Special Projects

Khun Kay offers affordable vegetarian-friendly fare

Supartra Yooto and Kay Soodjai have experience when it comes to serving Asian food in the Houston area. The Thai sisters-in-law opened their first restaurant, a popular Chinese spot called the Golden Room, on Montrose in 1982. When it came time to renovate in 2008, they simply tore it down and returned to their roots with the “fast casual” Thai restaurant Khun Kay. The website claims the restaurant offers “most of the Golden Room’s menu with the same superb quality, but with reduced prices.” With pad thai as cheap as $7 a plate and a plate of excellent curry for only $8, reduced prices are certainly a plus. But beyond the low prices, Khun Kay’s extensive vegetarian menu and rotating list of specialties set it far above other counter-service Asian eateries. 

Baseball suffers first conference series loss of season

Women’s tennis continues five-match winning streak

Despite winning only four of their first 11 matches, the Rice women’s tennis team has been on a winning streak recently, having won their fifth straight match. The Owls knocked off the No. 34 College of William and Mary 5-2 on Sunday.

Swimmers compete in NCAA championships

No Rice swimmers placed at the NCAA Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina this past weekend.

Williams steps down from basketball program

Rice University women’s basketball Head Coach Greg Williams announced his retirement on March 17 after 10 seasons of coaching at Rice.

Former Owl named to College Hall of Fame

18 years after his final season as an Owl, Lance Berkman has been elected for induction into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. One of eight players inducted this year, Berkman was recognized for his outstanding contributions to Rice baseball and college baseball as a whole.

Office of Information Technology merges IT and administrative systems into eight divisions headed by Klara Jelinkova

A new Office of Information Technology launched March 1 and merges Rice University’s academic and administrative IT units: Information Technology and Administrative Systems. The new office will be headed by Klara Jelinkova, who arrived at Rice on Jan. 1 as vice president for information technology and chief information officer. According to Rice News, Jelinkova said the new office will implement university-wide security standards, improve data analytics and reporting and provide stronger support and management of new teaching and scholarship technologies.Eight divisions will compose the new office: enterprise and administrative services; networking and telecommunications; systems engineering; campus services; business intelligence, data warehousing and analytics; teaching, learning and scholarly technologies; IT security; and research computing and cyberinfrastructure.

Associate Director of Student Health Services Stacy Ware promoted to director, available hours for doctor appointments set to increase

Associate Director of Student Health Services Stacy Ware has been promoted to director after previous director Mark Jenkins (Will Rice ’83) left after 17 years in the position and nearly 25 years at Rice University.Jenkins, who was also the associate team physician for NCAA sports at Rice and chair of the Institutional Review Board, will become the executive director of the Hall Health Center at the University of Washington. Total available hours for doctor appointments will increase under Ware’s leadership.Ware has been at Rice since 1998, when she was hired as a staff physician. Staff physician Jessica McKelvey (Will Rice ’93) has been promoted to associate director, and a search has begun to hire a new physician.

Marie Lynn Miranda named provost of Rice University

Marie Lynn Miranda, Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, will replace George McLendon as the Howard R. Hughes Provost on July 1. McLendon is stepping down after five years as provost to concentrate on teaching and research, according to an email sent to the Rice University community by President David Leebron.“We were struck by the quality and breadth of her scholarly accomplishments, her insights and sensitivity to collaboration as an academic leader, her clear capacity to develop and execute on a vision and her warm engagement with everyone she met,” Leebron wrote in a March 11 email. “[Miranda] is a respected scholar, researcher, teacher and administrator who has made great contributions wherever she has served.”Miranda has gathered over $43 million in sponsored reach as a principal or co-principal investigator, and an additional $14 million as investigator. She said she is eager for interdisciplinary research and academics at Rice.“Even in the information age, with the ensuing democratization of knowledge, colleges and universities hold the greatest potential for helping students bridge the chasm between knowledge and wisdom, especially so in the residential college setting,” Miranda said to Rice News.Miranda, a Truman Scholar and National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, holds a master’s degree and a doctorate, both in economics, from Harvard University.

