JULIANA LIGHTSEY
MANAGING EDITOR
A sea of students in various shades of blue stood shoulder-to-shoulder as the football team fell 35-9 to the University of Houston on Saturday.
The game had the highest spectator count for a football home game since 2019. Three days prior, a packed student section broke the attendance
EMILY NGUYEN THRESHER STAFF
During the volleyball team’s face-o against the University of Texas at Austin on Sept. 3, Jack Vu decided to have a little fun with the scoreboard. An anonymous poster had inaccurately mentioned that Rice beat UT on Fizz, so Vu decided to join in.
“I posted a picture of the scoreboard saying ‘Rice wins,’” said Vu, a Sid Richardson College freshman. “I pretended like Rice won the volleyball game.”
Three years since the anonymous social media app arrived on campus, Fizz has become a hub for gossip, student mobilization and even misinformation that shapes how students see themselves and one another.
Audrey Arroyave, a Lovett College senior and Fizz moderator, said that anonymity gives students the courage to speak out against campus policies or frustrations with administration, but can also give students an excuse to spread negativity, especially to incoming freshmen.
“In regards to mobilizing students against something that they all don’t agree with, there was so much unity on Fizz during the meal swipe thing,” Arroyave said. “But then, when it comes to talking about the worst colleges, talking about publics being bad, especially for the freshmen who can now join Fizz the summer before they even come here, I think that’s really bad, and I think there should be a way to not allow that.”
record at Tudor Fieldhouse as the volleyball team lost 3-1 to the University of Texas at Austin.
Both games followed wins from each team, and students were encouraged to attend by Rice Rally Club and Rice Athletics with T-shirt giveaways and events such as a pep rally and tailgate.
A total of 30,116 spectators attended the football game, which
was the annual Bayou Bucket Classic between the crosstown rivals.
The matchup will not happen again until at least 2030, UH Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez said to the Houston Chronicle.
3,017 spectators attended volleyball’s game against Texas, ve more than the previous attendance record, which was also set in 2019.
READ MORE IN SPORTS PAGE 14-15
ARMAN SAXENA A&E EDITOR
The Moody Center’s fall exhibition, “Bio Morphe,” opens a conversation between the human body and the natural world through seven artists working at the edge of science, cra and technology. Curated by Frauke V. Josenhans, the show explores biomorphism — patterns and forms inspired by living systems — and asks how contemporary materials and processes change the way we see ourselves.
“Everything’s in movement,” Josenhans said during a walkthrough of the exhibition. “So we move from one space to the next.”
In the central gallery, Fàbregas presents three large-scale sculptures from her series on metabolic processes that appear to seep from the architecture. Fàbregas built each form by marrying elastic fabric and latex, then shaping them with air.
“I put [air] there and I take it out, and that’s how all these wrinkles begin to appear,” Fàbregas said. “So it’s like a breathing process … I make them inhale and exhale for the rst time.”
For Fàbregas, latex itself is part of the story.
“Latex is also an excavation of a tree,” she said. “It’s the rubber that comes from a tree when it has a wound, it’s a material that never is stable, and it’s always changing and transforming … A er they leave the studio, they have a livelihood of their own.”
SANJANA RAMINENI STAFF WRITER
Rice has confirmed multiple cases of hand, foot and mouth disease across campus. At least five students from Duncan and McMurtry Colleges had the disease, according to Jessica McKelvey, director of student health services. Students have been advised to take extra care in hand hygiene and isolation to mitigate the spread.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, viruses that cause the illness easily spread between people and through the air. Symptoms include sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. HFMD most commonly affects children, but older children and adults can contract the condition as well.
Being quarantined for five to six days might feel awful, but it saves someone else from so much more pain.
Trisha Rangi
DUNCAN COLLEGE JUNIOR
Although adult symptoms tend to be milder, there is a possibility of unusual complications that include widespread rashes and nail loss. Data on HFMD is not collected nationwide.
According to the CDC, preventive measures include frequent handwashing, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and avoiding close contact with others.
Jeffrey Fleisher, McMurtry magister, alerted students about several HFMD cases on campus via email Sept. 3. He also noted that the custodial team would carry out additional cleaning in the college to limit transmission.
Trisha Rangi was one of the students who contracted HFMD. She first started getting symptoms during Orientation Week.
“I thought I was having an allergic reaction because I had a sore throat,” said Rangi, a Duncan junior. “I just took some allergy meds and was like, ‘I probably just need a nap,’ but that did not turn out to be the case.”
Rangi sought care at both Student Health Services and the emergency room for treatment. She said she was eventually prescribed steroids and pain relievers to manage symptoms and quarantined herself to prevent further spread.
Rangi emphasized the significance of isolation since HFMD can remain contagious even after symptoms diminish.
“Being quarantined for five or six days might feel awful, but it saves someone else from so much more pain,” Rangi said.
Student Health Services is continuing to monitor cases, McKelvey wrote.
ALVIN HTOOT FOR THE THRESHER
Rice student leaders, administration and members of the Chao family donned hard hats in the construction zone of the future Chao and Lovett College buildings, as they celebrated their topping out Sept. 4.
A topping out ceremony, a tradition in construction, commemorates when the last beam — or in this case, “the structural framework” — is completed in a project.
The new colleges, an 11-story building for Lovett and a 10-story tower for Chao, are collectively over 260,000 square feet, according to a Rice News article. Designed by Danish architectural rm Henning Larsen, the “superstructure” will include several notable features, such as a roo op pickleball court and a robotic cooking station in its shared servery.
“This project is a re ection of Rice’s moment of growth,” President Reggie DesRoches said at the ceremony. “As we increase our student body and expand our campus, we remain committed to what has always set Rice apart: a culture of care, a
close-knit community and the belief that every student should feel they belong.”
The colleges are set to be open by fall 2026, part of Rice’s plan to expand the undergraduate population to 5,200 by 2028.
“Today, we celebrate not only steel and concrete and the hard work of everyone involved in construction but also the future students who will call Chao and Lovett Colleges home,” said Ken Jett, vice president for facilities and capital construction, to a crowd that included construction workers from the project.
Albert Chao, trustee emeritus and oldest son of Chao College’s namesakes Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao, said the Chao family was honored to be part of Rice students’ college experience and hoped it would be “an enriching and rewarding experience for Rice students for generations to come.”
“When completed, these new colleges won’t just add buildings to our campus — they’ll create new homes for our students, homes that will shape friendships, traditions and memories for generations to come,” DesRoches said.
LINA KANG FOR THE THRESHER
As the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches, student groups plan events to commemorate the occasion. Rice Chorale will host a 9/11 In Memoriam concert at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ, and the Rice Naval ROTC will host a stair climb at 6 a.m. on Sept. 11 at Rice Stadium.
[The performance] is really heavenly, as you fully immerse yourself within, and you feel the heartbeat of the music. The music transcends language, and it brought us all back to remembering what happened on that day and the people who experienced loss.
Wenshi Chen
HANSZEN COLLEGE JUNIOR
9/11 In Memoriam
This year, the Rice Chorale will sing “Requiem” by John Rutter in a performance lasting approximately 45 minutes.
Music Director Thomas Jaber said that the performance o ers not just music but a way to commemorate the past.
“Many of my students currently in the Chorale were not alive when 9/11 happened,” Jaber said. “So, when I’m talking about this tragedy, they know it from history. But I think it’s just really important for us to stop and never forget those who actually lost their lives on that morning.”
This year marks Rice Chorale’s 23rd year of this commemorative event. Chorale member Wenshi Chen, who also performed in last year’s concert, said the annual event is a gathering to grapple with loss, remembrance and hope.
“[The performance] is really heavenly, as you fully immerse yourself within, and you feel the heartbeat of the music,” said Chen, a Hanszen College junior. “The music transcends language, and it brought us all back to remembering what happened on that day and the people who experienced loss.”
Rice Chorale is composed of students, faculty and community members from the Greater Houston Area. Kinesiology professor Laura Kabiri, who performs with
the Chorale, said that music is a universal language and connects people in ways that are both moving and encouraging.
“I remember 9/11 — I was actually a college student then,” Kabiri said. “I cannot overstate the impact of that event on our nation. To now have the ability to remember and share that moment with students who weren’t alive then is really important, powerful and moving. I’m proud that [Rice] takes time to pause, remember and reflect on the lives lost and the first responders who carried us through.”
NROTC Stair Climb
This will be the Rice Naval ROTC program’s second year hosting the stair climbing event, meant to physically recreate the climb of re ghters entering the towers.
Capt. Mike Kinter said the event is in remembrance of what rst responders actually did going into the Twin Towers.
“We’ll be doing it in [physical training] gear — shorts and T-shirt and running shoes — but [ rst responders] were in
full re ghter gear, masks, smoke, in the chaos of people evacuating,” Kinter said.
“It’s impressive what those re ghters actually did. So it’s just a way of remembering that and thanking them for the sacri ce they made for the country.”
It’s impressive what those firefighters actually did. So it’s just a way of remembering that and thanking them for the sacrifice they made for the country.
Mike Kinter CAPTAIN
Gunnery Sgt. Samantha Marquez, who helped create this event two years ago, reminds the students to think about their mission rather than their physical exertion.
“It’s not about you when you’re in
the uniform and performing these tasks, but it’s about the people you protect,” Marquez said.
MIDN 1/C Abram Alvarado said he found it meaningful that Rice ROTC commemorated 9/11 in this way.
