The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, October 06, 2021

VOLUME 106, ISSUE NO. 7 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

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New payment system complicates life for student organizations

Paw Patrol:

An exploration of the pets who live on campus

BONNIE ZHAO

ASST NEWS EDITOR Student-run businesses, club sports and organizations across campus are among those who have expressed dissatisfaction with ImagineOne, the new payment system used by Rice. Earlier this year, Rice implemented iO to replace its old pay system, Banner, according to Paul Padley, interim vice president for IT. Emily Wolf, personnel manager of Rice Coffeehouse, said that Coffeehouse was one of the first places on campus to switch over to iO and that they did not receive much guidance.

“We were open during the summer when the transition happened,” Wolf, a Martel College junior, said. “[There were] a couple of Zoom info sessions. But beyond that, there wasn’t a lot of information on how the system worked or how to troubleshoot issues.”

Wolf said that a lot of Coffeehouse managers are still missing access to important parts of the iO system.

“We’re kind of just sending a lot of emails without receiving a lot of responses,” Wolf said. “We have been going since July, whereas the other [SRBs] started back up in September or August. It’s been like three months now, and we just still are missing access.”

Padley said that several reasons prompted the change to iO, and the transition is meant to improve the administrative processes on campus.

“Banner was based on very old technology that predates Wi-Fi and Google search by about five years,” Padley said. “Also, starting in 2007 Rice had to acquire additional applications to support digitization of its business processes in HR, procurement, expense management and other areas. Over time, this extended IT ecosystem became cumbersome, reducing faculty and staff productivity.”

William Miles, general manager of Rice Bikes, said that he is also frustrated with the number of issues Rice Bikes has encountered due to the transition to iO. “We used to be able to see the fund balances and everything going in and out of our accounts through Banner,” Miles said. “[Now] I can’t see the money that’s coming in and out of all funds. I can’t verify anything. I don’t actually know what payroll has been for the past three months apart from my calculated guesses.”

Miles said that when he finally gained access to the financial dashboard, the information on it was too out of date and partial to be useful.

“From what I can see, only a third of our employees are in the system, so figures for payroll are incomplete,” Miles said.

“Furthermore, revenue that I had reported weeks ago still hasn’t been posted and it arrives in a very inconsistent manner.”

Ryan Emelle, general manager of The Hoot, said that she was also never given a reason for the transition and believes that iO isn’t a good system for SRBs. The iO system requires employees to utilize a clock-in, clock-out system for each shift compared to self-reporting hours in the past.

SEE IMAGINEONE ISSUES PAGE 4

ZOE KATZ

FOR THE THRESHER

COURTESY KERRI BARBER Bruin, a member of Jones College, poses for some festive portraits.

BRUIN Bruin is a legend on campus, according to his owner and Jones College Resident Associate Kerri Barber. The blue- and brown-eyed dog is beloved by many students, not just Jonesians. Barber said she has many dog walkers.

“In the years that I have been here, I often have students walk him, so they oftentimes go to other colleges or have friends walk him. I can’t tell you how many times when I’m walking him … students I don’t know are like, ‘Hey, Bruin,’” she said.

Bruin’s fame reaches beyond Rice’s physical campus. He is the star of an Instagram account, @bruin_ handsomepup, with nearly 1,000 followers. One of the most recent posts

features Bruin at his recent BarkDay PAWty, an annual birthday party that Barber throws around October 4th, his Gotcha Day. Last week’s party featured both human and dog cakes, and Jones students sang to him to wish him a happy 8th year.

Bruin, also known as BruBru, loves the attention.

“Whenever my RA position is up, he is gonna be so sad that he doesn’t live on campus anymore,” Barber said.

The love is reciprocated. Bruin provides much-needed light in many students’ lives, according to Barber.

“There’s also been times where I’ve been walking him at night, around exam time, and I’ve run into students clearly stressed or upset, and I don’t know who they are and they’re just like, ‘Can I pet your dog?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course,’” she said.

Barber said she loves that Bruin is able to make such an impact on the students around him.

“I wish I went to a college that had dogs. It would have made my experience so much better,” she said. “He’s my dog, obviously, but I always say he’s Jones’ dog.”

SEE PETS ON CAMPUS PAGE 6

Rice community joins Houston Women’s March TALHA ARIF

NEWS EDITOR

IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER Several students, faculty and staff traveled from Rice to join the Oct. 2 Houston Women’s March. The Houston march was organized by Houston Women March On, in response to Senate Bill 8, or “the Heartbeat Act,” becoming law on Sept. 1.

see page 3

2 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

THE RICE THRESHER

Rice offers restorative justice as alternate resolution Restorative justice process map INFORMATION FROM RICE AEEO

Report made YES NO

Is the party who caused the harm known?

YES

Is there a policy violation?

NO

YES

Does the party who caused the harm take responsibility?

No further process

Do they still want to go through a process for the issue?

NO

No further process

Restorative circle NO

YES

Is the party who caused the harm willing to participate in RJ?

NO

Resolved by other resolution method

YES

Does the harmed party want to participate in RJ?

NO

YES

Restorative conference INFOGRAPHIC BY ANNA CHUNG

HAJERA NAVEED

ASST NEWS EDITOR Rice began offering restorative justice as an alternative option for informal dispute resolution this fall semester, according to Olivia Hernandez, equal opportunity specialist for the Office of Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity.

Restorative justice aims to provide an opportunity for students to address harms and complaints outside of the traditional resolution process, according to the AEEO’s restorative justice plan. The program will allow accused students to take responsibility for their actions and help restore community bonds, according to Hernandez.

Restorative justice will only be provided as an option for cases that are appropriate for resolution as defined by Policy 828, according to Hernandez.

Conversations about implementing restorative justice as an alternative option

began when Title IX rewrites occurred over the summer in response to the Department of Education’s Title IX changes, according to Anastasia Newheart, president of Graduate Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-Free Environment.

Newheart said that the addition of the live hearing requirement under the Trump administration caused concerns among students.

“People were really concerned about that being a deterrent,” Newheart said.

“Though I have been interested in [restorative justice] for a few years, so this is something that I thought would be beneficial to Rice.”

Hernandez said that this semester will be the pilot phase of the restorative justice program. Currently, there is a limitation on the types of cases that could be restorative justice cases due to limitations in resources.

“For sexual assault cases, particularly ones that involve a lot of violence, right now, restorative justice would not be an

option for that,” Hernandez said. “For example, if it’s sexual harassment and people sent texts that bothered someone, maybe that’s an [restorative justice] case.”

Restorative justice involves both the party who was harmed and the one that caused the harm to engage in a conversation with a trained facilitator, according to Hernandez. Both parties must agree to participate, and the one who caused harm must take responsibility for their actions, which is not a requirement under the formal resolution process.

“The person who was harmed is able to say what they think the correct way to repair the harm is, and then the facilitator and the parties work to create this agreement on how to repair the harm,” Hernandez said.

The conversation is followed by a resolution agreement, which is a contract between the two parties that has to be followed. Agreements will also be followed up on to make sure that the party who caused the harm complies with

the resolution agreement, according to Hernandez.

Hernandez said that she hopes that within the next few semesters, the restorative justice program will expand to take on more cases and other departments at Rice will implement the program, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

The Committee for Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Support is working with the AEEO to provide ongoing student feedback for the current restorative justive framework, according to Hernandez. Jacob Tate, IPVP director, said that the IPVP committee completely supports the RJ initiative.

Disclaimer: Jacob Tate is a senior writer for the Thresher Arts & Entertainment section.

“Our current [punitive] methods not only fail to create any kind of justice or resolution for victim survivors but also require retraumatization in the name of ‘proof,’” said Tate, a Sid Richardson College senior. “Additionally, punitive methods cause responding students to double down and not consider the harms of their behavior, meaning that when they are typically found innocent, there is no instance of rehabilitation.”

At this point, the AEEO does not plan on using restorative justice with cases that involve higher degrees of violence because of the retraumatization that may occur as a result, Hernandez said.

“When you get into a position where you’re using restorative justice for cases that involve a higher degree of violence, you’re running a higher risk of victimization and particularly increasing the trauma of the situation,” Hernandez said.

Newheart said she believes that with proper resources and experienced facilitators, restorative justice can be used for most cases of sexual assault, if parties agree to that option. Newheart said that the expansion of restorative justice will depend on the resources that Rice is willing to put into it.

“If we had a facilitator who had the appropriate experience to deal with that kind of traumatic situation, I would want to have that as an option for survivors,” Newheart said.

Tate said that the IPVP committee and others working on restorative justice are working to ensure that the process does not produce greater harm.

“Our committee and other individuals working on [restorative justice] are working to ensure that this voluntary process neither retraumatizes accused students nor lets responding students off the hook for their harms,” Tate said.

Newheart said that she understands why students may be hesitant to use restorative justice as a resolution method because it is a new process that is very different from the traditional punitive system.

“The goal of a punitive system is to punish that person, but the goal of a restorative justice system is to repair them,” Newheart said.

Newheart said she believes more educational outreach needs to be done to inform students about this process and exactly how it works. Newheart said that some people may not be comfortable with restorative justice as an option, so it is never going to be forced onto students.

“I totally understand that for some people this just may not be the right option for them, and I respect that,” Newheart said. “This is going to be totally situation and context dependent. The point here is to give someone more options not to pressure them into doing something [they are] not comfortable with.”

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 3

NEWS

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

supporting research, evaluation and project administration

supporting scholarships for students

Allocation of $5,000,000 NSF grant across four universities INFOGRAPHIC BY ANNA CHUNG 60 percent of the NSF grant will be allocated to supporting scholarships for students pursuing master’s degrees. 40 percent goes towards research, evaluation and project administration.

