Common reading interest dwindling
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.
A primary problem still lies in literature selection. The committee has an onerous task of selecting an intellectual book that can appeal to students of numerous backgrounds. However, considering dwindling excitement about the program, Rice should consider making a change to incorporate more of the student body into the decision-making process about the common reading book selection. Students should be permitted to enter submissions to a panel; this panel should be an expanded version of its current four student / two faculty format. The panel should sift through submissions and select a final list of four to six candidates for books. The final decision for book selection should then be attained by a student vote. The collective vote of the student body would be able to anticipate what sort of literature would most interest incoming students. This new potential system would ensure that common reading books are both intellectually stimulating and interesting to the Rice students of the future.
More from The Rice Thresher
Do more to make campus bird-friendly
April is the month of many things: Beer Bike, a solar eclipse, the last day of classes and, perhaps lesser known, Earth Month. As Rice launches a series of Earth Month events, I would like to address our potential as a campus community to be more environmentally conscious, particularly in an effort to make this campus more friendly to birds.
Take time for yourself during the summer
The academic year’s close means this issue will be our last until the fall semester, which gave us some time to reflect on what our editorial for our last issue should look like.
Student activism is working – and fear-mongering cannot hold us back
S.RES 02, titled “Student Association Boycott and Divestment from Corporations Complicit in the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza,” was presented to the Student Association on March 25. This resolution proposes the creation of an Ethical Spending Advisory Board designed to ensure that Blanket Tax funds are not dedicated to corporations that are complicit in Israeli colonial violence and apartheid based on guidelines created by the BDS movement.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.