The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 21, 2006 Page: 2 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, APRIL 21,2006
the Rice Thresher
College expansion must
maintain individuality
When touring the Rice campus, one cannot help but notice
the stark difference between the airport-esque steel and glass
serveries and the cozy camaraderie of Will Rice, Sid Richardson
and Lovett College kitchens. As part of Rice's planned expansion,
the Housing Steering Committee is considering linking those
colleges' commons with a central servery, (See story, page 1).
On the surface, this seems like a good idea.
A single, larger servery would have the staff and infrastructure
to provide higher quality and better variety of food for the three
colleges. A unified kitchen could allow the efficiency necessary
to accommodate the expected student body growth at these col-
leges. Will Rice seems crowded enough during lunch, and that's
even with some students already eating at other colleges.
Furthermore, a central servery for these three colleges would
discourage students from going to the South College Servery to
eat. Ending this exodus would prevent the current college dilu-
tion that inhibits Hanszen and Wiess colleges from developing
the full personality other colleges have.
However, as we have seen at both the serveries, this sort of
central kitchen between colleges weakens college personality.
Enduring the current commons at Will Rice, Sid and Lovett
is not quite a trial by fire, but the intimate venues do have a
way of heating things up — it is no accident that these three
colleges each have a strong sense of community. And it is this
sort of character that we feel is most important to Rice's college
system — we are not willing to trade it for increased efficiency
or equity. We love our colleges for their unique traits, not the
Michael Graves architecture or the Monday night calamari.
Although these colleges will have to expand to accommodate
Rice's population growth, they should do so in a manner that
preserves their character. Rather than expand the colleges until
they unify, as with the North College Servery, each college's
commons and kitchens should grow on their own.
Glass and steel look nice, and a burger bar is delicious, but what we
love about our colleges are their distinct personalities — something
you lose when you physically link them together.
Athletic director May
leaves lasting legacy
Rice athletics was in dire straits 17 years ago, having not won
a conference championship since 1971 or had a winning foot-
ball season since 1963. But a leader with a unique perspective,
Bobby May (Will Rice '65), turned the program around.
Through well-advised hires and a personal connection to the
program as an alum, May brought the Owls out of dormancy. Rice
was the winningest school in the Western Athletic Conference
2003-'04 and 2004-'05, earning the Commissioner's Cup.
By hiring winning coaches like Wayne Graham for baseball,
Fred Goldsmith for football, Chris Huston for soccer and Ron
Smarr for men's tennis, May's decisions have rewarded Rice
with conference championships and even a national champion-
ship for baseball in 2003.
May also led Rice through the rigors of two conference
changes and the Board of Trustees' review of athletics. May
defended the Division I status of the athletic program and
prevented Rice from dropping in athletic standing. He also
realized that Rice needed a time of transition to overhaul the
program by moving into the WAC after facing the powerhouses
of the Southwest Conference. Now May has upped the ante
for the Owls by moving into Conference USA.
Replacing May, who could be the most influential individual in
Rice sports history, is not going to be easy. Rice has never before
conducted a nationwide search for an athletic director — every
previous director was either the football coach or the coach of
another team.
Our next athletic director must understand the unique-
ness of our university. Rice is one-of-a-kind due to its small
size, high academic standards and Division I status. And
it is difficult to lead an athletic program with that in mind.
The matter of the issue is recruiting student-athletes and
coaches who respect both Rice's educational standards and
athletic competitiveness.
But for now, students, faculty and administrators should take
a moment to admire the success May has achieved as one of the
most respected athletic directors in the country.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
This weekend, experience
Rice's Social Heptathlon:
UBIue Launch
Rondelet @ D&B's
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
RPC tries its best
with ticket subsidies
To the editor:
Regarding your editorial, the
Rice Program Council has typi-
cally subsidized tickets maim, to
musicals, the ballet, opera, rodeo
and professional sporting events
("RPC should broaden target audi-
ence," Apr. 14). These events have
been chosen because there has
been a consistent demand for them,
and relatively inexpensive group
sale tickets are available.
Thisyear I did attempt to broaden
the scope of events by subsidizing
tickets to the Harlem GlobeTrotters
and monster truck racing. However,
unlike tickets to the previously
mentioned events, these tickets
went unsold. Evan Mintz actually
complained in one of his articles
about monster truck tickets being
subsidized ("My hypothetical plat-
form as SA president," Mar. 10).
In your editorial you stated that
you wanted there to be enough
"tickets for everyone who wants
one." The fact is that this year,
demand for tickets greatly ex-
ceeded supply for only one event,
the musical Wicked. For every other
show, either only a handful of people
were left without tickets or RPC was
left with excess tickets. 80 tickets
to the Mar. 2007 Wicked show have
already been purchased and will be
subsidized next year.
Further, I am not sure what
events you are referring to when
you mention "popular events" for
which too few tickets have been
subsidized. I have asked around to
see what people would like to see
subsidized, and acommon response
has been concerts. The problem wi th
concerts is that they are expensive
and special group rates are not
given. Once Ticketmaster costs are
factored in, the average ticket price
CONTACTING THE
THRESHER
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for a popular concert is consistently
over $40. To subsidize this down to
$ 15 will cost RPC at least $25 a ticket
If you want 80 tickets to be subsi-
dized, it will cost $2,000, or one third
of the entire arts and entertainment
budget for that one event I do not
think that subsidizing three events a
year is enough, but I will make efforts
next year to spend more money on
"marquee" events.
