Peyton Manning took the snap and handed it off to running back C.J. Anderson, who ran through Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly and used a second effort to reach the end zone and put the game“Obviously,away. running Luke Keuchly over in the Super Bowl is one [of my favorite moments from my career],” Anderson said. “You can’t beat that, Luke Kuechly, good player, and I got a chance to seal the deal there.”Anderson and his team would lift the famous Vince Lombardi Trophy as they were crowned champions of the 2015 NFL season. At the final whistle, Anderson’s 100 yards from scrimmage led all players in the game. This marked a special moment for Anderson, who first made the team as an undrafted rookie in 2013 from the University of California, Berkeley, and was third on the running back depth chart when the Broncos lost in Super Bowl 48 to the Seattle Seahawks.According to Anderson, winning Super Bowl 50 as the starting running back was a journey that started when he was on the bench for Super Bowl 48.
REED SENIORMYERSWRITERSEEANDERSON PAGE 11
“[The group will] provide guidance to leadership on how these changes affect the broader educational and research mission at Rice, and determine how to best support our community in their reproductive health choices.”
KAVYA THRESHERSAHNISTAFF
Robert Hodge’s studio is home to all kinds of art including paintings, a collage he’s currently working on and a music album with his own design on the“I’vecover.been making art literally my whole life,” Hodge said. “Believe me, I tried to avoid it. I tried to do other things in life, but the art kept bringing me back Hodge,in.”a multidisciplinary artist based in Houston, is the talent behind one of the newest pieces of art on campus. Commissioned by the Moody Center for the Arts, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” is a collage of record covers that schoolthisjuxtapositionRicelocationbecauseparticularlyboldcollagedescribesworks,tocollected.painstakinglyHodgeSimilarhisotherHodgetheasastatement,ofitsonthecampus.“It’saofreallywealthythathasthis
Along with folding multiple meanings into his collages, which remain his primary medium of expression, Hodge is driven by the desire to innovate. When a particular type of work becomes easy and predictable, he challenges himself to try new things. “I use any vehicle I can find and tell the story,” Hodge said. “It’s about things that are happening now, things that are relative to the past that affect the present. And then, where can we go in theHodgefuture?”repurposes artifacts from the past through his creative process, which begins with buying $1 records from record samplingiscollage-makingnew.createoutheplaysThen,genreregardlesshimthatselectingmeticulouslystores,onesspeaktovisually,oftheofmusic.whilehetherecord,cutsimagesofthearttosomethingForHodge,similartorecords as a music producer — it involves challenging pre-existing perceptions in favor of a new perspective. Once he puts the images together, they begin to tell a story of their own. “That’s kind of what drew me to it,” Hodge said. “I can make it whatever I want to be. I can change the story … I can change the narrative.” Although Hodge may have a specific story in mind for his work, he said he wants to leave room for people to experience his work in their own way. “Now the thing is, will it translate to people? Sometimes people [get it]. Sometimes, they tell their own story. And they’re allowed to do that,” Hodge said. “I want to leave that space for people to have their own perception of what is happening in the artwork.” It’s about beknow?that’slovesButandeverythingwantingtobeperfectgreatallthetime.it’snot.Everybodytobewarm,butnotlife,youYoucan’talwaysthesunshine.
With three minutes and 13 seconds left in Super Bowl 50, the Denver Broncos lined up in the I-formation on the two yard-line up 16-10 against the Carolina Panthers.
top tier education, access to everything, and have this piece as … it doesn’t necessarily fit on a campus,” Hodge said. “So it’s already standing out in itself.” According to Hodge, the phrase “everybody loves the sunshine” means different things to different people. For him, it is a reference to soul musician Roy Ayers’ 1976 song; it is also a larger statement about life. “It’s about wanting everything to be perfect and great all the time. But it’s not,” Hodge said. “Everybody loves to be warm, but that’s not life, you know? You can’t always be the sunshine.” Hodge said that these nuances are layered inside of the collage, and he is curious to see what people think of it.
The current Texas abortion ban, which went into effect last Thursday, prohibits the performance of an abortion except in the instance of a “life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy.” That definition, however, has proved confusing for physicians when determining in what cases they are legally allowed to perform an abortion.Asitpresently stands, the nearest abortion clinic to Houston is in Wichita, Kansas — a nine hour and 10 minute drive from the Rice campus. The next closest clinic is in Santa Teresa, New Mexico — an 11 and a half hour drive from campus. According to Gorman, the group plans to provide a process through which members of the campus community can submit questions to the working group.
“Back in 2013, when we lost the Super Bowl to Seattle, I wasn’t the featured back,” Anderson said. “I sat there and I played the last three minutes of the game and I told myself what can I do to make it happen. Going through the process and the run was a lot of Andersonsacrifice.”started the following season on the bench, but took over the starting role in the Broncos’ tenth game of the season and didn’t look back, leading the NFL in yards and touchdowns over the final six weeks of the season. In 2015, Anderson bounced in and out of the starting lineup after some early-season struggles, but regained his feature role in time to lead the Broncos to victory in the Super Bowl.
VOLUME 107, ISSUE NO. 2 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022
“Given the complex and changing nature of these issues, the working group will begin by understanding the new legal and health care environment to address the questions that have arisen in our community,” DesRoches said.
Additional members include Rachel Kimbro, dean of social sciences, Seiichi Matsuda, dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, Joan Nelson, associate vice president for human resources, Omar Syed, vice president and general counsel, Linda Thrane, vice president for public affairs and Allison Vogt, associate dean of students and deputy Title IX coordinator.
Super Bowl hero C. J. mentorsAndersonRiceRBs
PREVIEWFOOTBALL SEE PAGE 10 2022
Reginald DesRoches RICE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT DesRoches creates working group on reproductive health
In an email sent to the Rice community on Tuesday morning, President Reginald DesRoches announced the creation of a working group focused on reproductive health within the Rice community. DesRoches said that because of the evolving nature of legal questions surrounding abortion access and other reproductive services, the group will operate for the foreseeable future.
Robert Hodge presents new campus mural CHANGING NARRATIVE:THE
“We will use the questions that come, as well as those we’ve already received, as a springboard for organizing initial and ongoing activities in the time ahead,” Gorman said. “This will be an important first step for us as we consider how to support our community in terms of reproductive health education, pregnancy prevention and health care use.”
Robert Hodge HOUSTON-BASED ARTIST KATHERINE HUI THRESHER/
I don’t need the money, I don’t need the job, I’m not playing a kid because it saves my job. [I’m] truly getting to evaluate [my players], truly can develop and grow them and truly care about them on and off the field.
The Super Bowl 50 Broncos team included many of Anderson’s good friends, such as former all-Pro retired cornerback Aqib Talib, eight-time Pro Bowler outside linebacker Von Miller, and the late Demaryius Thomas, who he said was a big part of his life during his time in Denver.
C. J. Anderson RUNNING BACKS COACH [The group will] provide guidance to leadership on how these changes affect the broader educational and research mission at Rice, and determine how to best support our community in their reproductive health choices.
BEN EDITOR-IN-CHIEFBAKER-KATZ
The group will be co-chaired by Provost Amy Dittmar and Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman.
“I would love to see both more lectures at Rice from NASA researchers and more students from Rice in internships/coops at NASA,” Wyeth said. “I hope to see Rice become more accommodating of co-ops by offering more flexibility in class scheduling and financial aid for students taking time away from school [forJessicainternships].”Tunick, a Wiess College freshman, said that she hopes the agreement’s extension will help her in pursuing work with NASA during her time at Rice. “I think this agreement’s extension will really help get a lot of students who are interested in space coming to Rice in hopes of getting to work with NASA,” Tunick said. “Getting to work with NASA was a big dream of mine in middle and high school, and now that may actually be possible through this agreement.”
The Space Act Agreement is part of a long history of relations between Rice and NASA. In 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered his “We choose to go to the Moon” speech at the Rice stadium.
KEEGAN LEIBROCK ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and President Reginald DesRoches sign an extension of the Space Act Agreement in Rice’s Founder’s Room on Aug. 19.
Jamey Rootes, sports management faculty, passes at 56
“A lot of the leadership principles and motivational principles that [Rootes] talked about in [his] book sounded very similar to what I experienced [during] my time in the Marine Corps,” Avalos said. “I told [Rootes] that when I read [his] book, it really made me feel like getting into the sport management program and trying to work in sports was just the right fit.”
MARIA MORKAS ASST. NEWS EDITOR
COURTESY RICE UNIVERSITY
Rice, NASA extend Space Act Agreement, prepare for 60th-anniversary
2 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 THE RICE THRESHER
The SAA is an umbrella agreement between Rice and NASA that acts to encourage general collaboration between the two entities, with a focus on encouraging Rice-NASA collaborative research in a variety of space-related fields, according to Rice President Reginald DesRoches.“Robotics, bioscience and human health and performance research will be at the forefront of our efforts and will focus on enhancing astronaut health and human performance during space exploration,” DesRoches said. “Students in these areas will have exciting opportunities to work with and hear from people with NASA who are directly involved in such efforts.”
