Special Projects

Cougar High

What a semester it has been for theater! Rice has recently hosted everything from the drama of a Shakespeare tragedy to the glamour of an Elton John musical and now Cougar High, a student-written performance. Martel College junior and composition major Keith Allegretti has crafted a unique specimen of the stage that is at once a tribute to cheap humor, a parody of common fictional tropes and even a satire of public education and the discrimination faced by homosexuals. Most refreshingly, however, it is simply an irreverent farce with no aspirations to five-star reviews or the Sammys, with no expectations higher than to make its audience reel with both disgust and laughter. While low production values and the show's very nature make it an experience that not just anyone could sit through, those who aren't easily offended and can stomach some gross-out humor will find it well worth their while.

News in Brief: Student mugged on Rice campus

Student mugged on Rice campus

RUPD could benefit from emailed ticketing

Recently, my car was towed at Rice University. I spent an hour looking for it before I learned what happened. This situation has affected at least two other people I know, one person twice.

The 20th Annual KTRU Outdoor Show

Online-only: Wiess gets new RAs

The Thresher sat down for short interviews with Bioengineering Lecturer Renata Ramos and her husband Lenin Terrazas, Wiess College's new Resident Associates.

New Dean of Engineering primed for greatness at Rice University

In the relentless world of top-20 academic institutions, Rice succesfully poached the best of the best for its next dean of engineering. Edwin Thomas was the chair of MIT's material sciences department, the best in the country. The addition of faculty of Thomas's caliber is definitely an accomplishment, and his mere presence gives further validation to our already strong engineering department.

Rice students' fundraising efforts for Japan exemplary

The outpouring of support at Rice for Japan has been simply extraordinary. Conscious groups of students have gathered and implemented massive efforts to raise funds for the recovery process.

Rice webmail's union with Gmail a welcome addition for students

Rice University recently announced a plan to rejuvenate its webmail system by transferring over to a Google interface and google servers. This decision will definitely yield improvement over the current webmail, and it is certainly exciting to see administration and IT making a proactive decision to shift our outdated system to one of the best and most proven email clients on the market.

Students pick Obama in BISF debate on jobs

The Baker Institute Student Forum hosted a student debate on March 22 about the current job market and whether President Barack Obama's policies have had a positive or negative impact so far.

Environmental conservationism a duty not a decision

With all the coverage of exciting environmental initiatives on campus recently, Rice looks from the outside like a leader in sustainable living. We have classes dedicated solely to green campus initiatives, top-notch LEED certified buildings, green roofs, single-stream recycling, bike sharing programs and even part of our tuition now goes toward improving our carbon footprint. There's no doubt that Rice students are smart enough to know about the importance of maintaining a sustainable lifestyle, but are we smart enough to care?

Classic Flicks: My Neighbor Totoro evocative of a simpler time

Why has animation been so popular these days? Recently, Avatar, a 3-D animation-heavy film about a planet of blue human-alien hybrids, became the highest grossing film of all time. Pixar, the studio that produced animated films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, has also produced great commercial successes worldwide.

Spelling Bee unusual, fun

Rice Theater's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is unconventional and unusual in almost every aspect. It's a musical squeezed into a single act that runs a mere hour and a half without a single scene change; yet even with this breakneck pace, the viewer becomes acquainted with a disparate gang of middle schoolers all competing for spelling bee glory and the chance to continue to the national competition in Washington D.C.

Whitehead rolls to first career tournament victory

With seven top-10 finishes in the year, including a second place finish against a stacked field at the recent Duck Invitational on Mar. 21- 22, senior Michael Whitehead was bound to break through at some point. That point came on Saturday at the 60th Border Olympics in Laredo, when Whitehead finished with a final-round 62 for his first collegiate victory.

Students shave heads for cancer

Three Rice students, Hanszen sophomore Cecila Alvarez, Jones Sophomore Antonia Lloyd-Davies, and Hanszen freshman Nehemiah Ankoor shaved themselves completely bald in front of a small audience in the Hanszen quad on March 18.

Inconsistency plagues sluggers against Knights

After a midseason slumber that saw the Owls drop crucial matches to both the University of San Diego and Wake Forest University, Rice got back on track by winning three in a row at home before losing to fifth-ranked Texas A&M University on Wednesday at Jake Hess Stadium.

Environmental productivity key to future

Productivity. We all strive for it. Students inhale Red Bulls and lock themselves into their rooms to be productive. Athletes, doctors, lawyers, farmers, workers in every profession, you name it, want to be productive. And why not? In our society, productivity is rewarded handsomely. You can't get an A+ or a stack of Benjamins if you're not a productive worker.

Sports Notebook: Women's tennis takes two of three

After getting their first victory in five matches against Tyler Junior College (16-2) on Mar. 13, it unfortunately didn't take long for the women's tennis team (11-8) to record their eighth loss of the season, as they fell 4-3 to then-unranked Texas Christian University (4-6) on Mar. 20. However, the result of doubles play was not a sign of things to come, as all three matches were won by the Owls, albeit in close fashion, with all three matches decided by less than two points. After freshmen Dominique Harmath and Kim Anicete picked up their 10th and 11th singles wins of the year, respectively, it seemed that Rice had the match nearly won with a 3-0 lead. But the Horned Frogs, who had won 10 straight against the Owls, were not about to concede the match. The remaining matches were all dominated by TCU early, as each of the first sets of the matches were taken by TCU. But each remaining Rice player rallied to force a third set in her match, needing just one more set in one of the matches to defeat their rivals from Fort Worth. But despite their valiant comeback efforts in the single matches, TCU swept all four tiebreaker sets in dominating fashion, winning two of the sets 6-0 and two by a score of 6-1 to pull out the road victory.

New adaptation of Jane Eyre beautiful, haunting

Eerie music parallels a trembling camera shot of a heaving gate; it seems as if the viewer's own feet are rising and falling over the moor. In the opening moments of Jane Eyre the audience is Jane Eyre, experiencing her escape from Mr. Rochester's estate after learning about the mad wife he keeps locked and hidden on the third floor.

This week's editorial cartoon

Budget cuts ended

President David Leebron announced during his semiannual Town Hall meeting on Feb. 22 that no more across-the-board reductions were expected for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. However, he said the university would still maintain a tight budget.