“In my opinion, it’s better than just putting ags around campus,” said Alvarado, a Duncan College senior. “That’s meaningful in its own way, but this is di erent; it takes time, e ort and physical sacri ce. It’s a way to feel what others felt that day, even if just a fraction. It’s both symbolic and experiential.”
Beyond the commemorative aspect of the stair climb, MIDN 3/C Surabhi Nair said that this event is also a demonstration of collective support and camaraderie.
“I always say: lead from the front, by example,” said Nair, a University of Houston student. “I’m not the most physically t person, so I tell [participants], ‘If I can do it, you can too.’ No one will laugh if you struggle. We’ll climb with you if needed. We’re all in it together.”
The Student Association unanimously approved a bill to provide students with $5 printing credits after it was amended to add a 10-day waiting period before the credit is made available to students.
Under the bill, the funding will be transferred to the Office of Information Technology, which will set up individual credits while the money remains inaccessible to students for 10 days. The printing credit will be available for the whole year and will roll over to the next if not fully used.
Martel College President Nathan Calzat, who created the amendment, said he was initially an opponent of the bill due to concerns that it would take pressure off of Rice administration to take responsibility for funding the printing credits.
Calzat’s reasoning for this amendment was that it would allow for a period of 10
days to negotiate with the administration to see if they would be willing to come to a compromise, while not preventing access to a printing credit.
The Student Association shouldn’t have to provide these funds to our students, but we’re kind of forced to.
Nathan Calzat
MARTEL COLLEGE PRESIDENT
The SA will use the bill as leverage with hopes of the administration eventually funding the printing credit, SA President Trevor Tobey said.
“My issue with the bill … was it was going to diminish the efforts of the past by students to get a printing credit,” Calzat said during the meeting. “The
Student Association shouldn’t have to provide these funds to our students, but we’re kind of forced to.”
However, with the SA now placing pressure on administration to respond to the bill, Calzat voted in favor.
Now passed, the printing credit will be funded from the SA’s own coffers.
The SA’s funding comes from an $85 blanket tax that is included with every student’s tuition.
Hanszen College Senator Dorian Echasseriau, who originally drafted the bill, came out against the amendment, saying that it would just delay when students would receive the benefits without any meaningful benefit, as the administration was already ignoring them on this issue.
Tobey responded by saying that he has already been in contact with Dean Gorman, and they seemed to be engaged in the process.
SA Treasurer Jackson Darr announced that applications are open for the Student
Initiative Fund, which currently holds over $140,000 in funding for clubs and organizations. The SA has no current deadline for applications and clubs will receive a response within one to three weeks of their application.
“We encourage all individuals and people associated with clubs to apply. Staff funding is a little reduced this year,” Darr said at the beginning of the Senate meeting. “We hope that all clubs come to the initiative fund to host their campus events.”
Senate unanimously voted to hold a “time-sensitive special election” regarding Constitutional Amendments No. 1 through 4, and will release the agenda on Sept. 15. In a special election, campaigning periods last for two weeks. Ballots are opened to the student body at the beginning of the second week.
Senate also opted to table discussions regarding the Bylaws Amendments until a later date and unanimously agreed to waive prior notice for Senate Bill No. 3.
During the volleyball team’s face-off against the University of Texas at Austin on Sept. 3, Jack Vu decided to have a little fun with the scoreboard. An anonymous poster had inaccurately mentioned that Rice beat UT on Fizz, so Vu decided to join in.
“I posted a picture of the scoreboard saying ‘Rice wins,’” said Vu, a Sid Richardson College freshman. “I pretended like Rice won the volleyball game.”
Three years since the anonymous social media app arrived on campus, Fizz has become a hub for gossip, student mobilization and even misinformation that shapes how students see themselves and one another.
Audrey Arroyave, a Lovett College senior and Fizz moderator, said anonymity gives students the courage to speak out against campus policies or frustrations with administration, but can also give students an excuse to spread negativity, especially to incoming freshmen.
“In regards to mobilizing students against something that they all don’t agree with, there was so much unity on Fizz during the meal swipe thing,” Arroyave said. “But then, when it comes to talking about the worst colleges, talking about publics being bad, especially for the freshmen who can now join Fizz the summer before they even come here, I think that’s really bad, and I think there should be a way to not allow that.”
Arroyave said she first got involved with the app during her sophomore year when Fizz reached out to her about managing the platform.
“I think they send out requests to people who are ranked high enough or use it frequently enough,” Arroyave said. “I used it a lot as a freshman, so that’s why.”
While the moderator job was once paid, Arroyave said all of her work is now unpaid and on a volunteer basis. Part of her job is to decide whether posts need to be removed. Each time a post gets reported, it gets sent to three moderators
I think that my peers at Rice are not dumb enough to be judging someone fully off of what they hear on Fizz. They know that there’s
more to one person than that.
Muyiwa Ogunsola
HANSZEN COLLEGE FRESHMAN
who decide whether or not to allow it.
“We get reports on our phones and we get the option to allow it or remove it,” she said. “If two out of three [moderators] choose the same action, then it’s either allowed or removed.”
Arroyave said that moderating Fizz is extremely tricky, especially when
sometimes the moderators disagree on what’s allowed.
“I’ve seen [posts] before that even if I vote to take it down, it’ll stay up, which means that other moderators allow it to stay up,” Arroyave said.
Following the announcement of Chao College, Fizz experienced a surge of posts, some making fun of the name or the Chao family’s Asian heritage.
“chao college don’t got a president, they have an emperor,” one anonymous user wrote.
Other users expressed xenophobic views, writing that Chao College was part of a “Chinese takeover of Rice.”
“I think Chao’s government should be called Chao Community Program or CCP for short,” another user wrote.
Arroyave said the racial insensitivity of the posts was disappointing but not surprising.
“I got a lot of reports throughout the following days, most of which were negative and racially insensitive,” Arroyave wrote in a message to the Thresher. “Unfortunately I wasn’t really surprised by the student response, given what I’ve seen on Fizz, but it was a little disappointing.”
However, not all posts on Fizz are about recent events. Students can post memes, event information, shoutouts and questions. There is also an online marketplace on the Fizz app.
Vu’s first post was a “crush” submission about his roommate, Ian Vazquez, who promptly retaliated by posting one about Vu. What started as a playful back-and-forth soon spiraled into something bigger as more students began posting about Vu.
“That was fun, but after that, you get a space to sort of air out every rumor on campus, which is maybe at least partially the negative,” Vu said. “Sometimes, in the elevator, someone would look at me a little funny.”
Muyiwa Ogunsola has also been featured on Fizz, usually alongside Vasquez. Ogunsola said he finds it offputting whenever he sees his own name mentioned on the app.
“I know sometimes friends will post each other as jokes or whatever, but when it’s somebody you don’t know posting about you, it’s a bit odd,” said Ogunsola, a Hanszen College sophomore. “[It’s] especially odd when you know they wouldn’t do it on a platform that can be
LILY
NGUYEN FOR THE THRESHER
Dutch Bros, a popular West Coast coffee chain, is preparing to open a new location in Rice Village at 2301 University Blvd. by the year’s end.
As part of the chain’s initiative to open 20 locations in Houston, this new storefront will be taking over the former Salad and Go building at the corner of Greenbriar Drive and University Boulevard.
The Oregon-based chain known for its coffee, flavored energy drinks and lively “broistas” has rapidly expanded across the state, with Texas having the most Dutch Bros locations in the nation.
Coffee is generally more common and popular amoung our age group, and I think having a wellknown coffee shop so close to our campus will draw students in without taking away acitivity in the area due to the Salad and Go closure.
Nidhi Rao
LOVETT COLLEGE FRESHMAN
traced, like Instagram or Twitter.”
Ogunsola said being “Fizz-famous” is more uncomfortable than flattering, but that he trusts Rice students to look beyond Fizz posts.
“I think that my peers at Rice are not dumb enough to be judging someone fully off of what they hear on Fizz,” he said. “They know that there’s more to one person than that.”
Ogunsola also said the anonymity of Fizz can be a double-edged sword when it comes to campus interactions.
“It makes it so that people feel like they can talk to the whole community without exposing themselves, and so that it’s sort of easier to talk about certain issues,” Ogunsola said. “It also makes it easier to attack people personally and easier to make hateful comments.”
Arroyave said she does not want Fizz to disappear, but would like students to use it more thoughtfully.
“I just wish that people would think a little bit harder about what they’re putting out there, especially when it’s misinformation about someone in particular or something negative,” Arroyave said. “I wish that people would be a little bit nicer in regards to that.”
The new Rice Village location will sit across the street from Rice’s Greenbriar Lot, serving as the newest addition to the community’s coffee scene.
“I think Dutch Bros will bring a new level of engagement and excitement for students,” said Nidhi Rao, a Lovett College freshman. “I’ve seen really long lines at Chaus, so I think it will help in the sense that there will be more options, but at the same time, it’s nice to have variety.”
Rao added that the popularity of Dutch Bros may give it an edge over the former Salad and Go location.
“Coffee is generally more common and popular among our age group, and
I think having a well-known coffee shop so close to our campus will draw students in without taking away activity in the area due to the Salad and Go closure,” Rao said.
There are currently multiple co ee shops in Rice Village that have student discounts. Badolina Bakery & Cafe, for example, has a 10% discount with a Rice ID. Coco Crepes & Co ee’s discount is 5% o According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, construction for the $200,000 project began in late June of this year and is set to finish by Sept. 26. However, there has yet to be an official date announced for the location’s official opening.
