The Rice Thresher | Wednesday, December 4, 2024

VOLUME 109, ISSUE NO. 13 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

Student organizations form coalition to support SA referenda JAMES CANCELARICH

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

NDIDI NWOSU / THRESHER

Amy Hobby: from Rice to Oscar nominee STEVEN BURGESS

FOR THE THRESHER

Before its permanent closure in 2021, the Rice Media Center was home to film students at Rice. One particular alumna, Academy Award-nominated producer Amy Hobby ’87, has been one of the most notable people to come out of Rice’s film department, having worked alongside Tim Burton, David Lynch and Steven Soderbergh throughout her three-decade career.

be in the projection booth and there was informality about it that made it feel like you were in this club,” Hobby said in an interview with the Thresher. “I just looked around and saw stuff in the world and went out and filmed stuff.”

At Rice, Hobby started to make films of her own, creating documentary and experimental films with topics ranging from alligator hunting to primal scream therapy centers. Hobby cited Rice’s associate professor of film Brian Huberman as a major part of her experience, and said that her learning experiences with

Huberman were responsible for her love of documentary and experimental film.

“He was shooting a film about the Alamo,” Hobby said. “I was pretty good at shooting as a pretty good camera person, so I got to go with him one time and shoot for him … I loved it in every way.”

Since her time at Rice, Hobby has produced critically acclaimed films like “Secretary,” “Hamlet” and “What Happened, Miss Simone?” for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.

SEE HOBBY PAGE 8

RICE UNIVERSITY ’87

STEVEN BURGESS / THRESHER Filmmaker and producer Amy Hobby spoke at a screening of her recent film at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November. Hobby graduated from Rice in 1987, and credits her undergraduate years for sparking an early career in film.

Jae Kim named Rhodes Scholar, Rice’s first recipient in a decade ABIGAIL CHIU

THRESHER STAFF Rice senior Jae Kim was named a 2025 Rhodes Scholar, the only recipient from a Texas university and the first Rice student to receive the award since 2015. The Rhodes Scholarship is awarded to 32 American students annually to study at Oxford University for up to three years.

“I’ve always wanted to have a global impact in my future career, but it wasn’t until very recently that I really came to understand the Rhodes Scholarship as

We commit to being the conscience of this university, continually working toward a more equitable Rice.

Rice Coalition for Liberation Statement

[There were] so few students, so I could be in the projection booth and there was informality about it that made it feel like you were in this club.

Amy Hobby During her time at Rice, the Media Center hosted film screenings and talks from directors such as Richard Lester, Bruce Bailey and Stan Brakhage. Hobby said her time in the Media Center was full of freedom due to the film program’s intimacy. “[There were] so few students, so I could

Four Student Association referenda open for the general student body vote today at noon. The referenda call for disclosure of Rice Management Company holdings and divestment from entities that profit off the Israel-Hamas war. The referenda also ask that Rice release a statement condemning genocide and materially support anti-colonial scholarship.

Voting will close Dec. 11 at noon and the results will be published the next day. For the referenda to pass, a twothirds majority with a 20% student body turnout is needed.

Nineteen student organizations announced the formation of the Rice Coalition for Liberation in support of the referenda in an Instagram post Nov. 20. In a statement released by RCL, the coalition says it is committed to “collective liberation.”

“We commit to being the conscience of this university, continually working toward a more equitable Rice,” the statement reads.

The statement says that the RCL’s first action is to support the SA referenda.

a means of doing so,” Kim, a Brown College senior, wrote in an email to the Thresher. “[It’s] a bit crazy to me that there are students that come into college having this as a goal.”

“I applied for the Rhodes Scholarship because I believe that you miss all the shots you don’t take, but I’m still in disbelief about receiving it,” Kim wrote.

“When the judges first called my name as one of the two scholars [from District 8], I remember instinctively standing up in shock.”

Kim worked with the Texas Consortium for the Non-Medical

Drivers of Health to develop their online program index, a digital repository and resource list geared toward researchers and providers. Consortium researchers study conditions where people live and work that affect health risks and outcomes.

Jacquie Klotz, one of Kim’s supervisors and program manager for the consortium, said that although Kim never mentioned the scholarship, she always knew he would do impressive things.

SEE KIM PAGE 2

“An expression of popular student support demonstrates to the university administration that they are at odds with the will of its students,” the statement reads.

The coalition statement then expresses support for each of the referenda, including divestment from Israel-aligned companies and a focus on anti-colonial scholarship.

“Divesting from weapons manufacturers and companies profiting from the genocide in Gaza would be a form of resistance, undermining the economic and political structures supporting the apartheid state of Israel’s actions and reducing the financial viability of its military operations,” the statement reads.

“By establishing this scholarship, Rice can play a pivotal role in rebuilding Gaza’s academic strength and supporting the global fight for justice,” the statement reads. “This scholarship should be open to all victims of colonial violence, offering them the opportunity to pursue their education at Rice and contribute to reimagining a more equitable world.”

Matti Haacke, a Rice Students for Justice in Palestine representative, said that SJP initiated the formation of the coalition but aims to work alongside all the involved parties in its mission for collective liberation.

SEE COALITION PAGE 2

2 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

THE RICE THRESHER

FROM FRONT PAGE

FROM FRONT PAGE

COALITION

“Joining the coalition … to the MSA … means following Islamic guidance to “The coalition has collaborated speak against oppression in all its forms. on social media outreach, as well as It means supporting students who are highlighting collective messaging deeply affected by what’s happening around the referendums at individual when the campus fails to acknowledge [organization] events, as well as it or provide support for them,” they mobilizing volunteers to table in support wrote. “It means advocating for students’ of the referendums,” Haacke, a Sid families overseas who are forced to Richardson College senior, wrote in a endure that violent oppression every day without the same basic resources, rights message to the Thresher.

Solomon Ni, president of the Rice and speech privileges that students have Young Democratic Socialists, handed in the United States.”

Rice Urban Agriculture is another out pamphlets in Jones College that explained and voiced support for the organization that joined the coalition.

Isabelle Chang, referenda Dec. 2. the president of Ni said his the organization, organization said that her signed on to the We didn’t see any reason organization sent RCL letter because out a poll after an he identified not to join because ... our officer brought with the goals mission aligns with SJP’s. up RCL. of the referenda, At the garden, we focus “We didn’t see e s p e c i a l ly a lot on inclusivity and any reason not to anti-colonial join because ... I scholarship, and gardening for everybody think, our mission that he wanted to … and I think that’s kind aligns with support people of what SJP is doing on a SJPs,” Chang, a in the Rice broader scale.

McMurtry College community.

Ni senior, said. “At said he supported Isabelle Chang the garden, we the coalition RICE URBAN AGRICULTURE focus a lot on through student PRESIDENT inclusivity and outreach.

“We will do our best in terms of tabling gardening for everybody … and I think and making sure that people know what is that’s kind of what SJP is doing on a on their ballot and educating them about broader scale.”

Chang said that while she personally each and every referendum that is there,” supports that referenda, Rice Urban Ni, a Jones College senior, said.

Ni said that while the coalition initially Agriculture views organizing to support formed to support the Students for Justice the referenda as outside of the scope of in Palestine, its plans extend beyond just the organization.

Oscar Vietor is the chair of the SA the referenda.

“I think educational events are Labor Commission, one of the three SA definitely in the cards, and I think that commissions that joined RCL. Vietor said other ways that we can show our support that although he was not familiar with the is trying to get people to recognize the referenda, he supported scholarship by atrocities that are going on in Gaza,” Ni colonial victims.

“I think that students and laborers said.

Reem Abbas and Saif Ganni, co- everywhere need to support one presidents of Rice Muslim Student another, and being a coalition member Association, wrote in a message to the is how the Labor Commission is Thresher that the organization joined the showing that support,” Vietor, a Wiess RCL because it was their obligation to call College sophomore, wrote in a message to the Thresher. out injustice.

KIM

At Oxford, Kim plans to pursue dual Master of Science degrees in “I’ve rarely handed things to him that environmental change and management don’t get better after he’s worked with them. and evidence-based social intervention So on top of being intellectually curious, and policy evaluation.

“Beyond academics, I hope to build he’s very driven and very passionate about the work he does,” Klotz said. “I valuable connections during my time at had no doubts about Jae doing something Oxford that would allow me to pursue that would have a major impact. I’m very effective collaborations on climate [and] happy and proud of him for taking that to health issues in a future career,” Kim the Rhodes Scholarship because it’s just wrote. “Although the work that I want to do has not changed pre- [and] post-Rhodes the first step on his journey.”

