The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 2011 Page: 3 of 28
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Op-Ed
Lax, trusting drinking culture
key to healthy consumption
As a freshman at Rice University
last year, I was thrown into a new
atmosphere of college parties and
drinking that was largely unfamil-
iar to me. But, as I quickly learned,
there was no safer or more open
place than Rice when it came to
alcohol policy. Through a combina-
tion of private gatherings, public
parties and Rice EMS services, this
campus struck a perfect balance
when it came to providing freedom
and safety for students. Never once
when I was intoxicated at gather-
ings (private or public) did I feel
I was in the least bit of danger.
Knowing RUPD was usually reason-
able and emergency services were
available allowed students to party
and have fun together without liv-
ing in constant fear. Moreover,
students at Rice constantly looked
out for one another. This year, with
the administration's new heavy-
handed approach to alcohol policy,
things have certainly changed for
the worse.
Josh Redwine
Let me first concede that the
rise in Rice EMS intoxication calls
this year is a troubling statistic,
and a problem that students have
been trying to address since it was
brought to our attention. Although
these EMS calls cannot simply be
explained away, I certainly think
that the administration has han-
dled the issue poorly from the get
-go. The alcohol forum was an ef-
fective means of creating an open
dialogue, but it only involved a
small portion of students who were
willing and able to attend and was
never followed up by a formal ad-
dress from Dean of Undergradu-
ates, John Hutchinson. Why now,
only a month after the initial alco-
hol forum that was meant to get the
students involved in the process,
are we facing harsh sanctions from
the administration? If the intent
was to warn students about possi-
ble consequences and give them an
opportunity to turn things around,
a month is hardly enough time
for 3,000 students to implement
changes within the colleges and
show a measurable improvement.
The only thing the Rice administra-
tion has succeeded in doing is mak-
ing themselves look responsible to
outsiders and creating animosity
amongst the student population.
We have all noticed this year
that the administration has taken
a harsher stance on private parties
and private drinking. And, while
these changes were made with good
intentions, they have only exacer-
bated the very problems that the
administration is trying to prevent.
Now, as the entire campus faces
probation and a draconian new
policy on hard liquor, I can safely
say that my fellow students and I
feel far less trusted and understood
by the Rice administration, and we
know that their new attitude is only
going to lead to more problems.
These new policies are entirely mis-
guided, and I, for one, am appalled
that a university which claims to
put so much trust in students has
replaced a student-friendly attitude
with Hutchinson's harsh new anti
alcohol approach. These new poli-
cies have not, and will not, prevent
minors from drinking on campus
and the fact is that they will only
lead to further problems as stu-
dents take part in more dangerous
behaviors. Although this article
does not address all of the issues
regarding alcohol consumption on
campus, I think it is important for
the administration to understand
that there are legitimate concerns
from students.
Prior to this year, private par-
ties made drinking a safe, social
activity by allowing students to
feel comfortable when drinking
and allowing a group of students
to watch out for one another. Now
that the administration has cracked
down on private parties, they have
pushed students into small rooms
where binge-drinking becomes
more of a problem because stu-
dents want to get their drinking
done quickly and out of sight. This
creates an environment of fear that
I never witnessed last year. More-
over, while the use of EMS statistics
to inform students of problems on
campus is certainly useful, the fo-
cus the administration has placed
on these calls as proof of alcohol
issues is problematic. It instills fear
in students and stops them from
using the emergency services that
are sometimes needed. One of the
things that has made Rice EMS so
effective is the ability to use the
service without fear of punishment.
When you tell students drinking
and providing hard alcohol will
have strict consequences and EMS
calls are how you gauge the prob-
lem, it will only lead them to stay
quiet in situations where students'
lives are at stake. Finally, one of
the greatest aspects of Rice cul-
ture is the college-centered social
life that takes place on campus.
If the administration continues
to crack down on partying and
drinking, they will only succeed in
pushing Rice's social life off cam-
pus. Parties will move to student
apartments and houses, far from
the safety and services offered by
on-campus parties.
These changes are a major cause
for concern amongst students who
felt safe and drank responsibly be-
fore our supposed problems began.
Policies like this new probation-
ary ban on hard alcohol will not
lead to less alcohol consumption
on campus, and in fact are entirely
counter-productive. Does the ad-
ministration really think it is a co-
incidence that the same year they
begin cracking down on parties
is the year that intoxication calls
increased? The fact is that, prior
to this school year, my fellow stu-
dents and I felt comfortable par-
tying on campus in moderation,
watching out for one another and
understanding that the university's
administration trusted us to make
good decisions. Instead, this year,
we have been pushed into hiding,
and binge drinking has become a
problem. The Culture of Care only
works when students feel safe and
can watch out for one another. That
is lost entirely in a system where
mistrust and a decidedly negative
attitude toward alcohol drive uni-
versity policy. We all realize that
underage drinking is illegal and
officially prohibited, and I am not
asking the university to condone
that behavior. As far as I'm con-
cerned, the best hope Hutchinson
and the rest of the administration
have of curtailing drinking prob-
lems is going back to the atmo-
sphere and attitude that existed
prior to this year's crackdown. Let
us hope no student has to die be
fore the administration comes to its
Newspaper availability minimal on campus
If you are reading this article,
chances are you are pretty smart.
While visiting a public party might
point to the contrary, as Rice stu-
dents, we are part of selective group
of intelligent people. Just listen to the
conversations around you, the casual
musing about fluid dynamics or dis-
cussing the nuances of 19th Century
feminist Chinese Literature. Yet, de-
spite this genius and brilliance, many
of us are woefully uneducated and ig-
norant of the world in which we live.
