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(02/27/09 12:00am)
After a record-high turnout in the Student Association elections, we cannot commend the student body enough for making its voice heard (see story, page 1). The SA debates were widely-watched, the messages of potential candidates were widely-dispersed, and the poetry of the election was widely-versed, if a bit full of rage.We would like to extend our congratulations and gratitude to all candidates, especially those who had never been involved in the SA before. It was a breath of fresh air to hear new voices, see new faces and learn new ideas from those who had not been involved in the SA from Day 1. We also admired those who had previously given their time to the SA, and we hope that those in both camps who did not win will remain involved in the SA. A variety of ideals and ideas make an institution more representative of the student body, which, after all, should be its main focal point.
(02/20/09 12:00am)
At midnight this morning, the six-day-long Student Association General Election period commenced. Students have until Wednesday at noon to cast their ballots, which will be available both online at sa.rice.edu and at several college sites throughout the week. Besides the SA position races, this semester's ballot includes a number of changes to SA by-laws and the constitution.Regarding the by-law changes, the Thresher offers the following recommendations:
(02/20/09 12:00am)
Two weeks ago, the Thresher mistakenly reported that the speaker at a debate regarding the U.S. Public Service Academy was USPSA co-founder Chris Myers Asch ("Debate considers pros, cons of public service academy," Feb. 6). In fact, the speaker was USPCA co-founder Shawn Raymond. Asch was not present at the debate, and all quotes attributed to him should have been attributed to Raymond. The story has been updated online at www.ricethresher.org.Last week, the Thresher reported that the proposed future rent rates for Valhalla totaled a 137% increase from current rates ("Rent increases proposed for pubs," Feb 13). However, we were unaware that the current rent numbers do not include custodial fees, while the newly proposed number does. Re-calculating the numbers and taking this into account, the increase becomes 30 percent, instead. The story has been updated online at www.ricethresher.org.
(02/13/09 12:00am)
With an ever-tightening economic noose forcing the university to pay more and more attention to its budget, Rice is currently entertaining a proposal that would increase the rent owed by Willy's Pub and Valhalla (see story, page 1). The amount of money Pub would owe has not been made public, but Valhalla would be on the hook for $1,678.25 per month, or $1,000 more per month than the graduate student hangout is paying this year.We are fully aware that this proposal is far from finalized, but we feel that it is necessary to raise our objections as preemptively and immediately as possible.
(02/13/09 12:00am)
Just in case the numerous flyers covering tables at the serveries have not given enough indication, we will make it clear here: The Student Association elections for the 2009-'10 school year are right around the corner. Presidential debates are scheduled for Monday at 10 p.m. in the Farnsworth Pavilion, and the general election period starts Friday. To the three canididates running for SA president, Brown College junior Patrick McAnaney, Martel College sophomore Nicholas Muscara and Jones College junior Matty Weingast, we offer the following:It was nearly two years ago today that the Thresher Editorial Staff crafted a rather scathing indictment of the SA's policies ("SA needs its own Vision," Feb. 23, 2007). Our critique at that time was that the SA was slowly becoming "a rubber stamp for administrative interests." We complained then that SA members had apparent trouble with the concept of providing "strong, clear voices representing [the] majority opinion of their constituency" in the form of resolutions.
(02/06/09 12:00am)
As the evidence piles up indicating that the removal of trays will result in lower water bills and electricity costs for Rice's servery system, we have to applaud the Student Association's proposed resolution supporting the measure (see story, page 1). We also greatly appreciate that H&D chose not to exercise its right to act unilaterally in this decision and instead chose to collaborate with the student body.Preliminary test-runs of the trayless program - "Wasteless Wednesdays" at the south servery - have shown upwards of a 30 percent reduction in food waste and an 11 percent reduction in water usage at each meal, and we firmly believe that any type of practical cost reduction is a welcome sign, especially in today's economic climate.
(02/06/09 12:00am)
Last year, the Faculty Senate proposed an academic calendar that would have given students just one week to add classes without a fee, and only five weeks to drop classes. But after meetings with the SA, the Senate has decided to extend both of those deadlines, and we have to thank its members for their willingness to listen to student concerns (see story, page 1).While the new schedule of two weeks to add a class and seven weeks to drop is more condensed than the current schedule, we feel that it is a fair compromise for both professors and students. Registration data shows that the vast majority of students already operate within this time frame, so the change is merely reflecting a trend already in place. And, should a student face some sort of extenuating circumstance, he or she can still appeal to the Examinations and Standing Committee for help escaping an academic hole.
