founded,” Bela Walkin, a coordinator, said. “Much like Earth, Wind and Fire, Sidizens are, in the words of Rolling Stone magazine, ‘innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing.’” Walkin said that in addition to their traditional quad jack and Orc Raid, Sid will be playing music on Radio Free Sid for Willy Week. “We’ll be blasting Radio Free Sid every day this week with a playlist by a different class of Sidizens every day, all featuring the classic ‘Back in Black’ by AC/DC as well as ‘September’ by Earth, Wind and Fire to pay homage to our theme.” According to Walkin, the bike and chug teams look “So. Damn. Good.”
According to Masimore, in DUNCAN Bartoon Network addition to continuing a tradition Noah Masimore said that Duncan College’s Beer Bike theme evokes the college’s inclusivity. “This theme is perfect for our college because, like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, there’s a home for every Duncaroo at Duncan College, and something for everyone at Duncan Willy Week,” Masimore said.
of “having the best jacks of all the colleges,” Duncan will be adding a new tradition to the Willy Week roster: a Capture the Flag game with the North Colleges. And when asked about the bike and chug teams? “[They’re] ready to kick some ass,” Masimore said.
BEER BIKE INSERT
6 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
FLOATS TAKE SHAPE A volcano that erupts wine and Fireball and a massive bottle of Smirnoff are two phallic floats that will grace the parade from the water balloon fight to the Beer Bike track. Sid Richardson float builder and junior Fern Horillo said the Sid team initially wanted to build a large penis for their “Earth, Wine and Fireball: the 21st Pint of September” theme but were shut down by the Beer Bike coordinators. “We instead channeled our inner third graders and settled for a giant volcano,” Horillo said. Hanszen float builder and senior Nik Liebster said the Hanszen float will celebrate the college’s “huge package” with a “large, erect bottle of Smirnoff.” “This year we are continuing Hanszen’s long tradition of celebrating how well-endowed we are,” Liebster said. “With an endowment as large as ours, it’s hard to not flaunt it around.” Liebster said the Hanszen float is built from chicken wire, papier-mache and a “healthy dose of hypermasculinity” and inspired by his dream. “It came to me in a feverish and vivid dream from which I woke up drenched,” Liebster said. Will Rice College will be building a less phallic float using IKEA furniture for its theme, “IKEA: Brew it Yourself”, according to float builder Juhi Parikh. The float is a “Biking Ship,” a Beer Bike viking ship. “Our ship references IKEA, Sweden, Will Rice and sweeping,” Parikh, a Will Rice freshman, said. “The
front of the float shows a biking ship and from the back an IKEA show room can be seen inside the boat.” Float builder Adam Subel said the Jones float focuses on the carnival aspect of the theme, “Travis Scotch: Smashtroworld,” and will take the form of
charlene pan / thresher
BROWN DUNCAN
charlene pan / thresher
Hanszen college seniors Nik Liebster and Abigail Panitz shape chicken wire as part of the “large, erect bottle of Smirnoff” that will serve as the college’s float.
Sid Richardson College sophomore Nafisa Istami works to assemble her college’s float: a volcano on top of a truck that will erupt wine and Fireball on the day of Beer Bike.
BAKER
EMILY ABDOW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
a ferris wheel that is purple for Jones and black and gold for outer space. “[I wanted] to find something unique and dynamic that did not require papier-mache,” Subel, a sophomore, said. “For the past few years Jones had been relying on that, but it is very time consuming and doesn’t give a very clean aesthetic.” Duncan College is building a giant cathode-ray tube TV with a mural of Cartoon Network characters to fit its theme. The TV will be 16 feet long and 10 feet tall, according to Duncan senior Cole Crawford. Brown College is opting for a smaller build of the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo for their “Scooby Brew” theme. The main difference, according to sophomore Stephany Marchany, is that the the machine will be renamed the “Margarita Machine.” Baker College will once again be pushing its “hell car,” a Baker tradition. Painter Julia Wang said she is painting Drake and Josh on the car’s hood to fit this year’s theme of “Drank and Josh: Chug Me Brotha.” “We usually spray paint fire at the bottom edges of the hell car, but this year we’ll be painting the splashes from the Nickelodeon logo instead to reflect the theme,” Wang, a senior, said. Also keeping with tradition, Wiess College will push its “war pig” float, which will be repainted with an arrow to fit the “Avatar the Last Bartender: Master of All Four Lokos” theme, according to sophomore Carlos Tafur. Lovett College is forgoing float building, preferring to spend its time after the water balloon fight mud wrestling.
CAMPUSWIDE PREDICTIONS
The Thresher reached out to the Rice community with an important question: Who will win Beer Bike? Here are the responses.
