Sex, Booze and Classical Music Tortured musical genius Paganini takes the stage in a scandalous production of vice and intrigue see A&E p. 8
On My Honor
INSIDE
Aloha y’all
Honor Council addresses concerns with blanket tax and discusses future cooperation with the SA see Ops p. 5
Following football’s defeat of Hawai’i, the team prepares for the triple-option attack of Army See Sports p. 9
Archictecture firm researches the use of student spaces on campus See P. 2
volume ic, issue no. 7
student-run
since 1916
wednesday, october 8, 2014
SA begins review of Honor Council taxes by Yasna Haghdoost News Editor
The Student Association Blanket Tax Contingency Committee sent Honor Council a request for documents and a written statement regarding the organization’s blanket tax on Oct. 5. The Contingency Committee compiled a list of questions for Honor Council, which the organization must answer in a statement by Oct. 20. According to the official statement released by the Contingency Committee, Honor Council must submit a budget for the coming year and documentation of the organization’s CFund and D-Fund. All registered clubs managed by students and overseen by a department have a C-Fund through which their funds are handled, and the D-Fund is used for specific activities within a department. Honor Council must also explain the amount of money spent at its annual changeover dinner, the reoccurrence of a rollover more than 50 percent, the importance of such a rollover to the organization and how a decrease in their blanket tax allocation would affect spending.
Oct. 20: “Deadline to receive statement from Honor Council and other public statements; meet to review statements and finalize questions for Honor Council Interview” Oct. 27: “Meeting with Honor Council President, Treasurer, Advisor and previous SA treasurer Michael Pan (Blanket Tax Standing Committee Chair 2013-2014)”
According to SA President and Contingency Committee Chair Ravi Sheth, the Contingency Committee can recommend a decrease in funding to the Student Senate if Honor Council is found in violation three years out of a four year period. The new proposed blanket tax amount would then be placed on the ballot. However, Sheth said the current system is not feasible and does not encourage responsibility within blanket tax organizations. “Our current blanket tax processes are broken,” Sheth, a Martel College senior, said. “Lengthened, multi-year processes limit the agility and ability of student groups to respond to initiatives and new ideas; this year we are struggling to fund exciting and impactful initiatives such as Future Alumni Committee, Rally Club, Senior Committee or even Homecoming. Furthermore, these processes, in my opinion, do not encourage responsible usage of student money.” Honor Council External Vice-Chair Shayak Sengupta said the organization plans to work with the Contingency Committee to reach a viable 0see HONOR, page 3
Nov. 10: “Meet to deliberate and select an outcome. Prepare a detailed report. Send to Honor Council; they have 5 businesses days to respond with written statement which will be appended to the report.” Nov. 19: “Present report to Student Senate & publish publically.” Source: sa.rice.edu/btcc, all dates tentative
marcel merwin/thresher
27 Shades of Dirt
Japanese artist Yusuke Atai’s Yamatne is on display at the Rice Gallery. Atai painted using over 27 different shades of dirt from all over Texas.
In-class instant feedback programs pilot to test popularity against current system by Michelle Tran For the Thresher
Seven Rice undergraduate professors from various departments began piloting two different inclass instant student feedback programs, Top Hat and Poll Everywhere, at the beginning of the fall semester. The end goal of these pilot programs is to select a standardized immediate feedback system to be used by professors across campus. Though the official Rice audience feedback brand has been
Turning Point for the past five years, professors have individually branched out to implement various other student polling systems, such as iClicker, in their classes. The pilot programs exist due to professors’ expressed interest in moving towards a unified product at the end of last year, according to Carlos Solis, Assistant Director of Academic Technology Services. “Over time, faculty members have started using different products all over campus, and during a meeting with faculty members early last year, there was an expressed
desire for standardization,” Solis said. “[They wanted] a product that is more flexible than what we have right now that will add capabilities that will serve instructional purposes of the faculty better.” Solis acknowledged that professors who have already become accustomed to using particular brand products, like iClicker, might have difficulties making a system transition over to Top Hat or Poll Everywhere. However, he said there would be a benefit for everyone to find one product to fit most peo0see FEEDBACK, page 4
Leebron visits Senate, addresses state of university by Anita Alem
Assistant News Editor
geneva vest/thresher
President Leebron presents on his key ideas for education and his priorities for the new century at the Senate meeting on Oct. 1. Among the topics of discussion were rankings, facilities, curriculum and general trends in higher education.
President David Leebron presented on the state of the university at the Student Association Senate meeting Wednesday, discussing topics from long-term initiatives to changes in student makeup and priority, followed by a question and answer session. Leebron began his speech with an analysis of the mission statement and Edgar Odell Lovett’s vision of Rice as a place of both learning and teaching. “One of my favorite developments at Rice was the studenttaught courses or college courses,” Leebron said. “I can’t think of many things that represent the philosophy of this university much more than that.” Leebron introduced his key ideas in education, including: logical evolution/revolution, changing value proposition, access and affordability, financial sustainability/research funding, sexual assault and campus climate, athletics model and rankings. Leebron continued on to describe the efforts of
the students and administration on the sexual assault policy. “I think this has been a good area in which students and administration have worked together,” Leebron said. “It’s something we all have to take seriously and we all have to bring a Rice philosophy to it, which is this culture of care.” Leebron addressed Rice’s recent drop in Princeton Review’s quality of life and happiness rankings and said the control that students feel over their environment contributes to Rice historical performance in rankings. “We pay attention to [U.S. News and World Report rankings] and think about what we can do, but no we’re not going to do those things that violate our fundamental commitment, and that includes commitment to access to our education,” Leebron said. A few of the areas being considered after this year’s ranking release include the graduation rate, class sizes, and how well known Rice is. “The way U.S. News works, it makes a big difference between whether the graduation rate is 91
percent or 93 percent,” Leebron said. “That’s a big thing, and we ought to be better at that than everybody else. And we’re pretty good. We’re around a 90 percent graduation rate in six years.” Leebron said he had numerous priorities for the new century: strategic academic priorities, school investments, campus infrastructure investments, and administrative effectiveness and efficiency. School investment includes investing in overburdened departments such as psychology and economics. “When I went to school, people would say what we were paying for is what happens in the classroom and the grading of exams, a major, transcript, and degree, and that’s 75 percent of what I’m paying for,” Leebron said. “That 75 percent has been reduced in my mind to something like 25 percent.” Leebron said he stressed research and student leadership as integral parts of the Rice experience that should be given a formal and educational framework. New certificates are being created to reflect students’ efforts in a historical 0see LEEBRON, page 2