The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Peggy Whitson breaks the glass ceiling, lands among the stars

NOAH BERZ SENIOR WRITER

Peggy Whitson has spent more time in space than any other American. She was the first female, nonmilitary Chief of the Astronaut Office for NASA and the first woman commander of the International Space Station, but despite all her success, Whitson denies any claims of special talent or giftedness. Above all else, she said, hard work and perseverance brought her to the top.

‘Off the beaten track’ Commencement speakers through the years

‘Off the beaten track’ Commencement speakers through the years

RIYA MISRA & KRISTAL HANSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & THRESHER STAFF

A former American president, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureates and the founder of Khan Academy. All may share similar traits or levels of fame, but there’s another, quieter, common ground: They’ve all spoken at Rice’s commencement.

“I’ve always felt like it was important to be the best at my job,” Whitson, a Rice distinguished alumna, said. “I worked with a bunch of people who are wicked smart … but I would say work ethic was my secret weapon.”

This year’s commencement speaker is Rice alumna and “America’s most experienced astronaut” Peggy Whitson ’86, who has logged more days in space — 675, to be precise — than any other American astronaut. Whitson got her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rice in 1985, finishing her dissertation just in time to apply for a position at NASA.

“I wanted to be able to write on my [NASA] application that I had a Ph.D. from Rice,” Whitson told Rice Magazine in 2003.

Rice wraps up Conversations on the Middle East series, looks to fall semester

Attendance was as low as 2 people, though sessions were intended to be small, provost said

PRAYAG GORDY SENIOR EDITOR

With the final session rescheduled to Wednesday April 17, the Conversations on the Middle East series is coming to a close.

Introduced by Provost Amy Dittmar in early March, the five-part series intended to facilitate difficult conversations about the Israel-Hamas war and the larger crisis in the Middle East. Five faculty members from four different departments — political science, history, sociology and religion — led sessions presenting their insights to undergraduate and graduate students.

“At Rice, our richly diverse, international community, deeply grounded in a culture of compassion and understanding, can serve as a model for having crucial conversations,” Dittmar wrote in her announcement. “We are hosting a series of educational events where faculty members will present topics that provide background and perspectives on the current conflict and that are related to their scholarly work.”

Abdel Razzaq Takriti, the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Arab Studies and an associate professor of history, will lead the final session, “Anti-Palestinian Racism and the Politics of Scholasticide,” on April 17.

The first session, held March 21,

introduced game theoretic models of deterrence and was hosted by T. Clifton Morgan, a professor of political science. Morgan discussed the balance between a country convincing its adversaries that it will respond to an attack while showing that it will not attack if not provoked.

A week later, Nathan Citino, the chair of the history department, led a talk about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociology professor and the director of the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, ran a seminar the following week titled “Islamophobia and Antisemitism in the U.S.” Instances of Islamophobia and antisemitism have increased dramatically since Oct. 7, 2023.

In the fourth session on April 9, Matthias Henze evaluated multiple definitions of antisemitism and offered guidelines for detecting it.

After the talk, titled “What is Antisemitism?” Henze, the director of Rice’s Jewish Studies program, told the Thresher that a first step in combating antisemitism is to recognize it.

The conversations about deterrence and foreign policy each had about 15 attendees, the faculty who led them said, while “Islamophobia and Antisemitism in the U.S.” had approximately half a dozen. Two students attended Henze’s talk. Students were required to RSVP for the talks in advance, and sign-ups were limited to 25 per session.

“I was very surprised by the low

As an astronaut, she contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and earth science. From 2009 to 2012, Whitson was the SEE

It wasn’t until I graduated high school, and they picked the first female astronauts, that the dream became … a goal.

Peggy Whitson 2024 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Whitson grew up on a hog and soybean farm in a rural town near Beaconsfield, Iowa. She turned her gaze to the stars at age 9, when the Apollo 11 mission put men on the moon for the first time. Her dad flew planes for fun, and going on joy rides with him kept Whitson excited about the possibility of spaceflight, but the lack of an American female presence in space was discouraging at first. When Sally Ride and Shannon Lucid were announced as the first female and nonmilitary NASA astronauts in 1978, she realized a future in space exploration might be possible for her after all.

“It wasn’t until I graduated high school, and they picked the first female astronauts, that the dream became … a goal,” Whitson said. “That made it seem like a real possibility.”

Motivated from a young age, Whitson graduated as salutatorian from Mount Ayr Community High School in 1978, and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981 before pursuing a Ph.D. and postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry at Rice.

As she was nearing college graduation, Whitson was discouraged from pursuing a career in space by advisors who said her talents would be better put to use in medical school. One mentor even proffered a prediction that astronauts would have become obsolete by the time she reached her goals. But Whitson said her critics did little to deter her from the path she knew was right for herself. In fact, they only made her more persistent.

“It’s great to have the mentors, but it was also great to have a little bit of criticism along the way,” Whitson said. “It motivated me. I was going to prove that person wrong.”

Whitson’s Ph.D. advisor, Kathleen Matthews, was impressed with her from

FROM FRONT PAGE CONVERSATIONS

attendance,” Henze wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I understand that the other Conversations were also poorly attended. Similar events at other universities were much better attended. Traditionally, Rice students have not shown much interest in politics, at least not compared to students at other university campuses. This lack of interest is disappointing, for so many reasons.”

Dittmar said that the sessions were intended to be more intimate. The goal was to model the feel of a Rice classroom, she said, in which students could be comfortable asking questions and sharing their opinions on hot button issues. Each session ended with a question-and-answer period, which often took the conversation beyond the allotted hour.

There were many possible reasons for empty seats in the room, Dittmar said. Some are simple: the time of day and time of week of the session. Others are inherently related to Rice: one session was held two days before Beer Bike and another three days after. A few students also registered for sessions but did not attend. Broadly, Dittmar said, there were constraints when scheduling five sessions between spring break and the end of the semester.

“To me, it’s engagement because it’s offering the opportunity,” she said. “Would I rather have had five sessions and lots of people? Maybe, but that’s not where we are as a university. I wanted to offer this to the students. It’s also possible that some of these spur students to sign up for the classes next semester. There’s a lot of things that can produce engagement that might not be the people in the room.

“Obviously, two [attendees] is far from 25. Is 15 far from 25?” Dittmar added. “I don’t know.”

Citino said he was happy with the smaller group setting at his session. “That word ‘conversations’ is in the title, not ‘lecture,’” he said.

“I actually think this kind of smaller setting was probably the way to go,” Citino said. “I think it worked. Of course, the downside is you can only engage with relatively so many folks.”

Dittmar said another benefit of the restricted attendance was respectful dialogue. Many other universities have faced heated dialogue surrounding the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“From the actual discussions, or the issues, you could imagine this could have gone very differently,” Dittmar said. “And it didn’t. People were quite engaged and interested in what they were talking about … I mean, it really speaks really highly of Rice students.”

Rice’s response to the Israel-Hamas war

The Conversations on the Middle East were the latest part of Rice’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

In her announcement of the conversations, Dittmar highlighted a November panel discussion with two fellows from the Baker Institute. Later in an interview, Dittmar pointed to a series of faculty- and student-led events over the last six months.

“I think it’s added to the conversation,” Dittmar said about Rice’s administrative response. “I don’t think it was ever meant to be the whole conversation, but I think it has added to the conversation.”

The Conversations on the Middle East series came out of a faculty advisory

group the president and provost formed in December 2023. Dittmar wanted to highlight the scholarship of Rice researchers and the content from classes offered by Rice faculty to students who may not want to take a full three-credit course, she said.

According to Citino, the university also wanted to show students how to engage academically with a “really difficult issue” like the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“For students, there’s been a lot of conversation about rights, free speech, right to petition, right to assemble, right to be free from harassment and intimidation and things like that. All of those things are really important,” Citino said. “With this series of conversations, it’s also important to showcase the opportunities that students have on a university campus when dealing with an issue like Israel-Palestine … to see opportunities for understanding by engaging with different academic disciplines on campus.”

understanding, for coming to their own educated engagement,” Citino said. “To create and to foster a space where people can have intellectual pluralism … and to tend that environment is probably the most important thing that universities can do.”

If this kind of critical engagement doesn’t happen at the university, then where will it happen?

