Ni runs uncontested for SA treasurer
Solomon Ni, a freshman from Jones College, is running uncontested for the Student Association treasurer position. SA 2022 elections open on Feb. 23, and close on March 3.
Solomon Ni, a freshman from Jones College, is running uncontested for the Student Association treasurer position. SA 2022 elections open on Feb. 23, and close on March 3.
The Student Association Equity Council introduced a resolution on Feb. 7 denouncing Rice swim coach Seth Huston’s comments after he made statements regarding an NCAA policy change. The NCAA’s new policy states that transgender policies in the sport are now to be determined by the sport’s national governing body, along with commenting on University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas’ right to compete.
The Rice Environmental Society at Rice is partnering with Generation Conscious this semester to provide students with free and sustainable laundry detergent. The GenCo company creates sustainable laundry detergent sheets which are plastic-free and use 97 percent less water and 95 percent less carbon than traditional detergent.
The Thresher reached out to candidates from each race in the 2022 student association elections, including those for SA executive team, blanket tax organizations and honor council. Listed are headshots and statements from each.
A gas leak forced multiple buildings to evacuate Thursday afternoon around 4 p.m., after a subcontractor on the New Engineering and Science Building project hit an exposed Centerpoint gas line, according to Associate Vice President for Facilities Engineering and Planning Kathy Jones.
A Houston woman has launched a civil lawsuit against Rice University and Dariusz Pawlas, a former Shepherd School of Music instructor, alleging assault and neglect. The woman, who is identified as I.R. in court documents, was ten years old when she said Pawlas first began to assault her during her piano lessons at Shepherd. Attorney Anna Greenberg said in the lawsuit that despite a formal complaint of sexual misconduct from another student years later, Rice allowed Pawlas to continue teaching on and off campus for months.
A new insect species, a type of cynipid gall wasp, was discovered right outside Valhalla, and subsequently described in a paper published this month in the journal of Systematic Entomology. The wasp was named Neuroterus Valhalla, after the location of its original discovery.
Student-run businesses Rice Coffeehouse, The Hoot, Rice Bikes and East-West Tea are reopening for the semester, in light of new and evolving COVID protocols. Jinhee Shin, general manager of Rice Coffeehouse, said that business had been especially high since reopening on Wednesday, Jan. 26.
Rice University, along with the D2K club, hosted its 4th Annual Datathon this past weekend. The directors, Caleb Huang, Gazi Fuad and Michael Kelley, said that this year’s event was the biggest yet. The Datathon is Rice’s annual data science competition, where participants have 24 hours, in teams, to design and also implement data science-related projects.
Rice expanded its study space options since Jan. 18, opening up selective rooms in Rayzor Hall, Duncan Hall and Kraft Hall on a reservation basis. Rayzor Hall rooms 106, 113 and 123, Duncan Hall room 1046 and Kraft Hall rooms 103 and 104 will be accessible for students. The Rayzor Hall lobbies will continue to be open until 1:45 a.m. via swipe access.
Willy’s Pub will resume their normal operating hours starting Monday, Jan. 31, serving both food and alcohol, according to Elizabeth Groenewold, Pub’s general manager.
Due to concerns that pandemic-induced circumstances resulted in differences in course and instructor evaluation scores, the Office of the Provost allowed faculty to opt-out of showing their evaluations to students, according to an email sent out by the office in early August last year. In this email, the Office also wrote that the average evaluation scores were slightly better in fall 2020 and spring 2021, in comparison to previous semesters.
Associate professor of history Daniel Domingues da Silva was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities for his project, the Digital Archive of the Atlantic Slave Trades, on Jan. 12. The Archive was created to provide an online space for documents telling the history of the transportation of slaves in the Atlantic and North America.
The Rice University Police Department is developing a safety app for Rice students and faculty, estimated to be officially released by the end of this semester. Clemente Rodriguez, the chief of police, said this safety app has three major functions: Emergency Call, SOS function and Safe Corridor. He said he hopes that this app would enable users to think of their phone as another source for security.
While the majority of classes returned to in-person instruction this Monday, 1.68 percent of these courses remained online only, according to C. Fred Higgs III, the vice provost for academic affairs.
Housing and Dining staff have adjusted their practices to find alternatives for hard-to-get ingredients and to save costs in the face of nationwide shortages of various food products and a rise in inflation, according to David McDonald, senior director of Rice Housing and Dining.
The statue of William Marsh Rice will be relocated to a new location within the Academic Quadrangle as part of an effort to more completely represent the history and values of Rice University, according to an email from the Board of Trustees on Jan. 25.
Most courses will shift to in-person instruction on Jan. 24, according to an announcement from Provost Reginald DesRoches and Chair of the Crisis Management Advisory Committee Kevin Kirby. Restrictions on indoor dining and drinking may continue for two more weeks, Kirby and Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman said.
Josephine Abercrombie, namesake for the Abercrombie Lab at Rice, passed away at the age of 95 on Jan. 5 at her home in Kentucky.
The search to fill three prominent vacancies in Rice administration is currently ongoing. General Counsel Richard Zansitis retired at the start of this semester after 21 years in his role. Vice Provost for Research Yousif Shamoo will also be stepping down this month, and Provost Reginald DesRoches will leave his position later this summer to begin his tenure as Rice’s eight president.