The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, September 17, 2019

VOLUME 104, ISSUE NO. 4 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

O CHL BY N O I RAT UST ILL

U

EX

Rice Cinema celebrates 50th birthday with new screening series

KATELYN LANDRY A&E EDITOR

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Rice Cinema has begun its new year-long screening series, “Low-Fi: Analog Deep Cuts from the Archive.” Every Thursday night at 7 p.m., film enthusiasts from across Houston can gather in the Rice Media Center to experience obscure independent films housed in the Rice Cinema film and video archive as well as analog films contributed by local cinema art institutions.

Tish Stringer, film program manager and lecturer in the department of visual and dramatic arts, said the series grew out of an ongoing project to catalog and

conserve Rice Cinema’s extensive film and video archive, which focuses on Riceproduced materials. The heart of this archive, Stringer says, is the collection of student-made media.

“Even if it’s a horror film, it’s still shot on campus so even something that has nothing to do with an official Rice event still has these images of the past of Rice and traditions that have really evolved over time,” Stringer said.

A large component of “Low-Fi” involved exposing the Rice community to the physical formats of archived film and video, many of which have been rendered obsolete in the age of Netflix and Hulu.

“Physical media is not really part of

students’ lives now,” Stringer said. “You guys don’t play CDs or records or tapes or DVDs or VHS tapes, so at the beginning of the night we’ll actually show the physical medium, talk a little history about whether we’re showing 16 mm or laserdisc or VHS or DVD. Therefore, we get a media literacy lesson too.”

In addition to screening films archived in house, Rice Cinema is inviting other local film institutions to contribute their films to the “Low-Fi” series. Stringer casts her net wide for those whom she affectionately dubs “analog film nerds”: media educators and community partners such as the film studies program at the University of Houston-Downtown and lead

projectionists at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston among others.

One such “film nerd” is Camilo Gonzalez, the education and technical director at local nonprofit media arts center Aurora Picture Show. He mentioned his idea to bring Aurora’s Andy Mann archive to Rice for “Low-Fi.” Mann was a pioneer of video art and contributed significantly to video art installation and public sculpture in Houston throughout the 1980s and ’90s.

Stringer said one of the joys of running this series is the spontaneity with which films are chosen. On any given night in the series, the actual film being screened is not announced in advance.

SEE RICE

CINEMA PAGE 10

Vaping draws admin concern Rice gets minority STEM grant RACHEL CARLTON FOR THE THRESHER

Amid the ongoing investigation by the Center for Disease Control into vaping and its ties to the recent outbreak of lung disease, Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman sent an email to the magisters directing them to pass on information warning students of the possible health risks of electronic cigarette use.

As of Sept. 11, the CDC had received 380 reports of lung illness cases and six related deaths. All reported cases involve a history of vaping.

“I was talking about this with some members of my staff and I just said, ‘As much as I like to think that our students are all plugged in and paying attention to the news, there are probably some that are not,’” Gorman said. “I don’t see a ton

of students vaping when I walk around campus, I don’t see a ton of students smoking cigarettes when I’m walking around campus. I also understand it’s probably things you’re doing when you’re drinking and doing when you’re partying, and so those are obviously going to be outside of my eyeline.”

Gorman’s email to the magisters asked them to disseminate the information, but the specific method was up to the individual magister’s discretion, according to Gorman.

According to Brown College magister Shirley Fregly, the message was delivered at Brown by the college’s chief justice, Charles Davis. Davis, a senior, sent an email to the Brown Listserv after receiving an email from Fregly.

Gorman elected not to send out a campuswide message from the Dean’s Office.

SEE VAPING PAGE 2

TALHA ARIF FOR THE THRESHER

The National Science Foundation awarded a grant of 1.9 million dollars to Rice in August, as part of a collective $2.7 million grant alongside the University of Houston and Texas Southern University to investigate and alleviate the issue of underrepresentation of minority groups in STEM fields.

Reginald DesRoches, dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, said the grant, which has its kickoff meeting next month, is a critical step in a long process.

“The goal is to try to increase the number of underrepresented students that go on to academic positions, particularly in the field of computational and data science,” DesRoches said. “Part

of [the grant] is also to study what the exact barriers are to those people getting faculty jobs, because we know that they are very much underrepresented in general in academia.”

DesRoches said that increasing the number of faculty of color in science, technology, engineering and math fields helps to increase the number of students of color who choose to pursue those disciplines.

“Underrepresented students can see themselves being engineers or scientists when they see faculty of color,” DesRoches said. “We really have an opportunity to target a certain population of students and impact their ability to transition into academic positions.”

Patrick Aghadiuno, a sophomore SEE NSF GRANT PAGE 4

THE RICE THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

NEWS

Trash collection system instated across campus

Channing wang / THRESHER

Trash collection receptacles have been installed at all residential colleges following a 2017 pilot at Brown College. Pictured are receptacles from Duncan College.

SERENA SHEDORE FOR THE THRESHER Housing & Dining has implemented a trash collection system in the South colleges that requires students to remove their own trash from their rooms, expanding a system that was already in place in North colleges, according to H&D’s operations directors Beth Leaver and Brad Thacker.

As a part of the new system, trash and recycling receptacles have been installed throughout every residential college, according to Thacker. H&D staff will no longer remove trash from students’ rooms, so students will now deposit their trash in

college receptacles.

The goal of this new system, which will be rolled out in every building on campus in phases, is to raise Rice’s diversion rate, the percentage of waste diverted from landfill to recycling, to over 60 percent, according to Thacker.

“Campuswide, we’re going through a lot of different changes as far as our trash policy,” Thacker said. “It’s kind of something we’re looking at globally.

The amount of waste that we produce on campus is an enormous amount.”

According to Thacker, this system was piloted at Brown College in 2017 due to student initiative and a collaboration with H&D.

ILLUSTRATION BY YIFEI ZHANG

VAPING FROM PAGE 1 “I worry that if you get too many messages from me in too close a time, you won’t read them,” Gorman said.

According to the director of the Student Wellbeing Office, Timothy Baumgartner, much of the concern around vaping is centered on the possible addition of contaminating adulterants to e-cigarette cartridges, especially those made for dab pens, which contain an oil-based form of marijuana. Baumgartner said this adulterant theory is fairly accurate.

“A lot of the time what they mix with the drug is more damaging than the drugs,” Baumgartner said.

STUDENT AWARENESS While the email did not require him to take formal action regarding vaping, Davis said he decided to spread the word to his classmates on a personal level.

“If I see someone [vaping] I might suggest,

‘Hey, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but this is becoming an issue,’” Davis said. “And as far as vaping on campus is concerned, you’re not supposed to be doing it in buildings anyway.”

At the same time, Davis said it is up to individuals to make their own decisions.

“It is a lifestyle choice and I feel like as far as the issue goes, if they want to continue doing it, that’s on them,” Davis said. “But they should know that it could lead to these very hazardous effects.”

According to one senior undergraduate student, who was granted anonymity, information might not change people’s minds about vaping.

“I don’t think anyone who Juuls thinks its a good thing, and I don’t know, there’s a couple of people who are like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s so bad for me,’ and then they just keep on Juuling a lot,” she said. “And there are some people who are like, ‘Yeah, it’s bad for me,’ and then they quit. I just started over the summer knowing

“It was a huge success,” Thacker said.

“I had no real pushback from the students at all.”

Eli Smith, a Baker College student maintenance representative, said he keeps students updated on the new changes and works with H&D to put new cans in places students request.

“I like the new system because it puts students in control of their waste,” Smith, a junior, said. “It might also spark interest in sustainability and reducing how much we use. As time passes, I think the system will feel more normal and just become a part of Rice life.”

Thacker said H&D implemented the system at the rest of the North colleges last year after college presidents expressed support, and that the differences in floor plans and the ages of the buildings made it more difficult to implement in South colleges than in North colleges.

Leaver said the system is still a work in progress, and H&D is determining the best places for the receptacles in the colleges.

“We’re open to feedback from students,” Leaver said. “We’re about to process a second order of receptacles because there’s areas we realize that we need to add [receptacles] to.”

The new system also involves installing cabinets to store trash liners for students when they need to replenish their own liners.

Currently, trash liners are replenished in the rooms by custodians, according to Leaver.

“Students now are at an age where they are interested in and really concerned by the amount of waste we’re producing,” Thacker

said. “And so the goal is to get away from liners. We’ve seen this work in the academic buildings.”

According to Thacker, Houston Waste Management now considers the blue liners, previously used in recycling bins, as contaminants, so H&D no longer uses them.

According to Richard Johnson, director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management, blue liners are considered contaminants because of their opaque nature as recycling plant workers are not able to see into the bag to assess whether the bag contains contaminants.

“We’re kinda just shifting things some because it’s a good time with students that are very conscious about things like this, but some of this is being driven by [Houston Waste Management’s new policy],” Thacker said.

H&D has been working with student maintenance representatives to implement this new change and communicate within each college, according to Leaver.

Sarah Silberman, a Wiess College senior and head EcoRep, believes this new system will help students be aware of the waste they produce and possibly result in less waste overall.

“Oftentimes students wouldn’t fill up their whole trash or recycling bins over the course of two to three days, yet the H&D policy was that it would be taken out regardless of how empty or full the bin was,” Silberman said.

“Thus, with the new system, students are able to determine when their trash/recycling gets taken out and fewer liners are wasted.”

that it was bad for me, but I also know that I go through pods at a snail’s pace. It’s why I still feel okay doing it.”

She said that the ease of using vaping devices may be linked to its popularity.

“It’s just an interesting culture of when you hang out with people, it’s such an easy thing to do,” the student said. “You don’t have to roll anything, you just have your own personal device and you can hit it whenever. I think that’s pretty dangerous.”

Her distrust of tobacco companies is at the heart of her hesitation to believe the recent research regarding vaping.

“I think a lot of the vaping community just thinks that the reason that the investigations are coming out now is maybe less to do with the findings themselves, and more to do with the fact that the cigarette companies are really trying to go after Juul in order to have the media take them down,” she said.

When it comes to dab pens, which contain THC, she said she is more convinced by the research to change her habits.

“If there were investigations that came out that were so jarring to me, I guess I would probably [stop vaping],” she said. “It’s more of like a convenience of getting a buzz. But when I read the dab pen thing, I was like, ‘Okay cool, I’m not going to [use a dab pen] that much.’”

consider the reasons behind these new cases of lung disease and why this particular age group is being affected.

