The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, January 25, 2023

MARIA MORKAS & BRANDON CHEN ASST. NEWS EDITOR & FOR

The

Head bartender Jonathan Lloyd said TABC officers came to Pub on Jan. 12, the first Pub night of the semester, due to receiving a new set of complaints for the same reasons as before: serving underage and overintoxicated patrons.

“We sincerely do not know why this new complaint was filed because we had not even had a Pub night yet since reopening ,” Lloyd, a Will Rice College senior, said. “We conveyed as much to the officers, who mentioned that they will be coming by every so often for 60 days until the complaint can be closed.”

TABC officers visited Pub again on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

Miles Sigel, the general manager of Pub, said TABC also visited Pub unannounced last semester.

“They don’t give us any information about what the complaint [is], and they usually come in and walk behind [the] bar and look for hard alcohol and any clear violations,” Sigel said. “A lot of what they do is just ... trying to scare us into making sure we’re doing the right stuff … We kind of know on our end how to operate with the rules, regulations and policies. But obviously, it’s a hard balance between getting the word out to the student body without scaring them too much.”

RIYA MISRA FEATURES EDITOR

A handful of decades ago, the Gee family came to Houston. Rooted in the era of Jim Crow and tracing its way through the civil rights movement, the Gee family spent much of the mid to late-20th century building their legacy. Now, the family name marks a large and vibrant network of Chinese Americans across Houston.

Without the Houston Asian American Archive, their stories — and many others — wouldn’t be preserved. HAAA, which was founded by Anne Chao in 2009, seeks to document the stories and lives of Houston’s vast Asian American community.

Chao, HAAA’s current program manager, said that the archive was sparked by a chance encounter at a function, where a friend of hers was looking for a place to chronicle old newspapers.

“A friend of mine said, ‘My father was a publisher of the first Chinese bilingual — English and Chinese — newspaper. He’s retired and we have all these old newspapers at home. We don’t know what to do with [them],’” Chao, who is also an adjunct lecturer in the Humanities department, said.

Chao discovered that, despite Houston having one of the largest Asian American populations in the country, the city had no depository of the activities and life histories of local Asian Americans. Chao said that in July 2010, she sent out a prospective intern to interview her friend’s father and potentially start a new initiative.

“Mr. Gene Lee was actually a grocer who really wanted to become a newspaper writer,” Chao said. “So toward the end of his career, he sold

a grocery store, bought a secondhand printing press and started writing [a newspaper] on his own … He was so proud on his deathbed that his experience, his life, [his] entire history is now preserved in our archive at Rice University.”

According to Chao, HAAA quickly grew in popularity, amassing 450 interviews in over 13 years. The archive, which Chao describes as Pan-Asian — that is, representing all ethnic groups across the continent — captures Asian American stories that would otherwise be lost to time.

“As people heard about us interviewing people, referrals [would] come to me saying, ‘You should interview Mr. or Mrs. XYZ … They have stories that if you didn’t capture them, [will] be lost forever,’” Chao said. “We also noticed that, in studying the official history of Texas, Asian American activities are not mentioned very much, even though they’ve been here since the early part of the 20th century.”

Black Art at Rice: Akaya Chambers designs her future in theatre

MORGAN GAGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

When Akaya Chambers was twelve years old, she made her own Halloween costume — a steampunk TARDIS dress. It was the first time she had ever sewn, but she hasn’t put down her needle and thread since. In the years following, she discovered a passion for costume design and theatre on and off of the stage as a costume designer and actor, and on the page as a playwright.

“I deleted all the photos,” Chambers, a Martel College senior, said when asked for a photo of the dress. “It was intermediate, and I had never sewn anything in my life. I was sitting there sobbing as I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to do a pleat. I don’t know how to do any of this.’ But then I got to the end of it, and I actually made something that I could wear … Then I found out later that I could transfer [sewing] to a different medium, [costume design], that could actually make money for me.”

In eighth grade, Chambers joined a combination visual and dramatic arts class in its first year at her school, describing it as her first step into theatre. She has been involved in theatre ever since, from middle school to high school to college.

“Most of high school was a blur, but I know I spent countless hours building things in the costume shop for shows,” Chambers said. “It wasn’t like each individual time, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do,” but it was each individual time that I [worked in the costume shop] — this is something that gives me joy. I love to see the person in their costume and … my ideas or the concepts that [a designer] gave me realized as a physical thing.”

Outside of costume design, Chambers has appeared on stage as an actor in multiple productions. She said that working in various areas of a production has made her a more well-rounded theatre artist. She said that her roles as both an actor and designer are challenging, but that the structure of the commitment is different.

From watching her brother read Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” to being a part of a performance of “The Colored Museum” by George C. Wolfe, Chambers said that witnessing theatre by Black artists made her decide theatre was something she could pursue.

“I can be an artist, I can be a Black actor in the arts and continue to pursue this,” Chambers said. “Because there are plays, there are productions that have people like me, who look like me.”

This semester, Chambers is also writing a science-fiction play as part of her senior capstone project in the English department. She said that the show follows people on a ship in space who turn into zombies and was inspired by her love of science fiction horror, a genre not often explored on stage. While it draws on the horror genre, she said there’s plenty of comedy in the show.

“I just tried to make myself laugh. I’m like, ‘If I can make myself laugh, maybe somebody else will laugh, and that’s when [the play] goes through workshop [for the English senior seminar]. I’m like, ‘Okay, did they think it was funny?’ If they think it was funny, that’s good. Keep that.”

To include more Black artists in every aspect of the production process on and off the stage, Chambers said that theatre companies should look at more modern shows.

ZEISHA BENNETT / THRESHER

Akaya Chambers, Martel College senior, works in theatre across campus, costume designing for two shows this

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission opened another 60-day investigation into The Pub at Rice during the first week of classes. This comes after previous TABC investigations in 2019 and 2022.

JENNIFER LIU / THRESHER

Rice students celebrate Lunar New Year

KEEGAN LEIBROCK ASST. NEWS EDITOR

The Rice Chinese Student Association will host its annual Lunar New Year Gala in person for the first time since 2019 this Saturday, Jan. 28. The Gala, hosted jointly by the RCSA and the Vietnamese Student Association, will feature traditional dances, music, creative writing, food and fashion, according to the RCSA Instagram.

Jennifer Li, RCSA co-president, said that she hopes this year’s in-person celebration will draw a larger audience.

“I’m really excited to have this back in person. I heard from a lot of people the past few years that [they] weren’t aware we had put on a show,” Li, a Baker College senior, said. “Even though we tried really hard to publicize it, it was just harder to advertise and get the word out during the pandemic.”

Mabel Tang, co-president of RCSA, said that pre-sale tickets for the event quickly sold out, but tickets will also be sold at the door for $15 the day of the event.

“We set aside about 300 tickets, and we actually sold out in a couple of days,” Tang, a Hanszen College senior, said. “We offer a subsidized ticket to people who are performing and have worked with the diversity committees from each college to subsidize some tickets … The rest we will sell at the door.”

Besides a series of traditional dances, the event will feature an art gallery showcase in which Asian Rice students will be allowed to display their art of different forms, including paintings, spoken word poetry or other art mediums. Tang said that the gallery is part of a broader effort to give Asian artists a platform.

“Throughout the past couple of years since the pandemic, there has been a lot of anti-Chinese and [anti]Asian rhetoric,” Tang said. “We wanted to do something before the dances to be able to showcase the talents and resilience of the Asian community, so we reached out via Google form to any creatives who have art that they would like to show to the Rice community.”

Tang said that this year’s inperson format for the Lunar New Year Gala creates a number of new challenges not faced in the past few years.

“Last year, because it was digital, we had to get a videographer to record the entire performance and put it online, and we would organize multiple viewing parties across each college,” Tang said. “This year, the biggest difference is just having to get a live stage, lighting, catering and ticket sales. We actually have to take into account a lot of finances that we didn’t have to worry about previously.”

always wanted to be inside one of those lion costumes, but I never really had the chance in my elementary, middle or high school days,” Huynh said. “A couple of years later, I’m here at Rice as the president of this great organization, coaching people how to perform in a lion costume. It’s honestly so surreal.”

Each year, the Rice Lions participate in various Lunar New Year Celebrations on campus. Huynh said that he looks forward to sharing his appreciation for traditional lion dances with the Rice community.