Kim currently serves as the president Scholar, the scope and scale at which I am of the Student Association and has able to visualize myself having this impact previously served as president of Brown has shifted greatly.”

Kim said he plans to pursue an MD College. and a master’s Sara Davidson, in public health current Brown after returning to president, worked the United States under Kim as My mission is to bring to and ultimately Brown’s internal vice a career as a president last year. the world’s attention how climate health She said she has human health and the advocate. seen him grow and health of the planet are “I want to embrace his ability inextricably connected. develop and to make an impact. advocate for “I’ve seen Jae Jae Kim climate policy go through many RHODES SCHOLAR that preserves shades of hair. I’ve seen him when he was green. I’ve seen him human health at the local, national and blonde. I’ve seen him now with his ombré global levels,” Kim wrote. “I will work thing we’ve got going on,” Davidson, a with local communities to mitigate the senior, said. “I’ve seen him be unafraid to very real human cost of climate change, take on new challenges and even say that campaign for social interventions and he wants to do something unconventional. policy changes at the national level and He knows that Rice has built him up to have build coalitions for the global stage. My those resources, and also to be excited for mission is to bring to the world’s attention the unconventional because it’s going to how human health and the health of the planet are inextricably lead him to something connected.” that he’s going to love.”

AMELIA DAVIS / THRESHER Brown College senior Jae Kim was recently named a Rhodes scholar to pursue master’s degrees at the University of Oxford.

Chaus closes due to water leak, ‘tentatively hoping’ to reopen Dec. 5 BELINDA ZHU

ASST. NEWS EDITOR Rice Coffeehouse is closed indefinitely due to water leaks in the building that occurred over Thanksgiving break. Chaus

JAMES CANCELARICH / THRESHER Chaus closed indefinitely after a leak was found above the bar area on Sunday.

announced its closure in a Dec. 1 Instagram post, citing “unseen circumstances.”

Although no official date has been announced, Chaus is aiming for a Dec. 5 reopening, said both Alysa Bijl-Spiro, Chaus’ general manager, and Caitlin Lindsay,

me because this is the only place I usually Director of Student Center Operations.

“We found out on Sunday morning get my coffee from.”

Brown College junior Gabriel Ong that there was a significant water leak also expressed in the ceiling of disappointment.

Coffeehouse which “It is definitely drenched the space a blow to the behind the bar,” Rice campus Lindsay wrote in [A manager] told me that community,” Ong an email to the they have closed and said. “I usually Thresher.

“We could not tell me the go study at Chaus had to wait for reason. They could not after dinner, but everything to dry now I have to go out to see which tell me when they would somewhere else equipment was still reopen, either. which is a pain. It is working and for also tough because Facilities & Capital Aryaman Agrawal other places like Planning to inspect MBA STUDENT Local Foods and the space before Dandelion Cafe have more expensive we’d be able to reopen.”

Bijl-Spiro said Lindsay alerted Chaus coffee.”

Lindsay said that they are hoping to management to the leak, and collectively decided to close the area for a few days to reopen by Thursday.

“Facilities were able to stop the leak on assess the damage.

MBA student Aryaman Agrawal said that Sunday and then had their electricians, [and] plumbers out on Monday to assess the he did not expect Chaus to be closed. “[A manager] told me that they had space,” Lindsay wrote. “We’ve been working closed and could not tell me the reason. They with OIT to repair the networking so that could not tell me when they would reopen, the credit card readers will work ... We are either, which was quite disappointing for tentatively hoping to reopen on Thursday.”

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 • 3

NEWS

Rice launches partnerships with Indian universities NANDINI DASARI

FOR THE THRESHER

Thirty members of Rice leadership and faculty convened in Bengaluru, India Nov. 18 to launch Rice Global India, an initiative to bolster Rice’s network of academic collaboration abroad. According to Caroline Levander, Rice’s vice president for global affairs, the trip was the largest international delegation in the history of the university.

Rice’s presence in India is not new, according to President Reggie DesRoches.

DesRoches said that Rice Global India formalizes a sentiment for cooperation with

India that has been in the works for decades.

“This country of nearly 1.5 billion people represents a dynamic and rapidly growing landscape of entrepreneurial and strategic opportunities,” DesRoches wrote in an email to the Thresher. “With its burgeoning economy, diverse talent pool and vibrant innovation ecosystem, India will play a pivotal role in our global strategy.”

Aside from hiring staff in India and organizing legal matters, Levander said that one of the most important considerations in preparing for Rice Global India was finding a location to call home. After a multi-city tour of India last November, Rice administration

WILLIAM LIU / THRESHER

Lovett College freshman Vinati Pillutla agreed to establish their center of operations in Bengaluru due to shared prominence and said that she is interested in the personal and professional opportunities at Rice research priorities.

“My work is to identify institutions that Global India.

“Apart from the fact that I have family are like Rice: high-caliber, highly research there, I think that [oriented], rigorous India is quickly and selective,” becoming the Levander said. “And center of research amongst those, [I] and innovation, see where we have We will be focusing on especially in the possibility for faculty growing awareness of Rice biotechnology c o l l a b o r a t i o n . as an academic brand field, which is what Because if you get in India. We want to be I’m interested in faculty working pursuing,” Pillutla together, the rest known in India, and right said. “I’ve always tends to follow.” now, we’re largely not. been in the American Rice has schooling system, partnered with the Caroline Levander and I’m interested in Indian Institute of VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL exploring the school Technology Kanpur AFFAIRS systems of other and the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, two of the countries as well.”

Rice has already started to take steps country’s most prestigious educational institutions. According to DesRoches, Rice in further enhancing its presence in hopes to offer unique opportunities for India, DesRoches wrote. In addition to its partnerships with IIT Kanpur and students through these partnerships.

“Through these joint education programs, IISc Bengaluru, the university recently internships and collaborative research entered similar agreements for academic projects, students from both countries collaboration with IIT-Madras and the Indiawill gain valuable international exposure, based Amity Education Group, a worldwide furthering their academic and professional organization of 25 schools and 11 universities with over 175,000 students. development,” DesRoches wrote.

India’s rapid advancement in the Levander also said that Rice aims to prioritize India as a pool of academic talent, technology and education sectors make the especially at the graduate level. As a part of country a significant part of Rice’s ultimate the program, the university plans to offer vision for worldwide interconnection, merit-based Rice Excellence scholarships to according to DesRoches.

“Together, we are creating a global Indian students. that empowers students, “We will be focusing on growing network awareness of Rice as an academic brand in researchers and industry leaders alike, India. We want to be known in India, and fostering solutions that resonate on a right now, we’re largely not,” Levander said. worldwide scale,” DesRoches wrote.

Students partner with Houston ministry for fall festival HONGTAO HU

helped with a lot of the logistics, because, of course, we have to make sure that, we’re protecting kids while we’re here.”

Students assisted in logistics and Psychology students at Rice held a fall festival for refugees at Rice’s planning for this event, such as providing transportation for Welcome Center the families to get and Founder’s to Rice.

Court Nov. 23. The A m a n event was held Creating a welcoming and Chaudhary, who in collaboration focused on the with the Center for warming environment is logistical planning Civic Leadership kind of why I came to Rice for the event, said and Interfaith in the first place. Being that the event Ministries for able to create that for a was held the Greater Houston, weekend before a non-profit whole other community …

Thanksgiving o r g a n i z a t i o n it just blew me away. to provide helping refugee Rohit Jha attendees with families with their MULTICULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY entertainment new lives.

STUDENT a n d Over 70 families attended, and the event provided food and company going into the activities for children such as face painting, holiday season.

“All the henna, an egg race and an archery station.

The students involved held this event as part of their multicultural psychology class’ civic learning project, taught by Chase Lesane-Brown, a lecturer in the psychological sciences department.

According to Lesane-Brown, the class provides hands-on engagement with demographics they are learning about, and she provided students with a variety of civic engagement opportunities, one of which was with the IMGH. “I think it’s really important for the students, if they are going to read about different groups, that they actually have an opportunity to work with and experience those groups because a lot of times what you read in textbooks isn’t the same as what you actually experience when you’re working with people,” Lesane-Brown said.

The CCL funded the food and transportation provided for the event.