HANSZEN JONES
MEN
WOMEN
ALUMNI
PREDICTED WINNER: JONES
PREDICTED WINNER: JONES
PREDICTED WINNER: WILL RICE
LOVETT MARTEL MCMURTRY SID RICH WIESS WILL RICE GSA
BEER BIKE INSERT
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 • 7
MARTEL BUILD Gigi Rill had no time to pause for an interview as she worked on the Martel Beer Bike build the Sunday before Willy Week. “The other build head [and I] have probably put in close to 40 hours each on this build this weekend,” Rill said, continuing to paint. “Overall, your typical build with take 800 to 900 man-hours to do.” Rill, a Martel College senior, is coordinating her college’s build for the fourth consecutive year. “For me, it’s kind of like an artistic outlet,” Rill said. “It allows me to create something that you don’t normally get to do. I’m a mechanical engineer, and we create very practical things. Nothing about this is practical.” This is the eighth year that Martel has done a Beer Bike build, according to Rill. Past projects have included Rick’s garage from Rick and Morty and an upside-down room for a Spiderman theme. This year’s Martel Beer Bike theme is “The Emperor’s New Booze: Pull the lever, Kronk,” which is based on the movie The Emperor’s New Groove. Rill and co-coordinator Amanda Suarez decided to create two separate aspects of the build: “Marteltopia” indoors and a castle façade on the sundeck, both of which mimic scenes from the movie. “My ideal build, practicality and safety thrown out the window, would’ve been a roller coaster in the quad, but that seemed a bit much,” Suarez, a Martel sophomore, said. Rill said “Marteltopia” was inspired by Instagram pop-ups that encourage visitors to take photos to post to social media. It had to be put inside the commons because, in the words of Rill, it isn’t “drunk people proof.” “Marteltopia” features walls decorated with references to the movie and a throne for students to pose on for pictures. “People always really love thrones,” Rill said. “My freshman year we created a beer bottle throne
CAPTAINS’ PREDICTIONS We polled the Bike Captains from each college to see what the experts predict for the results of Saturday’s races.
MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
WOMEN
GSA Baker Hanszen Hanszen Will Rice McMurtry Jones Will Rice Baker Brown Brown GSA McMurtry Jones Lovett Wiess Martel Duncan Sid Lovett Wiess Martel Duncan Sid
ANDREW GROTTKAU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
channing wang/thresher
Martel build heads Gigi Rill and Amanda Suarez built a castle façade outside the Martel sundeck to celebrate the college’s theme: “The Emperor’s New Booze: Pull the lever, Kronk!”
for a Game of Thrones theme, and people still have that as their profile picture four years later. It’s a nice circle back to my freshman year.” Outside, Suarez has been working with a team of volunteers to lift giant painted panels into place on the side of the Martel sundeck to form the appearance of a castle. She has assembled a team of around 15 to 20 people to help with the build, mainly engineers who are comfortable working with saws and other construction equipment. She said she and her team began brainstorming as soon as the theme was announced, purchased materials in February and started building the façade in March.
“It’s been hectic,” Suarez said. “I was up until 5:30 [a.m.] the night before last working on the build because I was excited about it. We’ve just been building, building, building, building then break for lunch and build, build, build. It’s been really fun.” Despite the amount of time she has had to invest in the build over the past four years, Rill said she is happy to contribute to Martel’s Beer Bike each spring. “It’s about creating something that creates community within Martel,” Rill said. “It allows people to connect with each other.”
BEER BIKE FASHION CHRISTINA TAN A&E EDITOR
Beer Bike has become a full-blown cultural phenomenon, and with that comes a diversity of choices for style. But when forced to wear the same shirt as 300 of your friends, setting yourself apart with a unique look on Beer Bike day can seem difficult. However, being extra in every manner — from dyeing your hair to cutting up your shirt — is acceptable if not encouraged on this holiday. DYEING HAIR If you’re weak like me, stick to bleaching your tips and then running off to the nearest barbershop to reduce your chances of split ends. Dark hair is a curse for Beer Bike, since multiple rounds of bleach are often necessary to make your hair light enough for dyeing. That being said, you’re already laying in the quad, so couple your ~relaxation~ with aluminum foil, bleach and hair dye. To bleach, put on a shirt you don’t care about and section off your hair using hair ties or clips. Starting at the bottom, apply bleach using a comb or brush. When finished, wrap your tips or full head of hair with aluminum foil and let sit for around 40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes to see the lightness of the hair. Afterwards, wash your hair thoroughly before dyeing with color — Manic Panic is the move for dye. Hair maintenance is important during this fragile time: be sure to invest in heavy duty conditioner to prevent split ends. Special cases: If you’re bleaching facial hair, be sure to buy special bleach to avoid bleaching your skin. If you’re blonde, just ignore the above text and stick your hair into dye however you want. ACCESSORIES Underrated, under-discussed: accessories can make you stand out of the crowd. From the practical
(fanny packs) to the less practical (face glitter), there are a million options for you to choose from. Here are some tried-and-true suggestions: FANNY PACKS These bad boys can hold your phone, keys and dignity as you move from Martel to Hanszen and between colleges. A normally-shamed item, fanny packs make you look ~hip~ and ~happening~ on Beer Bike. Be warned: they will not protect your phone from the water balloon fight. Trust me. SUNGLASSES Even though it might rain on Saturday, sunglasses frame your face, give you a chance to add more color to your fit and are underrated for Beer Bike morning festivities (and for water balloons to your face). Amazon sells cheap plastic heart-shaped sunglasses in a variety of colors, so pick up a pair in your college’s color(s)! TEMPORARY TATTOOS What better way to display your college pride than to wear it on your sleeve, literally? Companies like StickerYou sell customizable temporary tattoos — wear a crest, “Jones Blows Goats” or any other mantra. Alternatively, Inkbox sells semi-permanent tattoo ink (and you can get that Amazon two-day shipping on it) for more freehand styles. TYPICAL CLOTHING For those of you who care less about standing out and more about surviving, be sure to wear practical shorts — athletic or soft shorts offer maximum mobility. Tennis shoes are a must, particularly when trekking across campus or jumping up and down on the Martel sundeck with hundreds of other people. Be warned though: white is not the move, especially if you’re anywhere near someone from Lovett during the water balloon fight.
