The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 8, 2010 Page: 5 of 16
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Friday, October 8,2010
the Rice Thresher
NEWS
i
k
Cooper takes over as Baker pres
by Jocelyn Wright
Thresher Editorial Staff
Baker College junior Christine
Cooper took over as Baker president
Wednesday. Former president Megan
McSpedon stepped down a week ago
citing personal reasons.
As president, Cooper hopes to
continue helping Baker students get
used to their new building, improve
interactions between freshmen and
upperclassmen and rewrite the by-
laws and constitution.
When McSpedon, a Baker senior,
announced she was stepping down,
the Baker government had two days
to appoint an interim president who
would become president if nobody else
petitioned to run in the elections, Coo-
per said.
"I felt like I had the time and experi-
ence to give it my all," Cooper said.
Cooper has been actively involved
in Baker government since her fresh-
man year, first as social chair, then
educational vice president and, most
recently, executive vice president.
After nobody else submitted their
intent to run by Tuesday, Cooper be-
came president. Cooper said she was
enjoying her new duties so far.
"It's definitely a steep learning
curve because everyone else who is a
president has been doing it for a few
months and knows what current issues
are, whereas I was thrown into the mix
this week," Cooper said. "But every-
thing is going well so far."
Cooper said the other college presi-
dents and McSpedon have been instru-
mental in helping her transition into
her new position.
"All the other presidents are super
friendly in helping me figure ou? what's
going on and Megan's been really help-
ful with transitioning and helping me
not feel lost," Cooper said.
McSpedon said she was confident
in the future of Baker's government due
to its system of lateral leadership - the
idea that their community is stronger if
everyone, including those not directly
involved in college government, has the
opportunity to be a leader.
a
It's definitely a steep
learning curve be-
cause everyone else...
has been doing it for
a few months... but
everything is going
well so far.
Christine Cooper
Baker College president
W
"Ideally, everyone is equally aware
of what's happening and on Cabinet ev-
eryone's equally involved in decisions,"
McSpedon said. "We try to involve the
community [in all decisions] so my
stepping down doesn't really affect
things that much."
Associate Dean of Undergraduates
Matthew Taylor said he was also confi-
dent that Baker would continue mov-
ing in a positive direction because of
their strong, well-defined government
and culture.
"The way the Baker presidents
make decisions has been really con-
sistent over the past five years," Tay-
lor said. "This shows they have a
healthy, well-governed community.
Whatever the change might be, they
will handle it."
McSpedon has been involved in
Baker government since her freshman
year as social chair, part of the com-
mittee on renovating Baker and estab-
lishing the sister college relationship
with Duncan College and coordinating
Duncan's first Orientation Week. She
said she was most proud of her role in
facilitating the Baker-Duncan relatio
ship over the past year. She coordinated
0-Week along with Clare Shorall (Dun-
can 'io) and Baker senior Shea Kearney,
and spent the last year helping Duncan
form its own community.
"We were really trying to facilitate a
year where Duncan was supported and
the freshmen were able to create their
own community while also meeting the
needs of Baker and making sure every-
one was happy there," McSpedon said.
"I'm really proud of what we did there."
Taylor said he was impressed by Mc-
Spedon's abilities to balance her devo-
tion to Baker and the needs of Duncan.
"That role really sums up her service
to campus more than anything," Taylor
said. "It took courage and community-
mindedness to step away from Baker. It
was a huge task that was unknown in
many ways and she really devoted her-
self to it."
McSpedon said she was also
proud of the ease with which the
Baker community transfered to their
new building.
"I'm really proud of Baker with all
the transition that we've had this year
— RAs, masters, now me — but I think
that the way we've handled all this
transition really shows that our core
values are important; this idea that
underclassmen are just as important as
upperclassmen and given chances to
lead," McSpedon said. "Watching the
way this year has played out I couldn't
be more proud of the way we've tried to
do that."
McSpedon's influence and leader-
ship during her time as president were
clear, Taylor said.
"She brought experience and the
previous relationships she had built
contributed positively to how well [the
current] group [of presidents] is work-
ing," Taylor said.
HEY, SENIORS!
Have you applied for graduation yet?
The Office of the Registrar is coming to your
college in October to help you submit your
Application for Degree.
We will be in your college commons from
11:00am to 1:00pm on the dates listed below
so please be sure to stop by our table.
Tuesday, October 5th —
Wednesday, October 6th -
Thursday, October 7th —
Wednesday, October 13th
Thursday, October 14th —
Tuesday, October 19th —
Wednesday, October 20th
Thursday, October 21st —
Tuesday, October 26th —
Wednesday, October 27th
Thursday, October 28th —
BROWN
DUNCAN
LOVETT
McMURTRY
JONES
BAKER
SID RICH
WILL RICE
HANSZEN
MARTEL
WIESS
The deadline for undergraduate students to apply for
December 2010 or May 2011 graduation is
Friday, October 29th. Students applying after the
published deadline will be charged a
$75 Late Application for Degree fee.