RPC always welcomes students
to come share their opinions, and at
every meeting I ask if anyone has
suggestions for shows to be subsi-
dized. Next year RPC will focus on
better publicizing its actions, and
I hope more people will become
involved in the group.
Jacob Teplin
Jones sophomore
Rice Program Council
arts and entertainment co-chair
Pot promotion has
no place in Thresher
To the Editor:
I would like to congratulate
"self-proclaimed gadfly" Evan
Mintz for effectively wasting space
on the third most read page of the
Thresher and, perhaps more annoy-
ingly, wasting my time ("Roll up for
the 420 magical mystery origins,"
Apr. 14). In his column, Mintz all
but advocates that all Rice students
breach their commitment to uphold-
ing Rice's drug policies, respect for
the Rice University Police Depart-
ment and respect for the image of
the university as a whole.
Perhaps if Mintz wasn't so
doped up on his own brand of
college humor, he would realize
that prospective college fresh-
men and their parents are in the
process of weighing in on their
future universities, and they are
paying attention to every outlet
of information available to them,
including the Thresher, for their
May 1st decision deadline.
My personal beliefs regarding
marijuana use may not always fall
strictly within Rice's guidelines, but
the greater issue at hand is not about
what I — or Mintz — believe when it
comes to lighting up. The Thresher, if
it dares to strive for respect outside
of Rice's hedges, must not allow, as
Mintz admits, "one silly collegiate
column" to grace a page that should
address other, more cogent opinions
on real issues. Mintz, in concluding
with the words, "come this April 20,
do not worry about the wasteful drug
war or pointless laws," confirms that
his words and talents should remain
relegated to the Backpage, lest the
IJiresher turns into one big joke.
Philip Arthur Moore
Ijwett senior
Columns should
not promote crime
To the editor:
Bravo to Evan Mintz for two
provocative opinions in one semes-
ter ("Roll up for the 420 rtiagical
mystery origins," Apr. 14, and
"Masturbation: habit of the healthy
student," Feb. 24). It is regrettable,
though, that my response seems
to inherently legitimize his indeed
"silly collegiate column."
I believe passionately in the free-
doms of press and speech — they
do seem endangered these days.
However, I do not believe that
a student newspaper, or indeed
any newspaper, should be used
as a means of encouraging illegal
behavior — running red lights,
underage drinking, employing
illicit substances or otherwise.
While it is true that some
harmful and addictive substances
are legal and that others are not,
it is unfortunate that Mintz chose
to hide behind a predictable red
herring—that tobacco, a highly ad-
dictive and carcinogenic substance,
is legal — as justification for law-
breaking. Such a distracting and
irrelevant legal inconsistency does
not detract from the substantial
myriad of reasons that marijuana
usage is forbidden.
I do not intend here to invoke
contrived or pretentious metaphysi-
cal rules of "right" or "wrong;" I do
intend to defend "law." If marijuana
usage were legalized, I would be
among the first to defend his right to
poison himself through such means.
In the meantime, I would suggest
Mintz reacquaint himself with
"pointless laws," like Rice's "Code
of Student Conduct" and the "Texas
Controlled Substances Act."
Perhaps Mintz's contemplation
was purely a semiotic exercise? If
so, let's hope that the next time he
ponders such issues he is not living
on a six-month "lease" in a concrete
condo in Huntsville, TX.
Peter Tschirhart
Mart el '05
Drug references in
rap just tell the truth
To the editor:
In his article, Bryce Gray placed
blame on contemporary rap stars
for the emulation of their lyrics
dipped in explicit drug references
("Hip-hop artists misstep with
drug-centric lyrics" Apr. 14). And
while emulation of forms of popular
entertainment is an area of lively
debate, the drug-drenched rap
of the last five years is doing the
important job of painting an accu-
rate picture of life in the midst of the
contemporary urban crisis.
The fact of the matter is, for
some of us who are less well off, the
best opportunity for advancement
within our current social situation
is the sale of illegal drugs despite its
obvious dangers. Rap in the last five
years reflects this. It is the story of
the underground inevitably created
when society attempts prohibition
of a substance told straight and raw
from the mouths of those affected.
Now that hip-hop is in the posi-
tion to reach a large audience, the
story has the power bring about
social change — including, but not
limited to, reducing the negative
stigma often arbitrarily placed on
drug use. But regardless, blame for
the drug "problem" should not be
placed on the storytellers.
The Juvenile situation is entirely
different, however. In the midst of
post-Katrina confusion, Juvenile
released Reality Check last month
featuring "Get Ya Hustle On." The
album, like a lot of recent New
Orleans hip-hop, reflects one of the
major changes in the city since the
stonn: a marked increase in druguse.
Juvenile's just telling the story.
Devin Naquin
Hanszen junior
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Brown, David. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 21, 2006, newspaper, April 21, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443062/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.