(02/06/09 12:00am)
The new Brockman Hall for Physics, slated to be completed in December 2010, should be heralded as a welcome addition to the Rice campus (see story, page 4). Although the construction may hamper our peace and quiet, the resulting building will create the perfect amount of peace and quiet that our physicists require to conduct their experiments.The Physics and Astronomy Department may already command much of the administration's attention, but Rice should do everything possible to ensure that its achievements attract more focus outside the hedges. Rice's physicists have already garnered praise for their research, and their move to the state-of-the-art of Brockman Hall will allow them to pursue ever more ambitious experimental goals . At the very least, Rice will have a new recruiting tool, since the building will be attractive to both potential students and potential faculty, and that, of course, is a very good thing.
(01/30/09 12:00am)
Once upon a time, the Thresher expressed displeasure that the Faculty Senate had chosen to lay the groundwork for Rice to introduce minors to the undergraduate curriculum ("Minors programs call for proper treatment," May 19, 2006). The editorial staff expressed concern that a wave of new minors could possibly overtax already-stressed students and cheapen major curriculum by stretching department resources. However, we of the current editorial board must say that so far, the spate of introduced minors has not given us any cause for concern, and most, including the newly proposed neuroscience minor, have left us impressed (see story, page 1). We applaud the initiative and motivation shown by those students who in recent months and years have worked to introduce new interdisciplinary studies in the form of minors. Far from stretching resources, these minors - business, sociology and the recently approved Jewish studies - have opened doors for students to take advantage of the best in multiple departments, not the worst.
(01/30/09 12:00am)
Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, a staff member working in the Humanities Building was assaulted as she made her nightly cleaning rounds (see story, page 1). Her assailant fled on foot, evading the Rice University Police Department and running through campus.Students were oblivious to most of this action, save for the few who saw the police cars crowding the inner loop near the Humanities Building, but it did not have to be this way. We're all aware that following the Virginia Tech massacre two years ago, Rice invested in a new measure of safety, compiling students' cell phone numbers and e-mails in case an emergency were ever to occur on campus. In the past few years, we've received texts informing us of on-campus flooding (Aug. 16, 2007) and strong-arm Sallyport robberies (Nov. 17, 2007), both good uses of the system.
(01/23/09 12:00am)
The idea of the planned Jewish studies minor, set to be implemented after achieving $10 million in donations, has convinced us that the administration's focus on academics is expanding and extending in the right direction (See story, page 1). As the first specific religious studies program at Rice, a diverse student body will have the opportunity to extend their knowledge into new realms, and potential students will have yet another reason to look at Rice with intrigued eye.But let us not stop here with this sole program. We hope that this new curriculum, slated to begin next fall, will be the harbinger of better things ahead. There is no reason for us to assume that this will be the last minor established at Rice, let alone the lone religious studies program offered by the university. However, we would like to call for the continued growth in both areas.
(01/23/09 12:00am)
The story "10,818: Applications for 2013 class surpass 10,000, break records" in the Jan. 16 issue of the Thresher was credited to Michelle Jin but should have been credited to Melissa Tsang. The Thresher regrets the error.
(01/23/09 12:00am)
The freshmen coming in next year at Duncan and McMurtry colleges will be in the unique positions of defining their colleges' identities, traditions, and unique nomenclatures. And according to the plans, they will have some help, as Baker and Will Rice colleges will be having separate yet collaborative orientation weeks with Duncan and McMurtry, respectively. (see story, page 1).The plan in and of itself - with O-Weeks maintaining their separate identities amidst an atmosphere that will foment Rice's two newest colleges - is admirable, if not entirely perfect. We respect the administration's desire to avoid the situation that arose with the inception of the most recent college, Martel, which was populated almost entirely with those who didn't mesh in the other eight colleges' lives. This stew of anxiety and awkwardness did not foster an ideal situation, and while Martel has since come into its own, its beginnings were impeded of lack of planning.
(01/16/09 12:00am)
Rice has always been about getting a good education for the best value. From the free-tuition policy that lasted more than 50 years after the university's opening day to the No. 1 "Best Value" ranking in last year's Princeton Review, maintaining the ability to educate students more effectively while charging less than our competitors has been central in Rice's institutional goals since day one. This is why we hope that Rice's placement of only fourth-best on two separate best value lists is only temporary (see story, page 1). It is true while we fell from the top spot in the aforementioned Princeton Review, we did rise one slot from fifth in Kiplinger's Personal Finance, but it might be worth asking: why did we stop the ascent at number four?Certain other universities took the spots ahead of us: Swarthmore, Harvard and Princeton in the Princeton Review, and California Institute of Technology, Yale and Princeton in Kiplinger's. Most of these schools sport tens of billions of dollars in endowment funds, and, consequently, no-loan thresholds higher than the clouds - a factor to which both sets of rankings give great weight. Rice has some reason to complain, though, since the rankings came out before the administration announced a raise in our own no-loan threshold from $60,000 to $80,000 ("Rice modifies financial aid," Jan. 9).