David Alexander, director of the Rice Space Institute, said the agreement’s extension marks a continued effort to expand space-related research opportunities for Rice students with NASA.
Avalos said his amazing demeanor showed with the people he worked with and was probably the reason he was so successful in his career. “[He was] the Michael Jordan of sports business,” Avalos said. “To have somebody like that at the Rice sport management program on our faculty – that takes the number one sports management program in the country and makes [it] unquestionably numberRootesone.”issurvived by his wife and two children, Chris and Caroline. If you or anyone you know are thinking about suicide or experiencing a health crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
This past week, Rice and NASA extended the Space Act Agreement in a continued effort to promote relations between the university and the space administration.
The SAA, which was initially established in 2012, marks a continued collaboration to provide joint research opportunities, general STEM engagement and other educational opportunities to undergraduate students and faculty.
“Rice and the Department of Sport Management will forever be grateful to Jamey for his willingness to share his time and wisdom with our students,” Dittmar said. “We will always remember his inspiring career achievements and remarkable warmth and accessibility.”
Beyond the agreement’s extension, McKinley said he would like to see greater opportunities and accommodations from the agreement in the future.
Rice will celebrate the 60th anniversary of JFK’s speech on Sept 10-12 with two days of commemorative activities. Some of the events include speeches from NASA astronauts, space exploration exhibits and a “Spelfie” wherein Rice students will form a giant number 60 and have their picture taken from space. In addition to commemorating President John F. Kennedy’s speech, the days’ events will serve as a field trip for thousands of Houston public school students and an occasion highlighting Rice’s research and educational opportunities, according to Andrea Isella, a Rice associate professor of space physics.
“The celebration is a great way to have Rice in the public spotlight and remind people that we do a lot of great research here,” Isella said. “For space, [Rice] is not that well known compared to other institutions just because we are smaller in terms of astronomy and space sciences. I think this will be a great opportunity to encourage publicity and bring in students that are interested in doing this kind of research.”
The Houston Texans of the NFL earned various accolades under his leadership, including the American Business Awards for Marketing Excellence and Crystal Awards from the Houston chapter of the American Marketing Association. The team also had 185 consecutive sold-out games, which was a record for the Texans. Rootes also developed Lone Star Sports and Entertainment, an agency that spurred some of Houston’s major sporting events such many international soccer matches and an annual football bowl game.Sport management department chair Clark Haptonstall said that this is a terrible loss for both the sport management family and the Rice community.
COURTESY RICE UNIVERSITY
Provost Amy Dittmar said that her thoughts and sympathies are with Rootes’ wife and family, and that his presence on campus will be missed.
Rootes joined the Rice community July 1 and passed away the day before classes started. He planned to teach “Sales and Revenue Generation in Sport,” as well as supervise the internships in the Sport Analytics branch.
Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Vanessa Wyche, said that NASA sought to continue collaboration with Rice in offering educational and research opportunities.“NASA’sJohnson Space Center has a long history of working with colleges and universities since the early days of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs,” Wyche wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We are eager to extend our partnership with Rice University to collaborate in vital research and technology development initiatives that will enable us to meet our nation’s exploration goals and advance human spaceflight as we work to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon under Artemis.”
“Though Jamey was only at Rice [for] a short time, he had generated unbelievable excitement among our students and was already inspiring them in ways I doubt he could have imagined,” Haptonstall, a friend of Rootes, said. “He will be greatly missed by us all.”Sport management major Thomas Avalos, a Lovett College junior, said that he met Rootes on the Tuesday of Orientation Week. Even though he didn’t know Rootes for a long time, Avalos followed Rootes throughout his career and was specifically inspired to pursue sport management after reading his book, “The Winning Game Plan.”
Jamey Rootes, recently appointed director of the Hutchinson Leadership Initiative in sports analytics in the department of sports management, died in Houston on Aug. 21 at the age of 56. His wife, Melissa Rootes, shared the news on Monday, saying he had been battling mental health issues.
“[The agreement] solidifies the interest the university has in working together with NASA,” Alexander said. “This is basically an agreement that says NASA really wants to work with Rice in many different avenues; it allows some of our students to become engaged with research at Johnson Space Center, and it allows researchers from NASA to come work in collaboration with both undergraduate and graduate RiceWyethstudents.”McKinley, a Jones College senior, said that he hopes the extension of the agreement will extend space-related opportunities to an interested student body. McKinley has worked as a Pathways Intern at Johnson Space Center for the past two“Riceyears.has had a fantastic history tied to space exploration, and it is really encouraging to see Rice prioritizing the study of space technologies,” McKinley said. “There has always been a huge interest and demand among the student population for opportunities related to space, so it’s great that the extension of this agreement will hopefully allow more students access to space-related research.”
“Our apartments are brand new and like any other new construction developments, we also had some unforeseen, last minute, minimal delays with supply chain deliveries and have been in constant communication with our vendors,” Hughes said. “We are resolving tenant requests as quickly as possible and are happy to report that many have been resolved.” Hughes said several tenant requests are in the process of being fixed: trash chutes are scheduled for delivery this week or early next week, the oven vendor should finish resolving tenant requests by the end of this week, HDMI cords are being provided for all students and there is a 24-hour courtesy officer. In response to tenants’ parking concerns, Hughes said that residents were informed of the parking situation well in advance of their move in. Hsu said that despite the progress made by Life Tower, there remains room for improvement.“I’mhoping that they will get better at communicating with residents,” Hsu said. “In the future, after they’ve worked through these issues, Life Tower may be an ideal choice for some students. But right now, it’s still developing.”
Satterfield eyes research expansion as new Baker Institute head
the breadth and depth of Satterfield’s experience in the State Department made him emerge as a frontrunner amongst the candidates early on in the search process. “We wanted someone who would continue to build relationships with the faculty of the university and build relationships with the [university’s] leadership,” Leebron said, “The search committee was extremely enthusiastic about this choice and really felt grateful that Ambassador Satterfield was available to take this opportunity.”
Thomas Kovac, co-president of the Baker Institute Student Forum, also expressed excitement in working with Satterfield.“We’reexcited to start a new chapter of relations with the ambassador,” Kovac said, “BISF had a great relationship with Ambassador Djerejian and we’re looking forward to the same with Ambassador Satterfield.”Satterfield said he acknowledges that the global political environment has changed since he began his diplomatic work and hopes to address this as the institute’s director.
“I would encourage students to consider the opportunities that the institute presents to become informed on these issues of public policy, national policy, foreign policy and international relations,” Satterfield said. “[These are issues that] will affect their lives every day in the future.”
/ THRESHER
Residents frustrated with Life Tower condition upon move-in
According to Emma Hughes, manager of Life Tower, around 300 Rice students are living in this medical center complex, located a mile from campus.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 • 3NEWS
Nancy Lindsey, a junior at Jones College and a petition signee, said that she has had issues with basic appliances in her“Theunit.ovens don’t work … and, more annoyingly, the washing machines don’t work,” Lindsey said. “I know other people have complained about issues with the fans and lights — I haven’t had issues with those, fortunately, just with the oven, washing machine and dishwasher. My dishwasher leaked all over the floor, which is not convenient.”
Britney Hsu, a Rice tenant, said she started noticing problems with the building upon her arrival in late August. “They were not ready to open because a lot of things were not fully finished or prepared yet,” Hsu, a sophomore at Duncan College, said. “The whole setup for moving wasn’t very well organized. They don’t have a package system figured out yet. They don’t have a mailroom setup yet … The trash chutes weren’t functional … The internet is unstable.”
The new Life Tower apartment complex, a popular off-campus housing option, has faced criticism from Rice student tenants for ongoing issues since the building opened this month.
A petition written by Life Tower residents and signed by several undergraduate students cites electrical issues, security concerns, broken appliances, car break-ins and a lack of responsiveness from management amongst the problems residents have encountered since moving in.
“I won’t be breaking new ground by saying the world today is far more complex and challenging than in the last presentsituationofofassessseeks“WhatSatterfielddecades,”said.theinstitutetodoisto…aspectsthesechallengestheglobalandthenjudgments,
“It is very important that both the university and the institute look to the future and how we can expand what we are doing, enhance what we are doing and attract the type of staff that are able to take on additional challenges which this world presents in many ways,” Satterfield said.
“Rice was very fortunate to have recruited Ambassador Satterfield. I know he will continue to maintain and grow the institute’s critical, globally renowned policy research and outreach as well as the strong and productive relationships the institute has with our schools, faculty and students,” Dittmar said.
Satterfield said students hoping to study public policy should consider the different opportunities the institute offers in the field.
