Rice Thresher
Encyclopedia
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| Type | weekly newspaper |
| Format | 11x17 tabloid |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Headquarters | Rice University Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States... , Houston, Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... |
| Editor-in-chief | Josh Rutenberg |
| Website | www.ricethresher.org |
The Rice Thresher is the weekly, student-run newspaper of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded in 1916, the year of Rice University's first matriculation http://ricethresher.org/. It has an estimated circulation of 6,000, given on-campus distribution, subscriptions and off-campus distribution at area businesses, including Kahn's Deli in the Rice Village and House of Pies.
The Thresher has won several awards from the Associated College Press, including 2007 Best in Show for a tabloid weekly, 2005 First Place for a tabloid weekly, and 2003 ACP Newspaper Pacemaker Finalist.
History
In 1992, the Thresher broke a cheating scandal, revealing athlete corruption while the university refused to confirm or deny the events. The Threshers coverage garnered national recognition.Sections
The Thresher is separated into six sections: News, Sports, Arts and Entertainment, Calendar, Opinion and Backpage. The Backpage is satire and not published on the Website.News
Thresher News focuses almost entirely on campus events. In 2010 Seth Brown, Cindy Dinh, and Josh Rutenberg received 2010 Region 8 Marks of Excellence for In-Depth Reporting for coverage of the proposed Rice-Baylor College of Medicine merger.Opinion
Thresher Opinion is usually limited to two pages, though it has been extended to three, four or even five pages given special events such as Hurricane Rita, KTRU shutdown, gay marriage debates and, in 2006, the Invisible Children rally. The first page, usually page 2, contains staff editorials, letters and a cartoon. The second page usually contains three columns. Columns are usually limited to students or people in the Rice community, but besides these requirements the Thresher opinion section has an open submission policy. The opinion editor often writes columns as well.The Opinion section has been home to several awards won by the Thresher, including Society of Professional Journalists 2006 Region 8 Mark of Excellence for First Place in Editorial Cartooning, taking first in the region. In 2010, Brian Reinhart received a Region 8 Mark of Excellence for general column writing, finishing in second place.
Sports
With Rice's Division I-A status, Thresher Sports is unusually large for a weekly paper of a small school. It also focuses on intramural and residential college sports. A recent addition, named Page 2.5, runs bi-weekly and showcases sport satire, with a focus on Rice athletics. In 2008, Dylan Farmer and Casey Michel received Region 8 Mark of Excellence Awards for sports column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists, finishing first and second, respectively, in the region. Farmer was then named one of three national finalists. In 2010, Michel earned first place in Region 8 both sports column writing and sports writing, and was named one of three national finalists for sports writing.Arts and Entertainment
Thresher A&E reviews campus plays, new movies, music and often contains a column by the editor or other writers.The Backpage
There is a section called "the Backpage" including regular feature "Misclassifieds" (Misclass), in which students would write embarrassing stories about their friends. Now they are funny and embarrassing quotes heard around campus. In recent years, the Backpage has taken on more of a humor or satire theme, addressing issues on campus.The Backpage has resulted in many controversies over the years, including at November 1996 Backpage titled "Rice Women Are Like...," a Misclass concerning former Rice president Malcolm Gillis' wife, and a September 2006 Backpage that received attention from blogs, including mixedmediawatch.com, all of which resulted in apologies or firings.
Alumni
- Steve JacksonSteve Jackson (US)Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...
, founder of Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
, who started The Backpage
- William Broyles, Jr., founding editor of Texas MonthlyTexas MonthlyTexas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazine, editor in chief of NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine, screenwriter, Apollo 13Apollo 13 (film)Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...
, Flags of Our FathersFlags of Our Fathers (film)is a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were involved...
.
- Paul Burka, senior executive editor, political columnist, and blogger for Texas MonthlyTexas MonthlyTexas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
.