The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, February 23, 2022

VOLUME 106, ISSUE NO. 20 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 in memory of Kelley Lash

Rice unveils plans for new student center

Roof Outdoor amphitheater, including a projector for movies and presentations

PRAYAG GORDY

SENIOR WRITER

Second Level U-shaped food court, including The Hoot, Pub, and other vendors Convenience store Lounge space Student support offices

See RMC UPDATE PAGE 4 for the story.

First Level Welcome desk Coffeehouse Multicultural Center Campus store Grand hall & lounge space Meeting spaces & offices

Graphic by Robert Heeter; rendering courtesy Adjaye Associates Information from Anzilla Gilmore, FE&P Associate Director for Project Management and Engineering

Basement Auditorium Student media, including Thresher, KTRU, & Campanile offices Auxiliary spaces

Soul Night amplifies multidimensional Black narratives MICHELLE GACHELIN

ASST A&E EDITOR

Featuring dance, song and spoken word, Soul Night provides an outlet for Black students at Rice to unapologetically voice their individual perspectives while simultaneously celebrating their shared identities. Preceded by a dinner reception, the event is the Black Student Association’s annual cultural showcase, held in the Grand Hall for the last time.

This year, the show’s theme is Black excellence, which performers aim to honor in all of its nuances. Students and community members can watch Soul Night on Saturday, Feb. 26. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.; tickets are $10.

The acts will be ushered in by a special opening number featuring dancers and a choir, with BSA’s creative director and Soul Night coordinator Jake Barber singing lead.

“What I sing with the choir is African American spiritual, to start us off [by] bringing us back to those roots. Then we go into a current chart-topper that has dancers,” Barber, a Hanszen College senior, said. “It’ll bring a queer aspect to the show right off the bat, which is

important, because I’m gay and I want that to be reflected in there. The second song that we’re doing is by Lil Nas X, and it fires off from there.”

Barber has been planning the opening act since Dec. 2021, so additional details are being kept under wraps until the night of the event. In terms of how it relates to Black excellence, he hopes that the show will speak for itself.

“There is a large conversation around Black excellence,” Barber said. “I didn’t really want to say anything about it myself, other than just present an example of what I consider to be Black excellence, and that will be this act filled with excellent Black performers.”

Soul Night’s performers intend to continue the opening number’s momentum well into the evening.

Jermya Wilson, a Brown College junior, will present her spoken word to a live audience for the first time. Her piece titled “Here I Stand” addresses the pressure that Black women face to mold themselves to societal standards.

“By the end of the poem, it says, ‘I’m not going to be the person that you want me to be anymore, I would like to be the most authentic version of myself,’” Wilson said. ‘“Here I stand with the rest

COURTESY JAKE BARBER The Black Student Association’s annual cultural showcase was held in the RMC Grand Hall for the last time. This year’s theme is Black excellence.

of the women that came before me, with the other women that would also like to be their authentic selves.’”

Chase Brown, co-secretary of the BSA, will also touch on the performative roles that Black people are arbitrarily assigned. She hopes to counter this narrative by performing her spoken word piece with intention.

“I wanted to write something that kind of encapsulated the intersection between Blackness and performance spaces,” Brown, a Wiess College sophomore, said. “The title of my poem is ‘Perform Like This,’ and it’s basically about how race is a role that people are set to play but also the intersection of performance as something that someone chooses to do.”

To tie into the production’s overarching theme, her act represents excellence without societal constraints.

“This year’s theme is Black excellence, so I wanted to exemplify that in my poem and in the ways that Black performers have shaped entertainment,” Brown said. “And also an allusion to the simplicity, but also the joy that can come from performing.”

SEE SOUL NIGHT PAGE 9

Simpson-Sullivan, Taylor set meet records at C-USA championships CADAN HANSON

THRESHER STAFF

Over the weekend, the Rice women’s track and field team traveled to Birmingham, Alabama for the 2022 Conference USA Indoor Championships.

The Owls closed out the two-day competition with a fifth place team finish, scoring a total of 59 points. Overall, head coach Jim Bevan said he was proud of how his team competed on the biggest stage they’ve competed on yet this season.

“I am very happy and proud of the efforts over the last two days,” Bevan said. “We had a number of outstanding, outstanding performances, highlighted by [four] victories, … three new Rice school records… along with one conference record and one national record.

The four individual first place finishes for the Owls started off with freshman Eliza Kraule in the pentathlon, with a personal best score of 3,981. In the field events, junior thrower Erna Gunnarsdottir defended her 2021 indoor shot put victory with a throw of 16.79m and freshman jumper Josie Taylor set a meet record with a high jump of 1.86m, the fifth highest mark in the NCAA this year.

Additionally, All-American sophomore thrower Tara Simpson-Sullivan placed first in women’s weight throw with a throw of 22.15m, breaking the C-USA championship record and her own Rice school record. After the meet, SimpsonSullivan said she was grateful to compete considering she was almost sidelined with injury.

“I’m very grateful to have been able to compete at all,” Simpson-Sullivan said.

“After suffering a foot injury, we weren’t sure whether I was going to compete at all. My winning distance was definitely a shock at the time but I always knew that I was capable of a big distance like 22.15m, it was just a matter of time.”

SEE TRACK AND FIELD PAGE 11

2 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

Students continue discussion regarding controversial swim coach comments executive team met with Rice PRIDE to learn how they can do better moving forward.

ASST NEWS EDITOR “I want to acknowledge the fact that there At the Student Association meeting were transphobic statements made at our last Monday, discussion continued on the SA senate and that is not okay,” Vining, a senior resolution in response to Rice swimming at Martel College, said during the meeting. “I coach Seth Huston’s comments on the want to apologize for that. That should not NCAA policy change regarding transgender happen. That was transphobic, just calling it what it was, and I am sorry about that.” participation in college-level sport.

During the Feb. 7 meeting, many students The SA resolution, introduced by the Equity Council, states that Huston’s comments are said that the issue of trans women in sport is not supported by scientific evidence and feeds a complex issue that the resolution does not into the social otherization of trans people. fully capture.

“Seth Huston was not speaking out Gargi Samarth, chair of the transgender and non-comforming committee, said that the against Lia Thomas but against the NCAA purpose of the resolution was to explain why for its silence,” a statement from members it was harmful for comments like that to be of the Rice swim team wrote. “We believe his intention was to protect the sanctity and made for the trans community at Rice.

“We are definitely not saying he is trying integrity of women’s sport.”

William Tsai, a Will Rice College senator, to be transphobic … but [his statement] kind of implies that trans women aren’t really said during the Feb. 7 meeting that he women, and that it is okay to question their believed student athletes are the focus of this gender,” Samarth, a Brown College junior, issue and their voices have to be heard. In the recent meeting this Monday, Tsai announced said.

The resolution was first introduced in the his resignation as senator.

“I have been informed by a member Feb. 7 Senate meeting. Blaise Willis, a senior at Duncan College, said she was appalled to of the SA executive team that my conduct during the Feb. 7 Senate was problematic hear some people reacting the way they did.

“I can’t say I am super surprised because in and unacceptable; that my words and actions actively general transphobia brought harm to is pretty prevalent the transgender and most people community here don’t realize when I can’t say I am super at Rice and made they are doing it,” my fellow students Willis said. “But it surprised because in feel upset and was disheartening.” general transphobia is marginalized,” Samarth said that pretty prevalent and most Tsai, a sophomore, they felt the Senate people don’t realize when said during the leaders should have meeting. “As a result better monitored the they are doing it. But it was and a measure of discussion during the disheartening. accountability, I Feb. 7 meeting. am announcing my “I feel like the Blaise Willis resignation as Will members of the DUNCAN COLLLEGE SENIOR Rice senator effective Senate leaders could definitely have done a better job in terms of immediately.”

Matey Yanakeiv, a senior at Will Rice, said moderating the space and making sure that the dialogue that occurred was respectful that discussion at both meetings lacked the and on topic, and didn’t say things about mention of the impact on cisgender athletes, marginalized communities and the trans which he believes to be an important part of community that could really be taken as the conversation.

“When we know that cisgendered female offensive,” Samarth said.

During the Feb. 21 meeting, SA President athletes’ voices are being systemically Kendall Vining, and other SA executive suppressed around the entire country to members, formally apologized for the speak up on this issue, and that they’re being transphobic statements made during the directly impacted … and they are actually Feb. 7 senate meeting. Vining said that the SA the majority of the stakeholders in the issue

HAJERA NAVEED

SOLOMON NI / THRESHER Students at the Feb. 21 SA Senate meeting continued to discuss the resolution denouncing swim coach Seth Huston’s comments. that [Huston] was talking about, I think it is imperative that any conversation on his comments include the potential benefit of empowering swimmers that also want to voice a dissident opinion, to speak up,” Yanakeiv said.

Yanakeiv said that when he shared these sentiments at the Senate on Monday, he felt his proposal was immediately shut down and he said he now believes that the current resolution cannot do justice to the complexity of the issue. He said that he feels the SA is creating an unsafe space to express relevant opinions on this topic.

“From other students I have talked to, my impression is that Rice is overwhelmingly against this proposition, and that people are just intimidated not to speak,” Yanakeiv said.

“Senate is creating an obvious sense of dread and toxicity every time this topic comes up. So many students with any opinion that doesn’t immediately, totally agree with the resolution writers are being forced not to speak. They are being pressured out of speaking.”

Eli Johns-Krull, who helped draft the resolution, said they believe that the argument about centering the resolution on cisgender athletes misrepresents the issue the resolution is addressing. They said the issue is not primarily an athletics issue, and that it is only a part of the conversation because the person who made the comments was a member of the athletic department.

Johns-Krull said the impact of the statements on trans students is important to

recognize when considering the importance of the resolution. “[Huston’s] words and the University’s failure to respond to them have led directly to multiple conversations wherein trans people are forced to endure transphobic sentiment and defend their humanity to their peers as well as faculty of this university,” Johns-Krull said.

Lee Waldman, who originally presented the resolution alongside Director of Equity Stephanie Martinez, did not attend the meeting this Monday but a statement was read on their behalf. Waldman said that their association to the resolution has become unsafe, but they will still speak out because they fundamentally believe in it.

