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NEWS 8/28/14 7:32pm

Survey results determine changes at RMC

By Andrew Ta

Student Center staff are readying a report on the 987 responses to a survey sent out least semester asking what the Rice community disliked about the Rice Memorial Center, according to Student Center Director Kate Abad.“Already, the results of the survey have impacted what our priorities were for the summer,” Abad said. “There are obviously some longer-term goals that we’ve identified in the survey that we are unable to meet without a new building. We cannot create additional space.”Abad said although she is advocating for a new student center, there was currently no commitment on whether a new one would be built.“There is no timeline right now,” Abad said. “There is no donor identified currently. We are in a needs-assessment stage, and the plan ... is to do focus grouping this fall to see if our current space on campus is being used appropriately, if the needs that people expressed [servable by] repurposing space around campus, or do we truly need a new student center?”With the new changes, Ambassador Cafe will be moving to Willy’s Pub, with Droubi’s replacing it in the window space. Sammy’s will now be the new location of Dining at Sammy’s which features four new food options by Housing and Dining: pizza, burger, taco and servery “concepts.”In the Brown Garden, new benches and power outlets are being installed, while modern upholstery has been added throughout the RMC.Various offices have also been relocated (see map). 

NEWS 8/28/14 7:30pm

Hedgehopper program made simpler

By Maha Aziz

The Rice University Student Association has made changes to the existing Hedgehopper program, according to SA External Vice President Amritha Kanakamedala.“The change to the program was initiated in order to cut costs to participating businesses and make the Hedgehopper program easier and more efficient for students,” Kanakamedala, a Brown College junior, said. “The update is also to help recruit more businesses into the Hedgehopper program.”Kanakamedala said students will no longer be issued a Hedgehopper card and that to use the discounts, students will only have to present their Rice ID to the restaurant.“Last year we had many Hedgehopper cards left over, meaning many students did not pick up their Hedgehopper cards from their college coordinators at the beginning of the year,” Kanakamedala said. “In order to ensure that all Rice students have access to the Hedgehopper resource, we did away with the card and instead asked businesses to simply ask students for Rice IDs when issuing discounts.”Baker College junior Victoria Eng said she believes discontinuing the Hedgehopper card is a positive change to the program.“Now, students can go out and receive discounts without having to remember to bring it,” Eng said. “I think this will encourage more students to venture out and make an effort to visit some of the participating businesses.”Businesses will now have a rolling, multi-year contract instead of a single-year contract, and businesses will no longer be required to pay a joining fee, Kanakamedala said.“The new program has been received well by businesses,” Kanakamedala said. “Businesses who participated in the program in the past were happy to see the elimination of the joining fee.”Students can now earn a reward for referring businesses to the Hedgehopper program, according to Kanakamedala.“Students who refer businesses will receive a $10 gift card to Rice Coffeehouse once the business joins the Hedgehopper program,” Kanakamedala said. “We hope this will encourage students to refer their favorite businesses and to expand the program.”Kanakamedala said since the Hedgehopper program is designed to encourage students to explore outside of the hedges, the SA hopes to expand the program and recruit more businesses.“We always want students to explore outside the hedges, and with this new updated program, we believe that we can foster more of that,” Kanakamedala said. “We want students to see all that Houston has to offer, and more discounts means happier students.”A list of participating businesses and their discounts are listed at http://sa.rice.edu/hedgehopper/.

NEWS 8/28/14 7:27pm

O-Week Activity Fair expands, allows email collection

By Andrew Ta

For the first time, student organizations featured at the August 21 Orientation Week Activity Fair were allowed to collect the email addresses of interested new students, as long as those emails were not added directly to a listserv, according to Associate Director of Student Activities Olivia Barker.“You may collect students’ emails to send them an invitation to a listserv,” Barker wrote in an email to the 150 student organizations registered for the fair. “You may not add students directly to a listserv if they give you an email address. Candy (and/or other giveaways) cannot be used as an incentive for students to give their emails.”According to Barker, the extra step ensures new students do not feel pressured to sign up for a listserv, and that it was a compromise with organizations that wanted to collect emails.“Collecting emails during O-Week's Activities Fair has not been permitted at all in the past because feedback has been that students are overwhelmed the first few weeks of classes with emails and information,” Barker said. “I personally didn't agree with not allowing any email collection, … [but] it's something that I think is valuable and beneficial for organizations because it gives them a connection point with the incoming students.”Barker said student organizations should use the collected emails to reach out to new students when they have more time.“This is a great marketing and connection tool,” Barker said. “This allows students to think about if they really want to receive more information about the organization. We also hope that the invitation to the listserv allows organizations the opportunity to reintroduce their group and remind them of what they do on campus.”Barker said Student Activities hopes to continue this practice in the coming years but will also look for student feedback to make sure they are serving the students the best they can.“Because Student Activities has additional resources and staff, we offered to coordinate the O-Week activities fair,” Barker said. “You will see minimal changes since this is our first year, but our hope is to continue to grow this opportunity so incoming students have a good chance of getting connected and involved the first few weeks of classes.”According to Barker, past fairs were limited to around 100 student organizations because of limitations in space and resources, but 150 organizations were able to participate this year.

