W1 *0 I Minorities Get VISION of Life at Rice
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y- f \ 1n x*0 I Jw \J thVOLUME XCVIIIe, ISSUE NO. Ric20 STUDENT-RUe N SINCE 1916 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011 State may cut Minorities get VISION of life at Rice TEG funding BY AMI DAVE THRESHER STAFF BY HALLIE JORDAN THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Wondering where all the prospies came from so long before Owl Days? Rice expects to see a drop of ap- Rice's admission board invited 210 proximately $i million in financial prospective students to campus this aid funds from the Texas Equaliza- year to participate in last weekend's tion Grant Program for the academic VISION program. year of 2011-2012. According to Associate Director Last year, Rice received $2.6 mil- of Admission Laura Villafranca, VI- lion from the state annually to help SION, now in its 16th year, is an op- support Texas resident students at portunity to showcase the university private universities whose families' to a strong group of minority appli- average income is less than $29,000. cants in a way that goes beyond a tra- Out-of-state students who are Na- ditional campus visit. tional Merit Scholars can also get Villafranca said that unlike a simple these grants. campus tour, VISION connects appli- However, the state expects to cants to the faculty, staff and students see between a $15 billion and $27 who make up the Rice community and billion budget shortage for the com- also gives them a feel for the resources ing year. Due to this deficiency, a available to students. The prospective 40 percent decrease in Texas Equal- students were on campus from Sunday ization Grant funds is foreseeable. until Tuesday. The TEG fund was started 40 years "Although most are not yet admit- One of the prospective students visiting for VISION weekend plays piano. Two-hundred ten students from un- ago, and the average amount award- ted, VISION students are likely to be derrepresented minorities were invited to come to campus from Sunday through Tuesday. VISION students ed to Rice recipients last year was competitive applicants at a number of have not yet been admitted to Rice but are believed by Rice's admission board to be competitive applicants. $3,441. The state caps the amount schools," Villafranca said. each individual can receive at $5,830. Villafranca reported a 50 percent According to Director of Student increase in attendance compared seven percent African-American, six sociation. Minority Interest Commit- Past VISION participant Aaron Financial Services Anne Walker, most with last year. The most prominent percent multiracial and less than one tee Chair Re'Sean Newton said that Sharpe said that his experience at *he of the money goes to undergraduate ethnic groups represented by the pro- percent Native American. roughly 500 students were consid- event last year solidified his decision to students, but a small amount also spective students were African Amer- The weekend is coordinated ered in the VISION selection process. come to Rice. goes to graduate students. ican, Hispanic and Native Ameri- by admission officers and student "These are strong minority students "Many of the people who I met Walker said Rice students who re- can, Villafranca said. According to groups such as the Minority Interest who have shown a commitment to en- through VISION are still my friends ceive this grant do not need to worry the Office of Institutional Research, Committee, the Hispanic Association couraging diversity and would proba- here," Sharpe, a Wiess College fresh- about the decreased funding. Rice's undergraduate population for Cultural Enrichment at Rice, the bly not get a chance to visit the campus man, said. "VISION gave me a taste of "Our students will not see a differ- is 43 percent Caucasian, 21 percent Rice Native American Student As- otherwise," Newton, a Duncan College what it is like to be a Rice student and ence in their award packages," Walk- Asian-American, 11 percent Hispanic, sociation and the Black Student As- senior, said. O see VISION, page 10 er said. "Rice will substitute with in- stitutional funds. However, the Rice pocketbook will be affected." Rice is the only private school in Texas that covers 100 percent of ALFA committee solicits student input unmet financial need, Walker said. Vice President for Finance Kathy BY SETH BROWN der will be available for one-time use dent of the Graduate Student Asso- with the dean of undergraduates, and Collins said that money from the THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF within three years and any usage of ciation, said that her primary con- a second phase will try to implement operating budget will be used to the money must benefit both under- cern on the committee is to ensure the decisions Leebron ultimately cover the $1 million deficit. Got a $6 million idea? The Stu- graduate and graduate students. that