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2014 rep announced
by Kaleb Underwood
Thresher Staff
Jones College freshman Stephanie
Tzouanas has been selected by the
Rice Centennial Commission to repre-
sent the class of 2014 in the planning
of Rice's Centennial Celebration that
will take place Oct. 10-14,2012.
"I was definitely ecstatic and
thrilled," Tzouanas said. "I am incred-
ibly honored to have been chosen."
Tzouanas will serve on the com-
mission through the Centennial Cel-
ebration in 2012. Her responsibilities
as a member of the commission will
center around planning the events of
the four-day celebration. The com-
mission is responsible for providing
broad direction and creating ideas,
serving as a link to the Rice communi-
ty and promoting enthusiasm among
the constituents they represent, Cen-
tennial Director Kathleen Boyd Fossi
(Jones '80) said.
The Centennial Celebration will
be both a commemoration of Rice
history and the accomplishments of
the university to date as well as time
to look into the future. The working
theme for the year 2012 is "The Next
Hundred Years," in order to echo Ed-
gar Odell Lovett's vision of 1912 and to
symbolize that Rice is again embark-
ing on a journey, Fossi said.
Student representation on the
committee is reserved for the class-
es that will be at Rice through the
centennial: two undergraduates
representing the classes of 2013
and 2014, respectively, as well as
one graduate student. The Student
Association and Graduate Student
Association presidents also serve
during their tenure.
SA President Selim Sheikh nomi-
nated three finalists to the Centennial
Commission after receiving 17 appli-
cations from members of the fresh-
man class. Fossi said all three finalists
were well-qualified to represent the
student perspective, had experience
planning events in high school and
had already gotten involved at Rice,
but Tzouanas stood out.
"We are thrilled to have Stepha-
nie," Fossi said. "We were blown away
by her CV and she brings many talents
to the Centennial Commission."
Tzouanas, who is planning to ma-
jor in bioengineering, heard about
the opportunity at the first SA Senate
meeting of this year. She discussed
various options for getting involved
around campus with Jones SA Sena-
tor Steven Boswell prior to applying.
Since she had a strong desire to get
involved in student affairs, she went
ahead and applied.
"I was really interested in repre-
senting the class of 2014 because I
thought it was a really historic op-
portunity to commemorate what Rice
has done in its first 100 years and to
capture all of the exciting promise
that Rice has in its next 100 years,"
she said.
"She realized that it would be very
competitive, but she seemed very in-
terested. Personally, I am very glad it's
her; she wants to be very involved,"
Boswell, a Jones College junior, said.
Before applying for the position
she took time to research the history
of Rice, especially the formal opening
ceremonies in 1912 and the semi-Cen-
tennial Celebration in 1962.
"It's fascinating to see how the uni-
versity has grown and developed over
time to how it is today," she said. "All
of my reading got me really excited."
Student opinion will be integral in
planning the events of the centennial,
Fossi said. Among other things, the
commission wants to choose lectur-
ers that students will want to go listen
to and give students an opportunity
to interact with the dignitaries and
scholars who will be in attendance,
she said.
"We clearly recognize that the stu-
dents are the most important part of
the centennial," Fossi said. "We hope
that students will carry the memo-
ries [of the celebration] with them
throughout their lives."
STUDENT ASSOCIATION MINUTES
The following were noted at the most recent meeting of
the Student Association on Oct. 4.
■ The Research Mixer, co-sponsored by the SA and the Gradu-
ate Student Association, took place yesterday at 6 p.m. in the
Central Quadrangle behind Brochstein Pavilion. Graduate stu-
dents from the humanities, natural sciences and engineering
were there to present their research. A Thai food dinner fol-
lowed the mixer.
■ Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs Nicole Peralta presented
briefly on the work done by the Office of Alumni Affairs. The
office acts as a network for alumni, a category that includes
graduates with Rice degrees and people who enrolled in a de-
gree program at Rice for at least one year but left Rice later
on. The office offers online services, such as the Rice Career
Network, which allows alumni to locate other Rice alumni in
the same field of work, and organizes alumni events and op-
portunities on and off campus.
■ The SA reviewed its budget for the term. Notable changes in-
cluded a decrease in the New Student Representatives' budget
to $500, with the bulk of expenses for NSR events moved into
separate individual categories. The budget for SA T-shirts was
also limited to $175. T-shirts were a prominent expense for last
year's SA, but resulted in many left-over T-shirts.
■ SA President Selim Sheikh asked for topic suggestions to dis-
cuss with President David Leebron in a panel next week. KTRU
Music Director Kevin Bush suggested asking for the honest
reasons behind the KTRU sale. A respondent said KTRU was
too narrow of a topic and could cause discussions to take an
uncomfortable turn. Will Rice College Senator Renee Dudley
suggested asking about plans for the future East Servery and
food quality issues.
■ External Vice President Carl Nelson announced the approach
of homecoming elections. All homecoming king and queen
nominations should be sent to ricehc2010@gmail.com. The
deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. Oct. 9.
The SA will next meet at 9 p.m. in the Farnsworth Pavilion on
Oct 18.
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Wilde, Anna. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 8, 2010, newspaper, October 8, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398486/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.