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Opinion

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

National honor reflects Rice professors' commitment to education

By Staff Editorial

Rice's own Richard Tapia was honored with the U.S. National Medal of Science this past week (see story, pg. 1). Tapia's work in the field of mathematics, paired with his contributions outside the class room, make him extremely deserving of the award. Tapia has been a member of the Rice community for over 40 years, and his long-term association with the university is a testament to Rice's ability to draw and retain the best faculty in the country.

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

Centenni-Ale a huge hit

By Staff Editorial

St. Arnold's Centenni-Ale was released at Valhalla this past Friday and the volume of sales was extremely impressive. The Thresher would like to extend a sincere thanks to Brock Wagner, Rice aulmnus and St. Arnold's founder, for celebrating his alma mater's centenial anniversary in such a distinct way. It is these sorts of small but unique happenings around Rice that make us who we are.

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

Professors' research should not be prioritized over teaching

By Cody Shilling

Universities should focus first and foremost on educating their students. Ensuring that students receive the highest quality education possible should be the fundamental goal of the administration. Unfortunately, as things stand right now, this is not the case. Promotions are given out based on a faculty member's research and the number of times he has been published and referenced in journals without much consideration as to how effective an instructor he or she is.

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

Politicians ought to think about the next generation, not the next election

By Neeraj Salhotra

At a recent Baker Institute event, Israeli Major General Danny Rotschild said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot pursue peace with Palestine because he is "limited by political reasons." I was stunned by this statement; yes, a peace deal with Palestine will cost him his coalition, but losing an election is not a reason to shun peace with Palestine. Sadly Netanyahu is acting as a typical politician, "thinking of the next election," not a statesman, who "thinks of the next generation."

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

Greater leadership and initiative needed at Rice University

By Staff Editorial

Apathy is quite the buzzword at Rice; for every comment about rigorous majors and extreme coursework, a reference is made to Rice students' failure to get involved and effect change. Whether discussing voting, college cabinets, environmental consciousness or entrepreneurship, it seems that too many students simply decide to stay out of the fray and not participate. Of course, there are widespread exemptions to all of the claims, but on the whole, Rice students could certainly benefit from less apathy. It is precisely this lack of initiative and leadership that the leadership committee has been established to address (see story, pg. 1).

OPINION 9/28/11 7:00pm

Facebook wields immense power today

By Anthony Lauriello

I remember it clearly and vividly, as if it were but a week ago. I was lackadaisically reading class work when naturally I decided to visit Facebook. As soon as my homepage opened I knew something was wrong. The layout I had come to know and appreciate for months had changed yet again. On the left side, I had lists where I could now organize my friend into separate fields and rank like a high school lunchroom in a teen comedy. Above my chat sidebar, itself a new additon this summer, I had a constant newsfeed so I could see what all my internet acquaintances were doing at this very moment. My entire social network would never be the same.

OPINION 9/21/11 7:00pm

BISF Debates: Palestinian statehood sought from United Nations

By Sam Hile and Eli Spector

Palestine's bid to become the 194th member state of the United Nations puts the United States in a dicey situation. The Israeli cause is popular among both American Evangelical Christians and Jews alike, and is often championed in editorials by major media outlets like the Wall Street Journal. As the U.S. is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, its expected veto would be enough to single-handedly stymie the resolution.

OPINION 9/21/11 7:00pm

New voting laws may lessen voting participation at Rice

By Cindy Dinh

Last year, more students at Rice came out to vote in the gubernatorial election – a quadrupled increase – than in the last mid-term election. Achieving similar success may now virtually be impossible. Voters everywhere in Texas have been struck by a blunt force with the Texas Legislature's passage of S.B. 14, a new law requiring voters to have photo identification and a listed address that matches their voter registration to be eligible to vote.

OPINION 9/21/11 7:00pm

Erratum

By Staff Editorial

In the Sep. 16 issue of the Thresher ("Limelight: The Rice Players' season"), the directors of the listed productions were incorrectly attributed. Joseph Lockett is directing Dead Man's Cellphone, opening this week, and T.J. Burleson is directing The Baltimore Waltz, opening next spring. The Thresher regrets this error.

OPINION 9/21/11 7:00pm

Music pirating a risky proposition

By Staff Editorial

This past week, the hip-hop world was rocked by yet another leaked album. This time it was J. Cole's debut album, Cole World. In a world where illegal music pirating occurs without a second thought, Rice University is giving students a reason to think again before clicking that download button (see story, pg. 1).

OPINION 9/14/11 7:00pm

RMC improvements require tinkering

By Staff Editorial

The RMC received quite the overhaul this past summer, resulting in a new convenience store and a new Mediterranean food outlet (see story pg. 7). However, these non-student businesses are out of sync with the needs of the student body.

OPINION 9/14/11 7:00pm

Rice's football team gives hope for 100th season

By Staff Editorial

The Rice Owls football team found itself on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays this past Saturday for its unbelievable last-second, game-saving field goal block (see story pg. 1). The Owls looked great all afternoon and were rewarded with a marquee win against a Big Ten opponent. In fact, the win against Purdue marked the first win Rice has posted against a BCS league opponent since 2001. The victory has the potential to spark the team to a great season and to rejuvenate student interest in the football team. The home opener was very well-attended, and those students who left early were plagued with the guilt of missing the greatest Rice athletics moment of the past few years. Rice looked good against a stronger University of Texas opponent during the first half and came away with a huge win in their second game of the season against Purdue. The team deserves the students' support, as this may just be the breakout year we've all been dreaming about. As the hero on the last play, Justin Allen said, "The last couple years we're just a play away or one step short. But today we weren't. Today we took that last step, and we believed in ourselves."

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