The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Beer Bike 2023 welcomes more races, a new record Beer Bike 2023 welcomes more races, a new record

The 2023 Beer Bike races took place Saturday, with all three races — alumni, women’s and men’s — divided up into two heats. The times from both heats will be compared by the RPC to determine the final results after penalties for each team are calculated. According to campus-wide Beer Bike coordinator Anne Wang, results are expected to be released later in the week, likely on Friday.

Nayna Nambiar, the other campuswide Beer Bike coordinators, wrote in a statement to the Thresher that coordinators will have a discussion with their staff advisor to finalize details, including taking into account the penalties, before announcing the results.

“We understand that everyone is waiting for results, but we want to be able to give the most accurate and fair results putting everything into consideration,” Nambiar, a Hanszen College sophomore, said. “We would like to be able to talk to staff about it before we make a final call.”

All three races were divided into two heats this year, in response to safety concerns. Though there were no major crashes this year, minor injuries still occurred for some teams. McMurtry College had two injuries during the women’s race, including one during warm-ups, while Wiess College’s final biker crashed upon re-entering the pit in the women’s race. During the men’s race, the fifth biker from Brown College wiped out due to the wheels falling off his bike.

With the divisions into heats, there was more down time in between races. In particular, there was half-hour-plus delay between the second alumni heat and the first heat of the women’s race. Wang wrote in a statement to the Thresher that despite delays, all races concluded by 3 p.m.

“We already started a bit late with check-in and breathalyzing finished a little later than expected,” Wang, a Lovett College sophomore, said. “Once all teams transitioned and moved their materials onto the track, we also had to do a final double check of judges as well as take inventory of materials outside/inside the track to make sure that everything was squared away before we started again.”

One of the notable events that happened during this year’s race was Dani Knobloch, a Hanszen senior, tied the women’s track record with a time of 1:20. The only other woman to share this record is Rabea Tzentos (Jones ’19), according to Knobloch.

Knobloch said that the record means a lot to her, given her history with Beer Bike and this being her final year at Rice.

“I’m honestly elated,” Knobloch wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I knew I only had a few more weeks to try and nab a record time before graduation. To be able to PR and share the title for fastest women’s time is such an amazing treat.”

Rice to host inaugural Moody X-Fest

NAYELI SHAD OPINION EDITOR

To celebrate the $100 million donation made by the Moody Foundation, Rice is hosting the first Moody X-Fest on April 7 featuring free food, games and a concert headlined by GROUPLOVE. The event will be taking place at 5 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse.

The festival is one of the Moody Experience events funded by the “historic” donation by the Moody Foundation to expand student opportunities, President Reggie DesRoches said.

“This year’s inaugural Moody X-Fest is the start of a new spring tradition at Rice,” DesRoches wrote in an email to the Thresher. “The event celebrates the largest gift in Rice’s history and highlights the 12 funds that will change the student experience at Rice and enable our students to take advantage of remarkable and enriching extracurricular activities.”

Indie rock band GROUPLOVE — known for songs “Tongue Tied,” “Ways to Go” and “Back in the 90’s,” the end credits song from “BoJack Horseman” — will be performing at 6:45 p.m. Bassist Daniel Gleason said that he is excited to play for a college audience because of the energy that they bring to the music.

Knobloch said that the switch to a twoheat format detracts from the spectator experience.

“I also think it’s a better experience for the spectators, who for the most part are only really interested in their own college’s performance and don’t really want to be [at] the track for four-plus hours,” Knobloch said.

Knobloch added that she believes the heat system can work if transitions between races “drastically improve,” but would prefer a return to a single-race format with other safety changes.

“[I] would prefer a return to the oneheat format with some minor changes for safety such as making a change to the event’s insurance, expanding the track, moving fencing and getting rid of the hay bales, and increased practices and infrastructure surrounding that leading up to Beer Bike,” Knobloch said.

During the alumni race, Martel’s one biker, Amanda Suarez biked all eight laps. Martel was not the only incomplete alumni team, with several other colleges having incomplete rosters with more than one biker biking twice. Suarez said that, after watching a Duncan alum bike alone last year, the prospect didn’t seem as daunting.

“This year, it just so happened that all of our other potential alumni bikers were unable to safely bike. I don’t blame them for that at all,” Suarez said, “Ashton Duke, (Duncan ’19) at last year’s race, ended up biking solo. I figured if he could do it, I could do it.”

We’re five best friends that get to travel and play music and express ourselves and tell the world a little bit about us. I like to think that translates to the crowd … You just feel a connection with total strangers that you never would otherwise.

Daniel Gleason

GROUPLOVE BASSIST

“There’s a lot of life that’s really always invigorating to be around. I love young audiences,” Gleason said. “I’m very thankful that young audiences respond to our music and I like to think that’s because there’s a spirit side of it that just doesn’t really ever age or go out of style.”

The student music groups Basmati Beats, Mariachi Luna Llena and Rice Philharmonics will perform short sets before GROUPLOVE takes the stage. Sahana Prasanna, music director of Basmati Beats, said she is glad to be receiving recognition from Rice which the team usually does not.

“As a South Asian acapella team, we’re not very publicized, but it’s nice to see [Rice] taking an initiative to show that these student groups are a part of us,” Prasanna, a Will Rice College junior, said.

VIOLA HSIA SENIOR WRITER

REMS hosts blood drive in honor of Kamryn Sanamo

Computer Science debuts redesigned curriculum

Changes to COMP Curriculum

no longer required:

• ELEC 220

• COMP 310

• COMP 411/412 replaced by COMP 312

• COMP 421 made into elective

newly required:

• COMP 221

• COMP 301

• COMP 312

• COMP 318

• COMP design course for B.A.

and object-oriented programming. Another good change is making physics not required for the B.S. curriculum, since that was something that impeded people from [pursuing the] B.S. CS,” Yao said. “Before the change in curriculum, due to the strict class prerequisites, it would be very hard to transition to COMP major starting in sophomore spring semester. But now, logistically, it can be possible.”

Rice Emergency Medical Services will host a blood drive on April 7 in memory of Kamryn Sanamo, a Martel College senior who passed away in January after battling brain cancer. The drive, open to members of the Rice community, will take place from noon to 6 pm in Lot 6.

According to REMS Community Relations Lieutenant Jay Mehta, they intentionally planned the date of the drive more than eight weeks after the last on-campus blood drive, ensuring that those who donated blood at the previous event are eligible to donate once again.

“We worked with Gulf Coast [Regional Blood Center] to make sure that if you donated at our blood drive earlier in the year that enough time had passed,” Mehta, a Brown College senior, said. “People shouldn’t be worried that they’re ineligible to donate if they donated [in January].”

Senior Associate Athletic Director Tanner Gardner said that instead of the blood drive being hosted inside the PCF tents, mobile coaches will be provided by Gulf Coast as a donation site. The Athletics Department is hosting the blood drive in coordination with Rice Athletics.

“[Gulf Coast] is going to have at least two mobile coaches, and they’re going to be set up in the parking lot behind Tudor Fieldhouse,” Gardner said.

According to Gardner, Athletics has been promoting the drive through video board advertisements and signage at the recent baseball games. Additionally, anyone who donates blood will receive a free ticket to an upcoming Rice baseball game.

