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August 19, 2005 > News > Fireworks, sister groups mark tamer O-Week

Fireworks, sister groups mark tamer O-Week

By David Brown | Thresher Editorial Staff

Modified scavenger hunts, a fireworks display at matriculation and sister groups were some of the events that debuted during Orientation Week this year.

One of the more successfully changed events was the scavenger hunt, Campus-wide O-Week Coordinator Alex Paul said. Assistant Dean of Student Judicial Programs Don Ostdiek and Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman approved the scavenger hunt list, which varied by college. Paul, a Jones College senior, said clarifications about what was allowed on the lists forced students to be more creative. For example, Hanszen College sent O-Week groups on a two-part digital picture scavenger hunt, the first part of which required groups to use U. Passes to ride the METRORail to Houston locations.

“This was a really great opportunity to establish a new tradition,” Paul said.

Forman said he was impressed with the creativity demonstrated by coordinators in modifying the scavenger hunt at their colleges.

“I did see some colleges rethought the scavenger hunt in interesting ways,” Forman said. “We set a clear standard, and they more than matched it.”

In addition, potentially dangerous or embarrassing activities, such as the purity test and late-night wake-ups were eliminated, Paul said. She said the purity test could be considered sexual harassment. Advisers were informed of the restriction in an e-mail college O-Week coordinators forwarded from Forman.

Paul said advisers were receptive to the changes to O-Week.

“[Telling advisers about the changes] wasn’t bad,” Paul said. “Forman talked to all the O-Week coordinators, who understood where he was coming from and why [the changes] had to happen.”

The fireworks display Sunday night featured a small display for each of the colleges as students processed through the Sallyport, as well as a finale after all the colleges had finished. The fireworks display replaced the party that traditionally followed matriculation, Paul said.

Paul said one of her goals when she became coordinator was to promote inter-college interaction. Instead of college interaction dinners, each O-Week group was assigned a sister group at another college. The groups then met and became acquainted through informal activities.

Planning the show was difficult because of the limited space in the academic quad, Paul said. She said the show cost about $4,000.

President David Leebron hosted an informal cookie-and-punch reception for each college Thursday. Varsity athletics coaches also visited the colleges at lunch to encourage new students to attend athletic events.

Academically, students were invited to take the English competency exam online in July (see story, page 12) and were assigned default e-mail addresses before they arrived at Rice (see story, page 12).

O-Week began Aug. 14 and ends tomorrow at noon, but the new events will not stop when O-Week is over. The Big Owl Bash, organized by the newly-formed Dean’s Committee to Address Alcohol Awareness, will feature a hypnotist, free food and two local bands.

The committee, made up of a group of students, faculty and staff, designed BOB to compete with the “Dis-Orientation” party tomorrow night.

The committee planned BOB as part of a campaign called “Real Rice,” to communicate that many students on campus do not drink, Director of the Wellness Center Emily Dexter Page said.

The committee will soon be dissolved in lieu of a more permanent one that will be co-chaired by a student and a faculty member. Forman said the goal of this committee, whose members have not yet been named, will be to gather information and present findings on the perceptions and attitudes about alcohol and social culture at Rice.

Paul said she was excited she was able to develop new activities for O-Week.

“I guess my perception was that even though I was the student director, I didn’t know I’d get the opportunity to change things,” she said. “I knew I would have more college interaction, but I didn’t know we could have sister groups and I didn’t know the fireworks show was something I could do. I didn’t know it was something I could initiate with the help of 26 other people.”

End of article

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