Matthias Henze

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM IN JEWISH STUDIES

Dittmar said the Conversations on the Middle East can inform Rice’s approach to contentious world events beyond the Israel-Hamas war, pointing to the upcoming 2024 presidential election that will likely see a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Series like these are part of an “ongoing commitment to developing an educated campus citizenry,” she later wrote in a follow-up statement to Thresher.

“Thinking about how we make discourse in this way a part of the overall Rice experience and part of the fuller cocurricular curriculum is an important thing for Rice to focus on,” Dittmar said. “I think it’s important for every university to focus on.”

“What can we learn from the debates that historians have had about the history of this conflict?” Citino added. “What can we learn from social sciences, from the conversations that are going on in philosophy or in the arts?”

The role of the university, Citino said, is to show students how to address difficult subjects from an academic perspective.

“I think that the job of the university is to give students tools, and I primarily mean intellectual tools, for

“My real hope in being involved with that series of talks was to get students to see this as part of their education, not extracurricular … to see those issues not as outside or alongside what students are studying, but as an integral part of their education at the university,” Citino added.

“If this kind of critical engagement doesn’t happen at the university,” Henze wrote, “then where will it happen?”

News Editor Sarah Knowlton contributed reporting.

Students comment on Ramadan dining accommodations

BELINDA ZHU & AISHA KHEMANI ASST. NEWS EDITOR & THRESHER STAFF

The Islamic holy month of Ramadan ran March 10 to April 9 this year, according to the Islamic calendar. During the month, observers fast from dawn until sundown, a period of introspection and communal prayer.

The Muslim Student Association and Housing & Dining have worked together in past years to support students as they fast through the end of the semester, including campus-wide events such as Beer Bike according to David McDonald, the interim vice president of H&D.

“H&D is committed to supporting all our students, including those observing Ramadan,” McDonald wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We’ve expanded our efforts from previous years by keeping one Servery open for dinner until [9:30] p.m. every night. We also provide breakfast and snacks during this time, so students fasting for Ramadan can eat well before dawn each day.”

MSA President Mohammad Khuroo coordinated these efforts with H&D to improve accommodations for students who fast during Ramadan.

“A lot of MSA students might have labs, club activities, classes or other commitments [that conflict with] the sun setting at around 7:30 [p.m.],” Khuroo, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “These extended hours help MSA students, and others who fast, out a lot.”

MSA also asked for pre-dawn snacks known as ‘suhoor,’ a meal Muslims fasting usually eat at dawn before their

fast begins, to be available during dinner time.

“During the extended dining hours, usually around 8 [p.m.], H&D leaves out an assortment of breakfast items like granola bars, fruit [and] breakfast tacos either for students to make their own bags or prepared bags they can use the following day,” Khuroo said.

Duncan College freshman Radhiya Bharmal said that keeping the servery open until 8:30 p.m. helped her fasting experience a lot.

“Sunset’s around 7:45 p.m., and there isn’t enough time to [get there and] get

H&D is committe to supporting all our students, including those observeing Ramadan. We’ve expanded our efforts from previous years.

David McDonald H&D INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT

food if the servery closes at 8 p.m., so extending it to 8:30 was great,” Bharmal said. “The suhoor packets they provided were also great. H&D does a great job, and did an especially good job during Ramadan. At dinner, I was never ever disappointed.”

Bharmal expressed appreciation for the wide variety of halal options available.

“For high school, I went to a boarding

school at University of North Texas,” Bharmal said. “Of the five dining halls, there wasn’t a single halal dining option. Here, I saw the insane amount of halal options that were made available. I worked for a month at West Servery with Chef Kyle, and it was a great experience. I told him I was grateful for the halal options and ever since then, it’s like he’s increased the halal options, which is amazing.”

MSA vice-president

Murtaza Kazmi said that though he appreciated being able to break his fast on campus, food quality this year was lower than last year.

“Last year, there was a whole new menu with freshly made food right at the moment we broke fast,” Kazmi, a Baker College junior said. “This year, it felt as if the food available was just leftovers from the rest of the normal dinner menu.”

not a full swipe’s worth of food.”

Zane Tannir said that he appreciated the take-home breakfast option but expressed annoyance with the swipe system.

“They gave us these beef and egg sandwiches we could take home for breakfast, which we have at 4 a.m. before we fast for the day, which was nice, but they would make us swipe for them,” Tannir, a Jones College senior, said. “It was annoying how they made us swipe for dinner then swipe again for the sandwich, when they’re really not a full meal and

Kazmi said that in the future, he hopes that there are no food shortages as was seen this year.

“Students told me about how food ran out, or there was a significant waiting period between when the food finished and the chefs brought out the next tray –which was as much as 30 minutes,” Kazmi said. “I hope H&D keeps up the good work in terms of offering these accommodations for Muslim students like myself, but making sure the food is available and the consistency is high would definitely be something we’d like to see.”

COURTESY AMEENAT ADISA Students and community members gathered for an Eid gala April 13. Rice Housing and Dining extended servery hours during Ramadan.

Rice SJP hosts protest in response to S.RES 02 tabling

Rice Students for Justice in Palestine staged a walkout and protest in response to the tabling of S.RES 02, a resolution that proposed a divestment of student funds to Israel-aligned companies, outside the Allen Center, April 12. The protest occurred during Owl Days, when prospective students were touring the campus.

“We hope that Rice can respect our academic freedoms, respect our freedom of speech and allow us to simply vote on a resolution without fearmongering the voting members, without having to block it because of frivolous claims, so we hope [this protest] builds pressure on administration,” Rice SJP organizer Matti Haacke said.

Following recommendations from the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement, S.RES 02 proposed a divestment of Student Associationdisbursed funds from Israel-aligned companies. The resolution was never voted on — it was tabled indefinitely by the Office of Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity following a discrimination complaint.

During the protest, students voiced their support for Palestinians and denounced Rice for tabling S.RES 02 and the threats of disciplinary charges for S.A. members who do not comply with the

Rice students win National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

legitimized his research in human factors psychology.

AEEO. Protesters specifically denounced President Reggie DesRoches and Richard Baker, director of the AEEO, for being “complicit in genocide.”

Chris Stipes, executive director of news and media relations, declined to comment.

A Rice University Police Department officer estimated that about 20 people attended the hour-long protest. Rice SJP organizer Kathryn Jarjoura said she deemed the protest a success, despite lower turnout than she had hoped for.

“There were a lot of people here for Owl Days,” Jarjoura, a Baker College senior, said. “I saw a lot of admin come out of the Allen Center and stand and watch or record us. A lot of people visiting [were] just standing and watching. People came out of Baker when we started and stood and watched. I think a lot of people saw and heard us, and I think that is a success.”

A number of the protesters gave speeches, including a speech from faculty member Kamala Visweswaran, a professor of anthropology. In her speech, she applauded the protesters for their activism and encouraged them to continue being

critical and informed about world issues.

“I am appalled at Rice administration interference in student governance by forcing the Student Association to table its recent divestment resolution,” Visweswaran wrote in an email to the Thresher. “The SA should be allowed to proceed with the vote with no penalties

… The pattern of bringing disciplinary charges against Rice students for exercising pro-Palestinian speech must stop.”

Rice SJP’s original Instagram post announcing the protest, and a number of the protesters present, made reference to ongoing student-administration conflicts at Pomona College and Vanderbilt University.

“We hope that this protest is a rallying cry for students to tell administration that we’re not going to stand for suppression on this campus,” Haacke, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “Obviously this is not a unique situation on Rice campus — this is happening around the country with administrations even arresting their own students.”

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

Everything fits right: Student completes campus Lego model

The National Science Foundation awarded 25 Rice students the Graduate Research Fellowship April 4. The fellowship provides three years of support over a fiveyear period in graduate studies in a STEM field, which amount to $37,000 in stipends and $16,000 to the institution that the awarded will attend for their graduate degree.

“The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is probably the largest fellowship competition for students of science in the United States,” Seiichi Matsuda, dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, said.

Students are awarded for their potential to impact their respective fields, according to Matsuda.

“The committee really is assessing the individual and the promise of contribution to society,” Matsuda said. “It’s not so much assessing the specific research plans … it’s ‘Here’s some of the things I think about. Let me show you how I think,’ rather than ‘I will do these experiments,’ so it’s a very holistic view.”