Maeda presents design’s emerging role in tech

Employing a mixed bag of childhood anecdotes, cartoon graphics and pop culture references, John Maeda, design partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers delivered a Design in Tech report on Monday at Rice University.

Bun B-taught course to be offered online on EdX

Professors of religion Anthony Pinn and Bernard Freeman, who is commonly known as Houston rapper Bun B, are offering their Religion and Hip Hop (RELI 157) course to the general public for free on the online platform EdX this spring. After teaching the course on campus for two semesters and garnering a wide following both within and beyond the university, the duo said creating an online version felt natural.“It allows us to be creative,” Pinn said. “One of things we wanted to do is make certain that we took students off campus ... and think of the course in a way that privileged that movement beyond the hedges and do this thing differently and to give it to a global audience.”According to Freeman, they plan to film the lectures from a variety of locations in the Houston community, such as churches, mosques and synagogues. “If the students can be sitting anywhere to take the lesson, then we can be anywhere presenting the lesson,” Freeman said. “Houston is a vibrant hip-hop community, and a religious one because the city is so multicultural, so we have more places than other cities to go out to film these lessons.”Discussion is also a major focus of the course, according to the professors. Students in the same area will meet together with a facilitator, a community figure who will serve as their discussion leader. The duo has also proposed continuing the conversations on Twitter, where students and instructors can interact directly. The main goal, according to Pinn, is to bring together multiple perspectives. “We have students signed up from roughly 108 countries, the age range from about 12 to 90, so the conversation will be really interesting,” Pinn said. “But they are required to interact with each other. The more you engage, the better your grade will be.”According to Freeman, disagreement between students is not only expected, but encouraged.“The 12-year-old’s perspective on religion and hip-hop is going to be drastically different from a 90-year-old’s,” Freeman said. “There’s room for each student involved in the classroom to create their own interpretation on what the lesson is. Is it right or is it wrong? It’s really neither.”To further encourage a variety of students to register, the duo is promoting the course to as many people as they can reach.“That’s the whole thing, is to let as many people know its available and that it’s free,” Freeman said. “Most college courses aren’t offered for free in the university, much less online.”The duo has also reached out to figures in both the Rice and Houston communities, such as local artist Gonzo, to help publicize the class. “The Rice college or student group that signs up the most non-Rice folks will get a piece from Gonzo and lunch with us off campus,” Pinn said.As for the future of the course, Freeman said they remain open for more opportunities to offer the course, as well as new courses. “But for now we’re just focusing on the online course and making sure that we knock that out of the park,” Freeman said. “We’re just finding what works. Pop one piece out, another piece in — kind of like academy Jenga.”