Rice receives part of NSF grant to support low-income master’s candidates TALHA ARIF AND IVANKA PEREZ

NEWS EDITOR AND SENIOR EDITOR

Rice has partnered with Jackson State University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University to receive a National Science Foundation grant of almost $5 million to support scholarships for students pursuing master’s degrees in engineering or related fields.

60 percent of the grant will support scholarships for students split equally across the four institutions, and 40 percent of the grant will support research, evaluation and project administration.

Rice and the three Historically Black Colleges and Universities received the same amount to support scholarships and project administration, according to Yvette Pearson, former associate dean at Rice for accreditation, assessment and strategic initiatives. Pearson said she led the team in formulating the partnerships and writing the proposal.

Matthew Wettergreen, the principal investigator of the project, said he was struck by a need to make professional master’s programs more accessible when he joined as director of the Global Medical Innovation Master of Bioengineering program in 2020.

Wettergreen said this program is unique because these programs typically address undergraduate programs.

“This is a revolutionary program investing in talented financial need-based students,” Wettergreen, an associate teaching professor at Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, said. “So we are very excited about the potential impact.”

Eduardo Salas, Kyriacos Zygourakis and Agustina Fernandez-Moya are coprincipal investigators for the project, according to Wettergreen. Salas will lead the research component and will investigate how the project brings together stakeholders from different organizational cultures toward achieving a common goal.

According to the NSF grant page, some of the project’s objectives aim to increase the number of low-income students obtaining master’s degrees and entering the U.S. STEM workforce in areas of critical need, and implement and evaluate the impact of the Flexible Internships Research Education model on student success.

This model provides students with experiences that integrate research and internships at both the undergraduate and graduate level, which is facilitated by a partnership with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, according to the project abstract.

Mack Joyner, director of the computer science professional master’s department, said he thinks the grant will likely increase the accessibility of a master’s degree for students who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

“There are a lot of students who decide not to pursue a professional master’s because of the cost, and so I think it could have a big impact for those particular students,” Joyner said. “A lot of times, those are minority students who are in a situation where they need to work for various reasons, and so asking them to spend more than $50,000 on a professional master’s degree, for many, they’re not in the position to do that.”

However, Joyner said the grant should also be promoted properly to effectively increase the diversity of the master’s student population.

“In addition to having the resources set aside, [Rice] also has to do a good job of promoting it, making sure that people are aware of it,” Joyner said.

Wettergreen said he is excited for the program to help launch careers and invest in students.

“We are going to help over 200 students gain more from their graduate experience through industry internships, research experiences, mentoring and professional development, all with a reduced cost of a graduate degree,” Wettergreen said.

Pearson said each institution will support roughly the same number of students over the next 5 years of the award.

“The scholarships are capped at $10,000 per year per student, so the exact number to be supported will depend on a number of factors, which include the cost of attendance, the individual student’s unmet financial need and the time it takes a student to complete the degree,” Pearson wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Illya Hicks, professor and chair of the computational and applied mathematics department, said he thinks the grant provides a great opportunity for the students involved, as well as the institutions receiving the money.

“One’s talent may be limitless but opportunities are limited,” Hicks wrote in an email to the Thresher. “Hence, it is always good to offer more opportunities to talented individuals.”

FROM FRONT PAGE

WOMEN’S MARCH

Several students, faculty and staff traveled from Rice to join the Oct. 2 Houston Women’s March. The Houston march was organized by Houston Women March On, in response to Senate Bill 8, or “the Heartbeat Act,” becoming law on Sept. 1.

The bill allows for private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who aids a woman in receiving an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is typically around six weeks into a pregnancy. On Oct. 2, thousands of protesters marched across Texas in response to the bill.

Duncan College Magister Eden King said she sent an email to a few Listservs inviting Rice community members to join her and her daughter, and other people shared the message to further Listservs. King said she saw about 30 to 40 faculty, staff, students and family members at the march.

King said attending with both her mother and older daughter made the recent threats in Texas and the U.S. especially salient.

“It was important for me to be there as a person who is committed to equal rights, as a professor studying and teaching about gender, and as a mom who wants my daughters to have autonomy over their bodies,” King, the Lynette S. Autrey professor of psychology, said.

Allison Stocks, who recently founded Rice’s chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action, said she put together a campaign online to promote the march and also coordinated a group to gather to walk from Rice. Several groups of people from Rice attended the march, Stocks said.

The Planned Parenthood Generation Action organization is focused on promoting health, safety and advocacy on campus, which includes spreading awareness and prioritizing initiatives on the abortion ban, according to Stocks.

“Many organizations like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are using the legal process to fight for the constitutional right of safe and legal access to abortions,” Stocks, a Lovett College sophomore, said. “[Our organization] is working with Planned Parenthood and is considering any opportunities to support this legal process.”

Evan Jasica, a Duncan College sophomore who attended the march, said he went because he felt disgusted and angry at the Heartbeat Act, and said he wanted to do something about the situation.

“Going to the march felt good,” Jasica said. “It was great to be part of the energy and passion of the group, and it was uplifting to see so many people come out.”

Caleb Dukes, a Lovett College senior who attended, said it was powerful hearing the experiences of people who had abortions or lost someone to unsafe or illegal abortions.

Brown College freshman Emily London said she attended the march because she believes the biggest impacts of Senate Bill 8 can be felt here in Houston.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it is to make the choice to have an abortion, but at least before SB 8 it was an option, because not everyone who gets pregnant is in the right place to raise a child,” London said. “Now, it’s like Governor [Greg] Abbott is making that deeply personal decision for millions of women instead. That terrifies me.”

Jasica said he believes it is sometimes easy for students to focus on personal pursuits and forget about the world beyond Rice.

“To me, the passing [of] the Heartbeat Act was a threat to the health, safety, and rights of women across Texas, so while it would have been easy enough to sleep in on Saturday morning after a long night, it wouldn’t have been right,” Jasica said.

Members of the Rice community have responded to SB 8 in a multitude of ways, including hosting a webinar on Sept. 21 discussing the new law and its impacts on women’s abortion access today.

PERIOD@Rice and Deeds Not Words are also hosting a town hall Oct. 6 to discuss the abortion ban and to draft testimony, according to Allison Johnson, campus organizer for Deeds Not Words and advocacy chair for PERIOD@Rice.

4 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 FROM FRONT PAGE

IMAGINEONE ISSUES

“[iO] works against [SRBs] in a way because of the way the clock-in clock-out thing goes,” Emelle said. “If you don’t really remember, you kind of have to just go off of your memory. I feel like a lot of people are not probably getting as much pay as they typically would because of the clock-in, clock-out and I wished they would have consulted with us ... because I just think it’s working against all of the students now.”

Beck Burgelin, a teaching assistant for GLHT 201, said that the clock-in, clock-out process is frustrating.

“Every single time if I don’t clock in or clock out, after the fact, I have to submit a time change,” Burgelin, a Wiess College senior, said. “It requires someone else to approve, which is a hassle. It’s a lot of work for the students.”

Harrison Huang, a COMP 140 teaching assistant, said that requests for time change on iO typically get resolved in a few weeks, sometimes after the time sheet has already expired.

“When this happens, my previous clock-in time gets [a] separate entry and iO cannot match my clock-out time with my clock-in time, requiring me to submit another request to fix this issue,” Huang, a Jones College sophomore, said.

According to Miles, two of his employees still cannot access the iO time clock.

“Our personnel manager has been personally entering and uploading their time sheets each pay period,” Miles said. “The shop has been open for five weeks now.”

Padley said that learning a new system is always a challenge, and that the iO, being a cloud-based system, will be continuously improved upon as new

NEWS updates are available.

“The [iO] team is working with hundreds of individuals and groups across the campus that helps us understand and fix problems people are having,” Padley said. “We also have a help desk that receives service request

tickets, and we carefully analyze the sources of problems reported.”

Miles said some students have not been getting paid since the switch to iO. “I have one guy who’s several weeks

here, not really knowing how to resolve the issues and not getting much response when we try reaching out,” Wolf said.

Miles said that the administration made the change in July without consulting students and staff who were directly affected by it.

“What I found out is that [iO] was all pushed by payroll and HR, so people who have nothing to do with the students,” Miles said. “There was no consultation with any students. I know my advisors at the student center were never asked what they thought about it. They made all these assumptions about what they thought the students needed without asking anybody.”

Padley said that there is a graduate student member on the University Committee on IT who may have been present when iO was discussed in that committee. Besides that, there was no consultation with students.

Padley said that Rice started looking into iO in 2018 and was encouraged by other universities’ transition to modern cloud-based systems that increased their efficiency.

“The new system allows Rice to eliminate a number of paperbased processes and provides more detailed information than was previously available,” Padley said. “As a result, many of those administrative processes have been simplified ILLUSTRATION BY NDIDI NWOSU and they’re now implemented in one software product rather than the multitude of software products time, which is just not right.”

Miles said he believes the iO website and computing systems that we previously used.” and interface are terrible on their own.

According to Padley, the administration “The thing crashes, it lags,” Miles said. “If you forget to clock out or clock does not intend to switch back to the old in, you can’t go in and make a change. system.

“Our goal is to make iO a success But then that falls on our personnel manager who then has endless requests at Rice, not to go backward,” Padley to make all these changes. Again it’s on said. “Many universities have made a the students. And again, no student similar transition to a modern business was ever asked about what they wanted process system such as iO. It’s always difficult, but it’s also ultimately been an in the system.”

Miles said he feels that the improvement over the previous system.

The [iO] team is administration working hard to does not seem at improve iO and all concerned by the business delayed payments processes it for students.

I have one guy who’s enables.”

“I think there’s ...

M i l e s , no communication several weeks behind who is also from the getting paid ... It’s stuff the president [administr ation],” like that where people Miles said. “There’s of men’s been no support. actually are not getting club rugby, There’s no sense paid on time, which is just said that iO of urgency about not right.” likewise affects changing anything.” club sports Wolf said that William Miles n e g a t ive ly.

