Entry to buildings, including the Rice Memorial Center, was limited to those with swipe access. Campus bus service will be suspended until roads are safe to travel, the announcement read.

North and Seibel serveries remained open with limited operation hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. Retail dining options were also restricted both days. Fondren Library was closed on Tuesday, but is open Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m. The Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center was also closed but is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. The pool will remain closed until Thursday, Jan. 23.

Residential colleges are open to off-campus students wishing to stay in their colleges during the storm. Students were asked to arrive at their colleges by 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 20 to avoid ice on roads. Several colleges, including Duncan and Jones, also disseminated spreadsheets via GroupMe to volunteer rooms and suites to off-campus students.

For some students, Tuesday morning was their first time seeing snow. James Puckett, a Will Rice College junior from Brownsville, Texas said the experience was cinematic.

"Seeing snow for the first time made me feel like I was in 'A Charlie Brown Christmas," Puckett wrote in a message to the Thresher. "I did all the things I've seen the Peanuts characters do throughout my childhood, like walking to school with friends in a flurry of snow, making a snowman and throwing snowballs around at each other. It was a blast."

Almost a year ago exactly, Rice similarly halted campus operations for "severe winter weather." And four years ago, a severe winter storm that impacted Houston and left many without power and water. CenterPoint Communications Manager Michelle Hundley told ABC13 that this year, CenterPoint Energy brought in more employees and contractors in anticipation of the storm. The company also updated its online power outage map, she said. ABC13 later reported that Tuesday saw approximately 3,000 outages across southeast Texas.

Many students spent their day off outdoors, sledding in Hermann Park or building snowmen outside of their colleges. In the late morning, students flocked to the academic quad for a campus-wide snowball fight, which ended with possible disciplinary action.

Rice University Police Department officers arrived after groups of students went to the rooftop of Lovett Hall - at least nine students were on the roof at once, according to a drone photo from the university.

"RUPD received a concerned call earlier today about a group of students being on top of the roof of Lovett Hall and sliding down it," police chief Clemente Rodriguez wrote in a statement to the Thresher. "Officers responded, took the names of the students, and referred them to [Student Judicial Programs]."

A student who was on the roof with a friend confirmed that RUPD, upon arrival, took their names and information. The student requested anonymity due to a potential ongoing investigation.

"RUPD gathered students at the top of the stairs, just inside the window used to reach the roof. Two RUPD officers took photos of everyone's student IDs and let them leave one at a time," the student wrote to the Thresher.

"We were stressed because it was unclear how seriously RUPD viewed the situation, and it put a damper on a fun snowy morning."

"It's important that we all stay safe, especially during extreme weather days," Rodriguez wrote.

"Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," the message read. "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"

A few hours later, early on Sunday morning, TikTok's services suddenly came back on with a new message welcoming users back to the app and thanking President Donald Trump for his promise to suspend the ban after his inauguration.

For Ricardo Rivera, a Brown College junior, TikTok's revival was great news.

"I may have been the first one back on the platform," Rivera said. "I saw a Tweet that they were unbanning it, so I was refreshing it every few minutes to see how to get back on."

Rivera is one of many Rice students who use TikTok to keep up with friends and for entertainment.

In addition to dance routines and comedy skits, some users, like MyCo Le, see TikTok as a way of learning about what's happening in the world.

"I do get a lot of my information from there, but I know to be wary of what I consume on TikTok, because obviously you can't believe everything that you see online," Le, a Baker College senior, said. "I probably wouldn't have even known it was going to get banned if I didn't even see it on TikTok."

Instagram has Reels, YouTube has Shorts and Snapchat has Spotlight, but Martel College sophomore Audrey Witherspoon said none of TikTok's competitors really measure up.

Editor's Note: Audrey Witherspoon is the Thresher's distribution and office managers.

"TikTok allows for people to post things without social stigma," Witherspoon said. "I would never post something onto Reels because everyone I know follows me."

"TikTok has a really great algorithm … but Reels doesn't have an algorithm that makes me want to stay on it for longer," Witherspoon continued.

Priya Armour, a Sid Richardson College junior, creates college lifestyle videos that have amassed over 30 million views and garnered her over 300,000 followers on TikTok.

Much of Armour's content is about her life as a pre-med student at Rice, and she often makes videos giving advice to prospective students applying to college.

"Most of the videos I make come from direct requests that people send me," Armour said. "I've had a lot of people text me, like incoming freshmen, on Instagram or TikTok and say, 'You're the reason I applied to Rice' and 'I got in, and you're the reason I'm coming to Rice.'"

As for many content creators with large followings on the app, TikTok is a source of income for Armour, who earns commission from an Amazon Storefront linked on her account page. She said the ban could prove harmful to many influencers' incomes and careers.

"The people who are enforcing this ban, I don't know if they're thinking about the livelihoods of a lot of people who utilize TikTok," Armour said. "TikTok has been crazy for making money in general, and I feel like a lot of people in the U.S., a lot of influencers, get their livelihood off of that app."

Evan Davis, a Sid Richardson sophomore, also touted the app's economic benefits and raised concerns about free speech.

"In the interest of having a free market and multiple different avenues of free speech, it's always nice to have more options," Davis said. "If [TikTok] wasn't a good option, people wouldn't use it."

Senators Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton first raised concerns about TikTok in a 2019 letter urging the acting director of national intelligence to "conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-based content platforms operating in the U.S." and calling TikTok a "potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore." Donald Trump attempted to ban the app in 2020, although his ban ultimately failed.

In 2023, following an investigation by the Department of Justice into ByteDance's surveillance of American journalists, then-U.S. President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass legislation giving the U.S. government more authority to police against possible security threats posed by Ti​​kTok and other apps. In April 2024, Biden signed a bill into law forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok within 270 days or have it banned in the U.S.