CHLOE THRESHERSINGERSTAFF
JASMINE LIOU
VIOLA HSIA SENIOR WRITER
President Reginald DesRoches said Satterfield was chosen as director by a committee chaired by director of the Baker Institute of Advisors Marc Shapiro and former Rice President David Leebron. “The Baker Institute is a vital part of the university and the broader Houston community,” DesRoches said. “With over four decades of diplomatic service and policy and management leadership experience – both in the United States and overseas in the Near East and Europe –[Satterfield] is well suited to maintain and grow the superb legacy I know he will continue to maintain and grow the institute’s critical, globally renowned policy research and outreach as well as the strong and foundinginstituteestablishedDjerejianthatandourinstituterelationshipsproductivethehaswithschools,facultystudentsAmbassadorattheasitsdirector.”Leebronsaidthat
Provost Amy Dittmar said she was excited to work with Satterfield.
conclusions, options and recommendations for ways forward based upon those Satterfieldfacts.”said his goals are aligned with the university’s aim to expand as a research institute.
KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER Ambassador David Satterfield assumed the position of Baker Institute of Public Policy director July 1.
Ambassador David Satterfield assumed the position of director of the Baker Institute of Public Policy July 1. He succeeds the previous director, Ambassador Edward Djerejian, who served as director of the institute for 28 years. Satterfield spent most of his career working in the U.S and overseas, with a focus on the Middle East, North Africa and NATO connectivity between Europe and the Middle East, and recently focusing on Russia and China as key players. He assumes this position with 43 years of experience working for the U.S government, with 41 of those years as a foreign service officer in the Department of State.“Icome to Rice after almost half a century [of work] in the government, with a deep practical background in Washington,” Satterfield said. “I think that well prepares any director for the unique work of this institute which is to reflect in a fact-based, nonpartisan fashion on critical issues that affect American lives.”
Lindsey said that the staff at Life Tower has been slow to respond to repair requests and other residential issues. “I’ve reached out via a combination of work orders, phone [calls] and actually talking to [management] eight or nine times, and no responses,” said Lindsey.Hsusaid the Life Tower residents relayed their common issues to the administration via the petition. “I think individually it’s easy to shrug us off sometimes, and say that it’s only specific to your unit and your experience,” Hsu said. “But when numerous people are coming together with the same concerns … it gains a lot more attention with management.”Hughessaid that when the management team received the petition, they began to review and attempted to resolve the expressed concerns.
I know [Satterfield] will continue to maintain and grow the insitute’s critical, globally renowned policy research and outreach as well as the strong and productive relationships the institute has with our schools, faculty and students.
Amy Dittmar PROVOST
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this, buying and securing wristbands doesn’t even guarantee adittance. Tickets are typically oversold, as in the case of Martel College’s public last Saturday, which results in extended lines and destroys the original purpose of charging a fee: limiting capacity. Three years ago, capacity issues solved themselves. With security monitoring the crowd inside, everyone could show up and line up; when the line felt too long, people simply left. Not to mention that most students do not intend on staying at a public from beginning to end. But being required to pay for admission and the extensive process required to secure a wristband might alter that, decreasing the number of overall students who are able to attend at all. With the university expanding its student population, the issue of limited attendance at popular student events will only become more prevalent. Conversations surrounding how to preserve the old Rice culture and to ensure the same college experience for future Rice students need to be a focus for the administration and individual residential colleges alike.
Despiteparty.allof
When you hire out, you leave a lot to chance. A non-Rice DJ doesn’t know the type of music that excites this campus. They don’t know the Orientation Week songs or the unofficial anthems of certain colleges (i.e. Murts’ love for “Kernkraft 400” or Hanszen with “MMMBop”). But if aspiring DJs at Rice don’t get their shot, their platform, their opportunity, you have no choice but to hire out. While alumni like DJ Friendzone, DJ Chaney and myself all love coming back, we’d also love to see more current students take ownership of a small but critical piece of Rice culture.
spontaneity of a DJ set drawing attention and building momentum throughout the night, among many other negatives. Hold live auditions to test and recruit new talent; provide references and spread the word if any DJs appear competent and need promotion; generally, be the allies that Rice DJs need in order to survive and thrive.On the flip side, if you are interested in becoming the new generation of Rice DJs, even if this is your last year at Rice, please get some live practice in and put your name out there. Perform live. Be adventurous and bold with what you play, but make sure to choose songs with mass appeal and popularity. When you’re playing to crowds, you can’t be playing only obscure tracks that you like. For God’s sake, diversify your music tastes and inject some global flair. Remixes are welcome as long as you don’t get too weird. Learn to read a crowd and its ebbs & flows. Ask for knowledge and help, even equipment, from those who came before you. Finally, reach out to the socials all across campus about potentially DJing their public. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to get started, just your laptop, some DJ software and decent music taste. All the world’s a stage, and as a Rice DJ, it is yours to own and yours to lose. Take the stage and bring the campus DJ community back from total extinction. Banh Mi’s rooting for y’all.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 • 5THE RICE THRESHER EDITORIAL
Rice DJs are dead. Long live the Rice DJs. Seeing the first Texas Party since Fall 2019 happen is both a joy and a solemn reminder. Yet another public has come and gone and yet no student DJ has risen to prominence. It may not seem like a problem, but this is critical. Rice DJs play an integral part in campus social life, but they cannot survive and thrive without the help and advocacy of campus socials and the boldness of potential DJs rising to theInchallenge.thepre-COVID era at Rice, there was a small but very active community of student DJs who played music at publics and large privates. COVID hit and disrupted so many aspects of life, including the Rice DJ community. With no publics on campus for the foreseeable future, there was no way to build interest to take up the mantle. One by one, the remaining DJs graduated or prematurely retired. When the 2020-2021 school year rolled around, I found myself the last of an endangered species, nearing the point of extinction. When I graduated spring 2021, no campus public DJs remained. Rice publics are uniquely Rice experiences, despite many imperfections. In no other environment will you see hundreds of the nerdiest ex-high schoolers from around the world singing along to Taylor Swift at one moment, throwing it back to Bad Bunny the next and yelling “Beer Bike” during the chorus of that DJ Khaled song before the end of the night. There are traditions to be learned, acquaintances to be met and memories to be made. When the sun goes down and the lights go up, the DJ becomes master of that universe for the next four hours. With a job that important, how can we as a Rice community allow anyone else other than a Rice Owl to be your vibe technician?
Don’t let paid wristbands become the norm at publics
Three years ago, in the pre-COVID world, there were only three public parties that charged for admittance. NOD and Y2K needed the money to hire extra security, and Architectronica charged because it wasn’t funded by a college and depended on the money from ticket sales to cover event fees. Now, we fear more colleges will charge for entrance to publics, a poor practice we urge socials to avoid.Three years later, as publics finally return in full force, seniors who had a taste of the old, free publics find themselves perplexed by the new changes while reminiscing about the lost institutional knowledge of pre-pandemic Rice. But tradition isn’t the only thing that the new “pay for wristband” system is harming. Though $5 and under price tags generally wouldn’t prohibit any student from attending, it has sparked a growing resale market with wristbands being sold for upwards of $20. This resale market especially affects freshmen, who already feel social pressure to fit into college culture and are likely to buy these resale tickets even at an unreasonable price. Further, paying without clear justification to attend a public defeats the purpose of a “public”
GUEST OPINON Will a new student DJ please stand up?
For the socials, there are a few ways you can foster this new regrowth. First, fight for making publics free again, administrative red tape be damned. The very definition and origin of Rice’s public parties is that these are open to everyone, free of charge. Publics are egalitarian at their core, and ticketing them only feeds into the elitist image that Rice so desperately needs to fight against. Increasing access and reducing barriers to big social events like these make DJing seem worthwhile because more people get to hear your music and spread the word about your skill. Ticketing kills the
Victor Nguyen LOVETT COLLEGE ’21 As publics finally return in full force, seniors who had a taste of the old, free publics find themselves perplexed by the new changes while reminiscing about the lost institutional knowledge of prepandemic Rice. When you hire out, you leave a lot to chance. A non-Rice DJ doesn’t know the type of music that excites this campus ... the Orientation Week songs or the unofficial anthems of certain colleges. in or
online! submit a draft thresher@rice.eduto EDITORIAL STAFF * Indicates Editorial Board member Ben Baker-Katz* Editor-in-Chief Morgan Gage* Editor-in-Chief Bonnie Zhao* Managing Editor NEWS Hajera Naveed* Editor Maria Morkas Asst. Editor Keegan Leibrock Asst. Editor OPINION Nayeli Shad* Editor FEATURES Nicole Lhuillier Editor Riya Misra* Editor Nithya Shenoy Asst. Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Michelle Gachelin* Editor SPORTS Daniel Schrager* Editor Pavithr Goli Asst. Editor SPECIAL PROJECTS Prayag Gordy* Editor BACKPAGE Timmy Mansfield Editor Ndidi Nwosu Editor Andrew Kim Editor COPY Jonathan Cheng Editor Annika Bhananker Editor PHOTO, VIDEO, & WEB Katherine Hui Photo Editor Cali Liu Asst. Photo Editor Jasmine Liou Video Editor Camille Kao Asst. Video Editor Eli Johns-Krull Asst. Video Editor Brandon Chen* Web Editor DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION Robert Heeter Art & Design Director Anna Chung News Siddhi Narayan Opinion Katherine Chui Features Ivana Hsyung Arts & Entertainment Robert Heeter Sports Lauren Yu Backpage BUSINESS Edelawit Negash Business Manager Ariana Moshiri Social Media Jazmine Castillo 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 LettersUniversity.totheEditor 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 Editorialwebsite.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 ricethresher.org2022
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Keck said that he does not see himself passing on the account after he departs from“IfRice.anyone posts anything offensive or anything, I don’t want that to be attached to me,” Keck said. “And I don’t think I’m leaving something important here, so letting it die off could be maybe a service to the community.”