“[Providing a free ticket] is something that’s been really effective. It’s helped drive attendance at the blood drive, and then maybe at the baseball game depending on the individual,” Gardner said. “The only challenge we’ve had is that we’ve had so much demand that we needed to add more mobile units.”

Mehta said that while the number of donors is important for REMS, it is not the sole determinant of success of the blood drive.

“It’s less about the number of units of blood we collect. Obviously, the number does matter … but I think that people’s willingness to take time out of their day for someone who was important in our community is important,” Mehta said. “It speaks to the character of the people on this campus, and it shows that, in this community, we support each other.”

Gardner also said that the measurement of the drive’s success goes beyond the quantitative.

“I just think that [it’s great] when we can honor [Kamryn’s legacy] through activities such as this … and provide for such an acute need,” Gardner said.

new courses introduced by curriculum:

• COMP 221

• COMP 312

• COMP 318

* COMP design course likely required in place of 310 for BS

** current version

BS specifics:

existing courses with uncertain futures:

• COMP 310,* course offering uncertain after Fall 2023

• COMP 312,** course offering uncertain after Spring 2024

• COMP 322, course offering uncertain after Spring 2024

• At least one of COMP 411 and 412 will be offered each year through Spring 2026

• COMP capstone replaced by COMP breadth courses

• PHYS 101 and 102 are no longer required

INFOGRAPHIC BY ANNA CHUNG

Ian Carroll, a Brown College junior, said he likes the new B.A. requirements for many reasons, one of which is how they shift away from some of the higher level courses in favor of lower-level equivalents. He also mentioned an appreciation for ethics as a core requirement since he believes it is an essential aspect of the field, prompting students to consider topics like data privacy and misuse of software.

“I think it allows for a nicer introduction for a lot of the topics and reduces a lot of the stress classes like 310 and 421 put with their faster paced or larger projects,” Carroll said. “I really like the idea of changing the B.A. to require a design capstone, since that gives a lot more experience like a real world project in terms of scale and scope.”

Carroll said he similarly appreciates the removal of physics requirements and the changes to the capstone requirement for the B.S.

“I think everyone is happy physics is gone, as most of us didn’t know why it was there in the first place, and it definitely makes the B.S. a lot more manageable for students, ” Carroll said. “The new requirements make it much clearer, in that you’re getting experience in a range of higher level topics. I wish I had these B.S. requirements coming into Rice, as I would definitely pursue them if I had more time.”

The computer science department held a town hall announcing the redesigned COMP curriculum to students on Tuesday, March 21. The new curriculum includes many changes to the major requirements for both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, according to a document shared with COMP majors.

Alan Cox, the Associate Department Chair and chair of the COMP working group reevaluating the major, said the working group was created last fall to review the existing curriculum and to develop the proposed changes. According to Cox, the group consists of seven faculty members across different areas of the department.

“It had been over a decade since we had done a top-to-bottom review of our curriculum. Computer science is a rapidly evolving field, and so we felt that the time had come,” Cox wrote in an email to the Thresher. “The university has placed a renewed emphasis on achieving a better balance between the major and general education. In support of this universitywide goal, we reduced the major requirements for the B.S. degree so that the total credit hours to earn the degree is reduced from 128-129 down to 120.”

For both B.A. and B.S. degrees, three new courses are being introduced to the new curriculum as major requirements including COMP 312, replacing the previous major requirement COMP 411/412; COMP 318, replacing the previous major requirement COMP 322, which might not be offered as a course after spring 2024; and COMP 221.

In addition, ELEC 220 and COMP 421 will no longer be major requirements,

with the latter becoming an elective course instead. COMP 310 is no longer required and might not be offered as a course after fall 2023.

Specific to the B.S. degree, the COMP capstone will be replaced by COMP breadth courses, and PHYS 101 and 102 will no longer be major requirements.

The working group aims to include changes to the degree requirements in the General Announcements for the fall 2023 and spring 2024 academic year. If the plan materializes, current students who plan to graduate in fall 2023 and beyond will have the option to choose to graduate under either the old requirements or the new requirements.

Aaron Wang, a Baker senior, said he believes the new COMP curriculum is more flexible, yet also less rigorous.

“The reality is that 80% of COMP majors aim for a good paying job, not to become a computer scientist,” Wang said. “Those who do want to go into academia can still take the electives. It’s a shame COMP 310 might be canceled. Most people I know just wanted it to be separated into two courses again.”

Stephen Wong, a lecturer of computer science and the instructor for COMP 310, said that he believes the department has decided to completely remove the course from the curriculum after the fall semester of 2023.

“It’s not even an option,” Wong said. “[It’ll lead to] this glaring hole in terms of the object-oriented programming and design in the curriculum. And the problem there is that object-oriented design is the major programming paradigm in use today in the world … People going out into the world absolutely have to have this training. We cannot send them out into the world without it.”

Wong said that a lack of a strong objectoriented programming design course will impede students’ ability to prepare for both upper-level design courses such as COMP 410 and the industry.

Sarah Yao, a Baker College junior, said she has already taken most of her major requirement courses, so it makes more sense for her to follow the old COMP curriculum. However, she believes the new changes could be beneficial for underclassmen.

“They made COMP 310 into COMP 318, which has updated contents in order to teach the students programming design

“I worry that the department is bowing to pressures of perceived difficulty,” Wong said. “We’re falling behind. Other people are increasing what they’re doing this year, and we’re decreasing … You’ve got these tech companies laying off left and right right now … Reducing the critical skills and knowledge of our students is the last thing we should be doing at this point. We should be doing everything we can to make our students more competitive, not less competitive.”

MEGHAN PARAL FOR THE THRESHER

COURTESY GUSTAVO RASKOSKY

BONNIE ZHAO MANAGING EDITOR

I worry that the department is bowing to pressures of perceived difficulty ... We’re falling behind. Other people are increasing what they’re doing this year, and we’re decreasing.

Stephen Wong COMPUTER SCIENCE LECTURER

bike beer

REMS receives $180,000 grant

for REMS, where the money could support educational efforts.

Rice Emergency Medical Services received a $180,000 grant this March from the Pennington First Aid Squad, an organization in Pennington, New Jersey.

An entirely volunteer-based agency, PFAS was experiencing a steady decline in EMTs and was unable to maintain their service any further, according to the agency. On Feb. 28, PFAS made their last call and went out of service the next day, leaving their assets to be redistributed. A large portion of these assets included donations by Shelley Pennington (’78), who had been the president of PFAS in her last years before she passed away in 2021.

REMS duty crew Neil Chopra worked as a volunteer EMT at PFAS for the past five years. When PFAS asked for suggestions on organizations to donate their assets to, Chopra said he advocated

“They were asking for different suggestions on who we could donate to, it just had to be other EMS agencies or other non-profits in the U.S.,” Chopra said.

“I suggested a donation to REMS after talking to [Lisa Basgall, the director of REMS,] and seeing that there was a need.”

In the past, a 10-year grant of $300,000 has allowed REMS to offer an EMT class every semester, as well as an Advanced EMT class each fall.

“It really has helped the REMS service grow so that we’re able to have enough people to meet all the campus needs,” Basgall said.

The grant, however, ended this year, leaving REMS at the risk of having to reduce their educational courses, which was when Chopra reached out to Basgall about PFAS.

“In the spirit of [Shelley Pennington’s] legacy, maybe they would be interested

Rice Emergency Medical Services received a $180,000 grant this March from the Pennington First Aid Squad, an organization in Pennington, New Jersey.

in supporting an educational effort,” Basgall said. “We’re a volunteer service, I’m sure that they can relate to volunteers and wanting to have more volunteers.”