The ban, upheld by a recent Supreme Court decision, threatens the imposition of civil penalties on Apple and Google app stores if they continue to distribute or update TikTok, as well as internet hosting companies if they keep the app running. The law did not, however, require that TikTok immediately shut down its services for users with the app already installed.

Rice computer science professor Moshe Vardi believes the Chinese government has access to user data via TikTok's parent company ByteDance, he said. Information about users' political preferences, location and demographics could be harnessed to target polarizing misinformation at individuals across the country.

"You and I are living a different reality. I live in the reality that the internet decides to show me. You live in the reality that the internet decides to show you … We can see something completely different," Vardi said.

"We trust the Chinese [government] with our very intimate data. That's one issue. But also the other side is, can they use it to influence?" Vardi continued. "If they can undermine our democracy, it's something we should definitely be concerned about."

Armour said she is not worried about data security on TikTok.

"I post content for a living," Armour said. "If you want my information, that's fine with me."

She's not sure the ban will stay in place for long, but if it does, she and many other influencers already have another place to go. RedNote, an Instagram-like social media app popular in China, recently moved to the No. 1 place on the Apple app store after over 700,000 users flocked to the app in preparation for the ban.

"If TikTok goes away, I'm already on RedNote, and most of my favorite creators are already on there, so I'll just keep scrolling on," Armour said.

Vardi said he isn't confident the ban will do much to prevent the most dedicated users from finding their way back on the app.

"Exactly how do you ban TikTok?" Vardi said. "I have colleagues in China … They are using Facebook because they're using VPN to tunnel under the Chinese internet wall … TikTok can be more subversive."

Some students said they look forward to a break from TikTok's addictive algorithm and to the time they will get back after the ban is put in place.

"Since the semester started, I needed to get on less social media," Davis said. "If it gets banned, I'll just cool down for a bit."

"I feel like ridding my life of TikTok might be good for my productivity," Le said.

Vardi said the ban sheds light on privacy issues within the U.S. in addition to the national security threat posed from abroad. The U.S. is different from China in that the government does not exercise total control over social media companies, but a lack of legislative government regulation surrounding privacy rights is something to worry about.

"One of the things that we have not done in this country is really deal with the heart of the issue, with privacy," Vardi said. "It's a jungle out there. We have no laws to protect our data."

"It's time to regulate social media," Vardi continued. "TikTok is just an easy case."

The vigil began with opening remarks from Trey McCray, president of the Rice Black Men's Association, and a performance of "Lift Every Voice" from Kiana Day Williams. A speech was then given by President Reggie DesRoches. He was then followed by keynote speaker Bernie Banks, the director of the Doerr Institute of Leadership. Banks then had a fireside chat with Sherwin Bryant, the director of the Center for African and African American Studies, who served as the moderator. Closing it all out was a poem by Houston Youth Poet Laureate and Sid Richardson College junior Avalon Hogans.

DesRoches said that he appreciated the student and community engagement in the event.

"Sunday night's MLK Jr. Vigil at Rice was a deeply moving tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s enduring legacy of leadership, resilience and community," DesRoches wrote in an email to the Thresher. "I am proud of our students for asking such thoughtful questions and for members of the Rice Black Men's Association and the Office of Public Affairs' Multicultural Community Relations team for hosting and organizing this wonderful event."

In his speech, Banks spoke about Dr. King's message on advocacy, especially looking towards the future.

"The core to Dr. King's movement was educating people on the things that were transpiring around them, that they thought they had no active role, but that their indifference was actually weakening the fabric of society," Banks said during the vigil. "Our future resides in today's young people. Will we challenge them to challenge convention, or will we say, hold the line, don't let anything change on your watch."

Ariah Richards, a McMurtry College senior, said she enjoyed attending the event and thinking of the legacy of Dr. King.

"I grew up in Houston, and normally on MLK Day, I would go to a prayer breakfast at my church," Richards said. "So when I saw they had a vigil this weekend, I really wanted to go. I really enjoyed it, because it reminded me of what [Dr. King] stood for in terms of leadership and service."

McMurtry senior Julian Riley said that the event also had him reflecting on Dr. King's resilience as a leader.

"It takes a lot of power - and that doesn't just pertain to civil rights, that could be in everyday facets of our life - is just being able to stand up for what is right," Riley said. "That takes a lot of strength, especially when the people that are saying what is wrong are in positions of power, whether it be the majority or literally a position of power above you."

The vigil was held a day before the national holiday on Monday, Jan. 20. The holiday this year is the same day as the Presidential Inauguration Day. Richards said that the two happening on the same day presented larger questions about leadership.

"You see the dichotomy of a leader that really led in love versus a leader that seems to be leading in greed," Richards said. "Things always coexist in the same space, and it's up to us to decide what side we want to be on."

Karlianna Kapche, a Duncan College freshman and undergraduate representative in the CUC, said the proposed degree will be a Bachelor of Science, a distinct major in the computer science department. The timeline depends on the voting outcome from the Faculty Senate, and current freshmen could likely still declare this major, said Vicente Ordóñez-Román, an associate computer science professor and CUC member.

If the major is approved, Rice will join similar institutions - the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - that have developed incorporated AI programs of study.

The proposed AI major reflects an increasing demand for large language model and machine learning classes at Rice, Ordóñez-Román said.

"Even in my own class this semester, COMP 646: Deep Learning for Vision and Language, which is an advanced graduate course that at most counts as an elective for some programs, there are 35 undergraduate students out of a total of 140 students registered," Ordóñez-Román wrote.

Neha Rajesh, a computer science major, said she would be interested in potentially majoring in AI. The industry is rapidly expanding, she said, and the major would allow students the opportunity to "specialize in a field that is essentially shaping the future of our world."