Anthony Lauriello
Can you name three headlines
from last week's national news? How
about three congressmen, Supreme
Court Justices or cabinet members?
To some of you, these questions may
be easy, but many Rice students can't
even name the Secretary of Defense
despite our country being at war.
These do not just include the more
science-based majors. I personally
know an art history major who was
surprised that there was an election
last year.
I am sure many dispute this lack
of knowledge as a problem. They ask
why should we have to learn things
unimportant to our profession, why
should we learn things important to
history and political science majors
when they don't care to learn things
about our majors? It's a valid point,
but sadly for these majors, they are
at Rice not only to grow and learn as
professionals, but citizens as well.
Brilliance and passion for individual
subjects are part of what make Rice
great, but when this devotion leads
to myopic worldviews and students
laboring without context, we have
failed our school and in turn our
school has failed us. The university
must produce not only those who are
on the forefront of their careers, but
civic leaders as well. To do this, I chal-
lenge us as a community of Rice stu-
dents to commit to reading a national
or municipal newspaper for ten min-
utes every day.
Part of this challenge rests on the
administration. Some of you may
remember when the serverys had
regular newspaper service, but after
budget cuts the finical strain was put
on the colleges and the newspapers
disappeared. As the ALFA committee
demonstrates, the school is certainly
not in dire financial straits. There-
fore I see no reason why the admin-
istration should not provide news
from several reliable daily sources to
its students. Preferably, the money
would not come from the ALFA mon-
ey but from the Dean's budget or the
President's special fund. This would
solidify thought-provoking ideas and
information outside of the hedges not
as a luxury but a necessity. Relatively
speaking, the cost would be small and
the benefits potentially enormous. It
is time for Rice to fulfill its obligations
as a liberal arts institution and pro-
vide newspapers to its students.
Yet, Rice providing newspapers
will do nothing unless we as students
reject apathy. We need newspapers in
the Servery but most importantly, stu-
dents must read them.
Anthony Lauriello is a
Wiess College sophomore.
HIV stigma poses huge hurdle in society
As you are probably aware by
now, LIVE CONSORTIUM is in the
first week of its University HIV
Anti-Stigma Campaign at Rice. The
goal of the campaign is to educate
the Rice community about HIV,
the negative effects of stigma and
how we, as a community, can cre-
ate positive change. This article is
the first in which I will write about
the current HIV epidemic in Hous-
ton and what we can do together to
solve the HIV problem.
Beau Miller
Current HIV statistics for Hous-
ton and The United States are as-
tounding. Over a million Ameri-
cans are currently living with HIV.
Houston ranks eigth nationally in
the number of total reported AIDS
cases and one in 90 Houstonians
is living with HIV. In Houston,
African Americans represent 55
percent of all HIV infections and
African American women repre-
sent approximately 75 percent of all
women infected with HIV. Nation-
ally, HIV remains one of the lead-
ing causes of death for persons age
25-44 and young people, ages 13-
24, are at greatest risk for acquiring
HIV/AIDS.
It is clearly obvious from these
statistics that the HIV/AIDS epi-
demic is not only getting worse in
our country, but also in our own
city. Individuals, communities and
nations around the world permit
HIV to thrive by propagating un-
informed and statistically incor-
rect HIV information and promot-
ing isolationism and separatism
through campaigns of false facts
and misguided political percep-
tions. Examples of HIV ignorance
include continued articulation that
HIV infiltrates and seeks the an-
nihilation of a single small faith-
less demographic, lack of common
knowledge of how HIV is transmit-
ted and the resistance to common
sense education of proactive HIV
prevention through safe sex and
abstinence. Despite overwhelming
scientific data, advanced medical
knowledge and aggressive, but an-
tiquated, prevention and treatment
outreach, legions of humans are
presenting for the first time with
AIDS or, after diagnosed with HIV,
choose to consciously live a life of
denial and, by refusing treatment,
play a significant role in the sur-
vival of the virus by introducing it
to new unsuspecting hosts.
In the '90s, HIV positive indi-
viduals actively sought treatment
information in open, obvious and
interactive forums. Today, howev-
er, HIV positive individuals live in
modern isolation. Isolation, a bi-
product of the communication rev-
olution, promotes misinformation,
precludes peer support and pre-
vents community action. Modern
isolation also proactively and ex-
ponentially exacerbates the affects
of HIV Stigma. Unlike the past, the
present challenge is not medical in
nature, but educational. So, how
do we communicate and relay accu-
rate, appropriate and individually
effective HIV treatment, prev |n-
tion and wellness information to all
people of the world today?
We must breach the communi-
cation/stigma barrier and educate
all people, no matter their status
or background, about the reality
of HIV and how to prevent it, treat
it and live with it. Through knowl-
edge, we can all live healthy and
full lives, prevent HIV infection
of our loved ones, neighbors and
fellow humans and take the next
step in the only current medically
viable cure available today: the
neutralization of the virus through
prevention and education and the
sustained systematic application
of state of the art treatment of all
people around the world who carry
the burden of HIV.
Stigma, defined as a mark of
disgrace, is the major contributing
factor to the prevalence of HIV in
this country. Stigma prevents indi-
viduals from getting tested, enter-
ing treatment, seeking emotional
support from family and friends,
and from simply talking about the
disease.
Stigma prevents people
from helping themselves and
others. Nothing good comes
from stigma.
Beau Miller is
Founder, President and C.E.O of
LIVE CONSORTIUM
senses.
Miss your radio station and and your booze?
Still hate the Yankees?
Sarah Palin hasn't stopped pissing you off?
Tell the Thresher Op-Ed section what's on your
mind, and get paid for your rants.
Josh Redwine is a
McMurtry College sophomore.
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Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 2011, newspaper, March 11, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398421/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.