The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, March 9, 2022

VOLUME 106, ISSUE NO. 22 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

Review: ‘The Batman’: Lived up to the hype

Publics return after two years, COVID regulations loosen further

SASWAT PATI

THRESHER STAFF Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” succeeds in all aspects from direction, story and acting, and it provides a strong foundation for a new DC comics continuity. The film is the best film of the year thus far as well as one of the greatest comic book films ever made.

While many films are resigned to using superficial aesthetics, “The Batman” crafts an atmosphere of mystery that permeates the film — an excellent addition to the noir genre. Gotham feels like a living, breathing city, a testament to the careful world building that went into creating the film. At points, the film feels like high art with multiple shots seemingly ripped straight from a comic book. From the retro-modern design of Gotham City to Michael Giacchino’s magnificent score, the film successfully transports the audience into the world of Batman.

CHLOE XU / THRESHER

HAJERA NAVEED

ASST NEWS EDITOR Public parties will be returning to campus the weekend after spring break for the first time in two years, according to Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman. The first public will be held on Saturday March 26, followed by one every weekend until the end of the school year.

Unlike past publics, these parties will be held outdoors and most colleges will host them in pairs, according to Gorman.

Gorman said the conversations about the return of publics began early in the semester.

“Once we started rolling back other restrictions, the conversations about publics began,” Gorman said. “It really picked up in earnest about a month ago and I decided to put a working group together to try and hash out some of the big issues and concerns.”

In addition to the return of public parties, an email sent on Monday

by Kevin Kirby, vice president for administration, announced that masks are no longer required anywhere on campus, indoors and outdoors, besides the classroom. Gorman said the change in mask policy will not affect public planning, as they will still be required to be held outdoors.

Brian Gibson, co-chair of the publics working group, said that the group was composed of college magisters, presidents, chief justices and socials.

Gibson said that the goal of the working group was to consider health and safety concerns for the return of publics and find ways to address them. “[The working group] started with laying out what our wishes were and what types of things we’d like to be able to see happen,” Gibson, senior associate dean of undergraduates, said. “But we set the tone from the very beginning that we actually don’t get to make the call on some of these things. The [Crisis Management and Advisory Committee]

group would ultimately determine some of these things because we weren’t certain what would be allowed or what wouldn’t be allowed, nor do we understand where Omicron would be in a month.”

Because it’s been more than two years since the last public was held, Gibson said that thinking through the details has been challenging. He said that having input from student leaders was beneficial, especially from those who have attended publics in the past.

“That was very helpful, understanding what some of the things were that they went through, because there’s just not a lot of institutional carryover knowledge at this point,” Gibson said.

Christina Chen and Michael Wang, Wiess College socials, said that they have been seeking guidance from upperclassmen who have planned Wiess publics in the past. Chen said that planning so far has consisted of reaching out to a lot of people who have knowledge on planning large scale events like these, and working with the Will Rice College socials to plan a joint event.

“It might take more time planning this year compared to other years because obviously with COVID the publics haven’t happened so there is a dead time period where people haven’t experienced nor planned publics,” Chen, a freshman, said. “It’s not like last year’s socials just planned [Night Of Decadence], and they can give their expertise to us. Instead there’s a couple years removed so we have to reach out to current seniors … who have experience but from three years ago.”

Gibson said that there was a lot of conversation within the working group about how colleges would pair together to host publics. He said that they really wanted colleges to make those decisions.

“There are more colleges than there are weekends [left in the semester] so there would have to be a pooling of resources across colleges,” Gibson said.

SEE PUBLICS PAGE 2

SEE BATMAN PAGE 9

COVID, construction affect accessibility at Rice NITHYA SHENOY

ASST FEATURES EDITOR Ever since the pandemic started in 2020, classes, events and more were moved online. Learning virtually came with its own challenges, such as Zoom fatigue and monotony; however, the shift also increased accessibility to things like classes and social activities, a change especially helpful for students with disabilities.

Ling DeBellis, a Martel College junior, has a polio-like undiagnosed neurological disorder that causes severe weakness in her hands and legs. DeBellis, who uses a power wheelchair, said that the shift to virtual platforms during the pandemic has increased accessibility.

“In a way [the shift to online platforms] granted accessibility for people who might not be able to go to certain events,” DeBellis said. “At least for stuff on the students with disabilities council … a lot of stuff has been virtual and online. I liked it for a lot of the film festivals and events.”

Trey Weltens, a Duncan College sophomore, said that his bilateral hearing loss is a bit of an invisible disability.

During the pandemic, Zoom has been extremely helpful, he said. However, the return to in-person classes posed a new challenge.

“I’m also a lip reader. On Zoom that made things easier. But when we went back to in-person [classes], still during the pandemic, that’s probably been my biggest struggle,” Weltens said. “Just trying to find the balance between ‘[wearing masks] is important’ and if there’s ever a chance I’m talking with a professor one on and on and if I can ask them for just a second to pull down their mask.”

Weltens said he greatly appreciates the policy allowing instructors to lecture without a mask.

“I was in heaven with in-person class and the professor took down his mask.

That was super helpful and I was able to read his lips,” Weltens said.

Elise Gibney, a Wiess College senior, said that COVID has made classes far more accessible in comparison to preCOVID times. Gibney said her disability is dizziness caused by a neurological problem for which there is no name yet.

Her condition forced her to take a medical leave of absence soon after matriculating in fall 2016.

“If I wake up and everything’s moving around … then I can just email the professor and explain the situation and they can just send me a Zoom link for the class. I really hope that’s something they keep,” Gibney said.

Gibney also said that professors have been extremely accommodating.

According to Gibney, she was able to return to Rice in fall 2018 and didn’t experience the dizziness outside of sporadic occurrences. However, she said the dizziness returned last November.

“It was under control. And then suddenly, out of nowhere ... everything was moving again,” Gibney said. “My professors were very understanding about it. Since it was so close to the end of the semester I was excused on some things.”

Weltens said that he has had an extremely positive experience with professors at Rice.

“I think [the professors] don’t often have the opportunity or the necessity to use that [disability] clause in their syllabus so when they do, they are super open to work with you,” Weltens said.

“My experience getting accommodations has mostly been getting them to wear a microphone during class that syncs up with my hearing aids.”

SEE ACCESSIBILITY PAGE 6

2 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

SA ELECTION RESULTS

46.86% Crystal Unegbu

50.8% Gabrielle Franklin

IVP race

presidential race 51.01%

23.52% voter turnout

Trisha Gupta

president

secretary

internal vice president

treasurer

GABRIELLE FRANKLIN

49.2% Madison Bunting

26.81% voter turnout

TRISHA GUPTA

SARAH BARTOS SOLOMON NI

external vice president

SHIVANI GOLLAPUDI

INFOGRAPHIC BY ANNA CHUNG

Franklin wins SA presidential election, Gupta to serve as next IVP HAJERA NAVEED

ASST NEWS EDITOR Gabrielle Franklin will serve as the next Student Association president after winning a close election — 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent of the vote — against Madison Bunting. A total of 1124 ballots were cast for the presidential election, with a voter turnout of 26.81 percent, up marginally from last year’s 24 percent.

Two rounds of ranked-choice voting were needed to determine the presidential candidate. In the first round, Franklin, a Brown College sophomore, received 49.82 percent of the vote (560 ballots) while Bunting, a Martel College junior, received 47.06 percent (529 ballots). In the second round, with the write-in slot eliminated, Franklin received 50.80 percent of the vote (571 ballots).

Ranked-choice voting asks voters to rank candidates and a write-in slot in order of preference. The candidate with the lowest number of first-choice votes is eliminated after the first round, with those FROM FRONT PAGE

PUBLICS

Sarah Mozden, outgoing Sid Richardson College president, said that presidents helped socials pick their partner college, but they mostly wanted to give the socials an opportunity to decide themselves. Brown College and Jones College, Wiess and Will Rice, and Baker College and Sid Richardson will be co-hosting publics. According to Julia Engelhardt, McMurtry College prime minister, McMurtry will host the first public. Martel College will be hosting an outdoor sundeck

votes being allocated to each voter’s next choice candidate. The process is repeated until one candidate gets a majority of the votes.

Trisha Gupta won the race for internal vice president against Crystal Unegbu, with Gupta, a Sid Richardson College senior, receiving 51.01 percent of the vote (503 ballots) and Unegbu, a Hanszen College freshman, receiving 46.86 percent (462 ballots). The IVP race had a voter turnout of 23.52 percent.

In the race for SA secretary, which had a voter turnout of 22.51 percent, Sarah Bartos, a Lovett College sophomore, beat Margo Gee, a Brown sophomore, with 50.32 percent of the vote (475 ballots) in the final round of ranked choice voting.

Shivani Gollapudi will serve as the SA external vice president next year after winning an uncontested race. Solomon Ni, who also ran unopposed, will serve as the SA treasurer.

Bria Weisz, SA director of elections, said the SA’s goal this year was to break last year’s voter turnout. She said that

the SA mainly relied on word of mouth, outside of reminder emails, to advertise voting, which is something she believes can be improved on in the coming years.

“While our turnout is comparatively low historically, Rice University students are much more civically engaged with our student government than many other universities,” Weisz, a Brown junior, said.

“Perhaps students feel disconnected from the Student Association, or are inundated with emails already, but I would not consider a voter turnout of over a quarter to be a complete failure.”

