The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006 Page: 2 of 20
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THE RICETHFESHER OPINION FRIDAY, MARCH 10,2006
the Rice Thresher
Our O-Week suggestions
The Committee on the First-Year Experience has an important
job to do: evaluate how to give incoming students the best pos-
sible introduction to Rice. (See story, page 1.) We think such an
evaluation is healthy and that the committee's focus on Orienta-
tion Week is appropriate. O-Week has changed for the better, but
more needs to be done.
Programming
O-Week is too busy. For most of us, it is an incomprehensible blur
of panels, meetings, insomnia and pseudo-compulsory social events.
Also, O-Week has too many late-night events. Some pre-meds aside,
people find it hard to sleep less than six hours per night and still be
chipper. By the end of the week, many of us were exhausted.
We think the following groups are unique to Rice and therefore
necessary to explain during O-Week: the Honor Council, the Rice
University Police Department and Rice Emergency Medical Sendees.
And the following are valuable enough in other ways that they should
stay on the schedule: the scavenger hunt, Houston night out and Out-
reach Day. Meanwhile, the following are on our chopping block:
■ Diversity training, wellness orientation and University Court
orientation — all of these are important, but we do not think
they are most effectively communicated through formal O-
Week presentations. Orientation materials on these subjects
should be mailed to students' homes during the summer;
incoming students are eager enough to do such reading.
Sensitivity to diversity issues is especially important, but we
think some well-written summer reading and a consciously
inclusive O-Week climate — driven by invested advisers
—would instill this sensitivity better than a panel amid a sea
of panels.
■ Sister groups and the all-campus party — they were forced
and awkward. But inter-college interaction is a good idea
and should be expanded. We like the faux-Beer-Bike com-
petitions colleges already hold.
■ Athletics panel—freshmen won't support Rice athletics simply
because of a lecture, so skip it and just keep taking them to an
event, so they can see varsity sports firsthand. And we imagine
Head Football Coach Todd Graham would love to have fresh-
men visit a football practice.
■ The carnival — it is a nightmare for many student organiza-
tions, since during O-Week they are either understaffed or busy.
Eliminate, and see "Intellectual climate" for a replacement.
In lieu of these events, we propose adding a small number
of subdued social functions to counterbalance the craziness of
O-Week. Movie nights or inter-college "study breaks" (the food
without the studying) are among our ideas. Also, social events
in general should be optional, both de jure and de facto. TTiat is
fairer to non-night-Owls and the sleep-deprived.
Intellectual climate
Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman said he wants to see
a more intellectual approach to O-Week; we agree. Most Rice
students are intellectual people — which is not the same as stuffy
— and showing that side of student life early on is important.
Many other universities require all incoming freshmen to read
a book over the summer. We don't like requiring anything, but an
optional book assignment with an accompanying (and optional)
book discussion during O-Week would be fun — and fun in a dif-
ferent way than most of the rest of O-Week.
In addition, the academic fair should be expanded. More profes-
sors should come, and departments should have generously staffed
tables at specific colleges — go to Brown for natural sciences
departments. Martel for humanities and so on. Keeping faculty
together woula infuse the fair with more intellectual energy than
the current diffuse system, in which each college has only a few
professors sitting around looking bored. And O-Week advisers
should make more of an effort to join the professors in their majors
at the fair, so excitement about learning comes from the students
and not just the grown-ups.
Finally, the carnival should be replaced with a different kind
of fair: one for academically focused student groups, such as the
Baker Institute Student Forum and the Society of Women Engi-
neers. This would further reinforce student-to-student enthusiasm
about Rice's intellectual life.
Academic advising
Divisional advising is a joke and will remain so until more
divisional advisers are assigned to each college. A handful of
faculty members simply cannot serve a college's entire freshman
class well.
As for student-to-student advising, it would have less of a word-
of-mouth character if students could access the written comments
from course evaluations online.
Most students liked their freshman-year O-Week. Others were
less enthusiastic. We think it could be a valuable week for virtually
everyone if the right changes are made.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
I Want my job?
'm graduating in May, so the
I Thresher needs a new cartoonist.
The pay isn't great, but you get
'published and they feed you,
iso you should apply ...
MORE UElOCIRflPTOBS?
... if you think you can handle Evan.
thresher-ops@rice.edu
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PS: College tbealei rocks yout face off. Via: www.hailpQ«try.cof>i and support Ruddigore at Hanszen1
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Article's committee
comments confused
To the editor:
On behalf of Dean of Under-
graduates Robin Forman and the
Housing Steering Committee, I
want to thank the Thresher for its
coverage of the university's study of
the colleges and on-campus hous-
ing ("Outside firm begins planning
for new college, renovations," Mar.
3). The results of the study are likely
to affect the lives of Rice students
for decades to come, so the story
was particularly helpful in alerting
students to upcoming opportunities
to contribute their ideas to the plan-
ning process.
The article provided a timely
account of the work of the steer-
ing committee and the consultants
retained by the university to lead
the housing study. However, the
article contained one error that
merits comment.
