The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, January 21, 2020

VOLUME 104, ISSUE NO. 15 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

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illustration BY YIFEI ZHANG

First week of school: Campus has no cool TALHA ARIF THRESHER STAFF

Due to ongoing construction at the Central Plant, the campus has experienced disruptions in air cooling at both residential and academic buildings over the past week, exacerbated by a heat wave that culminated in a record-high 83 degrees on Wednesday.

Amna Ali, a junior at Wiess College, said she left campus and went to her family home in Houston to avoid the indoor heat.

“I had to keep my window open because my room was so hot,” Ali said.

“I actually got heat rashes because I’m pretty sensitive to the heat, so I ended up just going to my home. A rat actually got on the windowsill because my room window had been open all day.”

Before the start of the semester, the Facilities Engineering and Planning team for Rice University sent an email to all students and faculty to limit their air conditioning use until Feb. 14. FE&P sent two follow-up emails during the first week of the semester with a more urgent

NEWS

request for staff and students to limit their air conditioning use in order to supply critical cooling needs on campus such as for temperature-sensitive research in labs.

The reason for the project was to fix a compromised pipe which is integral to the air cooling capacity of the Central Plant, according to Richard Johnson, the director of the Administrative Center for Sustainability and Energy Management at Rice.

“The pipe that connects the Central Plant to its cooling tower is in danger of

failing,” Johnson said. “If it were to fail, we would lose the entire cooling capacity of the Central Plant for an extended period — weeks, maybe even months. If that were to happen during the summer, the impact on campus would be severe.”

Without sufficient cooling capacity to both preserve critical research in labs as well as cool residential colleges and administrative buildings, the FE&P team has had to decide how to allocate the limited resource across campus, according to Johnson.

SEE HEAT WAVE PAGE 3

FEATURES

Vigil honors Dr. King’s legacy DesRoches races toward provostship RACHEL CARLTON SENIOR WRITER

Over sixty people gathered Sunday evening in the Rice Memorial Chapel for the annual Martin Luther King Vigil, put on by the Rice Black Male Leadership Initiative with the theme “Keeping the Dream Alive”.

Incoming Provost Reginald DesRoches served as the keynote speaker for an evening that included a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Sid Richardson College sophomore Toluwani Taiwo, a rendition of excerpts from one of King’s speeches by McMurtry College junior David King, and a closing prayer from Baker College sophomore Patrick Aghadiuno, all followed by a reception in the Multicultural Center.

Milkessa Gaga, the director of alumni relations for Black Male Leadership Initiative, said that the club had taken on the responsibility for the annual vigil. “[The vigil] wasn’t always our responsibility as a club, but since it’s fallen down to us, we always try to show out,” Gaga, a Martel College sophomore, said. “It’s something important to us, and we care about it. We want the event to go well, so we put effort into it.”

During his introduction of DesRoches, President David Leebron distinguished Martin Luther King Day from other holidays as one that looks forward more than it looks backward. “[MLK Day] challenges us to recognize what has been achieved but also what has

not been achieved,” Leebron said before officially introducing DesRoches as the incoming provost.

Leebron said DesRoches’ appointment as Rice’s first African American provost was a significant milestone for the university, but also sent an important message.

After approaching the podium to a standing ovation, DesRoches began his speech by talking about his connection to King, who also grew up in Atlanta as an avid church member. DesRoches followed with notable historic firsts.

“Standing here today as the dean of engineering at Rice, and the incoming provost, in the most diverse city in the United States, it’s hard to imagine that just 50 years ago, Rice had its first Black student graduate,” DesRoches said.

DesRoches, whose parents moved from Haiti to the United States, said that he realized when he was growing up that while America was the land of opportunity, Black and Brown people were still treated differently than their White counterparts.

Mathias Adamu, the vice president of BMLI, said he related to DesRoches’ life story and wanted to be like him when he grows up.

“He was born in Haiti. I was born in Ethiopia. He came here. He’s a mechanical engineer. He’s already doing great things,” Adamu, a Brown College junior, said. “He killed it as a dean. He came in, had his two-year stint as a dean, and now he’s a provost.”

This story has been condensed for print.

Read the full story online at ricethresher.org.

ELLA FELDMAN

DesRoches first came to Rice in 2017 as dean of engineering. Before his appointment, he worked at the Georgia Closing in at a swift one hour, 50 Institute of Technology in Atlanta for minutes and 34 seconds, Reginald 19 years. Adjusting to an entirely new DesRoches set a personal record at campus and culture was a challenge the Aramco Houston Half Marathon DesRoches took on eagerly.

“That was the biggest thing to on Sunday, beating last year’s time by overcome, just six minutes. Next really learning summer, DesRoches about how things will break another are done and record. On July 1, learning about the current dean the Rice culture,” of the George R. The people here are DesRoches said.

Brown School of phenomenal. Extremely “They talk about Engineering will bright. The students are the culture of become the ninth bright, the faculty are caring, and I know provost to take it sounds like just a office — and the clever. We have great phrase, but it really first Black provost staff. is true. Although in Rice’s history. it’s really hard and D e s R o c h e s ’ Reginald DesRoches rigorous, people appointment comes DEAN OF ENGINEERING here work together after former Provost and want each Marie Lynn Miranda stepped down in May and the role was other to do well. And that’s something I temporarily filled by interim Provost think that’s very unique to Rice.”

As dean of engineering, DesRoches Seiichi Matsuda. The provost is the university’s chief academic officer and rolled out a strategic plan for the oversees academic, student and faculty school that included efforts to get more engineering students abroad, programs affairs, according to DesRoches.

“Being a provost — similar to being a intended to foster a more diverse and dean except you’re doing it more broadly inclusive environment and plans to hire — it’s about helping people to achieve more faculty.

“We’ve hired some exceptional their goals. And I really enjoy doing that,” DesRoches said. “I’m looking people, which I’m really proud of,” forward to the opportunity to do that at DesRoches said. a grander scale.”

SEE PROVOST PAGE 6 FEATURES EDITOR

THE RICE THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

NEWS

Students demand community benefits agreement for Ion RYND MORGAN ASST NEWS EDITOR In response to continued development on Rice’s Innovation District on the border of Midtown and the Third Ward, members of a student coalition and 16 student organizations published a letter asking Rice to sign a community benefits agreement with Houston community members on Monday, Jan. 20.

Lila Greiner, the media representative for Rice Young Democrats, said that RYD supported the letter because they believe that Rice has a duty to the Houston community.

“Unfortunately, projects like the Ion often only promote the interests of the wealthy while exacerbating issues faced by marginalized populations,” Grenier, a Will Rice College sophomore, said.

The letter follows months of discussion between The Student Coalition for a Just and Equitable Innovation Corridor, the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development with Displacement and Rice Management Company, the company overseeing the Innovation District’s development.

The letter was sponsored by sixteen Rice student groups, including the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice, Rice Black Student Association, Rice InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the Rice Young Democrats. In addition to the letter, members of the student coalition introduced a resolution in support of the Community Benefits Agreement at the digital Student Association Senate meeting on Monday night. The Student Association stated their support for the letter in the resolution.

HACER co-presidents Brenda Venegas and Laura Vargas Infante said that it was vital for the organization to sponsor the letter in support of the Third Ward community.

“HACER believes it is crucial to support and positively impact not only Rice University students but also members of the Houston community,” Venegas and Vargas Infante,

rynd morgan / thresher

A student coalition is hosting events on campus as part of a “Not in Our Name” campaign this week. A poster was hung outside Fondren Library with the campaign name.

Sid Richardson College seniors, wrote in a statement. “We wanted to emphasize that it is unacceptable to keep taking power from communities of color through gentrification.”

Rice [has] a moral imperative to create a relationship with the community that reflects Rice’s values Mary Claire Neal MEMBER OF STUDENT COALITION According to Mary Claire Neal, a member of the Student Coalition and a sponsor of the Senate resolution, although the coalition has agreed with some of the plans that Rice Management Company has previously proposed, nothing that Rice Management Company has done has been in consultation with the HCEDD. “Rice has invited community members and community organizations to the table, and many of those are the same organizations that are within the coalitions, it’s good and it’s positive that Rice has that intention,[but] it’s still very important to the coalition that

everything they do agree on or talk about is a part of the [CBA] because the enforceability is really what matters, and what’s going to build that trust between Rice and the community,” Neal, a Jones College junior, said.

Ryan LeVasseur, managing director of direct real estate for Rice Management Company, said that Rice Management Company has met with members of HCEDD multiple times.

“Rice Management Company has had many positive and constructive meetings with representatives of the surrounding community that are focused on collaboration,” LeVasseur (Wiess College ’01) said. “This includes multiple scheduled engagements with representatives of the aforementioned group.”

BSA president Drew Carter said that it was important for BSA to show solidarity with the Third Ward community and prevent its erasure.

“We have to ensure that we are doing our responsibility as an organization comprised of Black students who share common experiences, history, culture and political disenfranchisement [with the Third Ward community] that we are willing and able to use our privilege as members of an elite institution to minimize the harm our institution enacts on marginalized

communities,” Carter, a Jones College sophomore, said.

Hope Fa-Kaji, a member of the Rice InterVarsity Christian Fellowship said that the letter went hand-in-hand with Christianity and the Rice chapter of InterVarsity in particular.

“The Bible has very specific and explicit commands to support the vulnerable in society and to invest in the place you live, even when that place may not be your home,” Fa-Kaji, a Will Rice College junior, said.

In addition to sponsoring the SA resolution and penning the letter to President David Leebron and the Board of Trustees, the student coalition is hosting engagement events on campus throughout the week as a part of a campaign called “Not in Our Name.”

According to Neal, it is the responsibility of Rice students to speak out in support of the CBA because they are the ones who will end up benefiting from any financial assets earned by Rice Management Company through the Ion and the greater South Main Innovation District.