“People often dismiss a connection,” Gorman said. “Then you tell me what else has changed in the same period of time that could be a culprit. The commonality among all these people is that they’re vaping.”

ADMINISTRATION ACTION Gorman said the administration does not have plans to take formal action at this time.

“I’m not getting super heavy-handed with it yet. We’re just going to see how this all plays out,” Gorman said.

Instead, Gorman said she will focus on prevention and informing students of the possible health risks. She also said that she expects there will be a follow-up during the monthly meeting with the magisters to discuss the conversations being had at the colleges, as well as the magisters’ observations on the prevalence of vaping on campus.

Additionally, both the Student Health Center and the Wellbeing and Counseling Center will ramp up messaging around the health risks of vaping.

For students skeptical about the research findings, Gorman, whose academic expertise is health disparities, said students should

STUDENT WELLBEING Associate Dean of Students Allison Vogt said that it is important for students to put their health first and to contact the appropriate people.

“If you are wheezing or experiencing any respiratory distress, make sure that you tell [Rice Emergency Medical Services], or the hospital, or urgent care or here at Student Health Services that you’ve been vaping, because that’s a much different set than us trying to treat bronchitis or asthma,” Vogt said.

Baumgartner said he had been skeptical about vaping prior to the CDC investigation.

“I don’t trust vaping companies. I don’t believe they tell the truth on what they know,” Baumgartner said.

Baumgartner said he distrusts the claims that vaping is safer than smoking.

“Even if they found a couple studies that might suggest that, those studies in this kind of stuff, unless you’ve got repeated studies that demonstrate the same effects over time, it’s just way too early to make those kind of claims,” Baumgartner said.

According to Baumgartner, students have the power to change the culture around vaping and drug use.

“Rice students listen to other Rice students more than they listen to anybody else,” Baumgartner said. “I would hope from a culture of care, if people are watching folks go out and vape, they would be willing to say something like, ‘You have heard what’s going on right? Just want to make sure you’re aware of that when you’re making this decision.’”

In the end, the administration hopes that students will make informed decisions about their health.

“Follow the one piece of advice that President [David] Leebron gave you at matriculation: ‘Don’t do stupid stuff,’” Baumgartner said.

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 3

Rice Young Democrats host over 40 local candidates BRIAN LIN FOR THE THRESHER Two days after national attention was focused on Houston for the Democratic debate, the Rice Young Democrats hosted their own event to promote local elections — the races for Houston mayor, controller and the city council — and to decide who should be endorsed by a coalition that includes the RYD. Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was endorsed at the event, said the importance of the Houston municipal races could not be overstated, citing Houston’s status as Texas’ largest city and America’s most diverse city as reasons for civic engagement on Nov. 5 when he said he hopes to see more voters at the ballot box.

“This municipal election is important because whoever is mayor in the city of Houston in 2020 is really gonna have some say,” Turner said. “It’s not just about me.

Houston in 2019 is ground zero for the advancements we need to make in 2020.”

The Houston College Democrats’ municipal endorsement event, held Sept. 14 at Farnsworth Pavilion, was the culmination of months of preparation, with the RYD reaching out to over 40 local candidates, organizing the event in coordination with college democrats from Texas Southern University and the University of Houston-Downtown and ensuring that students at the event could engage with the endorsement process.

“Working with TSU and the University of Houston [in this event] demonstrated the type of solidarity that we’re seeing across the country with young people,” Franz Brotzen-Smith, a Brown College senior and

former president of RYD, said. “Movements like March for Our Lives have made it clear that young people are not just gonna get involved in politics, but they’re gonna get involved in politics working together towards a common cause of making the world a better place.”

Maddy Scannell, president of RYD, said each candidate received a “GPA score” based on responses to a questionnaire on various issues. These scores were then used as a guideline for students at the event, when voting on the candidates who should be endorsed. courtesy STELLA POTEMKIN

This municipal election is important because whoever is mayor in the city of Houston in 2020 is really gonna have some say.

Sylvester Turner MAYOR OF HOUSTON “A big focus of the questionnaire were things that affect college students,” Scannell, a Martel College junior, said.

“We ask about things such as affordable housing, what the biggest issues facing students are, how to improve education in Houston, but we’re also focusing on Ricespecific issues like making biking safer around campus and the innovation district and the gentrification associated with that.”

For District C, which includes Rice, RYD

OwlNest goes live ILLUSTRATION BY YIFEI ZHANG

KELLY LIAO FOR THE THRESHER A new all-in-one online dashboard, Owlnest, designed to coordinate campus events and activities, was introduced at the beginning of the fall semester by the Rice Student Center.

The system enables Rice students and faculty to manage organization, plan events and track involvements, according to its official website. In the past, students mainly used Facebook or Listservs to get informed about the latest campus events. However, information could be inconsistent between different platforms, according to Grace Wickerson, the president of the Student Association.

“By having one system, you can have a clearer picture of what is going on the campus,” Wickerson said.

Wickerson also mentioned that students who are not on certain mailing lists or in certain Facebook groups may struggle to find organizations and events of their interest.

Cici Du, a Hanszen College freshman, said that she is eager about the new system.

“As a student who likes to keep up with events but hates the hassle of searching up the various accounts on Facebook, I look forward to having a system that makes everything more organized,” Du said.

According to the Owlnest website, students can now RSVP and add events to their calendars in just a few clicks, without missing any information.

“When I’m talking with students, the biggest difficulty for clubs is that they have

trouble advertising,” Wickerson, a Brown College senior, said. “I hope this system can help them more effectively promote their events among Rice students.”

Elena Margolin, the marketing director of Rice Business Society, said she hopes to be able to streamline the process of publicizing club events to Rice students.

“Instead of events getting tangled up in Facebook’s algorithm, RBS and other Rice clubs’ events will hopefully be presented in a more clear, organized way,” Margolin, a McMurtry College sophomore, said.

In addition to student organizations, residential colleges and departments will have homepages and post their events and activities on the system, according to Wickerson.

Moreover, the club registration, renewal and election process would be simplified with the help of the system, according to Kristen Ernst, associate director of student engagement.

“The way to submit registration forms and track their registration status is far more easy now under Owlnest,” Ernst said.

“Students no longer need to submit a pile of documents via email and be anxious about if the [Ley] Student Center receives them or not.”

Ernst also said that student organizations can store their data and records on Owlnest, which will allow for smoother leadership transitions.

Allison Yelvington, a Baker College junior, said that getting widespread adoption of Owlnest will likely be a challenge.

“Clubs have entrenched ways of doing things, such as Facebook events and email blasts, so they will need an incentive to adopt a new platform,” Yelvington said.

Ernst said that there will be a series of training sessions for clubs throughout the semester. By the end of October when the club registration process ends, students will be able to explore opportunities and find their niche in the system.

Ernst said she is aware of the incoming challenges and is always open to all kinds of feedback and ideas from students.

Mayor Sylvester Turner was one of over 40 candidates for local office present at an endorsement event hosted by the Rice Young Democrats on Saturday.

endorsed candidate Abbie Kamin. She said she plans on tackling climate change in Houston, improving safety in intersections – including the one between Sunset Boulevard and Mandell Street, directly north of Rice – and creating a pedestrian plan that will accompany a comprehensive bike plan in the future.

“I’m born and raised here in Houston, but my first day of college was [during Hurricane] Katrina, in New Orleans, at Tulane [University], and that’s where I got my start in local politics,” Kamin said. “We have issues that the next generation must be taking up in leading the way on. I intend for every single one of you to have a voice.”

Nelvin Adriatico, who was endorsed at the event for city council District J, spoke about the need for student involvement in local politics and the power of the individual, praising the efforts of the RYD in advocating for greater civic participation.

“If you want change, you have to [be] a part of that change,” Adriatico said. “Even if you are a single person, going forwards to march for change, you, as one person, can make a difference because you’re inspiring other people to follow through.”

Turner also spoke about the need for diversity and inclusivity in the continuation of Houston’s upward growth.

“It’s important to make sure that I don’t govern two cities in one, a city of haves and have-nots,” Turner said. “I’ve benefited from what others have done and now it’s important for me to make sure that that bridge is still there, intact, very strong, for generations behind me to cross over.”

Students will be able to vote in this election on Nov. 5 at the Rice Memorial Center. RYD also plans on organizing carpools to early voting locations, such as Fiesta Mart on Kirby Drive south of campus, where students can vote as early as Oct. 21.

NEWS

4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Student Job Board replaced by Handshake GRACE WEI FOR THE THRESHER Handshake, a national career database for students, is replacing the online Rice Job Board and changing the hiring process for campuswide jobs and internships.

However, the work-study jobs posted on the old Job Board have yet to be transferred onto Handshake.

Since its initiation in 2007, the Job Board has notified students of job openings and work-study opportunities, according to Ann Griffin, associate director at the Center for Career Development. Throughout the past 12 years, however, the Job Board platform has seldom been upgraded.

While searching for work-study jobs, Anthony Nguyen, a Hanszen College sophomore, said the old Job Board was outdated in terms of user interface.

“It’s a bit confusing when it comes to switching from the profile to jobs page,” Nguyen said. “And it doesn’t do a great job of indicating which jobs you’ve already applied for, which leads to issues.”

Griffin said the contract with Handshake came about in part due to recognition of the issues concerning the Job Board. Now, the CCD is attempting to use their contract to transition completely to Handshake.

“I think it makes sense to centralize all jobs on campus into an integrated platform, from work-study jobs to offcampus internships to CCD events, and

STEM GRANT FROM PAGE 1

at Baker College, said that part of the issue of underrepresentation comes from the preference of focusing on facts and statistics of STEM fields rather than the diversity of the field, and that the lack of concern for increased diversity in STEM is reflected in countries across the world.

“In Nigeria, we barely have astronauts, Nobel laureates, et cetera compared to countries like America,” Aghadiuno said. “I feel that as more STEM education is introduced to minorities, these skills could be brought back to their home countries and develop everything further. That’s what I want to do. Even if I’m the only Black person in this whole school [pursuing this field], I personally will take my education, go back, raise up my homeland, Nigeria, and hopefully bring a new change to the face of STEM and science on a global scale.”

Aghadiuno said he also believes that hiring more professors of color can play a key role in improving the representation of minorities in STEM. “I’ve seen that at Rice, the professors are actually part of the student communities,” Aghadiuno said. “If there are more STEM professors of color, I feel that would help with representation of minorities in STEM and drop that blockage, leading to an increase in diversity.”

According to Yvette Pearson, associate dean for accreditation, assessment and strategic initiatives at Rice, the majority of the grant is to be allocated to Rice over the next five years as the university takes a lead role among the three universities.

