Features

International students talk challenges amid the pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages worldwide for another school year, it continues to bring about uncertainty and stress for Rice’s international student community. After facing numerous stressors such as ever-changing travel restrictions, visa problems and time zone differences, the majority of international students arrived on campus this August, according to the Office of International Students and Scholars.

Design, cryptocurrency, and crochet: Student instructors talk college courses

Rice students have the chance to teach other students in college courses. The Thresher talked to four current student instructors to learn more about their courses and their experiences. Students can still add COLL courses — exploring topics like deep listening, cooperative storytelling, and Cleopatra — to their schedule before the add deadline on Friday, Sept. 10.

New Wiess magisters embrace the unexpected

Wiess College Magister Flavio Cunha had a plane ticket to Chicago when he met a girl in Ipanema, the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro. Cunha, who had already made plans to leave his home country of Brazil to begin a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago, had no interest in sparking a relationship with a girl in Brazil — but that was before he met his future wife Fabiana Alves dos Santos. 

Rice students navigate post-consumer composting

Housing and Dining has implemented a new post-consumer composting program for waste generated by servery patrons. Gloves, utensils, plates and any other items marked as compostable are provided so that composting is as convenient as possible for students, according to Ashley Fitzpatrick, the president of the Rice Environmental Society and an intern at Rice’s Sustainability Office. 

8-25-2021 Crossword Solutions

New Student reports: O-Week 2021

Whether in-person or virtual, Orientation Week, the traditional rite of passage for incoming students, provides them their first taste of life at Rice. This year’s Orientation Week may have been closer to normal than last year’s, but it was no less unique, as changes occurred mid-week in response to the tenuous conditions of COVID-19 on campus and in Houston. 

SA President Kendall Vining talks diversity and pandemic changes

Before coming to Rice, Martel College senior Kendall Vining was part of the student government in her freshman year of high school. Vining said she didn’t enjoy her role there because students couldn’t do anything. At Rice, however, she found that that was not the case. 

4-28-21 Crossword #2: "Five Guys"

4-28-21 Crossword #1: "Six Feet Apart"

Looking back and looking forward: lessons from the pandemic

The Rice community is eagerly anticipating a return to some kind of normal in the fall semester. Still, it’s clear that not everything will be the same as before the pandemic — but maybe for good reason. While the past year has been undeniably difficult, the Rice community can leave it with important takeaways. We asked administrators, faculty and student leaders what they have learned and what they envision for Rice when distancing, masking and virtual interactions are not the default procedures of the campus experience.

The state of energy in Texas: A conversation with Daniel Cohan following ERCOT’s energy conservation appeal

On April 13, a mild spring afternoon, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced they may begin emergency operations and called for energy conservation from Texans. Four hours later, ERCOT ended the appeal, but questions about Texas’s energy situation remain. Since extreme weather and an ensuing power crisis struck the state over two months ago, many media outlets, including the Thresher, have gone to Rice civil and environmental engineering professor Daniel Cohan for an expert explanation. The Thresher caught up with Cohan for a follow-up conversation.

Muslim students talk observing Ramadan amid classes and finals

During the month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast for 30 days, eating and drinking only before sunrise and after sunset. Since the Islamic calendar is lunar-based, the month of Ramadan falls earlier every year. This year, Ramadan, which lasts from April 12 to May 12, lands in the midst of midterm season and continues through finals. The Thresher caught up with students observing Ramadan right now to find out how they’re navigating the fast during school. 

Practicing polyglots: Rice students talk speaking multiple languages

Learning a second language is never easy, let alone learning a third, fourth or beyond — especially in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 20 percent of Americans can speak two or more languages — but some Rice students are up for the challenge. The Thresher spoke with four Rice students who speak four or more languages to learn their secrets for success. 

Senior Spotlight: Adulfo Amador talks passion for engineering and mentoring

Ever since Adulfo Amador, a McMurtry College senior, was a young child, he knew he wanted to attend Rice. As a native Houstonian, Amador visited campus often with his family, and when the time came, he applied early. The day he received his acceptance was a memorable one — it quite literally took his breath away. 

‘Yoga is not going to solve my problems’: Students discuss mental health at Rice

In November 2019, the Thresher spoke to students about their mental health challenges in the wake of students speaking up about negative experiences. Over a year later, in April 2021, the Student Association passed a resolution calling for improved support for students with mental health concerns. 

4-21-21 Crossword #2: "Double Trouble"

4-21-21 Crossword #1: "Full Bloom"

Seven unique classes to fill your fall schedule

Throughout the ages, countless figures in history have been quoted about food — each saying something different. "Food is fuel," some say, a mere means of getting nutrients. But Josh Furman subscribes to a more complex view on the matter.  

Vaccines and quarantines: International students share concerns for fall semester

Erin Liu, a Sid Richardson College junior who is returning from China to the U.S. in late April, said she started planning her return last November due to the complicated logistics involved.  

“Untold histories” get told in this year’s Rice Historical Review

Last semester, when McMurtry College senior Joy Wang was researching the bubonic plague in medieval Spain, she started by looking for cross-century comparisons and insight into how people experienced and moved on from a pandemic. According to Wang, she found parallels between the attacks on the Jewish community during the Black Death and xenophobia and hate toward the Asian and Asian-American community during the COVID-19 pandemic.