ABIGAIL CHIU SENIOR WRITER
Rice is bringing generative arti cial intelligence into the creative writing world with this fall’s new course, “ENGL 306: AI Fictions.” Ian Schimmel, an associate teaching professor in the English and creative writing department, said he teaches the course to help students think critically about technology and consider the ways that AI models could be used in the creative processes of ction writing.
The course is structured for any level of writer and also includes space to both incorporate and resist the in uence of AI, according to its description.
“In this class, we never sit down with ChatGPT and tell it to write us a story and that’s that,” Schimmel wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We don’t use it to speed up the artistic process, either. Instead, we think about how to incorporate it in ways that might expand our thinking.”
Schimmel said he was stunned by the capabilities of ChatGPT when it was initially released in 2022, wondering if it truly possessed the ability to write. He said he found that the topic generated more questions than answers.
The next logical step, for Schimmel, was to create a course centered on exploring the complexities of AI and fiction writing, with assigned readings ranging from New York Times opinion pieces critical of its usage to an AIgenerated poetry collection.
Schimmel said both students and faculty share concerns about how AI can help or harm academic progress and potentially cripple human creativity.
“Classes that engage students with AI might be some of the best ways to learn about what these systems can and cannot do,” Schimmel wrote. “There are so many things that AI is terrible at and incapable of. Seeing that rsthand is empowering.
Whenever it hallucinates, glitches or makes you frustrated, you suddenly remember: ‘Oh right — this is a machine. This is nothing like me.”
“Fear is intrinsic to anything that shakes industry like AI is doing,” Robert Gray, a Brown College senior, wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I am taking this class so that I can immerse myself in that fear and learn how to navigate these new industrial landscapes.”
The course approaches AI from a uid perspective that evolves as the class reads and writes more with the technology, Schimmel said. Their answers to the complex ethical questions surrounding AI usage evolve with this.
It’s in those undefined, sometimes uncomfortable places where we humans do our best, most important learning.
Ian Schimmel
ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR IN ENGLISH AND CREATIVE WRITING
“At its core, the technology is fundamentally unethical,” Schimmel wrote. “It was developed and enhanced, without permission, on copyrighted text and personal data and without regard for the environment. So in that failed historical context, the question becomes: what do we do now? Paradoxically, the best way for us to formulate and evidence arguments against this technology might be to get to know it on a deep and personal level.”
Generative AI is often criticized for its ethicality, such as the energy output and water demanded for its data centers
to function or how the models are trained based on data sets of existing copyrighted works.
Amazon and Google-backed Anthropic recently settled a class-action lawsuit with a group of U.S. authors who accused the company of using millions of pirated books to train its Claude chatbot to respond to human prompts.
With the assistance of AI, students will be able to attempt large-scale projects that typically would not be possible within a single semester, according to the course overview. AI will accelerate the writing process for dra ing a book outline, and students can “collaborate” with AI to write the opening chapters of a novel for NaNoWriMo, a worldwide writing event held every November where participants would produce a 50,000-word rst dra of a novel.
NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, announced its closing a er more than 20 years in spring 2025. It received widespread press coverage
for a statement released in 2024 that said condemnation of AI in writing “has classist and ableist undertones.” Many authors spoke out against the perceived endorsement of using generative AI for writing and the implication that disabled writers would require AI to produce work.
Each weekly class involves experimentation in dialogues and writing sessions with ChatGPT, with Schimmel and his students acknowledging the unknown and unexplored within AI and especially the visual and literary arts. Aspects of AI, from creative copyrights to excessive water usage to its accuracy as an editor, were discussed in one Friday session in the Wiess College classroom.
“We’re always better o when we pay attention to our attention. If there’s a topic (or tech) that creates worry, or upset, or raises di cult questions, then that’s a subject that we should pursue,” Schimmel wrote. “It’s in those unde ned, sometimes uncomfortable places where we humans do our best, most important learning.”
For many of you, your residential college is the heart of your Rice experience. You’ve cheered for it, led within it and maybe even helped shape its traditions. It’s where you experienced Orientation Week, shared countless meals, stayed up too late in deep conversations and formed lifelong friendships.
On Friday, my o ce will be inviting a group of continuing undergraduate students — including rst-years, sophomores, and juniors — to apply to become founding members of Chao College. The new building will be beautiful, yes. But the heart of Chao will be its people. So, I urge you to consider something bold — if you receive an invitation, apply to join Chao.
I know applying to transfer to Chao isn’t a decision to take lightly. It will change your Rice experience. Some in your current college may question your choice to make a change. But I want to challenge you to imagine what it means to
build something new. To be part of Chao’s founding cohort is to leave a legacy, to shape a culture, to create traditions and to lay the foundation for a community that will welcome generations of Rice students.
To be part of Chao’s founding cohort is to leave a legacy, to shape a culture, to create traditions and to lay the foundation for a community that will welcome generations of Rice students.
Transfers to Chao will serve as O-Week Coordinators, student government leaders and community builders. They’ll welcome
the rst class of Chao freshmen next fall and help them understand what it means to be a part of Chao and what it means to be a part of Rice.
When McMurtry and Duncan colleges were founded, students faced similar questions — whether to stay in the comfort of their home college or take a leap into the unknown. There was skepticism, even resistance from some. But those who took the leap became the foundation of something lasting. They didn’t just join a college; they built Duncan and McMurtry into the colleges we know today, and so many of us at Rice are forever grateful that they did.
Please note: If you do not receive an invitation to join Chao, but are interested in transferring, bookmark our College 12 webpage. The FAQ section addresses how invitees are selected, and in the coming days, a waitlist link will become available to submit your name for consideration if we have openings at a future date.
If you’re someone who wants to leave a legacy, who’s excited by the idea of shaping something from the beginning, who’s ready to lead with empathy, creativity and courage, I hope you’ll apply and help build this new community together.
Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion that has been submitted by a member of the Rice community. The views expressed in this opinion are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or re ect the views of the Thresher or its editorial board. All guest opinions are fact-checked to the best of our ability and edited for clarity and conciseness by Thresher editors.
Bridget Gorman DEAN OF UNDERGRADUATES
Ask a Rice philosopher: Why do I dislike members of the Honor Council simply for being on the Honor Council?
The question of the week asks, “Why is it so easy for me to dislike members of the Honor Council simply for being on the Honor Council, when realistically, I know that cheating is bad and there should be consequences for it?”
First, I suppose I should apologize to the Honor Council. Sorry folks, don’t take it personally! This week’s questioner acknowledges your value, and so do I.
To today’s questioner: I’m going to
assume that your felt dislike does not just come from the fact that students on the Honor Council are putting hours into a highly structured extracurricular that will look good on a future resume. Otherwise, your question would be, “Why do I dislike 93% of Rice students?” It’s imagining a group of your peers sitting in judgment that really irks you, I’m guessing.
Maybe what’s annoying is a matter of status. Do you find yourself wondering, “Who do they think they are?” That question expresses annoyance that someone who is, by rights, your peer, is
acting better than you. People can feel the same way about officials at every level
Members of the Honor Council are representatives of a power that Rice wields over its students, threatening punishment for academic misconduct. You can agree, in principle, that such a power is necessary, but still not like living under it.
of government. When random members of Congress make a big show of needing security, motorcades and private rooms at restaurants, we think they’re acting like royalty, and we don’t like it. Of course, members of the Honor Council don’t act as though they deserve a motorcade, but they do sit in judgment, and that alone grants them a superior status: they judge, and the student before them gets judged.
Maybe what’s annoying is not the matter of status, but the idea that any student on campus has a right to morally judge a peer. Technically, it is the job of the Honor Council to assess apparent violations of the Honor Code, not to make specifically moral judgments, but I’m sure no one has ever been brought in front of the Honor Council and not felt like there was a moral assessment being made. “What gives you the right to judge?” is the sort of question that naturally comes up to express this thought.
I hear “What gives you the right?” two ways. Maybe you think we’re all sinners, and so any judgment against another is just hypocrisy. But maybe you would find the idea of the Honor Council even more galling if it were made up of morally upstanding, unimpeachably pure students. To many of us, the only thing worse than morally flawed people claiming the right to punish others is a
council of moral saints, who threaten to make us embarrassed or ashamed just by the contrast between them and us.
Last hypothesis for today: maybe it’s a matter of power. Members of the Honor Council are representatives of a power that Rice wields over its students, threatening punishment for academic misconduct. You can agree, in principle, that such a power is necessary but still not like living under it. In general, the sort of power that makes us most uncomfortable is power that can be used against us without our being able to fight back. The Honor Council, city police, immigration officials and occupying armies are all supposed to use their power in a restrained way that stays within their justified realm. But all of them might, on some occasion, deploy that power less fairly. What then? That prospect makes us look differently at those with power, however well they have used it so far.
In short, lovers of equality, haters of hypocrisy, guilt-ridden sinners and the potentially oppressed all have a reason to instinctively dislike official judgment. We want it, we need it and we can see the good it does — when it does good. But when I hear a police car’s siren start up, my first thought isn’t how essential it is to have law enforcement in any functional society. My first thought is, “Don’t judge me!” And maybe that’s you and the Honor Council.
Assigned reading: Wolf, S. 1982. “Moral Saints.” Journal of Philosophy 79, 419-39.
Extra credit: Pettit, P. 1999. Republicanism: A theory of freedom and government. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dr. Tim Schroeder is a professor in the Department of Philosophy. If you have a question about reality, knowledge, ethics, consciousness, truth, beauty or other abstract theoretical realms (or about how they apply to what your roommate just did), why not ask him about it?
Email your questions to askaricephilosopher@rice.edu.
