The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009 Page: 2 of 20
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EDITORIAL
the Rice Thresher
Friday, February 27,2009
the Rice (Thresher
Rondelet loses momentum
After the bungling of Rondelet this week, the Rice Program
Council's spring formal officially has a checkered history (see
story, page 7). In 2007, the dance was axed for the first time since
1947, but was resurrected in 2008. At the time, it looked like
2007's cancellation was a fluke, as the 2008 version was well-
attended and well-received.
But after two abrupt cancellations in the last three years, we
feel that it is finally time to nix the idea of having a spring formal
entirely. If Rondelet did not have a tainted reputation coming
into this semester, it surely does now. With little record of suc-
cess in recent memory, students will be disinclined to attend a
possible second resurrection next year.
However, this does not mean that the notion of a Rondelet resur-
rection should be totally abandoned. Once the current crop of Rice
students exits through the Sallyport, the memory of Rondelet will
march off with it. Thus, with no one to recall the dance's abrupt ter-
mination, a campaign of revival can begin. There is no reason that
anyone should be principally opposed to a spring formal, so once
people realize what is in store, they may jump at the opportunity.
Before Rondelet is reinstated, there are other aspects of the
planning that need to be reexamined. After all, there is a reason
that only 60 tickets were sold. Some believe the recent glut of
after-school activities, such as 100 Days, Archi-Arts and Lovett
College's Casino Party, may have created opposition to the spring
formal, but this is patently erroneous. The 2009 version of 100
Days was the most well-attended in history, while both Archi-
Arts and the Casino Party had far more than 60 students attend.
These three bashes were all within four days of one another,
while Rondelet was more than a week later.
The real problem, if it can be whittled to one, was in the lack of
marketing. Instead of a barrage of signage, lunch-time reminders
and Facebook messages, the RPC's marketing efforts were in brief
and infrequent supply. Few people knew about Rondelet, creat-
ing a situation of both apathy and ignorance.
If there is one positive to the lack of marketing, it is that few
knew the dance had been cancelled. Unfortunately, this benefit
is more than a bit disheartening. With all of these factors bring-
ing the dance to an ill-fated standstill, we hope the RPC will fore-
go an immediate revivification of the dance, and instead let its
ruined memory slip into the past.
New minors commendable
The proposal of the new Energy and Water Sustainibility and
Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities minors is a pleasing sight
for a few reasons (see story, page 7).
Firstly, the continuation and expansion of the minors program
is, in itself, the correct step to take in Rice's academic growth. Re-
cently, the Thresher expressed its pleasure about the extension of
the minors slate and in the two weeks since, little has changed ("Mi-
nors tangible results of student innovation," Jan. 30,2009).
Secondly, we would like to laud the expansion of interdisciplin-
ary minors. Creating these markets for niche audiences, markets
that were originally in a vacuum, is a welcome sight. Both of the
proposed minors, in addition to the recently introduced Jewish stud-
ies minor, have created space in Rice's curriculum for specific study,
rather than simply piggy-backing on an already-existing minor.
While we are wary of a gross overexpansion of the minors pro-
gram, we feel that the administration is a long way away from reach-
ing any sort of tipping point. For now, the minors either proposed or
already in existence are commendable, and we hope the program's
continuation will not stop here.
Congratulations deserved
After a record-high turnout in the Student Association elections,
we cannot commend the student body enough for making its voice
heard (see story, page 1). The SA debates were widely-watched, the
messages of potential candidates were widely-dispersed, and the
poetry of the election was widely-versed, if a bit full of rage.
We would like to extend our congratulations and gratitude to
all candidates, especially those who had never been involved in
the SA before. It was a breath of fresh air to hear new voices, see
new faces and learn new ideas from those who had not been in-
volved in the SA from Day 1. We also admired those who had pre-
viously given their time to the SA, and we hope that those in both
camps who did not win will remain involved in the SA. A variety
of ideals and ideas make an institution more representative of the
student body, which, after all, should be its main focal point.
Lastly, we would like to congratulate Baker College senior Fa-
heem Ahmed and Sid Richardson College junior Anish Patel on
their recent jaunt to the Oscars (see story, page 1). They could
not have represented Rice in a better light, and their inclusion
of the student body displayed the amenable and open nature of
the Rice community.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
thresher-ops@rice. edu
Open's blanket tax
unfairly dismissed
To the Editor:
We were disappointed to see that
the Thresher staff recommended
that students "vote NO" on the Open
Magazine blanket tax proposal. A
blanket tax should not just be con-
sidered a "reward" for student orga-
nizations; it should rather be a show
of support for a publication that
has demonstrated that it is an im-
portant creative outlet for students,
and one which deals with immedi-
ate concerns that no other student
publication addresses.
Although our magazine may
be distributed for free, publishing
costs money — it requires campus-
wide support of Open's staff for the
work they put into this extracur-
ricular project to ensure its contin-
ued presence and quality. We hope
that the student body will decide
to put the same kind of faith into
Open Magazine as it has put into
the Thresher and R2, especially if
it's only one dollar.
Rachel Solnick
Wiess College junior
Klara Wojtkowska
Brown College senior
Open Magazine staff
Best picture should
be given to the best
To the Editor:
Moulin Rouge is most certainly
not "best picture" material; it's an
experimental drama that, to my
mind, is occasionally entertaining
and always visually stunning, but
not really that good of a movie. 1
agree with you that Ellen Page was
Oscar-worthy in Juno, but she is such
an obviously great actress that there
will be many, many, many opportu-
nities for her to win the trophy over
the coming decades.
The Academy Awards members
are right to cast their votes not on
what entertains people or features
happy dancing, but on what is le-
gitimately the best movie of the
year. Sometimes they genuinely fail
to choose the best picture — i.e.,
Crash in 2006 — but more often
than not they get it right, as they
likely will this year. Dancing aside,
Slumdog Millionaire is legitimately
the best movie of 2008 based solely
on its artistic merit (with the pos-
sible exception of Doubt).
P.S. The idea of Field of Dreams
or Princess Bride deserving Oscars
is just silly, though Peter Falk could
have gotten a supporting actor nod
for the latter.
Brian Reinhart
Wiess College sophomore
NEWS
Catherine Bratic Editor
Margeux Clemmons Asst. Editor
Cindy Dinh Asst. Editor
Jocelyn Wright Asst. Editor
Zach Castle Head Designer
Lily Chun Designer
OP-ED
Christine Pao Editor
Kay Fukui Cartoonist
SPORTS
Natalie Clericuzio Editor
Yan Digilov Editor
ARTS ft ENTERTAINMENT
Julie Armstrong Editor
Joe Dwyer Editor
COPY
Nick Schlossman Editor
Ryan Stickney Editor
Anna Wilde Editor
CALENDAR
Timothy Faust Editor
Casey Michel
Editor in Chief
PHOTOGRAPHY
David Rosales Editor
Lauren Schoeffler Asst. Editor
Ariel Shnitzer Asst. Editor
WEB
John Michael Cuccia Editor
Stephen Wang Asst. Editor
BUSINESS
Sarah Mitchell Manager
Yvette Pan Payroll Manager
Jessie Huang Subscriptions Manager
Charlie Ary Distribution Manager
Gustavo Herrera Distribution Manager
Sergio Jaramillo Distribution Manager
ADVERTISING
Joseph Ramirez Ads Manager
Thomas Yeh Ads Manager
Cathleen Chang Classified Ads Manager
BACKPAGE
Eric Doctor Editor
Timothy Faust Editor
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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/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.