“When we say ‘not in our name,’ we’re saying that not in our name will Rice knowingly perpetuate the gentrification and displacement of a community,” Neal said.

LeVasseur said that Rice Management Company has maintained a commitment to creating a district that has a focus on community engagement.

“The overwhelming support from the Rice community and all of Houston has been a driving force behind The Ion,” LeVasseur said.

Neal said Rice has a unique position as both a real estate developer and a university to foster a relationship with the local community.

“A university’s job is to create knowledge for a better future and to share that knowledge. That really gives Rice a moral imperative to create a relationship with the community that reflects [Rice’s] values,” Neal said.

Owl House Properties draws controversy over new building BRIAN LIN & IVANKA PEREZ SENIOR WRITER & FEATURES EDITOR Owl House Properties, a local property management company, plans to combine, or replat, lots 1933 and 1937 Dryden Road, in May 2020 into a one-lot, a four-story apartment complex, according to company president Ben Bahorich (Will Rice ’10), drawing backlash from some Southgate residents. The property management company, which owns several properties that are primarily occupied

by Rice students, has twice been criticized by students in Thresher coverage in the past year for poor living conditions, unfair leases and delayed renovations.

Bahorich said the company decided to construct a four-story apartment complex after weighing profits against the community’s hesitations with having a tall building in their residential neighborhood just south of campus.

“Four stories — that’s our proposed structure, which is the smallest structure that we can actually do where we [would] make economic returns,” Bahorich said.

However, members of the Southgate neighborhood have shown signs of disagreement with the proposed replat.

Around the neighborhood, signs with phrases such as “No replat” and “No 7 story apartments” have surfaced protesting the new complex. Although these signs suggest that the complex will be seven stories tall, Bahorich said the company is planning for the complex to be four stories tall.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot with them a while back because we weren’t sure what the process was and didn’t know anybody in the community,” Bahorich said.

According to an Owl House tenant,

who wished to remain anonymous, many residents of the Southgate neighborhood have expressed concerned about the replat.

“The people on [the] NextDoor [app] are very unhappy about this,” they said.

Bahorich said residents have expressed mistrust regarding the promised height of the new building. According to Texas platting statutes, once the replat is approved, Owl House will not be legally obligated to limit their construction to four stories.

“I think that the neighbors are still concerned because they don’t know if we’re telling the truth,” Bahorich said. “So they might think ‘Oh, they’re just going to get a replat and build whatever they want.’”

Since January of this year, Bahorich said his company has met with members of the Southgate Civic Club, the neighborhood organization in charge of ensuring that deed restrictions are met, on four separate occasions to discuss the replat.

“We’re working with them right now much more closely, and so we’re kind of getting on the same page about what this is going to look like,” Bahorich said.

However, Edward Aviles, an appointed member of the architectural review for the Southgate Civic Club, said that the meetings have mainly consisted of learning about the plans.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as working with the community because that can sound like we’re actually working together,” Aviles (Hanszen College ’92) said.

Jenny Beech, president of the Southgate Civic Club, said the replat has not yet been approved.

“The developer needs the Southgate Civic Club’s approval of the building plan prior to construction,” Beech said. “We have not yet

given that approval, but we are in discussions about the proposed building and hope to reach an agreement.”

Bahorich said he believes prior allegations of unfair leasing agreements have made some Southgate residents hesitant to support the construction of the new complex. In previous Thresher coverage, tenants have reported mold, rat infestations and being coerced into signing leases with little to no information.

“The [Thresher] articles point out there was a lease that wasn’t fair because it had terms that were more beneficial to the landlord,” Bahorich said. “[So] we just [changed] to a standard Texas lease.”

Cameron Wallace, a senior at Brown College and a tenant at one of the properties slated to be demolished, said Owl House has declined to repair the gas in his unit due to the upcoming construction of the complex.

“We don’t have gas. We haven’t had gas for a month and a half or two months,” Wallace said. “They’re not gonna fix it because the building is old and is going to be torn down soon.”

The anonymous tenant said that although Owl House properties claims to be in support of Rice students, their claims are counterintuitive.

“Renting to students with a proposed goal of providing affordable housing and then proceeding to raise the rent doesn’t add up,” the tenant said.

The proposed replat may also affect the rent that students living in the area have to pay. Rachel Luu, who owns and is leasing two properties on Dryden Road to Rice students, said the complex may increase the rent that landlords in the area charge.

“They’re [probably] going to take away what used to be cheaper unit thing and make

Ivanka perez / thresher

Members of the Southgate neighborhood have shown signs of disagreement with the proposed development.

it expensive [so] it will make other landlords [say], hey, they can charge this much, [so] I can charge more,” Luu said.

According to Bahorich, the company hasn’t officially settled on how much they will charge for rent, but estimates that a 3-bedroom unit will cost between $2,700 and $3,000 per month. The complex will house 18 units, compared to the 8 units in the two existing houses.

Although most of Owl House’s current tenants in the two houses are Rice students, Bahorich said that might not be the case with the new apartment complex.

“I think it would be mostly geared towards medical students,” Bahorich said.

“Maybe [Rice] grad students and undergrads as well. I just think since it’s so close to the [Texas Medical Center], it might end up getting rented by nurses and doctors.”

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 • 3

Channing wang / Thresher

Pictured above are the industrial chillers (left) and cooling tower (right) of the South Plant, one of the two plants on campus. Due to construction on the Central Plant, the campus is currently only relying on the South Plant, resulting in decreased cooling capacity.

Campus air conditioning strained by first week heat wave HEAT WAVE FROM PAGE 1

“If the demand for chilled water is not reduced as much as it needs to be, we’ve sometimes had to strictly limit the amount of chilled water flowing to a building, which has the effect of essentially turning off the air conditioning,” Johnson said.

“That’s why full participation from all students is so important. It helps reduce the need for such drastic actions.”

Kaarthika Thakker, a Lovett College senior, said that she did not understand the methodology behind asking students to significantly alter their AC use and expecting full compliance.

“It’s a bit ridiculous that they just asked nicely for everyone to keep their air conditioning off. No one is going to do that without any incentive,” Thakker said.

The humidity and unexpected heat has caused problems for faculty, staff and students.

As a result of the high indoor temperatures, Housing and Dining closed Sid Richardson College Kitchen last Thursday because they deemed it too hot for the staff to work there safely, according to Sid Richardson President McKinzie Chambers.

Given the high cost of reserving a backup cooling tower, it was the right decision [not to reserve one] and we’d do it again.

Richard Johnson DIRECTOR OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER FOR SYSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT According to Sandra Parsons, a residential associate of Will Rice College, the humidity of the past few days in the classes she teaches has affected the overall environment.

“I teach three classes in Sewall [Hall] and one of the rooms [last week] was unbearable,” Parsons, a psychology faculty member, said. “I’ve definitely seen the effects in the classroom: when it’s really hot, students kind of just start falling asleep, especially since I teach right after lunch.”

Thakker, who is also the KTRU station manager, described the past few days working in the station as miserable.

“The first few times I went in there it was unbearable,” Thakker said. “We’ve put fans on all our equipment and broadcasting tools to make sure it doesn’t overheat, and we’re leaving the door open.”

Thakker said that the situation has made working at KTRU difficult during this time.

“The whole point of KTRU is to be able to hang out and have fun,” Thakker said. “Since we’re a radio station, we’re essential and responsible for being online at all times. So there’s no real option for us other than to just get through it.”

KTRU business manager and Coffeehouse employee Harrison Lorenzen said there was a lack of communication between FE&P and KTRU. “We were told that KTRU might be considered as an essential space alongside labs, because of all the equipment and vinyls we have. One would assume that Coffeehouse, which has 70-80 people at a time, would be essential too but we didn’t receive any priority at all.”

Rice Coffeehouse employees have described their shifts as more challenging, sometimes requiring an additional one or two people on shifts to handle the line better and for the employees to be able to get water more often, according to Coffeehouse general manager Brendan Wong.

Wong said that Coffeehouse has seen the effects of the project most clearly through the kinds of orders that customers place.

“It’s early January and most people are actually ordering iced drinks — there have barely been any hot orders,” Wong, a Jones College junior, said.

Wong said Coffeehouse received help from other places, such as the Rice Student Center, who provided them with a fan to keep conditions cooler behind the bar.

THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT Johnson said the construction project started immediately after finals ended and continued over winter break, with the crews working 16-hour days, six days a week.

The FE&P team decided that this was the safest time to do the project, as temperatures have historically been low this time of year.

According to Johnson, FE&P’s analysis suggested that the reduced cooling capacity would not be an issue as long as outdoor temperatures stayed in the low 70s.

“We conducted a thorough historical analysis of chilled water consumption on campus for the months of December to February,” Johnson said. “Then we factored in weather data. If they reached the upper 70s and especially if they exceeded 80 degrees, we’d have a much more challenging situation.”

Last week on Wednesday, the

temperature reached a January recordhigh 83 degrees, according to The Weather Channel.

According to Johnson, much of the infrastructure installed at Rice in the 1970s and 1980s, including the compromised pipe, was designed to save money and was therefore not constructed from quality material.

It’s a bit ridiculous that they just asked nicely for everyone to keep their air conditioning off. No one is going to do that without any incentive.

Kaarthika Thakker LOVETT COLLEGE SENIOR “If I could go back in a time machine, I would go back and say, ‘choose a better, more durable pipe,’” Johnson said. “A lot of the infrastructure that happened on campus in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s was done on the cheap. Staffing was very thin — everything was about keeping tuition as low as possible.”

Hugh Ton-That, director of plant operations and university engineer, said that because this pipe was made of lower quality fiberglass as opposed to the carbon steel typically used in this type of construction, it did not last very long, but

the replacement should last much longer.

“I don’t really know the exact decision why this pipe was put in back in the day.

The story I heard was that this was just a value engineering item, to save some money,” Ton-That said. “We had a couple of leaks during the 1990s and early 2000s as a result.”

