VOLUME 105, ISSUE NO. 4 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
Underpaid, overworked: Students speak out about challenges in leadership positions
NEWS
Rice among minority of peer institutions to hold in-person classes FULLY ONLINE
Princeton* Harvard Columbia* CalTech* Johns Hopkins* UPenn*
PRIMARILY ONLINE
MIT Yale Northwestern Stanford* Dartmouth Brown Notre Dame UCLA WashU
HYBRID/PRIMARILY IN-PERSON
Rice Duke Cornell University of Chicago Vanderbilt * indicate universities with mostly closed campuses. INFOGRAPHIC BY TINA LIU
PRAYAG GORDY & RHEA CHO FOR THE THRESHER
U.S. News & World Report’s Top 20 colleges have adopted varying reopening plans and testing strategies for the fall semester. Rice, which has maintained a low positivity rate on COVID tests, joins only five other Top 20 institutions — the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, Vanderbilt University and Cornell University — in offering a hybrid or in-person classroom experience for the fall. The remaining 15 Top 20 universities will teach the semester primarily or fully online, with eight allowing students on campus and seven operating remotely. E. Susan Amirian, the public health and healthcare lead at the Texas Policy Lab, said she considered Rice’s reopening relatively successful, something she credits to detailed planning. “I think good planning is a large part of it,” Amirian said. “I know that [reopening] is something that’s been planned for several months and has been very carefully thought through.” Some students expressed satisfaction with Rice’s weekly email updates from Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman and Chair of the Crisis Management Advisory Committee Kevin Kirby. SEE PEER-TO-PEER PAGE 3
ILLUSTRATION BY TINA LIU
ELLA FELDMAN FEATURES EDITOR
On a sweltering day in August, groups of students across campus braced themselves for the daunting task ahead of them: spending hours helping new students move into their dorms. Move-in day kicks off Orientation Week every year, and nearly all Rice students are familiar with the ritual of sweaty, beaming advisors running back and forth with labeled cardboard boxes as incoming students start exploring their new home. But this year, the students running O-Week faced an even greater challenge: planning a way to move in new students while masked, socially distanced and trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The administration told O-Week coordinators to devise their college’s move-in plan, according to Lillie Plaza, one of Lovett College’s O-Week coordinators. At Lovett, Plaza said they decided that the safest way to move new students in was to follow the coronavirus floor rules laid out by the administration. If an advisor was living on the same floor as a new student, they were in charge of bringing that student’s belongings to their room. Hannah George, a Wiess College senior who co-advised at Lovett, said the Lovett move-in plan was successful. However, she said she doesn’t think it should have been up to students to devise that plan in the first place — it should have been the administration. Kamil Cook, a Brown College junior who coordinated O-Week at his college this year, said he made multiple decisions this summer that he felt shouldn’t have been up to him. “The whole time, I felt like we were doing work that we should not have been normally allowed to do. The decisions we were making were really important, and they were giving it to 20-year-olds who weren’t getting paid to do it,” Cook said. “We were told to be public health officials, despite the fact that we were never even given a slideshow — we weren’t even given one slide about epidemiology, or public health, or anything.” According to Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman, everyone who helped plan Rice’s reopening made decisions they wouldn’t normally be having to make. That included O-Week coordinators. “It was a hard summer. I don’t know what to say other than that,” Gorman said. “I’ve never worked this hard in my entire life. I mean never, ever have. And I feel like it was that for every person who was at Rice.” However, this summer wasn’t the first
time that student leaders at Rice have felt like they’ve done work that surpassed what should be expected of a young person serving in an unpaid role, according to the 21 student leaders the Thresher spoke to for this story. Many of them — including students behind O-Week, student government, Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-Free Environment and diversity and inclusion efforts — said they’ve felt this way for a while. ABOVE AND BEYOND Back in March, when the majority of students were forced to suddenly vacate campus, it fell on a few students to do the heavy lifting, according to Johnston French and Kelly Dong. Johnston French, Sid Richardson College’s chief justice, said that he and fellow Sid students Clarise Trinh, Sarah Mozden, and Nia Prince moved boxes of Sid students’ belongings into storage, and again before students moved back in. Overall, French estimates he worked about 75 hours on moving people in and out.
It’s honestly something [that] a therapist should be doing, but students are doing it instead. Mezthly Pena STRIVE LIAISON Michel Achard, the college’s magister, said he arranged for those students to receive financial compensation from the college budget because he wasn’t comfortable with students doing that work for free. However, that wasn’t the case at every college. “It sounded like something that he went out of his way to do and not something Rice as a whole was doing, though,” French, a Sid junior, said. “I’m concerned for the people who had to do move-out at other colleges.” As facilities directors at Will Rice, Dong and Manuj Shah were placed in charge of moving Will Rice students’ belongings in and out of storage. According to Dong, a Will Rice College senior, it was a surprising amount of work and responsibility and they did not receive financial compensation. “Coming up with a comprehensive plan was complicated considering there were so many restrictions that we had to work around without any guidance or advice from administration,” Dong said.
As chief justice of Lovett for the 2019 to 2020 academic year, Laura Yordán said she felt supported by various individuals at her college and in the administration, including her college’s core team, college president Chloe Oani and Henry Cash, who worked for Rice University Police Department for 13 years before becoming a wellbeing advisor. Still, she said she constantly felt stretched too thin and in charge of things that surpassed her capabilities as a college junior, such as regularly deciding whether an intoxicated student needed to receive medical attention. “You don’t sleep at all on weekends,” Yordán, a Lovett senior, said. “I had support, but sometimes it’s just like, you do things that are way beyond your pay grade. And it’s like, I’m only 20 years old. There [are] just some things that I can’t do.” Late nights are also a regular occurrence for STRIVE liaisons, according to Mezthly Pena, a Duncan College junior and liaison. She said it’s a full time job, most of which consists of helping survivors of sexual assault work through trauma. Although she believes the work is essential, she said it’s incredibly difficult at times. “It’s honestly something probably a therapist should be doing, but students are doing it instead,” Pena said. EMOTIONAL BURDENS Diversity and inclusion work on campus can also be retraumatizing for the Black students leading those efforts, according to Kendall Vining, a Martel College junior. In addition to serving as internal vice president for the Student Association, Vining serves on the Rice for Black Life steering committee and is a co-leader of the list of Black student demands published this summer. It was especially difficult to do this work in the face of this summer’s events. “It’s hard, because while Black students should be at the front of making these changes, our racial traumas and hurt [are] reopened with every news we hear of another Black person shot,” Vining said. “When you are faced with so little support from administration and Rice in general that you literally feel the need to create an outside organization — Rice for Black Life — to get anything accomplished, that says a lot right there.” Soha Rizvi and Jiya Ghei, two of this year’s diversity facilitators, said that the work diversity facilitators do can take a similar emotional toll, especially on Black facilitators. Although Rizvi and Ghei both said they were passionate about the role and ultimately enjoyed it, they said they did not feel like the administration supported them. SEE STUDENT LEADERS PAGE 5
THE RICE THRESHER
2 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
NEWS
RPC’s showing of Mulan canceled after students express concerns KELLY LIAO & BONNIE ZHAO THRESHER STAFF
The Rice Program Council canceled the “Mulan” (2020) movie night after students addressed on social media a boycott movement against the film due to one of its filming locations being Xinjiang, China, its end credits thanking local agencies that conduct concentration camps and the main actress’s support of Hong Kong police. The Night Owl Antics committee originally planned to screen “Mulan” for Rice students because the movie was not easily accessible, according to RPC President Samantha McClendon. The new live action Mulan was released on Sept. 4 on Disney Plus and required its subscribers to pay an additional fee of $29.99 to buy. The concerns regarding the film were initially brought into the RPC’s attention by a comment on its Instagram post promoting the event, according to McClendon, a Martel College senior. In her Instagram comment, Autumn Engebretson, a Duncan College senior, brought up the #boycottmulan movement and encouraged the RPC to research the issues surrounding it. According to Irpan Yierpan, a Duncan sophomore, the main reason people are boycotting the “Mulan” movie is that it was partly filmed in Xinjiang, China, where there are concentration camps that imprison Uighurs, as seen in satellite images taken by the European Space Agency. “I am Uighur, and I was born and raised in Xinjiang,” Yierpan said. “I came to the U.S. because there were lots of human rights violations in my region, which have gotten worse in recent years.” Yierpan said that he doesn’t understand why Disney decided to film there because
