The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 2010 Page: 1 of 16
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■«
OP-ED
P. 3
I pledge allegiance
The 300 or so students transferring to McMurtry and
Duncan all have their reasons, so why the scarlet letters?
A&E P. 9
One step up, two steps back
As the calendar turns, here's a look back at the holiday flicks
and a preview of the best video games to come in 2010.
SPORTS P. 11
Lucky number seven
The women's track and field team has six straight titles
under its belt. What will it take for number seven ?
the Rice
VOLUME XCVII, ISSUE NO. 15
STUDENT-RUN
SINCE 1916
FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010
Rice-BCM
merger
falls apart
by Josh Rutenberg
Thresher Editorial Staff
After more than a year of discus-
sion, and only two weeks from the
Jan. 31 deadline of their Memorandum
of Understanding, Rice and Baylor
College of Medicine have ended dis-
cussions to merge the two institutions.
In a joint statement between Rice and
BCM sent via e-mail last Tuesday, Rice
President David Leebron and BCM
Interim President William Butler in-
formed their respective communities
that while no formal merger will take
place, there will be future efforts to
strengthen the existing relationship
between the two schools.
In the joint statement, Leebron and
Butler left open the possibility of ex-
panding collaborations between the in-
stitutions, such as in the neuroscience
and global health initiative programs.
"While we are bringing the merger
discussions to a close, we are opening
a new chapter of collaboration that
will advance the field of biomedicine
and improve human health," the
statement said.
In an e-mail, Director of News and
Media Relations B.J. Almond wrote,
"Rice and Baylor agreed not to do me-
dia interviews about the merger and to
let the joint statement from both presi-
dents speak for itself."
In the months leading up to
the decision, students and faculty
voiced their concerns, both for and
against the merger, in a number of
public meetings.
"I think the community took in
mind that it's not a simple proposition
but that it's a more complicated situa-
tion, because there are potential ben
efits but also significant costs," Faculty
Senate member Moshe Vardi said. "I
would like to think that with this kind
of scrutiny, the administration and the
board are a lot more cautious in some of
the decisions they make."
Vardi, a Computer Science pro-
fessor, believes the atmosphere of
open discussion encouraged by fac-
ulty and students in the past year al-
lowed those involved to make better-
informed decisions.
One of the larger concerns Vardi and
others had was BCM's existing multi-bil-
lion dollar debt, incurred from beginning
construction of its own hospital in 2007.
Financial concerns played a key role in
discussions throughout the process.
"BCM's key problem was they don't
have a hospital," Vardi said. "A medical
school needs to have a partner hospital.
They split from Methodist [and later) St.
Jude's Episcopal Hospital and they decid-
ed to build their own hospital instead."
In 2009, BCM announced that it
planned to cease construction of its
hospital after the exterior is completed
this year. Vardi speculates that once the
Rice administration realized conditions
O see BAYLOR, page 6
. . , Martel College junior Chris Kopcynzski speaks at the McMurtry College town hall
DIIII51 ngine meeting Monday to discuss the college's future. McMurtry and Duncan College are
IT13SS6S tOgGthcr stl" w'thout many of the necessities of a college, such as masters or upperclass-
men, but both colleges are ramping up the process to fulfill these necessities.
Beer Bike parade changes proposed
Closure of
colleges
saving green
by Diane Ramirez
Thresher Staff
In keeping with its recent efforts
to go green, the university has also
attempted to stay in the black. The
university decided to close the resi-
dential colleges over winter break
with the hopes of reducing its carbon
footprint with the aim of saving an
estimated $100,000 in utility bills.
Although Housing and Din-
ing is in the process of computing
more accurate data and numbers,
it is clear that the university saved
at least $35,000 by closing the col-
leges, Housing Operations Manager
Mark Chaszar said. This figure is a
preliminary number, but is expect-
ed to be much higher once all the
calculations are complete.
a
by jocelyn wright
Thresher Editorial Staff
As the Beer Bike coordinators pre-
pare for the 50-day countdown to Beer
Bike on Jan. 29, they are also propos-
ing significant changes to the parade
and security system and have reached
a final decision about accommodating
Duncan College and McMurtry College
in the races this year.
New track will wait
Due to time constraints, Beer Bike
Coordinator Brian Henderson said im-
provements could not be made to the
bike track to allow Duncan and Mc-
Murtry to compete in the March 20 rac-
es. Instead, an exhibition race between
the two colleges will be held between
the alumni and women's races. For
next year, Henderson said Facilities,
Engineering and Planning will resur-
face and widen the entire track to make
it large enough to accommodate all
11 colleges, as well as the Graduate Stu-
dent Association.
"Overall, it's going to be a longer-
lasting track, which is going to be great
for Beer Bike next year and hopefully
something that will actually save mon-
ey in the long run because we actually
have a good track," Henderson said.