While the weather has cooled down, Johnson said the campus is still at risk of repeat incidents of overheating until the project is completed.

According to Johnson, during their analyses before beginning the project, they decided that renting a temporary cooling tower for the entire campus was not worth it given the low chance of such high January temperatures.

“Reserving a temporary cooling tower for this project to allow for more cooling capacity would have cost about $750,000,” Johnson said. “Given the high cost of reserving a backup cooling tower, it was the right decision [not to reserve one] and we’d do it again.”

The project still has approximately three and a half weeks until its completion.

Assuming reasonable temperatures, Johnson said the South Plant has enough cooling capability to provide for the campus needs during that time.

“It appears that for the rest of the month, daytime highs will be in the 50s and 60s,” Johnson said. “The deadline for completing the project is Friday, Feb. 14. Unless we encounter unexpected issues, it’s quite possible our Central Plant cooling capacity will be back online a few days before that.”

NEWS

4 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

O-Week PAAs will no longer be affiliated with O-Week groups SERENE LEE THRESHER STAFF Beginning the fall of 2020, Orientation Week Peer Academic Advisors will no longer also serve as O-Week advisors. The Office of Academic Advising instituted this change to lower the mental and physical strain for students chosen for those positions, according to Aliya Bhimani.

Bhimani, director of the OAA, said these changes would be reverting to an older model, as opposed to turning to an untested system.

“For more than 15 years this exact structure was in place without issue.

It wasn’t until the past few O-Weeks that we experimented with a model that attached O-Week PAAs to O-Week groups,” Bhimani said.

According to Bhimani, there is a heavy workload that comes with being both an O-Week PAA and advisor. O-Week PAAs are currently responsible for both academic and social aspects of O-Week, as they must plan academic meetings and help set up incoming freshmen’s schedule while also being ready to help integrate and welcome new students into a new college environment.

“After running the experiment, we have found that the original model actually worked very well for us,” Bhimani said. “It allowed the O-Week PAAs to serve in an elevated leadership role with ample time to focus on the academic components of O-Week and assist all incoming freshmen at their residential colleges.”

Jones College senior Shami Mosely was an O-Week PAA twice: once as part of an O-Week

infographic by Dan helmeci

group and the other as a floater. Mosely said he chose to be the test subject for Jones O-Week in 2018 as the only PAA not assigned to a group. “I did enjoy being an O-Week PAA more when I was in an O-Week group. I just felt isolated when I wasn’t in an O-Week group,” Mosely said.

According to Smeet Madhani, a senior from Will Rice College, having to juggle both roles added additional strain on the already strenuous environment of O-Week. “[O-Week is] busy for everyone, but I think that having to have a dual role put a lot of stress on trying to make sure that as an O-Week PAA we’re completing our duties,” Madhani said.

According to Madhani, while PAAs have to juggle the workload of being an advisor, such as making crafts, learning the college dances and attending meetings, they also had to attend lengthy PAA training.

“We’re not only working with the OAA, we’re working with the magisters, the

divisional advisors, all the advisors and a lot of other collaborative offices, and that all starts during training,” Madhani said. “As an advisor you’re also preparing for O-Week, and it’s hard for the advisors to pick up the work you’re not doing when you’re also preparing to be a PAA.” However, former Will Rice O-Week coordinator Colin Chan said that he believes that making interpersonal relationships with new students is an integral part of being a successful PAA and removing that connection could cause PAAs to become less successful in their role.

“I do think having a close personal relationship with students through an advising group is important because it gives the PAA a very easy way to link into the relational network of O-Week.

As floaters, I feel that it might be hard for some PAA’s to really get to know the new students,” Chan said.

Chan also mentioned that it might be

difficult to find four qualified individuals per college that fit the qualifications of the new system, at least for the upcoming year.

Edesiri Mushale, a former O-Week coordinator, said he believes this change could be beneficial, as PAAs may find it tricky to both connect with their new students and focus on their academic duties. He also said that the added stress of the intense workload can cause a divide between the PAAs themselves.

“I do know that my PAAs were always under a lot of stress and working all the time, and that even caused divides between the PAAs themselves, as some people would try to pander towards the advisor job or the PAA job more,” Mushale, a McMurtry College junior, said.

Jones College junior and O-Week PAA Hannah Kim said she is curious and hopeful to see how much more the PAAs will actually be able to do, but she also is unsure how this change will affect a PAA’s performance.

According to Kim, most of a PAA’s work is during advisor training. Kim believes that a possible negative impact of PAAs being attached to an advising group is a strained team dynamic, which she hasn’t experienced.

“On one hand, because O-Week PAAs have their separate trainings and duties during advisor training, it can be hard for us to hang out and work with our advising team,” Kim said. “I imagine this change is meant to give PAAs more time to do their tasks, dedicate more individualized attention to new students, and balance their wellbeing during training and O-Week. And if that really happens, then it sounds like only beneficial things can come out of this change.

Food insecurity initiative allows students to donate guest swipes KAVYA SAHNI THRESHER STAFF A new initiative to address food insecurity at Rice allows students to donate their unused guest meal swipes, which will then be allocated to students living off-campus who cannot afford meal plans, according to Student Association President Grace Wickerson.

Susann Glenn, the director of communications for administration, said that when Housing and Dining receives information for students requesting these swipes, they will be put into the student’s account.

“Once students donate swipes from their account, those swipes will be removed from their accounts and be held until a student requests meal swipes,” Glenn said.

“That process is being handled by the dean [of undergraduates office].”

Students can direct their questions to Student Success Initiatives Director Shelah Crear, who’s designing the process with the dean of undergraduates office.

“They can find out if they’re eligible by going there first, as they have laid out the specific criteria,” Wickerson said.

Students with meal plans have until Friday, Jan. 24 to donate their swipes through the online form, which was sent in an email from Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman on Tuesday.

“Inspired by SA leaders, this program provides a simple way for students to donate guest meal swipes to peers who face food insecurity,” Gorman said. “This effort joins The Pantry, located in the Student Success Initiatives office. as another move

forward in our efforts to reduce food insecurity on campus.”

Anna Margaret Clyburn, Martel College president, said she came up with the idea in fall of 2018. The initiative is in collaboration with the Student Association, Student Success Initiatives and Housing and Dining, according to Clyburn.

“I was a Martel senator last year, and I was trying to look at what projects Martelians really wanted me to pursue,” Clyburn said. “I was talking to a friend of mine who started explaining to me that he was experiencing food insecurity and didn’t know what to do.”

Clyburn said she started thinking about whether this was a problem affecting significant portions of Rice’s population, and if so, what could be done about it.

“I talked to [Housing and Dining Senior Business Director] David McDonald, and he let me know that there are at least 7,000 unused guest meal swipes in Fall of 2017,” Clyburn said. “Hearing that number made me think: ‘that’s 7,000 meals that could have been eaten by someone.’ That was like a lightbulb moment.”

Wickerson said they approached Gorman about the meal swipe donation initiative at the end of last March to get some feedback on the idea. They also spoke to Glenn over at H&D to see what the feasibility of the program was. “[H&D is] partnering now with Student Success Initiatives, which supports first-generation, low-income students,” Wickerson said.

Wickerson said that students living off campus, who have been identified in need, will be able to go to SSI on a regular basis to

Channing Wang / Thresher

get loaded with meals.

“Depending on the number that’s in the pool, they will do the allocation,” Wickerson said.

Wickerson said the SSI’s Pantry, which provides some staple foods and quick meals, does not fully address food insecurity for off-campus students.

Wickerson said they brought H&D into the conversation because of the limitations of the pantry.

“Say students are on campus for dinner and didn’t get to go to the pantry one day, but are on campus because of classes or activities which are always in the evening, they would otherwise have no way to get a meal,” Wickerson said.

According to Clyburn, the guest meal swipes will be uploaded on to students’ cards, and they would be able to swipe into any servery.

“It’s definitely as anonymous as possible, which was really important to me, knowing how stigmatized being food insecure could be on campus,” Clyburn

said. “Dean Gorman will work with SSI to figure out which students are most in need of those guest meal swipes.”

Wickerson said that this spring is a test run of whether this initiative can be successful, so they can develop a more robust system for the fall semester.

“This semester they’re going [to] see how many students are asking for it and using it and track that data for this semester,” Wickerson said. “The summer gives enough time to think about what worked and what didn’t.”

Wickerson said that the form to donate guest swipes will ideally be linked to other forms on students’ Esther pages, to make it easier to get donations that might otherwise be missed.

“There is a lot of potential in this plan and that’s why we’re excited to see how it works out.” Wickerson said. “The two important numbers [to provide] are your Student ID number and the number of swipes you want to give [and] it doesn’t take a lot to donate.”

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

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL

DesRoches’ appointment promising

As undergraduates, we are far more likely to be familiar with the everyday work and initiatives that come from the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates than those from the Offices of the Provost or even the President. Often, the Thresher’s coverage reflects this uneven familiarity. However, when Rice announced that current Dean of Engineering Reginald DesRoches was named the incoming provost, we were excited for the new era of university leadership to come.

Although the work of the provost might find its way into the pages of the Thresher less often than that of the dean of undergraduates, former Provost Marie Lynn Miranda’s initiatives have not escaped our attention or admiration.

In her time as provost, Miranda worked to promote diversity at Rice. This work included opening the Multicultural Center as well as introducing more diverse hiring and promotion practices for faculty.

Additionally, Miranda worked to combat the gender wage gap between Rice faculty.

Moreover, during her tenure, Miranda faced the challenge of supporting the Rice community during and after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Miranda helped establish the Hurricane Harvey Registry, and also ensured that financial assistance was available to affected community members. In addition, she continually worked alongside the Rice Crisis

Management Team and Vice President for Administration Kevin Kirby to provide ongoing support. In four years, Miranda made tangible progress toward the future and demonstrated her personal investment in the university.