Shortly after REMS requested help with funding education, PFAS came back to REMS with their decision to donate $180,000, which according to Basgall

will be used in its entirety to support EMS education so that the courses can be continued. EMT classes have a fixed course capacity due to scheduling matters with mandatory clinical shifts, so this ensures that more students can learn about EMS and become certified at Rice.

AMY SON FOR THE THRESHER

FROM FRONT PAGE

FRANCESCA NEMATI / THRESHER

BRANDON CHEN / THRESHER

COURTESY GUSTAVO RASKOSKY

NEW LOCATION:

Due to the threat of inclement weather, the venue has changed to Tudor Fieldhouse. Visit rice.edu/moodyxfest for updates.

All undergraduate and graduate students are invited to celebrate the launch of the Moody Experience, supported by the Moody Foundation’s historic $100 million gift.

LIVE CONCERT BY PERFORMANCES FROM YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS

*Gluten free and vegetarian options available

EDITORIAL STAFF

Beer Bike heats in the heat need more planning

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and Rice students claiming the most recent Beer Bike could have been better. We understand that, with this year being the first race with heats, we were essentially guinea pigs for future Beer Bikes, and we’re okay with that. But there were still some astoundingly obvious and preventable problems that need to be addressed prior to next year’s race.

The most obvious of these issues was the lack of shade on and around the track — one tent way off to the side by the port-a-potties does not cut it. It’s really easy to get dehydrated and/ or heat exhaustion from standing or sitting in the sun for hours on end, and it’s really not that hard to set up tents in the middle of the track and above the bleachers. Half of campus is pink this week, and there’s an obvious answer as to why.

Tied directly to the issue of time in the sun is the amount of downtime between races. If heats are the way of the future — and they definitely are — then Beer Bike coordinators need to plan around the fact that the races will simply take more time. Heats need to happen in much quicker succession to one another, both to minimize time wasted in the sun, but also because it will make

for a more enjoyable experience. Bikers

and chuggers won’t have to sit on the track for hours, and more viewers will be willing to stay and cheer for all the races. Similarly, an easy addition that would make the races more enjoyable would be to add a big clock in the middle of the track, so spectators have a basis to

If

compare performances between heats.

Beyond logistical improvements, our current model of recruiting campuswide coordinators does not give said coordinators the tools they need to succeed. Year after year, not only are coordinators — oftentimes sophomore students with relatively little Beer Bike experience to begin with — thrown into planning a massive campus-wide event with little support, but they typically have little to no experience looking at

the pitfalls and successes of the event on a broad scale.

We present a simple solution to both train more experienced campus-wide coordinators and provide more support for the existing coordinator team: junior campus coordinators. Have two student coordinators shadow and participate in campus-wide coordinating efforts with the intention of committing to being a primary campus-wide coordinator the year after.

Not only would this provide direct support for the students planning the event, the incoming coordinators would have a better sense of the big picture elements of planning Beer Bike and an improved understanding of the details of the year before — what went well, what went wrong and where to go from there. Implementing junior coordinators would help bridge the knowledge gap that Beer Bike coordinators seem to encounter year after year as they each tackle the event for the first time, leaving time to effectively address critiques.

Maybe with all of these improvements, we’ll have timely Beer Bike results in time to print them in the Thresher the week after — something all the more important with the heat system leaving crowds without even a rough estimate of who crossed the finish line first.

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Bonnie Zhao* Managing Editor

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SPECIAL PROJECTS

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PHOTO, VIDEO, & WEB

Katherine Hui Photo Editor

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Camille Kao Video Editor

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Anna Chung News

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The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper of Rice University since 1916, is published each Wednesday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice University.

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heats are the way of the future — and they definitely are — then Beer Bike coordinators need to plan around the fact that the races will simply take more time.

‘Disgraced financial analyst’ Matthew Broussard talks being funny

doing stand-up. There are many, many funnier people than me … I think I was particularly not funny growing up. Rice was nice because it wasn’t that fratty, competitive, social atmosphere of a state school, and [it] allowed me to feel more comfortable.” Growing up in Corpus Christi and Atlanta, Broussard’s career is the odd result of a Cajun chemist father, Jewish microbiologist mother and an applied mathematics

RIYA MISRA FEATURES EDITOR

analyst,” Matthew Broussard (’10) was crowned Houston’s Funniest Person a mere two years after graduating from Rice with a degree in computational and applied mathematics. What started as doing open mics as a hobby before transitioning to fulltime comedy, Broussard has since appeared on shows like Comedy Central and Conan, prodded John Mayer about his ex-girlfriends on Roast Battle and created a puzzle app called Monday Punday. He has also met Chris Hemsworth once in an elevator.

“I don’t consider myself super funny,” Broussard said. “I like writing jokes. I like

“My parents really pushed me academically,” Broussard said. “We would eat meals every night on a periodic table placemat. I was convinced thoroughly by my parents that any career I was going to make [would be] off of my mathematical abilities and training.”

Spurred on by his parents, Broussard arrived at Jones College in 2006. Considering majors like mechanical engineering and computer science, he knew that, at least, he wanted to pursue math. Broussard eventually settled on applied mathematics, a degree that he put to use as a financial analyst after graduation for a few years before being let go. At that point, Broussard said he had been pursuing comedy as a hobby for a while

and was able to make the leap into being a full-time comedian, though his degree still remains very much in use as a comedian.

“The funny part is, you would think that my degree doesn’t apply. but all comedians talk about is the algorithm,” Broussard said. “That’s all we’re talking about. It’s just all this hypothesizing over TikTok, what link the video [has], what time of day to post, all these rather mathematical constraints that optimize your performance.”

The algorithmic nature of the entertainment industry is as tedious as it sounds, according to Broussard. Although around 90% of the career focuses on the logistics surrounding comedy, Broussard said it also allows him to appreciate the 10 percent of pure performance.

“Once it becomes a job, it is a job. I certainly had a little more hustle when I was secretly writing jokes when my boss was out of the office for lunch,” Broussard said. “There’s a lot of things around it that are laborious and tedious: booking my flights, editing clips, studying the algorithm, getting ready for auditions, taking classes … But being on stage and writing jokes are still really fun. I really like being on stage. I think that’ll never get old to me.”

tedious and oddly intellectual, Broussard said he does bemoan the fact that he’s still unable to make math funny.

“I talk about math more on stage. It is truly the hardest thing in the world to make funny. 9/11, abortion [and the] Holocaust aren’t nearly as challenging of subjects as mathematics in terms of getting a crowd on board, because people hate it so much,” Broussard said. “I don’t want to blow up my spot saying you’re going to learn anything special. But it’s fun when I get to use my education a little bit because I feel like I’ve otherwise squandered it.”

Broussard credits much of his current comedy style, “self-effacing and weirdly educational,” to the unique dynamic of Rice’s student culture. A school removed from Greek life and home to countless traditions and themes set the blueprint for Broussard to become a little bit funnier.

