The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009 Page: 1 of 20
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OP-ED
Rabbits and owls are not enough
Rice should Increase biodiversity on campus In order to
attract more wildlife like butterflies and hummingbirds.
A&E P. 10
The Greatest play?
Hanszen College junior Garrett Schumann's play The
Greatest Story is really that great.
SPORTS
Baseball wins again!
Rice baseball mocks Houston's efforts, knocks the
Cougars around for a 9-2 win in the home opener.
theRic
VOLUME XCVI, ISSUE NO. 21
Jewish
studies
minor
passed
by Josh Rutenberg
Thresher Staff
Mazel tov! Rice will offer a new
minor in Jewish studies beginning
this fall.
The minor, which was approved
by the Faculty Senate last week,
is the start of a long-term effort to
bring a full-fledged Jewish studies
program to Rice. Professor of Ju-
daic Studies Gregory Kaplan, along
with Professor in Biblical Studies
Matthais Henze, both members of
the Religious Studies Department,
spent the past three months obtain-
ing approval for the minor by work-
ing with professors from a multi-
tude of disciplines.
Ultimately, Kaplan and Henze
aim to develop a program that will
offer fellowships and internships,
bring more faculty to campus and
strengthen relationships with the
surrounding community.
"My hope is that the Jewish
studies program will create a forum
where we can meet and discuss all
kinds of ideas, texts and periods,"
Henze said. "I see this as a place of
exchange for ideas and scholarship
we are creating."
Henze believes students will be
able to take full advantage of the
new program, using elective credit
to fulfill the minor requirements.
Additionally, Henze said the new
minor will not require any new re-
sources. Everything being proposed
for the minor already exists, and the
minor will not be contingent on a
budget proposal, Henze said. How-
ever, the full program will necessi-
tate significant resources, such as
obtaining a postdoctorate in Jewish
studies and adding faculty lines.
Elie Bengio, who has taken sever-
al Hebrew classes, said the time-com-
mitment and the low student enroll-
ment in introductory classes might
have discouraged some students from
taking the courses in the past.
"Many students may be unwill-
inging to make a five-credit hour
commitment to a Hebrew class
which, ultimately, isn't a distribu-
tion course and won't serve towards
any other major," Bengio, a Lovett
College sophomore, said. "I think
that institutionalizing a Jewish mi-
nor will give those students the in-
centive to take that Hebrew class."
Given the current economic
downturn, Henze said the program
will take slightly longer to emerge,
but he remains hopeful.
"1 believe it will be a popular mi-
nor, not just for Jewish students, but
for students of all backgrounds,"
Henze said.
The Jewish studies program
O see JEWISH, page 4
resher
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2009
Pucker up!
Hanszen president Abbie Ryan prepares to smooch Gunther, a visitor to Hanszen
College's changeover Feb. 24. For more ungulate-themed photos, see page 9.
SA election gamers record turnout
McAnaney voted SA president, no new blanket taxes added
by jocelyn wright
Thresher Editorial Staff
A total of 1,610 students, over
half of the undergraduate popula-
tion, voted in the Student Associa-
tion General Elections last week.
The mass of students who voted
gave this election the highest turn-
out in well over a decade, SA Direc-
tor of Elections Timothy Faust said.
The candidates were elected
through a preferential voting system.
The candidate receiving the fewest
number of votes had his or her votes
redistributed to other candidates
depending on the preferential or-
der of each individual ballot. Before
any vote redistribution, Brown Col-
lege junior Patrick McAnaney lead
the race for Student Association
President race with 555 votes. Jones
College junior Matthew Weingast
started in second with 411 votes;
Martel College sophomore Nicho-
las Muscara, third place with 295
votes and Martel senior Alexander
Patrick McAnaney SA president
Crompton, fourth place with 151.
Write-in candidates took 28 first-
place ballots. After all votes had
been redistributed, McAnaney won
with 793 votes to second-place We-
ingast's 526. McAnaney will take the
position officially at SA Changeover
on March 23.
All of the candidates said they
were pleased with the record turn-
out this year. McAnaney said Wein-
gast and Crompton both brought in
a lot of new voters.
