The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 9, 2010 Page: 1 of 32
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OP-ED P. 3
Tiger is a player, not a role model
Ryan Gupta clarifies the difference between celebrity and
model behavior in light of the Tiger Woods scandal.
A&E P. 11
Office party on Ghost Mountain
Find out who is playing at KTRU's annual Outdoor
Show tomorrow.
SPORTS P. 15
A sweep and a miss
Rice basehnll defeated Houston thi ice over the weekend,
but their luck failed Tuesday against Dallas Baptist.
the Rice
VOLUME XCVII, ISSUE NO. 25
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010
Budget cut
committee
formed
by Kevin Lin
Thresher Staff
The Student Association is form-
ing a Budget Planning Committee
to make sure students have a voice
in the fiscal process and to ensure
highly valued programs stay de-
spite budget cuts.
According to its charter, passed
at the March 22 SA meeting, the
Budget Planning Committee is
charged with "representing the in-
terests of the student body to the
Dean of Undergraduates and the
Office of Finances on matters hav-
ing to do with departmental budget
planning."
The Budget Planning Commit-
tee will be a six-member group
composed of the SA Treasurer, cur-
rently Brown College freshman Le-
muel Soh, and five other members
selected from the student body who
will be responsible for finding out
what programs are most important
to the students of each department.
The first members of the committee
will be announced next week, and
a chair will be picked at a later date
within the committee. The commit-
tee will dissolve on March 24, 2014.
Student Association President
Selim Sheikh, a Martel College ju-
nior who helped found the group
with other SA executive members,
said the committee was estab
lished to represent undergraduate
interests.
U
We felt that it's
important to get the
student voice in the
decision-making
process... and being
proactive instead of
reactive.
Selim Sheikh
SA President
99
"We felt that it's important to
get the student voice in the deci-
sion making process," Sheikh said.
"So basically, getting involved in
the process and being proactive in-
stead of reactive."
Dean of Undergraduates Robin
Forman said the administration is
supportive of the new committee
and that it has always strived to
work with students when making
decisions about the budget.
"Student opinion has always
played a central role in that pro-
cess," Forman said. "What this pro-
vides is a more systematic way that
Osee BUDGET, page 9
Econ department restructures major
Course names, grad
requirements change
*not a
complete list
By Seth Brown
Thresher Editorial Staff
Economics dictates that as market
forces change, players must constantly
readapt. Taking this lesson to heart, the
Economics Department has reevaluated
its course offerings and major require-
ments. A sixth required elective has
been added to the economics major, the
numbering of several courses has been
changed to clarify difficulty level, re-
search methods have changed the mini-
mum required grade point average has
risen for honors candidates.
Economics Department Chair
Mahmoud El-Gamal said the chang-
es were deemed necessary after a
departmental review.
"Every department has to do pe-
riodic curriculum reform — every few
years we have to see if the portfolio of
courses makes a coherent curriculum
for students," El-Gamal said. "We de-
cided we had reached the point where
reform was necessary."
OLD
econ 211
ECON
With the addition of a sixth re-
quired elective to the economics ma-
jor, both economics and mathemati-
cal economic analysis majors now
must have six elective courses from
a pre-approved list, three of which
must be 400-level courses. The addi-
econ 370
econ m
econ 452
econ mim
tion was made in consideration of the
relatively low number — 11 before,
now 12 — of courses required at Rice
for an economics major. El-Gamal
said Princeton University, Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and
Columbia University, among others,
NEW
econ 201
econ 205
econ 301.
econ 2431
econ 2521
econ 3991
have higher total course requirements
for their economics majors — MIT re-
quires 14 — as do a number of other
majors within Rice. Physics majors
have to take upward of 20 courses,
and political science majors have to
O see ECON, page 9
Green dorm initiative launches campuswide
by jocelyn WRIGHT
Thresher Editorial Staff
The Green Dorm Initiative, a pro-
gram which encourages students to
reevaluate their living habits by rating
the environmental friendliness of their
dorms, began April 8.