Code of Conduct outlines new rustication policies

Social Rustication“Removal from social activities at Rice, without restricting the student’s opportunity to live and eat in the colleges.”Cannot attend public or private parties where alcohol is presentCannot participate in campus-wide events including Willy Week, Beer Bike, Rondolet and College NightsCannot be present if there are parties in their own room, even if a roommate or suitemate is the hostCollege Rustication“Removal from the college and college life.”Includes all stipulations from social rusticationCannot live in the collegeCannot eat or be in the serveryCannot be around any of the collegesCampus Rustication“Removal from the University, except for academic access.”Includes all stipulations from social rustication and college rusticationCannot be in or use the Rice Memorial Center or Recreation CenterCannot attend varsity sport or any other campus-wide eventsOnly allowed to be on campus for academic reasonsMaster's Rustication“The ability to impose social or college rustication on students from their own college.”College masters have the ability to impose social or college rustication on students from their own college. They can also ban students from other colleges from the masters’ own college. Masters can “add prohibitions or proscriptions, including those that affect a student’s participation in academic and non-academic Rice activities” to their rustication of a student. However, students are allowed to appeal rustication decisions to the Dean of Undergraduates. Additionally, the masters’ decision does not mean that SJP will not conduct an investigation independent of the master’s decision and impose their own charges.In January, Student Judicial Programs released an updated version of the Code of Student Conduct, to which all students agreed to adhere by virtue of registering for the semester. One major update to the document was the clear outlining of rustication policies. University Court officers were consulted in the creation of the revised Code, although SJP maintained authority over the revisions. Current UCourt Chair Brian Baran said the more precise definitions for each type of rustication, while clarifying, won't affect the court's proceedings. Sanctions are still considered on a case-by-case basis, with the revised Code serving as a starting point.“The previous Code defined rustication broadly, so the terms had to be decided on a case-by-case basis,” Baran, a Duncan College senior, said. “The three levels now codified in the Code had already emerged in practice as a result of a need to craft sanctions that were fair, consistent and tailored to a given set of circumstances. The new definition furthers the same objectives with additional clarity for everyone involved.”Edit: The article previously stated that SJP and UCourt jointly determined the new standard set of sanctions, that the revisions were necessary to maintain equity among possible punishments and that sanctions were no longer considered on a case-by-case basis. These statements are incorrect. Although UCourt officers were consulted on the revised Code, SJP ultimately had authority of the revisions. The revisions are meant to serve as clarifications of a process that already occurs. Furthermore, sanctions are still considered on a case-by-case basis.

SA-facilitated forum accomplishes little

The Student Association facilitated a student-only forum with residential college presidents about what constitutes a safe environment on campus, among other concerns, last Wednesday, March 12 (see p.1). More than 70 students attended the forum, which was held after the Senate meeting.  The forum came in the wake of an incident at McMurtry College, in which a president-elect resigned after a friend ordered a stripper to attend a private party celebrating the win. Informal discussions about Title IX and Rice’s sexual environment ensued, but these conversations left many confused about the legislation’s role in moderating student behavior. As such, students may have expected the forum to directly address the McMurtry incident and clarify what a Title IX violation entails.  However, the questions the SA used in the forum did not delve into specifics. They asked questions such as, “How do we avoid bad situations and what do we do when a value is violated?” While these questions did generate discussion, many left the forum with more questions than firm answers about campus values. The Thresher believes events like the forum should directly address student concerns. As the voice of the student body, the SA should embrace its role as both a facilitator of difficult conversations and an advocate for the solutions that arise from them. However, they cannot fulfill their role if these conversations leave students with more questions than solutions. Many at the forum expressed divergent opinions about the role of administration and their relationship to students. While it is necessary to promote discussion among the student body regarding the role of the administration in setting campus values, students deserve a seat at the table when their values and their community are at stake. Though administration necessarily plays a role in the discussion, the students’ voice should be loud and warrant recognition.  To ensure that the student voice matters in discussions about campus values, the SA must work toward concrete solutions. Passing legislation, for instance, codifies student opinion in both an authoritative and historical record students can point to when administration takes action that goes against their interests. For the forum to effect change, the SA should craft legislation that expresses student opinion on Title IX and the campus environment. While it may be a good start for the SA executive team to sit down individually with the administration in the future to facilitate discussions, it is not nearly enough. Creating legislation is the most effective way to enact lasting change in our community, as it transcends the short-term institutional memory that plagues other less concrete solutions.  Students wanted answers about Title IX and the McMurtry incident that the forum did not provide. In the future, the SA must take a stronger leadership role; haphazardly organized discussions without plans of action are insufficient. Tangible solutions, such as working groups and legislation, would better represent student voices in a lasting and meaningful way.  Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the piece’s author.