Xinjiang is currently one of the hardest places to access right now, according to the Associated Press. Even for major news media outlets such as BBC and CNN, it is extremely difficult to enter the region. According to CNN, Disney also thanked the government agencies in Xinjiang that were conducting the concentration camps in the film’s end credits. “Disney is such a big company, I’m sure there were people who knew what was going on in Xinjiang. But Disney just turned a blind eye in order to make a profit. It’s unethical, and that’s why a lot of people are boycotting this movie, including me,” Yierpan said. The RPC apologized for their movie choice and canceled the event in a social media post on Wednesday. “Our mission as RPC is to enhance undergraduate life and hold events that are inclusive of all students,” the RPC wrote. “We strive to never alienate any group of our student population.” Engebretson said she thinks the RPC made the right decision to cancel the event. “I respect students’ willingness to learn more about the situation and make an educated choice on if it was a good idea and matched with the values they wanted to send,” Engebretson said. Selena Shi, a Chinese international student and a Brown College junior, said that even though she personally liked the movie for the visual imagery and martial arts, the “Mulan” movie can be a controversial film to Chinese audiences as well. “I’m not surprised that a lot of the Chinese audiences are disappointed,” Shi said. “It’s a Disney movie, and it’s trying to represent some of the Disney spirits, like how women can also be leaders. That’s a great message, but the true message of the original Mulan
Illustration by Ndidi Nwosu
story is ... one’s devotion to family. I think a lot of the Chinese audiences didn’t take the rendering of the story that well. The historical inaccuracies and western magical elements didn’t help either.” According to CNN, a lot of people are also boycotting the film because of the main actress, Yifei Liu, who supported the Chinese government and the Hong Kong police against protestors in a Weibo post earlier this year. Shi said that Liu’s post is not the black and white issue as it seems to be. “Almost every Chinese actor posted the same content to support Hong Kong police because that is what is deemed politically correct in China,” Shi said. “People pick Liu’s post out because she is now on the stage of international cinema, but it’s really not about her personal choice or Disney’s preference.
It’s really about the difference of political correctness between China and the U.S.” Shi said that she was not surprised by the boycott movement. “‘Mulan’ is really caught up in an interesting time, not only with the pandemic, but also rising political tensions between the United States and China,” Shi said. “It is really hard for the movie to appeal to both sides.” Shi said that she believes the boycott movement will result in even fewer Hollywood movies that include Chinese culture. “I feel like this movie could have been an effort to mend the gap, and the result is a shame. Even though I understand why people are boycotting, unfortunately, it will only lead to less cultural diversity in Hollywood,” Shi said.
New tech TA program is popular with students and professors NICOLE LHUILLIER THRESHER STAFF
To assist instructors with the classroom technology for online or hybrid courses, the Office of Information Technology has hired 160 students as technology teaching assistants. According to the OIT Associate Vice President Diane Butler, faculty have requested Tech TAs for approximately 270 courses. In the first round of hiring, the OIT received 300 job applications from students. The OIT also hired eight students to manage the Tech TAs’ schedules, Butler said. The application period for the Tech TA program is now closed, according to the information on the web page for the position. “I knew my team would never be able to get to all the classrooms to assist faculty with the new, added technology [in] the rooms as my staff is very small, so we would have to supplement in some way. In talking to peers, I came up with the idea to have students help,” Butler said. “We were hoping students would be interested in assisting with this but I had no idea it would be such a popular job on campus.” The web page for the Tech TA application indicates an hourly wage of $12 and a maximum load of 20 hours per week. Butler sent all undergraduates an invitation to apply for the part-time job in July. “You do not need to be super technical, just comfortable with technology. The hours are flexible and the pay is good,” Butler wrote in the email. Tech TAs’ typical responsibilities include setting up professors’ camera and microphone, monitoring the Zoom chat and forming virtual breakout rooms. They are assigned to an in-person class, an online class or an academic building where they are available to address the concerns of faculty who did not request a Tech TA, Butler said.
“They are the first line of support for assisting with technology in classes,” Butler said. Frank Jones, a professor of mathematics, teaches two sections of MATH 221 and two sections of MATH 423 in person. According to Jones, he is regularly assisted by one tech TA per section. “I’m not good with electronic equipment and those things. I know essentially nothing about them,” Jones said. “But I found out in late July that there would be a technical TA for each class. And that has been just terrific because I do not have to worry about the computer or anything. All I do is teach math using the chalkboard, like I always do.” Lovett College freshman Steven Cloud is a Tech TA on call in three buildings for 12 hours a week. On the job, he and every other Tech TA must continue to abide by the community safety guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19. “Personally, I don’t have any concerns. I’m wearing a mask. Everyone there [in the classrooms] is wearing a mask,” Cloud said. “We try to maintain distance ... so that way we all still follow the Culture of Care guidelines, I suppose.”
Brown College sophomore Divya Wagh said she works oncall at Herman Brown Hall for two hours a week and in person for the course MSNE 413 for three hours a week. In her assigned classroom, the safety precautions include masks, spaced-out desks, reduced occupancy and a plastic shield at the professor’s podium, Wagh said. “Even though we’re in person, I think we are all adhering to the proper protocols. So I feel safe and I feel like all the students and the professors in the classroom feel safe,” Wagh said. Butler said the Tech TAs’ training consisted of an hour of in-person instruction about the classroom equipment and three hours of online instruction about the relevant software -- including Zoom, Canvas and Kaltura. The online training also covered student privacy as protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, according to Butler. Wagh said the Tech TA training has made her more comfortable with the software used for course delivery. “I used to [think], ‘Oh, why do we even use Zoom?’ … After the training, I learned that Zoom has a lot of cool features to
Channing Wang / THRESHER
The Office of Information Technology has hired 160 studednts as technology teaching assistants.
facilitate learning. And I also learned a lot of things about Canvas that I didn’t know about. So I think it was a very successful training,” Wagh said. Since the students have learned more about the software through the training, they can help resolve technical issues more efficiently, according to Wagh. “Whenever [a Tech TA] ... has a problem that they don’t know how to solve, they’ll just text the Slack channel. And then not only do the people from [the] OIT respond, but also if another Tech TA knows the answer, they’ll text a response. And I think because of this, it’s a lot faster than, say, there were no Tech TAs, and professors had to call the OIT -- there would be so much [backlog],” Wagh said. Based on the positive feedback from a survey Butler recently sent to instructors, she said she has already seen the effects of the program in the Rice community. “Faculty see the students as partners in helping with dual delivery of the course. The Tech TAs have allowed the faculty to focus on the instruction and not the technology,” Butler said. “I had one Tech TA decide to take a professor’s class after assisting with it. This is wonderful as it is opening up other areas of interest for students that they might not have thought about before.” Butler said she makes adjustments to the Tech TA program as needed and has thought about its life beyond this semester. “I would like to continue the program into the future at some level if I can get the funding to do so,” Butler said. Jones said he sees the program’s potential even when pandemic-related adjustments are not necessary. “It just dawned on me, I think last week or the week before: ‘Oh, even if there were no COVID, I could still teach this way, with remote students calling in,’” Jones said.
