Proposed changes to federal education policy obtained by the New York Times would allow universities to lessen their responsibility in handling cases of sexual assault.
Straw Ban: “Suck It, Pollution,” or “Suck it, Disabled People?” Author: Shane DiGiovanna Martel Sophomore For as long as I have followed environmental policy, it’s been clear that humans excel at one thing: defiling and polluting our planet.
The Thresher editorial board stands with over 400 students who have signed the petition for Julianne Yost to remain at Rice.
It is not an easy time to be a journalist. But it is an important time to be one. When we both began writing for the Thresher, we were drawn in by our love of telling stories.
One year ago today, the remnants of a tropical storm were soaking the Yucatan Peninsula. Those remnants quickly reorganized over the warm Gulf of Mexico, and the storm strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane, making landfall outside of Rockport, Texas just three days later. Hurricane Harvey stalled over the Houston area, dumping an apocalyptic volume of rain.
As the new school year begins, you probably have the following on your to-do list: sorting out your class schedule, buying textbooks and choosing extracurriculars.
Rice is starting this year with numerous high rankings from the Princeton Review, commending the school in categories such as “Lots of Race/Class Interaction” where the university ranked No. 1 and “Best Dorms” where Rice ranked No. 10.
In his opinion earlier this week, former Student Association President Justin Onwenu argued that Rice had a duty to "stand tall" and take positions on political issues such as immigration, gun control, and global warming, claiming that these issues defy partisan divides as they are "questions of humanity, not partisan politics." Scolding the naïveté of those who endorse “intentional silence,” and what he considers to be its unacceptable consequences, Onwenu proceeds to launch into an impassioned defense of those stances that he considers a matter of consensus, if not obligation, among Rice students (and seemingly all educated, decent people as well). I have always considered Onwenu to be a thoughtful and open-minded advocate for civil discourse on this campus.
All members of our community — faculty, students, and by extension Rice as an institution — have a duty to uphold our institutional values.
It is uniquely fitting for Rice University to publicly declare its unwavering commitment to pursue excellence in and from every corner of the globe, especially when that excellence finds us first.
Investigating and combating rumors is part of the Thresher’s job, but also an effort every student should contribute to.
It is impossible for a university’s policies to align with every individual’s beliefs. But if we truly desire to uphold our university’s mission statement, it is crucial that we embrace every Rice student, documented or not, as integral and valuable to the Rice experience.
Fung’s argument is an interesting enough intellectual exercise if you’re bored while sitting in Monday morning traffic, but I entirely disagree with the premise that the public positions taken by the administration on political issues like DACA “call into question Rice’s commitment to diversity of learning and discovery.”
Changing our language may be difficult at first. But we pride ourselves on our culture of care; this means we need to be active about supporting and caring for all of our students.
When President Leebron and Dean Hutchinson spoke in favor of protections for Dreamers, they were fulfilling a responsibility to ensure that all members of our community feel safe inside the hedges.
We hope the administration will continue to listen to student feedback and be open to discussion, as it did this year with the CTIS student working group. CTIS is a milestone in Rice’s initiative to better the well-being of students on campus, and it is encouraging to witness the progress being made.
The Rice University student body will vote on a proposed increase in intramural sports fees this week (p.
It is my hope that President Leebron and Dean Hutchinson reconsider and reverse their official stance on proposed DACA legislation. My issue with the situation is not the DACA executive order itself, but rather that the university is taking an official position on political issues.