Pearson said that this grant is unique because of the key collaboration between the three universities sharing the grant.

“To have three otherwise unrelated universities, and to have us all co-

that’s probably what Rice is trying to achieve here,” Nguyen said.

However, Nguyen said the new Handshake platform also comes with technological confusions.

“The issue I have with [Handshake] is that it doesn’t seem to filter opportunities out correctly every time, which is frustrating when I see a cool job and then discover it’s only available for upperclassmen or alumni,” Nguyen said.

Griffin said Handshake has the potential to facilitate the hiring process for both students and employers. For students, Handshake offers a variety of resources ranging from mentorships to resume/cover letter reviews to help them acquire jobs.

Griffin said some employers on Handshake have joined the platform specifically to hire Rice students. “[Handshake] is another way to help students with their career developments,” Griffin said. “Students will log into Handshake to look for on-campus jobs, and while they’re in there, maybe they’ll schedule an appointment to have their cover letter reviewed or they’ll see the online resource ‘What can I do with this major?’”

Griffin said that Handshake still may not be the solution for everyone.

“We really encourage students to come in and meet with one of our career advisors to talk about their specific career situation and the best strategy to help them,” Griffin said.

located and working together on this really enhances our research because we can see what is going on in all these different institutional contexts,” Pearson said.

I feel that as more STEM education is introduced to minorities, these skills could be brought back to their home countries and develop everything further. That’s what I want to do.

Patrick Aghadiuno BAKER COLLEGE SOPHOMORE Aghadiuno said he attended the Rice Emerging Scholars Program last year and believes part of the grant should be allocated toward expanding the program and those like it.

RESP is a six-week summer program created to help first-year students whose high school preparation for Rice’s STEM courses might have been insufficient.

According to Aghadiuno, there were 39 students this year in RESP and 40 the previous year. “[Other students] should have been able to take [RESP] classes to be able to catch up because of the set-backs they had coming into Rice, but they didn’t because there is not enough focus on expanding programs that incorporate all the demographics,” Aghadiuno said.

Alexus Arizola, a Will Rice College sophomore majoring in computer science, also supports the idea of

-

INFOGRAPHIC BY DAN HELMECI

expanding programs like RESP. “RESP prepares you well for your introductory courses but beyond that, a lot of us find ourselves falling into playing catch-up over the next few years,” Arizola said. “Maybe another way to spend the grant is investing in a program that’s similar to RESP that can help students already at Rice.”

Pearson said that the grant is not going to be directly tied into RESP, but Rice is looking into programs that are designed to attract and better engage and support students from diverse backgrounds.

The ultimate goal, DesRoches said, is to disseminate the findings of the grant project to other universities.

“We’re hoping to create this model that shows that you can impact the number of underrepresented students that end up going into academia, engineering and other fields [when you implement certain programs],” DesRoches said.

According to Anila Shethia, education research manager at the School of Engineering, 23.4 percent of engineering undergraduates at Rice are from underrepresented minority groups.

In universities across the country, however, underrepresented minority undergraduates make up only 17.5 percent of the population.

Furthermore, 10.6 percent of the Rice faculty in engineering is comprised of underrepresented minority groups, compared to national average of 6.1 percent of faculty in engineering, according to Shethia.

DesRoches said that the issue of faculty underrepresentation is not central to just Rice.

“There are barriers at all universities,” DesRoches said. “In terms of biases, what are the biases that faculty have going through the hiring process? Even

when we hire faculty through various committees, are there biases that are keeping colleges from considering underrepresented students?”

Arizola also said the lack of Hispanic faculty can be discouraging.

“I only know a handful of Hispanic professors, and even then, none of them are my professors, so sometimes it’s hard to want to keep pursuing [STEM careers],” Arizola said. “I think bringing in more minorities from underrepresented, underserved communities would definitely help — it can encourage prospective students to come here as well as give students already here a better sense of community.”

I only know a handful of Hispanic professors, and even then, none of them are my professors, so sometimes it’s hard to want to keep pursuing [STEM careers].

Alexus Arizola WILL RICE COLLEGE SOPHOMORE As far as the broader implications of this grant go, Aghadiuno believes this issue of underrepresentation is worldwide.

“The lack of representation we see in schools here is a microcosm of what is going on at a global scale,” Aghadiuno said. “In countries where most of these minority groups come from, STEM fields are not as funded, developed or explored as here.”

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

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

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 5

OPINION OPINION

Get Involved Promoting youth civic engagement: Local issues impact us all

Public transportation.

Crisis management. Environmental regulation.

While these policy issues might seem dry at first glance, they greatly impact young people in Houston. College students often have to ride bikes or take buses.

Transportation safety is often determined by local policy. Many of us witnessed Hurricane Harvey and must grapple with the local implications of climate change and large-scale natural disasters; we all breathe the same air with locallydetermined pollution levels. And yet, many of us tend to overlook what’s happening at the local level. Everyone should be informed about local issues, including young people.

Houston City Council’s and the Harris County Commissioner Court’s decisions affect youth ages 16-24 and make us critical stakeholders in the policies that will shape the city’s future. Unfortunately, young people have historically been excluded under the pretense that their lack of participation at the ballot box invalidates their opinions. We know that the stereotype that “youth don’t vote and don’t care” is not true. This assumption is erroneous on three fronts.

First, we know that many people are passionate about issues in their community, even if they don’t vote. As a result of mass shootings around the country, thousands of young Texans attended March for Our Lives rallies and lobbied for stricter gun laws. Young people in cities all over the U.S. and the world have been rallying for increased environmental protections (including a climate rally planned in Houston this Friday).

Second, the civic awareness of youth is actively improving, highlighting the need to include youth in future citywide decision making. The numbers reflect this changing trend in Houston.

Compared to the 2014 election, voter registration increased by about 300,000 people and turnout increased from 33 percent to 52 percent in Houston in the 2018 midterms. Youth were a big part of this trend. Nationwide, the youth vote increased from 21 percent to 31 percent.

In addition, according to the Harris County Tax Assessor’s Office, voter

turnout at Rice increased by 368 percent, from 336 students voting in the 2014 midterms to 1,298 students voting in the 2018 midterms.

Now is the time to become civically engaged — vote, volunteer, engage in dialogue with your peers, attend a protest, write an op-ed, call your representative!

Third, stating that youth don’t care overlooks the structural barriers that prevent youth from becoming civically active. According to a study conducted by the Texas Civil Rights Project, 183,000 high school seniors were not provided with voter registration opportunities by their principals, which the Texas Election Code mandates. Additionally, Texas doesn’t allow students to vote with out-of-state or student IDs. Texas is also one of 29 states that does not offer voter registration on Election Day, instead setting voter registration deadlines 30 days before. These practices prevent new, young, busy voters who often don’t have access to cars from developing healthy voting habits. Overall, Texas voting regulations aim to keep youth away from the ballot box.

Luckily, local decision-makers are recognizing the growth in youth participation and some of the barriers that we face. This includes reaching out to youth to participate in local discussions. After months of advocacy by Civic Duty Rice and other organizations, the City of Houston recently created a Mayor’s Higher Education Student Leaders Alliance to allow college-aged youth to have a voice in the policies the Mayor’s Office creates. Diane Trautman, Harris County clerk, established early voting centers at Texas Southern University and the University of Houston.

Lina Hidalgo, a 28-year-old Latina, was recently elected to be a Harris County judge and has proven that young people in elected office are just as capable as older generations, passing a historic bail reform measure and protections for LGBTQ+ county workers.

Youth engagement is increasing. The community is recognizing that. Now is the time to become civically engaged — vote, volunteer, engage in dialogue with your peers, attend a protest, write an oped, call your representative! Small actions at the local level really do lead to change.

One of the reasons Rice turnout increased in 2018 was the visibility of the Beto-Cruz Senate race at the top of the ticket. For the November elections, no race has garnered as much publicity.

So why is voting this year even more important? Locally, it’s easier to influence policy. Statistically, fewer people vote in local elections, so your vote holds even more weight than in national or state elections. Important offices are being elected that impact your life — the mayor, judges and city council members, including Rice’s district, District C. These people influence so many decisions — what our city’s budget is spent on, what rhetoric our city uses toward immigrants, what crosswalks are near Rice, how criminal justice policies are enforced — that the implications of their decisions, and your advocacy, can be enormous.

There is a policy implication for any issue you care about.

If you’re interested in learning more about local politics, hearing from elected officials, meeting passionate students from other universities or networking with community organizations join us at the Houston Youth Voters Conference this Friday, Sept. 20 from 3 - 8 p.m. at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Volunteers will be at the Sallyport at 2:30 p.m. to bring students to UHD by light rail. HYVC is a great way to get inspired and demonstrate that we are a united voting bloc. Regardless of whether you can attend the event, please vote this November if you’re eligible, and please get involved in our community. Your vote and your voice matter.

Please feel free to reach out to any of the authors with any voting related questions or to register to vote.

LUIS ADAME

CAROLYN DALY

BAKER COLLEGE MCMURTRY SENIOR COLLEGE JUNIOR

DAPHNE FLORES

JONES COLLEGE JUNIOR

NERY PEREZ

HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIOR

MEREDITH MCCAIN

DUNCAN COLLEGE SENIOR

STAFF EDITORIAL

SUPPORT ATHLETICS WITHOUT ELITISM At Saturday’s football game against the University of Texas, Austin, students resorted to the same, tired means of “supporting” Rice athletics — making fun of the opposing team’s academics.

For such an “unconventional” institution, this lazy and elitist rhetoric is about as conventional as it gets.

Signs on Saturday read “ACT Scores” and “Safety School.” The Marching Owl Band went as far as getting into a “2.89” formation to mock UT’s historically high football team GPA. For the record, a 3.0 is a B by letter grade — nowhere near failing.

Ironically, at the same time that Rice students insult the intelligence of other schools’ football players, they have no problem making disparaging assumptions about their own athletic peers in the classroom. You can’t pick and choose when to conflate athletic and academic performance. Not to mention, what happens when Rice plays Stanford?

Should our fans be silent because we can no longer brag about standardized tests scores from when we were 16?

Elitist rhetoric also contributes to imposter syndrome here at Rice.

Mocking a GPA, regardless of whose it is, sends exactly the wrong message to our own community about what we value. Neither are we impressed by those who described UT as a “safety school” — UT is not the consolation prize for being rejected from Rice. It is another selective, high-achieving university with students who should be just as proud as those at Rice.