“Without the CCL, we could not have done this,” Lesane-Brown said. “They helped provide the funding for us. They THRESHER STAFF

families here are refugee families, and so because oftentimes they’re far from their families, we thought it might be nice to throw this fall festival, just so that they get a sense of community and they get to celebrate,” Chaudhary, a Wiess College junior, said.

Chaudhary also assisted in taking family portraits at the event. Rohit Jha, another student working on the IMGH event, said that many refugees not having family photos was something that struck him deeply.

“I think that really stood out to me because my home was covered in photos, they were one of the main things that created my home,” Jha, a Martel College senior, said. “It’s kind of just a small thing, but [it] informed

me about the realities of the situation that they’re facing.”

Jha helped give campus tours to refugee families.

“I thought it was important to, one, just give them a tour of the Rice campus, because I think it’s really pretty,” Jha said.

“But two, it was really cool to tell them, ‘This is something that you could achieve if you wanted to, if this is something you want to do.’And a lot of people were like, ‘Wow, I really hope my kid gets in here.’”

For Chaudhary, he said the positive energy of the community made the event a success.

“Creating a welcoming and warming environment is kind of why I came to Rice in the first place,” Chaudhary said.

“Being able to create that for a whole other community … it just blew me away.”

COURTESY AMAN CHAUDHARY Duc-Ahn Nguyen, a Wiess College senior, helps prepare children for the festival’s sack race.

4 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

NEWS

‘Not an easy job’: Student hosts police officer panel VIOLA HSIA

ASST. NEWS EDITOR A panel discussion titled ‘Behind the Badge’ was hosted by Kelsea Whiting, a political science student, Nov. 21. The event, according to the Rice University Police Department’s Facebook post, aimed to “humanize law enforcement by providing an honest, inside look into the challenges, experiences and realities faced by officers in their daily lives.”

Whiting, the panel’s moderator, said she was inspired to host the panel by her father’s work as a sheriff in her hometown of Colusa, Calif.

“Coming from a small town where our officers are our heroes, I started looking at why that was, and it’s because we see our officers everywhere all the time,” Whiting, a Brown College senior, said in an interview with the Thresher.

“I wanted to host

this event just to get that behind-the-scenes look and show people that they’re human, just like the rest of us.”

Whiting organized the event as part of an independent study supervised by sociology lecturer Craig Considine.

One of the panelists, Nolan Regan, is a photographer and content creator who takes pictures of police officers on duty.

Regan said he wanted to portray cops in a more positive light.

“Anytime you see law enforcement anywhere, it’s always like, ‘Oh, cop gets killed, cop shoots somebody,’” Regan said during the panel. “Then you see one [photo] that is actually good news … people actually start to bond with the officer.”

Other panelists discussed the stigma surrounding mental health in law enforcement. Stephen Tate, a clinical psychologist at the Houston Police Department, spoke on the toll that trauma c a n

COURTESY SONIA BAIG Kelsea Whiting organized the panel as part of an independent study with sociology lectrurer Craig Considine. From left: Considine, clinical psychologist Stephen Tate, Whiting, photographer Nolan Regan, former police officer Merced Corona.

SA approves special ballot, gender resolution changing that,” Wang, a Will Rice College sophomore, said in an interview with ASST. NEWS EDITOR the Thresher. “We got rid of the abstain Senate passed the special election option, and now, instead of making ballot about divestment and investment everything required, [not all questions transparency referenda Dec. 2., during are] required.”

Senate also passed a resolution to its last meeting of the semester. Senate also passed a resolution, formally require faculty to include a gender diversity introduced on Nov. 25, recommending the statement in their syllabi. According to inclusion of gender diversity statements the text of the resolution, its creation in professors’ syllabi and a bill to expand was motivated by the fact that “the State of Texas has enjoined an interpretation student discounts around Houston.

Student elections director Natalie of Title IX that denies protections for transgender and Wang said during LGBTQ+ people, the meeting reinforcing fear that the ballot within the queer would have one Originally, we did have community at question for each Rice.” r e f e r e n d u m . all of the questions as “The resolution Originally, students requirements that you really is for the could choose to have to answer before students, because support, oppose you submit, but we’re we want them to or abstain from feel as comfortable voting. However, changing that. We got rid as possible several members of the abstain option, and addressing of the Senate and now, instead of making professors, if students present professors are expressed concern everything required, not addressing on how abstaining [not all questions are] them by the votes would be required. correct names counted for the or pronouns,” required 20% Natalie Wang STUDENT ELECTIONS DIRECTOR Katherine Painter, student body vote. vice chair of the SA “How can we possibly approve this ballot without DEI commission, said in an interview with knowing what an abstain is [counted the Thresher.

According to Painter, the resolution as]?” Simon Yellen, a Duncan College senior, asked at the meeting. “Until this will come to a vote in the faculty senate is decided upon … it’s almost ridiculous next semester.

“I’m so grateful that we passed with the to approve this ballot because we don’t unanimous vote. That gave me restored know what an abstain vote is.”

The option to abstain was then struck faith in our students, but I know that at from the ballot; however, students will the faculty level, there are a lot more not be required to answer every question structural changes that would need to happen for this to pass,” Painter, a Brown to submit the form.

“Originally, we did have all of the College sophomore, said. “We’re going to questions as requirements that you have have to really fight those but we’re gonna to answer before you submit, but we’re do it. We’re gonna fight for the students.”

VIOLA HSIA

that need to be reformed and changed, so take on officers.

“A lot of people think that there are that we can have a more equitable justice more officers that die in the line of duty, but system,” Rahman said in an interview with actually, for every person that dies in the the Thresher. “Police officers are the people line of duty, there are two officers that kill who are on the front lines. They know a themselves on their own,” Tate said during lot more people who have died from gun the panel. “The mental health need is great violence. I think that there needs to be more and [department clinical psychologists of an active conversation in that regard.”

David Alford, assistant chief of the are] there to provide a lot of help with that Baytown Police process.”

Department, The panel also attended the panel touched on those and said in an who have lost loved Coming from a small interview with the ones in the line town where our officers Thresher that social of duty. Merced are our heroes, I started media increases Corona, a retired law analysis of law enforcement officer, looking at why that was, enforcement’s spoke about losing and it’s because we see relationship with his daughter Natalie our officers everywhere the public.

Corona while she all the time. I wanted to “ T o d a y ’ s was on shift as a generation is more police officer in host this event just to get analytical, more Davis, Calif. that behind-the-scenes open-minded, to “As a dad, you’re look and show people that listen more and get kind of in shock,” more information Corona said during they’re human, just like the panel. “It’s kind the rest of us. before they of a double-edged just pronounce Kelsea Whiting sword when you’re judgment,” Alford asked to go to these PANEL ORGANIZER AND MODERATOR said. “They also functions and have, rightfully so, events where they’re going to honor [Natalie] higher expectations, and those expectations because it opens up the old wounds. But in actually mirror ours. When I say ours, [I the same token, it’s quite an honor to be able mean the] police departments and that to share her story.” helps weed out [officers] who don’t need to McMurtry College senior Jasir Rahman be here.” participated in the question and answer Corona said that he believes law section to ask about the role of gun control enforcement is an honorable career, and and increased concealed weapons on school public support goes a long way. campuses in law enforcement.

“Law enforcement is not an easy job,” “I think that we’ve been able to uncover a Merced said in an interview with the lot of malfeasance, bad apples and practices Thresher. “Anytime you thank an officer on within either the criminal justice system at the street, it goes a long way. That officer will large or within certain police departments think about that for a while.”

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 • 5

THE RICE THRESHER

EDITORIAL

Prioritize functionality, student needs in tech upgrades Between ESTHER, Degree Works and Navigate, students have a plethora of technological platforms for everything from viewing financial aid to keeping track of graduation requirements. Despite being necessary for students, these platforms often are visually clunky, redundant or just don’t work.

The new ESTHER redesign is more modernized than the original. However, what it made up in aesthetics it lost in functionality. There is no search bar, which is necessary for information buried deep within the interface such as when final exams are scheduled and class waitlist positions. Most of the links on the home page redirect users to the old ESTHER interface instead, except for the few that don’t, and make accessing that old ESTHER a pain. ‘Stale request’ errors complicate matters even more when students are forced to switch browsers to log in.

We’re not a fan of Degree Works either.

While Rice adjusts major requirements each year, Degree Works can take years to keep up, displaying faulty information.