(01/16/09 12:00am)
If it seemed like there were a lot more tour groups going around than usual last semester, you probably were not imagining things. For the Fall 2009 incoming class, a record 10,818 prospective students applied to matriculate at Rice, an 11.5% spike from the 9,812 who sent in materials last year (see story, page 1). But it is not just that more students were applying - approximately 28 percent of those who applied early decision were offered admission, a wide margin over last year's 24 percent who were allowed in early. When this influx of new students arrive on campus next year, there's also a higher probability that they will be from somewhere other than the United States, as the number of those applying from abroad was 28 percent higher than last year.Combined with the 63 percent spike in worldwide applicants we saw last year, this glut of incoming internationals is a welcome change. But perhaps change isn't the correct word, as Rice has long been viewed as having one of the best class-race interrelations in the nation ("Princeton Review ranks Rice No. 2 for quality of life, race/class interaction," Aug. 22). Still, an increase in diversity, regardless of whether or not we had already attained a suitable level, is commendable.
(01/09/09 12:00am)
There's nothing easy, nothing fortunate and nothing guaranteed about the current recession.Nobody is unaffected, and nobody without responsibility. So when President David Leebron announces a hiring freeze (see story, page 1), we should not look at the plan as a surprise; rather, we should look at this stoppage as a necessary measure for Rice's fiscal survival during the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.This freeze, the cessation of expansion, puts the campus's status as an elite institution at risk. On average, Rice hires 38 people per month, many of those heading into Housing and Dining and Facilities, Engineering and Planning to accelerate the university's recent growth. Now, you may not find yourself personally affected by the Big Chill, but that doesn't mean that the student body shouldn't chip in to carry us through the mire and muck of these times. Because many service resources will be stretched to the max, a greater burden of maintaining Rice's reputation and good order will fall on the student body's shoulders. It means that students should be more aware of the ramifications of their actions. When a night at Willy's Pub turns into a night of debacles, try to rein the destruction in a bit. Be aware of your surroundings, and keep the mayhem to a minimum.
(01/09/09 12:00am)
With all the attention recently on the economy, it may come as a surprise to hear that Rice is raising its no-loan threshold, giving higher-income families the opportunity to qualify for a financial aid package that does not include loans (see story, page 1). Taking its lead from Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, Rice decided last week to increase the annual income threshold from $60,000 to $80,000.Pardon us while we stand and applaud.
(01/09/09 12:00am)
This week, Wiess College senior Jeremy Caves showed off his scientific literacy, and in an magnificent showing with the rest of his research team, he won Houston's Recycle Ike contest by suggesting that the city turn the organic waste into Biochar (see story, page 1).While our lengthy stays in the newsroom and away from the lab prevent us from fully comprehending just how remarkable a process this truly is, we do know that by turning Ike's debris into buried carbon, Caves and his crew have taken one more step toward providing a good environment for all of Rice's generations.
(12/05/08 12:00am)
Probably everyone would agree that Rice's comprehensive alert system would be good for notifying students of impending natural disasters, campus closings and crimes in the surrounding neighborhoods. But what about the on-campus presence of a gun-wielding man fleeing the Rice University Police Department?We feel that when a man accused of physically assaulting his undergraduate girlfriend evades police custody by vaulting from the roof of Brown College (see story, page 7), students should be notified of his whereabouts, and we don't mean in an e-mail an hour later. Nevertheless, we are very appreciative that at least some college masters provided the electronic communication, considering others did not even bother with that limited notice.
(12/05/08 12:00am)
How is it that Stuyvesant High School can book This American Life radio show host Ira Glass for its commencement and Rice University cannot? We have a few ideas about this.Today, the Commencement Speaker Committee announced that the speaker for the 2009 Commencement will be Zainab Salbi, the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, an organization that helps female survivors of war to rebuild their lives through providing them financial assistance and education (see story, page 1). Though Salbi's father served as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, Salbi herself is not associated with Hussein, as is evident from her body of humanitarian work.