The last time the MOB went viral for its formations, they were calling attention to a sexual assault cover up — punching up as opposed to down. We’re not suggesting that we all hold hands at the next football game, but if we’re going to heckle our opponents, let’s at least be creative and constructive.

Rice’s culture of care means we need to demonstrate good sportsmanship, even as fans. We represent our university poorly when we mock achievement and growth, even if we are satirizing studentathletes who do not play for our school.

Instead of painting an uncreative “ACT Scores” sign, we could direct our efforts toward coming up with more creative cheers than “R, R-I, R-I-C-E” — a skill that we have no problem showing off at Beer Bike. We challenge the campus to put their brains to work and think of the Rice-wide equivalent of the extensive Lovett College chant and its three iterations. In the meantime, let’s stop punching down and start showing up to support our student-athletes.

STAFF Emily Christina Abdow* Tan* &Editor-in-Chief Andrew Grottkau* Editors-in-Chief Anna Ta* Managing Editor NEWS NEWS Anna Rishab Ta* Ramapriyan* Editor Editor Rishab Amy Qin* Ramapriyan Editor Asst. Editor Amy RyndQin Morgan Asst. Asst.

EditorEditor Savannah Kuchar Asst. Editor SPOTLIGHT Ella FEATURES Feldman* Editor Ivanka Ivanka Perez Perez*Asst.

Editor Editor SPORTS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Michael Katelyn Byrnes* Landry* Editor Editor Madison Buzzard Asst. Editor OPINION OPINIONS Elizabeth Hergert* Editor Eric Stone* Editor

ARTS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT Christina Michael Byrnes Tan* Editor Editor& Designer Katelyn MadisonLandry Buzzard* Asst.

Editor Editor Eric Barber Asst. Editor BACKPAGE Simona BACKPAGE Matovic Editor & Designer Simona Matovic* Editor & Designer PHOTO Charlene PHOTO Pan Editor Sirui Channing Zhou Wang EditorEditor COPY COPY Vi Vi Burgess Burgess Editor Editor Bhavya Bhavya Gopinath Gopinath Editor Editor Phillip Jaffe Senior Editor ONLINE Ryan ONLINE Green Digital Content Editor Charlie Ryan Green Paul Web Web Editor Editor Nick Priyansh McMillan Lunia Video Video Editor Editor

DESIGN DESIGN Sydney Tina Liu* Garrett Director Director Sumin Dalia Gulca Hwang A&E News Designer Designer Jennifer Joseph Hsu Fu Features FeaturesDesigner Designer Tina Katherine Liu Sports Hui Sports Designer Designer Dalia AnnaGulca ChungOpinions Ops Designer Designer Esther Dan Helmeci Tang Illustrator News Designer Yifei Zhang Illustrator BUSINESS OPERATIONS Chloe Xu Illustrator Mai Ton Social Media/Marketing Manager Isabella Gandara Distribution Manager BUSINESS OPERATIONS Karoline Karoline Sun Sun Business Business Manager Manager Prad Biswas Advertising Manager Lindsay Josephs Ads Manager Mai Ton Social Media/Marketing Manager Jackson Stiles Distribution Manager Dylan Morgan Office Manager *Editorial Board member *Editorial Board member

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

University.

Letters Letters to to the the Editor Editor must must be be received received by by 55 p.m. p.m. the the Friday Friday prior prior to to publication publication and and must must be be signed, signed, including including college college and and year year ifif the the writer writer is is aa Rice Rice student. student. The The Thresher Thresher reserves reserves the the rights rights to to edit edit letters letters for for content content and and length length and and to to place place letters letters on on its its website. website.

First First copy copy is is free. free. Each Each additional additional copy copy is is $5. $5.

Editorial Editorial and and business business offices offices are are located located on on the the second second floor floor of of the the Ley Ley Student Student Center: Center: 6100 6100 Main Main St., St., MS-524 MS-524 Houston, Houston, TX TX 77005-1892 77005-1892 Phone Phone (713) (713) 348-4801 348-4801 Email: Email: thresher@rice.edu thresher@rice.edu Website: Website: www.ricethresher.org www.ricethresher.org The The Thresher Thresher is is aa member member of of the the ACP, ACP, TIPA, TIPA, CMA CMA and and CMBAM. CMBAM. © © Copyright Copyright 2019 2019

OPINION

6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 OPINION

Make low-income students feel welcome at Rice

Sometimes as I walk around campus, I have to remind myself that I belong here and this is my school. I think that Rice is not truly mine because I can’t afford my own education. While I am incredibly grateful for the financial aid I receive and the opportunity I’ve been given to attend Rice, I am often reminded that my financial situation is uncommon at this university.

The first reminder occurred at the beginning of this year when, like everyone else on campus, I was automatically charged $2,482 for health insurance.

Student insurance can only be waived if students can prove that their existing insurance is comparable to Rice’s student insurance. One of the qualifications to waive enrollment, arguably the most important, is that the deductible doesn’t exceed $5,000 per person insured. Given the fact that insurance plans with higher deductibles generally are more affordable, this policy hurts students from a lowincome background, especially those who can’t pay for insurance in the first place.

The cost of student insurance shouldn’t be an additional burden in the process of paying for college. While offering insurance through the school can provide coverage to those who might not have had access to insurance previously, the cost of student insurance presents a barrier to health care. By adding a specific provision for health insurance for those who can’t afford it, the Rice Investment could make our

school more accessible for those from different backgrounds.

A lot of recent conversation on diversity has focused on race, as it should, but another aspect of diversity is economic background.

The second reminder of my financial situation comes when I remember that the issues that I face aren’t always relatable.

Other people complain about being a broke college student, too. Sometimes it made me think I’m not alone in the way that I feel about money: pressure to make the most of my expensive education and guilt that I didn’t go to a less expensive school or one that guaranteed a full scholarship all four years. But then those same people go on their annual expensive summer vacation to Europe and I’m left wondering if we really experience the same financial pressure.

From a more objective perspective, 64 percent of students at Rice come from the top 20 percent of household-income earners, and 50 percent of students come from the top 10 percent of householdincome earners. The median income for

ASK THE STAFF What on campus job would you like to do?

“Dumping the ice bucket on Leebron” – Christina Tan, Editor-in-Chief

“Golf cart manager”

– Katelyn Landry, A&E Editor

Rice families is $160,800, a number that was shocking to me when I first read it. On the other hand, 4.9 percent come from the bottom 20 percent of household-income earners. Only 15 percent of students receive Pell Grants.

From the way that other students talked about money, I thought that a lot of us were similarly struggling, but students who are in a similar financial position as me make up a small portion of the Rice population. A lot of recent conversation on diversity has focused on race, as it should, but another aspect of diversity is economic background.

In many regards, the administration has many areas of improvement to make Rice more accessible for students from low-income backgrounds, but the goal of inclusivity should not fall on the administration alone. The third reminder of my financial situation occurred when a budgeting activity for one of my classes was treated as a joke or an unthinkable hypothetical, not the reality that people living paycheck-to-paycheck face every time they have to weigh meeting a need versus paying the bills.

My interactions with other students emphasize our differences. The fact that I am on a full scholarship is often met with jealousy. The fact that my insurance doesn’t cover dental and I haven’t been to the dentist in years? Not so much. The fact that I don’t have a car is strange. The fact that I got two jobs expressly to take the pressure off my family and not simply

to build my resume? Even stranger. As students, we can do more to be aware of how our day-to-day rhetoric can make others feel out of place.

I am incredibly lucky to be at Rice. I feel anxious even writing this opinion piece because I know that being a student at Rice is a privilege in itself that many do not have and other students face similar or worse financial pressures. Additionally, other students have other aspects of their identity such as race and gender that bring different challenges to their sense of belonging at Rice. In other words, my account of life at Rice is certainly not the only one, but you can only find that out by including other students in campus conversations and initiatives. With the Rice Investment, many claimed that Rice would be more inclusive of students from low-income backgrounds, and to some extent, it did. However, consider perspectives outside your own, and you’ll find that Rice has some work to do to be as diverse as we can and should be.

ELIZABETH HERGERT

OPINION EDITOR DUNCAN COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

“DeNicco’s hype man”

– Channing Wang, Photo Editor

“The person who takes drinks away from freshmen at Pub” – Anna Ta, Managing Editor

“Cinnamon roll taster at West Servery” – Elizabeth Hergert, Opinion Editor

“Radio Free Sid DJ”

– Vi Burgess, Copy Editor EDITORIAL CARTOON

CARTOON BY DALIA GULCA

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 7

FEATURES College coordinators on office pop-ins and close connections Rice Dining @RiceDining

If you see the @RiceDining Twitter account posting “Parks and Recreation” gifs, don’t be surprised. The account, run by Housing and Dining interns and administrators, has built up a following thanks to the dining-related memes.

Susann Glenn, H&D’s director of communications for administration, said she aims to post relatable content to help get students involved.

“It’s about engagement,” Glenn said. “Did it spark good conversation? Did it make people laugh?”

Communications intern Adam Cardenas said he likes to have fun posting memes to infuse the Twitter account with his own personality.

“Some memes are timeless and you can just [post] them whenever,” Cardenas, a Baker College junior, said. “[Other times] I’ll be in bed at 2 a.m. thinking, ‘What’s a good caption? Let me post it right now.’”

Here are some of @RiceDining’s posts:

PHOTO COURTESY Ewart jones

Ewart Jones and Joyce Bald pose for a friendly selfie outside of Wiess College. Jones, Wiess College coordinator, and Bald, Hanszen College coordinator, have been in their positions for six and 14 years, respectively.

NICOLE LHUILLIER FOR THE THRESHER

What keeps a residential college running? College governments manage internal and external affairs; the adult residents make sure nothing goes awry. But when it comes to everyday operations, the answer is simple: the college coordinator.

It’s easy to forget this when everything seems to be going smoothly — a sign that the college coordinator is effective, Joyce Bald, Hanszen College coordinator, said.

“If we don’t do our job well, then people will start noticing, and by people I mean students and faculty and administration higher than us,” Bald said.

There’s much more to the job than handing out candy and registering mail. Wiess College coordinator Ewart Jones said that coordinators’ responsibilities consist mostly of administrative tasks that no one sees them do — although work often varies. On some weekdays this semester, for instance, he stays late to teach Wiess’ CTIS class.

I think the cool part about the job is being able to be a part of young adults’ lives in these four years and support them in their college experience.

