The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 25, 2000 Page: 2 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER OPINION
ERIDAY, FEBRUARY 25. 2000
the Rice Thresher
Ranonaue
fey oavid CHien
Jett McAlister,
Mariel Tam
Editors in Chief
Brian Stoler
Senior Editor
James Dallal,
Gordon Wittick
Opinion Editors
Suspending the search
The decision to suspend the search for a candidate to fill the
vacant assistant director for Student Organizations position due to
budgeting concerns will unnecessarily undermine the quality of
Rice undergraduate life.
'Hie position, formerly occupied by current Study Abroad adviser
Vicki Seefeldt West, is assigned duties vital for the efficient function-
ing of Rice's many student organizations, ranging from technical
services such as financial accounting to personal support in the form
of advice and encouragement.
A vacancy in this position, therefore, diminishes student organi-
zations' effectiveness. Associate Director of Student Activities Mona
Hicks and Student Activities Coordinator Phillippa Angelides have
worked hard to provide these services since West's promotion on
Oct. 25 last year. But Rice should not expect these employees to
balance the demands of their primary jobs with the responsibilities
of an additional position for any longer than is necessary.
Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho's decision
stems from a request the Student Association Senate made last
November. Until that time, blanket tax organizations paid $7,000 of
the Student Organizations staff member's salary. Under the leader-
ship of SA President Anne Countiss, the senate requested that
Student Affairs adopt responsibility for the position's full salary.
Since the former arrangement held students responsible for
directly paying a university employee's salary, the change made
sense. But the Budget Office has yet to approve the $7,000 increase
in the Student Affairs budget, and cannot do so until it release its
annual budget in April.
Though we have no reason to believe that the request for addi-
tional funds will be denied, the delay means the job will remain
unfilled through the end of the academic year. Recent elections
selected new leadership for many of Rice's most crucial student
organizations, and these new leaders could make good use of advice
now to ensure they can resume their terms at full strength next fall.
Before Camacho's announcement last week, the job search had
already progressed through the step of phone interviews, and the
search committee had hoped to extend an offer to their first-choice
candidate by April 1. The recent postponement will unfortunately
mean that many or perhaps all desirable candidates will find employ-
ment elsewhere before Rice can request their services.
Worst of all is the complete lack of any warning about the
decision. The search committee performed hours of work ensuring
that Rice had an adequate pool from which to draw a suitable
candidate, all of which might now fall victim to red tape.
We urge Camacho to reconsider his decision, and at the very
least, explain why the search was begun in the first place without
prior budget approval. At a university with our financial strength,
$7,000 is a minuscule amount, and the portion of that money neces-
sary to pay a new employee for the remainder of this academic year
is even smaller. If it cannot be found in the Student Affairs budget,
it could certainly be found somewhere.
Currently, assistant director for Student. Organizations position
remains unfilled for lack of this tiny sum, at great cost to the vitality
of Rice's student organizations. Our student leaders and the univer-
sity employees who have worked to make Rice's extracurricular life
as rich as it is deserve better.
SM9VA3
THft
MfrTa
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Complaining yields a
better bagel
Hie departure and subsequent return of the better bagel may not
seem significant when held up to larger unsolved problems. But the
incident proves that the system can and does work: College Food
Service demonstrated that it's willing to listen to students, and bagel
loyalists showed that with a little work, you can change things on this
campus.
Students dissatisfied with Food Service's switch to another brand
of bagel found their voice and complained. And Food Service lis-
tened to customer demand. This incident is part of a trend toward
better communication between College Food Service and students.
Food and Housing Director Mark Ditman and his staff are doing
still more to prove that they value student opinion. The old food
representative system in the colleges works well on a person-to-
person level. But witness also the comment board on the Food
Service Web site, where students make criticisms and suggestions
and Food Service responds honestly and helpfully. And for a more
important example, take the revisions of the proposed meal plan
changes.
It all just goes to show you what a little cooperation can cjlp. „
RSVP elections benefit
organization's purpose
To the editor:
The General Elections are a very
important aspect of the officer ap-^,
pointment of many organizations. It
gives them a chance to ask the stu-
dent body who it wants to be its
leaders.
Last week, there was an editorial
written to convince people not to
vote for the officers of the Rice Stu-
dent Volunteer Program ("Avoid-
ing irrelevant elections," Feb. 18).
Any newspaper that criticizes the
Rice community as apathetic should
realize the irresponsibility involved
in such an argument.
RSVP is a good organization, and
in the past it has been the only one
that has consistently had contested
elections. I agree that the Rice Pro-
gram Council decision to stop cam-
pus-wide elections for all positions
other than president is a good one.
However, not a single RPC posi-
tion is contested this year. RSVP
uses its officer elections to serve
more than just the obvious reason
of creating the next generation of
the executive committee.