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 • 3
Students sit-in at Founders Memorial to push for removal of statue TALHA ARIF & SERENE LEE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR & THRESHER STAFF
A group of Rice students have continued the summer movement to remove William Marsh Rice’s statue through daily sit-ins in front of the Founder’s Memorial since Aug. 31. Shifa Abdul Rahman, a junior at Lovett College, organized the sit-ins to push for the administration to remove the statue immediately. Rahman announced his decision to sit in Founder’s Memorial every day until the administration removes the statue in a Twitter post. Since the first day of the sitins, which occur from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day, several students have joined Rahman. “I simply want the statue to come down from its pedestal and never be in its glorified position anymore,” Rahman said. “If the multitudes of statues coming down over this summer was possible, if [2,759] people equally expressed agreement about tearing down this statue, then this statue can come down as well.” The petition organized over the summer to remove the statue has received 2,759 signatures at the time of publication. The petition, created by Gabrielle Falcon (Martel College ‘20), referenced the fact that several statues were being taken down at the time across the United States, including the Dick
Dowling statue that previously existed in Hermann Park. Rahman said he believes the statue should be taken down because the effects of the statue’s existence are immediate for Black and Indigenous people and other people of color. “[One of my friends] said that them walking by the statue is continuing to perpetuate imposter syndrome and honestly looking back at my time at Rice, I agree,” Rahman said. “The statue is more than just symbolic, it’s causing detrimental effects to Black students at Rice right now. An antiracist step that Rice has to commit itself to is taking down the statue of its founder as it took down the racist mandate of its founding.” President David Leebron responded to the student-led movement in a campuswide email on June 23. “Many of those writing to us have supported the removal of the statue, but a diverse group of other students and alumni have written against the removal, while also speaking out in favor of measures to achieve greater equity and inclusion, or have suggested alternative approaches to addressing the issues raised by the statue,” Leebron wrote. “Most of these communications have been thoughtful and strongly felt.” A full version of this story will be posted later this week.
Channing Wang / THRESHER
Lovett College junior Shifa Abdul Rahman and other students stage a sit-in outside Founders Memorial.
Ronald Stebbings, professor emeritus and former dean, passes TALHA ARIF ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Ronald Stebbings, professor emeritus of space physics and astronomy and former dean of undergraduates, passed away on Aug. 27 at age 91. Stebbings is survived by his two sons, Vernon Stebbings (Will Rice College ‘78) and Martin Stebbings (Sid Richardson College ‘83). Stebbings and his wife Mona Stebbings, who passed away in 2019, were Jones College magisters from 1977 to 1982, during which time Jones transitioned from an all-female college to a co-ed college. Lynn Elsenhans (Jones College ‘78) said Stebbings was a great listener and provided wise counsel, and had a wonderful sense of humor and a goodhearted full laugh. “He and Mona were a great team and were wonderful magisters,” Elsenhans said. “They knew how to throw a party but also knew how to be firm-handed when it was needed.”
Courtesy Rice Digital Scholarship archive
Former dean of undergraduates Ronald Stebbings passed away at age 91. FROM PAGE 1
PEER-TO-PEER “I feel like we got some pretty good communication going in, especially from those emails,” McMurtry College sophomore Max Cunningham said. “They were definitely communicating with us pretty well.” Widespread testing Since the beginning of August, Rice has conducted 19,605 tests, of which 16 were positive—a rate of 0.08 percent, well below Houston’s 6.1 percent positivity rate. At the time of publication, zero positive tests were reported in the previous seven days. The university is also reaching its stated daily testing capacity of 1,000 individuals. Every non-visitor who comes on campus — on-campus students, off-campus students, faculty and staff — is tested at least once a week. The entire state of Texas is averaging
Umbe Oliveira-Cantú, the department of physics and astronomy operations administrator, said that she has become very close to the Stebbings family over the years and shared lots of moments and conversations with Stebbings. “One of my fond memories of him is when my supervisor in 1977 asked [Stebbings] how I was doing, as she needed to complete my 90-day probationary period appraisal, and he told her ‘I remember when Umbe started working here, she could not read a word of my writing, but now, she can even read my mind,’ Oliveira-Cantú said. “To me, that meant a lot.” Oliveira-Cantú said after her son passed away in 1978, Stebbings was compassionate and empathetic. Oliveira-Cantú said her and Stebbings’ families became even closer after Stebbings’ son Graham, who was a high school student working as an office assistant for Oliveira-Cantú, also passed away in a car accident in 1982. A college service award was created in Graham Stebbings’ memory. “He told my supervisor after my son passed away, ‘We are going to pay Umbe all the time she needs to stay home, I don’t want you to dock her pay,’” Oliveira-Cantú said. “He was a great humanitarian and could sense my pain after losing my 4.5-year-old son.” Alexander Dessler, founding chair of the department of space science at Rice, said that he recruited Stebbings to Rice in 1968 after becoming aware of his research. “Ron’s work, circa 1960, was admirable, definitive and of basic importance to atomic physics and space science,” Dessler, professor emeritus of space physics and astronomy,
said. “It was the department’s and Rice’s good fortune that there was an open faculty position in the space science department and that Ron agreed to accept the position.” Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute, worked with Stebbings and said he knew who Stebbings was even before meeting him due to Stebbings’ reputation as a leader in the field of atomic physics. “As a fellow physicist, I benefited personally from Ron’s command of the science and even had the honor of coauthoring papers with him,” Lane said. Stebbings’ work at Rice focused on atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics, and he authored or co-authored over 175 papers. The processes Stebbings studied at Rice continue to be important in several areas, ranging from astrophysics and stellar atmospheres to aeronomy and planetary atmospheres, according to Barry Dunning, Stebbings’ first graduate student at University College London, where Stebbings worked prior to coming to Rice. Dunning said Stebbings was an important part of the AMO physics research program at Rice, which has since been recognized as a top ten university program in the United States. “He was a wonderful mentor and teacher and always impressed me with his wisdom and intelligence,” Dunning, a Sam and Helen Worden professor of physics, said. “We collaborated on many experiments until he was ‘seduced by the dark side’ and entered the administration.”
