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NEWS 4/6/17 3:11pm

'Master' title changed to 'Magister'

By Anita Alem

Starting at Orientation Week next year, the residential college system will have a new syllable: the title of college ‘masters’ will be replaced by ‘magisters’ according to Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson. The change comes after a decision by a committee of college masters as well as a Student association senate survey supporting the removal of the title of ‘master.’ Hutchinson said the term of ‘master’ as it is used at Rice University is intended to be an academic term of British origin, but the history of the United States and the use of the term ‘slave master’ complicates its usage. “"The initiative to make a change came from the masters themselves, who recognized that the title was problematic,” Hutchinson said.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:16pm

Students weather tornado warning to attend class

By Shami Mosley

A tornado warning was an unexpected addition to Willy Week. Rice University’s Crisis Management Team used the emergency notification system last Wednesday to advise students, faculty and the rest of the Rice community to seek shelter from a possible tornado.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:13pm

Students on visas face tough job market

By Meredith McCain

In the wake of Trump’s executive order banning travellers from six majority-Muslim nations and reports of potential changes to visa policies, international students at Rice are left reassessing their ability to stay in the U.S. after graduation. Rice is home to more than 1,600 international undergraduates and graduates from 94 countries, comprising almost a quarter of the degree-seeking population.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:10pm

Students, alumni split $30,000 in entrepreneurship contest

By Elizabeth Rasich

A Rice undergraduate team created an educational toy for children to learn about computer processing and took home the $6,000 best undergraduate team prize from the inaugural Rice Launch Challenge. Team HexIO, made up of Lovett College junior Vi Nguyen, Will Rice College freshman Achal Srinivasan and Brown College sophomores Andrew Maust, Nishant Verma, Johan Widmann and Nicole Mitchell, also won the best undergraduate team prize in the entrepreneurship competition on March 28.

NEWS 4/4/17 9:06pm

Committee calls for changes to alcohol policy enforcement

By Drew Keller

The Alcohol Policy Advisory Committee has released a report with 25 recommendations for the enforcement of Rice’s Alcohol Policy, but did not suggest modifying the policy itself. The recommendations of the committee, which was convened by Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson in October, included shifting the event registration process out of Student Judicial Programs, supporting the residential college justice system and adding more education on the policy throughout the year.

NEWS 3/28/17 8:12pm

Colleges offer subsidies for social life costs

By Sarah Smati

Every residential college has finalized programs to lower social costs for low-income students in time for Beer Bike, using $500 that the office of the Dean of Undergraduates allocated to each college this semester for the purpose of aiding low-income students. College presidents focused on finding ways to subsidize event and merchandise costs as part of a larger push to cover nontuition expenses that act as barriers preventing low income students from fully participating in the Rice experience. Student leadership began working on this issue over a year ago, when a report from the Student Association showed that nearly 60 percent of students with a household income of less than $50,000 could not participate in Rice events like Beer Bike or service opportunities such as Alternative Spring Break due to the costs involved.

NEWS 3/28/17 7:59pm

Social policy analysis major to replace policy studies major

By Sarah Smati

The School of Social Sciences is introducing a new major to replace the policy studies major in fall 2017 in response to student feedback. If approved by the Faculty Senate at its April 19 meeting, the social policy analysis major will be the first of its kind in the United States, according to Dean of Social Sciences Antonio Merlo.

NEWS 3/27/17 11:29pm

SA Treasurer, two Senators vie for Internal Vice President role

By Emily Abdow

Three candidates are vying for the Student Association internal vice president position in the second round general election: former Sid Richardson College Senator Sarah Meadow, former Jones College Senator Rohan Palanki and former SA treasurer Maurice Frediere. No candidates ran for the position in the first round of the general election before Spring Break.

NEWS 3/21/17 8:32pm

​Baker chef mourned after tragic death

By Anna Ta

Baker Kitchen cook Essence Derouen passed away this past Sunday, Mar. 9. According to ABC 13, she was an innocent bystander shot while sitting in her car, on her way home. The 21-year-old is survived by her 6-year-old son.

NEWS 3/21/17 8:24pm

New crisis manager to fix safety gaps after tornado, Taub shooter

By Cameron Wallace

Rice students may be most familiar with the university’s emergency management systems as strings of texts or emails symptomatic of heavy rains or flooding, but they encompass much more than that. Rice University’s new crisis manager Jerusha Kasch took office in February of this year and began working on plans to improve the existing systems, including the development of a new crisis center building and online disaster preparedness training programs for students.

NEWS 3/16/17 1:05pm

Onwenu, Ravella win SA races

By Drew Keller and Christina Tan

Former Sid Richardson College Senator Justin Onwenu won the 2017 election for Student Association president with 38 percent of first-choice votes. With 1875 voters in the presidential race, more votes were cast than in any SA election for decades. 

NEWS 3/7/17 9:43pm

Mental health forum addresses survey results

By Alice Liu and Ruchi Gupta

A Rice Alliance for Mental Health Awareness (RAMHA) survey distributed to Rice undergraduates showed 44.4 percent of respondents said they have lived or currently live with a mental illness and 57 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable talking about mental health on campus.

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