The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

VOLUME 108, ISSUE NO. 12 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

COURTESY DYLAN GLENN

NAYELI SHAD

Off the pedestal: Willy’s statue moved as academic quad redesign progresses

MANAGING EDITOR The Founder’s Memorial statue was removed from its pedestal Nov. 8. The statue is currently in storage and will eventually sit at the corner of Lovett and Sewall Halls in the redesigned academic quad. The Board of Trustees announced in January 2022 that the statue would be relocated and the quad would be redesigned.

Images of the final design by landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz are displayed on a poster in the Sallyport and between Rayzor Hall and Sewall Hall, two of the entrances into the quad that are fenced off until April 2024 for construction.

The poster reads, “Moving forward together. Acknowledging our founding.

Celebrating our evolution and growth.”

Many elements of the final design mirror that of the first design proposed.

Both designs have a curved path lined with trees stretching from Lovett Hall to Rayzor Hall, with Willy’s statue sitting

“The quad redesign activates a large on the ground by the Welcome Center and new gathering spaces in front of and open space that was not historically inviting for Fondren Library. gathering and The seating area reflection due to in front of Fondren scale as well as will have shade, The removal of the limited shade and Wi-Fi and power Willy statue, I think it furnishings, while outlets, University recontextualizing Architect George stands for change and Founder’s Ristow said. development and a sense the Memorial statue The new design of newness that I think away from the has added a brick formal center of plaza in the center Rice needs. the space, and of the quad with Sharon Low defining an area of benches and trees, HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIOR similar prominence with the former base of the statue repositioned off the for a future major artwork celebrating Rice’s achievements since the university’s centerline of the quad and rotated.

Ristow echoed the sentiments in the founding — notably the integration of the Board of Trustees’ original statement that student body,” Ristow wrote in an email to the quad redesign is intended to reckon the Thresher.

Shifa Rahman ’22 coordinated the with the history of the university and make Down With Willy movement to protest the space more engaging.

RNASA reconnects with Indigenous community on campus the Kickapoo.

Weston Twardowski, a professor in A&E EDITOR environmental studies and theatre, said Rice currently has less than 10 Native- that the Indigenous population in Texas is identifying students on campus, according also likely to be higher than census records to Catherine Clack, the associate provost show. Faced with a long legacy of violence in the 19th and 20th for diversity, equity century, including and inclusion. abductions of Houston, however, Native children, is home to over [Now] you’re seeing a forced assimilation 80,000 people and other abuses, who identify as lot of activity among American Indian youth Indigenous leaders many Indigenous people lost their or Alaskan Native who are really trying to culture and hid and is a city with reclaim that [and] really their identities, a deeply rooted Twardowski said.

Indigenous history trying to reconnect with “A lot of and culture — these histories.

Indigenous leaders though it’s a history I’ve talked to in often forgotten Weston Twardowski the state think and rarely spoken THEATRE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROFESSOR the Indigenous about. population of the The Rice campus itself sits on the traditional state is way higher than people want to homelands of the Karankawa, say it is,” Twardowski said. “If you were Coahuiltecan, Atakpa-Ishak and Sana over in West Texas and Indigenous, it nations, and today, Texas is home to three was much safer to identify as Spanish in federally recognized tribes: the Alabama- heritage than it was to identify as Native.”

Recently, though, Twardowski said Coushatta, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and

HADLEY MEDLOCK

there has been a movement of people reconnecting with their Texas Indigenous roots. The Karankawa, a tribe often written off as extinct in Texas history classes, is one of the tribes currently working to reclaim their Native culture and heritage.

There has been a recent rise in people discovering long-lost and difficult stories of the Native heritage, he said.

“The Karankawa are probably the most prominent [tribe] in Houston … and there’s been a real resurgence in people reclaiming that identity. But by the 1830s, or certainly the 1850s, history texts will tell you they were extinct. They were gone,” Twardowski said. “Certainly some had migrated out, but some still remained throughout most of Texas. [Now] you’re seeing a lot of activity among youth Indigenous leaders who are really trying to reclaim that [and] really trying to reconnect with these histories.”

Twardowski, who first got involved in Indigenous studies

SEE RNASA PAGE 6

the presence of Willy’s Statue due to William Marsh Rice’s history as a slave owner and the segregated founding of the university. A coauthor of the Student Association resolution which called for the relocation of the Founder’s Memorial during the 2021-22 academic year, Rahman said they are glad to see the statue has finally been removed from its pedestal.

“I do see that this is progress in the way that a legacy of white supremacy [and] enslavement is being decentered,” Rahman said.

Still, Rahman said they are not completely satisfied with the movement of the statue next to the Welcome Center and that further demands by Black students should be met. Rahman mentioned the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice’s final report and the growth of the Center for African and African American Studies as examples of progress but called for the administration to do more.

SEE QUAD REDESIGN PAGE 2

Return of the Max:

Read more on page 2

GUILLIAN PAGUILA / THRESHER

2 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

THE RICE THRESHER

COURTESY NELSON BYRD WOLTZ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS The final design includes a curved path that connects the north and south colleges.

FROM FRONT PAGE

development and a sense of newness that I think Rice needs,” Low said.

Will Rice College sophomore Mary “There’s still a lot more that could Margaret Speed said she would’ve be done particularly along the lens of preferred to remove Willy’s statue from … working on reparations, working on the quad entirely. While Speed said she other measures of racial injustice that supports adding more shaded areas to the isn’t just purely symbolic. The statue was quad, she does not think anything else literally just that,” Rahman said. “At the about the design of the quad needed to be end of the day, I feel like it’s still up to the changed.

Speed further agreed that the timing administration on whether or not they prioritize Black lives and listening to those of the closure during finals has been recommendations and also to gain insight inconvenient because the quad is the about the pulse of the Black community at center of campus.

“I can understand why they wouldn’t Rice.” want it to be done Sharon Low, a during the summer Hanszen College just for the workers’ junior, said that safety … But it feels closing the quad like it would have during the school There’s still a lot more been nice if they year has made that could be done could have found it inconvenient particularly along the a way to do it in to get to class, sections, or have especially as finals lens of … working on some kind of path are approaching. reparations, working on going through,” However, she other measures of racial Speed said. said she likes injustice that isn’t just Ristow said that the efficiency the the project could new design will purely symbolic. The not have been done provide for getting statue was literally just during the summer around campus, that. because it would as well as the take five months, message behind Shifa Rahman and that the design the redesign.

RICE UNIVERSITY ’22 was not completed “I think it is very symbolic in that it sort of represents in summer 2023. Ristow said the current Rice changing … The removal of the Willy timeline is more ideal due to the duration statue, I think it stands for change and needed and being able to plant in the

QUAD REDESIGN

COURTESY DYLAN GLENN Willy’s statue was removed from its pedestal Nov. 8 and put in storage while the construction occurs.

Construction is projected to be completed in April 2024 before graduation for the current senior class.

COURTESY NELSON BYRD WOLTZ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS The Founder’s Memorial will sit on the ground in the redesigned quad at the corner of Lovett and Sewall Halls.

spring.

Additionally, Ristow said that the quad has to be completely closed because there will be active construction in all areas.

Ristow said that a path will be added to connect Fondren Library to Cannady Hall when the building is completed in January 2024.

Chiara Moretti, a Martel College freshman, said she can no longer use the quad as a shortcut to cross from the north

to the south side of campus and has had to learn new routes to get to class. Moretti said she doesn’t know what she will think of the quad for her next three years.

“Even though I’m a freshman, I got used to how the quad looked like, and it was a nice place to go hang out or just admire the views when you’re passing by,” Moretti said. “So it’s just really hard to know what to expect, if it’s going to be better or if we’re going to miss the old quad.”

Return of the Max: HBO subscription is back for on-campus students HOPE YANG

FOR THE THRESHER Rice students regained access to Max, HBO’s subscription streaming service, Nov. 8. Included in the room and board fee, Max is only available for on-campus students and graduate students living in Rice Graduate Apartments, according to David McDonald, the interim associate vice president of Housing and Dining.

Students originally had access to HBO Max through DirecTV and Philo, which the company University Video Services delivered to campus, McDonald said.

HBO Max became unavailable after a fallout between DirecTV and Philo.

“We lost HBO Max for a little while until contract negotiations could be sorted out between them,” McDonald said.

On the recommendation of University Video Services, Rice switched platforms to Streeme.

“We couldn’t be without Internet HBO Max is a great platform.”

McDonald said that it’s important [Protocol] TV,” McDonald said, “We went that students have ahead and did that access to this so that we could resource, especially keep everything coming from various up and running, and especially during Max is back. We’re always backgrounds socioeconomic COVID when we so happy that students statuses. had a lot of people have these platforms “We want to try in isolation, and and create equity we felt it was very because we know life for everybody, important to move is stressful on campus and I just think quickly.” and HBO Max is a great it’s fantastic,” McDonald said platform.

McDonald said. he is happy that Landry Wood, Max has returned David McDonald a Hanszen College for students.

INTERIM ASSOCIATE VICE movie committee “It took two [or] PRESIDENT, HOUSING AND DINING head, said that three years since we’ve had Streeme TV, but now they got Max’s wide selection of movies makes it the deal done. Max is back,” McDonald a good educational resource for college said. “We’re always so happy that students.

“This semester, [Hanszen’s movie students have these platforms because we know life is stressful on campus and committee] has been trying to screen a lot

of foreign films … and it just so happened that every single movie that we decided to show so far has been available on HBO Max,” Wood, a sophomore, said.

