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NEWS 4/18/17 10:09pm

Signs of change: After delays, administration says gender-neutral bathroom signs to come in May

By Cameron Wallace

As Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 2899 aim to restrict bathroom accessibility for transgender and gender-nonconforming people in Texas, the Rice University Queer Resource Center hopes to increase the number of gender neutral bathrooms on campus by changing gendered signs on single-stall bathrooms to gender-neutral signs this summer. This change comes after a five-year-old initiative despite administrative delays.

NEWS 4/18/17 10:04pm

Beer Bike results changed amid errors

By Anna Ta

After receiving appeals for both the men’s and women’s bike races, the campuswide Beer Bike coordinators have released updated results they say are final: Sid Richardson College was moved to second place behind Will Rice College for the women’s race, although both teams believe this to be incorrect, and fourth through seventh places were noted as possibly incorrect for the men’s race.

NEWS 4/18/17 9:55pm

Many students lack sex education, SOCI study finds

By Lizzie Bjork

Two-thirds of Rice students did not receive formal sex education prior to attending Rice, according to the findings of a survey conducted by a group of students in Social Problems (SOCI 231). The survey also found 44 percent of the 367 respondents said they or someone they knew had been involved in an incident of sexual assault.

NEWS 4/18/17 9:46pm

Faculty Senate to vote on distribution after SA approval

By Elizabeth Rasich

The Student Association Senate passed a resolution encouraging the Faculty Senate to make changes to the distribution system in a 22-2 vote, following debate about Rice’s commitment to liberal arts education and reforming major requirements. The Faculty Senate will decide whether to implement the changes, which reduce distribution requirements from 12 hours to nine hours in each area, in a vote at their meeting on Wednesday.

NEWS 4/11/17 9:06pm

Students raise transparency concerns over move-out date

By Emily Abdow

The 2017 move-out date for nongraduating students has been changed to Friday, May 5 at noon in the housing agreement. Last year, students were required to move out by May 16 at 4 p.m. In response, several students are working with Housing and Dining to change the move-out date until after graduation.

NEWS 4/11/17 9:02pm

Captains, float designer question Beer Bike results

By Emily Abdow

Several bike team captains and one float builder have called into question the 2017 Beer Bike results released by Rice Program Council on April 5. Martel College captain Colin Losey has filed an appeal of the men’s bike race results, which he believes are incorrect due to timing errors. Meanwhile, Jones College float builder Matt O’Gorman said Jones would have placed third rather than fourth in the float contest had their highest score from the judges not been thrown out, but the campuswide Beer Bike coordinators said they removed this score because it was an outlier.

NEWS 4/11/17 8:37pm

Former Thresher editor honored as Pulitzer prize finalist

By Drew Keller

Former Thresher executive editor, columnist and Backpage editor Evan Mintz (Hanszen ’08) was chosen as one of two finalists for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for his work at the Houston Chronicle. The series of 10 editorials that earned him his spot as a finalist, which are chosen in addition to one prize winner, were co-written with Joe Holley and covered gun laws and gun culture in Texas.

NEWS 4/11/17 7:17pm

CCD releases recent alumni salary data

By Shami Mosley

After a year on the grind post-Rice, the class of 2016 has their salary data in: Rice’s median salary for engineering, natural sciences and social sciences graduates remained above the median of most American colleges, while humanities graduates were below the national median, according to newly released senior exit survey data from the Center for Career Development.

NEWS 4/6/17 3:11pm

'Master' title changed to 'Magister'

By Anita Alem

Starting at Orientation Week next year, the residential college system will have a new syllable: the title of college ‘masters’ will be replaced by ‘magisters’ according to Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson. The change comes after a decision by a committee of college masters as well as a Student association senate survey supporting the removal of the title of ‘master.’ Hutchinson said the term of ‘master’ as it is used at Rice University is intended to be an academic term of British origin, but the history of the United States and the use of the term ‘slave master’ complicates its usage. “"The initiative to make a change came from the masters themselves, who recognized that the title was problematic,” Hutchinson said.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:16pm

Students weather tornado warning to attend class

By Shami Mosley

A tornado warning was an unexpected addition to Willy Week. Rice University’s Crisis Management Team used the emergency notification system last Wednesday to advise students, faculty and the rest of the Rice community to seek shelter from a possible tornado.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:13pm

Students on visas face tough job market

By Meredith McCain

In the wake of Trump’s executive order banning travellers from six majority-Muslim nations and reports of potential changes to visa policies, international students at Rice are left reassessing their ability to stay in the U.S. after graduation. Rice is home to more than 1,600 international undergraduates and graduates from 94 countries, comprising almost a quarter of the degree-seeking population.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:10pm

Students, alumni split $30,000 in entrepreneurship contest

By Elizabeth Rasich

A Rice undergraduate team created an educational toy for children to learn about computer processing and took home the $6,000 best undergraduate team prize from the inaugural Rice Launch Challenge. Team HexIO, made up of Lovett College junior Vi Nguyen, Will Rice College freshman Achal Srinivasan and Brown College sophomores Andrew Maust, Nishant Verma, Johan Widmann and Nicole Mitchell, also won the best undergraduate team prize in the entrepreneurship competition on March 28.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:06pm

Committee calls for changes to alcohol policy enforcement

By Drew Keller

The Alcohol Policy Advisory Committee has released a report with 25 recommendations for the enforcement of Rice’s Alcohol Policy, but did not suggest modifying the policy itself. The recommendations of the committee, which was convened by Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson in October, included shifting the event registration process out of Student Judicial Programs, supporting the residential college justice system and adding more education on the policy throughout the year.

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