“I will not stand for this University or any of its employees adding to an ideology that is causing the deaths of trans people,” Waldman, a freshman at Duncan College, wrote in their statement. “If you do not support this resolution, you are advocating for sentiment that causes trans people to die.”

Martinez said she believes it’s important for the SA and Rice administration to show they support trans students at Rice.

“Sometimes the discussion around this gets shifted to be about athletics or censorship, but the focal point is trans individuals,” Martinez, a junior at Sid Richardson College, said. “They are the ones who were harmed by the statements of Seth Huston.”

Disclaimer: Eli Johns-Krull is a videographer on staff for the Thresher.

Tom Kolditz, founding director of Doerr Institute, to retire June 30 MARIA MORKAS

FOR THE THRESHER Director of the Ann and John Doerr Institute, Tom Kolditz, announced his departure from Rice, effective June 30. Kolditz founded the institute in 2015 to provide a professional leader development experience for every student at Rice.

The institute was built with the intent of using evidence-based techniques to develop the next generation of leaders. Kolditz said given the initial success of the program, they were able to work with the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching to impact leader development in higher education.

“Our plan was to take the first five years and build an incredible program at Rice,” Kolditz said. “And all of a sudden, we were at the three-year point and already engaging 35 percent of the student body — graduate and undergraduate.”

President David Leebron said that the impact of the Doerr Institute can be partly attributed to the fact that the program aspired

to provide opportunities for all students rather than a smaller subset. Leebron said that Kolditz fully realized the aspirations of the Doerr Institute and expanded on them.

“We went to hire the best person we could find and [Kolditz] came with a remarkable resume and set of experiences,” said Leebron.

“And so and then, that aspiration was turned over to [Kolditz], who both figured out how to execute it, how to build bridges across the campus, and then how to extend its influence outside Rice.”

Kolditz said he believes that regardless of the student’s educational background at Rice, the program should deliver a professional leader development experience.

“It’s this notion that every student can become a better leader that attracted John Doerr and David Leebron to the idea of the Doerr Institute,” said Kolditz. “What it means is that students will be more effective at applying whatever education they get at Rice- whether they’re biochemists or cellists, or engineers, or poets.”

Sara Davidson, a freshman at Brown College, utilized the catalyst modules, one of

the programs the Doerr Institute offers that functions in a workshop format and focuses on a single leadership skill.

“I think learning [the skills from one of the guest speakers] while I’m still in college, while I’m trying to get jobs and figure out what I want to do my career, is really valuable because it’s something that I can already have ingrained in me that I want to continue doing in terms of practices and habits,” Davidson said.

Rice, along with the Doerr Institute, is now in the process of appointing a new director for the institute. The search is being handled

by Caldwell Partners, a Philadelphia-based search company which specializes in filling leadership and executive positions. Provost Reginald DesRoches, Ann Doerr and Kolditz are also involved in the search.

DesRoches said the search process began about a year ago, with 60 potential candidates; the list has since been narrowed to a few who are in the process of being interviewed and considered for the position.

‘We hope to have a new director chosen within the next couple of months, providing

plenty of time for the transition of leadership with Tom stepping down from the position at the end of June,” DesRoches said.

This article has been cut for print. Read the rest online at ricethresher.org.

COURTESY OF RICE NEWS Tom Kolditz, director of the Doerr Institute, will depart from Rice effective June 30.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 • 3

NEWS

Beer Bike 2022 to return to pre-pandemic format KEEGAN LEIBROCK

THRESHER STAFF

Beer Bike events will return to prepandemic structure this year, according to campus-wide Beer Bike coordinators Paulina Yannitsadis and Sean Judge. Many of the COVID-19 restrictions of last year’s race will be modified or removed.

According to Judge, a sophomore from Sid Richardson College, this year’s Beer Bike race will have dual-delivery options, with separate broadcasters for an online broadcast and an in-person event.

“We are looking around for students interested in sports broadcasting to work as announcers for both the online and in-person viewing options,” Judge said.

“As far as Covid is concerned, we are very conscientious and working with [the Rice administration].”

Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates, said that, although the details are still being discussed, the race itself will likely be more traditional than it was last year.

“We are still working to finalize details on Beer Bike events, but the Beer Bike committee is currently steering towards a more traditional race format and overall event structure,” Gorman wrote in an email to the Thresher. “The event will include a single relay including all 11 colleges in addition to the [Graduate Student Association], with the alumni race being held separately as it always has.”

In addition to the race itself, Gorman said that traditional, pre-pandemic Beer Bike events are likely to occur in the days leading up to the race, including the water balloon fight and float parade. According to Gorman, key details will be settled by early March.

“With regard to COVID-19 restrictions, our number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of all who attend,” Gorman

ANDREA GOMEZ / THRESHER wrote. “We will be integrating various COVIDrelated modifications to help ensure this, including improved safety around foot traffic and crowd management near the track.”

Yannitsadis said a major challenge in planning for Beer Bike is that neither of the coordinators have never seen the week leading up to the event during a non-Covid year.

“Both of us have never seen what a real Beer Bike experience is like,” Yannitsadis, a sophomore from Sid Richardson College, said. “Many seniors have reached out to give input and illustrate how important Beer Bike is to them and we definitely understand, especially because it is their last Beer Bike.”

Mason Reece, a Hanszen bike team captain, said that his team began preparing for the relay race in August. Hanszen tied for first in the men’s race and second in the women’s race with Jones College last year.

“Our training is going super well,” Reece, a senior, said. “Now that we have around six weeks left, we’ve got a lot of training going on… we’ve got a lot of new riders this year

and so it’s been great everyone’s really

happy.”

Reece said that he has appreciated helping his team discover what aspects of biking interest them the most.

“I have really enjoyed getting people out there and helping them find their love for cycling,” Reece said. “Some people just do it for the speed, others do it for the social aspects, and some engineering students really like the bikes’ mechanics.”

Reece said that, for this year’s Beer Bike, he is most looking forward to the energy of the race itself, especially now that it will be in-person.

“There’s this kind of indescribable energy at the Beer Bike track when you have hundreds of students piled in to watch,” Reece said. “The feeling is completely nerve racking but also really exciting.”

Kendall Cooney, a Lovett College bike team captain, said she wishes there could have been an in-person crowd for last year’s Beer Bike relay race.

“I remember watching the livestream last year and the comments were great, but it definitely wasn’t the same [as being inperson],” Cooney, a junior, said. “I really

wish that we could have shared [Lovett’s victory] with the whole college at the track, so I think I’m most excited is everyone being there to cheer the team on.”

Cooper Donnalley, a Beer Bike college coordinator from Brown College, said that they have also begun working to reorganize events in the week before Beer Bike in light of reduced Covid limitations.

“I’d say [Brown’s Beer Bike Coords] did a pretty good job of trying to think of some events in the Covid gray area,” Donnalley, a sophomore, said. “Leaving that space has made it so that it isn’t much of a hassle to move stuff around. Now that we’re getting an ease up on [Covid] restrictions, we’re happy to drop those events and switch them out for more traditional Beer Bike events.”

Donalley said he was especially excited to have the ability to heavily contribute to the planning of Brown’s Beer Bike events.

“As a Beer Bike coord, I have the opportunity to make the Beer Bike pretty much exactly as I want it to be,” Donalley said. “The amount of effort that I put in is going to be directly proportional to the experience that I get out… that’s something that’s really important to me and the other coords, and it’s been really fun to bring that pre-COVID culture and get people excited about it.”

Gorman said that, overall, the Beer Bike events will be much more similar in format to as they were pre-pandemic “Planning for Beer Bike has presented similar challenges to other large events since COVID began,” Gorman said. “[Rice administration] continue[s] to discuss how to provide as typical an event as possible, given the circumstances. I’m pleased we’re at a point where COVID is declining in the greater Houston area and on our campus that will help everyone involved organize a Beer Bike that is more similar to pre-COVID format than it was last year.”

Rice commits to becoming carbon-neutral by 2030

GAZI FUAD / THRESHER The new wing of Hanszen College represents a lower-carbon material selection through the use of mass timber elements.

EMILY LONDON

THRESHER STAFF Rice will commit to becoming carbonneutral by 2030, according to an email sent out on Feb. 11 by President David Leebron and incoming President Reginald DesRoches.

This change comes after Rice announced that they would go carbon-neutral by 2038 in 2013.

According to DesRoches, current provost, Rice felt compelled to speed up their timeline due to the rapid advancement of climate change.

“The urgency of climate change has led us to reevaluate the timing of our commitment to become carbon-neutral as a university by a specified year,” DesRoches said. “Recognizing the need for more rapid global action, we are committing that Rice will become carbonneutral by 2030.”

Leebron said Rice will focus on three main strategies to reach this goal: energy efficiency, cleaner sources of energy and carbon sequestration, or the process of storing carbon in the ground.

“The largest components of our carbon footprint come from the energy that we consume as a campus,” Leebron said. “Our pathway to become carbon neutral will include these three primary strategies.”

According to Richard Johnson, the

executive director of sustainability, there will be some new infrastructure projects that will increase energy efficiency on campus.

“The announcement concerning elevating our green building commitment to the level of LEED-Gold will help to enhance the efficiency of future buildings and major renovations,” Johnson said. “A project at the Rice Village Apartments will replace the existing roof with a ‘cool roof’ – which will save energy in the building – combined with the installation of a large solar array along the south-face of the roof. Finally, the new wing of Hanszen College that is currently under construction represents an innovative lower-carbon material selection through the use of mass timber elements.”

DesRoches said that these projects aim to make Rice’s campus an example for how sustainability can be practically implemented across the country.

“We will actively use our physical campus and its operations as a living laboratory to study sustainability and resilience challenges, spur and assess ideas, and pilot solutions,” DesRoches said.

According to DesRoches, one method of moving Rice towards a more sustainable future is to engage students and faculty. The university is planning on sponsoring more

environment-focused research projects, and will introduce a sustainability fund for students to take on unpaid internships in environmental and sustainability-focused fields in 2023.

“Students already are involved in several projects aimed at helping Rice move toward carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability,” DesRoches said. “There will be many more exciting opportunities for them in the near future.”