Coffeehouse tried to RICE BIKES GENERAL MANAGER According to push back against Miles, there the transition to iO was significant when they first found out about it. delay to purchase equipment and register “In terms of the clocking-in and people to prepare for matches. clocking-out system, it’s a little difficult According to Miles, SRB Directors for our employees since I think with Korista Lewis and Cristy Torres are the people working a nine to five, it’s fine to primary point of contact to reach the clock in at the beginning of the day and administration. However, Miles said clock out at the end, but we work really they have also encountered difficulties variable shifts,” Wolf said. “And so we when seeking solutions from the had a little bit of a pushback when administration. we heard about that change, and we “[Lewis] and [Torres] have been weren’t really given any explanation as pushing what they know for us and to why that switch over was happening.” they’re just not getting replies and are Padley said that there are points kind of stuck in the middle and trying to of contact in the administration for try to help us,” Miles said. students when encountering issues with Lewis said that she thinks it’s too iO. early to decide whether switching to iO “If it is an issue of pay, the student was a good move for Rice or not. should contact their supervisor,” Padley “The main challenges that the SRBs said. “If the issue is related to student have faced with [iO] has been learning clubs or other student organization how to get the correct access for each of expenses, students can contact the iO the unique manager positions,” Lewis HR/Finance Service Requests.” said. “I would say, as with anything new, Wolf said that she is unclear we have all faced challenges … SRBs about the process of reaching out to have been diligent in learning the ins administration because of the lack of and outs — it’s a steep learning curve for response and solutions. sure and I am proud of their patience and “I think a lot of us are just sitting perseverance.” behind getting paid,” Miles said. “[My employees also] didn’t get paid their tips until the very end of September … They think that it’s me not doing it, but it’s out of my control. I don’t even know who was responsible … It’s stuff like that where people actually are not getting paid on

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

EDITORIAL

GUEST OPINION

This weekend, people flooded the King invited students to join her at the streets of Houston and cities across the march, providing coffee and donuts state to protest SB 8 at the Women’s beforehand. Baker College Magister March. For a march dedicated to women, Luis Duno-Gottberg brought bagels to the crowd extended well beyond that some marchgoers before bringing his group, including adults, children and family along to the march. Even though pets alike. While it may have been it might not change the law, the Rice initially daunting to take action in the community showing up to support the wake of SB 8’s enactment, numerous women’s march was a blueprint for what displays of support last weekend by we can do to help.

Since SB 8 members of the took effect, many Rice community Rice students and other actions have wanted to in the previous take action, but it weeks have shed Even though it might not hasn’t always been light on how change the law, the Rice clear what they we can support community showing up could do about it. each other and to support the women’s While some have come together to attended protests support causes march was a blueprint for or set out to raise we are passionate what we can do to help. awareness for about.

Even before the march, students issues related to reproductive rights, not and faculty alike found other mediums everyone has the time or desire to do so, to express their concerns with the even if they still want to help in some legislation. Students hosted study way. Throughout previous editorials, breaks to provide safe spaces for others we’ve continuously called for support who were shocked by the news. Various from professors and the Rice community departments on campus collaborated on many other important topics, but with to host an informational webinar on only vague ideas as to what that could the impacts of Texan women’s abortion and should look like. This weekend, and access today and how reproductive the weeks since the implementation of restrictions have historically impacted SB 8, have been a prime example of how to do that. People from all across the women.

On Saturday, student organizations Rice community found ways to respond gathered across campus in large and show support for their classmates groups to head downtown, individual and peers in ways big and small. No students grabbed friends and hopped matter the topic, it is promising to see on the METRO and adults on campus such a display of solidarity, and we hope went out of their way to support the that the Rice community continues to students. Duncan College Magister Eden band together in this way.

In the fall semester of my freshman the fundamental premise that dissent year, I wrote what I thought was a relatively is not heresy, that opinions are not innocuous opinion piece for the Thresher existential threats, and that ostracization on free speech at Rice. I realize now that is not activism. As John F. Kennedy said the omnipresent threat to freedom of at his inaugural address six decades expression on college campuses is just ago, “civility is not a sign of weakness,” one manifestation of a much larger and nor is it an impediment to progress. The more pernicious phenomenon: visceral, expression of hostility is not an antidote unadulterated hatred for those who to the plague of injustice. Antagonism is express heterodox views. If we fail to not the solution to our myriad social ills.

Everyone at Rice is here for a reason. turn back this tide of hatred currently inundating our school, I’m afraid it will It’s a refrain that’s as accurate as it is eventually consume every heterodox tired. Since I arrived at Rice in the fall thinker in its path and leave in its wake a of 2019, I have been enriched every day trail of stifled minds and frightened souls. by interactions with some of the most My experience following the brilliant, insightful people I’ve ever met. I publication of that piece has been have listened intently, debated vigorously illuminating. In the immediate aftermath, and changed my mind countless times. online comments ascribed to me, among However, some of the invaluable insight other things, nostalgia for the days of that was so abundant on this campus has been lost — slavery, and, along with those suffice it to say, who possess it — people moderate to the scourge of their language a incivility. Students great deal on the How are we supposed to have withdrawn internet relative interface with opposing from discussions to other fora that viewpoints if we perceive to which they entail face-to-face those who hold them might otherwise interaction. Over meaningfully the past two years, as incorrigibly bigoted, contribute and I have learned ignorant or malicious? suppressed their more than I ever hoped to know about the destructive views for the sake of maintaining their potential of ideological hatred. I come standing; in extreme cases, students from a family of liberal Jews, and my best may even feel the need to pack up their friend is a lifelong conservative. I have invaluable insights and take them to other a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps universities. If, as the two years since my ethos and a deep concern for the welfare failed invocation of it have indicated, of our society. I am an institutionalist the desire to realize John Stuart Mill’s with a healthy dose of skepticism towards aspirational vision of a marketplace of prevailing orthodoxies. What I am not is ideas is not a compelling impetus for the remediation of this issue, allow me to an evil fascist.

The thesis of the article that I published propose an alternative: the pursuit of a what feels like a millennium ago was that kinder, more inclusive campus culture.

Two years ago, I asked the Rice opposing views should not be silenced.

I fear that this article did not have the community to keep an open mind. intended effect because I mistakenly Today, I make a much simpler request assumed that a necessary condition for that, if unheeded, will not only render the internalization of that message was proper adherence to my original request present when, in fact, it was not. How are impossible but will also make Rice we supposed to interface with opposing University a far less hospitable place: viewpoints if we perceive those who hold Keep an open heart. And maybe, just them as incorrigibly bigoted, ignorant or maybe, an open mind will follow. malicious?

Two years ago, if someone asked me what I meant for readers to take away from my article, I would have said something David Getter to the effect of: don’t silence those with WILL RICE COLLEGE whom you disagree. I now recognize that JUNIOR restraining the instinct to do so requires the increasingly rare acknowledgment of their humanity. It requires us to accept

The Rice community showed us how to show up

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Open your heart to those with whom you disagree

CORRECTIONS In “Waitz no more: Crowd level monitoring now available at Fondren,” the company that Fondren Library partnered with is Occuspace, not Waitz Corporation.

EDITORIAL STAFF Savannah Kuchar* Editor-in-Chief Ben Baker-Katz* Managing Editor Ivanka Perez* Senior Editor NEWS Talha Arif* Editor Hajera Naveed Asst. Editor Bonnie Zhao Asst. Editor OPINION Nayeli Shad* Editor FEATURES Nicole Lhuillier Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Morgan Gage* Editor

* Indicates Editorial Board member SPORTS Daniel Schrager* Editor BACKPAGE Timmy Mansfield Editor COPY Bhavya Gopinath Editor Jonathan Cheng Editor WEB & VIDEO Brandon Chen Web Editor Jasmine Liou Video Editor PHOTO Channing Wang Photo Editor Katherine Hui Asst. Photo Editor

DESIGN Robert Heeter Art Director Anna Chung News Siddhi Narayan Opinion Katherine Chui Features Ivana Hsyung Arts & Entertainment Andi Rubero Sports Lauren Yu Backpage ILLUSTRATION Chloe Xu Illustrator Ndidi Nwosu Illustrator Andrea Gomez Illustrator BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Karoline Sun Business Operations Deema Beram Social Media Amanda Mae Ashley Distribution

The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper of 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. on the Friday prior to publication and must be signed, including college and year if the writer is a Rice student. The Thresher reserves the right to edit letters for content and length and to place letters on its website.

Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center: 6100 Main St., MS-524 Houston, TX 77005-1892 Phone: (713) 348 - 4801 Email: thresher@rice.edu Website: www.ricethresher.org The Thresher is a member of the ACP, TIPA, CMA, and CMBAM. © Copyright 2021

6 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

The Campanile: A look at Rice’s yearbook

THE RICE THRESHER

FROM FRONT PAGE

PETS ON CAMPUS BEANIE

COURTESY KATE COLEY

DISHA BALDAWA

FOR THE THRESHER

Rice’s undergraduate population has the opportunity to join clubs ranging from STEM-focused organizations to writing-intensive publications. Rice’s very own student-run undergraduate yearbook, the Campanile, falls under this wide spectrum.

The Campanile has evolved in many ways since its early years. More than just a yearbook with headshots or a box of items, it is now a collection of stories and senior photographs — a history of the academic year and a record of student voices.

According to the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive, the Campanile’s first edition was published by members of the first graduating class in 1916 (the same year the Thresher started publishing). The book featured individual photographs of all students along with pictures of the campus. Later, in 1970, the Campanile was not a yearbook but a time capsule that was handed out to students.

Juliana Phan, the Campanile’s current editor-in-chief, said she plans to make this year’s yearbook a record of big changes in the student culture and a remembrance of the past.