As DesRoches begins taking on responsibilities and sorting through the many needs of a university to target priorities, we urge him to remember Miranda’s work and the progress yet to be achieved. According to the Office of Institutional Research, Rice in 2012 had 83 percent White faculty and 2 percent Black faculty — in 2018, with 77 percent White faculty and 3 percent Black, we still have a long way to go before we have a faculty representative of our student body, much less of the American population as a whole.

Additionally, projects like the construction of a true Multicultural Center must not languish in the Thresher archives. Instead, we urge DesRoches to build on this progress and continue the practice of “using diversity as an engine of excellence,” as President David Leebron said during the recent Martin Luther King Jr. vigil, when recruiting the new deans of architecture, engineering and social sciences in addition to deciding tenure for faculty.

DesRoches has already made history as the first Black provost at Rice University — but history doesn’t, and shouldn’t, stop here.

read more online: Not in our name will the Ion perpetuate injustice “True inclusivity, however, takes transparency and ongoing active dialogue that does not attempt to evade accountability but to fully embrace it.”

TAYLOR CRAIN

LOVETT COLLEGE JUNIOR

Facing the STEM superiority complex “We’ve come to the point where our society values technological innovation as the best way to solve any and all problems that arise.”

ANSON TONG & SARAH SILBERMAN

WIESS COLLEGE SENIORS

Shooting at Bellaire highlights need for tighter gun control “School shootings in the U.S. are so frequent that if we wait until we’re not grieving one to discuss gun regulations, the conversation will never happen.”

ALEXA THOMASES

LOVETT COLLEGE FRESHMAN

OPINION

Stop saying the r-word: Sincerely, someone on the spectrum One evening last semester, I sat down at a table with the most familiar faces in my college commons for dinner. We had a lot of scattered conversations about classes, the food and, for some, the past weekend’s late-night escapades. It was during the discussion of this final topic that I heard that word: “Retarded.” It was used in the context of describing the unwise action of a person, maybe or maybe not involving alcohol. Something relatively casual. I didn’t remember the action as much as the word. No one else on the table really noticed. I myself didn’t speak up due to being afraid of possible ridicule and just being in shock. I had hoped that this encounter, along with other encounters that I’ve had the chance to overhear or straight up hear, would not occur on this campus. However, as these occurrences are appearing more frequently, it might as well be me to address it.

I have autism. It’s a very mild form of autism, but enough to have had a large portion of my early childhood spent in special education. I always remember moving back and forth between the room in my elementary school where the special education occurred and the classroom where all the other “normal” kids were. And a lot of times when I was with a lot of different people, I always felt

embarrassed. Not as much for things I did, seen before. For those that don’t know, but for who I am. I felt embarrassed for “Atypical” is about the life of an autistic being. I remember distinctly how much teenager, named Sam, transitioning from effort I felt I had to apply to understand high school to college and explores all of social situations and condition myself the dynamics that come with it, like his and some of my quirks just to not need family, friends, love life and everything intensive special education anymore. But in between. So when I watch Sam’s even today, I still feel like even if I live life experiences and compare it to a lot of how I normally have, I will always know my experiences, primarily in elementary that I’m different. I still feel like it’s there and middle school, I feel at times I am — my autism — and I still feel like I have a watching myself. Especially resonating is his reaction to the lot to work on with first person he dated being social. calling him “retarded” I remember when she was trying how tough it It hasn’t become to have a sexual was for me to assimilate. I had desensitized to me, and encounter with him and it didn’t go well. a lot of moments using the word always I’m glad my half-sister in which I felt takes me back to the Tiana recommended ridiculed and idea that I’m different. this show to me. ostracized, I understand, at especially in my early life. I remember being called least in the interactions between friends the word “retard” and being told I was that I overhear, people often use the word acting “retarded” or doing something as a synonym for “stupid” or “dumb” “retarded.” I didn’t understand that there or “slow” or to describe actions that was something wrong with what I was aren’t the smartest and likening it to the doing. It left a pit of confusion in me that level of someone not neurotypical. And I sunk for what seemed like an eternity. understand that, for a lot of neurotypical It’s not an understatement for me when I people, hearing that word or other similar say I felt seen when I first saw the Netflix words isn’t going to have the same impact series “Atypical” in a way I’ve never felt on them as it would to someone that isn’t

neurotypical. It’s one of those things that have become so desensitized in society.

But it hasn’t become desensitized to me, and using the word always takes me back to the idea that I’m different. I could become targeted similarly with the word for anything I do without knowing what the problem is with what I’m doing. I hope to know that in a lot of cases, whether they be casual interactions among Rice students or a Pop Smoke song, that usually isn’t the intention but I don’t know if I can ever be sure of it.

So with all of this said, there are two things I want to make sure I emphasize.

First, as I said earlier, I have a very mild case of autism, so I don’t want to try and make any of my personal experiences with autism a universal representation of everybody with ASD. It’s a spectrum.

And secondly, as someone that is on this spectrum, I encourage you, please stop using the r-word.

JOSIAH JONES

LOVETT COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

STAFF Christina Tan* Editor-in-Chief Anna Ta* Managing Editor NEWS Rishab Ramapriyan* Editor Amy Qin* Editor Rynd Morgan Asst. Editor Savannah Kuchar Asst. Editor FEATURES Ivanka Perez* Editor Ella Feldman* Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Katelyn Landry* Editor & Designer OPINIONS Elizabeth Hergert* Editor

SPORTS Michael Byrnes Editor Madison Buzzard* Editor BACKPAGE Simona Matovic* Editor & Designer PHOTO Channing Wang Editor Haiming Wang Asst. Editor COPY Vi Burgess Editor Bhavya Gopinath Editor Phillip Jaffe Editor ONLINE Ryan Green Web Editor Priyansh Lunia Video Editor

DESIGN Tina Liu* Director Dalia Gulca A&E Designer Joseph Hsu Features Designer Katherine Hui Sports Designer Anna Chung Ops Designer Dan Helmeci News Designer Yifei Zhang Illustrator Chloe Xu Illustrator BUSINESS OPERATIONS Karoline Sun Business Manager Lindsay Josephs Advertising Manager Mai Ton Social Media/Marketing Manager Jackson Stiles Distribution Manager *Editorial Board member

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

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

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THE RICE THRESHER

6 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

FEATURES

Associate vice provost motivates students across state SERENE LEE THRESHER STAFF

What exactly does an associate vice provost do? They drive over 4,500 miles across Texas to speak to high school students about building confidence, mental health and applying to college. At least that’s what Cortlan Wickliff (Wiess College ’10), associate vice provost for academic affairs and strategic initiatives, did last November.

Wickliff, 29, started his tour in Beaumont and ended with a community event in Round Rock after one month of travel.

The idea for the tour came to him after years of personally mentoring high school students, during which he noticed that many students avoided turning in college, graduate school and job applications because they were afraid of their prospects.

“Everybody seems to have the narrative that things are getting worse in the country and in the world,” Wickliff said. “You’re being told by every adult in your life that you’re basically screwed, and that’s really scary.”

Wickliff took it upon himself to motivate students out of this mindset. Part of his tour was about planning for the future, which Wickliff finds especially important now more than ever.

“I don’t care what college you go to, I don’t care what you decide to major in. I don’t care if you even decide to go to college or go to some other form of postsecondary education,” Wickliff said. “The world is so competitive today. You need to proactively plan what that next step of your journey is gonna look like.”

At first, the opportunity to speak to students seemed out of reach. Wickliff spent years unsuccessfully calling organizations to create a tour of high schools. Tired of the lack of progress, Wickliff decided to organize his own tour around Texas, determined to help students find their path.

For three months, Wickliff sent emails and made phone calls until every day of his tour was booked with as many schools as he could handle. Using money and vacation time he’d been saving up, Wickliff PROVOST FROM PAGE 1

stepped into a rental Dodge van on Oct. 18, 2019 and hit the road.

While on tour, Wickliff’s day started at 5 a.m. with a morning workout, followed by a visit to his first school by 9 a.m. He traveled from school to school in the rental, which was cramped with boxes, luggage and a team consisting of a driver, a videographer, and his now-fiancee. He usually visited three schools in one day — once, he visited five.

Although it was exhausting work,

Don’t let other people make you feel uncomfortable [about being lost].

Try things, and then make sure you’re on a pathway where you are continually progressing.

Cortlan Wickliff ASSOCIATE VICE PROVOST Wickliff said he felt it was time and effort well spent, especially after seeing the impact he had on the students he spoke to. Seeing students seem more positive and excited for their future than they did before his presentation was more than enough, he said.

In addition to helping students, Wickliff said his tour gave him a better appreciation of Texas and gave him confidence that he could help people at a larger scale.

Wickliff and his team also found ways to make road life more fun. The van became accustomed to an eclectic mix of hip-hop, country music and rhythm and blues across generations. Wickliff’s own personal favorites were Translee, Eminem, Royce da 5’9”, KYLE and Kevin Gates, most of whom he would listen to when working out or before going on stage. Most of the time, however, Wickliff would spend his breaks sleeping, writing or playing on his PS4 — he is 29, after all.

Although planning a tour is no small

“I’d like to do the same as provost. I can’t meet with every single faculty [member] at “The people here are phenomenal. Rice, but I certainly want to meet as many Extremely bright. The students are bright, as I can in the next six months,” DesRoches said. “To be able to do that across the the faculty are clever. We have great staff.”

DesRoches plans to apply what worked spectrum of the university is something I’m well for him as dean to his position as excited about.”

DesRoches said he is thrilled by the provost. When he first arrived at Rice, he said he met with every faculty member in the prospect of learning about disciplines that engineering department for around an hour have nothing to do with engineering.

“I know very little about what [students] to understand their missions and concerns. do in the music school,” he said with a laugh.

CHANNING WANG / THRESHER “So the ability to learn about those disciplines is something that’s very exciting to me too.”

DesRoches is also excited to become the university’s first Black provost.