Matthew Broussard RICE UNIVERSITY ‘10

Perhaps a less obvious use for a mathematics degree is comedic fodder. Broussard’s favorite type of humor, though, leans academic — with a penchant for the

“I don’t think I’d be the same person without having come here. It made me feel less alone and less afraid to be interested in what I’m interested in,” Broussard said. “The humor of the Backpage … the [Orientation] Week themes, the Beer Bike themes. All of that stuff is just right up my alley. It’s fun, it’s playful, it’s ever so slightly intellectual … I think it’s nice when smart people can have fun and not take themselves too seriously.”

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

Rice Eclipse launches rockets, shoots for stars

While most Rice students were sleeping in the morning of March 26, a group of students were in transit to launch rockets an hour away. These students had spent hours working in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen on their rockets with Rice Eclipse and were now ready to get their L1 rocketry certification.

Eclipse member Devin Von Arx was one of the students launching rockets that morning, as the final stage of her rocketry certification.

“During the launch, it’s an unbelievable feeling, seeing something you build come to life and be launched into the air,” Von Arx, a Hanszen College freshman, said. “It’s a culmination of a week of hard work, a week of learning the ins and outs of rocketry.”

The certification system teaches students to construct their own rocket. In order to receive a certification, a student must attend introductory rocketry courses and then construct their own rocket based on a blueprint provided by the club. Although it is not a prerequisite for membership in the club, certifications are required for purchasing more complex engines.

Eclipse’s chief engineer Andrew Bare noted that although rocketry can seem intimidating at the outset, the certification program makes it much more approachable.

“For me it was really eye-opening, because it looks like a really complex system when you first start looking at [a rocket] when you don’t have any experience,” Bare, a Hanszen junior, said. “But the more you work with it, the more you get to see really clearly how all the parts fit together.”

The certification program offers a taste of what Eclipse has to offer, but most of the work the club does is in preparation for a number of competitions. The club is currently in the preparation phase for

the Spaceport America competition this summer, in which approximately 150 teams participate. This year’s rocket, Icarus and Daedalus, is dual-stage, which is new ground for the club, Nancy Lindsey, the aerodynamics and structures lead for the club, said.

“That’s kind of been my passion project,” Lindsey, a Jones College junior, said. “I really wanted us to push ourselves. Historically, we’ve always done these single stage, six inch diameter rockets … but it’s actually more like an

engineering feat if you can get it to be smaller.”

Club President Jake Sperry said this project is ground-breaking for the club.

“From what I know, a lot of universities have never tried dual stage, so that is something that I think is really cool,” Sperry, a Jones junior, said. “[It’s] kind of stepping above what we’ve done before and kind of surpassing our limits.”

The dual-stage rocket is not the only thing Eclipse has planned for the future. The club has exclusively competed with store-bought engines in the past, but for next year’s Spaceport competition they plan to develop their own engine through a project dubbed Archimedes by the club. Rafe Neathery, the club’s propulsion lead, said that this project poses unique challenges.

“Kind of from the start, there’s been two main efforts in the club, there’s been building these rockets and building these engines.” Neathery, a Will Rice College junior, said. “The dream of Archimedes is to combine those two efforts to fly our own rocket with our own engine”

All of the work that goes into these competitions complements engineering coursework well and provides hands-on opportunities for engineering majors to put what they learn into practice.

“Almost anybody on Eclipse will [say] you learn so much more from these projects than you do from classes as a mechanical engineer, or an electrical engineer or a computer science major,” Lindsey said.

The O-Week themes, the Beer Bike themes. All of that stuff is just right up my alley. It’s fun, it’s playful, it’s ever so slightly intellectual … I think it’s nice when smart people can have fun and not take themselves too seriously.

ADAM LEFF THRESHER STAFF

COURTESY MATTHEW BROUSSARD

GUILLIAN PAGUILA / THRESHER

PRIDE

HOANG NGUYEN CROSSWORD WRITER

ACROSS DOWN

Spheres Wolverine’s alias Common antidepressants, for short

This crossword’s author, for one Nebraska city

Apple MP3 player

Trendy berry used in smoothies

“I Know Why the _____ Bird Sings”

Storage tower

Gay rights activist who fought the AIDS crisis

PC key

Abu Dhabi’s country, abbr.

Hard to find Hoarse-sounding Portuguese greeting Stores

Sep follower

Taiwanese activist who fought for same-sex marriage

Beefcake

Yippie founder Hoffman

Garbanzo or coffee Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet Rice building next to Dryden St Primitive weapon

“___ queen!”

Entourage

Many humanitarian groups, abbr.

Lady’s man? Snitch

Egyptian activist who got arrested after waving a rainbow flag

x or y

love

by

Egg shape

Costa ____

A big hairy man, in gay slang

Rouse Political philosopher John Singer Apollo “Goo goo __ __”

Throat-clearing sound

2000 presidential candidate Ralph Bro’s sibling

Arachnid constructions

Responsibility

Celebrity

Sound of joy

Actor Malek

UK Deputy PM Dominic

Parks and Bonheur

Political group founded by 20-Across and others in the AIDS pandemic

They start with S for Rice undergrads

“This could be a problem!”

Sign before Scorpio Citric and boric

Eye drops?

From Nutritional measure, for short Ryan Higa’s signature video ending “Tee___”

Queer art form under attack in Tennessee and other states

Greek god of love

Baked fruit dessert Church keyboards

Army address

Coastal area

With 40-Down, a popular reality show among the queer community Skater’s jump

Lion’s sound Bullets, briefly

Pay attention to Parisian pal

Black at Rice: Zahrah Butler keeps good company

As Rice PRIDE co-president, they said they prioritize casual social events over spectacles to help the PRIDE community connect.

According to Zahrah Butler, everyone should shave their head at least once. Now a senior, Butler commented on their growth over the years and how shaving their head after wearing long dreadlocks came to symbolize that growth and the environment that propelled it. Looking back, they said they have become stronger and more capable of thriving in the face of adversity.

“I think I have become more comfortable in my own skin,” Butler, a Duncan College senior, said.

“Coming to Rice, I was a very shy, quiet person.”

Although Butler hails from the nearby suburb of Missouri City, they did not consider Rice until they received financial aid from The Rice Investment. They said their high school was extremely diverse, something they felt Rice lacks in comparison.

“Being from Houston, I have never felt more racially isolated [than at Rice],” Butler said.

This isolation was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic on top of living at home half an hour away from campus. However, they eventually found a means to feel more comfortable under such circumstances.

“It’s about finding balance … within communities,” Butler said.

Several of Butler’s extracurricular activities revolve around striking this very balance. As former Orientation Week coordinator for Duncan College, they helped welcome new students to Rice.

“So many people feel the need to be grand and be big in their identities. It can be easy to forget the people who don’t desire that or don’t have it come easily to them,” Butler said. “So I try to do stuff like send out once-a-semester compliment forms where you just say something about somebody who just really made your day … It’s really nice making people feel seen.”

Beyond Rice, Butler — a religion major and African American studies minor — said that they are passionate about engaging with the greater Houston community, particularly through their research on SlaveVoyages, an international database on the Transatlantic Slave Trade, with history professor Daniel Domingues da Silva. Their involvement stems from a desire to learn more about the history of slavery and its impact on Black people today, and more importantly, recognize those who work hard in their research surrounding slavery, Butler said.

“Like most other Black people in the U.S., I don’t really know anything about my ancestry,” Butler said. “When I was trying to get into that research, I was also trying to [research] my own ancestry.”

Butler also works with the Center for Civic Leadership to study Houston’s Freedmen’s Town, located in the Fourth Ward, after Juneteenth, which they said reflects their interest in the rich history of Black culture in Houston and Texas.