“The Campanile theme for this year’s book is ‘Urban Legends,’ and what we are hoping to do with that is just cover fun stories on campus, like horror stories or traditions at each college that other colleges may not even know about and other fun stories,” Phan said. “I’m hoping to tell those things but also kind of look back at what has been lost because of COVID.” Phan, a sophomore from Lovett College, said that since the yearbook is published once a year, it is natural for people to overlook or even just forget about it -more so during a pandemic. According to Phan, the Campanile was understaffed in the previous academic year and she was its only staff member at the beginning of this year.

“If people write stories, someone else can design it because usually there [are] separate people for that,” Phan said.

“Last year, because we were so severely understaffed, everyone kind of did everything. No matter what people came on as, last year everyone who wrote stories also had to design their own stories.”

Phan said that this year, she plans to achieve her goal of implementing the theme, ‘Urban Legends,’ with the help of a strong team of freshmen she recently recruited for the photography, design and writing departments. Staff members can also pursue interests in departments other than those they are currently working for, according to Phan.

“This year what I’m hoping to do is [have] some kind of communication with everyone getting to do what they want to do and do what they enjoy the most.

And just making it a welcoming enough environment that people feel comfortable communicating with one another what kind of things they need for their stories,” Phan said.

According to Phan, some of the topics that the yearbook staff hope to include are university-wide events, college-specific events, COVID policies’ impact on students and important social changes at Rice.

This story has been cut off for print.

Read more at ricethresher.org.

RA Kate Coley (Duncan College ’11) and her three-legged dog, Beanie, have a home at Duncan. Beanie, also known as Bean, gets to meet many people throughout the day. “[Beanie] loves everybody. I’ve never seen her not like a person or not like a dog. She just loves being on a college campus,” Coley said.

The 4-month-old puppy enjoys munching on grass and cicadas, her owner said.

“She really likes to pull grass out by the root. She’s done that since she was a puppy,” Coley said. “She gets a lot of joy out of it.”

ALBIE AND POLO

Beanie has recently begun to explore all that the Rice campus has to offer. According to Coley, Beanie used to be very afraid of leaving the area around Duncan. Coley said she took Beanie to her office at Huff House, where she works as an associate director of alumni programs, but Beanie was really scared by it.

“She’s very skittish, and now she’s very into exploring,” Coley said. “She does like being by Duncan, she loves watching the construction. She’ll just lay down and stare at it.”

COURTESY NAOKO OZAKI

COURTESY MICHEL AND MELANIE ACHARD Michel and Melanie Achard, the Sid Richardson College magisters, have two cats, Albie and Polo. Albie, the Achards said, seems to flourish in the college environment.

“Rather than just being cat-like and avoiding people, [Albie] likes to interact with people. That’s definitely because he’s been on campus,” Melanie Achard said.

Polo, the older of the two at 12 years old, is

more reserved, preferring to hunt and spend time outside. However, according to Achard, he had to become an inside-only cat when the Achards became magisters.

Polo was asked to model for a photoshoot for a student in a photography program, Achard said.

“Polo] got posed up and [the student] got many pictures of him. We thought that was adorable,” she said.

PHEASHY Not all pets on campus are warm and cuddly. Pheashy, a fish that resides in Will Rice College Old Dorm kitchen, is cold and clammy.

“Pheashy popped up at some point last year. Apparently, someone who had graduated moved out in a hurry and left this fish behind. So our old dorm RAs, Jeremy and Chelsea, took care of them for a bit and moved them to the Old Dorm kitchen, where Pheashy resides to this day,” said Nikhaz Omar, a Will Rice senior.

Pheashy’s original owner and current caretaker are a bit of a mystery.

“No one knows who left the fish behind, and no one knows who’s been taking care of it for the year plus that it’s been here,” Omar said.

Since Pheashy’s indoctrination to Will Rice, a Slack channel with 21 members has been made to discuss the fish’s well being.

The channel was also where Pheashy finally received a name, according to Omar. The name is a play on Pheaky, the Will Rice mascot.

Despite the fish’s unorthodox living situation, Pheashy has come a long way since their original abandonment.

“Pheashy seems really resilient. They lived a lot longer than any of us expected Pheashy to,” Omar said. “Old Dorm kitchen is not the best place for any living being to live in for a long amount of time, but Pheashy’s doing it.”

COURTESY BENJAMIN LAMB

BRUCE LEIGH Hidden in Lovett Colege are two adorable cats that collectively go by the moniker “Bruce Leigh.”

The 7-month-old siblings live with Lovett College resident associate Naoko Ozaki.

“I wanted to have two names that didn’t rhyme, and I wanted to give them Japanese names,” Ozaki said. “I was thinking, like, George Takei and Ken Watanabe — all these actors that I liked.”

Ozaki said that she knew Georges and Kens in real life, however, so finding the perfect name was tricky at first. When she finally settled on actor Bruce Lee, she changed the spelling of his last name to reflect Leigh’s gender.

The cats enjoy climbing and playing on a large cat tree gifted to them by a Rice faculty member.

The attention from students also contributes to their spoiled lifestyle, according to Ozaki.

“They’re really privileged cats,” Ozaki said.

According to Ozaki, Bruce and Leigh have gotten into a lot of trouble since moving into Lovett. Ozaki said around 4 a.m. one night, they popped leftover balloons from a party and made quite the ruckus. She dealt with the situation by having Bruce Leigh send apology letters to their next-door neighbors.

“There are 3 of us living here, and 2 of us are naughty,” Ozaki said to the cats after the balloonpopping incident.

This story has been condensed for print. Read more at ricethresher.org.

ce recs rice rec rice recs rice re r s rice recs rice ecsrice rice recs recs ric ric ecs recs rice recs r ce recs rice recs rec WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 7

THE RICE THRESHER

the thresher’s

design by robert heeter recs by thresher staff

Are you a freshman new to Houston? Technically a sophomore but lived remote last year? A senior looking for new places to try before you graduate? And whatever the juniors are up to, we’ve got you covered. Our staff has compiled H-Town recommendations for you, from bars to barber shops and everything in between. tacos

Brothers Taco House If you’re looking for tacos beyond Rice Village, steer away from Torchy’s for something more authentic: Brothers Taco House, a tiny but mighty joint with affordable offerings.

Despite the ordering line’s resemblance to a servery, the food is infinitely better. Individual tacos clock in at $3 or less, depending on the taco, and include breakfast tacos as well. We recommend any of the tacos with meat filling, as well as the meal plates.

Runner-up: Tacos Tierra Caliente

SAVANNAH KUCHAR / THRESHER

thrift store

Family Thrift Center If you’re able to make the trip and looking for a large selection of clothing at low prices, Family Thrift is the perfect place to find your new fall fits. Well-organized by clothing type, size and color, this brightly-lit store makes finding exactly what you need easy, and rotating sales on already well-priced merchandise means a trip to any of Houston’s four locations will prevent some wallet strain.

Tip: At outlet stores — prices start at $2 on Thursday, with various additional drops throughout the week.

COURTESY FAMILY THRIFT CENTER

8 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

RICE RECS

coffee shop

Slowpokes A short drive from campus, this cute cafe is the perfect spot to grab a sweet pastry for breakfast with friends or a latte to sip on while studying. The quaint space has plenty of seating and features portraits of the coffee shop’s popular slow animal characters, Patches, Mash and Tasker Alexander. But if you prefer to be outside in the fresh air, you can take your coffee to go across the street to Levy Park.

Staff pick: Caramel macchiato

SAVANNAH KUCHAR / THRESHER COURTESY SLOWPOKES

vegan spot

Local Foods Self-described as “hyper-local,” Local Foods has a variety of fresh and tasty dishes, including their famous Garden Sammie sandwich.

Their menu caters perfectly to vegans, vegetarians and people who like eating seasonal alike, with sides rotated seasonally. The restaurant chain has four locations across the Houston area, including one in Rice Village right next to campus and within walking distance.

Staff pick: Quinoa burger COURTESY THE BURGER JOINT

burgers

The Burger Joint Located in Montrose, the Burger Joint is a must-try for any burger-lover in Houston. The menu offers classic burgers, as well as burgers with a twist. But what really stands out is their wide range of sauces, perfect with a side of fries. Head outside with your order for a seat at the outdoor patio. If you’re looking for a nontraditional burger, we recommend the Opa! or the Kimchi burger.

Runner-up: Hopdoddy Burger Bar

ric rec

the thre

sushi

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar Everyone should experience a sushi conveyor belt, and Kura offers a fun take on the concept that’s only a few METRO stops away.

Plenty of delectable items will pass by, and with the affordable prices and good quality, you won’t regret your impulsive selections. To top it all off, you get to see cute animations when you slide in your empty plates — rack up enough and you’ll even get a bonus prize.

Staff pick: Golden crunchy roll and sesame balls

CHANNING WANG / THRESHER

IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER

groceries

H-E-B They certainly aren’t lying when they say, “Here, Everything is Better.” H-E-B offers the quality and ambiance of a higher-end grocery store, while maintaining the prices even a college student can afford. There are two locations just a short drive from campus, one in Montrose and the other on Buffalo Speedway. Whether you’re looking for their freshly made sushi or the rich homemade brownies, you’ll never leave H-E-B disappointed.

Runner-up: Trader Joe’s

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 9

THE RICE THRESHER

doughnuts

Voodoo Doughnut Have you ever wanted a doughnut in the shape of a joint?

What about one with the star of Satan on it? Whatever your unique doughnut craving, Voodoo Doughnut is the place for you. Home of a Voodoo doll-shaped doughnut, and so much more, this Portlandbased shop has every doughnut you can imagine exists, and so much more. But don’t worry, if you’re looking for a plain, boring doughnut, they have that too.

