Special Projects

Open your heart to those with whom you disagree

In the fall semester of my freshman year, I wrote what I thought was a relatively innocuous opinion piece for the Thresher on free speech at Rice. I realize now that the omnipresent threat to freedom of expression on college campuses is just one manifestation of a much larger and more pernicious phenomenon: visceral, unadulterated hatred for those who express heterodox views. If we fail to turn back this tide of hatred currently inundating our school, I’m afraid it will eventually consume every heterodox thinker in its path and leave in its wake a trail of stifled minds and frightened souls.

Baker Santa’s Naughty and Nice Venn Diagram

No. 24 soccer leaves Lady Techsters on read in last-gasp win

Rice soccer didn’t make it easy for themselves Friday night at Holloway Field, but they were able to pull out a win over Louisiana Tech University to bring their conference record to 2-0. With the game tied at 1-1 in the 81st minute, freshman midfielder Catarina Albuquerque connected with a header to break the tie. The Owls held on in the final nine minutes to secure the win. According to head coach Brian Lee, the team was confident they’d get the win, even with the score tied so late in the game.

Both cross country teams place in the top three at A&M Invitational

Both the Rice men’s and the women’s cross country teams impressed this past Saturday morning at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas. The women’s team placed second overall at the meet, placing 26 points behind the hosts. For the second straight meet, sophomore Grace Forbes won the individual title as she beat the next collegiate runner by over 30 seconds in the 5k race. 

Volleyball swept by No. 1 Texas

After the 58-0 blowout on the football field last week, there was hope that Wednesday’s volleyball game between Rice and the University of Texas, Austin would turn out differently. Following the two upsets in 2019 and 2020, when the Owls beat the No. 3 and No. 2 UT teams respectively, the team looked to pull off a three-peat of upsets when they hosted the No. 1 ranked Longhorns. However, the Owls could not handle the power of the undefeated Longhorns as they fell in three straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-14).

Roelfsema’s soccer journey spans three cities, 5,000 miles

Just a few years ago, nobody could have guessed that Mijke Roelfsema’s soccer journey would have taken her to Rice, least of all herself. Now, the senior defender is front and center as the Rice soccer team attempts to fight its way back to the NCAA tournament, after their first-ever sweet sixteen appearance last season. Roelfsema’s long and winding soccer journey, which now has her as the focal point for the Owls defense, began over 5,000 miles away when she was just  five years old living in Holland. 

Clarissa Tossin’s ‘The 8th Continent’ opens at Brochstein Pavilion

The third installation of the Moody Center for the Arts’ Off the Wall series, Clarissa Tossin’s “The 8th Continent” opened at Brochstein Pavilion on Sept. 24 and will remain there until Aug. 27, 2022. “The Off the Wall series is a partner with the core residency program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,” Alison Weaver, executive director of the Moody Center, said. “We commission an alumnus of the program to come back to Houston and create a site-specific work that’s on view for one year.”

Weekly Scenes and Screens: Sept. 29

Review: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ meaningfully captures teen mental health struggles

Adapted from the 2016 Broadway musical of the same name, “Dear Evan Hansen” is a  coming-of-age musical teen drama focusing on Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), a high school senior struggling with social anxiety disorder. The movie has an excellent soundtrack and skillfully depicts the experience of the Murphy family after Connor Murphy passes away from suicide.  

Review: ZillaKami goes all out on “DOG BOY”

Underground group City Morgue, consisting of ZillaKami and São Paulo rapper SosMula, began their rise to prominence a few years ago. They took the edgiest attributes of contemporary rap and amplified them by incorporating elements of rock and metal. On “DOG BOY,” ZillaKami takes everything unique about his previous music and turns it up to 11. 

Review: Noah Kahan returns with cathartic sophomore release ‘I Was / I Am’

In just two years, Noah Kahan’s career has skyrocketed: His music has been streamed over a billion times, and in 2019, he toured the world with his personal inspiration James Bay. The transition to fame hasn’t been easy. His long-awaited sophomore album, “I Was / I Am,” offers fans a candid confession of how he’s been changed, for better or for worse. With his signature vivid lyricism and buoyant melodies, Kahan delivers stories of heartbreak, addiction, depression and hope in all of his sardonic and self-deprecating glory.

