The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 25, 2005 Page: 6 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25,2005
Students discuss feminism at ADVANCE forum
by Lauren Murphy
FOR THE THRESHER
About 70 students discussed hir-
ing bias, maternity leave and Harvard
University President Lawrence Sum-
mers' controversial statements about
biological differences between men
and women, among other things,
at a forum in the Hanszen College
Commons Tuesday.
The forum, "Feminism: Encour-
aging or Eliminating Equality?" was
sponsored by ADVANCE.
Audience members were divided
into 10 small discussion groups, each
focusing on a different topic and led
by a student moderator. The groups
discussed six issues related to femi-
nism: words, sex and sexuality, media
and pop culture, men, equality and
biological differences.
More than one-third of the attend-
ees were men, ADVANCE Program-
ming Committee co-Chair Jennifer
Robles said.
"The male turnout was exciting,"
Robles said. "So many people have
assumptions about feminism, and
that's one of them — that men can't
be feminists."
Robles, a Hanszen College junior,
and co-chair Cara Eng, a Baker
College senior, planned the event.
Hanszen sophomore Johanna
Cooper served as a moderator for a
group of seven students. She led a
discussion about sex, sexuality and
feminism. Cooper asked the group
questions such as, "Is it okay to use
feminine wiles to your advantage?"
and, "Would you cry to get out of
a ticket?"
The goal of the discussion was
not to come up with a solution or a
consensus, but rather to examine the
issue from all sides. Cooper said.
"We should take advantage of
the fact that we all have each other
as resources during these years,"
Cooper said.
Other groups talked about the
media's role in depicting feminism,
discussing questions like, "Can
Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and
Samantha from the TV hit Sex and
the City be considered feminists?"
"Does the media have a responsibil-
ity to show women in more equal
positions?" and "Does the public
influence the media or does media
influence the public?"
4So many people have
assumptions about
feminism, and that's
one of them — that men
can V be feminists.'
— Jennifer Robles
Hanszen junior
ADVANCE Programing
Committee co-chair
Eng, who prepared the questions
along with other members of the
programming committee, said the
committee chose topics related to
current issues in feminism.
The 10 groups reconvened after
about 45 minutes for a large-group
discussion. Jones College senior
Samir Patel, an ADVANCE member,
facilitated the discussion.
Patel presented a list of adjectives
about feminism. First he presented
words that forum participants said
they use to describe feminists. Many
of the responses, such as "indepen-
dent" and "intelligent," were positive
adjectives. Then he presented words
that participants said society uses to
describe feminists. Many of these
responses, such as "man-hating,"
were negative adjectives.
Brown College junior Amanda
ERIC WILLIAMS/THRESHER
Hanszen College senior Stephen Bor (left), Martel College freshman Hector Murgula and Wless College senior Stlna
Salazar discuss feminism at Tuesday's ADVANCE forum in the Hanszen Commons.
Lopez said she thinks the media por-
trays feminists unfairly. The media
stereotypes feminists as aggressive,
angry women and ignores those who
simply seek equality, she said.
Patel received heated answers
when he asked the audience if a
housewife can be considered a
feminist. While several attendees
said they think a housewife is an
inappropriate feminist model, others
said they think the feminist move-
ment is about giving women choices,
and if a woman can make the choice
to work in the home, the feminist
movement is succeeding.
Patel, who wore a T-shirt with the
slogan, "This is what a feminist looks
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RICE
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like," concluded the night's dialogue
by asking audience members what
they think when they see a man wear-
ing a feminist T-shirt. He said some
of his male friends questioned him
about the shirt during the day.
"I think it's awesome that you'd
wear a shirt like that," one female
audience member said.
"I think you're trying to get
chicks," another said.
Patel left the audience with
several suggestions of ways to take
the dialogue beyond the forum. He
recommended that females tell male
friends they would prefer to have a
househusband and then gauge their
reactions. Patel also suggested that
INTERIM
audience members begin calling
females "women" instead of "girls."
Patel said he thinks the forum
generated valuable dialogue.
"1 was happy to see a variety of
opinions," he said.
Brown junior David Axel said he
enjoyed the discussion but thinks
many people who attended hold
similar opinions.
"Most people were on the same
page," Axel said.
Hanszen junior April Goldman
said the discussions were facilitated
well.
"People were very respectful,"
Goldman said. "It was agood environ-
ment for openness."
From page 1
are Hispanic. Five American Indians
were also admitted.
As of Tuesday, Rice had received
a total of 7,790 applications for all de-
cision rounds. The Admission Office
set a target of 720 students for the
incoming class, and 162 spots were
offered to early decision applicants.
"There will be a few more athlete
applications this spring, so we will be
over 7,800," Wright said.
The Student Admission Council
held a calling campaign Monday
through Wednesday to answer admit-
ted students' questions about Rice.
About 60 student volunteers called to
invite the students to Owl Weekend,
which will be held April 14-16, and
encourage them to visit Rice, SAC
co-Chair Thomas Streeter said.
"They usually want to know about
majors, what Rice is like in terms of
workload, and 'What's Houston like?
What is there to do [in terms of] social
things? What's a typical day like?'"
Streeter, a Sid Richardson College
senior, said. "We also get financial aid
questions and questions comparing
schools, which we don't do. We just
promote Rice."
Many prospective students apply
interim decision because they are
notified in February, before private
universities send out their regular-
decision acceptances April 1. Streeter
said. Interim decision is not binding
and does not prevent students from
applying to other colleges during the
early decision round.
SAC will run another calling cam-
paign for regular decision applicants
after the April 1 notification date,
Streeter said. He said 140 students
will visit Rice for Vision Weekend,
which began yesterday and will
continue through Sunday.
MASTERS
From page 1
with students," Forman said.
Forman said he will miss his close
relationships with individual students.
"The most memorable moments
of being master are the quieter mo-
ments — the one-on-one moments
when someone at Jones College has
chosen to share with us a really joyful
moment, or the times when one of our
students has trusted us enough to
share a really sad moment," Forman
said. Those are things we'll probably
most remember. They're not the most
fun at the time, but they've been the
most rewarding moments."
Gorman said she thinks Forman
will be successful in his new position.
"I think it was a good decision
to have someone who was a college
master as the dean," Gorman said. "It
helps to have an intimate knowledge
of the college system."
Gorman said her favorite memo-
ries of Forman and Owens are the
game nights they host Sundays in
their home.
"My favorite memory of Robin
is watching him play chess with the
students every Sunday," Gorman
said. "It was nice seeing that side of
him come out."
Forman said he hopes to maintain
his ties with Jones and to extend them
to the greater Rice community.
"My hope is that we don't lose
contact with the Jones students at
all, but that we broaden our circle
of connections to include all of the
undergraduates," Forman said.
"We'll still be a part of the Jones
family and still be active as much
as we can."
Montz could not be reached for
comment.
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Gilbert, Lindsey & Yardley, Jonathan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 25, 2005, newspaper, February 25, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443168/m1/6/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.