Bunting said that she thinks the close races this year highlight the need for the SA to be intentional about being a space that unifies campus, through communication and collaboration.

“It will take work from both elected representatives and the general student body to rebuild trust in and engagement with the organization, so it can effectively represent and advocate for the diverse needs and perspectives of students across campus,” Bunting said.

Franklin said she was disappointed to see the low turnout this year, but was glad the number improved from last year. She said as she begins her term, she has many plans for projects to initiate.

“The first things I am going to do in my term are add diversity and allyship training to the SA Retreat we host for inducting our yearly cohort, start the materials for the de-stigmatization campaigns and begin working with my executive team to formulate newsletters for distribution about the SA,” Franklin said.

Gupta said she is excited to start her role as IVP and hopes to begin immediately with establishing a stronger relationship with the Faculty Senate so SA is in a better position to communicate their interests.

“Overall, I hope to increase the visibility of the SA within the student body by using every avenue of communication possible to show undergraduates how they can bring their opinions, ideas, interests and energy into the SA at any level of engagement,” Gupta said.

party on Beer Bike morning, according to Gorman.

Hanszen College and Lovett College will not be hosting a public this semester.

According to outgoing Hanszen President Morgan Seay, Hanszen government made the decision to not hold a public for several reasons.

“These include the cost of holding a large-scale public, the logistical concerns surrounding collaboration with another college, and the reduced time to plan the event,” Seay, a senior, said. “We’ve had great success with Hanszen only events and made

the decision to host a Hanszen-only formal instead, but look forward to returning to public planning next year.”

Michael de Figueiredo, a Brown sophomore, said that the return of publics signals that things are reverting back to how they were pre-pandemic.

“It seems like this is one of the final big steps towards a return to normalcy on campus,” de Figueiredo said. “Even with some restrictions, it makes me optimistic for the future of on-campus life.”

Avni Parmar, a Will Rice freshman, said she is really looking forward to publics and

other campus-wide events.

“I feel like [publics are] a big part of Rice culture that I have missed out on because of the pandemic,” Parmar said.

Gorman said that the administration is increasingly hopeful that the university is at a point to more or less operate as it did before the pandemic, with some considerations.

“I’m happy that we are at the point that we can try these large outdoor parties, that’s Beer Bike, that’s publics,” Gorman said. “If they go well and if they look good … my expectation is that we would start the fall semester with y’all being able to have indoor publics again.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 • 3

NEWS

Judges crown ‘Rice’s Finest’ Sara Davidson, a freshman from Brown College, Moquin is one of the first non-male EDITOR-IN-CHIEF contestants in the event.

In the annual fundraising event “Traditionally, Rice’s finest and the hosted by Camp Kesem, McMurtry individual college winners were given to a College sophomore Teddy Gilman was senior, male student,” Moquin, a freshman, named “Rice’s Finest.” Ten colleges were said. “I was the first female freshman to represented that night — Jones College win Mr. Lovett in the history of Lovett and it did not have a contestant this year — in felt great to be one of the firsts. I’m honored the competition previously known as Mr. to be part of this inclusivity movement.”

Rice. It was renamed this year to be more Less said participating was an exciting inclusive of all gender identities, according experience. to “Rice’s Finest” coordinators Kaitlyn “This soon-to-be mechanical engineer Crowley and Ambreen Younas. who once dreamed of being a pop star “Though the event has historically got to live out his childhood dream for only had male approximately five contestants even minutes and I’ve though anyone never been more could run, we loved We wanted to change the proud of myself,” their idea of making name of the entire campus Less, a sophomore the competition said. competition since we had more inclusive on Emceeing the both the college- always intended for it to event were Rishi wide and campus- be open to people of all Vas, McMurtry wide levels, and gender identities anyways College senior, and decided to change Liza Yusem, Baker the name of the rather than just for men, College junior. The campus-wide event although this has not been three judges that as well,” Crowley properly advertised in the night — professors wrote in an email Kasey Leigh Yearty, past before. to the Thresher.

James DeNicco, “This is definitely Ambreen Younas and Tom Stallings something we plan RICE’S FINEST CO-COORDINATOR — were selected on keeping for through student future years in order to be more inclusive of feedback, according to Younas. contestants of any gender identity.”

Crowley said they were excited to be a Younas said they were inspired by part of bringing the show back to an inDuncan College, whose Culture and Arts person format.

Committee renamed their competition “We were both at that event two years last fall from “Mr. Duncan” to “Duncan’s ago [in spring 2020] and had so much Finest.” fun seeing everyone come out to support “Kaitlyn and I then decided that we their friends and [Camp] Kesem, so it was wanted to change the name of the entire both daunting and exciting to have the campus competition since we had always opportunity to recreate that experience intended for it to be open to people of all for everyone again this year,” Crowley gender identities anyways rather than wrote. “We definitely had to work hard just for men, although this has not been this semester on the logistics of the event properly advertised in the past before,” and Rice’s COVID guidelines to make Younas wrote. “The change in the name is sure everything ran smoothly, but it was one of the ways that we are trying to be more so rewarding to see how much fun the inclusive along with other changes, such as contestants and audience had.” certain changes in our programming.”

Younas said they started planning for Gilman said he enjoyed being a part of Rice’s Finest last semester, after each of the “Rice’s Finest” and helping contribute to participating colleges had selected their the cause. representing student.

“It was so incredible to see everyone’s “In order to properly advertise the event acts and I was so beyond impressed with … and to create solid programming, we how well everyone did,” Gilman said. wanted to make sure that we could get to “[Winning] was a great honor, especially personally know each participant,” Younas because the competition was very fierce, wrote. “For example, we had them submit and I was really glad to bring the title home fun facts about themselves, favorite pickup for all the folks rooting for me at McMurtry.” lines, hobbies, etc. We personally met with Gilman and fellow contestants several contestants, and Camp Kesem competed in a talent portion, fashion show Rice’s Alumni, Marketing, and PR team and Q&A session on the evening of March helped us conduct photoshoots with all the 4, where Leighton Less from Baker College contestants. We also had several meetings and Julie Moquin from Lovett College also and dress rehearsals with everybody.” took home awards for “Best Walk” and The event raised roughly $2.4 thousand, “Best Talent,” respectively. For her talent, according to Crowley and Younas, which Moquin performed a rendition of John included money raised from ticket sales, Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” concessions and profits from posters of with lyrics changed to be specifically each contestant that were auctioned off about Rice’s “pebble paths.” Alongside during the show.

SAVANNAH KUCHAR

Rice hosts conference on paranomal phenomena VIOLA HSIA

CHLOE XU / THRESHER

“I’m looking [at] the [inter] connectedness, that the possibility of The Archives of the Impossible what we’re talking about here in terms Conference was held at Hudspeth of the paranormal or consciousness Auditorium in the School of Continued [connects to] how people actually live Studies this past weekend. The in the world and experience the world conference focused on covering the on a day to day basis,” Finely said. academic study of UFO phenomena, “We are all connected in meaningful extrasensory perception and other ways that might help us to think about one another and the world in different paranormal activity.

The event, which lasted from March ways. But [we also] have experiences 3 to 6, was organized by Jeffrey Kripal, that are very different and cultures the associate dean in the School that are important.”

Sravana Borkataky-Varma, another of Humanities. The Archives of the Impossible itself refers to a plethora panelist on the Experiencing the of research related to the study of Impossible panel, also discussed the paranormal experiences at Fondren interconnectedness in the field.

“This event is really important Library’s Woodson Research Center.

Kripal, who gave the opening talk because it is helping us have a at the event, said that the study of conversation on what we are calling the paranormal is really grounded in the impossible in a much wider intellectual and academic institutions, and inclusive sense than earlier,” Borkataky-Varma said. despite popular belief.

Borkataky-Varma also said that “When I get interviewed, they’ll often play X Files music or something, the study of this topic allows for a because that’s what people [associate much wider vision of a world, which with the paranormal] in popular she says we have been conditioned to see in a certain culture,” Kripal, way. the J. Newton “There are Rayzor Chair beings that look in Philosophy It’s a serious intellectual like us, then and Religious project, and it belongs there are beings Thought at Rice, in the universities. Of that don’t look said. “[But if] like us, but you go back 100 course, it belongs outside they’re very years, [you find] the universities, but it much in the physicists, and also belongs inside the same space,” psychologists Borkatakya n d universities, and it’s okay Varma said. “I p h i l o s o p h e r s to talk about it [there]. would really making up these Jeffrey Kripal urge, especially words to just try the Rice to understand ASSOCIATE DEAN IN THE SCHOOL community and what’s going OF HUMANITIES the community on.”

Kripal said that one of the main outside, to [look beyond] and see the themes of the event and his speech was beauty of this larger universe that we that the conversation about paranormal cohabit.”

Finely said that he hopes beings should play a prominent role in people won’t forget this idea of academic discussions.

Stephen C. Finely, one of the interconnectedness, while at the same panelists for the Para-Ecologies panel, time remember that this topic is far said that the academic study of the more complex than usually thought.

“I do hope we gain a sense of paranormal is the groundwork for many complexity,” Finely said. “Many fields of study.

“This material that we call people who are part of these paranormal, comes from American conversations want to [think of this universities,” Finely, a professor and topic as] universal. And I get that, inaugural chair in the Department of and it’s really important. But I don’t African and African American Studies want to erase [individual] identities at Louisiana State University, said. “It’s necessarily.”

