Campus Reaction: Rice students must avoid apathy (Eric Friedlander)
As a freshman, I can remember Rice students being described as people who were interested in learning for the sake of learning. There was a certain awesome quirkiness that permeated life here. I still remember a group of seniors building a touchscreen table remotely similar to something you would find in the movie Iron Man out of a glass table, a projector and a webcam. The point is that Rice students used to be more concerned with the intrinsic beauty and innate "badass-ness" of nature and technology instead of starting a career 10 minutes into their first day of Physics 101. This sort of trend can be attributed to several things. First, the generation of students that are entering college now are just plain different than those who entered Rice eight years ago. This generation is more sheltered and tends to excel in a structured environment. This small generational gap might explain the rise in pre-meds at Rice, despite the fact that getting into medical school is more difficult than ever. Yet the thought remains that perfect grades and perfect attendance will ensure admission. This type of thinking leads to less creativity and diminishes a culture of quirkiness that is vital at Rice.