The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, January 11, 2023

ICYMI IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

special project

Crisis and damage control: Rice student leaders uphold a culture of care

dean of undergraduates, back in October. Gorman had called in Helmeci, the Jones College president, to inform him of the death of a Jones student.

Rice students manage significant college budgets, organize large events and plan the orientation of every new student. Student leaders say they appreciate the opportunity to shape their community — but when something goes wrong, who is left in charge?

The Thresher spoke to three student leaders who faced unique crises or prolonged challenges. It was not easy, they said, but the impact they made proved to be valuable.

Finding footing after loss

Dan Helmeci was quickly ushered into a meeting with Bridget Gorman, the

“That day, Dean Gorman told me face to face, and at that point, I was the first student to know,” Helmeci, a senior, said.

Helmeci said that he was inexperienced in handling such a difficult situation, but he was prepared to help in any way that he could. He became a spokesperson for the hard announcements while representing student voices to administrators.

“It was a lot of figuring out how to tell students [about] well-being resources that we knew had to go into effect pretty quickly,” Helmeci said. “I was one of the people helping to identify the deceased’s

closest friends and people we really wanted to reach out to individually and make sure that they had the kind of support they needed.”

As more time passes, Helmeci said he’s grown concerned that student leaders are occasionally put in situations they are not adequately prepared to handle.

“At the end of the day, we’re not trained for it,” Helmeci said. “We could be doing more damage than good, and we don’t really know that.”

Broadly, however, Helmeci said student leaders should continue to be involved in important decisions. Not doing so, he said, would make it just that much harder to support students.

This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.

Labor movement at Rice has stalled, organizers say

FGLI student leaders tackle the hidden curriculum

O-Week coords talk work, stress and pay

PRAYAG GORDY & ELLIE CHA SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR & FOR THE THRESHER

SANJANA JAIN & ARTIE THROOP FOR THE THRESHER PRAYAG GORDY & ALLISON YUE SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR & FOR THE THRESHER

AMBER HU & JINA PARK FOR THE THRESHER

Jamie Padgett, chair of Rice’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was one of five researchers in the United States to be named a National Science Foundation BRITE Fellow. Under the program, Padgett received a fiveyear, $1 million dollar grant to research new approaches to infrastructure resilience modeling in response to disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

Rice volleyball appeared in the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year. They knocked off the University of Colorado Boulder with a 3-1 victory in the first round, before narrowly losing to Baylor University in five sets and ending their tournament run.

As proof that intellectual brutality pays off, Rice football’s academic standing garnered them an invite to the LendingTree Bowl, despite being one victory shy of automatic eligibility. The Owls fell to a former C-USA foe, the University of Southern Mississippi, 38-24 in their first postseason appearance since 2014.

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, vice president of research, was inducted as a National Academy of Inventors Fellow. Researcher Megan Reiter makes a discovery that’s out of this world. Reiter and colleagues found a previously undetected cluster of newborn stars with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. SEE PAGE 2.

Rice’s Office of Admissions admitted 486 new students to the Class of 2027 through their Early Decision and Questbridge National College Match Program. This year marked the largest number of Early Decision applications in Rice history. SEE PAGE 3.

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RIYA MISRA FEATURES EDITOR

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Rice trustee Huda Zoghbi recognized for research on genetics, brain disorders

MARIA MORKAS ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Rice emeritus trustee Dr. Huda Zoghbi is a co-recipient of the 2022 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience. She and her colleagues received this award for the discovery of genes involved in serious brain disorders.

The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience is presented by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 2022, it awarded the prize to Zoghbi and her collaborator Harry T. Orr of the University of Minnesota Medical School, as well as Jean Louis Mandel of the University of Strasbourg and Christopher A. Walsh of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital.

The award recognized Zoghbi’s independent work on Rett syndrome, a rare genetic mutation affecting brain development in girls, and her collaboration with Orr on

their work for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, a progressive movement disorder.

“This is the most special award because it’s recognized our collaboration since 1988,” Zoghbi said. “It’s really special to me [because] collaborations in science are so important, and recognition of work that’s collaborative is really important.”

Zoghbi’s interest in Rett syndrome peaked after encountering two clinical patients who, at the age of two, had lost language and motor skills and had developed specificity and balance issues, among other function losses.

“Having seen the first [two children with Rett syndrome in the United States], I was really intrigued and at the same time feeling the heartache of imagining a girl going through that … I was convinced there must be more,” Zoghbi said. “I asked the volunteers in the clinic … [to bring] me some records. I reviewed them, and I found more girls with Rett syndrome. That’s really what clinched it

for me that I want to go to the lab now and find the cause of Rett syndrome.”

Zoghbi has been on the Rice Board of Trustees since 2014 and was later elected to the Baker Institute for Public Policy Board of Advisors in 2020. She completed her pediatric neurology residency and fellowship training at the Baylor College of Medicine and later joined its faculty as a professor of pediatrics, neurology, neuroscience and molecular and human genetics. In 2010, she founded the Jan and Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“The only way you can [make a difference in researching neurological problems] is if you bring people from different disciplines into the same building, encourage them to collaborate, provide them with the tools, support, infrastructure and create a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment,” Zoghbi said. “Suddenly, we can make a difference.”

Zoghbi is also a member of the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Arts. She has previously won various accolades including the Elaine Redding Brinster Prize in Science or Medicine, Brain Prize and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

Zoghbi said she’s excited about the potential of using genetic and molecular discoveries to develop future therapies.

“I think there’s lots of opportunities to bring new treatments to so many diseases like Alzheimer’s and different forms of intellectual disabilities,” Zoghbi said. “Brain science is really going to be changing in the next few years because there’s so much opportunity. We’re doing so much biology that informs us that we’re not shooting in the dark.”

Alex Han, a Brown College junior, has been working in the Zoghbi Lab since freshman year. Han said that he appreciates Zoghbi’s ability to simplify complex scientific concepts and her attentiveness to individual projects.

“She’s really able to simplify the most complex concepts in really simple layman’s terms that even undergrads, or people who haven’t even taken AP Biology, will be able to understand the science behind,” Han said.

Dah-eun Chloe Chung, a postdoctoral associate in the Zoghbi lab, said she admires that Zoghbi is a caring mentor while aspiring to conduct good science.

“She gives a lot of intellectual freedom to her trainees when it comes to developing scientific questions and approaches to test the hypothesis, while also providing with ample feedback to refine the studies and to guide the project to the most scientifically sound direction,” Chung said.

