The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 2007 Page: 2 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7,2007
the Rice Thresher
Do not be afraid to
invoke finals regulations
Finals week, a week of stress, caffeine loading and sleepless nights,
begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. However, throughout the early morning
cram sessions and Fondren freakouts, students should know that
they have an ally on their side besides the baristas at Coffeehouse
— the final exam policy. According to the General Announcements,
students cannot be required to take more than two scheduled exams
in two consecutive calendar days. Students also cannot be required
to complete more than two take-home or scheduled finals exams on
the same calendar day, unless it is the last day of exams.
However, students often find themselves in scenarios where finals
pile atop each other in just a day or two. They should take solace
in the protection offered by the General Announcements and not
be afraid to invoke its regulations to their own advantage. Students
fought for these regulations, and they should be applied wherever
and whenever necessary. Finals are stressful enough as is, and it is
refreshing to know that when the world seems against you, at least
you have something to fall back on.
So remember, if your finals schedule violates the rules in the
General Announcements, feel free to tell your professors and demand
a rescheduling. After all, the rules are on your side.
However, we sometimes wish that this regulation applied to the
last week of classes as well, when students often face tests and
papers just as difficult as finals without the benefit of study days
and no classes.
Course evaluations
should be take seriously
Students will have until Jan. 4 to evaluate their professors and
classes via ESTHER, but we hope that everyone will do that long
before then.
Like last year, the Office of the Registrar is holding prize draw-
ings for students who complete evaluations, but this should not be
the primary stimulus. Neither should the fact that students will be
able to see their peers' evaluations come spring be that big of an
incentive. Sure, this breakthrough came after years of lobbying by
students, granting students some insight into the courses they are
taking and showing just what it was that the administration was so
desperate to see. It can be fun to write humorous evaluations, bad-
mouthing poor professors or praising the best, but again, we are not
doing this for our entertainment.
Rather, the purpose of the course and professor evaluations is to
provide student perspectives and quantifiable data when professors
are assessed for tenure. So while whimsical ratings may be good
procrastination fodder and winning a Wii may fun, when filling out
your evaluations students should remember that their responses can
have long term effects within the university. The more thorough and
descriptive student responses are, the more seriously they will be
taken, and Rice can only benefit from greater student influence in
the tenure process. So, if you really like or hate a professor, a well-
articulated response will have a much better effect than a noun, a
verb and an expletive.
Correction on SA
Academic Calendar Poll
We would like to correct errors in last week's graph of the results
of the Student Association Academic Calendar Poll ("SA Academic
Calendar Poll," Nov. 30). The percentages reported for questions 2,
3a, 3b, and 5b were the reverse of the results from the poll. These
errors resulted from our not taking into account the fact that the
numbers corresponding with an answer of Yes or No were switched
with every question. Therefore, several graphs had the results re-
versed. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may
have caused.
Have a great winter break
Hey everybody, we're taking off for winter break and so should
you, once you are done with finals that is. So have fun, relax, say
hi to the family and recharge your academic batteries for second
semester.
And please, let there be some cooler weather. We know it is
Houston, but come on, is some sweater weather too much to ask?
Unsigned, editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
IT MS 4 BfiitfHT,
Coup VA* if
vecet*6ex>--
I MAS POutlHi, mYSZLF A CUP OF
victor* sb'tveXY caffbe MtSoAlS
intcmuerep me * question about
rue clocks wefe
Srtf/H/A/c, TMitime*'-
B
nniMO^cN
ctisctt rue
(SACK
ISSUES.
THIS WEEK T*t
I'HZEWER RAW f\U
editorial, about
CoKISltiUCriON IN
r«£ sou7W Collect.
hjo,
WAS At-WAYS
Sfcgw /IT TMf
South
CollBCISS...
3UT i rwauQur
VHF. OJAJSTfiUCTIO/
WAS AT 1UE MOZTH
C0LLt.Cie.S.
