Answers listed below are subject to change. If your question is not listed, please contact us at thresher@rice.edu with your inquiry
To submit an opinion piece, email thresher@rice.edu with your piece and its intended purpose. Alternatively, you can reach out to our Opinion Editor via email or social media to discuss a potential topic. They will then guide your writing process. Our current policy allows members of the greater Rice community to submit an opinion (students, faculty, staff and alumni).
Note that the Thresher does not publish hate speech. If you think your piece was misjudged, feel free to reach out again for justification.
Opinions are submitted by students, alumni or faculty and cover a wide range of topics. These reflect the thoughts of the writer(s), not the Thresher or any of its staff, but are vetted for accuracy and conciseness by our staff. Responses are also considered opinion pieces, and respond to previously published opinions. Op-eds (opposite editorial) are submitted opinions that are longer than letters to the editor and typically go on the page "opposite" to the editorial, although we often only have one over-arching opinion page. Editorials are weekly opinions published by our editorial board -- its members are denoted by an asterisk on our masthead. Articles are content written and edited by Thresher staff to be informative and unbiased. Letters to the editors are opinions in response to content published by the Thresher. Columns are ongoing (spanning multiple weeks and editions) opinions written by a single group or person about a specific category of topics.
The Opinion Editor manages and edits submissions from the greater Rice University community for publication. The Opinion Editor does not accept or reject submissions on the basis of their own personal opinion nor on the basis of the editorial opinion of the Thresher and its staff. Again, our policy states that the Thresher does not publish hate speech. Whether submissions are published online or in print, and when they may be published, is at the discretion of the editors.
The most effective way to contest content is to email thresher@rice.edu. We will review the claim by checking recordings and notes, and make a judgment call based on evidence available. That decision will be communicated directly to you. Note that we do not change quotes on the basis that they are undesirable -- we only do so if they are incorrect.
No. We do not allow any interviewees to review quotes in advance of publication to avoid biased reporting.
To pitch a story that you are interested in writing, get in contact with the editor of the section under which the story falls. If you are not certain which section to go through or how to get in contact with the editor, email thresher@rice.edu.
To submit a story tip that you are not interested in writing, email thresher@rice.edu or submit it through our website to keep the tip anonymous.
The Thresher aims to inform and entertain the Rice community as a platform for information and discussion. While it varies across section, section editors manage coverage with oversight from the Managing Editor and Editor(s)-In-Chief in the service of this goal. The Thresher strives to maintain comprehensive coverage of issues and topics that concern its community.
Which platform an article is published through is at the discretion of the editors. The choice of platform is not a judgment of an article.
The crossword is only published in print, but answers are posted to our Facebook weekly. You can also access an online version of our print edition here. The Backpage, in addition to being available through issuu, is posted weekly with additional content on its Facebook page.
General staff (writers, photographers, copy staff)
Writers and photographers operate on a freelance basis.
No prior experience is necessary to begin writing; the Thresher hosts trainings for new writers, photographers and copy staff at the beginning of every semester. If you’ve missed the training for this semester, fill out this interest form: http://www.ricethresher.org/page/join-us to get in contact with an editor. General staff can contribute as much as they want, when they are able to, starting at any point in the year.
Editorial or business staff
The Thresher hires editorial and business staff on a rolling basis, with applications opening throughout the year depending on need. These postings will be made public on the Facebook page.
Non-undergraduate students are welcome to write, take photos or be advertising representatives for the Thresher. Other appointments can be made at the discretion of the editor-in-chief, with deference to undergraduate applicants.
General staff (writers, copy staff, photographers) operates on a freelance basis and can pick up assignments at their own discretion. Time commitment varies for editorial and business staff depending on position.
Pay varies based on role and section. Editorial and business staff members are paid a semesterly stipend, while writers and photographers are paid per assignment.
Roughly 40 students work as general staff and roughly 35 students work on the editorial and business staff. This changes each year as the needs of our staff change.
Our print edition can be found in most major locations on campus in our branded newsstands or stacked in prominent, accessible spots. For example, in the Rice Memorial Center, we have a stand near the Rice Women’s Resource Center and a stand near our office. We also have stands in every college commons as well as academic buildings such as Duncan Hall. Our print edition is also published online here.
Online content can be found on our website and includes features not available in print.
The print edition of the paper is delivered to campus weekly most Wednesday mornings during the school year, excluding major breaks and exam periods. Online content is updated throughout the week.
We are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center, above the Office of Academic Advising.
The Thresher receives an annual budget from blanket tax, which is a mandatory fee every undergraduate Rice student pays to gain access to campus-wide events and services like the Thresher. Blanket tax money is used to print our paper and maintain staff operations. We supplement this budget with advertising revenue which is used to pay our staffers.
The administration does not dictate any of the Thresher’s content.
The Thresher reserves the right to reject advertisements on the basis of hate speech. Otherwise, the Thresher runs most submitted advertisements. Political advertisements are denoted with disclaimers, as is sponsored content. All advertisements are paid for before publication.
Contact us at thresher-biz@rice.edu or thresher-ads@rice.edu and our business staff will help you process payments and design advertisements if needed. You can find more information about pricing and services here.
You can donate specifically to the Thresher by indicating on Rice donation forms, such as the one found here, that you wish to donate to us. We are working to develop a specific endowment for the Thresher to aid initiatives in low income accessibility for our staffers, invest for future ventures and expand our offerings.
The Thresher values free speech and does not remove comments with opposing views. We do reserve the right to remove hate speech and block propagators of such speech, which we define as targeted harassment of an individual or group. We also reserve the right to quote comments from both our social media pages and from our website. If you think you were unfairly removed from our social media, reach out to thresher@rice.edu.
The Thresher operates a Facebook, Instagram and several Twitters. In addition to the main Twitter, there is also an account that covers news, sports and A&E.