Measure for Measure renews a classic: A-

The Victorians thought that each “translation” of a play served to enrich rather than rob the original source of the adaptation. This well-acted and well-produced adaptation maintains a faithful dialogue with Shakespeare’s original work, while adding an innovative and contemporary touch to this profound and complex comedy.The play is framed by the soft lighting of the Baker Commons, which adds a collegiate feel to complement the well-manufactured theatrical atmosphere of the makeshift stage. The decadent couches, elevated chairs and blood-red carpet around the center stage lend themselves to an overall ambience reminiscent of a local or community theater, so the audience does not feel far removed from the action. Excellent management of light, sound, costuming and set throughout the play serve to accentuate the intensity of the performance and deserve special recognition for tact and subtlety. The performance itself parallels the tone of the Great Bard’s original lyrics, vacillating between dark cynicism and outrageously offensive humor. In Victorian times, this play was considered painful and shocking and antagonized traditional sensibilities. While it may fail to shock contemporary viewers, the provocative edge that pushes this play above a theatrical exercise provides enough added value to make this performance well worth the price of entrance. Sex toys and a steamy pole dance are excellent, even if slightly forced, additions, and the lewd puns and metaphors of the original piece are humorously delivered well, though their shock value has eroded. Measure for Measure’s actors and actresses overwhelmingly turn in a talented and well-rehearsed performance, delivering Shakespeare’s lines with uncanny experience and verve. Ian Mauzy (Baker College ’14) delivers a tremendous performance as Duke Vicentio, breathing life into a truly complex character. Mauzy handles the profound and resonant motifs of mercy, justice and hypocrisy equitably with sharp, concealed wit, compassion and even a self-aware sense of personal fallacy. Mauzy sketches for the audience a multi-dimensional creature which must at least reflect Shakespeare’s vision for such a central yet divisive force in the play. Kevin Mullin (Jones College freshman) delivers an intense performance as the corrupted Angelo and masterfully presents the tortured duality of his both tragic and detestablecharacter. Yena Han (Duncan College sophomore), in her role as Mistress Overdone, adds an artistic and provocative edge to the play with a performance that would have shocked Victorian audiences. While the pole dancing provides a fun and necessary extra, the pole itself does not quite earn its position in the front and center of the stage, as it is rarely used throughout the performance. Max Payton (Wiess College senior) and Kathryn Hokamp (Martel College junior) provide lighthearted comic relief as Lucio and Pompey, respectively, and inject much-needed comedy into a play that often alarmingly balances on the edge of tragedy. Overall, director Joseph Lockett, a Hanszen College alumnus, offers an admirable presentation of one of Shakespeare’s darker comedies. Measure for Measure is a faithful and extravagant mesh of proud literary prose and Shakespearean tradition, simultaneously colluding with a touch of comically licentious avant-garde revision. 

The mystery behind the boba tea craze

When Kung Fu Tea opened a new location in Montrose, the people rejoiced. It’s no question boba is beloved among Rice University students, but it hasn’t always been so easy to find. There are stellar options in the heart of Chinatown, but not everyone can just drive there for a late-night run. Teahouse is close, but exceedingly average in comparison. Until Kung Fu’s arrival, most students had to turn to boba sales that occur in the Rice Memorial Center to satisfy cravings.It has always struck me how popular boba has become. The craze is not confined to Rice’s campus, either, but has spread almost worldwide. Hordes clamor for the tea mixed with a scoop of tapioca bobbing at the bottom, which hails from Taiwan. The original flavor is milk tea (black tea with non-dairy creamer), a staple for all first-timers. To the unfamiliar, even this basic flavor may seem a little bizarre, even unappealing. And depending on your order, the drink can cost $4 to $5, a relatively expensive sum for a beverage that doesn’t require much skill to make on the spot. Most shops just fill the plastic cup with tea, add some powder to supply a fruit flavor if so desired and plop in some tapioca. One could purchase a smooth, creamy latte decorated with foamy art from an upscale coffee shop for the same price.Perhaps boba’s fame can be attributed to its reputation for variety. Boba shops always offer tea with tapioca, but most also allow you to substitute tea with smoothies, slushies and coffee. Many have massive menus sporting choices for just about every fruit and tea on the planet. In addition to tapioca, there are jellies available to put in drinks, ranging from apple to lychee. Chunks of egg custard pudding are perhaps a bit more daring, but a good alternative for people looking for a twist. Get your beloved 7-Eleven slushie as a boba drink, or go for an iced coffee option instead. There’s green tea and cookies and cream, passion fruit and Thai tea. Boba has also become a part of popular culture. Even the term “boba” is ambiguous — it refers both to tapioca and the drink itself. If you tell a friend that you want to buy boba, you mean that you’re hankering for the drink. If you’re talking to the polite employee behind the cash register at the boba shop and ask for boba, it’s a request for tapioca in your beverage. One can’t underestimate the process — ordering boba is an art.   Furthermore, boba doesn’t taste the same everywhere. The ratio of milk to tea is different at every place, and consistent tapioca texture is crucial and can be a sign of a good vendor. Nothing is less appealing than chewing hard, stringy tapioca, and it takes time and good advice to find a suitable go-to place. One option is to try the same flavor at every place and compare taste and tapioca texture. I did this once, trying the original milk tea boba at various places around Chinatown.  Enjoy exploring, but be careful — this drink is strangely addicting. 