“Historically, it says a lot for how society has changed and clearly says a lot for how the university has changed,” DesRoches said. “I think it’s important in terms of being a role model for others that may want to follow my footsteps and know that it’s possible to be an African American here and be provost at Rice.”

But his appointment does not mean the pursuit of fostering diverse and inclusive communities at Rice is over, DesRoches said — far from it. He plans to continue Miranda’s efforts to hire more women faculty and faculty of color. “[Miranda] was a champion for diversity. Not only in terms of hiring a diverse faculty, but also in changing the culture,” he said. “Being in the most diverse city in the U.S., in this great city, I think we can even do more.”

Reginald DesRoches, dean of the George R. Brown DesRoches himself hails from the third School of Engineering, will become Rice’s first most diverse city in the country: New York Black provost on July 1.

feat, Wickliff said he has always been goal oriented. In elementary school, he made it his goal to have a doctorate before he turned 26, just like Martin Luther King Jr. “I had done a report on Dr. King and found out that he got his Ph.D. when he was 26 years old,” Wickliff said. “That seemed like a really great accomplishment.

I thought he was a really great Black male figure in history and I was always taught if you want to be the best you have to compete with the best. So ... in elementary school, I put it in my mind that I was going to get a Ph.D. before I turned 26.”

Wickliff said that with the help of his mother’s planning, he went on to graduate high school early, entering the Texas Academy of Math and Science at the University of North Texas when he was 15.

After spending two years at UNT, Wickliff transferred to Rice, graduated in 2010 at only 19 years old and went to Harvard Law School.

“I’m always trying to find ways to make myself stand out. And so I knew engineers who had business degrees, but I didn’t know any engineers who had

a law degree,” Wickliff said.“[Law] was actually a way of making me a better overall engineer.”

After Harvard, Wickliff got his engineering doctorate at Texas A&M University. He applied for a lecturer position at Rice, but was instead chosen for the position of associate vice provost.

Wickliff’s journey will not end here; at only 29, he still has the rest of his life in front of him. A self-proclaimed tech-nerd, he dreams of being in the C-Suite of a wellknown technology company and wants to continue to give back to his community.

Despite the ambition he has displayed ever since he was in elementary school, Wickliff said he rarely knows what his own future holds.

“Anybody who says they’ve had their whole life planned out, they’re exaggerating or they’re just flat out lying,” Wickliff said. “Don’t let other people make you feel uncomfortable [about being lost].

Try things, and then make sure you’re on a pathway where you are continually progressing.”

COURTESY CORTLAN WICKLIFF

Cortlan Wickliff, associate vice provost, speaks to a crowd of high school students about mental health, academics and college planning on a self-funded trip.

City. Born in Haiti, DesRoches moved to Queens as an infant. As most of his family is still there and as an ardent supporter of New York sports teams, DesRoches said he’s “still a New Yorker at heart.”

DesRoches left the city for college and moved west to attend the University of California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate, DesRoches was involved with the National Society of Black Engineers, the fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi and a number of intramural sports teams. He said pursuing a degree in engineering kept him busy.

“Engineering was very hard,” DesRoches said. “I think my freshman chemistry class had 1200 students. And so it was a bit of a transition for me academically, in terms of not just the rigor, but the big class sizes.

You’re one in a sea of students.”

Despite the rigor, DesRoches loved his time at Berkeley. He stayed at the university for a master’s degree and a doctorate in engineering.

“My best friends are still the friends I made at Berkeley,” DesRoches said.

One relationship from Berkeley stands out in particular. As a junior, DesRoches met a freshman named Paula through a mutual friend. She went on to become his close friend, his girlfriend and eventually his wife — the couple will celebrate 25 years of marriage in July. Paula DesRoches works as a healthcare administrator at Houston Methodist Hospital.

The couple lives about a mile from campus and have three kids, all off at college. Shelby, their youngest, is a freshman at Sid Richardson College.

“It’s great to have her here. Every couple of weeks she’ll say, ‘I’m walking by your office, I’ll stop in and say hi!’” DesRoches said. “It’s great to talk to her about what the students are thinking.”

Even though they’re empty nesters, the DesRoches stay busy. DesRoches starts his days at around 4:30 a.m., which gives him enough time to work out and read the New York Times before coming into work a few hours later. He often runs with Paula, which they’ve been doing for about 20 years (the couple ran Sunday’s half marathon together — she came in just behind him at an impressive one hour, 52 minutes and two seconds).

DesRoches stays on campus until around six. On days with no evening meetings he’s home for dinner, which Paula usually cooks — unless they’re eating Caribbean food or spaghetti.

“Those are probably the two things that I can make better than my wife.

Everything else, she’s really the good cook,” DesRoches said.

Losing these moments with his family will be the most challenging part of becoming provost, DesRoches predicts.

“I think the biggest challenge for me is I know from a personal life perspective, I’m going to have less time to spend with my family. Even though my kids are gone, I still like to be home on a Friday night and watch a movie with my wife, and I know that I’ll have less of those opportunities,” DesRoches said. “I understand that going into this job. But I’m excited about the possibilities.”

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 • 7

Ringing in the Lunar New Year KELLY LIAO THRESHER STAFF

In the United States, people often celebrate the new year with kisses at midnight, a champagne toast and resolutions. When countdown concludes and the ball drops in Times Square, the new year has officially begun — for some.

However, many East and Southeast Asians celebrate Lunar New Year, which doesn’t take place this year until Jan. 25. Here’s a look at how Rice students celebrate the new year.

Lingkun Guo, an international student from Shenzhen, China, said one of her family traditions includes watching the CCTV New Year Gala, which involves various songs, dance and comedy acts, during dinner. Although she said over the years the show has become repetitive, Guo’s family still watches every year.

“It has become a new year necessity at this point,” Guo, a Brown College freshman, said.

Another Lunar New Year spectacle is the lion dances, where people dress in a lion costume and mimic the animal’s movements to beating drums as a way to attract good fortune. Watching the lion dance in Houston’s Chinatown is Minhhy Truong’s favorite tradition.

“You’re supposed to give money to the lions as they are dancing to ward off evil spirits,” Truong, a Wiess College sophomore, said. “That’s always the fun part.”

Culture clubs have planned performances for Rice’s Lunar New Year Gala, hosted by the Chinese Student Association, Rice’s Lunar New Year Festival and Korean Culture Night.

Karen Wang, a McMurtry College freshman, said she will perform in both events as part of BASYK, one of Rice’s dance groups. Lorraine Lyu, a member of Rice Chinese Theater Club, said she will perform with her club members for the Lunar New Year Festival organized by Chinese international students.

“This year I’ll spend my time on rehearsals for a comedy happening on the last day of the Lunar New Year [celebration], which is also known as the Yuanxiao Festival, or Lantern Festival,” Lyu, a Baker College freshman, said.

Some Taiwanese families celebrate the new year by worshiping ancestors in temples, according to Annabel Chang.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE XU

“My father’s side of the family, the older generation, in particular, is heavily Buddhist or Daoist, so we’d bring all the food to the family shrine, light the incense, and offer thanks to the gods and our ancestors,” Chang, a McMurtry College junior, said.

Yunee Park, a Duncan College sophomore, typically visits her grandparents’ house on Lunar New Year, where they prepare large amounts of food such as “songpyeon,” a form of honey-filled rice cakes, and “galbi,” a type of grilled ribs. Family is at the center of Korean culture, Park said.

For some international students, this Lunar New Year will be the first time they celebrate without their family. Mingda Cheng, an international student from Shenzhen, China, said celebrating Lunar New Year without his family will be a different experience for him.

“Personally, the Spring Festival is not that special when you can’t be together with your family,” Cheng, a McMurtry College freshman, said.

To combat homesickness, many students turn to homemade food to remind them of home. Guo said she plans to replicate the dumplings her grandma makes with her friends in her college kitchen. Cheng said he

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“Its golden color symbolizes wealth in China and the Mandarin pronunciation of kumquat, ‘jin ji,’ sounds like the word for good luck, ‘ji,’” Du, a Hanszen College freshman, said.

Although Guo misses her family on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, she said she is excited to share her culture with other people here at Rice.

“I’m also excited to see how people celebrate it in Rice’s diverse community,” Guo said. “I look forward to learning about how other Asian communities celebrate it.”

Chang, who is a member of the Rice Taiwanese Association, said although she is unable to join her families halfway around the world, she is glad that she could hang out with her RTA family right here.

Du, who attended an American high school as an international student from China, said she is thrilled about celebrating the Lunar New Year with her friends at Rice for the first time.

“In my high school I felt lonely sometimes, but here I’ve met lots of likeminded people who made me [feel at] home,” Du said. “I cannot wait to celebrate the Lunar New Year with my new family.”

Crossword by Grant Lu Thresher Staff

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would like to have a nice dinner in a Chinese restaurant with his friends.

Troung, who organized a Lunar New Year feast at Wiess College last year, said he plans to hold a similar event this year.

“Last year, we succeeded in folding around 400 dumplings and catering several different dishes like two roasted pigs,” Troung said.

“This year I’m hoping to do the same things.”

In Chinese culture, certain foods served on Lunar New Year’s Eve are said to bring good luck in the coming year. Dumplings symbolize wealth because of their resemblance to ancient gold ingots in imperial China, according to Guo. She often makes dumplings with her family during the festival.

For Wang, fish and “nian gao,” or rice cakes, are two auspicious dishes on her family’s feast table. The word for fish in Mandarin — “yu” — is a homophone of the Mandarin word for surplus, according to Wang.

“Fish is supposed to [refer] to the idiom ‘nian nian you yu,’ which means to have surplus every year,” Wang said.

Cici Du said her family eats kumquats, bite-sized citrus fruits, during Lunar New Year.

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25) Let’s take _____ (on Will Rice) 26) Laugh backwards?

27) Ala or O follower 28) French musketry 29) Annual Toronto fair, abbr.