Ashley Fitzpatrick, current Sustainability Program Manager, said that this student involvement follows prior student advocacy for a more sustainable campus.

“I am really excited to see Rice accelerate its carbon neutrality goal,” Fitzpatrick, a senior at Martel College, said. “This is something that we’ve really advocated for.

The Sustainability Office has been working on plans to ensure that this goal is met, and I am confident in our abilities to succeed.

Many student-led efforts such as composting or renewable energy transitions align with an accelerated carbon neutrality goal.”

The university’s endowment will not be divesting from fossil fuels as a means of reaching its carbon goal, the email wrote.

DesRoches said that the Rice Management Company will focus on investing more in sustainable companies and engaging with fund managers to make environmentalism a priority instead.

“As an endowment tasked with the responsibility of providing perpetual resources for the university, our timeline is ‘forever,’” DesRoches said. “We believe our investments ought to reflect that same level of conscientious foresight.”

Leebron said that this decision has been in the works since 2019, though the process to make the university more sustainable has been happening since 2004.

“The decision to move forward on an endowment policy began last year, and that served as a catalyst for bringing all of these elements together into a single multi-faceted

announcement to campus,” Leebron said. “In short, this announcement reflects a very broad community engagement and conversation.”

Then-Student Association President Grace Wickerson and Johnson proposed a set of sustainability suggestions focusing on student leadership and campus operations in 2019 and 2020 which formed the foundations for Rice’s current sustainability plans. Later, a group of faculty members created the EnviroFac group and articulated faculty interest in expanding environmental research.

Fitzpatrick said that, with the climate rapidly changing, it was necessary that Rice emphasize sustainability in its vision for the future.

“We live in a state of climate emergency, and we cannot afford to ignore this,” Fitzpatrick said. “Our location in Houston requires us to consider the growing risks of flooding, urban heat and industrial pollution.”

Fitzpatrick said that she’s glad that Rice is making sustainable changes, but she believes they could have been made sooner.

“Rice is far behind our peer institutions in terms of setting sustainable goals and implementing sustainability-focused projects on campus … We were one of the last top tier institutions to adopt a composting program, and most prestigious universities have campus sustainability plans and environmental institutes on campus,” Fitzpatrick said. “The recent sustainability announcement from President Leebron is long overdue, but I am grateful to finally see the commitment to sustainability in writing after over three years of intense advocacy.”

Leebron said that the conversation around how to make Rice more sustainable will not end with this announcement. Still, he believes that moving towards carbon neutrality is an important first step.

“This is of course just the beginning,” Leebron said. “But it’s an important beginning that will be amplified in the coming years.”

4 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 FROM FRONT PAGE

RMC UPDATE

The new student center will include a basement auditorium, a two-story multicultural center and a second-floor food court, according to Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates. Anzilla Gilmore, the project manager, said that construction is still scheduled to finish by fall 2023.

Coffeehouse will have a new space in the corner of the Rice Memorial Center, with both internal and external access, Gorman said.

“They’re going to shift into the corner of the building that you can visualize most easily now in your head is where Farnsworth pavilion is,” Gorman said. “They’re going to have a walk-up window so people can get coffee from outside the building. There’s going to be outdoor seating as well as indoor seating.”

The Pub at Rice and The Hoot will be in the food court, according to Johnny Curet, campus dining director. Housing and Dining will finalize the outside vendors by spring 2023.

The Center for Career Development is moving into the building, Gorman said. No offices that are currently in the building are moving out.

“To steal a line from Kevin Kirby, this is going to be one of the most hard working buildings on campus,” Gorman said. “[The Center for Career Development] does a lot of programming and offers a lot of ongoing services to students, but they’re in Huff House on one side of campus. It made some sense to more centrally locate them.”

The new student center will be 15 percent larger in square footage but will have a similar footprint to the current building, according to Gilmore, Facilities Engineering and Planning’s assistant director for project management and engineering.

Undergraduate and graduate students have been involved in the planning process through the project’s steering committee, which includes Gorman, Gillmore, Associate Dean of Undergraduates Kate Abad and other representatives.

NEWS “I think one of the other things I’m really excited about is that we’ve worked really hard to make sure that there were students on the steering committee from the beginning in a way that a lot of projects on campus don’t have students,” Abad said.

The new RMC will serve the Rice community as a central part of campus, according to Caitlin Lindsay, the student center’s associate director for student-run businesses.

“I think student unions have this really cool and unique piece of being locked in a focal point of campus, a kind of a central piece of how we meet needs of students, staff, faculty, community members now as well as trying to plan for the future,” Lindsay said. “I

COURTESY OF ADJAYE ASSOCIATES

think it perfectly fits with the goal of a student union or student center is to be this place for student experiences to occur, and I think our student run businesses are a perfect example of the learning that happens in and out of the classroom and those experiential education pieces that really help set you up for just continued success while you’re in college and post.”

Pub location The second-floor food court will be shaped like a horseshoe, according to Elizabeth Groenewold, Pub’s general manager. When other vendors are open, Pub will not be able to serve alcohol because of restrictions from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Groenewold said.

“We’d only be able to be open when the

other vendors are closed,” Groenewold said.

“As of now, the Hoot is also going to be in this horseshoe-type area, and at night when it turns into Pub space … they said that there’s going to be some sort of moveable door that they put in place.” Groenewold said she wishes Pub did not have to share space in the food court.

“I really did want to get Pub our own space, but admin has been very adamant about the fact that a big issue with graduate students is that they don’t have any dining options on campus,” Groenewold said. “Essentially a third of the second floor is supposed to be dining options, which is this horseshoe area for graduate students.”

The steering committee did not give Pub

“I was worried about [Pub] when we reopened after two years being closed, and it went great,” Groenewold said. “I’m hoping that the love people have for Pub will survive all this, despite all of the moving and changing and new spaces. I’ve seen before that it can, so I just hope that it continues to prove that it will.”

Jinhee Shin, Coffeehouse’s general manager, said she is excited about their space in the new student center.

“It’s a bigger space, and overall, I think the new student population in the next couple of years will really enjoy the space,” Shin said. “Hopefully it’ll be a functional space, a more functional space for the increased student population.”

Along with other memorabilia, Shin said Coffeehouse will bring their iconic sign with them.

“Something that’s very memorable to us is the Coffeehouse sign that’s been there since before even we were at our current RMC location, I think when we started off in Hanszen,” Shin said. “That’s one thing that’s very sentimental to us, so we’ll keep that in our temporary space and we’ll take that with us into the new RMC.” Groenewold said she wishes Pub would receive a similar expansion.

“I’m a little jealous, to be honest, just selfishly because I love Pub and I wish admin cared about Pub that much,” Groenewold said. “But at the same time, if I was in admin, I would want to show off the student-run business that is the most trafficked coffee shop in Houston rather than, this is where our students drink. I do get it.”

any other options, according to Groenewold.

“I think that [admin] does want to give us what they think we need, but it just seems like they had made a lot of decisions as to what Pub was going to be before they talked to anyone from Pub,” she said. “Even when I first met them, they were like, you’re in this horseshoe place, there’s no other room for you, you can Event spaces in the new RMC The new primary event space will be only have one corner, we’re going to cut your hours, we might not be able to get you a stage, connected to Ray Courtyard, according to Abad. Ray Courtyard and Rice Memorial which was a little frustrating.”

Groenewold said that Rice has since kept Chapel are not part of the current renovation, her in the loop and asked what Pub needs to Gorman said.

“There’s some additional spaces that are operate.

“I’ve had five meetings with a bunch kind of adjacent to [the current Grand Hall] of different people who are in this quite on the Ray Courtyard side that really are frequently to make sure that they are asking ideally going to help create some additional me what I think Pub needs and what the programming space,” Abad said. “If you space would look like when it’s Pub space, think about our current Grand Hall, there’s no doorways out into that space, it feels like which I found helpful,” Groenewold said.

It is unclear how much creative control such a beautiful space to be able to kind of Pub will have over their space in the food have some flow and you just don’t get that in our current space right now.” court, according to Groenewold.

When no events are scheduled, that “They know about the signs I want to keep there because I sent them that entire list of all multi-story space will serve as a lounging the stuff I want to be able to hang and put in area, Gorman said.

Gorman also said the new student center Pub,” Groenewold said. “I hope that they’ll let me do that, [but] if not, I don’t see why they will have an amphitheater on its roof.

“When you come in on the one corner, would have an issue with me hanging things, just at night … They did promise me that there’s a kind of circular, kind of stadium they’re going to install a sound system that seating area, and then there’s this almost we’ll be able to use. They said they’re working rectangular box that comes up where you on a stage that we’ll be able to use. And they can project onto it, where you can have did say that we would have dimming lights so evening movies on the roof,” Gorman said.

As the RMC approaches its demolition that we can make it feel like Pub.” Abad said she has avoided trying to restore in May, the student center will host events to celebrate the current spaces in the current building and new RMC. to give information “I think that I about the temporary have really been I hope that Pub culture is having to push going to survive, and I think locations of the displaced offices, myself to realize that according to Kristen we’re not recreating with the bartenders we’ve Ernst, student spaces, we’re hired, I’m optimistic that it center director. building a brand will within the bartenders, “We’re hoping new building,” Abad but it’s just hard to say to actively market said. “We’re trying to those alternate encourage everybody what Pub will look like locations so that when they think three years from now with students know about spaces not to new students. exactly where imagine how they are they can find the recreating something Elizabeth Groenewold resources that they that they have now, PUB GENERAL MANAGER are accustomed to but how we can take something brand new and beautiful, and help coming to the Student Center to connect with, different departments or different create something new.”

Groenewold said she is anxious about entities that are currently within the the effects of the new shared space on Pub building,” Ernst said.

Abad said she is looking forward to culture, rating her level of worry a nine out of seeing how students take advantage of the ten.

“It just feels very tumultuous,” Groenewold new spaces in the student center.