Throughout the past couple of years since the pandemic, there has been a lot of anti-Chinese and Asian rhetoric. We wanted to do something before the dances to be able to showcase the talents and resilience of the Asian community, so we reached out ... to any creatives who have art that they would like to show to the Rice community.

Mabel Tang RICE CHINESE STUDENT ASSOCIATION CO-PRESIDENT

Newton Huynh, president of the Rice Lions and the VSA, said that he grew up wanting to take part in the Lunar New Year celebratory dances.

“Because they are so deeply rooted in [my] Vietnamese tradition and culture, I

“As a child, I had the privilege of always being able to walk out my doorstep and walk to the nearest neighborhood center during the Lunar New Year and see those lion dance performances, but here at Rice, there are people from all walks of life,” Huynh said.

“For some, this will be the first time they get to see a lion dance performance in real-time, and I am so excited to be part of that.”

Outside of Rice events, students celebrate Lunar New Year in a variety of ways. Trinity Le, a Will Rice College sophomore, said that each year she looks forward to going home and spending time with family.

“I went home to celebrate the Lunar

THRESHER

New Year. A big part of it is just going to the temple and praying for good luck for the upcoming year,” Le said. “I always look forward to just hanging out with family and wishing my elders good luck and good fortune for the year ahead.”

Jason Nguyen, a Hanszen junior, said that he also enjoys spending time with his family over the Lunar New Year. While away at Rice, he said he FaceTimes them to wish them good health.

“When I’m going away to Rice, my parents will give me a red envelope ahead of time before I leave, and I’ll just tuck it away,” Nguyen said. “Whenever the day comes, I’ll FaceTime them, and they will wish me good fortune before I open the envelope to receive a gift.”

In addition to his celebrations with his family, Nguyen said that he looks forward to working as a photographer for the CSA Lunar New Year Gala.

“I’m really looking forward to getting some pretty cool shots that represent the event,” Nguyen said. “I haven’t seen the event in previous years, but I heard about it, and I’m looking forward to representing [the performers] as best I can via my camera.”

Nguyen said that, to him, one of the best parts of the Lunar New Year is seeing the closeness of the Rice community.

“It’s so cool to see how each Asian culture at Rice comes together. I like seeing how tight each of the student bodies are,” Nguyen said. “All of these Asian communities — VSA, CSA, [Korean Student Association] — all arranging their own different things, and I think that speaks a lot to how welcoming the Rice community is for all these different groups to be so comfortable with sharing their culture.”

GUILLIAN PAGUILA /

2022-2023 Student Association in Review

RESOLUTION 1:

Bill to Outline the Creation of a Student Reproductive Health Coalition

This bill allowed for the creation of a Student Reproductive Health Coalition, which was to be composed of representatives from different reproductive healthfocused organizations on campus. The goal of the group was to effectively disseminate information surrounding reproductive health services and to increase access to contraceptives and menstrual products across campus.

INTRODUCED BY

Ally Godsil, Will Rice College Senator, 2022-23

Siddhi Narayan, Sid Richardson College Senator, 2022-23

Ariah Richards, McMurtry College Senator, 2022-23

Olivia Roark, Jones Senator, 2022-23

RESULT

Passed unanimously on October 3, 2022

RESOLUTION 2:

Bill to To Improve Accessibility of Disability Accommodations

This bill was introduced in response to the Disability Resource Center’s guidelines indicating that it is the student’s responsibility to deliver accommodation letters to their instructors. The bill calls for students to have the option to request the DRC to submit accommodation letters to a student’s instructors on their behalf. As of now, the DRC has not changed their policy.

INTRODUCED BY

Tyler Kinzy, Wiess College

RESULT

Passed unanimously on October 3, 2022

RESOLUTION 3:

Resolution to Reverse Lease Terminations of Oh My Gogi and YoYo’s in

Rice Village

This bill was introduced in response to the recent Rice Management Company’s termination of the leases of Oh My Gogi and YoYo’s Hotdog in Rice Village. It called for the reversal of these two vendors’ lease terminations, citing its impact on student culture and community.

INTRODUCED BY

Jae Kim, Brown College Senator, 2022-23

RESULT

Passed unanimously on January 23, 2023

Student resolution calls for Rice Management Company to reverse lease termination of YoYo’s, Gogi

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

MARIA MORKAS ASST. NEWS EDITOR

A student resolution calling for the Rice Management Company to reverse the lease terminations of YoYo’s Hotdog and Oh My Gogi in Rice Village passed unanimously at the Jan. 23 Student Association senate meeting.

Jae Kim, Brown College senator, wrote and introduced the resolution. He said he thought removing two food vendors central to Rice culture for a few parking spots was misguided.

“This issue is specifically important to me because I think that terminating the leases would be counter to the values of community, accessibility and diversity [that] Rice University, as well as RMC, define ourselves by, as well as the culture of care we laud ourselves for,” Kim said in Monday’s senate meeting.

SA President Gabby Franklin said that she has been in communication

with Housing

INFOGRAPHIC BY HAJERA NAVEED & ANNA CHUNG

PUB INVESTIGATION

In response to previous TABC investigations, Pub has implemented policies as preventative measures. Sigel said that since they were shut down a few years ago, they added an ID scanner, implemented a two wristband system and increased access to water to help with intoxication. There has also been a renewed effort to send overly intoxicated people home with a friend, Sigel said.

haven’t changed her personal experience at Pub, but she has seen more officers at the entrance or walking around at Pub.

“Pub has stepped up a lot of its stuff in response to the TABC complaints, but I think they were always pretty strict about it,” Freeman said. “They’ve always ID’d, but I have definitely seen them take actionable responses.”

Cole Moore, a Wiess College senior, said he’s seen TABC officers around and being extremely strict about the regulations.

“I’m 21, so it doesn’t change how often I go to Pub,” Moore said. “But I know a lot of people who have friends who are under 21, even if they’re not drinking, are more hesitant to come.”

to arrange

trucks on campus again — a pre-pandemic

Franklin said McDonald and the relevant parties have met, and the conversation about reinstating this tradition is ongoing.

H&D could not be reached for confirmation.

An RMC representative previously told the Thresher that YoYo’s and Oh My Gogi were occupying critical parking space. Kim said the RMC should find other ways to resolve the parking issue, especially in the face of strong student opposition. An online petition titled “Save YoYo’s and Oh My Gogi!” now has more than 8,000 signatures.

“I think that showing the administration that the student body is supporting this resolution is important because [RMC] should have the best interest of students and the university at heart,” Kim said.

“Demonstrating overwhelming student opposition against their decision might make them reconsider.”

Additional policies include added oversight to deny entry to overly drunk patrons or people bringing in their own drinks, focusing on better bartender training to deal with overly drunk patrons and sweeping the crowd for underage drinking.

Pub is still here for your enjoyment as it always has, and only good things can happen

Lloyd also said that these policies have been met with positive responses from TABC and the Rice University Police Department officers on duty during Thursday nights.

Jonathan

HEAD BARTENDER

“We will not be changing the way we operate beyond continuing to enforce the necessary security,” Lloyd said. “Pub is still here for your enjoyment as it always has, and only good things can happen for everyone when we follow the law and drink responsibly.”

Gray Freeman, a Brown College senior, said the TABC complaints

Freeman said she lives on a floor with a majority of freshmen and sophomores, but she doesn’t notice anyone being deterred or uninterested in Pub.

Moore said he thinks not as many people come to Pub in comparison to how he remembers it in his freshman year.

“I think [there’s been a culture shift], especially since freshman year,” Moore said. “For people who are underage, [they are] a bit more hesitant to come to Pub night. For example, your friend [says] ‘Hey, hold my drink; I have to tie my shoe.’ You can’t, because the TABC officer is watching your back.”

and Dining Director David McDonald

food

tradition.

FROM FRONT PAGE

We will not be changing the way we operate beyond continuing to enforce necessary security.

for everyone when we follow the law and drink responsibly.

Lloyd

Jones School of Business to launch hybrid MBA program

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will welcome its first cohort of students in the new hybrid Master of Business Administration program, the first one in Texas, this summer.

Students in the program will spend one weekend a month on campus alongside taking online classes one evening a week. The program will also feature three in-person immersion weeks, culminating with the Global Field Experience where students undergo experiential learning at organizations across the world.

The Jones School online MBA was recently ranked 12th in the nation by the 2023 edition of the U.S News & World Report, eight places higher than last year’s ranking of 20th.

Haiyang Li, a professor of strategic management and innovation at the business school, said the program is designed primarily for working professionals.