People at Rice used to have opinions. They used to write op-eds with charming titles, like “Dry your eyes, young men: Baldness is in” and letters to the editor accusing the Backpage of everything from libel to not including enough personal attacks (both in the same week, no less).
Most striking about these opinions is that people used to sign their names on them. The Thresher’s opinion section used to be a place to proudly proclaim, “Here’s what I think — fight me on it.” Today, not so much.
Admittedly, it’s understandable why some students and faculty at Rice may be hesitant to express their opinions in the current political climate.
Recent actions by the Trump administration, including a policy that lists “antisemitic activity on social media” and affiliation with “educational institutions linked to antisemitic activity” as grounds for denying visas, have rightfully stoked fear on college campuses. Their “Catch and Revoke” campaign has already led to the cancellation of hundreds of student visas, including revocations tied to pro-Palestinian protest activity. That kind of surveillance chills speech and encourages retreat into anonymity.
However, the trend of refusing to share opinions publicly is not unique to the last few months. It’s a broader epidemic, and one that — as peculiar as it may sound — should be at least partially blamed on Fizz.
This anonymous social media app has gained significant popularity on campus in the three years since it was introduced. Many of the posts are harmless jokes and observations about life at Rice. After all, the app was created with the intention of providing a connection for college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some posts, though, have much darker intentions.
There are real people reading these posts, and there are real impacts on our campus culture when we don’t call out hate simply because it’s framed as a joke. Online attitudes translate to in-person interactions, making campus as a whole less safe.
Don’t get us wrong, we all enjoy scrolling through Fizz every now and again. But recently, it seems like more and more of the posts are hateful or downright violent. Take the case of Martel College’s Texas Party, after which someone posted a picture of a guillotine in response to a question about who Martel’s head socials were.
Even more widespread in recent weeks has been racist commentary on the announcement of Rice’s 12th residential college, Chao College.
This is cyberbullying 101: hidden behind a screen and a clever alias, people feel empowered to spew hateful rhetoric they would otherwise likely be too embarrassed to utter aloud.
The people who come across hateful or upsetting posts when innocently scrolling on Fizz aren’t afforded the same privilege of anonymity. There are real people reading these posts, and there are real impacts on our campus culture when we don’t call out hate simply because it’s framed as a joke. Online attitudes translate to in-person interactions, making the campus as a whole less safe.
So, don’t hide behind anonymity anymore. Call out the problems you see on campus wherever you can in op-eds, letters to the editor, social media or conversations with your friends.
Prove to the fraction of Fizz users who spread this bigotry that you’re not afraid of accountability. Say your opinion and say it proudly, because that’s the path to a safer campus.
Editor’s Note: Thresher editorials are collectively written by the members of the Thresher’s editorial board. Current members include Sarah Knowlton, Kathleen Ortiz, Juliana Lightsey, James Cancelarich, Noa Berz, Jenna Perrone, Arman Saxena, Andersen Pickard and Evie Vu.
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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.
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In “First public of the year reckons with threats of a dry campus,” the decision to restrict entry into the sundeck was made by the Martel socials team.
In “Over 466 students received meal swipes from Student Success Initiatives,” Student Success Initiatives facilitates the swipes but does not donate them, and the number of swipes surpassed the total number of swipes donated last semester.
In “Career expo expands to two days, sees more employers across industries,” Alex Sansom is a bioengineering major.
In “Chair of U.S. House committee talks oods, space at Baker Institute,” the representative for Texas’ 36th Congressional District is Brian Babin.
Hong Lin Tsai describes himself as a person who wears a lot of hats, both literally and guratively.
“Twenty-two, in fact,” said Tsai, a Brown College senior.
The phrase has become something of a theme among those who know him best, like Je rey Youngson, Tsai’s suitemate and O-Week brother.
“We joke that the rest of us have, like, one or two extracurriculars, and he just takes, like, 16 or something ridiculous like that,” said Youngson. “But he always makes it work.”
Tsai is perhaps most well known for his original designs featuring Sammy the Owl, which appear on posters, stickers, shirts and water bottles across campus.
Tsai found inspiration for his sticker business from his O-Week coordinator, Ashley Duong ’23, who also designed Sammy the Owl stickers at the time. Tsai followed her lead and made his own as a meme, he said, but friends encouraged him to start selling them.
“Almost 50 designs later and 11 sticker packs, I have an entire collection of them,” Tsai said.
Editor’s note: Tsai is the Thresher’s sports cartoonist.
Looking back, Tsai said he would not have predicted the paths his projects would take.
“If you told my former self when I started as a freshman that I’d start my own sticker business, that I would start an entire cartoon section, I would not have believed you,” Tsai said.
In addition to his own sticker enterprise, Tsai has created merchandise for clubs like HACER and the Rice Hockey Club, contributed to Rice Rally Club as the executive vice president, collaborated with Rice Public A airs on holiday videos and
even created a Christmas card for President Reggie DesRoches.
“Having students design my holiday card each year is such a special tradition,” wrote DesRoches in a message to the Thresher.
“Their creativity gives the card a personal touch and reminds me how proud I am of our talented Owls.”
Duong said Tsai’s work through his many roles has touched nearly every corner of campus.
“The art Hong Lin has made — everybody on campus has seen, whether they realize
it or not,” Duong wrote in a message to the Thresher. “He has drawn for so many organizations across campus, I’ve lost count.”
Tsai has also taken on leadership roles in numerous service organizations on campus, including the Rice Coalition on Hunger and Homelessness. At Brown, he serves as head caregiver and senior class representative.
For Tsai, his involvement in so many activities is tied to his background as a rstgeneration, low-income student.
“All of the positions I take on are my way of giving back to Rice, just like the people who
helped me get here,” Tsai said.
Tsai said taking leadership training through the Doerr Institute for New Leaders in his sophomore year gave him opportunities to grow and get out of his comfort zone. Tsai now serves as a Doerr ambassador for Brown and is the semester’s new host for Doerr’s Leading Owls podcast.
He always jumps in to make things happen.
Stephanie Taylor
DOERR INSTITUTE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF LEADER DEVELOPMENT
“Don’t be afraid to ask around for opportunities and resources,” Tsai said. “If you like it, see what sticks and then go forward with that.”
Stephanie Taylor, the associate director of leader development at Doerr, praised Tsai’s energy and impact.
“Hong is endlessly positive and optimistic,” Taylor wrote in a message to the Thresher. “He always jumps in to make things happen. His can-do spirit and follow-through make him a role model for his peers.”
Taylor also pointed to the lasting presence of Tsai’s design work.
“His designs are unforgettable, and they’ll live on through Doerr Institute shirts and stickers well beyond his time at Rice,” Taylor wrote.
Tsai described his time at Rice as a “roller coaster” with highs and lows.
“Being a part of all these roles here is kind of like playing musical chairs, and being a senior is like being ready to get o the ride,” Tsai said.
Type of parrot
Wrangler, for one
Workplace safety org.
Actress Donovan of “Clueless”
Oldest Haim sister
Singer-songwriter Bridges
Home ornamentation
Where a villain might dwell
Type of jazz vocal improvisation
BeReal?
Netflix series wherein the devil opens a nightclub
Interstate abbr.
San Fran football team
Feathery accessory o en donned by Harry
Styles
Treble or bass, usually
Golf peg
The brain’s “rage almond”
Go along with 1982 Duran Duran album
Excalibur, for one Newberry winner for “Crispin: The Cross of Lead”
Rachel Maddow’s network
Came to
Charged particle
Singer Malik, who went the other direction
Houston stadium where Taylor Swi performed a stop on the Eras Tour
Eventually “Anthem” author Rand Response to “are you able to help me?”
Nail polish brand Pompous sort
Kind of rug Catcher’s posture “At Last” singer James Employ
Color variations from mixing with white Type of latte Tim Cook’s company, on Nasdaq
Pitch perfect?
ambushes to sweet negotiations, here are the best (and worst) ways to keep shaving cream off the walls.
This Saturday, one of Rice’s most infamous traditions will return — and with it, the eternal question: How do you fend off an army of rowdy nudists covered only in shaving cream? For first-time runners, brace yourselves for elaborate defenses that allow students from all colleges to participate in Baker 13, clothed or not. From watery
#1: Water balloons
Some prefer to fight chaos with chaos. Brown College, for example, has been known to set up makeshift barricades of chairs and lob water balloons at unsuspecting streakers. In an October 2018 issue of the Thresher, however, Brown was reported to have
opted for a barricade of water-filled trash cans in light of a recent furniture upgrade. Using water balloons is a strategy over a decade old, and it’s surprisingly effective.
#2: Water guns
The most popular option on campus, water guns are the go-to defense for Will Rice, Hanszen and Lovett Colleges. They’re considerably less messy than water balloons and easier to reload,
Ancient Iranian
Late “Jeopardy!” host Trebek
AI assistant made by ByteDance
British fast fashion brand
Pumbaa of “The Lion King”
Peanut butter partner
Jacob’s twin, in the book of Genesis
Su x for “gen” or “synth” Bengals running back Samaje
Actress Elizabeth of WandaVision
Inclined to conceal information
Yard nitpickers, abbr.
2018 lm “___-Man and the Wasp” World Cup soccer org.
Gobs
Renovated
Behold
“No alcohol provided,” abbr. Circus performer
Spencer of “Good Morning America”
Pyromaniac’s crime
Home of Vikings football
Absent
A big one is thought to have started the universe
Manhattan-based fashion retailer
Brand of water enhancer drops
Business bigwig
“Encanto” antagonist de la Cruz
Restaurateur and wife of Steph Curry
Home of the Burj Khalifa
2023 Renee Rapp album “Snow _____”
Type of pet?