Will Rice College junior Catherine Nguyen said that as an off-campus student who often hosts friends, she is happy on-campus students have access to Max. “A lot of the time I have to invite my friends over to watch HBO Max on my personal account, and if you don’t have Max, you just have to rent [movies] ... and it’s like $5, so is it really worth that for a movie? I’m glad you can get around that now,” Nguyen said.

Paige Sutter, a junior from Will Rice, said that a lot of her favorite movies are on Max. “There’s a bunch of noise in college group chats [that] HBO Max is back,” Sutter said. “I’m glad that it’s coming back and is accessible to everybody for free.”

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 • 3

NEWS

Philanthropist Robert L. Moody Sr. remembered

COURTESY MOODY FOUNDATION

HADLEY MEDLOCK

A&E EDITOR

Robert L. Moody Sr., known to friends and family as ‘Bobby,’ passed away Nov. 7 at the age of 88. The cause of death was not reported.

Born and raised in Galveston, Moody was the great-grandson of William Lewis Moody, a financier and entrepreneur who established a mercantile business on the island. Moody’s projects centered around Galveston’s economy, businesses and culture — most notably the establishment of Moody Gardens.

Moody also served as chief executive officer of companies like National Western Life and American National

Insurance, as well as Moody National Bank, after serving in the U.S. Army. However, his granddaughter Elle Moody said above all, he was a family man. “ W h e n I think of Bobby, I think of his ability to balance his love of family with his love of work.

He was a captain of industry, a CEO and c h a i r m a n of multiple companies, a titan, an icon, he was also very much a family man,” Elle Moody wrote in an email to the Thresher. “He worked tirelessly, through thick and thin, for his family. He also lived his life as an example of how we should live ours — a life of balance, moderation, modesty, loyalty, focus, tenacity, discipline and love of family and love of Galveston.”

The Moody Foundation, a multibillion dollar charitable foundation, was originally established in 1942 by Moody’s grandparents William Lewis Moody Jr. and Libbie Shearn Moody.

Moody became the Foundation’s chairman in 1986 until his retirement in 2015. His philanthropic projects included the establishment of the Transitional Learning Center at Galveston after one of his sons suffered a traumatic brain injury in the ’80s.

“Following my uncle Russell’s accident … Bobby’s world was shattered

in 1980 and, instead of falling apart, he “Robert Moody was an ambitious, rose to the challenge of ensuring not visionary businessman and leader. only my uncle’s survival, but also his Rice students can likewise shape their recovery,” Elle Moody, a member of Rice’s education to match their ambitions board of trustees, said. “Bobby dropped through programs established by the everything, traveled the country and the Moody family’s generosity,” Dittmar world to look for therapies, medicines, wrote in an email to the Thresher. solutions — as they did not exist at that “These programs create tremendous, time — to help his son get back on his unrivaled opportunities to broaden their feet. The love and care he showed for perspectives and engage in meaningful Russell was determined, apparent and experiences.” all encompassing.”

The Foundation gifted $100 million Elle Moody added that the Moody to Rice in 2021 to build a new student Endowment was created due to the center and create 12 endowments accident, and the Transitional Learning supporting student opportunities, Center has reached thousands of people which Rice said is the largest single gift over 40 years of operation. in the school’s history. The donation The Foundation has also contributed established the Moody Experience, over $125 million to Rice since 1964. including the inaugural Moody X-Fest in “Rice lost a April. beloved member “Thanks to this of its community gift, every Owl with the passing of He also lived his life as will have access to Robert L. Moody, deeply enriching an example of how we a nationally extracurricular r e g a r d e d should live ours — a life experiences: b u s i n e s s m a n of balance, moderation, e x p a n d e d known for his modesty, loyalty, focus, internships, global inclusive brand travel, advanced tenacity, discipline and of leadership, STEM preparation, strong work ethic love of family and love of engagement and absolute Galveston. with the city of dedication to Houston, health bettering the Elle Moody and wellness world,” President GRANDDAUGHTER OF ROBERT L. r e s o u r c e s , Reggie DesRoches MOODY l e a d e r s h i p wrote in an email experiences to the Thresher. “The Moody family and and hands-on research and creative the foundation’s generosity and vision projects,” DesRoches wrote. will forever be visible at Rice with the “[Most] students are familiar with landmark Moody Center for the Arts and the Moody X-Fest, an incredibly fun, the Moody Center for Student Life and engaging campus-wide celebration Opportunity, which will be located in that culminated with a food and music the heart of our campus.” festival in April headlined by the rock Provost Amy Dittmar said that band GROUPLOVE,” Dittmar added. the Foundation’s contributions have According to Moody’s obituary, he funded study abroad, civic engagement, is survived by his eight children and education and research opportunities numerous grandchildren and greatfor Rice students. grandchildren.

Rice goes to the polls of a smaller election,” Zheng said. “We still got around 900 people coming out ASST. NEWS EDITOR [which] is really good.”

Poll worker David Almanzan said he Members of the Rice community lined up to vote on Election Day at the Sewall was surprised at the Sewall Hall polling Hall polling location Nov. 7. According to location turnout.

“I was working as a greeter,” presiding judge Vivian Zheng, there will also be an on-campus polling location Almanzan, a Lovett College freshman, in Sewall Hall during the mayoral runoff said. “I was talking to people, and they were saying [the line] was curving around elections Dec. 9.

“Dec. 9 is a Saturday, [and] it is during Sewall Hall. That honestly surprised me. finals week, so we know there might be I didn’t expect that many people to come out.” less students coming Almanzan out,” Zheng, a Baker further said his College senior, said.

“But hopefully if It was really great to see so poll working experience was you voted in the first many people come out to very enjoyable. election, or if you “Watching didn’t get a chance vote, especially because … to vote, you’ll want compared to the midterms, some of my classmates to come out for this or the presidential come in and runoff.” [election], it is a bit of a vote was A c c o r d i n g really nice, to Zheng, 890 smaller election. We still just to see the community members got around 900 people involvement voted at the Sewall coming out [which] is that Rice Hall location on really good. students have,” Election Day. 9.2% of Almanzan said. registered Houston Vivian Zheng Hanszen voters voted in this SEWALL HALL PRECINCT PRESIDING College junior election cycle, a JUDGE Basma Bedawi decrease from the 9.4% during the 2015 mayoral election, said she voted because she believes in youth civic engagement. according to the Houston Chronicle.

“Especially for our generation, a lot Zheng said she was pleased with voter of the people in office are a lot older and turnout at the Sewall Hall location.

“It was really great to see so many may not represent our political beliefs.” people come out to vote, especially Bedawi said.

Hanszen junior Allison He said she because … compared to the midterms, or the presidential [election], it is a bit did not vote due to other commitments on

SPRING CHENJP

WILLIAM LIU / THRESHER WILLIAM LIU / THRESHER

Election Day. “I had an interview I needed to prepare for,” He said. “I was really busy that day, and I definitely feel guilty about not voting.”

According to Zheng, new initiatives by civic engagement associations this year included increased voter registration outreach and shuttle buses to early voting locations. Civic Duty Rice is also working

toward an on-campus early voting location for the 2024 presidential elections. “[Finding a polling location] is a little complicated because it’s a space that needs to be used for the entire two weeks, but fingers crossed by next year’s presidential election in November, we’ll have an early voting location, so students don’t have to leave campus for the entire two weeks [of early voting],” Zheng said.

4 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

NEWS

IJM fashion show fundraises to stop human trafficking SA resolution provides $2,000 for SSI Pantry SPRING CHENJP

ASST. NEWS EDITOR A resolution allocating $2,000 to the Student Success Initiative’s pantry passed unanimously at the Student Association senate meeting Nov. 13.

The resolution, presented by Brown College President Jae Kim and Will Rice College President Gazi Fuad, uses the general project fund in the SA budget.

The pantry contains hygiene and non-perishable food items and is “an anonymous resource for all students, faculty, staff, and community members” experiencing food insecurity, according to the SSI website.

According to the resolution, the funds were allocated due to the growing concern of food insecurity among college students and the “limited resources and funding” of the pantry.

“One in five college students experience food insecurity,” Fuad, a senior, said. “I’ve also heard from my own constituents coming up to me [saying], ‘I wish we had our own little food pantry at Will Rice.’”

Kim, a junior, said he learned about the pantry’s monetary needs by speaking with SSI staff.

“The pantry is an amazing initiative, but they lack the financial resources to make it as successful as it can be,” Kim said. “Money from the Student Association will be a nice [and] quick solution to address the food insecurity that exists right now.”

According to Fuad, the resolution stemmed from work by the previous Will Rice and Wiess College presidents in the 2022-23 academic year to address food insecurity on campus.

“They had worked with SSI and the pantry last year to start a canned food drive within Will Rice and Wiess,” Fuad said. “But it was only mildly successful because most people who would donate are [off-campus], but then they’d have to bring the food on campus, and that’s a hassle.”

Fuad said he felt directly funding the pantry would be most beneficial by allowing SSI staff to purchase items based on the demand they saw.

Kim said the funding was designed to supplement other solutions to food insecurity at Rice.

“I know [Housing and Dining] has a lot of late-night options [and] projects they’re working on, like alternatives to meal swipes, and SSI has projects too,” Kim said. “They’re all projects that are being materialized, and [the funding] can be a supplement during that time period.”

SA President Solomon Ni said in addition to this resolution, the SA had previously implemented a meal swipe donation program.

