The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, August 26, 2005 Page: 3 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, AUGUST 26,2005
Guest column
Freshmen should be selves, not screen names
Over the past spring and summer,
a group of freshmen was so obsessed
with coming to Rice that they flooded
an online forum for the class of2009.
Out of a class of 750, ap-
proximately 200 joined
the forum and inundated
it with anxious posts on
what to buy, what classes
to take and what level math
someone with a five on
the AP Calculus BC test
should take.
From this forum, I saw
my first glimpse of what
going to school with engi-
neers and GPAfreaks would
be like. Did I like what I saw?
The socialite party girl in me cringed
at the thought of pocket protectors and
Matlab. My inner dork— suppressed
in high school — secretly squealed
with glee at the prospect of jokes
about Heisenberg's uncertainty and
Hamlet s Oedipal tendencies.
Without the pressures of
real-time phone or
face-to-face
conversations, you have
plenty of time to word
clever comebacks. You
can essentially re-create
yourself depending on
your mood and who
you're talking to.
Allee
Rosenmayer
Apart from the forum, there was
also a Xanga blogring, a Livejour-
nal community, an Audioscrobbler
group, a MySpace group, a College
Confidential forum and Google,
Friendster and Multiply groups. The
last four are the only ones I was not in.
This class was anxious indeed.
After getting to know
each other's e-selves all
summer, it was finally
time to set foot on cam-
pus, to the sound of our
fellows' effervescent exu-
berance and the cricket
chirps drowning out the
freshmen's shock and awe.
After prying us from our
parents' tearfully reluctant
arms, we were plunged
into the most lecture-filled
summer camp ever. In the
little free time they gave us, those
of the Internet obsession frantically
sought each other out. Although we
were bursting with anxiousness to
find our new friends, the Internet
can be very deceiving.
Most of the people were shorter
than I expected. Two people were
taller. All were quieter and more shy.
What had happened to these people
who were so witty, so lively, through
AOL Instant Messenger? I thought I
knew them. Clearly I did not.
This was my first experience with
the false bravado the Internet affords
us. You can choose not to show pic-
tures and instead describe yourself in
the most self-indulgent and flattering
of terms, or you can share only those
pictures which hide the defects and
accentuate the goodies. Without
the pressures of real-time phone or
face-to-face conversations, you have
plenty of time to word clever come-
backs. You can essentially re-create
yourself, depending on your mood
and who you're talking to.
For kids who don't know who or
what they are yet, the Internet is the
perfect tool to tweak and define who
or what they think they should be. It
can be empowering, but ultimately
everyone reverts back to his or her
real self, complete with defects and
awkward silences.
Apart from the forum,
there was also a Xanga
blogring, a LiveJournal
community, an
Audioscrobbler group,
a MySpace group, a
College Confidential
forum and Google,
Friendster and Multiply
groups.... This class
was anxious indeed.
And, of course, all the awkward-
ness wore off at Dis-Orientation, to
be replaced by a little too friendly
camaraderie. The fact that this
drunken evening was the night people
were their true selves highlights how
people are not really comfortable with
themselves or each other — not yet.
College is not just for education,
but for personal growth. In addition
to classes, intramurals and clubs, we
are supposed to strive for an epiphany
of who we are and what we want to
be. We are supposed to grow — not
just into ourselves, but into each
other. Even for the GPA worriers
shooting for President's Honor Roll
and those ambitious enough to strive
for highly-connected internships, I
hope this growth will be one of our
main goals.
Allee Rosenmayer is a Wiess College
freshman.
Res ipsa loquitur
Blanket tax organizations
provide paths to power
Freshmen — and more than
a few upperclassmen — will
browse Rice's impressive array
of student organizations Friday
afternoon at the Student
Activities Fair in the
Ray Courtyard and the
Grand Hall. Along with
all the religious, cultural
and academic groups,
I strongly encourage
students to stop by
the tables for the blan-
ket tax organizations.
These are the kinds of
groups you've always
wanted to be a part
of— the ones in which
administrators actually listen to
you and talk is anything but idle.
For you new students, blanket
tax organizations are those clubs
funded by a tax charged to all
students. The Honor Council, the
Thresher, KTRU, Rice Program
Council, Rice Student Volunteer
Program, University Blue, Uni-
versity Court, Campanile and the
Student Association all are blanket
tax organizations.
Rice has many extracurricular
groups that can be rewarding, but
to make a lasting impression, fol-
low the money. The blanket taxes
you pay ever y year go to the kinds
of organizations in which Rice
rightly takes pride. The level of
self-government here is tremen-
dous. The administration's nomi-
nal supervision rarely devolves
into intervention. So by joining
one of these groups you can have
actual power over what goes on at
your university.