Drive time: 10 minutes COURTESY WOOSTER’S GARDEN

IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER

bar

Wooster’s Garden With a variety of fun mixed drinks to choose from and a louder atmosphere, Wooster’s Garden is the perfect bar for a livelier Friday night out. Have a seat across from your date in their hanging chairs, or for a bigger group, gather in one of their cozy corner booths. The majority of the space is outdoors, though warning — it can be a bit crowded during peak times, so use your discretion to be COVID-safe.

Runner-up: Holman Draft House

ce cs

esher’s

korean food

Tofu Village Located out west in Chinatown, this Korean food spot is worth the drive from campus.

Serving traditional and flavorful Korean soups along with delicious Korean barbecue, the restaurant also has great options for vegetarian diners. And with generous portion sizes, you’ll have leftovers to save you from a couple additional servery meals.

Runner-up: Ohn Korean Eatery

ANNA CHUNG / THRESHER

ramen

Ramen Tatsu-ya When you pass Ramen Tatsu-ya, it’s hard to miss the humansized maneki-neko waving you in. Although they only provide one vegetarian ramen option, Tatsu-ya’s menu offers a variety of ramen with pork-based broths — a real favorite among customers. The true gem, however, lies in the add-on “flavor bombs,” which can add either spice or various flavors to any ramen of your choice.

Staff pick: Tonkatsu original ramen with a very spicy fire bomb SAVANNAH KUCHAR / THRESHER IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER

boba

Hella Bubble Hella Bubble is a favorite among local Houstonians (awarded the Best of the Best Boba in Houston by the Houston Chronicle) and is a must-try. Their signature milk cap is creamy yet airy, sweet with just the right hint of savory that perfectly balances all of their teas. The menu is stacked with cute and delicious drinks, and they offer a large selection of favorite flavors.

Staff pick: Matcha latte with red bean

10 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

RICE RECS

pizza

Romano’s Pizza Everyone has opinions on what they think is the best pizza place. While we can’t say definitively that Romano’s is the best pizza in Houston, it’s pretty damn close. Owned by two cousins who grew up in Italy and lived in NYC before relocating to Houston, Romano’s is as close to authentic New York-style pizza as we can find in the 713.

Drive time: 12 minutes

IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER

haircut

Bich Nga Hair Design Bích Who else will give you a full service haircut and wash for $12? Bích Nga has been giving fades to Rice boys for years and they’ve always kept their prices low. It’s just a short ride on the METRO and you usually don’t have to wait too long even if you didn’t make an appointment. It is cash only but you won’t find anyone who does it better at this price point.

IVANKA PEREZ / THRESHER

Runner-up: Times Barber Shop

late night

CHANNING WANG / THRESHER

Yoyo’s Hotdog Undoubtedly the most popular late-night food truck near Rice, Yoyo’s Hotdog doesn’t disappoint. Their only vice: its absurdly long line from the moment it opens till 3 a.m., but even that has its redeeming quality. Whether you’re in your PJs or just left a party, the line can be a delightful spot to socialize. Plus, those black-sauced, crunchy, fried onions on top… Yum. Walk time: 15 minutes

dessert spot

Van Leeuwen At Van Leeuwen, you get what you pay for. With unique flavors like Mac and Cheese and Honeycomb ice cream, plus the classics, you won’t be disappointed. Van Leeuwen also offers tasty vegan ice cream made from oat and cashew milk. This place can be a bit pricey, so if you’re looking to get some high quality ice cream and can share it with friends, we recommend splitting a pint.

Runner-up: Dessert Gallery

SAVANNAH KUCHAR / THRESHER

outdoor spot

Hermann Park Just across Main Street and the METRO tracks from campus is one of Houston’s gems, Hermann Park. With a number of trails, two flowerful gardens and open grassy spaces, it’s the perfect spot for a run, picnic or any outdoor activity. The park is also home to the Houston Zoo, a large pond with pedal boats available for rent, and an outdoor theater with free music performances. There’s even a public, 18-hole golf course and driving range, if you’re into that. Hermann Park is ideal for a weekend excursion, or if you just really need to escape campus for a few hours.

Runner-up: Memorial Park SAVANNAH KUCHAR / THRESHER

design by robert heeter recs by thresher staff ricethresher.org

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 11

FEATURES

Students talk religious holidays at Rice SHIYU MIAO

and socially distanced, at his home last semester. According to Naqvi, it was the first time in several years that Ramadan occurred during the school year, so last semester’s dinner started as an iftar, the meal that breaks the fast at sunset.

Faruk said he enjoyed relaxing with the MSA and meeting new members at Leebron’s dinner.

“We were served various delicious foods and were able to share many conversations with each other as well as President Leebron, which was delightful,” Faruk said.

Ava Fradlin Ryan, a Wiess College sophomore, said that she celebrated Rosh Hashanah from Sept. 6 to 8 this year.

According to Mark Helman, president of Chabad Student Jewish Life, Rosh Hashanah, which commemorates the creation of the world, is the first day of the year in the Jewish calendar, and it is a two-day holiday in the United States.

Fradlin Ryan said she made her New Year’s resolutions and then went to Chabad Student Jewish Life, one of the two Jewish organizations on campus.

Brandon Ba, a Baker College senior, said his family celebrates the Buddhist festivals Kathina in October and Waso in July, which both involve donating robes to monks. Ba said his family goes to a monastery either in Austin or Houston and makes donations for electricity, general upkeep or new facilities.

“Being a monk, you’re heavily dependent on the donations of others,” Ba said.

THRESHER STAFF There are different stories behind Diwali, a Hindu holiday that usually falls in October or November. One such tale describes the god Krishna’s defeat of a demon on that day and another tells of the return of the god-king Rama after defeating a demon.

Regardless of the story behind the holiday, Diwali is about the triumph of good over evil, according to Will Rice College junior Vaishnavi Movva. She said Hindus celebrate by praying in the temple for prosperity for the year and lighting up little lamps called “diyas” outside their homes.

Rice has a diverse student body with many religious beliefs like Movva’s.

The Thresher talked to nine students about observing religious holidays and practicing their faiths at Rice.

Festive occasions Movva said she also celebrates the Hindu festival Navaratri, which translates into “Nine Nights.” Movva said Navaratri honors the female aspect of Hinduism, and each one of the nine days is dedicated to a different goddess.

According to Movva, the Garba dance, which may involve 2,000 to 3,000 people each night, is one of the major parts of Navaratri. Movva said she enjoyed attending a large Garba night co-hosted

by South Asian Society and the University of Houston her freshman year.

“It was a really nice way to spend time with people on campus ... and people out in Houston with [a] similar [religious] focus,” Movva said.

Alina Naqvi (Will Rice ’21), the former co-president of Rice Muslim Student Association, said President Leebron held his annual dinner for the MSA, outdoors

Fasting Religious holidays involve not only festive celebrations; some also require fasting from food and drink. During Ramadan, Muslims do not consume food and water from sunset to sunrise in order to focus on prayer and contemplation,

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER according to Naqvi. She said the last Ramadan fell partially during the school year, so she and other Muslim students had to attend classes while fasting.

“I adjusted my study schedule so that I did most of my work after breaking my fast so that I was able to concentrate better,” Naqvi said. “As difficult as it was, especially taking finals while fasting, Ramadan teaches you about patience, so I was able to get through it.”

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Faruk said late-night exams and lack of Zabiha halal food options made fasting at Rice difficult. According to Faruk, he often had to break his fast in an extremely quick manner while taking a final exam. He said dehydration and feelings of hunger can make the first few days of Ramadan particularly challenging.

This story has been cut for print. Read more at ricethresher.org.

1 Zap 5 Like a ___ __ 11-down 10 Spanish dessert 14 Older brother, in Korean 15 Tennis star Naomi 16 Leaf collector 17 Global oil cartel, for short 18 Abraham’s wife, in “Genesis” 19 Country where Farsi is spoken 20 Chips which may be loaded 22 “Planet Money” station, abbr.

23 “The Incredibles” fashion designer Mode 24 Zit cream?

26 Expensive notebook alternative 28 Mouse catcher 31 Like the “Iliad” or the “Mahabharata” 33 Den, for a bear 36 Houston, colloquially 38 Aquarium equivalent, for land plants 41 Pledge 42 “Doctor Who” exterminator 43 Gateway Arch architect Saarinen 44 Beasts 46 V8, but not the drink 47 From Machu Picchu 48 Endure 50 NNW opposite 51 Biblical ships 53 Prefix for profit or sense 54 Neutron’s nest 57 Epitome 59 Green tropical fruits 64 Stitch’s best friend 65 Slumber stopper 67 Like a gander or drake 68 Uptight 69 Grandma, lovingly 70 Network of the ESPYs 71 Office that oversees STRIVE and CTIS 72 Citric acid cycle, by another name 73 Dove dwelling

DOWN

1 Lola Bunny, for one 2 Aang’s sky bison 3 Blueprint detail, briefly 4 Every’s partner 5 Close call 6 Country where Navajo is spoken 7 Red farm structure 8 Giraffe relative 9 Big Tex site 10 Battered cookie 11 Pig fat 12 Language of Ghana 13 “99 Luftballons” singer 21 Unlocked 25 Ravi Shankar’s instrument 27 Lawyers’ org.

28 One-third of Neopolitan, for short 29 Video game pioneer and creator of “Pong” 30 How far one can get on two hands?

32 A-lister 34 Keto and paleo, for example 35 Capital of Germany and France?

37 Game featuring mallets and burrowing rodents 39 Tree sap 40 Minimalist catchphrase: “Less is ____” 42 Game featuring a tub of water and a bullseye 45 Sticky road goop 46 Dish list 49 Doctrines 52 Lorde’s 2021 album “_____ Power” 54 Wistful word 55 ____ Snow, Megan Thee Stallion’s alter ego 56 “Frozen” snowman 58 Window component 60 “You got that right!”