“With Student Success Initiatives, we work closely in terms of this issue of food insecurity through a meal swipe donation program that [the SA] launched in the beginning of the fall, and that we’re hoping to do in the spring,” Ni said.

BRANDON CHEN / THRESHER

COURTESY HOLLY STAUB

JAMES CANCELARICH

FOR THE THRESHER

Eleven student models took the stage for the International Justice Mission’s Interwoven: Celebrating Resistance & Resilience to Trafficking fashion show Nov. 11 at the Rice Memorial Chapel. The models showcased garments ranging from an English trenchcoat to a scarf made in Rwanda. All proceeds were donated to the IJM field office in Ghana, according to Rice IJM president Sarah Sowell.

Sowell concluded the event with a speech urging the audience to support the end of human trafficking and modern slavery. She said that more than 50 million people are currently enslaved, more than in any recorded historical period.

“IJM at Rice is a chapter of the world’s largest anti modern slavery organization,” Sowell, a Jones College senior, said in an interview with the Thresher.

IJM is a non-governmental faithbased organization that aims to eradicate modern slavery and rehabilitate survivors. According to their website, IJM has 31 program offices in 16 countries.

Sowell said that Rice IJM exists to aid the organization’s global mission through the university’s sphere of influence.

“We do that in three ways,” Sowell said. “First, by praying for an end [to human trafficking] … The executive

team is really mobilized by our Christian the company works with 13 Ethiopian faith. Next we do advocacy. Last month, fabric makers, many of whom are single two members of our club and I went to mothers. They aim to protect these Washington D.C., and we advocated for women from human trafficking by giving a child online privacy bill. We also have them a reliable source of income and a social safety net. Staub said that they done some advocacy work in Texas.”

Finally, Sowell said Rice IJM engages are talented artisans who use traditional Ethiopian techniques to produce in fundraising.

“Our chapter supports a field office of houseware products. While GojoBet IJM that works to provide intervention and Collections does not make fashion pieces aftercare to boys who have been trafficked just yet, it is something that Staub said in the Lake Volta region of Ghana in she is looking into.

Jones College junior Daniela Najmias the fishing industry,” Sowell said. “The fishing boats have complicated nets with wore a hand-dyed Sri Lankan dress really tight knots, so little boys are the for the fashion show. She said she was best at untying these knots. There’s an grateful for the opportunity to model for estimated 1,000 boys who are trafficked a cause.

“I’ve always grown [up] around in this industry, and our chapter gives all our money towards finding textbooks fashion and art. My aunt is a fashion for them, providing medical care [and] designer, and my grandma is an artist,” Najmias said. paying their teachers.”

Although it was her first time directly While initially the fashion show aimed to highlight clothing made by being involved in an IJM event, she said she has been survivors, Sowell aware of the said she shifted chapter for some the focus toward time.

Following the larger social If I could tell Rice her experience, organizations that Najmias said she work to prevent students anything about is interested in human trafficking. human trafficking, it’s becoming more According to that it is an issue that involved in the Sowell, many future. of these groups connects to everything By hosting protect the most you care about. fundraising events vulner able Sarah Sowell like Interwoven, in certain Sowell said that c o m m u n i t i e s , RICE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE she hopes to which can be MISSION PRESIDENT inspire more a preventative students to get involved with antimeasure against human trafficking.

“The clothes we have that were trafficking advocacy.

“If I could tell Rice students anything created by survivors of trafficking come from RefuSHE, which is an organization about human trafficking, it’s that it is that provides working and educational an issue that connects to everything opportunities to those who have been you care about,” Sowell said. “Climate refugees or have been trafficked,” Sowell change makes human trafficking worse.

Gendered violence, domestic violence said.

Textile company GojoBet Collections and sexual harassment [are] all part of provided two scarves and one shirt for the a system that ultimately leads to human show. Designer Holly (Kidist) Staub said trafficking.”

RASA hosts first Rice Date Auction fundraiser RAHUL SANTHANAM

FOR THE THRESHER

The Rice African Student Association hosted the first campus-wide Rice Date Auction in the Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center Nov. 10. The event was Rice’s first date auction hosted by a campus organization, according to RASA cotreasurer and organizer Barakat Ibrahim.

Ibrahim said that RASA had previously fundraised by auctioning dates among RASA members. However, RASA decided to host an auction open to the entire Rice community this year. The event was promoted on Instagram with a Tetra giveaway for those who correctly guessed contestant names f r o m released clues.

COURTESY BARAKAT IBRAHIM

Ibrahim also said that funds raised from go up there, have a good time, make some ticket sales and bids on dates would help people laugh and have fun.”

Hanson also reacted to the crowd in fund Africayé, the club’s annual cultural making decisions and responded to their showcase in the spring semester.

One of the contestants, Jose Urquilla, said enthusiasm.

“I think they were excited to be there, and he did not expect that RASA would contact it made it a lot of fun him to participate in as a participant,” the event.

Hanson said.

“I was a little Urquilla also surprised, because I didn’t know what I was expressed an it’s something I doing. But I was like, easygoing attitude didn’t expect,” in an interview Urquilla, a Martel shoot, I’ll go up there, before the auction.

College sophomore, have a good time, make “I’m going said. “I’m excited some people laugh and in with no though, because expectations,” I feel it’s a really have fun.

Urquilla said. “At creative way to raise Cadan Hanson the end of the day, money.”

WILL RICE COLLEGE SENIOR I know it does not Many audience members, like Saathwik Saladi, said they define me or anything.”

Some audience members said even attended and bid on contestants to support their friends participating in the event. though they did not intend to bid on Saladi successfully bid $130 for a date with contestants, they enjoyed the energy Tom Punnen. While he expressed that he of bidders and contestants alike in the did not intend to bid that much money, building.

“I went there primarily to see how the Saladi said he supported the mission of auction would go down, and how people the date auction.

“I wanted to support my friend would interact,” Vy Luu, a Hanszen junior, Tom,” Saladi, a Hanszen College said.

Tinde Koroma, a Brown College junior, said. “I also went to Africayé last year … so I wanted to sophomore, said she was also shocked at the amount of money spent for contestants. help contribute to that.”

“One of [the bids] went up to $200,” Cadan Hanson, a senior from Will Rice College, said Koroma said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that he expressed his carefree and is a lot.’”

Ibrahim said she would be interested in comedic approach to the date auction in his stage entrance and hosting future auctions as a Rice tradition.

“I think it went well,” Ibrahim said. answering questions.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” “I was excited that the crowd got into it as Hanson said. “But I was like, shoot, I’ll much as they did.”

THE RICE THRESHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 • 5

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL STAFF

The academic quad redesign shows student activism works After years of student protest and the final report from the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice, construction crews have removed the Founder’s Memorial statue from its pedestal. Willy’s statue will no longer be the centerpiece of the campus’ main quad.

We certainly have our gripes with the redesign process. We worry that the construction and landscaping will go over schedule, impacting graduation — after all, Rice doesn’t have the best recent record of finishing large construction projects on time. Even if the redesign does finish by April, photographers will almost certainly face a huge crunch of graduation photoshoot requests. Good luck finding a shot without people in the background, if you get one at all.

We also understand that the solution will not please everyone. The Thresher previously reported that Rice will move Willy’s statue into a grassy area between

Sewall Hall and Lovett Hall and will create a space to provide information about William Marsh Rice, his ownership of enslaved people and his broader role in the institution of slavery. Some will disagree with the statue’s new location in

It’s refreshing to see student advocacy make a difference. We hope it continues. the quad, especially its proximity to the Welcome Center and prospective students.

Others will say the statue should never have been moved in the first place.

Still, changes were made. In 2021, the Student Association passed a resolution to remove the statue from its prominent

place. Students led years of protest and constructive conversations. Rice formed a task force that conducted groundbreaking research and produced a series of recommendations. And at the end of it all, student advocacy worked and Rice listened.

Student activism should not end here.

The Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice has recommended another suite of actions for Rice to take to untangle itself from its legacy of institutional racism. Many underserved student groups are advocating for change, too, and Rice should listen to their voices.

Rice prides itself on student governance. It’s refreshing to see student advocacy make a difference. We hope it continues.

Editor’s Note: Managing editor Nayeli Shad recused herself from this editorial due to reporting on the corresponding story in our news section.

GUEST OPINION

One Muslim graduate student’s perspective on the response to the Gaza massacre The silence is deafening, and I wonder.

As the death toll in Palestine continues to rise, the silence of college administrators, faculty and even students sends those of us watching the events unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank into near psychological isolation.

Outside of family and select friends, no one is acknowledging the desolate, tear-stricken, burdened people who are sickened by the violence foisted onto the people of Palestine. Besides the fact that Western media, governmental officials and university administrators continue to discount the scenes coming from the ground in Gaza, there is also an undercurrent of fear: If you feel for or are in any way attached to the people of Palestine, you cannot say anything.

At the doctorate level, we are afraid

of stipends being withheld, immigration status being threatened or of professional opportunities being denied. Outside of our lab spaces and offices, the threat of hate crimes is growing: the exponential uptick in complaints and bias incidents against Muslims reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the harassment of students at the University of Texas at Austin at a Palestinian Solidarity Committee event and the murder of a 6-year old PalestinianAmerican boy in Chicago.

All the while, there are mental counts running: days to when hospitals stop functioning, the count of aid trucks trickling in, the numbers of journalists, doctors, children, people,

GUEST OPINION

GUEST OPINION

Desolation does not entail peace

We have lost sight of the bigger picture in the Middle East. Intensification of violence over the preceding month has shattered the veneer of an international rules-based order, promulgating the precariousness of ascertaining global prosperity, stability and peace through sui generis multilateral frameworks devised to avert the perpetuation of such hostilities. Notably, the conflict has laid bare the alarming moral calculus precluding meaningful discourse across America’s college campuses, including our own.

