The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/opinion/2007/04/13/letters_to_the_editor

April 13, 2007 > Opinion > Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

Program Council fails at egg hunt

To the editor:

This year during Willy Week, the Rice Program Council ran a Golden Egg Hunt with a $100 prize. However, this Egg Hunt did not have an egg, and it was not a hunt. The “clues” to “find” the “egg” turned out to be useless because the RPC did not actually hide anything.

And the “egg” that the students were expected to find was actually a football spray-painted yellow. The overall goal of the hunt was to come to Rice Stadium at 3:45 p.m. April 6 and catch a pass from varsity football quarterback Chase Clement.

In addition to that, the RPC only allowed the first 10 people to show up and answer a question about the Rice athletic program a chance to catch the football. As further discrimination, the football was thrown to the students one at a time, and the first student to catch it won the contest. The RPC insulted the student body by lying to them about hiding an egg and mocked us when they changed their advertised method of winner selection to one that deprived all egg-finder hopefuls of a fair opportunity for the prize.

I am not ashamed to say that I would wake up every morning at 8 a.m. to read the next clue and run around campus to find the egg. I spent at least six hours looking for the egg, so when I arrived at the stadium on Friday, I was annoyed when I was told to leave. I am not angry that I lost, but I am mad at the unfair way that the RPC kept me from winning. I honestly would not be surprised if they had predetermined the winner and only used this contest to hide their corruption. I speak on behalf of everyone who looked for the egg when I demand that the RPC should publicly apologize for lying to us. I will be up at midnight next week waiting to read your apology in the Thresher.

Bill Kazmierski

Baker sophomore

Alternate gathering needed for alumni

To the editor:

In a community as small as Rice, I thought it was wholly appropriate to postpone Beer-Bike and its ancillary events after the tragic death of a student early Saturday morning. I applaud the Beer-Bike Coordinators (students and staff) for the excellent job they did in what was surely a very hectic morning. They made a very quick and very difficult decision and then spread the news rapidly and effectively. I also found it admirable that the colleges rose to the occasion, providing quiet events in the evening to bring students and alumni together.

I am very disappointed, however, that no official university event was announced to allow alumni to gather. Thousands of former students, some who flew in from other continents just for the occasion, were left without a place to go. This year, of all years, there were surely hundreds of additional alumni from the past five decades on hand. Without an alternative event at which to reconnect with friends from other colleges, we were resigned to chance encounters in Rice Village and endless phone-tag. It would have required virtually zero effort for the university to announce an alcohol-free gathering in the Grand Hall of the Rice Memorial Center from 3- 5 p.m. The message could have been spread through the Beer-Bike Web site and the college presidents, as effectively as the cancellation notice went out in the morning.

All we were given instead was “no further information is available,” which is hardly a substitute for anything.

Jack Hardcastle

Wiess ‘06

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