Special Projects

Alumni re-explore Rice lore

From setting off fireworks in students’ rooms to painting the ceiling of Hanszen to massive food wars, anything can happen within the hedges at Rice. The Thresher compiled some of the best lore and unique stories from Rice over the years.

04-12-2023 Crossword Solutions

04-12-2023 Crossword: "Jump!"

Beer Bike 2023 welcomes more races, a new record

The 2023 Beer Bike races took place Saturday, with all three races — alumni, women’s and men’s — divided up into two heats. The times from both heats will be compared by the RPC to determine the final results after penalties for each team are calculated. According to campus-wide Beer Bike coordinator Anne Wang, results are expected to be released later in the week, likely on Friday.

REMS receives $180,000 grant

Rice Emergency Medical Services received a $180,000 grant this March from the Pennington First Aid Squad, an organization in Pennington, New Jersey.

REMS hosts blood drive in honor of Kamryn Sanamo

Rice Emergency Medical Services will host a blood drive on April 7 in memory of Kamryn Sanamo, a Martel College senior who passed away in January after battling brain cancer. The drive, open to members of the Rice community, will take place from noon to 6 pm in Lot 6.

Computer Science debuts redesigned curriculum

The computer science department held a town hall announcing the redesigned COMP curriculum to students on Tuesday, March 21. The new curriculum includes many changes to the major requirements for both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, according to a document shared with COMP majors.

Review: ‘the record’ is boygenius at their best

Indie rock supergroup boygenius is back, this time with a 42-minute, full-length LP titled “the record.” Comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, boygenius boasts an impressive fanbase that has long been awaiting their comeback. After the triumph of their self-titled six song EP in 2018 and ongoing wildly successful solo careers, boygenius had lofty expectations to live up to that they easily surpassed with each song on “the record.”  

Review: 6LACK turns a corner on ‘Since I Have A Lover’

6LACK, pronounced “black,” is an artist known for his music about emotional instability, from unrequited love to unhealthy relationships. “Since I Have A Lover” sees 6LACK, born Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr., embrace happiness instead through his lyrics and instrumentation five years after his last full-length album.

Rice to host inaugural Moody X-Fest

To celebrate the $100 million donation made by the Moody Foundation, Rice is hosting the first Moody X-Fest on April 7 featuring free food, games and a concert headlined by GROUPLOVE. The event will be taking place at 5 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse.

Review: ‘Rye Lane’ is a British rom-com that’s cute, hilarious and full of life

One of the first signs that signal to the audience about what kind of movie “Rye Lane” will be is how colorful it is. This is director Raine Allen-Miller’s first feature film, yet she has already crafted a distinct visual signature, characterized by an almost perpetually moving camera, central framing and vibrant hues filling each frame. 

Spice up fall semester with these courses

Now that it’s officially registration season, students across campus are looking for classes to add some spice into their fall semester course load, and there’s no better way to do that than with some Rice arts classes. From cooking to creative writing, film to art history, here are a plethora of different classes that students can take next semester.

Hamza’s pizza tour: Sampling a selection of slices

Rice campus boasts a diverse student body, and along with this diversity comes various opinions on the best pizza in the world. Arguments over the superiority of New York thin crust, the Chicago Deep Dish or the classic Neapolitan have run rampant across this fine campus, and as the only valid opinion on the subject, the Thresher aims to squash these debates once and for all in the hunt for the superior slice.

Senior Spotlight: Nathan Bergrin designs a path to create social good through architecture

For Nathan Bergrin, choosing to study architecture was a shot in the dark. After creating art through drawing, painting and music composition in high school, Bergrin knew that he wanted to use creative thinking for something more concrete. Before attending Rice, he had no prior experience in architecture and did not know what the curriculum entailed.

04-05-2023 Crossword Solutions

04-05-2023 Crossword: "PRIDE"

‘Disgraced financial analyst’ Matthew Broussard talks being funny

A self-described “disgraced financial analyst,” Matthew Broussard (’10) was crowned Houston’s Funniest Person a mere two years after graduating from Rice with a degree in computational and applied mathematics. What started as doing open mics as a hobby before transitioning to full-time comedy, Broussard has since appeared on shows like Comedy Central and Conan, prodded John Mayer about his ex-girlfriends on Roast Battle and created a puzzle app called Monday Punday. He has also met Chris Hemsworth once in an elevator.

Black at Rice: Zahrah Butler keeps good company

According to Zahrah Butler, everyone should shave their head at least once. Now a senior, Butler commented on their growth over the years and how shaving their head after wearing long dreadlocks came to symbolize that growth and the environment that propelled it. Looking back, they said they have become stronger and more capable of thriving in the face of adversity.

Rice Eclipse launches rockets, shoots for stars

While most Rice students were sleeping in the morning of March 26, a group of students were in transit to launch rockets an hour away. These students had spent hours working in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen on their rockets with Rice Eclipse and were now ready to get their L1 rocketry certification.

04-05-2023 Sports Cartoon: "Owl-American"