On Oct. 7, Israeli authorities reported an incursion of Hamas militants into Southern Israel. The unanticipated attack led to the demise of over 1,200 people.

Editor’s Note: This guest opinion has been cut off for print. Read it online at ricethresher.org.

Adel Iqbal

SID RICHARDSON COLLEGE SENIOR

The silence is deafening, and I wonder.

We cannot say that we are proPalestine or anti-Zionist without people thinking we are antisemitic and yet, we are not antisemitic. We cannot say we will give, we will pray, we feel for the people of Palestine without someone saying, “What about the people in Israel?”

Editor’s Note: This guest opinion has been cut off for print. Read it online at ricethresher.org.

Prayag Gordy* Editor-in-Chief Riya Misra* Editor-in-Chief Nayeli Shad* Managing Editor NEWS Brandon Chen* Editor Spring Chenjp Asst. Editor Maria Morkas Asst. Editor OPINION Sammy Baek* Editor FEATURES Sarah Knowlton* Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Hadley Medlock* Editor SPORTS Pavithr Goli* Editor Diego Palos Rodriguez Asst. Editor BACKPAGE Timmy Mansfield Editor Ndidi Nwosu Editor Andrew Kim Editor COPY Jonathan Cheng Editor Annika Bhananker Editor PHOTO, VIDEO, & WEB Cali Liu Photo Editor Francesca Nemati Asst. Photo Editor Camille Kao Video Editor Ayaan Riaz Web Editor DESIGN Alice Sun Art & Design Director Chloe Chan News Siddhi Narayan Opinion Jessica Xu Features Ivana Hsyung Arts & Entertainment Kirstie Qian Sports Lauren Yu Backpage SOCIAL MEDIA Priya Armour Asst. Manager Cassidy Chhay Asst. Manager BUSINESS Edelawit Negash Business Manager Korinna Ruiz Advertisement Vanessa Chuang Distribution

Fariha Ahmad

BIOENGINEERING PH.D. STUDENT ABOUT

dead.

Pro-life after Roe: an extended invitation Editor’s Note: This story contains explicit descriptions of abortion.

Last semester at West Servery, I found my flyer, “Pro-life after Roe: Catholic Answers to FAQ’s,” vandalized. “FORCED BIRTH” was scrawled over “Pro-life” in big block letters.

I was disappointed; these flyers were meant to engage the Rice community in healthy conversation. “Pro-Life after Roe,” like all of the talks hosted by the Catholic Student Association, provided the Catholic Christian perspective on various topics and a space for healthy conversation. With these talks, I want people to dialogue with teachings founded in truth, mercy and love.

One such teaching is that every person has inherent, immutable dignity.

Human life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death. Ninetysix percent of self-selecting biologists, of which 85% identify as pro-choice, affirm that human life begins at fertilization, according to a survey conducted as part of the 2022 Supreme Court case Dobbs v.

Jackson. The Church upholds this living fetus as a human person in its mission to protect all persons — the immigrant, the elderly, the disabled, the convicted, the homeless, the trafficked, the unborn, the

* Indicates Editorial Board member

single mother: all forgotten in our “eat or be eaten” society. In contrast, the prochoice movement prioritizes the choice of the mother over the life of the fetus; the pro-life movement values both the life of mother and child.

In addition to the Church’s position on personhood, “Pro-Life After Roe” discussed questions like, what about cases when the life of the mother is threatened by pregnancy?

For legal, medical and moral purposes, the Church, the pro-life movement and the current law under Dobbs define abortion as the intentional killing of a fetus. In some medical terminology, an abortion can also refer to a miscarriage or procedure that saves the life of the mother like the removal of an ectopic pregnancy.

I find it necessary to make this distinction to prevent confusion.

Editor’s Note: This guest opinion has been cut off for print. Read it online at ricethresher.org.

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

Letters to the Editor must be received by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication and must be signed, including college and year if the writer is a Rice student. The Thresher reserves the right to edit letters for content and length and to place letters on its website.

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Claire Druffner LOVETT COLLEGE JUNIOR

ricethresher.org

6 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

THE RICE THRESHER

‘A force of nature’: Elaine Howard Ecklund makes her mark MURTAZA KAZMI

THRESHER STAFF

Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, director of the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, sociology professor — Elaine Howard Ecklund has many titles to her name.

However, she said being this year’s president of the Religious Research Association — a position to which she was recently elected — is among the most meaningful.

“This is one of my favorite professional accomplishments of those I’ve been privileged enough to have,” Ecklund said. “This was a rare opportunity where my goals match the organization’s goals and so I felt like it was a really good fit.”

According to the organization’s website, the RRA is a representative of academic and religious professionals working at the intersection of research and practical religious activities. The organization, formally founded in 1951, holds annual meetings where members may encourage and communicate research about religion to any interested parties.

Ecklund said she recently concluded leading one of the two annual meetings she will oversee as president where she helped develop new approaches to transmit research FROM FRONT PAGE

RNASA

during his doctoral program, recently put together a task force at Rice exploring the possibility of an Indigenous Studies minor, as well as opportunities for more research work in these areas. He also said the task force will host an inaugural symposium centered around Indigenous research and studies in the spring semester.

Despite this renewed momentum surrounding sharing Native histories and culture within Texas, Rice has not had a Native American student association since 2015.

Isabella Bourtin and Elisabeth Millington, co-presidents of the newly revived Rice Native American Student Association, decided that they wanted to change this and began the process of reviving the organization. “[Millington] and I [became] really good friends last year … and then one day we found out we’re both Native American,” Bourtin, a McMurtry College sophomore, said. “So we banded together and this summer worked on getting it reactivated [by] emailing people that work with the Office of Multicultural Affairs.”

Millington, a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma, said she grew up surrounded

by Indigenous culture, but found that Rice lacked opportunities for Native American students to get involved on campus. This spurred her interest in becoming a copresident of RNASA. “While I was in high school and middle school, I was really involved with the

conclusions to religious leaders.

“We put on a specialized track for them to talk about faith and religious discrimination in the workplace, racism and religion, religion and science and scientific understanding topics that we thought would benefit these leaders,” Ecklund said. “We got a really incredible response.”

Ecklund’s impact has not been seen just through her work with the RRA. Daanesh Jamal, who took Ecklund’s SOCI 314: Science at Risk in Spring 2022, said that Ecklund served as a model for how professors should teach.

“When I imagine what a sociology professor ought to be like, I feel [Ecklund] is a good model for that,” Jamal, a Will Rice College senior, said. “She’s very good at breaking down complicated topics in a more digestible way and often wrapping them up in an anecdote that makes those facts memorable.”

Ecklund also said that another goal she has is to increase exposure and distribution for the RRA’s research journal, “Review of Religious Research.” “[The journal] is led by Patricia Snell Herzog, who was actually a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University years ago,” Ecklund said. “We’re excited about expanding the

reach of the journal and making it much more accessible.”

Jamal said Ecklund would educate in nontraditional ways. Her willingness to include personal anecdotes displayed a courage that reinforced coursework as content that has roots in real-world situations.

“I appreciated her humanity. She wasn’t afraid to tell a story or an anecdote or something that might be considered not highbrow enough for a prestigious university,” Jamal said. “I appreciated that because it’s just not something in a textbook, it’s something that we can actually use in our lives to live it in a better way.”

Ecklund’s colleagues have also corroborated the new RRA president’s track record.

Jim Elliott, the chair of Rice’s Sociology Department, said that Ecklund has made her mark.

“Everyone in Sociology is beyond impressed with Elaine on an ongoing basis,” Elliot wrote in an email to the Thresher.

“In addition to her incredible scholarly accomplishments, which are numerous and still ascendant, she has been a real

leader in developing our new Ph.D. program, mentoring junior faculty and contributing to the overall life and mission of our collective.”

Elliott said that Ecklund’s demeanor and poise has been instrumental to the development of Rice’s sociology department.

“We would not be where we are today without her wisdom, hard work and unwavering commitment to others,” Elliott said. “We are very proud to call her a sociologist and to see all that she is able to do in that role here, nationally and abroad. She’s a true force of nature.”

Indigenous programs at my school. In Oklahoma there are a lot of Native American and Indigenous people, so I was used to having that community there,” Millington, also a McMurtry sophomore, said. “I had originally wanted to minor in Indigenous Studies when I was coming to college, but Rice unfortunately does not have [an Indigenous Studies program]. I was looking into joining an affinity group or a student association for Native American students at Rice, and I realized there really were none.”

Aj Jacobs, the RNASA secretary, echoed this sentiment. Originally from a small town in North Carolina, Jacobs is a member of the Lumbee Tribe, which is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River.

“I’m from a very homogenous community and have always been around so many Native people and Indigenous people my whole life. Coming here and knowing one other Indigenous student, that was interesting,” Jacobs, a Duncan College sophomore, said. “Over winter break, Weston Twardowski reached out because he wanted to start working on creating an Indigenous Studies minor, so through that group I met some other Indigenous people as well.”

Shortly after this, Jacobs said he heard Bourtin and Millington were reviving RNASA, and he attended the first meeting.

He said one of his biggest reasons for joining the organization was simply to spread knowledge about Indigenous culture and community — something he thinks the Rice community currently lacks.

“There was a time my freshman year [Orientation] Week [that] I remember I told

this one person I was Indigenous, and they literally asked me, ‘Oh, do you live in an igloo?’” Jacobs said. “I was like, ‘I guess you’ve never been around an Indigenous person before.’ So for that purpose alone, just for information and people educating themselves, I think [RNASA] is a fantastic thing.”

RNASA also started a partnership with the American Indian Center of Houston.

The organizations recently co-hosted an event on the importance of Indigenous voting with AICF and plan to collaborate on more projects in the future. Bourtin, a member of the Alabama Cherokee and Creek tribes, said she had been in contact with AICH before RNASA’s founding.

“I reached out to them a while ago just trying to get involved in their program around Houston. When [Millington] and I got this club up and running, I reached out to them and said, ‘Hey, would you guys be interested in partnering with us for events?’” Bourtin said. “In two weeks we have a cultural festival coming up in the Grand Hall that we’re hosting with them [and] they’ll send us recipes because we have the Pangea Potluck coming up next week.”

Millington and Bourtin said one of their difficulties has just been getting people to join the club. Bourtin said they want to encourage more Native students to join, as well as non-Native students interested in learning about Native culture.

“I feel like there’s a lot of stigma on campus around people who are not a part of a cultural identity feeling like they can’t get involved in that culture because of the

fear of appropriating it,” Bourtin said.

“That’s something I think has been a huge obstacle. We’re all about inclusivity and opening it up to everyone who is curious about learning.”

As for the future of the organization, one thing Bourtin, Millington and Jacobs all hope for is stability. Each said they want to be able to source more members for the club, Native or not, as well as provide the structure for a long-lasting organization.

“I just hope that we can get a large group of people who are actually interested in and committed to the cause of keeping [RNASA] active on campus,” Bourtin said. “I want to get a solid base of people that will keep it running even after we’re gone and then after they’re gone. My goal is for it to be stable instead of up-and-down or fizzling out.”

Millington and Bourtin said they also hope to help others become more comfortable with and involved in their own Indigenous identities.

“I want people to know that even if you’re Indigenous but not in a federally recognized tribe, that doesn’t mean you’re not Indigenous,” Bourtin said. “I feel like a lot of people feel like they’re not really Indigenous … I want everyone to know that it’s not taboo.”

“When I was little I grew up in a situation where I didn’t really get to see a lot of the Indigenous side of my family, but as I got older I became a lot more involved in the Indigenous community,” Millington added.

“I think it’s really important to make sure that people don’t forget their identities and that we keep the culture alive.”

COURTESY JEFF FITLOW

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 • 7

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1 Mac alternatives 4 “The Devil Wears _____” 9 Tombstone letters 10 Furious 11 “Farewell, friend!”

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41 Scooby-Doo’s Fred wears an orange one 43 Popular subreddit where users can debate OP’s actions 44 Orbit, for one 46 They’re often seen at Rice’s football games 47 ___ CAH TOA 48 Like one in a queer platonic relationship, for short 49 Some are saturated 52 Coming up 54 Shown to a seat 56 Northern New York 58 Underwear brand 60 “___ u can’t finish a crossword :(“ 61 With 63-Across, an iconic Nintendo platform game series 62 Tofu source 63 See 61-Across 64 Palestinian nationalist coalition, abbr.

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Socials committees plan for new memories without publics AMI LI

FOR THE THRESHER Since Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman’s recent decision to cancel public parties through spring break, colleges no longer hosting publics have been left with a large sum of leftover money.

Though Gorman’s Nov. 2 decision was relatively recent, some colleges have already been making plans to use the money previously set aside for publics. Will Rice College President Gazi Fuad is currently pushing for a Will Rice-only version of Risky Business later in the spring semester, so the $4,000 originally allocated for Risky Business are being kept as part of the Socials Committee budget.

“I’m hoping to spearhead some initiatives that work towards alcohol safety at Will Rice, so that we can be able to show that

BRYAN MENDOZA / THRESHER

we’re capable to host a Will Rice-only party, even if it’s not a public party open to the whole college,” Fuad, a senior, said. “Some of these initiatives include increasing the number of trained caregivers, increasing the caregiving budget for privates that happen at Will Rice and other initiatives that are being discussed with our [Chief Justices].”

Sean McGarry, a socials head and sophomore at Jones College, described current plans to use the $4,000 set aside for Inferno to improve other Jones events.

“We’re planning on just using that preallocated amount to make our other Jones events, like FITQs and maybe a private in the spring, better and more memorable because, obviously, we can’t have the public now,” McGarry said. “We’re going to try and replicate the culture aspect that’s going to be missed by amplifying everything else.”

Yuv Sachdeva, a junior at Jones who co-advised at Will Rice during Orientation Week 2023, said he’s seen a contrast between the amount of events Will Rice hosted compared to Jones, agreeing that the money Jones now has would be well-spent hosting more college-specific events.

“I think I’ve noticed Jones doesn’t really have a lot of opportunities where students can have subsidized access to different things around Houston, for example, going to Cidercade or going to a movie or going to Chinatown,” Sachdeva said. “We can use this money to take risks on trying new events … I think this is a really good opportunity to get more students involved.”

Maaz Zuberi, who was the socials head at Jones College last year, pointed out that running the public had itself been a way to get more students involved.

“It’s hard to replace publics as an event.

I think they’re very unique to Rice,” Zuberi, a junior, said. “It’s kind of like a project for the entire college. It’s something that everyone is able to help with, like doing all the decorations and the crafts and getting people to help. I feel like having something else in the budget that can really bring together the people at your college … would be a good use of the budget.”

It’s hard to replace publics as an event...it’s kind of like a project for the entire college.

Maaz Zuberi FORMER JONES SOCIALS HEAD

Opal Lung, a freshman at Will Rice, agreed that the money should be used for promoting college community, but had different ideas about how to do so.

“They should buy another communal TV maybe, for the New Dorm lounges or Weiner Hole [a communal space in Old Will Rice],” Lung said.

Grant Thompson, a sophomore at Duncan College, said the money would

be well-spent on improving Duncan’s communal spaces.

“Duncan doesn’t have the alumni base of a lot of other colleges, so we don’t have a lot of funding for nice amenities and workspaces, or just places where Duncan students can hang out,” Thompson said.

“A good way to spend it would be to bolster up some of the study rooms or the music rooms.”

Other colleges’ socials heads have ideas about using the money to promote intercollege culture in the same way public parties do. Katherine Jeng, a socials head at Hanszen College, said many socials committees have recently expressed interest in planning smaller and more frequent cross-college events.

“Sid and Hanszen did a casino night a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty successful … something along the lines of fostering cross-college bonding, even without publics,” Jeng, a junior, said.

However, with Gorman’s decision being so recent, these plans are far from being set in stone. McGarry said that Jones was particularly affected by the cancellation since Inferno was the next public scheduled to occur prior to the announcement.

“We spent a lot of time planning beforehand, and it was sort of demoralizing when they just told us all our work was obsolete, so we’ve sort of been on a break for the last couple of weeks,” McGarry said.

“But we’re going to start to get stuff going again soon.”

8 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

THE RICE THRESHER

Peruse the paranormal at Rice’s Archives of the Impossible

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

ROHAN PALAVALI

FOR THE THRESHER

In a world dictated by facts, seemingly everything can be explained by some scientific principle or research. Certain events, though, just can’t be explained, falling outside our conceptions of how the world works — which many call the paranormal. Records of unordinary events have been kept for centuries in the form of books, photographs, letters and government documents. Since 2014, the Woodson Research Center at Fondren Library has been gathering these accounts detailing the supernatural, placing them in a collection aptly named the Archives of the Impossible.

Jeff Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Professor in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice, is particularly fascinated by these ideas. Rather than looking at them through a purely scientific lens, he said he introduces the idea of a religious viewpoint on the subject. With his help, the Archives of the Impossible were born.

“I was approached by an astronomer

and a computer scientist by the name of Jacques Vallee in about 2014; Jacques wanted my help to place his papers in a university archive. I had written about him in my work,” Kripal said. “I thought that was actually a really good idea and so I went back to the Woodson Research Center and I asked them if we could do this. [Vallee] is a very well-known writer on the UFO phenomenon. And we have a very close connection to NASA and space exploration. One thing led to another, and we negotiated that initial gift for about four years until 2018 when Vallee donated his papers to the archive. It [was] a kind of, what I describe as a black hole effect. It was a kind of gravitas that attracted a lot of other donors.”

The items in the collection vary widely, ranging from oral histories and interviews to detailed government archives chronicling experiments done on human test subjects. Amanda Focke, the head of special collections at the Woodson Research Center, oversees the cataloging and preservation of these items. She works extensively with them, ensuring that they

Kripal explained that these documented are well-documented for safekeeping and experiences are often life-changing for use in various fields of study.

“Some of [the archives] relate to those that encounter them, and it can be topics like alien abduction. Some [are on] incredibly difficult to navigate life when no research on remote spying that was funded one takes them seriously.

“When you talk to experiencers, by by the federal government. The records that we have for that collection, that’s the which I mean people who have had Edwin C. May collection. That’s one of the these encounters or these contacts with most used ones,” Focke said. “[We] also these what some people call abduction [have] the Whitley Strieber collection. He experiences, these are not metaphors. wrote a book called ‘Communion’ where These are not hallucinations,” Kripal said. he was relaying his own experience with “These are actual physical experiences alien abduction, and when he published for people. And they are essentially that book thousands and thousands of traumatized by them because they don’t fit people wrote him letters talking about into their conception of what’s supposed to be real.” their own experiences.”

