CLASSIFIEDS @Rice.Edu
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
OP-ED P. 3 A*E p. 7 SPORTS P. 10 Back to basics Order another round No upper limit. Still. What did the president's recent State of the Union address Taco Trek continues with Doha Maria's and beans delicious Shakera Reece ran the second-fastest 60-meter in the reveal about the fate of his agenda? enough to make Yan cry. school's history. Or did she? thVOLUME XCVIIe, ISSUE NO. Ric18 STUDENT-RUe N SINCE 1916 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010 Rice set to College course budgets face cuts refocus after Colleges to absorb fiscal burden to fund courses merger BY JOSH RUTENBERG THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Student-taught courses may soon want falls through to include a lecture on thriftiness, because the pocketbooks of Rice University are rap- idly shrinking. BY JOSH RUTENBERG As the latest victim of the 5 percent uni- THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF versity-wide budget cuts, college courses will have to work with a yearly budget of no more Reasons have begun to trickle out why than $250 per college next semester, down Rice University and BCM failed to reach com- from the initial $5,000 per college allotted in mon ground under their Memorandum of Un- spring of 2008. After determining that most derstanding last month. colleges did not use up their college course The two institutions ceased considerations budget, the Dean's Office reduced funding of a merger Jan. n, in advance of the Jan. 31 for college courses to $3,000 for the cur- deadline set by the MOU. An e-mail notified l rent academic year. The subsequent re- the Rice community of the developments I ductions will go into effect next year. Jan. 12, while announcing the two schools • Concurrently, the number of would maintain a mutual commitment to col- A student-taught courses offered laborative efforts. has risen from seven courses with Responses from the Rice community have K 105 students enrolled in spring 2008, been mixed. Rice President David Leebron ex- to 46 courses with 730 students en- pressed dissatisfaction at the outcome while rolled in spring 2010. When student- saying he remained optimistic about the fu- • teachers and academic committee ture of Rice. chairs are included, roughly 25 percent of students have some level of involve- ment with the college courses. , a Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman said the responsibility of maintaining the I still believe the vision we college courses will ultimately rest with the had was a good vision, but individual colleges. the truth is, we could not find "Expenses beyond the budget will have f J* to be supported by student budgets in the a good way to implement colleges," Forman said. "Students will have that vision at this time. more responsibility to pick up the slack, and colleges may have to contribute to the [col- David Leebron lege course] budget." President Rice's only introductory law course, LOVE 237: Introduction to Law I, is among 99 the courses that will have to find new sourc- es of funding. The course, which originally used all $5,000 of its budget to pay a prac- "I'm personally disappointed we were not ticing professor to teach the course, will be able to achieve a merger," Leebron said. "I unable to continue paying the same amount still believe the vision we had was a good vi- without additional resources. sion, but the truth is, we could not find a good BROW 114: Easy French Cooking with way to implement that vision at this time." Sous Chef Thierry applied for and received a 0 see BUDGET, page 5 Ending negotiations ILLUSTRATION BY DAVE ROSALES The university has not stated its reasons for ending the merger talks with BCM, though notions have been posited based on the stipulations of the MOU, such as BCM's lack Proposed Beer Bike parade changes fail of association with a private care hospital for adults. BY SETH BROWN While some colleges saw differing degrees of He noted that although previous coordinators Other theories have also cropped up. THRESHER STAFF merit in the proposals, others were staunchly op- had discussed changes, they had never made any- Following the end of the MOU, KWTX-TV in posed to altering the current format. concrete proposals. Waco speculated that the Rice-BCM merger Come March 20, students sober and inebriated "People were overwhelmingly against the "This year we actually got something talked had been influenced by an offer of a merger alike will accompany a caravan of trucks around changes — Sid was definitely very against," said about," Henderson said. "I think that's some from Baylor University, which separated from the Inner Loop toward the Beer Bike track, water Sid Richardson College Beer Bike Coordinator