61 Bouquet holder?

62 Mountain range of Switzerland or New Zealand 63 Dispatched 66 Genre of Destiny’s Child and Alicia Keys

12 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

THE RICE THRESHER

R2: The Rice Review creates space for literature and community at (More) ACL artists MICHELLE GACHELIN

THRESHER STAFF

Last week, the Thresher compiled our recommendations of smaller artists to look out for at the Austin City Limits Festival this year. Now that the festival’s second weekend is rapidly approaching, we wanted to share even more artists that we’re excited to see. We would hate for you to miss out on any incredible performances, and on the chance to possibly meet other people with similar (amazing) music tastes. Read on to discover your new favorite artists, check out our guide on navigating the festival this year and listen to our favorite tracks of the festival this year.

Jesse Annan van der Meulen, a Jones College sophomore performs at R2’s Open Mic night. Students gathered in Ray’s Courtyard on Sept. 30 to peform and watch readings of poety, prose and more as well as musical performances.

RACHEL JOHNSON / THRESHER

SARAH DARILEK

FOR THE THRESHER Nearly 300 Rice community members showed up under the glowing string lights of Ray’s Courtyard on Sept. 30 to both perform and listen to Rice students and alumni read poetry and prose, perform original and cover songs and more at R2: The Rice Review’s fall Open Mic Night.

R2’s Open Mic Night serves as one part of the undergraduate organization’s purpose, according to Ian Schimmel, R2’s faculty advisor, who described the organization’s intent as both creating and publishing a literary magazine as well as fostering spaces.

“The dual functions of R2 [are] to make a book in the traditional sense of literary production, but then also to think outside of that mold,” Schimmel, senior lecturer in creative writing at Rice, said. “How can we make spaces and opportunities and projects so that people engage with literature more in their everyday life? What you hear in an event like Open Mic Night is just how critical that space is for everyone on campus, regardless of their major or academic interests.”

Through both R2’s magazine and its public events, the group hopes to simultaneously expand the Rice community’s perception of literature, while giving space to the many voices on campus, according to Schimmel.

“While literature is serious, it can also be funny. It can also be quirky. It can be charming,” Schimmel said. “From the outside looking in, [literature] can seem like it’s a very narrow definition, and it’s our job, as [R2] staff, to broaden what people expect of literature and [their] understanding of what literature can do for a community.”

Hannah Young, one of R2’s editorsin-chief, said that she would like to see

more submissions to the magazine in the future. R2’s submission period spans from November to December. Students of all majors are encouraged to submit poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, literary translations and visual art.

“Something that I’d like to see is just continuing to get more and more undergraduates aware of [R2] and submitting to it,” Young, a Wiess College junior, said.

This focus on community also extends to the larger Houston and global community. Colton Alstatt, an R2 editorin-chief, said that during their freshman year R2 sold copies of their magazine at a Houston Zinefest. According to Alsatt, R2 is deciding what sort of community outreach the organization will be taking

While literature is serious, it can also be funny. It can also be quirky. It can be charming... It’s our job, as [R2] staff, to broaden what people expect of literature.

Ian Schimmel R2 FACULTY ADVISOR

on this school year.

“I would love to see us go back [and] have Rice be a literary or artistic presence in Houston again,” Alstatt, a Lovett College senior, said. “So we’re deciding in committees whether they want to do something out in Houston, or like a charitable cause or around rights. Yeah, something with that idea of supporting community – fostering art, either at Rice or beyond.”

Similarly, one of R2’s goals this year is to expand their reach according to Marcus Munshi, one of R2’s editors-in-

chief. Munshi, a Duncan College junior, said that R2’s staff as a whole hopes to continue expanding their digital reach at Rice, while third- and fourthyear members of the magazine are also working on a new magazine (Texlandia) featuring writers across the world.

Members of R2 enroll in a course that is 1.5 credit hours each semester.

“We always start off the year with Open Mic [Night] as team bonding,” Munshi said. “Then we’re sort of separating into the years. First years are learning more about what it means to study, evaluate and to be a part of the magazine from Ian. Second years are getting ready to lead the sections, and they’re also working on a digital [literary] initiative. Third years, we’ve been working on ‘Texlandia Magazine’ and offer[ing] guidance to the second years as to how they can take the lead at R2 now.”

With the spring semester comes a focus on producing the literary magazine. In the spring, R2 staff look through all the submissions for the magazine at “The Big Read,” a meeting from 6:30-11:00 PM involving lots of food, caffeine, discussion and jokes, according to Munshi.

“My sort of brand became making bad food jokes about pieces,” Munshi said.

“Like, ‘This is a deep fried ice cream at the Texas Fair that you regret eating’ … so we have a lot of fun like that.”

In the weeks after this meeting, Munshi said that the individual sections will meet to discuss the pieces and suggest edits.

For Young, this process builds community among the R2 staff and is something that stands out the most to her.

“R2, yeah, it’s the literary undergraduate magazine, but it’s [also] a community of like-minded people, who are passionate about something similar,” Young said. “I enjoy spending time with them to make this thing together.”

Tierra Whack

Song to try out: “Hungry Hippo” Recommended if you like: Solange Knowles, Tyler, the Creator

Gracie Abrams

Song to try out: “Feels Like” Recommended if you like: Clairo, Sody, Julia Michaels

Serena Isioma

Song to try out: “Sensitive“ Recommended if you like: Jhené Aiko, Remi Wolf, SZA

Cautious Clay

Song to try out: “REASONS” Recommended if you like: Omar Apollo, Rex Orange County

Holly Humberstone

Song to try out: “Drop Dead” Recommended if you like: Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers

Dermot Kennedy Song to try out: “Rome”

Recommended if you like: Sam Fender, Lewis Capaldi Read more online at ricethresher.org.

Listen: Thresher’s Best of ACL Playlist

WEEKLY SCENES AND SCREENS “ON THE VERGE”

Rice’s Visual and Dramatic Arts department will be performing “On the Verge, or, The Geography of Yearning” in Hamman Hall at 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 8 and 9 with a 3:00 p.m. matinee on Oct. 10. Student tickets are $5, faculty and staff tickets are $8 and general admission are $10.

HORROR ART EXHIBIT Prime Art Gallery’s Horror Art Exhibit opens six rooms of horror art to the public on Oct. 10 and will remain open through Oct. 31.

Admission is $10 and can be purchased ahead of time online.

FESTIVAL CHICANO

The “42nd Annual Festival Chicano” will be on Oct. 7-9 at various times at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The festival is a reflection of a celebration of culture with several musical performances. Tickets are free but are available to reserve online ahead of time.

GREEK FESTIVAL

From Oct. 7-9 enjoy live music and dance, food, shopping, and more at the Original Greek Festival held at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. The festival is from 5-10 p.m. on Oct. 7 and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Oct. 8 and 9. Admission is $5.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Relax near campus

MUST-SEE HORROR

SARAH BARTOS

THRESHER STAFF

During midterm season, it’s important to prioritize mental and physical wellbeing while ensuring all your papers are cited and your benzene rings are perfectly drawn. Here are the Thresher’s suggestions for places or options to relax and unwind off-campus.

The “cult of busyness” is a mindset that tends to take over during the semester, especially during midterms and finals season. However, it’s imperative to take time to relax, be mindful of the present and check in with yourself. Hopefully, these few places and things to do will give you time to practice relaxation and self-care.

Work out your stress with yoga One activity that is the epitome of holistic wellness and health is yoga.

This activity has caught the attention of doctors, psychologists and others in the wellness community for helping alleviate symptoms of psychological stress. If you are interested in yoga, there are several yoga studios around campus!

Black Swan Yoga is a non-profit hot yoga studio with locations in the Heights, West University and Midtown, offering a range of yoga classes for beginners and experienced yogis alike. They also offer online classes. For those uneager to commit, the studio offers a limited free trial. DEFINE body & mind is another option for yoga classes. What DEFINE does differently than traditional studios is they offer a hammock yoga class. This studio is located in River Oaks and offers in-studio memberships at a monthly cost and online classes.

HADLEY MEDLOCK

THRESHER STAFF

photo courtesy a24

ANDREA GOMEZ / THRESHER

Create at a local pottery studio Take a break from drawing organic chemistry structures, and create something for yourself. I am a terrible artist, but I’ve found that mindfully drawing, writing, curating Spotify playlists, just being creative, in general, is a great way to destress. Pottery is a unique artistic option, and Purple Glaze Pottery in Rice Village is a great place to paint various ceramic pieces.

You can choose from over 200 pieces of pottery to paint and have an unlimited supply of paint and art tools. Once you are done with your masterpiece, it takes around five days to fire and glaze.

Take a spa day The prototypical at-home self-care day is a face mask with freshly cut cucumbers over your eyes (that will eventually be removed to enjoy your “New Girl” or “Grey’s Anatomy” marathon). But what if you don’t want a DIY

REVIEW: ‘VENOM 2’ SASWAT PATI

FOR THE THRESHER When “Venom” was first released in Oct. 2018, the idea of Spider-Man’s greatest villain — previously seen in “Spiderman 3” — leading his own movie created much skepticism for critics and fans alike. However the film itself exceeded all expectations. The story of investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the parasitic symbiote Venom teaming up to save the world was a hit, and the film grossed $856 million globally.

While not an outright critical success — the film holds a 30 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes — the original “Venom” was a crowd pleaser and, in my opinion, a solid popcorn flick.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”

Whereas the original “Venom” focused primarily on developing the relationship between the plucky Brock and his symbiote, the sequel fails to make new characters that feel understandable or realistic, while also distorting the key relationship. Above all, the film suffers from a lack of proper pacing in its extremely short 90-minute runtime. It feels like the film is split into two: The first part drags while the second rushes through the plot.