Review: Project Pollo vegan “chikn” falls short of expectations

If you’re looking for a vegan, sustainable alternative to your Chick-Fil-A addiction, then Project Pollo might be the place for you. But if you’re not looking to sit in Houston traffic for 30 minutes and pay steep prices for soy-based chicken dishes, then maybe not. Project Pollo, a local fast food chain serving fried “chikn” and Impossible burgers, opened a new location in Houston on Sept. 18 about nine miles west of Rice University’s campus. 

Smaller artists to keep an eye on this ACL

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and Rice students trying to assemble groups of friends to trek to Austin for the Austin City Limits Festival. As we’ve somehow almost gotten to the start of the October, the Thresher is excited to announce that we’ll be covering the festival throughout the next few weeks. While we’re certainly excited for some of the bigger names, we know most of y’all have already made up your minds about which headliners to see. Instead, we wanted to recommend some lesser known artists that we’re hyped for.

Thresher Declassified: ACL Survival Guide

It’s been two years since music fans flooded into Zilker Park for the Austin City Limits Festival. This music festival spans two weekends, eight stages and features over 100 musical acts and a plethora of food options. The 2021 festival dates are set for the weekends of Oct. 1-3 and 8-10, and, while tickets are sold out, there are resale options available. 

Administration is prioritizing money and prestige over student well-being

As last summer neared its close and I began looking towards the fall semester, I was more excited than I had ever been to start a school year. After a difficult year of online classes and social isolation, I couldn’t wait to finally see all the friends that I had missed for the last 16 months, as well as meet the underclassmen that I had been unable to interact with throughout my junior year. Despite the rise of the Delta COVID-19 variant, with Chair of Crisis Management Advisory Committee Kevin Kirby’s email on Aug. 3, I was still filled with a strong sense of optimism about my final year at Rice. Unfortunately, it has since become clear that this optimism was misplaced, as was my trust in the Rice administration. 

Less horny all the time, please

Rice Missed Encounters were once synonymous with a public Facebook group after the same name. This group was invented for students to reach out to cuties seen around campus when in-person contact was either faux pas, as in the middle of an event, or impossible without some loud and embarrassing pursuit. Through it, friends of mine found relationships, and I received a shoutout myself for my “very sincere and lovely” smile. Though many pioneers pushed at its boundaries with concupiscent calls to action like “I want you in my bed”, the question remained: what if the page were horny? Like, frighteningly, debilitatingly horny.

Rice must clarify academic accommodations

Four weeks ago, we wrote an editorial calling for the Rice campus to embrace a new normal when it comes to COVID policies and our activities on campus. Because we are arrogant enough to believe that everyone reads and takes guidance from our editorials each week, it seems that, by and large, the community has taken our advice as this semester has continued along in a relatively “normal” way. However, there is still work to be done in ensuring that courses are delivered in a uniform manner, allowing every student an equal opportunity to succeed in their classes while we continue through this pandemic. 

GSA president discusses servery dinner options for graduate students

At the Student Association meeting Monday Sept. 27, Graduate Student Association President Mario Escobor discussed the fact that there are no dinner options for graduate students on campus. Escobor said the GSA wanted the input of the undergraduate population on this initiative. 

Electrical fire in Mudd Lab leads to campus phone and network outages

Rice campus experienced phone and network outages due to an electrical problem in the Mudd Computer Science Laboratory building, according to B. Paul Padley, interim vice president for IT and chief information officer. At 11:04 a.m. on Sept. 27, an electrical fire was reported and the Houston Fire Department arrived on site, according to the Office of Information Technology Status Page.

Annual global climate strike occurs Sept. 24, with low Houston turnout

Sept. 24 marked climate marches that occurred across the country, including one scheduled to occur in Houston. Rice Climate Alliance, a club dedicated to advocating for and educating students on the current climate crisis, did not attend due to the Houston march’s poor organization, according to Clara Ursic, the Rice Climate Alliance treasurer.