Special Projects

Review: The Weeknd’s ‘Dawn FM’ is a purgatorial meditation on love and lust

There’s something surreal about seeing someone you listened to when you were younger perform with white hair and wrinkles. While this experience is typically reserved for people who have long graduated college, The Weeknd’s album cover and videos for his new album “Dawn FM” artificially accelerate this. To promote the album, Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) staged a livestream via Amazon of the album being played for a live audience where he stood in the center of a neon-lit platform, dancing and reacting to the music. Like his previous Super Bowl performance and the music video series for “After Hours,” he committed to the character created on the album cover, performing with the aged face and white hair seen on the promotional imagery.

Spring into the arts (at the last minute)

With the spring semester upon us, those who are still short on hours or want another class to add to their schedule can rest easy. Below are some open arts-related classes which range from visual arts to film to music. These classes have something for everyone and accommodate a variety of skill levels, allowing students the chance to try things that might have otherwise been out of their comfort zone. As we spend the first two weeks on Zoom dreaming of classes with available seats, here are several to consider during the add/drop period. 

Houston artists to look out for in 2022

Despite what revisionist hipsters may tell you, Houston has always been the heart of Texan music. Zydeco came from the wards, Southern rap came from the Southside, Texan folk came from Anderson Fair and Beyonce came from the suburbs, but we still claim her. If anything, the last few years have shown us that Houston brings musical chops to the national level with Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott and Lizzo repping to various degrees. While Houston has its own accepted canon of local music, there are many new artists making a name for themselves across the scene. Here’s a few of our favorites to check out in 2022. 

Familiar movies for comfort during an unfamiliar semester

As the semester starts up again, COVID guidelines wax and wane and everything else changes in your life, it might be easy to feel overwhelmed. One way to manage this stress, though, is through activities that don’t take lots of brain power and bring you back to a familiar, calm state of mind. Watching movies is one way to do this that can be done alone, with friends, in comfort or – if you must – while doing some homework. But what to watch? There are so many streaming services through Rice alone (don’t forget your free HBO Max, Kanopy, and Philo!). Perhaps you can never see Mamma Mia too many times, but you need some variety. Here are some good PG-rated comfort movies available on multiple streaming platforms.

Senior Spotlight: Alfonso Pelaez Rovalo explores what it means to be unique

From watching his mother paint and sculpt to aspiring to become a National Geographic photographer since childhood, Alfonso Pelaez Rovalo has always seen art as an integral part of his life. Rovalo entered college majoring in architecture and later double majored in studio art after being inspired by his fellow classmates to explore art at Rice. Art in Rovalo’s life has a solid foundation, but as of yet, no definite ending.

01-12-22 Crossword: "Raining Cats and Dogs"

01-12-2022 Crossword Solutions

Students talk staying on campus over the holidays

During winter recess the Rice campus is probably at its emptiest, as students living in the residential colleges must leave shortly after the fall semester ends. But the past two winters have not been normal, and for the second time, students with approval from the Dean of Undergraduates’ office were permitted to remain in their dorms over the recent winter recess. 

Looking back at the Thresher’s first issue

The basketball team had just recently won their season opener 60-15 while a contract for the construction of what would become Hanszen Old Section was awarded in the week that the very first issue of the Thresher was printed 106 years ago, January 15, 1916.

Back to remote learning: Advice from a fellow Rice student

Throughout the winter recess, the prospect of another semester of online learning led me to continuously hit the Gmail refresh button, waiting for a sign of what my academic future would hold. Peer institutions, one by one, enrolled themselves in Zoom University, and Rice inevitably followed. Then I realized I needed to buy the blue light glasses that had been sitting in my Amazon cart for six months. 

How can Rice be more accommodating to Black students?

Being Black in the United States is uncomfortable, often dangerous, and the bubble of a college campus doesn’t offer much protection. While Rice and many similar institutions tout their extensive diversity and inclusion efforts, these institutions often fail at supporting Black students.

Dialogues on Diversity course is a move in the wrong direction

As a transfer to Rice and a junior at the university, I had to take this course as a new matriculant. However, I came into the class as a non-cis person of color with a history of student organization and community building surrounding the centering of colonized and exploited identities. This gave me a unique vantage point with regard to observing the way the course was taught and responded to. Rice’s “Dialogues on Diversity” doesn’t address the problem at hand: historically white institutions of higher education fundamentally disenfranchise colonized and exploited peoples through the continual perpetuation of white, colonial, casteist, capitalist violence.

We can change our culture around eating

Recently, the Student Association introduced a resolution to structurally address disordered eating at Rice. Although the resolution contains tangible ways to mitigate this issue, we also believe that an important factor to consider is the culture on campus around eating disorders and food in general. Though this culture is not unique to Rice, we have the power to challenge it by being more conscious of how our language surrounding food affects others.

Rice named as one of 16 schools in financial aid lawsuit

Rice is one of 16 universities alleged to have broken federal antitrust laws by violating the terms of an exemption which allowed universities to use a shared method of calculating applicants’ financial needs. The plaintiffs allege that this shared method resulted in price-fixing and unfairly limited aid to students, according to a lawsuit filed Sunday.

Classes to be online for first two weeks, booster now required

Courses will be delivered online for the first two weeks of the spring semester, and vaccine boosters will be required for all employees and students effective Jan. 10, according to an email sent Dec. 26 by President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches. This announcement follows a recent mask mandate reimplemented amidst the spread of the Omicron variant.

Indoor mask mandate, in-person gathering restrictions reinstated

Following a spike in COVID-19 cases last week, Rice has reinstated its indoor mask mandate and prohibited any in-person gatherings with more than five people, according to an email sent this morning by Kevin Kirby, chair of the Crisis Management Advisory Committee. 

Shows to watch this winter break

In need of a new show to watch after watching Grey's Anatomy for the fifth time in a row? Here are options for your new procrastination session, spread across various streaming services in case your sister-in-law stopped paying the Disney + subscription.

Review: ‘House of Gucci’ presents excellent character work amidst a poorly executed story

“House of Gucci” chronicles the decline of the Gucci company in the late 70s, exploring the family conflict that led to the company’s misfortune. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film is a beautiful yet poorly structured work which dazzles in its character work and acting but disappoints in the execution of its story.

Review: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak explore classic R&B sounds with ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’

“An Evening With Silk Sonic” is a half-hour long album that embracecs R&B and funk and beautifully pairs the voices and sensibilities of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Like their combined name, Silk Sonic, the album is smooth and polished — a pristine tribute to classic funk and R&B sounds.

Album highlights from a year filled with new music releases

The album rollouts of 2021 started off as little more than a trickle — a result of artists holding back albums for a post-COVID world in which they could tour. But once the dam started to crack, it burst wide open. It felt like every other week was a massive album event, a reminder of the power of dropping multiple songs at once despite the last decade of proclamations that the album was dead. Here’s some of my favorite albums from the past year: