The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 14, 2007 Page: 2 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14,2007
Campus complaints show
need for conversation
When President David Leebron first brought up the idea of grow-
ing and changing Rice, he did so through the Call to Conversation.
For months, administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni all
joined together in a discussion about plans for Rice's future. While
it was not absolutely perfect, the C2C provided great avenues of
communication to ensure that students were heard and had their
input considered. But now that the call has become a vision, it seems
that the conversation has fallen silent. Even though key aspects of
the Vision for the Second Century are already being implemented,
students still need a way to comment not only on these massive
changes across campus, but on the impacts of these changes on
their daily lives.
Construction
In last week's Student Association meeting, Martel College
President Mikaela Dennison showed that the spirit of the Call to
Conversation is still alive, proposing a resolution that Vice President
for Administration Kevin Kirby and Facilities, Engineering and Plan-
ning Senior Project Manager Eleni Barzouka meet with the Student
Association to discuss construction issues affecting students' daily
lives. While the Construction on Campus Web site (facilities.rice.edu/
projects jmain.cfm) does an adequate job listing information about
construction, students need an easy way to report about the effects.
Something is wrong when students need to resort to powerful SA
resolutions just to be heard.
During the Call to Conversation, the university had a Web site
where students could post their opinions, and it is time to bring it
back. Rather than sending administrators to lunches, where they
probably won't be recognized by students, or rely on students going
to the trailers on Old Wiess field, the university should establish
an online system for collecting student input. Even simpler than
a Web-based submission system would be a go-to e-mail address
where students could send their concerns. It would not be difficult
to establish construction@rice.edu as a routinely monitored sugges-
tions box, so to speak.
Rather than lament at SA meetings about unlit paths or long
walks, they could write letters the moment a problem arrives. Ide-
ally, students could list specific problems — a certain corner needs
an emergency phone, for example — and construction crews would
know exactly what to fix, rather than having to discern ideas from
students' vague complaints.
Serveries
Improved communication should not merely end at construction
concerns. Communication lines are currently needed for those uni-
versity services that affect students on a daily basis. Or better yet,
thrice daily: serveries. Housing and Dining already demonstrated
that there is a servery communication problem when they abruptly
eliminated Saturday dinners with no student input. While we applaud
the reversal back to the traditional schedule, students should know
in advance if a mealtime disappears.
But as with construction, communication needs to go both ways.
Students across campus can be heard complaining about the sudden
decrease in quality of servery foods. With Angela Riggs' departure,
students have no source to go to with meal-time problems. An e-mail
complaint address would provide an outlet for students to direct
dining problems besides complaining about the lack of forks at SA
meetings. Again, students could address specific problems — for
example, watery noodles — directly to someone who could solve
the issue. But, on the flip side, students could also tell chefs what
works. After all, sending compliments to the chef should not just be
something out of stereotyped fancy restaurants.
Tailgates rely on turnout
This Saturday at 12:30 p.m., the Rice Program Council is holding
a tailgate for the football game against Texas Tech University. There
will be grills, Ben and Jerry's and much more. But whether they do
it again depends on student turnout.
RPC does not have a budget large enough to throw all of these
tailgates. Instead, they receive donations from the Student Associa-
tion and the athletics department. However, these donations will
only keep flowing if students actually show up.
So if you enjoy tailgating before football games, vote with your
feet. And afterwards, use those feet to walk over to the stadium —the
way things are looking, the football team could use some support.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Gender preference
ad not sexist
To the editor:
"How much longer can we pretend
that women are equal citizens in this
nation? Women must not continue to
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ignore even the smallest injustices we
endure — we must rise up"("Third-
Wave Feminism Needs a Hero,"
Aug. 31).
This over-the-top quote from a col-
umn, perhaps was taken too literally in
a letter t he following week to the editor
("Classifieds ad sexist, offensive to all,"
Sept. 7). In the letter the author decried
the 77jres/!<?r's "sexist" classified ad that
stated the gender preference (not the
requirement) of someone seeking a
student to pick up their 12-year-old
son. The ad was not sexist. The par-
ent exercised their judgment about
what was best for their son who for
all we know could be more inclined
to develop a better rapport towards a
fellow male role model than a female.
The only way that women can become
equal citizens is to stop relishing the
role of the victim and erroneously
claiming persecution.
Andie Samuelsen
Hanszen junior
Students should
register to vote
To the editor:
Our generation has experienced
many close calls when it comes to
elections. In 2000, President George
W. Bush took the state of Florida by
a 537-vote margin. In 2006, nail-biting
Senate races in states such as Mon-
tana showed a few thousand votes
can make a huge difference.
Bottom line: Your vote does count.
In order to exercise the privilege of vot-
ing you have to register to vote, and in
Texas you must register by ()cl 9. For
those of you who are registered with
your Rice mailbox as your residence
address, I will see you on Election Day
in the Rice Memorial Center. For those
of you who have not yet registered, it
would be a shame to turn you away
because you did not get your card in
the mail on time. Local elections this
year will prove pivotal for certain issues
and strategic in shaping the political
climate for election years to come.
The March primary is just around the
corner and a year from now may be
your first time to vote in a presidential
election. It is always a great time to
register to vote.
All students at Rice are capable
of registering to vote in Texas if they
are at least 18 years old and United
States citizens. A valid sentiment at
Rice exists among undergraduates
who hold out-of-state residencies that
their vote does not "count" in Texas.
To combat this sense of futility, take
the necessary actions to make your
voice heard. If you feel this way,
please register to vote immediately
by visiting your county's website,
following registration instructions,
and requesting your absentee ballot
as soon as possible. If you do not think
you will request an absentee ballot,
voice your opinion in Texas by regis-
tering here and voting in the RMC 011
Nov. 6, 2(X)7. The greatest injustice
would be for you not to vote at all.
Claire Randall
Rice Vote Coalition, President
Brown senior
Football advice
offered after games
To the editor:
After witnessing the past two
football games in person, I havecome
to one conclusion: Coach Bailiff, let
James Casey play.
Ryan Kresta
Jones sophomore
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Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 14, 2007, newspaper, September 14, 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443187/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.