Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916
Monday, November 28, 2022 — Houston, TX

Special Projects

SPORTS 11/21/22 11:56am

Volleyball beats No. 20 Western Kentucky in title game to reach C-USA hilltop

By Daniel Schrager

In 2019, the Rice volleyball team took on Western Kentucky University in the Conference USA final only to lose in a five-set heartbreaker. They got another shot at the Hilltoppers in the following year’s title game, and again in 2021, but both times WKU came out on top. Just ten days earlier, while not in the conference tournament, the Hilltoppers beat the Owls in a fifth-set tiebreaker to secure the C-USA regular season title. Sunday, though, the result was different. The No. 22 Owls finally made it past their conference rival, on the No. 20 Hilltoppers’ home court no less, to secure a conference title for the first time since 2018. After the match, head coach Genny Volpe said that she was thrilled to see her team rewarded for their efforts all year.

A&E 11/20/22 12:07pm

Grammy-nominated GAYLE talks Texas and Tinder bans

By Morgan Gage

“I’m an artist and an attention whore,” GAYLE told audiences while performing at Austin City Limits Musical Festival last month. With that statement in mind, she chose the perfect career. Best known for her viral hit “abcdefu,” GAYLE enraptured audiences even in the Texas heat and played both guitar and keyboard while dancing around the stage with a youthful wit and sense of style that would make even the best TikTok girl seethe with jealousy. 

SPORTS 11/19/22 10:02pm

Volleyball sweeps UTEP in semis to set up rematch with WKU in final

By Daniel Schrager

Like clockwork, death, taxes, and whatever other cliché you want to use to describe mind-bending consistency, No. 22 Rice volleyball will face No. 20 Western Kentucky University in the Conference USA final yet again. The Owls secured a finals spot against the top-seeded Hilltoppers for the fourth consecutive year with a sweep of the University of Texas at El Paso in Saturday’s semifinal. According to head coach Genny Volpe, the Owls executed their game plan almost perfectly to punch their ticket to the final.

SPORTS 11/19/22 11:44am

Volleyball sweeps FIU in first round of C-USAs, advances to semifinals

By Cadan Hanson

Rice volleyball took care of business in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, sweeping the No.7 seed Florida International University (26-24, 25-22, 25-18).  With the win, the No. 2 seed Owls advanced to the semifinals where they will face University of Texas at El-Paso. After the win, head coach Genny Volpe was happy with the sweep and moving on to the semifinals.

NEWS 11/15/22 11:46pm

Tech layoffs, hiring freezes hit Rice community

By Brandon Chen

As layoff and hiring freezes increase across the tech industry, computer science students and alumni are among those at Rice expressing concern for their current and future job prospects. In recent weeks, Elon Musk halved Twitter’s staff, Meta said it was firing 11,000 employees, Amazon announced plans to cut approximately 10,000 jobs and other tech firms such as Lyft and Stripe also announced layoffs.

NEWS 11/15/22 11:45pm

RUPD launches Food for Fines initiative

By Keegan Leibrock

The Rice University Police Department launched a “Food for Fines” initiative, during which students can donate food and hygiene items to cover unpaid parking tickets. From Nov. 15 to Nov. 17, students can bring products to PCF 1 anytime from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

NEWS 11/15/22 11:42pm

Campus prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving

By Sejal Gupta

As Thanksgiving break nears, students and faculty planning to remain on campus have begun preparations to celebrate the holiday at Rice. During the break, some colleges will host a Thanksgiving dinner organized by students and the college’s core teams. This year, all of the serveries are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Multiple serveries will be open on Wednesday and Baker Kitchen will be open on Friday and Saturday. 

NEWS 11/15/22 11:36pm

TEDxRiceU conference addresses climate change

By Viola Hsia

TEDxRiceU held its Countdown event this past Saturday, focusing on combating climate change. The event, composed of six talks given by both faculty and students, addressed the issue of climate change through wscientific, technological and social perspectives, according to TEDxRiceU President Nicholas Ma.

A&E 11/15/22 11:35pm

Review: SoFaygo’s debut ‘Pink Heartz’ fails to impress

By Jonathan Woo

SoFaygo’s music exists somewhere on the musical scale between the feel-good melodic trap of Lil Tecca and the sometimes incoherent, but always energetic, flow of Yeat. Like many artists of the current day, SoFaygo experienced an almost overnight boom in popularity when ear-catching melodies went viral on social media app TikTok via songs such as “Knock Knock.” What separates SoFaygo from his contemporaries, though, has been his lack of any new projects since fame.

