VOLUME 102, ISSUE NO. 7 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017
read the RICE RECS pg. 7 - 10
see Rice's picks for the best places around town
Athletic Director discusses state of Rice sports
CTIS IN REVIEW Students reflect, express
ANDREW GROTTKAU
concerns as workshop ends
JUAN SALDAÑA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / JDS15@RICE.EDU
As midterms roll around, new students can cross one item off their academic checklists: the Critical Thinking in Sexuality workshop. The mandatory workshop, based off a proposal by Student Association President Jazz Silva in the fall of 2015, was administered to all new students over the course of four sessions. Director of Sexual Violence and Title IX Support Allison Vogt and Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson both said they were impressed with the course’s success this semester. However, reflecting upon the course's first iteration, some students voiced concerns regarding student engagement in the course, the time slots offered, off-campus instructors and class structure. “Everybody was participating at a satisfactory level, which is phenomenal,” Hutchinson said. “I think [it] is a strong testament both to the quality of the people that come to Rice but also the quality of the proposal that was put forward by the Student Association as being something that students were interested in and committed to.” The mandatory workshop will result in a satisfactory or unsatis-
factory designation for students. To complete the course satisfactorily, students were required to attend every session or request an alternate assignment from their instructor. Students who did not complete the course satisfactorily will be given a registration hold until they complete all of the required sessions. COURSE STRUCTURE The CTIS workshop covered topics including gender, sexual communication, consent and bystander intervention, according to the course syllabus. The curriculum was designed to cover topics mandated by law and engage students in a discussion-based class, Vogt said. Will Rice College freshman Xander Spriggs and McMurtry College freshman Carolyn Daly, both of
SPORTS EDITOR / ABG4@RICE.EDU
whom said they had previously received sexual education in school, said they did not learn new information in the course. Spriggs said the main value of the class was in bringing attention to pertinent issues for students. “There wasn’t much, at least for me, that I hadn’t already learned or heard,” Spriggs said. “It’s definitely something that is not always in people’s minds throughout the days, so it does make you think about society." According to CTIS workshop instructor Saralyn Hernandez, the value of CTIS is in approaching the topics in the form of a discussion. “As educators we know that the thinking, the critical part, is going to come from discussing with your peers, hearing what other people have to say, and learning from the group atmosphere not just from someone standing and lecturing,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said class-wide conversations were rare, but students seemed to feel more comfortable discussing amongst small groups during the activities. She said a lack of discussion could be attributed to a number of factors, from the 25-person maximum class size to students not feeling comfortable with each other yet.
CTIS CONT. ON PAGE 4
ILLUSTRATION BY ESTHER TANG
Students propose replacement for LPAP EMILY ABDOW NEWS EDITOR / ESA2@RICE.EDU
Student Association members proposed replacing the Lifetime Physical Activity Program with a wider range of classes at the SA Senate meeting on Monday. Related legislation, which may change as student feedback is gathered, will be introduced on Nov. 7, according to SA President Justin Onwenu. The proposal outlined in the current version of the legislation advocates for the creation of a one credit hour graduation requirement in Lifetime Enrichment. Students could choose to take courses in financial literacy, cultural enrichment, leadership and civic engagement, as well as in the existing LPAP category, which would also include mental wellbeing courses. “The rationale behind our idea is that the current university requirements don't allow students to understand what they lack in basic skills, whether that be community service or civic engagement or adulting, and so we want to expose students to a wider range of opportunities without
the burden of an extra requirement,” Juliette Turner-Jones, one of the creators of the Lifetime Enrichment proposal and a Duncan College senator, said.
I don't buy that the LPAP requirement suddenly makes everyone these athletes. Juliette Turner-Jones Duncan College Senator Onwenu, who created the proposal with Turner-Jones and five other SA members, said he had planned to introduce legislation at the Monday Senate meeting, but decided instead to have Turner-Jones and Brown College Senator Grace Wickerson lead a discussion on the proposal to allow more time for SA members to gather feedback. In its current form, the legislation would create a 12-member Lifetime Enrichment Task Force chaired by Turner-Jones
and Onwenu and including all the proposers. The group would work with offices such as the Doerr Institute for New Leaders and the Center for Civil Leadership to develop the Lifetime Enrichment Program and present the program's details to the Senate by the end of the 2017-18 term. The proposal is another of recent efforts to reform university requirements, following Faculty Senate approval of lower distribution requirements in April and the introduction of the new student Critical Thinking in Sexuality workshop first proposed in SA Senate legislation in 2015. “Although the idea that we have is in my personal opinion the best idea to address [needs in undergraduate education], we really want to get more input in terms of what people think would be better alternatives,” Onwenu, a Sid Richardson College senior, said. “We'll decide in the near future if we want to just present the proposal as is and say, ‘Do you want this,’ or if we want to talk about it more.” Brown President Santiago Avila said he hoped those proposing the legislation keep an
open mind about other proposals and not become too committed to one idea. “If we're going to make something like this happen, which I would say is a fairly transformative change to our education, the process is what is going to be most important moving forward,” Avila, a senior, said. Baker Senator John Michael Austin could not attend the SA meeting but had a proxy member read his concerns. “I think [the proposal] will result in more students not pursuing physical activity at Rice,” Austin’s proxy said. “Is that the price we're willing to pay so we can ensure these new classes are taken? Because right now they exist, but people just don't know about them.” Turner-Jones said she did not think reforming the current curriculum would have a significant impact on most students’ physical activity. “I just really don't buy that the LPAP requirement suddenly makes everyone these athletes,” Turner-Jones, a sophomore, said. “If I'm not someone who is phys-
LPAP CONT. ON PAGE 4
The comment section on the Thresher Facebook page for Madison Buzzard’s opinion piece titled “Rice football must build a winning culture” was something to behold. It all began when Stephanie Marten-Ellis commented, “I feel like this is only an issue because we’re in Texas. Does [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] even have a football team? [Editor’s note: It does.] Who cares.” Then there was Judy Ybarra, who said, “Something has been lost because many colleges are focusing more on football than academics. I remember when players went to college on scholarship in order to get an education.”
There just aren't very many Reed Colleges out there that have no athletics. Joe Karlgaard Athletic Director And for every Marten-Ellis and Ybarra, there was a Mario Destephen commenting, “Many people miss the importance of a strong college football culture, and sports culture in general.” When Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard read through these comments, he chuckled at some and gazed more seriously at others. After about three minutes of reading, he looked up. “I think in general you could treat any of these perspectives as valid,” Karlgaard said. “I think it’s a choice that the institution has made. It’s almost an expectation that as an institution of higher education in the United States you’re going to have some kind of athletic program. There just aren’t very many Reed Colleges out there that have no athletics.” Karlgaard has been Rice’s athletic director since fall 2013. Since he was hired, the Owls have won conference championships in nine different sports. He has overseen the construction of the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center, the new stands at the Wendel D. Ley Track and new team space at Tudor Fieldhouse. He was named to the Sports Business Journal’s “40 under 40” in 2014 during his first year at Rice. Karlgaard said when he accepted the job, his goals were clear. “When I came to Rice, it was with the assumption that we were going to make a go of it at the [Football Bowl Subdivision] level,” Karlgaard said. “We were going to see if we could really strengthen our programs. We were going to see if we could make our way into a Power 5 conference. We were going
ATHLETICS CONT. ON PAGE 15