College night: respect is a two-way street

By Staff Editorial     11/20/08 6:00pm

Whoever thought of college night is an absolute genius - having an excuse to wear ridiculous costumes all day long is liberating and being able to drink in class feels so wrong, and yet so right. But just as we must temper our drinking so we don't die of alcohol poisoning, we must also temper our college nights so they don't fall victim to the same affliction. Because at this moment, college night is in danger.It started a few weeks ago when Jones College hosted its college night and many Jones students raided Professor Zhiyong Gao's classroom, wreaked general havoc and left a trail of destruction in their wake (See story, page 1). Now, there have been many a crazy college night, but in this case, students left so much debris behind that the custodian who cleaned class afterward became upset and alerted Gao, who filed a complaint with chair of the Math Department and Will Rice College Master Mike Wolfe. Consequently, Brown and Martel colleges hosted their college nights in their respective commons, allowing students to drink while their masters lectured on different topics.

We are greatly disappointed that a group of students were inconsiderate and disrepectful of others by leaving behind their trash. As it is, respect for college students is hard to come by. We're often accused of being messy and having things catered to us (especially if we're living in dormitories). If we want to ask for financial autonomy within our clubs or the freedom to choose classes without prerequisites, we need to prove that we are mature and responsible. Unfortunately, the actions on Jones College Night seem to prove otherwise.

With that said, we also want to point out that not every Rice student is an idiot. In fact, we would argue that most Rice students know better and are, in fact, considerate people. Therefore, we hope that the administration will not cancel college night should another fiasco occur. Instead, we urge masters and the administration to punish the few individuals involved rather than the university as a whole.

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In the meantime, we must prove ourselves again as responsible and mature adults by showing the university that we are not just a bunch of immature, collegiate jerks. We hope - no, we know - that we're better than that.

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