Org. for seniors
Small measure of area, abbr.
Stopped floating
“No thanks, _ ___ dinner already.”
Online cra s marketplace
LSU’s football conference
To the ___ degree
but there’s a trade-off in terms of effectiveness. Water guns may be basic — or classic, depending on whom you ask — but they’ve earned their place as a staple of Baker 13 defenses.
#3: Sacrifice someone!
Wiess College takes it one step further. Not only do they deploy water guns, they also offer up a “freshman sacrifice.” Legend has it that a firstyear student is tied to a pole in front of the college and left as tribute to be surrounded and screamed at by the passing streakers. Brown once embraced a similar tradition, turning it into a kind of honor bestowed upon the “class clown.”
#4: Cookies
Why shoot when you can sweettalk? McMurtry College’s approach is to offer cookies, hoping baked goods can disarm even the boldest of runners. Sid Richardson College also opts for cookies, a change from their past defense of a makeshift waterfall from their upper balconies. The functionality of a sweet treat as a deterrent is questionable, but you’ve got to throw Culture of Care in there somehow.
#5: No defense (avoidance)
Ah, the old classic — avoidance. Coined by deadbeat parents and group project freeloaders, perfected by Duncan, Jones and Martel Colleges. Why set up barricades, bake cookies, or buy flimsy water guns when you can just … hide? Jones used to boast a ground defense involving pool noodles, but has since turned to this tactic of low effort and low stress. In the end, it may be the least proactive defense, but the goal is to stay safe out there. Congratulations — you’ve discovered the easiest way to stay unscathed.
AMELIA DAVIS THRESHER STAFF
After his teaching and writing residency in Leipzig, Germany ends and he’s done travelling the world for his new book tour, Phillip Williams can add yet another experience to his resume: teaching at Rice.
For Williams, teaching is an opportunity to grow something new out of a seed of interest and creativity, for both himself and his classes. He said he appreciates the aspect of ongoing exchange where his students push him to explore new ideas and approaches, just as he helps them discover and develop their own.
“I’m really excited to return to undergraduate teaching,” said Williams, an incoming professor of creative writing. “I like that, with Rice, the majority of the students that I’m teaching, they have interests in math and science and medicine. For them, writing is … a way where I think they can be most vulnerable in their classes.”
Williams has been teaching at the college level since 2016, only two years after earning his Masters of Fine Arts degree in Writing from Washington University. Beginning as a visiting faculty member Bennington College, Williams then went on to serve in teaching positions at Randolph College and New York University. In addition, he has a Picador guest professorship and writer residency at Leipzig University.
For much longer than he’s been teaching, though, writing has been his passion and goal. He is the author of several poetry collections and a debut novel, “Ours,” which was rated the Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Oprah’s Book Club, ELLE magazine and more.
“I’ve always had a very wild imagination — a lot of which was fed by video games,” Williams said. “I wanted to make my own games growing up, and so I would just write out how they would play out, what the monsters would be, what the levels would look like and things like that.”
“I was encouraged,” he continued. “That early encouragement showed me that not only was I doing something well, but I was doing something that I enjoy, that other people could enjoy too.”
How does one juggle authorship with the demands of teaching? For Williams, the two are related.
I was encouraged. That early encouragement showed me that not only was I doing something well, but I was doing something that I enjoy, that other people could enjoy too.
Phillip Williams
INCOMING PROFESSOR OF CREATIVE WRITING
“I think the answer, actually, is that I want for writing to be predominant,” Williams said. “And I think through teaching, the way that happens is by helping usher in more writers into the world. So it’s not just about me creating whatever my oeuvre will be. It’s also helping students to realize if they take it seriously, here’s how you can create your own worlds. Here’s how you can make your own poems, essays, things like that, so that I’ll have future peers.”
Some of his students have already grown to be his peers and gained a
foothold in the literary world in their own right. One such student, Kameryn Alexa Carter, is now a published and award-winning poet, studying poetry at the Helen Zell Writers Program at the University of Michigan. Williams’ teachings have stuck with her, even through the end of class.
“Professor Williams’ pedagogy is built on a joint discovery between the facilitator and the student,” Carter wrote in a message to the Thresher. “When I was a student in his classes, there were many complex chalkboard maps of various texts — evidence that we were all contributing toward getting closer and closer to the essence of the work. He runs a highly collaborative classroom, in which each student has a responsibility to facilitate generative discussion, guided with precision by him as the instructor.”
Williams’ hiring is part of recent expansions in Rice’s creative writing program. In 2025, the English department was formally renamed as the English and Creative Writing Department to reflect some of these changes. Lacy M.
[Williams is] an incredible writer. We’re really, really lucky that he’s coming here. He is really such a virtuosic poet.
Lacy Johnson
DIRECTOR
OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, CREATIVE WRITING
Johnson, director of undergraduate studies in creative writing, said that the expansion will also include a Masters of Fine Arts program in creative writing to be introduced in the next year or two.
“Our vision for the MFA is that it will bring more energy and grow the literary population here at Rice by bringing more mentors for our undergrads in the terms of these graduate students, but also growing the literary ecosystem here,” Johnson said.
Johnson said there is a great deal of interest in creative writing classes — so much so that there is a lack of available classes large enough to enroll everyone interested in them. The consistent high demand has inspired the expansion in professors, in order to give more students the opportunity to take creative writing classes.
Bringing Williams in as a professor provides not only increased creative writing class space, but also a unique point of view within the fields of poetic and fiction writing, Johnson said. In the spring, Williams will teach his first course at Rice: Experimental Black Women’s Writing.
“He’s an incredible writer. We’re really, really lucky that he’s coming here. He is really such a virtuosic poet,” Johnson said. “We just really wanted students at Rice to be able to engage with these histories and traditions — particularly, in terms of African American poetics, Black poetics.”
Williams said he hopes to bring his own philosophy and expertise to his classes, but is also eager to see how his students grow in their own direction and follow their own inspirations.
“I’ve been taught by many people,” Williams said. “All of that becomes a conglomerate of all of those different personalities, those different teaching styles, those different foci. They all had different things that inspired them to write and that kept them invested in the craft. I just want to be a piece of that for a student.”
FROM FRONT PAGE MOODY
Across the room, Lucy Kim bridges painting, photography and biotechnology. Trained as a painter, Kim casts real surfaces — like a beach at low tide — then paints imagery atop those undulating forms. Her other works in the exhibition use a lab-based screenprinting process with genetically modi ed bacteria that produce melanin directly on paper.
“I don’t actually print any melanin — I print the bacteria,” Kim said. “Over three days, while it’s incubating in a temperature and moisture-controlled environment, the bacteria slowly [make] the melanin … the image is, in fact, at one point, alive.”
One print enlarges an albino vanilla plant Kim photographed while researching gene-edited agriculture near Miami. Another overlays orchid patterns to show how living processes subtly alter images over time.
“When they’re photographed, it confuses people … to see the work in person, its reality is di erent than a 2D image,” Kim said. “It’s not sculpture, it’s not a at painting or a photograph. It’s somewhere in between.”
Working with brightly dyed industrial cable ties, New York-based artist Sui Park built forms that seem to pulse with cellular life. Park dyed and weaved thousands of ties by hand, snapping them together into freestanding volumes without internal armatures.
“I considered each cable tie like
structural [forms that] can be architecture modules or cells,” Park said. “They are very exible but very strong.”
Park said she prefers viewers to bring their own associations to her work.
“I don’t have any speci c imagination that I give [the] audience,” she said. “They can have … very di erent or innovative thinking with my work. I just want [the] audience to have their own experience.”
The exhibition links today’s artists to those who came before them. Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture “The Couple” provides a historic touchstone, while Berenice Olmedo’s prosthetic-inspired forms, Tishan Hsu’s screen-like surfaces and Christina Quarles’ uid bodies carry the conversation into the present.
Even the galleries participate. The
exhibition graphics by Omnivore, Inc. echo the show’s organic vocabulary with biomorphic label shapes and a mosstextured title wall.
“They did a really fantastic work, responding to the artwork and exhibition and embracing the concept of biomorphism,” Josenhans said.
By the time visitors loop back to the entrance, the exhibition’s premise has unfolded materially: living processes translated into elastic membranes, bacterial pigments, industrial plastics and historical forms — all shi ing as we look.
“These structures … are never stable,” Fàbregas said. ”They are always in constant transformation.”
“Bio Morphe” is open Sept. 5 to Dec. 20 at the Moody Center for the Arts.
ARMAN SAXENA A&E EDITOR
Next week kicks o Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15) — so what better time to dive into art that feeds, questions and celebrates the community? From kitchen magic to militant salsa, border theory to boogaloo, here are eight radical works that refuse to shrink and insist on joy, memory and resistance.
“Like Water for Chocolate” — Laura Esquivel (1989) Recipes, desire, rebellion. Esquivel’s magical-realist classic novel turns a kitchen into a battleground where emotion seasons every dish. Tita’s forbidden love and alchemical cooking push domestic labor into the realm of spellcra , asking who gets to wield power at home and why. The novel celebrates sensuality and caretaking without romanticizing patriarchy. Start it for the food and stay for the slow-burn insurrection simmering under every recipe.
“Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza” — Gloria Anzaldúa (1987)
Theory with teeth. Anzaldúa’s hybrid of memoir, poetry and philosophy codeswitches between English, Spanish and Nahuatl to map how borders cut bodies, genders and languages. She names the “mestiza consciousness” not as tidy identity politics, but as an unruly survival tool. It’s a landmark queer Chicana text that still feels ahead of tomorrow — part spellbook, part syllabus, part mirror for anyone who’s ever lived between.
“Zama” — dir. Lucrecia Martel (2017)
Colonial rot as a slow-burn comedyhorror lm. Martel traps a petty Spanish o cial in heat-haze purgatory and lets the empire’s delusions eat him alive. Sound does half the storytelling — insects, wind, distant water — while the frame lls with bureaucratic decay. It’s a period piece that refuses costume-drama comfort, turning the past into a diagnosis of power that lingers long a er the credits.
“The Battle of Chile” — dir. Patricio Guzmán (1975-79)
Street-level history in real time. Guzmán’s documentary lm trilogy follows former president Salvador
Allende’s rise and the coup that crushed Chilean democracy, with cameras tucked into marches, factories and clashes. No voice-of-god, no safety net — just organizers, workers, students and soldiers colliding. It’s both an archive and an alarm bell, proof that memory is political and that lm can be a frontline.
“We Like It Like That” — dir. Mathew Ramirez Warren (2015)
A jubilant lm history of Latin boogaloo — the 1960s Nuyorican mashup of mambo, R&B and soul that made bilingual music more mainstream and packed Bronx dance oors. Legends trade ri s and stories, DJs pull deep cuts and the soundtrack refuses to sit still. More than nostalgia, it’s a case study in how immigrant kids remix the city into something unmistakably their own.
“Celia & Johnny” — Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (1974)
A crown jewel of salsa dura. Cruz’s volcanic call-and-response rides Pacheco’s utes, congas and horns like a parade through the diaspora. “Quimbara” isn’t just a hit — it’s a homecoming, collapsing dance oor and Black Caribbean memory
into one ecstatic shout. Radical in its refusal to translate or diminish: Spanish on the microphone, Afro-Cuban rhythms up front, swagger for days.
“Pongo en tus manos abiertas” — Víctor Jara (1969) Nueva canción’s songbook — humanist, union-rooted, unkillable. Jara’s tender militancy (“Te recuerdo Amanda”) makes love and labor inseparable, then dares you to sing along. A er the 1973 coup and Jara’s murder, these tracks became memorials and marching music. Half a century on, they still mobilize — guitar as megaphone, chorus as picket line.
“DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” — Bad Bunny (2025)
Joy as praxis. Built on Puerto Rico’s pulse — plena, salsa, bolero and club thump — the album plays like a block party turned thesis, foregrounding island memory and everyday pleasure as antidotes to extraction and erasure. It’s celebratory without softening its politics, insisting that dancing, laughing and documenting our lives are forms of resistance.
ELIAS MARTI-CASTRO FOR THE THRESHER
Did you spend most of your summer stuck in a lab or taking a hard class with a semester’s worth of material in the span of a month? If so, then you probably missed the 110 lms that came out this summer. With so many, it’s hard to know which ones are worth your time. This is a list of the top six lms that won’t make you fall asleep (unlike your lectures).
6. Jurassic World Rebirth
Despite being the seventh movie in the Jurassic World franchise, this lm captures the feel and suspense of the early lms. It’s a standalone lm and does not include any returning characters, which means audiences not familiar with the original material can still enjoy it. If you’re wondering how this movie manages to squeeze more content out of the franchise, rest assured, it proves intriguing — and at times, even scary. This movie once again proves that big, angry dinosaurs never go out of style.
5. Thunderbolts*
“Thunderbolts*” follows the events of the 2021 lm “Black Widow.” Although it provides important insight into the protagonist, you do not need to be familiar with the previous lm to enjoy this one. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, combining intense ghting scenes, funny bits and emotionally chilling scenes. With morally ambiguous characters, it is far from a typical superhero lm. The twists
and turns of this lm, and the unlikely team that has to deal with them, will have you equally in suspense and laughter.
4. How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
The beloved animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon” has lled many childhoods with love for dragons. The original 2010 movie introduced us to the iconic duo of Hiccup and Toothless. For the nostalgic watchers, the casting had discrepancies, but the recreation of the scenes and the dragons make up for it. Incredibly, this movie stayed true to the original, involving breathtaking imagery and dialogue that is almost word-for-word identical. If the 2010 m lm le you with an unfathomable urge to move to Berk, this movie is for you.
3. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Being some of the rst superheroes made by Marvel all the way back in 1961, the Fantastic Four have great importance in the world of superhero teams. Set in a 1960s retro-futuristic city, the worldbuilding of the lm feels unique and captivating. Described by Screen Rant as “the most faithful recreation of the franchise,” this movie invokes feelings of nostalgia for older audiences while having a compelling storyline that new audiences can appreciate. Whether you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or are just watching for Pedro Pascal, this movie will have you glued to it from start to nish.
PS: For physics/astronomy majors,
beware of scienti c inaccuracies that will have you itching to comment during the movie. If this happens, take a deep breath and count contact forces.
2. Superman (2025)
Despite being a hardcore Marvel fan, this movie earned a point for DC in my book. Audiences tired of the gloomy, vengeful Superman will adore this friendly, squirrel-saving superhero rendition. With a whopping $614 million, it is the seventh highest-grossing movie of this year, and for good reason. A lovable main character, a jealous villain who has it out for people with hair, a hyperactive dog and incredibly cool ghting scenes have made for the perfect superhero movie to chill with this summer.
1. KPop Demon Hunters
I o cially apologize to my neighbors for blasting this movie’s soundtrack for the past month, but a er seeing the movie, they might grant me some amnesty. “KPop Demon Hunters” is the only movie on this list that did not come out in theaters; instead, it was released as a Net ix original animated lm. Despite the name possibly causing skepticism for some, this lm is an incredible example of a movie that exceeds expectations on all three of its prime components: animation, character writing and soundtrack. In the short time this movie has been out, one of its most popular songs, “Golden,” became the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The dynamic animation by Sony Pictures Animation, mixed with the badass personalities and complexity of the characters, has made this movie a remarkable, well-earned success.
WENSHI CHEN THRESHER STAFF
Houston’s tangle of overpasses has grown so massive that a single interchange covers as much area as Siena, Italy. Capturing the city’s “spaghetti bowl” highways from above, Iwan Baan’s camera renders its curves and intersections into a peculiar tactile language. The Rice School of Architecture launched the opening of “Iwan Baan: The Notational Surface,” an exhibition by the acclaimed Dutch photographer, on Sept. 3. Presented as part of the school’s new curatorial program, the exhibition is currently on display at Cannady Hall through Oct. 25.
William Ward Watkin Dean of the School of Architecture Igor Marjanović said the new program aims to use Cannady Hall’s gallery space to expand how architectural ideas are communicated. This is the third exhibition in the space, and the second season of the curatorial program following last year’s exhibition by Angela Chen, a former lecturer in the Department of Art.
“Our goal with this program is to use the lens of architecture to see the world di erently, not just buildings, but the spaces between them, the infrastructures and landscapes that shape our lives,” Marjanović said.
Baan’s five-year project captures Houston from street to sky, exposing the city’s infrastructure, vulnerabilities and complexity.
The exhibition is organized around four themes — downtown architecture, highway intersections, suburban developments and industrial zones — re ecting Houston’s unique urban condition, where the absence of zoning laws allows di erent forms of development to exist side by side. It was developed in collaboration with graphic design studio Experimental Jetset (Amsterdam) and exhibition designers Departamento del Distrito (Houston/ Mexico City). Spanning two oors of Cannady Hall, the show moves from the intimate scale of street life to sweeping aerial views of Houston’s oil infrastructure,
intermodal networks and suburban sprawl.
Nathan Friedman, professor in the practice of architecture and a partner at Departamento del Distrito, helped shape the exhibition’s spatial layout and presentation. Friedman said the design aimed to emphasize the archive’s breadth while also highlighting the power of Baan’s high-resolution images to be experienced at multiple scales.
“We wanted the ground oor to convey the diversity of Baan’s documentation, so visitors encounter a wide selection of 200 images from a larger body of 3,000,” Friedman said. “On the second oor, we shi ed focus, enlarging 30 photographs to show how urban conditions overlap and bleed into one another. The result is a sense of adjacency, where seemingly separate worlds, like residential neighborhoods and industrial zones, are revealed as closely connected.”
For students, the exhibition’s scale o ers an especially striking entry point. Katrina Lee, an architecture student, said she was surprised by the immensity of both the photographs and the city they portray.
“What stood out to me most was the sheer scale. The infrastructure and industrial zones are so vast they can’t even be captured within a single frame,” said Lee, a Sid Richardson College junior. “I also discovered parts of Houston I had never seen before, which really showed me just how extensive and industrial the city is.”
Beyond the photographs themselves, the exhibition creates a spatial experience that challenges visitors to see the city and the forces that shape it through a new lens. Friedman said the design intentionally breaks from traditional gallery formats to reframe how visitors encounter the images.
He explained that the second-floor installation used lightweight aluminum frames without glass, reducing glare and inviting viewers to see the photos from unexpected angles. “Each frame was designed as if mid-liftoff,” Friedman said, “turning the display into an architectural experience.”
“Iwan Baan: The Notational Surface” will be on view at Cannady Hall from Sept. 3 to Oct.25, 2025.
Marjanović added that the design “turns the exhibition itself into an architectural experience, not just a display of images.”
This immersive design translated into a more embodied way of experiencing the city through Baan’s images. Titan Chen, an architecture student, said the exhibition’s unusual perspectives encouraged him to connect physically with the work.