As a well-respected research institution, Oftentimes, these records are dismissed by academics and the scientific community Kripal also said Rice has influence when it comes to these for being preposterous matters.

He or unfounded. Focke believes that said these archives the archive’s provide a safe place existence shows for these records — a It matters to people that the world that place in which they this is in a university paranormal are taken seriously. archive, that it’s in a experiences “[There are] people d e s e r v e out there who have research university, that collection and researched in this it’s Rice. It really matters documentation. area and are looking “It matters to for a safe place to put to people that an elite people that this their papers, where research university is is in a university their papers will be archive, that it’s treated with respect investing in something in a research and not just as if they that is not generally talked u n ive r s i t y, were, you know, kind about. that it’s Rice. It of a joke,” Focke said. really matters to “We are a repository Jeff Kripal people that an like that. There aren’t PROFESSOR OF RELIGION elite research a lot of repositories like that around internationally. As far as a university is investing in something that robust archival repository that can provide is not generally talked about,” Kripal said. long-term preservation and access for “That authorizes people to just speak collections like this in the U.S., it’s either at about things that otherwise wouldn’t be spoken about.”

Rice or at the University of West Georgia.”

Shop around the block: local goods stores in Houston MARGO GEE

THRESHER STAFF Houston is a city bursting with creatives, many of whom are local, getting their art, crafts and food onto the scene — only if you know where to look.

If you don’t, though, the Thresher has got you covered. Here’s a list of local markets for those looking to shop small or find their next eccentric buy.

Space Montrose Hours: M–Thu 11 a.m.–9 p.m., F 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Perched on the corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy, this cozy, family-owned gift shop boasts independent goods from over 200 brands, many of which are local. There are seriously floorto-ceiling goodies in here. They have everything from ceramics to flowers and even bowties; it’s hard to leave this store empty-handed. Plus, it’s sandwiched between Agora and Common Bond. Who doesn’t like a little treat and some coffee to go with their shopping?

Personal favorite: Screen printed art by Tim Doyle Kickin’ Kombucha Hours: M–F 6:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

There is seldom a grocery store that lacks this brand of kombucha — even Brochstein stocks it. Just a 15-minute drive from campus, this kombucha store also stocks a lovely collection of

food and goods, both local and not, and is categorically hip. They also carry kombucha flavors in the store that they don’t put on wholesale, so stop here for something eccentric.

Personal favorites: Kombucha tester flights, locally grown oyster mushrooms LFM – Local Foods Market Hours: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily This chic restaurant doubles as a market that’s chock-full of food for your hungry stomach and foodie heart. The market, which opened in February 2021 to ease pandemic anxieties around food, also sports grab-and-go counters stocked with sandwiches, salads and other meals.

Local Foods Market is a lively spot for any gustatory endeavor: shopping, eating or otherwise.

Personal favorite: Any of the cheeses by Houston Dairymaids Agnes Cafe and Provisions Hours: M–F 7 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.

– 9 p.m., Sun 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Agnes is a hidden gem for great coffee, drinks and a formidable selection of accouterments for a fancy charcuterie board. Victorian drinking chocolate, artisanal cheeses and a varied selection of crackers are but a small list of the snacks available at this hip cafe.

Personal favorite: Lamb sausage stuffed flatbread, tinned octopus Ironworks Hours: M–Sat 6 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun 7 a.m.–8 p.m.

Ironworks is East Dowontown’s very own market that’s run out of shipping containers.

A new project in the century-old Cameron Iron Works building, this unique space boasts a variety of local artists, offering everything from vintage clothing to photography to craft desserts. Stop by Ironworks for a study grind, a day out and everything in between.

Personal favorites: A barbacoa torta from Segundo Coffee Lab, keychain bowl at CARGO Houston Farmers Market Hours: 6 a.m.–7:30 p.m. Daily As the oldest farmer’s market in Houston, the Houston Farmers Market has been a mecca for locally grown produce for over 80 years. Situated on 18 acres down Airline Drive, the market hosts stall after stall of produce, spices, plants and more. Many of the businesses are cash-only and speak both English and Spanish. Pop by on a weekend for the full experience, with pop-up vendors and live entertainment.

Personal favorite: Their incredibly cheap, forearm-sized carrots Asch Market Hours: M–W 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Thu-F 7

AMBER WANG / THRESHER

a.m.–8 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.– 8 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m.

With a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical production, the Asch Market occupies a colorful niche on Studewood and East 8 ½ Street. With neighboring atelier and home goods sections inside the building, the market is but a taste of the Asch Building’s offerings.

The market is absolutely bursting with goods local and international, including fresh produce and unique seasonings.

The market also offers coffee and pastries, and a new area called the Sewist’s Room aims to host intimate wine socials. Check out Asch Building for your next day off.

Personal favorites: Matcha latte with Bee2Bee honey syrup, Simit, a Turkish bread

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 • 9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Review: ‘The Marvels’ reflects the MCU’s currently untapped potential JAY COLLURA

THRESHER STAFF At this point, the Marvel discourse has become as ubiquitous as the film series itself. Since “Avengers: Endgame” was released, clickbait articles about superhero fatigue have flooded the internet.

And while this commentary is often completely hackneyed, it comes from a very legitimate place. Upon announcement, “The Marvels” felt like an obligation to longtime fans, rather than an event to look forward to.

This pressure associated with “The Marvels” is written all over it, as the film feels like an expression of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this current moment.

While the film’s concepts are strong, they’re ultimately buried under the arrogant assumption that the lore of the universe is more important than spinning a cohesive story. Rather than taking the small character steps that slowly turned into a full sprint by the end of the Infinity Saga, the MCU has resorted to making every conflict worldending and haphazardly connecting every conceivable detail.

Exposition suffocates everything in “The Marvels,” including the audience. The film follows Captain Marvel, who teams up with her biggest fan, Ms. Marvel, and her estranged niece, Monica Rambeau.

Each member of the trio uses light-based powers that become entangled, forcing them to switch physical places each time two of them use their powers at once. Each of the following sentences sets up nice ideas for a fun action flick. The relationships have room to grow and reconcile, and the conceit of the superhero-y side builds in a necessity for teamwork that, on paper, would only strengthen these relationships. However, the film does next to nothing with these concepts. The foundation is there, yet nothing is built on top of it.

Similarly, the film’s villain, Dar-Benn (whose name I had to Google), has an intriguing motivation: Her planet was ruined by Captain Marvel, so she is attempting to return life to her planet by destroying things that Captain Marvel holds dear. But again, rather than fleshing this character out, the dialogue is frequently reduced to techno-babble about alien

Public art on campus: ‘Ash and Spirits’ BASMA BEDAWI

THRESHER STAFF

Situated just outside Hanszen College is a structure that at first seems to be yet another construction site on Rice campus. As you look closer, it eventually reveals itself to be a multimedia piece of art, weaving together sight and sound.

“Ash and Spirits,” created by artist Devin Kenny, is the newest installation on campus and the most recent addition to the Moody Center for the Arts’ Platform series.

KELTON KECK / THRESHER According to Alison Weaver, executive director of the Moody Center for the Arts, the to the Thresher. “In Moody has been commissioning public art email projects since they first opened in 2017. Devin an era where music is very accessible and Kenny is the seventh artist invited by the treated disposably, needing to physically go Moody curational team to contribute to the to a location to have a listening experience Platform series — a collection of temporary offers something unique … ‘Ash and Spirits’ art installations directly pertaining to is a sculpture you can look at, but also a site that you can inhabit and interact with campus.

“We began by bringing artists to the in a variety of ways. It has written language campus to respond to the art, architecture that can be read, heard, interpreted and and research happening at Rice,” Weaver discussed, but also communicates in other said. “They come by invitation by the Moody ways just through the formal qualities of curatorial team, and they find a point of scale, color, material, location, sound and engagement: What is interesting to them, more.”

Weaver said Kenny was inspired by the what would they like to respond to visually construction he noticed around campus, through their practice?”

“Ash and Spirits” is a multimedia piece, as well as the work being done by the weaving together visual and sonic elements. Taskforce on Slavery, Segregation and Racial The work is created of a commercial Injustice. He was particularly inspired by the student interest scaffolding that surrounding the has been painted history and legacy with iridescent of the William paint and covered Marsh Rice statue in signs. Attached Art can also be a space for and wanted to use to the structure proposing new models of sound to explore is a balance bike thought and being in the those two topics. and NFC tags — a “Art can be a piece of wireless world. way to interrogate technology that things in the world shares media Devin Kenny and reflect on between two ARTIST things as they exist devices near each other — that hang down from the scaffolding, now, but also their history. Art can also be a allowing viewers to hold their phone up to space for proposing new models of thought activate a playlist. This is where the sonic and being in the world,” Kenny said. “This experience comes in. Kenny commissioned work was made specifically for the campus eight local Houston musicians — B L A C K at Rice and the community there, as well I E, Yatta, Fat Tony, Li Harris, S Rodriguez, as the larger Houston community, which Anthony Almendarez, Maria Chavez and I’m happy to say includes family, friends Megan Easley — to create the music that is and colleagues of mine. I deeply appreciate education and what educational spaces incorporated in the structure.

“The piece allowed me to gather a group can cultivate for people, in ways that are of people with strong ties to Houston to different [from] other institutions and public create something for a new setting and spaces, so making this public artwork at Rice perhaps in a new way,” Kenny wrote in an is very special.”

