Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, March 29, 2024 — Houston, TX

Life's a Mitch: Wandering the paths less travelled

By Mitch Mackowiak     9/10/14 6:01pm

How many courtyards are in Alice Pratt Brown Hall (Shepherd’s building)?

A) zero

B) one



C) two

D) too many

Until last week, I answered A, judging the building to be a solid block by its imperious facade. The answer is C! Two courtyards with plants and fountains and benches.

This delightful revelation may be a symptom of my major — I know each sidewalk slab between Lovett College and Anderson Hall by name. I have little reason to saunter about Shepherd, but how many non-architecture majors have investigated Anderson Hall (outside Architectronica)?

You can escape campus by leaving it or entering further into it. I go a-wandering to discover spots Rice wouldn’t tout on postcards, like the tiny unkempt garden squeezed against Anderson Biological Laboratory, the lovely shard of tree-dotted and tall-grassed land between Wiess College and the track, and now two pleasant courtyards only open to the sky. Along the journeys, I inevitably meet curiosities like the sundial in front of the Cohen House or the nine marble cubes outside Herring Hall.

One can also micro-wander during class commute. Any deviation refreshes. You may not tread the quickest route because detours excel in surprise, not economy. Why not sacrifice a minute to enter Sewall Hall from the opposite end of the building? Might as well walk through the library rather than around it. Maybe you’ll find a faster route anyway.

Exploring beyond the hedges has merit, but let us not discount exploring within the hedges.



More from The Rice Thresher

OPINION 3/26/24 11:00pm
Now is the time to understand religious diversity and discrimination at Rice

In the midst of a nationwide increase in religious discrimination and hostility, particularly following the events of Oct. 7 in Israel and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, there is a need to examine how Rice University students have been impacted, how they are responding and the degree to which religious tolerance, religious accommodations, and perceptions of religious discrimination at Rice have changed. 

OPINION 3/26/24 10:59pm
We need to diversify Rice’s foodscape

Rice students have lots to say about access to food while on and around campus.  Rice’s unique foodscape lives and breathes the school’s motto of unconventional wisdom by helping accommodate a diverse group of students.  But to a certain extent, it could benefit from a taste of conventional wisdom.  Implementing other universities’ foodscape features at Rice would benefit our students.


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.