“What struck me was how the design asks you to view the images from positions you wouldn’t normally take, looking up from the oor or lying back to see a photograph overhead,” said Chen, a McMurtry College junior. “At one point, lying down beneath a tilted frame, I even lost my sense of direction for a moment. That disorientation became part of the experience, reminding me that architecture is not only about what you see but how your body engages with space.”
Beyond its visual impact, the exhibition also serves an educational purpose, o ering students a chance to holistically engage with Houston through both architectural and comparative lenses. Marjanović emphasized how Baan’s work provides context for students designing projects within the city.
“They can recognize areas they’ve visited while also encountering neighborhoods they might not know,” Marjanovi ć said. “At the same time, Baan is one of the most important architectural photographers working today, so Houston is now positioned alongside other cities he has documented around the world. That creates an opportunity to ask what parallels exist and what makes Houston unique.”
This story has been condensed for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.
‘Man’s Best Friend’ is con dent, not perfect
something genuinely affecting.
There’s a moment in BoJack Horseman that I found myself returning to when Sabrina Carpenter unveiled her “Man’s Best Friend” cover. It questions whether women can truly reclaim sexuality in a culture built for the male gaze or if “reclamation” is just a story we tell ourselves to make that gaze feel palatable.
The observation cuts deep because it applies to so many real trajectories: Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande and now, arguably, Sabrina Carpenter. Watching her, posed on her knees, hair grabbed by an anonymous hand, I kept thinking: which category does this fall into?
The parallel is not perfect. Carpenter’s Disney days were relatively brief, and her transition to adult pop stardom has been more gradual than explosive. But “Man’s Best Friend” arrives exactly one year after “Short n’ Sweet” made her a genuine pop superstar, and the album cover suggests someone very deliberately shedding any remaining wholesome associations.
The question is whether this represents genuine artistic evolution or calculated image management, and that tension plays out across every track.
On the record, you hear both impulses wrestling for control. This is her seventh studio album, yet it feels like a second pass at the same idea. The Jack Antonoff soundscape is gorgeous, all glittery synths and early ’80s vibes, but beneath the sonic sheen lies some of the most heavy-handed writing of Carpenter’s career.
If “Short n’ Sweet” was her figuring out how to package sexual frustration into perfect pop songs, this is her running that formula until it breaks.
What’s impressive is how clean the package is.
“Man’s Best Friend” is all gloss and momentum, designed as an “album experience” meant to play straight through its 38-minute runtime — the record soars when the punchlines meet melodies sturdy enough to hold them.
“We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night” swells from string-flecked sigh to fuzz-solo catharsis. It’s the record’s prettiest arrangement and proof she can be vulnerable without losing bite. “Sugar Talking” glides on blue-eyedsoul polish; Carpenter’s phrasing is so nimble it transforms a standard “I’m done with your spiel” premise into
‘Together’ turns codependency into horror
A er seeing “Together” with a friend, I told her to keep ve feet of space between us.
The movie takes every relationship platitude — “you complete me,” “my better half,” “I need some space” — and makes it literal, wet and screaming. It’s funny until it isn’t, then funny again in a way that makes you feel complicit.
Have you ever wanted to be with your partner so much that you couldn’t stand being apart? Director Michael Shanks asks what happens if that isn’t a metaphor, but a biological imperative. As a reality check for a previous relationship, it hits close and keeps closing the distance.
The setup is simple on paper: a couple moves for a reset. Millie (Alison Brie) and Tim (Dave Franco) are that pair who call it a partnership but mainly enable each other. She’s got her teaching career together, and he’s still chasing music dreams at 35.
When they move upstate for her job and fall into a mysterious cave during a hike, something in the water changes the rules. Tim’s need for space suddenly ips into an irresistible urge never to leave Millie’s side. Literally, their bodies start fusing together, piece by piece, and the movie asks: Is this love or horror?
unsettling isn’t the gore; it’s recognizing these dynamics in the esh. The way Millie justi es Tim’s behavior to friends, the way Tim resents Millie’s competence while depending on it and the way they both mistake intensity for intimacy.
Shanks understands that codependency isn’t about loving someone too much but about loving them in a way that diminishes both people.
The physical fusion becomes a metaphor for how codependent couples lose track of where one person ends and the other begins, except here the metaphor has teeth and requires actual surgery to reverse.
When the album clicks, it really clicks. “House Tour” is pure Princeinfluenced sleaze that earns every innuendo, building from teasing verses to an absolutely infectious chant-along chorus. “When Did You Get Hot?” captures something genuinely funny about watching someone from your past glow up, complete with panting sound effects that shouldn’t work but absolutely do.
Even “Tears,” where Carpenter gets aroused by basic male competence, commits so fully to its absurdist premise that it becomes genuinely charming. These moments reveal an artist who understands that sex comedy requires actual comedy, not just sex.
Yet too much of “Man’s Best Friend” feels like Carpenter reverse engineering
The answer depends on how you feel about codependency, which the movie understands better than most relationship dramas. Watching this unfold, I kept thinking about how these dynamics work in real life. Codependent relationships don’t start with dramatic red ags; they begin with someone who needs to be needed meeting someone who needs to need.
Millie makes decisions for both of them because Tim won’t make any. Tim avoids responsibility because Millie will handle it. It’s dysfunction that feels like love until you realize neither person can function alone. When Tim physically cannot leave Millie’s side, it’s just the logical endpoint of emotional patterns they’ve been practicing for years.
It’s pure relationship horror — when you realize two people who think they love each other are trapped in patterns that make them both miserable. All I could think was “they should break up.” The movie also knows this, which makes everything that follows feel inevitable rather than random.
What makes “Together” genuinely
This is where the meta casting becomes crucial rather than gimmicky. Watching real-life spouses Brie and Franco navigate this premise adds a layer of voyeuristic discomfort that a lm about ctional characters couldn’t achieve. When things get physical — and they do — you’re acutely aware that these are two people who actually go home together.
What keeps “Together” from becoming a one-note gimmick is its commitment to exploring why people stay in relationships that consume them.
The lm doesn’t judge Tim and Millie for their dysfunction. Instead, it asks what happens when emotional patterns become physical reality. The body horror serves the relationship drama, not the other way around, which is why moments that should be purely gross manage to feel genuinely unsettling instead.
“Together” succeeds because it commits to its absurd premise without winking at the audience. It’s not groundbreaking horror, but it’s smart enough to know that the scariest monster o en looks exactly like love.
what made her previous hits work without understanding why they worked in the first place. “Manchild” tries to recapture “Please Please Please” but lacks the specificity that made that song sting.
The country-leaning tracks feel like ABBA karaoke, and songs like “Go Go Juice” mistake quirky grammar for actual wit. You feel the first draft under the glitter when the punchlines don’t land. The album’s weaker moments suggest Carpenter is still learning the difference between provocative and precise.
This brings us back to that BoJack question: is this empowerment or performance? The answer feels like both, and maybe that’s the point. Carpenter is clearly working through her relationship to sexuality and fame in real time, and “Man’s Best Friend” captures that process honestly, messiness included.
“Man’s Best Friend” isn’t a perfect album, but it’s confident. Carpenter knows exactly who she is now, and she’s having fun with it. It’s not always pretty or profound, but it’s genuine in its exploration of what it means to own your sexuality in a world still learning how to let women do exactly that. Sometimes confidence matters more than perfection, and Carpenter has that in spades.
Earl
Peace is both a state and a farewell. On “Live Laugh Love,” Earl Sweatshirt sounds like an artist who has nally found both.
For a decade, Earl has been hip-hop’s resident pessimist, rapping in hushed tones about absence, grief and alienation.
Now a father and married to writercomedian Aida Osman, Earl seems to have shed his old skin. The trademark
existentialism that once dragged his music down into the abyss now radiates with warmth and clarity.
The album opens with “gsw vs sac,” a loose, almost playful track that doesn’t quite stick — but it marks a shi in Earl’s tone. Gone is the voice that groaned under
the weight of its own thoughts. Here is a man at ease, unhurried.
The real turning point comes on “FORGE,” where he oats over a reggaeinspired beat before rapping, “stick along for the ride long enough / we ending up ne for once, nally, fuck.” It’s the kind of line that reverberates across his discography, precisely because Earl has so rarely allowed himself this sense of relief.
For listeners who remember the bleak self-portraits of “Chum” or “Grief,” hearing him declare contentment feels quietly monumental. That optimism deepens on “INFATUATION,” one of the record’s best tracks, with Earl sounding assured over a lush Harvey Averne sample.
Where his earlier work o en dissected his fractured self-image, “INFATUATION” feels like Earl recognizing his own worth, basking in the rare comfort of selfacceptance. The album truly blooms in its closing stretch.
This story has been condensed for print. Read the full article at ricethresher.org.
ANDERSEN PICKARD SPORTS EDITOR
The Bayou Bucket will remain with the University of Houston until at least 2030 a er Rice football lost to the Cougars Saturday.
With Rice and Houston not expected to play each other for at least another ve years according to an X post from Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle, there was plenty to play for at Rice Stadium.
30,116 watched as Rice fell to Houston 359. This was the largest attendance for a home game at Rice since Sept. 14, 2019, when 42,417 people led into the venue as Rice lost to University of Texas at Austin.
A large turnout of 2,841 students contributed to a high-energy environment at Rice Stadium for the Owls’ rst home game of the 2025 season, according to a Rice Athletics post on X. The game followed several events and activities that aimed to build school spirit, including a pep rally Friday and tailgating festivities prior to kicko
“Our crowd was special,” head coach Scott Abell said. “That was amazing. I give them a large shoutout.”