Maria Telesforo, a McMurtry College senior, said that the fellowship will allow her greater freedom in future research.

“At least in the chemistry department, when it comes to choosing labs, [your advisor doesn’t] have to pay you because you’re already getting funded externally,” Telesforo said. “So [the fellowship] gives you that freedom to get a spot in a lab that you really want, especially in a competitive field.”

LeGrand Dudley, a Sid Richardson College senior, said he felt that the fellowship further

“This fellowship means a lot to me, mostly because it is a little validating to see that my work is considered meritorious by experts in the field,” Dudley wrote in an email to the Thresher. “This is especially the case because, as far as I’m aware, not many in my field of human factors psychology receive the award … this fellowship provides direct financial support that I will use to pursue my research interests in human-automation interaction.”

Kai Hung, a Brown College senior and NSF fellowship recipient, said the fellowship allows him to take greater risks in future products and carefully consider his research.

“This fellowship means that I can … make educated, big bets about my Ph.D. research projects [and it] shields me somewhat from the fast progress of modern machine learning research, allowing me to think carefully and deeply about the most relevant problems at the intersection of mathematics and machine learning towards making positive social impact,” Hung wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Ivana Hsyung, a Will Rice College senior, said that it was difficult for her to balance writing a research proposal for the fellowship applications with her other commitments, but that she was successful because of the support she received.

“The learning curve of how to write a proposal as well as dealing with general senior classes [was difficult],” Hsyung said. “It might be a little cheesy, but I seriously couldn’t have done it without the support of my lab mentor, the graduate students in my lab, my [principal investigator] and all the alumni that helped me. I think everyone wants you to succeed, and it’s really great to be able to find your community.”

Hung said that he had applied for the fellowship without a background in research, and he would encourage other students to consider applying.

“As a first-gen, low-income student, I didn’t have anyone outside of Rice who considered pursuing a research career, let alone won the NSF,” Hung said. “In fact, I didn’t really get involved with my current research topic until the spring of my junior year … I want to let other students know that it is never too late to try getting involved.”

Editor’s Note: Ivana Hsyung is the

and Entertainment designer for the

Once upon a time, Brown College senior Andrew Linhart was a kid — a Lego kid, to be precise. He could not have foreseen how a love of Legos would lead him to a career in mechanical engineering, but he knew this much: he loved putting things together. Much like the fragments of the Lego sets built during childhood, the pieces of his life now fit together effortlessly.

When asked if he was always a Lego enthusiast or if it became a gradual interest during his youth, his eyes lit up in affirmation; Linhart and Legos have always been a thing. But there’s one day in particular that would forever transform the way he saw Legos and how much he could do with them.

yeah, I have an hour before bed, I can design.’”

“I definitely was always a Lego kid,” Linhart said. “[But] it was really going to Legoland [in] 2010 that got me into it.”

Unknowingly, Linhart’s adoration for the hobby would persist for years to come and lead him to his biggest project yet: a scale model of the Rice campus constructed entirely from Legos. The model’s official construction — from its initial designing stages to the installation of its final piece — took place from August 2023 to April 1 of this year. The first four months were reserved solely for designing, a process that required a deliberate devotion of time on his part.

“It was August through December, basically, [when] I would just design,” Linhart said. “There’d be hours where I would just be sitting in my dorm room. I would finish my homework and I’d be like ‘Oh

I would just design. There’d be hours where I would just be sitting in my dorm room. I would finish my homework and I’d be like ‘Oh yeah, I have an hour before bed, I can design.

Andrew Linhart BROWN COLLEGE SENIOR

Following that four-month period, the collaborative elements required for the project’s completion came into fruition. Linhart spoke of obtaining funding for his project, in addition to — as he put it — “galvanizing people to a cause.”

“After the four months, I started talking with the Student Association,” Linhart said. “I partnered with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and they were willing to partner with me, to help get funding through the Student Association. I got to work a lot with both of them.”

To build the project, Linhart would go on to assemble a team of 20 people, himself included. A member of multiple campus organizations, Linhart was determined to create a team that accurately reflected his varying interests — from engineering to his college to acapella.

“For building, I reached out to friends,” Linhart said. “I … sent a massive email to [ASME] to get people. I had people from my acapella group come help me build, I had my quad-mates. I recruited all these people. It was really cool seeing the amount of turnout that we got for that.”

Aside from his pre-existing interest in Legos, the idea to construct a model of his own design came to him during his days as a prospective college student. During university campus tours, Linhart paid special attention to unique projects on display — unknowingly collecting inspiration for his future model, which is now displayed in the welcome center in Sewall Hall.

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

AMELIA DAVIS / THRESHER

ANDREA PLASCENCIA THRESHER STAFF

JAMES CANCELARICH ASST. NEWS EDITOR

PRAYAG GORDY / THRESHER

Rice SJP hosted a protest across the street from the Allen Center on April 12 in response to the cancellation of S.RES 02.

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

LIVE CONCERT BY

PERFORMANCES FROM YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS

Basmati Beats • Los Búhos del Norte • Rice Lions • Rice Philharmonics • Basyk

Oh My Gogi • Wokker HTX • Dripped Birria

Raising Cane’s • Pudgy’s Cookies • Dough Cones

FOUNDER'S COURT FREE SWAG FREE FOOD FUN GAMES

Please note, bags will not be permitted at the venue.

Take time for yourself during the summer

The academic year’s close means this issue will be our last until the fall semester, which gave us some time to reflect on what our editorial for our last issue should look like.

Between NOD’s early shutdown, the Rice Memorial Center’s redesign and an alleged Student Association “power grab,” we’ve written many editorials expressing our views on pressing issues affecting our campus community.

However, as the summer approaches, we want to go in a bit of a different direction.

Some of our readers will be graduating and moving beyond Rice. Some will be studying for the MCAT, the LSAT or the GRE while simultaneously undertaking other responsibilities like research, an internship or Orientation Week advising.

This summer, set aside some time for yourself in the midst of all of your commitments. Take a break. Develop a new hobby, go on a morning hike, sit in some grass — whatever it is, just take some time for yourself.

Take a break. Develop a new hobby, go on a morning hike, sit in some grass — whatever it is, just take some time for yourself.

We’ll follow our own advice, too. In the spirit of summer, we’d like to share some of our own plans.

One of us will be exploring catacombs in Prague, visiting the Kafka Museum and being very annoying about it. Another one of us will be chugging hotel

breakfast smoothies. Some of us will be attending music festivals, singing karaoke at home in Seoul, camping out outside film festivals, perusing coffee shops, adopting cats, looking at mountains, obsessively updating our Letterboxd and — of course — drunkenly playing golf on the public course. Not that we endorse that, for what it’s worth.

Whatever suits you best, please take some time for yourself this summer — you deserve it.

Do more to make campus bird-friendly

Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion that has been submitted by a member of the Rice community. The views expressed in this opinion are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Thresher or its editorial board. All guest opinions are fact-checked to the best of our ability and edited for clarity and conciseness by Thresher editors.

April is the month of many things: Beer Bike, a solar eclipse, the last day of classes and, perhaps lesser known, Earth Month. As Rice launches a series of Earth Month events, I would like to address our potential as a campus community to be more environmentally conscious, particularly in an effort to make this campus more friendly to birds.

During each night of migration season, 100,000 to 1 million birds cross Harris County. Migration season occurs twice a year: once from March to June, and again from August to November. Houston is located near the Gulf of Mexico, along a major migratory route. The high number of trees makes Rice’s campus almost a forest-like habitat migratory stopover point for an incredibly diverse range of bird species, providing birds a place to rest along their migratory journey.

campus that have died due to window collisions. Even though birds are skilled migrators, they are still very much accustomed to flying around in a world without windows. Birds see the area on the other side of a window as an extension of their habitat. They often do not notice that a window is a solid barrier and collide with the glass in an attempt to pass through.

Is a dead bird on the ground something you want to see during your daily walks to class or Chaus runs?

Without this biodiversity, we wouldn’t have our robins, our night herons, our hummingbirds and so many other species around campus. We wouldn’t even have the owls that are our mascot. We also wouldn’t have our extensive birding community, made up of students, faculty and other community members around Houston. A massive chunk of our culture comes from birds.

