102 years of reinventing the Thresher
Right now, this letter is competing for your attention with an editorial, a much more inspiring letter from President Leebron and your syllabus week hangover. However, we will soon be competing for your readership against schoolwork, your friends and your overcommitted schedule. This isn’t a challenge we take lightly: At both a national and a community level, journalism is necessary more than ever.
We’ve come to the role of editor-in-chief through different paths — Drew as a news writer and editor, Juan as the paper’s business manager and a sports writer — but we share a common goal. From documenting day-to-day student life to investigating the most serious issues on our campus, we seek to provide an unbiased lens into the Rice community.
While continuing our tradition of relevant, timely journalism, we’re working on expanding the breadth and depth of the Thresher’s coverage. To this end, we’re launching a Spotlight section of the paper which will focus on individuals, organizations and events on campus that might not be covered by our traditional news, sports, and arts and entertainment articles. We’re also adding video and online features that supplement our print stories and bring news of campus happenings to you in more ways.
The Thresher is run by Rice students and published for Rice students, and we want our organization to reflect that in its accessibility. The Thresher’s mission is not just to provide news to the student body. We also aim to provide a working place for those students who are interested in journalism — particularly since Rice still does not offer journalism classes in a time in which it is vital to cultivate the next generation of journalists. If you’re interested in journalism or media, whether as a hobby, career or simply a means of being involved in your community, sign up to join us. Believe us, we’re not even close to professionally trained journalists, so no matter what your level of experience we could use your help in writing the first rough draft of Rice’s history.
The last part of the Thresher’s mission is to serve as a community forum, as a place for your voice. So that’s our request to you: Get involved. Speak up and send us your opinion pieces. If you like (or don’t like) something we’ve published, write a letter to the editor — or just come talk to us!
More from The Rice Thresher
Students of conscience should boycott Local Foods
Local Foods has served, for many years, as a casual Houston restaurant option for Houston residents, including Rice students. Folks on campus will notice that this option has become more proximate, as a Local Foods location claims space on campus in the Brochstein Pavilion.
Insurance options for Ph.D. students are overpriced and insufficient
Doctoral students at Rice are given insufficient health insurance options especially compared to institutions with graduate student unions. Aetna’s graduate student health insurance plan leaves students with significant costs compared to the minimum annual stipend. Additionally, the available Aetna plan offers insufficient benefits when compared both to medical insurance plans at peer institutions and to the non-subsidized Wellfleet plan – Rice’s alternative option for international students.
Keep administrative hands off public parties
Emergency Management is hoping to implement a new system that has students swipe their IDs when entering public parties to cross-check their name with a pre-registered list. This idea is being touted as an effort to reduce check-in time and lines at publics. The thing is – we are tired. After bans on events, APAC and dramatic changes in party requirements, we want hands off the public party.
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