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(09/26/08 12:00am)
Last week, the Thresher wrote a staff editorial encouraging Rice Program Council to increase its visibility and relevance in light of its massive budget increase for the 2008-'09 school year ("With great budget comes great responsibility," Sept. 19). This week, we are reporting on Esperanza, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, at the end of homecoming week (see story, page 1).RPC revealed this week that Esperanza will be held on campus in an outdoor tent between the Shepherd School of Music, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, but more than just an average tent, this particular locale will boast walls, a hardwood floor, bathrooms and ice sculptures.
(09/26/08 12:00am)
Recently, the student-led tour program facilitated by the Student Admissions Council has undergone several changes (See story, page 1). "Professional" polo shirts, optional visors, applications, training manuals and paychecks are in; flip-flops and a number of veteran tour guides are out. The admissions office itself has been renovated, and plans are even in the works for a model dorm room to become part of the standard tour package.What strikes us as the principal effect of all of this change is standardization, stagnation and, with that, sterility. With the push to make Rice's tour program more centralized and overseen (faculty replaced students as the principal selectors of new tour guides this year), we fear the consequential result could be a bland shell of its former self.
(09/19/08 12:00am)
This year, Rice Program Council's budget has increased from $35,000 to $130,000 - a whopping increase (see story, page 1). The reason for this budget hike is that certain programs such as Passport to Houston and the President's and Dean's Study Breaks have been moved under the jurisdiction of RPC.Whereas in the past RPC was mainly in charge of small on-campus events like Esperanza, Rondelet and a few tailgates, this year's change is huge - and it could either be a grand success for RPC or a grand failure.
(09/19/08 12:00am)
At a Student Association meeting Sept. 8, Martel College senator Selim Sheikh proposed to the SA that Muslim students be refunded Tetra points for the meals they miss during Ramadan, when they must fast from dawn to sundown (see story, page 1). Muslim students are currently reimbursed 50 Tetra points, but Sheikh said the cost of the meals missed is closer to the value of 100 Tetra points.We are not going to debate here the relative merits of missing a series of meals for religious reasons against missing them because one sleeps late. That discussion is too large for an editorial column, and seems better suited for another time and place. What we would like to see, however, is a re-examination of the way meal plans at Rice are currently handled.
(09/12/08 12:00am)
With the extension of its hours until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights, Fondren Library's doors will be open longer than they have been in the recent past (see story, page 1). For those seeking a few extra hours of peace and quiet to finish that once-in-a-while project or thesis-length essay, this is a good change; any extra bit of time helps in those high-pressure situations. For others, though, this change may be slightly detrimental.Rice gives us plenty of encouragement to get outside the hedges on the weekends. The serveries are closed on Saturdays, meaning students have little choice but to go off campus for food. Once the campus border is breached, it is much easier for students to motivate themselves to enjoy the Houston nightlife, which includes anything from symphonies to ballets to nightclubs to jazz bars.
(09/12/08 12:00am)
We hope you dislike Hurricane Ike enough to avoid partying outside with him come this weekend. Whether you evacuate the city or not, remember to take all the precautions necessary to ensure your safety, including notifying your college masters and family of whatever you do. If you take to the road, be sure to fill your car with gas and bring food, water and maybe even a first aid kit, too. If you stay in Houston, whether at your college or in your apartment, be sure to stock up on the aforementioned essentials, as well. For hurricane updates and information on campus closures, continue to check Rice's homepage at www.rice.edu and the Thresher Web site at www.ricethresher.org.
(09/12/08 12:00am)
For people who hold only a little about this university, the name Rice is generally associated with strong science and engineering programs. Thanks to the record $100 million Rice received in external funding last year (see story, page 1), we can be sure of maintaining a strong reputation in those areas in the near future. However, this shouldn't mean that the social sciences and humanities should be neglected. More funding for non-science research, more department chairs and better resources are all aims the university should have in mind. Career fairs focused on those of us not planning on working for engineering firm or energy companies could be another. With the strong pursuit of these goals, Rice's overall reputation cannot go anywhere but up, and someday a few lucky academs might be able to avoid the presently inevitable reaction of "You're majoring in English? But you go to Rice!"