"I think it is very important for students to not only gain the technical skills this major would have to offer but also to be able to understand the ethical challenges that come with the development and use of AI," Rajesh, a Martel College freshman, wrote in an email to the Thresher.

Though classified under the computer science department, AI would be a separate program, rather than a concentration of the existing computer science major. However, Ordóñez-Román said he would encourage AI majors to take at least one 300-level class from the computer science course requirements to complement their AI education.

"If we want to do it right, we have to acknowledge that AI has grown into its own discipline. As a result, there are some foundational topics that would also be needed early into the program that would not allow for a concentration," Ordóñez-Román wrote. "Personally, I think it would be possible to offer a concentration for students who want to take this path but it would still not be the same as majoring in Artificial Intelligence."

Under the proposed major, AI classes would overlap with some introductory computer science courses, while also incorporating ethics - co-developed with the philosophy department - and cognitive psychology classes, Ordóñez-Román wrote.

"We have some [existing] classes in artificial intelligence and machine learning offered sometimes as electives but we still plan to develop new versions of these classes that reflect a unified program and offer them more consistently," Ordóñez-Román wrote.

Kapche said the proposed major "sounds like Rice is acknowledging how the world is running today," and ensuring its graduates do the same.

Ordóñez-Román expressed a similar sentiment.

"[AI's] history is as long as the history of computer science itself. We do acknowledge, however, that there have been some recent advances that have sparked renewed interest in artificial intelligence," Ordóñez-Román wrote. "An AI major is timely and would provide Rice students another path to be leaders in industry, academia and government."

It was previously believed that all fundamental particles fall into only two categories, fermions and bosons, according to Andrew Long, a Rice professor specializing in theoretical particle physics. Electrons and protons are fermions, while photons are bosons, the two fundamental categories of subatomic particles.This maxim is so widely accepted, he said, that it is practically a "guiding principle" in physics.

The existence of 'paraparticles,' a debated outlier that doesn't belong to either category of particle, was first proposed in 1953, Long said. However, further work in the 1970s debunked that claim, concluding that these paraparticles were just another form of bosons and fermions.

"The ground-breaking work of Wang and Hazzard casts paraparticles in a new light," Long wrote in an email to the Thresher. "They argue that paraparticles can exist as emergent quantum particles, and that they cannot be reformulated as bosons or fermions."

The particle statistics model used to make this claim is known as parastatistics. In their research, Wang and Hazzard worked to refine this model and theoretically demonstrate the existence of paraparticles.

"The idea that you can have new particle statistics, that's really the novel thing in this paper," Hazzard said.

Wang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Germany and the first author of the paper, said the idea first came to him in 2021 during his doctoral degree, at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"[I was] super bored at home, so I worked on a weird mathematical problem to entertain myself," Wang wrote in an email to the Thresher. "I found a very strange and exotic solution to that problem, and when I interpreted it physically, the idea of parastatistics appeared."

Initially, Wang said his idea was met with skepticism from others, including Long and Hazzard.

"I liked to think about experiments, be very practical, and [Wang] convinced me that there was some virtue to looking at fancy math when it's appropriate," Hazzard said. "It reinforces the idea that you should be really open-minded when a student tells you something that sounds wrong."

In order to realize their theory, Wang and Hazzard said they employed advanced mathematical tools such as Hopf algebra, group theory and Lie algebra. According to Hazzard, he had to learn much of this math over the course of the project.

"[These results] further strengthen my belief in the power of mathematics in describing and uncovering laws of nature," Wang wrote.

While the existence of paraparticles has been proven theoretically, Wang hopes to ultimately observe them in experiments.

According to Long, he is optimistic about the experimental realization of paraparticles, although there is work to be done to merging parastatistics with relativity - another central tenet of physics.

"I'd be willing to bet that an experimental confirmation of paraparticles is not too far away," Long wrote. "The theory work by Wang and Hazard is helping to pave the pathway to discovery."

Similar research could prove useful in the quantum information space, according to Wang.

"[Paraparticles] enable a secret communication protocol in which two parties with paraparticles can communicate over long distance … without them ever coming close to each other, and without them leaving any trace that could be detected by a third party," Wang wrote.

Mustafa Amin, a theoretical cosmologist and physics professor, said astrophysics and cosmology are another space where these particles could be studied. In particular, he is interested in seeing if dark matter particles, which make up the majority of the universe, obey parastatistics.

"Guided by the novel work in this paper, the cosmological implications of particles obeying parastatistics would be fun to work through," Amin wrote in an email to the Thresher.

"I went to the kitchen to grab some [valuables] and the mountain that you can see from my kitchen window was completely on fire," Kawamura, a Duncan College senior, said.

As they quickly gathered their pets and most important belongings, Kawamura said she was contemplating the unthinkable: losing everything in her home.

"I definitely started crying," said Kawamura. "I thought our house was fucked … How do you react when you think your house is about to disappear in a blink of an eye?"

Thankfully, the fire did not reach Kawamura's property. However, many California-based students - including Los Angeles natives - found themselves caught near the Palisades and Eaton wildfires and facing evacuation orders, just days before returning to Houston for the spring semester.

"I had set alarms for every hour to wake up just to check on what the fire looked like outside my window, or in case another one popped up even closer. The winds were so strong it seemed like smaller fires were popping up everywhere," Gabi Varga, a Duncan sophomore, said. She, too, eventually received an evacuation notice.

Delaney Miller, a resident of East Pasadena, Calif., first saw the Eaton fire from the freeway. This wasn't the first time that Miller had seen a wildfire in person, but this time around, she said the speed of the Santa Ana winds was shocking.

"We turned a corner and just saw the mountain on fire," Miller, a Jones College senior, said. "Once we exited the freeway we saw street signs and stop signs bending over, almost parallel to the ground."

