Currently, the NCAA football conference landscape is in upheaval. Universities such as Colorado and Utah have already shifted conferences and Texas A&M is in the process of moving to the SEC. Rice should actively pursue a similar motion.
My second grade teacher, Ms. Clark, once told me that I could have a full conversation with a brick wall. In fact, those who know me are, for better of worse, aware of my ability to talk for long lengths of time about even the most asinine topic. Lately however, I have been having a harder and harder time discussing one of my favorite topics, politics.
It has been a trying 10 years for our country since the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001. However on the 10-year anniversary of the terror strikes, we at the Thresher hope that the Rice community and the whole country can come together and remember those that perished in the tragedy. Rice is hosting a number of events in memoriam of the anniversary. On Sunday, there will be a vigil and there will also be bell tolls at the exact time of each of the four attacks to the minute ten years ago. The Thresher strongly encourages everyone to participate in these memorial events and to take time to reflect on the 9/11 tragedies. as unity is what will move this great country forward.
Summer is winding down. Students are back in school. Tailgaters are brushing off their grills for weekend football games. Pennant races are heating up in Major League Baseball. These are some common thoughts we have about the ninth month of the year.
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.
Texan pride abounded last Friday on the Martel Rotunda where the annual Texas Party was hosted (see story, pg. 1). The party boasted huge attendance numbers and gave incoming students a promising first view of Rice's social scene. Unfortunately, alcohol safety was less than ideal. While the lack of alcohol safety is not a new phenomenon at college parties, the handling of the over-intoxicated students seemed to be smoother than usual. The care-taking station was utilized for students who needed a break or EMS attention. Even more impressively, administration and EMS have been mute on the EMS numbers for the night; this represents a stark departure from last year's practice of releasing the the number of students receiving EMS attention at a party. The EMS numbers contribute to nothing productive: high numbers encourage students to not call EMS in the future in order to lower EMS calls; low numbers indicate that students did not call EMS, but it does not necessarily mean that students were safe on a given night. By establishing a precedent to not release EMS numbers the university can help cut down on the "next morning" rumors and the myth that students should avoid calling EMS.
The city of Houston is in a level two drought, and the situation is much more dire than what most at Rice believe (see story, pg. 1). The harsh shortages are affecting the Houston community, while the Rice community remains largely shielded from the issue within the hedges. However, as per our university's mission statement and essence, we play an integral role in our local community, and that dictates that we become a part of the water shortage solution rather than continue contributing to the problem.
All the heads of states or organizations who have recently been criticized for their eyebrow-raising sexual antics wear the same facial expression. Just Google Anthony Weiner, Mark Sanford or Elliot Spitzer and you'll see what I mean. Those trademark, remorseful (or pseudo-remorseful) expressions are strikingly similar to those worn by naughty toddlers who have just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. Should all those politicians who made stupid decisions be publically humiliated into resignation? I think not.
Just like Iowa in a presidential primary, Martel's public party, Don't Mess With Texas, is known for above all being first. This only means it is the first party that the Thresher Party Patrol, a ragtag group of hard-hitting journalists dedicated to covering the unique phenomenon known as the public party.
It seems to me that in our society, we know and acknowledge people in only one dimension.
Rice hosted the author of its common reading book, "The Honor Code," this past Tuesday (see story, pg. 1). Unfortunately, many new students bypassed the opportunity to hear Kwame Anthony Appiah speak. Only a hundred students attended the talk; the poor attendance reflects the continued struggle of the common reading program at Rice to really captivate the enthusiasm of new students.
This past O-Week, Rice extended its long established tradition of reaching out to the community and serving the needy (see story, pg. 5). Outreach Day was a vast success; it drew 488 new students to a myriad of projects around Houston. The number of participants exceeds that of any past Outreach Day. Furthermore, 88 percent of those students who signed up for a project actually participated — an incredible ratio when factors such as peer pressure to attend Dis-O and fatigue from a long O-week are considered.
This coming week, students have the opportunity to participate in a campus-wide game of Assassins (see story, pg. 4). The recently busy RPC will be hosting the event which begins on Monday. The decision to host the event earlier than normal was a prudent one; it gives freshmen the chance to meet new people early in the year, and nothing starts a new friendship quite like a water gun ambush. While the game may seem mildly trivial, it is a sort of event that epitomizes what Rice culture. Rice is a fun and quirky place. Every student, every college, and even every professor, has some sort of odd tendency or characteristic that ironically puts them right at home at Rice. Similarly, this campus-wide Assassins battle will undoubtedly seem quirky to the bystander who watches a watergun-wielding freshman chasing someone across the academic quad; however, at Rice that sort of thing seems to fit in. Rice has the privilege of being a small and unique university, and hosting events such as Assassins helps explain Rice's perennially high quality of life rating. These commendations should not be taken out of context, in the end it is only a game; however, it is the combination of small, distinctive things such as Assassins that makes Rice into the school that it is.
Rice student life is mainly contingent on three things: the academics, the colleges and the relationship between the administration and the students. The first two of these items are as strong as ever, but last year we saw several major challenges to the third. Before first semester even began last year, the administration sold the KTRU radio tower in a manner that, no matter your opinion on the eclectic radio station, demonstrated a complete disregard to students.
As a college student watching the United States economy slide into an abyss, I am immensely worried. I am worried that when I graduate jobs may not be plentiful. I am worried that robust economic growth may become a bygone phenomenon for the United States. I am worried that Washington is lacking smart, courageous leaders. But, despite all these worries, I take solace in knowing that all is not lost — the United States can recover. By enacting the right policies, the United States can boost economic growth, can create jobs for Americans and can help the country reduce its deficit.