"It was a really exciting cam-
paign," McAnaney said. "There was
SA GENERAL ELECTION VOTER TURNOUT BY YEAR
1988
1985
■
134 5
1989
1270
1992
I
PAPER | ONLINE
I
1994 I
■
■ >996
1440 I g
I >3<o
1983
B 1984
1085 I
1046
1997
1998
■
II69
2005
■
ti 6a
2009
1610
2008
■
1219
2001
■
1009
2007
2000
■
>999 836
■
733
2003
994
961
SOURCE: THRESHER ARCHIVES
NUMBERS THROUGH 1997 ARE APPROXIMATE.
2002
■
66;
Rice goes
to Oscars
by Julie Armstrong &
Lily Chun
Thresher Editorial Staff
On Feb. 22, under the fading Hol-
lywood sunlight, two Rice premeds
made history.
After beating out reporter-videog-
rapher teams from across the nation
in mtvU.com's first Oscar Correspon-
dent Contest for college journalists,
Baker College senior Faheem Ahmed
and Sid Richardson College junior
Anish Patel, both Rice-Baylor schol-
ars, flew to Los Angeles as one of the
competition's top three finalist teams
on behalf of the Rice Thresher.
a level of enthusiasm that hasn't
been seen before. It shows where
the SA is going and that it has po-
tential to build on."
Weingast said he hoped his cam-
paign had encouraged students who
had not participated in the SA Sen-
ate previously to become more in-
volved.
"That was a lot of the point of
why I ran — not to break the record
but for the kids who didn't really
care about the SA," Weingast, who
was not previously involved with
the SA Senate, said.
Muscara and Weingast both said
they were confident McAnaney would
do well in his new position.
"He is passionate about the SA
and I know he's going to do a great
job as president," Muscara said.
McAnaney said he was going to
use his first weeks in office to ensure
the transition is as smooth as pos-
sible by arranging meetings with the
incoming and outgoing officers.
Osee ELECTION, page 8
ERIC DOCTOR/THRESHER
Anish Patel Sid Rich junior
Faheem Ahmed Baker senior
Getting there
Although he made a significant
cameo in the second of the two vid-
eos the team submitted to the con-
test, Patel filled the role of camera-
man for the duo, while Ahmed, a
Thresher staff writer, did the talking.
Both have experience in front of the
camera through Rice Sketch Comedy,
and Ahmed has additional experi-
ence with the Rice Players and the
breakdancing Rice Breakers.
In the last few days of the com-
petition last week, the two garnered
enough online votes to give them the
grand prize: press credentials on the
Red Carpet. Whether hunkered down
in Fondren Library or bored in class.
Rice students got them there by click-
ing the online "vote" button intermi-
nably on mtvU's Web site.
"We all know Rice kids are smart,"
Laura Whitley, reporter for television
station KTRK, Houston's local ABC
affiliate, quipped outside the univer-
sity's ivy-covered brick sign off Main
Street, in a story that aired after the
making of the team's second video.
"But now they've shown they're fun-
ny, too."
One commenter on mtvU's Web
site noted that in both of their vid-
eos for the contest, the two had done
what none of the other teams had
thought to do to such an extent: They
had involved the very students who
O see OSCARS, page 11
OMG Spring break
Spring break, also known as Midterm Recess,
starts this Saturday. Unfortunately, school
starts up again Monday, March 9. For us at the
Thresher, this means no issue next week, so don't
go looking for a Thresher until Friday, March 13.
SA Spring Election petitions
Didn't win SA president? Want a bid at an uncon-
tested UCourt or Honor Council position? Never fear.
Your chances to get involved aren't over. Petitions for
the 2009 SA Spring Election will be available Mon-
day, March 9 at sa.rice^du. Refresh it constantly.
Party at the Registrar's Office!
Today is the last day to file an application for a
May 2009 degree conferral if you're a graduate
student. Today is also the last day to withdraw
from Rice with a 20 percent refund of tuition.
It's halfway through the semester, but whatev.
INDEX
Opinion 2
News 4
Arts & Entertainment 10
Sports 1S
Calendar 19
Backpage 20
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009, newspaper, February 27, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443030/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.