The number of incoming Rice undergraduates is 52 more than anticipated, marking a rise in the university's student yield but also leading to shortage of on campus rooms for the new Owls.
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The way I see it, if you believe that Officer David Sedmak's termination was entirely justifiable you're either joking, you don't know the story or you're about as sharp-witted as Rep. Anthony Weiner. Sedmak sprang into action after hearing the ominous "officer down" transmission on his radio. Disregarding the possibility of personal harm, Sedmak decided to risk himself by going into a "hot" area to help his uniformed brothers. He knew the Houston Police Department would have done the same for him. Officer Sedmak assisted in the resolution of the Greyhound Bus Station standoff and returned back to campus only to face the scorn of an administration devoid of humanity. Sedmak was terminated a month after his heroic actions. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Houston Business Journal's "Best Place to Work" for five years and running -- Rice University. It is unclear whether Sedmak called his location into dispatch; Sedmak says he did, while university officials dispute that claim. If, in fact, no call was made then protocol was broken. Officers are expected to check-in with dispatch and not leave campus without express permission; however, Sedmak simply did what he thought was right. Sometimes bureaucratic protocols and snap decisions just don't mesh. In the realm of law enforcement, life-saving, momentary decisions have to be made and a police organization such as RUPD should understand that. However for some uncertain reason, RUPD seems to be focused solely on Sedmak's "dereliction of duty." The man did not stroll down to Bombay Brasserie in the Village for some quality naan; he spent his shift trying to save the lives of downed officers. While the breach in RUPD rules may warrant a reprimand or suspension, the decision to terminate him is unbelievable. Sedmak's presence at the crime scene was voluntary and possibly not even necessary; but he was following his instinct and ultimately trying to be a good cop. Do the rules that Sedmak broke really outweigh that decision? Rice further defended its decision to terminate Sedmak by claiming that his departure from campus put its students at risk. However, anybody familiar with life at Rice will realize that this hollow defense is nothing more than a flailing attempt to give meaning to a meaningless decision. First, the May 7 episode took place after the conclusion of final exams and a majority of students had left campus. Those students who remained were still afforded protection by the other two officers on duty during Sedmak's shift. Second, Rice is notoriously safe. Our University isn't set in the middle of the projects, and RUPD is rarely forced to take action in order to preserve the sanctity of campus. Don't get me wrong, I believe that RUPD serves an instrumental role in ensuring that our campus continues to be one of the safest in the country; however, most would agree that the absence of one officer for one hour does not compromise campus security -- especially considering that other officers were on duty at the time. If anything, Rice's desperate outcry about compromised safety during that one hour erroneously paints Rice as a very unsafe place to the public. Relations between students and RUPD have become strained over the past 12 months. The alcohol crackdown has become a central policy debate at Rice, and RUPD's increasingly stern actions have drawn the ire of many students. Furthermore, many of the students aware of this situation are bemoaning the termination through social media, and the outcry would undoubtedly be much greater if this incident had occurred with school in session. Confidence in our police department seems to be declining, and this latest questionable decision will certainly not help that trend. The dynamic between the student body and campus police is an entirely separate discussion; however, it is obvious that the growing schism and distrust between the two sides is not optimal for campus safety. Had Sedmak's decision to go rogue saved the life of an officer on May 7, Rice would have undoubtedly tried to jump into Sedmak's national limelight and seize some of the credit being doled out by the national media. Plastered on the front of Rice's website would have been a predictable headline, "Who Knew: RUPD officers that protect Rice's campus could also protect Rice's city?" However, without a Hollywood ending to Sedmak's actions, RUPD administration was unable to come down from their Lovett Hall perch to see how heroic his actions were. Ironically, Rice's decision to fire Sedmak has yielded an entirely different type of national press, and Rice has to do some serious damage control to protect our otherwise pristine image. Unfortunately, no matter how Rice PR tries to frame this issue, RUPD administration will be on the losing side of the debate. The students know they are wrong. The public knows they are wrong. The media knows they are wrong. Rice must overturn this preposterous termination and return Sedmak's job -- if he even wants it back anymore.