This isn’t just inconvenient — with a barrage of degree requirements, students inaccurately believing they’ve completed requirements can cause unneeded stress. For a system designed to predict graduation progress, it barely fulfills its role.

Navigate360 isn’t faring much better. be targeted in the right way. Rather than Its purpose of setting up appointments creating interfaces and systems that look mainly with language consultants, study good but are prone to error, Rice could abroad advisors and divisional advisors instead take a leaf out of other universities’ is completely redundant when faced books and focus on technology that with the high-tech solution of email or students will actually use and benefit from.

Lacking features like a search bar Calendly. The “study buddies” it attempts to facilitate fall flat when students meet doesn’t help students navigate the interfaces they need to register for classes or and form study groups on their own. find their financial This is aid packages, especially relevant but giving them for incoming a version of their freshmen, who student IDs on are made to While the university smartphones or use Navigate has good intentions in Apple Watches, during O-Week redesigning ESTHER, it Duke and despite technical could benefit from instead as Vanderbilt do difficulties. respectively, just During O-Week listening to students, user might save them 2024, students tests and focus groups time getting around struggled to book before launch and coming campus. appointments with Critical online their divisional up with solutions that will and offline tools advisors because ease their burdens going that directly impact the search function forward. the quality of was not functional and the profiles for some DAs did not student life need to prioritize functionality display the right locations or times, forcing and efficiency in order to improve student advisors and affiliates to pick up the slack life. While Rice has good intentions in and organize the appointments. Most of redesigning ESTHER, it could benefit from these students will never use the app again instead listening to students, user tests and during their time at Rice — for good reason. focus groups before launch and coming up Upgrading Rice’s software and with solutions that will ease their burdens hardware is a noble goal, but it needs to going forward.

GUEST OPINION

Undergrads should vote ‘yes’ on political referenda Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion endowment was worth $7.4 billion after that has been submitted by a member of spending. In the fall of 2024, only 4,776 the Rice community. The views expressed undergraduate students were enrolled. in this opinion are those of the author Using the 2024 yearly cost of attendance and do not necessarily represent or for new students, including tuition, reflect the views of the Thresher or its fees and on-campus living expenses, editorial board. All guest opinions are of $83,189 and the 2023 appraisal of the fact-checked to the best of our ability endowment, Rice could provide over and edited for clarity and conciseness by 18 years of relatively free education, amounting to 85,372 undergraduate Thresher editors.

On Wednesday Dec. 4, undergraduates students having not paid the institution will receive an email from the Student a dime. Albeit a rather crude calculation, this shows the Association immense amount containing a ballot of capital Rice with four political holds and the questions. These Regarding Rice’s potential for it to questions must be investments, though I act ethically with met with studentdemand a seat at the table, that capital. body support.

Regarding T h e s e it is important to recognize R i c e ’ s referenda assert that we don’t even know investments, that Rice must though I demand disclose its what the table looks like. a seat at the table, i n v e s t m e n t s , Cole Holladay it is important to divest from MARTEL COLLEGE SENIOR recognize that we institutions that profit from war and genocide, publish a don’t even know what the table looks public statement condemning war and like. Rice does not disclose the nature genocide in Gaza and institutionalize an of its investments, so we don’t know anti-colonial commitment via support precisely where Rice’s money goes or for students and educators affected by what it supports. For this reason, Rice must disclose its investment practices to colonialism around the world.

Students have a unique opportunity ensure that we can advocate for ethical to hold the administration accountable and moral investments.

It is essential to understand that there and advocate for transparency. These referenda catalyzed the formation of the is precedent for divestment. By 1988, 155 Rice Coalition for Liberation, with 20 universities and colleges had at least undergraduate organizations advocating partially divested from the apartheid in favor, including incredibly important government of South Africa. As of cultural organizations like SAS, HACER, October 2023, over 250 U.S. educational institutions have divested from fossil MSA, MENA, PRIDE and FSA. Students must understand the fuels. Over the past couple of years, a power Rice holds within its finances. handful of American universities have In the 2023 fiscal year, Rice reported its divested from Russia in response to the

escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Rice has not participated in any of these movements, with the Board of Trustees deciding not to divest from South African apartheid in September 1985.

Divestment was a critical part of dismantling South African apartheid, making it economically unfeasible.

That is precisely what we have the opportunity to do now — make the killing of tens of thousands of innocent civilians across the world less feasible.

Many students might worry about how divestment could impact Rice’s finances. In the case of fossil fuels, many institutions have taken the money returned to the university from divesting and reinvested it in clean energy.

Universities that divest from fossil fuels tend to have higher endowment values post-divestment than universities that rejected divestment after 2021.

Advocating for divestment not only provides opportunity for funds to be redirected to more ethical stocks, bonds and other securities, but also the potential to grow the endowment.

It is time for the Rice community — administrators and students alike — to recognize our collective responsibility and take decisive action. These referenda represent a crucial first step toward a more ethical and just future. I urge readers to vote in favor of all four, and help pave the way for meaningful change.

EDITORIAL STAFF * Indicates Editorial Board member Riya Misra* Editor-in-Chief Maria Morkas* Managing Editor Spring Chenjp* Managing Editor NEWS Sarah Knowlton* Editor James Cancelarich Asst. Editor Viola Hsia Asst. Editor Belinda Zhu Asst. Editor OPINION Sammy Baek* Editor FEATURES Shruti Patankar* Editor ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Juliana Lightsey* Editor Arman Saxena* Editor SPORTS Kathleen Ortiz* Editor Diego Palos Rodriguez Asst. Editor Andersen Pickard Asst. Editor BACKPAGE Andrew Kim Editor Charlie Maxson Senior Writer Max Scholl Senior Writer Will Howley Senior Writer COPY Annika Bhananker Editor Jaden Kolenbrander Editor PHOTO, VIDEO, & WEB Cali Liu Photo Editor Francesca Nemati Photo Editor Steven Burgess Video Editor Ayaan Riaz Web Editor DESIGN Alice Sun Art & Design Director Chloe Chan News Siddhi Narayan Opinion Jessica Xu Features Alexa Bu Arts & Entertainment Kirstie Qian Sports Lauren Yu Backpage BUSINESS Emma McLean Business Manager Alina Zhong Advertisement Rahul Santhanam Advertisement Audrey Witherspoon Distribution Madison Fuhr Distribution

ABOUT The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper of Rice University since 1916, is published each Wednesday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice University.

Letters to the Editor must be received by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication and must be signed, including college and year if the writer is a Rice student. The Thresher reserves the right to edit letters for content and length and to place letters on its website.

Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center: 6100 Main St., MS-524 Houston, TX 77005-1892 Phone: (713) 348 - 4801 Email: thresher@rice.edu Website: www.ricethresher.org The Thresher is a member of the ACP, TIPA, CMA and CMBAM. © Copyright 2024

Cole Holladay

MARTEL COLLEGE SENIOR ricethresher.org

6 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

THE RICE THRESHER

Environmental student organizations talk politics, sustainability following January’s inauguration.

“We’re going to focus more on a local SENIOR WRITER level, trying to get local representatives to support a Green New Deal or announce a Following the 2024 U.S. presidential climate emergency,” Stravato, a Jones College election, Sunrise Rice co-founder Dyllan sophomore, said.

According to a recent issue of the Thresher, Lozano-Lomeli said she worries even more about the future of the Earth’s climate. Sunrise Rice was formed as the only expressly Originally from Brownsville, Texas, Lozano- political sustainability-related group on Lomeli said her passion for the environment campus, but Rice Climate Alliance president was sparked in 2021 when she saw how the Bryan Mendoza said he also considers ‘Texas Freeze’ disproportionately impacted political activism and environmentalism to go poor neighborhoods in her hometown. hand in hand.

Growing up in Houston suburb Galena Now, living in Houston, she said she feels empowered to make a difference, both local Park, Mendoza said he distinctly remembers evacuating his home due to flooding and national.

