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NEWS 11/2/22 12:21am

COMP 310 students face burnout

By Hajera Naveed

Dozens of COMP 310 students took to Piazza to anonymously post about how the difficulty and deadline spacing of the class were impacting their mental and physical well-being last Friday. In the posts obtained by the Thresher students discussed feeling burnt out, not being able to spend time with loved ones and issues with self-esteem, as a result of the class. 

NEWS 11/2/22 12:18am

Faculty to expand by 200 in coming years

By Maria Morkas

Rice University will hire 200 new faculty members in the next several years, according to President Reginald DesRoches. He said he intends to grow faculty size to maintain Rice’s 6:1 student-faculty ratio, in light of a growing undergraduate student population.

NEWS 11/2/22 12:13am

Mental health statement required on future syllabi

By Hajera Naveed

The faculty senate passed a resolution mandating a mental health statement on all university syllabi at the Sept. 28 senate meeting. The resolution, which passed in the Student Association senate on Jan. 27, 2022, states that every syllabus must encourage students to reach out to Wellbeing and Counseling to discuss mental health concerns and should contain a list of related resources for students. 

NEWS 10/25/22 10:27pm

HBO Max to return in late November

By Nishanka Kuthuru

The free HBO Max subscription through Rice is set to return in late November after Philo, a streaming service utilized by the university to provide students access to HBO Max, exited the education market last spring. Housing and Dining provides Internet Protocol Television for on-campus students and graduate students living in Rice apartments as part of the room and board fees, according to H&D Director David McDonald. The access to HBO Max was a result of University Video Services, a company that provides IP TV to Rice students, partnering with Philo.

NEWS 10/25/22 10:25pm

DesRoches inaugurated as Rice’s eighth president

By Viola Hsia

Reginald DesRoches was officially inaugurated as the eighth president of Rice University on Saturday, Oct. 22. The ceremony, which followed a two-day series of events leading up to the investiture, included student and faculty representatives, in addition to delegates from around 150 universities and organizations. 

NEWS 10/25/22 10:23pm

Rice hosts COVID booster clinic for campus community

By Hajera Naveed

Rice partnered with the Houston Health Department to provide the third bivalent booster vaccine against COVID-19 to the Rice community. The two past clinics, held on Oct. 11 and 18, vaccinated a total 493 individuals, according to Director of Institutional Crisis Management Jerusha Kasch. The final clinic will take place on Oct. 27.

NEWS 10/25/22 10:21pm

Rice’s largest Design-a-thon levels up

By Michelle Gachelin

Hosted by Rice Design for the first time, a three-day Design-a-thon titled “Level Up!” was held entirely virtually this past weekend. Students from universities across the country participated in the competition, which challenged them to create a web or mobile application in response to a prompt in financial technology or health and lifestyle. The event also offered practical workshops about design principles from local industry professionals. 

NEWS 10/18/22 11:25pm

Campus reacts to first EOE, NOD in three years

By Hajera Naveed

Wiess College’s public party, Night of Decadence, and Chi Alpha’s Evening of Elegance returned after three years this past Saturday. An estimated 1,100 people were in attendance at NOD this year, according to Wiess Social Vice President Christina Chen, and around 350 went to EOE, according to Robin Whitehead, an Evening of Elegance organizer. 

NEWS 10/18/22 11:22pm

TABC investigation of Pub prompts new policies

By Spring Chenjp

Pub was recently notified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission about possible violations of Texas state law pertaining to underage drinking and the overconsumption of alcohol according to Miles Sigel, the general manager of Pub. 

NEWS 10/18/22 11:22pm

COMP 378k: Composting continues in serveries, on campus

By Lindsey Ran

Since its introduction in 2020, Rice’s composting, in partnership with Moonshot, has diverted 378,005 lbs. of food waste from landfills from its 12 locations on campus and the Rice Graduate Apartments. Starting at just two serveries, the Rice and Moonshot initiative quickly expanded to collecting compost from all the serveries by January 2021. However, the beginning of this composting initiative only collected pre-consumer food waste from the kitchen during meal preparation, and students did not have the option to compost after meals.

NEWS 10/18/22 11:17pm

Ryan Dullea, Jones sophomore, remembered

By Morgan Gage and Hajera Naveed

When Ryan Dullea visited the Cockrell Butterfly Center with their friend, they sat on a bench for nearly two hours. As they watched the butterflies’ wings flutter around them, they talked about biology, the beauty of life and what they wanted from their time at Rice. As they sat, each of the butterflies landed on Ryan, pulled towards them just like the many people in their life. 

NEWS 10/5/22 12:11am

Reproductive health working group announces updates

By Maria Morkas

On Sept. 28, the reproductive health working group led by Provost Amy Dittmar and Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman announced that Rice will provide educational opportunities and more accessible birth control options like Plan B on campus, the result of a collaboration with Baylor Teen Clinic. President Reginald DesRoches announced the creation of this working group in late August, after Texas’ abortion ban went into effect.

NEWS 10/5/22 12:04am

BISF hosts expert panel on abortion healthcare policy

By Maria Morkas

On Sept. 29, the Baker Institute Student Forum hosted an expert panel on abortion healthcare. The panel discussed topics like abortion from a healthcare provider’s perspective, abortion advocacy and creating a culture and community of trust at the university level. 

NEWS 9/27/22 11:31pm

SA resolutions introduced on reproductive health, disability accommodations

By Maria Morkas

At the Sept. 26 senate meeting, students presented two resolutions: one for the creation of a student reproductive health coalition and one for improving the accessibility of disability accommodations. If passed, the first bill would establish the Student Reproductive Health Coalition, a task force that would meet at least once a month throughout the academic year. 

NEWS 9/27/22 11:20pm

Rice community celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

By Emily London

The Office of Multicultural Affairs and student groups like the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice have come together to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, a national acknowledgment of Hispanic culture which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. There will be cultural events across campus to commemorate the month.

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