Joyce Bald HANSZEN COLLEGE COORDINATOR While their work is critical, Bald and Jones both agree that spontaneous interactions with students are the highlights of the job.

“Just knowing that students feel like they can come to me with issues — that’s always nice and helps me to feel better about what I’m doing here,” Bald said. “[I’m] building that trust and that rapport with students.”

Jones said his job allows him to see individuals grow over the course of their time at Rice.

“I think the cool part about the job is being able to be a part of young adults’ lives in these four years and support them in their college experience,” Jones said. “It’s so transitional and formative … It really is

an honor to be there.”

Bald said that supporting the magisters, Housing and Dining, the dean of undergraduates and the students means that coordinators aren’t stuck in a routine.

“It doesn’t get boring,” Bald said.

Jones and Bald, who have been college coordinators for six and 14 years, respectively, said they have formed valuable relationships with students and know how to best handle matters specific to their colleges. Bald said she does her job with Hanszenites in mind.

“The wording of an email to my students is going to be very different than [an email] to Wiess students and to different colleges,” she said.

The coordinators have also found community beyond their colleges. The 11 college coordinators may all be different, but they make a close group, Bald said.

“We depend on each other because there’s no one at this university who has a job like ours,” Bald said. “We do meet on a regular basis … and we call each other all the time.”

Bald said that the bonds that the coordinators make with students surpass the constraints of undergraduates’ time at Rice. Bald said she felt honored when an alumna returned recently and asked her for career advice.

“You definitely have this great opportunity to create community and keep in touch with people,” Jones said. “The coolest thing is when graduates come back — and they come back to your office specifically to see you.”

Just as Bald and Jones appreciate their unique opportunity to connect to young people, Hanszen senior Brian Chen said students are grateful for coordinators’ receptiveness and warmth.

“Every time I stop by and talk for a few minutes, [Bald is] always really friendly and fun to talk to,” Chen said.

Students recognize the impact of coordinators in their colleges and their own lives. “[Jones is] really a part of the culture,” Drew Morales, a Wiess senior, said. “He’s always got something funny to say with all the students here. He really is a part of our family.”

Similarly, Jones compared his position to a parent’s role.

“I say it’s half director of operations, half den mother,” Jones said.

FEATURES

8 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

A WHALE OF A TIME 1

1

6

7

3

2

5

9

8

10

11

13

14

12

4

12 15

17

16 18

19

24

20

26

22

21 23

22

27

24

29

28

24

29

28

24

27

29

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

Bolded clues and colored squares correspond to the theme.

25

26

Crossword by Sam Rossum Thresher Staff ACROSS 3) Habitat for una ballena 6) “Slow Dancing __ Burning Room” 8) It might be curling iron 10) “You’ve Got Mail” co.

11) Suffix to make her newsworthy?

12) Many a STEM degree 13) ID theft target 14) Length of a pizza slice, geometrically 16) Sightings at many a whale watching 18) __ Kwan Do 19) Modern affirmative 20) World Wildlife Fund e.g.

22) Dishonorable 27) “___ Kane” 28) Chinese tea variety 29) Gleeful arsonist DOWN 1) Slant 2) Turtle brownie morsel 3) High noon 4) Necessity for Houston summers 5) Reprimand 7) Krill, to a whale, slangily 8) State secrets?

9) “Hey you” 11) The intro to “Moonlight Sonata” features one 15) Barrier for a narwhal 17) Wildly energetic 21) Victorious 23) Like greek dressing 24) [Free Space] It’s BZOR! 25) Jay of late-night 26) Subj. in which one may discuss Moby Dick (var.)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 9

THE RICE THRESHER

ARTS& &ENTERTAINMENT

Menil Collection unveils first Aboriginal art exhibit ARELI NAVARRO MAGALLON THRESHER STAFF

Friday the 13th marked the inauguration of the Menil Collection’s most recent and least-precedented show: “Mapa Wiya (Your Map’s Not Needed): Australian Aboriginal Art from the Fondation Opale.” The beloved de Menils’ legacy of pushing their city’s artistic and political limits is continued here as this is Houston’s first exhibit dedicated exclusively to Australian Aboriginal art according to curator Paul R. Davis.

A special preview of the collection on Wednesday, Sept. 11 brought in representatives from the Australian consulate, as well as Teresa Baker, one of the artists whose work is featured prominently in the space. Though the event was modest, it provided a thorough survey of the more than 100 works and even invited Baker and her translator to speak on their art and culture.

The collection encompasses a variety of vibrant paintings, shields, hollow log coffins and pieces of engraved mother of pearl. Such breadth in material is matched by the range of artists featured. Several pieces were created collaboratively, including the monochromatic, large-scale canvases that Baker and a collective of women from her community composed.

Others are the works of individual artists, many of whom are internationally acclaimed and whose contributions to modern art are in dialogue with parallel modernist innovations.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s dreamy, dappled lines, for example, influenced the protoconceptualist Sol LeWitt. This detail from the tour may go unnoticed, but when considering

the collection’s position alongside other iconic modern and contemporary artists, “Mapa Wiya” asserts Aboriginal art’s relevance to a larger artistic canon. The exhibit refutes the atemporality and isolation in which indigenous art is typically viewed; “Mapa Wiya” takes up its own space while simultaneously remaining in conversation with a larger visual history.

United by the thematic and ubiquitous concept of Country — the crucial foundation for the autonomous ways of Aboriginal peoples — “Mapa Wiya” gives platform to the diverse ways Aboriginal artists practice, conserve and share their knowledge of Country. With stylized depictions of the land’s terrain and visual representations of cultural stories and laws, every piece reiterates what Baker and her translator shared with her audience: “We know our country.”

This is perhaps best embodied by the exhibit’s namesake: a recent drawing by Kunmanara (Mumu Mike) Williams. Meaning “no map” in the Pitjantjatjara language, his appropriation of official government materials challenges the imposed and arbitrary cartographies of his Country. Williams’ works are the first to greet viewers in the gallery space, confronting them with his declaration of rejection and agency: “Your Map’s Not Needed.” Suddenly, the space is not quite the Menil’s anymore; it houses precious iterations of Country, therefore becoming, for an instant, Aboriginal domain.

Such an adamant denial of British constructions of knowledge is inherently political. Indeed, the collection’s specific focus on pieces made after the 1950s, during which the Aboriginal civil rights movement was

MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL GALA

occurring, suggests an interest in Country as a means for political and cultural reclamation and reckoning.

Two particularly memorable works address the elephant in the room which the Menil treads around cautiously: the pillaging of indigenous land and peoples at the hands of the British.

“Bedford Downs Massacre,” by Rover Thomas features clusters of circles huddled within dotted borders partitioning the canvas. The painting memorializes a chilling episode from 1920 colonial Australia in which two Aboriginal men were poisoned, clubbed and then burned.

In the same room, a striking forest of hollow log coffins has been erected. Larrakitj, lorrkon or dupun consist of hollowed out and painted tree trunks in which the bones of a deceased clan member are placed. The surfaces are then etched with patterns and painted red, yellow and black. The curatorial decision to group these renditions of burial art beside “Bedford Downs Massacre” speaks to the mass murder of Australian Aboriginal peoples. Importantly, it also speaks of cross-generational teaching — of a material culture that embodies the concept of memory as resistance. In both works, past individuals receive a second body and are thus kept alive — keeping, in turn, Country alive.

The geometric patterns and vibrant stippling that make up this visual language of Country may be tempting to code as “abstract,” but examples such as the ones above serve as reminders that, in reality, what we are witnessing is narrative inaccessible to nonaboriginal audiences. The Menil can only truly remove the first layer of varnish. Staff members were frank in their acceptance that they cannot claim to be aware of all the nuances present.

Caught “In/Between:” New VADA exhibit KATELYN LANDRY On Sept. 5, the visual and dramatic arts department unveiled its first fall exhibition of the year: “In/Between | A Rock and a Hard Place: Visions from the Ghost World of How to Survive One’s Sovereignty of Self Destruction in a Land We Assumed We Once Knew” by photography lecturer Justin Raphael Roykovich.

In his exhibition, Roykovich distorts perception of seemingly mundane Texas landscapes, offering unconventional and critical perspectives on the places that lie in the seam of the realities that we take for granted.

“What I really want my work to do is to occupy that ‘In/Between’ space between what we know, what we perceive and what we imagine,” Roykovich said.

The exhibit occupies the main gallery space of Rice Media Center and includes work of varying mediums including photography, assemblage and drawings. In his photographs, Roykovich manipulates

light and shadows to create images that make an ordinary landscape look like an utterly alien terrain. At 44 inches by 20 inches, one photograph of the side of a cliff stretches across a gallery wall. With plenty of spectral light leaks and ghostly silhouettes, the image looks captured from some supernatural realm colliding with the fabric of reality.

The eeriness of these works is translated in part from Roykovich’s personal history with the paranormal and his time spent at the Texas Killing Fields, a stretch of land between Houston and Galveston along Highway I-45 where the bodies of over 30 unsolved murder victims have been discovered periodically since the 1970s. Although far from being a ghost hunter, Roykovich used a device called the Ovilus 5 to scan the Killing Fields for electromagnetic disturbances.

The device then produced phonetic words based on anomalies in its scan, which are popularly believed to be words from beyond the grave.

SEE IN/BETWEEN PAGE 10

NEAR DARK: BLACKLIGHT ART

A&E EDITOR

YI LUO / THRESHER

The Rice Chinese Students and Scholars Association hosted their annual Mid-Autumn Festival Gala last Saturday in the RMC Grand hall. In Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn festival is one of the most important and widely celebrated traditional festivals. At the gala, festivalgoers could enjoy Chinese roast lamb, mooncakes and crafts such as lanterns and fans.

COURTESY THE MENIL COLLECTION

Still, it is a strength and beauty that one need not be privy to in order to appreciate. “Mapa Wiya” celebrates Australian Aboriginal Country in its own terms and prompts pressing questions relevant to modern discourse surrounding post-colonization — questions of how indigenous knowledge is conserved and shared today, questions of land occupation and even questions of art acquisition, as the collection is permanently held in Switzerland by the Fondation Opale.

These questions — just as these cultures and their art — are not static, nor are they to be confined to history. They are very much alive today, something the Menil Collection further celebrates with “Mapa Wiya.” Check your settler-colonial baggage at the door and make sure to stop by before Feb. 3.