At 9:55 a.m on Jan. 8, Miller received an evacuation warning. An emergency alert rang out from her phone. Her family readied for a potential evacuation that - thankfully, Miller said - was never executed.

"We packed all of our bags. I got my high school diploma, pictures and other irreplaceable items and put them in a suitcase too," Miller said.

While Miller's family did not have to evacuate, the high-strength winds caused a neighboring tree to fall on Miller's home.

"My ceiling was caving in and the tree fell directly above my bed," Miller said. "I was so lucky that I wasn't at home because I probably would have been sitting in bed."

Lola Foord, a Brown College senior from South Pasadena, Calif., also said she experienced the fire up close.

"My parents and I went for a walk on this nature path close to our house, and there was a piece of burning paper that floated down towards us, in this very dry, bushy area. We literally grabbed it out of the air and stomped it out," Foord said. "It was such a scary moment because we realized that if we hadn't been there to grab it, it could have started another fire."

Ashlyn Zhang, a lifelong resident of the Pasadena area, said that growing up in L.A., people were always aware of the possibility of a wildfire. They just never expected to be actually in one.

As the immediate threat of the wildfires subsides and evacuation orders are lifted, Angelenos have begun to discuss what went wrong and what comes next. Some of these conversations have frustrated Zhang, she said.

"There's a narrative going around right now, especially from prominent conservative figures, that have perpetuated the idea that California's focus on DEI, immigrants and the environment is what inhibited the [Los Angeles Fire Department's] ability to effectively fight fires," Zhang, a Hanszen College junior, said. "That's just ludicrous, in my opinion."

Foord said a lot of media attention focused on the Palisades fire, which affected affluent neighborhoods home to the Hollywood wealthy - the average household income in the Pacific Palisades is 2.5 times higher than the national average, Niche reports. Still, these conversations often forget the quieter majority, Foord said.

"People assume that everyone impacted was very wealthy and has fire insurance," Foord said. "But there were also lots of motorhomes destroyed in the Palisades that all burned down, that probably didn't have fire insurance."

Zhang said an emotional weight was felt across the city, especially as the fires destroyed neighborhoods and the loved ones' houses - "a collective grief and heaviness," she said.

"I was inspired by how quickly our community came together to disseminate resources and information," Zhang said. "When I had to leave town to come back to school, that was really conflicting for me. I wanted to stay and help my community on the ground."

A threat to American values has grown rapidly in recent years: the anti-war movement's shift to an anti-military stance, calling for divesting from, and in effect dismantling, the defense industrial base. The hyperbolic language found here should alarm Rice students because the U.S. military needs those same companies to develop critical technologies in the functioning of U.S. defense.

The shift is evident in university culture. A growing number of young adults, particularly at prestigious institutions, now oppose American involvement abroad.

The Rice Coalition for Liberation advocated "undermining the economic and political structures supporting the apartheid state of Israel's actions and reducing the financial viability of its military operations." The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee made a stronger claim blaming Israel entirely. The recently-failed S.REF 02 at Rice, which asked that Rice "disentangle its endowment from the web of colonial warfare" by divesting from companies and institutions that profit from the "U.S.-Israel war machine," promoted a negative sentiment against the U.S. as an imperialist nation.

Student Association President Jae Kim wrote a letter stating "50%+ voted in favor" and suggested he would emphasize this support to "further conversations" in meetings with administration. However, with only 38.6% of students voting, this represents a vocal minority of less than 23% of the total student body - just 1,069 of 4,776 undergraduates.

I speak to the remaining 3,707 undergraduates. Together, we must reclaim our patriotism. We should reject the activities of groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, whose umbrella organization has advocated in a now-deleted message on X for the "collapse of the university structure and American empire itself." We owe America, which provides the privilege of attending institutions like Rice, our gratitude.

Abraham Lincoln famously stated "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

While this rings true, the current threat appears as follows: a house united to tear down its own structure will surely fall. SJP's campaign against U.S. military actions indicates a push for dismantling the foundations of freedom, pluralism, welfare, rationalism and, of course, defense that have kept this nation strong.

I grieve the death of patriotism apparent in the 1,069 peers who seemingly declared themselves anti-military when they voiced their support for divestment from Lockheed Martin and other companies who supply the U.S. and Israeli militaries with weapons and non-lethal materials. They seem more concerned with opposing colonialism than preserving freedom. To stand with strength for freedom, we need our military.

We show our loyalties in challenge, not ease, and I will not sacrifice freedom in the name of opposition to perceived imperialism. To those who voted to pass S.RES 02, is the defense industry only a "war machine," and not also a critical means of credible deterrence? The empowered American military dispels attacks against us and our allies by adversaries like Iran. Defending liberty is a constitutional principle, and America has a responsibility to defend both its own people and citizens of allied nations.

Timely delivery of weapons technology by the defense industry prevents emboldened aggression. Job seeking students at Rice should recognize that hopes of disbanding the U.S.-Israel military partnership through pulling funding from associated programs could have jeopardized graduate fellows, DOD-funded research, internships and other professional opportunities.

Most Rice students aim to secure a solid career and provide for their families. That is the essence of the American Dream, which relies on a stable, prosperous America. To the 3,707 Rice students who voted against referendum #2 or did not vote at all, I call on you to reaffirm your patriotism. As we seek jobs at companies which the American environment nurtured, we ought to nurture the foundations of America ourselves.

Let's show that anti-war, and by extension, anti-American sentiment is a fringe view within Rice, not the majority. Let's show our gratitude for an America that makes possible the existence of a prestigious university like Rice. Let's unite to preserve Western values at Rice.

