The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 14, 2011 Page: 2 of 16
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Friday, January 14,2011
2 EDITORIAL
the Rice Thresher
e Rice (Threshe:
GSA not a residential college
Diversity and inclusion. Unity and togetherness. Rice prides itself
on its "one big happy family" philosophy. The attitude is actually a
good one that promotes a pretty positive campus culture. But a line
needs to be drawn.
Quite simply, the Graduate Student Association needs to become a
more independent institution. It is not and never will be a residential
college, so there is no need to continue the charade. There is no need
to include the GSA in the traditions belonging to residential colleges
such as intramural sports and Beer Bike.
The primary problem with having GSA participate in intramural
sports is the competitive advantage that the graduate students pos-
sess. They are often four to five years older and thus often have the
advantage of having four to five years of extra experience in a given
sport compared to an undergraduate counterpart. The graduate stu-
dents who participate in intramurals include individuals who are for-
mer collegiate athletes or alumni of Rice sports. This advantage is ap-
parent with the GSA powderpuff championship team, which includes
multiple former undergraduate powderpuff players. A matchup that
pits rookie powderpuff players against six-year powderpuff veterans
is not a fair matchup, as evidenced by the GSA powderpuff champi-
onship victory this past season against Lovett College.
Furthermore, GSA's membership exceeds that of a normal residen-
tial college by huge margins. This advantage allows GSA a greater
pool of athletes to draw from. Even if relative GSA involvement in in-
tramurals is low, their overall pool of interested athletes still exceeds
that of a residential college. The bottom line is that intramurals are
about peers competing in athletics against peers. The GSA is not a
peer to the residential colleges. If anything, allow the GSA to compete
in a league of their own, forming teams along departmental lines.
Rice's graduate programs are respected by all as academic institu-
tions that keep Rice competitive nationally. However, GSA's contribu-
tion to undergraduate life has extended a bit too far. Graduate stu-
dents had their time in college, now its ours.
Break closures excessive
Housing and Dining continued its baffling tradition this past win-
ter break of further limiting access to students' residences. While
some sort of campus closure over break is necessary for security and
resource conservation, the remarkably tight window left for students'
arrivals back on campus is unacceptable. Students were told to not
arrive on campus until 2 p.m. on Jan. 8, the Saturday before classes
started.
The establishment of this ultimatum gives students fewer than 48
hours to arrive on campus, get settled, prepare for the semester and
begin classes. This short time period leaves students scrambling to
finalize preparations on the eve of the semester. The crunch is even
worse for international students, who are reeling from journeys that
eclipse 24 hours and from the jetlag that inevitably ensues. The 48-
hour time period for international students is remarkably brief.
H81D saved approximately $40,000 by closing down over winter
break; only a minimal amount of the savings would be sacrificed by
opening three to five days before the beginning of classes. Further-
more, by moving up the move-in date, students would have the luxu-
ry of purchasing cheaper weekday airfare.
There is simply no reason to not afford students the opportunity
to move in a bit sooner that H&D has allowed in the past. The Thresh-
er hopes that, at the end of next winter break, students will be met
with more southern hospitality.
University deaths a tragedy
Rice has experienced several losses over the past month. The
deaths of two Owls during winter break — Dexter Gannon, a Hanszen
College junior and Brandon Cooke, a Baker College sophomore —
have left a hole in our community. The Shepherd School of Music has
also sustained several deaths this year; regrettably, Violin Professor
Sergiu Luca and Concert Manager Tom Littman both died in Decem-
ber. This loss comes in addition to David Waters, a Shepherd School
Trombone Professor who died in September. The Thresher extends its
condolences to these individuals' families and to those they touched
on a daily basis.
While these losses, particularly in such quick succession, are
tough to stomach, it is important to take away what we can for the fu-
ture. While many of these sorts of tragedies are a natural part of life, it
is imperative that we as a community continue to support each other,
especially in the most difficult of times.
Rice offers a great array of health and counseling services, includ-
ing the Counseling Center and the Wellness Center. When introduced
during 0-Week, these amenities are often ignored or deemed unim-
portant; however, they are invaluable resources that exist for the ben-
efit of students, staff and faculty alike.
Furthermore, while the demands of college can often make stu-
dents less receptive to those around us, it is important to look out for
our fellow roommates and classmates. You could be the difference.