“We also have a brand new space in the said. “I hope that Pub culture is going to survive, and I think with the bartenders we’ve lower level, that is the 150 to 200 seat, fixed hired, I’m optimistic that it will within the seat auditorium,” Abad said. “Rice students bartenders, but it’s just hard to say what Pub are so creative. I’m excited to see what type will look like three years from now with new of programming that might inspire that we don’t have right now, or what type of students.”

This year’s reopening of Pub after more programming might be happening on a than a year without service has given her a bit smaller scale that that space might allow them to do something bigger and better.” of hope, Groenewold said.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

BeReal at Rice

Students talked to the Thresher about the social media app that’s been trending at colleges.

See more at ricethresher.org

Jasmine Manansala talks Jeopardy! experience NICOLE LHUILLIER

FEATURES EDITOR When Brown College junior Jasmine Manansala was participating in the Jeopardy!

National College Championship last November, one of the implications she was pondering was the potential for her future career. She said she has made many great connections and received a lot of attention for her stint on the gameshow, which started running Feb. 8.

“I’m hoping that that kind of reputation will help me in, say, a job search,” Manansala said. “I think that was something that I was thinking of the most when I was going through it. I hope I can get an internship from this or something.”

Getting on Jeopardy! meant much more to Manansala than its career benefits, though.

According to Manansala, Jeopardy! has been a part of her life since she was a child.

Her family would record the episodes over the week and watch them together on the weekends, trying to guess the answers. Her six-year-old self would be frustrated when she couldn’t get them right.

“I would always get excited when they would have pop culture categories, like something [about] Disney Channel, because that’s [when] I felt smart,” Manansala said.

“The older contestants didn’t really get those [clues], but I could.”

Fifteen years later, on Nov. 20, she was filming promotional material and rehearsing on the podium on the Jeopardy! set in Culver City, California. The next day, she was competing against students from Princeton University and Louisiana State University in the quarterfinals of the National College Championship. Although the audition process was long, the filming itself went by very quickly, Manansala said. She flew out of California the following day.

“[Filming the episode] feels like it’s about a 20-minute session,” Manansala said. “When you’re out there it feels even quicker because the adrenaline’s pumping, so you really lose yourself in the moment.”

The timing of the opportunity meant Manansala had to balance the show with the commitments of a Rice student. She said she had a project due in the time period she would be filming Jeopardy!.

“I didn’t get a chance to really study and prepare for trivia since the [casting] call came in the middle of the semester, and I was kind of prioritizing what I was doing in school over preparing for the tournament …

Unfortunately, we were pretty much going right into finals after filming, so that part was difficult,” Manansala said. “I just tried to get as much work done [on my project] as possible beforehand, especially because it was a partner project and I didn’t want to be like, ‘Sorry, I can’t work on it.’”

Manansala had to keep her casting a secret until she received a specific notification from ABC about two weeks before the Jeopardy! National College Championship started airing. Even then, she couldn’t reveal her fate on the show.

Manansala said she told other people that she would be out of town those days – doing an academic competition, to be specific.

“With people wishing me luck – I assume they mean retroactive luck … it’s hard, especially if they’re like, ‘I hope you win it all,’ or … ‘Do your best’ … It’s kind of difficult hearing that and then knowing [that] you didn’t advance,” Manansala said. “Getting lots of supportive messages made me feel good, but at the same time, I didn’t want to disappoint people.”

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However, at Rice, a select group knew about Manansala’s Jeopardy! casting: her professors. She asked them to keep the information confidential. She said she was able to make up for some of the days she missed and receive an assignment extension. “[The production crew was] like, ‘Yeah, don’t lie to your professors,’” Manansala said.

“We were allowed to tell them that we would be on Jeopardy!, but … we were not allowed to say that it was for the National College Championship. Some of [my professors] were congratulating me or wishing me luck saying that they were excited.”

Manansala said she attributes her success in getting on the show to Doug Miller, Rice’s director of news and media relations who appeared on four Jeopardy! episodes in March 1985. Manansala reached out to Miller after she passed the Anytime Test and asked for advice for the auditioning process.

“She’s got a charming presence that comes across well on camera, so mostly I told her to just be herself,” Miller wrote in an email. “She’s a natural, and when she stood behind that podium her personality and intelligence really popped off the screen.”

Manansala said she would have loved to prepare for the show with other people.

JAYAKER KOLLI AND NIKHAZ OMAR

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COURTESY JASMINE MANANSALA The week before Thanksgiving, Jasmine Manansala flew to California to compete in the Jeopardy! National College Championship, hosted by actress Mayim Bialik (left).

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Instead, she practiced on websites, like sporcle.com, with quizzes on knowledge and the kind of thinking Jeopardy! clue writers tend to utilize. Manansala said she likes the word play and rhyme categories because they require her to think in a different way.

“Really the hardest part isn’t necessarily knowing the trivia … The game is all about the buzzer,” Manansala said. “You have to time it perfectly.”

Manansala was very nervous on the day of filming – so noticeably nervous that the other contestants tried to reassure her. She said she was so tense because the contestants didn’t know the order of filming or whom they would be competing against.

“I didn’t know I was going to be going last, and so I was like, ‘Okay, they’re calling out the next group. Is it gonna be me? Is it gonna be me?’ … I wanted to release how nervous I was,” Manansala said. “When they were putting on my mic, I was really trying to hype myself up. But then once you actually get there and get behind the podium, I think it all just goes away, because you’re in it now and you can’t help but be in it.”

This article has been condensed for print.

Read the full article online at ricethresher.org.

1 _____ throat 6 Fashion designer Michael 10 Where a Ph.D may run experiments 13 Default font 14 Opera solo 15 Designer Mode of “The Incredibles” 16 _____ ray 17 “No ____, no foul” 18 Food fight shield 19 Queen of Rap and “Work It” artist 22 Suffix for triple-bonded hydrocarbon 23 Star of Progressive Insurance ads 24 City home to Washington State’s busiest airport 28 Actor Penn of “House, M.D.” 29 NMSQT exam 31 Rice office that oversees the MCC 32 “Girl on Fire” and “My Boo” artist 36 Love, in Lima 37 Tree on the Lebanese flag 38 Zebra, on the pitch 39 “_____ you a sight for sore eyes?”

40 Prehensile feature of a lemur 41 Queen of Hip-Hop Soul and Super Bowl LVI performer 43 Bear, in Buenos Aires 44 “Me first!”

45 Commotion 46 Stay 48 Former name of Tokyo 49 Norway’s neighbor, on a scoreboard 52 “Make Me Feel” artist 56 ____ Fett, played by Temuera Morrison 59 Creme-filled cookie 60 Source of spam, a lot 61 Hardened evidence of a boo-boo 62 “____ a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong 63 “You’ve got some _____ showing up here” 64 Money dispenser, abbr.

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1 Rice mascot name 2 Choo-choo, for grown-ups 3 Lather, _____, repeat 4 Consumes tamales 5 “Don’t cheat!”

6 “The Two Fridas” painter 7 Like some exams 8 “Disturbia” and “S&M” artist, to fans 9 Savory South Asian filled pastries 10 Status of many online couples, abbr.

11 Actress de Armas 12 Chesapeake or San Francisco 15 “At Last” singer James 20 Queen of Jazz Fitzgerald 21 Vietnamese New Year 25 Aunt May portrayer Marisa 26 ______ Us (sus) 27 Menu option: a la _____ 28 Food energy unit, for short 29 Colleagues 30 TV channel with apt sci-fi programming 32 Idris Elba or Simu Liu 33 Rental agreement 34 “It’s raining cats and dogs,” for example 35 The Krusty ____ 36 Indie singer Parks 39 Midsections 41 Small fish in the big sea 42 Precious green stone 44 ___ de los Muertos 47 Slightly open 48 Mexican street corn dish 49 Kind of drum 50 Relinquish 51 Catcher of electric fish 53 Two-stringed Chinese instrument 54 Shakespearean king 55 Sign of the future 56 Rice student org. that hosts Soul Night 57 Halloween mo.

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6 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

EDITORIAL

Gabrielle Franklin for Student Association president This year, two candidates with distinctly different approaches and areas of expertise are vying for the Student Association presidency. We, the Thresher Editorial Board, endorse Gabrielle Franklin for Student Association President because of her stances on accountability and fostering an inclusive environment for underrepresented students as well as actionable plans to do so.

Franklin, current Brown College senator, is passionate about advocacy, and has past experience elevating vital and marginalized voices on campus. While her lack of experience on the executive team gives us some pause in her ability to hit the ground running, she is able to clearly articulate her stances on a range of issues as well as her plans and priorities for the office.

One of Franklin’s goals is to revive lost internal SA meetings and better facilitate external communication, the latter of which she has worked on in her current position.

In her interview with the Thresher editorial board, she discussed her ideas to establish secondary points of contact within the

SA to prevent a loss of communication when someone is unavailable, ask executive members to connect with college governments and promote monthly meetings between all SA positions. Beyond that, her focus on proactive communication with student groups and providing detailed notes or recordings of meetings when unable to secure a meeting for interested groups with administration shows a flexibility in her approach while retaining her prioritization of student interests.

Further, Franklin expressed her willingness to learn from other SA members about the inner workings of the organization.

While she will come in with her own priorities for the incoming SA administration, she also prioritizes student feedback and opinion as evidenced by her willingness to directly collaborate with campus organizations to reach collective goals, such as with Rice PRIDE in response to recent issues regarding transphobia at Senate and with Questbridge to increase accessibility of resources for students facing food insecurity.

Franklin’s opponent, current SA Internal Vice President Madison Bunting, possesses distinct attributes that also make her very qualified for the job. For instance, she has incredible knowledge of the ins and outs of the SA that makes her a strong candidate.

However, Bunting refused to take a definitive stance on a number of issues, including handling conflict with administration and the limits on acceptable speech in the Senate.

This refusal to take a stance wasn’t just a fluke, but rather a key part of her platform which centered on deferring to the student body on nearly every issue.

Especially with low voting and polling turnout, it is not feasible to expect polling to provide the solution to all student issues.

In the absence of well-rounded, complete polling data, or when the student body is split on an issue, a president is forced to take a stance that will influence the conversation within the SA and with the administration. In the end, we know where Franklin stands on the issues, which we believe to be a necessary quality in a president.