Zoghbi said she would never trade her life in academia for anything else because of how rewarding she finds her work.

“I’m so excited about the field of neuroscience; there’s so much opportunity ... There’s so much that all of the students in neuroscience are poised to discover and make a difference with,” Zoghbi said.

Rice astronomer and colleagues discover newborn stars

KEEGAN LEIBROCK ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Rice University professor Megan Reiter and her colleagues discovered a previously undetected cluster of newborn stars some 7,500 light years away from Earth. The discovery, published in the December issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, was made possible through observations by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Reiter said that the JWST makes a wide range of discoveries that were previously not feasible, partly due to its resolution that is 10 times better than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.

“[The discovery] is great for astronomers just in terms of learning how to use this new observatory; it’s a nice dataset to work with,” Reiter said. “It also shows the sheer power of the observatory in terms of what kinds of things we can now detect that simply weren’t possible to detect before ... We actually faced difficulty in trying to figure out where to stop in the first paper just because there’s so much data and new stuff to do.”

Vice President of Research Ramamoorthy Ramesh said that Rice University research will continue pushing to bring about new discoveries, including in the field of astronomy.

“What [Reiter] and her collaborators are doing is using information that the telescope is capturing to discover stars that nobody else has,” Ramesh said. “I am very appreciative of what she is doing.”

Reiter said that because the JWST makes it more feasible to detect and observe newborn stars, it will be beneficial in future star formation studies.

“One of the questions that I think my research group is particularly focused on is thinking about how stars, like the Sun, form,” Reiter said. “This is one of those sort of first observations that we can do to get a better understanding not only of how these stars are forming, but also how these stars are forming in the context of their environment.”

Throughout the discovery process, Reiter said that they faced a number of challenges in data analysis and acclimating due to the use of a new telescope.

“One of the challenges with working with a new telescope is that we’re all still trying to understand the telescope itself and how to work with it,” Reiter said. “Calibration, for example, is something that is still very much ongoing and something that we need to improve before the next paper.”

Ramesh said that with a rise in new technology, Rice will increase funding for the Rice Space Institute to push for similar research opportunities in the future.

“[Reiter and colleagues’ discovery] is especially important to Rice because it’s exactly what we’ve been pushing for in our Rice Space Institute, which gets some amount of funding … that is going to increase,” Ramesh said. “I’ve been saying, ‘Hey, look, we need to be solving the biggest problems through research at Rice’ … People like [Reiter] will be a key part of that.”

COURTESY BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE Rice emeritus trustee Dr. Huda Zoghbi is a co-recipient of the 2022 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for the discovery of genes involved in serious brain disorders.

COURTESY NASA, ESA, CSA AND STSCI

Images captured by the James Webb Telescope of recently discovered newborn stars cluster.

With a 15.2% acceptance rate, Rice admitted 486 new students — 417 through Early Decision and 69 through the Questbridge National College Match program — to the Class of 2027 on Dec. 14.

These students were selected from a pool of 2,743 applicants, which is the highest number of applications to date for the Early Decision round, according to Vice President of Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva.

Romero da Silva said that interest from prospective students keeps growing, crediting Rice’s increasing outreach efforts, which included bringing nearly 1,000 high school counselors to campus for Houston’s National Association of College Admission Counseling, which took place from Sept. 24 to 26.

“This was a unique opportunity for us to introduce Rice to counselors from all over the country and the world,” Romero da Silva wrote in an email to the Thresher.

“One highlight was lunch in the serveries with Rice students who attended the

high schools the counselors are from … This event was a great way to reinforce the message of how welcoming the Rice community [is].”

Romero da Silva said that international students represent 13% of the current admitted class, while 41% are from Texas and 46% are outof-state.

Maddy Whelley, an incoming student from North Castle, New York, said that Rice was on her college list for a while, despite being relatively unknown at her high school.

“It was scary because no one from my school has gotten in in like, 12 years,” Whelley said. “No one applies … I was like, ‘Okay, I know I’m taking a shot, but I love this school.’”

The business major, which was introduced in Fall 2021, continues to garner interest, Romero da Silva said. Eight

percent of admitted students applied as a business major, a small increase from last year’s six percent.

Asianna Danielle Junge, an incoming student from Phoenix, Arizona who matched with Rice through Questbridge, said she was particularly drawn to Rice for both its undergraduate business curriculum and commitment to diversity.

“I want to go into business … I know it’s a newer major, but the [Jones Business School] has a women’s conference every year in February, and that was really important to me because I [am very passionate about] feminism,” Junge said.

Other incoming students, such as Brianna Schulstad from Bergen County, New Jersey, said they found Rice’s location equally as appealing as its academic opportunities.

“I wanted to be in a city with a lot of versatility,” Schulstad said. “I’m really interested in energy, manufacturing and design, and I just think Rice gives [students] all the opportunities to go there.”

Pepper Rhodes, an incoming student, said she appreciated Rice’s resources for students interested in aerospace engineering. Rhodes, who is from Fort Myers, Florida, said her experience in the Rice University Aerospace & Aviation Academy, a summer program designed for high school students interested in pursuing aviation, led her to apply to Rice under the Early Decision program.

“I got to meet some of the engineering professors [at Rice] … and it was really cool,” Rhodes said. “I just fell in love with the campus.”

Caitlyn Ladd, an incoming student from Austin, Texas, said her acceptance was somewhat dumbfounding — she didn’t even comprehend it at first.

“Confetti started raining from the screen, and I just kind of sat there because I didn’t realize that it was an acceptance, which sounds really dumb,” Ladd said. “But I was elated. It felt surreal to me.”

RIYA MISRA

ANNA CHUNG / THRESHER

SA wants to be taken seriously, campaigning can’t be a joke

Student Association elections at Rice routinely garner little attention, often struggling to break 25% turnout, which the Thresher and years of SA representatives have called problematic for the health of our student government. With the recently proposed election timeline cutting campaigning to just one week, we’re worried this year we might manage to reach a new low.

In previous years, the SA election saw nearly three weeks of campaigning, including the week-long voting period. That might sound like a long time, but many students who didn’t vote in SA elections say they didn’t know the election was happening or couldn’t be bothered to vote.