6 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 THE RICE THRESHER
Another year, another batch of Riceinspired Instagram pages. Rice students have made niche Rice-related Instagram pages about everything from bricks to possums to chairs, but they are also no strangers to meme accounts that make light of Rice happenings and traditions, from parodies of the ‘Be Bold’ campaign to relentlessly positive affirmations about servery swipes. @rice_affirmations
“Sometimes people do send me things, but I would say more than 90 percent of everything is things I make,” Moreno said. Moreno said one of his favorite posts is about the ‘Be Bald’ campaign, a reference to Rice’s fundraising campaign.
@bakercollegememes Ulises Moreno, a sophomore at Baker College and avid meme-creater, started the @bakercollegememes Instagram account in his freshman year, shortly after Orientation Week. “I had been making memes prior to that and just sending them to the main Baker chat,” Moreno said. “One of my O-Week brothers kept pressuring me, [saying] ‘You should make a meme page,’ and I checked first to see if there was already a Baker meme page and there wasn’t. And I was like, ‘How can that be? We’re the best college. We need to have the best meme page.’”The meme account focuses on events and traditions in Baker but also takes inspiration from campus-wide happenings that non-Baker students can relate to. Moreno said the account, which has amassed over 1,000 followers over the past year, saw a gradual rise in popularity.“Ijustwent on a relentless advertising campaign — going to GroupMe chats, putting posters everywhere. It’s been pretty gradual,” Moreno said. “It took a couple months to really get a higher followerGettingcount.”most of his ideas from conversations in Baker GroupMe chats, Moreno produces almost all of the content he posts on @bakercollegememes.
@jibamemes The @jibamemes Instagram account was created by Jones College sophomore Ben Allen last October. Allen said he decided to create the account after noticing other Riceinspired meme accounts, including the @ bakercollegememes account, emerge. “I’d seen some other meme accounts pop up, and I was like ‘Jones needs that,’” AllenLikesaid.Moreno’s account, @jibamemes mostly makes light of events, traditions and conversations within Jones but also features content about the larger Rice community. For instance, one of the more popular memes in the early days of his account is about Jones’ neighbor, Brown College.“One of my favorites was a meme of Brown, like ‘Imagine living in a residential college named after an Ivy you got rejected from,’” Allen said. “That was a good one. Another recent one was about freshmen pretending to be party animals when all they did was study in high school.” Since its creation, @jibamemes has been solely run by Allen, who plans to continue creating and posting content throughout his time at Rice. Allen said that until it is time to pass the account on to another Jones student, he will enjoy bringing a smile to his followers’ faces — especially the people who have not yet recognized him as the person behind the popular account.“When I was first talking to my girlfriend, she actually sent me one of my memes before she knew that I ran the account,” Allen said. “I didn’t say anything about it, and she only figured [things] out months later. That was very fun.”
Kelton Keck, a Sid Richardson College sophomore, started the @ rice_affirmations Instagram page at the beginning of his freshman year. Affirmation memes have become a popular trend on social media, and Keck’s account features a Rice-specific take on the trend. Like other affirmation meme pages, @rice_affirmations features posts with overly optimistic, almost absurd messages designed to be relatable and shareable.“Themain reason I started the account was because I liked making random memes and sending them to my friends,” Keck said. “I had a bunch of ideas for affirmations and thought I might as well make an account and have some fun with it.” Keck’s account features posts about common worries relevant to Rice students. A recent post characterizes the Martel College public last weekend as a superspreader event. Another post jokes that students have to use a second meal swipe to get a drink that they forgot. “I try to aim for things that are unspoken, shared experiences,” KeckKecksaid.accepts submissions from other members of the Rice community, but he said that the vast majority of his posts are created from his own ideas and occasionally from some of his friends’ ideas. Although @ rice_affirmations has garnered over 630 followers, Keck said his main focus isn’t the“Inumbers.liketo treat it less as ‘how many followers can I possibly get?’ and more [as] posting whenever I think of something that’s actually kind of interesting to me,” Keck said. “I don’t get any sort of fulfillment from the actual likes or anything on it, but I like the creation process, and I like showing [the posts] to my Moreover,friends.”Kecksaid he enjoys the semi-anonymity that he has, as his account does not explicitly identify him as its owner. “I can just ask someone what they think about the account and they’ll answer objectively, and that’s always kind of fun to me — to listen and see what they actually think about it instead of what they would tell the person who runs it,” Keck said. “Sometimes I’ll tell people that I run it if they really like it, and it’s kind of funny because I feel like a lot of people think that meme pages are run by people they’ll never meet.”
“I changed the Be Bold campaign to ‘Be Bald.’ That one really blew up,” Moreno said. “Special memes that get a lot of attention that I know are some of my best work — it just makes me happy when people appreciate it.” Moreno said he plans to continue growing his account while at Rice. “I would really like [it] if Baker could sell @bakercollegememes merch,” Moreno said. “I don’t even want money off of it. Just to see that come from a silly idea out of O-Week, to make a meme page, to see people at Rice wear that — I think that would be really cool.” Moreno said he hopes the account can live on even when his time at Rice nears an end.“Eventually, when I’m a senior, I want to pass the page to someone else so it doesn’t just die off,” Moreno said.
KATHERINE CHUI / THRESHER
When I was first talking to my girlfriend, she actually sent me one of my memes before she knew that I ran the account. I didn’t say anything about it, and she only figured [things] out months later. That was very fun.
Ben Allen JONES COLLEGE SOPHOMORE
Instagram accounts reveal the meme-ing of Rice LAUREN YU FOR THE THRESHER
Student Garden Worker Rice’s Holistic Garden, which recently moved behind the Gibbs Recreation Center, employs Rice students to help with everyday gardening tasks.
Carissa Witt, a Brown College junior, said that BIOS 204: Community Garden inspired her to apply to be a student garden worker, a position that she has held for over two semesters at Rice. Witt said she works about six to eight hours a week.
According to Witt, her job as a student garden worker is never monotonous — everyday she finds something different to do, from collecting eggs to harvesting fruit to weeding plant beds. “It’s a very relaxing, peaceful environment,” Witt said. “It’s a good way to destress, be outside, get some quality nature time in and get your hands dirty.” This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.
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KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER A student tends to plants at Rice’s Holistic Garden.
As a PRA, Sonig has had the opportunity to advise her peers in both group and individual settings. She said that most PRAs work about two hours every two weeks. “We have open office hours, and if people reach out one-on-one, we have individual meetings with them,” Sonig said. According to Sonig, advising new students is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
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“Getting to meet the new students and seeing how excited they are, passionate about certain areas [is great],” she said. “There is information overload from [Orientation Week] onwards, so knowing who to talk to is important.”
According to Williams, the job of a RESP fellow is one that he wished more people knew about. He said that it provides a good perspective on the transition to Rice.
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As the school year gets going, Rice students may begin the search for an on-campus job. There are lots of options — from Coffeehouse barista to teaching assistant — but some jobs are off the beaten path. These jobs are unique ways to get involved around campus and make some money while doing so. Skyspace Docent Many Rice students have heard about Skyspace’s evening light shows, but not all know that the Moody Center for the Arts hires docents for its sunset showings. Docents give a quick presentation on the artwork, enforce rules and respect for the piece and clean up any trash.
Peer Research Ambassador The Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry sponsors Peer Research Ambassadors to mentor their peers and to provide feedback to academic departments at Rice.
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Anika Sonig, a Sid Richardson College senior, has been a PRA since her sophomore spring semester at Rice. She said she was inspired to get involved as a PRA after working with the OURI during the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium, an annual showcase for Rice undergraduates to present their research projects. “There’s so much information but it’s hard to know where to go,” Sonig said. “There’s so many majors where you can do research, but it’s not advertised as much, so you might not know how to go about it.”