THE WEEKLY SCENE

POSSIBLE FUTURES

A TRIP TO THE MOON

HOUSTON JAZZ FESTIVAL

The Rice Architecture and Rice Design Alliance Fall 2019 Lecture Series presents Jeannette Kao this Thursday at 6 p.m. Kao is a founding partner at Zurich-based Karamuk Kuo Architects and architect for Rice Architecture’s future William T. Cannady Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public, however online registration is encouraged as seating is limited and the event is first come, first served.

Join WindSync, Houston’s touring wind quintet, this Friday for an evening of music and cinema in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Starting at 7:30 p.m., the quintet will perform “Apollo,” an original piece commissioned specially for the 50th anniversary, as a live soundtrack for film footage from the Apollo 11 lunar mission.

This event is free and open to the public.

This weekend, immerse yourself in Houston’s rich jazz music scene at the Houston Jazz Festival. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 21, hear the Houston Jazz Collective and three-time Grammy-nominated flutist Hubert Laws perform. Continue your jazz education at Axelrad beer garden on Sunday starting at 12:30 p.m. Free and open to the public.

anderson hall

Miller Outdoor Theater 6000 Hermann Park Dr.

Saturday: Miller Outdoor Theater 6000 Hermann Park Dr. Sunday: Axelrad 1517 Alabama St.

Visit Insomnia Gallery this Friday at 8 p.m. for an art show you can only see in the dark. Enjoy blacklight-reactive local art and wear neon colors to become a part of the exhibit yourself. Free beer for attendees 21+ courtesy of Eureka Heights Brew Co. This event is free and open to all ages.

Insomnia Gallery 708 Telephone Rd.

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

10 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 IN/BETWEEN FROM PAGE 9 “When dealing with this kind of subject matter, it can fall into kitsch very easily,” Roykovich said.

“Ultimately, my work does not aim to prove anything or try to convince anyone that there is something spooky out there. I am more interested in the mystery of those stories than actually trying to solve them.”

Roykovich said his efforts with the Ovilus were more directed toward listening to the land itself rather than searching for the voices of the dead. Words and phrases detected by the device played a significant role in Roykovich’s creative process with “In/Between.”

“What I find really fascinating about the gesture is then finding the connections between what responses I get in the Ovilus device to the research I do about that location,” Roykovich said.

“I do acknowledge the connotation of the land having its own voice in connection with the ‘spirits’ that the Ovilus is supposedly picking up, as well as the connection to so many global cultures who have very deep and spiritual relationships to specific land areas. What I find potentially powerful is taking the time to simply sit and listen to what an environment might be telling you.”

Roykovich’s sensitivity toward the “voices” of environments comes from his reflections on his travels throughout Texas. Prior to becoming a lecturer at Rice, Roykovich lived and worked at the Galveston Art Residency for a year. In contrast to Roykovich’s nomadic lifestyle, which has allowed him to work in several major cities in and around New England over the span of a decade, his residency in Galveston gave him what Joshua Fischer, former curator at the Rice Gallery, calls “grounding” in his essay accompanying the exhibit.

“Someone once told me that I have ‘more wings than roots’ and that’s true to

a degree, though that’s also been out of necessity,” Roykovich said. “Though the older I get, the more I feel roots growing deeper in each location I am in.”

Roykovich’s travels have cultivated a unique environmental consciousness with a particular awareness of human impact on the natural world that shines through his “In/Between” exhibit.

“Part of Roykovich’s intention is to forge a deeper connection to places we may take for granted and that are rapidly changing because of climate and social change,” Fischer writes.

At the center of the gallery lies a palette resting on the ground with rocks, gravel and dirt littered across it. At first glance, the display may not seem any different from the rubble currently surrounding Sid Richardson College. Upon further examination, however, visitors will discover various obscure items: a lone high-heeled shoe, a defunct PlayStation controller and an abandoned bubble wand lie in the debris among other random objects. With consideration to the exhibit’s themes, this piece seems to capture the “in between” moment when an item ceases to be a possession but has yet to meet its fate in some landfill; after they are tools but before they are trash, they are relics of human life. The sculpture manifests Roykovich’s nuanced perspective on how people’s actions are changing the environment even without them noticing.

“The work is very much a reflection of how I feel not only as an artist, but as a human being at this moment in time,” Roykovich said. “Things are changing, things are moving, things are happening very rapidly that will be irreversible and that will almost inevitably have negative consequences, not only for me, but for literally the entire planet.”

This story has been condensed for print.

To read the full story, visit ricethresher.org.

RICE CINEMA FROM PAGE 1 “This whole thing is so fluid and flexible, it could be anything crazy when you come. And we don’t really want you to know,” Stringer said. “It’s a different kind of film watching than being really driven to see a particular film and have high expectations. We just want people to trust in the fact that we’re going to show something cool and the goal of it is basically to build a sort of analog film nerd community on Thursday nights.”

I don’t know how long the Media Center’s going to be here so I really just want to kick up the level of excitement and celebration this year.

Tish Stringer VADA FILM PROGRAM MANAGER Stringer emphasized the vitality of Rice Cinema and the Media Center not just within the university, but for the Houston film scene at large. For half a century, the Media Center has served as a hub for community filmmakers, projectionists and an array of local film enthusiasts. The center has hosted a multitude of independent film festivals including Houston’s annual LGBTQ+ film festival, QFest, and Señorita Cinema, Texas’ only festival dedicated solely to Latina filmmakers.

Rice Cinema’s rich, reputable history has been punctuated with challenges as well as successes.

“In the 50 years we’ve been here, there’s been different states of marginality with the university,” Stringer said. “When we were built by the de Menils, there was so much money and excitement

and equipment. Then that relationship ended at one point and there were really threadbare years here where, for example, students had to maintain equipment so that classes [could] continue.”

The biggest challenge for Rice Cinema as well as the VADA department as a whole is its lack of geographic unification.

“The art department is all over - in Sewall [Hall], in Hamman [Hall], at the Media Center and it’s been a challenge to be cohesive as a department,” Stringer said. “For example, my film students and the theater actors don’t naturally intermingle because of their distance on campus. If they were in the same building, imagine how easy it would be to cast your film.”

With the announcement of Rice Humanities administration’s approval of a new building dedicated to visual and dramatic arts, the department will be able to unite its major programs with closer proximity and collaboration. This major facility change entails the demolition of the Rice Media Center, a circumstance that is mobilizing Rice Cinema to ramp up excitement and appreciation for the building in the local film community.

The “Low-Fi” screening series is just one of many endeavors to honor the media center’s legacy and continue Rice Cinema’s community-driven programming.

“We’re really deeply steeped in our history right now as we’re going through all these things,” Stringer said. “I don’t know how long the Media Center’s going to be here so I really just want to kick up the level of excitement and celebration this year. It’s always free, it’s always super nerdy and exciting and fun, I guarantee it’ll be interesting and weird every week.

People just have to trust us.”

The “Low-Fi” series will continue for the rest of the academic year on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Check out their online events calendar to learn more about upcoming screenings.

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 11

Houston AfriFEST celebrates Africa’s vibrant and diverse cultures KATHERINE HUI FOR THE THRESHER

Sights, sounds, tastes, colors and cultures of Africa highlighted the Houston AfriFest on Saturday at Houston Baptist University, hosted by the NigerianAmerican Multicultural Council.

Celebrating its seventh anniversary, the festival featured a wide variety of cuisines from different countries and performances from local and international musicians, stand-up comedians, traditional African dancers and mixed-culture dancers.

Crowds journeyed through AfriFest in the heart of HBU’s campus where festival attendees could shop for fine art, fabrics, jewelry and natural products made in Africa by various artists and merchants.

Henna tattooing, a bounce house and a dunk tank provided entertainment for all ages, along with local Houston business vendors, raffles and sweepstakes. In the festival’s “Africa Zone,” the celebration also offered Houstonians a chance to experience the continent through its rich history: artifacts, flags and maps from different countries greeted visitors with facts as they passed through the marketplace.

With free admission for students, seniors and children and just $5 admission for adults in advance, the festival attracted nearly 3,000 people from the greater Houston area to celebrate African culture.

“We do AfriFest in order to allow people to experience Africa,” said Modinat “Abby” Kotun, NAMC’s vice president of outreach. “We want people to understand that Africa is a continent, not a country.”

As the number of vendors grew from 10 in 2012 to 86 this year, so did the number of countries the festival represented.

On Saturday, over 10 countries were

represented at the festival, including Senegal, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa.

As the most diverse city in the United States, Houston offers an important opportunity to learn more about the vibrant, diverse cultures of Africa. Kotun said that the festival hopes to clarify misconceptions of Africans.

“Nigerians have been in the news recently for fraud and just crime in general, but those Nigerians are only a small subset of the population,” said Kotun. “We do not condone what they do, [and] the rest of us are not them.”

Like they say, they can take you out of Africa but they can’t take the Africa out of you.

Emman LeGrand MUSICIAN Kotun said that Nigerians, and Africans in general, are beginning to gain positive recognition in pop culture and a unified sense of identity with phrases like “Wakanda Forever” and representation from Nigerian actresses like Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”) and Yvonne Orji (“Insecure”).

“We feel like doing this for seven years also helps [clarify misconceptions] a lot because people will be like ‘I’ve had jollof rice, I’ve had meat pie, I’ve had suya.

Those people are regular people just like me, and I like their culture and they like mine,’” Kotun said.

Bringing Africa to Houston was an important goal for both organizers and performers.

“We came here to AfriFest to support

the cause and missions as part of the African culture that we enjoy and like to share,” Emman LeGrand, one of the Congolese performers, said. “Like they say, they can take you out of Africa but they can’t take the Africa out of you.”

His band, Emman LeGrand and the African Rhythmix, shares their music and passions with all audiences as they travel across Texas to perform .

“In fact, when we play in Austin, most of our audience is non-African,” LeGrand said. “The music has no boundaries, so the culture is meant to be shared.”

For many Houstonians, one of the best parts of the festival is how local it is.

“It’s right in your backyard,” Houston native Jackie Hamilton said after dancing on stage with one of the performers. “I think it’s a great way to learn about [the] culture, the food, the hair, the clothing, the products.”

For Hamilton, being surrounded by positive energy and hearing performers sing in different languages were highlights of the festival.

“The music is wonderful! I used to think I had two left feet, but now I think I’m starting to pick up the rhythm,” Hamilton said. “I feel at home, with my people.

When you’re finding out something about your history, it makes you want to learn more. It’s good information to know, to learn about where we come from [and] what we got over.”

For international performers, the festival is a melting pot where they can share their culture while learning about others.