While the official election timeline has not been set, the proposed timeline shared with the Thresher indicated only one week of campaigning, followed by the standard one week of voting. While the director of elections indicated that campaigning may be allowed to continue through the week of voting, we

TO THE EDITOR

do not feel this is a substitute for ample time before the election. The director declined to share his reasoning for the change with the Thresher.

elections, and the best way is to allow candidates more time to connect with potential voters. Considering our voter turnout was critically low to begin with, we think it unwise to implement election policies that will further discourage candidates’ abilities to engage voters.

A week-long campaign timeline will do more harm than good when it comes to increasing voter participation and for allowing voters to gain a comprehensive sense of who and what is on the ballot.

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The potential extension to the proposed timeline still cuts the campaign period down by 33%. This reduces time for candidates to reach potential voters and is not sufficient time for candidates to promote their platforms. Why should students be invested in an election when candidates aren’t given the time to be invested in them?

As a guiding principle, the SA should be trying to improve engagement in their

Typically SA election timelines are voted on in November, but this year, Senate will be voting on an election timeline on Jan. 23, meaning any changes to the timeline are on a tight deadline as election season approaches. We encourage everyone to reach out to their college’s SA representatives and ask them to support multiple weeks of campaigning before voting begins. Regardless of your interest in the SA, we hope that everyone agrees our election process should seek to engage as many students as possible.

Rice isn’t pro-choice until it supports both choices

A choice, by definition, must be between two or more possibilities. As I read about Rice’s Reproductive Health Working Group in the Thresher’s Nov. 30 Special Project, I’m struck by the fact that only one response to student pregnancy was presented. Reproductive health is not limited to contraceptives and abortions, but also includes prenatal, postnatal and maternal care and it is critical that the RHWG include these elements in their priorities. For Rice to be pro-choice means that it supports students regardless of their choice, and while some might choose to procure an abortion, others may choose to keep their child.

Presently, Rice is woefully unequipped to deal with student pregnancy, especially at the undergraduate level. With Texas’s total ban on abortion, the university needs to reckon with the fact that its students will get pregnant, and some will choose to have the baby.

At the graduate level, students may apply for a six-week parental leave after birth or adoption, with an option to extend the leave for an additional six weeks due to health complications. While students are released from their academic responsibilities during their leave, they are expected to complete all the semester’s coursework upon their return. There does not seem to be a formal policy for undergraduates.

Title IX prohibits discrimination against pregnant and parenting students (students

cannot be expelled, kicked out of the dorms before the infant is born or lose financial aid due to pregnancy), but it is vague on what accommodations are necessary. Typical accommodations include larger desks, bathroom breaks, access to lactation rooms and excused absences or flexible deadlines for medical reasons. I believe

While full-time, benefit-eligible faculty who are primary caregivers can receive up to one semester of leave at full pay, this benefit is not offered to other Rice employees. While Rice Children’s Campus is a fantastic resource offering convenient, high quality education for preschoolers of current Rice affiliates, it’s on the more expensive side and is inaccessible to many.

One fifth of American undergraduates are parents, and they are not supported. 61% of student fathers drop out of college, along with 41% of student mothers, yet those who do graduate have higher average GPAs than their peers. Parenting students are a valuable group in education, and the solution isn’t getting rid of them — it’s making sure they’re cared for. Rice claims it wants to increase its enrollment and diversity, yet neglects this demographic. It touts a Culture of Care, but fails to foster a culture that cares for families.

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Rice could go well beyond that and follow the lead of other universities who offer highly subsidized child care or even free housing to parenting students. Rice can also mobilize its student body to support parents, such as by offering volunteer babysitting opportunities or expanding the meal-swipe donation program to better accommodate families.

It is not only students that Rice can support with improved family policies.

If “Abortion Through the Ages” shows us anything, it’s that Rice students will face unplanned pregnancies. What if Rice went far beyond contraception vending machines, and truly supported students, no matter which way they chose?

MARTEL COLLEGE SENIOR

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If the

Why should students be invested in an election when candidates aren’t given the time to be invested in them?

LETTER

Reproductive health is not limited to contraceptives and abortions, but also includes prenatal, postnatal and maternal care and it is critical that the [Reproductive Health Working Group] include these elements in their priorities.

Elisabeth Torres-Schulte

Inked: Exploring the stories behind student tattoos

SARAH KNOWLTON ASST. FEATURES EDITOR

The letter ‘Oht,’ a runic character and video game logo, is emblazoned on Felicity Phelan’s inner wrist. It was their first tattoo, Phelan said.

“‘Oblivion’ was the first ‘real’ video game I ever played, and the ‘Elder Scrolls’ series is one of my favorites,” Phelan said. “In the game, there are these portals you go through, and the logo is the shape of one of those portals. Since ‘Oblivion’ was my first video game, I think of it as my ‘portal’ into the world of video games and thought it was fitting for a first tattoo.”

Phelan is host to many more tattoos, each with their own individual story. A Tang Dynasty poem etched into Phelan’s thigh was inspired by their Chinese heritage, which they said they wanted to pay tribute to with their designs.

“My Chinese name is 桃花, which means peach blossom, and the tattoo is a sort of sad love poem I like that talks about peach blossoms. I wanted to get something related to my Chinese identity,” Phelan, a Duncan College freshman, said.

Keeping in line with the symbol of blossoms, Phelan said their tattoo of an orange blossom branch on their forearm is also linked to their heritage.

“I chose oranges because I love citrus smells in perfume and because in Chinese culture, oranges are associated with success and good fortune,” Phelan said.

Another piece, a bust of Medusa, also bears a personal connection.

“Medusa is a really popular tattoo subject, but I’d always found tattoo depictions of her to be very male gaze-y and

felt they had too much focus on making her look attractive and seductive, which didn’t match my understanding of the myth as a really tragic story of injustice and feminist rage,” Phelan said. “I was interested in getting a Medusa tattoo that aligned more with my understanding of her story and was especially interested in working with a female artist.”

Irene Wang said her tattoo, a carton of pixelated peach milk, was inspired by the designs of tattoo artist Rachelle Viola.

“There isn’t any significant meaning behind it, all I knew was that I wanted to get a tattoo that was in more of a ‘cuter’ style,” Wang, a Baker College sophomore, said. “This was my first tattoo, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

Spontaneity over significance seems to be a common thread among many inked students on campus. Angie Fan, a McMurtry College senior, said her tattoo of a woman’s figure adorned with mushrooms was also an act of impulse.

“I was visiting a friend in Madrid, and we were wandering the city when she spotted a tattoo shop,” Fan said. “We made the impulse decision to book appointments together for that afternoon … there isn’t really a deeper meaning to it, but in the end, my tattoo reminds me of friendship and spontaneity for the sake of art.”

Ynez Kerley, a McMurtry senior, also said she associates her design with friendship, as her tattoo artist was a close friend of hers.

“My tattoo is an abstract handpoke design that I got last July while interning in New York City. The artist is my friend Joyce, who goes by @texturemapping_ on Instagram,” Kerley said. “I always admired their designs and thought a tattoo from

JAYAKER KOLLI CROSSWORD EDITOR

them would be a lovely souvenir of my summers in the city.”

Kerley said she opted for an abstract tattoo because of the variety of ways people can interpret the design.

“I chose a design that I thought would blend naturally with my body over time and remind me of the shooting star I saw once on [the artist’s] rooftop,” Kerley said. “I like that everyone who sees it interprets it differently — like a nebula, strands of DNA or a shooting star.”

Other students take less spontaneous approaches to their designs. Drawing upon personal experiences and identity, Angelina Hall said that her tattoos are always thought out in advance.

“My inspirations are always my family or my identity. Most of my tattoos are ones I thought about months in advance, and I’d make small edits or changes to the idea or design before finally deciding to go in and get them,” Hall, a Brown College junior, said.

Hall has several tattoos inspired by the poetry of Maya Angelou, as well as a halo and

wings that she shares with her mother. She also has the phrases carpe noctem (seize the night) and ohana mau loa (eternal family).

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

I chose a design that I thought would blend naturally with my body over time.

Ynez Kerley

MCMURTRY COLLEGE SENIOR

Looking back at Rice’s first year

Owls fly high: Students talk

of Gulf Scholars Program work on Artemis missions

these incidents, so we can empower them to build up resilience.”

From sewer overflows to environmental resilience toolkits, Rice students are becoming better equipped to handle an ongoing climate crisis.

The Gulf Scholars Program at Rice is supported by the National Academies Gulf Research Program, which provides support for similar programming at universities in the Gulf of Mexico region. The environmental studies program specializes in action related to locallevel challenges faced by communities in the Gulf of Mexico region. According to the program website, participants will address challenges in areas of community health and resilience, environmental protection and offshore energy safety.

Evan Jasica, a 2021-2022 Gulf Scholar, said that his career interest in climate change and interest in the outdoors drew him to GSP@Rice, where he researched the risks of petrochemical spills in the Houston area. The program’s focus on hands-on work appealed to him, he said.

Jamie Padgett, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and GSP@Rice’s faculty director, said that the program aims to open horizons for students in the ways they can contribute to climate and hazard resilience challenges in the Gulf Coast.

“I hope that each student feels the program contributed to their personal and professional development,” Padgett said.

For Valentina Osorio, who researched chemical storage tank vulnerability against storms and is returning to lead GSP@Rice’s discussion segment next year, the experience helped her develop both collaboration skills and explore the intersection between academic and practical research.

Working at the interface between academia, community organizations and nonprofits was something that I never realized [could] be intentionally navigated.

Valentina Osorio HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIOR

“It offered the chance to do very community-based research, something that was very practical [and] outside of traditional academia, which I think can sometimes be pretty disconnected to the real world,” Jasica, a Duncan College junior, said. “It felt like research … meant to address decision makers for people living next to major petrochemical plants, to understand that these risks exist and what can be done.”

According to Jasica, the program timeline spans from spring through the end of the following school year’s fall semester and consists of three parts: a student-led discussion in the spring, a full-time internship during summer and a seminar in the fall that examines future directions.

Unlike other research programs, which are typically conducted under larger guidance, Jasica said he appreciated the opportunities for independence that GSP@Rice provided.

“One thing that surprised me about this program was how self-directed it was,” Jasica said. “We talked with our community organizations, and we helped craft a project and research questions that would be helpful to them and feasible for us within our timeframe and abilities. I thought that was daunting, but also a really cool experience.”

Alex Cho, a Will Rice College junior, said his group worked with Bayou City Waterkeeper on disparities between communities with their drainage infrastructure.

“We’re examining which neighborhoods have the most sewer overflows and flooding and other types of incidents, and we compare that to the type of drainage systems that they had,” Cho said. “That was one part of our deliverable, and the other one was a toolkit for communities and neighborhoods to understand how they can act in response to

“Learning how to work in an interdisciplinary team and making sure that one discipline isn’t taking over the other is really important,” Osorio, a Hanszen College junior, said.

“Working at the interface between academia, community organizations and nonprofits was something that I never realized [could] be intentionally navigated.”

Cho said he program was wellstructured and achieved its goals effectively, especially for its first year of existence at Rice.

“There were a little bit of growing pains just because we were the first [cohort], but nothing that actually soured the experience for me,” Cho said. “We all had acknowledged that we were figuring out the motions as we went along and then we finally hit our stride later in this program.”

Despite these growing pains, Padgett said she looks forward to developing the program further and welcoming a new cohort of Gulf Scholars in the spring.

“I am so proud of the cohort and all of the student leaders and peer mentors that have worked on the program,” Padgett said. “Some of the main changes we anticipate [next year] are increased opportunities to participate in GSP-wide programming and events as the national network launches its programming and adds more institutions. This should give our GSP@Rice Scholars the chance to engage with students, faculty and staff from other universities across the country.”

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Artemis. Artemis 1, NASA’s first mission in a series of lunar exploration trips, launched in November 2022. Perhaps you saw some of your Rice peers’ handiwork — as Rice and NASA continue to collaborate, several Rice students are able to contribute to the Artemis missions through the Johnson Space Center’s Pathways Program.

The JSC Pathways Program allows students to work with human spaceflight missions and other deep space exploration programs at NASA, according to the program’s website. Through the Pathways program, Rice students have been contributing to the Artemis missions and other space exploration initiatives.

Emily Ellison, a Sid Richardson College senior, is one of these students. She said she worked on inflatable technologies, such as the Orion Crew Module Uprighting System, which will keep astronauts safe when landing. Aerospace has interested Ellison since childhood.

“I have always really liked space,” Ellison said. “I grew up watching Star Trek with [my dad]. I will say naturally, my interest is more so in cool designs and the engineering side of things.”

Ellison said Rice provided opportunities to pursue this field, from alumni connections at NASA to joining Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, where she was ultimately encouraged to apply for the Pathways program.

aerospace did not begin as a child, but rather when he joined Rice Eclipse.

“I was definitely not a space kid,” Holder said. “You meet a lot of people at NASA who have always been space kids, always wanted to be an astronaut, whereas for me, the path was very Ricerelated.”

