Special Projects

Promoting athletics is just the beginning

A flourishing athletic environment fosters campus culture and unites the community. Unfortunately, Rice’s lack of appreciation for university-wide athletics is evidenced by the low attendance at games, which strains relations with student athletes. Although promotions from Rice Athletics have certainly made strides towards improving attendance at games, marketing campaigns can only go so far, and they may not be sustainable (see p. 9). Improvements to Rice’s athletic environment should be driven by the student body as well as the faculty to encourage support for our athletic programs and build a stronger relationship between athletes and the rest of the undergraduate community.

The Honor Code and fairness at stake

What is justice? This simple question has given the western world fits since at least Plato’s “Republic.” With regards to societal punishment, I would answer the question with the words ‘fairness,’ ‘due process’ and ‘a trial by jury.’  These are not simply words — our country was built on these words, and they have a specific meaning.

Letter to the Editor: NTDs a global health priority

I initially became interested in the global impact of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) during a policy course I took at Rice during my sophomore year; the speaker was President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute Peter Hotez, an expert in the field.

ENGI 120 faces decreased enrollment

Introduction to Engineering Design (ENGI 120), the freshman engineering design class, has faced issues with underenrollment over the past few semesters.

Boniuk Council promotes World Hijab Day

The Rice Muslim Student Association and the Boniuk Council held a series of World Hijab Day events on Sunday and Monday, and encouraged female students to wear the hijab in solidarity with Muslim women who choose wear the hijab.

Eating Cheap and Offbeat at Pugon De Manila

Your first time at Pugon de Manila could be a whirlwind of expectations. Scanning the menu, the dinner combo – dessert, soup, rice and two meats for $8 – seems too good to be true.

Basketball breaks losing streak

Despite an up-and-down year, scoring has been one thing the Rice University men’s basketball team has done consistently throughout this season. Yet again, on Saturday night, the Owls showcased their offensive firepower. Freshman guard Marcus Evans starred as the Rice University men’s basketball team won a shootout against the University of North Texas Saturday night at Tudor Fieldhouse by a score of 95-87. Evans, the leading freshman scorer in the country, poured in 25 points to lead the Owls to their seventh victory and earn his fifth Conference USA Freshman of the Week award. According to Evans, the Owls’ offensive success was a product of their confidence.

Spotlight shines as unlikely Oscar contender

With the 2016 Oscars just around the corner, most pundits have truncated the official list of eight Best Picture nominees to an unofficial shortlist of three: the gripping “The Revenant,” the provoking “The Big Short” and the oddball – “Spotlight.” Mainstream media have largely sidelined “Spotlight,” which is a true story about the Boston Globe’s investigation of the Catholic Church child sex scandals in the early 2000s.

Scholars discuss politics in black churches

Is it justified to spend millions of dollars on a church serving primarily black neighborhoods when the congregants themselves may be of low-income backgrounds?

Critical Thinking in Sexuality Task Force releases website, video series

Rice University’s Critical Thinking in Sexuality Task Force launched a new website, Facebook page and video series this week as part of their effort to garner support and student input for a new mandatory course educating incoming students about healthy sexuality. The task force, which was created by the Student Association Senate in November with a mandate to develop a proposal for the course, is working to gain the Rice community’s backing, according to task force member Angela Masciale, who also serves as president of Hanszen College.

Students launch boba business

Bubble tea, or “boba,” a sweet tea-based drink with tapioca pearls, is coming to campus. This past Saturday, the on-campus boba business East-West Tea launched its first promotion in Seibel Servery by handing out 200 free samples in under 40 minutes. The founders claim that East-West Tea is better than Kung Fu Tea, and in the coming weeks, students can find out for themselves. On Feb.

Brown College senior Samuel Waters passes

The Rice community lost an uplifting mentor and extraordinary voice last Wednesday. Samuel Waters, a Brown College senior and voice performance major at the Shepherd School of Music, passed away Jan.

Kidd’s Korner: A case for the compassionate Rice baseball players

Last Tuesday, the Rice Owls baseball team and I took a trip to Shriners Hospital for Children located just down Main Street. If you read the first sentence again you will realize that I purposefully separated myself from the remainder of the team. It is “the Rice Owls baseball team” and then there is “I.” This mentality has been instilled in me and will probably never leave me; growing up with cerebral palsy, there was always just me. I had no team because I was different, I was the outcast who was picked last, the one who could never contribute worth a darn. That was until I came to Rice University.

Solar decathlon club advances to national competition, plans to build environmental home

Rice University’s Solar Decathlon Club is advancing to nationals after competing in October in Orange County, California.

The Fifth Quarter

Rice has recently demonstrated a commitment to increasing its athletic fan base. Specifically, they’ve been focusing on increasing student support and turnout at games, and I commend them for that.

Rice Athletics promotes student attendance

What do free pizza, a $5,000 iPhone app and Shia LaBeouf memes have in common? They are all tactics used by the Rice Athletics marketing team to promote game attendance and ticket sales.

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"Modern Love" provides solace for the heartsick

February brings with it many gifts — TV series premieres, leap year celebrations, President’s Day — and one defining date more polarizing than American politics.

We shouldn’t put circumstance over assault

The art of plane binge-watching

It was a 13-hour flight from Houston to Taipei. The constant repretzeling of legs, headsets that bite into your skin and bad breath were the all-too-familiar baggage that came with my actual baggage.