Special Projects

Gerardo Rosales unveils first Moody Project Wall

The Moody Project Wall, a new initiative that sets aside a large interior wall in the Moody Center for the Arts for muralists, recently welcomed its first tenant: Houston artist Gerardo Rosales’s “¡Displaced Mundo!,” an original mural meant to call attention to the struggle of Venezuelans displaced by the nation’s current economic crisis. 

‘We can make it': Tomás Morín releases new poetry collection

Tomás Morín, a poet and assistant professor of creative writing at Rice, released his new book “Machete” on Oct. 12. “Machete” is Morín’s third published book, a poetry collection that he calls his most personal yet. Morín and other writers will come together for a reading on Rice campus on Nov. 16.

11-3-2021 Crossword Solutions

Electric scooters on campus: Zooming to class instead of class on zoom

You’ve probably seen them charging in your college commons, parked in the back of your lecture hall, or zooming past you on the way to a 9 a.m. class. With top speeds of around 20 mph, electric scooters can shorten trips across campus by several minutes. 

Books in a birdhouse: Little libraries pop up on campus

Across from Valhalla, the graduate student pub, sits a small red birdhouse. It boasts a handful of books: Al Franken’s “The Truth,” Lisa Lutz’s “The Spellman Files,” texts on managerial economics and “The Maze Runner” series. This little birdhouse is in fact one of Rice’s three Little Free Libraries. Little Free Library is a Wisconsin-based nonprofit aiming to expand literacy and book accessibility through public mini-libraries, according to the organization’s website. These small, weather-resistant boxes can be found in over 100,000 locations globally.

ImagineOne issues are disastrous; they should be addressed now

Since it was implemented this past summer, nearly everyone on campus has been affected in one way or another by the new ImagineOne human resources and finance system. Undergraduate students in charge of organizations are having to literally guess at their budgets and hope that they are spending within their limits. Additionally, graduate students were having issues receiving their paychecks, and faculty could not find their research funds without specific coaching.

Faculty discusses rocky ImagineOne rollout during Faculty Senate meeting

Faculty discussed Rice University’s troublesome transition to ImagineOne that caused issues such as delayed payment, inaccessibility to grant money and inability to track spending and funds in the Oct. 27 Faculty Senate, after months of faculty members, staff and students expressing dissatisfaction with the new payment system. 

Halloween Scenes and Screens

Rice paid parental leave policy excludes non-birthing staff

Within Texas, though, Rice is largely in line with other universities, including University of Texas, Austin, University of Houston and Texas A&M, all of which do not offer paid parental leave for their non-birthing parent employees. 

Social sciences offers new STaRT program

Rice University’s School of Social Sciences introduced a new program this year to help students forge connections and learn relevant skills to become better researchers. The program took place from Oct. 8 to 12 and will hold its next event in the fall of 2022.

Rice emphasizing sustainability with new Hanszen College wing

A new college wing is currently under construction for Hanszen College. According to the Rice University website, the building, which will be 4.5 stories tall including 164 beds, is slated for completion in July of 2022. 

Rice community discusses classroom mask policy continuation

Rice reports that the classroom mask mandate will most likely continue for the semester despite there being no evidence of transmission in the classroom, according to Kevin Kirby, the Crisis Management Advisory Committee chair. Some professors have said they prefer for the mask mandate to remain in place, due to the state of COVID in Houston.

Pub expected to reopen Nov. 1 with masks, reduced capacity

Willy’s Pub has scheduled its reopening for Nov. 1, according to General Manager Elizabeth Groenewold. Pub’s doors have been closed since early March 2020 following an alleged hazing incident and the later imposition of Rice’s COVID-19 rules. Pub’s capacity will be 100 students on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and will increase to 150 students on Thursday for Pub Night, according to Groenewold, a Will Rice College senior. Masks will be required unless actively eating or drinking. Pub’s pre-COVID capacity was 299.

Checklist Before Parents' Weekend

Soccer beats MTSU in overtime on senior day

Junior midfielder Delaney Schultz sent Middle Tennessee State University home in the 102nd minute on Friday night as she headed in a corner kick in the match’s second overtime period, earning Rice a 2-1 win. The victory snaps a two game losing streak for the Owls and improves their record on the season to 10-5-1.

Make no mistake, joining the AAC is a great move

The American Athletic Conference, as baseball hall of famer Yogi Berra famously said about the future, ain’t what it used to be. With the University of Houston, University of Cincinnati and University of Central Florida all leaving for the Big 12, the AAC will lose arguably its three most valuable members before Rice plays a game in their new conference. Those three were all key to the AAC’s push to become the sixth major conference: UCF made a legitimate College Football Playoff push with back to back undefeated regular seasons in 2017 and 2018, Houston made the men’s Final Four last year and Cincinnati is currently ranked No. 2 in the country in football. To make matters worse, the University of Connecticut, easily the best women’s basketball program in the country, left the AAC in 2020. The conference that Rice will join in a few years will be a far cry from the AAC of recent years.

Football upsets defending CUSA champs in hectic finish

Rice football picked up a road win this past Saturday afternoon as they upset the University of Alabama, Birmingham 30-24. Predicted to lose heavily, the Owls entered their matchup against the defending conference champion Blazers as 23.5-point underdogs. The win on Saturday puts the Owls with a record of 3-4 on the season, including a 2-1 record in C-USA play. Head coach Mike Bloomgren said that he was proud of the team’s win over a Blazers team that has run C-USA in recent years. 

Review: ‘Dune’ sets up a promising franchise but feels empty

On paper, “Dune” should be one of the best films of the year. It features an all-star cast, has a critically acclaimed director behind the camera and features some of the best visuals I have ever seen in a film. However, it struggles to create a fulfilling story because of its focus on building the film’s world — and it is a huge world — that will be explored in subsequent films. Because of this, “Dune” lacks the three act crescendo to climax structure that is so critical to conflict storytelling, and the movie at times feels like endless rising action.

10-27-21 Crossword: "Spoopy Season"

Magic in Houston: Shop local witchcraft & spiritual supply stores

Last week, the Thresher asked our readers to shop at local businesses. With large department stores selling crystals and sage bundles (don’t buy white sage, not even from local shops, though — it is cultural appropriation and is not being harvested sustainably), it is important to respond to the increasing interest in witchcraft by supporting local shops. Whether you’re looking for a new deck of tarot cards, supplies for a spell or are just curious, here are nine local witchcraft and metaphysical supply stores in Houston for you to explore.