Daniel Cohen, a Lovett College senior, said his role as a Pathways intern largely consisted of writing code for flight controllers in the Artemis mission.

“I was writing code that would tell the simulator where, when [and] what to screw up so that flight controllers could get a better training experience. Those flight controllers went on to actually be in mission control during [the Artemis] mission,” Cohen said.

Much like other students, Cohen emphasized the value of Rice’s resources for aerospace careers.

“Technically, Rice gave me a solid background in engineering and the fundamentals that you need,” Cohen said. “To work as an aerospace engineer you need to have a background in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, structures … and also the hands-on aspect of it. I really got that through the Eclipse rocket team.”

If you talk to someone who was alive in the ‘60s, they will almost always tell you they remember the moon landing. They remember where they were. They remember watching it. I would just like to see that same amount of enthusiasm among our generation.

Daniel Cohen LOVETT COLLEGE SENIOR

Joshua Holder (‘22) said he also participated in the Pathways program, where he was on the flight operations team writing software for capsules.

“Once you’ve designed the vehicle, you need to actually operate it, make sure it’s doing well,” Holder said “So I sat in on a lot of simulations of test runs of the mission, developed some tools for the people sitting on the console in the mission control room so they can send commands up to the spacecraft and receive data really easily.”

Unlike Ellison and most people at NASA, Holder said his journey to

Wyeth McKinley, a Jones College senior, said he credits the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen for helping him develop technical and interpersonal skills, which he translated into his internship — and, starting this August, will translate into his work as a full-time flight controller.

“[I was] working on the Artemis program as an engineer designing structure [and] testing ladder concepts for the lunar lander, and as a flight controller training astronauts and developing procedures for the upcoming missions,” McKinley said.

These students are passionate about space exploration. They say they want Rice to be passionate, too.

“Please, I’d say, pay attention,” Cohen said. “If you talk to someone who was alive in the ‘60s, they will almost always tell you they remember the moon landing. They remember where they were. They remember watching it. I would just like to see that same amount of enthusiasm among our generation.”

ABIGAIL ROBERT FOR THE THRESHER

DANIKA LI THRESHER STAFF

GUILLIAN PAGUILA / THRESHER

COURTESY VALENTINA OSORIO

The Moody’s newest exhibit weaves artists into the narrative

span from small-scale, intimate thread drawings to sculptural installations.

“We started with a long list of possible artists who had been on our radar for a long time, and whose work we had seen in various exhibitions in the US and abroad,” curators Frauke Josenhans and Alison Weaver wrote in an email. “Through conversations with artists and studio visits, [we] selected a group that represents a broad array of different nationalities, genders and techniques.”

This new exhibition ultimately explores how this fiber-based medium can serve as a conversation starter in shedding light on hidden histories and unique, cultural perspectives.

who identify as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color, the textiles are powerful carriers of cultural meaning, drawing attention to both personal experience and historically oppressed communities.

“For instance, sewing, as a metaphor for repair, can point to connections between individuals and society, indicating a means of promoting healing in the wake of trauma and building community in the face of adversity,” Josenhans and Weaver said.

Woomin Kim, one of the featured artists in this exhibit, spoke about how her primary media is textile sculpture. Kim is based in Queens, New York, but her current textile work depicts Shijang, a large fish market in Korea.

Textile is a medium that I reach out to very comfortably. It’s like air to me the most comfortable and breathable media.

COURTESY WOOMIN KIM AND

SUSAN INGLETT GALLERY

JULIA LI SENIOR WRITER

The Moody Center for the Arts is kicking off the semester with a new installment to celebrate the next generation of international artists at the forefront of fiber arts. With works from a selection of 21 artists, the art in this exhibition conveys a

multitude of contemporary issues through innovative fiber-based media. Although some artists don’t have a background in fiber-based media, they’ve come together through their own artistic journeys and processes to shape and mold the impact of their contribution to “Narrative Threads.”

Ultimately, the exhibition offers new perspectives on this medium, as the works

“The main goal of the exhibition is to explore a trend in contemporary art, considering artist’s embrace of a historic medium to explore current topics related to identity, gender, race, sexuality and power,” Josenhans and Weaver said.

Woomin Kim TEXTILE ARTIST

Through experimental and fragmentary approaches, each of the artists in the exhibition utilize fiber and textiles to craft personal, social and political histories that ultimately invite the viewer to consider new perspectives through diverse lenses.

Each of these exhibitions has its own story to tell. According to Josenhans and Weaver, the different techniques utilized by the artists are often inspired by ancient practices. According to several of the artists

“Rather than conveying a message, I just wanted to share the depiction of the street markets from the point [of view] of someone who grew up with this culture of street markets,” Kim said. “Asian street market culture is often misrepresented in the Western context, and I just wanted to show that it’s a really big part of [peoples’] daily lives.”

Kim said that her project is still ongoing and continues to change.

“It is growing, just like the market culture in Asia,” Kim said. “Textile is a medium that I reach out to very comfortably. It’s like air to me — the most comfortable and breathable media.”

‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ cast member Colin Robertson talks national tour

SARA DAVIDSON THRESHER STAFF

One classic musical has captured the hearts of audiences for ages: “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The show covers the last few weeks of Jesus Christ’s life as shown through the eyes of Judas and merges musical theater with rock classics. Recently, the Thresher got to meet with cast member Colin Roberston to talk about the show’s upcoming run. Robertson plays Peter, one of Jesus’s twelve disciples, and is also part of the general ensemble. The touring production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” will be coming to the Hobby Center Jan. 17-22, and tickets start at $35.

I think this show is really cool and this production is maybe not exactly what people are going to be expecting. I just would hate for people to come in expecting like classic good old ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and then be like ‘Why is there glitter?’

Colin Robertson CAST MEMBER

“Jesus Christ Superstar” is Robertson’s first national tour, and he said that the show has a special place in his heart. He said that he grew up listening to the album and dreaming of being a part of it, so this tour sees him coming full circle.

“This is actually one of my favorite shows of all time, it’s very lucky that I get

to be in it,” Robertson said. “I’ve wanted to be in it for forever, and it’s a total blessing to be in it right now.”

Within playing Peter, Robertson said that his role allows him to interact more musically within the show. Robertson said that coordinating with the pit to play several instruments helps him feel like he’s part of the company no matter the scene.