A house like America, standing strong through deep division, deserves an uproar of unity to protect its beacon of freedom. I have relied on Lincoln here, and strongly recommend readers do the same on Feb. 17, the upcoming Presidents' Day. Rather than merely taking the day off for leisurely fun, I encourage engaging with the textual tradition enclosed in Lincoln's great speeches and letters to revitalize your patriotism.

Job seekers, especially the young adults at Rice, can show gratitude by dedicating time to public service, not limited to the military. Though only 1% of the population serves, aiding Teach for America or working at National Park Service would nurture the foundations of this house, our house, America.

"Seeing so many people who have been supportive throughout this journey all in one place meant a lot," Strothman, a Duncan College senior, said. "It wasn't just Rice, and it wasn't just the Houston running community - it was a unique blend of both, which made it even more special."

The launch party was a chance for Strothman to reflect on the hard work that had gone into making Veloci Running a reality and to pass out the first batch of pre-ordered shoes, he said.

"It was just awesome to finally get the shoes on people's feet," Strothman said. "That's one of the most rewarding aspects of doing this - seeing people put them on, feel comfortable and hear their positive responses."

The numbers reflect this growing enthusiasm. Veloci Running has already sold about 800 pairs, with 29 stores set to carry the shoes. So far, around eight stores have received inventory, with more shipments planned in the coming weeks.

"Right now, we're working on getting the shoes onto more shelves and onboarding sales reps to grow our reach," Strothman said. "I'm probably going to take a road trip soon to help expand our store count."

The atmosphere at Axelrad was energetic and celebratory, with conversations flowing between familiar faces and new customers.

"I've watched Tyler work incredibly hard to bring these shoes to life," said Lovett College junior Grey Beaubien, an avid runner and one of Strothman's roommates. "Knowing all the stress, late nights and determination it took to make the shoes a reality makes each run in them a little sweeter."

Beaubien preordered the shoes in September, and has worn them on four runs since receiving them at the launch party. Beaubien described the shoes as having "a nice balance of comfort and responsiveness, and great lateral flexibility" and is looking forward to seeing if the shoes help him to avoid soreness as he increases his mileage.

"It's been a long journey, and seeing people excited about the shoes made it all feel real," Strothman said. "[The launch party] was a moment to take a step back and appreciate everything that's happened."

The excitement from the launch party continued at the Houston Marathon Expo on Jan. 17 and 18, where Veloci Running introduced its products to a wider audience. Many attendees purchased shoes on the spot, and some even wore them for the half and full marathons just days later.

"It was incredible seeing people tag us on social media, saying they had just run a half or a full marathon in our shoes," Strothman said. "That's really cool - it shows the trust they have in the product."

Even with the success of the launch party and early sales, Strothman said he knows there's still a lot of work ahead.

"It's just really about keeping that nose-to-the-grindstone mindset, being willing to do whatever it takes," he said. "Whether that's long road trips to visit stores or staying up late to get shoes out, it's about making sure we reach more people."

Despite the fast pace, Strothman said he remains grateful for the journey so far.

"It's been a whirlwind," he said. "It was hard to even find time to reflect, but I just feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. This has been an incredible experience, and I love that I get to wake up every day and do work that helps people - even if it's just in a small way, like making sure they're comfortable on their runs."

As Veloci Running gains momentum, its foundation remains rooted in the running community that inspired it.

"Running gave me a sense of belonging," Strothman said. "With Veloci, I want to give that feeling back to others."

Aldrovandi was four years old when he started playing the violin.

"My parents forced me to do it, and I feel like that's how most people start out on an instrument when they're really young," Aldrovandi said. "It was kind of a chore until at some point in high school."

Much like the beginning of his violin career, Aldrovandi said running was not always a favorite activity.

"I used to not like running at all, but my parents would force me to run every once in a while," Aldrovandi said. "I did cross country starting in seventh grade, but I didn't take [running] too seriously until my sophomore year of high school which is when I really started to train seriously."

When applying to colleges, Aldrovandi favored schools with strong violin programs. Upon applying to Rice and auditioning for Shepherd, he was introduced to Paul Kantor, the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Professor of Violin, who also taught Aldrovandi's former violin teacher.

"Filippo is actually my grandstudent," Kantor said. "If you're not familiar with the term, it's probably because I invented it."

Kantor said that his interest in Aldrovandi was piqued by their connection, but he found Aldrovandi's audition "beautifully prepared."

Throughout the admissions process, Aldrovandi considered the possibility of walking onto the cross-country team. He spoke to track and cross country coach Jon Warren and provided him with his times from high school. When Aldrovandi was accepted to Rice to study music and found out he could also run competitively, he said Rice was the obvious choice.

His coursework is mostly violin-focused with the occasional non-music class to satisfy the university's distribution requirements. However, he also has runs and lifts for track throughout the week.

"With Filippo, he's like a model student," Kantor said. "He is the closest thing to a trouble-free student I have ever experienced."

Whenever he's not running, he's practicing violin either individually or with his quartet.

"Most of my day is dedicated to music. I try to always put that first," Aldrovandi said. "But that being said, I'm still super committed to the running part. I think running is one of the easier sports to balance with school just because it's not as time-consuming as other sports may be."

Kantor said Aldrovandi manages both commitments equally well, especially as few music students are also varsity athletes.

"It must be a heroic effort, but Filippo makes it look easy," Kantor said. "I never hear whining. I never hear complaining. I never hear stories or excuses - Well, maybe the time he broke his collarbone, but that was okay."

Kantor characterized Aldrovandi as modest and dedicated, believing both traits are needed to be successful in the disciplines of running and music.

"The dedication he has from running is reflected in the dedication he has from music and vice versa," Kantor said. "They're both athletic events: one using large muscles and one using teeny tiny muscles."

Aldrovandi said he found violin performance and running equally rewarding, and more similar than they initially appear.