The film opens shortly after the conclusion of the original. Brock and his symbiote Venom’s relationship is on the rocks, because Brock refuses to let the parasite feed on the humans which it needs for energy. While this is happening, Brock is also investigating the serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) who is on death row. After a visit to the prison, Brock and Venom are able to deduce the location of the bodies of Kasady’s victims leading to Kasady (who refuses to speak to anyone aside from Brock for an unspecified reason) being set for execution. The conflict of the film begins here after Kasady, prior to being executed, attacks Brock and bites him, absorbing

a part of Venom who then becomes the titular villain Carnage.

The opening act of the film is shockingly slow with the direction feeling almost meandering at times. Whereas the relationship of Brock and Venom had a certain electricity in the first film, here the dialogue did not land and many of the jokes felt contrived. Though some chemistry appeared on the screen with the return of Brock’s former fiancée Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) and her new fiancé Dan Lewis (Reid Scott), it felt stale and forgettable.

After Carnage is absorbed into Kasady’s body, the film quickly picks up steam.

The second and third act are a marked improvement over the first with fantastic set pieces that truly feel ripped from a comic book page. The CGI is surprisingly clean, with seemingly natural action scenes, and some well-timed jokes sprinkled throughout the head pounding was a nice addition. Nonetheless, the second half of the film felt quite short.

If the film had spent more time here fortifying the motivations of the villains Carnage and Shriek, the conflict would have then resonated much more.

This all said, there are some positives from the film. Most notably is the midcredit scene which was so good and impactful that it almost redeemed sitting through the entire movie. Without giving away spoilers, it is, in my opinion, the best post-credit scene in any Marvel movie.

In addition to this, the acting is superb across the board. Hardy, in particular, again nails the comic book feeling of Brock’s character and really sells the character’s emotions.

Overall fans of the original Venom will leave somewhat disappointed with this sequel. Although it has some highs, the film feels hurried and needs better character development.

version? Face Haus, a “facial bar,” takes self-care to the next level, offering a wide variety of comprehensive facials and other skin care treatments for all of your skin care needs. Face Haus’s prime location next to Rice Village’s Starbucks provides customers wiht the opportunity to grab a coffee on your way out. Similarly, Thai Healing Massage Center offers top-notch massages in West University Place. Their various spa services and massages are priced by time and treatment.

Curl up with coffee and a cat What is the antithesis of a stressful environment? Anywhere with kittens. El Gato Coffeehouse is Houston’s first and only cat cafe. They offer a wide variety of coffee and tea beverages and have cats and kittens for patrons to interact with. Due to COVID regulations, you do have to book a group session in advance.

“Midsommar” Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

photo courtesy RLj entertainment

“Color Out of Space” Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video

photo courtesy legendary pictures

“Crimson Peak” Where to Watch: Netflix

Read more online at ricethresher.org.

14 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

THE RICE THRESHER

FEATURE

Nicole Lennon’s killer instinct REED MYERS

When the time came to pick a college to continue her volleyball and academic When she first arrived at Rice four endeavors, Rice seemed to have it all for years ago, senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon.

“I picked Rice for so many reasons,” Lennon knew she wanted to find a way to immortalize her career. Now, as she Lennon said. “The big ones are the heads into the stretch of her fifth and academics, the location and the potential final season at Rice, Lennon has found a of the volleyball program. The coaches way to do just that. After more than four have also been awesome from the first seasons playing a key role in bringing time I ever talked to them.”

Lennon’s decorated career, which the Owls to the national stage, the twotime Conference USA player of the year is includes two Second Team All-American honors according to VolleyballMag.com, closing in on Rice’s all-time kills record. “[When I got here], I knew I just has come as a part of the first Rice team wanted to make a positive difference for to win the C-USA tournament and teams Rice volleyball, and that there would that have made the NCAA tournament be a way to immortalize that,” Lennon for three consecutive years. During said. “Now, I see breaking the all-time Lennon’s career, the Owls have faced kills record as a way to leave my mark on and knocked down some of the nation’s this program—a way to immortalize what perennial volleyball powerhouses. Twice in Lennon’s career, has been the most she helped Rice exciting 4.5 years beat a top-three of my life.” ranked University of As it stands, Texas, Austin team, Lennon has 1,945 I genuinely could not have providing statement kills, 24 shy of asked for a better career. I that have Rebeca Pazo’s have accomplished things victories helped establish the record. With the Owls as a legitimate record on pace I never thought I would, NCAA tournament to be broken the [kills] record included. team, according to during the Owls’ Lennon. upcoming series Nicole Lennon “Beating Texas against Louisiana SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER twice was an Tech University, Lennon reflected on her volleyball career [unbeatable] experience.” Lennon said. and how it all started with her love for “Both times were the hardest I’ve seen my team fight, and those wins brought us the game.

“I started volleyball casually in closer as a team. And I love being able to second grade, just playing in a small put Rice volleyball on the map.”

But for Lennon, while the victories and league at the YMCA,” Lennon said. “My love for volleyball really sparked though accolades have accumulated throughout when I started playing competitively her career, the relationships that she has [for a] club [team] in seventh grade. My made on the team throughout the years love for competing is what has kept me is what she said that she treasures the most. playing the game all these years.”

SENIOR WRITER

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER Senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon serves the ball in a recent game. Lennon, a two time Conference USA player of the year, is closing in on the Owls’ all-time kills record.

“Cliché as it is, my favorite thing about being a part of the Rice volleyball team has been the relationships I’ve formed with my teammates,” Lennon said. “I have gotten so close with them over the years and have formed lifelong friendships. As a bonus, it’s been fun competing with the big dogs alongside my best friends.”

Relationships seem to come easy for Lennon, who describes herself as a major extrovert, which is why it comes as no surprise to see her flourishing in Rice’s community.

“My favorite thing about being a student-athlete at Rice is the community,” Lennon said. “Having instant friendships with the other student-athletes is great and has made my experience at Rice so fun. It’s also great to have such fervent support of women’s sports from our student body; I love it when I go to class and one of my classmates congratulates me or says they enjoyed watching the game. I am also grateful for caring professors.”

Not only does Lennon, a double major in psychology and economics, love to take part in Rice’s community, but being a student-athlete at Rice has also allowed

the outside hitter to further her academic passions as well.

“Psychology is as big of a passion to me as volleyball is,” Lennon said. “I am heavily involved in research on and off campus. After undergrad, I plan on getting my Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology, and then becoming a clinical psychologist one day.”

But before the four time C-USA commissioner’s honor roll recipient departs to get her Ph.D., Lennon said that she wants to cap her storied career with more wins, titles and accomplishments.

“This year we want to win the conference,” Lennon said. “Then, we want to go further in the NCAA tournament than we have before. We have a chip on our shoulder.”

As she closes in on the kills record, Lennon is well on her way to immortalizing her Rice volleyball legacy.

Looking back on her career, she said that she has accomplished things that she could not have imagined accomplishing coming into Rice.

“I genuinely could not have asked for a better career,” Lennon said. “I have accomplished things I never thought I would, the [kills] record included.”

Volleyball settles into conference play after brutal non-conference schedule DANIEL SCHRAGER

SPORTS EDITOR

Just four games into their conference schedule, Rice volleyball has nearly doubled their win total from their ten non-conference games. That’s in large part due to the quality of the Owls’ non-conference opponents, which head coach Genny Volpe said might have been the toughest of any team in college volleyball.

“All five of our losses have been to teams that rank in the top 20 in the [Rating Percentage Index],” Volpe said.

“I don’t know many teams that have that resume of competition prior to conference play.”

The Owls’ first ten games featured four teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s rankings, including games against the top two teams in this week’s rankings — the University of Texas, Austin and the University of Pittsburgh.

Rice went 0-4 in those games, while they were 5-1, including four sweeps, in all other non-conference games. These losses dropped the Owls, who began the season ranked No. 23 in the country, out

of AVCA rankings entirely. But according to Volpe, those games allowed Rice to realize their weaknesses with enough time for the Owls to fix them before the postseason.

“Our goal is to win [Conference] USA, and go deep in the NCAA tournament,” Volpe said. “We can’t control a lot of variables, but we have done a great job of scheduling tough [competition] to challenge ourselves and to see what areas we need to improve upon for [conference play].”

I think we always feel like we have something to prove. [Each] match we are playing is the most important match of the season.

Carly Graham JUNIOR SETTER

CHARLIE WELLS / THRESHER Junior defensive specialist/libero Elizabeth LaBue attempts a serve for Rice over the weekend against UTEP. The Owls have started conference play 4-0 after going 5-5 in non-conference.

Now, as they face the home stretch of their conference schedule, the Owls will look to incorporate what they learned about themselves in those difficult early season games. According to Volpe, before the team can think about a postseason run, they need to work on their consistency in the eight remaining games on their schedule.

“Now we need to prove consistency against our C-USA opponents, and hopefully be peaking at the right time, which is the C-USA tournament,” Volpe said.

So far, the Owls have done just that. Following their two wins against the University of Texas, El Paso over the weekend, the Owls are now 4-0 in conference play, including three sweeps, and 9-5 overall. The team is finally starting to build some momentum as they string together wins, according to junior setter Carly Graham.

“It’s been a great start to conference so far,” Graham said. “We are excited to keep some momentum going through our conference season.”

This trend is nothing new for the Owls.

Last year, after going 1-3 in a shortened non-conference schedule, the team went undefeated in conference play, winning nine of their 12 games in straight sets.

The year before, the team fared better in non-conference play, losing just one game, but was similarly dominant in the conference. While the team lost one conference game, in five sets against then No. 22 Western Kentucky University, they dropped just one set across their other thirteen conference games.

Given the Owls’ past success in conference play, it would be easy to get overeager and turn towards the postseason. But according to Graham, after such a difficult start to the season, the team needs to prove itself every chance it gets.

“I think we always feel like we have something to prove,” Graham said. “[Each] match we are playing is the most important match of the season.”