“Professionals would like to pursue graduate programs and MBAs but also want to have flexibility,” Li said. “That’s the major driving factor for us.”

According to Peter Rodriguez, dean of the business school, the majority of the learning will take place in-person.

“A way to think about it is most of our programs are 100% face-to-face.” Rodriguez said. “The online program is 90 percent online, 10 percent face-toface, and [the hybrid program] will be 30 percent online, 70 percent face-to-face.”

Alice Wen, a second-year MBA student at the business School, said in-

person interaction was a key reason she chose the full-time program.

“Everyone is from a very diverse background and culture,” Wen said. “I think that inspires some new thoughts and perspectives that might be useful for my future, no matter [my] personal or professional life.”

Rodriguez said he believes the program will attract students beyond the Houston area.

“We really expect this to appeal most to working professionals outside of Houston,” Rodriguez said. “So I know we’ll get some [students] in Houston, but compared to the other programs, we expect to get more [students from] Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.”

According to Rodriguez, the new hybrid program comes alongside

planned expansions to the business school.

“We’re planning a building expansion, and we’re hoping to [...] get that going some time in the next year or so.” Rodriguez said. “We hope to get that approved by the Board [of Trustees] some time soon, and if that’s the case, it’ll help us in all the [business school’s] programs.”

Rodriguez said the business school is seeking to expand its faculty.

“We want to preserve the faculty ratio that we have of students to faculty or, more precisely, credit hours to faculty, especially tenure-track faculty.” Rodriguez said. “So we’ve had a plan that we’re still delivering on to add faculty into all the subject areas we offer.”

As the hybrid program is still in its infancy, Rodriguez said the business school will monitor how it impacts interest in existing programs.

“There’s a likelihood that students that have been contemplating one of our existing programs now want to come to this one instead.” Rodriguez said. “We’re not exactly sure how that will play out, but [...] we think that that’s going to be informative.”

According to Barbara Ostdiek, senior associate dean of degree programs, course delivery methods may change after the first cohort of students.

“Many of [the faculty] have designed courses for our online MBA, MBA@ Rice. They’ve learned a lot about [...] delivery between asynchronous and live session.” Ostdiek said. “So the faculty are excited to think about using all of these modalities: in-person, asynchronous, live session. There’s some really exciting opportunities where three components mixed together, there’s a lot we can do. We’ll learn what works best there.”

Additionally, Ostdiek said the Jones School is looking to gauge reactions to the residential portion of the program, which requires residency at a hotel close to campus.

“On those once-a-month [weekends] on campus, it is a residential program so built into tuition are the hotel [fees].” Ostdiek said. “We felt like this was an important decision [...] with the fewer trips on campus and fewer trips in person as a cohort. So that’s something we’re going to learn from local people who can go home, how they’re going to feel about the residential component.”

SPRING CHENJP THRESHER STAFF

KELTON KECK / THRESHER

Bring Sunday brunch back to campus

At the very first Editorial Board meeting of this school year, the seniors on our board got on our high horses to inform the Rice community of the way things used to be done vis-a-vis selling tickets to public parties. We’ve held our tongues since then, as we can appreciate that circumstances change and growth is good. But the time has come for us to speak again, this time in support of resurrecting the greatest of all preCOVID traditions: Sunday brunch.

Picture this: you wake up on Sunday morning with a slight headache (who knows why). You shuffle out of your room towards the servery, and what do you find? An omelet bar, homemade tortillas and the smell of little caramelized waffles wafting toward you.

GUEST OPINION

This used to be a weekly occurrence, and oh boy, was it magical. Recapping the previous night’s events over smoothies,

experience. COVID-19 precautions called for spreading out mealtime attendance in serveries to the fullest extent possible, and brunch was combining the attendance of two meals into one. But for the life of us, we cannot think of a good reason why Sunday brunch cannot or should not now return to our serveries.

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NEWS Hajera Naveed* Editor Maria Morkas Asst. Editor Keegan Leibrock Asst. Editor

OPINION Nayeli Shad* Editor

funfetti pancakes and chilaquiles was the pinnacle of every week.

To be clear, we are in no way critiquing the removal of this marvelous

So to David McDonald, or whomever it is at Housing & Dining that decides the meal schedule, we humbly request on behalf of the student body that Sunday brunch be returned expeditiously. For one thing, it will temporarily subdue students’ anger at their lack of HBO Max access. For another, it’s just the right thing to do. If nothing else, do it for the Texas-shaped waffles.

Rice should allow more than 8% of graduate students to eat at campus serveries

Everyday, many graduate students are struggling with meals, because Rice offers very limited on-campus servery dining opportunities for them. Many students have expressed concern over this policy including Yajie Liu, a bioengineering Ph.D. student. Her day is filled with coursework, research and mentoring undergraduates in the lab. Though Yajie is on campus from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, she enjoys her busy life. This semester, she applied for the graduate meal plan but failed to get selected. She is very disappointed and has to spend extra time and effort preparing affordable meals herself. The on-campus graduate meal plan is very important to student life, Ph.D. students in particular. Rice should expand the on-campus meal plans to cater to the demand of increasing graduate students.

In 2023, Rice hosts 3998 graduate students, but the school has only provided 300 on-campus servery lunch meal plans. In total, only 1 out 12 graduate students can get this meal plan. Applying for the meal plan is now even more competitive than applying to attend Rice. Although Rice is known for undergraduate education, graduate students have played an indispensable part in the undergraduate experience. The tuition from the master’s programs has sponsored faculty hires in a number of departments. The Ph.D. students play the role of class TA and research mentorship to help undergraduates succeed. Besides, many Ph.D. students stay on campus day to night working on their own research. Allowing them to dine on campus could greatly facilitate their work and life. There is indeed a legitimate demand for all graduate students to have more dinner and lunch options on campus.

For many years, the Graduate Student Association has fought to increase the on-campus dining options for graduate students. In a conversation I had with

a GSA offficer, I learned that the biggest resistance to expanding graduate meal plans comes from undergraduates. A long time ago, when Rice’s graduate student body was much smaller, GSA and Student Association reached an agreement to provide a small number of meal plans to graduate students, because many undergraduates seemed to be afraid that the graduate students might ‘take over’ college commons if they have access. The number of meal plans has had a very limited increase since then. One of the main arguments

is proud of its inclusiveness, and many graduate and undergraduate students are also classmates in cross-listed courses. Nobody should feel bothered when some graduate students spend 20 minutes having a servery meal inside the commons. After all, Rice is not a liberal arts college but a research university. If both undergraduate and graduate students can share the classroom, gym room and study room, why not the dining room?

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against expanding meal plans is that giving graduate students access to the commons dining is equivalent to giving undergraduates free access to Ph.D. students’ offices. However, this is purely distorted thinking. Ph.D. students’ office/lab is a private work place full of research equipment, and it is analogous to the student’s dorm rather than college commons, which is a multi-purpose public space. Most importantly, there’s no incentive for graduate students to stay in the undergraduate commons beyond mealtime. Ph.D. students have their office/lab, and master’s students also have study areas in respective departments, let alone the library and student apartments. To make an analogy, the deep-[off campus] senior undergrads would occasionally come to campus for meals, but they would barely show up other times. Why do we assume graduate students will be more attached to undergraduate commons and take up the space more than OC students? Rice

The cost of living in Houston has risen a lot in the last three years, and on-campus dining in the servery is the most affordable and healthiest food option to support graduate students. Last year, Rice offered the first-ever dinner plan to graduate students via the Whoo Deli attached to South Servery, but the dining window starts at 7:45 p.m., which is significantly later than the common dining schedule in the USA. The demand of undergraduates also makes some sense. To compensate for using the commons, the school could charge an additional $0.5 for every graduate meal, and this money would go to every college government for activity funds, especially for Beer Bike & Orientation Week. If Rice could just expand the meal plan to 400 with 75 meals for both lunch and dinner, this would generate $30,000 per semester to support undergraduates’ activities. Rice undergraduates have always aspired to address global issues, and they have spent lots of effort in making on-campus dining more environmentally friendly. It shouldn’t be difficult to also address some on-campus issues and make the servery dining more graduate-friendly.

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Recapping the previous night’s events over smoothies, funfetti pancakes and chilaquiles was the pinnacle of every week.

If both undergraduate and graduate students can share the classroom, gym room and study room, why not the dining room?