Kripal says he hopes that people a connection that really has been erased even in these disciplines — religious will start looking at the topic of UFOs studies, philosophy, psychology, within academic settings such as anthropology — that have strong universities.

“It’s a serious intellectual project, paranormal origins.”

Finely said that this and it belongs in the universities,” interconnectedness has real world Kripal said. “Of course, it belongs applications not just between academic outside the universities, but it also fields, but also when thinking of belongs inside the universities, and it’s okay to talk about it [there].” everyday life.

SENIOR WRITER

COURTESY KAITLYN CROWLEY In the annual fundraising event hosted by Camp Kesem, McMurtry College sophomore Teddy Gilman (sixth from left) was named “Rice’s Finest.”

4 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

NEWS

Chaus, Hoot, Pub to relocate during student center construction CHANNING WANG / THRESHER Coffeehouse, the Pub at Rice and the Hoot are relocating temporarily when the student center is torn down in April. Chaus will be moving to the Old Sid servery.

YULIN LU

FOR THE THRESHER Coffeehouse, the Pub at Rice and the Hoot are moving to temporary locations as a result of the current Student Center’s demolition in late April, according to the three business’ general managers.

Coffeehouse Jinhee Shin, the General Manager of Coffeehouse, said that the student run business will be moving to the servery inside the old Sid Richardson College.

“Our current space holds a lot of memories, so moving to a new space might be challenging because so many of our memories are connected to the physical space,” Shin, a Martel College junior, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Shin said that, to hold onto past memories, Coffeehouse will keep decorations from the current location.

“We’re also definitely planning on keeping our student art pieces and polaroids that are in our current space,” Shin said. “We also plan to take the Coffeehouse sign with us when we go to Old Sid since that has been there when Coffeehouse first began in Hanszen College.”

Shin said that the choice of Old Sid is based on the consideration of food-service needs.

“Coffeehouse has a lot of specific needs in comparison to other Student Center offices since we’re a food-service business,” Shin said. “Old Sid Servery was the most logistical choice. It has a loading dock, water [and] electricity lines and ample space for seating.”

Shin said that, to retain Coffeehouse’s customer base, management will try to make more corresponding adjustments. “[We’re already] thinking how shift sizes and shift starting times might have to adapt to the new location,” Shin said.

“One logistical challenge is that Old Sid Servery is obviously designed as a servery, not as a coffee shop, so planning our layout has been a bit challenging. For example, we can’t just put our espresso machine at a convenient location — it depends on where the water line is at Old Sid.” Shin also said that the relocation would bring Coffeehouse new opportunities. “[Old Sid] is a bigger space for both customers and [employees], which means there will be more seating options and more centralized storage options for us,” Shin wrote. “At Old Sid, all of our storage will be centralized in the back-of-house kitchen area. We’ll also have our own loading dock at Old Sid, which will be super beneficial to us and our vendors.”

Shin said that she’s excited about the future even though she will no longer be a student at Rice when the new RMC opens.

“I’m excited for the future of [Coffeehouse] even though I won’t really witness it,” Shin said. “As a [general manager], I know it’s a one-year term, and I want to add to it as much as I can.

I’m also excited for our new hires. We just onboarded 11 new [employees] onto our team.”

Pub Elizabeth Groenewold, the general manager of Pub, said that Pub’s temporary location next year will most likely be a

concession stand on the second floor of Tudor Fieldhouse.

“After the [new] RMC is built, we will move into our permanent location on the second floor of the new RMC building.”

Groenewold wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We are still waiting for complete confirmation from both the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Athletics to have this space. But as of now, it is looking likely that this is where we will end up for the fall 2022 to spring 2023 semesters.”

Groenewold said that Pub’s temporary location in the Tudor Fieldhouse is the result of cooperation between Pub and the athletics department.

“I think this will be a mutually beneficial partnership between Pub and the athletic department,” Groenewold wrote. “Pub will be serving concessions (both food and alcohol) during games held in Tudor next year, which will be a great way to increase student attendance at basketball and volleyball games, as well as give Pub additional business.”

According to Groenewold, the athletic department offered ideas and equipment to border off the hallway by the concession stand to help Pub feel like its own space within Tudor. However, she said she still has concerns about the location change.

“The Pub ‘space’ while Tudor Fieldhouse is closed at night will be the L-shaped hallway around the concession stand. It could be a difficult transition from having our complete own space in the RMC basement to a hallway in Tudor,” Groenewold said. “Another difficulty we expect is, since Tudor is less central on campus than the RMC is, getting student traffic in Pub during the day.”

The Hoot Theo Vadot, the general manager of the Hoot, said that the Hoot’s temporary space will be in West Servery, in a takeout window that is located behind the drinks station of the servery. This relocation would happen after Beer Bike, the week of April 4 to April 8.

“There had been discussions of sharing the Old Sid Kitchen space with Chaus,” Vadot wrote in an email to the Thresher.

“But at the end of the day, there are only so many spaces and resources that can be shared, so we came up with West Servery.”

According to Vadot, because the Hoot’s new location in West servery is closer to north colleges than south, they plan on improving their delivery service to solve this problem.

“We are very obviously now going to be much closer to all the north colleges, but that also comes with the reality that we are twice as far from the south colleges.” Vadot wrote. “I do think that we can take that as an opportunity to ramp up our deliveries, as we are overcoming some recent golf cart turbulence … Chef Roger and I are working closely to make sure everyone will be on the same page about our opening and closing protocols.”

Vadot said that he thinks the Hoot will learn to adapt to the relocation and hopefully take advantage of the resources of the new location.

“The Hoot already currently shares a space with Ambassador’s Cafe and previously 4.Tac0, and that comes with obstacles as well,” Vadot said. “A change like this can also be welcome despite the challenges we might have to face.”

Senior writer Prayag Gordy contributed to this article.

SA passes resolution denouncing swim coach comments BONNIE ZHAO

ASST NEWS EDITOR The Student Association passed a resolution denouncing Rice swim coach Seth Huston’s statements on the National Collegiate Athletics Association policy regarding transgender participation in college-level sport at the March 7 Senate meeting, with one SA member voting against the resolution.

Stephanie Martinez, SA Director of Equity, said during the meeting that they made several amendments to the original resolution.

“I feel like there’s a discourse around this resolution,” Martinez, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “I just want to say that this resolution is just one piece of [our efforts], and SA has many aspects that are working towards change for trans students … So this resolution is focused on [Huston’s] comments and statements, but I do think that’s a step to creating a more inclusive community.”

The resolution, introduced by the Equity Council, now clarifies that this resolution is not commenting on the intent of the statement, but the impact of Huston’s words.

“The Student Association and Rice University must take responsibility for the

SOLOMON NI / THRESHER The SA passed a resolution denouncing swim coach Seth Huston’s statements on the NCAA policy regarding transgender athletes. negative impact of his statement regardless of its original intent,” the resolution said.

Sarah Mozden, the outgoing president of Sid Richardson, said during the meeting that she appreciates that the Equity Council has amended the resolution to better represent the will of students.

“I see you guys took a lot of feedback from SA discussions, and I’m very proud of you guys for having those discussions and actively working [on amending the resolution],” Mozden, a senior, said at Senate.

The resolution urges Rice University to have Huston undergo allyship training and

an anti-discrimination course, denounce the statements made by Huston and apologize to the student body for allowing transphobia to proliferate on campus. The resolution also calls for Huston to publicly apologize for his comments.

The vote on the resolution was not unanimous. All voting members of the SA, except for Jones College president Aaron Pathak, voted to pass the resolution. Wiess College senator Kamren Walls abstained from voting.

Pathak said that he believes the passing of a large number of amendments that could change the interpretation of a

legislation should have time for discussion with constituents.

“While not a recorded roll-call vote, I also voted no to waiving prior notice and voting without the normally allowed discussion time,” Pathak wrote in an email to the Thresher. “However, Senate’s motion to waive prior notice passed, and we had to operate on an accelerated timeline. Based on the data my senator and I had most recently collected, a clear majority of Jonesians did not support the resolution in its original form; as such, our split-vote was important to most accurately represent the voice of the college we were elected to serve.”

Pathak said he is strongly against the intimidation of voting members by members of the Rice community.

“I fear an increasingly common strategy in the Senate is to bypass our democratic structures through intimidating voting members in their personal lives or through threatened ostracization,” Pathak wrote.

“Rushing through legislation prevents representatives from accurately discussing key issues with their constituents. I find this increases the gap between the SA and the student body, and this may be why many students feel the SA is not representative of the student body as a whole.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

EDITORIAL

Publics are back — enjoy responsibly After two years, public parties are finally coming back. Two out of four classes of undergraduates have never had the opportunity to attend a public, while juniors had their one year with public culture cut short. Many members of the Rice community are unfamiliar with public parties and all they entail, while others’ experiences are two years removed and they are eager to return to the parties of their underclassmen days.

As the return of public parties approaches, the Thresher feels a similar sense of anticipation, but we urge our fellow students to truly embody the culture of care that Rice boasts. Look out for your peers, make sure to support each other in drinking and partying responsibly and be willing to step in and offer assistance. Don’t hesitate to bring someone a glass of water, utilize bystander intervention training from CTIS or, if and when necessary, reach out for additional help.