Stebbings became the dean of undergraduates in 1983, and was appointed the university’s first vice president for student affairs in 1984. Stebbings returned to the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1993 and retired in 1995. Lane became Rice Provost in 1986, shortly after Stebbings was appointed vice president for student affairs. “[Stebbings] was already an experienced leader in the administration, and I was a very green Provost [at the time],” Lane said. “He always was generous with his time and gave me much good advice. And, of course, his humor was legendary. Two of his favorite British comics were Flanders and Swann, who performed as a duo, and I can still hear Ron’s hilarious rendition of the favorite ‘I’m a Gnu!’” Dunning said that Stebbings was a friend to whom he could turn not just for advice on physics but also on life in general. “I always enjoyed my interactions with him due to his natural charm, his warm smile, and his wit — the same characteristics that made him such an effective college [magister] and administrator,” said Dunning. “I remember with pleasure many lunchtime discussions with him over [what was] in those days a 59 cent Whopper in the local Whataburger.” Oliveira-Cantú said after his retirement in 1995, they kept in touch, including calling Stebbings on his birthday or just to say hello. “Overall, I loved him dearly, I miss him terribly,” Oliveira-Cantú said. Any correspondence for the Stebbings family can be directed to Martin Stebbings at: 325 Olympic Drive, Rockport, Texas, 78382.
approximately 40,000 tests per day, according to The New York Times, which puts Rice at about 2.5 percent of Texas’ daily tests. According to Kirby, test results have returned quickly, which was particularly important. If labs take too long to analyze tests, Rice cannot conduct contact tracing, Kirby previously told The Thresher. “Almost all results from our 18,000 tests since August 1 have been provided within 24 hours or less, which is excellent,” Kirby wrote. Peer institutions with students on campus are taking similar approaches to testing. Vanderbilt students take weekly saliva tests, Yale University and Cornell mandate tests twice a week and the University of Notre Dame tests a random sample of their student body. To reduce the price of analyzing tests, Duke is using a strategy called “pooled testing,” in which the specimens from a few students’ tests are combined and analyzed as one batch. If the batch has no traces of the virus then all of those students are presumed negative; if
the batch result is positive, then the students’ tests must be individually analyzed. The University of Arizona — which has more than 35,000 undergraduates — successfully detected the presence of COVID-19 in dorms and identified COVIDpositive students by testing wastewater.
did test positive were sent to isolation and everyone else had to do O-Week online, and that really made sure that everyone was safe.” Some peer institutions have already dealt with larger outbreaks of COVID-19. The University of Notre Dame, for instance, has recorded 660 cases of COVID-19 from Aug. 3 at the time of publication, with a spike in late August; contact tracers there attributed the spike to off-campus parties. Notre Dame moved undergraduate instruction online for two weeks as a result, and the number of newly reported cases has decreased. Amirian said a benefit of hybrid instruction is the ability to switch to a fully online format if an outbreak hits. “If you do find your case counts headed in the wrong direction, you need to be ready to take quick action,” Amirian said. “For schools that are set up in hybrid mode, that might be much easier.” This story has been condensed for print. Read the full story at ricethresher.org.
Managing outbreaks Part of Rice’s COVID response is contact tracing, including a contract tracing group of about 20 people, according to Kirby. During Orientation Week, two advisors at Will Rice College tested positive for COVID-19. Kirby previously told The Thresher that contact tracers promptly identified, quarantined and tested anyone who had close contact with them. Will Rice moved their O-Week online, cross-college activities were cancelled and indoor dining has since closed. “I think Rice did a good job of responding to the cases at Will Rice,” Ivanshi Ahuja, a Will Rice freshman, said. “The people who
THE RICE THRESHER
4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
OPINION STAFF EDITORIAL
Reevaluate paying student leaders
This March, when students across campus received an email announcement that classes were shifted to a remote format for the rest of the semester, the job of packing and moving boxes was relegated to students, most of whom did the job without pay. But moving student belongings out of their rooms isn’t the only task for which students have had to go above and beyond their job descriptions. Orientation Week coordinators have had to make decisions about move-in and activities that usually fall under the purview of trained public health officials. Following the murders of countless Black Americans, the burden is left on diversity facilitators, club leaders and student activists to both educate students and provide them with emotional support. Although students stepping into leadership roles this school year did not anticipate how much would be expected of them, Rice students’ lives are shaped every year by student leaders working beyond their pay grade. They are motivated to take on these roles because of their love for Rice, their colleges and their fellow students. What they didn’t sign up for, however, is the massive emotional burden that comes with taking on tasks beyond what should be expected of an undergraduate student,
often without proper training or financial recompense. In an interview for a features story this week, Gorman and Associate Provost Matt Taylor stated that unpaid student leadership roles provide a chance for students to pursue experiential learning opportunities without being confined to an employer-employee relationship with Rice. However, positions that were meant as enriching experiences increasingly have burdens that exceed their reward. We ask that the administration lend an ear to the needs of student leaders, and take steps to either reduce their burden or compensate them for their work. In 2019, the administration implemented need-based stipends for O-Week coordinators, which is a step toward progress. Past coordinators, however, have said that additional stipends are needed to compensate students. Other student leaders also express a need for support. The partnership between the university administration and our student leadership is an invaluable, enriching and highly dynamic one from both ends; it is a relationship that requires communication, respect and mutual care to thrive. It’s time that the administration listens to the student voices that call for their attention.
read more online: Rice students must care about climate change and act accordingly “We need to take climate change more seriously, which entails adjusting our daily behaviors as well as pushing for large-scale reform.”