In Chao’s eyes, HAAA exists to fill that gap in Houston’s documented history. Aside from stories about the Gee clan or Gene Lee, Chao said that the archive has documented stories of artists, entrepreneurs and pioneers.

“Recently, I think we have documented many stories of artists,” Chao said. “In the South Asian community, we have a group of gentlemen who wanted to start a new museum called the Eternal Gandhi Museum … We also have a wife of physician Lakshmy Parameswaran, who in the 1990s … began a South Asian women’s center to help South Asian women who are in domestic abusive situations.”

Chao said that the original impetus behind creating HAAA has only been magnified in recent years, as the country has seen a rise in hate crimes and anti-Asian violence. By providing an academic context to the AAPI experience, Chao hopes that the archive can provide a space for Houstonians to realize just how strong of an Asian American community exists within their city.

“Every single story is just vibrant and heartwarming or even heartbreaking.

I think people will then realize that there’s such a strong community of Asian Americans in Houston. All they have to do is go into our archive and pick out any story … If people would pay attention to these lives, they will certainly go a long way to humanize and normalize Asian Americans.”

Hoang Nguyen, the editor-in-chief of the Rice Asian Studies Review, said that RASR, which is housed under the Department of Transnational Asian Studies, similarly tries to provide a voice for otherwise unspoken Asian histories.

courses related to Asian studies, or Asian American studies … [there hasn’t been] a lot of spaces for people interested in these communities [and] in these countries to learn from each other,” Nguyen said.

Karen Siu, associate editor of RASR and cofounder of the Rice Asian Diasporic and Asian American Research Collective, seconded prior sentiments, saying that the rise of anti-Asian racism has served as a secondary and increasingly more important motivator for her work.

it down,” Siu said. “The stakes are high to do this really important work. So it’s extremely difficult to sustain momentum and to work in these issues, but it is hugely motivating.”

For Siu, the balance between her personal and professional life — both of which actively inform each other — is a precarious one. Anger helps.

Anne Chao PROGRAM MANAGER OF HAAA

“We do make sure that all the articles are focused on a diverse group of countries and diverse themes,” Hoang, a Lovett College junior, said. “This is the first year that we’re explicitly calling for papers that are related to Asian American and Asian diasporic studies … We want to give a platform or a space to publish articles on these communities in our journal.”

At Rice, Nguyen points towards an academic need for deeper Asian American representation, a need which RASR hopes to fulfill.

“In terms of increasing levels of anti-Asian racism during our ongoing pandemic, it was good to see more recognition outside of Asian American communities that [racism] is real, and it actually does happen,” Siu, a fourth year English Ph.D. student said. “These issues matter and they need to be seen and recognized.”

When closely studying and organizing events, such as bringing together Asian American Studies faculty across Texas universities, that grapple with Asian American issues, which Siu said are often at the forefront of discussions about race and culture, the risk for burnout is high.

“Stay angry. Stay angry that these things are happening,” Siu said. “You have to take time out for yourself still and do things that are unrelated to your work. My academic work is so intimately tied with my personal life … it’s really hard to extricate yourself from the work when you live it … So it’s close to home, always.”

“Especially with the rise of anti-Asian violence after COVID-19, Asian Americans tend to be a silent group,” Chao said.

“We need to focus more on Asia and Asian American communities in academia itself. At Rice, there are really not a lot of

“It’s a lot of pressure because you’re involved in the work. I studied Shakespeare, [and] I can put him down. Asian American studies, you can’t necessarily put

Take it or leave it: EUA hosts book exchange event

NISHANKA KUTHURU SENIOR WRITER

The English Undergraduate Association hosted a “Take a Book, Leave a Book” event on Thursday, Jan. 19, where people could swap books with other students to refresh their collections. The EUA also welcomed students to just stop by and chat with others about their favorites and pick up a free book — or two.

Julia Li, the EUA president, said she wanted to create an inclusive environment for everyone interested in books regardless of their major. (Editor’s Note: Julia Li is a Thresher Arts & Entertainment senior writer.)

“Rice is very focused on STEM, which is great, but at the same time, there are a lot of people who love to read just for fun who don’t always have the time to squeeze in an English class,” Li, a Brown College junior, said. “We wanted to do something that didn’t just include English majors and really just increase awareness about the English department, increase the impact of humanities organizations and get people back into leisure reading. Also, people here have good taste in books, so we want to spread that,” Li said.

According to EUA Treasurer Riley Combs, the EUA’s goal with all of their events is to increase literary interactions across campus.

“[The EUA] wanted to create a social event where people come up and drop books, we give opinions on the books they bring and share a laugh or opinion,” Combs, a Brown College sophomore, said. “You meet new people and get their opinions on books, and it’s really cool because we don’t really have a setting for that outside of class.”

Ellie Cha, the EUA secretary, said that the event’s turnout was impressive, and many students expressed their interest in another book exchange event.

“It was definitely a plus that the weather was perfect that day. I was just so happy to see everyone, both English and non-English majors, talk about their recommendations and get excited for literature,” Cha, a Hanszen College sophomore, said.

“We definitely have more events planned for the spring semester and hope to see everyone again.”

Li recalls atttempting the event last year, but it was ineffective.

Li’s goal going into this year’s book swap was to increase outreach.

with no incentive of food,” Li said.

Combs seconded Li’s sentiment, expanding on the improvements that the EUA tried to execute for this year’s book swap.

Rice is very focused on STEM, which is great, but at the same time, there are a lot of people who love to read just for fun who don’t always have the time to squeeze in an English class.

Julia Li EUA PRESIDENT

“We ended up last year just putting a box outside of Herring Hall and letting people come and go. We found that to be pretty ineffective because the English lounge is pretty hard to find, and [nobody was] going to lug over that many books

“I think last year was the trial run of an idea ... and this year is the realization of the actual thing we wanted to accomplish,” Combs said. “Last year when I went to drop off a book, I just left the book there and walked away, and it faded into oblivion for all I know. So actually being able to see people come over, see what books they bring [and take] and be able to talk to them about it is really what we set out to do.”

CG Marinelli, co-Vice President of the EUA, credited this year’s book swap

success largely due to the donations received.

“Our first book swap was such a success due in large part to students’ generous donations, and we’re looking forward to making this an annual event for the Rice community,” Marinelli, a Hanszen College senior, said.

Echoing Li’s earlier comment about spreading taste in books, members of the EUA and book swap participants ended the event by recommending some of their favorite literature to the Thresher.

“Beartown”

by Frederick Backman

“It’s super good, really immersing and a quick read too. Anyone who is looking to get back into reading would get into this book. This book is really for anyone who is interested in readings or just wants to read in general. There’s so many characters, it’s so good,” Li said.

“Luster”

by Raven Leilani

“This is one of my favorite books of recent years. It’s a very interesting real story of life and relationships. It’s also just insanely entertaining and well written. I think it is the perfect example of a book that you can read quickly and enjoy and still get a lot from,” Combs said.

“Salvage the Bones” by Jesmyn Ward

“I had to read it my junior year of highschool and it really stuck with me because of how visceral the descriptions are and [Ward] is a really good writer. 10/10 would recommend,” Nithya Ramcharan, a Lovett College sophomore, said.

“Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

“I really like it because it talks a lot about the mental state of being really involved in an activity and I think that is really interesting because you can apply to so many different places,” Saloni Dalal, a sophomore from Brown, said.

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

Students browse books at the EUA’s book swap event.

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

If people would pay attention to these lives, they will certainly go a long way to humanize and normalize Asian Americans.

or Tet, or a hint to 19-across, 24-across, 47-across, and 54-across

With John, big name in farm equipment

Vincent Chen scoops out place on campus for new business

ZOE KATZ SENIOR WRITER

From

According to Chen, he has always loved eating ice cream, but he didn’t learn how to make it until the pandemic. His hobby eventually grew into a business, he said, and he delivered his confections to people’s doors. Now, he’s making ice cream in his house to sell to Rice students.

“Some people started baking, or doing crochet. For me, it was, ‘Okay, I’m gonna start making ice cream,’” Chen said. “It took me two weeks to make a good vanilla ice cream that I liked. It was a lot of trial and error, but I feel like that’s the fun part of it.”

Chen said his ice cream flavors are inspired by the world around him.

“The other day, I had tomato basil soup and it was really thick and creamy. I was like ‘I could make this into ice cream’,” said Chen.

Rice Scoopz currently sells five flavors: Cookies and Cream, Double Chocolate, Honey Lemon Crumble, Afternoon Coffee and Breakfast Cereal. However, Chen said this selection of flavors will likely expand.