Rice has an alcohol policy that focuses on the reality of college life rather than a poor mimicry of prohibition, and this comes with certain responsibilities. Given the amnesty policy offered to underage students in need of

We all deserve to have fun and enjoy ourselves after the last two years, but we need to do so safely. medical attention relating to alcohol, it is our responsibility as members of the community to reach out when that medical attention is needed.

While junior and seniors are eager to return to the parties they remember from before COVID, this is a time to recognize that they are the only classes who have

experienced large parties like publics; in the case of Beer Bike, only seniors have attended the event on a fully wet campus. Even Dis-O took form in parties scattered across different days and times. Upperclassmen should use their experience to set an example for younger students of what a healthy party culture should look like and to look out for their younger peers.

Other groups on campus are aware of this. Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-Free Environment and the Student Association’s Sexual Assault Prevention committee have been working on addressing the double red zone for sexual harassment which will surely pop up again as publics return and students engage with large parties for the first time.

We all deserve to have fun and enjoy ourselves after the last two years, but we need to do so safely. So look out for your peers and show them what culture of care really means.

Read more at

ricethresher.org Stand up for free speech now, or it’s only going to get more difficult We’ve seen time and time again that the censorship isn’t about hate.

Robert Sean Cartwright

HANSZEN COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

GUEST OPINION

Ensure student representation at Rice: Enforce the vote

I believe that at the heart of a thoughtful opinion piece lies an acknowledgment of its author’s blindness and that no opinion piece, especially those penned by cis white men, will ever wholistically convey a sociological issue’s full scope and importance. In that spirit, I would like to begin this writing with an admission: though I would like to spark discussion about compulsory voting within the hedges, I will not be able to address all of the nuances of a question as complicated as “How should we, as a community, vote?” in 1000 words.

It’s no secret: Rice has a voting problem.

According to the Thresher Editorial Board, only 24 percent of campus voted in the 2021 Student Association Elections, a number barely nudged by the 2022 election’s 26.81 percent. For comparison, the 2014 midterms had the lowest turnout for any national election in recent U.S. history. The rate?

36.4 percent. All Rice undergraduates can vote in SA elections. Unlike millions of individuals who face down the scourge of voter suppression or cannot legally exercise suffrage, Rice students do not have to overcome any barriers to vote; we just have to open our emails.

Of course, the stakes of Rice’s election fall far beneath national elections. However, the question still stands: why do three-quarters of us disengage from the simplest, most accessible democratic system we can shape?

I think the answer lies in the crossroads of the two cardinal sins of electoral politics as they manifest in the microcosm of campus life: interpersonal conflict and apathy.

I have another admission to make. I almost succumbed to my own feelings of apathy and seriously debated abstaining from the 2022 SA election before casting

my ballot. Why? Over the past year and a brainstorming a solution, I think our best half I have attended Rice, I have become option is radical: compulsory voting.

Imagine Rice University implemented disillusioned with its campus politics as they have come into clearer view. As a disclaimer, compulsory voting in student elections. I as a music major pursuing dual degrees strongly believe that such a system, one that alongside a job, I have not engaged heavily applies positive incentives for voting and with on-campus initiatives yet, buried negative incentives for delaying or not voting, instead in work and practice. That said, by would not only increase campus turnout observation from afar, campus politics seem to near 100 percent but would make Rice’s to me an opaque conglomerate of virtue student body a far more democratic, civically signaling, flashy language, empty gestures engaged and healthy political environment.

Specifically, how might such a system by our administration (see: the Willy work? My country of “c o m p r o m i s e ” ) origin, Australia, and and performative other nations with activism.

This mandatory voting type of political The SA has struggled to tend to use financial environment repels maintain respect and incentives like fines, some students legitimacy as a source of but a system that by stoking fear of withholds Tetra from engagement in student power for years... undergraduate Rice campus politics I think our best option students is one that due to social is radical: compulsory would surely be repercussions and universally rejected. allows others to be voting. apathetic because, in the mind of the casual However, Rice is uniquely positioned as an observer — amidst all the sparring — does enforcement structure in that it already makes students accomplish digital tasks: clearing anything ever really change?

This is not to discount the vital work ESTHER holds. Rice students are forced to fill of hundreds of student leaders who out course evaluations in order to receive their actively, through their position in SA or grades and unlock various other functions independently beyond it, spearhead campus like signing up for classes. With a few lines initiatives and drive the largely progressive of code and a link to the SA election survey, political soul of the university. I believe that the Office of Information Technology could their work is valuable and virtuous, and mandate voting as a prerequisite to using I am grateful to have peers who use their ESTHER. SA elections currently take place in late time to benefit our collective lives. However, despite the commitment of those passionate February, which means in order for such an individuals, communicative representation incentive to be timely the voting window remains a problem at Rice. The SA has must move, else Rice finds a different way struggled to maintain respect and legitimacy of enforcing the vote. I am curious — if as a source of student power for years. In there is interest in this idea: are there other

enforcement options for Rice? Also, in anticipation of criticism, I acknowledge that compulsory models, despite their benefits, still face an uphill battle against voter apathy and an uninformed electorate as well as upset those who see voting as just another freedom one can choose to engage with.

That said, I strongly believe that the Rice community, being composed of thoughtful, civically conscious individuals, is exactly the sort of community that ought to be forced to engage in civic behavior. By ingraining the responsibility one has to vote in local elections into our students, Rice might just ingrain that civic behavior into its students for their lifetimes, a feat with effects that extend far beyond the sphere of SA. I do not believe the Thresher Editorial Board writing “Vote. It’s not that hard.” or GroupMe campaigns of SA candidates will change the minds of 75 percent of students.

Rice is the sum of its many remarkable parts, but, at current, there are no real incentives to participate in a system that the majority of students distrust. We should ask ourselves as a community: do we want to be led by individuals whom fewer than 15 percent of us have entrusted to lead? We can pass as many resolutions as we want, sponsor as many projects as desired, launch as many initiatives as is possible, and form as many task forces as we care to name, but eventually, we must be bold: ensuring proper representation at Rice means enforcing the vote.

Riley Barker

HANSZEN COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

CORRECTIONS The photo for “Black Art at Rice: Mignote Tadesse discusses motivation and art” was taken by Jennifer Li.

EDITORIAL STAFF * 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

OPINION Nayeli Shad* Editor FEATURES Nicole Lhuillier Editor Nithya Shenoy Asst. Editor

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

6 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

KELTON KECK / THRESHER

THE RICE THRESHER

Mahima Masih discovers the intersection of optometry and hockey

TOMÁS RUSSO

SENIOR WRITER

Mahima Masih didn’t really pay attention to sports until quarantine in the summer of 2020. According to the Brown College senior, she started watching hockey after a friend suggested it because there was not much else she could do.

“I gave it a shot and watched one game and absolutely fell in love with it,” Masih said. “Almost two years later I [now] write for the Dallas Stars FanSided site.”

Masih said that her passion for hockey has influenced what she aims to specialize in as an optometrist.

“I’ve been able to find this really fun intersection of my interests in healthcare and sports vision, like understanding concussions and how they impact your eyes,” Masih said. “I would love to work in vision rehabilitation or sports vision. I never would have thought that a couple years ago.”

Before hockey, the sport closest to Masih’s heart was martial arts, which she participated in throughout middle and high school. Masih said she studied Taekwondo for three years and then Shaolin Kempo for four years, during which she received a black belt.

FROM FRONT PAGE

ACCESSIBILITY

Weltens said that other students in his classes have been helpful as well.

“I’ve also spoken with professors about getting copies of lecture notes sent to me after class in case I miss anything or didn’t hear anything. That process involves other students in that class. I’m super grateful anytime a student volunteers to do that,” Weltens said.

According to DeBellis, she hasn’t experienced any issues with professors either. In the Multi-Media Composition class DeBellis is taking at Shepherd this semester, the professor has been extremely accommodating, she said.

“When I initially reached out to the professor about [accessibility for the class], he was like, ‘The catwalks to the theater are not accessible, but that’s totally okay because we actually need someone on the ground level to help us direct light and control the soundboard,” DeBellis said “He was very accommodating: [he said,] ‘Even though you can’t be up in the catwalks there is still an important role for you.’”

DeBellis also said that the pandemic has put a new light on how mental health is treated.

“[Martial arts] helped in so many ways.

It’s something I definitely want to get back to,” Masih said.

Masih said that her family visits relatives in India most years and that during one visit, she taught martial arts to students at the school where her grandfather works.

“I worked with my sensei back home to teach self-defense to hearingimpaired girls,” Masih said. “That’s something that was such an important experience. I definitely want to go back there and do some more [martial arts teaching].”

According to Masih, the process of becoming an optometrist, a healthcare professional who provides optical and medical eye care, is similar to the premed path. Masih said that she likes how optometry combines human connection, science and her own personal interests.

“I always knew I wanted to work in the health profession,” Masih said. “One of my good friends, who graduated a couple years ago, is in optometry school now. Hearing her talk about it and go through that process and how she figured out it was right for her – hearing that firsthand – really helped me decide on [optometry school]. It felt like a really good match of what I wanted in life.”

Masih, a major in kinesiology with a concentration in sports medicine and exercise physiology, plans to apply to optometry school after taking a gap year.

“I think with COVID especially, a lot of the seniors I’ve talked to need a little bit more time before jumping into [more] years of school,” Masih said.

“I think for anyone the pandemic has been hard on our mental health and has really sort of reinforced and put a lot of new light on how we treat mental health,” DeBellis said.

