The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, January 30, 2009 Page: 3 of 20
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Op-Ed
"Open" critics need to update their views
Recently, ABC News released an ar-
ticle titled "Student-Run Sex Magazines
Surface Across U.S." in which Rice Uni-
versity's very own Open Magazine was
featured. The article truthfully exposes
the origins and the nature of Open,
while comparing it to other sex maga-
zines that have been springing up in
various schools, including Washington
University in St. Louis, Columbia Uni-
versity and Harvard University. After
reading through the article, however, I
noticed that a host of readers had post-
ed scathing comments criticizing Open
for a range of reasons, and I realized
that those who have never opened the
magazine are interpreting it in entirely
the wrong way.
Christine Pao
What people unfamiliar with Open
don't seem to realize is that it is not a
porn magazine containing stories of
erotica, promoting casual sex, exploit-
ing women or preaching promiscuity. Its
approach to sex is completely different:
As the mission statement asserts, the
magazine "aims to promote a healthy
attitude toward sex by presenting a
wide range of perspectives on the inter-
play of sex and culture through articles,
editorials, interviews, poems, short sto-
ries, photos and art." It's fine to critique
Open, but unfair to condemn it without
even knowing what it really stands for.
It appears that people are getting the
wrong impression, that the magazine
promotes casual sex while exploiting
women, when in reality it serves as an
outlet for students to express their view-
points on various sexual issues.
I'm in no way trying to pigeonhole
the critics of Open, but I've noticed
that they tend to be stuck on tradi-
tional, puritanical ways of thinking,
unwilling to accept the well-known
fact that modern sexuality is be-
ing explored more openly through
readily-available media, and it is only
expected that we, as students, should
also have a say in all matters sexual.
I believe that all the works featured
in Open contain artistic merit. The pic-
tures, short stories and poems are cre-
ated in all seriousness — they are not
made simply to be taken as a vulgar
joke. You would think that, as relative-
ly responsible Rice students, people
would trust us to make our own deci-
sions instead of criticizing us for being
stereotypical sex-driven college kids.
I can see how those of older genera-
tions might view Open as raunchy and
offensive but our generation faces dif-
ferent issues and has different needs,
and older generations may not real-
ize this fact or be willing to accept it.
They seem to believe the magazine is a
vice — a source of immorality that dis-
tracts students from their studies and
should not exist. But they don't real-
ize that we're college students in need
of an outlet to express our sexuality
and that Open is a great vehicle by
which to do so. I think it's about time
we began embracing the human body
as beautiful rather than dirty, break-
ing down the barriers that make sex
something to be embarrassed about.
Instead of criticizing Open, we
should really be applauding it. It is both
a brilliant and creative vehicle for Rice
students to manifest their desires and
frustrations in a healthy, supportive en-
vironment. Additionally, Open provides
numerous sex facts and survey results
in attempt to educate college students
on the sexually dynamic world around
them. Our society's attitudes about sex
are constantly changing, and it is un-
reasonable for closed-minded people
to criticize a publication aimed at re-
flecting these ever-changing views.
Christine Pao is a Martel College
freshman.
SA election, 0-Week spur involvement
If you're going to be at Rice for the
2009-'i0 academic year and you're read-
ing my column, then you're probably
looking for one of two things: sage, un-
solicited advice about how to live your
life or sophomoric jokes about how
awesome beer is. Today I have more of
the former and less of the latter.
Timothy Faust
The results of the next few weeks
of this academic year constitute what
is the most significant indication of
how successful and fun the under-
graduate population will find the
next school year. Many colleges will
soon elect a president and govern-
ing body; dozens of candidates and
applicants are crossing their fingers
and fighting for Orientation Week co-
ordinator bids at the nine established
colleges and the two mysterious new
colleges; and an alarmingly charm-
ing Student Association Elections
Chair announced the beginning of SA
election season this past Monday.
By spring break, which is merciful-
ly only a few weeks away, we'll know
exactly which students will lead the
rest of us into the new decade. Why
can't you be one of them?
At the risk of dredging this column
through a grimy hyperbolic pool, I be-
lieve Duncan and McMurtry colleges
will offer two teams of O-Week coordi-
nators and approximately a dozen am-
bassadors the phenomenal opportunity
to leave the single greatest student im-
pact on any Rice institution that we're
going to see in this generation. Both
colleges, barely filled by seventy-odd
wide-eyed and sweaty new students,
will themselves matriculate with nei-
ther masters nor any real conception of
college government or college tradition.
Of course. Baker and Will Rice colleges
will play a tremendous role as they help
the Duncan and McMurtry classes of
2013 — can we call them Duncaroos and
McMurtles? — establish some sort of
self-governing structure. But, alas, they
will be forced to do so from the outside.
The ambassadors, and especially
the O-Week coordinators, will be the
very first Duncan and McMurtry up-
perclassmen, and it will be upon their
shoulders to ensure that the new col-
leges design most of their individual
identities. The posh new college living
rooms and the terrifying, straight from
2001: A Space Odyssey pod bathrooms
will form a sandbox for the whims and
fancies of an enthusiastic and ambi-
tious coordinator or ambassador. Can
any of us currently attending Rice, in-
cluding the presidents, claim to have
left as indelible a mark upon our col-
lege as that of any of these Duncan or
McMurtry pioneers? The opportunity
is, quite seriously, once in a lifetime.
I have had the privilege of talking to
or working with many of the people in-
volved in the preliminary operation of
O-Week 2009, their vibrant enthusiasm
dwarfs mine. While many students
have ardently responded to the Office
of the Dean of Undergraduates' call to
seize the horns of the twin bulls, most
of the respondents have been members
of either Will Rice or Baker. I applaud
these colleges wholeheartedly for their
excitement, but 2009-'i0 must be a
unified effort across all nine colleges.
