SAFE RICE
Addressing Sexual Misconduct on Campus
SEXUAL ASSAULT How much do you know about the resources available to survivors of sexual assault at Rice? How about the options for pressing charges? Read our rundown inside.
volume 100, issue no. 4
student-run
since 1916
See pg.2
wednesday, september 16, 2015
Mayoral candidates present platforms Jaecey Parham Thresher Staff
photo courtesy qixuan huang
The Perfect Fit
Wiess College freshman Hannah Campo and Jones College freshman Grant Chambers find the key to their happiness during Rice Program Council’s Screw-Yer-Roommate on Friday, Sept. 11.
Students flock to Bernie Sanders kickoff event Anita Alem News Editor
Rice students came together to “feel the Bern” at the Rice Students for Bernie kickoff meeting at Willy’s Pub on Thursday. Despite the heavy rain, over 100 students were in attendance to support Bernie Sanders for United States president in the 2016 election, according to Student Chapter Leader Alex Amari. Amari, a Jones College sophomore, said the Rice chapter is one of 200 university chapters for Sanders across the United States and Canada. He said his interest in the campaign sparked in July, when he was the sole applicant to the Sanders campaign for leading a chapter at Rice. “It’s a cooperative group effort of a lot of people getting together trying to support the campaign, increase political activism on campus and just in general start a discussion,” Amari said. “He is
the head of the political revolution that is sweeping this country in the name of Sanders.” Amari, a history major, said he believes the middle class in America has been suffering for the past 40 years, with evidence in the wage gap between upper and middle class as well as growing student debt. “Bernie Sanders is the best chance we have to turn this country around, to make a government that works for the middle class,” Amari said. “This is sincerely what we, Bernie supporters, believe.” Will Rice College junior Abraham Younes attended the event and said he found the considerable number of students at the event encouraging. “Rice has been a relatively apathetic campus in recent years, but that can always change, and this campaign in particular feels like a window of opportunity,” Younes said. “Young voters are a huge part 0see BERNIE, page 3
The Houston mayoral election will take place this fall as Mayor Annise Parker’s final term comes to a close. With no incumbent running for the position, Houstonians will have the opportunity to vote for new hopefuls on Nov 13. The two winning candidates from the general election will compete in a runoff election in December. There are a total of 13 candidates running in the general election, but according to Baker Institute fellow in urban politics and professor of political science Robert Stein, seven candidates are strong contenders. “[They are] officeholders, well financed; all but one have raised close to or a million dollars,” Stein said. “[They have] been on the ballot on different occasions and all have what I call a ‘loyal base’: people who have voted for them before.” Five of the seven leading candidates — Chris Bell, Ben Hall, Sylvester Turner, Adrian Garcia and Marty McVey — were present at the Houston Mayoral Candidate Forum held Sept. 12 in Sewall Hall. Candidates Bill King and Steve Costello were not present. The event was hosted by the Emerging Latino Leaders Fellowship, Mi Familia Vota, the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice and the Student Government Association at University of HoustonDowntown. According to Stein, one of the most important issues on the ballot for this election is the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. HERO would prohibit discrimination on the basis of 15 different characteristics, including an individual’s sex, race, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion, in city employ-
ment, housing and business services. “The equality ordinance is highly controversial and salient to groups of people,” Stein said. “However, is it unclear how it [HERO] will affect the election [results].” All but one of the seven credible candidates, Hall, declared support for the passage of HERO. Hall, who ran for mayor in 2013 and lost to current mayor Annise Parker, previously served as Houston city attorney. According to Hall, although he opposes HERO, he is familiar with discrimination as an African-American who grew up in the segregated South and won several discrimination court cases. “I know better than any of these candidates what discrimination is. I also know what the law requires,” Hall said. “I oppose the HERO ordinance because it is a dangerous and bad law. It has an imprecise definition of male and female, therefore it makes people have to turn into gender police.” Garcia said he created policies during his time as sheriff in Houston to protect members of the LGBT community while they were in custody and he believes HERO will protect all Houstonians and the city’s economy. “Everybody here that is willing to work hard, play by the rules and contribute to the success of our city ought to be respected, supported, protected and well served and I believe HERO does that,” Garcia said. McVey said the ordinance is needed so that those affected by HERO may be protected. “Over 200 cities across the country have similar ordinances,” McVey said. “By voting no on HERO, you are unprotecting 13 classes of people which includes veterans, pregnancy, women, 0see MAYORS, page 3
Rice returns to #18 in US News and World Report rankings
#18
2016 US News
National Universities Ranking as determined by the following criteria
22.5% Undergraduate academic reputation 22.5% Retention resources 20.0% Faculty (class size, average salary, etc.) selectivity 12.5% Student (test scores, acceptance %, etc.) resources 10.0% Financial (average spending per student) 7.5% Graduation rate performance 5.0% Alumni giving rate
Anita Alem News Editor
Rice climbed one rank in the U.S. News and World Report Best Universities ranking, placing it at No. 18. Rice had previously been ranked No. 17 from 2005-2013, then fell to 18 in 2014, and again to 19 in 2015. The ranking places Rice just behind Cornell University, Vanderbilt University and Washington University, St. Louis, all tied for the 15th place. The University of Notre Dame is also ranked at 18. According to the USNWR website, the rankings are calculated based on a number of quantitative and qualitative factors, including academic reputation, retention, student selectivity and faculty resources, which are weighed most heavily. Alumni giving rate is the least heavily weighted, factoring into five percent of the overall calculation.
This year, according to the USNWR website, there were two changes in the calculations. The rankings included survey results from two years, spring 2014 and spring 2015, instead of one, and the high school counselor scoring average used three years of data instead of two. The USNWR states this is to reduce year-to-year volatility in the results. The data used for the calculations is almost entirely provided by the universities themselves. The ranking does not include liberal arts colleges, but does include both public and private universities.
USNWR Ranking of Rice over the Years
‘99 - 18 ‘00 - 14 ‘01 - 13 ‘02 - 12 ‘03 - 15 ‘04 - 16
‘05 - 17 ‘06 - 17 ‘07 - 17 ‘08 - 17 ‘09 - 17 ‘10 - 17
‘11 ‘12 ‘13 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16 -
17 17 17 18 19 18