Love, THE VlSlorf PO# THE 2 C£NT(iW,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thresher needs to be
serious, publish daily
To the editor:
The 77iresfcmslanguishing.What is
going on? When you do publish, about
once a month? There is nothing in it
but BeerBikeand winterbreak. Believe
it or not, some of our peer institutions
publish daily and, no, 1 am not talking
about die University of Texas.
Rice has a reputation for being
a school of smart brats who drink
CONTACTING THE
THRESHER
Letters
■ Letters to the editor
should be sent to the Thresher
by e-mail to thresher@rice. edu.
letters must be received by
5 p.m. on the Monday prior to
a Friday publication date.
■ All letters to the editor
must be signed and include
college and year if the writer
is a Rice student.
■ Letters should be no lon-
ger than 250 words in length.
The Thresher reserves the
right to edit letters for space,
content and length.
■ The Thresher also
reserves the right to place
letters on our Web site.
Subscribing
■ Annual subscriptions are
available for $60 domestic
and $125 international via
first class mail.
Advertising
■ We accept display and
classified advertisements.
Advertisements must be
received by 5 p.m. on the
Monday prior to a Friday
publication date. Please con-
tact our advertising man-
ager at (713)348-3967 or
thresher-ads@rice.edu for
more information.
too much and, well, I would say that
the Thresher reinforces that notion.
How about something serious for
a change?
Want an example of a good paper?
Ix)ok at Student Life, published at
Washington University in St. l^ouis.
You might even call them a peer
institution, but I know they are a
whole helluva lot more serious about
school than we seem to be.
Jon L Albee
MBA-P 2008
Rice basketball team
miscredited, ignored
To the editor:
I was excited to see an article
about the Rice basketball team,
complete with photos, as I opened
this week's Thresher, but was disap-
pointed at what I saw ("Early woes
continue for men's basketball,"
Nov. 30).
The action shot identified as
senior Paulius Packevicius is
actually a picture of junior Aleks
Perka: an error that could have
been fixed with a quick check of the
team's Web site, since Aleks' num-
ber was clearly visible in the shot.
As a fan of the team, I was disap-
pointed — but hardly surprised.
Apart from the shoddy fact
checking, all that this regrettable
error points out to me is something
I already knew: There are precious
few students at Rice who care at all
about Rice Basketball. I am pretty
sure the members of the team,
despite that we have not shared
classes or residential colleges,
know who I am. Why? Because 1 am
one of six students who routinely
shows up to cheer them on. We are
a Division I school with talented
players, and we are lucky enough
to be attending an institution where
the athletes are more a part of the
general student community than
they are at almost any other Divi-
sion I school. So come see them,
just the way you support campus
theater or other events.
Yes, the team's playing at Reliant
this year, but it is a short ride on
the light rail and tickets to the game
are free. Whether or not you want
to join the Autry Army and jump
up and down the whole game, our
team could use your support.
And that goes for students and
for the newspaper staff that is sup-
posed to be covering them.
Alexandra Wax
Sid Richardson senior
MOB brings edginess,
publicity to campus
To the editor:
1 still have 555 (not 666) e-mails
from Texas A&M from when I tried
to enlist the help of the University
of Texas to defeat A&M in an ESPN
Battle of the Bands in 1996. If the
MOB is not being edgy, it is just
being mediocre ("MOB makes
national headlines in wake of Tulsa
outrage," Nov. 30.) When it pushes
the limits, it garners attention —
welcome or not — and gets Rice's
name out into the public eye. There
is no such thing as bad publicity.
Be brave, be aggressive, but never
be boring.
liev I). Blackwood II
Lovett 84
Tulsa overreacts to
band half time show
To the editor:
I will keep this short and sweet.
I may be a bit biased, but 1 can-
not believe that Todd Graham
and Tulsa are upset when the
only consequence for embarrass-
ing the college coaching frater-
nity and college sports in general
was a tongue-lashing from a
college band.
Erik Nolte
Jones '02
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 2007, newspaper, December 7, 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443064/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.