Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916
Sunday, March 30, 2025 — Houston, TX

Amelia Davis

FEATURES 2/4/25 10:53pm

Dancing with the Owls

By Amelia Davis

It can feel hard to fit in exercise as a student outside of joining an intramural sports team or running Baker 13 in an effort to recoup some high-school sprinter glory. However, though the dance community at Rice may be subtle, its offerings are vast and diverse. 

FEATURES 1/28/25 11:03pm

Food for thought: Introducing college Food Ambassadors

By Amelia Davis

If you have ever seen — and then promptly ignored — the QR codes posted around the Rice serveries that invite students to leave feedback, the purpose of the Food Ambassador program should be clear to you. While the QR code signs may fade to the back of one’s subconscious, a familiar face might have more success. 

FEATURES 11/12/24 10:03pm

The post on compost: The latest of composting at Rice

By Amelia Davis

Heavier than a commercial plane: Rice has composted one million pounds of food waste in total since May 2024 through the Moonshot Compost program. More bins were added due to demand at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, according to sustainability coordinator Kristianna Bowles. 

FEATURES 10/8/24 10:45pm

Go outside, touch grass

By Amelia Davis

Have you asked yourself, “How many more buildings can Rice construct before losing its classification as an arboretum?” Have you thought that the campus squirrels are a little too bold around humans? If you’re sick of constant construction marring the on-campus flora and fauna, Houston has plenty of student-friendly destinations to get your fix of green. 

FEATURES 9/10/24 11:09pm

Operations research boom reaches Rice

By Amelia Davis

Students outside the engineering department and those especially averse to fulfilling their Group III distribution requirements may be unaware of the growing presence of operations research – or even what it is. 

FEATURES 9/3/24 10:53pm

Unpacking back to school necessities (and absurdities)

By Amelia Davis

Whether you’re a freshman feeling not-so-fresh right out of Orientation Week or a fifth-year senior desperately trying to graduate this semester, there’s no doubt: In your packing frenzy, you have forgotten something. Whether that is all your socks (urgent) or simply packing your collection of emotional support Pokémon cards (to be honest, also pretty urgent), you may be wishing for a helpful guide on how to prepare for your first weeks back to school. What to buy, what to do, what to wear: find your answers here. 

FEATURES 4/16/24 10:24pm

Decoding the Texas Pornhub ban

By Amelia Davis

Pornhub sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block the enforcement of a state law that requires commercial websites publishing pornography “harmful to minors” online establish age verification measures and show health warnings on their webpages in 2023. 

NEWS 4/9/24 10:54pm

Spectra, LGBTQ+ mathematician organization, launches Rice chapter

By Amelia Davis

A new chapter of Spectra is being introduced at Rice this spring semester. Spectra is a professional association for LGBTQ+ mathematicians, originating as a protest after the 1995 Joint Mathematics Meeting conference was scheduled to take place in Colorado, which had recently passed a state amendment prohibiting anti-discrimination laws for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. 

FEATURES 3/5/24 10:07pm

AI in the archives: Fondren Library explores new tech

By Amelia Davis

From Grammarly and Quizlet to SparkNotes and Spotify, artificial intelligence is now a major feature of nearly every website — and the archives of Fondren Library are no exception. The use of AI has been a notoriously hot-button topic for the last few years, involved in artist exploitation debates and the terms of the Writers Guild of America strike, but in the Woodson Research Center, its role has been to facilitate greater ease and expediency in many of their preservation and transcription processes. 

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