“What I like about Houston is all the different cultures meeting, trying new things, trying new food, trying new music, trying new dressings,” Seyba Diouf, a musician from Senegal, said. “I think it’s very beautiful. It’s the mixing of culture.”

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

Emman LeGrand, front man of the African Rhythmix, performs at Houston AfriFest.

African Rhythmix joined a diverse lineup of musical and dance performances.

THE RICE THRESHER

12 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

SPORTS

Powderpuff: A New Season Begins CHANNING WANG / THRESHER

Senior Kayla Cherry, a powderpuff player for Lovett College, receives a handoff and sprints between two oncoming rushers. Cherry played offense for Lovett during her team’s “soft scrimmage,” which was played among the Lovett players. Their preseason game was initially scheduled against the Graduate Student Association. However, GSA did not appear for the game and will not play this season.

MADISON BUZZARD

Richards, a senior, said. “I do feel like the control, but a lot of our practices also THE COMPETITION Richards said that when the games are refs have gotten a lot stricter in terms of got canceled or had to be done indoors.

You really can’t have an effective practice played, the North college teams will face a aggressiveness.”

Hannah Miller, a Duncan College with all of these girls when you are inside tougher slate of opponents than the South Eleven teams are set to play in the college teams.

21st annual season of Rice women’s flag captain, said she believes powderpuff of a gym.”

“I think in general, the North colleges football competition following Hanszen referees should balance safety with have a harder division than the South College’s 13-6 victory over McMurtry competitive play. colleges,” Richards said. “There are good “There have been a lot of injuries, last College last December in the powderpuff teams in the South, but overall, there year we had a few concussions,” Miller, a championship game. are always some teams that are not as senior, said. “But with the blocking, there There is more focus competitive. But every North college I should also be competitive aggression, on illegal contact and GSA think is competitive, minus Brown.”

According to current women’s flag [but] nothing too crazy.”

Coleman and Lovett captain Rose McMurtry captain Miranda Lee said she personal fouls than before, coordinator Sarah Rosenthal, a Lovett Kantorczyk said competing against Baker College senior, the Graduate Student hopes the referees will maintain a quick especially on the line with College, Will Rice College, Wiess College, Association will not compete in women’s pace of play. rushers and blockers.

Sid Rich and Hanszen poses a challenge.

“I think a lot of times, at least for us flag, also known as powderpuff, this season.

“We respectfully disagree that the “GSA has emailed us that they will as players, it can be frustrating when the Mackenzie Robeson North is better than the South,” Coleman not be fielding a women’s flag team this game is stopped so often,” Lee, a senior, BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR and Kantorczyk said. “It’s hard to tell how season but hope to do so next year,” said. “It’s really hard to find that balance the season’s going to go. But we’re really Rosenthal said. “We are still discussing [among] safety and competitiveness and But Mozden said she is confident in this excited about it. We are just trying to stay how to best handle this new information quick gameplay.” focused on us and doing as well as we can Not only did last year’s powderpuff year’s powderpuff coordinators. moving forward.”

“I think our coordinators for powderpuff each game.”

GSA was absent from the preseason coordinators struggle to alleviate injuries, Powderpuff will open its first weekend powderpuff coordinators meeting, they were also forced to reschedule this year are really good, and I also really according to Brown College senior numerous games due to inclement weather like the reffing staff this year” Mozden of regular season games Saturday: Jones Mackenzie Robeson. GSA was also absent conditions, according to Sarah Mozden, a said. “I think it’s going to be a really good College plays Baker, Brown plays Wiess and Hanszen plays McMurtry. Then, on season for everyone.” from its preseason scrimmage against Sid Richardson College sophomore.

A weekend has been reserved late in Sunday, Will Rice is scheduled to play “It was a little frustrating last year,” Lovett on Saturday, according to Lovett Mozden said. “Almost all of our games the season to prepare for the possibility GSA, Duncan plays Sid Rich and Lovett captain Grace Coleman.

“We were looking forward to having got rescheduled due to rain and weather. that games need to be rescheduled, plays Martel. All games will be played on Field 6. a game with new [referees],” Coleman, a A lot of it we recognize is out of our according to Rosenthal. senior, said. “But I guess we’ll have to do that next week. [GSA was] still scheduled so we decided we would come out and INFOGRAPHIC BY KATHERINE HUI THRESHER’S POWDERPUFF practice beforehand in case they did come.”

MITIGATING INJURY AND SCHEDULING The powderpuff coordinators emphasized to the new referees that they must strictly enforce penalties designed to prevent dangerous contact, according to Robeson.

NORTH COLLEGES SOUTH COLLEGES “There is more focus on illegal contact and personal fouls than before, especially 1 1 McMurtry Hanszen on the line with rushers and blockers,” Robeson said.

2 Lovett Martel College captain Jackie Richards 2 Martel said that escalated enforcement of the rules is personally important to her after 3 Baker she broke her finger during a powderpuff 3 Duncan game her sophomore year.

4 Will Rice “It sucks because when there are teams who are playing aggressive, there is a high 4 Jones 5 Sid Rich chance of injury, especially if you are a rusher — you are sticking your hands 5 Brown actively toward a running person — so 6 Wiess there is a lot of chance for finger injuries,” SPORTS EDITOR

POWER RANKINGS

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 13

Horns Down: Volleyball to face No. 3 Texas MICHAEL BYRNES SPORTS EDITOR

Today, Rice volleyball faces its toughest test of the season so far: a match against No. 3-ranked University of Texas, Austin.

Rice enters the contest with a 9-1 record on the season.

On Saturday, the Owls suffered their first loss of the season, dropping a fiveset match to Stephen F. Austin State University. It was the first time Rice had faced a fifth set all season, and only the third set deficit the team had encountered on the season. Head coach Genny Volpe said the team can take away some lessons from its defeat.

“There were a few instances where we just didn’t take care of the ball, and seize an opportunity when we had it,” Volpe said. “But it was a battle, it was a dogfight, and this team [showed] that they are definitely a team that fights and grinds and is resilient, so I’m expecting them to bounce back from that tough loss.”

Like Rice, Texas enters this matchup with just one loss this season: the Longhorns’ loss was a five-set nailbiter against then-top-ranked Stanford University. UT’s greatest strength lies in its offense, driven by two of the top outside hitters in the country, senior

Micaya White and sophomore Logan in lowest opponents’ hitting percentage.

Eggleston. The two have combined for 111 According to Volpe, this dynamic will kills in the Longhorns’ last three matches, likely result in a tough, hard-fought contest.

“I look at these two teams and I think and White was the 2018 Big 12 Player of the Year. Overall, Texas’s offense has the that we’re probably going to see a lot of No. 5 hitting percentage in the country. rallies,” Volpe said. “We’ve been scoring According to Volpe, Rice must work to at a pretty high rate, but so have they, and maintain defensive consistency when we’ve also been defending well. I think athletically, we match dealing with an up pretty well ... it’s offense as potent going to be really highas UT’s. level volleyball, not a lot “[Texas] will get their kills,” I think in the end it’s going of sloppy play. I think it’s going to be tons of Volpe said. to come down to serving defense [and] lots of “When they have long rallies.” an opening ... and passing. I think that’s UT isn’t the only and they take a going to be the key: to team in the contest good swing and serve tough and get them with a powerful outside they get a kill, out of [rhythm]. presence. Rice’s Nicole [we can’t] worry Lennon, a junior outside too much about Genny Volpe hitter, has started the it. [We have to] season ranked No. 6 take care of the VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH in the country in total little things. We’re trying to be [really] disciplined with our kills and No. 11 in total points. On defense. Our block has to be disciplined; Monday, Lennon was named C-USA we talked about how our block [against Offensive Player of the Week alongside SFA] wasn’t as strong as it normally is ... Lauren Matthews of Western Kentucky but it’s been there before, so we know we University; this is the third straight week that Lennon has received such an honor. just have to execute.”

Rice’s defense has been stout. On the Lennon said much of her prowess is year, the Owls are ranked No. 6 nationally made possible by her supportive team.

“Everything that I do, I couldn’t do without my teammates,” Lennon said.

“They are the backbone of the team, and they always support me in everything that I do. So their support and their performance makes me the player that I am.”

Volpe also said that she thinks the game will hinge on two aspects of the game that don’t always get featured on the highlight reel.

“Honestly, I think in the end it’s going to come down to serving and passing,” Volpe said. “I think that’s going to be the key; [to] serve tough and get them out of [rhythm]. But on the flip side they are a tough-serving team ... so we need to be strong on the receiving side [too].”

The attendance record for a volleyball game at Tudor Fieldhouse is 1,429, according to a tweet from the official Rice University Twitter account. In anticipation of the game, the school has been campaigning on social media to try and break this mark. According to sophomore middle blocker Anota Adekunle, helping break the record will be well worth students’ time. “[Students] need to come for sure,” Adekunle said. “We need as much support here as we can. It’ll be a good game, we promise.”

Soccer falls to undefeated Oregon State BEN BAKER-KATZ FOR THE THRESHER

Rice soccer lost 2-1 in an overtime match against undefeated Oregon State University this Sunday at Holloway Field.

Rice was coming off of a 3-2 defeat at Southern Methodist University, while Oregon State came into the game following a 5-0 victory against the University of Houston and had given up only one goal all season.

“Obviously it was a very big opportunity,” junior defender Callie Ericksen said of her collegiate debut. “In the end, it didn’t go [the way] we wanted.”

Rice kept up with Oregon State throughout the first half by maintaining possession. The Owls were also able to keep the ball in the middle of the field and not let OSU get around their defense on the outside.

Only three shots were placed on goal in the first half: one for Rice and two for Oregon State.

However, as the second half started, OSU came out playing aggressive offense and sent multiple crosses into the box.

After a few failed corner kicks, Oregon State was able to capitalize on an attacking opportunity in the 56th minute.

On an OSU throw-in into the Rice penalty box, the ball was kicked around in traffic and appeared to cross the goal line before being kicked back out by a Rice defender. After a moment of confusion, the referees signaled it a goal.

Rice head coach Brian Lee said he was happy with his team’s resilience after OSU’s first goal.

“To have that first goal go against you, and then still have the stick-to-itiveness to come back all the way through the full 90 minutes, really speaks to the kids’ character,” Lee said. “The important part is how we react to [the setback], and I thought we really stayed calm and kept playing and playing.”

Immediately following the goal, Rice went on the offensive. The Owls had four corner kicks in the span of five minutes but were unable to convert any of those scoring opportunities.

Rice continued to control the ball into the 88th minute, when the team got its best scoring opportunity of the night thus far.

