The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 9, 2009 Page: 2 of 16
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EDITORIAL
========
the Rice Thresher
Friday, January9,2009
the Rice (Ihresher
Rice good to help
families in need
With all the attention recently on the economy, it may come as
a surprise to hear that Rice is raising its no-loan threshold, giving
higher-income families the opportunity to qualify for a financial
aid package that does not include loans (see story, page 1). Tak-
ing its lead from Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, Rice
decided last week to increase the annual income threshold from
$60,000 to $80,000.
Pardon us while we stand and applaud.
This move cannot be seen as anything other than a true desire
to socialize the university's funds, granting the poorer greater
access to the rich education granted to those who receive the
Rice experience. Raising the threshold will allow those strapped
down by the recession to feel relatively financially free in apply-
ing to the university, knowing that access to Rice's vast endow-
ment will be the re to back them up if they need it. By allowing
these students into the hedges, Rice can cement its future, guar-
anteeing that the campus will brim with the brightest and best
even in the midst of the economic downturn. In addition, Rice
might just move back atop the "Best Buy" podium on which it
has become accustomed to standing. Since peaking at No. 1 a
few years ago, Rice has slipped down the ranks as our tuition
has risen more sharply than other universities'. But by raising
the threshold, Rice has ensured that new students will pay less
for the same great education far into the future.
Rice needs help during
financial plight
There's nothing easy, nothing fortunate and nothing guaran-
teed about the current recession.Nobody is unaffected, and no-
body without responsibility. So when President David Leebron
announces a hiring freeze (see story, page 1), we should not look
at the plan as a surprise; rather, we should look at this stop-
page as a necessary measure for Rice's fiscal survival during the
greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
This freeze, the cessation of expansion, puts the campus's sta-
tus as an elite institution at risk. On average, Rice hires 38 people
per month, many of those heading into Housing and Dining and
Facilities, Engineering and Planning to accelerate the university's
recent growth. Now, you may not find yourself personally affect-
ed by the Big Chill, but that doesn't mean that the student body
shouldn't chip in to carry us through the mire and muck of these
times. Because many service resources will be stretched to the
max, a greater burden of maintaining Rice's reputation and good
order will fall on the student body's shoulders. It means that stu-
dents should be more aware of the ramifications of their actions.
When a night at Willy's Pub turns into a night of debacles, try to
rein the destruction in a bit. Be aware of your surroundings, and
keep the mayhem to a minimum.
Rice's recent growth has been near break-neck speed, and its
continuation would have been foolhardy at best, unsalvageable
at worst. When he reevaluates Rice's options in March, we hope
that President Leebron will consider the economic forecast calm
enough to continue our long-range projects, and we would hope
that we, as Rice students, will have done our part to keep the
university sound in the meantime.
Green does a world good
This week, Wiess College senior Jeremy Caves showed off his sci-
entific literacy, and in an magnificent showing with the rest of his
research team, he won Houston's Recycle Ike contest by suggesting
that the city turn the organic waste into Biochar (see story, page 1).
While our lengthy stays in the newsroom and away from the lab
prevent us from fully comprehending just how remarkable a pro-
cess this truly is, we do know that by turning Ike's debris into bur-
ied carbon, Caves and his crew have taken one more step toward
providing a good environment for all of Rice's generations.
Impressive, yes, but we want to note that in the end, Caves
was merely a student — albeit a highly-motivated and successful
one — who turned his education into a cause. Caves should be an
inspiration to not only his fellow engineers, but to all of us who
wither away with problem sets and lengthy reading assignments
while the world outside has problems in need of solving.
This particular time and place is perfect for students to pro-
pel their talents into the field in the name of progress. And since
not every achievement has to be of monumental consequence,
we encourage the student body to think on the small scale; small
achievements often combine to change the world. Use college re-
sources, connect with fellow students, and throw yourself into the
myriad environmental programs around campus. With any luck,
we can make stories like Caves' the rule, and not the exception.
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Lily Chun & Dylan Farmer
Editors in Chief
NEWS
Catherine Bratic Editor
Margeux Clemmons Asst. Editor
Cindy Dinh Asst. Editor
Jocelyn Wright Asst. Editor
Zach Castle Designer
Nick Morales Designer
OP-ED
Amanda Melchor Editor
Neel Shah Cartoonist
SPORTS
Natalie Clericuzio Editor
Yan Digilov Editor
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Julie Armstrong Editor
Joe Dwyer Editor
COPY
Nick Schlossman Editor
Ryan Stickney Editor
Anna Wilde Editor
CALENDAR
Sean McBeath Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY
David Rosales Editor
Ariel Shnitzer>4ssf. Editor
Lauren Schoeffler Asst. Editor
WEB
John Michael Cuccia Editor
Stephen Wang >4ss(. Editor
BUSINESS
Sarah Mitchell Manager
Yvette Pan Payroll Manager
Jessie Huang Subscriptions Manager
Gustavo Herrera Distribution Manager
Sergio Jaramillo Distribution Manager
Charles Avery Distribution Manager
ADVERTISING
Joseph Ramirez Ads Manager
Thomas Yeh Ads Manager
Cathleen Chang Classified Ads Manager
BACKPAGE
Timothy Faust Editor
Eric Doctor Editor
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 9, 2009, newspaper, January 9, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443122/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.