Special Projects

Antsy Owls plan return to field against UNT this weekend

When Rice takes the field against the University of North Texas on Saturday, it will be the Owls’ first game in 21 days. After a 30-6 win over the University of Southern Mississippi on Oct. 31, Rice has seen their last two games postponed due to COVID-19 cases within their opponents’ programs. The 1-1 Owls now have to regroup from their unscheduled two week break in order to face a Mean Green team that enters the game with a 2-3 record. Head coach Mike Bloomgren said he is proud of how his team has been able to improve despite these challenges. 

Rice launches pilot campus-wide composting initiative

After years of compost deliberations, Rice has partnered with a local composting company, Moonshot, and started the early phases of campus wide composting. The project kicked off last week as Moonshot collected waste on Wednesday and Thursday morning from West and North Serveries, generating 1,418 pounds of compost, according to Moonshot co-founder Joe Villa. H&D plans to expand composting to all serveries once students return in January.  

Trammell starts senior season with a bang

The Rice Owls football season has encountered several major hurdles this season. The team has played only two games thus far, and has had two games postponed due to COVID-19 safety precautions. However, a bright spot for the team has been its consistent offense, which has scored 32.0 points per game on average, ranking No. 45 in the nation. A key player contributing to the success of the Owls’ offense is senior wide receiver Austin Trammell.  

From the art director's desk: Hobbling through a goodbye

I stumbled into the Thresher office as a freshman who was determined to go to medical school. Three years later, I’m stumbling out of the office, just as clumsily, as a senior who is pursuing design because of Thresher.  

Rice Players’ ‘A Doll's House’ transforms a Zoom meeting into its stage

Instead of walking on- and off-stage, actors in the Rice Players’ adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” clicked to join and leave a Zoom meeting. Putting on a livestreamed adaptation of the 1879 play posed a number of limitations, but also provided novel opportunities for creative expression. 

‘Know your farmer, know your food’: Rice’s farmers market pivots in COVID-19 era

Lighthearted chatter used to drift from booths filled with lush, leafy greens and fresh baked bread offered by local vendors at the Rice University Farmers Market. But what was once a mainstay on campus faced a screeching halt when COVID-19 cases started to appear in Houston. Now, the only visible remnant of the market is a street sign pointing out where the market once was. 

Shepherd School Dean Yekovich steps down from his role

Robert Yekovich will step down from his role as dean of the Shepherd School of Music in June 2021, and return to being a faculty member. 

Rice alumna blasts off on historic SpaceX flight

Shannon Walker, Baker College ‘87, MS ’92, Ph.D. ‘93 is one of the four astronauts on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon spacecraft launched on Sunday evening and arrived on Monday night at the ISS, where the crew will spend the next six months, according to NASA. This is Walker’s second space flight to the ISS.

Rice Lab begins trials for new saliva-based COVID test

Rice students are currently taking part in a research study to evaluate a new SARS-CoV-2 test developed by the bioengineering department at Rice. Led by bioengineering professor  Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the research lab is recruiting test participants from the Rice student body and has already hosted testing sites within several residential colleges, including Wiess and Will Rice Colleges. According to Richards-Kortum, any student enrolled at Rice is eligible to participate in this study.  While 1,500 students have participated in the study so far, Richards-Kortum said the number of participants necessary to conduct the study will depend on the rate of positive samples the lab receives. 

You should still be keeping up with the 2020 election.

Polls are closed, but the presidential election results and the transition period remain in contention. The projected winner of the 2020 presidential election is Joe Biden, but there’s a long road to reach his inauguration, and President Donald Trump seems to be laying down more and more asphalt each day. In an era where misinformation is as abundant as ever, it’s that much more important for citizens — especially students, in whose hands the future of America lies — to be capable of parsing between the truth and the lies. 

Alone at Sid: Life in the isolation tower

The tower that used to house the Sid Richardson College community is quiet these days: hallways are bare and most floors are vacant. The only people living there are a handful of students from across the residential colleges, and they mostly keep to their rooms. 

Review: Hurts Donut satisfies the Houstonian sweet tooth

If you are tired of Dunkin Donuts, or if the excitement of Voodoo Donuts has faded, you can now turn to Hurts Donut, which opened the doors of its new location at 5801 Memorial Drive on Oct. 22. And don’t worry — it won’t hurt at all to try. 

4 Native American artists you should know

November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to appreciate the achievements and contributions of Native American peoples across the United States. In honor of this month, here are four Native American artists whose work provides a glimpse into the beauty and diversity of Indigenous cultures and what they embody.  

Zoomaka adapts annual showcase for virtual audiences

Rice’s South Asian Society ended the semester with a dhamaka (Hindi for “bang”) this past Friday, Nov. 13 with Zoomaka, a virtual version of their annual cultural showcase. Socially distanced watch parties catered South Asian cuisine and nostalgic Bollywood beats brought the event alive. The fully virtual event featured spoken word, dance, live musical performances, comedy and various other presentations by Rice students that illustrated unifying South Asian American experiences while also emphasizing diversity among the community. 

What the Backpage is Thankful for

Chaus brews up new Espresso Yourself events

Rice Coffeehouse will revive its Espresso Yourself programming with a virtual artist spotlight series and an open mic event this Friday, Nov. 20 in front of the Moody Center for the Arts. The spotlight series will feature a Rice student’s artwork for one to two months via the Coffeehouse Instagram account, @eychaus — the first spotlighted artist is Sid Richardson College junior Sumin Hwang. This week’s open mic will also be the first of many which Espresso Yourself, led by Baker College junior Magdah Omer, plans to host once every semester.  

Kevin Kirby, vice president for administration, talks leadership and transformative power of teaching

If you ask Vice President for Administration Kevin Kirby whether he's busy, he's likely to laugh it off. "Sherry makes me seem busy," he told me during our interview. And yet Sherry Ziegner, Kirby’s assistant, may well be right.  

Covid-19 cases are on the rise everywhere— act like it

To say “be safe” or “be responsible” over the break leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Let’s be absolutely clear: This wave of the pandemic is worse than we’ve ever seen, with cases of and hospitalizations for the coronavirus breaking records every single day. Most of the hometowns we’re returning to are not enforcing sufficient restrictions to mitigate the spread, and if you’re staying at Rice, Harris County certainly is not either. It’s time for us to rethink our new normal in the context of the worsening outbreak. 

Weekly Scenes & Screens: 11/18

We Lost, 2020 Won — On to 2021