Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Tuesday, September 09, 2025 — Houston, TX

Special Projects




SPORTS 11/1/23 1:12am

Record-breaking performance brightens Golf's poor fall slate

It’s been a semester of swinging and missing for golf as they’ve placed in the bottom half of all but one invitational they’ve competed at. Golf started off the fall slate of tournaments with two average performances at the Argent Financial Classic, finishing tenth out of 16 teams (+6), and finishing 15th out of 22 teams (+22) at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational.


SPORTS 11/1/23 1:11am

Soccer season ends with loss

The Owls lost to the University of Texas at San Antonio 2-0 on Thursday in their last game of the season on Senior Night. Out of the twelve teams in the American Athletic Conference for women’s soccer, Rice was one of four to not qualify for the AAC Women’s Soccer Championship tournament, finishing their season with a 1-7-1 conference record and 3-13-2 overall record, not winning a game at home. 


SPORTS 11/1/23 1:10am

Column: Rice can stop the Pony Express

Saturday’s game against Southern Methodist University will be Rice Football’s final game against old Southwest Conference foes in 2023. The Owls will take the field with a 4-4 record, not having won at home since September, while the Mustangs seek to extend their four-game win streak and improve to 7-2 on the season. 


SPORTS 11/1/23 1:09am

Owls drowned by the Green Wave in latest AAC loss

“We came up short” has become an all-too-familiar refrain for Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren, who uttered this four-word statement again following a 30-28 loss to the No. 22 Tulane Green Wave on Saturday evening at Rice Stadium. The defeat dropped the Owls to 4-4 on the season.



A&E 11/1/23 1:04am

Review: ‘The Killer’ returns to familiar territory

Despite ongoing industry strikes, 2023 has been a good year for Hollywood, specifically for well-known auteurs. David Fincher’s “The Killer” once again proves his firm grasp on the thriller genre, and joins the likes of Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese’s releases as one of 2023’s best films.



A&E 11/1/23 1:02am

Review: ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ expands a pop triumph

An album that signaled Taylor Swift’s final move from the world of country to mainstream pop music, “1989” was full of catchy tracks, albeit cheesy at times — sorry, “Welcome to New York” — that truly cemented Swift’s pop stardom and fueled an ever-growing Swiftie fanbase. Nine years later to the day, Swift re-released this album as “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” the next stop on her years-long journey of re-recording all of her original masters. 


A&E 11/1/23 1:01am

Meet the ACL artist: Husbands

Born and raised in Oklahoma City, musician Danny Davis’ self-described surfy, beach pop sound might be surprising, given his roots in a land-locked state. Drawing musical inspiration from The Beach Boys, Davis, who’s part of the band Husbands, said the sort of music he most wants to emulate is what people can dance to. 


A&E 11/1/23 1:00am

Review: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is a film for devoted fans

Starting off as a standalone lore-filled game in 2014, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise has expanded to toys, books and now, a much-anticipated movie. The FNaF empire has now revolutionized both the indie gaming sphere and the internet horror genre as a whole. As a result, the investigative journalists here at the Thresher spent a night at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza to determine if this film was a soulless cash grab of an adaptation or if Freddy truly had been cooking.


FEATURES 11/1/23 12:50am

CAAAS gets a makeover

One does not have to go further than Rice’s own website to learn about its 1891 charter, which originally designated the school for “the instruction and improvement of the white inhabitants of the City of Houston and State of Texas.” More than 100 years later, Rice has seen a surge in the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and Black scholarship, especially in the Center for African and African American Studies.



FEATURES 11/1/23 12:43am

New courses to explore this spring semester

It’s already that time of year — students across campus are looking to craft the perfect spring semester schedule, one that satisfies both their interests and their graduation requirements. The Thresher has compiled a list of never-before-seen courses without prerequisites that any student can take to fulfill some graduation requirements — and to explore something interesting and new.


OPINION 11/1/23 12:41am

NOD shut down highlights a need for change

In the early hours of Oct. 29, the 50th Night of Decadence public at Wiess College was abruptly cut short. In an email to all students, the Wiess team in charge of organizing the public justified the shut down due to the complete overwhelming of Rice and Houston emergency services, which was promptly accelerated after an altercation between RUPD and several students. 


OPINION 11/1/23 12:38am

Speak out against antisemitism

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 6 p.m.: Dozens of Rice students and community members gather in the Graduate Student Bubble for an anti-war teach-in because the Basker Institute has plans to celebrate former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, Hillary Clinton and James Baker at an upcoming gala. The flyer for the event calls the former secretaries “architects of war and imperialism”; intrigued, I, too, make my way there.


OPINION 11/1/23 12:37am

Letter to the Editor: No feminism without sex positivity

Last week’s Thresher included a guest opinion objecting to the 2023 Night of Decadence theme, “NODie Dreamhouse: Cum On Barbie, Let’s Get NODy.” I applaud the article’s authors for their commitment to challenging latent and linguistically-embedded sexism in their campus community — everything around us, even something as silly and salacious as a NOD theme, can and should be examined for carried biases and perpetuated marginalizations. But “Cum on Barbie” is not one of those cases.


NEWS 11/1/23 12:35am

Old Sid demolition delayed due to bee colony and weather

The demolition of the old Sid Richardson College building was not completed in October as originally planned due to weather conditions, bees in the demolition site and other complications, according to Faith Neyra, a communications specialist in the office of finance and administration.


NEWS 11/1/23 12:33am

Students talk financial aid challenges

Rice has joined over 360 colleges in the United States in making a commitment to financial aid transparency, according to a news release from the Office of Public Affairs. The announcement says Rice reaffirms its commitment to remaining a loan-free institution.