According to Alan Russell, Director of the Disability Resource Center, the DRC has been interacting more with the WellBeing Office in order to help students with accommodations.

“There is an increase in students seeking academic accommodations due to mental health issues, which are probably related to COVID stress. There has been an increase in DRC interaction with the Wellbeing Office to assist students with accommodations,” Russell said.

Physical accessibility is another aspect to consider. DeBellis said that the physical plan of Rice is extremely accessible and that the automatic doors with wave swipe sensors are very helpful. While Rice tries to do the best they can, some details can be overlooked, according to DeBellis.

“I think one of my biggest things that people overlook are the doors to the bathrooms. The bathroom can have an ADA accessible stall, but the door to get in the bathroom is not propped open,” DeBellis said. “Sometimes it’s very difficult to go to the bathroom without bringing a companion [and asking] ‘Hey, can you open

Masih said that she studied remotely during emergencies by mobilizing at home in San Diego for a year and half volunteers and donors.

“I’ve learned a lot of lessons in college during the pandemic – an experience that was particularly alienating because and getting to talk to younger kids who are going to go through that has really her dad and brother had asthma.

“We were really trying to be extra been a good experience – teaching them careful to not go out anywhere so I that whatever ideas you come into college couldn’t even really meet my friends in with, don’t cling to them,” Masih said.

San Diego,” Masih said. “I don’t regret “[While] it’s good to have a sense of what doing that to keep us all safe but it was you want to do, I’ve learned personally it’s a really isolating experience from the important to be open to new experiences Rice community because Zoom can only and grow with them instead of pushing do so much, especially after having an against them to go with your original idea.” experience of what college is like.”

Masih said Reflecting that this advice on her time at stems from her Rice, Masih said own experience of that Orientation switching her major Week and time I’ve been able to find this from biochemistry spent with really fun intersection to kinesiology in her friends compose of my interests in junior year. her favorite healthcare and sports “[Biochemistry] memories. didn’t feel like the “I’ve formed vision, like understanding right fit ever,” Masih really solid concussions and how they said. “It felt like friendships I was stressed at my freshman impact your eyes. I would every turn with no year which I’m love to work in vision enjoyment ever. Once grateful for,” rehabilitation or sports I gave [kinesiology] Masih said. “The vision. a shot and took four of us are some classes and still a really tight Mahima Masih interacted with the group now. My BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR professors in that good memories at Rice are surrounded by those department, I just really loved it.”

Masih said that despite her initial friendships.”

Masih said that she is happy to be back resistance to changing majors, doing at Rice this year and is looking forward to so allowed her to discover the exciting her gap year to get more experience in the intersection of sports, kinesiology and hockey. field of optometry. “[Learning about kinesiology] made “It’s really nice to be back senior year and see everyone,” Masih said. “Things me a better hockey fan and writer because are just slowly continuing to get back I can incorporate so many more ideas,” to normal. It’s good to see. Beer Bike is Masih said. “It’s been a really fun way to see how they both intersect and it just coming back; that’s amazing.”

At Rice, Masih volunteers as a mentor feels like the right spot for me. Once I for the Red Cross club, an official chapter started letting myself grow with whatever of the American Red Cross that aims to new experiences I had, things just felt a lot prevent and alleviate human suffering better and everything kind of clicked.”

the door for me?’ One thing that can really improve accessibility is … handicap door openers on the bathroom that connect the doorway from the hallway to the interior of the bathroom.

According to Russell, the newly constructed buildings on campus, such as New Sid, show how much Rice has improved over the years when it comes to increasing accessibility for students with disabilities.

“The building of New Sid is a good example of how far the university has progressed with regard to accessibility improvements for students with disabilities.

This office [the Disability Resource Center] continuously works with FE&P to identify priority areas for accessibility improvements around the campus,” Russell said. “The number of new buildings being constructed on campus is a great opportunity to implement good accessible design, which can benefit the whole campus community, irrespective of disability.”

DeBellis, a wheelchair user who needed accessible housing, was placed in one of the accessible rooms on the first floor of Martel her freshman year. She said she felt isolated since the first-floor accessible suites were all in one area.

“I remember in my freshman fall semester [in 2019], I felt very disconnected

from Martel,” DeBellis said. “I am a very extroverted person so I was forced to look for friends outside my own residential college. Yes, it’s nice Martel has a suite of ADA accessible rooms, but why did you put them in a corner on the first floor?”

Later on, DeBellis said, they discovered there is an ADA suite on every floor of Martel, though they were not architecturally finished to be ADA accessible. According to DeBellis, H&D completed the suites and she was able to move to a different room the second semester of her freshman year.

“Once I moved up to the fourth floor of Martel, I instantly felt like I was more involved and more ‘in the know’ with everyone else. I didn’t feel like I was outside,” DeBellis said.

Gibney also had to take housing into consideration her freshman year. She said that she needed a first-floor room at a college that would be accessible for her.

“A lot of the colleges don’t have rooms on the first floor. At the time I [also] wanted one that would have an in-room bathroom so that on the really bad days … I would not have to go very far,” Gibney said. “With those stipulations the only colleges I could be placed in were Wiess and Lovett.”

This story has been cut off for print.

Read more online at ricethresher.org.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 • 7

FEATURES

The Rice Memorial Center is set to be demolished in late April, to make space for a new student center to be built by fall 2023.

bye bye RMC

PHOTO FEATURE COMING SOON KATHERINE HUI

ASST PHOTO EDITOR

Rice Apps relaunches carpool mobile site ALLISON HE

FOR THE THRESHER As school breaks and seasonal holidays approach, so does the need to travel to and from the airport. Previous years have seen a spreadsheet shared among students hoping to find rides. But the rereleased Rice Carpool site allows a simple way for the Rice community to find and coordinate rides on their phone.

According to Wiess College freshman Amber Liu, the spreadsheet for coordinating rides was often disorganized.

“It had a bunch of tabs, and everyone was basically adding columns to the spreadsheet. It was very messy,” Liu said.

“It wasn’t in any chronological order or any sort of order at all.”

Rice Carpool, a student-engineered, mobile-focused website developed by Rice Apps, hopes to provide a solution for students like Liu, according to Wiess senior and Carpool Project Manager Shreya Nidadavolu.

This is the third version of Carpool that has been released by Rice Apps.

Nidadavolu said the main change in the Carpool site is that it is now more mobilefriendly. The team focused on developing the mobile view because the developers anticipated that users were likely to use the app on their phones, according to Will Rice College junior and Carpool Team Lead Henry Qin. “Honestly, no one’s going to be at Rice waiting for an Uber with their laptop,” Qin said. “They’re going to be using their phone for stuff like this.”

Qin said that users can engage with Carpool by either joining an existing ride or, if the user cannot find a ride with his or her preferred time and destination, creating a ride. He said that after a user joins a ride, the owner of that ride receives access to the user’s contact information and can coordinate the ride from there.

“When you create a ride, it shows up in the list of rides, and then as a separate user, you can join the ride. When you do, your name will be listed in the list of

riders,” Qin said. “What the host does is they can click on your name, and they’ll be able to see your phone number … your Venmo if you entered it … your name, your residential college, and your email. So they have plenty of ways to contact you.”

William Yao, another Will Rice senior and Carpool Team Lead, said that a filtering system makes the process of finding and creating a ride more efficient. According to Yao, users can select and combine filter categories such as departure location, arrival location and date to generate a list of rides that suits their needs.

“We want people to join each other’s rides, right, so we give them the option to see all the rides first and filter through what rides they wanna see,” Yao said.

The developers were not the only ones facilitating Rice Carpool’s goal to generate a positive user experience. As designers, Katherine Chui and Jessica Huang said they focused on addressing the design issues of previous iterations and creating components that were easy to navigate.

Chui, a Jones College sophomore who joined the Carpool team last summer, said that in addition to designing a filtering system that would make the app look active, she worked to ensure that users avoided feeling stuck on a certain page as users of the older versions did.

“You don’t want users to ever feel blocked, like they clicked and they’re stuck and can’t go back,” Chui said.

Huang, a Wiess sophomore, said she sought feedback from users to find out which design components could be improved.

“I did a lot of usability task testing with different users to see if there [were] any areas [where] they got stuck or confused and didn’t know how to approach a button or find something on the screen,” Huang said.

Liu, who has used Carpool to organize a rideshare going to the airport for the coming spring break, said that the app’s design is easy for her to understand.

“I think it’s a very straightforward design. Very easy to navigate,” Liu said.

CALI LIU / THRESHER Rice Apps rereleased Rice Carpool, a student-engineered, mobile-focused website that provides a central location for students to organize rides.

“It didn’t really take me long to figure out what I was doing.”

Edward Chen, a Martel College sophomore, said he has used Rice Carpool to split the fare for a ride from the airport after spring break and that he has matched a ride with another user.

“It’s a simple app, and that’s what’s great about it,” Chen said. “You go on there and search rides in order by time, and you just see if one works for you. If not, you just make one and let other people join it.”

On the first day of Carpool’s launch on March 1, 2022, 800 people had viewed the website and 100 users had registered, according to Qin. He said previous Rice Apps projects he had developed had delayed launches and were not really used, so seeing hundreds engage with Carpool filled him with pride.

“It was a really great moment,” Qin said. “Every single page you see was designed by our designers Katherine and Jessica, and all the features that you’re using [were] coded by our developers.”