“It’s a really fun opportunity to get a chance to tell that story in a way that makes it very publicly accessible because the research that we’re doing is in association with Houston’s public libraries,” Butler said. “If you have internet, pretty much, you’ll be able to look at the digital map our work is going towards creating.”

Butler had the opportunity to sift through documents like high school yearbooks, play records and other more personal items families chose to donate rather than government records. To Butler, who has family around Houston, these documents are reminiscent of home.

“I’ll be going through yearbooks trying to learn about some teacher at a school and I’ll run into pictures of my aunts and uncles when they were like 15

family history and community and serve them in a way that I don’t think I would have had the chance to do if I wasn’t at a place like Rice.”

After graduation, Butler said that they plan on staying in Houston for the proximity to their family and hopes to work at the Museum of Fine Arts at some point.

In their free time, Butler likes to explore more of Houston’s development as a burgeoning city. They can be found shopping, frequenting restaurants, visiting the nearby museums and watching movies and anime like “Sailor Moon.”

“I like hanging out with my boyfriend, doing stuff like [taking] the train, [taking] the bus, [walking] around,” Butler said. “Just keeping good company is what I like

NITHYA RAMCHARAN FOR THE THRESHER

It’s another way to connect with my own family history and community and serve them in a way that I don’t think I would have had the chance to do if I wasn’t at a place like Rice.

Zahrah Butler

DUNCAN COLLEGE SENIOR

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

Senior Spotlight: Nathan Bergrin designs a

path to create social good through architecture

hard to keep up with all the changes, but I like to think there’s something deeper, more deeply resilient about [KTRU] because of that.”

Aside from playing it on KTRU, Bergrin also creates music himself. He considers himself a perfectionist about music and has been working on an album throughout his time at Rice, as a diary of the pivotal moments they’ve experienced in the last four years.

Spice up fall semester with these courses

ARMAN SAXENA THRESHER STAFF

Wiess College senior Nathan Bergrin knew that he wanted to use his creative abilities for social good, but they didn’t settle on architecture until coming to Rice.

“I’ll take a month to refine an idea either on paper … or just playing it over and over in my head before I sit down to do it, and then I hyperfixate on it,” Bergrin said. “I’ve skipped parties on the weekends to literally sit down and write for like 12 hours.”

Bergrin said that there is definitely a dialogue between the music they play and their architecture work, largely due to his synesthesia.

Now that it’s officially registration season, students across campus are looking for classes to add some spice into their fall semester course load, and there’s no better way to do that than with some Rice arts classes. From cooking to creative writing, film to art history, here are a plethora of different classes that students can take next semester.

Beginning Sculpture

For Nathan Bergrin, choosing to study architecture was a shot in the dark. After creating art through drawing, painting and music composition in high school, Bergrin knew that he wanted to use creative thinking for something more concrete. Before attending Rice, he had no prior experience in architecture and did not know what the curriculum entailed.

“I really wanted to get into a field where I could use a creative brain way of thinking … and mobilize it to something that has some kind of social or community good,” Bergrin, a Wiess College senior, said. “A lot of art still feels a bit egocentric in a way because it’s just about building your practice and not really giving back much … and that wasn’t me.”

According to Bergrin, though the architecture school has the ability to foster student creativity, it tends to be theoretical and out-of-touch with reality. As a lowincome student, they said there is also an income barrier associated with architecture work and little support or representation for low-income students.

“Our old dean … brought in very highbrow architecture in the same sense as high fashion,” Bergrin said. “Our new dean is definitely better about that … I really don’t think there’s a lot of perspectives which bring the reality of architecture to the ground. The architecture that people are living in are not

artistic statements [or] art museums, it’s just housing. It’s not a good building if it does well at a Rice Architecture grade, it’s a good building if the people in it like it.”

Beyond classes, Bergrin was the former Director of Programming for KTRU and has DJ’d since his freshman year. He currently hosts the specialty show “Show and Tell.” Bergrin first began working as a radio DJ at a community station in Reno, Nevada during high school and said KTRU was part of the reason they applied to Rice.

“I’ve been familiar with [KTRU] as being one of the legendary college radio stations that’s been there since the late ’60s … All kinds of important artists have gone through it,” Bergrin said.

Bergrin said his favorite part about KTRU is that it has a real link to both Houston community and history with less of an insular within-the-hedges feeling.

“I think there’s been hostility in the past with admin … but at the same time, there’s a lot of mutual love between [individual students and community DJs] for the DJing craft, and I think there is something really beautiful about that,” Bergrin said. “It’s been

“I have a lot of color and texture associations for sound so in a very literal sense, I want the music to work right in my brain with the colors in the space,” Bergrin said.

Bergrin has also been interested in fashion since college, sometimes choosing the colors of his outfits based off of a synesthetic association of a song he wants to listen to.

“[My interest in fashion] definitely exploded, especially this year. That’s when I started switching to he/they pronouns as well … coming to terms with being queer,” Bergrin said. “I always thought about [fashion] but didn’t necessarily know how to go about it affordably.”

After graduating from Rice, Bergrin hopes to go to graduate school to study urban planning or anthropology.

“I don’t want to be an architect. I’m pretty sold on that. What’s really started to captivate me more now is less the actual design process and more a deeper understanding of space and cities,” Bergrin said. “The last thing I want to do is make mansions for rich family clients. The entire reason I came to Rice … is to be equipped to make some kind of difference closer to home.”

ARTS 165

One of the most in-demand courses offered by the VADA department next semester, Beginning Sculpture walks students through a variety of sculpture techniques like mold making and woodworking while utilizing a multitude of materials including plaster, clay, cardboard, fabric, wood and found objects.

Improvisation for Stage and Screen

FILM 308 / THEA 308

Alison Corriel teaches this class that deconstructs the art of improvisation. Students will learn a variety of improv techniques from understanding and playing off character dynamics to beat structuring.

German Film

GERM 335

One of the best-rated film history classes offered next semester, Martin Blumenthal-Barby’s class on German film, taught in English, tracks how German cinema has intertwined with, represented and reacted to the sociopolitical and cultural landscape of Germany throughout the twentieth century.

Epiphanies

HART 328 / RELI 375

The Rice Philharmonics have been working on projects like recording a studio album, so the Moody X-Fest is a fitting opportunity to reach a greater campus audience, said music director Audrey Ma.

“[It’s] just exciting to be able to reach more people and be on a bigger stage at Rice, especially because I feel like we usually don’t really have that many opportunities to perform to as many people and it’s mostly just in … smaller events,” Ma, a Wiess College junior, said.

Mariachi Luna Llena often performs at events outside of Rice, so president Daniela Bonscher said that the group is looking forward to sharing their music with the Rice community.

“Mariachi is definitely about connecting with people — both with the other band members because we have a really good group dynamic as friends, and also connecting with other people through the music ... To have that opportunity to share that music at this event is something that I’m really looking forward to,” Bonscher, a Lovett College sophomore, said.

The first Moody X-Fest celebrates the Moody Foundation’s $100 million donation, and will feature free food, games and a concert headlined by GROUPLOVE. The event will take place April 7 at 5 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse.

Ultimately, Gleason is thankful for the chance to have fun with the band and bring the crowds together at every show.

