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Katie Jenson

OPINION 11/29/11 6:00pm

US withdrawal of UNESCO funds puzzling

By Katie Jenson

Palestine was accepted into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a member state on Oct. 31, 2011. President Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel reacted first, condemning UNESCO's acceptance of Palestine. His policy provoked intense criticism from the Israeli people and the international community. As an act of solidarity with Israel, the United States withdrew its own funding from UNESCO, a sum of $80 million constituting 22 percent of UNESCO's total funding.

OPINION 9/7/11 7:00pm

Written media's retroactive changes is vastly irresponsible

By Katie Jenson

While keeping track of events in Libya, I printed several copies of news articles to my hard drive. I went back to find the same articles online, and discovered that the articles had changed. Not only did they change, but they also carried no reference to the fact that they had changed: no highlighted edits, and no link to a previous version.

NEWS 4/8/10 7:00pm

China vs. Google is a justified stalemate

By Katie Jenson

In 1998, China's Ministry of Public Security initiated the Golden Shield Project, which blocks access to information deemed subversive, including some foreign news and pornography. In 2006, Google agreed to censor keywords deemed inappropriate by the People's Republic of China. This was an agreement to internally monitor content: A department of Google would constantly discover what was being blocked by the Golden Shield, and consequently censor those results for Google China.

NEWS 3/11/10 6:00pm

Rice drinking culture fosters respect, shared responsibility

By Katie Jenson

College students drink alcohol. Not all of them, by any means, but many, including those who are underage. So instead of creating dormitories replete with teetotalers and closet alcoholics by merely punishing alcohol offenders, Rice embraces an unconventional approach: teaching these students how to drink responsibly in the first place. The result is a safer party environment and sounder university policy and attitude than one might see at other schools.One of the most important facets of Rice's drinking culture is its emphasis on peer responsibility. Rice University Police Department and the threat of punishment are seen as the last resort for alcohol episodes. On a university campus where many of the drinkers may not be of legal age, this environment promotes drinking in the safety of students' rooms rather than driving off campus to binge-drink.

NEWS 2/25/10 6:00pm

Non-major Humanities courses cut

By Katie Jenson

The latest consequences of the recession mean that Rice students may never be exposed to font design, the chemistry in art or the study of journalism. Next year, the School of Humanities and the Wiess School of Natural Sciences will be effectively cutting courses that are not directly relevant to majors. Certain course instructors and course lecturers on one-year contracts will not be returning to Rice next year, due to university-wide budget cuts. Although their courses are not explicitly being cut, the courses will most likely no longer have teachers, Jen Cooper, creator and current lecturer of HUMA 251: Typography and Design, one of the courses slated to be cut, said.

NEWS 2/11/10 6:00pm

Distortion of truth remains unpunished

By Katie Jenson

No matter how much we like to think that reporters and journalists always tell us the truth, it has become patently obvious with the rise of cable news services that we should be more critical of our news sources. Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, two Florida reporters, were fired in 1997 by a FOX News subsidiary for refusing to report a story about bovine growth hormone that was known to be false. The reporters sued their former employer under Florida's Whistle-blower Act, which protects employees from being fired for calling attention to improper conduct within corporations. In 2004, Florida appeals court ruled that the station, like any news agency, was under no legal obligation to tell the truth.

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