BEER BIKE INSERT
8 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
WIESS CHUGGER FASTEST TIME: 4.5 sec I think the best part of it for me though is getting to tell my mom that I’m a part of a very important team at my college completely based on the fact that I am good at chugging water.
AGUSTIN CARRIZALES
MARTEL CHUGGER
JACKIE RICHARDS
FASTEST TIME: 3.12 sec As ladies’ chug captain for Martel, I get to cheer on all these amazing women and feel like I’m actually contributing to the competition.
courtesy anson tong
WILL RICE BIKER
KELSEY EVANS
FASTEST TIME: 1:34
As a student-athlete, being able to apply my abilities and passion to my college is meaningful. I represent Rice as a swimmer, but as a biker I get the chance to represent Will Rice.
courtesy kaysie tam
BAKER BIKER
SAI SRIRAM
FASTEST TIME: 2:06
I was coerced to join the team by the bike captains. They force us to train unethically and expect us to take performance-enhancing drugs. My favorite part will be when I can feel my legs again. SID RICH BIKER
REBECCA GODARD
FASTEST TIME: 1:40
Beer bike has a great competitive atmosphere. As someone who loves sports and competition, I really enjoy going out and representing my college at this event. HANSZEN BIKER AND CHUGER
GRAHAM CURTIS I like to ride my bike.
courtesy priyanka jain
JONES BIKER
RABEA TZENETOS
FASTEST TIME: 1:25 Highlights of being a part of the Jones bike team: (1) Dancing with my teammates on the track. (2) Cheering on other Jonesians. (3) Getting hyped up by our incredible pit crew. (4) Guaranteed win! JIBA!
FASTEST TIME 1:59 BIKING, 4 sec CHUGGING
RPC SPECTATOR GUIDE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 • 9
SCHEDULE
8:45 am - Hanszen color powder celebration 10:00 am - Water balloon fight starts 11:00 am - Parade starts 11:30 am - Alumni race starts 12:15 pm - Women’s race starts 1:00 pm - Men’s race starts
PARADE PRIZES
1st place: 25% off fines 2nd place: 15% off fines 3rd place: 10% off fines
FLOAT JUDGES James DeNicco Colette Nicolaou Julianne Yost
RACE EMCEEs
Jake Reinhart Martel College Senior Will Grimme Will Rice College Junior
TRACK TRACK TRACK TRACK
RPC SPECTATOR GUIDE
10 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
COLLEGE
COORDINATORS
THEME
BAKER
Sarah Downing, Saniya Gayake, Emily Roy, Eddie Tang, Varsha Varghese
Drank and Josh: Chug Me Brotha
BROWN
Anusha Gandhi, Sam Tekie, Conor Rork, Evan Delafose, Pamela McInturff
Scooby Brew: Mystery Intoxicated
DUNCAN
Noah Masimore, Neha Amaravedi, Jessica Sheldon, Ben Harris
Bartoon Network: Foster’s Home for Inebriated Kids
HANSZEN
Travis Benedict, Will Ledig, Isabella Gandara, Nik Liebster, Nikhita Gangla, Gillian Mellor
Vodkabulary: Now I Know My BACs
JONES
Alfonso Morera, Rohan Palanki, Hannah Park, Julia Kolbe, Maxim Karoubi
Travis Scotch: Smashtroworld
LOVETT
Tanvi Jadhav, Jayson Taylor, Victor Nguyen, Mahlet Molla, Natalie Siejczuk
Bacardi McFly in “Back to the Brewture”
MARTEL
Judson Webb, Nisha Patel, Francis Bunt, Carolina De Santiago, Jaylen Carr, Moses Glickman
The Emperor’s New Booze: Pull the Lever, Kronk!
MCMURTRY
Jake Bhoi, Mitra Mirpour, Grant Lu, Asli Yilmaz
Brooklyn Wine-Wine: Title of Your Spec’s Tape
SID RICH
Sarasota Serulneck, Alison Drileck, Jared Aiman, Medha Gupta, Isabela Walkin
Earth, Wine, and Fireball: The 21st Pint of September
WIESS
Sophie Rodriguez, Olu Fafowora, Carlos Tafur, Izzy Rodriguez
Avatar the Last Bartender: The Master of All Four Lokos
WILL RICE
Thuc Truong, Asad Lalani, Sara Lopez, Yu-Hsuan Cheng, Julia Coco
Bikea: Brew It Yourself
GSA
Hannah Pearce, Ronan O’Connell
Brewhemian Rhapsody
BAKER
Our bike game glo’d up faster than Josh Peck.