Read more at

ricethresher.org Crystal Unegbu for SA internal vice president There is much that could be changed within the SA, and we believe that Unegbu is most poised to recognize these issues and seek out innovative solutions to persisting problems.

Thresher Editorial Board

GUEST OPINION

Transpeople’s humanity is not up to ‘respectful discussion’ While I wasn’t able to attend the Senate meeting on Feb. 7, I read the minutes of the meeting and am severely disappointed in the Student Association’s response to the comments of Rice Swim coach Seth Huston on the “controversy” surrounding transgender athletes. I’m attempting to share my perspective on the situation as a trans student and former athlete/coach. The University must actively denounce transphobia and other forms of bigotry in the future if it wishes to uphold a value of equity on its campus.

I read the entire article the day it was released, and it was based in transphobia.

This isn’t hindsight bias; you can check my Twitter. It was not “out of context,” as the swim team’s statement says. Transphobic arguments are not negated by an obligatory “well I’m fine with her.’’ This is not a statement of acceptance: to do so would be truly taking it out of context. It is a way to avoid pushback and seem socially acceptable.

This is what people do to cover racism and homophobia (i.e, “I’m ok with them being married, but they shouldn’t be allowed to adopt kids’’ or “I’m ok with diversity, but it’s not fair they got into college instead of me”). It’s putting lipstick on a pig. If Huston READ MORE AT ricethresher.org

Retracting Seth Huston’s statement is a start to challenging transphobia on campus Moses Glickman, Anthony Nguyen, Eli Johns-Krull

CORRECTIONS

is truly ok with transwomen like Lia Thomas competing in women’s divisions, there would be no need for unprompted commentary.

The NCAA is his supposedly main concern.

Yet since at least 2011 the NCAA guidelines for transwomen followed international rules for guidelines set in 2003, requiring proof of social transition and a reduction in testosterone levels, something pretty achievable if given the resources. In other words, it’s been figured out for over a decade.

The NCAA only started to vary from international guidelines in the past year after the “controversy” surrounding Lia Thomas.

These changes show that while the NCAA allowed Thomas to compete, they didn’t actually want her to do well. It shows that to them, us winning must be because of biology, not because we actually have skill.

Michael Phelps famously has a “biological advantage” that helps him be an extremely proficient swimmer, but this is praised as genetic superiority, not unfairness. Numerous other cisgender athletes have well-known biological advantages that are cultivated and encouraged instead of affecting the “integrity” of the sport. Phelps’ advantage combined with his hard work is what got him where he was, not the advantage itself.

Non-binary students are still forced to pick a gendered team in most cases. In my previous sport, karate, divisions weren’t gendered until adult levels. In Brazilian JiuJitsu, where youth divisions are gendered, I competed on boys’ teams after being the only “girl,” no complaints. I wasn’t “dominated,” either. My experience has always been that

* Indicates Editorial Board member

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Morgan Gage* Editor Michelle Gachelin Asst. Editor

Savannah Kuchar* Editor-in-Chief Ben Baker-Katz* Managing Editor

SPORTS Daniel Schrager* Editor

NEWS Talha Arif* Editor Hajera Naveed Asst. Editor Bonnie Zhao Asst. Editor

BACKPAGE Timmy Mansfield Editor

FEATURES Nicole Lhuillier Editor Nithya Shenoy Asst. Editor

While the conversation regarding how to de-gender our current system is complex and important, it should not be led by transphobia.

Further, trans people’s humanity and right to participate is not part of the discussion.

Coaches need to focus on supporting their athletes, not obsessing over the competition.

However, many in the sports world share Coach Huston’s perspective, and some will fully admit they don’t understand the issues yet make bold statements as if they do. These conversations often lack the inclusion of transgender and intersex individuals and are not respectful. Not everyone needs to speak on every subject: stick to what you know, and listen when you don’t. If you beg for respectful discussion, then be respectful.

After reading this, I hope some of you learned something, even if you don’t agree with me. I’d like to add that I don’t mean to promote any negative action towards or speak in bad faith of the SA or Rice Swimming. I have chosen a direct tone because addressing this as if it’s a new phenomenon would be allowing for future incidents to occur.

The University needs to actively denounce transphobia, staff should be given resources to be educated, and conversations need to be moderated if they are to be respectful.

Eli Mendoza

DUNCAN COLLEGE JUNIOR

The illustration for “Sophomores adjust after unusual freshman year” was made by Ndidi Nwosu for the Thresher.

EDITORIAL STAFF

OPINION Nayeli Shad* Editor

any biological advantage can only get you so far without hard work, regardless of gender.

Additionally, the comments of cis students should not have equal footing with the comments of trans students, who can’t participate in sports in many states, including ours, anymore. There was minimal evidence of moderation in the minutes, and attendees I spoke with called it “chaos.” The lack of immediate moderation is complacent and makes these discussions dangerous to the people they are supposedly trying to protect.

The common refrain of “protecting the integrity of women’s sports” is textbook transphobia. The fact that this comment went unchecked by the SA is unacceptable. I know multiple trans students at Rice who wanted to join sports teams but don’t feel safe, quit, or with sports like gymnastics or swimming, the uniform is a source of dysphoria. We worry about the very reactions people have towards Thomas, and these “discussions” show that we have every right to be. Somehow men and women are equal until trans people exist.

Testosterone is a hormone that does correlate with traits associated with people who have male puberty, but everyone has it.

Look at a modern bell curve of hormones and gender: there is a significant overlap between assigned male at birth and assigned female at birth levels of estrogen and testosterone.

Many people also have conditions that give them extra or less of these hormones than the usual pool. These people, when “cis,” are not forced to switch teams. Many people don’t even know their own hormone levels, and these policies also hurt cisgender women.

COPY Bhavya Gopinath Editor Jonathan Cheng Editor PHOTO, VIDEO, & WEB Channing Wang Photo Editor Katherine Hui Asst. Photo Editor Jasmine Liou Video Editor Brandon Chen* Web 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 Edelawit Negash Business Manager 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 2022

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 • 7

OPINION

A tribute to Kelley Lash from Student Media alumni

COURTESY CHRISTINA TAN Student media faculty advisor Kelley Lash (center) passed away Monday Feb. 21. She will be dearly missed by many, including current students and alumni.

Many people see student media and think the students are running the show – the reality is, none of it would have been possible without Kelley. Kelley remembered things that other people didn’t. She was never afraid to tell it exactly how it is, to both students and administrators alike.

Kelley would deliver a blisteringly honest critique with a smile and some freshly baked cupcakes, because she cared so, so, so much. And she never stopped caring, even as students graduated and budgets got squeezed and years passed. It’s incredible to see the number of people she impacted. I will miss her dearly.

– Christina Tan, Duncan College ’20, Thresher EIC 2019-2020 Kelley’s office always had an open door; full of comic book figurines and bobbleheads, her office was a safe haven I’d stop by almost every day for three years.

There, she laughed, listened, and shared her love for journalism and her students.

Kelley inspired me and empowered me, and believed in me when I didn’t. She’s the reason I joined the Thresher and became editor-in-chief. She truly changed my life.

The memory of her advice, her hugs, her motivation and her friendship will always comfort me.

– Juan Saldaña, Will Rice College ’18, Thresher EIC 2017-2018 Kelley was a friend and a mentor, not only when I was working at the paper but even years later when I returned to Houston. She never told us directly to do something, but we were always better off following her advice. Even when we screwed something up, she never lost her sense of humor and perspective; I hope that’s just one of the things I’ve learned from her. Every time I stopped by her office, she was happy to catch up and check how I’d been. I wish I could stop by one more time.

– Seth Brown, Jones College ’13, Thresher EIC 2012-2013 Kelley was outstanding at running student media. But what made her so special was her love for the students she supported. Like the best teachers, she was honest when she knew we could do better and overcome with pride when we achieved something great. And like a best friend, she could make us laugh even on our

worst days. I’ll never forget her relentless support for me through all my successes and failures at Rice, not just as a mentor, but as a friend.

– Andrew Grottkau, McMurtry College ’19, Thresher EIC 2018-2019 Kelley was always telling us how proud of us she was. The power of that support buoyed me through my years at Rice and as I began a career in journalism. I felt so much braver because I knew I had Kelley on my side, because she pushed me when I was being complacent and went easy on me when I needed a break. Having someone like Kelley in our lives, someone who was proud of you, fiercely protective of you, who believed in you before you even felt you deserved that belief — clearly shaped so many young lives.

– Anna Ta, Will Rice ’20, Thresher Managing Editor 2019-2020 Kelley was KTRU’s biggest fan and advocate because she deeply valued how the station was run and cared for by DJs for years. She shared in our laughter, anger, excitement and fears. Far beyond what a club advisor is expected to do, Kelley took on the responsibility of cultivating a space where we could feel safe, respected and supported. It was so meaningful to have someone believe in me, us, and the station.

I miss her and she had a huge impact on my life.

– Kaarthika Thakker, Lovett College ’20, KTRU SM 2019-2020 Kelley was one of the first Rice faculty members to hug me when I arrived on campus as a bewildered freshman, and she was most definitely the last to hug me when I departed campus as an edging-onadult-status graduate. There were about a thousand hugs in between — she was the best support during some of my hardest moments at Rice, and the biggest champion of my triumphs. She taught her students about so much: the balance of truth and morality in our complicated world, the importance of standing up for yourself and your skills, the value of kindness and empathy. She didn’t just teach me about media and journalism; she helped me realize the person I wanted to be.

– Rachel Marcus, McMurtry ’14, Thresher EIC 2013-2014

Kelley was a staunch advocate for a free press and helped that principle come to life in the student newspaper. She allowed staff the resources to do great work, and even ensured the lowly Backpage had its place on the paper’s rear end. Other students may not know Kelley’s name because she didn’t have a weekly byline, but her fingerprints cover every issue of the paper that was published under her watch. The entire student body is indebted to her work as much as the Thresher staff.

– Isaac Schultz, Duncan ’18, Thresher Backpage Editor 2017-2018 Kelley made an immeasurable impact on my life. When I received an offer for my dream job in journalism, she was my first call — mostly because I knew it never would have been possible without her guidance and encouragement years earlier.

