Letters to the Editor

2/12/09 6:00pm

Rec Center strives to improve facility

To the editor:We are looking forward to the new Recreation Center and trying to make do with the facility we are in currently. Thank you for voicing your opinion about the Rec Center ("Rice needs to fix Rec Center, not ignore it," Feb. 6). I would like to respond from the point of view of the staff of recreation and aquatic programs. We realize that a six lane, 25-yard pool is not sufficient for campus needs. The new pools have been planned with the growing campus in mind.

In regards to the pool schedule, we do have limited pool space and many groups who would like to use the pool. Lap swim is limited in our current pool schedule, yet I have worked hard to keep lap swims three times a day. We currently have morning, noon and evening lap swims. In fact, we have actually added an additional lap swim this semester. The Tuesday and Thursday lunch lap swims have been extended for spring 2009.

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I realize your frustration with the schedule currently. We are trying to make the best use of our space and accommodate as many people as possible. I do feel that there are times and locations in the building that are not being utilized by the students as much as they could be. In fact, posters are in the works to remind students that we have recreation swim already scheduled on Friday evenings (7:30-9:30 p.m.) and Saturday afternoons (1:30-3:30 p.m.). During those times you can relax in the shallow end and use the diving boards in the deep end. In the new building we will have lap lanes and leisure pool space continually open. With the added space, we will be able to have programs and open recreation going on at the same time. You won't have to schedule your workout times around our schedule.

I encourage you to talk to the recreation staff directly. The staff members here are welcoming and trying to do the most we can for Rice students, faculty and staff with our current facility. I would also like to encourage you to look at what we are doing with the space we currently have.

Liz Harwood

Assistant Director for Aquatics

Thresher lacks conservative view

To the editor:

I have been disappointed to notice that recent editions of the Thresher have been without a column by Caroline May. Her conservative values provided the paper with a refreshing voice of reason, which would eloquently beckon the reader to the traditional values of the American heartland. Especially useful to the impressionable college students who read the Thresher were her sober reminders of the fact that global warming remains open to debate and has not yet been proven. In fact, many cities in the Pacific Northwest received much more snow this winter than usual and in many Rice buildings, I am often forced to wear a sweater.

One suspects that she has been dismissed from this newspaper for her conservative point of view, just as the Jews were from Nazi Germany for their Jewish point of view. The silent majority of Thresher readers derived great benefits and understanding from her little gems - nay, diamonds - of wisdom and would therefore greatly appreciate if the Thresher staff did everything in their power to bring Caroline May back.

Sarah Stone

Brown College Sophomore

Editor's note: Caroline May graduated from Rice in December 2008. The Thresher remains an open forum for all students regardless of their political beliefs. We invite any conservative, liberal, centrist or apathetic college student to write for us.

Service academy calls for tolerance

To the editor:

Upon reading your article on the U.S. Public Service Academy ("Debate considers pros, cons of public service academy," Feb. 6), I would like to point out that the writer made a mistake on one of the debaters' names. It was Shawn Raymond, not Chris Myers Asch, who came to Rice University to participate in the debate with Philip Levy. I strongly feel it is important to recognize the figures who come on campus to express such a noble idea and not write an article with a misnomer. It is time students like us understand the importance of civic duty and honor through programs such as the U.S. Public Service Academy. While it may not have a perfect system (as no institution can be perfect), it is a unique idea that students and faculty at Rice should consider - and realize - that it is going to happen someday. Whether we accept or deny the institution itself, we should understand that the need for motivated, intelligent individuals in public service is necessary not just today, but for our future as well.

Arthi Satyanarayan

Sid Richardson College sophomore

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