NEWS 8/28/14 7:23pm

New location for Rice Bikes in RMC

By Sana Yaklur

Rice Bikes, a student-run bicycle shop founded in 2011 that services and rents out bikes, is moving most of its operations from Sid Richardson College’s basement to the Rice Memorial Center’s Hess Private Dining Room, accessible from the Brown Garden across from Rice Coffeehouse.According to Rice Bikes General Manager Brian Barr, the organization is moving to improve visibility and accessibility.“It’s a great opportunity to further our mission of cultivating a culture of cycling on campus,” Barr, a Brown College sophomore, said. “By being in the RMC, our visibility will be much greater, and we will be much more accessible to the student body.”According to Barr, Rice Bikes is expecting to have more business due to the greater visibility and accessibility.“We expect to do a lot more business, especially because we have the lowest prices of any bike shop in Houston by a large margin,” Barr said. “Once people realize how convenient it is to bring your bike over to the RMC, I'm sure we will see a large increase in the number of bikes serviced.”Barr said since the Hess PDR wasn’t housing any particular organization, they will not be displacing anyone.“The PDR was mostly being used by graduate students to eat lunch in quiet, in addition to a few rare meetings,” Barr said.The move was the result of months of planning by Rice Bikes and the Student Center, according to Barr.“As an official Student Run Business, we receive support from staff in the Student Center, and they were instrumental in helping us secure the space,” Barr said. “With all of the other changes going on with the vendors in Sammy's, it was a good time to make the move.”A new location isn’t the only change for Rice Bikes this year. According to Barr, Rice Bikes is adding new bikes for rental, as well as creating a monthly bike tour of neighborhoods in Houston.“As of this semester, we will be adding nine new bikes to the rentable fleet to bring our total to 38 bikes,” Barr said. “Additionally, we will be adding a monthly ‘Tour de Houston’ ride on the second Friday of the month to explore a neighborhood of Houston and then go to Amy's Ice Cream at the end of the ride to celebrate.”According to Barr, business hours will be 2 - 5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.Barr said major bike repairs will still take place in the Sid Rich basement, since the new space is not large enough to accommodate it.

NEWS 8/28/14 7:19pm

Working group to address sexual assault at Rice

By Anita Alem

Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson, the General Council and President David Leebron assembled the Working Group on University Responses to Federal Initiatives on Sexual Assault in June, according to Associate Vice Provost Matthew Taylor. The group formed in order to address federal measures as well as to continue changes already in progress.

NEWS 4/24/14 2:43pm

Architecture students design, build Hermann Park Centennial Pavilion

By Jieya Wen

The Rice Building Workshop, an organization within the Rice University School of Architecture, is constructing a pavilion in Hermann Park for the park’s centennial celebration. The pavilion is located next to the Metro Rail Hermann Park/RiceU station and is expected to be finished by April 25, according to Rice Building Workshop Fellow Peter Muessig. 

NEWS 4/24/14 2:42pm

DegreeWorks to make major completion status more visible

By Tina Nazerian

Students will soon be able to easily find out exactly what they need for their major. By early next semester, the Office of the Registrar plans to replace the current degree-auditing tool, ECAPP, with DegreeWorks, a web-based degree-auditing tool that will let students and their major advisors evaluate degree progress. 

NEWS 4/24/14 2:40pm

Students allege mistreatment from SJP staff

By Molly Chiu

In recent weeks, following several student suspensions and expulsions, rumors have circulated that Student Judicial Programs mistreated students during interviews regarding drug issues on campus. However, SJP has denied these allegations and claims the interviews were conducted according to procedure.

NEWS 4/12/14 3:44pm

Registration prioritizes students needing LPAP

By Anita Alem

Initiating in fall 2014, the Esther Course Registration planner will give students who have not taken a Lifetime Physical Activity Program course additional priority within their registration group when registering for one, according to Vice President for Administration of the Office of the Registrar David Tenney (Sid ‘87).“The Academics Committee of the Student Association forwarded to us a report on fall registration, based on student survey input,” Tenney said. “It included several recommendations, such as more emphasis being placed on getting instructors to post their course syllabus online, et cetera. One area of requested enhancement was to prioritize LPAP registration so that seniors who have not completed an LPAP are ensured enrollment in an LPAP.”Tenney said he shared the report with Administrative Systems, which manages registration on Esther, and the group implemented the changes.“A desired impact of this change, as noted in the SA report, will be that rising seniors should have a better chance of getting a needed or desired LPAP over a student that already has one or more LPAPs in their academic history,” Tenney said.Those in a lower registration group than seniors will still have lower priority than seniors who have taken more than one LPAP.According to Tenney, the overall registration process for continuing students will be identical to that of the last couple of years, with the initial prioritized registration, and the secondary, staggered opening of the add/drop period.

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