9*
Ian
Everhart
ing to jump right in as a first-year
student — at my first few SA meet-
ings as a freshman, it was hard for
me to speak up without consider-
able anxiety. But after
I got over the shock of
being in a real decision-
making body, I got more
comfortable and realized
everybody else there was
a lot like me. They didn't
have any special training
or talents; they had just
arrived first
Upperclassmen offer
good ideas as well, often
spawned by observing
the deficiencies in the
current system. Inertia usually
prevails in institutional settings,
but Rice is small enough that
good ideas, plans, projects and
events can come to life with a
little effort.
By joining one of
these groups, you can
have actual power
over what goes on at
your university.
Guest column
Anti-Islam bigots need education, not attention
I opened my e-mail box one day
thissummertofind myself swamped
with messages demanding urgent
action against a Web site produc-
ing T-shirts imprinted
with vulgar images. The
T-shirts made light of the
desecration of the Koran
allegedly conducted at
Guantanamo Bay.
Since the September
11, £001 terrorist attacks,
the Muslim community
has been compelled to pro-
tect the sanctity of Islam.
My friends and family felt
obliged to act, incensed
at the lack of sensitiv-
ity and respect shown to Muslims
after Newsweek published a report
on alleged Koran abuses (which it
later retracted).
But I was more uncertain of
how to react as I sorted through
the e-mails that enthusiastically
called upon every citizen to fight
this obscene Web site through let-
ters, editorials and phone calls to
local politicians.
Calling attention to the Web site
only gives the company more pub-
licity — and there is no such thing
as bad publicity, especially when
it is free. If controversy increased
the Web site's viewership, the site
would not feel compelled to retract
the product but might instead in-
crease output.
So, I asked myself, should I
just sit back and tolerate the ex-
istence of such depraved humor
to minimize any added public-
ity? It certainly wouldn't be an
instinctual choice. Considering
the frustration associated with
defending an entire religion, it is
rather difficult for young Muslims
to maintain tolerance for Web sites
that disregard any sense of civility
and sensitivity.
After much deliberation, I chose
to follow the gray path. In my
personal struggle to understand
Saira
Karim
this moral atrocity, I identified the
root of the problem to be not just
a group of morally irresponsible
individuals but also a lack of proper
public understanding of
Islam. I decided I would
much rather expend my
energy rectifying the
root of the problem and
salvaging the integrity of
Islam and its message.
To battle directly with
morally depraved enti-
ties that are producing
obscene products seems
in comparison to be
inherently futile.
I cannot remain quiet
while bigotry and propaganda take
captive my religion and my identity,
but neither should I waste my time
trying to fight the most ignorant
and offensive.
otherwise, Islam is not our enemy.
Radical terrorists have hijacked
my holy religion, just as Branch
Davidians hijacked Christianity in
1993. During this vulnerable time
for U.S. Muslims, attacking all of
Islam for the evil deeds of these
few makes just as much sense as
attacking Christianity for the acts
of Planned Parenthood bombers.
Only through dialoguecan wedispel
the core confusions about Islam and
allow for a better understanding
to prevail.
Saira Karim is a Lovett College
junior.
Rice has many
extracurricular
groups that can
be rewarding, but
to make a lasting
impression, follow
the money.
In these groups, freshmen
have the unique opportunity to
offer a new perspective to Rice,
giving opinions and voicing ideas
unhindered by years of knowing
how things have "always" been
done. I know it can be intimidat-
Elections for next year are
months away, but many opportuni-
ties exist now. For example, SA
Standing Committees will soon
begin their work and are eager for
new members, and new students can
apply to their college Senators to be-
come SA New Student Representa-
tives. These positions are especially
important given their beefed-up
role in this year's Senate. In addi-
tion, freshmen representatives to
the Honor Council and University
Court will be selected soon, and
the Rice Program Council and Rice
Student Volunteer Program always
need help planning events.
Like most things in life, you will
get out of your time at Rice what
you put into it. Not everybody
is going to be SA President or
Honor Council Chair. But I hope
that this year, you will at least see
what blanket tax organizations are
doing. After all, somebody has to
decide how to spend all that money.
It could be you.
Ian Everhart is a Hanszen College
senior and Student Association
elections chair.
Considering the
frustration associated
with defending an
entire religion, it is
rather difficult for
young Muslims to
maintain tolerance
for Web sites that
disregard any sense of
civility and sensitivity.
the Rice Thresher
Amber Obermeyer
Editor in Chief
Nathan Black
Senior Editor
Rather, the only way to stop
careless assumptions about Islam is
to break down misconceptions. We
should use the media and educational
resources to start a public dialogue
to break down ignorance.
No matter how loudly these
T-shirt-making bigots may claim
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BACKPAGE
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, August 26, 2005, newspaper, August 26, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443099/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.