Nidadavolu said that in addition to celebrating Carpool’s launch, she is already thinking about features that can be added to Carpool, like Venmo and a group chat.

“In the future, we want to maybe integrate with things like Venmo, so you can pay people directly through our website [or] forming the group chat that people use to communicate where they are or where they want to meet for their ride,” Nidadavolu said.

More location options, collaborative ride notes, a dark mode and a more polished desktop mode are other features that Nidadavolu said she hopes to add to the site.

“Other than airports, we definitely see a need for getting to grocery stores or maybe concerts or events,” Nidadavolu said. “I’m going to a Conan Gray concert today. I’m like, ‘Hm, I wanna find people to carpool with.’”

Editor’s note: Katherine Chui is the Thresher’s Features Designer.

8 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

Senior Spotlight: Grace Vincent discusses artistic performance through her own lens

COURTESY GRACE VINCENT

EMILY MA

SENIOR WRITER Grace Vincent may be a natural entertainer. As soon as she could walk and talk, she was drawn to the world of stage performance, and, over the years, she flourished into an accomplished ballet dancer and thespian. Vincent’s love for the performing arts led her to pursue filmmaking and dance theater at Rice, with the ultimate goal of crafting meaningful stories for her audience.

Vincent, a Brown College senior, started out with a theatre concentration before transitioning to a film concentration, since she wanted to explore filmmaking as a new medium to deliver her own artistic visions.

“My whole life, I was trained as a ballet dancer, and I did a ton of theatre in high school. Film was an extension of all those interests, and I really enjoyed learning the craft of filmmaking and storytelling and being able to produce my own content,” Vincent said. “I love the freedom you get with the film major; it’s really about supporting what you want to do, and there are resources for you to make that happen. I’ve had amazing teachers and incredible peers in my classes helping me gain technical skills to say what I want to say through film.”

As someone who has studied at Rice both before and throughout COVID-19, Vincent said that filmmaking in the ongoing pandemic has been isolating at times.

“Being a film major during this pandemic has honestly been a bit isolating because I haven’t been able to connect with a lot of people,” Vincent said. “A lot of the projects that I’ve done, I’ve done on my own time, alone.”

The process of creating her documentary provided Vincent with a taste of the connection she was missing.

“That project was the first thing I got to do as the world was really opening up, so it was incredible,” Vincent said. “As I turned 21, [I got] to reflect on some of my

It’s my favorite thing ... I love to bring joy out of people and inspire people. That’s my purpose: to bring entertainment to people.

Grace Vincent BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR

favorite places that I like to go to and show a spotlight on those, because the queer nightlife community is very much a haven in Houston, and it’s hard for those places to stay open.”

Vincent has also explored opportunities outside of Rice. Starting last summer, she has been interning remotely for a Los Angeles film production company to learn more about the scriptwriting, shooting and casting processes.

“I work with the studio development team, so it’s a lot of reading scripts, and then I get to work on the project and figure out, from the ground up, what goes into making a production,” Vincent said. “I help the development team with casting, and work with the directors and the writers in bringing the entire production together.”

Beyond her experience in filmmaking at Rice, Vincent is a choreographer and the social officer for Rice Dance Theater, which she has been a member of since her freshman year. Although Vincent grew up performing ballet, she fell in love with the freedom of contemporary dance.

“I was born and raised as a very classically trained ballet dancer, and that’s a very rigid, strict technique. My favorite classes were always getting to undo a little bit of my technique,” Vincent said. “I love contemporary so much. I love how the movement feels in my body, and getting to break away from the structure and rigidity of ballet and feel that freedom. I can’t always express myself in words, but I can through dancing.”

Vincent said that her favorite part of dancing in RDT is leaving an impact on the audience after every performance.

“The show is always the most rewarding thing,” Vincent said. “We put so much work in throughout the entire semester, and it’s crazy: you’re backstage and the show’s about to start and you hear the audience starting to trickle in.

Dancing in the show feels like a dream, honestly.”

It is this relationship with the audience that inspires Vincent’s desire to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

“It’s my favorite thing to do, and that’s also why I want to pursue a career in entertainment. I love to bring joy out of people and inspire people,” Vincent said. “That’s my purpose: to bring entertainment to people.”

Vincent’s senior film thesis is an amalgamation of her love for film and dance. Because she is uncertain about the role dance will play in her life postgraduation, she envisions her thesis both as a tribute to her years spent dancing and as a reflection of this monumental transition in her life.

“It’s going to be a sort of “Black Swan:” a very dark, dramatic, interesting, slightly horror project, to pay homage to my dance background and also say goodbye to it,” Vincent said. “I don’t know when I’m going to be able to dance again, and that’s honestly frightening to me. It was such a huge part of my life.

That’s the last thing that I want to create here: something that is tied to all the blood, sweat and tears, quite literally, that I have put into being a dancer for my whole entire life.”

Trans women in music JACOB TATE

SENIOR WRITER

I never need an excuse to listen to some of the phenomenal music that women make, but I’ll take one when I can get it.

The Rice Thresher is celebrating International Women’s Month with a playlist of some of my favorite trans women musicians. Underrepresented in the music world, trans women nevertheless have released some of the best music of the last decade. Ranging from groundbreaking experimental music to bread and butter pop, trans women show that they can both bring a new perspective and thrive in existing norms.

SOPHIE

Listen to: “OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES,” “LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE” Recommended if you like: Charli XCX, Kero Kero Bonito

Wendy Carlos

Listen to: “Theme from Tron,” “A Clockwork Orange Score” Recommended if you like: Clairo, Sody, Julia Michaels

Kim Petras

Listen to: “Hillside Boys,” “Heart to Break” Recommended if you like: Lady Gaga, Katy Perry

Arca

Listen to: “kick iv,” “kick i” Recommended if you like: Omar Apollo, Rex Orange County

Litrugy

“God of Love,” “Aesthetica” Recommended if you like: Panopticon, Deafhaven

Read more online at ricethresher.org.

WEEKLY SCENES AND SCREENS VR EXPERIENCE

“AMERIKIN”

90S and Y2K PARTY

Join the Moody Center for the Arts for the opening reception of “Samsāra,” a virtual reality film by artist and director HsinChien Huang. The reception is Friday March 11 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Moody Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

Attend the Alley Theatre’s production of “Amerikin” which is showing through March 13. The play was developed as part of the 2019 Alley All New Festival and is the world premiere of the show by Chisa Hutchinson.

Can’t wait for Y2K? Join The Secret Group for “Dial Up: 90s and Y2K Dance Party” every Saturday at 10 p.m. for attendees 21 and older. The event is hosted at the Secret Group.

MORNING MARKET Visit the Heights Morning Market every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hustle Town Distribution to purchase goods from local farmers, craftsmen, artists and artisans. The event is free and open to the public.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 • 9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

March into these artsy events

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

SARA DAVIDSON

THRESHER STAFF

A wide range of ways to experience art are available this month, from theatre performances to museum exhibits to local pop-up experiences and community events. Looking at art can be a great way to go beyond the hedges while also learning about and exploring potentially interesting endeavors and subjects this March, from romance to the rodeo to Houston’s roots.

FROM FRONT PAGE

“Incomparable Impressionism” at the Museum of Fine Arts Ending this month, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts is displaying works from Boston Museum of Fine Arts’s renowned Impressionist collection. Close to 100 works of both French Impressionist and PostImpressionist are at the museum, with notable artists including Jean-BaptisteCamille Corot, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and more. The exhibition also has nine thematic groupings of the art to make it more

the best Batman villain since Heath Ledger’s Joker. Moreover, he is one of the best developed and most “The Batman” centers around the disturbing villains in recent memory.

His introduction in the film’s cold Caped Crusader’s early days as Batman (Robert Pattinson) protects Gotham open portrays him as a zealot willing from a new threat who is murdering to do anything to achieve his goals. the rich and powerful of the city. As As the story progresses, audiences the film progresses, Batman faces his are introduced to his surprisingly foe and unveils a deep conspiracy at personal motivations, and the Riddler imbues scenes with a sense of dread. the heart of Gotham.

Unlike previous Batman films, While many villains today are driven “The Batman” focuses heavily on the by ideological or imperial motives, it’s mystery and procedural aspects of refreshing for an antagonist to be as haunted by his the character. tragic past as As the plot the hero. unravels, “The The only Batman” hones issue with this in on the hero As the plot unravels, “The film, if ever as the World’s Batman” hones in on so slight, is G r e a t e s t the hero as the World’s the pacing, Detective Greatest Detective versus particularly versus the during the crime-fighting, the crime-fighting, actionsecond act. In action-packed packed focus of the Dark the middle of focus of the Knight trilogy. the film, there Dark Knight are moments where the story begins to trilogy.

Among many noteworthy aspects spin its wheel, and many shots feel like of the film, Robert Pattinson’s they last a moment too long. The movie rich portrayal of Batman/Bruce could have trimmed at least fifteen to Wayne stands out. Pattinson truly thirty minutes of its nearly three hour encapsulates the essence of both runtime and still retained its impact.

However, the film compensates characters, and his acting is magnetic throughout. Other actors shine as well for this plodding with a suspenseful — Zoë Kravitz is stellar as Catwoman/ and unpredictable third act, where Selina Kyle and has great chemistry the conclusion leaves the audience with Pattinson’s Batman. Their team wondering how Batman will save up feels natural, and their banter Gotham.

