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Features

FEATURES 10/18/22 10:47pm

Ben Rhodes knew he wanted to write; he ended up in the White House

By Ben Baker-Katz

As a member of former President Barack Obama’s senior staff during his eight years in the White House, Ben Rhodes had a hand in crafting many historic foreign policy achievements, from normalizing the United States’ relationship with Cuba to signing the Iran nuclear deal. But according to Rhodes, who spoke on campus Oct. 13 as part of his book tour, one of the administration’s most important foreign policy achievements is rarely discussed: cleaning up unexploded munitions — known as “bombies” — leftover from the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia.

FEATURES 10/5/22 12:02am

Flying off shelves: Read these banned books

By Riya Misra

On Oct. 6, Fondren Library is collaborating with Rice’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality to present a Banned Books Read Out, where Rice members will read excerpts from their favorite banned or challenged books. In honor of this event, the Thresher has rounded up a list of banned books. The titles are accessible on campus or through Fondren Library’s database, in case you find yourself looking for some new reads during midterm recess.

FEATURES 10/5/22 12:01am

Going behind the counter with the GMs of Rice’s SRBs

By Allison He

Whether getting a caffeine fix, late-night dinner or their bike repaired, Rice students are no doubt familiar with many of the campus’ student-run businesses. What students often don’t see, though, is behind the scenes of SRBs — a general manager fixing the credit card machine or ensuring the oat milk supply returns. 

FEATURES 10/4/22 11:58pm

Midterm recess activities worth driving for

By Sarah Bartos

After a long first few weeks of classes, students get the upcoming fall break to relax and rewind before getting back into the swing of things. If you want to go beyond the hedges this fall break after crushing your papers and exams, here are a few spots within driving distance from Rice to explore during fall break. 

FEATURES 10/4/22 11:52pm

‘Best Golden Corral you’ve ever been to’: Students talk fanfiction

By Morgan Gage

You can check out some of the earliest fanfictions at Fondren Library — “Paradise Lost” and “Dante’s Inferno” have long been hailed as examples of literary craftsmanship, and it is no secret that they found their roots in what we would commonly call fanfiction today, stories written by a fan of another work of art featuring characters from those works. Some students at Rice may know “50 Shades of Grey,” a “Twilight” fanfiction that found its way to a publishing house. Other students, though, have found community and opportunities for artistic expression within fanfiction and fan communities.

FEATURES 9/27/22 11:02pm

Diving into the DEEP with Rice’s Data Science Club

By Danika Li

Data Education and Exploration Program is an annual data science showcase competition put on by Rice’s Data Science Club, open to all levels of coding experience. According to Vinay Tummarakota, president of the Data Science Club, the program consists of a semester-long workshop series that alternates between lessons where senior Data Science Club students teach curriculum, and application-style workshops where mentors help students apply skills learned the week before. Over the course of the fall semester, student teams develop projects on their chosen data set, and eventually present in a final showcase.

FEATURES 9/27/22 11:01pm

Explore these Houston attractions from new heights

By Nishanka Kuthuru

Check out Houston from a new perspective by visiting some of the city’s best rooftops scenes. These venues offer varieties of activities to keep their visitors entertained throughout the day, with sunrise yoga at Skylawn, midday swimming at Marriott Marquis or night-time dancing at one of the many rooftop bars. Browse through some of the following recommendations to explore Houston from above.

FEATURES 9/27/22 10:59pm

ROPEing Rice into the outdoors

By Madison Barendse

Rice’s location in Houston is beneficial in a variety of ways. After all, we have access to entertainment, culture and research in a world-class city. However, we don’t have as much access to nature — a problem Rice Outdoor Programs and Education is trying to solve.

FEATURES 9/20/22 11:53pm

Inside the lives of Rice’s newest RAs

By Felicity Phelan

When Bianca Lopez arrived on the Rice campus in 2019, she received a warning about the resident associate program: “Only crazy people do that.” RAs, a unique feature of Rice’s residential college system, are adult members of the community who live alongside and support students in residential colleges, often with their partners and children. Despite the warning, Lopez, who works in asset management for Rice Management Company, was excited to get involved.

FEATURES 9/20/22 11:51pm

Explore culture and coffee in Houston’s Third Ward

By Sara Davidson

Across State Highway 288 from Rice, the Third Ward neighborhood of Houston is an area teeming with rich history, great restaurants and fun activities. Our recommendations below are great starting points to get a better feel of Third Ward’s thriving culture and history. 

FEATURES 9/20/22 11:50pm

Rice pursues a NEWT solution for water treatment

By Madison Barendse

For some, it is all too easy to take fresh water for granted. However, in many parts of the United States and the world, clean water is a commodity. Dozens of labs and organizations are working to solve this problem, including the Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment Center on Rice’s campus. The NEWT Center is an engineering research center that aims to advance global water-treatment technologies. Other universities — Arizona State University, University of Texas at El Paso and Yale University — are also involved with NEWT. Dr. Rafael Verduzco, a Rice professor and researcher at NEWT, said that the connections between these universities are an important part of the center.

FEATURES 9/20/22 11:48pm

Forgotten health professions: Checking in with Rice’s pre-health students

By Allison He

Rice has scores of undergraduates interested in pursuing a health profession. Roughly 40% of advising cases at the Office of Academic Advising are for health professions, according to Director of Academic Advising Christine Martinez. But many pre-health students — such as those looking to pursue dentistry, physical therapy or physician assistant — said they experience a lack of advising and resources compared to those offered to pre-meds. 

FEATURES 9/13/22 11:46pm

Space City: The Rice-NASA relationship through the years

By Madison Barendse

Anyone who has been on campus is bound to have heard the name “John F. Kennedy” repeated tens of times recently. Indeed, Rice hosted a number of events this past weekend to commemorate the 60th anniversary of JFK’s “We choose to go to the Moon” speech at Rice stadium. Many of these events featured collaborations with NASA astronauts and administrators, marking just another result of the decades-long partnership between Rice and NASA.

FEATURES 9/13/22 11:43pm

Owls dive into the startup world

By Jahnavi Mahajan

Pressed to picture where the big companies in Silicon Valley started, one could imagine a badly-lit dorm room with a copious number of monitors and red, green and blue LED lights. And they may not be wrong. For many Rice alumni and graduate students involved in the startup world, their entrepreneurial careers began at Rice.

FEATURES 9/6/22 10:44pm

Senior Spotlight: Hunter Brown just tries to have a decent time

By Riya Misra

Hunter Brown lives for three things: pad thai, melodica and a “good fucking time.” “Have you ever seen a piano that you blow into? That’s the melodica,” Brown, a McMurtry College senior, said. “It truly is the Swiss Army knife of musical instruments. And I’m going to say, it’s my favorite pastime. I can spend an hour just blowing into that.”

FEATURES 9/6/22 10:40pm

Amid a move, a second start for Rice’s Holistic Garden

By Zoe Katz

When the Betty and Jacob Friedman Holistic Garden moved last semester from behind the Moody Center to behind the Gibbs Recreation Center, it provided an opportunity for more cross-campus connection with the space. Joe Novak, the garden’s director, said he noticed an uptick in the amount of visitors in the Holistic Garden since May.

FEATURES 9/6/22 10:35pm

Off campus spots to visit with your next METRO ride

By Riya Misra

At any given time throughout the night, you’d be hard-pressed to find available seating at Agora. A Greek marketplace-themed cafe situated in Montrose, Agora is open until 2 a.m. Its coffee, eccentric interior decorations and late hours attract hosts of Rice students looking for an enjoyable spot to spend time outside of the campus hedges.

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