Rice needs help during financial plight

By Staff Editorial     1/8/09 6:00pm

There's nothing easy, nothing fortunate and nothing guaranteed about the current recession.Nobody is unaffected, and nobody without responsibility. So when President David Leebron announces a hiring freeze (see story, page 1), we should not look at the plan as a surprise; rather, we should look at this stoppage as a necessary measure for Rice's fiscal survival during the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.This freeze, the cessation of expansion, puts the campus's status as an elite institution at risk. On average, Rice hires 38 people per month, many of those heading into Housing and Dining and Facilities, Engineering and Planning to accelerate the university's recent growth. Now, you may not find yourself personally affected by the Big Chill, but that doesn't mean that the student body shouldn't chip in to carry us through the mire and muck of these times. Because many service resources will be stretched to the max, a greater burden of maintaining Rice's reputation and good order will fall on the student body's shoulders. It means that students should be more aware of the ramifications of their actions. When a night at Willy's Pub turns into a night of debacles, try to rein the destruction in a bit. Be aware of your surroundings, and keep the mayhem to a minimum.

Rice's recent growth has been near break-neck speed, and its continuation would have been foolhardy at best, unsalvageable at worst. When he reevaluates Rice's options in March, we hope that President Leebron will consider the economic forecast calm enough to continue our long-range projects, and we would hope that we, as Rice students, will have done our part to keep the university sound in the meantime.

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