This film unapologetically believes throughout procedural scenes is engaging. Aside from these two, Jeffrey in the idea of the hero as a righteous Wright provides what is, in my opinion, force fighting evil. The film concludes the best Jim Gordon performance yet, that even amidst struggle and personal and at some points, his chemistry with sacrifice, being a hero by choosing Batman rivals that of Catwoman. John to save people is indeed worthwhile.

Turturro as mob boss Carmine Falcone I found it refreshing for a major and Colin Farrell as the Penguin blockbuster to emphasize this focus on present excellent performances that the “hero” role which has often been further immerse the audience into the lost in recent years.

From message to tone to execution, film’s world.

This movie however is truly “The Batman” is a film I cannot elevated by the performance of its recommend enough. I urge you to villain. Opposite Batman is the Riddler watch it in theaters or on April 19 when (Paul Dano), who is undoubtedly it will be released on HBO Max.

BATMAN

digestible and cohesive as well as works on paper rather than canvases, offering a deeper glance into the artists’ working methods. The collection will be on display through March 27 before returning to its home in Boston.

The Houston Rodeo The Houston Rodeo offers art in a variety of mediums, beyond just the artists singing every night in a range of genres. In the daytime, visual art is splayed across the rodeo, from local up-and-coming high school artists entering the rodeo art competition to established quilters, florists and painters adding in their own works. Anyone can take a break from the carnival heat and discover the many various displays ranging from elementary to professional and with every technique imaginable. Themes including the rodeo itself, Texas and nature can be found, and many also go to auction to be sold on behalf of the artists. In 2021, the grand champion artist sold their work for $155,000. The money sold in the school level competition is used to help pay for the participants’ college or furthering their careers. The rodeo runs through March 20.

“Vision of Freedom” Mural Experience A new “augmented reality mural” by artists Preston Gaines and Anthony Rose is being revealed in a community event in Freedmen’s Town. The mural showcases Freedmen’s Town’s past and present in an immersive and elevated format. The event itself is on Saturday, March 12 and begins at 10 a.m. with a talk from the artists about the development of the mural experience and its intended impact for viewers.

There will also be tours highlighting the history of Freedmen’s town, refreshments, open discussions and the opportunity to

collaborate on a community mural put on by Houston Freemen’s Town Conservancy. The mural experience and community mural will also be available for viewing after the event.

Alley Theatre’s “Sense and Sensibility” Jane Austen’s classic romance comes to life this month at the Alley, with the Dashwood sisters’ fortunes and misfortunes after the death of their father. The show was actually in the beginning stages of production in 2019 before COVID-19, and the entire cast and crew are excited to finally take the stage. The show will run through March 27, perfect for anyone who just saw VADA’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and wants more live theatre.

Tickets start at $30.

Immersive Frida Kahlo Exhibit Immersive exhibits are on the rise such as the Van Gogh exhibits that recently came through Houston, and another artist’s work has turned immersive for a whole new experience. The Frida Kahlo immersive exhibit is another 360 degree experience, showing the vibrant work of Kahlo and depicting her story of resilience and perseverance. The show of her art runs for about 40 minutes through the end of March.

Wiess Tabletop’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Wiess Tabletop will present the Shakesperean comedy “Much Ado About Nothing,” and opening night comes at the close of the month. Performances will run from March 25 through April 2. For Shakespeare fans or anyone interested in supporting their fellow students who will serve as actors, designers, crew as well as the production team, this is one way to close the month. Admission will be free for student audiences.

Review: ‘Euphoria’ season two redefines authentic storytelling CALEB DUKES

THRESHER STAFF

COURTESY HBO MAX

After years of delays, Sam Levinson’s Emmy-winning hit, “Euphoria,” returned to our screens in full force. Picking up right at the tail end of the winter break established in the special bridge episodes, viewers find the characters attending a New Year’s Eve party, where old habits die hard and new ones find their way into the fold.

The second season, much like the first, often follows a loosely-structured format of highlighting one particular character’s backstory each episode. Whether it be fan favorites that never saw their due last season — like Lexi, Fez, or even Fez’s grandmother — or a repeat that has had their story even more fully fleshed out, there is certainly enough drama to fill several telenovelas. However, “Euphoria” does not allow itself to get bogged down in character development — some stories took the back burner this time around in favor of a more cohesive narrative. Season one stunner Kat (Barbie Ferreira) had her plotline severely cut back as Levinson chose to focus instead on the evolution of Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), who is getting just about as much Emmy buzz as star and previous winner Zendaya.

While Rue, Jules, Lexi, Cal and the rest of the troop certainly go through it this season, there is no denying that the big focus this season was on (spoilers!) the budding love triangle between Cassie, Maddy and Nate. Viewers watch Cassie, in particular, navigate the turbulent emotions

of dating a best friend’s ex. There are so many gritty (and sometimes gorgeous) shots of Cassie crying in season two that you just can’t help but feel that that was all she did. Well, that and throwing up in the … you know.

Beyond those three, audiences have plenty more to keep them entertained, whether it be Jules’ TV-history-making exploration of gender and sexuality, Rue’s new involvement with school-teacherturned-drug-dealer Laurie, or Cal’s descent into madness over the crumbling of his reputation and family life. The show graces each of these topics with such sensitivity and authenticity that it’s hard to believe just one person could write it.

That brings me to the cornerstone of “Euphoria”’s success: Levinson’s collaboration with his actors. In addition to starring in the show, Zendaya has taken on the role of executive producer this season, and actress Hunter Schafer previously co-wrote an episode with Levinson. The director has always been willing to work with his actors to craft characters so real and complex that you can’t help but relate to them amongst all the chaos and fantasy of the show’s world.

These characters and their arcs converge in the final two episodes of the season, which mimic the style of a play written and directed by Lexi.

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

10 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

THE RICE THRESHER

CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

After drastic turnaround, WBB heads into C-USA tournament flying high CADAN HANSON

The Owls open tournament play on Wednesday against the fifth seed in the East division, Marshall University.

Back in late January, any prospects Marshall enters the tournament with 10-8 of success in the Conference USA conference record, but have lost seven tournament for the Rice women’s of their last 11 games. The only time the basketball team were bleak. The Owls two schools met was in mid-January when were on a five-game losing streak to start the Owls fell to the Thundering Herd 66conference play. Fresh off of an agonizing 53. During the contest, the Owls held quadruple-overtime loss to the current a four point lead going into the fourth No. 1 seed in the East division, the quarter, but had no answer in the final University of North Carolina, Charlotte, period where they were outscored 21-3. the Owls had some work to do to get to However, according to Edmonds, the Owls the position they wanted to be in come are playing like a different team than they March. According to head coach Lindsay were two months ago.

“Now we’re going into a new season Edmonds, that is exactly what they did.

Now, the Owls have won six of the last with the conference tournament and seven games and have secured the fourth we’re going in on a high note clicking on seed in the West division going into this all cylinders,” Edmonds said. “I really like where we’re at.” week’s C-USA The team heads tournament. to Frisco, TX “I’m so proud of looking to avenge them,” Edmonds We could have hung our last season’s threesaid. “We could point loss in the have hung our heads and quit a long championship heads and quit a time ago but they stayed game to the Middle long time ago but the course. They came Tennessee State they stayed the University, before course. They came in every single day with winning the in every single a smile on their face and Women’s National day with a smile believed in what my staff Invitational on their face and and I were telling them.

Tournament weeks believed in what later.

However, my staff and I Lindsay Edmonds this year’s team were telling them. HEAD COACH looks different after Everything we ask them to do, they do it with a smile on losing four starters to the transfer portal their face, and with toughness and grit.” along with their head coach. The Owls last The Owls enter the tournament won the C-USA championship during the coming off of back-to-back 20-plus point 2018-2019 season. Edmonds continued to victories. Their 38 point win margin of express her pride in the team and said that victory over the University of Texas, San she loves how they are playing heading Antonio on Saturday was their biggest into March.

“They are just an unbeatable group of the season. Edmonds said she was pleased with how the entire team was and I am so proud that they are getting able to contribute to the win in the final the rewards that they deserve,” Edmonds said. “I’m excited about where we’re at regular season game.

“This week has been a lot of fun,” and where we can go.”

Following a first round bye, the Edmonds said. “We’re really clicking and the team is coming together, Owls will face off against Marshall on understanding their roles and how Wednesday at 11 a.m. The game will be we want to play. This was a great team on ESPN+. If they win, they will advance win. We had three in double-figures and to the quarterfinals, where they’ll get obviously [redshirt freshman guard] another shot at UNC Charlotte. The Maya [Bokunewicz] tying a school record quarterfinals will be followed by the and [sophomore forward] Ashlee [Austin] semifinals on Friday. The finals will be getting 21 [points] is pretty awesome. played on Saturday, March 12, with the Everybody contributed and came in and winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. did some good things for us.”

THRESHER STAFF

CHANNING WANG / THRESHER The Rice women’s basketball team huddles during a recent game against UTSA. The Owls head into this week’s C-USA tournament as the fourth seed in the West division.

MBB looks to ride offense, hide defense in C-USA tourney PAVITHR GOLI

SENIOR WRITER

The month of March is usually an exciting time for college basketball teams as they fight for conference glory and a chance to compete in the NCAA tournament. For the Rice men’s basketball, this means they will participate in the Conference USA tournament this week. Winning the C-USA tournament would put the Owls in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1970. The Owls enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed in the West and will face the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the No. 4 seed in the East, on Wednesday in the bracket-style tournament.