“I get to play a lot of instruments,” Robertson said. “Getting to not only be in scenes as a character and sing and act and interact, but be over on the sideline playing the bass drum, it’s just super fun to be able to interact in different ways in each scene … I still feel that I’m contributing or I’m in communion with the rest of the company.”

The tour has been running from midOctober of last year and will continue

all the way to the end of June. Robertson said he still finds himself learning more about the role even after three months on tour. He said he picks up on nuances in the script and production within each show and is able to see how they impact the production, which has kept him on his toes even while performing the same role.

“I am someone who loves conceptual understandings of things … I’m always noticing new things about the show and then thinking about them and applying them to different things,” Robertson said.

Robertson’s main advice to the audience is to come in with an open mind and to not anticipate a classic theatre experience.

“I think this show is really cool and this production is maybe not exactly what people are going to be expecting,”

Robertson said. “I just would hate for people to come in expecting like classic good old ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and then be like ‘Why is there glitter?’ ... Be ready for anything and be excited.”

Another word of warning that Robertson would give to viewers is the volume of the production, as the tour brings in large concert style speakers in addition to the venue’s own sound system. He said that he’s looking forward to how the sound production will bring the show to life.

“They put flashing lights and haze [warnings] ... I feel like we also need to be like, ‘Just so you know, it’s loud,’” Robertson said. “It very much feels like a rock concert … It’s meant to be an experience of music that we share together.”

COURTESY EVAN ZIMMERMAN

“Jesus Christ Superstar” tells the story of the last few weeks of Jesus Christ’s life through the eyes of Judas. The tour is coming to the Hobby Center Jan. 17 - 22.

THE

The Moody Center for the Arts’s newest installment celebrates international artists at the forefront of fiber arts and opens Jan. 13.

Winter break releases to not leave out in the cold

JACOB PELLEGRINO THRESHER STAFF

Even as we took some time off during winter break, artists were still hard at work releasing notable new albums. In the tradition of past summer break music recaps published by the Thresher, below are three albums from the recess that shouldn’t be missed.

“Indigo” (RM)

The most recent in a wave of premilitary service solo projects from BTS members, “Indigo” is a varied work that draws on a number of different genres with new collaborators and sounds. RM intended the album to be “more open [than his mixtapes] in a way people can easily relate to.” RM focused on embracing different styles of music that fit each song best, adding to his background of pop and hip-hop.

The album’s title and first track are inspired by South Korean Dansaekhwa artist Yun Hyong-keun and his response to experiences of pain and hardship through his works. For “Yun,” RM brought in Dallas R&B musician Erykah Badu for a smooth track that emphasizes the necessity of humanity in art.

Another highlight is “Still Life,” which features Anderson .Paak and has a contagious energy to it. The track creates a parallel between still life paintings and personal growth. RM alludes to the continued vitality of these paintings in which nothing ages, while reaffirming that you “can’t lock me in the frame” as he is still growing and changing. The more organic sound of “Still Life” can be contrasted with the electronic stylings utilized throughout “Change pt.2.”

“SOS” (SZA)

SZA released “SOS” in December, five years after her debut. The album continues to expand on her sound, with lyrical openness and a fusion of classic and newer elements that could only come from her.

The album’s cover shows SZA sitting on the edge of a diving board over the ocean, a reference to a 1997 photo of Princess Diana. The sense of isolation that Princess Diana felt is reflected throughout the album, which SZA describes as inspired by her “departure from attempting to be a nice girl.”

The track “Kill Bill” sounds familiar and new at the same time, with a melodic chorus. The song details an unhinged obsession with a former ex and jealousy for his current girlfriend.

“Ghost in the Machine” features an unexpected but incredibly effective collaboration between SZA and Phoebe Bridgers. SZA’s verses plead for a repose from the state of the world through a toxic relationship. The track begins with a plucked instrumental that slowly grows and nicely complements both Bridgers’ and SZA’s vocals.

“SOS” further proves how unique of an artist SZA is and underscores her lyrical candor and musical inventiveness.

“NO THANK YOU” (Little Simz)

“NO THANK YOU” released in midDecember with less than a week’s notice. On the album, independent

artist Little Simz delivers meaningful verses over lavish, sample-heavy instrumentals.

One standout from the album, “Gorilla,” is a triumphant celebration of achievement over a jazzy, bass-heavy instrumental. The instrumentation is accented by strong horns and strings that complement her delivery.

Another highlight, “Heart on Fire,” begins with a classic soul sample that is looped to create a hypnotic backing

that pads the track with a sense of polish and intrigue. Simz raps about broken trust and how people often stop caring about successful people, only putting importance on their wealth. She also addresses how fast consumeristic desires can grow with success: from art to providing for family to frivolity.

“NO THANK YOU” features meaningful and well-delivered verses over soulful production to create one of the best rap albums of 2022.

Review: ‘M3GAN’ misfires but plays on emotion

COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES

HAMZA SAEED FOR THE THRESHER

My expectations for “M3GAN” were cautiously optimistic despite its overdone premise. I thought “M3GAN” was going to be a campy horror movie with cheap jumpscares and even cheesier lines, ultimately performing within a typical January box office. Prior to booking my tickets, however, I did note that the critical reviews for the film were, shockingly, quite good.

“M3GAN” tells the story of an advanced artificial intelligence — a lifelike doll that’s programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and the ultimate parenting tool. Designed by Gemma (Allison Williams), a brilliant engineer on the rise, M3GAN can listen, watch and learn as it plays the role of friend, playmate and caretaker. When

Gemma becomes the unexpected guardian of her 8-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), she decides to give the girl a M3GAN prototype, a decision that leads to unforeseen consequences.

To focus on the film’s positive qualities, “M3GAN” skillfully delivers an emotional message while creating enough tension to keep viewers watching. “M3GAN” isn’t really a horror movie, but to some people, I can see it serving as an entry point into the genre. Since it is PG-13, much of the violence is toned down, but director Gerard Johnstone does a competent job at creating tension and a few silly kills. Surprisingly, the movie nails the uncanny valley look of the doll. Finally, I appreciate how the emotional message was conveyed in a way that didn’t feel condescending to the viewer. I was touched by the message

of the importance of building human relationships in a time where it is so easy to turn to technology or social media as a means of connection with other people.