“There’s definitely a lot of opportunities for during Hurricane Harvey. He said he’s been us to have the capacity to make a lot of change passionate about fighting climate change and here in Houston, but there’s also a lot of social injustices ever since. This semester, opposition,” Lozano-Lomeli, a Jones College he’s worked to revamp RCA after several years of dormancy, making sophomore, said, environmental “We need to preserve activism more what we can now and accessible to Rice try to safeguard the I think [RCA] inherently is students and often progress that we have [a political organization] partnering with made in the past four because we do advocate outside organizations years.” for events and One of 13 active politically, and it’s hard support. s u s t a i n a b i l i t y - not to take a side when “ W h a t ’ s related student one side is funding all important, I think, is organizations on advocating for other campus, Sunrise these oil corporations. people in the Houston Rice was formed Bryan Mendoza area,” Mendoza, a this semester as RICE CLIMATE ALLIANCE PRESIDENT Lovett College junior, a chapter of the national Sunrise Movement, whose goals said. “Partnering with [Students for Justice include popularizing the Green New Deal and in Palestine] on talking about Chevron and organizing political activism against climate its impacts on ecology, ecological collapse change and social inequality. Chapter co- and genocide [shows me that] everything’s founder Anna Stravato said a shift in focus connected with the environment.”

“I think [RCA] inherently is [a political will be increasingly vital to making a change

NOA BERZ

organization] because we do advocate politically, and it’s hard not to take a side when one side is funding all these oil corporations,” Mendoza continued.

While RCA saw issues with both presidential candidates in the 2024 election, Mendoza said Donald Trump’s win has inspired a newfound urgency in advocating for change.

“The presidential election has driven that push towards the need for action, especially with Trump’s [Department of Education] picks and [Environmental Protection Agency] picks,” Mendoza said. “We didn’t endorse anyone … both of [the candidates] support genocide.”

Recently, RCA expressed their support for the four referenda concerning Rice’s response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which passed in a senate vote Oct. 28.

Also supporting the referenda was Divya Saikumar, president of the Rice Sustainability Coalition, a student organization that facilitates collaboration between groups and individuals passionate about climate change.

Saikumar said she agrees that sustainability-related issues often overlap with social injustices. She also said that sustainability and environmentalism fall outside political party lines — or, at least, that they should. Ultimately, it’s clear that care for the environment varies across the political spectrum, Saikumar said.

“Within [RSC], we have representatives from SJP, from Rice Young Dems [and] from Rice Women’s Resource Center, and we’re hoping to expand beyond that as well,” Saikumar, a Lovett College

COURTESY DIVYA SAIKUMAR sophomore, said. “Any time that there’s an inequity, you can tie environmental injustice to a part of that as well.”

“I can’t speak for my organization to say that they have a direct political affiliation, but we will work with the people who care about these issues,” Saikumar continued. “If you take parties aside, everyone should care about the planet that they’re living in … it doesn’t make sense to me that it isn’t bipartisan.”

The political attitude of RSC and its affiliates does not represent the whole of Rice’s environmentalist activity. Led by Chief Investment Officer Duc-Anh Nguyen, the Rice New Energy Fund invests money from Rice’s undergraduate investment fund in energy companies working to transition away from fossil fuels.

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

Buzzwords & belonging: Rice and grind: the hustle of DFs discuss O-Week securing a job offer VERONICA YANG

FOR THE THRESHER

Diversity, equity and inclusion are buzzwords that often get thrown around, but at Rice, students and administration work to bring them to life. It shows: Rice was recently rated fifteenth for most diverse colleges in America by Niche.

As preparations for the 2025 Orientation Week begin, applications for O-Week coordinators, advisors and other leadership roles have started to open.

Among these roles are the new cohort of Diversity Facilitators.

Catherine Clack, the associate vice provost for DEI and director of the Multicultural Center describes a DF’s mission as preparing students

HAI-VAN HOANG / THRESHER

academically, socially and culturally, facilitating an easy transition to the diverse campus community.

“The DFs are there to ensure everyone is able to begin developing a sense of belonging, making sure the diversity of our students is respected and that they are included in an equitable experience at Rice,” Clack said.

DFs go through hours of training to help promote values such as inclusion and respect, Clack said.

Neha Kohli, a diversity facilitator coordinator, oversees the role. She said she believes interest in becoming a DF has significantly increased, as over 30 people attended the DF information session this year compared to four last year.

Ameenat Adisa, a Sid Richardson College diversity facilitator, said that DFs aim to provide a voice to all students.

“We are just trying to make sure that everyone feels like they have a voice here, and to be that voice for those that may be shy,” Adisa, a Duncan College sophomore, said.

Despite the efforts DFs put into the O-Week planning process, Ava Brazell, a Jones College diversity facilitator, said she feels their work is often undervalued or even disregarded.

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

AISHA KHEMANI

THRESHER STAFF

Resumes, rejections and pressure can feel like a constant throughout one’s time in university, from sophomores hunting for internships to seniors aiming to secure a fulltime offer.

Emily Pena, a mechanical engineering major, said she knows this struggle. She recently received a job offer with RTX, a company specializing in aerospace, defense and engine development.

“The whole job market right now is a little scary and nerve-wracking,” Pena, a Hanszen College senior, said. “There’s a lot of companies going through rebranding, and they’re unsure of their scope. If it’s government work, there are a lot of policies up in the air, so a lot of work feels iffy.”

Pena said she believes that having a broad range of interests can make it easier to secure an offer compared to focusing on a more specialized industry.

“If you’re someone that’s really open with a lot of interests, like if you’re trying to go into oil, there’s a lot of opportunity there.

But I think the more specialized you want to get, the harder it becomes,” Pena said. “I know some of my friends who are trying to go into aerospace, like working on propulsion systems, and it’s really hard to get into those really niche roles without having prior internship experience at these companies.”

Pena, a first-generation college student, said the recruiting process initially felt intimidating, as it was her first time communicating with corporate officials.

“I think of them as being on such a big pedestal, so when I’m trying to interview, it’s

BRYAN MENDOZA / THRESHER like, ‘Oh, am I really capable of this?’,” Pena said. “But overcoming that and knowing [that] I’m actually very educated helps. I know they want to see that I can talk about highly technical concepts at a variety of levels, show my problem-solving skills and highlight the right things on my resume for the job description.”

Pena also said that she believes minorities face unique challenges in securing opportunities.

“The Society of Women Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers are great resources,” Pena said.

“I also know that the [Center for] Career Development helps place alumni, trying to connect students with those who have similar backgrounds and demographics.”

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 • 7

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Fruit-flavored ice cream, sometimes Official decree Wind down Explosive initials Prefix meaning four Symbol associated with magic Vegetable you can play on a piano?

Slander, or a region shielded from light About average, colloquially Italian salutations They’re found on many bracelets 45 degrees clockwise from ENE “__ __ tired” (Me after a long day) Celebration Bit Surname of many Mongol rulers Joint connecting the ulna and the humerus Gash remnant Silently act Stop Three sizes below “extra large” Honolulu’s isle Archaic “soon,” or an unknown author (abbr.)

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16 Ones, in card games 17 Coax 18 Food rations given to soldiers 30 Striped pollinator 32 Performed better than 33 Indifferent, as a facial expression 35 Oak product seen in many classrooms 36 Oak products that make more oaks

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Mail a letter “I’m all ___ __;” in favor of Aggressively protested Tote, for example A die has 12 of this Doe or buck Unwanted emails A die has 6 of this Environmental moods Offensive positions in American football, shortly Classic arcade boogying machine (abbr.)

Citrus-y drink suffix Flowering accessory Served its purpose Lest Close a door Ticker symbol for Apple Pattern Not fitting into any major category (abbr.)

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82 A culinary kick 84 Sash worn on a kimono 85 Military training program for students 86 Blubbery aquatic animals 88 Look after a tabby, for example

87 It contains many maps 88 Allege 90 Supportive undergarment 92 “¡____ mio!”

94 Fender bender, for one 99 Text support 101 Archaic, poetic vernacular for “forever” 103 Optical organ that detects light 106 He’s known for his fables?

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123 Purchase 124 Seen at the front door of many homes 125 Discreet federal investigating association CONNECTIONS ANSWERS Yellow: TO MESS UP (BLUNDER, BOTCH, ERR, FUDGE) Green: TASTES (ACIDIC, BURNT, SWEET, TART) Blue: PUMPKIN ____ (PATCH, PIE, SEED, SPICE) Purple: TICKER SYMBOLS THAT ARE ALSO WORDS (CAKE, HOG, META, PLAY) WORDLE ANSWERS FUDGE (top left) , BOTCH (top right) , SWEET (bottom left) , PATCH (bottom right)

Triply Puzzled

Editor’s note: Each corner of the crossword contains a Wordle puzzle made up by three 5-letter words. There is only one solution to each Wordle puzzle. The four answers from the Wordles, when used in combination with the 12 circled words, create a Connections game.

Sort those 16 words into four categories to solve the final puzzle.