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Collina's fails to deliver high-quality Italian cuisine

Nestled in a strip mall on Richmond Avenue, Collina’s Italian Cafe looks as inviting as any Italian restaurant. Families and couples chatter over bottles of wine, cooks stir enormous pots of pasta and waiters bustle between the indoor seating and the tables outside on the patio. The affable service, homey red-checkered tablecloths and BYOB policy all add to Collina’s laid-back, neighborhood-Italian-joint atmosphere. It would be all too perfect if Collina’s cooks turned out food that matched their idyllic atmosphere. Unfortunately, Collina’s pastas are far from the heavenly spaghettis and linguinis of superior trattorias; the rustic chicken dishes miss out on the buttery charm that pervades quality Italian cooking. Even the pizzas, the centerpiece of Collina’s menu, seem bland in comparison to the bold and fresh flavors other pizzerias draw from their pies.

Colin Powell to speak at graduation

The Rice University administration announced Wednesday that former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell will deliver this year’s commencement address on May 16.Powell served as chairman of the JCS, the highest-ranking military officer in the United States, under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, then as secretary of state in the administration of President George W. Bush. According to Rice President David Leebron, a search committee responsible for the address chose Powell because they believed he would deliver a beneficial message to graduates.“We have not generally had people I would call celebrities,” Leebron said. “We’ve had sometimes people not so well-known, sometimes very well-known, but mostly our committee has tried to find people who have accomplished something distinctive in the way of making contributions to society.”Leebron emphasized Powell’s leadership qualities as key to his selection. According to Leebron, Rice is working to improve its leadership programs as part of the newly launched Initiative for Students.“There are few better examples of leadership in the U.S. than General Powell,” Leebron said. “We are hopeful that we will have some new leadership initiatives to announce later this spring … This choice of a commencement speaker is consistent with the increased emphasis on developing the leadership capabilities of our students.”According to Leebron, Powell’s life story will also make him a good choice for commencement speaker. Powell was raised in the South Bronx by Jamaican parents and attended New York City public schools throughout his childhood.“He’s led a remarkable life,” Leebron said. “This is the son of immigrants who rose to the very highest positions in both the military and civilian government, who is widely regarded as one of the great leaders of our time, while [embodying] a person of great integrity and achievement.”Leebron said Powell has made valuable contributions to accessible education through his leadership of several organizations such as America’s Promise Alliance, which works to support children across the country. “He spends most of his philanthropic activity around the issue of education,” Leebron said. “It’s that combination of bringing together passion for what education can do and what is possible for anybody who works hard enough and brings the right values to their life.”According to Leebron, the search committee considered both alumni and faculty contacts as well as companies representing prominent speakers. Last year’s commencement speaker was Dr. Helene Gayle, the president and CEO of the anti-poverty organization CARE USA.Leebron said he hopes Powell will inspire students to consider their futures.“We expect him to stir [graduates’] thinking about their own futures and stick in them a sense of possibility of their own lives,” Leebron said. “Hopefully, they spent the last four years accumulating some of that, but this is an important moment for students and their families, and we hope they’ll be happy to have a well-recognized commencement speaker.”According to Leebron, the university wants students to work to improve society. “We want the students, while they are here, to develop a sense of what they can achieve with their lives, and it’s even better when they leave,” Leebron said. “They get the message of ‘Here’s what you can contribute with your lives, and it requires that whatever field and endeavor you choose, you can be a leader in that endeavor, you can make a difference, you can mobilize other people.’”