Members of Hanszen, Wiess, Jones,
Brown, Lovett, Sid and Martel - do you
have within yourselves the courage and
drive to seize the awesome opportunity
dangling before you? Will you warm
these new, sterile hallways with the
best sentiments of your homes? Will
you baptize them in Budweiser and
christen them in college nights?
Will you create a new college?
Timothy Faust is a Brown College senior
and Backpage editor.
Podcasting possesses power
to aid present, future students
One of the great things about col-
lege, especially at a university like
Rice, is the plethora of technology
available to guide students in learn-
ing. The Digital Media Center offers
both video and photographic camer-
as for student use as well as programs
and classes to help them create DVDs
and Web pages. But as I browsed
through my iTunes account the other
day, I was taken by a particular feature
that Rice could use: more podcasts.
Amanda Melchor
Essentially, a podcast is a media
file that can either be audio (like an
mp3 file and most music) or video file.
The iTunes store has free podcasts
with topics ranging from sports to
science to politics and virtually every-
thing in between. Podcasts are simple
tools — and cheap if done through
the Digital Media Center — that the
university could use more to not only
help its current students but also aid
future matriculants.
After a brief search for "Rice Uni-
versity podcasts," I found the pod-
casts Rice currently posts and makes
available for online streaming and
download (http://edtech.rice.edu/
rssJeeds/RicePodcast.xml). The Web
site mostly includes lectures from the
President's Lecture Series, and nota-
ble guest speakers as well as lectures
organized by various organizations
like the Boniuk Center for Religious
Tolerance and departments within the
university. While the availability of
these lectures is great and the topics
diverse, the Web site has not been up-
dated since October 2008 and with the
exception of the Dalai Lama's, few of
the lectures are well-known or recent.
Overall, podcasting is underutilized
and could be better implemented to
aid current students and promote the
university to potential ones.
Podcasts could specifically be
used in the classroom to record lec-
tures. If a student missed a class or
wanted to review a lecture, he or she
could download it for listening dur-
ing a workout, at work or while mov-
ing around the campus and the city.
Podcasts would provide a way for
studQnts to literally take their lecture
and learning outside the classroom.
Of course, while I am fully for the
use of podcasting in the classroom,
I realize that the possibility does in-
troduce a few problems. Couldn't re-
cording and posting a class's lectures
on Owl-Space or elsewhere online
threaten the attendance, participa-
tion and quality of a course?
Not necessarily. In more moderate-
ly sized courses, professors could still
take roll, use visuals and give out as-
signments relating to the lecture that
are not mentioned or included in an
audio or video podcast. Class discus-
sions and participation are vital for
many classes and a podcast couldn't
replace the benefit — or grade — stu-
dents receive from physically and
mentally being present in class. By at-
tending class, students can ask ques-
tions of their professors, which they
cannot do by reading or listening to
recorded lectures alone. Professors
could also create and incorporate vid-
eo podcasts into their curriculum, with
additional information and videos to
fortify class concepts. In addition, if a
student is traveling for a tournament
or a graduate school or job interview,
they could keep abreast of their work
through podcasts instead of relying
on another's potentially inaccurate
notes, especially if t! course doesn't
have a textbook.
Podcasting would also be a great
way to promote Rice and draw in pro-
spective students with glimpses into
academic and student life. During Owl
Days and Vision Week, many students
attend classes with (hopefully) highly-
rated professors. Instead of making
these experiences exclusive only 'i> stu-
dents who attend these weekends, pod-
casts would allow potential students
with financial or scheduling restrictions
to listen to and watch Rice lectures and
get a taste of Rice's academic experi-
ence. Ideally, these audio and video re-
cordings would come from classes and
professors that have been very favor-
ably reviewed by students and that are
unique enough to separate Rice from
other larger, top-tier schools. Podcasts
would also be a great way to feature
student life on campus, with various
students from all backgrounds and ma-
jors discussing their Rice experience.
Rice began a virtual tour several years
ago and podcasts conducted by actual
students could allow matriculants — as
well as members of the Rice commu-
nity and administration — to gain some
more insight into student life and what
matters to the student body.
Despite all of the potential ben-
efits podcasting offers to current Rice
students and potential applicants,
the university has yet to utilize the
technology it has so readily available.
Podcasting stands as a way of not only
enriching academic life and promoting
the uniqueness of our campus but also
as a way of changing how we learn and
communicate with one another.
Amanda Melchor is a Hanszen College
senior and opinion editor.
CAMPUS REACTION
"Currently, Rice offers no classes in neuroscience to undergraduate students or classes taught by Rice professors. But with the aid of resourceful undergradu-
ates and the possible help of a merger with Baylor College of Medicine, Rice could create a neuroscience minor. What do you think about this possible minor?
"It would be something I'm interested
in. It's Interesting to see how the mind
works and different brain functions."
Rachael Startin
Lovett College freshman
"They should add it [as a mjnorj. if 5
a pretty great idea especially if Rlee
has a partnership [with Baylor]."
Rebecca Lin
Hanszen College junior
Tm a cognitive science major. There
are classes that could've taken me
down the neuroscience path. It's a
good idea.\ Mr/
ReidHenkel
Baker College Junior
Tm {studying] neuroeconomics. The
minor could be good for sciences and
crossover into other majors."
f Anna Dogger
tel College senior
' r
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Chun, Lily & Farmer, Dylan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, January 30, 2009, newspaper, January 30, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443157/m1/3/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.