The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 6, 2009 Page: 2 of 20
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EDITORIAL
the Rice Thresher
Friday, November 6,2009
the Rice (Thresher
College transfer process
not yet flawless
As Duncan College and McMurtry College begin filling up with
sophomores and juniors from across the nine other colleges, we
tip our hats to the Dean of Undergraduates office, specifically
Assistant Dean Matt Taylor, for making the process both smooth
and transparent (see story, page 1). Through the entire process,
Taylor has kept students informed of the ins and outs of trans-
fer plans. Many projects across campus are either shrouded or
clouded, but this system was a fresh change.
That being said, we feel this process was not as seamless
as it could have been, for two main reasons. First, we feel the
selection process should have been limited only to rising ju-
niors, not both rising juniors and rising seniors. We wonder
what well-adjusted rising seniors, those not disenchanted
with their current situations, would abandon their college
for new pastures in their final year at Rice. Unlike the ris-
ing juniors, whose two remaining years provide enough time
to create lasting improvements to the colleges, seniors will
be one-and-done, flitting and flipping through the system in
extraordinarily little time.
Examine the seniors' psyche. You have those who will be
so wrapped up in worrying about their post-college career
that they will be ghosts at their college. You have those who
are so enraptured with living their final year to the fullest that
they will be of little service outside of keeping St. Arnold's in
business. You have those who are interested in transferring
only for a power-grab, those who would otherwise be unable
to attain a certain position at their own college and who in-
stead have found a vacuum at another. Seniors simply do not
merit enough of a difference in experience from juniors to
warrant their inclusion in the process.
Second, we worry about the blank slate given to advis-
ers and Orientation Week affiliates. Just because they were
selected by the coordinators to welcome the freshmen does
not make them a proper cross-section of the university. Yes,
they are inextricably tied to the new colleges, but there is no
guarantee they will be transferring for the right reasons or in
the correct demographics.
The system is years beyond the growing pains Martel Col-
lege went through earlier this decade, and the improvements
are clear and efficient. But the process is not quite perfect,
and changes are still needed.
Oh, and we would like to point out that we are hardly sur-
prised that Lovett College boasts the largest number of trans-
fers. The rooms at the new colleges may be bleak, but at least
those moving won't be in a toaster anymore.
Green initiative promotes
environmental awareness
Contrary to outward appearances — most notably, that
we print thousands of copies of the paper each week, and
the recycling bins in our office are often neglected — the
Thresher supports environmental efforts. The latest of these,
the Green Dorm Initiative, the brainchild of Rice's own En-
vironmental Club, began this week for members of Brown
College (see story, page 1). The initiative aims to increase
awareness about the amount of energy and water needed to
perform everyday tasks. Students will self-report the lengths
of their showers, the number of times they've shut down
their computers, their light usage and other aspects of their
existence, sustainable or not.
Raising awareness is great, and a monetary reward for
those who, at the end of the competition, have been judged
to live most sustainably is even better. But who's likely to
participate in the initiative? Those who take two-minute
showers in the first place. The people who drive Priuses and
insist on setting their thermostat at 78 degrees during the
long, brutal Texas summer. The Tetra Points reward may be
an incentive to some, but those in it purely for the money are
unlikely to keep up the sustainable efforts after the 20-day
competition. We feel that the spirit of the competition comes
from the right place, though it's nothing new or ground-
breaking and may not legitimately change the behavior of
those not already invested in the green movement.
We know how these competitions normally play out, but
we urge those at Brown, even those overwhelmed with apa-
thy, to put forth an effort for the 20 days to log their activi-
ties. At the least, students will get an idea of the amount of
energy they use on a daily basis and potentially make an ef-
fort to live more sustainably in the future. This is, after all,
the goal of the competition.
Plus, the $15 in Tetra points buys at least a few soy chai lattes.
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LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR thresher-ops@rice. edu, twitter, com/thericethresher
Sustainability
inspires discussion
To the Editor:
In the Oct. 23 issue of the
Thresher, I was delighted to read
undergraduate Roni Deitz's column
about Duncan College and the en-
vironmental mindset of students
("Ca.npus sustainability calls for
individual effort, collective aware-
ness," Oct. 23), not necessarily due to
her particular viewpoint, but rather
because the building itself had pro-
voked the discussion. In planning for
Duncan College we wondered how
to design, construct and operate a
building that responds to the natural
resource challenges of the 21st centu-
ry while also serving as an instructive
space that fosters an ethic of sustain-
ability. Indeed, we are already see-
ing that Duncan College is triggering
conversations about our role in the
world that no other building on our
campus has ever done before, as is
evident by Ms. Deitz's column.