Yet this diversity is, unfortunately, reflected in the birds we find around

Each migration season, I collect and record bird-window collision fatalities across campus as part of my independent research project, in collaboration with Dr. Rafael Marcondes and the Texas Audubon’s Lights Out! Program. Some days we’re lucky to get no birds, but on other days, I spend multiple hours in lab processing their tiny bodies. Our data, in collaboration with the campus Facilities and Capital Planning Department and Office of Sustainability, has allowed for the approval and funding of a pilot program beginning in the summer to place a film of collisiondeterring stickers on some windows to prevent future collisions. But the hope for a single sheet of stickers on a few window panels isn’t going to be enough.

Solutions to this shouldn’t be seen as unattainable. We already have birdfriendly window designs in some of the new buildings across campus, such as Kraft Hall, where the vertically-striped glass panels have successfully deterred collisions. However, these design standards are not consistently applied to other buildings, which is becoming an increasingly prominent problem as new buildings are built.

Progress is by no means easy. It is very disappointing to see that it will take

significant time and money to prevent future bird mortalities on campus, and that it will likely take years before birdfriendly designs for buildings are adopted as an architectural standard. When I conduct surveys for these dead birds and go on day-long cycles of collecting one dead bird after another, I often wonder if the data we get will do anything at all given that this issue isn’t something most people are aware of or care about.

Even if a singular dead bird a day might seem insignificant, it would be depressing and embarrassing if this kept occurring now that we as a campus are aware of the issue. Furthermore, ask yourself this: Is a dead bird on the ground something you want to see during your daily walks to class or Chaus runs? Do you want to see others, especially the Housing & Dining staff, who do so much for us already, responsible for picking up decomposing creatures every day during spring and fall migration season? I would assume not.

The buildings that are considered bird-window collision magnets were designed without the knowledge that they would regularly kill birds. The current administration has the power to do more to address this issue and make Rice’s campus more bird-friendly, but this change can only happen if they know about it and are willing to work with us students. As members of the Rice community, I encourage you to recognize issues like this, however minor they might seem, and bring them to light and the attention of those around you.

Kayla Yao

DUNCAN COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

day one. She saw Whitson go above and beyond the discipline and drive required of most doctoral candidates, she said.

“[Some of] the experiments that needed to be done required a 48-hour time period … so she slept in my office for two nights with an alarm and got up and did what she needed to do, and then tried to go back to sleep,” Matthews, a Stewart memorial professor emeritus of biosciences at Rice, said. “She's a very calm person, she has an easy laugh and she has an incredible ability to focus.”

In 1986, Whitson began a postdoctoral research fellowship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, but it took 10 years for her to be

It’s been fun creating puzzles for y’all :) Thanks for playing! - ____, Hoang Clean Air Act org.

Country singer and longtime “The Voice” coach Blake

Early 2000s Apple product

Stanley Cup org.

2014 Enrique Iglesias hit whose title means “Dancing”

“Veni, vidi, ____”

Rep.’s rival

Brought about

What you might say to a senior who’s anxious about the future

Cow sound

Committed romantic partnership, abbr.

Taxing ordeal?

College activist group pushing for divestment from Israel, abbr.

Cash dispenser, briefly

General ____ chicken

____ de gallo

Feature film preceder, once

The present moment

Red or Black

“____ upon a time”

Space org.

Sprinted

What you might say as you reminisce on all the fun you and your friends had this year

Entertained “Carpe diem” acronym

Queer art form practiced by Trixie Mattel and Katya, among others

In good health

Metric distances, for short “Breaking Bad” actor Giancarlo

Anti-police acronym

____-bitsy

“___ Mubarak!”

Encountered Addict’s program, for short Soak

___-mo

What you might say to your besties who are graduating Trumpeted flourishes

Tit for ___

Word-of-mouth

accepted into their astronaut program. In the meantime, she worked on several research and development projects, including a bone cell experiment executed on a 1992 joint mission between the U.S. and Japan and the ISS’s precursory Shuttle-Mir program; she served adjunct professor positions at the University of Texas and at Rice; and she held leadership roles such as deputy division chief of the medical sciences division at JSC and cochair of the U.S.-Russian space science working group.

During her eight years of involvement in U.S.-Russian space activity, Whitson spent time in Moscow working in collaboration with what is now Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities. Her work in Russia paved the path for her eventually becoming an astronaut, considering the long history of space relations between the two countries.

“The years in Russia were hard because she didn't go knowing the language, but she listened, saw how things were done in Russia, [and] I think that was very helpful to her,” Matthews said.

Whitson received a total of four rejection letters before finally being accepted to the program in 1996. By the time she had submitted her fifth and final application, she said she was an ideal candidate.

“Having all that leadership experience, showing that I worked [well] with international partners … made me more interesting to a selection board that was looking to hire astronauts to work on an

Big name in jeans

Leave out

Carpet cleaners, for short Vaping device, briefly

What a superscript in a text might point one to Extraordinary occurrences

____ mater (what Rice is about to be for the Class of ’24)

Yellow spice often used in paella Audiophile’s preferred set-up, for short

Supreme Court Justice Kagan

Prepare to skate, perhaps

Explosive initials

Poem of praise

Headline-making Rice public, abbr.

Red vegetables

Minnesota representative Ilhan

Brief deli order

Serve some juicy tea, perhaps Slushy brand

Frog relative

___-cone

Actress Aniston, familiarly KPMG competitor

Carbonated drink Stitches together

Tramp’s love

Once existed

___ Paulo

Up to the task

Chlamydia and gonorrhea, e.g.

international space station,” Whitson said. “[Those] 10 years were pivotal in me [becoming] the first female commander, the first female chief of the astronaut office, the first nonmilitary chief of the astronaut office.”

A six-month-long expedition to the ISS in 2002 was the first of Whitson’s three flights with NASA. She spent another six months on the ISS in 2008, and a nine-month-long stay at the station in 2016 marked her final trip with NASA.

Whitson and her crews were tasked with a number of responsibilities while onboard the ISS, such as infrastructure assembly, space walks and life and microgravity sciences research. Whitson took advantage of space’s unique environment to observe accelerated bone decay and cell proliferation.

“When you do experiments in space, you're using the lack of gravity to help you model or develop something,” Whitson said. “We did a lot of really cool research when I was with NASA."

klutz,” Whitson said. “We did 45 days worth of reconditioning to try and teach the little muscles how to work together [again]. Just jumping off of a step felt scary.”

Whitson was barred from state-supervised spaceflight after her third expedition due to radiation limitations, but she was determined to find another way to return to zero gravity, waving off health concerns.

“I’m not worried about it,” Whitson said. “I think [the limits] are too conservative, [and] it was particularly conservative for females.”

After retiring from NASA in 2018, she joined private space infrastructure firm Axiom Space and spent another 10 days in low-Earth orbit in May 2023. Currently, as Axiom’s director of human spaceflight, she helps engineer the space suits and stations of the future.

The path isn't always a straight line right to your goals … You have to learn along the way.

Peggy Whitson 2024 COMMENCEMENT

Several hours of resistive and cardiovascular exercise was required of each crew member in order to combat the deteriorative effects that living in space has on the human body. Whitson said that each time she came back stronger than ever, but that returning to Earth was always a big adjustment.

“Even though I could bench press my body weight when I got back, I still felt like a

“I would probably say [I have] an addiction to space,” Whitson said. “I really love the experience; I love being a part of something that feels bigger than me.”

“When I left [NASA], I had no anticipation that commercial entities would be growing so quickly, but in less than five years, I was flying on a space mission [again],” Whitson continued. “The path isn't always a straight line right to your goals … You have to learn along the way.”

Editor-in-Chief Riya Misra contributed reporting.

first woman and first civilian to serve as the Chief of the Astronaut Office.

Half a century after John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the Moon” speech at Rice Stadium, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson arrived on campus to speak at the university’s 100th commencement. With him was Alice Young ’79, Tyson’s wife, making their trip more than an homage to Rice’s relationship with space exploration, but also a “homecoming,” he noted.

“We went to the moon to explore it, but in fact we discovered Earth, for the first time,” Tyson said in his commencement speech.

