Andrew Cormack

OPINION 3/1/22 10:55pm

Students shouldn’t be exempted from minimum wage policy

By Andrew Cormack

A successful organization is far more than just a sum of its parts. As a leading institution, Rice likes to prides itself on its diverse and integrated community. Keeping with Rice’s future-paving spirit, faculty, staff and students all ought to be compensated sensibly. Rice University’s recent minimum wage hike is a step in the right direction for some employees, but falls short in securing reasonable pay for student workers. 

FEATURES 4/6/21 9:14pm

Doc Talks: Task Force on Racial Injustice talks documents and research in webinar series

By Andrew Cormack

Fifty-six years ago, just as Rice University began to desegregate, student Raymond L. Johnson wrote a remarkable letter to the university’s president. Johnson was the first Black student to enroll at Rice, and his presence sparked a lawsuit by alumni demanding that Rice only educate white students. School officials requested that Johnson and other Black students keep a low profile and stay out of the media during the lawsuit, but Johnson’s letter to the president brought the painfully slow progress of integration under light — and questioned the dubious timing of introducing tuition the same year Rice began accepting Black students. This letter is just one of many documents discussed in The Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice’s new podcast and webinar series.  

FEATURES 3/9/21 10:14pm

Explore Texas: Six perfect day trips to make the most of sprinkle days

By Andrew Cormack

As we continue to battle the pandemic, Rice has made the decision to eliminate spring break to reduce the risk of students going out of state and transmitting the virus to loved ones or bringing it back to campus. Instead, we get sprinkle days — randomly selected days off that are intended to offer students time to relax in lieu of a traditional spring break. Used correctly, these days can offer students an opportunity to destress and unwind by spending time in nature, visiting cultural sites, or trying new activities.