MOLLY WANCEWICZ BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR
have an opinion? submit your draft to thresher@rice.edu
GUEST OPINION
You can safely vote in the presidential election this year
The upcoming presidential election may be the most important of our lifetime. It also comes in the middle of a life-changing pandemic that has seriously altered election administration. Although election procedures continue to be finalized, we now have a solid idea of what our options are for voting in November and as the election judge for Rice’s polling location this year, I’m here to break it all down for you. No one should have to choose between their physical health and safety and exercising their right to vote. In most states, including Texas, you can vote by mail or in person. You can vote by mail in nearly every state without an excuse, and in Texas you may vote by mail if you feel your personal health precludes you from voting in person. Apply to vote by mail in any state with TurboVote, or in Harris County with Harris Votes. You may have heard about the ongoing changes to mail-in voting (sometimes referred to as absentee voting) across the country. Most states either automatically mail voters ballots, allow voters to request mail-in ballots without a reason or allow voters to cite the fear of COVID-19 as a legitimate reason for mail-in voting. Unfortunately, Texas’ stance on this question is a gray area. One way to qualify for vote-by-mail in Texas is by having an illness or disability. The Texas Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that a lack of immunity to COVID-19 may be considered as a factor in determining whether in-person voting creates a “likelihood of injury” to the voter’s health, but it cannot be the sole factor. It is the responsibility of voters to assess their own health based on prior underlying health conditions, perhaps in combination with
COVID-19. The County Clerk’s Office does not have the authority to question the voter’s judgment on whether they qualify for having a disability or not. Voters do not need to write in what their disability is on the application to vote by mail; they only need to check the box. Voters who reasonably and in good faith believe they have an underlying health condition that qualifies them to vote by mail, as described by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Civil Rights Project, should not be scared to exercise their right to vote by mail. You can print your mail-in ballot application from Harris Votes. You must submit your mail-in ballot application by mailing it to the Harris County Clerk’s Office. Friday, Oct. 23 is the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot in Harris County, meaning the ballot must be received this day, but I highly recommend you do so as soon as possible due to potential mailing delays. Once you receive your mail-in ballot, you may submit it by mailing it to the County Clerk’s Office or by handdelivering it to any of the Clerk’s 11 offices and annexes from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., and provide a valid ID as if you were voting inperson. Your ballot must be turned in to the County Clerk’s Office by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. I understand that many will choose to vote in person, and I want to allay any worries you may have. Election administrators are trying hard to make in-person elections as safe as possible. In Harris County, County Clerk Chris Hollins and his office are implementing the Secure, Accessible, Fair, and Efficient Initiative, a number of measures designed to encourage the safe conduction of in-person
elections. At each early voting and Election Day polling location in the county, physical distancing will be encouraged by tape and signs both in line and in the polling location. Masks will be offered to all voters who are not already wearing one. Hand sanitizer will be available for all voters. Finger coverings will be provided to all voters to operate the voting machine. All voting machines will be spaced at least six feet apart. All poll workers will wear masks, gloves and face shields and will be physically distanced from voters. Poll workers will also be greeting voters at the polling location and will help them safely navigate the polling location. Where possible, polling locations will have separate entrances and exits. All of these measures were implemented in July’s primary runoff election and received high praise from those who voted then. There are two ways to vote without leaving your car for the November 2020 election. All polling locations will offer curbside voting to voters who do not wish to enter the polling location, but are only able to serve one voter at a time. In addition, nine polling locations will exclusively offer drive-thru voting where multiple voters can be served at the same time. A list of locations can be found on the Harris County Clerk’s Instagram. Early voting has also been expanded by a week, and will now start on Oct. 13 and you will be able to vote at any of 120 locations in the county, an increase from 46 in 2018. Polling locations are typically open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Harris County is now offering 24-hour voting for select days. Seven polling locations will open at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29 and remain open overnight and
until 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30. A list of those locations can also be found on the Harris County Clerk’s Instagram. On Election Day, there will be over 750 polling locations open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., an increase from 740 locations in 2018. Voters in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Voters will be able to vote at any location on Election Day. On Rice campus, there will be a polling location used as both an early voting and Election Day location, and will be staffed and run primarily by Rice students. This location will either be Reckling Park or the Rice Stadium, and will be confirmed soon. I understand that voting in person may seem like a scary option this year. The threat of COVID-19 is a very real concern and one we all take seriously. Given that mutual understanding, we want to assure you that the election administrators are trying their hardest to make sure you can vote safely. Happy voting!
MASON REECE
HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIOR ELECTION JUDGE AT RICE’S POLLING LOCATION
STAFF Ivanka Perez* Editor-in-Chief Rishab Ramapriyan*Editor-in-Chief Amy Qin* Managing Editor
SPORTS Ben Baker-Katz Editor Daniel Schrager Asst. Editor
ONLINE Mateo D’Agaro Web Editor Audrey Yao Video Editor
NEWS Savannah Kuchar* Editor Rynd Morgan* Editor Talha Arif Asst. Editor Brian Lin Asst. Editor
OPINIONS Elizabeth Hergert* Editor
FEATURES Ella Feldman* Editor Kavya Sahni Asst. Editor
PHOTO Channing Wang Editor
DESIGN Tina Liu* Director Dalia Gulca A&E Designer Katherine Hui Sports Designer Anna Chung News Designer Yifei Zhang Illustrator Chloe Xu Illustrator
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Katelyn Landry* Editor Sanvitti Sahdev Asst. Editor
BACKPAGE Simona Matovic* Editor & Designer
COPY Vi Burgess Editor Bhavya Gopinath Editor
BUSINESS OPERATIONS Karoline Sun Business Manager Lindsay Josephs Advertising Manager Lily Wieland 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.
First copy is free. Each additional copy is $5. Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center: 6100 Main St., MS-524 Houston, TX 77005-1892 Phone (713) 348-4801 Email: thresher@rice.edu Website: www.ricethresher.org The Thresher is a member of the ACP, TIPA, CMA and CMBAM. © Copyright 2020
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 • 5
THE RICE THRESHER
FEATURES STUDENT LEADERS FROM PAGE 1
“Part of our role is dealing with some students, particularly new students, who hold little respect for our goals and sometimes even our identities. That has been an emotional burden I didn’t expect, so I can’t imagine the experience of the [Black, Indigenous, and people of color diversity facilitators],” Rizvi, a Hanszen College junior, said. “We definitely don’t get the compensation or administrative support that we deserve considering we do the grunt work of implementing Rice’s professed values of diversity and inclusion.” According to Gorman, the administration has been devoting a lot of time and effort to responding to this summer’s events and making Rice a more anti-racist institution. She pointed to the five specific actions President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches announced in an email to the Rice community on June 16. The actions included establishing the new positions of Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Scholar in Residence for Racial Justice, designing a course on diversity and cultural understanding that will be required for new students starting in 2021, and creating two funds — one to to support non-partisan student engagement in Houston on issues of racial equity and justice and another to support faculty doing research on race and anti-racism. “The murder of George Floyd was an incredibly upsetting one, I think for everybody. The students, faculty, staff, the entirety of the Rice community. It’s been heartening to see students’ reaction to that across the board,” Gorman said. “I’m sorry if some [diversity facilitators] felt like we weren’t engaged and we weren’t caring about this. I think we very much were.” Leslie Loredo said she came out of coordinating O-Week for Jones College in 2019 exhausted, disillusioned with Rice and with damaged relationships at her college. Although she said she doesn’t regret coordinating, she said those feelings are common for coordinators, and that the administration doesn’t do enough to help former coordinators get through the burnout they may face after O-Week. “The administration is putting the weight of their biggest, most important event on you, without helping you carry it,” Loredo, a Jones College senior, said. This year, Loredo returned to Jones College O-Week as an advisor. She said she wanted to be there to support the 2020 coordinators, as she could sympathize with some of what they were going through. She was frustrated to see how much work the coordinators were doing, and she thinks some of it — such as their roles as enforcers of social distancing — should have been taken on more by the administration. “It sucks because it’s like, as a student, I have to help these other students because I know the administration’s not going to be there for them,” Loredo said. “And so I’m having to step up and be like … please let me help you, because I know they’re not going to.” Gorman said she has no reason to think that O-Week coordinators aren’t being emotionally supported, and said that Araceli Lopez, who leads First Year Programs, does much of that work. “I know she cares about them a great deal. And I know that she doesn’t hesitate to reach out if she feels like there’s a coordinator that’s struggling,” Gorman said. “If we have coordinators who felt that emotionally they weren’t getting their needs met, then I am sorry about that.” Loredo said she greatly appreciates the work that Lopez does, but that ultimately, the emotional burdens O-Week coordinators face are too heavy to put on one person.
CHANNING WANG / THRESHER
O-Week coordinators and advisors were responsible for planning and executing socially distanced move-in procedures for freshman. Many student leaders, including O-Week coordinators, said they felt ill-equipped to handle tasks better suited for paid, trained professionals.
