Dan Helmici

FEATURES 10/6/20 10:59pm

Ghostbusters: Housing and dining staff adapt to a semester like no other

By Dan Helmici and Madhu Venkatesalu

Ghostbusters are on campus. They’re not a fictional group of men fighting supernatural beings, but a team of Housing and Dining staff led by Noel Romero, tasked with sanitizing hand-touched surface areas and performing other duties that help to stop the spread of COVID-19 around campus. The Ghostbusters team, along with many other H&D staff members, are trained to use an electrostatic sprayer, which uses a positively charged disinfectant that coats surfaces and cleans them.  

NEWS 4/14/20 8:04pm

Zoom bombings disrupt online classes

By Dan Helmici

After moving all classes and programs online over three weeks ago, Rice faculty and staff are still experiencing difficulties teaching, including a common trend known as “Zoom bombing.” On top of other technical difficulties associated with the transition to remote learning, some classes and online programs have reported being interrupted by individuals that randomly join Zoom calls in order to cause disruptions. 

NEWS 3/27/20 5:02pm

Rice accepts 10 percent of applicants for the Class of 2024

By Dan Helmici

Rice University accepted 10 percent of applicants to the undergraduate class of 2024, a slight increase in acceptance rate from last year’s record-low 8.7 percent acceptance rate. Due to Rice’s cancellation of all on-campus admission events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, accepted students will be invited to virtual events in lieu of visiting campus during the traditional Owl Days and Admit Days.

OPINION 2/18/20 10:17pm

The Senate’s “independent” jurors aren’t even pretending anymore

By Dan Helmici and Harry Golen

Donald Trump is an innocent man, at least according to the United States Senate. Congress has decided that Trump didn’t abuse his power to solicit derogatory information about his political opponents, bribe Volodymyr Zelensky with the withholding of nearly $400 million in crucial foreign aid necessary for Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression or obstruct Congress by defying mandatory subpoenas and covering up the aftermath of his misguided dealings.