“In the years since we landed on the moon, America has lost its exploratory compass," he continued. "Now is the time for the Class of 2013 to lead the nation as Rice graduates once again.”

Tyson was chosen to speak by a commencement speaker selection committee, composed of undergraduate and graduate students, an associate professor, the Hanszen College magister and the senior assistant to then-Rice president David Leebron. Committee members told the Thresher in August 2012 they were seeking a commencement speaker with humor and a vibrant stage presence.

“We were looking for someone quirky and off the beaten track, like Rice students,” committee member Alex Fernandez said at the time.’

Just a year before Tyson spoke, Rice hosted Salman Khan, founder of free educational video publisher Khan Academy, for their 99th commencement.

Shortly after Khan was announced as that year's speaker, the Thresher Editorial Board applauded the selection, deeming him a “solid choice.”

“[Khan] lacks the star power typical of a commencement speaker, yet represents many of the aspects of an ideal Rice graduate,” the editorial board wrote.

“While Khan may not be a household name right now, he certainly represents the upcoming generation of leaders.”

Khan delivered his speech on a rainy May morning in 2012. He spoke about empowerment, encouraged the graduates to “ask the naive questions” and advised them to keep their success in perspective.

“I want you to think about how you can leverage [your diploma] to increase the positivity in the world and to empower others,” Khan said in his speech. “When your ego starts feeling a little bit large, keep in mind that the sun will supernova one day. We are these small mammals on this small planet. Just have peace in the little successes.”

“[His speech was] a good reminder to help others so that our degrees are for the greater good and not just to make money,” then-student Sophie Bonifaz told the Thresher after the address.

In 2003, Rice welcomed Shannon Lucid, an astronaut and scientist who held the record for the longest-duration spaceflight by an American woman at the time. In 1978, NASA announced Lucid, alongside Sally Ride, were selected as one of the first six female astronauts. In a full-circle moment, Whitson cited Lucid’s career as a catalyst for her own entry in space exploration — and, four years after Lucid’s commencement speech, broke her record for the longest-duration spaceflight.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s 1993 speech marked Rice’s third consecutive year of hosting major political figures — then-president of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker spoke in 1992, and then-U.S. Secretary of State James Baker in 1991.

In his speech, Carter emphasized the role of students and activism, especially in a post-Cold War United States. He discussed his work with the Carter Center, the human rights organization he had founded a decade prior.

Editor's Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher. org.

Dittmar on making a difference

HUGO GERBICH PAIS SENIOR WRITER

On the top floor of the Allen Center sits Provost Amy Dittmar's office. The campus she leads is spread out below; eight school deans, the deans of undergraduate and postgraduate studies and four vice-provosts all report to her.

"One of the roles of leadership in general is to shepherd the community through good and bad," Dittmar said.

Yet, Dittmar said she is confident in the Rice community's ability to support itself. "One of the most important things we have are those relationships, that community," Dittmar said.

Prior to arriving at Rice in August of 2022, Dittmar was the acting provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. She was also the senior vice provost, overseeing a budget of over $2.5 billion and leading 19 schools and colleges. Karen Zaruba, the assistant vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs at the University of Michigan, and who worked under Dittmar, said Dittmar's appointment as provost, distinct from the title of vice provost, was an indication of her competence.

"[The title] was a reflection of her leadership ... and the amount of trust the institution had in her," Zaruba said.

Zaruba said that the University of Michigan’s size — over 65,000 students, in stark contrast to Rice’s 8,400 — could detach administrators from students. That wasn’t true for Dittmar, she said.

"She kept teaching, even though her job was more than full-time," Zaruba said. "She would try to be very student-centered in a lot of our discussions and decisionmaking. I think that's great prep for being in a place at Rice."

Even before she had completed her Ph.D., Provost Dittmar was good at

Decoding the Texas Pornhub ban

Pornhub sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block the enforcement of a state law that requires commercial websites publishing pornography “harmful to minors” online establish age verification measures and show health warnings on their webpages in 2023.

On March 7, 2024, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the portion of the law commanding the institution of age verification systems (though abandoning the requirement for health warnings because of their status as unconstitutionally compelled speech), creating H.B. 1181. In response to that decision, Pornhub has pulled out of Texas and is currently inaccessible to users in the state.

Pornhub and other adult entertainment sites are facing legal challenges after years of various misconduct allegations. Since 2020, over 2.3 million people have signed a petition to shut down Pornhub over sex trafficking and other criminal concerns.

Sarah Sowell, who is studying political science and social policy analysis, has worked for the anti-trafficking groups Allies Against Slavery and Demand Disruption. Sowell said she believed that porn’s harmful association with trafficking and child endangerment has not been confronted enough in the legislature.

“It makes me wonder how much of Pornhub's revenue is coming from children if it's so important to them that they not have [...] an arduous age verification process, [that] they'll just pull out,” Sowell, a Jones College senior, said.

Pornhub cited the “ineffective, haphazard and dangerous” Texas law for age verification as their reason for leaving Texas.

After Pornhub’s retreat, Paxton initiated legal proceedings against the owners of two other pornography websites, Chaturbate and xHamster, for alleged violations of H.B. 1181.

working with students, according to Marc Zenner, her thesis advisor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "[Dittmar] could immediately take her solid analysis, solid research and articulate and explain why it's important," he said. "She could do this to a room of 20 Ph.D.'s but also to a room of 20 freshmen. That's a unique skill that only a limited number of people have."

Before UNC Chapel Hill, Dittmar earned her bachelor degree from Indiana University, majoring in finance and business economics.

“I started actually as an English major … I loved reading, literature and poetry. Candidly, I realized I was okay at that, but others were a lot better," Dittmar said. "So I wanted to get into something that was more quantitative, and that was what made me gravitate towards economics."

When Dittmar began pursuing economics, she cited an incredibly maledominated field; however, she didn't let this environment deter her.

Editor's Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

AMELIA DAVIS THRESHER

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

COURTESY TOMMY LAVERGNE

Super Smash Bros. ultimate tournament sees smashing success

The Super Smash Bros. Club held their second annual ultimate tournament Friday, April 12. Club president Jashun Paluru said all Smash players were welcome, regardless of ability, experience or involvement in the club. The event was held in collaboration with Owls After Dark, a late-night activity series headed by the Rice Student Center, at the Rice Memorial Center’s Grand Hall.

Paluru said that the goal of the tournament was to get more people to play Smash.

“I think people have tried and played, but a lot are like, ‘I’m not that good.’”

Paluru, a Sid Richardson College sophomore, said. “We want to foster a beginner-friendly environment where people can come and feel comfortable playing Smash and hanging out.”

According to Paluru, the club usually hosts smaller tournaments every other week and tournament watch parties. He said planning for the event started before spring break.

“I’ve never planned a tournament of this scale before, so it’s super helpful having notes from last [year’s event] … It’s been super seamless,” Paluru said. “In terms of communication, [Owls After Dark] is great to work with whenever we’ve had difficulties come up or issues that we need to resolve. Other people in the club are always super willing to help out, which makes it really easy to plan.”

over 70 participants, starkly higher than the club’s usual attendance of 20 at regular club tournaments and meetings. Paluru said that the most challenging part of planning the tournament was the advertising, which included flyers and GroupMe announcements.

“My favorite part has just been seeing it come along into a fully cohesive event,” Paluru said. “[We’d have] spaces for people to hang out, eat food and mingle, so it [was] a pretty social event, atypical of Smash players.”

Participant Ashton Lee said that the tournament was run professionally and that despite his lack of skill, he enjoyed casually playing.

“I would say I’m a regular, but not good, Smash player,” Lee, a Martel College sophomore, said. “It was cool to see the games and see my friends do pretty well. I was there for the experience … and man, did I learn that Rice has some really skilled, toptier players.”

It [was] a pretty social event, atypical of Smash players.

Jashun Paluru

Justin Kim, a club board member, said that he played Super Smash Bros. in high school but wanted to get more involved in college, even going beyond Rice to play in collegiate tournaments.

SID RICHARDSON COLLEGE SOPHOMORE

“We’re just a bunch of people wanting to play video games with a weird ambition to run a big tournament.“

Movies coming your way this summer

With this being the Thresher’s last issue of the semester, our coverage of the biggest movies of the moment will be on hold for a few months. However, that doesn’t mean Hollywood will be on hiatus. This year’s summer blockbuster season promises to be a big one, with some of the most anticipated films of recent years like “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Despicable Me 4” hitting the big screen in the next few months. Here are some other films coming out this summer that you won’t want to miss.