MARTEL
“WRONG LEVEEEEEEEEER!!!” [splash]
RPC SPECTATOR GUIDE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 • 11
COLLEGE
BIKE CAPTAIN
CHUG CAPTAIN
PIT CAPTAIN
BAKER
Madison Nasteff, Rebecca Francis, Paul Ryu, John Michael Austin
Christina Mezmur Jeremy Palmer
Matthew Neal
BROWN
Charles Davis, Dan Englund, Hannah Whitney, Kyra Lasota
Charles Davis. Kevin Ngo, Nithya Gillipelli, Audrey Paetzel
Tommy Stasko
DUNCAN
Caroline Cobb, Sophia Jefferson, Cam Walton, Anthony Perez
Christian Carr, Sky Walker, Ben Harris, Jessica Hartz
Maurice Frediere
HANSZEN
Vy Dang, Valerie Du, Patrick Breen, Graham Curtis
Valerie Du, Elizabeth Myong, Graham Curtis
Frank Frankovsky, Bert Odinet, Valerie Du
JONES
Anna Seballos, Sam Morimoto, Will Yarinski, Kelly Turner, Rabea Tzenetos
Alfonso Morera Alexis Williams
Kyle Bartsch
LOVETT
Luke Howe-Kerr, Alessi Armengol
Randy Liu Emily Hook
Kevin Chen
MARTEL
Loren Young, Elizabeth Jowers, Amanda Suarez, Alan Kim
Jackie Richards
Kalyan Chaliki, Adrish Anand, Ian Frankel, Zach Bodek
MCMURTRY
Saad Yousaf, Stoyan Komitov, Oliver Lopez, Mariana Najera, Carlin Cherry
Raymond Lau
Tri Pham Nick Falkenberg
SID RICH
Evan Rebesque , Victor Gonzalez, Rebecca Godard, Vivian Wilhelms
Swapnav Deka Chase Hinman
Evan Rebesque, Oren Pazgal, Trevor Egerton, Nishanth Lavendra
WIESS
Sunny Chen, Zac Zalles, Libby Reeves, William Porter
Daniel Weinberg Liz Kacpura
Johannah Palomo
WILL RICE
David Cai, Christopher Walters, Eugenio Mesta, Katie Lobodzinski, Ellen McMullen
Nic Jeffress Anna Cole
Daniel Russell
GSA
Mary Natoli, Gisele Calderon, Shannon Carter, Colin Noe
Alison Farrish Ronan O’Connell
Lawrence (Joey) Tauzin
HANSZEN team TWerkINNG: #HFDOFTCH
MCMURTRY
Hi, McMurtry College. The college form of the 100 emoji.
DUNCAN
For Us, College Koordinating Was Ridiculously Crazy.
RPC SPECTATOR GUIDE
12 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
CAMPUS COORDS
Campus wide: Rebecca Artall, Enoch Peng Track coord: Raiha Abbas Staff advisor: Ryan Morgado
WILL RICE
Will Rice Will Sweep #6f------times
LOVETT
“Great Scotch! 1.21 keg-awatts!”
WIESS
BROWN
Team Effin’ Wiess
“You’re talking mad s--- for someone in zoinkable distance” -Norville “Shaggy”
JONES
SID RICH
As a wise band once said, “Ba duda, ba duda, ba duda, badu.”
Note: Jones coordinators did not submit a quote, and GSA coordinators did not submit a photo or quote.