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Prospect of healthcare repeal baffling
Party politics is a funny, and often
frustrating, phenomenon. It's a peren-
nial tug-of-war, really, a back-and-forth
struggle for ideological supremacy,
often at the cost of sound policy. Some-
times it seems that the Republicans
and the Democrats are destined to go at
it forever.
Rahul Rekhi
But every once in a while on Capitol
Hill, you see a bill come along that is os-
tensibly above reproach, progressively
post-partisan, universally appealing
— a bill so undeniably sweeping in its
scope, so unyielding in its reform, that
one expects sheer force of reason to, for
once, crack the monolithic gridlock of
partisan bickering. Or so 1 thought.
But when legislation that pro-
vides health insurance coverage
to an additional 32 million Ameri-
cans, grants small businesses
$40 billion worth of tax credits,
creates state-based free-market
insurance exchanges, reduces
prescriptiondrugcosts forseniors, re-
incentivizes primary and preven-
tative care, provides thousands of
dollars of scholarships and loan
repayments for medical students
willing to work in primary care,
and ends coverage denial based
on pre-existing conditions, all
while cutting the federal deficit by
$143 billion over the next decade
and $1.2 trillion over the following
one — when a bill like that is be-
ing put up for repeal, I, as both a
student and a citizen, am not only
dazed, but baffled.
Sure enough, however, that's ex-
actly what's happening: With the newly
minted 11th Congress sworn in, the Re-
publicans, buoyed by their resounding
victory in the 2010 midterm elections,
have vowed to dismantle President
Barack Obama's health care legislation.
?erhaps significantly, the Repub-
lican legislators have argued that
their successes at the polls in Novem-
ber signify the American populace's
disapproval with the Affordable Care
Act — that the Republican triumph
in the midterm election lends them a
democratic imperative to repeal the
bill. Taken at face-value, this convic-
tion almost seems reasonable, per-
haps even called-for.
But truly, how many Americans fa-
vor giving insurance companies near-
monopolistic market power? Support
adding billions (and eventually, tril-
lions) of dollars to the federal deficit?
Celebrate the pre-existing conditions
clause? How many American citizens
are OK with being uninsured when
unemployed — having no health insur-
ance coverage when least able to pay
their medical bills?
Even the most vehement critics
of the health care bill would be hard-
pressed to, in good faith, find anyone
against any of these individual provi-
sions. The GOP may have capitalized
on voter discontent with the sluggish
economic growth, or perhaps the
Obama administration as a whole,
but there is no reason to believe that
a repeal of this bill is at all demand-
ed by, or in the best interests of, the
American people.
What else then possibly justifies
the imperative to repeal the act? Cost?
Can't be: As alluded to above, the bill
significantly reduces the deficit. Ris-
ing premiums? Nope: According to
the nonpartisan CBO, the Affordable
Care Act will actually slightly decrease
premiums for employer-based insur-
ance. Kills jobs? Negative again: An-
other recent report by the Congres-
sional Budget Office indicates that the
legislation will have a negligible effect
on unemployment.
I can't tell you the true reason for
which Mr. Boehner and his colleagues
seek to annul the reform bill; however
unlikely, it is possible that I've missed
some key motivating factor. What's
more, this is not to say that the health
care bill is perfect; certainly the 1,000-
page legislation is not without its
flaws. That being said, the call for re-
pealing health reform sure appears to
be all about party politics. And that is
something that I — nay, the American
people — simply won't stand for.
Rahul Rekhi is a
Sid Richardson College sophomore.
Last issue's online poll results:
What do you think about the ongoing release of government
diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks?
■ It's great that we can find out more about our
own country's foreign policy, even if it does
strain foreign relations.
■ Those cables were confidential for a reason,
and they should have stayed that way — it's
irresponsible for WikiLeaks to release or
publish any of them.
m| The government should have contained
■ the leak and kept WikiLeaks from
releasing any of the cables.
WikiWhat? 105 RESPONSES RECEIVED
Should the Graduate Student Association continue to compete against the residential
colleges in intramurals and Beer Bike? Cast your vote online at 'Mww.ricethresher.org
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Wilde, Anna & Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 98, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 14, 2011, newspaper, January 14, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398489/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.