In defense of Thresher travel

By Jenna Perrone     4/19/25 6:16pm

I grew up in a small town in southern New Jersey called Columbus. Most people from New Jersey haven't even heard of it. If they have, it’s only ever because of our farmers’ market or our supposedly haunted hotel on Main Street. I attended the local public school from preschool through twelfth grade, and I hated every moment of it. 

Many of my closest friends went to school further north, closer to New York. I would go online every weekend to see them off on some exciting adventure with their school: national competitions, cutting-edge conferences, exciting professional development opportunities – you name it, they were being given the opportunity to do it. And I was sitting at home, suffocating under the weight of an underfunded rural public school, feeling like the world was passing me by. 

That’s why I was so ecstatic to get into Rice - I saw this as my chance to make up for opportunities I had missed out on in high school. To myself and many other students, Rice is more than just a university or a degree. It is a path into a world of possibility and ambition that we would otherwise be isolated from. 

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Travel expenses are a crucial part of that. They are an opportunity for students here who, for whatever reason, did not have access to such privileges in high school — students who came here specifically because of the advantages provided by a school with as many financial resources as Rice. 

Contrary to what the Blanket Tax Committee’s report states, the Thresher’s travel expenses do benefit all students. They are an enrichment opportunity accessible to anyone interested in journalism on campus, and I am a testament to that. The Thresher does not require any prior experience, only a brief training session. I joined in November 2024, and despite never having worked on a newspaper before, the Thresher’s team welcomed me with open arms and gave me the opportunity to attend the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Conference last weekend simply because I was interested and had been actively involved in the paper over the previous months. 

And that conference was a transformative experience for me. Rice does not offer a journalism major or even a communications degree, so journalism expertise is hard to come by here on campus. At the TIPA conference, though, I got to meet so many talented professionals, and their advice is going to help me help the student body. 

I serve as the editor of the Thresher’s Opinion section, and when it comes to giving back to the student body, there is no section that does so more directly. We accept submissions from students, faculty, and Rice community members, providing each of these groups with an avenue to make their thoughts on our campus known — our only requirement is that you have an opinion. 

Many of the Student Association's current Executive Committee members ran on the platform of making sure student voices are heard, and that’s exactly what I do here. The advice I received from professional journalists and teachers at the TIPA conference will be crucial in ensuring I can continue to do that. TIPA gave me the knowledge necessary to begin advocating for the expansion of the opinion page, increasing submissions, clarifying submission policies and hopefully one day returning to a two page spread. Every single one of these improvements will allow student voices to be amplified on campus, but they would not be possible without the knowledge I gained by attending a journalism conference.

Continuing to develop my skills as a journalist and editor through these conferences is necessary, and it benefits all students by helping me best support them through the opinion submission process. We want the same thing here: a campus that is collaborative and inviting to all students. We have the resources to make that a reality, so please don’t take them away. 

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