“I usually have more ideas than I have time to do,” Chen said. “Right now, I have 20 to 30 [potential flavors] on my phone … I’m always open to new suggestions.”

According to Chen, he has a food handler’s license and marks common allergens on the bottom of his ice cream containers because he wants his business to be more inclusive.

“I want to expand Rice Scoopz to be more accommodating to people who are vegan or can’t have dairy, because I’m actually lactose intolerant myself,” said Chen.

Although Rice Scoopz is new, it is growing. Chen plans to sell his ice cream at the monthly Archi Markets, as well as in the Rice Memorial Center courtyard, if Rice permits. Chen also has an Instagram page to advertise his business.

Chen said he currently makes and sells the ice cream by himself, charging $5 for each container.

As Rice Scoopz becomes more popular, he said he may face new challenges.

“If I do have to expand, and more people want to try my ice cream, I’m down for that. I’ll find a way to balance it with school,” Chen said. “If [Rice Scoopz] becomes a really big thing, that’s a good problem to have.”

LANG / THRESHER

MRIs or X-rays

Coke, Pepsi, and RC

Draw _ ____ in the sand

Military recruitment org. on campus Unraveling, as a wire Boos

Not active

Perspective List-ender, abbr. 1, as compared to 0.95

Genre of Kendrick Lamar and A Tribe Called Quest

Cape Town’s country, abbr. Whirled

Event for RuPaul or Bianca Del Rio Hamilton’s rival Warble to woo Marry in secret

Most horrible Surrealist artist Magritte Disapproving glare 180 from vert.

Eagle’s claw

Wipe clean

Items found at body shops and chop shops

Apple MP3 player Comic book sound

Tool storage location Came out of a cocoon

Cell line unethically taken from Henrietta Lacks

Aquatic mammal that holds hands “The Importance of Being Earnest” author Oscar

Certain fisher who provides unagi Took an oath

Dies ____ Cabbage variety Wind indicator Bengals or Reds, on a scoreboard Apex Pigpen

Rice’s debate team talks awards, bonding

“It’s somewhere between a club and a [Division I] sport,” Worth said. “This weekend before last, we had 16 debates in three days.”

The competition that Worth was referring to ended in a Rice victory over the University of California, Berkeley, which is ranked as one of the top collegiate debate teams in the country, according to the National Parliamentary Debate League.

The Forensics Society brought home 90 awards this past fall semester. Their victories come after a two-year hiatus from traditional debate competitions as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented inperson events.

Anna Phan, a member of the debate team, said that returning to in-person competition has helped build morale across the team.

“This year has felt like a refreshing start with an almost brand new team,” Phan, a Duncan College freshman, said. “The wins feel like they’re building a new

team atmosphere. I think as a team, we all get each other’s energy and senses of humor.”

Arjun Surya, another member of the team, said that he has also enjoyed bonding during competitions.

“From watching “South Park” on hotel TVs to our weekly team dinners, every moment with the team is enjoyable because debaters have a very unique sense of humor,” Surya, a Sid Richardson College freshman, said.

Surya said that part of the positive environment of the team comes from the fact that team members treat debate as more than just a resume-booster.

“At the higher level, [debate] turns into more of a game built on strategy and analytical thinking,” Surya said. “A big distinction between college debate and high school debate is that in college, everyone does it because they enjoy it and not because they want to put it on their Common App.”

Worth also acknowledges the strategic and analytical skills that his team learns through debate.

“Learning advocacy, learning argumentation and learning to interrogate ideas and defend them is more than just a leg up for your applications,” Worth said. “It actually does good in the world.”

David Worth, director of the George R. Brown Forensics Society — Rice’s competitive speech and debate team — said that his team has been described as fanatical.

Coffeehouse to The Hoot, Rice students love to frequent student-run businesses. Vincent Chen, a Duncan College junior, hopes to start a new one: Rice Scoopz.

VIVIAN

It’s somewhere between a club and a [Division I] sport.

David

Worth FORENSICS SOCIETY DIRECTOR

COURTESY DAVID WORTH

SARAH KNOWLTON ASST. FEATURES EDITOR

Hot off the press: Authors share new works

she can make herself into any one of those things. Well, she once could. She’s dead now.”

Set in the 1950s rural French countryside, “The Book of Goose” follows the recently deceased Fabienne and her childhood best friend turned successful writer Agnés and is a story of intense, adolescent friendship that combines realistic historical fiction writing with fairytale.

The evening ended with Li and Salesses in conversation with Peynado as she asked questions about their new novels. Having sat down to dinner together before the reading, the three spoke and laughed as though they were old friends.

While asking many questions pertaining to the niche similarities between Li and Salesses’ books, a difference in the novels Peynado cited was the explicit emphasis on politics in Salesses’ piece, with a lack of political discussion in Li’s.

FROM FRONT PAGE BLACK ART AT RICE

“Theatre becomes something that’s niche when it’s not something that everybody knows,” Chambers said. “[So shows] have a smaller pool of people who want to do design or even act [and] that circle generally shrinks to people who are white, then skinny … [people who have] a certain look.”

While Chambers is continuing to follow a thread of passion in the arts that’s led her to a career in theatre, she said that she is prioritizing being in both her ideal position and place — potentially in Michigan, where she is from, or in Canada where she can be closer to family.

“I know that [costume design is] a necessary aspect of theatre, so I feel like I will get into some kind of opportunity when it comes down to it,” Chambers said. “But I need to filter through what I would want to do before being like, ‘This is what I’m doing here.’”

HADLEY MEDLOCK ASST. A&E EDITOR

Literary enthusiasts filed into Congregation Emanu El on Monday to hear from acclaimed authors Yiyun Li and Matthew Salesses. As part of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading series, the authors came to Houston to share excerpts of their newly released novels and take part in an on-stage conversation with the University of Houston creative writing program faculty member Brenda Peynado. Both Li and Salesses shared insight on politics in their novels and finding joy in their writing.

Salesses kicked off the evening reading the second chapter of his book “The Sense of Wonder.” A former Houstonian, Salesses’s childhood dreams of being an NBA player helped to inspire the plotline for his novel, centered around Asian American NBA player Won Lee and sportswriter Robert Sung covering his newfound stardom.

“The Sense of Wonder” tackles the burden of the “model minority” stereotype and minorities’ struggles with racism in the sports industry. Salesses said the novel was written with a desire to find a sense of wonder outside of children’s books, which became a very vital endeavor to him when his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

“My wife was diagnosed with cancer and needed wonder, more than ever before,” Salesses said. “One of the things that my wife and I did a lot was watch

K-drama, and things happen in K-drama that we don’t usually think of as reality … Fate and coincidence have a large role to play. At the time, we really needed fate and coincidence.”

When Li took the stage, she offered no introduction to her novel. Instead, she

“I never claimed to be a political writer. I think I make a point to not be very political, [but] not because politics does not exist. I grew up in China, and in China, politics is like the weather. You can complain about the weather, but there’s nothing you can do about the weather,” Li said. “I like to think from the character’s point of view, and sometimes the politics is negative space. If the character does not think about politics, it does not mean politics doesn’t exist, it means they shelter themselves.”

In contrast, Salesses believes politics is something his novel and characters could not ignore, though he said he takes a similar approach to Li in deciding whether political conversations appear in his books.

Chambers said that moving forward, she would like to see administration, the visual and dramatic arts department and organizations on campus collaborate to create opportunities to showcase art by Black artists in the campus community. She suggested organizing art-focused events during Black History Month in February. She said that she would like to see this come as an effort from the university rather than only clubs and student organizations at Rice.

AUTHOR

simply started to read the first pages of her story “The Book of Goose” in hopes of giving audience members a glimpse into the voices of her two main characters.

A MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow and author of ten books, Li spoke with the quiet confidence of a seasoned author and shared that this was her first time in Houston.

“Cut and be cut. Neither interested me back then. My name is Agnés, but that is not important,” Li read from her first chapter.

“The name you should pay attention to in this story is Fabienne. Fabienne is not an orange or a knife or a singer of lullabies, but

“[For] the characters in my book, [politics] has everything to do with their lives. They have to be aware of the world because they have to survive in it,” Salesses said. “They don’t have the ability to escape from that, or they don’t have the desire to.”

The trio also took time to talk about finding joy within writing. Li said her biggest moment of joy in her new novel actually came from writing the last page, and Salesses reflected on the joy of writing and being a writer himself.