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Sarah Eunsu Kim, a Hanszen College junior, has worked as a Skyspace docent for about a year. She said that her favorite part of the job is the quiet time she gets for reflection and introspection. “I get to watch the sunset and do my homework on the grass,” Kim said. “I wish more people would come, just in general, to be able to enjoy the artwork … Being able to work at the Skyspace is a privilege.”Afterthe lightshow ends, Kim spends an hour cleaning up afterwards and talking to visitors. According to Kim, as a docent she has met a large array of interesting people, from the architect of Skyspace to international tourists. “There’s a bunch of Skyspaces across the world, and the one in Houston at Rice is unique in the fact that it has two levels,” Kim said.”Most Skyspaces only have one. So [the tourists] wanted to come see that.”
RESP Fellow The Office of Student Success Initiatives hosts the pre-matriculation program Rice Emerging Scholars Program for firstyear students from under-resourced high schools to prepare for their time at Rice. RESP hosts a cohort of about 40 students over a six-week span in the summer. The SSI office hires upperclassmen fellows in order to support RESP students both academically and socially. Jacob Williams, a junior from Martel College and 2022 RESP fellow, said the job is multifaceted: he hosted office hours, planned social events, encouraged good study habits, graded assignments and supported the RESP students throughout their transition to college life. “I’ve always been really passionate about teaching and working with students,” Williams said. “I did a lot of tutoring back in high school, and that was the most fulfilling thing that I did.”
“It would be helpful for Rice students to be more aware of the typical culture that goes on at Rice,” Williams said. “It’s so easy [for some students] to go into classes and have all this academic preparation that most students haven’t [had access to].”
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Accordimg to Williams, he typically spent about four hours a day working, whether holding office hours up to twice a week or helping with fun events outside of classes.“The point of RESP was to acclimate students to what Rice was gonna be like academically,” Williams said.
Top Track: ‘Surround Sound’
JID’s storytelling, lyricism, wordplay and production are all at their peak throughout ‘The Forever Story,’ an essential release in a year filled with strong albums.
Review: JID reminisces about his origins on ‘The Forever Story’
Created from plywood, corrugated plastic, Arduino circuits and LED strips, “ones & zeros” was created by senior architecture students Peyton Chiang, Joseph Hsu, Olivia Malone and Jeff Xia for Archi-Arts. The large-scale, interactive exhibition goes on display Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. in the Sewall Courtyard as Sleepy Cyborg’s first fall exhibition, slated to run until Oct. 9. The project began when the group won $1000 at last year’s plywoodisCollegeChiang,somethingmotionthat[we]andideathatcreatecompetition.Archi-Arts“Wewantedtosomethingreflectedtheofthezerotheone,andtranslatedtothephysicalofswitchingonoroff,”aDuncansenior,said.Thesculptureformedfrom50boxesstacked
The track recounts his meeting with EARTHGANG while on campus, and even features J. Cole sharing his initial impression of JID and the start of their working relationship. The track cycles through a number of instrumentals tied together by a coherent narrative of JID’s history as an artist in a similar manner to “Last Call,” the outro to Kanye West’s 2004 debut
Fans’ first taste of “The Forever Story” came in January with “Surround Sound,” a collaboration with Baby Tate and 21 Savage. Growing up the youngest of seven siblings, the track is about how the constant sounds that surrounded JID in his childhood inspired his choices and informed his behavior as a youth, along with his competitive edge in the rap game. “Surround Sound” also notably samples Aretha Franklin’s “One Step Ahead,” a lush backing for the track that immerses the listener. The same Aretha Franklin track was similarly used on Mos Def’s 1999 classic “Ms. Fat Booty,” a track which JID pays homage to with his choice of sample. 21 Savage’s verse continues the feeling of danger and competition that JID establishes in the chorus, beginning with his discomfort with being approached threateningly on the street in his youth. Another notable cut on the album is “Crack Sandwich,” which displays the changing family dynamic between JID and his siblings over a correspondingly offkilter beat. Throughout the track, JID raps about them starting a brawl in New Orleans, with recordings of his siblings discussing the event interspersed throughout the verses. The chorus emphasizes his come up from poverty with the line “I ain’t got cheeseburger money, make a sandwich,” further relating the lack of resources to his and his siblings’ resourcefulness as they make a figurative crack sandwich — a metaphor for their disorganized closeness and connection to eachTheother.bridge of “Crack Sandwich” is also one of the first times that we see how much JID’s vocals have improved — he revealed that he got a “singing coach” to not only “rap at the highest level,” but also “sing at the highest level.” The song is also a perfect display of JID’s signature wordplay with lines like “R.I.P., I miss my dawgs like Mike Vick,” a ridiculous comparison that refers to both lost friends and former NFL player Michael Vick’s incarceration for dog fighting in 2008. “Stars” is a full circle moment for JID, who goes from paying tribute to Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) to collaborating with him. The track is a great integration of JID’s singing and rapping with a R&Binfluenced instrumental as he reflects on his beginnings trying to make it in rap, relying on his artistry and pure willpower to create at the peak of his ability. Bey’s verse discusses the use of luxury goods to conceal “the shattered spirit.” Prior to the release of “The Forever Story,” JID released “2007,” a sevenminute track that was initially supposed to be the outro to the album. Due to sample clearance issues, it lives on YouTube, separated from the rest of the work. However, in the announcement and visualizer for the track, JID emphasizes the song as the crux of the album’s origin story.““2007” is an autobiographical track that references the release dates of projects like J. Cole’s mixtape series, Kendrick Lamar’s “Section.80,” and his own “The Never Story” as major events on a timeline of his career. It follows JID’s journey from starting out as a college football player on scholarship at Hampton University to becoming the musician he is today.
It’s been four years since JID’s last studio album, “DiCaprio 2,” but he hasn’t been quiet by any measure. In the past few years, JID has been heard on a wide range of features, from Doja Cat to Joey Bada$$, never compromising on quality and creating even more excitement for his next full work. After being signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville records in 2016, JID released his debut studio effort, “The Never Story,” showcasing his unique vocal style and flow. “The Forever Story” takes listeners back to the topics mentioned in his debut, providing context on his time growing up in Atlanta and how he got to where he is today.
“Thealbum.Forever Story” is an excellent project from JID that recounts his origins while moving his artistry forward into a new dimension. His effort to improve his singing paid off, adding diverse textures throughout the album. JID’s storytelling, lyricism, wordplay and production are all at their peak throughout “The Forever Story,” an essential release in a year filled with strong albums.
The team also relied on their architectural skills throughout the artistic process. “The design process was mostly done through drawings and the computer — just trying to visualize everything. After we won the competition, that’s when we really tuned into how to manifest the project,” Xia said. From the beginning of the design process the team considered how the audience would experience the installation.
JEFF XIA
BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR HUGO GERBICH PAIS THRESHER STAFF ‘ones & zeros’ powers digital and interpersonal connection COURTESY PEYTON CHIANG COURTESY DREAMVILLE / INTERSCOPE
The team ultimately used their combined skills to create a design as simplistic as possible.“Theend product is the result of trying to break down the 8-bit theme to its most basic component,” Malone, a Jones College senior, said. “We wanted to celebrate the simplicity of 8-bit for what it is.”
The team was heavily inspired by the theme of Archi Arts: 8-BIT. It paid homage to the 8-bit graphic technology that was developed and popularized in the ‘80s and ‘90s and pioneered computer graphics and color“Inimages.response to the more technical theme of 8-bit, we wanted to bring in all of our disciplines,” Hsu, a Baker College senior, said. “Jeff has been working on some electronic stuff in an engineering class, and we wanted to combine that with all of our expertise in the woodshop and our architectural knowledge.”
“Another thing we thought about that relates to architecture is how the user was going to interact with the art, the procession to the piece and how the piece would interact with them,” Chiang said.The boxes are also designed so that the structure can be disassembled and still“Atfunction.somepoint we will probably break apart the boxes and distribute them so that people can keep one pixel of the piece,” Xia said. The idea of allowing people to play around with the switches was so that people could leave their mark [and] draw their pattern on this giant analog screen.
8 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 THE RICE THRESHER
5 feet wide and 10 feet tall. Each contains an LED strip controlled by an Arduino processor, covered by a sheet of semi-translucent corrugated plastic. The boxes are constructed individually and then screwed together, enabling audience members to flip a switch to turn each box on and“Theoff. idea of allowing people to play around with the switches was so that people could leave their mark [and] draw their pattern on this giant analog screen,” Xia, a Brown College senior, said. “After they’re done, they can sit down and see what the next person does.”
JACOB THRESHERPELLEGRINOSTAFF
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 • 9ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Avalon Diner As novel as inventive breakfast dishes can feel, sometimes classic is the way to go. Visit Avalon Diner for breakfast staples or other quintessential American diner food in a classic diner setting. With affordable prices compared to many of the brunch restaurants frequented by Rice students, it hopefully won’t place quite as much of a strain on student budgets. Their omelets, starting at $10.45, were brimming with fillings, and their pancakes and other breakfast items were served deliciously. For a sweet ending to the meal, Avalon Diner also has a selection of milkshakes and other ice cream treats on their menu.