COURTESY DISNEY

species that are ultimately irrelevant to the story the film is trying to tell. At this point, it feels that the MCU cares exclusively about the plot, adding needlessly complex details to fuel the infinite “explained” videos you see in your YouTube recommended, instead of trying to tell a compelling story.

What makes this frustrating, however, is that buried within an immense amount of plot are good ideas. There are exciting action sequences that play nicely with the film’s premise. Some incredibly goofy set pieces capture the unhinged nature that’s common in Marvel comics, but rare in the Marvel movies. But the inconsistencies in priorities and filmmaking fidelity dim these flashes significantly. For every neat

special effect, there are two terrible ones.

For every fun sequence, there are three boring moments. This film gets points for being decidedly brisk — at one hour and 45 minutes, it’s the shortest MCU movie to date — but it fails to develop anything meaningful in that time, except for the fact that Rambeau, one of the titular Marvels, attended Rice.

It’s disappointing, but somewhat inevitable that “The Marvels” fails to capitalize on its greater aspirations. The weight of the universe is finally catching up to Disney, and it is becoming clear that whoever is in the driver’s seat lacks sufficient directions. This film feels as though it is the first victim of this aimlessness.

Review: PinkPantheress’ ‘Heaven Knows’ is enjoyable, if unsurprising “Mosquito” is the album’s next highlight.

It’s already one of the best additions to her THRESHER STAFF discography yet sounds like a track off “To When PinkPantheress released her Hell With It.” It has her signature style, once debut mixtape “To Hell With It” in October again creating a tapestry of longing, liquid 2021, few expected she would have a drum and bass and death, but it doesn’t feel Billboard top five single in the next couple stale — its catchiness is infectious.

Not all songs live up to this, though. of years. After creating her first songs on GarageBand as a teenager and releasing “Nice to Meet You” features British rapper them on SoundCloud, PinkPantheress Central Cee. While his verse is fun and flows found breakout success as a TikTok well with the track, it isn’t good enough to sensation. This first mixtape was a fantastic make any sort of substantial impact on the introduction to the voice of an exciting short track.

The album does regain its quality with new artist, inventively combining samples, 2000s style contemporary R&B and liquid “Ophelia.” Utilizing dreamy folk elements drum and bass instrumentation to create and chilled-out melodies to tell a story that bittersweet snapshots of love and longing. references Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” she Two years later, PinkPanteress is back puts her album back on track with some of with her first full-length album, “Heaven the most inventive production seen so far.

“Capable of Love” features some of Knows,” that sounds more polished than the best production ever while still including on the project as the mix of yearning and well.

The song’s rhythmic beats she’s focus on breakbeat become known for.

Top Track: ‘Capable of Love’ instrumentation and The opener of the dreamy soundscapes album, “Another Life,” is done wonderfully. finds PinkPantheress at her peak. In it, she interlaces themes The track is rife with sonic detail, and the of death, MIDI guitars and vocals from dissonant guitars that crash in immediately Nigerian R&B superstar Rema to create a after the second chorus is one of the album’s soundscape that is unmistakably hers. Any best moments.

On “Heaven Knows,” PinkPantheress reservations that fans may have had about the UK-born artist selling out with her first continues to develop her sound while record will likely be dispelled with this staying true to the stylistic and lyrical first track. It’s a blissful if deceptively dark content she’s made her name with. Her opening, which is a paradox that’s at the production is more varied than in any of her core of much of PinkPantheress’ content. previous projects and her attempts to try Yearning, loneliness, death, breakups things she’s never done before sonically are and general melancholy are at the center usually successful. On “Heaven Knows,” of her lyrics, yet her sound is consistently longing and drum and bass come together rhythmic and eclectic, as if she’s committed to create one of the best R&B albums of the year. to dancing the pain away.

ARMAN SAXENA

COURTESY 300 ENTERTAINMENT

10 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

THE RICE THRESHER

Ransom-Goelz finds his fit on and off the field DIEGO PALOS RODRIGUEZ

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

“First few game challenges? Just finding where I fit, really.”

Freshman wide receiver Landon RansomGoelz became the first true freshman Owl since 2006 to be named a starter for September’s season opener against No. 7 University of Texas at Austin in front of 98,000 people.

“I had some butterflies going,” RansomGoelz said. “First college game and playing a ranked opponent. It was definitely eyeopening.”

Despite being a true freshman, RansomGoelz has played a big role in Rice’s offense with 297 receiving yards, the fourth-most on the team. Ransom-Goelz also has the second most receiving touchdowns with three, including a go-ahead 44-yard touchdown catch in late September’s matchup against Eastern Carolina University.

In addition to sticking out on the field as a freshman, Ransom-Goelz was among the first cohort of Rice freshmen that enrolled in the spring semester prior to their first season, something that had never been done before at Rice.

“Rice wasn’t really big on [enrolling a semester early],” Ransom-Goelz said. “They never had anyone come in early before.

Then one day, [head coach Mike Bloomgren] called me and said that they were going to let in five people, so I was one of those five so that was great. I feel like that acclimated me great to coming in and playing how I’m playing right now.”

As with any college athlete, there was a big transition in the quality heading

into college football, especially with the physicality and speed at which the game moves.

“It’s been a big transition,” RansomGoelz said. “The game moves a lot faster, everyone’s moving a lot faster. You’ve got the most athletic of the athletic around you, so the difference in game speed from high school and college is just night and day.”

In addition to being just one of four incoming freshmen on the football team, he was also faced with a tougher academic environment, taking university classes at a time when he would have still been a senior in high school.

Despite being in a new environment, Ransom-Goelz was able to find his place among both his teammates and classmates.

“The people I have around me [are helping me find my fit],” Ransom-Goelz said.

“Luke McCaffrey is a great guy, integrating me with the team as another wide receiver.

On the student side, the [suitemates] I had really showed me how the culture is at Rice, especially with me getting to experience Beer Bike and things like that.”

As a resident of Will Rice College, Ransom-Goelz was able to not just learn from others around him, but also participate in many college activities, integrating himself into the community.

“I’ll definitely say that the suitemates I had, those six guys that were already there, the sophomores, they definitely got me well acclimated,” Ransom-Goelz said. “I like the residential college system, it kind of gives everybody a home, it doesn’t exclude anybody. I’ll say last semester I was very, very involved in my residential college, just going to KITQs and stuff like that.”

Being on campus a semester earlier than most also paid dividends for RansomGoelz on the football field and in the locker room.

“I feel like [enrolling early] gave me a little boost coming in how I did,” Ransom-Goelz said. “It got me into more of a schedule, being more in a routine of things; I know what to expect. When the freshmen came in, they’re swimming in deep water when they first got here, so I feel like I was acclimated well and I was able to help those freshmen that came in in the summer, and I feel like that helped us out a lot, especially as a group.”

Specifically, Ransom-Goelz’s extra semester as an Owl gave him the opportunity to learn from more experienced players and pass it on to newcomers. “[McCaffrey] has been a great guy for [film], especially early in the season, telling me what to look for, things he looks for personally,” Ransom-Goelz said. “I think I might be doing the same thing with the new freshmen that come in and even my freshman class that [hasn’t gotten to play as much].”

While finding his role in both the football team and in the larger Rice community, he

COURTESY RODOLFO GONZALEZ — RICE ATHLETICS Freshman wide receiver Landon Ransom-Goelz catches a touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback AJ Padgett in Saturday’s loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio.

maintains that he’s continuously looking for opportunities to learn and be able to take that to others in the future.

“Being a constant learner is one of the best traits you can have as a person, not even just in football, but in life,” RansomGoelz said.

Although he is still transitioning to college football and learning from others about the many nuances of the game at this level, Ransom-Goelz is a mentor back home. “[My little sister plays football] and wants to play wide receiver just like me so I give her tips and things like that, always playing catch in the front yard,” Ransom-Goelz said.

“Being that mentor that she looks up to is really encouraging for me.”

‘Rice of the North’ spoils MBB opening weekend CADAN HANSON

SENIOR WRITER

Last Friday, Rice Men’s Basketball hosted Harvard University in the second game of their season. Despite a late comeback, the Owls were unable to overcome an early 18-point deficit and lost to the “Rice of the North,” 76-89.

“All the credit goes to Harvard,” head coach Scott Pera said. “I thought they played a really good game from start to finish. They were the better team out of the gate. They were the better team down the stretch. Their players made plays when they needed them most. In every category that matters, they outplayed us.”

The Owls struggled right from the opening tip. The Crimson jumped out to an early 13-4 lead in the first three minutes of regulation. The Owls tried to chip away at their deficit but the Crimson responded with a run of their own, extending the lead to 40-22 with four minutes in the half.

The Owls struggled on both ends of the ball in the first 20 minutes of the game, especially on the offensive side. The Owls shot 36% from the field in the first half and converted only 37% of their free throws.

After the game, Pera said that his team’s shooting struggles were uncharacteristic.

“Missing free throws, it’s hard to explain that,” Pera said. “We’re really good shooters, and we’re at home but we missed free throws. How do you explain that? I don’t know, unless their minds weren’t in the right place because they were losing.

Those are things we’ve got to be better at.”

Rice’s offense was strong in the previous game when the Owls defeated St. Thomas University 101-57 in the season opener.

The Owls shot for 54% from the field, with 13 players in the points column and four scoring double digits.

The Owls started the second half against Harvard down 10, 43-33. After the under-12minute media timeout, the Owls began to chip away at the lead, led by seven points from graduate transfer Anthony Selden.