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 • 15

SPORTS

Football opens conference play with win over Southern Miss

CHARLIE WELLS / THRESHER Sophomore wide receive Jake Bailey outruns a Southern Mississippi defender into the endzone on Saturday. Bailey’s touchdown put the Owls up 7-0, and a strong defensive performance helped the Owls protect the lead and win their first conference game of the season.

PAVITHR GOLI

SENIOR WRITER

Rice football opened conference play with a 24-19 victory against the University of Southern Mississippi University on Saturday. Playing at home in front of over 16,000 fans, the Owls won their first conference opener since 2017 to bring their record to 2-3. The Owls opened the game with a scoring drive and kept that momentum for the rest of the four quarters, leading throughout the game.

The big headline of Saturday night’s game was the game-altering performance of the Rice defense. On a night for the record books, the Owls recorded four interceptions, as well as five sacks and nine tackles for loss, their most since 2017. In the waning moments of the game, the Owls defense made some big plays to prevent Southern Miss from taking the lead. With two total interceptions in the fourth quarter, including a gamesealing one by sophomore safety Kirk Lockhart, the Owls defense stepped up big with the game on the line to secure

Redshirt senior defensive lineman the win, according to head coach Mike Elijah Garcia said that he was very proud Bloomgren.

“The five sacks and four interceptions of the holistic defensive effort.

“I just kept trying to tell the defense were things that really changed the game,” Bloomgren said. “I think the defense did [that] we had to stay locked in and get the job done,” Garcia a great job putting said. “No matter them behind the where the ball is sticks and punishing at or the situation [Southern Miss] The five sacks and four we are in, we are a when they had the interceptions were things team defense and ball. We are all very that really changed the we play together. proud of our defense It was a tough for finishing the game. I think the defense week of practice fourth quarter the did a great job putting and I think that way that they did.” them behind the sticks translated to the In addition to game. It was a their four takeaways and punishing [Southern grimy game and we in the passing game, Miss] when they had the got it done ... I am the Owls defense ball. really proud of this stymied the Golden Mike Bloomgren defense.”

Eagles’ rushing HEAD COACH On offense, the attack. Allowing only Owls managed 57 rushing yards on 27 rushing attempts, Rice held the Southern to put up 24 points behind 192 passing Miss running backs to only 2.1 yards per yards and two touchdowns from graduate quarterback Jake Constantine, who was rushing attempt.

starting his second game of the season.

Constantine, who completed 16 passes on 22 passes, has led the Owls to two wins since replacing quarterbacks Luke McCaffery and Wiley Green, who both left the Owls’ third game of the season injured.

According to redshirt sophomore tight end Robert French, who caught Constantine’s second touchdown during the game on Saturday, the former Weber State University quarterback has done a great job since he took charge of the offense.

“I’m just really proud of him [and how] he stepped up into the starting role,” French said. “We’ve been down two quarterbacks early in the first three games. He just stepped up and made plays when he needed him too and he has continued to play really consistent ball.”

After an 0-3 start to the season, the Owls have recovered to bring their record to 2-3. Next week, the Owls have a bye week to rest and prepare for their next matchup against the undefeated University of Texas, San Antonio on Oct. 16 at 5:00 p.m. If the Owls are able to win against UTSA, they will start conference play with a record of 2-0 for the first time since 2013.

French said that the team is taking the week off in stride, as he believes that the bye week will be beneficial for player recovery and preparation for a tough opponent in the Roadrunners.

“I think it will be nice to have some guys get some rest, bring back some injured guys, and you also have two weeks to really develop our game plan for this next game,” French said. “UTSA is a tough opponent and we’ll have some time to put a really good game plan together and go out there and give them our best.”

Soccer falls to Western Kentucky in battle of C-USA heavyweights CADAN HANSON

of an energy adjustment to make sure we were meeting Western Kentucky’s effort.

In a potential Conference USA title We just couldn’t get a goal to reward game preview, Rice soccer fell to a one- them.”

After their strong start to the half, the loss Western Kentucky University team by a score of 2-0, bringing their conference Owls were unable to close the deficit. record to 2-1 and their season record to 8-3-1. Finally, with two minutes remaining, WKU sealed the Both teams victory with a late came out firing goal.

After the with multiple shot game, Lee said attempts in the first that he thought the fifteen minutes of By the time we play Owls played better the game, with none them again, they will be than the score of them finding the different and we will be would suggest. back of the net.

“It was a pretty The remainder of different. [The conference even game,” Lee the first half was tournament] is a long way a back-and-forth off... We’ll prepare for who said. “I thought we came out really fight until WKU strong in the first was awarded a we are and who they are 25 minutes of the penalty kick in the at that time because both second half. We just 41st minute, after teams will be different. didn’t get a goal. a handball was Then, of course, called against Rice Brian Lee they scored right at on a corner kick. HEAD COACH the end. But, it was The Lady Toppers converted the penalty to give them a 1-0 a pretty typical college soccer game.”

Overall, the Owls fell short in total lead. Head coach Brian Lee said he felt that WKU controlled the flow of the game shots (8-12) and shots on goal (3-6).

Individually, junior midfielder Delaney early.

“In the first half, Western [Kentucky] Schultz led the Owl’s offensive efforts with was on us,” Lee said. “We weren’t creating five shots and two shots on goal. Along a ton of chances. It was a bit unlucky to with Schultz, freshman forward Vyviene give away an unfortunate penalty which Spaulding was an offensive threat, setting up numerous shot opportunities. probably changed the game a good bit.”

“I thought Spaulding was very good,” In the second half, Rice again came out strong, with five shots in the first 11 Lee said. “She created two or three very minutes. But as the half wore on, they good chances for us. Delaney [Schultz], were still unable to find an equalizer. Lee as always, was good and [Catarina] said he was pleased with how the team Albuquerque, whenever the chips are down, is always pushing to try and get a responded to the first half deficit.

“I thought we came out great at result. I thought she was good again.”

Regardless of the loss, Lee thought that halftime,” Lee said. “We had to make a little tactical adjustment and just as much the hard-fought game is a good indication THRESHER STAFF

of the challenge that the talented C-USA conference has in store.

“It’s just more knowledge that every game is going to be tough,” Lee said.

“We’ve just got to keep working daily and preparing ourselves the best that we can and be ready for [the University of Alabama at Birmingham] on Friday night. The conference is very underrated.

Western Kentucky is a really good team.

So is UAB and [The University of Southern Mississippi] after that. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time.”

If the Owls intend to repeat as conference champions, their path may well eventually run through the Lady Toppers. With the win, Western Kentucky moved to 9-1 on the season and their conference record of 4-0 is tied for C-USA’s top spot. According to Lee, the Lady Toppers will most likely make a deep run

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Freshman midfielder Catarina Albuquerque dribbles the ball in a recent game.

Albequerque and the Owls have now lost three out of five after falling 2-0 to Western Kentucky on Saturday.

into the conference tournament, but he said that so much can change between now and then, that the Owls will be ready if they have to face the Lady Toppers again in the postseason.

“By the time we play them again, they will be different and we’ll be different,” Lee said. “It’s a long way off. There’s still five games until we get [to the conference tournament]. We’ll prepare for who we are and who they are at that time because both teams will be different.”

The loss ends Rice’s nine game unbeaten streak in conference play dating back to last season. They have now lost three of their last five after starting the season 6-0-1, and have matched their loss total from a season ago. The Owls will look to bounce back as they return home to Holloway Field where they will face UAB on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7:00 p.m.

16 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

BACKPAGE

Another pleasant week of mild flooding and electrical fires has granted some credence to the saying that you can’t predict Houston weather, but we’re gonna do it anyway! Behold, Thresher’s 7-day weather forecast prophecy!

7-DAY WEATHER PROPHECY WED

THURS

FRI

SAT

SUN

MON

TUES

95°

97°

114°

470°

10,000°

10,000°

5,778 K

High humidity but not a single cloud in the sky.

Prepare to be sweatboarded by your mask.

24 hours of straight rain. Flash flooding causes students to sail the inner loop to get to class. Dare to breathe outside and risk being waterboarded again.

Willy heard what you were saying about him and he is Not. Happy.

Rain turns to blood. People soon learn that being bloodboarded is as unpleasant as it sounds, but at least the Red Cross stops texting.

Cloudy skies and heavy rains of fire and brimstone.

Bring your steel umbrellas.

Classes will not be canceled.

Low visibility due to swarms of locusts and frogs.

A strange new pestilence will kill off all the squirrels on campus.

The sky turns black, the power grid catches on fire and Lovett doesn’t notice.

Students are forced to echolocate their way to Chaüs.

The Death of the First Years.

O-Week parents must sacrifice 1 (one) sweet, tasty cinnamon roll by smearing its frosting on their new students’ doors for mercy.

(Celsius)

That’s all for this week’s forecast.

Stay safe, Owls!

PC: Ndidi Nwosu The Backpage is the satire section of the Thresher, written this week by Ndidi Nwosu, Andrew Kim, and Timmy Mansfield and designed by Lauren Yu. For questions or comments, please email dilfhunter69@rice.edu.

CLASSIFIEDS AFTER-SCHOOL SITTER AND DRIVER Rice Alumni family of 6 (mom, dad, 3 kids and dog) seeking after-school help with kid driving and babysitting. Shifts flexible and typically in the 2 pm - 8 pm range. We live 7 blocks from the Rice post office.

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SANDWICH MAKER A small sandwich shop just minutes from campus seeking part-time help. A no-frills joint serving deli classics. No experience necessary. Call us at 713-7992544 and see if this job will work around your schedule! houstonfamousdeli. com. Email lol2315@aol.com.

RICE ALUM HIRING TUTORS For Middle & High School Math, Natural & Social Science, Foreign Language, Humanities and SAT/ACT prep. Reliable transportation required.

Pay is based upon a variety of factors.

Contact 832-428-8330 and email resume to sri.iyengar@sriacademicservices. com.

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