THE RICE THRESHER
13 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
FEATURES
BLA CK @ RIC
Bla c to h k at R cam ighligh ice is a or t pus. E t and c series o no ma w e min il thr lebrate ithin f e ate esh som er@ Black atures i eon rice voic .edu es o ntende e. n d with a inqu nd off iries
CHRISTINA TAN A&E EDITOR
Where Cordy McJunkins comes from, going to a school like Rice is unheard of. “You’re set up to fail in high school,” McJunkins, a Duncan College sophomore, said. “We don’t hear about big names like Rice, Harvard — we don’t expect kids to get in there.” McJunkins is from a small town in Arkansas called Texarkana, which has a twin city by the same name in Texas. Located across the state line from Texas, Texarkana has a population of 30,000 people — 61 percent of whom are Caucasian, 34 percent are Black. “It was very awkward for me [living there], mainly because my story is different from most people in my town,” McJunkins said. “I lived on the Texas side for the first eight years with my mom in Section 8 housing. She was deaf and mute and mentally ill, so it was really just kind of me raising myself.” At the age of eight, McJunkins was adopted by his mother, who lives on the Arkansas side of Texarkana. There, McJunkins faced a new slew of issues — his rising success in high school was met with skepticism in his community and he struggled to find similar peers. “Black people are seen as thugs, and you don’t really hear about Black people being successful,” McJunkins said. “When I was top of my class, people were like ‘Wow, this hasn’t been done in 25 years. You’re the third Black man from this high school to be valedictorian.’ It’s kind of hard to succeed when you have a
whole town that ignores you and puts you to the side.” McJunkins credits the program Matriculate, a non-profit organization that helps high-achieving, low-income students apply to college, for pushing him to apply to schools like Rice. He said that without the program’s encouragement, he would likely have defaulted to applying to state schools. “As I was applying, I kind of half-assed it, because I was kind of just like — kids like me don’t get in,” McJunkins said. “But I did, and so I flew down and took a visit here. I really loved it.” Once McJunkins got to Rice, he said he felt comfortable academically due to his acceptances at other prestigious institutions and chose to triple major in economics, psychology and social policy analysis. Instead of academic worries, McJunkins felt isolated socioeconomically. “We make below [the average income in Arkansas] because my mom’s working by herself,” McJunkins said. “So that was kind of a shock because in our small town, almost everyone that you hang out with are in the same income bracket. It’s very hard [at Rice] because people will be like, ‘Ooh let’s go to this restaurant,’ and I’ll see three dollar signs and say, ‘I can’t afford that.’” Small towns like Texarkana, McJunkins said, are often rural and not wealthy. Lowincome and first-generation students from similar places are less equipped with the resources or know-how to navigate college, an issue that McJunkins is passionate about. During his two years at Rice, he has actively pursued solutions by working through the Student Association and taking on
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biological g r a n d m o t h e r, he hasn’t seen his biological mother since he was seven and his old Section 8 housing is gone. “The whole neighborhood’s been gentrified, completely,” McJunkins said. “They’ve torn down all of the houses. It’s not so much that I cherish those memories, because a lot of it was rough. I was taken away from my parents because of child abuse. It’s not the greatest memories — but they still were memories. It’s kind of hard because [I] don’t have anything to tie [myself] back to, because it’s gone.” With two more years left at Rice, McJunkins hopes to continue making dramatic changes to Rice’s landscapes by forging connections with the administration and with other low-income students. And beyond Rice, McJunkins said he wants to be the person who has answers and solutions for people — unlike so many others in the system who failed him when he was a child. “I want to go into government — maybe be a governor, senator, maybe one day be the head of the Department of Education,” McJunkins said.
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leadership roles: McJunkins will coordinate Duncan’s O-Week this upcoming year after serving as SA Senator and Duncan’s Legislative Vice President. “When I was on a panel the other day with Dean [of Undergraduates Bridget] Gorman and Provost [Marie Lynn] Miranda, we were talking about [how] there’s potential and there’s preparedness, and you need both to succeed at Rice,” McJunkins said. “[As low-income] students come in, they have that potential, but they’re not prepared. They’re already starting off with one hand tied behind their back because they’re having to maneuver around Rice.” McJunkins’ activism does not stop at the low-income and first-generation experience. He recently co-authored an opinion piece in the Thresher about his and other Black students’ experiences at Rice, specifically at Duncan. “A lot of times, when I talk about Black issues that I’ve gone through or any discrimination that I’ve faced here at Rice, people are like ‘Oh that’s crazy. I’m so sorry,’” McJunkins said. “I’m tired of hearing sorry. I would just want you to be engaged and call people out when you do experience this or when you see this, so that people around campus are more aware — I don’t think people are aware enough.” Although McJunkins has thrown himself into the midst of Rice student government, he does return home to Texarkana sometimes — but only on the Arkansas side. While he keeps in contact with his
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Answers will be posted on ricethresher.org and on the Thresher Facebook page. Bolded clues correspond to the theme.
THE RICE THRESHER
14 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Bored? More films to see Our SXSW writer wrote reviews for twenty different SXSW films and television episodes. Read his thoughts online. See more on ricethresher.org
STUDENT ART
Archi-Arts transforms Anderson Hall with student art, performances
STUDENT ART
SOUL NIGHT
CHRISTINA TAN A&E EDITOR
yi luo / thresher
Hanszen College freshman Morgan Seay performs a spoken word piece called “Chains” at the Black Student Association’s “Soul Night,” an annual cultural performance.