"[Music is] a powerful way to communicate and express something that you want to say without words to connect with somebody and really touch people," Aldrovandi said. "Much like running, you put a lot of time into it, and then you have a performance and it goes well or doesn't go well. Either way, you learn something from it."

This past fall, Aldrovandi played a non-required full recital. There he was able to combine his two interests of running and playing violin. Aldrovandi invited all of his teammates to watch this performance.

"Everybody on the team is super supportive of each other," Aldrovandi said. "They filled up two or three rows of the concert hall which was super cool. Their support helps a lot."

Kantor said he remains impressed with Aldrovandi's ability to juggle all of his commitments.

"Meeting him casually, you would never imagine him as a super over-achiever until you know more of his story. How do you do all that? The academic side, the music side, the sports side - how do you make it all work? Most people can't," Kantor said. "I have not yet discovered his 'secret sauce.'"

Aldrovandi said he doesn't find the balance difficult.

"There really isn't that much to it," he said.

Rice Thresher: How did you get into track originally?

Andrew Trinidad: In seventh grade, my [physical education] coach recommended I do track and field because I had long legs, and I've been doing it since then.

RT: Can you describe one of your earliest track memories?

AT: My earliest memories in track and field were probably puking on the side of the track because I wasn't in shape at the time.

RT: Did track always come naturally to you?

AT: I think the thing that came to me the most naturally was the movement of hurdling.

RT: When did you decide to run in college, and why did you choose Rice?

AT: I wasn't seriously considering track and field in college until my junior year when I started receiving visitation offers from schools. I chose Rice because the new sprints coaches had prior accolades with evidence showing me he could help me reach my fullest potential. Houston is also close to home and family.

RT: How do you balance your classes with track?

AT: I take all my classes in the morning and head to practice in the afternoon. After that, it's willpower to finish my work in the evening. Working with my teammates makes it easier to focus.

RT: Who has been most supportive of you while chasing your goals? In what ways have they helped you?

AT: The most supportive people in chasing my goals have to be my family and friends. My family is always there for me and my friends have seen me develop into the athlete I am today.

RT: What is your favorite memory from being on the track team at Rice?

AT: Doing workouts with my teammates are, as of now, my favorite memories. I'm sure that when we enter this upcoming season, there will be plenty more.

RT: What are your goals for this season?

AT: My goal for this upcoming season is to go sub-14 seconds in the 110 hurdles at the collegiate height.

RT: When you're not running, how do you spend your time?

AT: When I'm not doing my sport I'm usually out with friends watching television or hanging out in one of their rooms.

RT: What is something that most people don't know about you?

AT: Most people don't know that I was classically trained in the violin for six years.

Rating ★★★★½

Mac Miller's "Balloonerism" is a delicate balancing act - a posthumous release that feels deeply personal yet walks the fine line between honoring an artist's legacy and commodifying it. Unlike other releases from late artists, which can feel like haphazard collections of half-finished demos (The Party Never Ends by Juice WRLD comes to mind), "Balloonerism" is a cohesive, almost ethereal work.

Culled from a singular creative burst during 2014, a pivotal year in Mac's artistic evolution, the album is steeped in the themes and production styles that defined his transition into more experimental territory. However, in an era where the line between paying tribute and exploiting a legacy has grown dangerously thin, "Balloonerism" raises important questions about posthumous releases and how we engage with art that an artist didn't explicitly choose to share.

In recent years, we've seen egregious examples of deceased artists' images being repurposed in ways they likely never intended - Stan Lee's likeness used to promote NFTs and Michael Jackson's hologram performances, to name just a few. Against this backdrop, "Balloonerism" feels like a rare example of a posthumous project done right.

Mac's estate worked with collaborators and producers like Thundercat to bring a vision to life that aligns with his creative ethos, presenting the album as a fully realized piece of art rather than a patchwork of unfinished ideas. Yet, even with this care, the release raises an important and uncomfortable question: What does it mean to celebrate an artist's unfinished work when they're no longer here to shape its presentation?

"DJ's Chord Organ" immediately establishes "Balloonerism" as a deeply authentic Mac Miller album. Featuring ethereal vocals from SZA and the haunting sounds of Daniel Johnston's chord organ - a piece Mac acquired after supporting Johnston's biographical film - it bridges nostalgia and creativity. The album then bursts to life with "Do You Have a Destination?" and its hypnotic guitar riff, followed by "5 Dollar Pony Rides" and "Friendly Hallucinations," two lo-fi gems that showcase Mac's signature flow. This opening set sets the stage for a captivating journey through Mac's artistry.

The rest of "Balloonerism" continues to explore Mac Miller's experimental sound, each track a testament to his artistic brilliance. "Stoned" stands out with its ethereal, floating quality, pairing a slow guitar with Mac's introspective energy, while "Rick's Piano" offers a hauntingly beautiful composition, driven by delicate piano melodies and soulful vocals. These tracks reflect a pivotal moment in Mac's life - during the summer of 2014, he sought refuge at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio to recover from struggles with depression and substance abuse, finding solace in music and the sanctuary of creation.

The album closes with the hauntingly abstract "Tomorrow Will Never Know," a psychedelic meditation that feels both otherworldly and deeply personal. The recurring ringtone and unanswered voicemail in the background drive home the sense of loss, leaving listeners with an inescapable awareness of Mac's absence. It's an eerie yet soul-stirring conclusion that forces you to confront questions of legacy and the lasting impact of an artist's work. As the final track fades, it solidifies the album as not just a collection of songs but a deeply emotional journey, ending with a poignant reminder of the fragility and beauty of life.

"Balloonerism" is a remarkable posthumous release that honors Mac Miller's legacy with the respect and care it deserves. Originally an unfinished project created during a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution, the album captures the raw potential of a young artist striving to become the best version of himself. Unlike other posthumous albums that often exploit an artist's name, "Balloonerism" feels intentional, reflective, and true to Miller's vision.