LONDON FREY

Take a break with some dead days deeds DIA GUPTA

FOR THE THRESHER With finals soon approaching, study sessions take up most of our day. Need a break from staring at a screen? Need to stand up and stretch before you fall asleep?

Find some ways to spend the hours you simply can’t look at your notes anymore.

Light up your mood with Zoo Lights Everyone knows the holidays start Nov. 1. Embrace your spirit at the Houston Zoo after-hours light display. You can walk

among twinkling lights, scare your friends with their animal replicas and enjoy a night in wonderland. It’s the best sight you’ll see for the next week.

Editor’s Note: This article has been cut off for print. To read more, visit ricethresher.org.

JENNIFER LIU / THRESHER

8 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

THE RICE THRESHER

Gift ideas to save you this season Sons or pair it with a cute mug and some honey. If you’re purchasing loose-leaf tea, make sure to include an infuser with it — it’ll be an awkward situation if your giftee has tea but no way to steep it.

For keeping track of tasks and deadlines — desktop whiteboard If you’re having trouble keeping track of all of the assignments you have to submit before going home for winter break, a desktop whiteboard can be helpful. It’s easy to add and remove items as tasks are created and completed, and it’ll stay within your line of sight so you can remember what you have to get done. Some models stand up on the desk like a picture frame, while other styles are designed to lay on the tabletop. If you’ve got a few dollars left in your budget after getting the board itself — they range from around $15 to $20 — consider picking up a dry-erase marker set as well.

JENNIFER LIU / THRESHER

MARTIN XIE / THRESHER

SARAH MOTTELER

THRESHER STAFF

If you’ve got a white elephant coming up that you’re scratching your head over or a Secret Santa that you can’t seem to crack, consider one of the six options below to perish your present woes.

For exam prep and organizing — multicolored highlighters or pens A good set of colorful pens or highlighters can prove invaluable for organizing notes and annotating readings. Paper Source in Rice Village offers a wide variety of

stationery, while Amazon provides deals that can be delivered to your dorm or doorstep. If you’re purchasing these for a specific person, make sure they use paper rather than an iPad for their classwork, so your gift will be appreciated.

To unwind after submitting a project — tea While coffee and energy drinks are useful for getting your energy levels up to push through your final projects, tea can help you reduce your heart rate and calm down. To elevate your gift beyond something available in the servery, choose from recognized brands like Harney and

To take your mind off of class — a creative craft kit Engaging with hand-crafting hobbies can help to give your brain a break. Craft kits come in all kinds and price points, ranging from simple paint-by-numbers sets to more involved fiber crafts. If your gift exchange has a higher price limit, Woobles offers crochet kits with detailed instructions starting at $30, with each kit producing an adorable little plush upon completion.

Editor’s note: This article has been cut for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org

Annual gingerbread house competition sparks creativity SHREYA CHALLA

SENIOR WRITER

Rice Program Council held their annual gingerbread house building competition Nov. 20. This year, the theme was ‘Lights, Camera, Gingerbread!’ with teams recreating scenes from iconic films, from Rapunzel’s tower to the Pirates of the Caribbean ship.

According to Carmine Steiner, co-chair of the Night Owls Antics committee organizing the event, the competition has been in the works since October.

“We start by going over what our vision is, so we deal with our theme first, and then after that we build everything around it,” Steiner, a McMurtry College sophomore, said. “Everything is black and red, and there are gold stars … We decided on this [theme] because we thought [the contestants] would have the most fun.”

Madeline Ansley, who competed in the competition as part of the team ‘The Hispanics,’ said that she feels the competition is well-organized every year.

“I’ve seen [the competition] every year, and I’ve always wanted to do it …

I think it’s a really great way to start off holiday festivities,” Ansley, a Hanszen College junior, said. “I really like these types of events at Rice, they’re purely fun.”

Ansley’s team built a grandfather clock from “A Christmas Carol” and attributed their final product and teamwork to the diversity of majors and interests in their group, which included engineers, designers and an art history major.

SHREYA CHALLA / THRESHER One team portrayed the sinking Titanic ship in the annual Rice Program Council gingerbread house building competition Nov. 20.

Andy Corliss was a member of the ‘Red Building Baddies’ team, which built gingerbread robots WALL-E and EVE from the movie WALL-E, complete with the cubes of trash that WALL-E collects in the movie. Corliss said he competed in the competition last year, as well.

“In the past, I’ve definitely been more stressed about [the competition], but this year I was just like, ‘It’s fine.’ I think it’s better not to be too competitive because there’s always going to be some crazy people who pull off something amazing,” Corliss, a Hanszen College junior, said. “The fun part is just to go around and look at everyone else’s [gingerbread houses] afterward.”

Caitlyn Ladd was part of a team that recreated an action shot of the Titanic sinking. The team used inspiration

photos from Pinterest and ultimately decided on the Titanic from a host of other ideas. One of their teammates ate away at the gingerbread pieces to trim them as part of the building process.

“We thought [the idea] was creative because it wasn’t a house like most people were doing,” Ladd, a Wiess College sophomore, said. “There was a lot we could do with it.”

Kat Han, co-chair of the NOA committee, said that though she wasn’t at last year’s gingerbread house competition, it went well and the committee tried to keep a similar concept and flow throughout the event.

“We’re … building on that momentum. Our committee does [the competition] every year,” Han, a Hanszen College sophomore, said. “It just gets a little bit bigger every year … but I think the heart of it is the same.”

FROM FRONT PAGE

HOBBY

Hobby recently came to Houston for the Houston Cinema Arts Festival to screen her recently produced film, “Dory Previn: On My Way to Where,” featured in this year’s SXSW Film Festival lineup.

“Dory Previn: On My Way to Where” follows songwriter Dory Previn and her career writing songs for Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland while dealing with mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. Since its release, it has been praised for its insight into the musical mind of Previn during her career through archival footage. Hobby said that the process of making the film was complex, but ultimately fulfilling.

“I knew it was going to be super, super hard to get the money and make the film because it’s not well known,” Hobby said. “We didn’t

[There were] so few students, so I could be in the projection booth and there was informality about it that made it feel like you were in this club. I just looked around and saw stuff in the world and went out and filmed stuff.

Amy Hobby FILMMAKER AND PRODUCER

quite know how much archival there was, but [the directors] had shown me some of the footage … and it was amazing, amazing archival footage.”

In addition to her more technical work, Hobby also cofounded Distribution Advocates with Karen Chien in late 2019, an organization promoting independent filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds.

She described their mission as similar to being “a medical advocate in a hospital system.”

“If someone’s sick in a complicated way, they assign you this advocate that helps you navigate doctors and nurses and systems and funding and all of that,” Hobby said. “The system was all so problematic, that the information, in a way, wasn’t sinking in … people just didn’t even know what to do with the information.”

Since the creation of Distribution Advocates, Hobby and Chan have created a podcast, “Distribution Advocates Presents,” that breaks down the truth behind many elements of the film industry from film festivals to distribution.

Even though she says that life as a filmmaker without major studio backing is difficult, Hobby remains optimistic about the state of independent film.

“I’m an eternal sort of cautiously optimistic person,” Hobby said. “There’s also a lot of new platforms coming up that will be good tools for finding audiences and reaching audiences.”

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 • 9

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Texas Renaissance Festival enchants students MAX HESS

FOR THE THRESHER Nine gnomes, six knights, four wizards and a blacksmith wait patiently for a turkey leg. Your eyes seem to deceive you: Is the scene before you real, or is it a fairy tale-inspired mirage?

This is only the beginning of the wild and zany world that is the Texas Renaissance Festival.

The Texas Renaissance Festival returned for its 50th iteration, which ran from Oct. 12 to Dec. 1. Only an hour and a half from campus, the festival features over 400 shops and 21 stages across its 70 acres. According to the festival’s website, it welcomes over 500,000 travelers annually, many of whom don costumes and camp on-site.

Despite its size and reputation, the Texas Renaissance Festival was not the first of its kind. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, renaissance fairs were born out of inclusion; they were a safe space for performers when free speech was fragile. As a landmark in the ’60s counterculture, free expression is at the heart of renaissance fairs: the Smithsonian catalogs how in the peak of the Red Scare of the 1960s, a teacher in Los Angeles began a theater program that evolved into the first renaissance fair.