Rice and Houston opened the game with four consecutive three-and-outs before the Cougars were able to move across mid eld on the h drive of the game. However, Rice stopped them before they were able to enter scoring range. Junior linebacker Ty Morris sacked Houston’s quarterback to force a turnover on downs.
“We were just going out there and playing our type of defense,” Morris said. “The defensive guys up front were making plays, as well as the guys on our second level and the back end.”
Morris recorded six tackles in the rst quarter alone. He would ultimately nish the game with 15 tackles, which is the most by an Owl through the rst two games this season.
The rst quarter ended in a scoreless tie, and the Owls didn’t record a rst down until the opening play in the second quarter. Rice eventually crossed mid eld before settling for a 42-yard eld goal from redshirt junior kicker Enock Gota.
“We had some drives going in the second quarter, and we need to nish those with touchdowns, not eld goals,” Abell said. “I think the game is completely di erent if we can punch that in there, but we didn’t.”
Rice’s defense stood strong on the next two Houston drives, headlined by a pass break-up from graduate cornerback Khary Crump to force third down and a sack from redshirt junior defensive end Michael Daley as Houston’s quarterback failed to scramble away from pressure.
Crump played a key role for Rice, nishing the game with a team-high 81.6 PFF defense grade. That ranked in the 95th percentile of Football Bowl Subdivision defenders in Week 2.
Strong for the rst 28 minutes, Rice’s defense eventually allowed Houston to score points on its nal drive of the second half. UH senior running back Dean Connors, who spent the last three seasons with Rice, broke through the line of scrimmage and ran unabated to the end zone for a 54yard touchdown. Rice punted early in the second half, and Houston responded with a touchdown drive that included four thirddown conversions.
The Owls would eventually catch a break on a Cougars missed eld goal from 45 yards out. However, their luck ran out shortly a er as redshirt sophomore quarterback Chase Jenkins threw a pass that was de ected and returned for a pick-six.
“We [had] a quick pass call and the kid gets his hand on it,” Abell said. “That really kind of sealed the deal for us right there, unfortunately.”
Rice reclaimed possession of the football and Jenkins broke o a 45-yard run, but it was called back due to holding. The Owls continued to add yards in chunks, though; before long, they were knocking on the door of the end zone. Jenkins scrambled in for a 2-yard touchdown, and the Owls pulled within 12 points a er a failed 2-point conversion attempt.
Following the touchdown drive, Abell said he pulled Jenkins aside to tell him how impressed he was with the
CAYDEN CHEN / THRESHER
Rice quarterback Chase Jenkins runs with the football during Saturday’s game against the University of Houston at Rice Stadium. The Owls lost 35-9 in the Bayou Bucket Classic.
quarterback’s play.
“This is the Chase that I want to see each and every snap,” Abell said. “You saw a di erence. We broke the long run, got called back for the penalty, but because of that, it opened up everything else. It opens up the inside running game, it opens up some of the perimeter run game opposite of our quarterback. There are some encouraging things from that.”
Jenkins nished the game 10-for-12 passing with 50 yards through the air and 33 yards on the ground. He found more success rushing the football Saturday than he did during the season-opening win at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
However, as Jenkins improved as a ballcarrier, running backs Quinton Jackson and Daelen Alexander saw their production decline. They combined for 107 rushing yards on 25 carries, and neither of them caught a pass.
“The rst week, it wasn’t opening up
much for me, but it was opening up for our running backs,” Jenkins said. “Toward the end of this game, it started opening up for me. I think that once we put two and two together, it will be great for our o ense.”
Jenkins’ touchdown was Rice’s nal score of the game, but the Cougars weren’t done. Their quarterback threw a 74-yard touchdown pass, and soon a er, Connors added more points with a 42yard touchdown run. The former Owl’s standout totaled 132 rushing yards and two touchdowns in his return to Rice Stadium.
The Owls are now 1-1 with just one game remaining before they open conference play. Rice will host Prairie View A&M University at 6 p.m. Saturday. Abell wants to see another large group of fans in attendance.
“I hope that they’ll come back each and every Saturday to support our football program,” Abell said. “We will get better. Next week is a new week.”
JONAH TONTIPLAPHOL FOR THE THRESHER
For the rst time in almost 30 years, Rice students and their families gathered in the academic quad for a pep rally on Friday. With the annual game against the University of Houston not renewed for at least another ve years, this could be many students’ last Bayou Bucket clash between the two Houston universities.
Megan Vila, assistant director of marketing for Rice Athletics, said the athletic department wanted to show out for the whole city.
“The football game between Rice and UH has always been a long-standing rivalry,” Vila said. “So this year, with them coming on to our campus, we wanted just to blow it out and make sure that students are super hyped up for it and excited and all of that.”
Beyond the historical significance of this rivalry, Senior Associate Athletic Director of Competitive Excellence Davon Robb said that for many players, this matchup is significant for personal reasons.
“We got a lot of guys on the team that are from Texas, that are from Houston,” Robb said. “A lot of them are playing friends or their summer teammates or former guys they played against in high school as well. It’s for bragging rights of Houston.”
2,841 students ultimately attended the Owls’ loss Saturday. In total, the game drew an audience of 30,116 people. Last season, Rice averaged around 18,000 spectators.
Even though head coach Scott Abell is a new face around South Main, he said he has embraced the history of the program and understands the gravity of this rivalry. Abell made sure to demonstrate his animosity towards the Cougars in his address to the student body.
“When I land in Houston a er I’m traveling, I am tired of getting o an airplane and seeing a billboard of the Houston Cougars in the airport,” Abell said. “I’m sick of driving on our freeway system and I see billboards of Houston. It’s time for Rice Owls to put our name on those billboards.”
the team.
I think the kids here, they’re good at studying. We should give them a study guide about how to cheer.
Nathan Kwon WILL RICE COLLEGE SOPHOMORE
“We are so appreciative of your support, but tomorrow we need it more than ever,” Abell said. “Get out there, be loud, let’s get a er it, exhaust your energy for 60 minutes of football.”
Nathan Kwon, a Will Rice College sophomore, said he enjoyed the pep rally and would like to see more opportunities for students to demonstrate school spirit.
“I really want more pep rallies, like during [Orientation Week], because they’re a lot of fun,” Kwon said. “I also think, Rice kids, we gotta get more hype. I think the kids here, they’re good at studying. We should give them a study guide about how to cheer.”
ANDERSEN PICKARD SPORTS EDITOR
Rice volleyball wasn’t able to pull o an upset against No. 2 University of Texas at Austin, but the program still made history by setting an attendance record Wednesday in Tudor Fieldhouse.
3,017 spectators lled the venue as Rice fell to Texas, 3-1. The crowd broke the existing attendance record of 3,012, which was set Sept. 18, 2019, also against Texas.
Head coach Genny Volpe said that it seems like every time volleyball draws a large crowd, they deliver strong results on the court. She also said that opposing coaches have told her it’s very di cult for their teams to focus when the student section gets loud.
Playing in front of Rice and Texas fans, the team found freedom and con dence to play their style of volleyball.
“You saw the light blue shirts mixing with the orange,” senior middle blocker Lademi
Ogunlana said. “It just reminded us that we both have an equal shot of winning, we both deserve to be there and we were both on the same oor. It gave us a lot of freedom to go out and do what we wanted to do.”
Texas took an early 3-0 lead over Rice, but the Owls responded by pulling ahead with an 8-2 run and a 4-0 run. The two programs went back and forth, keeping a close score deep into the set. Senior outside hitter Taylor Preston ultimately delivered the nal strike with a kill to win the set, 25-23.
“We were wanting to be the aggressors in this game, and that’s what we did,” Preston said. “I’m just super happy with how that rst set nished o . We were feeding o each other’s energy and it was so fun.”
Texas won each of its rst six sets to open the season, but Rice snapped the Longhorns’ winning streak.
“I was red up because I think we surprised Texas a little bit, caught them o guard,” Volpe said.
Despite winning the rst set, the Owls
recognized the strengths of Texas’ program and wanted to avoid complacency.
“We knew a er the rst set that it wasn’t just going to be easy from there,” Preston said. “They were de nitely going to ght back, and that’s what they did.”
Texas proceeded to win the next three sets with scores of 14-25, 14-25 and 16-25, respectively. Still, the Owls le the court with positive takeaways and opportunities to improve moving forward.
“I think we took a lot of good things away from this,” Preston said. “We really can only go up from here. Every practice, we keep getting better. Each game, we keep getting better.”
Volpe said the coaches gathered a er the match and agreed that the team is taking signi cant strides forward.
Less than three days a er playing against
Texas, the Owls hit the road for a weekend tournament at Baylor University. They won their rst match Saturday before falling to No. 20 Baylor.
The Owls will have three more matches on the road before returning home Sept. 18. Volpe hopes that students will continue to attend upcoming volleyball matches, as well as other Rice sporting events like football and basketball.
When asked how she would sell students on the idea of attending volleyball matches, Volpe cited the environment inside Tudor Fieldhouse, the competitiveness of her team and the excitement of Division I sports.
“Take a study break, come out and have a part of the college experience,” Volpe said. “We want to play our best for our school, and the more that the students come out, it just enhances the whole college experience.”
“At least we had fun.”
The Backpage is the satire section of the Thresher, written this week by Charlie Maxson, Rykelle Sandidge and Max Scholl, and designed by Rykelle Sandidge. For questions or comments, please email realricethreshero cial@rice.edu.
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