To the Editor:The administration's comments on KTRU's failure to pass a blanket tax increase are misleadingly bleak and lacking in context ("President David Leebron responds to Thresher staff editorial, student and alumni concerns over KTRU sale," Aug. 27). First of all, it's important to remember that blanket tax increases are notoriously difficult to pass, since they require a supermajority. For example, the Green Blanket Tax for RESET required two years of hard lobbying to pass; it failed in 2009 and passed in 2010. Secondly, a blanket tax increase vote is not the same as a popularity contest. Students may vote "no" not because they dislike or disapprove of an organization but because they think it is doing a good job with the money it already has.
As the reasons given for opposing the planned Cordoba House mosque in New York City have become increasingly incoherent and shrill, the one consistent appeal has been to the pain which the mosque's location will allegedly cause the relatives of those killed in the 9/11 attacks. Indeed, even if they've agreed on nothing else, supporters and opponents of the mosque seem to have agreed on the importance of taking the views and feelings of those relatives into consideration. To take just one example from the supporters' side, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach calls on the mosque's developer to poll victims' relatives for their views because he says theirs is the opinion that really matters. He also said of the former World Trade Center that it is utterly inappropriate to build anything on that cemetery without the consent of the families. But why should so-called 9/11 families be entitled to any special consideration on this or any other issue? Why do people flinch when "9/11 families" are invoked and go to such lengths to show that they are indeed taking these families' feelings into account? The death of a family member is neither a credential nor a qualification and losing a family member in a terrorist attack no more qualifies one to comment on the building of a mosque than losing a family member to cancer qualifies one to practice oncology - or worse, to tell others where they can and can't practice oncology. Inherent in this undue deference is the suggestion that what matters is not the content of an opinion, but rather the person offering the opinion. What sentiment could be more troubling? Those who demand deference to their opinions based on who they are rather than what they've said do not deserve it, and those who would offer them that deference do not deserve to be taken seriously.
While the California sunshine may have brought temporary smiles to the volleyball team, it still left unsatisfied after a 1-2 performance in the Asics Classic that was hosted by Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. In Rice's first match against Pepperdine last Friday, the Owls lost the first set 25-20 and lost a hard-fought second set 25-22. The match ended quietly with a 25-15 loss by Rice in the third and final set and giving the Waves a 3-0 win.
Just a 15 minute walk from anywhere on campus, Pasha Turkish Restaurant is perfect for hungry Rice students looking for a rib-sticking ethnic meal on weeknights or during the weekend. And, as it turns out, it's also not a bad place for omnivores to take their vegetarian friends, or vice versa. Meat eaters will find a full array of entrees without condemning their vegetarian companions to yet another plate of wilted iceberg lettuce. Nearly all of the appetizers on Pasha's menu are vegetarian or vegan, and the large Pasha Meze platter - a mouth-watering selection of cold appetizers that includes hummus, babaganush and eggplant salad - is big enough to serve as an entree.
Last weekend, the soccer team traveled to the Bay Area to play a pair of matches against the University of California at Berkeley and the University of San Francisco.On Friday evening, Rice faced off against No. 19 Cal, the first ranked team the Owls have faced all season. Almost immediately after the opening of the match, the Bears proved why they have earned their ranking, scoring in the fifth minute of the match. With hardly any time for Rice to rebound, Cal again scored off of a penalty kick in the 10th minute. In the 11th minute, the Golden Bears had extended their lead to 3-0 with a direct free-kick by forward Alex Morgan.
Even though every other Conference USA women's cross country team began their seasons last week, the Rice cross country team stayed in Houston last weekend to keep training. That decision by Head Coach Jim Bevan exemplifies the team's decision this year not to rush anything. After redshirting four upperclassmen in 2009 for a variety of reasons, this year's team aims to bring a full-force squad into postseason competition. Rice should have no problem this year bringing a loaded squad to most meets, considering that the team lost only one senior, Claire Shorall (Duncan '10), to graduation. That means the team will not be lacking in depth.
It's 9 p.m. on Thursday night, and if you are like many Rice students, you have a problem set due tomorrow and are just about ready to sit down to take a look at it. As you walk toward the lonely confines of Fondren Library for the rest of the night, the overwhelming need for a cup of coffee hijacks your mind. But before you head over to Brochstein Pavilion to prepare for your night in the stacks, be forewarned that the administration is no longer interested in catering to your needs.We at the Thresher, along with much of the student body, were shocked to learn that with the start of the new semester came dramatic cuts in the operating hours of a commonly used study and meeting area (see story, page 4). But the decision to reduce hours does more than give Coffeehouse larger profits in late-night hours.
As of the first day of classes, late-night studying at the Brochstein Pavilion is no more. A recent change in policy this summer means that the Pavilion will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The Pavilion previously closed at 10 p.m. during the week, while the weekend hours have not changed. The Pavilion opened in April 2008 as a gathering space for students, faculty, staff and visitors. The week it first opened, the Pavilion was open for 24 hours a day, as its grand opening corresponded to exam week for students. The hours of the Pavilion fluctuated as the building became a central part of campus.
What does the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy have to offer Rice students? More than you would think. True, we don't grant degrees. Our focus is on high-quality public policy research aimed at informing our national debate on major domestic and international issues. The institute is a think-tank, yes. But we're a lot more. That's because education is also a core part of our mission. Our fellows and scholars teach classes in a variety of disciplines. Just last spring, for instance, I taught a class on the contemporary Middle East (POST 455). It was an experience, let me add, that reminded me how smart Rice students are and how hard their professors must work to stay one step ahead of them. This semester, institute fellows will be teaching or co-teaching courses in economics (ECON 437, 481, and 516), sociology (SOCI 314) and history (HIST 291, 352 and 425).