“Challengers”

Release Date: April 26

Starring Zendaya, “God’s Own Country” star Josh O’Connor and “West Side Story” star Mike Faist, this steamy tennis drama is part romance, part thrilling sports drama and part analysis of obsession.

“The Fall Guy”

Release Date: May 3

According to Paluru, the tournament had

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher. org.

Record stores that turn the tables

Record Store Day, a celebration of independently owned record stores, happens April 20 — but knowing where to celebrate can be challenging. Whether you are just discovering records via one of the 9,000 Taylor Swift vinyl variants, are addicted to flipping through the bins or infuriated by the fact that I referred to an LP as a “vinyl” earlier in this sentence, here are some local, independent record stores you should check out.

Cactus Music

It is impossible to talk about Houston’s record scene without mentioning Cactus Music. This institution is the city’s oldest independent record store, opened in 1975, and has the closest storefront to Rice.

Located just north of campus, Cactus is a giant space filled with a wide selection of new and used records and CDs. Whether you are looking for a solid selection of new material, a place to go diving for an undiscovered classic, a brand new CD for your car or a sick piece of memorabilia — Cactus is the place to go. If you plan on going on Record Store Day, be sure to check out their social media to join their virtual queue.

Vinal Edge

Whenever you find yourself in The Heights, check out Vinal Edge. This store has a strong selection of new records, with niche sections for all sorts of genres. While it doesn’t have a wide selection of used records, it makes up for it with an excellent selection of CDs, alternativerock classics and rarities, and some cool

used audio gear if you need to upgrade your setup. Vinal Edge usually gets a wide selection of the exclusive Record Store Day albums released every year, so it’s worth checking out on Saturday — just be prepared to wait in a long line.

Sig’s Lagoon

If you decide to go out on Record Store Day, you’ll probably see me in line at Sig’s Lagoon. Located conveniently next to the Ensemble/HCC Metro stop, Sig’s perfectly encapsulates the stereotypical “record store” vibes and has a wide selection of LPs to match this atmosphere. Pretty much every genre is accounted for — the store has the best selection of brand-new albums in the city and a treasure trove of rarities to be found in its used section, located upstairs. While the CD selection is not as thorough as Cactus or Vinal Edge, the friendly service and the absolute gems that are always in stock make it my favorite Houston record store.

Sweet Spot Audio and Records

Sweet Spot is the furthest record store from the downtown Houston area on this list but is a great place to stop by if you’re ever on the way to Galveston or on a visit to NASA. Without a doubt, Sweet Spot has the strongest selection of used records in the city, with a new arrivals section that has probably, at one point, held every album you have been searching for. The space also has a small CD selection and some vintage audio gear if you are ever looking for some unique upgrades to your listening set-up. If you want to find an undiscovered classic or pick up an authentically vintage copy of your favorite album, Sweet Spot is definitely the place to check out.

Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt and the director of “Bullet Train” — what else is needed for a perfect summer blockbuster? Half romantic-comedy and half action extravaganza, “The Fall Guy” is also a love letter to one of Hollywood’s unsung heroes: the stuntman.

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”

Release Date: May 24

Nine years after “Mad Max: Fury Road” raced to six Oscar wins and grossed just under $400 million worldwide, the long-awaited spinoff centering on the origin of the fan favorite character Furiosa will finally grace the public.

“Hit Man”

Release Date: June 7

The newest from legendary filmmaker of “Boyhood,” the “Before” trilogy and “School of Rock” fame and Houston native Richard Linklater, “Hit Man” mixes the crime thriller with the black comedy to create a concoction that will likely surprise with its twists and turns.

“A Quiet Place: Day One”

Release

Starring a talented cast that includes Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Djimon Hounsou, Alex Wolff and Joseph Quinn, this prequel of “A Quiet Place” looks to answer one question: What happened on the day the world went quiet?

ARMAN SAXENA A&E

SHREYA CHALLA SENIOR WRITER

COURTESY FERNANDO TAMAMES

Seniors showcase their artistic journey in ‘Opia’

JULIANA LIGHTSEY A&E EDITOR

“Opia,” the title of this year’s visual and dramatic arts senior showcase, is defined by the artists as “the intense vulnerability of looking someone in the eye, and the beautiful discomfort of seeing yourself reflected in their gaze.” These concepts of introspection and interpersonal connection resonate powerfully across the diverse bodies of work produced by a class of 17 artists, who will open up their showcase to the Rice community on Thursday April 18.

“Opia” represents the culmination of a VADA degree at Rice. VADA majors embark on a yearlong senior seminar alongside an intensive independent curation of each student’s art with the intention of being displayed in the annual spring exhibition.

entire year,” VADA major Natalie Pellette said. “I think art classes tend to be more intimate than your typical academic classes, because you’re creating work that is based on your personal experience.”

Pellette, a Hanszen College senior, plans to display two paintings and one larger installation piece in “Opia.” According to Pellette, it’s easy to distinguish between the works of the different artists in their small class, which she attributes to the deeply individual nature of the artistic experience.

“I think our art each has its own personality,” Pellette said.

I think our art each has its own personality.

Natalie Pellette

HANSZEN COLLEGE SENIOR

“Especially over this [last] year, you bond with everyone … You’re in class together for six hours every week, for the

In addition to personality, this year’s senior class also displays a diversity of mediums. The works displayed in “Opia” range from photography and film to painting and sculpture. The art will be organized into two sections: a communal space where the different artists will each display some of their works together and a section for individual displays of each artist’s own work.

Tribute band ‘Suede Hedgehog’ talks inspirations, legacies

Last Thursday, the halls of the RMC were graced with smooth melodies and funky grooves courtesy of “Suede Hedgehog,” Rice’s very own tribute band to “Silk Sonic,” a musical duo made up of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Although the tiny desk concert only lasted about 20 minutes the atmosphere was electric, and Coffeehouse — their venue — was packed with listeners.

“The night was so much fun for me, full of love and camaraderie from everyone, and it was such a dream to see my vision and long-time love for performance actualized,” Gina Matos, the ‘Bruno Mars’ singer of the band, said. Matos, a Lovett College senior originally came up with the idea for the band: the other members joined after she reached out to the Rice Music Collective at the end of last semester to see if anyone else was interested in the idea.

Molly Kyles, the ‘Anderson .Paak’ singer for “Suede Hedgehog”, expressed a similar feeling about their performance.

lighthearted and simple, but they are musically quite complex. It definitely challenged all of our vocalists and instrumentalists to learn the songs,” Perryman said.

It’s infectious to watch people perform something that they have a passion for or love so much.

“[The] camaraderie is one of the most valuable things I will take from this experience. I hope that this show inspires people to bring people together and make their creative visions a reality,” Kyles, a Lovett College senior said.

Gina Matos LOVETT COLLEGE SENIOR

Although Kyles said that performing live for dozens of Rice students was beyond her comfort zone, she said that singing in “Suede Hedgehog” is very rewarding.

“[It’s] one of the most meaningful things I’ve] had the chance to participate in during my time at Rice,” Kyles said.

Through their practices, the band members grew more talented and confident to step into the shoes of Mars and .Paak, Ethan Perryman ’23 said.

“[Silk Sonic’s] songs may be lyrically

The band also became tightly knit over the months of rehearsal, according to Carmen Lizarraga, a Martel College sophomore, another musician in the band. She said that working with all of the members has been an honor. Many of the musicians are graduating this semester, making this both their first and last time performing for the Rice community. While “Suede Hedgehog” may not play again, its musicians hope that other students will be inspired by its example and bring their musical passions to life.

“I hope that [Silk Sonic] can help encourage more students to perform live music around campus,” Miles Gantcher, a Martel sophomore, said.

“It’s infectious to watch people perform something that they have a passion for or love so much,” Matos said. “There’s a lot of ‘secret’ artists at Rice, people who have randomly been playing an instrument or dancing or singing since they were little. All in all, I hope we’ve contributed to carving out the art scene at Rice just a little more, because I know there’s insane potential.”

