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Wednesday, December 06, 2023 — Houston, TX

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NEWS 8/29/23 11:39pm

Martel Texas Party marks first public of the year

By Nayeli Shad

The first public of the year, Martel College’s “Don’t Mess With Texas” party, took place Aug. 26. The capacity for the public was 1,200 people, with 350 allowed on the sundeck. The sundeck line closed at 10:15 p.m. — 15 minutes after the public started — due to capacity restrictions, Martel socials committee head Audrey Pizzolato said.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:33pm

Owl Access program launches for FGLI new students

By Spring Chenjp

The Office of Student Success Initiatives implemented the Owl Access pre-orientation program for first-generation and/or low-income new students for the first time this year. New students moved in on Thursday, Aug. 10 and participated in three days of workshops prior to Orientation Week.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:19pm

Rice responds to Supreme Court decision on affirmative action

By Brandon Chen

The Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at colleges and universities across the nation in a watershed decision on June 29. Following the decision, President Reggie DesRoches and Provost Amy Dittmar wrote in an email to the student body that they were “disappointed” by the ruling and that their commitment to diversity does not shift, echoing a statement from March.

NEWS 8/29/23 11:05pm

It’s not just you: August sets heat records

By Prayag Gordy

This August has been the hottest in Houston since at least 1969, according to a Thresher analysis of weather data captured at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Through Aug. 26, daily highs have averaged 102.9 degrees, surpassing the previous mark of 101.4 degrees set in 2011.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:52pm

1,127 freshmen join Rice

By Riya Misra

This year, 1,127 new students joined Rice as the Class of 2027. This marks the most selective admissions year in Rice history, which saw a record-low acceptance rate of 7.7%. 

NEWS 8/22/23 11:46pm

Redesigned ID cards add tap functionality

By Brandon Chen

Rice has started issuing redesigned ID cards equipped with tap functionality. The new matriculating class was the first to be issued the new IDs, equipped with both a magstripe and proximity functionality.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:43pm

Rice renovates bike track

By Spring Chenjp

Rice is currently renovating the bike track used for Beer Bike, which involves repaving the asphalt and repainting track markers, according to an Aug. 9 email from the Facilities and Capital Planning department. The project began on Aug. 8 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 6.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:42pm

CTIS talks more about sex

By Maria Morkas

Critical Thinking in Sexuality, a course designed for new students to discuss interpersonal relationships and violence prevention, now includes an additional sixth session about pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention. These changes follow a pilot session tested last year.

NEWS 8/22/23 11:41pm

Frank Geurts to lead world’s longest running nuclear collider experiment

By Molly Kyles

Rice University physicist Frank Geurts has been named co-spokesperson for the Solenoidal Tracker at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider collaboration, the world’s first heavy-ion collider located at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Alongside Brookhaven Lab physicist Lijuan Ruan, Geurts will lead STAR for the next three years to collect data on nuclear collisions and study the matter that was present at the origin of the universe. 

NEWS 7/7/23 2:18pm

New student center’s architect accused of sexual misconduct

By Prayag Gordy and Riya Misra

David Adjaye, the founder and principal of the firm designing Rice’s new student center, has been accused of sexual misconduct by three former employees. The Financial Times reported on July 3 that the allegations “range from sexual assault to harassment.”  Rice chose Adjaye Associates to design the new student center in November 2020. The Moody Foundation has donated $100 million to support the project.

NEWS 6/7/23 2:28pm

‘There was never a moment where he wasn’t all in’: Statistics professor John Dobelman passes away

By Spring Chenjp

John Dobelman, a professor in the statistics department, passed away May 9 at the age of 65 after battling cancer intermittently for 25 years. In addition to being a professor, Dobelman was the founding director of the professional masters program in the statistics department and the associate director of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems. 

NEWS 6/2/23 11:44am

Rice will build two new colleges between Sid Richardson and Wiess

By Prayag Gordy

Rice intends to build two new residential colleges with an accompanying servery, President Reggie DesRoches and Vice President for Finance and Administration Kelly Fox announced in an email sent May 19.  The old Sid Richardson College building will be demolished as part of this project. One of the new colleges will take its place, and the other will be positioned closer to Wiess College.

NEWS 5/25/23 3:51pm

‘Always laughing, always smiling and singing’: Family, colleagues remember Triny Carranza

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

María Trinidad “Triny” Carranza, cook III at the Cohen House, passed away May 7 at the age of 50. Carranza’s daughter said Triny’s cause of death was complications from blood clots. Hailing from the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, Triny visited Houston in her early twenties and chose to stay after meeting her future husband, Salvador Carranza, in the same apartment complex. Once settled, she began working in the cooking industry that, according to her husband, she was in love with.

NEWS 5/16/23 10:51pm

110th Convocation sees first joint ceremony, posthumous degree

By Riya Misra

Rice held its 110th Convocation ceremony on Saturday, May 6 at Rice Stadium. The graduating class of 2023 walked under the Sallyport prior to convening in the stadium. This year’s commencement ceremony marked the first year that all graduation proceedings, including the commencement speech, were condensed into one day. It also marked the conferral of Rice’s first-ever posthumous degree, awarded to Kamryn Sanamo, a Martel College senior who died in January from brain cancer. 

NEWS 5/11/23 11:51am

‘Israel at 75’ conference hosts former prime ministers, incites protest

By Nayeli Shad

The “Israel at 75” conference hosted by the Baker Institute on April 27 explored the 75 years since Israel’s founding, including the relationship between Israel and the U.S. and the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The speakers included former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad, former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak and multiple current and former U.S. State Department officials.

NEWS 4/18/23 10:32pm

Four Rice undergraduates awarded Goldwater scholarship

By Viola Hsia

Rice undergraduates Maria Hancu, Alex Lin, Ruofeng Liu and Ryan Wang were recipients of the Goldwater scholarship this year. The Goldwater scholarship, founded on Nov. 14, 1986 in honor of former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, is awarded to undergraduates pursuing careers in engineering, math and science. Liu did not respond to requests for an interview.

NEWS 4/18/23 10:30pm

Rice student struck by car on inner loop, taken to trauma center

By Ben Baker-Katz

A Rice student was struck by a moving car as they attempted to cross the inner loop near Baker College at around 1:15 a.m on Saturday, April 15. The student was transported to a trauma center in the Texas Medical Center, and their condition is currently unknown. Out of respect for the student and their family, the Thresher is not releasing their name at this time. 

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