With an overall record of 15-15 on the season, the Owls are 7-11 against C-USA opponents. In their lone match against their first-round opponent, the Owls were defeated by the 49ers 67-64 at home. In a close game, the matchup featured 10 lead changes and wasn’t decided until free throws in the last minute of the game.

Head coach Scott Pera said that the team is excited for the chance to avenge their earlier loss to the 49ers.

“The goal is to play as well as we can play,” Pera said. “That is our focus every night and every game. It is a very exciting time of the year and we are very anxious to get on the court at 5:30 on Wednesday. We hopefully redeem ourselves after taking a loss to Charlotte the first time.”

Graduate guard Carl Pierre has set his goals high for the tournament as he hopes to end the week clutching the tournament trophy with the rest of his teammates.

“The goal is to win,” Pierre said. “I think that it is every college basketball player’s goal going into a conference tournament.”

Going into the tournament, the Owls’ will lean on an offense that scored 75.3 points per game this season, good for No. 69 out of the 350 Division I teams. In addition,

the Owls rank No. 18 in three-pointers made per game and No. 15 in assists.

Pierre leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game while sophomore forward Max Fiedler leads the team in both rebounds and assists with 5.5 and 3.6 respectively. According to Pierre, the key for the team to make a deep run in the tournament is to leave all of their energy on the court.

“I think we need to bring a level of intensity and a high level of play day in and day out,” Pierre said. “It is not easy to do and everybody is banged up, but the teams that are mentally tough and are able to play with a lot of energy are the teams that give themselves the best chance to win.”

According to Pera, the side of the ball that the Owls will need to work on the most is the defense: they are the second worst team in college basketball this season in 2-point field goals allowed and the sixth worst in field goals allowed per game. Pera believes that improving the defense will help the offense get into a rhythm, and be critical for a victory.

“I think we need to defend,” Pera said.

“I think we did a good job of causing some turnovers the first time against Charlotte.

However, I think the shooting percentages were too high. If we can defend a little bit better, I think the offense can get into a really good flow, and then we’ll play a really good game for a chance to win.”

Traveling to Frisco, TX for the tournament, the Owls will face off against the 49ers on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. If the Owls defeat the 49ers, the Owls will face off against the University of North Texas Mean Green in the quarter-finals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The semi-finals will take place on Friday and the final will be held on Saturday.

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

CALI LIU / THRESHER Sophomore forward Max Fiedler gets ready for a tip-off in a recent game against Southern Mississippi. Fiedler and the Owls head into the C-USA tournament this week.

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 • 11

Women’s hoops closes regular season with blowout win against UTEP, UTSA on Senior Day It was so nice to be back at home, to be in Edmonds, her team’s ability to take care our gym, to be with our fans and it was a of the ball allowed them to get what they SENIOR WRITER wanted on offense. lot of fun.”

“We’ve been talking a lot about the The Owls appeared to be rejuvenated by The Rice women’s basketball team closed out their regular season with a win being at home as their 51 first half points games that we don’t turn the basketball over the University of Texas, El Paso by 20 matched the amount they had scored in over, we are able to run our stuff, and our points and capped off their regular season their previous game against the University stuff clearly works, we get the shots we with a 38 point victory on Senior Day over of the Southern Mississippi. According want, we get the looks we want,” Edmonds the University of Texas, San Antonio. to Edmonds, the Owls’ offense was able said. “So tonight, us having 13 turnovers, While the Owls started conference play to feed off of its defense, which held the that was huge. We didn’t turn the ball over so we had an opportunity to run our sets, 0-5, their final home sweep earned them Miners to 35.6 percent from the field.

“I thought we came out really focused, to get the looks we wanted, we executed victories in six of their last seven games and a 8-9 conference record. According had great energy,” Edmonds said. “I think and we got them.”

Following their win over the Miners, to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, she is a lot of people want to talk about the first enjoying her team’s recent play as they half with our scoring, but really I was just the Owls had their Senior Day on the last game of the so impressed with enter the conference tournament. regular season as “Now, we are going into that new our defense. We they hosted the season, the conference tournament,” were defending and Roadrunners of rebounds Edmonds said. “We’re going in on a high getting UTSA on Saturday. note, and we are feeling good and clicking and pushing the [This team is] just an According to on all cylinders, so I really like where ball and because unbelievable group... [I’m] Edmonds, her of our defense and we’re at.” realy excited about where team’s focus was we Following a three game road trip, the rebounding sending out the Owls returned home to host the Miners were able to score we’re at and where I think team’s lone senior, last Thursday. According to Edmonds, she in transition.” we can go. center Arianna The Owls took a relished having the opportunity to play Lindsay Edmonds McCurry, on a at home again following their strenuous 51-23 lead heading positive note. into the half and HEAD COACH road trip the week before.

“Senior night “We were in Alabama on Monday, never looked back, then we were in Louisiana on Thursday, closing out the Miners 82-62. All five of is always an emotional night, you never and then back in Mississippi on Friday the Owls starters were in double figures know how teams are going to come out and then driving to New Orleans for our scoring, with freshman forward Malia and play,” Edmonds said. “We talk all the flight,” Edmonds said. “I mean, we were Fisher leading the way with a 20 point and time about [how] we’re so proud of the all over the place, we were road warriors. 11 rebound double-double. According to people that are in this program. So we want to send them out on high notes and that was the focus of this game, making sure we send [McCurry] out on the right CHANNING WANG / THRESHER note.”

Sophomore guard Destiny Jackson defends during Rice’s While the focus was on McCurry for 86-48 win over UTSA on Saturday. The Senior Day victory Senior Day, it was freshman guard Maya gave the Owls a 13-12 record to close out the season.

Bokunewicz who had the spotlight as she tied a school record with seven made threes en-route to her career-high 26 points.

According to Edmonds, Bokunewicz’s

REED MYERS

performance, which included a career high ten rebounds for her first career double-double, showed her versatility.

“I have all the confidence in the world in her when she has her feet set that she can knock those down,” Edmonds said. “Not only does she tie a school record with seven threes, she also got ten rebounds which is probably her most on the season. So a complete player [that is] not just a shooter, so I’m just really really proud of her and excited for her too.”

The Owls used a 32 point third quarter to firmly take control of the game and closed out the Roadrunners, giving the Owls a 86-48 win to end their regular season. Sophomore forward Ashlee Austin contributed 21 points off the bench, and the Owls totaled 20 assists while making a season-high 14 threepointers, the third most in program history.

After the 0-5 start to conference play, the Owls have been victorious in six of their last seven games, culminating with their first two 20-plus point wins of the season. They enter the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed in the West Division. According to Edmonds, she is extremely proud of the way her team has responded to the adversity they have faced throughout their season. “[This team is] just an unbelievable group and I’m just so proud that they’re getting the rewards that they deserve,” Edmonds said. “[I’m] really excited about where we’re at and where I think we can go.”

The Owls will now travel to the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas to take on the No. 5 seed in the East division, Marshall University, at 11:00 AM on Wednesday in their opening game of the Conference USA tournament.

12 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022

BACKPAGE

These Words Are Not Real

Crossword Writers called in sick, but never fear, The Backpage is here to save the day! We hope you enjoy our very first attempt at a crossword puzzle and some of the creative liberties we took with the English language.

ACROSS

1 2021 Super Bowl champ’s city, abv.

3 Underpaid Rice assistants 5 Opposite of a sigma male 7 Home country of #21 down 8 Platitudinous anti-masking justification: “It’s a ____ _______” 14 lmao guess 15 Alternative to AP 16 Dream grade of all Rice students 17 You used to be able to buy the model 15 at Walmart 18 _________ and Patrick when they stole sandy hair.

22 This crossword’s featured headwear 23 ___-_____ Relationship, abv.

24 Salem Amtrak station, abv.

25 Who Kanye was going to let finish, abv.

26 Lovable cinematic alien 28 See #40 down 29 This country lost to potatoes 33 Verbal response to professor assigning problem set over break 34 “Eat a __” - famous speech by Jameis Winston 35 Blondie’s surname 39 6. the dollar

DOWN

1 What you do after performing in a show 2 Action taken after sent an unsolicited image 3 I would hate to live here (they eat beans for breakfast) 4 lmao guess x2 6 Alcohol with three carbons 8 Press to pay respects 9 Bad coding language that STATs learn 10 Best Star Wars movie 11 “Dude I just _______ two Yoyo’s hotdogs” 12 “_ U Ok?” 13 Sounds like “why” 18 Athletes often tear this; Owls often post this 19 Condition of hot girls 20 I think it’s something from Pokémon?

21 Greatest army in the world 27 Day five of a calendar week, abv.

28 Cold state bordering Wisconsin, abv.

30 Verbal response before action in #2 down 31 Scoring below 100 in a measure of intelligence 32 Verbal response to a very cute dog 35 Next week’s recess, abv.

36 “___ are the Champions” 37 Mom’s Fake News HQ, abv.

38 __: dilfhunter69@rice.edu From: president@rice.edu 39 19th letter in the alphabet 40 Word to describe oneself 41 I like ya cut __ 42 Déjà vu, #40 down 43 Ctrl-_ to (be) bold 44 Beginning of Old MacDonald’s jingle

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.