Special Projects

Karlgaard’s dilemma: Bloomgren is the cause of progress, stagnation

When Rice moves to the American Athletic Conference next season, they’ll be one of three teams in the AAC named the Owls. If they opt to change their nickname to avoid confusion, might I suggest the Tortoises. The Owl football team has religiously followed the “slow-and-steady” model since head coach Mike Bloomgren took the helm in 2018, adding one win each year, with the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Holidays Puzzles from the Backpage!

Campus responds to Houston’s city-wide boil water notice

Due to a power outage at the East Water Purification Plant on Nov. 27 that led to water pressure dropping, Houston’s main water system was under a boil water notice beginning late Sunday until Tuesday morning. The Rice crisis management team sent out an email alert saying that all buildings east of Alumni Drive, including all of the residential colleges and the Rice Memorial Center, are serviced by the campus well and were not affected by the boil water requirement. However, buildings west of Alumni Drive, such as the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, were impacted.

Ph.D. program to implement minimum stipend

Rice recently established a minimum yearly Ph.D. stipend of $32,000 that will go into effect July 1. 

Owl Pep Band plays its first games this basketball season

The Owl Pep Band, which was introduced in September, debuted this basketball season. In previous years, the Marching Owl Band typically played at these games. 

Rice signs collaboration agreement with university in India

Rice signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur  on Nov. 14, marking a collaboration between the institutions for research, teaching and training. 

Fizz app bubbles with controversy amid popularity

Fizz, an anonymous social media platform created by two Stanford University dropouts and currently catered to universities, launched at Rice on Aug. 27 and has since generated mixed reactions amongst the student population.

Is using Fizz worth sacrificing our Culture of Care?

The social media app Fizz made its way to our campus earlier this semester, offering an anonymous discussion platform for exchanging messages and memes amongst Rice students. In recent weeks, antisemitic and racist posts were made by members of our community on this app. It is entirely hateful and dangerously intolerant. 

International issues deserve our attention, too

Anyone who walked through the academic quad on Monday encountered the statue of William Marsh Rice visibly covered by sheets of A4 paper that read “习近平下台,” which roughly translates to “Resign Xi Jinping.” Other signs read “No emperor in a republic” and “Not my president.” These signs are part of larger protests happening in mainland China — that are being echoed by Chinese people across the world — in response to nearly three years of aggressive COVID lockdowns across the country. 

Volleyball beats No. 20 Western Kentucky in title game to reach C-USA hilltop

In 2019, the Rice volleyball team took on Western Kentucky University in the Conference USA final only to lose in a five-set heartbreaker. They got another shot at the Hilltoppers in the following year’s title game, and again in 2021, but both times WKU came out on top. Just ten days earlier, while not in the conference tournament, the Hilltoppers beat the Owls in a fifth-set tiebreaker to secure the C-USA regular season title. Sunday, though, the result was different. The No. 22 Owls finally made it past their conference rival, on the No. 20 Hilltoppers’ home court no less, to secure a conference title for the first time since 2018. After the match, head coach Genny Volpe said that she was thrilled to see her team rewarded for their efforts all year.

Grammy-nominated GAYLE talks Texas and Tinder bans

“I’m an artist and an attention whore,” GAYLE told audiences while performing at Austin City Limits Musical Festival last month. With that statement in mind, she chose the perfect career. Best known for her viral hit “abcdefu,” GAYLE enraptured audiences even in the Texas heat and played both guitar and keyboard while dancing around the stage with a youthful wit and sense of style that would make even the best TikTok girl seethe with jealousy. 

Volleyball sweeps UTEP in semis to set up rematch with WKU in final

Like clockwork, death, taxes, and whatever other cliché you want to use to describe mind-bending consistency, No. 22 Rice volleyball will face No. 20 Western Kentucky University in the Conference USA final yet again. The Owls secured a finals spot against the top-seeded Hilltoppers for the fourth consecutive year with a sweep of the University of Texas at El Paso in Saturday’s semifinal. According to head coach Genny Volpe, the Owls executed their game plan almost perfectly to punch their ticket to the final.

Volleyball sweeps FIU in first round of C-USAs, advances to semifinals

Rice volleyball took care of business in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, sweeping the No.7 seed Florida International University (26-24, 25-22, 25-18).  With the win, the No. 2 seed Owls advanced to the semifinals where they will face University of Texas at El-Paso. After the win, head coach Genny Volpe was happy with the sweep and moving on to the semifinals.

Tech layoffs, hiring freezes hit Rice community

As layoff and hiring freezes increase across the tech industry, computer science students and alumni are among those at Rice expressing concern for their current and future job prospects. In recent weeks, Elon Musk halved Twitter’s staff, Meta said it was firing 11,000 employees, Amazon announced plans to cut approximately 10,000 jobs and other tech firms such as Lyft and Stripe also announced layoffs.

RUPD launches Food for Fines initiative

The Rice University Police Department launched a “Food for Fines” initiative, during which students can donate food and hygiene items to cover unpaid parking tickets. From Nov. 15 to Nov. 17, students can bring products to PCF 1 anytime from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Construction of RMC, Hanszen building remains on schedule

The new Hanszen College wing is on track for student move-in by early January, and the Rice Memorial Center demolition will occur at the end of spring semester despite previous delays in the timeline, according to Director for Project Management Anzilla Gilmore. 

Campus prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving break nears, students and faculty planning to remain on campus have begun preparations to celebrate the holiday at Rice. During the break, some colleges will host a Thanksgiving dinner organized by students and the college’s core teams. This year, all of the serveries are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Multiple serveries will be open on Wednesday and Baker Kitchen will be open on Friday and Saturday. 

TEDxRiceU conference addresses climate change

TEDxRiceU held its Countdown event this past Saturday, focusing on combating climate change. The event, composed of six talks given by both faculty and students, addressed the issue of climate change through wscientific, technological and social perspectives, according to TEDxRiceU President Nicholas Ma.

Review: SoFaygo’s debut ‘Pink Heartz’ fails to impress

SoFaygo’s music exists somewhere on the musical scale between the feel-good melodic trap of Lil Tecca and the sometimes incoherent, but always energetic, flow of Yeat. Like many artists of the current day, SoFaygo experienced an almost overnight boom in popularity when ear-catching melodies went viral on social media app TikTok via songs such as “Knock Knock.” What separates SoFaygo from his contemporaries, though, has been his lack of any new projects since fame.

Review: Nas and Hit-Boy continue to amaze on ‘King’s Disease III’

In two years, Nas has blessed us with four albums that demonstrate why he is one of the best rappers to touch a microphone. “King’s Disease III” continues his four-album run of collaborations with producer Hit-Boy, a combination that has continued to elicit greatness from all involved.