According to the article, I told
the reporter that "advisory commit-
tee members identified providing
space in the colleges for academic
programs and guest speakers as
a priority." In fact, what I recall
saying was that the steering com-
mittee had identified civic or public
spaces in the colleges as a priority,
and that I and others on the com-
mittee believed intellectual life in
the colleges would benefit if the
colleges had higher-quality spaces
for hosting guest speakers and
other intellectual programs.
This is an important distinction.
The advisory committee — which
includes a master, resident adviser,
college coordinator and three stu-
dents— and the steering commit-
CONTACTING THE
THRESHER
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tee are not the same. The advisory
committee was formed to provide
a source of experienced and in-
dependent advice to the steering
committee and consultants.
During the one meeting
the former has had — which I
attended — the issues of academic
spaces and guest speakers in the
colleges were not engaged, with the
exception of a question about the ef-
fectiveness of college classrooms.
As the principal source for
the story and the organizer of
the advisory committee, it is my
responsibility to ensure that the
views of the advisory committee
are accurately recorded. I thank the
Ihresher for allowing me to fulfill
that responsibility.
Matthew Taylor
Ph.D. '92
Asst. to the dean of undergraduates
Editor's note: See erratum, page 5.
Biblical, medical
jlaws fill letter
To the editor:
In response to Jesse Chan's
letter to the editor ("Masturba-
tion harms individual, marriage,"
Mar. 3): As a Christian, I don't
think there's anything wrong with
healthy masturbation and wish
Christian groups on campus would
think so, too. That being said, I also
don't think anyone should be en-
couraged to masturbate any more
or less than they want to.
Chan implied that habits and
addictions are the same thing
and that they are both bad. I think
that habitual masturbation is as
benign as habitual Bible-read-
ing, whereas genuinely serious
addictions can be psychologi-
cally unhealthy regardless of the
substance involved.
Chan makes a vague appeal to
"sex therapists" who have found
that masturbation inhibits indi-
viduals' enjoyment of marital sex.
Frankly, I know no one who prefers
to masturbate instead of having sex
with a lover. Furthermore, mastur-
bation is an effective sexual therapy
treatment for couples to overcome
sexual dysfunction, because it
allows individuals to learn what
pleases them so that a partner can
do the same.
As Evan Mintz initially argued,
masturbation does serve as a fan-
tastic solution to sexual tension by
healthily releasing physical pres-
sure via cardiovascular exercise
that increases endorphin levels
("Masturbation: habit of the healthy
student," Feb. 24).
I agree that marital problems
related to masturbation should be
avoided, and I agree with Chan that
it isn't fair to a spouse to let one's
hand replace him or her in bed.
But masturbation doesn't replace
a spouse or partner in bed and can
often serve as a wonderful reprieve
when one partner is not interested
in sex at the time.
I am also unhappy with Chan's
paraphrasing of Biblical teach-
ings on sexuality—which are a lot
more open to interpretation than
many conservative Christians
will admit. Jesus condemns lust,
not fantasizing or sexual arousal.
Just because someone looks at
the lingerie ads to get off doesn't
mean they're going to rape those
models; they're just aroused by
those images. And furthermore,
it is also possible to masturbate
while lovingly thinking about a
spouse, partner or no one at all.
In the end, Christians and non-
Christians alike should look to
the Song of Songs from the Bible,
where King Solomon's wife asks
women to promise her "not to
awaken love until the time is right."
We should recognize the wisdom
of that commandment and realize
that time is not directly described
as marriage.
Emery Gullickson
Lovett sophomore
Pitfalls perforate
Thresher APplan
To the editor:
I am concerned with your
editorial calling for an end to credit
awarded for Advanced Placement
or International Baccalaureate
courses ("Our wish list for the
undergrad curriculum," Feb. 3).
The editorial contains suggestions
that are harmful to students and
academic departments and are
directly contradictory to President
David Leebron's Vision for the
Second Century.
I would love to see data backing
up your statement that students
who arrive at Rice with AP or IB
credit take fewer hourseach semes-
ter in order to earn a higher CPA.
In general, hard-working AP or IB
high school students don't magi-
cally turn into slackers when they
step onto the Rice campus.
Consider a situation where two
freshmen are in the same 101-
level class. One student took an
AP class in high school but didn't
receive Rice credit and decided
to retake the same subject for an
easy A. The other student has
no prior exposure to the course
material. Is it fair to have both of
these students subject to the same
expectations in the same class?
No. Will this situation become
problematic if AP credit is elimi-
nated? Absolutely: If AP students
are forced to retake introductory
classes, they may be turned off
from pursuing advanced courses
in disciplines in which the teach-
ing vastly improves over that at
the introductory level.
And the Thresher's proposal
is directly contradictory to the
vision statement, which empha-
sizes Rice's engagement with our
community. Rice currently has
numerous outreach programs in
secondary education, including AP
teacher development throughout
neighboring school districts. If Rice
were to stop accepting AP credit, it
would be a slap in the face to these
programs. This snooty image of not
accepting AP or IB credit is not what
Rice stands for.
ITie Ihresher should be more
responsible about gauging the
repercussions of a change in AP
and IB credit and its effect on our
entire community and should not
use blanket justifications based on
Harvard and Yale penis envy.
Jason Gershman
Statistics graduate student
Hanszen '01
Former Thresher asst. sports editor
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006, newspaper, March 10, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443086/m1/2/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.