However, the dialogue had some rough moments, especially in the second act. Even though it’s expectedly difficult to insert dark humor and still maintain an overall atmosphere of anticipation and anxiety, “M3GAN” had a lot of moments where I felt like hiding my face because of cringe instead of fright, which was disappointing. The characters themselves are fine for the most part. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw did a decent job portraying their respective character arcs, which horror movies don’t always prioritize. However, I constantly got the feeling that the writers couldn’t decide whether everyone was smart or dumb. There is a constant and jarring swing between the horror movie

cliché of characters making seemingly random choices and in other moments having incredible foresight and complex motivations.

Despite being labeled as horror, “M3GAN” is more of a dark comedy that is goofy, a bit wacky and even zany at times. That also extends to the dialogue, the PG13 kills and the entire premise of an A.I. murder doll itself. Should you go to see this movie? At the end of the day, it comes down to what you want out of a theater experience. This movie isn’t the type of film that leaves a lasting impression on you as you walk out of the theater, but I wouldn’t say that I wasted my two hours either. Most of my disappointment stems from the fact that I would have preferred “M3GAN” to be more horror-oriented or even a slasher-type film. Objectively, however, it is a perfectly fine movie that is worth a ticket.

“Indigo” sees RM experimenting with a wide range of genres while still creating a coherent album that relies on his own personal experiences.

JENNIFER LIU / THRESHER COURTESY TOP DAWG ENTERTAINMENT / RCA

WBB falls short against LA Tech, drops to 1-3 in conference

the highest of the game, before a pair of three pointers from sophomore forward Malia Fisher and senior guard Katelyn Crosthwait sparked a 9-0 run closing the gap.

The Owls started the second half down eight and cut their deficit to two before Louisiana Tech connected on a buzzer beating three-pointer. In the fourth quarter, the Owls’ efforts to erase the deficit were led by senior forward Ashlee Austin who scored seven of her teamleading 18 in the final quarter. Despite outscoring the Lady Techsters in the final three quarters, the Owls were unable to complete the comeback and lost by five.

Offensively, the Owls had four players in double figures led by Austin’s 18 points and were able to outscore the Lady Techsters in fast-break points and points in the paint. However, LA Tech outshined the Owls offensively, shooting above 50% from the field and beyond the arc. According to Edmonds, the Owl’s defensive performance was not what it needed to be.

“Defensively, we have to be more locked in to the game plan and that’s on me to fix before the next one,“ Edmonds said.

The start of the new year did not go according to plan for the Rice women’s basketball as they fell on Thursday to Louisiana Tech University 79-74. In their fourth Conference USA matchup this season, the Owls fell behind early, and their second half comeback fell short,

dropping them to 1-3 in conference play. Following the loss, head coach Lindsay Edmonds said she was disappointed with the Owls’ early deficit, which proved too much to overcome.

“When you go on the road in this conference you can’t come out and start games slow, and that’s exactly what we did tonight,” Edmonds said. ”We dug a deep hole and even though we fought and

won the last three quarters, it was just too much to overcome.”

While the Owls started their season 9-0 in non-conference play, their inconference struggles continue. Despite scoring the first five points, the Owls were on the wrong end of an 11-0 run and found themselves down ten after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Lady Techsters stretched the lead to 16,

The Owls’ start to conference play has not been as fruitful as their programbest start to the season, and they’ve now dropped three of their last four games. They have a chance to turn it around and avenge their first loss of the season when they travel to Murfreeseboro, Tenn on Wednesday for a rematch against Middle Tennessee State University. In their last matchup, a second-half push fueled a 7468 MTSU win. The game starts at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

MBB drops overtime heartbreaker to LA Tech, snaps win streak

CADAN HANSON SENIOR WRITER DANIEL SCHRAGER SPORTS EDITOR

When junior guard Travis Evee’s shot from near half-court found the net at the buzzer to send their game against Louisiana Tech University on Thursday night into overtime, Rice men’s basketball head coach Scott Pera said he thought his team had been given new life.

“I thought at that point we had a little extra juice, a little extra life in the huddle that could carry us through,” Pera said.

Instead, they just suffered a slower, more painful defeat. A 5-0 LA Tech run to start overtime turned into a six-point Bulldog win at Tudor Fieldhouse.

“To LA Tech’s credit, they jumped out right there in overtime, and when you’re chasing like that in overtime, it’s hard,” Pera said.

The Owls weren’t chasing the Bulldogs all night, however. Rice led for much of the back-and-forth first half after a strong start. The Bulldogs kept it close, before pulling ahead after a 6-0 run with under six minutes remaining in the half and went into halftime with a one point lead.

Tech pieced together a run of their own to narrow the gap, as Rice’s offense went cold. According to Pera, the Owls had a chance to put the game away but didn’t capitalize when needed.

“We missed some opportunities when we had a seven point lead there in the second half that really would have been big if we had hit a couple or one of those shots to keep increasing it,” Pera said.

“We let them back in it, and to their credit, they played really well, they deserved to win.”

With the game tied at 61, Evee hit his third three of the night to give Rice the lead at the four-minute mark, but LA Tech answered with a three of their own, and after another quick basket, held a two-point lead. The teams traded misses and turnovers, until Rice junior forward Max Fiedler hit a shot with 29 seconds left to tie the game. Then, all hell broke loose. LA Tech held the ball for what they thought was the last possession, and with two seconds left, Quandre Bullock hit a catch-and-shoot three over Evee’s outstretched arms.

We missed some opportunities when we had a seven point lead there in the second half that really would have been big if we had hit a couple or one of those shots to keep increasing it.

Scott Pera HEAD COACH

The Owls’ shooting heated up at the start of the second half, with a pair of threes from junior guard Quincy Olivari giving them a nine-point lead. But LA

But Evee, who led all players with 28 points, wouldn’t let his opponent have the last laugh. Receiving a pass from Fiedler near half-court, Evee drained a long three and sent the game to overtime. According to Evee, Pera’s play gave him

the space he needed to set his feet and get a shot off.

“The play was to get Max the ball in the middle, and then me and [Olivari] cut across and see if we can find an open area,” Evee said. “I was able to get my feet set and it went down.”

Overtime wasn’t nearly as close. LA Tech’s Cobe Williams hit a pair of shots, including one from three, to give the Bulldogs a five-point lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The teams traded baskets, and an Evee three eventually narrowed the gap to one with under a minute remaining. But LA Tech’s Isaiah Crawford made a driving layup through a foul, and hit the ensuing free throw, to give the Bulldogs a two-possession lead and forcing the Owls to foul. LA Tech hit their free throws and sealed a 88-82 win.