progress." BCM in 1969. However, Leebron said external balloons at the ready. Because recent changes pro- Chris McClure. According to some college Beer Bike coordi- offers did not play a role in the final deci- posed to the parade route were voted down, most The changes would have reverted the parade nators, some students felt the proposed changes sion, citing financial concerns as a key factor of the participants will be familiar with the route, to a format similar to that of the late 1970s and emerged too late to be implemented this year. instead. as this year's Beer Bike parade will hold the same the 1980s, with various floats for each college, "Logistically, there isn't enough time," Brown "We would not merge without protecting format as last year's. and moved the water balloon fight to the football College Beer Bike Coordinator Philip Tarpley said. the financial health of Rice," Leebron said. The college Beer Bike coordinators voted Mon- practice field. The parade first began to include "Changes need to be made, but thev need to be "Taking on a significant amount of debt day against the proposed changes, the majority water balloons in 1991, while earlier parades fo- gradual while keeping safety a concern." would have had a consequence." electing to maintain the current parade format. cused on making the most impressive or bizarre Assistant Dean of Students Boyd Beckwith Leebron cited the Subcommittee for Aca- The result of the vote matched the results from a entry to the race, according to the Rice Program said he had concerns about the safety of the demic Matters and the Subcommittee on Col- recent poll conducted by the Student Association, Council Web site. current format. laborative Activities of the Faculty Senate as which showed student support for maintaining Campus-wide Beer Bike Coordinator Brian "The proposed changes were a reaction to the being especially crucial in determining the the parade's current format. Henderson said he was not surprised by the re- concerns of those involved: the drivers of the vehi- feasibility of the merger. The college vote, held by secret ballot among sults, though he had hoped for the proposed cles." Beckwith said, explaining that many masters During the course of the negotiations, the Beer Bike coordinators, yielded a 10-1 majority changes to succeed. and resident associates have expressed safety con- students and faculty alike raised budget- to keep the current format of the parade. A second "It's encouraging that people have said they cerns after driving the trucks during the parade. ary concerns. In an unsuccessful attempt vote to research alternatives for the future pro- will consider future plans," Henderson, a Jones The SA poll, which had nearly 500 responses, O see BCM, page 4 duced a 7-2 majority, with two abstentions. College senior, said. ifl see PROPOSALS, page 5 Jump on the soul train Impromptu ignition Shake what your mama gave you INDEX Opinion 3 If you're looking for entertainment, head Ever the merrymakers, Rice's improv group, If you think you can dance (and can't find anyone to News 4 to the RMC Grand Hall tonight from Spontaneous Combustion, is teaming up with go off campus with you for dinner), mosey your way Arts & Entertainment 7 6-9 p.m. for the Black Student Associa- Rice's a cappella group, the Philharmonics, for over to the RMC Grand Hall at 5:30 p.m. for Dance Mar- Sports 10 tion's Soul Night 2010: The BSA Awards. a night of fine arts fun. Head to Lyle's tonight athon's "So You Think You Can Dance!" Tickets are $5 Calendar 15 $5 gets you dinner and endless opportuni- (in Lovett College's basement) at 9 p.m. and proceeds will go to the Texas Children's Hospital's Backpage 16 ties for soulful socializing. Children's Miracle Network. THtlbWOf hfcMfe<L| 0(CA< So Yo«/*e H'rrne -rHe the Rice (Ihresher AWrut FAdM ihE t iavte..> College courses should not fall victim to budget cuts The Office of the Dean of Undergraduates has announced that college course budgets will be cut in accordance with next school year's university-wide 5 percent budget cuts (see story, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR thresher-ops@rice. edu, twitter, com/thericethresher page 1). In what was once a budget flush with $5,000 allotted per college, the college course funds were hacked to $3,000 this Rice's endowment caused by the reces- facilities like the Bioscience Research year, and will plummet to a proposed $250 next year. It is the Editorial overlooks sion, the university has increased finan- Collaborative and the Brockman Hall university's expectation that students will come to the cours- financial aid strides cial aid to students, which was reported for Physics. These are investments in in your front-page story on the "best their educations and in their lives.