TO PAY OR NOT TO PAY In 2019, the Dean of Undergraduate’s Office created a need-based stipend program for O-Week coordinators. Students were able to indicate on their application if they needed funding to be able to stay at Rice over the summer as O-Week coordinators. Prior to the stipends, which range from $500 to $2,500, coordinators received no summer compensation other than eight meals per week and on-campus housing from June 1 until advisor training and O-Week. “We realized that some students weren’t able to come and apply to be O-Week coordinators in the summer because [the position was unpaid]. That was really depressing their ability to do that, so we put together the need-based stipend program,” Gorman said. “By every measure that I’ve seen, we did meet their financial needs over [this] summer.” However, some former O-Week coordinators said they aren’t fully satisfied with the stipend, although it’s a step in the right direction. Former coordinators Loredo, Cook, as well as Aurora Kesler, who coordinated Brown College’s O-Week in 2019, all said they think the position should be paid. “I want to see O-Week coords be paid. I don’t care if people think it’ll diminish the value of the position, if it’ll make it seem like you’re just doing it to get paid. No one does this just to get paid,” Loredo said. “You could go work somewhere for the summer where you wouldn’t have to do as much emotional or mental labor. It’s not about that. It’s about your dedication.” Max Boekelmann, a Jones College senior who coordinated in 2019, said coordinators are still facing financial barriers to the role. “It is a lot to ask of students to give up the opportunity to earn money and instead volunteer their summer,” Boekelmann said. “Every year, a person’s love for O-Week and love for their college is pushed to the front to hide the fact that by choosing to coordinate O-Week you are committing hours upon hours without getting paid. I do love Jones College, but that did not make those hours any less difficult.” Maddy Scannell, executive director of STRIVE, said she wants to see the university financially compensate liaisons. “On an ethical level, liaisons are doing work for the university — that the university tends to exploit in its communications about Title IX and sexual misconduct. Labor ought
to be compensated,” Scannell, a Martel College senior, said. “Financial support for liaisons would make this role more accessible, allowing us to diversify our liaisons and better serve the Rice community.” Varsha Varghese, a Baker College senior, said she had a fairly manageable year as Baker’s chief justice from 2019 to 2020, thanks to support from students and the A-Team. However, she said that when she tells her friends from home about her role, they ask her if she was a residential associate. “At other universities, the role of a RA is basically what the CJ does, except they get paid for it,” Varghese said. However, some students are not sure if the answer to thesr concerns lies in financial compensation. Tim Thomas, who served as Wiess College president from 2019 to 2020, said that the immense workloads and emotional tolls placed on student leaders should be reexamined before the pay situation. “If [the administration] is not going to try to improve the general quality of life, then I think pay needs to become a factor,” Thomas, a Wiess College senior, said. “In order for it not to be, I think there just needs to be a better support system.” Matthew Burns, a Lovett College senior and former O-Week coordinator, said that although he initially wanted coordinators to receive compensation, he learned that this would mean they would have to be treated like employees, which was something he had not considered. “This means less forgiveness on missed deadlines, less freedom and more control in the hands of the admin,” Burns said. “A lot of the creative freedom we have in planning our O-Week comes from the fact that we are volunteers.” Wanting to avoid such an employeremployee relationship between students and the administration is a major reason why the administration has resisted compensating student leaders in the past, according to Gorman. To her, student leadership roles are opportunities for service and experiential learning, not jobs. She also pointed out that colleges have a budget, which they could use to compensate certain students. According to Associate Provost Matt Taylor, who has worked closely with student leaders at Rice for decades, students have a lot of autonomy in determining what a particular role entails. Taylor said that in various instances over the years, student leaders have
resisted the idea of financial compensation, but have clung to their many responsibilities. “I think it’s extremely valuable to be in partnership with student leaders, figuring out how best to shape a student experience that’s rewarding and educational and challenging and the best in the country,” Taylor said. “But those roles don’t have to be roles that eat up a ton of time and create a burden in a way that students feel like they should be compensated because it takes so much of their time.” Kesler, a Brown College senior who coordinated O-Week in 2019, said she’s observed that in recent years, the lack of standardized compensation and the immense workload student leaders face has been more and more discouraging to students. In particular, she said she’s seen a decline in quality of O-Weeks, and predicts that sooner or later, the administration won’t have a choice but to pay coordinators, because otherwise, people won’t apply for the job. Alternatively, Kesler said that a student leader strike would move the conversation about pay forward. She said she’d like to see one. “O-Week coordinators right now, all that’s left in their job is to turn in the coordinators for next week. But they have no obligation to do that. Don’t do it,” Kesler said. “Coordinators should refuse to continue participating as part of this university and as wards of the institution until the university starts listening and actually caring about the things students are saying, and actually taking it seriously. Right now, we’re not even at the negotiating table.” Student Association President and Martel College senior Anna Margaret Clyburn said she firmly believes that student leaders need more support. Part of the solution, she said, may lie in supporting existing offices that help student leaders, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Success initiatives, and hiring more staff to fill them. It could also lie in making certain leadership positions paid, she said. Regardless, she said the administration needs to start working on a solution to the concerns of student leaders by doing one thing: listening. “Paying student leaders will not solve all of our problems, and neither will hiring more staff,” Clyburn said. “But taking both seriously and listening to students and staff when they voice their frustrations, their concerns, and their exhaustion is a start.” This story has been condensed for print. Read the full story at ricethresher.org.
THE RICE THRESHER
6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Sleepy Cyborg Galley kicks off semester with dual-delivered exhibit, “Quaranzine” JACOB DUFF FOR THE THRESHER
In a world becoming increasingly dependent on dual-delivery, one has to ask how visual art, a mode of communication previously relegated mostly to the physical, is adapting to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. An example of this dual-delivery form of visual art can be found at the newly renamed, student-run Sleepy Cyborg Gallery in their first exhibition of the year called “quaranzine.” “A zine is a self-produced and published publication … that pulls from a DIY idea of what it means to make a booklet of images and words,” Isabel Samperio, director of Sleepy Cyborg Gallery, said. Normally, zines are a very physical form of art. They’re meant to be opened and touched and looked at, interactions that are now impossible given the current COVID-19 restrictions.
“Quaranzine” is located in the small, white room on the bottom floor of Sewall Hall where past iterations of Sleepy Cyborg Gallery — Inferno Gallery and Matchbox — have also been housed. The exhibit consists of approximately 15 student-made booklets displayed on the walls with string and clips. The zines vary from small collections of poems written on copy paper to colorful images of plants and
CHANNING WANG / Thresher
animals on construction paper. One piece is supposed to be a paper fortune teller, the kind one would make in elementary school, covered in intricate black drawings and small, handwritten fortunes. Each piece has a printed QR code taped underneath that, when scanned, shows a video of a hand on the concrete floor of the space flipping
through the booklets to reveal all the sides and pages of the student’s piece. Samperio explained that she thought the flexibility of being online was actually a benefit for the gallery. “The amount of people that we would be engaged with … would be crazy,” Samperio said. “There’s just so much convenience there and accessibility.” According to Samperio and Gabrielle Feuillet, the exhibit was intended in part as a statement on the current politicization of the United States Postal Service, as all of the art had been sent through the mail. In fact, in the show there was a small pile of envelopes and stamps encouraging those who viewed the show to send a letter themselves. Feuillet said that even though the zines started as a way of connecting with friends that felt much more meaningful than other digital forms of communication. “Quaranzine” uses the circumstances of social distancing and virtual interaction as an opportunity to juxtapose physical art forms with our new, highly digitized reality while simultaneously making art more remotely accessible. You can visit Sleepy Cyborg’s new show “Quaranzine” in person by emailing the director to set up a viewing appointment at sleepycyborggallery@gmail.com, or view their online gallery at matchbox.rice.edu.