Martel College senior Kristin An-
derson, who has competed in one Beer
Bike and one Beer Run, said she agrees
with the decision to wait until next year
to include Duncan and McMurtry on
the newly resurfaced and resized track.
"It's probably good that Rice
isn't including Duncan and Mc-
Murtry in the competition races this
year," she said. "They most likely
wouldn't be able to field a full team
of bikers and chuggers."
However, Anderson said she
thought the best idea for this year
would be to allow the two colleges to
join their sister colleges, Will Rice Col-
lege and Baker College, in the competi-
tion races.
"Sort of like what they did for
powderpuff, it would be great to let
the new colleges experience [Beer
Bike] in the atmosphere of the es-
tablished programs at Will Rice and
Baker," she said.
The total cost of the project is es-
timated to be between $100,000 and
$150,000. Henderson said Beer Bike
will be responsible for 15 percent of the
cost if the capital budget request they
submitted is approved.
"If we get that funding, which we're
expecting, we can definitely cover the
cost from our capital reserves," Hen-
derson said. "We hope that the cost will
go down a little bit because there's a lot
of contingency factored into that plan,
which is based on FE&P planning for
potential problems in terms of money."
Henderson said he, fellow Beer
Bike Coordinator Nazish Malik and
Assistant Dean of Students Boyd Beck-
O see BEER BIKE, page 6
We had good results, •
we haven't received
any complaints, and
we have made sure [the
students] were safe.
Mark Chaszar
Operations Manager
99
Rice was able to cut its costs
due to the fact that the residential
colleges had limited power, water
and air conditioning running over
break. Although these utilities were
not completely cut off in any col-
lege, the reduction was significant
in terms of costs. But the reduction
in costs is not nearly as high as it
could have been, mostly due to the
fact that temperatures in Houston
dropped so low. Chaszar said that
due to this abnormally cold weath-
er, Rice had to keep some utilities
running, such as heating and hot
□ see ENERGY, page 4
Government officials discuss border safety
by Cindy Dinh
Thresher Editorial Staff
Rice, like the rest of Houston, is a
short trip from the U.S.-Mexico border,
and is directly impacted by immigra-
tion, making the campus an ideal site
for discussions of border security and
U.S.-Mexico relations. Both Alan Ber-
sin. Assistant Secretary of the Office of
International Affairs and Special Rep-
resentative for Border Affairs, and Un-
dersecretary of the Interior of Mexico
Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez spoke
about U.S.-Mexico border security at
Rice Wednesday in Duncan Hall.
Bersin, who is responsible for de-
veloping strategy on security, immigra-
tion, narcotics and trade matters affect-
ing Mexico, describes the two nations'
relationship as "friendly but proper."
"It is only at the border where
asymmetries of power dissolve," Ber-
sin said, adding that the economic
and political power between U.S. and
Mexico is equal at the border.
Both Bersin and Fernandez sug-
gested paradigm shifts to think
about borders as flows rather than
definitive lines. While borders
outline the geographic divisions
of countries, Bersin said borders
should be seen as flows of people,
goods, ideas and capital.
"Stop thinking about security and
trade promotion as antithetical," Ber-
sin said.
He suggested that 90 percent of
the border security's time should be
spent on identifying 10 percent of the
goods and people that border secu-
rity does not know about.
Since the early 1990s, transnation-
al crime has grown more sophisticat-
ed and has affected the shared values
of democracy, rule of law and protec-
tion of citizens. Fernandez said.
"The Mexican government does
not deny the very serious security
challenges caused by organized
crime," he said.
The level of violence was of ut-
most concern for Mexico and was as
much a problem of drug users as of
drug producers, Fernandez said. He
estimates 95 percent of all the kill-
ings in Mexico within the past year
were the result of inter-gang wars or
from failed police operations. Only a
small percent are "regular citizens,"
he said.
"It is not acceptable by any means,
but it is important to recognize that,"
O see DRUGS, page 5
Shopping for classes
You're just one measly week into the spring
semester — there is still have time to add and
drop classes! (Might we recommend looking
into BROW 111: History of Batman, in Rayzor
Hall 123 next Tuesday at 8 p.m.?) A word of
warning: Tuesday is the last day to return
books at the bookstore for a full refund.
No classes Monday
Here's to the man with a plan. Monday is Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Day. What does that mean?
No school! If you're not sleeping in, be sure to
check out the Rice float in the MLK Parade in
downtown Houston. Also, don't go to class.
Home for the holidays
Go listen to the Borromeo String quartet play
selections by Bartok and Schumann in the Stude
Concert Hall at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The event
is sponsored by the Houston Friends of Music,
who provide a number of complimentary tickets,
available at the Shepherd School of Music. Call
X5400 and grab yours today.
INDEX
Opinion 3
News 4
Arts & Entertainment 9
Sports 11
Calendar 15
Backpage 16
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 2010, newspaper, January 15, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443060/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.