“We’re five best friends that get to travel and play music and express ourselves and tell the world a little bit about us,” Gleason said. “I like to think that translates to the crowd … You just feel a connection with total strangers that you never would otherwise.”

Being able to let the crowd temporarily forget about their worries

is what Gleason said makes the job so rewarding.

“It helps us to see that we’re not so different and we’re not so alone, and that there’s a lot of people out there who want the same things that you do,” Gleason said. “And they just really want to be happy and be able to not worry about the things that, you know, the world makes us worry about, at least for 90 minutes or so. There’s a hope that exists in the room, and that’s ultimately my favorite part and why it never really gets old.”

Marcia G. Brennan’s “Epiphanies: Seeing in a New Light and Recognizing the Radiance” sits at the confluence of philosophy, art, literature, religion and film, delving into multiple mediums to discuss the idea of revelations.

Radical Black Thought in Art

HART 366

This class analyzes art from radical Black contemporary thinkers and spans an interesting mix of art, philosophy, history and politics. Students will also have the opportunity to attend field trips to meet Houston-based artists.

Introduction to DJing

COLL 183

Taught by fellow students, these one-credit-hour courses offer students a chance to learn more about niche topics. This course teaches students about the techniques needed to be a DJ.

SHREYA JINDAL / THRESHER

FROM FRONT PAGE MOODY X-FEST

SHREYA CHALLA SENIOR WRITER

The last thing I want to do is make mansions for rich family clients. The entire reason I came to Rice … is to be equipped to make some kind of difference closer to home.

Nathan Bergrin WIESS COLLEGE SENIOR

KATHERINE HUI / THRESHER

Hamza’s pizza tour: Sampling a selection of slices

Rice campus boasts a diverse student body, and along with this diversity comes various opinions on the best pizza in the world. Arguments over the superiority of New York thin crust, the Chicago Deep Dish or the classic Neapolitan have run rampant across this fine campus, and as the only valid opinion on the subject, the Thresher aims to squash these debates once and for all in the hunt for the superior slice.

Red

Baron’s Deep Dish Pizza

Frozen pizzas were not inherently disadvantaged in this official review. This pizza, however, was so astoundingly garbage that we just can’t advocate for deep dish at all. Sophia Govea, Brown College sophomore, put it best when prompted with a question regarding the “Adonis” of pizzas.

“Sorry deep-dish pizza lovers, I don’t think that counts as a pizza,” Govea said. This sauce casserole was so objectively bad that Georgia Jensen, a Brown freshman

who generously offered her time, tastebuds and opinions after a tasting of this pizza, was compensated with Papa John’s pizza from the Hoot for her troubles. Georgia is from Crosby, TX, a booming metropolitan powerhouse boasting an incredible population of Georgia and four whole other people, so she knows good pizza when she sees it. Georgia is a long-time pizza fan, but despite her extensive history with the pizza arts, she claims to not have a favorite style. Although she prefers fresh pizza from a restaurant, she has no qualms with ripping into a DiGornios or a Tortino’s pizza. Still, we agreed that the lack of consistent heating, relative ease of burning and inelasticity of the crust put frozen pizza in C tier. Papa Johns’s belongs in B tier.

Home Slice Pizza

The Thresher has reviewed Home Slice before and returned with a rave review. We tried the margherita slice, and once again, Home Slice did not disappoint. This was a New-York style pizza with thin crust and sparse cheese, but the homemade sauce

and entire dining experience was quite pleasant. In comparison to other pizzas, the structural integrity of the crust is somewhat inconsistent. Droop, the scientific term, is present in certain sections of the slice, and the thinness of the crust does tend to lead to overcooked spots. Overall though, this was a spectacular pizza that deserves its place in the top tier.

Pizza Hut

In the interest of reviewing a variety of pies, we included Pizza Hut as a representation of a typical chain pizza. Its red sauce is responsible for tarnishing the reputation of this fine establishment. To be clear, Pizza Hut is trashy, late night, American pizza. But, in many respects, that is what makes it appeal to trashy, latenight Americans like ourselves. A white sauce, pineapple, mushroom and black olive pizza was served to some of our peers to gauge reception to a decent Pizza Hut pie.

Emily McAmis made a poignant statement regarding the crust-cheese ratio of her slice.

To settle the arguments over the best slice of pizza, the Thresher has taken it upon ourselves to try slices of pie from local contenders.

“[I] like that it’s pretty thick ... but [I feel] like the crust to cheese ratio is a little high,” McAmis, a Brown senior, said. We here at the Thresher like them thick too, but Pizza Hut’s performance was a bit disappointing.

Little Caesars Pizza

Little Caesars sucks. Shame on you if you enjoy it. Pizza Pizza, my butt.

Unfortunately, we were not able to come to a consensus on the objectively best pizza style. Brown sophomore Sara Davidson thinks that we should rethink how we classify pizza in the first place.

“I think that pizza is an art, and I don’t think that it should be limited to a box. I think that it should be whatever it wants to be,” Davidson said.

Maybe it isn’t the pizza itself that we hold in such high regard, but rather, the sentiment and love that we have towards our respective hometowns that make us such staunch defenders of the pizza style that we hail from. After all, maybe the real pizza was the friends we made along the way.

Review: ‘the record’ is boygenius at their best

HADLEY MEDLOCK

ASST. A&E EDITOR

Indie rock supergroup boygenius is back, this time with a 42-minute, fulllength LP titled “the record.” Comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, boygenius boasts an impressive fanbase that has long been awaiting their comeback. After the triumph of their selftitled six song EP in 2018 and ongoing wildly successful solo careers, boygenius had lofty expectations to live up to that they easily surpassed with each song on “the record.”

The album’s release began with three singles, each highlighting the unique songwriting style and distinct voice of a different member of boygenius. “Emily I’m Sorry” is Bridger’s first melancholic, slow gut-punch of the album as she croons “Yet, I can feel myself becoming / someone only you could want.” The gentle pleading of the song and beautiful whisper-soft background vocals by Dacus and Baker made this one of my favorites right from the beginning. The song that started “the record,” a Rolling Stone interview with Bridgers explained that she had emailed Dacus and Baker the demo for “Emily I’m Sorry” and simply asked, “Can we be a band again?”

Dacus leads “True Blue,” a laid-back tune reflecting on unconditional love and sung with a deep and sincere emotion. “True Blue” also has some the best lyrics on the album with, “And it feels good to be

Top Track: ‘Cool About It’

known so well / I can’t hide from you like I hide from myself.” Baker’s “$20” is the most upbeat and soft rock of the three singles with heavy guitar and a spectacular buildup of overlapping lyrics, instrumentals and voices into a final, trademark scream by Bridgers.

The album itself opens with the unexpected a capella song “Without You Without Them.” Though not my favorite song on the album, likely because of my a capella aversion, I can still appreciate it as a unique and harmonious album opener that solidifies the sentimental theme of boygenius’ sweet friendship found throughout “the record.”

“Cool About It” starts with plucky acoustic strings and ends as the best song on the album for its succinct yet hardhitting lyricism and verses that give each member their own time to shine. It’s a song that feels uniquely boygenius and not driven by any one songwriter and one I really keep coming back to.

“Satanist” was really just a fun one with rocking guitar riffs that had me dancing along. It’s followed by a complete 180 with “We’re In Love,” beautifully showcasing Dacus’ rich mezzo soprano voice and ability to write lyrics that are both heartbreaking and radically optimistic at the same time.