Letter to the Editor: Explain tuition hikes

Last week’s Thresher (March 11) presented an article of special importance, namely the staggering increase in Rice University’s tuition, evidently 135 percent over the last 15 years. To explain the seemingly inexplicable, Kathy Collins, vice president for finance, gives the primary reason as “educating students, faculty salaries, library resources and other operational expenses.” I think most professors at Rice would be happily amazed by anything close to a salary increase rate of 135 percent over the last 15 years. There are, of course, numerous articles on the subject of rapid rise in tuition across universities, including why little of this relates directly to education and why professor salaries have increased at a far more modest rate, one much closer to changes in the cost of living across the United States. To quote the summary of the 2014 report on this topic by the American Association of University of Professors: “Increasingly, institutions of higher education have lost their focus on the academic activities at the core of their mission. Spending on administrative overhead continues to draw funding away from academic programs, and the proliferation of new administrative and support positions has continued unabated in the two decades since ‘administrative bloat’ was brought into the higher education lexicon.”It would be great if Rice was truly different from most of our peer institutions. This should be easy to find out. I therefore respectfully ask Kathy Collins to either justify or modify her answer. The Rice community, especially students and parents, deserve at least an accurate answer for the skyrocketing tuition. Sincerely,Jerry Dickens, Professor, Earth Science

You need not travel far to study abroad

Last Wednesday, I stood in front of the White House press gate for at least 30 minutes among photographers, other journalists and later, with three of my classmates. Eventually, a White House staffer led us into a room decorated with white chandeliers and golden curtains. After 15 minutes or so, out came first lady Michelle Obama.  The occasion was the first lady’s Nowruz, or Persian New Year, celebration, which is also observed by people in Eastern Europe, Asia and other Middle Eastern countries. As an Iranian American, it was beyond incredible listening to her say “Nowruzetan Mobarak” and give remarks about a holiday my family and I celebrate. With all the political news about Iran, it was a nice change listening to someone in the administration touch on cultural aspects of the country. I was able to have this experience because of one of my amazingly resourceful professors in my study abroad program. Well, let me back up. Instead of actually leaving the U.S., I chose to study in Washington, D.C. through American University’s Washington Semester Program in Journalism and New Media. I did have some initial concern about missing out on living and learning internationally — in fact, I remember bringing that up the day I finalized my application with the Study Abroad Office. By choosing to stay within the country’s borders, I did miss out on being immersed in a totally new culture for a semester. However, I’ve now been in D.C. for more than two months, and I hold zero regrets. And because no study “abroad” is complete without the participant telling you why you, yes you, should also do it, here is my spiel. While studying abroad in a foreign country does have a lot of value, such as language and cultural immersion, it may not be for everyone. For some, a semester away from Rice University might mean reaching Spanish fluency in Spain or learning about state formation in Bosnia, and I’m all for that, because such particular interests are best explored abroad. However, for others, like me, studying internationally is not the best fit. Had I gone to London or Rabat, I would not be where I want to be in my journalism career. Living and working in the nation’s capital has been educational, fun, challenging and something that will give me a jump-start when I’m job-hunting in several months.At Rice there is a mindset of “unconventional wisdom,” or so people claim. I believe studying abroad, or away from Rice, for a semester is a vital addition to the Rice experience, provided that you can find a way to make it work with your major and finances. In choosing a study abroad program, do your research and pick one that caters best to your needs and goals. Furthermore, do not be afraid to think domestic. D.C. may not be “abroad,” but it has opened doors to a world that I would never have been able to imagine sitting in my room at McMurtry College last semester.