On Saturday, Anderson Hall transformed into a makeshift gallery and exhibition space with dangling foam photos, a large-scale installation and dozens of works of student art. Rice Architecture Society orchestrated this transformation to host its annual Archi-Arts, an event focused on spotlighting interdisciplinary art across campus. This year, the event showcased an unprecedented amount and diversity of work, according to curator Shree Kale. “In the past, it has been difficult to get a large amount of work displayed at the event,” Kale, one of the three curators for the event, said. “Not many people knew about it and not a lot of students outside of the School of Architecture would submit work.” Kale, a Duncan College junior, said that he and his co-curators promoted the event through a Mini Charrette competition and direct invitations to different departments. Kale said he focused on engaging artists to display work and contacted Visual and Dramatic Arts Assistant Professor Lisa Lapinski for student work. 18 sculpture works were shown at Archi-Arts. “One of the more difficult, yet exciting, things this year was the number of sculptures we were including,” Kale said. “The challenge was finding a place for
them. We decided to expand the event to include [the upstairs hall], the ‘Bridge.’ We decided to place a majority of the sculptures on the Bridge and turn it into a type of sculpture garden.” While Kale searched for displaying artists, co-curator Phoebe Cox contacted Rice Dance Theatre, who performed in the winning installation from the Mini Charrette competition, accompanied by music performed by Shepherd School of Music students. The installation, “Tape Tape Tape Tape Tape,” was proposed and installed by a team of both architecture and non-architecture students — Martel College junior Alec Tobin, Lovett College junior Kaarthika Thakker, Sid Richardson College junior Stacy Su and Jones College junior Beril Uzmen. This group beat out six other teams with their striking piece, which covered the “Jury” room of Anderson with long, parallel strips of red tape. Repurposed display stands matched that parallelism by featuring similar strips of tape. Performers from Rice Dance Theatre moved these stands from their parallelism during their dance, creating a sense of disorientation and movement. In total, the two-hour event included five Rice Dance Theatre performances, hosted a Rice Philharmonics performance and featured 91 photography, sculpture and 2D works. Disclaimer: Christina Tan exhibited at Archi-Arts.
MUSIC
The future of hip-hop and R&B is female. Here’s who you should be listening to. CHRISTINA TAN A&E EDITOR
Since its conception in 2007, hip-hop magazine XXL’s “Freshman List,” which showcases rising stars in hip-hop, has featured six women out of 112 features. That measly 5.3 percent shows just how little attention has been given to women in the industry — and that when given, these women still face obstacles of colorism and racism (Iggy Azalea was the first woman to make the “Freshman List”). Similar problems exist in rhythm and blues — despite a history of female stars, the industry heavily favors men; on Billboard’s 2018 R&B songs chart, only seven out of more than 50 artists were women. The time for women to shine in their well-deserved spotlight has finally arrived thanks to increasingly democratic methods like platform streaming and social media. Female artists in hip-hop and R&B have used these mediums as launchpads to meteoric success. Even in 2019, female success can still be seen as a zero-sum game where women are pitted against each other until one is crowned as the only relevant artist (see: Lil’ Kim vs. Nicki Minaj). Additionally, Cardi B’s rise to the top has led to incessant comparisons between her and Minaj, as well as other hip-
hop acts, but rarely between her and other male artists. Still, the industry is fighting back with an explosion of talent that pushes the boundaries and definitions of traditional hiphop and R&B. Dramatic change is coming, and you can contribute by supporting, listening to and following these rising artists:
bass-heavy rap style. The 21-year-old released her first mixtape in 11th grade, and her fifth mixtape Sugar Trap 2 made Rolling Stone’s best rap albums of 2017 list. Nasty accompanies her music style with unique, punk outfits, often choosing to don thick eyeliner and spike her hair.
MEGAN THEE STALLION Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Pete) is a born-and-raised Houstonian whose rap style and lyrical talent has contributed to her steady rise to fame. Known for her crisp and creative freestyles on radio stations such as the Charlie Sloth Rap Show, Stallion has a distinctive sound that gets listeners bouncing in their seats. Stallion’s talent has not gone unnoticed: she is the first woman to sign with 300 Entertainment, a record label featuring stars like Young Thug, and Minaj recently tweeted her lyrics with “Oh ok barz.” On top of that, Stallion is a full-time student at Texas Southern University, where she studies health administration.
NONAME Rapper Noname (Fatimah Nyeema Warner) first gained recognition for her feature on Chance the Rapper’s “Lost,” but she has had no trouble making a name for herself. Her albums Telefone and Room 25 received universal acclaim — unattached to a record label, Noname produces, writes and performs her work without being tied down by a contract. Her success points to an increase in artist independence from labels and the popularity of her style fills a niche in rap that has listeners paying attention. Noname focuses on thoughtful, poetic lyricism, with few bars sounding or meaning the same thing. Her topics range from gentrification to Chicago to Black women’s pain.
RICO NASTY Rico Nasty (Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly) lives up to her name. Her single “Guap (LaLaLa)” starts with a narrator, who says “Children, cover up your ears and do the ‘lala’ sound,” appropriate for Nasty’s aggressive,
CHLOE X HALLE Chloe x Halle consists of a sister duo, Chloe and Halle Bailey — 20 and 19 years old, respectively (today is Halle’s birthday). The R&B duo got their start on YouTube, where
their cover of “Pretty Hurts” got them signed to Beyonce’s label, Parkwood Entertainment. They later opened for the European leg of her “Formation World Tour” and sang “America the Beautiful” at the 2019 Super Bowl. They wrote and produced their first album, The Kids are Alright, an endeavor that took three years. That care is evident throughout the album, which highlights the sisters’ impeccable voices and easy synergy with each other. TIERRA WHACK Like many of her male counterparts, Tierra Whack seamlessly transitions between R&B and rap in her quirky, experimental tracks. These tracks are often accompanied by unconventional artwork and music videos, one of which was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Music Video. Whack’s artistic, thoughtful approach to her music shows in interesting choices — her debut album, Whack World, features 15 tracks that are each exactly one minute long. And, like many of the aforementioned artists, Whack is a fun artist to follow — she’s been dropping a single every week since Feb. 19, meaning you can follow along until she makes them into a full-length album. For more rising artists to listen to, see the full playlist at ricethresher.org.