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

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3) Romantic pairs 4) Might follow cou or pa 5) Hot spot for pots 6) Lie on a ____ nails 7) “Riverdale” network 8) Alternative to in.

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11) Pokemon rat on TikTok?

14) When repeated thrice, Amy Winehouse’s reaction to rehab 17) Guilt-free ___ Day pass, of Thresher Fame 18) Pub antagonizing org.

19) Distinctive flair 20) “World War III” was one of the first of the decade 21) Frequent target of freshmen queries, abbr.

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THE RICE THRESHER

8 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Review: “The Realistic Joneses“ fails to satisfy 4th Wall Theatre Company brings Will Eno’s play to life but leaves audiences hanging. See more at ricethresher.org

Predicting the 2020 Grammys: Winners, losers and snubs JACOB TATE

years alone.

Any analysis of this category is incomplete without recognition of the Grammys’ complete lack of regard for rap music. Despite being the most culturally dominant force for a solid decade, the best the Grammys can muster is a nomination for Lil Nas X’s milquetoast EP “7.” It’s not even an album! Look, if there’s space for H.E.R.’s sophomore slump album, there’s space for rap. Especially in a year that saw commercially dominant artsy rap (“IGOR” by Tyler the Creator), energetic breakouts (“Baby On Baby” by DaBaby) solid traditionalist rap cuts (“Revenge of the Dreamers III” by Dreamville), and even rap-influenced rhythm and blues (“Over It” by Summer Walker), there are no excuses left. Please nominate rap artists instead of rap copycats (cough cough Ariana Grande).

THRESHER STAFF

It’s that time of the year! Houston continues to deny us a winter and the Grammy Awards continue to deny any representation to rap music! Even as I gripe to my friends about snubs of my favorite artists, I will still inevitably tune into the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday, Jan. 26 to watch bizarrely matched performances; the odds of an Ariana Grande/Aerosmith collaboration are terrifyingly high. In light of my obsession and criticism of the Grammys, I name the least expected nominations, biggest snubs, who I think should win and who I predict will actually win in the “Big Four” categories: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist. illustration by chloe xu

SONG OF THE YEAR Should win: “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Will win: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish

Should win: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

Least Expected Nomination: “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga Biggest Snub: “Sunflower” by Swae Lee and Post Malone

Song of the Year remains a complicated award category for songwriting in a musical landscape that increasingly merges production and writing. This complication was highlighted by last year’s winner, “This Is America,” an incredibly produced track that intentionally lacks cohesive melody or lyrics. This year’s field is a mess, including a song from three years ago (“Truth Hurts”), a forgettable song from “A Star Is Born” (“Always Remember Us This Way”), and a Lana Del Rey album cut (“Norman Fucking Rockwell”) that breaks with category tradition of nominating singles. Meanwhile, “Sunflower,” the best written pop song of the year, somehow languishes in the Record of the Year category despite its catchy, breezy melodies and rapping grooves making it a worthy candidate for Song of the Year.

Despite questionable eligibility, “Truth Hurts” demonstrates a songwriting prowess above any other song in this category, from the killer hook to the most quoted lyric of the year (“I just took a DNA test…”). No other song has seeped as deeply into our collective psyche, Instagram comments or Orientation Week hype playlists this year. That said, recent concerns about Lizzo’s songwriting credits and the Grammys’ obsession with industryinsider teen phenoms will likely elevate “Bad Guy” to claim the award. “Bad Guys” painfully generic edginess and overall mediocrity convinces me even more that it will take the award.

Will win: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus Least Expected Nomination: “Hard Place” by H.E.R. Biggest Snub: “Suge” by DaBaby

H.E.R.’s “Could’ve Been,” a trappier, better record off her most recent album, was passed over points to the repeating fact: the Grammys snubs rap music.

We had great pop rap records this year — DaBaby’s “Suge,” J. Cole’s “Middle Child,” and 21 Savage’s “a lot” to name a few — but none make an appearance in this category.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR Should win: “Norman Fucking Rockwell!” by Lana Del Rey

BEST NEW ARTIST Should win: Rosalía Will win: Billie Eilish Least Expected Nomination: Lizzo Biggest Snub: Megan Thee Stallion

Is the Best New Artist curse still a thing? The winners from the last three years — Dua Lipa, Alessia Cara, and Chance the Rapper — have managed to fare much better than earlier 2010s winners like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (broke up), fun. (broke up) and Esperanza Spalding (who?). If the recent stroke of good luck continues, there is no better option than Spanish phenom Rosalía, who constantly smashes conceptions of what she can and can’t be. From releasing one of the best rhythm and blues albums in recent memory to dominating summer charts with J. Balvin to criticizing capitalism in Catalan, Rosalía innovates at breakneck speed. She would only have had competition in this category if world-dominating Megan Thee Stallion had also been nominated. Alas, the hot girl pioneer who brought her own brand of exhilaratingly shameless rap to the national level with bangers like “Cash Shit” and “Hot Girl Summer” faced an unjust Grammy snub. Say it with me, kids: the Grammys hates rap.

Unfortunately for Rosalía and her fans, Eilish will still win out in this category for many of the reasons I’ve outlined in previous sections. As a palatable, young, hip breakout star, she’s catnip for the Grammys. Lizzo acts as the sole challenger to Eilish, but lacks a strong case considering she signed to a label, released her biggest songs and began to receive industry accolades three to four years ago. However, Lizzo may shock Eilish in this category and others and pull off her own Grammy domination. This year’s pool lends itself to a sweep — it may only be a question of who can pull it off.

When you think of 2019, you will think of “Old Town Road.” Outside of complete cultural dominance, “Old Town Road” boasts a hell of a backstory — a queer Black man raps over a Nine Inch Nails sample produced by a Dutch teenager that was then remixed by Billy Ray Cyrus in a symbolic act of resistance against racism in the country music genre. It’s exhilarating just to write that.

Despite spending a whopping 19 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the longest-running No. 1 in the chart’s history, the record itself remains a rush to listen to. Lil Nas X wails over banjos and raps about lean and cowboy hats only to be followed up by Billy’s talk of Fendi sports bras and Maseratis. Every second of “Old Town Road”’s 2:37 minute runtime is a joy, at least until your cousin plays it for the sixth time in a row. I do feel uncomfortable putting faith in the Grammys to recognize a deserving Black artist, but Lil Nas X’s smash has been undeniable this year.

The (hopefully) obvious winner of this category doesn’t preclude any unexpected or odd nominations — while somehow staying predictable. The Grammys continues its obsession with proving its own hipness by nominating last year’s breakout star H.E.R. and her track “Hard Place” — a well-written song with a basic rock ballad style production that hampers its status as a record but might have made it more likable to Grammy voters. The fact that

Despite the streaming era turning most albums into nothing more than mere vessels for singles, “Album of the Year” remains the most prestigious award the Grammys has to offer. In one corner, we have a masterpiece that acts simultaneously as a musical genealogy of Americana artistic expression in the digital age and a lyrical tapestry of visceral experience, Lana Del Rey’s “Norman Fucking Rockwell!” In the other, we have the logical conclusion of algorithmically-minded pop stars raised on more Soundcloud uploads than radio, Billie Eilish’s “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO?” While both albums have their merits, “NFR” operates on a higher plane of artistry than Eilish’s offering. But if the decades of Grammy award shows have taught us anything, it is that the Grammys have a fetish for snubbing generational albums, turning down highly acclaimed projects like Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”, Lorde’s “Melodrama” and Beyoncé’s titular self-titled album in the last four

MFAH LUNAR NEW YEAR

RADICAL REVISIONISTS

KOREAN CULTURE NIGHT

Renowned contemporary artist Hannah Black will visit campus to discuss the perspectives and influence of Black artists this Friday, Jan. 24 at noon. Black’s lecture will mark the first of four in a visiting artist lecture series co-sponsored by the Center for African and African American Studies and the visual and dramatic arts department.

This event is free and open to the public.

Join the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for its annual Winter Festival: Celebrating Lunar New Year this Saturday, Jan. 25 from 2-6 p.m.

Usher in the Year of the Rat with crafts, art exhibitions, performances and food from across Asia. Visit mfah.org/calendar for a full schedule of festival events, which are free and open to the public.

Celebrate Korean culture this Saturday, Jan. 25 at Rice’s 2020 Korean Culture Night with traditional and modern musical performances, a hidden mask singer competition and games.

Presale tickets are $8 and will be available from Jan. 21-24 from 2:30-5:30 p.m. in the Rice Memorial Center or via Google Forms. Tickets at the door will be $10.

Rice Media Center

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet St.

This Friday marks the opening of Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present, an exhibition addressing the erasure of marginalized histories through contemporary, Afrocentric lenses. The reception is free and open to the public from 6-8 p.m. with a site-specific performance piece by Serge Attukwei Clottey starting at 6:30 p.m

Will win: “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” by Billie Eilish Most Unexpected Nomination: “I Used to Know Her” by H.E.R. Biggest Snub: “1000 Gecs” by 100 Gecs “IGOR” by Tyler the Creator

THE WEEKLY SCENE

ARTIST LECTURE

Moody Center for the Arts

Rice Memorial Center Grand Hall

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 • 9

Serge Attukwei Clottey talks migration, upcoming Moody exhibit

katelyn landry / THRESHER

Serge Attukwei Clottey will unveil “Softening Borders,” a performance art work commenting on migration and migrant labor, this Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the Moody Center for the Arts central gallery.

KATELYN LANDRY A&E EDITOR

“Softening Borders” invites you to step into another’s shoes, no matter where in the world they may be standing.

As part of the opening reception for the Moody Center for the Arts’ “Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present,” Serge Attukwei Clottey will unveil the site-specific installation with a community-based performance this Friday at 6:30 p.m.

“Softening Borders” occupies the Moody’s central gallery space, a cavernous white hall with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.

