In the last several weeks, Rice University held three events — both openly and behind closed doors — that, taken together, demonstrate its commitment to advancing a Zionist ideology on campus, which serves as the foundation for Israel’s increasingly psychotic expansion of its genocidal violence into Lebanon and Yemen.
Those sitting in their college commons last Tuesday may have watched between two and twenty minutes of an ad promoting the student-developed food-tracking app Diagnos. We’re glad Diagnos provides that nutritional data — absent from servery menus — for free. However, we encourage the developers of Diagnos and other app developers, especially those that involve artificial intelligence, to address ethical concerns and user-test these apps prior to launch.
Rice is going through puberty, marked by awkwardness, evolving parts and existential questions. This pivotal time offers both challenges and opportunities for growth. Our actions now, as a community, will have lasting impacts on Rice’s future.
Of the 116 recruiters advertised for the Fall 2024 Career & Internship Expo, 11 are related to the humanities and social sciences. That’s 9% — yes, some of us can do math.
It’s a busy time of year, we know. The career fair is around the corner, summer program applications are opening up and midterm season is upon us. With the looming threat of multiple exams and essays, prioritize yourself.
The shock I felt as I saw the shelter-in-place order ring on my phone. How my heart raced as a friend and I sought safety in a stranger’s suite at Brown College. How my voice shook as I picked up phone call after phone call from friends, family and colleagues.
Rice recently updated its policies on campus demonstration and postering — changes include new restrictions on campus protests and increased vigilance about signage, to name a few. Students need to be informed about these changes. We worry they weren’t.
Last week, I knew what I was going to write here. I spent the night before the semester began reading and re-reading what old editors-in-chief had to say in their welcome letters, picking up on common themes: building trust with readers, supporting student media, running a paper in unprecedented times. Then last week, one hour before our first staff meeting of the year, we received notice of an immediate shelter-in-place: RUPD was investigating a tragic homicide at Jones. Campus shut down, and everything stilled.
Dear Little Kitchen: it’s only been a week, but we already miss you. Please take us back — this new relationship isn’t working for us.
Dear Little Kitchen: it’s only been a week, but we already miss you. Please take us back — this new relationship isn’t working for us.
We don’t know what to say, and quite frankly, we don’t know what you all want to hear.
April is the month of many things: Beer Bike, a solar eclipse, the last day of classes and, perhaps lesser known, Earth Month. As Rice launches a series of Earth Month events, I would like to address our potential as a campus community to be more environmentally conscious, particularly in an effort to make this campus more friendly to birds.
The academic year’s close means this issue will be our last until the fall semester, which gave us some time to reflect on what our editorial for our last issue should look like.
S.RES 02, titled “Student Association Boycott and Divestment from Corporations Complicit in the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza,” was presented to the Student Association on March 25. This resolution proposes the creation of an Ethical Spending Advisory Board designed to ensure that Blanket Tax funds are not dedicated to corporations that are complicit in Israeli colonial violence and apartheid based on guidelines created by the BDS movement.
When I first set foot on the Rice University campus, the contrast with my small hometown of Toomsuba was stark. Moving from a quaint town of 800 people to the big city of Houston, Texas made me realize how large the divide between my experience and that of my peers was.
I decided to go to Rice in part because I was told that this university had a unique culture of honor, trust and freedom. The honor system is one of Rice’s longest-standing traditions, created by the first class in 1912. I joined the Honor Council four years ago because I believed that students, rather than faculty or administration, should keep other students accountable and that their cases be heard by their peers.
The recent tabling of S.RES 02 showcases the blatant hypocrisy of the Rice administration and sets a dangerous precedent of silencing students’ intellectual discussion. The resolution called for the SA’s creation of an Ethical Advisory Board, which would monitor Blanket Tax spending on companies deemed complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
At 7 a.m. sharp on Beer Bike morning, students gathered in a line (if one can call it that) stretching nearly to McMurtry College commons, in hopes of attending Martel College’s iconic morning party. Upon entry, students would discover that the historically packed public boasted the attendance of, well, a large FITQ.
Recently, the Thresher Editorial Board published an editorial criticizing the Honor Council's decision to allow confidential accusations by students. While their editorial does bring some valid points, it is in many ways misinformed about the Honor Council process.