Kelley taught me to trust my instincts as an inexperienced sophomore who had just been handed the keys to the Thresher. She always seemed to have the perfect words of advice. Her support never wavered, and her abundant kindness helped me through many difficult periods. The most remarkable thing about Kelley: My experience was hardly unique. Kelley impacted the lives of so many student journalists at Rice, and we are all richer for it.

– Miles Kruppa, Hanszen College ’16, Thresher EIC 2014-2015 Journalists are superheroes, and Kelley was the prime example. Always seeking “truth, justice and the American way,” Kelley was a fierce advocate for her students and others. Even when my paths led away from journalism, Kelley stayed by my side, always lending a supportive ear and a tight hug — a true mentor and a wonderful friend. Thank you for making Rice Student Media a family for all of us; you will be dearly missed.

– Anastasia “Anya” Bolshakov, Duncan ’15, Campanile EIC 2013-2015 Kelley shaped so many lives on campus. To say she was passionate about student media and her students is an understatement. She was dedicated, kind, encouraging and knew how to give tough love when needed. As the Director of Student Media and a McMurtry Associate, she always made time to connect with students, whether they were in student

media or not. My favorite memories with Kelley are all of the conversations we’d have about life, journalism, J.J. Watt, and so many other topics when I’d pop into her office at the RMC. Kelley was one of the people who most shaped me into the writer and person I am today. I carry her career and life advice with me every day — and so many other Rice students and alumni can say the same.

– Tina Nazerian, McMurtry ’16, Thresher Asst. News Editor AugustDecember 2014 Kelley’s calming presence made problems, no matter how big, feel manageable. Her office was a safe haven where her students could escape the stresses of life and confide in an advisor who supported them with her whole heart. Kelley made me feel my dreams are possible, and I hope to live life like she did, full of love, passion and joy.

– Emily Abdow, Jones ’19, Thresher EIC 2018-2019 During my time at KTRU, the leadership team faced many intense challenges. When times were at their most stressful, we could depend on Kelley to be a clear-headed and caring guide. In every interaction with Kelley we could feel that she cared deeply for the station and for us, our wellbeing, and our learning. We felt seen. She helped us to grow into more thoughtful and deliberate leaders by advice and by example. We will carry those lessons always.

– George Barrow, Sid Richardson College ’18, KTRU SM 2017-2018 Without a formal journalism program at Rice, we all turned to Kelley — for guidance, for support, for laughter, for fresh baked goods. We sat day in and day out in the Thresher office knowing that Kelley was always nearby to offer advice. She made all of us feel seen in our endeavors, pushed us to pursue hard truths, empowered us to know the impact we had as a collective, fought fiercely to ensure we all had a voice and celebrated us any chance she had. Her presence uplifted all of us, and her impact will not be forgotten.

– Tina Liu, Sid Richardson ’20, Thresher Art Director 2019-2020 This article has been cut off for print.

Read the full article at ricethresher.org.

8 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

Live tattoo show is ‘Self Care’ for artist, audience

HUGO GERBICH PAIS

THRESHER STAFF

Adriana Amaris, a Sid Richardson College senior, gave a closing night performance for their solo-exhibition “Self Care” at Sleepy Cyborg Gallery on Feb. 18. The show consisted of two parts: a collection of eight mixed-media art pieces inspired by tattoos and the tattooing process, followed by a live tattoo show held on the last day of the exhibition, where Amaris tattooed two of her friends with artwork featured in the show.

The live tattooing performance took place over two and half hours, and at any one time had between 50 to 60 people watching. They gathered in smaller groups around Amaris and their tattooing table, watching their intricate line work and graceful movements.

The gentle hum of the tattoo needle was accompanied by laughs and chatter from the spectators. Amaris remained focused on producing their art, continuing to tattoo amid the noise and motion of onlookers.

Throughout the performance, the audience was able to watch the work gradually appear on the skin of the student volunteers.

viewer to see it not just as a tool but as art itself.

Amaris began tattooing during lockdown — starting on oranges, herself and then others. It was a form of self care for her. One of Amaris’ biggest inspirations is Pia Roque, a queer Filipina tattoo artist who motivated them to pursue tattooing as an art form.

“I remember sitting with her, while she’s jabbing this needle into my side and being like, ‘I wish I could do this’ ... And Pia told me that if I want to do it, I should just do it,” Amaris said. “Pia told me that there’s not enough women, not enough queer women, not enough women of color in this industry.”

Amaris said that her work draws heavily from their Indigenous Colombian heritage KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER in the style of their artwork.

Adriana Amaris, the artist featured in “Self “I’m Colombian, and my ancestry is Care,” doing a live tattoo performance in indigenous. I really do draw from the Sleepy Cyborg Gallery. geometry and symmetry of these indigenous designs,” Amaris said. “Indigenous “The piece that emulates most what I Colombian designs are pretty geometrical want people to take away from the show and symmetrical, and I like how they still is called ‘Ouch’ … It’s kind of silly, it’s delve into the spiritual and natural realm.

That’s a common really whimsical thread that I see in and experimental. my work: a lot of Tattooing can line work but still be silly, it can be pretty natural” e x p e r i m e n t a l , The piece that emulates Since being it can be very most what I want people to interviewed meaningful.” take away from the show is the Thresher by in Amaris said.

2021, Amaris said “Ouch” consists called ‘Ouch’ … It’s kind of that they have of bottle caps set silly, it’s really whimsical developed a better on an acrylic plastic and experimental. of herself as sheet, spelling out Tattooing can be silly, it can sense an artist. the word “ouch.”

“I think I’m The whimsical and experimental, it can be very getting a sense of silly energy that meaningful. what my style is as Amaris references a tattoo artist and is conveyed Adriana Amaris an artist in general, through haphazard SID RICHARDSON COLLEGE SENIOR which is the most and sporadic important thing to me,” Amaris said. “I don’t brushstrokes on the acrylic.

Other pieces celebrate the tools of really know what I want to do after Rice … I tattooing. “Tattoo To-Go” repackages want to keep designing in general. I do a lot and presents tattooing equipment — the of designing — graphic design, sculpture — machine, cording and ink — in a small box, and I’ll definitely keep tattooing myself, my thus celebrating the medium and asking the friends, anyone who wants it.”

Books for students, from students GRACE XU

THRESHER STAFF

Caught up in the unending pileup of mid-semester schoolwork or the infinite scroll of social media, it can be difficult to remember the days when reading was for fun. Even though college may be a busier time than before, it is important to continue making time for reflective hobbies and engaging in pleasurable growth. Hopefully, with one of the recommendations collected from fellow Rice students below, you’ll be able to re-engage in the joy of leisure reading and discover a new book to check out.

‘Book of Delights’ Ross Gay

Recommended for: the commitment-averse reader, looking for a collection of short yet insightful essays

‘Such a Fun Age’ Kiley Reid

Recommended for: the contemporary fiction reader, looking for discussion on social issues

‘Mistborn’

Brandon Sanderson Recommended for: the newer fantasy reader, looking to join the world of high fantasy

‘Americanah’

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Recommended for: the literary reader, looking for a character-driven novel

‘The Silmarillion’ J.R.R. Tolkien

Recommended for: the read-before-watching reader, looking to refresh their Tolkien knowledge for the upcoming TV show Read more online at ricethresher.org.

Jillian Conrad’s public art installation ‘Hydras’ debuts at the BRC JULIA LI

SENIOR WRITER Reflective of the Rice interdisciplinary spirit, Jillian Conrad, a Houston-based artist, collaborated with Rice University’s Robinson Lab to create her latest exhibition, “Hydras,” which combines the intricacies of visual art and cutting-edge nanotechnology research.

“Hydras” will be on display at the Bioscience Research Collaborative through May 28.

The Robinson Lab develops nanotechnologies in order to monitor and control specific cells in the nervous system with the objective of furthering our understanding of neural function while simultaneously propelling the treatment of neurological disorders. Conrad utilizes the Robinson Lab’s research from microfabricated experimental chambers where tiny invertebrates are studied.

Conrad’s conversations with Jacob Robinson at the RBC initially inspired the exhibition.

“In his work, Jacob uses the small organisms named hydra in part because they are almost immortal. My understanding is that they are simple but hearty organisms that clone themselves asexually,” Conrad said. “When Jacob told me about the hydra and why he uses them, I immediately thought of the mythological hydra and the lowest constellation in the sky, also named Hydra. It struck me that the very same [quality] Jacob was drawn to in the hydra,

namely their practical immortality, was the same quality at the center of the myth.”

Conrad’s work refers to the myth of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra. As the story goes, Hercules severs the head of Hydra, who is a serpent who guards the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. However, each time that Hydra’s serpent was chopped off, another two would grow back. The constellation Hydra includes subentities of other constellations in it.

“In my own work as a sculptor, I am intrigued by the distinction between making a ‘copy’ and making something ‘new,’” Conrad said. “Both a copy and a new thing contain parts of each other; nothing is entirely new, nor is anything entirely a copy, and determining the line between the two is one of my favorite things to think about as an artist.”

Conrad said that it was that conception of what distinguishes a copy from something “new” that interacted with the threefold nature of the hydra.

COURTESY JILLIAN CONRAD

“So working with the framework of an organism, a myth and a constellation all named hydra, and all working with the idea of replication/copying/generation was a good starting point for me to begin experimenting in the studio.”

Conrad began her work using silver mylar birthday balloons in the studio for “Hydras.” “‘Hydras’ started in the studio with discarded balloons that I’d found, mostly deflated, on the side of the road. Just hours before they’d likely been fully inflated, part of a birthday celebration. Now they were forgotten and almost dead on the side of a road,” Conrad said. “I didn’t know what I would do with them when I found them, but … I realized they were a good point of departure for the project.”

The final product is made from digital scans of the crumpled up balloons that are then printed on silk organza.

Conrad worked with both objects and images in the creation of “Hydras” and said that she credits Shannon Duncan, who runs the photo lab at Rice, for her help in producing the work.

“My sculptures are materially and conceptually driven. I’m not attached to any particular material, process or form,” Conrad said. “Sometimes I make objects, sometimes images, and sometimes I make things that are both objects and images, as with Hydras.