A&E 11/15/22 11:31pm

Review: ‘Smithereens’ is an interlude between Joji albums

By Renly Liu

Coming off of his previous hit albums, Joji’s “Smithereens” felt like a half-cooked and overhyped EP rather than a sequel album to rival his previous release. The album’s opener, “Glimpse of Us,” is a strong melodic opening and sets the album’s theme of missing an ex. The rich instrumentals and cutting lyrics work to create a telling story: the idea of a perfect ex-lover.

A&E 11/15/22 11:29pm

Review: ‘Wakanda Forever’ is a compelling and poignant tribute

By Saswat Pati

“In my culture, death is only the beginning.” King T’Challa, or Black Panther, says this after the death of his father in “Captain America: Civil War,” and in many ways “Wakanda Forever” is a film that embodies that saying from start to finish. Though likely not the box-office sensation that “Black Panther” was, “Wakanda Forever” still meets its predecessor in story, quality and acting, and even exceeds it in other areas. 

A&E 11/15/22 11:27pm

Review: Lindsey Lohan’s holiday flick ‘Falling for Christmas’ fails to sleigh

By Claudia Lin

It is time. The temperature has cooled, Christmas trees are replacing pumpkins and boughs of holly are adorning the hallways. For some, the holiday season means gift giving, gathering with family and friends or decorating gingerbread houses. For others, holiday festivities mean sipping hot chocolate while enjoying highly predictable, profusely cheesy Christmas romance movies. 

A&E 11/15/22 11:25pm

Review: Steeper prices grill Burger Bodega

By Sydney Park

Salt, fat, acid, heat. When evaluating a hamburger, the first two elements of cooking are essential. In fact, they become non-negotiable in cases where the burger is priced above average. In addition to salt and fat, places that strive to serve high-end fast food must deliver on both quality and price. A new competitor has recently taken on the challenge: Burger Bodega, a pop art-inspired Houston restaurant offering a small menu of burgers, fries and shakes, all at higher price points. 

A&E 11/15/22 11:24pm

Rock On, Rice: KTRU to host Battle of the Bands

By Felicity Phelan

This Friday night, student bands from across campus will take their places under Pub’s blinding lights and face off in this year’s Battle of the Bands. The battle, which will begin at 7 p.m., is being hosted by KTRU and the Rice Music Collective, and its winners will get to perform at the KTRU Outdoor Show in the spring.

A&E 11/15/22 11:22pm

U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo grapples with life, death and art

By Bonnie Zhao

America’s first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, stopped by Rice’s Brockman Hall for a reading of her newly published poetry collection, “Weaving Sundown in a Scarle Light: 50 Poems for 50 Years,” on the rainy evening of Monday, Nov. 14. Following  the reading was an on-stage conversation with 2022 Texas Poet Laureate Lupe Mendez, during which Harjo shared harrowingly intimate details of her view on art, life, death and loss.

A&E 11/15/22 11:20pm

Houston film festival highlights local trailblazers

By Jay Collura

The Houston Cinema Arts Festival, now running in theaters from Nov. 10 to 17, is a celebration of both the global and local film communities, highlighting trailblazing documentaries, outsider narratives and innovative short films. In a film landscape typically defined to most people by the various megaplexes scattered around the city, the festival is bringing a necessarily diverse set of voices and perspectives into the spotlight.

A&E 11/15/22 11:18pm

Review: Concert battle pits Paul Wall against Gary Clark Jr.

By Ben Baker-Katz

Texas music was alive and well last Thursday night, when Houston rap legend Paul Wall “battled” Austin-based, Grammy-winning guitarist Gary Clark Jr. in a Red Bull SoundClash. The stage set-up accentuated the two artists’ home cities: Clark’s stage sported a brick building with classic Austin signage — a marquee and a neon Antone’s sign for the city’s famed live music venue — and Wall’s stage featured a massive Houston Oilers logo and Houston skyline cutouts. 

SPORTS 11/15/22 11:15pm

Volleyball gets final chance to reverse the C-USA tournament curse

By Cadan Hanson

Even though they’ve won 48 of their last 50 conference regular season games, the Rice volleyball team has not won a Conference USA tournament since 2018. After three straight years as the conference’s runners-up, the Owls will finally look to reverse their fortunes in what will be their final postseason in C-USA. This year, the No. 22 Owls enter the tournament with an almost perfect conference record of 13-1, and 23-3 overall. According to head coach Genny Volpe, the team is excited to jump into postseason volleyball.

Editor's Picks

Most Popular

The Rice Thresher