Bridgers closes out “the record” with “Letter to an Old Poet,” yet another album standout and obvious callback to the nearly devastating “Me & My Dog” from

the “boygenius” EP. The lyrical change of “I wanna be emaciated” to the simple cry of “I wanna be happy” is something sure to be tear-inducing to longtime boygenius fans. While I really needed three to five business days to truly revel in and recover from the release of this album, what I do already know is that “the record” is an instant classic and true testament to each

COURTESY INTERSCOPE

On “the record,” boygenius delivers with their unique songwriting style, and this reviewer needed three to five business days to recover.

member’s individual power. Even when one member is at the forefront of the song, their voice never takes away from the others, making “the record” an effective and genius ode to friendship, love and being seen. I truly wish I had more words to write about this album, and if you see me crying a little bit at the boygenius concert in June, no you don’t.

AMBER WANG / THRESHER

HAMZA SAEED THRESHER STAFF

Students, staffers talk work behind the scenes at Final Four

DANIEL SCHRAGER SPORTS EDITOR

When San Diego State University guard Lamont Butler hit a corner jumpshot with time expiring – the first buzzer beater in Final Four history hit while trailing – to beat Florida Atlantic University in the men’s college basketball national semifinal, the Owls weren’t the only ones whose plans he foiled.

“I was on the FAU side supporting the [Conference] USA guys, trying to get a shot of the reaction if they won,” Ryan Freidin, a Duncan College junior, said.

“I got the shot, it was just the reaction of sadness, disbelief.”

Quincy Olivari

Freidin, who has worked as a photographer for Rice Athletics for three years, spent the weekend taking video of the Final Four for the NCAA’s social media. He stood courtside as SDSU took on Rice’s conference-mates and namesake, making their first trip to Houston since a March 2 visit to Tudor Fieldhouse. He watched as, like that night, FAU started fast, although their 40-33 halftime lead didn’t approach the 29-point lead they had built a month earlier. Even as the Aztecs chipped away at the deficit, a slew of missed free throws and second chance opportunities helped the Owls hold on to a narrow lead, before Butler’s heroics made the game an instant classic.

“I was so consumed in the moment that I didn’t know really what was going on,” Freidin said. “All of a sudden I’m there. You hear the buzzer, shot goes in. I didn’t know who shot it or where they shot it from. SDSU guys are running everywhere. FAU guys are sad. And I went back and I actually got the entire sequence on my phone and my camera which is cool.”

Freidin wasn’t the only person to make like Miss Frizzle and cruise on down Main Street to NRG Stadium over the weekend. As one of four host schools, along with the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and Houston Christian University, Rice sent students and athletic department staff to help the NCAA stage the event. The Rice Athletics facilities and communications teams spent the entire weekend on hand along with members of the marketing team and athletic trainers. According to Dan McGarry, Rice’s associate athletic director for facilities, event management, and capital projects, Rice Athletics sent roughly 60 employees to work the event.

“We had some people that were locker room attendants,” McGarry said. “We had some greeters and escorts which would take the teams to and from walking onto the court. My facility staff overall was here every single day last week. I think we probably put in about 85 to 90 hours last week, not including [Monday].”

Dean Miller, the associate athletic director for sports medicine and performance, said that Rice’s trainers were responsible for all medical needs outside of the court itself.

“We were taking care of all the hydration issues for everything from the media room, the bands, the teams, the locker rooms,” Miller said. “And then coordinating, making sure that there was a physician available – orthopedic, general physician and a cardiologist for games [and] practices.”

Rice’s involvement extended beyond just providing staff. The cheer team and pep band performed at the week’s festivities. The sport management department even offered a class, taught by Tom Stallings, in conjunction

with the NCAA who brought in weekly guest speakers from all four host schools.

“[The NCAA] thought it’d be really neat, because there’s so many jobs on the business side of sports … they wanted to give students at the host institutions an opportunity to learn about the business side of the Final Four,” Stallings said. “Students have been working at the media center … NRG Stadium, and at some of the community events … working at the music festival that’s been playing at Discovery Green the last four days.”

The class consisted entirely of freshmen, but upperclassmen secured roles as well.

Quincy Olivari, a Hanszen College senior who plays guard for Rice’s men’s basketball team, said when Stallings approached him about working in media coordination, he accepted.

“He said, ‘Well, we’ll put you down as long as you’re not playing,’” Olivari said.

Freidin said he knew he wanted to work the event before even learning that Rice would be involved.

“Last year, when I heard about the Final Four coming to Houston, I actually made a tweet last year in March, and I said, ‘I’m calling you right now, I’m gonna be working the men’s Final Four when it comes to Houston next year,’” Freidin said.

None of the other games provided the excitement of the first one. Late Saturday, the University of Connecticut cruised past the University of Miami 72-59, before giving the Aztecs the same treatment two nights later. An early SDSU lead was quickly erased, and UConn pulled ahead by 14 going into halftime. The Aztecs narrowed the deficit to five with as many minutes remaining, giving FAU’s players flashbacks wherever they were.

But a 7-0 run made sure the ending would be uneventful.

“To be so close to the action is amazing,” Olivari said. “Most of the time I’m watching it on TV, so to be so close and to be in this atmosphere is amazing, and it’s a very surreal moment.”

JENNIFER LIU / THRESHER

Wosika, Slinkman highlight strong weekend at Texas Relays

PAVITHR GOLI

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

This past weekend, while most Rice students watched or participated in bike relays, several Rice track and field athletes took the stage at the Texas Relays in Austin. Competing against some of the best athletes in the nation, several Owls finished top-ten in their events, highlighted by golds from junior vaulter Alexander Slinkman and junior distance runner Caitlin Wosika. Men’s head coach Jon Warren believes that, despite only sending a few athletes, the team still performed well.

“As we typically do, we took a limited number of athletes to the Texas Relays, and I thought they did quite well,” Warren said. “Overall, we were pleased with the effort and results from Texas Relays.”

On the first day of the meet, Slinkman won the B section of the men’s pole vault with a 5.51-meter jump. Slinkman’s jump matched both his indoor and outdoor pole vault personal best, which is the same height that earned him tenth place at the NCAA indoor championships. According to Warren, Slinkman won the event despite inclement weather conditions being against him.

“The jumping conditions were rough — windy with some light rain off and on — and Slinkman handled it like a pro,” Warren said.

Thursday night saw Wosika take first place in the 10,000 meters with a time of 35:57.19, while senior teammate Lina Spjut took second.

In discussing his runners, women’s head coach Jim Bevan was happy at the high level they are performing as the season progresses despite it being relatively early in the season.

“[Junior thrower] Tara [SimpsonSullivan] finished seventh in the hammer and is rounding into form as the season is progressing,” Bevan said. “[Sophomore] Savannah Simms finished just a hair off of her personal-best in the 400 hurdles in very windy conditions.”

Back on the men’s side, Junior Sam Welsh placed fifth in the discus throw this weekend after throwing it 60.82 meters, a mark that was just 0.88 below his personal outdoor best for the event. The Harvard transfer’s performance in Austin was another strong addition to his impressive outdoor season thus far, which has seen him finish first in discus at both the Victor Lopez Classic and the Kirk Baptiste Spring Break Invitational.

According to Welsh, he embraced this weekend’s opportunity to compete against the best and saw the competition as a preview of what to expect at the NCAA nationals.