The uncertainty of simultaneously knowing what you’re looking at and not knowing is where I want to be as an artist.”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 • 9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Celebrate Mardi Gras in Houston

downtown Galveston on Tuesday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m., featuring all Galveston Mardi Gras Krewes.

Learn @ Lunch at Central Market Join a class at Central Market on Tuesday, March 1 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. for a Fat Tuesday cooking class. The class will teach attendees to make Creole crab dip with garlic crostini, crawfish etouffee and chocolate pecan praline brownies.

Join to learn new cooking techniques as well as enjoy a Mardi Gras-inspired lunch. Tickets for the class are $30 and are available to purchase online.

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

MORGAN GAGE

A&E EDITOR

Mardi Gras is the culmination of the celebrations from Epiphany on Jan. 6 to the day before Ash Wednesday known as Fat Tuesday, which is “Mardi Gras” in French. This reflects the practice of eating rich, fatty foods before the beginning of Lenten fasting season. The holiday has French roots, it is celebrated in the United States, especially in cities and regions with traditionally French populations such as New Orleans where their annual festivities in the days preceding Fat Tuesday attract locals and tourists alike. Here are just some of the ways to celebrate Mardi Gras in the Houston area for those interested.

Mardi Gras! Galveston For those able to make the trip to Galveston between now and March 1, Mardi Gras! Galveston celebration offers FROM FRONT PAGE

SOUL NIGHT

Tamaz Young, a Wiess College freshman, finds inherent value in performing, and will be blending two of his spoken word pieces into one for Soul Night. He began writing poetry at the age of 14, and in Feb. 2021, he published his first poetry book “Unrequited Expressions.”

“It’s very therapeutic, and it’s my way to process things. I’ve always known that I communicate better when I write things down,” Young said.

When he’s performing, Young said that he feels transported.

“It’s almost as if the person that you see up there is not the person performing the poem, it’s me traveling back in time, to that moment or headspace I was in,” Young said. “As soon as the performance is over, then I’m back to the person that you see. So it’s just a unique experience to communicate.”

Young said he has become more confident on stage since attending various open mics in Houston. He cites the city’s large spoken word community as one of the reasons he wanted to come to Rice from his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Regardless of their previous experiences in front of live audiences, Barber said that all of the performers involved in Soul Night are passionate about the show.

“Everybody’s just been super involved in it, to the point where sometimes I’ll be on a call with somebody … and I’ll just be like, ‘Okay, promise me you’re not going to think about this for 24 hours,’” Barber said. “But they’re just so into it, and they’re so passionate about what they’re doing. I hope, and I think that energy radiates through the community and that’s what will make the show special.”

As an upperclassman, Wilson said that her experiences witnessing Soul Night

a multiple times to enjoy parades, bead catching and music. General admission to the festivities costs $16 and can be purchased online.

There’s a schedule of parades from Friday, Feb. 26 and throughout the weekend. Because of the parades being spread out across the weekend and days preceding Fat Tuesday, each can slot into a schedule differently, and visitors can choose which krewe — krewe refers to any group of people or organization that hosts a Mardi Gras ball or rides on a Mardi Gras parade float — to see. There is even a petfriendly option hosted on Sunday, Feb. 28, which is led by the “elite pet owner” of the year. For music enthusiasts, there is a lineup of concerts throughout the weekend, and several of the shows offer free admission.

For those with flexible enough schedules, there is a parade through differ from those of current freshmen and provide her with a responsibility to give back to a community at Rice she has already benefited from.

“I’m a junior, and I think a lot of times the underclassmen in the Black community feel like there’s not someone who shares their story or there’s not someone who is able to really come down to their level,” said Wilson. “I’ve heard people say that they just want to find someone that can relate to them.”

Wilson hopes that her involvement in the show can inspire any freshman who haven’t yet had the opportunity to see themselves reflected in a cultural showcase at Rice.

“I wanted that person when I was a freshman too, and I have this ability to give that to someone, and the best way that I feel like I can do that in the most public way is through Soul Night.”

The showcase will conclude with a fashion show, which Wilson is also coordinating. This year, models will be representing the city they’re from as they strut down the runway — the center aisle of the Grand Hall.

“There are some people that are going to pop up in sportswear. I’m from Louisiana, so I’ll probably end up wearing Mardi Gras beads, because that’s very common where I’m from,” Wilson said. Other people will likely be in traditional wear from different regions in Africa and beyond. “It varies widely from person to person.”

Wilson said that this range in backgrounds and presentations is one of the best things about the fashion show, especially because performers are allowed to choose the hometown they most closely associate themselves with.

“We just told them, ‘Whatever you feel like best represents where you come from and where you feel you identify, that’s what [you should] represent,” Wilson said. “We’re saying, we accept you … It’s impossible to fully encapsulate being Black in a single sentence.”

Get a taste of locally owned food Houston may not be New Orleans, but there are plenty of options for cajun and creole food in the city. For people wanting a taste of king cake — a dessert that exists somewhere between a coffee cake and a cinnamon roll often with brightly colored purple, yellow and green icing and cream cheese or fruit fillings — there are plenty of bakeries throughout the city that offer the dessert that is traditionally eaten during Mardi Gras season.

While king cake is available at grocery stores such as H-E-B, several local bakeries at a variety of price points to fit someone’s budget. While I hesitate to recommend any bakery in particular considering there are more options available than I could ever try, my roommate and I picked up one of the last cakes left at Three Brothers Bakery last year as the winter freeze encroached on Houston. We found their praline king cake to be a fine substitute for hot meals when our power went out.

Mardi Gras at Downtown Aquarium Have a taste of Louisiana-style cuisine at the downtown aquarium now through the Mardi Gras season. Take a table amid sea creatures swimming through the aquarium restaurant with a $25 admission price. Tickets can be purchased online in advance.

More Online:

Visit our website to read staff reviews of newly released album and films at ricethresher.org.

Loro Houston SYDNEY PARK

THRESHER STAFF

When I received an invitation to dine at Loro during its pre-opening trial, I suspected the quality would be strong given its highprofile chefs. But even with the hype, there’s simply no other way to put it: Loro is just too good. Located in Houston Heights, about a 20 minute drive from Rice campus, the Asian fusion smokehouse opens for service on Feb. 23.

‘Once Twice Melody’ IMOGEN BROWN

THRESHER STAFF

Baltimore-born synth duo Beach House released their first self-produced album on Feb. 18 ... Though “Once Twice Melody” fails to maintain the steady surety of the duo’s breakout release “Bloom,” the album preserves wealthy, brimming harmonies worthy of a corresponding light show.

‘Tall Girl 2’

HADLEY MEDLOCK

THRESHER STAFF

Going into “Tall Girl 2,” I didn’t have very high expectations, but it still proved to be even worse than the first one. The plot was rushed, unimportant characters were added and the dialogue itself was irritating and pointless.

Yet, it was somehow still enjoyable to watch.

10 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

36 runs in 27 innings: Longhorns crush Owls in Austin

COYRTESY RICE ATHLETICS Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. looks on before a game against the No. 1 University of Texas over the weekend. Cruz opened his tenure with three straight losses to the Longorns.

PAVITHR GOLI

tighten up. We have shown defensive lapses every game and for me that is unacceptable.”

After an undesirable start to his Rice baseball was swept by the No.1 ranked University of Texas, Austin to start managing career with the Owls, Cruz their season this past weekend. In Jose believes that the team has a lot to Cruz Jr.’s debut as the team’s head coach, improve on. The bullpen, in particular, the Owls lost to the Longhorns each day seemed to struggle throughout the series, of the weekend by large margins: a 7-0 according to Cruz, allowing 22 earned defeat on Friday, a 15-1 loss on Saturday, runs and issuing 20 walks.

“There were too many walks out of the and a final score of 14-2 on Sunday.

Graduate-transfer pitcher Cooper bullpen, which me and my staff didn’t Chandler got the start for the Owls on really understand,” Cruz said. “For us, Friday, giving up two runs in the first we got to take a big look when we look at three innings, before an error-plagued the bullpen.”

Cruz also said fourth inning that while he brought the thought the starting Longhorns’ lead to pitchers showed five, and knocked promise, they Chandler out of We have some things to still needed to go the game. The work on and adjust. So longer into games.

Longhorns tacked [it’s] one step at a time.

The starters only on two more runs pitched a total of 9.1 in the fifth, while We have to develop some Owls couldn’t get guys and undo some of the innings throughout the series, leaving their bats going things I inhereted here. It the bullpen to for the rest of the will take some time but we carry the rest of the game. burden of facing off The middle- are confident that we are against the Texas inning collapse better than we showed. batters. turned into a “I thought common theme Jose Cruz Jr. [Chandler] was for the Owls over HEAD COACH very competitive the weekend. On Saturday, Texas took a 3-0 lead into the and I believe that he is going to be very fourth inning and turned it into a 13-0 good this year. I think the three starters lead by the end of the sixth. On Sunday, were really good,” Cruz said. “As far as the Longhorns combined for 11 runs in competitiveness, we have to find a way for them to go longer. No one really went innings four through six as well.

In addition to the Texas offense past three innings. Those are some things coming out to big leads, the Texas that we can work on.”

Cruz was happy with the way the pitchers made it difficult for the Owls to find any offensive success. Led by a offense progressed through the series but pair of Freshman All-Americans from last believes that there is more to be desired. season in Pete Hansen and Tanner Witt, Although the offense made some good the Texas pitching staff dealt a shutout decisions, Cruz said that there are still for the first 17 innings of the season. things that the offensive playmakers can Throwing a total of 25 strikeouts, Texas improve.

“Our at-bats got better as the series only allowed 18 hits leading to three total runs throughout the three-game series, progressed,” Cruz said. “As far as our including a shutout in the season opener. offense, I thought our first night was According to Cruz, one of the biggest nothing. The second night was better and weaknesses of the team during the series the third night had some good swings. I was their mental lapses on the defensive think our guys are going to hit and are better offensively than what was shown side of the ball.

“We gave them errors and extra outs,” here.”

