The Rice Thresher, Vol. 99, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 9, 2011 Page: 2 of 20
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Friday, September 9,2011
the Rice Thresher
EDITORIAL
-
the Rice ^Ihresher
Idee needs to move to more
prestigious conference
Currently, the NCAA football conference landscape is in upheav-
al. Universities such as Colorado and Utah have already shifted
conferences and Texas A&M is in the process of moving to the SEC.
Rice should actively pursue a similar motion.
Rice seeks excellence in most everything it does. Rice provides
the best for its students and seeks to constantly improve in ev-
ery way possible. Ideally, this philosophy would fully extend to
the Rice Owls athletics department, but in placing academics as
priority, it becomes difficult for the university to give athletics all
the resources it needs to flourish. However, by moving to a more
prestigious conference, Rice could increase athletic monetary re-
sources, recruit better athletes, and have Rice athletics increase the
university's visibility.
Rice could reap these benefits by moving to a more prominent
conference. This decision would, of course, not be an easy one, and
it would likely be met by internal friction. Currently, the Rice com-
munity is less than enamored with many of its athletics teams be-
cause of lackluster performances across numerous sports. Because
of this, a pervasive sentiment is to have Rice drop down to Division
II. However, according to a 2004 review of intercollegiate athletics
at Rice University, dropping to a lower division is categorized as a
relatively undesirable option for the future of Rice athletics. This mo-
tion could "damage the University's reputation," force us to compete
with schools "antithetical to Rice" that are "weaker, less academical-
ly able, and financially unstable," and "many of the selectivity and
financial concerns surrounding the trade-offs necessary to maintain
Rice athletics would remain" even if we dropped to a lower division.
Thus, despite the logic behind dropping our athletic program down,
an objective survey of options shows that the move could be deleteri-
ous to us in the long run.
On the other hand, a move to a major conference such as the Big
12 or PAC12 would come with an array of benefits and very few draw-
backs. These major conferences receive a lot of attention accompa-
nied with greater attendance numbers and lucrative TV deals. Essen-
tially, by joining a major conference, Rice would be able to take home
a piece of a much bigger pie through conference revenue sharing. An
increased income could make a world of difference to Rice athletics.
Currently, athletics are supported by a university budget. However,
if it could begin pulling its own revenue, it would have considerably
more autonomy and resource to make the decisions to improve its
programs. The improved income would likely lead to better athletic
facilities. These improved facilities, the prestige of a major confer-
ence and the increased expenditure on athletics would appeal to
recruits greatiy. Texas gives rise to many of the country's greatest
athletes; however, Rice is rarely viewed as a legitamite choice for
stellar athletes. The athletes that Rice recruits often choose universi-
ties such as Duke and Stanford which have comparable acadameics
and much more nationally recognized athletic departments. If Rice
were to make this change to move to a more reputable conference,
their chances of recruiting better athletes and fielding more competi-
tive teams would increase dramatically.
As Rice sports performance steadily improves in this larger con-
ference, Rice's visibility would increase dramatically. The university
would participate in more high-profile games and be seen on na-
tional television much more frequently. Rice would receive increased
national attention and this would directly correlate to more students
wishing to attend Rice. The university would likely experience more
undergraduate applications and a higher accepted student yield.
Many of our peer universities have athletic programs that are nation-
ally recognizable because of their athletic conference affiliations. It's
time that Rice also capitalizes on a dual dynamic of reputable aca-
demics and exciting athletics. As the university grows and improves
itself through its Vision for the 21st Century, we need to take the initia-
tive to progress our athletic department in a proportional manner. As
we strive for the perfect university, we need to pursue a community in
which athletics and academics thrive off each other; however, if we
truly want to see this bold vision in the future we are going to need
audacious action in the present.
Rice remembers 9/11
It has been a trying 10 years for our country since the devastating
attacks of September 11, 2001. However on the 10-year anniversary
of the terror strikes, we at the Thresher hope that the Rice commu-
nity and the whole country can come together and remember those
that perished in the tragedy. Rice is hosting a number of events in
memoriam of the anniversary. On Sunday, there wili be a vigil and
there will also be bell tolls at the exact time of each of the four at-
tacks to the minute ten years ago. The Thresher strongly encourages
everyone to participate in these memorial events and to take time
to reflect on the 9/11 tragedies, as unity is what will move this great
country forward.
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Water conservation!
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor:
I appreciate the Thresher's cov-
erage of this historic drought and
the editorial board's call for water
conservation in the colleges. But I
was surprised that you think Rice's
water conservation projects are a
new drought-driven interest. The
university has actively implement-
ed water conservation projects for
well over 10 years. Starting in the
late 1990s, most of the toilets on
campus were retrofitted or replaced
with more efficient fixtures. More
than 400 dual-flush water-efficient
toilets were included in the designs
for the BRC, the Gibbs Recreation
Center and Duncan and McMurtry
Colleges. Brockman Hall for Phys-
ics features urinals that use just
one pint of water per flush instead
of the typical one gallon per flush.
The Rice Children's Campus was de-
signed with a rainwater collection
system that stores rooftop runoff
in a below-ground cistern for reuse
in irrigation. And our first conden-
sate harvesting system, which was
well-reported in Brooke Bullock's
article, began collecting water from
the BRC's air handling units in the
fall of 2008 for reuse in the South
Plant's cooling towers.
I encourage students to use the
Rice Endowment for Sustainable
Energy Technology (RESET) as a
vehicle for proposing and funding
student-led water conservation
projects, as Martel undergradu-
ate Doris Lee did this past fall. We
also welcome student ideas and
suggestions for water conserva-
tion via http://sustainability.rice.
edu. Thank you in advance for ev-
eryone's participation in helping to
conserve water at Rice.
Richard R. Johnson
Director of Energy and Sustainability
Rice University
NEWS
Hallie Jordan Editor
Brooke Bullock Asst. Editor
Ellen Liu Asst. Editor
OP-ED
Ryan Gupta Editor
Courtney Svatek Cartoonist
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Emily Nichol Editor
SPORTS
Dan Elledge Editor
CALENDAR
Devin Glick Editor
COPY
Johanna Ohm Editor
Gracelyn Tan Editor
FEATURES
Ruby Gee Editor
Josh Rutenberg
Editor in Chief
Zach Castle Design Director
Rachel Marcus News Designer
Alexandra Moharam Sr. Photo Editor
Mathison Ingham Jr. Photo Editor
BACKPAGE
Zach Casias Editor
Anthony Lauriello Editor
Alex Weinheimer Editor
WEB
Dennis Qian Web Editor
Tyler Siegert Asst. Web Editor
Veronica Rae Saron Social Media Dir.
BUSINESS
Julian Yao Manager
Sean Kim Distribution Manager
Murtuza Martani Distribution Manager
ADVERTISING
Rick Song Ads Manager
Heaven Chen Classified Ads Manager
The Rice Thresher, the official student news
paper at Rice University since 1916, is pub-
lished each Friday during the school year,
except during examination periods and holi
days, by the students of Rice University.
Letters to the Editor must be received by
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Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 99, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 9, 2011, newspaper, September 9, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398511/m1/2/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.