Its central theme of death is explored with grace and depth, transforming what could have been a mournful goodbye into a celebration of life, creativity, and the enduring impact of Mac Miller's artistry. This is not just an album he would have loved - it's one that solidifies his legacy as one of the most thoughtful and innovative rappers of his time.

As much as it is a film about Toth's 'tortured genius,' it is also a film about the sort of personal processes that go into moments of extreme, 'humanity-defining' grandeur.

Yet, the problem with "The Brutalist" is the direction it takes with such a story - it is completely serious and uncritical about everything offered, making it very limited in its purported self-awareness.

The three-and-a-half hour long film is pretentiously segmented into four different parts - "Overture," "Part 1: The Enigma of Arrival," "Part 2: The Hard Core of Beauty" and "Epilogue," not to mention its unnecessary 15-minute long intermission.

"Overture" and "The Enigma of Arrival" concern László's arrival to America, getting his feet on the ground and the beginnings of his career as a designer for a small family-operated furniture store in Pennsylvania. In Europe, he was forcefully separated from his wife, Ezsrébet (Felicity Jones) and awaits her arrival while attending brothels and developing a heroin addiction.

However, when a wealthy client Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) takes up an interest in Toth, he is commissioned to design and oversee a massively ambitious, multi-million dollar project - a 'future-looking' community center built atop of a hill, in commemoration of Harrison's late mother. "The Hard Core of Beauty" follows the development of this project, alongside the mental and professional difficulties Toth faces along the way.

Some of the film's individual moments are absolutely incredible when taken at face value- undoubtedly, it is stunningly shot and the opening scene is really one for the books.

The problem, however, lies in what it does with the narrative and how it is contextualized. It is a film entirely structured around the trope of the 'tortured genius,' but doesn't do anything to offer an actual critique of why he is tortured and properly address the historical circumstances surrounding his 'genius.'

It is no secret that Toth is meant to be some generational genius. He is the forebearer of some eternal light of freedom and beauty who, displaced from his own home, arrives at some corrupt land and overcomes his struggles by fixating on his divine skill - architecture, or, to this film, the material foundation of humanity.

It is a film that is entirely about the churning of history and attempts to build a future space of belonging. However, the way in which it argues this as comes off as distinctly reminiscent of Martin Heidegger's historicity - a rejection of modernity in favor of some lost authenticity, that Toth as a figure literally bearing the torch of some divine authority is existentially situated in the grand historical-cultural forces of his time.

His genius comes from the fact that, by the irascible force of his intellect, he is carving some eternal destiny and legacy, appealing to precisely the same 'transcendence' as the German Romantic tradition.

Likewise, it comes off as ostentatiously masculine, and while there are some attempts to critically self-reflect on the sort of machismo at stake here, it never once reverses upon this: at the end of the day, Toth is just an egoic architect pulling towards some high-romantic, vaguely-Wagnerian idyll of human progress and the labor which builds nations and communities, and just that.

The women that surround Toth only exist in relation to him (and for the perverse sake of shock value, as you will see). To the film, they are entirely subordinated to him.

One could make the argument that this is purposeful, and that director Brady Corbet's vision is one of a representational parlor trick, but even if such was the case, it would pale against the film's much more vocal thematics.

"The Brutalist" never exposes the guise of hyper-masculinity and instead, in its half-baked attempts at postmodernist self-reflection, opts for the claim that Toth's phallic fakery is the 'makery,' and that there is some substance to a completely totalitarian aesthetic.

The same type of valorous, monumental logic that fuels these frankly corny ideals of truth and beauty is precisely the same one behind a dogmatic nationalism, the sort of self-absorbed genius that creates a repressive and prescriptive vision of what 'home' ought to be, marked as holy in the act of creation.

What begins with a good intention to blend Holocaust trauma with American xenophobia and the birth of 20th-century America (insofar as the film could almost be read as a genealogy of America's rise to the national superpower) becomes corrupted; Corbet simply can't help himself, he must make this a monumental vision and pride the lofty and disconnected ideals of eternity over any genuine political rootedness.

Its seemingly-haphazard treatment of pretty much everything 20th-century - from America to Europe, from Nazism to technology to culture, art, and beauty - is actually strikingly coherent in that it, like a glove, fits into an imposing vision of an uncompromisingly-idealistic future.

This film is best viewed as an ethnographic case study of this particular historical moment, exemplary of a deep nostalgia, the towering greatness of a gesamtkunstwerk 'old guard' and engendered by a flailing attempt at materialist critique.

When I arrived at Mercato, I took a look around the grocery side before ordering. The shop has several small tables with shelf-stable goods ranging from imported dried pasta and trendy tinned fish to fancy jams and extra-virgin olive oil. There were also a few coolers available with cold beverages, cheeses and a small selection of prepared foods.

While the setup of the merchandise was aesthetically pleasing, it was somewhat cramped, making the shop difficult to navigate when it was busy.

Although the shop has a few indoor seats, they were all occupied, and I sat out on the patio. The outdoor seating area is serene compared to the hubbub of the indoors and would be wonderful in early spring when it gets a little warmer. The patio was neat, with organized plants around the edges and sparkling clean tables with white marble tops. Additionally, the food was delivered to the table, which was a nice touch.

Mercato's cafe has a large selection of offerings, ranging from savory sandwiches and charcuterie plates to sweet pastries and crafted drinks.

I started with a matcha tahini latte, one of their signature drinks ($6.75). It was sweet with a strong matcha flavor, accompanied by a touch of nuttiness from the tahini drizzled on top. I also tried a ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant ($13), which was delicious: the mozzarella cheese was perfectly melty and complimented the crisp, buttery croissant. Finally, I ordered a berry tart ($9) which, while not lacking, was certainly overpriced compared to similar options from other stores.