“This book took seven or eight years … and I just think, ‘How do you do that without joy?’” Salesses said. “You have to enjoy what you’re doing. Otherwise life is so hard, because I don’t think it’s that easy to live. Whatever joy you can find, you’ve got to hold on to that.”

“I would like to see more collaboration … between the administration and the actual arts and clubs, the community that is Black at Rice, because I feel like a lot of artists are separated,” Chambers said. “I feel like there should be more opportunities that bring these aspects together, and more Black art at Rice.”

Because the higher-ups in the arts often push Black artists out of art spaces, Chambers said she encourages aspiring Black artists to find community and other artists who support them.

“Don’t worry about what other people think or how they see you, because it doesn’t matter how they see, because you’re your own person, and if [art is] what you want to do, that’s what you should do,” Chambers said. “Like, fuck discrimination practices. You are an artist and you’re a beautiful person, and you deserve to have your art seen no matter what.”

Review: ‘That ‘90s Show’ is nostalgic but unoriginal

SASWAT PATI THRESHER STAFF

“That ‘90s Show” is the latest nostalgiafilled sequel to come out of Hollywood, and while it does not excel in the same way its predecessor “That ‘70s Show” did, it is still a decent sit-com that is worth a watch even if it feels dated at times.

Per its title, “That 90’s Show” is set in 1995 and centers around Leia (Callie Haverda), the daughter of Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna (Laura Prepon) of the original cast who have come back to Wisconsin to visit their parents. Throughout the season, the shenanigans of Leia and her new cast of friends are explored amid a strong ‘90s nostalgia kick. While the show focuses on the new cast dynamic (especially in later episodes), there are plenty of cameos for fans of the original show to notice.

I came into the season very excited to see how this sequel series would handle the irreverent comedic style of the original, and while it is not stale, “That ‘90s Show”

certainly does not feel as inspired. In particular, the first few episodes of this show are a slog, and the pilot episode feels very awkward. Some of this can definitely be attributed to the introduction of the new cast while balancing the characters from the old show, but there is still a lack of cohesion and because of this, the show’s humor can feel very forced at times.

The later episodes however become much more enjoyable once the focus is primarily on the new group of teens. Standouts include Leia, Jay (Mace Coronel), her love interest and Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide), her next door neighbor, but all the new actors do well in their roles. The show leans heavily on tropes from the first show, including the smoking scenes in the basement of the original. These are done well and the comedy is clever, but the show does not set out to do anything new, and the script ultimately fails to meet the standards of the original.

“That ‘90s Show” is by no means bad — it is just not original. Though its new

“That ‘90s Show” is good for putting on in the background while doing homework, but I would not go out of my way to watch it.

ensemble cast is engaging at times, many of the new characters do not exactly gel with their ‘70s counterparts, leading to awkward and incoherent situations.

COURTESY NETFLIX

You have to enjoy what you’re doing. Otherwise life is so hard, because I don’t think it’s that easy to live. Whatever joy you can find, you’ve got to hold on to that.

Matthew Salesses

HADLEY MEDLOCK / THRESHER

Acclaimed authors Yiyun Li, a 2010 MacArthur Fellow, and Matthew Salesses, an Inprint prize recipient, shared excerpts of their new novels on Monday.

Review: ‘Jesus Christ!’ that was an experience

DAVIDSON THRESHER STAFF

When I sat down in the Hobby Center to watch “Jesus Christ Superstar” on its opening night in Houston, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had been warned by cast member Colin Robertson to expect glitter, loud volume and the unexpected. What I wasn’t anticipating was for a majority of the cast to run in through the back of the auditorium halfway through the first number to kick the show off with a bang. It certainly brought the show to life rather instantaneously, and my plus-one who went to the bathroom and accidentally got locked out until after the opening number said watching them warm up in the lobby was even cooler. They were dancing, stretching, vocalizing and hyping each other up while we were all sitting unbeknownst inside.

Once the cast took the stage, a wonderful production ensued. The show ran 90 minutes with no intermission and

almost no dialogue in between songs, similar in that sense to an opera. The cast included a multitude of amazing singers, including Jesus himself (Jack Hopewell), who hit more high notes than humanly possible. Faith Jones, the actress who played Mary Magdalene, took a different approach with an incredibly calming and angelic presence, contrasting the intensity of some of the songs and creating a wonderful balance as the show progressed.

Beyond the singing, the music in the show was also crafted in a unique way that contrasted itself, with Peter and Jesus getting to jam out together in the strumming of their guitars while also performing louder, heavy metal riffs in other numbers. I felt transported to a rock concert but with indie intermissions.

The dancing in the show was what I was the most impressed with. The choreography was intense and extremely high energy — lots of jumping, swinging and constant movement. The ensemble never did anything with less than 110

percent, including managing to stay in sync with one another. This came in handy as many scenes had them acting as a general “mob,” the details of mirrored expressions and nuances pushing the storyline further.

One of the things that Robertson mentioned beforehand was the glitter present in the show. This both surprised and underwhelmed me. Based on the hype, I was expecting glitter raining from the ceilings galore, blinding me like the costumes at the end of “A Chorus Line.” There was glitter, but it was only in a couple scenes, and towards the end I was feeling let down. However, as Jesus was being sentenced, the glitter made another appearance: It was used to symbolically whip him before he was put on the cross. I know I didn’t pay all that much attention in my Southern Baptist upbringing, but I think I would’ve remembered beating Jesus with glitter in the New Testament.

Jesus was cool, but this show also had me cheering for the bad guys, a group of

high priests against Jesus that included Caiaphas, played by Isaac Rycheghem. Anytime that he came out in his vest and tiny sunglasses, I knew I was in for a good number and quality plot development. I even felt bad for him and the rest of his posse because I was rooting for them to get something other than leather vests to cover their chests, but to each their own, I suppose. I also never knew of Caiaphas, the high priest who organized to kill Jesus. I know much of this show is satire, but similar to “The Book of Mormon,” I found myself learning something.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this show. I came in hesitant about the volume but never found myself overwhelmed. The presence of the musical instruments on stage brought the concert element to life, and it was an unbiased, musical theatre take on the last days of Jesus’ life. I would recommend the show as it continues on its tour to anyone who has the chance to see it. You might even learn something about Christianity (but don’t quote me on that).

Food spots to fill your late night cravings

HAMZA SAEED FOR THE THRESHER

Have you or someone you love suffered from the recent closing of YoYo’s and Oh My Gogi? If so, you might be looking for new food spots to scratch those late-night cravings that the serveries simply can’t fill. Read on for the Thresher’s list of a few food spots close to campus that can fill the holes in our stomachs (and our hearts).

M&M Grill

Located about 11 minutes from campus by car, M&M Grill is an Arabian-Mexican fusion restaurant that serves a wide variety of authentic Tex-Mex and Mediterranean dishes at very reasonable prices. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and M&M seems to have taken that message to heart when it comes to their portion sizes. I would most certainly recommend M&M Grill to anyone looking for anything from a burrito and chimichangas to a shawarma kabob plate, considering their explosive flavor, low costs and decent service. It isn’t a fancy or luxurious establishment, but it is solid food at a very reasonable price.

The Gypsy Poet

Looking to upgrade your upcoming movie night? Look no further than The Gypsy Poet, an artisan pizza parlor that seeks to elevate traditional takeout from a simple meal to an experience. The Gypsy Poet offers pizzas for an affordable price without compromising flavor. The menu options themselves are similar to most thin-crust, wood-fired pizza places, but their Nutella confezione dessert does slap, as

the youths say. However, the restaurant gets quite busy, but takeout is available for those who prefer quieter environments.

Howdy Hot Chicken

We’re in Texas, so of course we have a chicken restaurant with the word “howdy” in it. Howdy Hot Chicken earns its moniker as a great place to feast on some junk food. The shop allows customers to choose the spice level that they want, and those spice levels are not to be taken lightly! My favorite item on the menu is definitely the Texas Toast Sammie at the Howlin’ spice level. Again, the food itself isn’t revolutionary in terms of ingredients used or overall flavor, but the combination of spice, deep fried chicken and the “Howdy Sauce” makes for a great late night feast that you don’t have to get out of your pajamas for.