THE WEEKLY SCENE
INSIDE Inferno Gallery is hosting architecture student Belle Carroll’s “Inside” on Thursday from 8 - 11 p.m. “Inside” seeks to emulate the experience of the womb through sound and visuals. The opening will provide free food, beverages and wine. Inferno Gallery Sewall Hall Courtyard
ARTE SIN FRONTERAS Join Aerosol Warfare on Saturday from 12 - 8 p.m. for an art installation by Houstonian graffiti artist Mario E. Figueroa Jr. Figueroa is self-trained and works with his characteristic “Plexigraff style,” which is made up of spray-painted acrylic layers. The event is free and open to the public. Aerosol Warfare 2110 Jefferson St.
SPRING FESTIVAL
NOPE!
To celebrate its Van Gogh exhibit, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston will host its “Spring Festival: Celebrating Colors” with music, art and games on Saturday from 3 8 p.m. The event is free, but admission to the exhibit must be purchased separately at $20 for students.
Texas Art Asylum will present “NOPE! An art show about your Fears and Phobias” on Saturday from 4 - 8 p.m. and Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. Watch local Houston artists confront the things that send shivers down your spine. The exhibit is free and open to the public both days, with El Guajillo Food Truck on-site Saturday.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet St.
Texas Art Asylum 1719 Live Oak St., Unit L
THE RICE THRESHER
15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
SPORTS
Track & Field Senior Reagan Olguin and junior Hannah Jackson headlined the Owls’ top finishers last weekend. See more at ricethresher.org
RECAP
Baseball snaps 7-game losing streak sirui zhou / thresher
Senior Jackson Parathasarthy delivers a pitch during the Owls’ 9-3 loss to the University of Texas, San Antonio on Saturday at Reckling Park. Parathasarthy allowed four runs and uncorked three wild pitches in two innings of work as the starter, dropping his record on the year to 2-4.
MADISON BUZZARD ASST SPORTS EDITOR
Rice baseball dropped two out of three games to the University of Texas, San Antonio in its first home conference series of the year, falling to 9-17 on the season and 1-5 in Conference USA play. Through 23 games, Rice baseball’s 2019 team was a spitting image of the 2018 team. Only one win differentiated its record between this year and last year. Both teams had recently lost to a ranked Texas A&M University squad. Both teams were set to begin their first home C-USA series. And both teams were about to entrust Matt Canterino to make a pivotal start on the mound. Last season, as a sophomore, Canterino carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Western Kentucky University to help Rice earn a 4-0 win. But against UTSA on Friday, Canterino, now a junior, couldn’t recreate his magic.
He pitched a shutout through six innings, but Roadrunners ace Karan Patel matched him stride-for-stride. When Canterino’s shield cracked in the seventh inning, UTSA pounced, tallying three runs from two triples, a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Rice fought back immediately. Sophomore catcher Justin Collins doubled home senior left fielder Andrew Dunlap and junior second baseman Cade Edwards ripped a triple down the left field line to score Collins. But junior designated hitter Rodrigo Duluc swung over a two-strike breaking ball with two outs and UTSA maintained its 3-2 lead. When the Owls were unable to muster any more runs in the 4-2 defeat, Canterino was tagged with his fourth loss of the season. Canterino has only one win this year despite being ranked No. 39 nationally in walks and hits per inning pitched. Rice head coach Matt Bragga said if his team could have produced more timely hitting, it would have won the series opener.
“It’s one of those things where we are not getting the big hits, the clutch hits, so to say,” Bragga said. “Even with zero or one outs and with runners in scoring position, we have been leaving them out there.” Saturday’s game was not quite a pitcher’s duel. UTSA scored in the first inning on a wild pitch by Owls senior Jackson Parthasarthy and added three more runs in the second. Parthasarthy was then replaced by sophomore Addison Moss, but UTSA scored four runs on him, too. By the time Dunlap launched his team-leading sixth home run for Rice in the bottom of the fourth, the Owls were already seven runs down. In the end, Rice fell 9-3. According to Bragga, Rice’s top-shelf pitchers need to get deeper into games. “We are a team that needs to be built around our starting pitching,” Bragga said. “If they do well, it gives us an opportunity. If they don’t, we’re not as good. When you have good starters and a good bullpen and
you’re offensively sound and defensively sound, consistency happens.” Bragga said one positive from Saturday’s loss was the 18-inning stretch of error-free baseball — the first of its kind for Rice this season. “If you go back and look at numbers for all the games ... there is a considerable difference in our fielding percentage,” Bragga said. “It was something that needed to be addressed heavily, and we have addressed it heavily. By no means is it perfect. But it has improved and it will continue to improve.” Still, the loss mired Rice in a sevengame losing streak, the program’s longest since 2017. With Wayne Graham at the helm, the Owls never lost eight in a row. According to Bragga, the series finale was a critical litmus test for Rice’s season. “[It’s] about as much of a must-win as it could be six games into the conference season,” Bragga said. Senior Evan Kravetz took the mound for Sunday’s game, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing three runs before being replaced by senior Kendal Jefferies. In the bottom of the third inning, Rice tallied its first three-run frame of the weekend. Edwards broke the tie in the fifth inning with an RBI single. In the sixth, junior Braden Comeaux drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home another run. Rice went up 8-3 when it tallied three runs in the seventh inning. But after Jefferies let in two runs in the eighth inning, Bragga made the switch to junior Garrett Gayle. With his first save opportunity of the season, Gayle delivered and the Owls won 8-6. Bragga said he enjoyed watching his players deliver when it mattered most. “Our guys needed a win,” Bragga said. “We all did. Even I needed a win as a coach. When you lose seven in a row, anytime you can break that and get a win, it’s a good [feeling]. I am proud of our guys.” The Owls’ Tuesday night game against Texas State University was ongoing at time of print.