According to Cruz, the team’s growth Cruz said. “Every game we gave them extra outs on some things that are just is going to be slow and the process will mental and could have been avoided. be taken one step at a time as he also Those are some things that we need to believes that he needs to develop some SENIOR WRITER

of the things that he had inherited when he took the job at the end of last season.

“We have some things to work on and adjust,” Cruz said. “So [it’s] one step at a time. We have to develop some guys and undo some things that I inherited here. It will take some time, but we are confident that we are better than what we showed.”

The Owls will returm to Houston to face off next against Houston Baptist University away from home on Wednesday at 2:00 pm. The team will play their first home series of the season this weekend when the Owls face off against Lamar University starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m at Reckling Park.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 • 11

SPORTS

WBB sweeps weekend

FROM FRONT PAGE

TRACK AND FIELD

Simpson-Sullivan’s throw also set a British record, adding to the weekend’s accolades. Simpson-Sullivan said she’s thrilled with the record and hopes to use it to fuel her future performances. “[The record] is a great motivator moving into the outdoor season where I hope to chase down the British record for the hammer too,” Simpson-Sullivan said.

On the running events side, the Owls distance medley relay team consisting of sophomores Alyssa Balandran, Taigen Hunter-Galivan, Caitlin Wosika, and junior Tanae Dorsett, placed third with a time of 11:40.08. Balandran added on to her DMR bronze medal by earning points for the Owls with a fourth place finish in the 800m with a PR of 2:10.80 and a leg of the 4x400m relay’s sixth place finish.

After the meet, Bevan said he was pleased with how the DMR team and Balandran performed. “[After the DMR], Caitlin and Taigen came back with scoring efforts in the mile,” Bevan said. “Alyssa Balandran [also] had a big [personal best] in the 800m, she was seeded seventh going in and finished fourth.”

The meet as a whole was a great environment to compete and represent Rice, according to Simpson-Sullivan who said she enjoys the team aspect of track and field.

REED MYERS

SENIOR WRITER

COURTESY CONFERENCE USA Freshman jumper Josie Taylor attempts the high jump at the C-USA championships.

Taylor set the meet record with a jump of 1.86 helping the team to a fifth place finish.

“Overall, the team pulled out a really strong performance,” SimpsonSullivan said. “I always enjoy watching the team compete at Conferences, as it’s a fun competitive environment. Plus, there’s that added excitement as you’re performing for points for the team, as well as times and distances for yourself.”

The team was without a two-time indoor track all-American in sophomore distrnance runner Grace Forbes, who wasn’t at full strength this indoor season and didn’t compete, according to the athletic department.

As a team, the Owls indoor season has come to an end. However, those

who qualify will return to Birmingham to compete at the 2022 NCAA Track and Field Championships.

The championships will take place on March 11-12 and be broadcast across various ESPN networks.

After that, the Owls will set out on their outdoor season, which is set to begin on March 17. The team will look to build off of their success in last outdoor season, in which they won sevem individual golds, and placed second as a team at the conference championships.

They also had three athletes receive firstteam all-American honors last outdoor season.

Three Owls take gold at men’s T&F C-USA championships DANIEL SCHRAGER

SPORTS EDITOR

Three Owls took home gold medals as the Rice men’s track and field team placed fifth at the Conference USA championships in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend. On Saturday, junior thrower Nick Hicks won his second straight conference title in the weight throw, while junior vaulter Natan Rivera took gold in the pole vault, edging out teammate Grant Levesque on a tiebreaker. Levesque would get a gold of his own the next day though, winning the heptathlon. According to head coach Jon Warren, while it’s tough to gauge the team’s progress during the short indoor season, he was happy with the results.

“It is always difficult to set expectations in a conference that is this diverse and this good,” Warren said.

“We barely see each other during the short indoor season. That being said, we had hoped to be in the top half with a shot to be top three. We ended up fifth with some really solid performances during the weekend.”

Going into the meet, Hicks was among the favorites in the event after winning last year. But according to Warren, his throw of 20.92 meters, which beat second place by over a meter and a half, still managed to exceed hs lofty expectations.

“Nick Hicks put up a dominating performance in the weight throw,” Warren said. “He would have won the event with every one of his legal throws.”

As for the pole vault, Rivera and

COURTESY CONFERENCE USA Junior thrower Nick Hicks attempts the weight throw at the C-USA championships.

Hicks won the gold for the second straight year helping the Owls place fifth.

Levesque each cleared the 5.04 meter bar, while no one else got higher than 4.89 meters. Both maxed out at the same height, but Rivera, who had also won the event in 2019, was given the gold because he was able to do so in fewer attempts.

Warren said that both impressed him over the course of the weekend.

The only other Owl to earn an

It is always dificult to set expectations in a conference that is this diver and this good. That being said, we had hoped to be in the top half with a shot to be top three. We ended up fifth with some really solid performances during the weekend.

Jon Warren

HEAD COACH individual medal on Saturday was sophomore jumper Ese Amata in the high jump. The distance medley relay team added a silver as well, finishing just over two-tenths of a second behind Middle Tennessee State University’s team.

Sunday saw sophomore thrower Elian Ahmar take bronze in the shot put. But according to Warren, the heptathlon was the highlight of the day for the Owls. In addition to Levesque’s first place finish,

freshman Augustus Henry took third place, junior Corbett Fong took fourth and sophomore Keegan O’Connor took sixth.

“I would like to give special attention to the heptathlon,” Warren said. “This was an event where the Owls went first, third, fourth and sixth. That is a great showing.”

Despite the strong individual performances, the showing wasn’t quite enough to put the Owls in the competition for the overall title. The team finished with 78 points, 77.5 behind runaway champions University of North Carolina at Charlotte, but only 16 points out of second place.

While those who qualify will compete at the NCAA championships on March 11 and 12, the bulk of the team will now turn their attention towards the outdoor season, which begins on Mar. 17. According to Warren, the team is excited to get some key athletes back who don’t compete in indoor events, and has a chance to be even better during the outdoor season.

“I think we are better built for the outdoor campaign than [the] indoor [one],” Warren said. “We are very excited about the outdoor season. We will add some events that we think will help [such as] javelin, discus, [and] steeplechase, get some key athletes back, for example AllAmerican [senior] javelin thrower James McNaney and former C-USA pole vault champ [sophomore vaulter] Alexander Slinkman. The impressive multi event crew will be able to more easily do additional events [since] the indoor meet is 17 events over day days, the outdoor meet is 21 events over four days.”

Last season, McNaney and Hicks won individual conference titles, and McNaney was the sole member of the team to qualify for the NCAA outdoor championships. According to Warren, the team has a good chance to improve on those numbers this year.

“We hope to finish very high in the conference standings,” Warren said. “We hope to qualify a large number of athletes to the NCAA post season, have a few all Americans and to possibly garner a decent NCAA finish.”

The NCAA championships will also take place in Birmingham and will be broadcast across various ESPN networks.

The Rice women’s basketball team picked up their first conference play weekend-sweep by defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Florida International University. Both games saw the Owls in a neck-and-neck contest to the very end, something that has troubled the team so far this season. However, according to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, closing games has been a point of emphasis, and she was proud to see her team pull through in both games.

“We have been really trying to focus on and practice doing some situation stuff at the end of every practice, and I think we’re learning by now that a lot of our games are going to come down to the wire and we have to be better in those moments, myself included,” Edmonds said. “So the situations and practice help me figure out what I want to call, who I want to run it for, what we want to do defensively, like what works best for us. We’ve grown a lot together and I’m just really really proud of them and happy that they were able to get rewarded for their hard work.”

The Owls’ first game during the homestand saw them in a shootout against the Blazers. The Owls got off to a flying start thanks in large part to freshman guard Maya Bokunewicz, who scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half, to go along with her career-high eight rebounds. According to Bokunewicz, having the game come to her offensively and playing with pace have helped her settle into the system.

“I think just coming in as a freshman off of an injury last year, [it] took me a little time to settle in and to play with the pace of the game and kind of let the game come to me offensively,” Bokunewicz said. “I’ve definitely slowed down and gotten into a rhythm with the game and been able to read how players are guarding me better.”

While Bokunewicz did much of the scoring for the Owls, who found themselves a point ahead at halftime, it was sophomore forward Ashlee Austin who helped the Owls close the game in the second half. Austin chipped in 17 of her 22 points in the second half while going nine for 17 from the field.

Destiny Jackson also added career-highs of own with 17 points and nine assists, helping to ignite the Owls’ offense. Overall, the Owls offense was in full swing as they shot 49.2 percent on 61 shots, shot 58.3 percent from deep and matched a season low of 10 team turnovers. According to Bokunewicz, the way the Owls convincingly closed this game showed the team’s growth.

“I was telling them in the locker room [that] we were in a lot of these same kinds of positions that we were in today in prior games this season and we haven’t been able to close them out,” Bokunweicz said.

“So I think practicing every day this week, and having a good practice preparing for this game, every little moment that we’ve had has really prepared us for the big moment in the game and we really closed it out, showed a lot of growth and maturity and knocked down some tough shots and sometimes that wins games, so I’m really proud of our group.”

Following their win against UAB, the Owls were positioned to come away with their first conference sweep of the season when the Panthers of FIU came to Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Owls got off to another fast start, outscoring the Panthers 14-7 in the first quarter while stifling the Panthers to the tune of only two made shots.

However, the Owls’ offense sputtered in the second quarter, as FIU took a 28-25 lead going into halftime.

Once again, the Owls found themselves going down to the wire. However, like they did on Thursday night, the Owls took the lead in the third quarter and never looked back, largely due to their 31 for 36 shooting from the foul line.

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

12 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022

BACKPAGE

Rice Parent to Parent Network Private group • 3.8k members

Susan Beckerson 3h

My grandson Philbert told me he used the family computer to vote in the “SA election” and now the internet history is completely gone and these immodest cartoon schoolgirls won’t stop popping up on my screen!!!! >:-( Make sure word gets around about this so-called “SA” organization.

Let’s keep the Rice community informed!

Stay safe, Susan J. Beckerson, Volunteer Interweb Safety Patrol Deputy Please reshare this post to ten friends or the ghost of Carmen Winstead will haunt you forever.

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2 comments 40 shares

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.

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