I should note that the issues I have with the core romance are not a result of the actors’ performances. Both Swinton and Elba do a good job with the material, though both have done better work in the past. Furthermore, the creativity on display in the film is certainly impressive. Choosing to produce a film as visually unique as this one is not very common, and I am glad that Miller was given the opportunity to apply his trademark fastpaced rhythm to a different genre, regardless of whether it was successful. Just like the structure of the film only achieves part of its goal, the visuals also have some major drawbacks. Notably, the use of CGI is very inconsistent in terms of visual fidelity. Sometimes the effects look beautiful, and at other times they immediately distract me from the story. Similarly, the way some sets were colored felt extremely digital and flat, and some surrealist images felt laughable.Ultimately, “Three Thousand Years” was equally impressive and disappointing. The questions it ponders regarding human connection and storytelling are compelling, but the romance that it is centered around falls flat. The visual components staging the story are sometimes breathtaking but oftentimes inadequate. In many ways, Miller’s bombastic approach to filmmaking is applicable outside the action genre, but he should be allowed a greater budget to achieve something truly great. While the story was at times emotional, its shortcomings held the film back from reaching its full potential. I hope Miller takes another stab at this type of filmmaking — with more polish, he could create something very special.
Munch on these brunches
MICHELLE GACHELIN / THRESHER
COURTESY POLYVINYL RECORD CO.
Seven years after “Mad Max: Fury Road,” filmmaker George Miller returned to cinemas this past Friday with “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” a film distinctly opposite from the genre work Miller is known for. While Miller’s tendency to capture excitement is present in the film, this is a new territory for the director. “Three Thousand Years” is a romance-fantasy drama centered around Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), a narratologist, or expert in the study of narratives, who discovers a genie (Idris Elba) while on a trip to Istanbul. After learning of the genie’s powers, Binnie cannot settle on three wishes and listens to the djinn’s tales in search of what she truly desires. This heady and almost saccharine premise about the power of storytelling is a great setup for a blissful drama, but ultimately becomes messy as Miller’s style and writing are antithetical to the romance at the core of theAtstory.the center of the script is a series of stories presented to Swinton by Elba, a device that lends itself well to the film’s exploration of the power of storytelling. Each of the three primary tales spun by the genie are individually very engaging, communicating loss, loneliness and passion through humor and heartbreak. On their own, each of these stories are highlights of the film, providing engaging fairy tales to follow along to, but the context surrounding these flashbacks fails to tie them together in a meaningful way. The purpose of each story is to help our protagonist learn about what she desires and should wish for, but the audience knows very little about the character. As a result, this thread of melodramatic indecisiveness feels as though it is filling time instead of being a primary story. This problem is compounded as the film begins to postulate a strong connection between the genie and Alithea. I certainly understand the plight of the genie, yet I only know a handful of our main character’s traits, leading to a lopsided understanding of the relationship. Miller’s propensity to keep everything moving prevents the audience from soaking in any of the yearning that’s supposed to be at the heart of the film.
There’s an art to brunch, from assembling the perfect group of friends to figuring out a time in the midst of hectic schedules to dine out together. Above all, though, there is an art to choosing the perfect restaurant to visit. With plentiful options in Houston, even just the array of choices can be overwhelming. That’s why we visited these four popular brunch spots to offer the inside scoop on the appeal of each. Snooze, an A.M. Eatery With over fifty locations across the U.S. and a standard of two-hour long waitlists, Snooze is not actually being slept on — in fact, we recommend heading over before 10 a.m. to beat the crowd. There’s something for everyone on their menu, which offers vegan-friendly breakfast classics with unique flavor combinations, in addition to Southern-inspired staples (shrimp and grits, anyone?) and even lattes and cocktails. Seasonal items like the burrata prosciutto toast are also worth a try. Those with a sweet tooth should order the Pancake Flight, which allows you to sample three of your choice — we like the Sweet Potato and Pineapple Upside Down flavors. In honor of International Bacon Day and back-toschool season, Snooze will be donating up to $25,000 of sales from their Bacon & Egg Pancakes of the Week to No Kid Hungry. Make sure to head over before Sept. 3 to get a taste while benefiting a great cause. Tiny’s No. 5 This West University gem offers sophisticated American-style eats in a rusticchic, airy venue where we imagined we would host our bridal showers. While their buttermilk pancakes and other breakfast staples may be lacking the creativity Snooze has mastered, the food is neatly presented and comes in sizable portions. Their nextdoor bakery, aptly named Milk & Cookies, boasts the perfect chocolate chip cookie — crisp on the edges but soft in the center. They also make one of the best mint chocolate chip ice creams we’ve ever tasted. Overall, this brunch spot is a must-try for their solid food options, charming outdoor patio and irresistible sweet treats. the breakfast klub The Thresher previously spotlighted this Houston staple on our list of Blackowned restaurants near Rice. With generous portions, we certainly didn’t leave the breakfast klub hungry, and we each had leftovers to take with us. Visitors who drive will be thrilled to find ample parking just a short walk away from the restaurant. If you’re visiting on a weekend, be prepared for a line trailing beyond the building, but it’s more than made up for with prompt counter service as soon as guests make their way through the entrance and water available in the blistering summer sun. Besides that, the menu boasts mouthwatering Southern breakfast dishes. We had the ‘wings & waffle’ and ‘katfish & grits,’ and they are popular orders for good reason. Each of the dishes was amazing and spoke to exactly why people frequent the restaurant for brunch. Get one of their house made bottles of lemonade — some of the best we’ve ever had — or another drink from their menu, as a treat.
Review: ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’ attempts flimsy romance
COURTESY METRO GOLDWYN MAYER
HADLEY THRESHERMEDLOCKSTAFF
Australian indie rock singer Julia Jacklin has returned just three years after her sophomore album with her newest release, “Pre Pleasure.” A bittersweet reflection on self-awareness, sexuality, complicated love and her own motherdaughter relationship, “Pre Pleasure” is another successful product of Jacklin’s introspective and tastefully confessional songwriting.Jacklinopens the album with “Lydia Wears a Cross,” a song looking back on her Catholic school years and reluctance to believe in God. The lead single of “Pre Pleasure” sets up Jacklin’s album nicely with her lyrical storytelling and simple but effective production. It leads into the upbeat second track “Love, Try Not to Let Go,” a punchy song that captures Jacklin’s simple desire to find and feel love. The bridge’s teasing buildup of harsh guitar and rhythmic drums that falls back into the delicate piano of the chorus instead of a big climax was well done, making this one of the more interesting songs to listen to and one of the best from the album. “Ignore Tenderness” focuses on Jacklin’s complicated relationship with her own body and sexuality. “Staring at my own reflection / Ever since I was 13, I’ve been pulled in every direction,” Jacklin explains, criticizing the way women are educated about sex and sexuality from a young age. The chimes right before the chorus were also a pleasing touch. A standout of the album, “I Was Neon” opens with guitars reminiscent of songs from her 2019 album “Crushing,” and juxtaposes the upbeat rhythm with lyrics about the anxiety of losing yourself. Though the lyrics are simple, they’re still relatable and cutting — “Am I gonna lose myself again?” she continues to ask herself, hoping that she doesn’t. Although a bit jarring after the more easygoing “I Was Neon,” “Too In Love To Die” is a beautifully flooring piece. An aching song about intense love with dreamy, serene production, this was easily my favorite of the slower ballads on “Pre Pleasure” and one of my top songs overall.Abrutal ballad about her strained relationship with her mother, “Less of a Stranger” pulls on heartstrings over a simple guitar backing. While a song about her own experience, Jacklin seems to have perfected the art of being just confessional enough that others can see themselves in her music too. “Be Careful With Yourself” was another great upbeat song from the album. Back to the more rock side of her indie-rock style, Jacklin asks a lover to be careful because she doesn’t want to imagine life without them. “I’m making plans for my future and I plan on you being in it,” she states simply. This song really shows how Jacklin’s understatements make some of her most powerful lyrics, and I was a big fan of the drum kit and guitar backing for this song. Although a little slow and meandering in the second half, “Pre Pleasure” still packs a powerful punch. Her entrancing and deeply personal lyricism shines through in every song, her silky smooth vocals begging you to keep listening. Each track of Jacklin’s is distinctly its own, and this album is very obviously her own form of catharsis, even within the most simple lyrics. I think I loved this album more every time I listened to it. Jacklin continues to prove herself as one of the more genius singer-songwriters of our generation.