Even not knowing the history of princesses of all kinds. The creativity of these Renaissance costumes f a i r s ’ cannot be emphasis u n d e r s t a te d ; on free It’s kind of a pick-your-own where else expression, can one find it is evident adventure thing. You can buy a gnome with at the Texas swords, katanas, shields, a steampunk R e n a i s s a n c e armor sets, turkey legs; go j e t p a c k Fair.

People to museums, joust with your margarita walk around dispenser? in costumes friends, watch medieval Beyond the of all types: comedies and shoot bows and costumes, video game arrows. attendees can characters, engage in a horror movie Judson McGinnes wide variety v i l l a i n s , JONES COLLEGE FRESHMAN of medieval h u m b l e village folk, knights in full armor and activities.

GUILLIAN PAGUILA / THRESHER

“It’s kind of a pick-your-own adventure thing,” Judson McGinnes, a Jones College freshman who visited the fair for the first time this year, said. ”You can buy swords, katanas, shields, armor sets, turkey legs; go to museums, joust with your friends, watch medieval comedies and shoot bows and arrows.

It seems to go on forever; whenever you think you have seen it all, you wind up in a new space, like a garden or an elephant enclosure.”

Beyond the array of activities to engage in, attendees can also indulge in some of the festival’s food options.

One would be hard-pressed to find a food that isn’t on a stick, fried, a 600-calorie dessert or all three, in the case of fried cheesecake on a stick. That

being said, vendors get creative within these boundaries, mainly with different varieties of meat options.

“It’s very engrossing,” Maaz Zuberi, a Jones senior, said. “I was expecting it to be a lot smaller.”

Jacob Lowenstein, who also attended the festival with Zuberi, said he found the experience unique and enjoyable.

“I think it is something that everybody should do,” Lowenstein, a Jones senior, said. “It’s not like any sort of experience you’ll get anywhere else.”

Behind the Texas Renaissance Festival’s gates is a safe haven for the absurd and zany, where all are welcome.

To me, an hour and a half drive and $30 is a fair price for an experience this magical.

Review: ‘Wicked’ defies expectations alongside gravity

UNIVERSAL

SARA DAVIDSON

THRESHER STAFF

The highly anticipated movie adaptation of the hit musical “Wicked” has been released in theaters, and it does not disappoint — unless you went in thinking the movie would include both acts of the play.

“Wicked” part one takes its audience from the moment where the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, is killed and launches into her tragic past,

intertwining her story with that of Glinda the Good. The first part of the movie leaves off at the musical’s intermission with the show-stopping “Defying Gravity,” leaving watchers (me) sobbing violently and already anticipating the second half of the show, coming to theatres in November 2025.

Where to even begin in reviewing the movie, except to say that all of it was fantastic. The elaborate costumes and set, the incredible show-stopping song and dance, the jaw-dropping hotness of Prince

Fiyero — I see now why Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who play Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, have acted so emotionally throughout their press tour.

The movie has taken the musical and embraced it, including much-anticipated cameos from Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, Broadway’s original Glinda and Elphaba.

Erivo and Grande both wholeheartedly embrace their characters, with Erivo offering a glimpse of the inner mind of Elphaba in every number she sang, from “The Wizard and I” revealing her aspirations of the future and acceptance, to “Defying Gravity” where she stands up for her morals, despite the loss of the future she had dreamed of.

Grande also plays Glinda as if she was born for the role, from exuding her bubbly self in “Popular” to showing the complexity of her character in “No One Mourns the Wicked” as she comes to terms with the surfacelevel perceptions of her and Elphaba despite the reversal of roles behind the curtain.

By comparison, some of the other actors, such as Michelle Yeoh, who plays Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum, who plays The Wizard of Oz, fall flat in their singing skills — hardly a fair comparison to the likes of Erivo and

Grande, though. Despite their lack of years of vocal training, award-winning albums and more from Erivo and Grande’s hefty resumes, Yeoh and Goldblum still manage to hold their own in the show and embrace the sinister side of Oz. Every musical number brought out perfect choreography, including the ballroom scene that crafted a welldone dance between Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode while still incorporating her wheelchair. “Dancing Through Life,” with the insanely attractive Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero, included spinning bookshelves that I instantly researched for Fondren to invest in. The show includes a lot of foreshadowing for both the second act and the classic movie with Dorothy and her ruby red slippers, from the floating poppies that put the class to sleep to the lion cub poking his head out of the wicker bicycle basket.

Overall, “Wicked” is a must-see this holiday season, and is truly a good movie to watch whether you have the background of the musical going into the show or not. Everyone can find space to hold for Wicked and grow a newfound appreciation for the classic “Wizard of Oz.” Expect to be left on a bit of a cliffhanger, but rest assured, the Wicked will make their return.

10 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

THE RICE THRESHER

Dust settles on football’s 2024 season ANDERSEN PICKARD

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Rice football concluded its 2024 season Nov. 30 with a 35-28 victory over the University of South Florida, treating home fans to one final win. The Owls finished the season at 4-8 overall (3-5 AAC), failing to win any of their six road games.

Rice finished 6-6 last year and 5-7 the year before, reaching a bowl game both years. Despite that pattern, Rice won fewer games this season than in previous seasons.

The program limped to a 2-6 start and fired head coach Mike Bloomgren before the end of the season.

Amidst the losing season, though, Rice produced standout players and moments that the Thresher highlights in this article.

Most Valuable Player: Dean Connors To nobody’s surprise, Connors was the best player at Rice this fall. He led all FBS running backs in targets and receptions while finishing third in receiving yards. In addition to being a talented pass-catcher, he ran the ball quite well, adding 780 yards on the ground. He finished his senior season with 1,265 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns, leading the Owls in both categories. Connors is a strong candidate to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft or signed as an undrafted free agent.

Co-Offensive Players of the Year: E.J. Warner and Matt Sykes Warner and Sykes both made major contributions this year. Warner battled through some mid-season blips to deliver

898 passing yards and six touchdowns over his final three games, with some credit being given to his newfound health and reinforced offensive line. Meanwhile, Sykes essentially filled the Luke McCaffrey role, leading the team with 65 catches, 782 receiving yards and five touchdowns while making numerous show-stopping catches.

Previously, the graduate receiver hadn’t recorded more than six receptions or 86 yards in a single season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Gabe Taylor Taylor has been a success story at Rice, blossoming into a core defender and leader on the team. He made plays all over the field this season, registering three sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, seven passes defended and 56 tackles. Fellow senior Josh Pearcy was also considered given his proficiency on the defensive line, but Taylor’s 89.5 Pro Football Focus defense grade, at 32nd among over 5,000 Division I defenders, was impossible to ignore.

Special Teams Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson Jackson was Rice’s primary kick returner and often got the green light to take the ball out of the end zone. He finished the 2024 campaign with 22 returns for 589 yards, with his highlight of the year being a 100yard kick return touchdown against the University of Connecticut. This was the Owls’ first kick return touchdown in 12 years and their longest return ever. Jackson was named AAC Special Teams Player of the Week Oct. 28.

Athletics revs up Porsche collaboration DIEGO PALOS RODRIGUEZ

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Porsche, the luxury sports car brand, has made appearances in Rice football and women’s basketball social media posts, home football games and even on the court in Tudor Fieldhouse. These promotions are due to a recent partnership between Rice Athletics and Porsche River Oaks, located on Southwest Freeway and Greenbriar.

Kevin Dwan, Rice deputy athletic director, said the partnership began last year and has been successful so far.

“Porsche has been a great new partner of ours early on,” Dwan said. “I think we’re very aligned with their brand, what they’re looking to accomplish from a marketing standpoint and what we could offer.”

Dwan said Porsche River Oaks initially approached Rice about a partnership.

While the agreement is relatively standard, the Porsche name and service have been a part of many promotional events and content for Rice.

“Obviously, it’s a luxury brand, an exciting brand, very visual,” Dwan said.

“We’ve got cars out [at] pretty much every football game. Outside of our hospitality area, there’s at least one Porsche parked.”

Football players posed with Porsche cars to reveal their “City Connect” alternate uniforms this season, while women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds posed with a vehicle for Instagram.

These posts are just the beginning of what promotional partnerships could accomplish, according to Dwan.

“As our creators are thinking about ways to stay relevant and ways to stand out and do something different, [the Porsche cars

were] just one idea that came up, and we were able to make it happen because we have the partnership,” Dwan said.

On top of promotion, this partnership also includes incentives for the Rice community at Porsche River Oaks. Leah Webb, the brand manager at Porsche River Oaks, said that these include merchandise giveaways, raffles at sporting events, happy hours at The Podium bar next to the dealership and even purchase deals on a case-by-case basis.