(09/05/08 12:00am)
If you're an off-campus student, food is a big deal. Most off-campus students aren't masters in the kitchen, and their main recipes are easily made, pre-packaged, sometimes tasteless food. And who has an hour or even thirty minutes to prepare a meal? Many off-campus students resort to microwavable cuisines or a meal at a restaurant or deli. It can get to be expensive.But Will Rice and Wiess Colleges have a solution: offer free lunches to off-campus students once a week in their respective serveries (See story, page 1). Will Rice came up with the idea two years ago, and Wiess tested the idea last spring and decided to implement it this semester. These two colleges have the right idea, and we think it is something the other seven should implement.
(09/05/08 12:00am)
Currently, a proposal called the Amethyst Initiative is circulating among college and university presidents, purporting to be a call to "informed and unimpeded debate" about the current status and effectiveness of America's alcohol legislation (see story, page 6). At this time, more than 120 presidents have signed the initiative, and a few of them are from schools we nominally label "peer" institutions, like Duke University. Despite the buzz surrounding the Initiative, president David Leebron has still not signed it, because he feels that far from being free from bias, the Initiative's implied conclusion is that the current policies are not working, and the drinking age needs to again be lowered to 18.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, hundreds of students, faculty, associates and others paid tribute to Emma Hutchinson, daughter of former Brown and Wiess College masters John and Paula Hutchinson (see story, page 12).Emma spent 12 years - more than half her life - as a member of the Rice community, and she touched the lives of many, as she spent much of those years in the Wiess and Brown masters houses. A ubiquitous presence at many collegiate events, Emma will be missed by her family - both immediate and collegiate.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
With yet another Orientation Week come and gone, it is time to sit back and take a look at one of the annual points of debate: the common reading program (See story, page 1). From our point of view, the common reading for this year was a success. Without the results from the formal survey to back it up, we cannot absolutely confirm our conclusion, but the general consensus indicates that most new students and advisors found the common reading to be an engaging experience.We believe several program changes are responsible for the positive response. First of all, the book itself was more engaging than the previous years' choices. Three Cups of Tea is a story written in a style that has more in common with a leisurely read than an academic seminar. While it is by no means a simplistic or childish work, it is of a level well-suited to students working it into their summer vacations. For the common reading program, this meant that more students finished the work than would have otherwise, especially if it had been an academically dense scholarly article, instead.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
This Monday is Labor Day, the first holiday of the year. Make the most of it by doing as little as possible by sleeping or loitering somewhere. So before you go out and decide to be productive, think twice. Once you come back, it'll be all work all the time.