Through the glass, outside passersby might be tempted to do a double-take of the myriad wooden chairs suspended in the air at every angle. Draped over the chairs are various coats and shirts, some of which are adorned with mail stamps. On the ground, shoes of all sizes and colors are planted alongside neatly folded newspapers that announce poverty and struggle. At first glance, the work seems impassable — a minefield of objects eerily displaced from their owners. But Clottey leaves just enough space for walking, inviting

you to traverse the unknown as a microcosm of migratory journey.

Based in Accra, Ghana and working internationally, Clottey contemplates philosophies of migration, immigrant identity and material culture with works that assemble and repurpose everyday objects into thought-provoking new forms.

With installations around the world and critical acclaim at his feet, Clottey explores political and personal narratives rooted in a tradition of trade and migration through an Afrocentric lens. With “Softening Borders,” Clottey offers disorientation, confusion and instability as the keys to an authentic understanding of migration.

What inspired this piece?

Clottey: I’m interested in migration, not only as in human but as in objects and how objects migrate and change their form and value. So, coming here I’m looking forward to working with available material that I can find here. And I’m interested in chairs because chairs represent power, chairs represent positions. I believe that some of these chairs are very important because it holds history of people. I’m interested in exploring that aspect

Audrey’s opens in Jones School JAMES KARROUM THRESHER STAFF

Highly anticipated campus coffee shop Audrey’s officially opened on the first day of spring semester classes last week after permitting issues delayed its initial September launch date. Despite the buzz surrounding Houston coffee guru David Buehrer’s newest venture, one look at the shop’s crowd suggests that few undergraduates are aware that Audrey’s is already open or even where it is. It’s pricier than other on-campus alternatives but still worth visiting — they have a few stellar options that can’t be found at Rice Coffeehouse, FLO Paris or East-West Tea. Audrey’s is located in McNair Hall, home to the Jones Graduate School of Business, but I had to ask several people in the building before finding someone who knew where Audrey’s was. The shop is tucked away in a corner of McNair that overlooks the James Turrell Skyspace quad and has an outdoor entrance convenient to people coming from the South Colleges.

I went with a friend who mentioned that the business seemed out of place in the Jones School. It’s a quiet, open,

echoing space populated mostly by graduate students or professionals, a clientele consistent with the rest of the building. Its floor-to-ceiling windows offer scenic views of the Jones School courtyard and let in plenty of bright, natural light to complement the shop’s pristine white walls and potted broad-leaved plants.

It’s a chic space for business types, so undergrads might feel odd wearing shorts and oversized College Night shirts here.

However, it’s the perfect place to come on a good hair day or for the experience of an aesthetic coffee shop like Honey Art Cafe without having to leave campus. The shop seats about as many as Chaüs but only had a smattering of patrons the two times I visited.

Aesthetics aside; you really come here for caffeine. And unlike at Chaüs, it feels impolite to come here to study without buying something. The drink menu has the standard coffees at noticeably higher prices than Chaüs. For example, almond and oat milk substitutions are 50 and 75 cents extra respectively, whereas Chaüs has more milk substitutes available and at no extra cost.

This story has been condensed for print.

Read the full story at ricethresher.org.

katelyn landry / THRESHER

Audrey’s offers plenty of work space and natural light for its patrons visiting McNair Hall.

Along with classic coffees and light breakfast fare, the coffee shop serves up a couple specialty items such as iced blue jasmine milk tea. Audrey’s is open to 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

by installing them from the ceiling because it talks about unstable power, especially in politics, and how power changes over time. This exhibition has multiple layers of addressing issues of migration. Some of the shoes have been back and forth in different parts of the world and they are here right now. The stamp represents a system that grants possibilities for people to travel around the world like visa. For me, stamps represent visas because they have been issued to allow information to circulate around the continent, so I use the stamps as reference to visa for traveling.

Through the lens of your own travel, how has creating here in this space been different from what you’ve done in Ghana?

In Ghana, I work with a lot of plastics, not so much with wood. I think wood is something that I am looking forward to explor[ing] because I recently worked with broken boats. A broken boat is very symbolic because it is for navigating places [...] and that is reference to the history of colonialism. Boats are very symbolic of migration so I think wood, for me, speaks more of a physical channel of migration.

How do you see your work in relation to the other artists featured in the exhibit?

What do you hope your work contributes to the exhibit as a whole?

A lot of artists’ works are based on migration, environment as well and history as Africans. I think the link is that we are interested in exploring migration from different artistic backgrounds and expressions based on [our own] experience. I live in Africa, I’m based in Ghana so my idea of migration informs my travel within Africa, America and Europe as well because I see the experience quite [differently than if I were to] live in the U.S. only. I explore migration in different spaces differently. Whereas I go to a neighboring African country, I don’t feel

much of the migration struggles [that I feel] traveling to the U.S. When I was coming to the U.S. for the second time, I was denied a visa and I didn’t understand because I had been here a couple of times and contributed a lot by working with universities in the U.S. So, that [experience] is something that informs my work that I’m producing now because I am using my stamps for coming to the U.S. with entries as part of the work. So that people see the visibility and my contribution toward America. And I think it’s a system that is built to oppress. But what I’m interested in [is], how do I speak out this situation through my work? So whatever I go through, I still present my ideas and the challenges I face.

How will the performance look?

I use myself as an object in the work and I represent my work in a way that also represents labor and how migrants contribute so much to the development of all these destinations they find themselves in.

I’ll be doing a performance by cleaning the space with a mop and water, just cleaning.

And the collaborators that I’m working with will be dressed in fancy clothes, just hanging around drinking wine, while I’m working and cleaning the space. I want this space to feel very intimate and intense in how people face challenges. For me, it’s about the power relationship and how a lot of people work so much to be able to gain citizenship but it still hasn’t happened. [Migrants] get married to foreigners and have kids but still face these challenges. I’m looking forward to seeing how this space creates an intense situation [for the audience].

If there is one thing or one concept that you hope your audience walks away with, what do you hope that is?

The labor of a migrant.

This story has been condensed for print.

Read the full interview at ricethresher.org.

THE RICE THRESHER

10 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

SPORTS

MEN’S TENNIS SPRINGS INTO 2020 SEASON maria lysaker / rice Athletics

Junior Sumit Sarkar celebrates after winning a point in a match during the 2019 season. Sarkar and the Owls will begin their 2020 play this weekend against the University of the Incarnate Word, which opened its season on Sunday with a 4-0 loss to Louisiana State University. Last year, the Cardinals finished with an 11-9 record, losing 7-0 to both the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.

SPENCER MOFFAT SENIOR WRITER

The last time the Rice men’s tennis team took the court for a match was almost three months ago, on Nov. 3, when sophomore Campbell Salmon and junior Mohamed Abdel-Aziz picked up a pair of doubles wins to close out the Ralston/ Neufeld Coaches Challenge and the Owls’ 2019 tournament season.

Now, the Owls turn toward their spring 2020 slate, preparing to face the University of the Incarnate Word at home on Saturday at 11 a.m. Rice has the historical upper hand in the matchup, with a spotless four wins in four meetings against the Cardinals.

According to head coach Efe Ustundag, anticipation is brewing after such a long period without competitive play.

“As you start every year, you are trying to figure out where you are as a team,” Ustundag said. “I think everyone’s really excited to play.”

The Owls won their last matchup against the Cardinals in decisive fashion, securing a 7-0 victory in January 2019.

Despite this, Ustundag said he doesn’t think Rice will view this match as any sort of guaranteed win.

“I’m not worried about taking this team lightly because we also know that in the past that when we have lost focus in matches like this, it has cost us big time,” Ustundag said.

Though the Owls will have opponents who are tougher on paper down the road, like No. 9-ranked Texas A&M University, whom they’ll face on Feb. 21, junior Sumit Sarkar said the team’s focus is solely on this match against Incarnate Word.

“The first match sets the precedent for the beginning, so we want to set a good precedent which will lead us to having a good season,” Sarkar said. “My mindset is definitely on one match at a time. If we as a team focus on the Conference USA tournament, we’re just going to get lost and we’re not going to be focused on every individual match.”

Sarkar is the Owls’ top-ranked singles player, entering the fall 2019 season placed No. 26 on the 2019-2020 Preseason International Tennis Association Division I Men’s Individual National Rankings.

In addition, Sarkar and redshirt senior Eric Rutledge were ranked No. 24 in the rankings for doubles pairs.

Due to injuries to both players in the fall season, the pair played only three doubles matches together, notching a 2-1 record. But the pair finished the 2018-2019 season by making the C-USA first team as a doubles partnership, and Sarkar was named the 2018-2019 C-USA Men’s Player of the Year. According to Rutledge, the pair will continue to operate at a high level together this upcoming spring if they can stay healthy.

“It’s very important for us to stay healthy throughout the season and take care of our injuries, and the tennis will do the talking,” Rutledge said.

According to Ustundag, Sarkar and Rutledge will have plenty of chances this

season to prove their talent against strong doubles pairs.

“They will certainly get a lot of great competition and assuming they all stay healthy and play at the level that they played all of us last year, the opportunities will be there for them,” Ustundag said. “At the end of the day, they have to win.”

According to Sarkar, the chemistry between him and Rutledge will be advantageous this spring season.

“Eric and I have been playing for about two years now so our chemistry is very good,” Sarkar said. “I think we both feel pretty good about the season coming up.”

After the Owls face Incarnate Word, Rice will turn its focus to a pair of Ivy League opponents on the road: Dartmouth College on Jan. 31 and Harvard University on Feb. 2. According to Ustundag, these upcoming matchups, as well as a faceoff against No. 2-ranked University of Texas, Austin, will not be easy.

“It’s a heck of a schedule,” Ustundag said. “[The Owls] play a ton of great teams.”

EDITORS’ COLUMN

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SHOULD STILL BE CONSIDERED C-USA FAVORITES

There’s no denying it: Rice women’s basketball had a rocky start to the 2019-20 season. Coming off a historic season last year in which the team won 21 straight games and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005, this year’s team registered a middling 5-6 record against non-Conference USA opponents to start the season.

