Letter from the opinion editor’s desk: Voicing your opinions is important more than ever
Monday, Aug. 26 is a day that I’ll still remember, whether I want to or not.
The shock I felt as I saw the shelter-in-place order ring on my phone. How my heart raced as a friend and I sought safety in a stranger’s suite at Brown College. How my voice shook as I picked up phone call after phone call from friends, family and colleagues.
Aug. 26 was a day that none of us expected — when the fabric of this university and my college was torn apart by tragedy.
Yet it was also a day when Rice students made the decision to mend that fabric — as we hugged each other, went on long walks with each other, held hands with each other, and listened to each other.
Just this past week, at the celebration of life for Andrea Rodriguez Avila in the Rice Memorial Center, I saw people from all across campus talking, communicating, creating with each other wonderful works of prose, string, tile and paint.
It’s especially on a dark day like that Monday that we can begin to process — by listening to each other and what we have to say.
We want to hear what you have to say. There are many spaces on campus to connect, to share, to listen. These pages are one of them.
In my first opinion article for the Thresher reflecting on the shooting at Michigan State University, I said that “to create … to mold what lies around us into that which we desire…is our charge, our debt.”
Those are words I still stand by today — words I intend to implement on this page by raising your voices to the forefront. It’s by sharing what we have to say with each other that we can enrich life on our campus, attend to important issues, and most importantly honor the lives of those who are no longer with us.
As I enter my second year as opinions editor, my goal is to foster your thoughts and spotlight the many conversations held on this campus.
At the end of the day, it’s your voices that matter and that I will strive to uphold. Our door will always be open.
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.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.