We use the elections as a sort of
positive advertisement for the orga-
nization. Many people do not real-
ize the fact that any interested stu-
dent at Rice is a member and can
come to any meeting. By giving
them the chance to elect officers,
we empower and encourage stu-
dents, to be a part of the organiza-
tion.
Also, when our officers are
elected by the whole student body,
they have a greater sense of respon-
sibility toward their position in the
organization. Our elected officers
do their jobs better knowing they
have the support of the entire stu-
dent body and not just the small
fraction that regularly comes to
meetings.
I hope that the Thresher's mis-
take did not hurt the already low
voter turnout for the General Elec-
tions and that people realize that
RSVP is not an irrelevant organiza-
tion with irrelevant elections.
Chad Chasteen
Jones freshman
• Internal vice chair-elect
Rice Student Volunteer Program
Editor's note: The Feb. 18 editorial
urged students to vote for RSVP
chair, but to boycott other RS VP elec-
tions.
Candidates' promises
of change misguided
To the editor:
In a reform-minded effort to rally
the masses and capture the support
of the disenchanted voter, most of
this year's candidates for Student
Association president campaigned
under the platform that the SA sucks.
Or at least semi-sucks. I have to
admit, I disagree.
The SA functions just like any
other student government —
through small, progressive changes
that sometimes go unnoticed and
more often don't particularly inter-
est anybody. It's OK though, be-
cause, to be perfectly honest, there
is not really that much that needs to
change around here.
For the most part, Rice students
are content, and though we occa-
sionally have to take the long route
to get to class or are forced to try to
study amid the din of incessant con-
struction, these are nominal con-
cerns for the typical Rice student.
The candidates, it seems, have made
the mistake of confusing apathy for
discontent, and the result has been
a tragically pointless campaign fe-
tish to avouch the need for sweep-
ing change.
OK, political pundits, here's the
message — contented individuals
are apathetic when it comes to is-
sues which will have little to no ef-
fect on their lives. Candidates who
harbor delusions of the SA initiating
profound change on campus should
come to terms with the fact that the
SA is only as effective as it needs to
be. We are really not that miserable.
Oh, and thecampaign ^increase
voter turnout in campus elections?
This is just about the silliest ambi-
tion I have ever heard. Students who
are truly apathetic and who don't
feel as though any one candidate
will do an appreciably better job than
any other candidate will not be co-
erced into voting by the placement
of paper ballot boxes at 10-foot inter-
vals all around campus.
Hopefully this is not another rev-
elation —students don't refrain from
voting because it's inconvenient,
they refrain because they just don't
care.
If anything, the SA should make
an effort to help students learn more
about the candidates, i.e. who they
are as people. Then, if students per-
chance discover a candidate who
caters to a moderately comparable
take on life, they just may feel in-
clined to vote.
So here's my message to the new
SA president — if you want student
support, don't preach sweeping
change. It's highly dubious and far
from necessary. Relax, have fun and
try to help Rice students do the same.
We help ourselves with the things
that really matter, and we just look
to be entertained in between. The
SA may evolve in the future, but only
at a time when it cannot survive as it
is. For now, at least, things are good.
Farhaad Virani
Will Rice sophomore
'New Brain' deserves
praise for bravery
To the editor:
When I saw Sid Richardson
College's production oL4 Neui Brain
last weekend, I agreed with most of
the observations Jett McAlister
made in his five-star Feb. 18 review
("Sid musical measures up to past
success").
However, McAlister passed over
the fact that this show not only has
two male romantic leads, but does
not exploit the characters' homo-
sexuality for'comedic or tragic
effect.
Matter-ofrfact depictions of gay
relationships are common, of course,
in theatrical works beyond the
hedges, but rare thus far in Rice
college theater. I think director Simi
Blair, producer Peter Chaivre and
the New Brain cast and crew de-
serve an extra "star" for their pio-
neering bravery. '
Amanda C. Goad
Sid senior
CONTACTING THE
THRESHER
Letters
■ Letters to the editor
should be sent to the Thresher
by mail, fax, e-mail to
thresher@rice.edu or be deliv-
ered in person. We prefer that
letters be submitted on disk
or by e-mail. Letters must be
received by 5 p.m. on the Mon-
day prior to a Friday publica-
tion date.
■ All letters must be signed
and include a phone number.
Rice students and alumni must
include their college and year.
We will withhold names upon
request.
■ Letters should be no
longer than 500 words in
length. The Thresherreserves
the right to edit letters for
both content and length.
News Tips
■ Tips for possible news sto-
ries should be phoned in to
the Thresherai (713) 348-4801.
Subscribing
■ Annual subscriptions are
available for $40 domestic and
$90 international via first class
mail.
Advertising
m We accept both display
and classified advertisements.
Contact the Thresheriov more
information.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
McAlister, Jett & Tam, Mariel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 25, 2000, newspaper, February 25, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246669/m1/2/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.