Sophia Rohlfsen, a VADA major concentrating in film and photography, plans to display a variety of both 35mm film and large format (4x5) photographs in the senior showcase. According to Rohlfsen, the resources and support she received within the art major at Rice were integral to her ability to express herself in less accessible mediums. With the help of faculty and specialized classes, Rohlfsen was able to use expensive equipment such as cameras, lenses, tripods and printers to create her large format photographs.

“I was able to produce work that

BRYAN MENDOZA / THRESHER

I would probably not have had the resources to do for the rest of my life,” Rohflson, a Baker College senior, said. “It’s just insane … the support you will get if you’re really interested in something in one of these smaller majors.”

Beyond the increased access to the technology to express themselves with, seniors like Kexin Shen have also found an improved ability to engage with their cultural heritage and explore their identity through the VADA major.

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.

Headshot photographers capture senior farewells

JENNIFER LIU THRESHER STAFF

As the demand for senior photos escalates towards the end of the semester, Rice’s student photographers find themselves at the forefront of commemorating significant milestones for their peers.

“From now until April 22, I’m booked straight every day,” Kelsea Whiting, a Brown College junior said.

Whiting, who runs a portrait photography business, said she first got into photography by taking landscape photos when her dad got her a camera at fifteen.

“I moved into portraiture two months after I got my camera, just taking photos of family members to start,” said Whiting.

Now, Whiting finds herself in high demand both on and off-campus, doing one or two portrait sessions daily.

Beyond the logistical challenges of managing a packed schedule, these photographers find a sense of fulfillment in their work.

“Being able to just be creative in this format is really fun … I’m having to push myself to find new spots that I haven’t shot at before, so that not everybody’s photos end up looking the same,” Whiting said. “The street right in front of the health center that has all the trees overhanging, that’s one of my favorite spots.”

Other photographers are equally eager to share their favorite shooting locations.

Those are the moments when I remember why I do what I do: to make people smile.

Zeisha Bennett BAKER COLLEGE JUNIOR

“Around this time, when it comes to senior season, it gets really crazy,” Whiting said. “I’ve been going pretty consistently since the middle of March.” She added that she will be taking a trip back to her home state, where she also plans to shoot portrait sessions.

Other campus photographers share Whiting’s experience of having a packed schedule. Gazi Fuad, a senior at Will Rice College who does freelance photography, said he had to work photoshoots around his schedule before graduation.

“The demand is pretty high right now … especially right after Beer Bike as people start to get these things on their mind,” Fuad said. “Especially in these last few weeks … I make sure to not carve out time that I don’t have.”

Zeisha Bennett, a Baker College junior who does professional portraits, said she agrees with the need to balance her photography commitments with other responsibilities.

“I treat my contract and photo submission deadlines the same as my assignments for class,” Bennett said. “Whichever is due first gets the priority, but there are definitely times when I prioritize my clients over class things.”

“My two favorites are a person’s own residential college, just because they’re all unique and each have their own sign, and by Skyspace, especially if it’s around sunset on a sunny day because the light works really nicely,” Fuad said. These student photographers highlight the unique connections fostered during photo sessions as the thing they enjoy the most about taking photos.

“It’s a lot of fun, I get to meet a lot of new Rice people that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise,” Whiting said. “That’s probably my favorite part.”

Bennett echoed a similar sentiment.

“I love learning about the wonderful things they’re up to or the relaxing or exciting plans they have for the summer after leaving Rice,” Bennett said. “Actually most of all, I adore the luminous smile that appears when I show them photos mid-shoot … Those are the moments when I remember why I do what I do: to make people smile.”

SARAH MOTTELER THRESHER STAFF

RIYA MISRA / THRESHER

Bloomgren, players optimistic following football’s spring game

positioning his body and getting around guys. Sometimes, he’s outmatched weightwise, but he doesn’t act like it.”

Positive energy percolated throughout the Rice football program following their spring game Saturday, April 13. Perhaps no player encapsulated this energy more than senior running back Dean Connors, who opened his postgame press conference by enthusiastically playing New York Times games. Fresh off a six-carry, three-catch performance, he completed the Wordle in three attempts (the word was “STEEL”) and the Mini Crossword in 1:22.

Connors’ strong performance Saturday offered just a glimpse into a greater point of emphasis for the Owls: dominate the running game. Redshirt sophomore Quinton Jackson rushed six times for 49 yards and one touchdown on the ground, and he played a key role in the receiving game. The Texas native caught three passes for an additional 21 yards, including a touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Shawqi Itraish in the back right of the end zone that required Jackson to beat a defender. Redshirt junior Christian Francisco also demonstrated good burst, finishing the day with seven rushes for 46 yards and one touchdown. He and Jackson showcased their ability to both fight for yards at the line of scrimmage, bounce outside and break big plays.

“Jackson [was] making himself very hard to tackle even when the defender arrived at the same time at the ball,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said, adding that Jackson is currently second on the running back depth chart.

Connors echoed his coach’s praise for Jackson, placing emphasis on the running back’s ability to handle big-bodied defenders who present a size mismatch.

“He doesn’t look like he’s going to step up there and hit someone, but that dude is an elite perimeter blocker when it comes to sweeps,” Connors said. “He’s very good at

Although the running backs led the way, all eyes were on quarterback E.J. Warner, a junior transfer from Temple University and the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. If confirmed as Rice’s starter next season, Warner will take over the offense from J.T. Daniels, who medically retired prior to the Owls’ 2023 bowl game.

Outside of Itraish’s singular touchdown drive, Warner and redshirt sophomore A.J. Padgett split quarterback reps on Saturday. Notably, redshirt freshman Chase Jenkins played snaps at wide receiver but did not get involved at quarterback.

Warner and Padgett both had quiet starts to their days as Rice’s first- and second-team defenses showcased their strengths early. Warner was not asked to throw deep very often as he averaged just 5.83 yards per completion. He finished the game with 105 passing yards and one passing touchdown. Padgett showcased more mobility than Warner but was also more trigger-happy, throwing into coverage and missing deep throws early in the contest. He began completing more passes as the game went on and ultimately threw for 117 yards and two touchdowns.

Bloomgren said that the door remains open for either quarterback to win the starting job in 2024 but also suggested that Warner has the inside track, just months after transferring to Rice.

“I’m never going to be in a rush to announce anything,” Bloomgren said. “I’m glad we don’t have to decide today, but there’s certainly [been] times this spring where you felt like E.J. really had an upper hand.”

As the Owls look to replace NFL draft hopeful Luke McCaffrey in the wide receiver room, junior wide receiver Kobie Campbell

built a firm rapport with Warner, catching five passes for 46 yards and one touchdown. Redshirt sophomore Braylen Walker led the team with 78 receiving yards and one touchdown. Redshirt freshman Drayden Dickmann and graduate receiver Matt Sykes were both targeted often, and redshirt junior fullback Colin Giffen also found the end zone. Meanwhile, senior tight end Boden Groen stood out with a physical 17-yard reception against strong coverage over the middle.

Defensively, Bloomgren identified redshirt senior Josh Pearcy as a major contributor. The returning starter played with the first-team defense in the second half. On one of his first plays, he broke through the line of scrimmage to swat a Warner pass as it was released. He continued to make an impact rushing the passer and in coverage.

“He is playing off the ball as much as he’s playing on it. That’s been a good transition

for him this spring and it’s been fun watching that,” Bloomgren said. “His positional flexibility right now is really exciting.”

Another returning starter, senior cornerback Sean Fresch, made a ballhawking impact as he broke up a deep pass from Padgett early in the game. Redshirt sophomore Demone Green recorded the defense’s lone sack.

For the most part, Rice’s defensive backs kept up with their receivers stride for stride. This took away options in the passing game and held the Owls’ quarterbacks to a combined 61.1 % completion rate.

Pearcy, who watched the first-team defense dominate even when he was on the sideline, agreed with Bloomgren’s assessment that the Owls are building a remarkable defense.

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

MMA and milk miles: Rice students engage with sports

PALOS RODRIGUEZ ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

It’s not uncommon to find yourself walking to Reckling Park to watch the baseball team or to the recreational fields to play soccer. However, Division I and intramural sports are only a sliver of what the greater Rice community takes part in. From cricket to mixed martial arts to milk miles (yes, milk miles), students engage in a variety of sports that are a testament to their past pastimes, new endeavors and the need to destress.

