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Opinion

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."

OPINION 9/14/11 7:00pm

Lovett's public party a good time despite the heat

By The Party Patrol

Lovett College looked to rebound after last spring's daring but unfulfilled "Night of the Macabre." Its Extraterrestrial- themed party definitely left much costume potential to those with creativity and time. Unfortunately, most Rice undergrads lack both of these elements, and the result was a party riddled with the most terrestrial of clothing.

OPINION 9/14/11 7:00pm

Bicycle Awareness Week antagonistic to cyclists

By Staff Editorial

The recent Bicycle Awareness Week seemed to antagonize campus cyclists more than promote them (see story pg. 7). The influx of signs around campus offer pointed, patronizing directions to bikers; furthermore, these signs address only bikers, not pedestrains. Campus biking safety is not a simple one-way street. Pedestrians, cars, scooters and bikes all have equal responsibility to pay attention to the road, and the recent attempts to only focus on the bikers' responsibilities is absurd. The Bicycle Awareness Week also coincided with the negative news that bikers will soon be susceptible to moving violation tickets. Frankly, biking safety around campus is reasonable, and bikers seems to be quite responsible on the whole. RUPD's decision to begin ticketing bikers will only dissuade students from using bikes on campus. If Bicycle Awarness Week is to occur again at Rice it should be completely overhauled, and the vastly negative tone of the week needs be reversed. Perhaps in the future, we can take a look at promoting the environmentally-conscious act of biking, offer biking opportunites around Houston and emphasize campus cycling facilities such as the bike shop.

OPINION 9/14/11 7:00pm

Bicycle week not inclusive

By Anthony Lauriello

When seeing the signs announcing Bike Safety Week, a flush of emotions came to me. Fury. Sadness. Desperation. How dare the higher ups at Rice only acknowledge bicycles as personal transporation devices? What about me? What about my scooter? What about my brethren on long boards, skateboards, and waveboards? We too behave dangerously and recklessly. Why are we not important enough for a campus wide safety initiative?

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