HISTORIC THIRD AND FIFTH WARDS DEEMED NEW CULTURAL DISTRICTS
COURTESY PROJECT ROW HOUSES
JULIANA PHAN FOR THE THRESHER
The Texas Commission on the Arts designated Houston’s Third and Fifth Wards as cultural districts on Sept. 3. Home to historical landmarks, cultural diversity and notable figures in education, music, politics and art, these neighborhoods have played an influential role both in Houston and the Black community at-large. These wards, along with the five existing cultural districts in Houston — the Arts District, Greater East End, Midtown, the Museum District and the Theater District — will continue to use art as a means to empower and enrich their communities, but now with expanded support from the state. The cultural district program strives to both celebrate diversity of culture across the state and encourage local economic development.
“The designation gives them the opportunity for branding the community in a very specific way, both for the residents of that community, for the residents of Houston, as well as visitors,” Necole Irvin, cultural tourism officer at the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said. “In the five cultural districts that we had ... we’ve seen [an] increase in activity, whether that’s art activation, whether that is again new businesses that decide to move into a community and others looking at that community as a potential place for events.” For many of the cultural and educational institutions in these districts, the new titles will bring more recognition for their work and their communities. University of Houston Vice President for Neighborhood and Strategic Initiatives and Project Row Houses board member Elwyn Lee said that he appreciates how culture in the Third and Fifth Wards has grown. “As a university that sits in the heart of the Third Ward and in close proximity to the Fifth Ward, we recognize the rich and vibrant history, and cultural significance of the neighborhoods that surround us,” Lee said. “No longer hidden gems, these neighborhoods are a destination for arts and civic engagement, and a hub for creativity and innovation.” The designations come after several monthlong application processes led by Project Row Houses in the Third Ward and the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation in the Fifth, but the cultural histories which have earned them their new titles have
developed over more than a century. The Third Ward in particular was a center of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and has fostered African American media until today. Several Black-owned newspapers and radios originated in the Third Ward, while several entertainers, such as Beyonce and jazz pianist Jason Moran, also grew up in the area.
COURTESY TSSS TAPES
REVIEW: “ÁGUA VIVA” CREATES SOOTHING SOUNDSCAPES JINHYUNG KIM FOR THE THRESHER
You have to listen to “Água Viva” on headphones — it’s the intended experience. Greek sound artist Daphne X offers a welcome escape into a world that facilitates the spatial and environmental awareness so often missing from our lives in quarantine. Read the full review online at ricethresher.org.
REVIEW: “DETROIT 2” PAYS HOMAGE TO HOME
COURTESY DEF JAM RECORDINGS
No longer hidden gems, these neighborhoods are a destination for arts and civiv engagement, and a hub for creativity and innovation. Elwyn Lee PROJECT ROW HOUSES BOARD MEMBER “In the Third Ward, there is a true sense of liberation,” Irvin said. “Whether it’s the Emancipation Park Conservancy — which [was] one of the first parks in the state, [built on] land purchased by formerly enslaved peoples and gifted to the state — or Project Row Houses [which] was created by seven African American artists to really think about community development and how art can be used in that space.” This article has been condensed for print. Read the full story at ricethresher.org.
JACOB PELLEGRINO FOR THE THRESHER
“Detroit 2” is a sprawling but unified view of Big Sean’s love for his home. While some ideas could have been fleshed out to create a more unified composition, the overall effect of the album is strong and leaves the listener wanting more even after over an hour of music.. The juxtaposition of different aspects of the human experience creates a multifaceted view of both Big Sean and Detroit that is definitely worth the listen. Read the full review online at ricethresher.org.
WEEKLY SCENES AND SCREENS ANTEBELLUM
STATES OF MIND
RICE DESIGN
FREE HBO MAX
See singer/actress Janelle Monáe star in the highly anticipated psychological thriller “Antebellum” when it releases for at-home digital viewing this Friday, Sept. 18. The film will be available to stream on all major digital and cable retailers. Visit lionsgate.com/movies/ antebellum/watch to see the full list of providers.
This weekend marks the opening of the Moody Center for the Arts’ Fall 2020 exhibition, “States of Mind: Art and American Democracy.” Opening receptions are sold out, but the exhibit will be available for viewing during Moody’s regular operating hours beginning this Friday, Sept. 18. Visit the Moody Center for the Arts at 6100 Main Street.
Rice’s graphic design student club will present its first guest speaker event this Thursday, Sept. 17 from 7 to 8 p.m. CDT via Zoom. Sid Richardson College senior Tina Liu will speak about her vast design experience at Rice and beyond. Visit the Rice Design Facebook page for Zoom access information. (Editor’s Note: Tina Liu is the Art Director for the Rice Thresher.)
Did you know on-campus Rice students get free access to HBO Max? Stream new releases like teen comedy “Unpregnant” and horror series “Lovecraft Country,” or fan favorites like drama series “Euphoria” and “Westworld” by signing into HBO Max with Rice University as a provider. Happy streaming! Visit play.hbomax.com to sign up.
THE RICE THRESHER
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 • 7
SPORTS
Football freshmen adjust to life as student-athletes PAVITHR GOLI FOR THE THRESHER
With numerous college football programs across the nation starting their season this past weekend, there has been an increased focus on freshmen football players who are transitioning to the rigor and toughness of college football while also trying to navigate through the precarious situation presented by the coronavirus pandemic. While practicing and getting ready for the season, the Rice football program has taken pandemic precautions including a shortened offseason and delaying contact practices.
Some of our coaches have told us we are the tightest group ever. Braedon Nutter FRESHMAN CENTER According to head coach Mike Bloomgren, this shortened offseason means that the freshmen players did not get to go to the team training camp usually held in August, but the players will still be able to participate in the same number of preseason practices as they would in a normal year. Despite these precautions, multiple freshman players have said that their class feels confident in their preparation for the upcoming season. Instead of contact practices in August, the team instead focused heavily on having meetings with the players so that they can understand
the playbook and be accustomed to the schemes used in college. According to freshman linebacker Geron Hargon, these changes could ultimately benefit the team’s freshmen. “In past years [college freshmen] didn’t have as much time to learn the plays and digest the playbook because they would be diving immediately into practice,” Hargon said. “The biggest advantage for us as freshmen is more meeting time and more walkthrough time.” Bloomgreen said that this additional meeting time has given the team’s freshmen a better chance to get acclimated with their teammates and protocols. “They’ve had far more opportunities to grasp the system through meetings and walkthroughs than previous incoming freshmen,” Bloomgren said. “The constant meetings and exchange of game plans and schemes between the coaches and players should ease the often difficult transition between high school football to college football.” Furthermore, the freshmen players used their time since signing for Rice last December to build camaraderie, especially with their fellow freshmen. According to freshman center Braedon Nutter, their transition to college was further comforted and supplemented by being surrounded by such a strong community of football players at Rice, no matter if they were upperclassmen or freshmen. According to Nutter, this has helped them grow closer. “Some of our coaches have told us that we are the tightest group ever,” Nutter said. “We made a group chat right after we all had committed and even though we didn’t know each other quite well then, we would always talk about what’s going on … [which] really helped us bond together.”