there is collaboration between makes on what to do with the money. Something called an unrestricted dent Association's Asset Liquidation According to Sheikh, proposal the undergraduate and graduate Sheikh said that the presence of contingency fund allows for resolution Funds Appropriations Committee is student bodies. Dodson cited pre- Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral of budget uncertainties, Collins said. soliciting student ideas — great and vious instances of interaction be- Studies Paula Sanders, Director of "We are taking this into account as small — for proposals to submit to tween the SA and the GSA like last Student Activities Kate Abad and Tay- we plan the fiscal year 2012 budget and President David Leebron on how to semester's research mixer as ex- lor should help the committee's final will make sure we have sufficient con- use $6 million of the money from the "This is one of the amples of recent collaboration and proposals because the three will be tingency funds to cover it," Collins said. sale of the KTRU tower. said she hoped such collaboration able to both judge the feasibility of Even with these special funds in Committee Co-Chair Selim Sheikh best — if not the best would continue. projects and act as student advocates. the operating budget, efforts made said that the committee is seeking opportunity in this de- "I think there has been a concert- "Because we have three pretty influ- to make up for the predicted million input both online, through ALFA's cade for students at ed effort on the part of the graduate ential administrators on our committee, dollar deficit will not go unnoticed. website and Facebook, and in per- students to forge this bond with un- they almost work in two dimensions," "This will make the budget more son by going to cabinets, hosting fo- Rice to give their in- dergraduates," Dodson said. Sheikh said. "They're ready to fight for challenging to manage. A million dol- rums and coffee breaks and having put," Sheikh said the committee will students, and they know what can be lars will have an impact," Collins said. single committee members meet with done and what can't be done." Selim Sheikh prioritize the highest quality proj- Since the Texas legislature only groups of students at lunch. ects, even if they primarily benefit SA President Taylor said that his job on the meets every two years, the finan- Associate Dean of Undergradu- only undergraduate or only graduate committee is not to shoot down ideas cial aid office cannot predict if the ates Matt Taylor, who is also on the 99 students, over mediocre projects that but rather to give insight on how to grant will permanently be affected. committee, said that the Office of In- benefit both equally and Dodson said shape proposals and the kinds of "This hurts us, but for schools stitutional Effectiveness should also the committee would focus on the things that are realistic or unrealistic. who don't cover one hundred per- have sent out surveys by today asking forms for one-time use projects will projects that will be most useful for "I'll take a good idea wherever cent of need, those students might students to rank 20-25 different pos- be more detailed than those for en- students based on the results of the we can get it," Taylor said. "What not get funding, which is really a sible categories of improvement on a dowments, and will ask for approxi- survey and the proposals.. the committee is trying to do is elicit concern," Walker said. scale from one to 10. mate budgets along with information According to Sheikh, the commit- input from students and get the cam- Director of Government Relations "This is one of the best — if not the about the project, though the com- tee's current timeline requires it to pus to provide us with great ideas." Cory Kennedy will be taking a group of best opportunity in this decade for mittee is accepting basic suggestions gather all data by Feb. 25 and then Taylor said students are trustees of students to Austin in the coming weeks students at Rice to give their input," for both sorts of project. analyze it and put together a report a significant sum of money and should to advocate for funding for the TEG. Sheikh, the SA president, said. Committee Co-Chair Anna Dodson based on student survey responses consider the future when making their "Private schools are educating Sheikh, a Martel College senior, said the committee wants students to and student proposals for the presi- recommendations to the committee. between 10 and 14 percent of the said that Leebron gave three guide- focus on what they want their legacy dent's office by March 16. Students can submit proposals state's students, and we would like lines for how the money will ulti- to be since most of the money will not After the report to Leebron is and suggestions for the committee to continue to get some reimburse- mately be apportioned: The majority be immediately available.