The Editorial Board presents: The editorials we never wrote
For our final editorial of the year, we decided to do a brief recap of some of the editorials we never had a chance to write. Some are very serious, some are only mildly serious — and we leave it up to y’all to figure out which are which.
Rice should replace the current campus buses with electric ones. There are so many benefits to this switch, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, lower maintenance costs and a cleaner, more modern appearance on campus. But most importantly, getting stuck behind one of the current buses while biking the inner loop does a number on your lungs for the rest of the day.
The Honor Council’s new ChatGPT policy is arbitrary and impossible to enforce. Instead, the university should require faculty to individually determine the extent to which AI software is allowed in their course assignments and reflect that in their syllabi.
When True Dog was initially introduced to campus, we were going to urge the Rice community to give it a chance. After we tried it, we realized those thoughts were premature. We’re glad we held off on that one.
A big shoutout to H&D, both the housing and dining arms. Housing staff, we realize that we’ve put y’all through a lot this year, and we know that most of your work goes unnoticed, so thank you. Dining staff, both the food and servery set-ups have been noticeably better this year, and we appreciate it.
One crucial thing we learned this year is the importance of increased mental health support in the Rice community. We urge the administration to increase funding for the Wellbeing and Counseling center to sufficiently address student needs.
And finally, we are absolutely begging y’all, please stop making people get wristbands for public parties.
Editor’s Note: Thresher editorials are collectively written by the members of the Thresher’s editorial board. Current members include Ben Baker-Katz, Morgan Gage, Bonnie Zhao, Hajera Naveed, Nayeli Shad, Riya Misra, Michelle Gachelin, Daniel Schrager, Prayag Gordy and Brandon Chen.
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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