For Vishnu Sriram, a Will Rice College freshman, cricket was an essential part of his life growing up in India, and he wanted to play the sport even in a new environment.

“When I moved to the U.S. some years back, [cricket] was something that I wanted to bring and share with everyone,” Sriram said. “I just played around and asked people if they had tried out cricket, or would like to try, and welcomed anyone who wanted to try the sport.”

Sriram said the transition was not difficult when he arrived at Rice.

“Before joining Rice, I met some freshmen on Instagram who were also interested in cricket,” Sriram said. “We started playing cricket around Rice, and as people passing by showed interest and joined in, our cricket community

began to grow. Will Rice quad has been a great place for us to arrange some small games and get new people to try out cricket, and we also sometimes head over to Field 2 for bigger games.”

For others, like Jones College senior Bikram Singh,their love for their sports didn’t develop until after getting to Rice.

Singh began boxing after being taught by another Rice student and then transitioned to training in Muay Thai, leading him to compete in sparring scrimmages around Houston. After being introduced to martial arts, he, along with other undergraduates, founded the Rice Mixed Martial Arts club.

“I wanted to start an MMA club to give other Rice students the opportunity to learn different martial arts, regardless of their level or prior experience,” Singh said. “I wanted to make a safe space for anyone to learn the fundamentals of different martial arts.”

According to Singh, the process of starting this club at Rice was straightforward, and the club has been able to find space in the Recreation Center to hold practices. Getting equipment funding, however, has been more difficult.

“Rice hasn’t fully been able to provide the resources we needed,” Singh said. “I thought the process of getting club funding [was] really confusing [and] difficult. We’ve been using mats and

some gear that the Rec Center already has, but we could really use funding to get gear such as shin guards, Thai pads, focus mitts or wrestling shoes for people to borrow during practice times.”

Rice students have also found other avenues to stay active in a less organized manner. Some students at Wiess College recently competed in a milk mile race consisting of running four 400-meter laps while finishing a servery milk container before each lap.

“I got the idea for the milk mile from a few friends who had run milk miles in high school,” sophomore Peter Stern, the event’s organizer, said. “After some banter with friends about who would be the best milk miler, I thought it would be fun to go out and actually do it.”

The event had 20 competitors and 15 spectators witnessing the spectacle. According to Stern, everyone completed the race, and the milk mile was a success overall.

“I think events like the milk

mile are a great way to destress,” Stern said. “Even though running a milk mile probably isn’t most people’s ideal form of relaxation, it gave me, and hopefully others, something to look forward to. Spontaneous, creative events like these are some of my favorite parts of Rice. I really appreciate how willing people are to show out for things like the milk mile, especially with all the different things people have going on.”

COURTESY RICE FOOTBALL Junior quarterback E.J. Warner takes a snap in Saturday’s spring game. This is Warner’s first year at Rice after transferring from Temple University.

DIEGO

COURTESY PETER STERN Sergio Karam wins the Wiess College milk mile and celebrates by pouring milk over his head.

ANDERSEN PICKARD ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Reflecting

on four years: a heartfelt farewell to the Thresher

As I sit down to write this farewell column, I can’t help but feel a whirlwind of emotions swirling within me. It feels like just yesterday that I nervously clicked the “Join Meeting” button on Zoom in early August of my freshman year to express my interest in joining the sports section of the Rice Thresher. Daniel Schrager and Ben Baker-Katz, the sports editors in my freshman year, welcomed me with open arms, encouraging me to write for the Thresher. Little did I know that this initial encounter would mark the beginning of an incredible journey that has shaped my college experience in ways I could have never imagined.

When I first joined the Thresher as a wide-eyed freshman, I was filled with enthusiasm and eagerness to share my opinions with the greater Rice community. Writing my first article discussing the pandemic’s impact on freshmen on the football team, I remember clumsily navigating the intricacies of AP Style as my article was littered with suggestions and comments from our editors. However, as I began to write weekly for the section, I overcame these initial challenges and found solace in the constant support that I received from all of the editors and fellow staff members. Seventy-nine articles later and having edited hundreds of articles, I am still by no means an expert in AP style. (Thank you Jonathan and Annika!)

Over the past four years, the Thresher has been more than just a student newspaper to me — it has been home to a strong community, where I have been able to forge strong relationships and connections with other writers and staff members who share the same passion for journalism and writing as I do. Whether it was discussing the amazing Trader

Joe’s haul at the Monday meetings or the InDesign struggles during our Tuesday design days, every moment spent in the Thresher office has been a cherished memory that I will carry with me long after graduation.

Not only has the Thresher provided me with a stronger community, but it has given me a great learning environment. As someone who has contributed to various sports publications since I was 15, the Thresher has provided me with various opportunities from discussing Rice baseball with a Hall of Fame baseball coach to interviewing potential future NFL wide receiver Luke McCaffrey. Furthermore, I am so fortunate to have gone to New York to attend the Collegiate Media Conference where I had the unique opportunity to build upon my skills as a journalist and attend and cover the Big East Conference Men’s Basketball tournament as part of the conference.

As I look back on my time with the Thresher, I am filled with gratitude for the countless opportunities it has afforded me and the invaluable lessons I have learned along the way. I am grateful for the friendships forged and the bonds formed, for the mentors who have guided me and the peers who have inspired me, and for the chance to be part of a community that celebrates the power of words and the beauty of storytelling.

To Riya and Prayag, this year’s editorsin-chief, thank you so much for your exceptional leadership and unwavering support throughout this journey.

To Alice, our InDesign god, thank you so much for putting up with my InDesign failures and helping me make the page every Tuesday.

To Kathleen, Diego and Andersen, I am

very excited about the future of the sports section and have full faith that y’all will be incredible next year.

To Daniel, thank you so much for supporting me throughout my first three years at the Thresher. You taught me so many skills that I used as an editor and am so grateful to have learned under your mentorship.

As I bid farewell to the Thresher and embark on the next chapter of my life, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and excitement for the adventures that lie ahead. Though my time as a writer for the

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Thresher may have come to an end, the memories, lessons and friendships I have gained will stay with me forever.

So here’s to the Thresher, the place where stories were told and memories were made. Thank you for everything.

Pavithr Goli 2023-24 SPORTS EDITOR

“Thanks for the memories!”

HONG LIN TSAI / THRESHER

Shock of the Year

For electrifying the lives of students for a hot minute

Winner: NOD Tasing for fully convincing campus for twenty-four hours that RUPD was going on an insane power trip

Runner-Up: Bayou Bucket for deceiving students into believing we might win a bowl game this year

Best Supporting Actor

For serving as a memorable side character to all students

Winner: Temu Download Solicitor for interrupting your Brochstein study session for the third time this week in the name of his $5 referral bonus

Runner-Up: The Furry for mysteriously showing up to take pictures with you and your drunk friends

Area 51 Award

For administration’s biggest schemes to hide the truth from us

Winner: Solar Eclipse Warnings for shielding our eyes from life-altering sights so much cooler without the glasses

Runner-Up: APAC for preventing you from reaching nirvana, only achievable after your second transport from consuming ≥20% ABV alcohol

Pleasant Surprise Award

For an unexpected occasion that we could all appreciate

Winner: Rice Women’s Basketball for making March Madness and almost upsetting the defending champions

Runner-Up: Henry Kissinger for deciding not to come to the Baker Institute Gala and subsequently passing

“They Had Us in the First Half” Award

For getting students’ hopes up only to crush them later

Winner: Drake Moody X-Fest Fake Out for heinous coincidence of the “For All of the Owls” post with Drake’s purchase of a Houston-area property

Runner Up: Academic Quad Completion for constituting one final way to screw over the class of 2024

Mr. Rogers Award

For an individual who has personally touched students across campus

Winner: Lovett Mama Cat for warming hearts on Fizz and around Lovett College

Runner-Up: Outer Loop Drive-By Predator for touching students the worse way

“He Was Our Rock” Award

For conspicuous absence after playing a constant role in students’ lives

Winner: Resignation of Solomon Ni for reminding us that even our greatest heroes must hang up their capes

Runner-Up: Willy Statue for no longer being our trusty old traffic cone holder, piss target, etc.