“I’m happy to have another competition over 60 meters and to have a fairly consistent series of throws,” Welsh said. “I was leading the competition after the first three rounds and was hoping for a big throw in the final rounds to maintain my lead, but it was not enough to win the [competition].”

The only other Owl to finish in the top five on the weekend was senior thrower Erna Gunnarsdottir, who took fifth in the shot put to close the meet on Saturday. Rice’s 800-meter relay also took fourth on the women’s side.

Bevan was impressed with Gunnarsdottir’s performance against tough competition and the relay team’s best performance in years.

“Erna finished fifth in a loaded shot put, all those that finished ahead of her are all-Americans,” Bevan said. “Our 4x800 [relay] finished 4th with a very credible time of 8:44. This is the fastest 4x800 we have run in twenty years.”

Reflecting on these performances, Warren said he’s satisfied with the state of his team right now.

“I think we are close to where we want to be for early April,” Warren said. “We will soon be entering the prime competition time and, even though class expectations are starting to heat up as well, I expect that team to do really well.”

Up next for the Owls is the Cameron Burrell Alumni Invite at the University of Houston on April 7.

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS Alexander Slinkman attempts a pole vault during a recent meet. Slinkman took first place in his event at the Texas Relays in Austin over the weekend.

To be so close and to be in this atmosphere is amazing, and it’s a very surreal moment.

HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

Baseball drops series to FAU despite Smith shutout

“[Smith] has definitely been a bonafide ace,” Cruz said. “He’s been a guy who’s wanted the ball and wanted to be the Friday night guy since he was a freshman here. And so I told him just keep working hard and I’ll give you the opportunity. And sure enough, he has done everything we’ve asked and, and he competes.”

Smith’s gem came at the perfect time, as the Owls only managed one run on the night. Junior outfielder Connor Walsh gave the Owls the lead in the sixth inning with a solo home run over the opposite field wall, his seventh of the year. According to Cruz, Walsh’s ability to make adjustments is special.

fifth inning. Our guys kept battling … and really, there was just one inning that we couldn’t put it together. We thought we had a matchup that we could handle and we thought we had it put together, but it just did not work out.”

On Sunday, Rice’s pitching was much different than Friday’s win, with FAU putting up 14 runs against six different pitchers. The 14-4 loss overshadowed a four-hit effort by junior infielder Pierce Gallo, who leads the team with a 0.343 batting average. According to Cruz, the early deficit hamstrung the Owls on Sunday.

“On Sunday, the pitching was a little bit all over the place and the game just got out of hand early,” Cruz said. “And as much as we tried to claw back, it just wasn’t in the cards that day.”

Despite losing the series, Cruz said that the Owls are in a much better place than they were last year, after stealing a game on the road against a top-four team in the conference.

“Our team has really been extremely competitive on both sides of the field from a year ago,” Cruz said. “Defensively, we’re in a way better place right now, even though we could be better. Offensively, our team is starting to get together and be able to grind out bats and make innings last and be able to have better beginnings. So they’re starting to come together.”

Rice, standing at fifth in the conference with a 5-4 C-USA record, returns home this weekend to take on Louisiana Tech University. The Owls will look to end their seven-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.

While the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team came to Houston for the Men’s Final Four, the Rice baseball team swapped places with them for a weekend series in Boca Raton. Despite shutting out FAU in the first game, Rice dropped the next two games by a combined score of 24-11, losing the series and bringing their season record to 14-14.

On Friday, sophomore pitcher Parker Smith had a career night on the mound, pitching 8.2 shutout innings, getting pulled before the last out of the night, ending his evening one pitch away from a complete game. Smith threw 114 pitches, 81 of them strikes, en route to a career high nine strikeouts which helped him win Conference USA Pitcher of the Week. Head coach Jose Cruz Jr. praised his pitcher for the game one performance.

“The strike zone was tough that day and him being able to make adjustments and hit a clutch homer off a really good pitcher … on a tough wind day, was great,” Cruz said.

On Saturday, the Owls took the lead in the sixth inning with a two-run home run by sophomore catcher Manny Garza and a two-RBI double from senior infielder Drew Holderbach. But a fourrun surge by FAU in the very next inning put the game away. Cruz said that he liked how the team was playing up until the seventh, when the game was put out of reach.

“The second day was a little tougher,” Cruz said. “I think [sophomore pitcher J.D.] McCracken started on the [mound] very well. I thought he pitched fairly well [for] four innings and then kind of was a little bit all over the place in the

COURTESY RICE ATHLETICS

Parker Smith pitches during a recent game. Smith didn’t allow a run in Friday’s win over FAU.

DANIEL SCHRAGER SPORTS EDITOR

CARTOON

“IT’S. SPELLED. W-I-E-S-S!!!”

HONG LIN TSAI / THRESHER

Meet the New Admits of the Class of 2027

Lavinia Barker, Baker

Wrote “Life Perspectives” essays about teaching her peers about how that burger changed her life

ECs: Vigilante superhero that can see ghosts and has 400x zoom eyesight

Submitted Rice Box picture looking shocked standing in front last name with “r” crossed out

Admission Officer Comments: Whopper, Whopper, Whopper, Whopper, Junior, Double, Triple Whopper

Demonstrated Interest: $35

Kenzie Pickett, Brown

Age: 5

Reads at seventh grade level

ECs: Once found a really cool stick, can scream very loud

Only misspelled “pernicious” once in supplemental essays

Admission Officer Comments: Countywide tricycle champion; potential Beer Bike power player

Demonstrated Interest: $195 (wowie zowie)

Jacob Coyle, Will Rice

Class Rank: 498/501 (in number of bitches)

ECs: Vice President of Virginity Rocks Club, Chief Aficionado of Film Club

Interviewer noted applicant hugged them for 16 seconds

Received letter of recommendation from mommy

Demonstrated Interest: $30

Admission Officer Comment: He’ll fit in great at Rice

Tony Balderaz, Martel

Reported he was 6’ 0” in “Additional information” section

Has public Instagram account and really easy to guess password

Email address: iamsixfoot@aol.com

Dorm room vacant from 12:17 - 2:30 PM on Tuesdays

SSN: 435-12-9812

Admission Officer Comments:

Demonstrated Interest: $10

CLASSIFIEDS

TUTORS WANTED

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Brian Bishara, Lovett

Test Scores: 7, 7, 7, 6, 6 (Rice

Purity score, monthly)

All supplemental essays were written in all-caps

ECs: Flew a model rocket into the moon and the moon exploded but the rocket didn’t

Interviewer described interview as “a movie”

Admission Officer Comments: Intended

Bioengineering major AND pre-med. Take him. Demonstrated Interest: $90

Michael Gregg and Co., Wiess

SAT Score: 14,980 (aggregate)

Wrote “Why Rice” essay about Beer Bike hype witnessed among class of 2026

Collectively came up with two unique experiences for “Life Perspectives” essay

First ever group applicant to Rice University

Admission Officer Comments: Only admitted because they agreed to share one bed

Demonstrated Interest: $22

Otis the Possum, McMurtry

SAT Score: 1590

ECs: President of Debate Team, two-time TedX speaker, conducted research published in Nature with Tufts professor, founded Opossums in STEM nonprofit, runs startup recycling soda cans into semiconductors, single father of three

Admission Officer Comments: Brightest mind Rice has and probably ever will see

Demonstrated Interest: $120

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