Thanks for a great year, Rice
As a nontraditional student, it can be difficult to integrate yourself into the Rice experience, but here at the Thresher, I feel like I’ve found a home.
In one of the student media department’s Media Minute seminars, Houston Chronicle Deputy Opinion Editor Evan Mintz outlined what he thought any good opinion section should do: provide a voice to the voiceless. That idea has driven what I’ve done here at the Thresher. I hope the next editor will continue to highlight perspectives that people may not have heard. I vehemently disagree with some of the opinions that have appeared in this section, but I fully believe in the power of respectful, good-faith dialogue.
While I won’t miss getting home at 1 a.m. after the Thresher’s production night on Mondays, I’ll miss the friends and colleagues I spent those Monday nights with. I’m humbled by the depth and passion with which Rice students discuss the issues closest to their hearts. To everyone who submitted an opinion piece this year: Thank you for sharing your opinions with me and the Rice community. Keep those hot takes coming, y’all.
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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