The combined price reached over $30 with tax and tip, making Mercato more of a "once in a while" place to visit instead of a regular study spot.

Another aspect to take into consideration when going to Mercato and Company is that it's about a mile away from Rice Village. If you're walking to the cafe from campus, the travel time could be up to 45 minutes.

While the walk itself goes through one of the university area's beautiful neighborhoods, it's less pleasant in the sweltering heat or blustery cold. There also isn't a bus stop located close to Mercato and Company, making a car the only way to quickly get there and back from campus.

Overall, Mercato provides high-quality food and experience that's perfect for when you feel like treating yourself. Its cost and distance are prohibitive towards frequent visits, but the next time you have something to celebrate, consider taking a trip down University Boulevard to reward yourself with a sweet (or savory) treat on Mercato's sunny patio.

"When I was hired for this job, I just kept remarking to my Rice alumni friends and a couple of my studio-mates that … now my student project at Rice is my professional project," Luján said. "It was certainly a project that has left an impression."

Before settling in Houston, Luján's life spanned continents and coasts. Raised in a military family, she moved frequently across the country and spent part of her childhood in Japan before eventually settling in Austin. She began her undergraduate studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and later attended Central Saint Martins University of the Arts in London.

Yet Luján said she didn't grow up around art or design. Instead, her interest in art began during her freshman year of high school when a Spanish teacher introduced her to Latin American artists. Her fledgling passion deepened after encountering the works of artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Frida Kahlo during a visit to the Museum of Modern Art at age 16, which she said left a significant impression. Soon afterward, a career in design - which she was drawn to as a form of applied art - became clear, she said.

"The pragmatic side of me really appreciated [design]," Luján said. "I wanted the things I was making to have purpose and … the Fashion Institute of Technology just really opened up my world to the types of design. I ended up in a program that was called [Retail] and Exhibition Design [and] ... worked for Bergdorf Goodman through college doing store windows."

After graduating from Central Saint Martins and moving to Los Angeles, Luján said her then-boss, architect John Kaliski, was the first to encourage her to apply to Rice.

"At the time, I lived in an art warehouse in downtown L.A. and … [my landlords] were these architects, and they had just taught a studio at Rice, so they also encouraged me," Luján said. "What was really exciting about Rice is that when I came to the open house, the students were so welcoming and we had a lot of fun. While all of the programs myself and my friends were looking at were fantastic academically, [Rice] signaled a quality of life that said this is gonna be a place that I'm gonna have friends."

Luján said the former Rice Gallery and Media Center were pivotal to her student experience, recalling fond memories of attending exhibition openings and watching films with friends. At the Rice Gallery, she said she was particularly struck by the architectural elements of Sarah Oppenheimer's aluminum D-17 installation, which penetrated the entire gallery.

"I loved that … every single exhibition was wildly different," Luján said. "Having the kind of opportunity to get out of that [rigorous academic] space as a student … in any discipline, and just … have access to the arts, I think is really important."

Reflecting on her time in the Master of Architecture program, Luján said she most valued the semester abroad at Rice Architecture Paris and the opportunity to collaborate on regional-scale projects with professors.

"We were working in Galveston … Fifth Ward … the Museum District," Luján said. "I feel like Houston as a laboratory was really present in my education."

One of Luján's favorite aspects of Rice is its size, she said.

"[The] scale of the university allowed for you to really create community," Luján said. "Still, some of my closest friends are from my time at Rice."

After graduating from Rice, Luján worked for the arts nonprofit Ballroom Marfa while teaching studio classes at Texas Tech University at El Paso. Four years later, Luján returned to Houston to work for the Menil Collection. As Director of Project Development, Luján played a key role in the construction of the Drawing Institute, which she said is the highlight of her career.

In 2023, Luján joined the leadership team of the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, which she said she was drawn to for its partnerships with living artists.

"There's no collection, so it's not beholden to … looking at what's in the holdings," Luján said. "It's really kind of free to look at today's artists … At [collecting museums], that's not always the case, because there's many exhibitions that are with artists that are long since deceased."

Luján said she also values the museum's strong ties to the local community.

"CAMH is diverse and inclusive … and I think that reflects in the audience [and] staff," Luján said. "I was really excited about those aspects because museums … have histories of being exclusive."

Luján attributes the strength of Houston's art scene today to the efforts of the previous generation in promoting local art while bringing in international artists.

"We just have a fantastic arts community," Luján said. "There's less pressure [against being] experimental and trying things than, like, New York City and other cultural centers. I think that that's also allowed artists and the cultural community [to] embrace and iterate and test ideas in ways that have really helped Houston evolve."

Luján said she views her leadership at arts institutions as an extension of her architectural background.

"I still identify as an architect," Luján said. "At the Menil, I was very much involved in design. [In] the role that I now have at the [CAMH], I'm over finance and HR … but this would be the same case if you worked in an architecture firm … I see myself as an architect … in [the] conception of the project [thinking], what does this organization need? How … are we going to fundraise for it? How do we collaborate with our staff and community to support this project?"

Under her co-direction, Luján said she envisions a future for the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston that prioritizes collaboration and civic-scale projects, including building climate resilience and communal spaces. She said she also hopes to see greater interaction and "connective tissue" between the city's cultural institutions.

"The Museum District feels very isolated, that you're on all these islands," Luján said. "I would say that's kind of a dream that we can … have a better pedestrian and multimodal experience."

Luján said that she encourages Rice students to explore Houston beyond the hedges.

"Be a part of your community [and] city," Luján said. "You have to experience life. You can't [just] stay on campus [or] in studio. [Find] ways in your academic career to participate in urban life … It can feel very much like a bubble - getting out and being more in the city is really important."