The program, which was tested last
semester at Brown College, required
approximately 20 participants from
the college to fill out a survey assess-
ing their living habits. They then kept
a two-week log of their behavior, Becca
Sagestegui, president of the Rice Envi-
ronmental Club, said.
"The pilot was basically to test
out the system and the response we'll
get from students," Sagestegui, a Sid
Richardson College junior, said.
Sagestegui said the project aims
to increase student environmental
awareness.
"The idea is to emphasize how in-
dividual actions can add up to make a
difference," Sagestegui said.
Students must enter as a room.
When they sign up, they complete
a questionnaire about their laundry
habits, appliance and lighting usage,
water consumption and recycling
practices. For the next two weeks, par-
ticipants complete a daily log about
their energy and water usage, Sag-
estegui said. After the program finishes
April 22, students' rooms will be certi-
fied as bronze, silver or gold and par-
ticipants will receive prizes. Bronze-
winning students receive a reusable
shopping bag, silver winners get both
the bag and a steel water bottle and
gold winners get those two items and
15 Tetra points, Baker College junior
Nicole Kwan said.
Sagestegui said the club got the
idea for the program from St. Lau-
rence University, which has a similar
Osee GREEN, page 4
French studies cuts masters,
doctoral degree programs
by Joey Capparella
Thresher Staff
As a result of university-wide
budget cuts, masters and doctoral
degrees in French studies will no
longer be offered for incoming grad-
uate students, effective next semes-
ter. The decision was made last se-
mester by Howard R. Hughes Provost
Eugene Levy.
With this decision, the University
of Texas-Austin will become the only
university in Texas with a doctoral pro-
gram in French studies. Additionally,
the French studies masters and doc-
toral programs are the only remaining
graduate foreign language programs at
Rice. Graduate students in all depart-
ments are free to take undergraduate
language classes.
" The decision to cut the program
was incredibly complex, but one impor-
tant contributing factor was the current
state of the job market," Professor of
Humanities Deborah Nelson-Campbell
said. "Everyone is cutting back. There
are fewer jobs for Ph.D.'s in French,
and, thus, fewer people who want to
get Ph.D.'s in French."
Those who complete the doctoral
program often go on to work at univer-
sities, but with staff hiring freezes in
many universities because of the eco-
nomic recession, it has been especial-
ly difficult for program participants to
find a job.
Nelson-Campbell said this deci-
sion would affect neither the under
graduate program at Rice nor current
graduate students.
"We continue to have a thriving un-
dergraduate program with lots of French
majors, and we will also allow the current
graduate students to finish their degree
at Rice," Nelson-Campbell said.
The 11 current French studies
graduate students will be provided
with the necessary resources to com-
Osee FRENCH, page 9
DAVH RO£AUS/THRESH£R
Color me
wonderful
Will Rice College sophomore Kevin Lin
brightens up a recycled bicycle as part of
the Color Cycle event. See story, page 10.
Play that French music, white boy I dream of 12-hour minimums
The Shepherd Music School's Spotlight on
Paris Chamber Music Festival tomorrow will
feature a full day of chamber music, with a
focus on French composers. The music starts
at 9:so a.m. and goes until to p.m., so be sure
to stop by sometime during the day!
Course registration for Fall 2010 starts Sunday, At-
tend academic planning sessions; seek the advice
of your elders; do whatever you must to get your
classes sorted out beforehand. Then hold your
breath and pray ESTHER doesn't die when you
need her most.
Close encounters of the high school kind
That's right — Owl Days are next Thursday and Friday,
and at least 600 high school seniors are expected to
show. If you want to have your own prospies to shape
in your image, it's not too late to volunteer. Otherwise,
be ready — some of them might be feral.
INDEX
Opinion
3
News
4
Arts & Entertainment
11
Sports
15
Calendar
19
Backpage
20
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Wilde, Anna. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 9, 2010, newspaper, April 9, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398458/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.