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Features

FEATURES 4/4/23 10:14pm

Black at Rice: Zahrah Butler keeps good company

By Nithya Ramcharan

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

FEATURES 4/4/23 10:09pm

Rice Eclipse launches rockets, shoots for stars

By Adam Leff

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

FEATURES 3/28/23 10:15pm

VADA events coordinator Maria Martinez does it all

By Sarah Knowlton

As events coordinator for Rice’s Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, Maria Martinez is currently booking films for Rice Cinema, distributing events calendars, finding studio models, assisting with student-run gallery Sleepy Cyborg, talking to local artists and responding to emails. She’s also making a lot of coffee. 

FEATURES 3/28/23 10:11pm

Thresher Declassified: Beer Bike Survival Guide 2023

By Morgan Gage

With a grand total of one Beer Bike under my belt — and signing up for a water balloon filling shift my freshman year — I am basically a Beer Bike expert, at least on a campus recovering from the cultural impact of COVID-19. For freshmen who are eagerly awaiting Saturday morning or seniors experiencing their first and last Beer Bike (it’s probably just my roommate to be honest), I have put together the most stellar and totally serious guide to Beer Bike. 

FEATURES 3/21/23 10:29pm

Do it yourself: Students talk designing area majors

By Adam Leff

Any prospective student flipping through Rice’s major offerings would miss Computer Science and the Arts — probably because it’s not listed. This specific program is an area major, a type of unique student-designed major made by students looking to forge their own curriculum. Bria Weisz said she created the Computer Science and the Arts major upon finding out that the curricula lacked adequate flexibility for her intended double majors, computer science and visual and dramatic arts.

FEATURES 3/21/23 10:28pm

Agnes Ho talks wellbeing, social work and sushi

By Juliana Lightsey

Agnes Ho has two loves: sushi restaurants and genuine connections. The latter is one that she’s spent the past decade cultivating at Rice as director of the Wellbeing and Counseling Center. Her experiences as a first-generation, international student have enabled her to tackle mental health issues for a wide variety of adolescents at Rice and in the Houston community as a whole. 

FEATURES 3/21/23 10:25pm

Senior Spotlight: Grace Walters spells her way through Rice and beyond

By Lauren Yu

In 2019, the Scripps National Spelling Bee saw an unprecedented eight-way tie after the competition ran out of words. The person partially responsible for three of those eight wins was spelling bee coach Grace Walters. Walters, a Jones College senior, has coached two other spelling bee champions, including last year’s winner, Harini Logan. 

FEATURES 3/21/23 10:24pm

ASB groups ditch the beach, connect with community

By Jonah Sposito

According to just about every college stereotype ever, spring break is associated with partying and hanging out on the beach. However, some Rice students spent their recent breaks a little differently. Some wrote policy briefs on mental health in migrant communities. Others volunteered at clinics for Vietnamese refugees or visited local arts organizations. These students all have one thing in common: they were a part of Rice’s Alternative Spring Break Program,  which aims to work with community partners on a range of social issues.

FEATURES 3/7/23 11:06pm

Celebrate women in Houston

By Sloane Domingo

This year’s Women’s History month is dedicated to the theme of “Celebrating Women who tell our Stories,” and the city of Houston has plenty of opportunities to commemorate the occasion. Here are some fun ways to spend the month of March commemorating past, present and future history-making women.

FEATURES 3/7/23 11:05pm

‘A significant milestone’: Women carve out spaces at Rice

By Morgan Gage

When the then-Rice Institute welcomed its first matriculating class, Nellie Mills was among its ranks. Mills, the first woman to matriculate at Rice, was one of the few women attending Rice in its early days. While students were largely male, Rice was established as a coeducational institution, admitting both male and female students from its inception — though admission was restricted to white Texas residents. 

FEATURES 2/28/23 11:43pm

‘Because we’re the first generation’: Myritney Saint-Cloud faces the challenges and motivators of being an FGLI student

By Murtaza Kazmi

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Myritney Saint-Cloud is acutely aware of the generational pressure that accompanies her time at Rice. While both her parents hold degrees, they did not go to school in the United States – thus putting the onus on Saint-Cloud to pursue her education in the face of being a first-generation American and low-income student. 

FEATURES 2/28/23 11:42pm

Senior Spotlight: Sofi Aguilera blends art, work

By Sejal Gupta

When Brown College senior Sofi Aguilera first wrote her fantasy book, “Paragon,” she didn’t know she was about to become the youngest published author in Mexico. Now, five years and a book series later, Aguilera is preparing for a full-time role at a California-based venture capitalist firm and, of course, still writing.

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