A Rice University police officer has been fired after going off campus to aid police officers following an ‘officer down' call. RUPD fired Officer David Sedmak for dereliction of duty – leaving while on duty without notifying his supervisor he was gone.
The 66th-ranked Owls had little hope of making the NCAA Tournament via an at-large invite, so the Conference USA Championship would be their only avenue for furthering their season. Given a fourth seed, the women's tennis team enjoyed a first round bye before taking on the University of Central Florida (12-8), the host school. The fifth seeded Knights could not keep up with Rice's well-tuned doubles pairs as sophomore Daniella Trigo and senior Jessica Jackson started off the competition with an 8-3 victory. Senior Rebekka Hanle and junior Ana Guzman finished their match next by a score of 8-4 to give Rice the doubles point. Jackson and Guzman increased the Owls' lead to 3-0 before freshman Dominique Harmath finished of UCF's Alexis Rodriguez in two quick sets to clinch the victory for Rice. All in all, it was a perfect match for the Owls, who failed to drop a set during the entire quarterfinal matchup.
Almost four years ago now, my friend Jocelyn Wright, fellow O-Week group member and soon-to-be assistant news editor, and I wandered upstairs to the Thresher office during the activity fair. Both of us had aspirations of journalism greatness, she via hard-hitting news stories and I covering the greats of the Rice baseball diamond. We ran into Evan Mintz (Hanszen '08) and Stephen Whitfield (Sid Rich '08), then-executive editor and editor-in-chief, who were not-so-frantically beginning work on that year's O-Week edition. They ushered us into the office, equally eager to see fresh faces and skeptical of our capabilities.
Heading into the final weeks of the season, the Owls wanted to finish the season with a bang. Even though Rice finished second in the conference to the 36th-ranked University of Tulsa (21-7), the Owls still had a chance to beat them in the conference tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
David Brooks addressed the 98th graduating class last Saturday that perhaps they should have all majored in marriage, emphasizing that happiness comes from family and friends not the workplace.
After dropping both games of a doubleheader in Birmingham, Ala. to the University of Alabama-Birmingham (27-25, 9-15 C-USA) on April 23, the baseball team fell two games behind Southern Miss in the Conference USA standings with just three weekends of play to go. Needing their second late-season push in as many years to get themselves in position for their 16th consecutive C-USA share of the title, the Owls headed across town to Cougar Field for a three-game set against the University of Houston (24-27, 11-10 C-USA) after a midweek win over Stephen F. Austin State University (31-20) by a score of 9-1.
While they did not know it at the time, the golf team finished a disappointing season with a poor performance at the Conference USA Tournament in Drew Scott's final event as head coach.
With the Conference USA Outdoor Championship being held at Rice Track/Holloway Field this past weekend, the men's track team aimed to use this home field advantage to help propel them to a top-three finish at the C-USA Outdoor Championship for the first time since 2008. But the perfect weather and familiar surroundings couldn't give the Owls the 30 extra points needed to surpass the University of Tulsa, as Rice finished fourth for the third straight year. As always, the Owls had strong showings in the decathlon and distance events, but had a few surprises including the shot put and 4x400 meter relay results.
For the full 3-page spread of graduation pictures, see PDFs: 1 2 3
On days when I forget to bring my iPod into the car I am forced to listen to the radio. On one such occasion last week, I tuned into Houston's KRBE 104.1, a pop radio station that's a far cry from my usual playlists of Carole King, Dave Brubeck, Justin Bieber and the Wu Tang Clan. Maybe they had the Bieber, but still.
This spring has not been an easy one for the women's track and field team. Plagued by injury after injury, much more of the team has spent time in recovery mode, instead of training mode, than Head Coach Jim Bevan would have liked. Despite all this adversity, the always-competitive Owls have once again found a way to return to peak form just in time for the conference meet.
The Thresher spoke with Provost George McLendon and President David Leebron about their recent trip to China.
The Thresher sent News editor Seth Brown to Rice University Police Department's assessment center for new officer candidates on April 30 to help assess the applicants for four open positions in the department and learn about how RUPD selects its officers.
