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NEWS 2/12/20 6:56pm

2020 Blanket Tax Organization Candidates

By Savannah Kuchar and Rynd Morgan

The Thresher reached out to candidates running for election in all blanket tax organizations: Student Association, Rice Rally Club, Rice Program Council, the Rice Thresher, Rice Campanile, Honor Council, Rice Student Volunteering Program and KTRU Radio. Candidates marked with an * did not respond to requests for comment, and their statement is copied from the SA’s website. Currently, the only contested roles are: SA Treasurer, Honor Council Sophomore Representative and Rice Program Council President.

NEWS 2/5/20 12:21am

Pub reopens with new security measures

By Brian Lin

To prepare for its reopening this past Monday, Willy’s Pub implemented a camera and ID scanner system at the bar’s entrance. Pub was closed for the first few weeks of the semester following Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission violations in December at the “Last Pub of the Decade” event, according to Frank Rodriguez, board president of Valhalla & Willy’s Permits, which oversees the licenses of Pub and Valhalla. 

NEWS 2/5/20 12:18am

Rice halts China travel due to coronavirus concerns

By Rachel Carlton

Due to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus, Rice Crisis Management suspended all university-sponsored travel to China by faculty, students and staff on Jan. 29, according to a universitywide email. The email also stated that there were no confirmed cases at Rice or in Texas at the time.

NEWS 1/29/20 12:58am

Wickerson's campaign promises remain unfulfilled

By Amy Qin and Rishab Ramapriyan

When Grace Wickerson ran for Student Association President in February 2019, they campaigned on a platform of multiple goals falling under the categories of education, student wellbeing, access and inclusion, sustainability and championing student ideas. Based on our analysis, Wickerson has only attempted one-third of their campaign promises. 

NEWS 1/28/20 10:05pm

Rice Management Company defends Ion

By Rynd Morgan

Allison Thacker (Baker ‘96) and Ryan LeVasseur (Wiess ‘01, School of Architecture ‘03) from Rice Management Company gave a presentation to dissuade Student Association members from supporting Senate Resolution #8, a resolution advising that Rice and the Board of Trustees enter into a Community Benefits Agreement with the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement at the Student Association Senate Meeting on Jan. 27.

A&E 1/28/20 9:38pm

Moody Center’s ‘Radical Revisionists’ confronts colonial narratives

By Sanvitti Sahdev

Last Friday, the Moody Center for the Arts came alive with visitors for the opening reception of “Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past and Present.” The new exhibit, on display from Jan. 24 to May 16, features artists from Africa and its diaspora who challenge Eurocentric narratives of colonialism, migration and identity.

NEWS 1/21/20 11:59pm

First week of school: Campus has no cool

By Talha Arif

Due to ongoing construction at the Central Plant, the campus has experienced disruptions in air cooling at both residential and academic buildings over the past week, exacerbated by a heat wave that culminated in a record-high 83 degrees on Wednesday.

FEATURES 1/21/20 11:49pm

Reginald DesRoches races towards provostship

By Ella Feldman

Closing in at a swift one hour, 50 minutes and 34 seconds, Reginald DesRoches set a personal record at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon on Sunday, beating last year’s time by six minutes. Next summer, DesRoches will break another record. On July 1, the current dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering will become the ninth provost to take office — and the first Black provost in Rice’s history. 

NEWS 1/14/20 11:46pm

Rice admits 19 percent of Early Decision applicants to the class of 2024

By Brian Lin

Rice welcomed 385 students into the class of 2024 through the university’s binding early decision program, according to Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva, as well as 55 students through QuestBridge National College Match. This year, Rice accepted around 18.9 percent of the 2,042 applicants on Dec. 12, according to Romero da Silva, a higher percentage of students admitted than last year. 

FEATURES 1/14/20 11:33pm

Amongst “happiest students,” dissatisfaction persists

By Rachel Carlton

Last semester alone, students wrote over 35 op-eds and letters to the editor, addressing particularly controversial events at Rice and other salient issues facing the student body: from students donning ICE agent costumes to the use of the n-word at Rice to the university’s decision to let a student who was found guilty of assault graduate.

FEATURES 12/26/19 4:58pm

A Decade of Thresher: 2013 Recap

By Christina Tan

In February of 2013, over 1,000 Rice students gathered in the Academic Quad to do the most 2013 thing ever: the Harlem Shake. Just in time too, as 2013 was the year that infamous video-platform Vine took hold of popular culture with its seven-second videos. In 2013, indie-rock band Vampire Weekend released their hit album “Modern Vampires of the City and then waited six years to release their next one this year. It was also the year of the game-changing release of iOS 7, which introduced flat icon design and a control center, changes discussed by Thresher staffers. 

FEATURES 12/22/19 4:33pm

A Decade of Thresher: 2012 Recap

By Christina Tan and Rynd Morgan

Outside of Herring Hall sit two massive humanoid figures composed of letters and numbers. A current staple of the Central Quad landscape, Jaume Plensa’s “Mirror” sculpture was installed in 2012, the centennial (100th) year of Rice. Another staple of campus, the James Turrell Skyspace, also opened in 2012. It was a year of celebrations but also of turmoil, as ten students were transported by Emergency Medical Services from Wiess College’s public party, Night of Decadence, prompting a permanent revision of the Alcohol Policy and a ban on hard alcohol consumption.

FEATURES 12/15/19 7:41pm

A Decade of Thresher: 2011 Recap

By Christina Tan

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in “A Decade of Thresher,” a commemoration of another decade of Thresher coverage. BBC News called 2011 “the year when a lot happened,” highlighted by the fact its site received 15 million unique site visits in a day (in November 2019, BBC received 519 million visits). An earthquake rocked Japan, Osama Bin Laden was killed, protests in the Middle East became the Arab Spring and then-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords survived a shooting in Tucson, Arizona. 

FEATURES 12/13/19 2:03pm

A Decade of Thresher: 2010 Recap

By Christina Tan

In 2010, most current seniors were in sixth grade or just about to graduate from elementary school. “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha topped the charts followed by its antithesis, “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum. An important technology benchmark, 2010 was the year mobile game Angry Birds began to gain popularity, coupled with the release of the iPhone 4.

NEWS 12/13/19 12:33pm

Dean of Engineering Reginald DesRoches to become ninth provost

By Christina Tan

The provost is considered the chief academic officer of the university, overseeing “academic, research, scholarly and creative programs and activities,” according to the provost’s office. 65 years after the first provost took office, DesRoches will be the first Black provost in Rice’s history, following Miranda’s appointment as the first female provost. 

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