This dialogue is quite beneficial
— it forces us out of the comfortable
realm of theoretical discussions of
sustainability into a messier real-
ity. For example, a student might be
concerned about the impact of the
mining and burning of coal to create
electricity and the resulting green-
house gas emissions. Perhaps that
student has even signed a petition
or participated in a demonstration to
block the construction of coal-fired
power plants. With Duncan College,
the conversation changes from the
generic question of "Do you sup-
port using coal as a primary energy
source?" to "Are you willing to have
an air conditioning unit that turns off
when you open a door or a window in
order to reduce energy consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions from
fossil fuels, including coal?" The de-
sign itself deepens the dialogue.
As we continue with our program
of green building at Rice, these new
facilities will inspire, instruct, pro-
voke and challenge us. They will
represent, in the words of Professor
David Orr of Oberlin College, "crys-
tallized pedagogy," where the build-
ings themselves are part of the edu-
cational experience and intellectual
discourse of the university. Whether
you agree with Ms. Deitz's conclu-
sions or not, you should stop for a
moment to consider when the last
time was that a building drew you
into a discussion about your place in
the natural world.
Richard R. Johnson
Director of Sustainability
Wilt Rice '92
Online Comment
of the Week
In response to "Paleolithic diet
adopts primal, evolutionary health
approach," Oct. 30:
Your column contains many state-
ments that seem intended to convey
some sense of being put on by "fitness
experts." But many of us enjoy brocco-
li, beets, cabbage and the whole other
range of nutritious vegetables and
fruits. Are you stating that exercising
and eating healthy, natural foods is
unhealthy? You don't explicitly say so,
but you seem to be implying it till the
cows come home. Yet you preface a
statement by saying, "For those of us
not in the best health." This seems to
imply that "bacon, donuts, chocolate
and butter" might not be doing the
trick for you (foods that, by the way,
I do NOT enjoy).
Let's cut to the chase. Eighty per-
cent of chronic diseases in this coun-
try are the result of lifestyle choices
not consistent with good health:
smoking, not exercising, drinking
too much alcohol, not eating enough
vegetables or fruit and being fat. You
can like that or not. You can say that
those are "unreachable goals," even
though others DO reach them. You
can "feel guilty" about your lifestyle,
and blame that on "experts" who are
"making" you feel guilty. But some
would state that ACTION, not guilt, is
the "logical response."
The Atkins diet contains unlim-
ited saturated fats, which study after
study has linked to chronic disease.
It limits processed carbohydrates,
which is a good thing, but throws the
baby out with the bathwater by lim-
iting healthy carbohydrates as well,
such as whole grains and most fruit
and vegetables like corn and peas.
But I guess this is the perfect diet
for the sedentary American lifestyle,
because carbs are needed for energy
and healthy activities such as exer
cise. Hardly a step in the right direc-
tion, and there is not a single long-
term study linking the Atkins diet
with reductions in chronic diseases,
aka "becoming healthier."
And I have no idea where you got
the idea that our ancestors were near-
ly completely carnivorous. Game was
very hard to come by, which means
our ancestors mostly ate plants, aka
vegetables and fruits. They also trav
eled around 10 miles per day, doing
the whole hunting and gathering
thing, running for their lives, etc.
Suddenly, a short jog doesn't sound
so demanding, does it?
Oh, and it's not about deny-
ing your cravings at all; it's about
satisfying them. You crave food be-
cause your body is starving for the
nutrients it needs. It hopes that if
it keeps you hungry, maybe you'll
finally eat something other than a
Twinkie. Cravings seem to magical-
ly disappear when one starts eating
a nutrient-dense diet.
I hate to sound mean, but this
column sounds a lot like a college
student trying to rationalize poor
choices and place blame on others.
If you want to eat donuts and sit on
your butt that's fine, but why not
take ownership of it, and quit trying
to make it into a silk purse? I'll say it
one last time: 80 percent of chronic
diseases are related to that lifestyle.
For one, I find that to be great, em-
powering news, because it means my
destiny is, in large part, in my hands.
And yours is in yours. What you do
with it is all you.
Oh, and Jack LaLanne is 95, in out-
standing health, still works out two
hours a day and looks great.
Joe Ossenmacher-Bedford
NEWS
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BACKPAGE
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The Rice Thresher, the official student news-
paper at Rice University since 1916, is pub-
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 6, 2009, newspaper, November 6, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443152/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.