Gyro Hut

Many of us have visited a “Halal Guys” style restaurant at least once during our time in Houston. If you are looking for an upgraded version with similar cuisine and halal options, I would encourage you to stop by Gyro Hut at least once. They offer a wide variety of proteins over rice, shawarma, sandwiches and platters that are guaranteed to fill you up at a decent price. Houston has a lot of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fast food restaurants, but Gyro Hut is one of the better versions of such places. The cleanliness and numerous options for vegetarians and pescatarians as well as generous portions really stand out. At the end of the day, the food is fairly similar to Halal Guys, which is closer to campus, but Gyro Hut offers a refreshing change of pace.

SARA

ALICE SUN / THRESHER

COURTESY EVAN ZIMMERMAN

Elvie Ellis and the company of the North American Tour of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ The show just wrapped its Houston run on Jan. 22.

Quiet confidence: Travis Evee wants the last shot

when the game might be tight, remaining confident, sticking to the game plan, bringing that consistent effort and making sure we’re giving ourselves the best chance to win.”

Evee has now grown into leadership on South Main, but he had to find the right school first. After attending high school at Vermont Academy, he began his collegiate career at the Vermont Military Institute, where he won Southern Conference Freshman of the Year. After that first season, he transferred to Rice on Pera’s invitation.

“I chose Rice mainly because of the coaching staff,” Evee said. “I built a really great relationship with Coach P and everyone else. They made me feel like this was gonna be home for me, and they were right. I made the right decision coming here.”

As an Owl, Evee has won ConferenceUSA Newcomer of the Year, twice placed in the conference’s top five for threes-per-game and tied for the fourth most three pointers in a season in school history. According to Pera, Evee’s bedrock-strong foundation and student of the game mentality have pushed him towards these accomplishments.

LANDRY WOOD THRESHER STAFF

In Rice’s Jan. 14 home victory over conference rival University of Texas at El Paso, junior guard Travis Evee took the last shot and did not miss. With seven seconds on the clock and the Miners leading by one, Evee got the inbound pass from sophomore guard/forward Cameron Sheffield, drove the length of the court, jumped off his right foot just inside the three-point line and floated the ball in. The buzzer rang, and the game ended. Evee ran to hug his coach and celebrate — it was a beautiful moment.

“To hit that shot,” Evee said, “that’s just something that every kid dreams about. Working hard to be in that situation, to be at Rice, to be on scholarship playing basketball, that’s what I dreamt of. I guess what the word ‘clutch’ means to me is being as calm as possible in those situations, even-keeled, not too high or low. Don’t worry about the score or the time left, be the

calmest guy in the room and try to make a play for your team.”

Evee has clutched up before and since, if not with this same height of theatricality. In last week’s contest at UTSA, he hit a floater with 17 seconds left to extend the game past regulation and then made a key overtime three to secure the Owls’ win.

“He brings a quiet confidence to the table,” Pera said. “[Junior guard] Quincy [Olivari] and [junior forward] Max [Fiedler] have tremendous energy and big voices … and Travis is the quiet confidence. People know when he has the ball, when he’s on the foul line, when it’s late in the game, he can be trusted.”

“He’s progressed in many ways,” Pera said, “becoming a better defender and learning the point guard position well. He’s just an absolute joy to coach because he loves to compete and he loves to learn.”

The Owls are continuing to grow along with Evee. He is one of a trio of junior leaders on the team, together with Fiedler and Olivari, and the experience those three have gained in their years together has brought them to a 14-5 record so far this season. According to Evee, a big part of that success is winning those close games the three have each been major players in.

According to Evee, as he’s grown into his role, he’s sought to use his voice to subtly guide and assure.

Travis

JUNIOR GUARD

A week earlier, he beat the buzzer from nearly half-court against Louisiana Tech University to force overtime in an eventual loss. Making the right plays at the right time is a pattern for Evee, consistent and habitual, which head coach Scott Pera credits to his rigorously calm attitude.

“My goal has definitely been to start being a leader,” Evee said, “especially since as the point guard I’m the extension of the coach on the floor … My job is to give my team a voice

“This team and program is moving in the right direction,” Evee said. “We’re learning from past years, and getting a lot of experience under our belt. For me, Quincy and Max, playing together for our third year now, we can see that when we were sophomores we would be in some close games and we wouldn’t know quite how to finish those, how to win it in the last few minutes. But I think one of the big differences in this year’s team with myself, and with those two other guys especially, is that we [know] what we need to do when those games [get] tight.”

T&F indoor season gets off to fast start at UH meet

PAVITHR GOLI ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

For the first time this year, both of Rice’s track and field teams were in action on the same weekend, competing at the University of Houston’s Robert Platt Invitational. The meet was the first of the indoor season for Rice’s men’s team and the second for the women’s team, which sent a few competitors to UH the previous weekend. Five Owls took gold over the weekend, and seven others medaled.

On the men’s side of the meet, the Owls took gold in two events. Senior Nick Hicks won the weight throw while junior Elian Ahmar won the shot put. While he placed second, junior Alexander Slinkman’s clearance of 18’01” this weekend ranked third all-time for indoor pole vault at Rice.

In addition to acknowledging the strong showing by his team, head coach Jon Warren specifically highlighted Slinkman’s record performance.

“Slinkman’s efforts deserve special attention,” Warren said “The mark is, according to the announcer, No. 10 in the world, No. 9 in the NCAA, and ranks third

all-time for indoor at Rice. It was a very nice way to start the season.”

Hicks, whose mark of 64’ 3.75” cleared the competition by nearly two feet, said he believes that he still has room for improvement.

“It’s a good start to the season to come out and lead the conference,” Hicks said. “I have a lot more to improve on over the next few weeks before our indoor conference and national championship meets but I’m in a good place for sure. My goals for this season are to complete the three-peat in the weight at conference, and on a bigger scale get back to the National Championships and get First-Team All-American honors. I’ll be disappointed if I leave Rice without an AllAmerican plaque to my name.”

The women’s team also had a strong weekend as well. The team had 18 top-ten finishes at the meet with ten runners placing in the top five. Junior Kennedy Gamble won the 60-meter dash and placed third in the 200-meter dash. Junior Tara SimpsonSullivan won the weight throw and junior Alyssa Balandran won the mile, joining three other Owls in the top ten of the event.

According to head coach Jim Bevan, the team overall showed improvement at this

RICE ATHLETICS

meet but some individual performances stand out above the rest.

“Made lots of progress this week,” Bevan said. “Kennedy [Gamble] is knocking on the door of our school record and Tara’s [Simpson-Sullivan] mark puts her [at] 14th in the country. Alyssa Balandran opened with the fastest time she has ever opened with for the win in the mile. [Sophomore] Savannah Simms had a lifetime best in the triple jump finishing third and [senior] Caitlin Wosika also had a lifetime best in the 3000 finishing second. We made steps in the right direction today, we need to keep staying the course.”

Gamble is proud of her fast times at the start of the season and attributes her great start to the intense training prior to the season.

“I’m really happy to start the season with some fast times,” Gamble said. “I had my fastest season opener and followed that performance up with even faster races this past weekend. The hard fall training we had is really starting to pay off, and I hope to keep this momentum going as the track season progresses.”

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete again on Friday, Jan. 27. when they go to the University of Houston for the Houston Invitational.

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS

Junior guard Travis Evee dribbles during a recent game against North Texas. Evee has discovered a knack for clutch shots this season, even hitting a game-winning buzzer-beater against UTEP.

COURTESY

Junior thrower Tara SimpsonSullivan competes in the weight throw over the weekend. Simpson-Sullivan was one of five Owls to take gold at the UH-hosted meet.

I guess what the word ‘clutch’ means to me is being ... even-keeled, not to high or low. Don’t worry about the score or the time left, be the calmest guy in the room and try to make a play for your team.

Evee

Ashlee Austin discusses her journey from bench to brilliance

years not four years’ and the prestige of the degree and how good the team was, it was just something I couldn’t pass up.”

If you watched any Rice women’s basketball games in the past two years, you’ve seen No. 22 with pink highlights hitting shots and making plays. But if you saw Ashlee Austin as a freshman, you would be shocked to see the transformation that the forward from Johns Creek, Georgia has gone through: from the last seat on the bench to the face of Rice women’s basketball.

“The transition from being the literal last person on the bench, to the player you are looking for at the end of the game, when there’s 10 seconds left is [my story],” Austin said. “I love that transition and I hope that it can be an inspiration for people to see that it takes a certain amount of work to earn it.”