Dwan said these types of incentives are common in Athletics’ partnership agreements and benefit both fans and the athletic department by showing the impact they can have on driving business to the partners. He also said that partnerships of this caliber can help attract other businesses to Rice.

“Anytime you have a successful partnership that both we in the athletics department feel good about and our partners feel good about that, word can spread,” Dwan said.

Ultimately, Dwan said he hopes this partnership can continue to grow and expand to include even more support for Rice student-athletes.

“The Porsche deal is not a [Name, Image and Likeness] deal right now, [but] we definitely see some potential there in the future,” Dwan said. “It’s a great way to showcase how much engagement we got with these creative assets that our studentathletes are a part of. Let’s expand on that, so both growing the Porsche relationship, but also going out to new companies and potential partners who are interested in NIL or using student-athletes in their marketing strategies.”

Freshman of the Year: Joseph Mutombo Mutombo is a redshirt freshman who appeared in just one game before suffering an injury in 2023. He bounced back during his first full season this year, registering 11 tackles (three for loss), two sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. His 73.5 PFF defense grade ranked sixth among all Rice players. His best game came Sept.

28 when he earned more snaps along an injury-riddled defensive line and ultimately finished with a 90.3 PFF defense grade, ranking 17th among more than 2,500 qualified defenders in Division I. Transfer of the Year: Chad Lindberg Lindberg, a transfer from the University of Georgia, made his presence felt on the offensive line, providing key protection for Warner and Connors in a year where good blocking proved hard to come by. Lindberg led all Owls with an 84.0 PFF pass-blocking grade, and he was also their most versatile player in the trenches, logging 245 snaps at left tackle and 377 snaps at left guard.

Charlie Looes, a defensive line transfer from Dartmouth College, deserves an honorable mention for his five sacks, which tied for the team lead.

Game of the Year: 24-10 win over Navy (Nov. 2) The rain-soaked Owls waited out more than five hours of weather delays to upset a 6-1 Navy program at home. Connors scored a pair of touchdowns and interim head coach Pete Alamar earned his first career NCAA victory as the clock approached

KAIRI MANO / THRESHER Senior running back Dean Connors runs with the ball during the Oct. 12 game against the University of Texas at San Antonio. midnight at Rice Stadium. The win briefly kept Rice’s bowl game aspirations alive.

Play of the Year: Matt Sykes’s gamewinning touchdown (Oct. 12) Rice stayed neck and neck with the University of Texas at San Antonio at home, trailing by four points with less than 20 seconds to play. A costly penalty moved the Owls outside the red zone, but Warner brought Rice to the 18-yard line before throwing a strike to Sykes. The graduate receiver adjusted to catch the deflected pass while diving near the back of the end zone. The reception, which was featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays segment, gave Rice a 29-27 victory.

Sports Mini #7 1

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THRESHER STAFF

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ACROSS

1 It’s in the game 3 AAC Player of the Week, first name 6 New football HC 8 Tyler the Creator album 9 Not active

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1 When you get somewhere, roughly 2 Indian vegetable also known as Colocasia esculenta 4 Group owner of the LA Galaxy 5 Tesla and SpaceX guy 7 Another name for Wagner Act of 1935

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 • 11

SPORTS

Abell named football head coach, one month after Bloomgren firing ANDERSEN PICKARD

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Rice football has hired Scott Abell as the program’s 20th head coach, according to an announcement from director of athletics Tommy McClelland, who led a national search to fill the position.

Abell joins Rice after seven seasons at Davidson College, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision school in North Carolina. He became the winningest coach in Davidson’s history, going 47-28 overall and 3518 in the Pioneer Football League. He won two Pro Football League Coach of the Year awards, captured two PFL championship titles and led

EDITORIAL CARTOON

the Wildcats to three FCS playoff appearances.

During Abell’s introductory press conference, McClelland said that he spoke with over 30 candidates possessing both NFL and NCAA coaching experience before narrowing down the pool to nearly one dozen.

He met with Abell for roughly four hours on Nov. 24 and found that the 54-year-old possessed all the qualities he sought in Rice’s next head coach.

“During our time with Coach Abell, it became evident to me that he was not only the right coach, but he was the right person to lead our program,” McClelland said.

Prior to Abell’s arrival at Davidson in 2018,

“Owl-American”

HONG LIN TSAI / THRESHER “He’s perfect!”

the Wildcats had six consecutive seasons over the athletic department in 2023. Last with two or fewer victories and went winless March, he fired men’s basketball head coach in conference play in four of the previous five Scott Pera and replaced him with Rob Lanier, years. He immediately brought a winning whom Southern Methodist University had culture back to the program, going 6-5 in 2018 recently dismissed.

Abell will be tasked with getting the and delivering a winning record in each of his Owls back to their first winning season since seven seasons as Davidson’s head coach. “[Abell] has had an immediate impact 2013, along with leading a national player on every program he has coached and is recruitment process and ensuring his roster passionate about developing winners on and maintains Rice’s high academic standards.

He said that his staff will place a heavy off the field,” McClelland said.

Abell’s Wildcats ranked first in rushing emphasis on recruiting high school talent within the state. offense among all “As we begin to FCS teams during build for the future six of his seven of Rice football, years. This season, [Abell] has had an there will be no they rank second, immediate impact on more important averaging 58.2 mark than the great carries, 315.5 rushing every program he has state of Texas and its yards and 3.4 coached and is passionate high school football rushing touchdowns about developing winners programs,” Abell per game. said. “Texas has the “In just seven on and off the field. very best when it years, Scott Tommy McClelland comes to high school transformed the DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS football, its staffs and [Davidson] football program, doing so with the highest standards its development of scholar-athletes.”

Abell said that he spent extensive time of excellence both on and off the field,” Davidson director of athletics Chris Clunie recruiting Texas football players when he was the head coach at Washington and Lee said in a statement.

Abell will fill the vacancy left by Mike University and Davidson, so he has familiarity Bloomgren, who was fired Oct. 27 during his with the state.

Abell flew home to spend time with his seventh season as the team’s head coach.

Bloomgren had never led the program to a family for Thanksgiving, then returned to winning record. His best finish came in 2023 Houston to watch Rice defeat the University of when Rice went 6-6 and lost their bowl game South Florida Nov. 30. He assumed his post as head coach Dec. 3, already preparing for the to Texas State University.

After Bloomgren’s firing, the Owls went 2-2 2025 season.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled to under the leadership of interim head coach Pete Alamar. Rice finished 4-8 overall (3-5 in be named the next head football coach at Rice AAC), missing a bowl game for the first time University,” Abell said. “I cannot imagine a more ideal time or fit for myself, my family since 2022.

Hiring Abell is Rice’s second major and the future of Rice football. Today begins coaching shakeup since McClelland took the journey, as we pursue championships.”

12 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024

BACKPAGE

2025 Rice Parlay Rice Football has another losing season so Athletics tries firing Sammy instead

Chaus KOCs replaced by queer-coded AI baristas to curb wait times Yes, but they’ll get canceled for queer-baiting Yes No

Yes No 77% 23%

18%

Mitch McConnell visits the Baker Institute and dies soon after, as per The Curse Yes 2%

No

Yes, and also he dies that week

48%

50%

Rice admin holds space for queer media and chooses Wicked interviewer as 2025 commencement speaker Yes 12% chance

No 88%

33%

49%

Beer Bike winner Jones

Lovett

Hanszen

31.2%

25.1%

20.6%

Sid Rich

Brown

Will Rice

7.8%

7.2%

5.5%

Dean Gorman steps down after getting REMSed at a DesRoches dinner party

50%

Yes No Oct 2024

Dec 2024

0%

7% 93%

The 12th residential college will be named…

Rice falls out of US News & World Report T20 Best Colleges Yes 49% chance

2021

No 51%

2025

50%

0%

Moody College

Seibel College

Leebron College

Max Scholl College (Schollege)

36%

21%

5%

9%

Life Tower collapses Yes 41% chance

No 59% 50%

RMC piano guy who only plays Passacaglia drops new song Yes No 23% 77%

2022

2025

0%

The Backpage is the satire section of the Thresher, written this week by Andrew Kim, Will Howley, Charlie Maxson, and Max Scholl and designed by Lauren Yu. For questions or comments, please email pookiebear@rice.edu.

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