(08/29/08 12:00am)
We set out to do some quick investigative reporting on the new south-campus steamy topic - the rocket-shaped cylinder protruding from the middle of old-Wiess field near the South Servery. You know what we are talking about - the 10-foot high pipe that blasts a white mushroom cloud of gas into the air just about every lunchtime. Is it poison? Is it radioactive waste? Is it a rocket ship manned by maniacal squirrels (see editorial cartoon)? A quick search for "construction" at www.rice.edu reveals that the cylinder is, in fact, an exhaust vent for the steam running through the newly-installed underground tunnel running to the South Plant. Workers are apparently testing the tunnel's integrity, and in order to do this, they have to release the built up steam so they can get inside.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
Some may think that college students do not need cars and that living on campus enables them to have access to most necessities. But who's to say when the urge to go exploring off campus will strike? There will be times when the sterile, dead atmosphere of Fondren Library just doesn't cut it as a late-night study spot; only the 24-hour Starbucks will do. There will be times when students want to go to Katz's at 3 a.m. to indulge in a smorgasbord of artery-clogging delights. And there will be times when students may simply want to go for a drive to clear their thoughts. For many students without cars or parking spots, these off-campus options had not been available to them. That is, until this year.With rental car system ZipCar available to students (See story, page 6), students will be able to rent a car for $7 per hour - with a $35 annual fee - to drive to their heart's content. The models available to students include a Toyota Prius and a Volvo S40, and there is one of each. Unfortunately, two cars for about 50 percent of carless undergraduates seems to be low, which could lead to some problems, especially if a student walks to Baker Lot only to find that neither the Prius nor the Volvo were there.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
While the Princeton Review recently ranked Rice number two in the best race/class interaction at a university (See story, page 1), the interaction amongst diverse groups does not always extend to athletes. Athletes have always been a somewhat isolated group from the rest of the student body. Because the practice times for many athletes, especially football players, typically coincides with many O-Week activities, there have been several O-Weeks in the past in which athletes were quarantined in gyms while their classmates were learning profane cheers or meeting people around campus. Perhaps as a result of this segregation during O-Week, some athletes never truly became integrated into the Rice culture. But Rice is taking a step forward with the appointment of Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development Suzanne Boué (See story, page 8).According to Boué, the athletic department has always had people working to help athletes become integrated with the university. But it's the creation of Boué's position that really shows that the athletic department is making a focused effort to help athletes become more involved at the university.
(08/22/08 12:00am)
Many of us have been following the case of former Rice student Matthew Wilson, who disappeared last December and was found Aug. 13, 2008 in Berkeley, Calif. (See story, page 1.) Wilson was recently charged with theft of University of California-Berkeley property, but the charges were dropped. At the moment, he has been placed in a mental hospital on suicide watch.With all the media coverage surrounding Wilson, it would be easy to spin every bit of minutae into an overblown media sensation, but the fact is that we don't yet know why Wilson dis-appeared, and until we learn the facts, all we can do is remem-ber that he once was, and still is to many of us, a fellow Rice student.
(03/21/08 12:00am)
At 6 p.m. last Friday, the athletics department announced to the public that Willis Wilson (Will Rice '82), men's basketball coach for 16 years, would not be retained by the university. (see story, page 1) There were not many people around when the news broke; on campus, people were either gone for the weekend, at Reckling Park watching the baseball game or glued to television screens watching the Houston Rockets going for 21 straight wins. There was no ceremony, no real press conference, no farewell party for the longest tenured coach in Rice history. The news was broken, and then it was gone.We feel this hushed and hurried showing of the door is an insult to one of the most loyal men ever to walk on Rice campus. He was a stellar student athlete and alum, and although he took a great deal of flak for his coaching results, his devotion to his job and players was visible to the entire Rice community. Wilson deserves more than standard treatment for a college coach parting ways with a university. He deserves a chance to be thanked by the students currently attending his alma mater and the fans for whom he loved coaching so much. He deserves more than what he got.
(03/21/08 12:00am)
After a long delay, and well after its usual fall semester timeline, Rice announced Tuesday that this year's commencement speaker will be former Rice president George Rupp (see story, page 1). While we know Rupp will provide an excellent speech and we appreciate the selection committee's decision to choose a familiar speaker, we feel that in the future the committee should focus on attracting people whose public notability has a wider reach. Certainly, former Rice presidents are active enough in the wider community to offer much poignant advice to graduates, but there is plenty to be said about choosing a speaker who is not necessarily "from the family," yet who can still deliver a Rice-relevant message.In addition, we hope next year's selection committee convenes earlier in the year. The most sought-after speakers receive invitations many months or even years in advance, and if Rice wants to give itself the best chance possible to land one of these people, it should not be one of the last schools to start looking.
(03/21/08 12:00am)
Will Rice Will Sweep . you off your bike, apparently. In a recent unregistered jack attempt, members of Will Rice College strung fishing wire across random paths across campus (see story, page 1). However, the prank turned into a much more serious affair when two students biked into the wires, injuring themselves.