Before she stepped foot on South Main, Austin’s basketball career started on the blacktop courts in her neighborhood, a nostalgic site for any basketball junkie. Austin said that those days spent at the courts were what grew her confidence and love for the game.

“Playing pickup on the blacktop with the guys everyday was the beginning of my passion for the game,” Austin said. “I’m a very competitive person and to be underestimated by a lot of the guys was awesome. They were like ‘oh this little girl, whatever’ but when I’d make a shot on them or back them down in the post, that would shock them. I’d just try to prove them wrong and that I can play too.”

As Austin’s game continued to develop, college scouts took notice. Most of Austin’s college offers came from schools close to her hometown, including her first offer, the University of Mississippi. But according to Austin, it was Rice’s program culture and academic prestige that helped them ward off bigname suitors like Ole Miss.

“Even though they started recruiting me late, [Rice] pushed hard,” Austin said. “I would see all five coaches on the baseline at my games and it was awesome. Hearing about how it’s ‘40

However, Austin’s first two seasons were anything but perfect. Instead of seeing similar success to her highschool career, she found herself at the end of the bench. Although she did not see the court, Austin was part of the 20192020 team that won the “COVID” C-USA Championship after the tournament was canceled mid-national anthem of the championship game. Despite the team’s success, Austin said it was difficult to adjust to being a role-player in her first two seasons.

“I wanted to be great again and I knew there was a certain equation of work that it takes to get there. All the reps I did that summer, getting up at 5 a.m. and shooting three times a day started to pay off. It was really fun to buy into that process.“

On top of being known as a versatile stretch big who can back down bigger opponents in the post and space the court by hitting threes, Austin is known for her fiery attitude on the court. According to Austin, even though she has dialed down her chirping this year, her competitive side is always there.

“In [Amateur Athletic Union], my coach would call me ‘Angry Eyes Austin’ because I had this fire in my eyes, almost like [I’m saying] ‘I hate you’,” Austin said. “I really love my competitive side because it keeps the game fun. I enjoy trash talking people in

games. Last year at times, I was really, really mean. This year I’ve calmed down a lot, but I still enjoy talking.”

Over the years, Austin’s resume has grown, now including a second-team all-conference honor as she looks to lead the Owls to a conference championship in her final year. However, despite her recent success, Austin remembers where she came from and enjoys being a mentor to her younger teammates, who may be facing the same situation she faced four years ago.

“I love being an example and like a servant leader … and I’m trying to do that as best as possible,” Austin said. “Now I have a larger role, I’m checking in on girls who didn’t get big minutes or didn’t get to take their warmup off and just giving them a big hug and helping them because I know the equation that it takes to get to where I am.”

“I didn’t play a lot my first two years,” Austin said. “As a freshman you get a few chances and if you blow it, you blow it and you get moved to the end of the bench and you never take your warmup off. It was fun because we were winning but being a role player was hard even if you realize that this is what is best for the team. For me it was a very humbling experience.”

However, after the end of her sophomore year, Lindsay Edmonds replaced Tina Langley as the head coach of the Owls. According to Austin, this fresh start sparked her to elevate her game and claim a new role.

“The coaching change was really an inspiration to take my work ethic to a whole nother level,” Austin said.

COLUMN

RICE ATHLETICS

Even after cold-streak, WBB’s rebuild is still ahead of schedule

Rice’s women’s basketball team got off to a ridiculous start this year. The Owls won their first nine games, their best-ever start to a season in program history. They weren’t just beating up on an easy nonconference schedule either. The Owls beat a pair of power-five teams in Texas A&M University and Texas Christian University, in addition to a win over the American Athletic Conference’s University of Houston (although admittedly all three of those higher-profile teams are having down years).

But since the start of conference play, head coach Lindsay Edmonds’ squad has struggled to regain that form. The Owls lost four of their first five games in Conference USA, including a 29-point loss to Middle Tennessee State University. Even after piecing together a winning streak in recent weeks, they sit at 0.500 a month into the conference season. Just weeks after receiving votes in the AP poll, they look closer to a middle-of-the-pack C-USA team than one of the 25 best teams in the country.

Their fast start obscured the fact that the program is just over a year removed from losing their head coach — Tina Langley, who was hired away by the University of Washington — and four of their five starters to the transfer portal after winning the National Invitational Tournament. Last year, Edmonds’ first, saw the Owls projected to be one of the worst teams in the conference at the start of the season just to finish as one of the best. They picked up right where they left off with their recordbreaking start in her second year.

Edmonds’

60 career points going into the year. She helped turn a pair of freshmen, forward Malia Fisher and guard Maya Bokunewicz, into serious scoring threats. Those performances papered over the fact that they had just ten full-time players on their roster last season; now that she’s had a full season to recruit and construct a roster, that number is up to 16. Still, the Owls ended the regular season on a 6-1 run and took eventual conference champions the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to the final minutes in the second round of the C-USA tournament.

When they caught fire to start the year, they looked every bit the conference title contenders that they were two years ago under Langley. Their rough-spell has come as a shock, but mostly because their expectations were reset by the win-streak. It takes time to rebuild an entire roster, and Edmonds’ first full recruiting class still won’t be upperclassmen for another two years. Edmonds has done an impressive job of expediting the rebuild, but we can still expect inconsistency and the occasional slump until she’s had time to build a full rotation of experienced players.

Make no mistake, this team has the potential to be every bit the contender they looked like a month ago. They’ve twice beaten the University of Texas at El Paso, who are tied for second place in the conference, and their recent winning streak suggests that their slump was more fluke than pattern. And perhaps more importantly, the top of the C-USA standings are wide open with the exception of No. 23 Middle Tennessee. After returning nearly every key player from last year’s team and starting 9-0, the Owls can compete with almost anyone in the conference. Edmonds just needs time to build before the team can sustain that level of play for an entire season.

COURTESY

Senior forward Ashlee Austin attempts a free throw during a recent game. Austin went from riding the bench as an underclassman to being the Owls’ leading scorer last season.

ability to develop talent hid the fact that Langley’s departure left the Owls’ cupboard almost completely bare — though not in terms of talent as much as established players. She coaxed a career-year out of thenjunior forward Ashlee Austin, who had just

Daniel Schrager SPORTS EDITOR

CADAN HANSON SENIOR WRITER

Now I have a larger role, I’m checking in on girls who didn’t get big minutes or didn’t get to take their warmup off and just giving them a big hug and helping them because I know the equation that it takes to get to where I am.

Ashlee Austin SENIOR FORWARD

Their rough-spell came as a shock, but mostly because their expectations were reset by the winstreak ... Edmonds has done an impressive job of expediting the rebuild, but we can still expect inconsistency and the occasional slimp until they’ve built a full rotation of experienced players.

RUSH KAPPA UPSILON KAPPA

BrO-Week Initiation Events

Wed., Jan. 25 @ 7:00pm - Jones College Commons

Meet the KUKs

Learn about the history of our fraternity (founded and generously funded by President KUK Glenn Youngkin) and what a day in the life of a KUK is like.

Thu., Jan. 26 @ 9:45pm - Pub

Boys Night on the Town

Go bananas with all your 21+ brothers carrying legal IDs. Optional Settlers of Catan night for those under 21 in Sammy’s.

Fri., Jan. 27 @ 8:00 pm - Rec Basketball Court

Brotherhood Basketball

Test your teamwork and responsiveness to your assigned KUK name (e.g., KUK Norris, Beginner’s KUK) in a game of pickup 5s against the grad students.

Sat., Jan 28 @ 11:00 am - Jones Business School Library

“Maximizing Your Social Impact with a Career in Finance”

BUSI minors and ECON majors who matriculated too late to be BUSI majors welcome!

Sun. Jan 29 @ 10:00 am - Miner Lounge

Academic Planning Session #1

Presentation

Navigate Banner with your new brothers along with “Saturdays are for the Boy Toys” banner painting and animal crackers/fruit snacks.

Mon., Jan. 30 @ 7:00 pm - Life Tower, Unit 20-133

KUK House Tour

Get acquainted with the house we call home (quiet Hours begin at 9:30pm)! Please fill out this Google form in advance to sign up for Jackbox night.

Tue., Jan. 31 @ 9:00 pm - Baker College Library

Brotherhood Oath Ceremony

Form an intimate brotherhood by partaking in the sacred Deep Tissue Body Oil Massage Ritual to limber up before Baker 13 (undress to your comfort, but full nudity has historically yielded best results).

DON’T BE A SCHMUCK… BE A KUK!

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