Special Projects

‘A Charlie Brown’ January:

Classes and normal campus operations will halt on Tuesday, Jan. 21, due to a winter storm watch, Rice Emergency Management announced Jan. 19. Houston is forecasted to receive sleet, two to four inches of snow and possible freezing rain. The Rice Memorial Center, Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center and Fondren Library will be closed. Campus bus service will be suspended until roads are safe to travel.

Students react to TikTok’s time out

On Saturday night, hours before the U.S. ban on TikTok was supposed to go into effect, an unexpected message was displayed on millions of devices across America. Then, screens went dark.

Rice reflects on leadership at MLK vigil

Rice held a vigil to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jan. 19. The vigil, held in Kraft Hall, included a reception, followed by a series of talks from Rice professors. The Rice Black Men’s Association and Multicultural Community Relations, within the university’s Office of Public Affairs, helped organize the event.

New AI major proposed for fall 2025

The Faculty Senate will vote on a possible AI major Feb. 5, proposed by Rice’s Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum. The program has been in development within the computer science department since Spring 2024, and if approved, could be offered as soon as Fall 2025.

Rice physicists prove existence of ‘paraparticles,’ previously thought impossible

A Rice physics professor has proven the existence of particles that were long thought impossible. Kaden Hazzard and his former graduate student, Zhiyuan Wang, presented their findings in a Jan. 8 Nature publication.

Students from Los Angeles process wildfires, destruction and rebuilding

Wren Kawamura woke up at approximately 5 a.m on Jan. 8 to a loud, piercing, emergency alert. Her family has lived in La Cañada, Calif., for over a decade. They were in the path of the Eaton fire, one of four wildfires in the Los Angeles area killing over 27 people over the last week, although the official death toll is unknown. 

Students should prioritize American patriotism

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. 

Backpage Investigates: It’s All Connected…

Sports Mini #9 Solution

01-21-2025 Crossword Solution

01-21-2025 Crossword: "Reading is Alimental"

Sports Mini #9

01-21-2025 "Owl-American"

"At least we got the money!"

Veloci Running celebrates a successful launch party

Cross country runner Tyler Strothman hosted an official launch party for his shoe brand Veloci Running Thursday, Jan. 16. The party at Axelrad Beer Garden in Midtown was both a product debut and a celebration of the journey that brought the brand to life. With friends, runners and customers gathering from across Rice and the greater Houston running scene, Strothman said the night highlighted not just the success of the brand, but the people who made it possible.

Doubly disciplined: Filippo Aldrovandi combines music with running

Music and running were not always Filippo Aldrovandi’s passions. In fact, the now Division I runner and Shepherd School of Music violinist said that it took him until high school to decide he wanted to play music and run at the college level.

Meeting Andrew Trinidad: From seventh grade physical education to Division I running

Andrew Trinidad, a Duncan College freshman, competes for Rice’s track and field team in sprints and hurdles. He is majoring in business with a concentration in finance.

Review: “Balloonerism” is a graceful tribute to Mac Miller’s legacy

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.

Review: ‘The Brutalist,’ while ambitious, is a brutal failure

If there’s anything “The Brutalist” is, it’s ambitious. Following visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) through some thirty years of his life — from his post-World War II immigration to the U.S. to his struggles with a wildly ambitious project — “The Brutalist” reflects its namesake architectural style: massive, angular and carved out of stone. 

Review: Mercato and Co. delights

A new Italian-inspired coffee shop and grocery store hybrid has found its home on West University Boulevard. Mercato and Company, according to the cafe’s website, aims to provide customers with “a warm, inviting atmosphere that feels like home” and “a friendly and quaint experience.” When I visited, I was pleased to have these claims confirmed. The delicious food and charming ambiance combined to make Mercato a place I’d want to visit again soon.

Architecture alumna Luján builds community through art, design

Over a decade ago, Melissa McDonnell Luján ’10 was tasked with redesigning the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as one of her Rice Architecture studio assignments. Now, after she was appointed the museum’s co-director earlier this month, she’s designing CAMH’s future.