Men’s tennis continues slide with winless weekend SPENCER MOFFAT
SENIOR WRITER
The Rice men’s tennis team fell to Utah State University 4-2 on Sunday night to finish a winless weekend at the 61st Ralph O’Connor Rice Invitational. The loss dropped the Owls to 9-11 on the season and extended their losing streak to four matches. The Owls’ last win was against Southern Methodist University, on March 10. Rice started off the weekend on a high note against Texas Tech University, with a 6-3 victory in doubles by sophomore Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and freshman Karol Paluch. However, the Red Raiders picked up a 6-3 win on court two against Rice sophomores Jakob Eskeland and Conrad Russell to tie the doubles point. On court one, Rice’s doubles pair of junior Eric Rutledge and sophomore Sumit Sarkar, currently ranked No. 39 in the
nation, found themselves tied 5-5 against Texas Tech’s No. 7-ranked duo of Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn. Texas Tech broke to serve for the match, but Rice responded by forcing a tiebreaker. With the doubles point on the line, Rutledge and Sarkar sprinted to a 6-1 lead and had two serves to clinch the match. But the Owls’ advantage evaporated after Thomson and Wynn won six straight points. Rutledge and Sarkar fought off four match points before eventually falling 12-10 to lose the match and the doubles point. Head coach Efe Ustundag said he was impressed with the doubles pair maintaining its energy in the tiebreaker. “We really kept it up throughout the tiebreak and put ourselves in a situation where we [could win],” Ustundag said. The Owls could not close the deficit in singles play. Sarkar won his fourth straight match with a straight-set win to improve his record to 11-4, but Texas
Tech earned singles wins at courts two, four and five to close out the match. Thus, Rutledge and freshman Adam Oscislawski did not finish their matches. After the match, Ustundag said pride and perseverance would be necessary for Rice to level its invitational record. “It has to be about desire and not wanting to quit,” Ustundag said. The Owls’ first opportunity to rebound was on Sunday in a match against Dartmouth College. Dartmouth entered the match with a 2-0 record on the weekend. Rice pushed the pace early by winning four of its six first singles sets. However, the Big Green responded by winning the second set in three of those four matches, and eventually defeated the Owls in two of them. In singles play, Dartmouth won the first two completed matches with victories against Abdel-Aziz and Oscislawski. Rice picked up a win when
Sarkar claimed his third consecutive victory over a ranked opponent by defeating Dartmouth’s No. 34-ranked Charlie Broom (6-4, 7-6). But the Big Green still secured the team victory to clinch the Rice Invitational title. The Owls responded to Sunday morning’s loss by winning the doubles point against Utah State to open the match. Sarkar and Oscislawski won their doubles match 6-0, and the doubles pair of Abdel-Aziz and Paluch followed by claiming their match 6-3. In singles play, the Owls split the opening sets of the six matches. However, the Aggies responded by winning five of the six second sets to take a 3-2 lead and send two matches to a deciding third set. The Aggies closed out the Owls with a win on court four to earn a 4-2 victory over Rice. The Owls are next in action on Saturday, March 30 when they travel to Beaumont to take on Lamar University.
BACKPAGE
16 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019
Beer Bike Fortune Teller Beer Bike: it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but everyone celebrates a little differently. No matter how many times you’ve experienced Beer Bike, you never know what this year will have in store — hopefully it’s not a Beer Run, though.
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ro t a lis After all of the ti c e ed Wil c buildup, you sleep through . l the races. Better luck next time, but you can’t unshave your head.
A lot of people are chanting “Fuck the GSA.” You take it more literally than most.
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You’re forty yards out, you’re thirty yards out … forty again, fifty … they’re taking you back to your dorm, you wouldn’t survive the races.
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1. Which team will you be on? Spell out the answer and open and close the fortune teller once per letter.
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You already have to find scissors to crop your Beer Bike top, so why not cut out and fold the fortune teller for the full experience? Follow the folding instructions to the right.
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The Backpage is satire, written and designed by Simona “Satireball Bike: Vodkidding Around” Matovic. Unironically, Will Rice Will Sweep. JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu
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