The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Owls, whose only loss in their previous 11 games had been in overtime to the No. 7-ranked University of Texas at Austin. According to Evee, the Owls shot themselves in the foot too many times on Thursday to keep their run going.

“We had been playing good basketball in games prior, and that’s why we were winning,” Evee said. “Tonight we just didn’t really play the way that we had been prior for 40 minutes.”

Now 2-2 in conference play, the Owls host Middle Tennessee State University on Wednesday. The Owls took on the Blue Raiders in their third game of the season in mid-November, an 81-46 loss. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS

Guard Alem Huseinovic attempts a three during Thursday’s game against Louisiana Tech. The Owls fell 88-82 in overtime to snap their fivegame winning streak.

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Guard Destiny Jackson takes on a Louisiana Tech defender during Thursday’s game. After falling behind early, the Owls’ comeback bid fell short as they lost 79-74.

JT Daniels’ transfer highlights

Bloomgren’s best asset: his ambition

A year and a half ago, in an interview, Rice’s head football coach Mike Bloomgren told me about his proudest memory from his days as Stanford University offensive coordinator. On the back of a New Year’s Day 45-16 thrashing of the University of Iowa in the Rose Bowl, the Cardinal ended the season ranked No. 3 in the country. Bloomgren thought that ranking was significant since Stanford had also cracked the top-four in that year’s U.S. News and World Report college rankings, meaning that his players had gotten the rare chance to play for a world-class football team while receiving a worldclass education.

Bloomgren brought this up not just to tell a nice story but to explain his vision for Rice’s program. When he started taking interviews for head coaching gigs in the following years, he said, he set his sights on schools where he thought that he could pull off the same feat.

To even imply that Rice, a school that hasn’t been ranked in football since 1961, could finish a season in the top five, shows a level of ambition that is almost laughable. It’s the kind of ambition that can almost be a detriment to your program by preventing you from setting realistic, attainable goals. That is, unless you can back it up.

In the final days of 2022, after not doing so for most of his five years at the helm, Bloomgren did exactly that. He landed transfer quarterback JT Daniels, a former five-star recruit rated by Rivals.com as the No. 4 player in the country back in 2018. While recruiting rankings are about as accurate as President Leebron’s prediction for last year’s Rice-Texas football game, the names near Daniels in those rankings – Micah Parsons, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Patrick Surtain II – read like a who’s who of upand-coming NFL stars.

Of course, while his peers are already enjoying NFL success, Daniels’ career hasn’t gone as planned. After starting for the University of Southern California as a true freshman, he missed his sophomore season with an injury before transferring to the University of Georgia. At Georgia, he bounced in and out of the lineup, starting seven games across two seasons, and winning a national title as a backup in 2021. This past year, he transferred to West Virginia University where he put up

solid if slightly underwhelming numbers across ten starts.

His stock has undoubtedly fallen since he was mentioned in the same breath as NFL superstars, but he’s still someone who’s proven he’s a startingcaliber quarterback in three of the five major conferences. Just as notably, he’s a quarterback with a national profile who’s played for two of the most visible programs in the country. Simply put, he’s the kind of player Rice has no business eyeing, much less bringing in.

But, Bloomgren didn’t let that deter him. He went out and got his guy, even if plenty of people would have laughed at him for even suggesting it as a possibility. That takes a certain level of audacity that most coaches don’t have.

Maybe Daniels rediscovers the talent that made him so coveted coming out of Mater Dei High School, but there’s also a chance he’s nothing more than a solid starter like he’s been in recent years. Even in the best scenario, he still won’t fix the holes in Rice’s defense that allowed the fourth most points in the conference, or a running game that barely cracked four yards a carry.

But landing someone with Daniels’ prominence immediately raises Rice’s national profile and gives it a certain amount of legitimacy. This could have a ripple-effect in recruiting, especially combined with the fact that the incoming freshman class is their highest-rated in years. And as the Owls move on to the American Athletic Conference, a stronger conference than Conferene-USA, they’ll need more of a national profile if they have any hopes of being competitive.

There are still reasons to believe Bloomgren won’t make good on his lofty goals; anyone who reads this section knows I’ve been plenty critical of his game management and overly-conservative approach in the past. But if Rice doesn’t take the leap required to compete in their new, more-talented conference, it won’t be because Bloomgren isn’t trying.

Schrager SPORTS EDITOR

leadership journey

Daniel

EDITORIAL CARTOON

[Bloomgren] went out and got his guy, even if plenty of people would have laughed at him for even suggesting it as a possibility. That takes a certain level of audacity that most coaches don’t have.

CoCgate: A Rice Cost of Attendance Breakdown

Every year, Rice students pay more and more to attend this prestigious institution. Last year tuition was $52,070, this year it’s $54,100. What’s next, $55,000?!? While the U.S. Congress was busy with their January 6th investigation, the Backpage followed the money with our own probe to figure out where your tuition dollars are going.

Room

Tuition

$20,000 - Drone show army

$3,000 - Bribing Texas State Board of Education to make textbook authors write new editions every year

$8,000 - Three metric ton order of water chicken from purebred water chicken

$10,000 - Animatronic squirrels to keep up with all the quirky midwest universities

$416 - Paying students to write “this class was challenging but rewarding if you put the work in” and “once you get to know him you realize he really cares about your learning” in course evaluations

$10 - Plant a tree to ensure there are more of them than there are of you

$1,000 - Commissioning that foot video on the PCF tent last year

$50 - Loan Rice took out in 1989 to buy their very own Berlin Wall segment

$5,000 - Designated as Whoo Deli purchases to conceal money laundering

$3,000 - COMP 310 PTSD lawsuit payout

$24 - Free condoms (for faculty break rooms)

$3,500 - Silly sculpture by the Moody Building for your silly little mental health

$50 - Desks ordered from American Girl for Herzstein Amphitheater

$50 - College Magisters trampoline park retreat

$0 - Thresher Backpage even though in our opinions we do good, honest work

$7,000 - Housing

$3,734.83 - New Hanszen mass timber

$4,000 - Our own water/power system in the event of ¼” snow

$15 - Paying H&D to not notice the copious amounts of Pink Whitney under your bed

$0.17 - Laundry rooms

Tuition Room & Board Fees

$200 - $100 in free Tetra/semester

$50 - Hanszen Cheese committee

$20 - HBO Max that only works when you cry and beg on your knees

$840 - Expenses

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

CLASSIFIEDS

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*Notably missing from Rice’s expenditures this year were recruiter outreach and funding for clubs with less than 100 members.