With eight minutes left, a three-pointer from senior guard Travis Evee gave Rice a two-point lead, their first of the game.

According to Selden, the Owls have the right pieces to be able to make plays like they did in their second-half comeback but had trouble sustaining the success on Friday.

“We have some of the best players in the conference and the country, one of the best big men in the country and one of the best point guards in the country,” Selden said. “I think we can turn it on whenever we want, but the problem is we have to keep it on.”

During the under-eight-minute media timeout, “safety school” chants rang through the rafters. When the teams returned to the court, Harvard quickly took the lead with a pair of baskets. Later, with the Owls down three, a quick 7-0 run by the Crimson following a pair of missed free throws extended the lead to 10, which they rode out to an 89-76 victory.

“I feel like defensive intensity wasn’t there,” Selden said. “We ran back too easy, allowed too easy of post catches, not enough ball pressure, a step late on everything. I know we’re capable of better but instead of flicking it on and off whenever we want, we need to keep it on the whole game.”

Offensively, sophomore guard Mekhi Mason led the Owls with 20 points, with Selden contributing 18 in his second

game as a Rice Owl. Defensively, the Owls struggled to stop the Crimson, allowing them to shoot over 50% from the field.

Overall, Pera expressed his frustration with the performance.

“We got punched in the mouth out of the gate,” Pera said. “Our guys did not show up. And if you don’t show up, it’s hard to win. Defensively, we have a hard time guarding guys in space. At the end of the day they out-rebounded us, they had more assists than us, they shot better from the floor, they shot better from the foul line.”

Looking ahead, the Owls begin a four-

EDITORIAL CARTOON

game road stretch with, arguably, their most difficult matchup of the non-conference schedule as they face No. 19 University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Despite the rough showing, Selden believes that the team is on the verge of something great.

“I think this team could be really, really good once we lock in and figure it out,” Selden said. “It’s gonna take all of us, from the coaching staff all the way to the managers. I think that once we all figure that out, once you get cohesion within the team, we’re going to be really, really unstoppable.”

“Owl-American”

HONG LIN TSAI / THRESHER

“We really should learn how to play defense.”

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023 • 11

SPORTS

COLUMN

Offensive woes interfering with Rice’s quest for bowl status After falling to 4-6 following an ugly 34-14 loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio on Saturday, Rice Football finds itself in a tough situation. The Owls must win their remaining two games in order to qualify for a bowl game. But after a shaky few weeks, there are real doubts about the capabilities of Rice, specifically on offense.

Rice has lost three consecutive games, earning an ESPN Football Power Index of -4.9, which indicates that they are a slightly below-average team.

ESPN Analytics still gives Rice a fairly generous 40.7% chance of winning out and qualifying for a bowl game.

Success over the next two weeks is possible, especially as Rice prepares for two teams with worse records than them. However, it’s not going to be easy. The program needs to improve in the back half of November in order to qualify for their second bowl game in as many years.

The Owls run a pro-style offense, something that head coach Mike Bloomgren installed following his arrival. As the name suggests, this playing style mimics a traditional NFL approach rather than the typical highflying shootout style of play in college football. In a pro-style offense, teams are expected to deploy a balance of run and pass plays, control the time of possession and win battles at the line of scrimmage.

But “balanced” is the last word an observer would use to describe the Rice offense. In fact, the Owls have passed on 61.3% of plays, sixth-highest among 133 FBS teams. It’s also the secondhighest mark in the conference behind last-place Temple University. Even with a rare talent like graduate quarterback JT Daniels under center, running the ball is imperative, especially considering how well running backs Juma Otoviano and Dean Connors have

played recently.

Another indicator of a team relying too heavily on the pass: The Owls are averaging a 27:24 time of possession over their last three games, which is the 27th-lowest mark in FBS during that span. This can be corrected by running the ball more, something the Owls need to do after totaling three interceptions over their last two home games.

The offensive line remains a letdown. While not something that can be fixed through one week of practice, the bottom line is that a pro-style approach requires offensive linemen to win battles against defenders. Rice has the ninth-worst pass block and 15thworst run block grade in FBS, according to Pro Football Focus.

Re-tooling the offensive plan will be key for Rice going forward; they need to get the running game more involved, especially early in drives. Changes don’t have to be drastic — Rice can keep bits and pieces without dismantling the entire system, and there’s admittedly only so much you can do with a below-average offensive line — but if Bloomgren can find ways to improve his offense amidst widespread struggles, it might save the Owls’ season.

Despite the offense’s flaws, Rice’s biggest liability is special teams.

Redshirt junior kicker Tim Horn is just 5-for-9 on field goals, the 13th-lowest among the 140 FBS kickers with a minimum of five attempts. Meanwhile, senior punter Conor Hunt is averaging just 35.6 net yards per punt (16thworst among 154 FBS punters) and has launched seven punts out of bounds (15th-worst). Special teams woes are costing the Owls key field position.

The unit reached an all-time low in the loss to the University of Connecticut when Horn missed a 29-yard field goal and Hunt had punts of 23 and 26 yards.

After that game, Bloomgren floated the

idea of personnel changes on special teams. It was the perfect time for it, fresh off a historically poor performance with a bye week on deck. Yet, Bloomgren opted not to make a change.

One saving grace for Rice has been their defense, specifically the secondary. Redshirt junior cornerback Tre’Shon Devones leads the unit with a 77.3 PFF coverage grade, adding one interception and eight pass breakups while surrendering just one touchdown.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman safety Tyson Flowers has developed into an equally talented ballhawk, holding opposing quarterbacks to a 53.3 percent completion rate when targeted. His best game came against Southern Methodist University when he notched three pass breakups in the first quarter.

To its credit, the offense has found sporadic success. Daniels’ leadership and pocket presence are unrivaled in program history. Meanwhile, junior wide receiver Luke McCaffrey continues to help his NFL draft stock with a

big season. Through 10 contests, he has 51 catches for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns, seventh-most in FBS. His 79.9 PFF receiving grade ranks 43rd among 819 FBS receivers.

The bottom line, however, is that Rice needs to play better. Fans know it, players understand it and Bloomgren has admitted it. This team can’t afford to lose another game in November, but time is running out on their opportunity to right the ship. All eyes will be on the Owls when they travel to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte next Saturday.

Andersen Pickard THRESHER STAFF

ASHLEY ZHANG / THRESHER

Rice WBB outrace Wildcats, lose to Horned Frogs over weekend KATHLEEN ORTIZ

THRESHER STAFF

Rice Women’s Basketball is now 2-1 following two road games this past week against Abilene Christian University and Texas Christian University. The Owls defeated ACU 69-58 Thursday evening in a game where the Owls maintained the lead over the Wildcats for the entire 40 minutes of the game. However, the Owls’ early undefeated start to the season ended on Sunday when they were

defeated 67-42 by TCU. The loss to the Horned Frogs also broke the Owls’ 13game win streak against non-conference opponents, which dated back to the 202122 season.

Despite a strong start in the first quarter of their game against ACU, the Wildcats cut the lead to just two in the second quarter after a 7-0 run. The Owls built up their lead throughout the second half, but again let up a Wildcat run that pulled them back to within five points. According to head coach Lindsay Edmonds, the team kept their composure and fought back against the ensuing ACU runs.

“I thought our players came in here and showed toughness and showed togetherness,” Edmonds said.

The Owls held off the Wildcats in the last few minutes of the game and

KATHLEEN ORTIZ / THRESHER Fifth year senior guard Destiny Jackson drives in the Owls’ season-opener against Houston Christian University. The Owls went 1-1 this weekend to move their record to 2-1 on the season.

pulled away for an 11 point victory and on the road and coming into someone bringing the program up to 4-0 against else’s arena and getting a road win is ACU all-time. Edmonds attributed the win really, really tough.”

While the Owls exhibited another to the team’s belief in each other.

“There were a lot of people here pulling strong first quarter, only finishing one against us, but all it took was the 15 that we point behind the Horned Frogs, the gap have and my staff to believe in one another increased to 17 points by the end of the and come out here and play hard, play first half, a deficit that they were not able tough and play together for 40 minutes,” to overcome for the rest of the game.

The team made 25.4% of their shots Edmonds said. “We got a great road win from the floor here because of it.” against TCU and Leading the just 14.3% from Owls in points three-point range. against ACU were Leading the team junior forward There were a lot of people in points was Malia Fisher and here pulling against us, but again with sophomore guard all it took was the 15 that we Ennis 11 points, three Dominique Ennis rebounds and with 13 points each have and my staff to believe one assist. After and sophomore in one another and come a first quarter guard Jazzy Owens- out here and play hard, play ending with Rice Barnett with 12 tough and play together for trailing by one, points. Overall, the TCU pulled away Owls made 46% of 40 minutes. We got a great in the second with their shots from the road win here because of it. the score being 35floor and 30% from Lindsay Edmonds 18 at the half. The three-point range.

Owls fought to Following the WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH close the gap, but ACU game, Rice went to play another road game on Nov. TCU finished the third quarter ahead by 18 12 in Fort Worth against TCU. Last season points and then ended the game ahead by the Owls beat TCU 68-58 during their 25 points.

The loss to TCU was the team’s first historic 9-0 preseason. However, they lost the chance of having another undefeated game against a Power 5 school. The Owls’ preseason after a 67-42 loss to TCU on next game Thursday, Nov. 16 will be another opportunity to get a Power 5 win Sunday.

“Winning on the road is hard,” said when they host the Georgia Institute of Edmonds of their first road game. “Coming Technology.

12 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

BACKPAGE

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