MORGAN GAGE & MICHELLE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF,GACHELINA&EEDITOR
JAY COLLURA FOR THE THRESHER
Review: ‘Pre Pleasure’ compels with introspective confession Top Track: ‘Love, Try Not To Let Go’
Football heads into make-or-break season
Despite their lofty goals, the Owls will have to deal with significant losses on both sides of the ball. The Owls’ offense lost several significant contributors including leading wide receiver Jake Bailey, who transferred to Southern Methodist University, and Khalan Griffin, who had the second-most rushing yards on the team last season, transferred to Lamar University.
To make up for their losses, the Owls were active in both recruiting and the transfer portal. The new additions to the squad are headlined by safety Litchfield Ajavon who transferred from Notre Dame to Rice during the offseason and was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Owls lost several leaders including their three leading tacklers in defensive lineman Elijah Garcia, safety Naeem Smith, and linebacker Antonio Montero. Both Garcia and Smith graduated, with Garcia signing with the Los Angeles Rams, and Montero transferred to Villanova University.
“I’m looking forward to our healthy players coming back,” Taylor said. “Our team has also really bonded together off the field. We think we can go in and take game and roll with that.”
Offensively, the returning players are highlighted by redshirt junior running back Ari Broussard, who led the team in rushing yards this past season, and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, a key offensive do-it-all player. McCaffrey will be joined by redshirt senior Bradley Rozner, who missed the past two seasons with injuries but led the team in receiving yards in 2019, as the pair look to give redshirt junior quarterback Wiley Green plenty of options in the passing game.McCaffrey made a significant decision during the offseason as he underwent a position change from quarterback to wide receiver. The early returns have been positive, as McCaffrey led the team in receiving during the team’s spring game, and scored two touchdowns in a recent scrimmage. According to McCaffrey, the position change has been a great experience.“It’sbeen a blast,” McCaffrey. “Whether it is at quarterback, at receiver, at running back or special teams, just to be able to use my abilities in a different way in our atmosphere has been a blast.”
The Rice football team won just four games last year, their most since 2016. Head coach Mike Bloomgren, who is entering his fifth season leading the Owls and has an 11-31 record since taking over, said he hopes his squad can finally take the next step that they’ve appeared poised to make for years. “Our goal is to continue to grow as a football team,” Bloomgren said. “Obviously, we’re trying to win every game that we get the opportunity to play.
After being demoted to the third string quarterback in 2020, Green once again won the starting job to open the 2021 season. Green showed flashes, keeping the team within striking distance of the University of Arkansas for most of the opener, and leading them to an upset win over 24-point favorites in the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In an all too familiar sequence of events, Green’s season was once again cut short when he went down with a leg injury against the University of North Texas. Green said that although the season was over for him, he was determined to get back to his former self.
PAVITHR GOLI ASST. SPORTS EDITOR CHANNING WANG / THRESHER
Green machine: Owls’ Wiley quarterback set to start again
CADAN HANSON SENIOR WRITER
COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Rice quarterback Wiley Green drops back during a game last season. Green enters the year as the Owls’ starting signal-caller.
10 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 THE RICE THRESHER
After practice Aug. 23, Rice football announced that No. 5 would be their QB1 for the start of the 2022 season. Wiley Green, an Irving, Texas native, who will start the Owls’ opener for the third time in his career, said that he is grateful for another opportunity in the starting role. “It’s very humbling that I get the chance to continue playing and start for this team,” Green said. “I can’t describe how much it means to be continuing playing here. I am blessed with another opportunity to continue playing and my goal is to give the best of my ability and continue doing that for the rest of theGreenyear.”has been a student of the game since he was five years old. He played throughout high school for Prestonwood Christian Academy and was instrumental in his team’s success, leading them to a state title in 2017. When the college coaches started calling, Green said that he knew that Rice was the best fit all“Inaround.mysenior year, Rice gave me an offer,” Green said. “I saw [Rice] as the best place for me academically and athletically so I decided to take that opportunity.”
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
In addition, both the defense and the offense have several returning players that will be very important for the Owls this season. On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore defensive back Gabe Taylor, who won conference player of the week honors for his efforts in Rice’s upset win over the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will look to team up with Ajavon and graduate George Nyakwol to make the secondary the strength of Rice’s defense. Taylor said that the defensive side of the ball can be successful due to the return of injured players and improved chemistry.
The Owls will kick off their season this Saturday against No. 14 University of Southern California in the season opener. The Trojans made waves this offseason when they poached head coach Lincoln Riley from the University of Oklahoma, along with his Heisman Trophy-hopeful quarterback Caleb Williams. The game, which starts at 5 p.m., will be played in the venerated Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has hosted several major events such as the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, as well as the first-ever Super Bowl. This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.
Heading into his fifth season and still without a bowl game appearance, Bloomgren knows that people outside the program see this as a make-or-break year, but said this pales in comparison to the pressure the team is putting on itself to win.“I don’t know if there could be any more pressure than the pressure that we put on ourselves,” Bloomgren said. “We want to win every time we come on the field and every rep in practice against each other and we certainly want to win every football game we have the opportunity to play.”
In his first year donning blue and gray, Green made an immediate impact late in the season as he took over starting duties from then-starter Shawn Stankavage. According to Green, the biggest challenge that he faced jumping to the collegiate Division I level was the increased pace of the game. “[My freshman] year was really up-tempo,” Green said. “You don’t really get to experience college speed until you play in college and it was something I had to get used to. I got a lot of good experience and it just helped me become the guy I am today.” Green was named the starting quarterback going into his sophomore year, but struggled with injuries – including one against Wake Forest University that resulted in him being taken to the hospital – and was eventually replaced by then-graduate transfer Tom Stewart. On the year, Green started seven games and racked up over 1,000 passing yards. Green said that his trying season allowed him to grow both on and off the field. “I grew up as a person,” Green said. “Going from 18 to 19 years old was a big step for me because I started to find out who I was mentally. People don’t realize how much of a mental toll [football] can take on you. I battled through injuries that year but I learned a lot about college football from [that season].”
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“[Head] coach [Mike Bloomgren] talks about [it] all the time: adversity is the next step in how to become a better person and a better man,” Green said. “It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up. [The injuries] gave me that drive and that fire to come back and play again.”
These kids have worked so hard and have positioned themselves to go into these games with the confidence to compete and win these games. We want to go to a bowl game and win and compete for a conference title.”
It took just 29 minutes for Grace Collins to make Rice history on Sunday night. The graduate transfer who joined the Owls from Texas Christian University dished out a whopping four first-half assists, before adding one more in the second half to set a conference record as the Owls beat the University of the Incarnate Word 5-2 for their first win of the season. After starting the season 0-3, Collins said that her record-breaking performance was sparked by the three unfortunate games.
“I remember talking to running backs coach Jim Skipper, and he was like, ‘you’re smart, coach the room,’ so I kind of coached the room how I was coached from my running back coach Eric Studesville in Denver,” Anderson said. “I saw Christian McCaffrey doing some of the things that I was talking about, and I was like, ‘man, I might have knack for this.’” Following his stop in Carolina, Anderson would then go on to play for the Los Angeles Rams, who signed him after star running back Todd Gurley went down with an injury. After closing the regular season
“We are still working out our offensive rhythm but I was very pleased with our defense and serve receive for the most part,” VolpeThesaid.Owls’ first game, against the University of Houston, was something of a logistical question mark as the two teams, normally less than four miles apart, traveled over 250 miles to face off at the Maravich Assembly Center. The first set was close throughout, as Rice never led by more than five points, but the Owls managed to win it by a score of 25-22. That would be the closest the Cougars got all night to securing a set. Rice won the second set 25-18 behind five kills from fifth-year senior middle blocker Anota Adekunle. The Owls repeated the trick in the third set behind another five kills from Adekunle and 15 assists from fifth-year senior Carly Graham to seal the win – the 350th of Volpe’s career. The Owls took the court just three hours later against Samford University. Whatever fatigue the team might have had from the quick turnaround certainly didn’t show as they took a 10-1 lead and won the first set 25-15. According to Adekunle, the team had prepared for the double-header and managed to avoid its worst effects.
FROM FRONT PAGE ANDERSON
COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Graduate forward Grace Collins runs during a recent game. Collins tied the C-USA singlegame assist record on Sunday as the Owls beat Incarnate Word 5-2.
DIEGO PALOS RODRIGUEZ FOR THE THRESHER soccer gets first win of the yearin two days to open season
“I think our team played really well and we bounced back after three games of being unlucky,” Collins said. “It was really awesome for us to come back and get a good win like this.” Another Rice standout wrote her name in the history books in the second half. After her second save of the game, senior goalkeeper Bella Killgore broke the record for most career saves in Owls’ history with 301. Before Sunday’s historic game, however, the Owls struggled to capitalize at home against Loyola University Maryland. In the first ten minutes, both Killgore and sophomore midfielder Mikala Furuto threatened the Greyhounds with shots close to goal, but they were not able to break the score. Shortly after Furuto’s chance, Loyola had a free kick opportunity ten yards from the top of the eighteen-yard box. Loyola’s shot went just high of Killgore, deflecting off the crossbar, bouncing off the back of Killgore and rolling into the Owls’ net. The rest of the game was an offensive show from the Owls. The team had some late chances on goal, but the Greyhounds’ goalkeeper was able to parry them away and keep a clean sheet. After twenty-one shots for the Owls, three times that of the Greyhounds, the squad walked away with their third straight loss to start the season. Despite the slow start, head coach Brian Lee was confident going into Sunday’s bout against UIW. “We just needed to have a response when the game started. Those first three games, we played well enough [to have] results and [they] just haven’t gone our way, so we asked for a response tonight,” Lee said.
COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Junior libero Nia McCardell digs a ball during a recent scrimmage. McCardell was named C-USA defensive player of the week as the Owls opened their season with three wins.
Sporting a 3 - 5 - 2 formation, the Owls got off to a fast start in the first ten minutes. In the sixth and seventh minute, Furuto, playing as an attacking midfielder behind Collins and senior Madison Kent, found the back of the net for her first two goals of the season. Both goals were hand-delivered by Collins after impressive runs threading through the Cardinal defense and setting up Furuto for both short goals down the middle.UIW answered quickly with goals in the twelfth and twentieth minute, one from outside-the-box and another off a corner kick, but the Owls punched back just as fast. After a few missed chances from close, Collins set up for a free kick near the corner of the box. Looking wide, she crossed the ball towards the far-side post, finding fellow graduate transfer and midfielder Madi Allen for a header over the keeper and into the side netting. Only a few minutes later, Collins made her way through the Cardinal defense yet again and set Kent up for a shot to the top left corner. This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.
Volleyball wins three games Collins breaks assist record as
COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Running backs coach C. J. Anderson leads a drill during a recent practice. A Super Bowl champion, Anderson starts his college coaching career this year with the Owls.
“The game of volleyball is often a game of momentum,” Adekunle said. “LSU came out with so much fire, it just took us a minute to adjust to it. Bad sets happen all the time and unfortunately we were on that side of Thethings.”Owls’ deficit didn’t last long however. Rice won the next two sets by 7 and 9 points respectively to take a 2-1 lead. The Tigers managed to force a fifth set, but three unanswered points from a 12-12 tie gave the Owls their third win in three tries. After the comeback win, Volpe said that the turnaround was more a result of the team’s composure than any tactical changes.
with two 130-plus yard games, Anderson led the Rams in rushing during the playoffs as they reached Super Bowl 53, where they lost to the New England Patriots. According to Anderson, this provided another opportunity to mentor a promising young running back in Gurley and further hone his coaching skills. “I got to LA, and Todd Gurley was in his third year,” Anderson said. “So then I got to put Todd on those same things and be that vet backup role, and that’s when I was like, ‘you know what, I can probably do this.’”
Fast forward to the present day, Anderson enters this season as the running backs coach for the Owls, his first position in the collegiate ranks. According to Anderson, the similarities to NFL playcalling that Rice offers is what drew him to the job.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 • 11SPORTS
Anderson would officially retire from playing in 2020 and immediately go into coaching football back in his home state of California. According to Anderson, he was able to pick up some coaching pointers from an old friend of his, Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. “A lot of my football I learned from [Manning] and sometimes that even intimidates some of the coaches we have here,” Anderson said. “When I retired two years ago, I spent some time with him just learning a lot about the quarterback position and a lot about different things since I was jumping into coaching so I could be a better coach at all positions just because he saw the game so well.”
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“I spent my first two years, it was me, [Thomas], and Andre Caldwell, who was another great teammate of mine, always at each other’s house, whether it was learning the playbook, playing FIFA, or playing pool,” Anderson said. “DT was just a joy, fun to be around, smile was always great, can always cheer you up if you’re going throughAndersonit.”
The Rice volleyball team didn’t let a double-header on Friday or an abysmal first set on Saturday phase them, as they started their season with three straight wins over the weekend at Louisiana State University’s Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge. The team opened the tournament with a pair of sweeps before fighting back for a 3-2 win over LSU to close out the weekend. According to head coach Genny Volpe, while their offense is still a work in progress, the team was strong in all other facets of the game.
“It wasn’t as tiring as I expected it to be,” Adekunle said. “I felt really good physically after playing our last game Friday. I think the training we did in practice prepared us for Thethat.”Bulldogs kept the second set close, getting out to a 17-12 lead at one point, but the Owls managed to come back behind a slew of late kills from sophomore outside hitter/right side Lola Foord. A dominant third set saw the Owls complete their second sweep of the day. After winning their first six sets of the weekend, hosts LSU provided Rice with a bit of a shock when they won Saturday’s first set 25-13. According to Adekunle, the Owls were taken aback by LSU’s quick start, but once they settled into the match, they were able to take back the momentum.
would spend two more years in Denver before moving on to the Panthers, who had apparently forgiven him for his role in their heartbreak three years earlier, where he would take on new responsibilities. Anderson started just one game for the Panthers and ran for 104 yards, but according to the 31 year old, it was in Carolina where he discovered his talent for coaching.
“It is an NFL-like style from the playbook to how we practice to how we prepare, and those things are projected to help you for the next level,” Anderson said. “I always said whenever I got into coaching, whether I’m running my own program, which, that’s my goal one day, or whether I’m a coordinator or a position coach, I would want it to be in an NFL-like feeling because obviously that’s the top of the top of Andersonfootball.”willlook to build off of his mentorship experiences in the NFL as he will lead the Owls’ running backs this year. According to Anderson, his agenda is not about the money or the position, he is focused on helping his players grow.
DANIEL SCHRAGER SPORTS EDITOR
“I want to let them know that I care, truly care,” Anderson said. “I know a lot of people say that, but I will go out [of] my will and my way to do it because I don’t need the money, I don’t need the job, I’m not playing a kid because it saves my job. [I’m] truly getting to evaluate them, truly can develop and grow them and truly care about them on and off the field.”
to the guest list •
wristband •
mailroom •
for
to
party
War-esque fit by putting a feather in their cap, while others mix and match styles. Just remember: Do not wear deodorant. This is inconsiderate of others who may not like the smell of deodorant, or those that really like the all-natural smell of an average Rice student: sweat, tears, and 1,200 mg of caffeine.
• Jump up and down! In the same spot! Do it again! Again!!
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mainframe
Contrary to popular belief, hand-eye coordination is not a requirement for busting it down sexual style at a Rice public. Here are three simple but essential dance moves to have in your repertoire:
Home of “piss papa” and people who try too hard for GroupMe likes. Fizz Myth perpetrated by the government to sell greeting cards. loved ones
WORD BANK Rowdy, open-invite parties at Rice University, renowned party school. public Item charger,bears,essentialsbroughtcommonlytopartiesincludingpartysuchas:ChexMix,gummymarbles,sillyspray,crayons,iPadtoothbrush,andsleepingbag. suitcaseparty Preparatory gaming; occurs before publics. At these events, you play a variety of games such as dominos, tic-tac-toe, and checkers. Typically, the winner of the games gets first pick in the candy bowl. Important: do NOT consume alcoholic beverages at pregames, as you might end up being arrested on the spot by RUPD when they do their deep-sniff breath checks at the door. pregame
the public?
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• Bend your knees! Straighten them! Bend them again! Faster!
security
• (ADVANCED, BEGINNERS DO NOT ATTEMPT) Wave your hands in the air, as one does when they do not care. Pro Tip: Beg the DJ to play your O-Week dance song! Everyone will high five and thank you for starting the flash mob. How do I bust a move?
Typically, lines at publics can be quite long, so we recommend cutting off your pregame early to get a good spot. To pass the time, we suggest the following: play Word Hunt on iMessage, post something mid on Fizz , count to ten thousand, write your autobiography, raise a family, grow old, die surrounded by loved ones , be reincarnated as a mischievous hamster, or play I Spy with your friends. What should I do while waiting in line?
12 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2022 BACKPAGE The Backpage is the satire section of the Thresher, written this week by Ndidi Nwosu, Andrew Kim, and Timmy Mansfield and designed by Lauren Yu. For questions or comments, please email dilfhunter69@rice.edu.
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Missed the twelve-second window a wristband? Worry not! Here are some foolproof ways to sneak into a public Camp out the night before in host college’s Hire a freshman in COMP 140 to hack into the (open the spreadsheet on a Social coord’s and add you Counterfeit a ticket by bringing your finger paints the line and painting your wrist the color of the Challenge the bouncer to a game of Battleship—if you win, you get to go in; if they win, you have to take over their shift Have your friend smuggle you past security in their suitcase What should I wear? If you’ve ever been to a public, you’ll know what we’re aconstraintswithinchoosehere,ruff.totraditionclassicabout.talkingARiceiswearaFromsometoworktheofRevolutionary
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