But with the beginning of a new decade, the Owls appear to have turned over a new leaf, posting an undefeated 6-0 record in 2020 to start conference play. Though there are still kinks to iron out, particularly in 3-point shooting and ball control, the new and improved Owls should still be considered the preeminent force in C-USA this season.

Rice’s defense, a calling card of last year’s team, has remained stout this season. The Owls surrender only 55.4 points per game to opponents on 34.7 percent shooting, good for No. 23 and No. 17 in the nation, respectively. Junior center Nancy Mulkey is still one of the premier defensive talents in the country, averaging 3.1 blocks per game and spooking opponents in the paint on a nightly basis.

Guards Jasmine Smith, a sophomore, and Sydne Wiggins, a junior, provide solid perimeter defense and senior forward Erica Ogwumike’s tenacious rebounding gives Rice a powerful presence on the glass.

But it wasn’t the defense that let Rice down in its non-conference play this season. The Owls’ offensive attack was inconsistent and failed to materialize in crucial moments, three times failing to top 50 points in a game. In 2020, that narrative has changed. Rice’s scoring offense is up over 12 points per game, from 60.1 in the fall (which would rank No. 278 in the country if extrapolated to the whole season) to 72.5 in January (which would place the Owls at No. 58). That’s a massive improvement, and a sorely needed one. If Rice can keep up this scoring effort, paired with its stifling defense, C-USA doesn’t stand a chance.

Despite the offense’s upward trend, there are still a couple areas of concern.

Rice has struggled with its 3-point shooting the entire year, with just a 27.9 percent mark, and it hasn’t gotten any better in the new year. Three of the Owls’ regulars

— Ogwumike, Smith and freshman guard Destiny Jackson — have been downright abysmal from behind the arc, shooting to a combined 16 percent clip. Couple that with Mulkey’s lack of 3-point range and the result is an offense that often looks crowded: opponents’ defenses can help off the Owls’ shooters and cut off drives.

The Owls also must do a better job of limiting turnovers. Rice is coughing up the ball 18.5 times per game, No. 288 in the country, and the mark has increased to 20.5 per game in the new year despite the team’s overall improved offense. Just two players — Wiggins and Jackson — are averaging more assists than turnovers per game on the season, and even those two are doing so by a razor-thin margin.

Overall, however, it appears head coach Tina Langley and the Owls have righted the ship. Rice’s offense, though not necessarily clicking yet, is at least consistently producing, and its defense remains a well-oiled machine. Then there’s the matter of Rice’s absolute dominance against recent conference opponents: dating back to last season, Rice has won 25 consecutive C-USA games. As long as the

Owls shore up their perimeter shooting and ball security, and if the rest of the offense continues at its current clip, the Owls should be playing in March Madness once more.

MADISON BUZZARD & MICHAEL BYRNES WILL RICE COLLEGE SENIOR & HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL fall 2019

vs. spring 2020

record

record

5-6

6-0

points per game points per game

60.1

72.5

shooting %

shooting %

39.1

52.2

INFOGRAPHIC BY kATHERINE HUI

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020 • 11

MARIA LYSAKER / Rice Athletics

Sophomore guards Payton Moore, Trey Murphy III and Chris Mullins and freshman forward Zach Crisler (pictured left to right) gather during a dead ball against Wayland Baptist University. The Owls played the Pioneers on Nov. 10 at Tudor Fieldhouse, coming up with a 65-40 win and improving their season record to 2-1. Since that game, Rice has a record of 7-10 and a 3-3 record at home.

MEN’S BASKETBALL GEARS UP FOR HOME GAMES AGAINST C-USA FOES BEN BAKER-KATZ SENIOR WRITER

Rice men’s basketball will aim to pick up its second Conference USA win of the season this week when the team faces the University of Texas, El Paso on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Owls have struggled recently, winning only one of their last eight games. Their most recent loss was a 79-59 beating at the hands of the University of North Texas on Monday night, dropping Rice’s record to 9-11 on the year and 1-6 in C-USA. Head coach Scott Pera said the team’s focus waned in the closing minutes of the game.

“We couldn’t maintain our discipline offensively,” Pera said. “We had a 10-point

game with five minutes left, and we had five straight possessions where we held them to no points but came up empty-handed.”

The Owls have spread their scoring around all season, with four players averaging double-digit points per game and 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes played per game. According to Pera, the deep rotation is necessary to support the Owls’ aggressive offensive attack.

“It just comes down to style of play,” Pera said. “If we’re gonna play fast, try to push the ball and shoot as many threes as we do, we’re gonna have to play a lot of guys.”

Rice’s next two conference opponents, UTEP and the University of Texas, San Antonio, will present several challenges.

The Owls’ matchup against UTEP features

Leaders aren’t born great.

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At the Doerr Institute, our objective is to connect you with the awareness and tools that will help you find, sharpen and grow your true leadership potential. You do not have to be in a formal leadership role to participate with the Doerr Institute. We provide flexible leader development training to all Rice students at no cost.

Our Programs Activation - one-on-one sessions with a personal leadership coach

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the Miners’ Bryson Williams, one of last week’s C-USA Co-Players of the Week, who is averaging 19.4 points and 6.9 rebounds this season. According to Murphy, Williams is one of the top players in C-USA. “UTEP has a player of the year candidate in Williams, he’s a 20-plus [points per game] guy. So we’re going to have to find a way to stop or contain him,” Murphy said.

After Williams and the Miners, Rice will take on UTSA and its star guards, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. Murphy said both are both dynamic offensive threats.

“UTSA has two guards that are both capable of scoring 30 [points] each, so we’re going to have to find ways to slow them down,” Murphy said. “It’s hard to find ways to win if we don’t play well on defense.”

Jackson and Wallace are averaging 25.7 and 17.2 points, respectively, and are leading UTSA in assists and steals. Senior guard Ako Adams said the Owls must make adjustments on both ends of the court before facing the Roadrunners.

“We need to play smarter on offense, and be more aggressive,” Adams said.

“Defensively, we have to talk more and be more aware. Ultimately, if we stay together and go out there and compete at our highest level we can win these games.”

The Owls will look to end their losing streak against UTEP (11-8, 2-4) on Thursday, and UTSA (9-10, 3-3) on Saturday. Both tipoffs are at 7 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse.

This article has been condensed for print.

To see the full version, visit ricethresher.org.

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry's

SUMMER RESEARCH AND OPPORTUNITIES FAIR Wednesday, January 22nd 4:30 - 5:30 pm Grand Hall (RMC) A "one-stop shop” for undergraduates interested in summer research, service, and internships at Rice and beyond.

Representation from: Baker Institute Study Abroad Center for Civic Leadership Engineering

and more!

Anthropology BioSciences Chemistry Humanities

Questions?

Email ouri@rice.edu or call 713-348-4678

BACKPAGE

12 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020

How to Urgently Conserve Alternative Types of Energy If you spent time on campus last week, especially in the dorms, you probably experienced a pretty steamy Sylly Week. The central cooling plant isn’t working because of a construction project, so FE&P is calling for reduced energy consumption on campus through Friday, Feb. 14.

If you’re wondering how to go about this (besides turning off your air conditioning), have no fear. The Backpage has put together a specialized weekly action plan through the duration of the project by conserving every kind of energy imaginable.

Week of: Jan. 24 Type of energy to save: Mental

Week of: Jan. 31 Type of energy to save: Physical

Week of: Feb. 7 Type of energy to save: Spiritual

Week of: Feb. 14 Type of energy to save: Emotional

Face it — you’re getting older and your neural plasticity isn’t what it used to be.

Your mental energy becomes more and more of a precious resource as you age, so you better conserve it. Friday, Jan. 24 is the deadline to add a class, so simply don’t add any! If you’re really looking to go above and beyond, drop a couple of classes. Not only that, but if you truly want to minimize your carbon brainprint, take advantage of another deadline that falls on the 24th: your last chance to drop out for the semester with a full refund. Think of all the brain capacity you’ll be saving — but don’t think too hard, that’ll use your surplus mental energy.

With January wrapping up, ask yourself: How much progress have you made on your New Year’s resolution to get swole at the Rec? Save your physical energy by simply not even trying anymore. Plus, Saturday, Feb. 1 is Y2K. Remember last year when the line got shut down and crowds of students who had been waiting to enter were turned away? Save the physical energy of both walking to McMurtry and standing in a potentially pointless line and just don’t attend. Worried about missing the fun music at Y2K? Don’t worry: Most people on aux at any given Rice party have been reducing, reusing and recycling the same playlists they made in middle school anyway.

We’ve got spirit, yes we do, we’ve got spirit, how about you? No? Not enough spirit to spare? All Rice students can cut back on spiritual energy expenditure by continuing to have extremely disappointing attendance at Rice Athletics events.

Women’s basketball is doing fantastic: They’ve won all six of their games in 2020, and their next home game is Feb. 6. But, rather than supporting your studentathlete peers, keep reducing the net Rice Owl spirit by staying home instead.

Additionally, seniors in particular can cut back on class spirit by not participating in any 100 Days celebrations — it won’t be too hard, since no campuswide event has been planned as of this week (115 days until your graduation, class of 2020).

RPC Crush Party, Valentine’s Day and midterm recess? The week of Feb. 14 is set up to be quite emotionally taxing. Evade that taxation. First up, midterm recess. Trying to come up with a cohesive plan for a group of friends usually involves tension and unevenly distributed emotional labor. Next, RPC Crush Party and Valentine’s Day are packed full of romantic pressure. Forming an emotional connection with another human being can take up a horrendous amount of energy, not to mention the emotional energy of entering and maintaining an actual relationship. The solution to energy conservation during the final week of the construction project is easy: Isolate yourself! It’s not sad, it’s for sustainability!

The Backpage is satire, written by Simstainability Matovic and designed by Simona Mentallydrainedbyweektwo. For comments or questions, please email JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu

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