The news on Thursday, Sept. 2, was big enough to warrant a column on energy. Yet again, there was an accident on an oil rig. To be fair, there were many differences between the fire that broke out last week on Mariner Energy Inc.'s oil rig and the massive explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history. But I'm not too concerned with the differences, because I'm not here to talk about regulation or safety practices. What concerns me most are the inherent risks and danger associated with drilling for oil, especially off the coast. These two incidents (it might not be right to call them accidents) reminded us all that we just don't have the means to make oil drilling safe, and that fact should be part of our impetus to change the way our country is powered. Given all of the problems which our country faces today, would you be in favor of creating millions of jobs, reducing the amount of money which we hand over to Middle Eastern countries, breathing cleaner air, leading the world, as a country, in the most promising new sector of research and production, and restoring American lives to the forefront of technology?
Things aren't always as they seem. This is a fitting description for the men's cross country team's second-place effort at the University of Houston last Friday. Rice came into the Johnny Morriss Invitational expecting to defend their title but found the Cardinals of Lamar University to be just a bit quicker, as the Owls tallied 38 points to Lamar's 35. Redshirt sophomore Gabe Cuadra led the Owls, completing the 4.75 kilometer course in just over 15 minutes to claim fourth place. Freshman Alex Weinheimer followed Cuadra by 12 seconds and crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of redshirt sophomore James Llamas. Junior Michael Trejo helped the Rice effort by coming in 10th place and redshirt freshman Anthony Lauriello rounded out the scoring effort for the Owls in 15th place.
Vision, drive, humility - these are the makings of a leader, according to some of this year's undergraduate fellows within the Program for the Study of Leadership. The new program, which focuses on the scholarly study of leaders and their role in society, was launched this summer. This year, 15 undergraduates received a yearlong fellowship to conduct research under PSL Director D. Michael Lindsay.The PSL is housed under the Institute for Urban Research, which launched in May under the direction of Institute for Urban Research co-directors Michael Emerson and Stephen Klineberg.
Rice students packed the METRORail last Saturday and headed to Reliant Stadium to watch the football team open its season against the No. 5 Texas Longhorns. The Owls lost the game 34-17, but the enthusiasm and spirit shown by Rice fans signaled the beginning of a great year for Rice athletics, Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Ticket Sales Ryan Holloway said. Brown College junior Melissa Fwu agreed with Holloway's sentiments.
As President John F. Kennedy once said, "Rice does not play Texas because it is easy, but rather because it is hard." As the Owls learned last Saturday, it's really, really hard. But, despite the national media giving them absolutely no chance, the University of Texas' (1-0) roster being infinitely more athletic and Vegas' placing the line at 31 points, Rice (0-1) fought valiantly under the bright artificial lights of Reliant Stadium, managing to put a scare into the Longhorns and remind them that sometimes David can get some shots in against Goliath.
The members of the Student Association, decked out in "BRO-wear," gathered in the Farnsworth Pavilion Sept. 6 for smoothies, backslaps and something more serious: discussion of the Student-Administration Relations Resolution.This resolution was introduced at the Aug. 30 SA meeting by Duncan College junior Kevin Bush and is sponsored by SA President Selim Sheikh. The purpose of the proposition is enumerated at the beginning of the document: "To Disapprove of the Secretive Process Employed During the Sale of KTRU-FM; To Call for a Collaborative Dialogue Between Student Stakeholders and the Rice Administration."
It was a beautiful day for football on Saturday when, despite a sea of orange, the Owls played host to the University of Texas Longhorns at Reliant Stadium (see story, page 7). In what has been collectively regarded as a better-than-expected effort, the game marked the much-anticipated start of the 2010 football season, and as long as running back Sam McGuffie promises to stop running backward, the 34-17 loss gave Rice fans a positive outlook for the rest of the year.We at the Thresher took note, however, that little was done to transform the speckles of blue into a cohesive blotch in the crowd of more than 70,000. UT fans come in full force every time the 'Horns come in town to play, and we feel it would have been pertinent to maintain some semblance of a home-team presence with a designated student section, as opposed to randomly scattering Rice students among the unsold nosebleeds.
Student Association President Selim Sheikh announced the launch of the new Textbook Madness website Aug. 30, which will serve as a replacement for the SA Textbook Marketplace website. The Textbook Marketplace site, which was hosted on the SA website, was a site where students could post listings of their used textbooks and potential buyers could search for available books by courses listed.
Brockman Hall for Physics, a new state-of-the-art facility for faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. The earliest move-in date for faculty, as projected by Project Manager Erik Knezevich, is Jan. 27, 2011. The building will include a classroom, labs, offices for faculty and a lecture hall expected to seat about 255 students, Knezevich said. There will also be a science quadrangle and an outdoor green space with a fountain similar to those near the Brochstein Pavilion. A rooftop observatory will be on the east end of the south wing and will be surrounded by red LED lights to make it easier to view the night sky.
"D-17," Sarah Oppenheimer's new installation at the Rice Gallery, reflects her calculated and rational manner. She is not one for frills or excess. She takes her coffee black. She wears a plain blue jumper spattered with paint to work. Her brown hair is reduced to an extremely short buzz cut. She is an artist who relies less on imagination and more on innovation, investigation and academic reasoning. Her piece dominates both the foyer and interior of the gallery: Long sections of white aluminum stretch horizontally back from the middle window of the foyer through the glass panels of the gallery before tapering down to a small point near the back of the interior gallery space. The placement of the aluminum panels forms a tunnel-like passage in the crease of the structure, which allows light from the outside to shine down on the work. The simple and minimalistic streamlined aesthetics of the piece seem especially striking, instilling curiosity and wonderment in the viewer.
