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Monday, November 25, 2024 — Houston, TX

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NEWS 1/24/23 10:35pm

Rice students celebrate Lunar New Year

By Keegan Leibrock

The Rice Chinese Student Association will host its annual Lunar New Year Gala in person for the first time since 2020 this Saturday, Jan. 28. The Gala, hosted jointly by the RCSA and the Vietnamese Student Association, will feature traditional dances, music, creative writing, food and fashion, according to the RCSA Instagram.

FEATURES 1/24/23 10:28pm

Take it or leave it: EUA hosts book exchange event

By Nishanka Kuthuru

The English Undergraduate Association hosted a “Take a Book, Leave a Book” event on Thursday, Jan. 19, where people could swap books with other students to refresh their collections. The EUA also welcomed students to just stop by and chat with others about their favorites and pick up a free book — or two. 

A&E 1/24/23 10:26pm

Black Art at Rice: Akaya Chambers designs her future in theatre

By Morgan Gage

When Akaya Chambers was twelve years old, she made her own Halloween costume — a steampunk TARDIS dress. It was the first time she had ever sewn, but she hasn’t put down her needle and thread since. In the years following, she discovered a passion for costume design and theatre on and off of the stage as a costume designer and actor, and on the page as a playwright. 

A&E 1/24/23 10:25pm

Review: ‘Five Easy Hot Dogs’ is a mellow road trip of soothing instrumentals

By Jay Collura

It’s impossible to understate Mac DeMarco’s influence in the world of indie music. Since his breakout 2012 album ‘2,’ DeMarco’s twangy jangle pop songs have inspired new musicians and subgenres, notably bedroom pop. Tracks like “Chamber of Reflection” helped define alternative music in the mid-2010s, and recently, cuts like “Heart to Heart” have been wildly popular on TikTok. At the core of these successes were not only strong instrumentation but a slacker attitude and a sense of understated romance within DeMarco’s lyrics. However, for “Five Easy Hot Dogs,” DeMarco has ditched this core component in favor of focusing on instrumentals. Regardless of this switch-up, DeMarco has constructed a solid project full of unique albeit forgettable songs that inspire a sense of tranquility unmatched by his other work.

A&E 1/24/23 10:18pm

Food spots to fill your late night cravings

By Hamza Saeed

Have you or someone you love suffered from the recent closing of YoYo’s and Oh My Gogi? If so, you might be looking for new food spots to scratch those late-night cravings that the serveries simply can’t fill. Read on for the Thresher’s list of a few food spots close to campus that can fill the holes in our stomachs (and our hearts). 

A&E 1/24/23 10:17pm

Review: ‘Jesus Christ!’ that was an experience

By Sara Davidson

When I sat down in the Hobby Center to watch “Jesus Christ Superstar” on its opening night in Houston, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had been warned by cast member Colin Robertson to expect glitter, loud volume and the unexpected. What I wasn’t anticipating was for a majority of the cast to run in through the back of the auditorium halfway through the first number to kick the show off with a bang. It certainly brought the show to life rather instantaneously, and my plus-one who went to the bathroom and accidentally got locked out until after the opening number said watching them warm up in the lobby was even cooler. They were dancing, stretching, vocalizing and hyping each other up while we were all sitting unbeknownst inside. 

A&E 1/24/23 10:17pm

Hot off the press: Authors share new works

By Hadley Medlock

Literary enthusiasts filed into Congregation Emanu El on Monday to hear from acclaimed authors Yiyun Li and Matthew Salesses. As part of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading series, the authors came to Houston to share excerpts of their newly released novels and take part in an on-stage conversation with the University of Houston creative writing program faculty member Brenda Peynado. Both Li and Salesses shared insight on politics in their novels and finding joy in their writing.

OPINION 1/24/23 10:14pm

Rice should allow more than 8% of graduate students to eat at campus serveries

By Xin Tan

Everyday, many graduate students are struggling with meals, because Rice offers very limited on-campus servery dining opportunities for them. Many students have expressed concern over this policy including Yajie Liu, a bioengineering Ph.D. student. Her day is filled with coursework, research and mentoring undergraduates in the lab. Though Yajie is on campus from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, she enjoys her busy life. This semester, she applied for the graduate meal plan but failed to get selected. She is very disappointed and has to spend extra time and effort preparing affordable meals herself. The on-campus graduate meal plan is very important to student life, Ph.D. students in particular. Rice should expand the on-campus meal plans to cater to the demand of increasing graduate students.  

OPINION 1/24/23 10:13pm

Bring Sunday brunch back to campus

By Thresher Editorial Board

At the very first Editorial Board meeting of this school year, the seniors on our board got on our high horses to inform the Rice community of the way things used to be done vis-a-vis selling tickets to public parties. We’ve held our tongues since then, as we can appreciate that circumstances change and growth is good. But the time has come for us to speak again, this time in support of resurrecting the greatest of all pre-COVID traditions: Sunday brunch.

SPORTS 1/24/23 10:11pm

Even after cold-streak, WBB’s rebuild is still ahead of schedule

By Daniel Schrager

Rice’s women’s basketball team got off to a ridiculous start this year. The Owls won their first nine games, their best-ever start to a season in program history. They weren’t just beating up on an easy non-conference schedule either. The Owls beat a pair of power-five teams in Texas A&M University and Texas Christian University, in addition to a win over the American Athletic Conference’s University of Houston (although admittedly all three  of those higher-profile teams are having down years).

SPORTS 1/24/23 10:09pm

T&F indoor season gets off to fast start at UH meet

By Pavithr Goli

For the first time this year, both of Rice’s track and field teams were in action on the same weekend, competing at the University of Houston’s Robert Platt Invitational. The meet was the first of the indoor season for Rice’s men’s team and the second for the women’s team, which sent a few competitors to UH the previous weekend. Five Owls took gold over the weekend, and seven others medaled.

SPORTS 1/24/23 10:09pm

Ashlee Austin discusses her journey from bench to brilliance

By Cadan Hanson

If you watched any Rice women’s basketball games in the past two years, you’ve seen No. 22 with pink highlights hitting shots and making plays. But if you saw Ashlee Austin as a freshman, you would be shocked to see the transformation that the forward from Johns Creek, Georgia has gone through: from the last seat on the bench to the face of Rice women’s basketball.

SPORTS 1/24/23 10:08pm

Quiet confidence: Travis Evee wants the last shot

By Landry Wood

In Rice’s Jan. 14 home victory over conference rival University of Texas at El Paso, junior guard Travis Evee took the last shot and did not miss. With seven seconds on the clock and the Miners leading by one, Evee got the inbound pass from sophomore guard/forward Cameron Sheffield, drove the length of the court, jumped off his right foot just inside the three-point line and floated the ball in. The buzzer rang, and the game ended. Evee ran to hug his coach and celebrate.

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