Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916
Sunday, April 20, 2025 — Houston, TX

Special Projects

A&E 11/1/23 1:02am

Review: ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ expands a pop triumph

By Hadley Medlock

An album that signaled Taylor Swift’s final move from the world of country to mainstream pop music, “1989” was full of catchy tracks, albeit cheesy at times — sorry, “Welcome to New York” — that truly cemented Swift’s pop stardom and fueled an ever-growing Swiftie fanbase. Nine years later to the day, Swift re-released this album as “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” the next stop on her years-long journey of re-recording all of her original masters. 

A&E 11/1/23 1:01am

Meet the ACL artist: Husbands

By Hadley Medlock

Born and raised in Oklahoma City, musician Danny Davis’ self-described surfy, beach pop sound might be surprising, given his roots in a land-locked state. Drawing musical inspiration from The Beach Boys, Davis, who’s part of the band Husbands, said the sort of music he most wants to emulate is what people can dance to. 

A&E 11/1/23 1:00am

Review: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is a film for devoted fans

By Hamza Saeed

Starting off as a standalone lore-filled game in 2014, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise has expanded to toys, books and now, a much-anticipated movie. The FNaF empire has now revolutionized both the indie gaming sphere and the internet horror genre as a whole. As a result, the investigative journalists here at the Thresher spent a night at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza to determine if this film was a soulless cash grab of an adaptation or if Freddy truly had been cooking.

FEATURES 11/1/23 12:50am

CAAAS gets a makeover

By Noah Berz

One does not have to go further than Rice’s own website to learn about its 1891 charter, which originally designated the school for “the instruction and improvement of the white inhabitants of the City of Houston and State of Texas.” More than 100 years later, Rice has seen a surge in the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and Black scholarship, especially in the Center for African and African American Studies.

FEATURES 11/1/23 12:43am

New courses to explore this spring semester

By Amy Li

It’s already that time of year — students across campus are looking to craft the perfect spring semester schedule, one that satisfies both their interests and their graduation requirements. The Thresher has compiled a list of never-before-seen courses without prerequisites that any student can take to fulfill some graduation requirements — and to explore something interesting and new.

OPINION 11/1/23 12:41am

NOD shut down highlights a need for change

By Thresher Editorial Board

In the early hours of Oct. 29, the 50th Night of Decadence public at Wiess College was abruptly cut short. In an email to all students, the Wiess team in charge of organizing the public justified the shut down due to the complete overwhelming of Rice and Houston emergency services, which was promptly accelerated after an altercation between RUPD and several students. 

OPINION 11/1/23 12:38am

Speak out against antisemitism

By Noah Berz

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m.: Dozens of Rice students and community members gather in the Graduate Student Bubble for an anti-war teach-in because the Basker Institute has plans to celebrate former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Hillary Clinton and James Baker at an upcoming gala. The flyer for the event calls the former secretaries “architects of war and imperialism”; intrigued, I, too, make my way there.

OPINION 11/1/23 12:37am

Letter to the Editor: No feminism without sex positivity

By Felicity Phelan

Last week’s Thresher included a guest opinion objecting to the 2023 Night of Decadence theme, “NODie Dreamhouse: Cum On Barbie, Let’s Get NODy.” I applaud the article’s authors for their commitment to challenging latent and linguistically-embedded sexism in their campus community — everything around us, even something as silly and salacious as a NOD theme, can and should be examined for carried biases and perpetuated marginalizations. But “Cum on Barbie” is not one of those cases.

NEWS 11/1/23 12:35am

Old Sid demolition delayed due to bee colony and weather

By Hope Yang

The demolition of the old Sid Richardson College building was not completed in October as originally planned due to weather conditions, bees in the demolition site and other complications, according to Faith Neyra, a communications specialist in the office of finance and administration.

NEWS 11/1/23 12:33am

Students talk financial aid challenges

By Marie Valera

Rice has joined over 360 colleges in the United States in making a commitment to financial aid transparency, according to a news release from the Office of Public Affairs. The announcement says Rice reaffirms its commitment to remaining a loan-free institution. 

NEWS 11/1/23 12:29am

BISF hosts panel on long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Belinda Zhu

The Baker Institute Student Forum hosted a panel titled “​​Addressing the Israel-Gaza Crisis: Humanitarian Efforts and Political Economy of Gulf States” on Oct. 25 to discuss the current war and long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its relation to other Arab states.

NEWS 10/27/23 2:08pm

Students walk out of class, fundraise for Palestine

By Spring Chenjp

Students walked out of class to chant and make posters in support of Palestine as part of an event organized by Rice Students for Justice in Palestine in Brown Garden at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 25. The walkout came as the Israel-Hamas war continued into its third week. The Rice Muslim Student Association also held a fundraiser that day, where all proceeds were to be donated to the non-profit organization Islamic Relief, according to MSA’s Instagram post.

A&E 10/26/23 11:37am

World’s longest-running play finds its next stage at Rice

By Jennifer Liu

First performed at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham, England in 1952 and now holding the Guinness World Record for longest-running play in history, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” has arrived at Rice Theatre. An esteemed whodunit murder mystery that boasts over 28,000 performances worldwide, the show will run for two weekends at Rice’s Hamman Hall.

OPINION 10/25/23 10:21am

Houston’s future depends on this mayoral election

By Thresher Editorial Board

Early voting has started in the elections of Houston’s next mayor and city council. Through Nov. 3, you can head to the Texas Medical Center to cast your ballot — and starting Saturday, Rice will provide bus service from campus. If you can’t make it by then, Sewall Hall will be a voting precinct for Election Day on Nov. 7. Houston’s next set of elected officials will inherit the complex issues the city faces today, ranging from public safety to unemployment, potholes, transit and homelessness.

OPINION 10/25/23 10:20am

The better way to distribute publics tickets

 

As I sit at my desk, refreshing the Google Form for tickets to Night of Decadence, the annual Wiess College public party, I think to myself that there has got to be a better way to do this. 

SPORTS 10/25/23 12:05am

Owls soar past Golden Hurricanes over weekend

By Pavithr Goli

On the backdrop of a picturesque sunset last Thursday evening in Tulsa, the Rice Owls defeated the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane 42-10 to improve to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The Owls’ 32-point victory, which was the biggest margin of victory for Rice against conference opposition since 2013, was mainly led by graduate transfer quarterback JT Daniels who threw for 342 passing yards and three total touchdowns and junior running back Dean Connors who rushed for a career-high 120 rushing yards and three touchdowns. 

Editor's Picks

Most Popular

The Rice Thresher