Senior midfielder Lianne Mananquil

brought the ball up the right side of the field. After receiving the cross from Mananquil, sophomore midfielder Delaney Schultz headed the ball off of the post. Upon corralling the rebound, senior forward Louise Stephens poked it into the open net for the equalizer goal, her third of the year, right before regulation time expired.

“My first thought was ‘Delaney, please score this,’” Stephens said. “She hit it off the post and then I was in there for the [easy] goal.”

After the first overtime period started, Rice had multiple scoring opportunities and kept most of the possession.

Right away, senior forward Haley Kostyshyn stole the ball and took it near the Oregon State penalty box before being tripped by an OSU defender. The

Owls received a free kick, which junior defender Mijke Roelfsema hit off the crossbar. The Owls received a corner kick moments later, which was saved by OSU keeper Bridgette Skiba. “[Rice] went and continued what they had been doing the last 10 minutes of the game, really pushing for the win,” Lee said. “Soccer is a tough game. Sometimes the ball bounces a little different and we’re able to stick one of those away before they get their chance.”

The Beavers’ chance came in the 99th minute when OSU senior defender Paula Leblic hit a long pass from midfield into the box, and freshman forward Brianna McReynolds was able to chip it in over the keeper for her fourth goal of the season.

It was an abrupt end to an overtime period dominated mostly by Rice, but

Lee said he was not disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We love the character and the toughness and the grit of our team,” Lee said. “Individually we’ve had [these traits] all along, and tonight it started to show as a group effort.”

Ericksen said there is more to take away from this game than just the loss.

“Our progression has been impressive,” Ericksen said. “I think that’s something to focus on and be proud of.”

The Owls will look to get back into the win column this week with a pair of home matches. On Thursday at 7 p.m. the Owls play against Texas Southern University.

Rice will then face off against the University of North Carolina, Charlotte on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Holloway Field.

JOYCE GUO / THRESHER

Senior forward Louise Stephens shields the ball from Oregon State midfielder Skylar Herrera while Rice holds an attacking position. Stephens scored her third goal of the season. Stephens has started all seven games this season.

SPORTS

14 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

kick is indescribable,” Patel said. “Once I heard my coach yell ‘Two minutes left!’ I knew it was time to go. When people yell at me during [the] final stretch of races my legs respond and have a mind of [their] own.”

michael byrnes / THRESHER

Redshirt freshman Ace Castillo and juniors Matthew Murray, Alex Topini and Hociel Landa lead the field during the first half of the Rice Invitational on Friday. The men’s team scored 46 points to win its race, while the women’s team finished in third place with 61 points in its race.

Cross country teams begin season with a pair of victories MICHAEL BYRNES SPORTS EDITOR

Last Friday, both of Rice’s cross country teams competed at the season-opening Rice Invitational. The men’s team finished first overall, while the women’s team finished third, led by a first-place individual finish by senior Khayla Patel.

WOMEN’S RACE The women’s team was missing junior Lourdes Vivas de Lorenzi, who finished third overall and was Rice’s top finisher in last year’s Rice Invitational. According to head

coach Jim Bevan, Vivas de Lorenzi is training with the team and set to return shortly. But without her, the Owls were only able to place two runners in the top 10 finishers overall, and just three in the top 15. However, Bevan said he was pleased with the team’s effort, and that he expects improvement as the season progresses.

“Our ladies raced hard,” Bevan said. “We had a freshman, Rachel Shoemaker, who was not wearing a Rice uniform, [who] would have been in [Rice’s] top five ... In addition, I believe we will get some more improvement from those runners near the fifth position.”

But it was Patel who headlined the show,

with a thrilling come-from-behind victory that marked her third collegiate cross country win.

Patel trailed the leader, sophomore Kelsey Ramirez from Stephen F. Austin University, for most of the race. But as the two runners headed into the final stretch, Patel kicked it up a gear and took the lead. For the remainder of the straightaway, the two runners battled for position, with Patel maintaining a slight edge all the way to the finish line, where she won by less than half a second in a nearphoto finish. Patel said the adrenaline rush at the end helped fuel her victory.

“My favorite part of racing is the last 800 meters because the feeling of being able to

MEN’S RACE In the men’s race, Rice started off strong, with a pack of Owls leading the race throughout most of the first mile. Juniors Matthew Murray, Hociel Landa and Alex Topini led the way before they dropped back off the top group midway through the race. But Landa and Topini motored their way forward during the last mile, picking off runners and eventually breaking into the top four with a hard kick on the final straightaway. Topini edged Landa at the finish to get third place overall, while Landa finished fourth. Head coach Jon Warren said he thought the two runners worked well with each other during the race.

“It was an interesting race for them,” Warren said. “Each had a pretty impressive last 400 meters to move up the handful of spots [to garner] the 3-4 finish. It looked to me that they ran together and were excellent teammates throughout the race, and each of them benefitted from this strategy.”

Sophomore Andrew Abikhaled finished in eighth place overall, and freshman Travis Dowd notched 12th place in his first collegiate cross country race. Murray stabilized after dropping off the top group to finish as Rice’s fifth runner, in 19th place overall.

The Owls won the meet handily, in large part due to their five scoring runners’ tight pack: Murray finished just 28 seconds behind Topini. Overall, Warren said he was happy with his runners’ performances.

“While the teams in the past have been good, I think this was the best field [in the Rice Invitational] for quite a while,” Warren said. “I was pleased with the strategy the team used and I was happy to see how hard each and every one ran ... If they can keep this same mentality and race strategy I think it can be a very good season.”

ADVERTISEMENT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 • 15

BACKPAGE

16 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Area 51 Alien Adoption Program: A creature for each college If you haven’t heard, millions of people have responded to the infamous “Storm Area 51” Facebook event that popped up this summer. September 20 is finally upon us. Although the FBI seems pretty set on preventing the raid, like the Facebook event’s subtitle states, “They Can’t Stop All of Us.” So, the only question remaining is: Which aliens get sorted into which residential colleges?

Will Rice

Baker

Your alien is from a planet that comes first in proximity to the center of its respective solar system. It keeps foaming at the mouth, which is great because it provides an infinite supply of shaving cream. Unfortunately, if Baker 13 continues to become more restricted and less popular, you might just have to put this alien down.

This hypercompetitive creature is great at chugging, but that’s not why it’s useful to you. We get it, you like Beer Bike, but what’s really important is that back on this alien’s home planet, urine is a delicacy. So, this alien will happily stop any peeing on Will Rice in its tracks.

Wie ss

Hailing from a nudist colony in a remote galaxy, this alien is already stoked for NOD. And, surprise! It’s actually already at Wiess because when it found out last year’s public was space-themed, it teleported back in time.

Lovett

Jones

Hanszen

The most similar species to this alien back on Earth is a termite, but it’s more like a super-termite. So, don’t worry. Even when you get a nice new dorm made of lumber, it’ll chew right through its structure so that you feel right at home in a crumbling building.

Br own

This alien comes from a victorious warrior planet and is ready to win again. Bred to focus on survival, reproduction is hugely important to this alien and it heard something about “fuck Jones”? Plus, back on its home planet, the main religion includes a god of fertility that looks exactly like — you guessed it — a goat.

At first, we weren’t quite sure what to do with this alien because it keeps yelling obscenities and thinks that it’s the epitome of comedy. But then we remembered your favorite chant! This alien doesn’t actually have the capacity to be creative, but it also doesn’t require very much cognitive ability at all to come up with an even longer string of vile words to precede your beloved “rah rah fuck.”

l

rte a M

Not a college? No problem — this guy’s not an alien. He thought it’d be funny to attend the raid in an alien mask and now he’s in too deep to turn back. He’s sticking it out because he has a good shot at getting a single in one of the (parking) lots of suites, though: pretty sweet.

Your perfect alien comes from a planet far, far

away — it’s barely within the perimeter of its own solar system! It’s a big fan of togas, but doesn’t quite understand the “Brown is shit, shit is brown” anti-cheer yet: Its feces glow neon green.

Sid Rich

This alien comes from a parallel universe where time moves slower — so slow, in fact, that it’s still 30 years in the past there. Sid ’80s will be a lot of fun for it, but you’ll have to explain the next day how humans have transitioned from in-person courtship to “Subtle Rice Dating” on whatever the internet is.

McMurtry

Dun can

Quite frankly, this alien has a lot going for it and is used to a high quality of life on its home planet. Moreover, its native language system does not include the concept of spelling, so it could easily join the merch committee that produces hundreds of items that say McMurty or McMrutry.

What makes this alien special is that it has no knees. That’s right: It physically cannot crawl. That means one fewer Duncaroo to worry about disobeying rules about crawls, which is all you can really ask for.

The Backpage is satire, written by Simona Matovic and designed by an extraterrestrial she found, who is desperately trying to phone home. To contact either of them, please email simona@rice.edu.

CLASSIFIEDS

WANTED

TEACH FOR TESTMASTERS! Dynamic and Energetic teachers wanted. Starting pay rate is $20 to $32 per hour. Flexible schedules. We provide all training, all training is paid, and we pay for travel. Email your resume to jobs@testmasters.com.

AFTER SCHOOL DRIVER NEEDED Looking for someone to drive our 10 year old son from school to activities Mon-Fri. From St. John’s School to nearby activities. Usually less than one hour travel around 3:30-4:30. $20/trip. Starting end of September. Please email tangens1212@gmail.com.

PART-TIME JOB We are in search of a Rice student (with a car!) to help with school pickups and drop-offs for after school activities. Children are ages 7, 11, and 15. All the destinations are within

a 5 mile radius of the Rice campus. Approximate hours would be Monday through Friday, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pay is $17/hr. Father is a software entrepreneur and investor who went to Rice (Sid ’97).

Mother is a part-time student. Kids are delightful ... and occasionally even fun to be around. Email: katie@snapstream.com AFTER SCHOOL SITTER WITH CAR NEEDED 2 DAYS WEEKLY Looking for responsible college student to pick up 5 and 11 yo kids from Condit Elementary School in Bellaire every Mon and Wed at 3, take them to nearby Mathnasium for an hour, then back to our home until 6 p.m. (6 hours per week — except for school holidays; add’l work may be available). $18/hour. Kids are sweet and easy. Please call Paula 713-397-8111.

ADVERTISING

We accept display and classified advertisements. The Thresher reserves the right to refuse any advertising for any reason.

Additionally, the Thresher does not take responsibility for the factual content of any ad. Printing an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement by the Thresher.

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

First copy free, second copy $5.

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

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