Freshman linebacker Geron Hargon running a drill during a position-specific workout. Freshman football players said that despite the lack of full practices, they have been able to bond with their new teammates. PHOTO COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS
The team-building during the pandemic extended to forming strong relationships with teammates in specific position groups. According to Nutter, this has helped build unity among all of the offensive linemen. “I think it actually brought our O-line together more since we had Zoom meetings since we signed in December,” Nutter said. “All of us have been hanging out and talking together. It’s unbelievable how we’re already friends with the upperclassmen [offensive linemen].” Hargon said that the team credits their coaches, especially Bloomgren, with providing a very nurturing environment for them and with working hard to make sure that the players stay in the right mentality and avoid complaining. “[Bloomgren] preaches … to not have a victim mentality because … it will bring you down as a team and it is contagious,” Hargon said. According to both Nutter and Hargon, the positive mentality nurtured by the coaches on the team has really served as
a beneficial mechanism for the freshmen players to get used to college football during this precarious time as they are also being supported by a large group of kind and friendly teammates. “Right now that the locker room is one brotherhood, ” Nutter said. With the strong support of both coaches and teammates, both Nutter and Hargon believe they have transitioned well into college football despite the numerous hurdles that they have faced. “Going into the hotel with everything getting pushed back really helped everyone get close with each other because we were going through the exact same experiences,” Nutter said. “It really helped us bond together.” Hargon agrees with Nutter and shares the same feelings of close friendship with his teammates. “[The pandemic] has definitely brought all us closer together,” Hargon said. “I am ten times closer to these guys than I could think was possible. I am thankful for each and every one of them.”
COLUMN
The cash cow: Why colleges are having a football season BEN BAKER-KATZ SPORTS EDITOR
Over the past couple of months, talks about restarting athletic programs have centered on one thing: college football. Even though Rice announced earlier this week that the start of their season would be delayed until Oct. 24, other programs across the country started their seasons this past weekend. Though it appears that no other college sports will play this fall,
football seems intent on getting a season in. This begs the question, why is it that football is happening even if other sports are canceled? There are many answers to this question; one would need to write a book to explore all of the cultural and political reasons why football is returning. But the short-term answer, the reason the athletic departments everywhere have been pushing for football to return, is the money having a football season brings to the department.
PHOTO COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS
College football teams across the country started their seasons this past weekend. Rice footbal continues to practice in small groups (above), and hope to start their season on Oct. 24.
Football programs bring in huge amounts of revenue for their athletic departments, and these departments rely heavily on that income. According to Vox, the University of Georgia’s football program brought in $129 million during the 2017-2018 season. After accounting for their football team’s operating expenses, the athletic department was left with $84.1 million in revenue. You might think that’s an absurdly high number, and it is. But to put it in context, let’s look at Louisiana State University’s profit and loss by sport from 2016-2017. According to former LSU beat writer Ross Dellenger, only three LSU sports that year turned a profit: baseball made $569,148 in profit, men’s basketball $1.6 million and football profited a whopping $56.1 million. LSU is special too, in that their baseball program is good enough to make a profit. Of the 299 Division I baseball programs, the NCAA estimates that less than 10% of them turn a profit. While those teams turn a handsome profit, the other 14 sports that LSU offers do not. The least profitable is women’s basketball, which lost $4 million in 2016-2017. When you combine the losses from all 14 sports, they add up to almost $22 million. The relative monetary success of LSU’s sports is indicative of programs across the country. Marshall University, a member of Conference USA and a school that
holds a similar athletic standing to Rice, has a football team that nets $1.8 million in revenue. Marshall’s only other team in the green is their men’s basketball team; they earned just $77,181. This is not a new phenomenon. In 1929, the Carnegie Foundation published a 383-page report that made it clear that even then, football dominated athletic revenue. “Football,” the report said, “carries the bulk of the monetary burden.” So when athletic directors say their sports can’t survive without football, they aren’t necessarily lying. We’re already seeing some of the effects of the pandemic on athletic departments. Stanford University, which is a member of the Pac-12 and thus will most likely not be having a football season this fall, has already announced that they will cut 11 sports at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. According to Stanford’s press office, “Stanford Athletics cannot support 36 varsity sports at a championship level while also remaining financially sustainable.” It is clear that athletic departments need football, and its revenue, to keep their other sports alive. This is especially true if, as it looks now, sports will be played without fans for the foreseeable future. Though ticket sales aren’t a huge revenue generator for athletic departments, that additional lack of revenue means that sports will cost even more to keep up.
BACKPAGE
8 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
New Coffeehouse Drinks
The Unpaid Student Latte
Coffeehouse is reopening this week with a new, pandemic-proof ordering system. Everyone that works there will be super busy with both working out all the kinks and serving the campus community, so the Backpage has decided to go ahead help out by putting in the creative legwork to come up with new drinks.
Oat Milk Foam
Vanilla Syrup
Unpaid student positions, from O-Week coordinators to Chief Justices, really keep Rice afloat. To celebrate unpaid student labor, try the Unpaid Student Latte. Despite the name, it actually does cost a pretty penny, just like you pay to attend Rice. But, on top of that, you have to put in hours of volunteer work in order to purchase this latte. At least you can put your receipt of purchase on a resume, but outsiders to Rice probably won’t quite understand why it’s a big deal.
Cold Brew
Vodka Four Loko
Tears
Coronavirus
Espresso
The Sweet Sixteenth
Sweat
Covid Brew
The Hard Open
Sixteen Shots of Espresso
While Coffeehouse has decided to start out with a soft open for the initial rollout of their new format, some students may need a Hard Open to kick start their day. Daily life in the pandemic can be tough to deal with, especially on a dry campus. Speakeasy Chaüs vibes could make life a bit more easy, as the word itself implies.
The Physical Intimatea
Rice climbed back up to No. 16 in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges list and that’s almost good enough. The Sweet Sixteenth will be offered primarily to administration staff in order to keep everyone awake for a full year, optimizing how to get Rice higher on that list. Maybe it can get President Leebron on the cover of the New York Times again, but this time for an article that isn’t highlighting the overwhelming whiteness of powerful people in the U.S.
Are your friends at other institutions attending football games and parties? Do you wish Rice would loosen up restrictions and let you live a little in the same way? Are you a selfish asshole who lacks both concern for others and your own wellbeing? Try the Covid Brew. It tastes just okay, but it will be the last thing you taste for a very long time, so there won’t be much to compare it to.
Tea Bag
Saliva
Are you lonely? Is the most eye contact you’ve had with another human either pinning your class crush on Zoom or staring at your weekly coronavirus tester while you swab yourself? The saliva-saturated Physical Intimatea will remind you of what kisses, or at least speaking within a six-foot proximity, taste like. Face it, who were you going to be kissing regardless of the pandemic?
The Backpage is satire, written by Simona Macchiato and designed by Simple Syrup Matovic. For comments, questions or to buy her coffee, please email JamesJoyceLovesFarts@rice.edu
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