The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/opinion/2007/09/28/letters_to_the_editor

September 28, 2007 > Opinion > Letters to the editor

Letters to the editor

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

Thresher evaluations exclude department

To the editor:

Our department supports the posting of course evaluations in the Thresher — but only if the reporting is fair and accurate, and if all departments are included (“The votes are in” Sept. 21). Addressing just this last point, we were surprised to see that sociology was inexplicably missing from your feature. This does a disservice to our department — especially given our record of campus-wide teaching awards (38 since the founding of our department in 1971). With an average course quality score of 1.68, the sociology department ranked 4th among all departments during the Spring 2007 semester. We are proud of our commitment to teaching excellence, and we were very disappointed by this oversight in the Thresher last week.

Bridget Gorman

Sociology Professor

Rachel Kimbro

Sociology Professor

Article entertains but lacks proper facts

To the editor:

Thanks for that entertaining and enlightening article. Unfortunately, all the Materials Science (MSCI) courses and instructors were omitted. Will you please include MSCI next time?

Peter Loos

Mechanical Engineering and Material Science Professor

Sid Richardson ‘77

Critique of ’80s Party harsh, unrealistic

To the editor:

In response to Julia Lukomnik’s columns, I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Sid Richardson College socials were disrespecting the Jewish students on campus (“Side Socials overlook Jewish students,” Sept. 21).

I’m all for religious education and acceptance, especially on a college campus; however, it is not truly possible to schedule parties around all religious events. Ramadan, a very holy time for Muslims, lasts an entire month — should parties stop during this month? Bacchanalia has been held the night before Easter every year I’ve been here, leaving the Christian students to decide whether or not they want to suffer through a hangover in church on Easter Sunday. I’ve celebrated holidays of both Christianity and Judaism in the past, and I understand the isolation from other students who don’t choose to participate in these holidays.

That being said, there are times when one has to weigh the importance of a party versus a cultural and religious event. It’s hardly black and white, but decisions about faith and beliefs are never going to be easy, and we’re at a time in our lives where those sorts of decisions help define who we are and who we will be. Going to social functions and observing religious holidays don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but the fact is that sometimes in order to practice your religion of choice, sacrifices have to be made along the way. Besides, Margaritaville is only a week later, and isn’t that a better party anyway?

Anna van Devender

Brown senior

Parties must yield to all religions

To the editor:

I wholeheartedly agree with Julia Lukomnik in her article as well as the unsigned editorial (“Socials: Party on Purim,” Sept. 21, 2007).

However, I don’t think this responsibility of religious tolerance should be limited to college socials, but to the entire university. First, it wouldn’t matter if 80’s Party was on Sep. 14th instead of the 21st: socials shouldn’t be putting parties on the Sabbath in the first place. Similarly, the Athletics department should cancel all football games played on Saturday afternoon, which is a great temptation for Jews and other Sabbatarians. Also, Housing and Dining should be considerate to Muslims by not serving any food in any of the serveries during the day in the month of Ramadan. Accordingly, health reps should not distribute condoms during this period. The recent blood drive, as well, was extremely inconsiderate to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Finally, in deference to vegetarian Hindus, no meat should be allowed on campus— that’s simply offensive.

Mithun Mansinghani

Martel Junior

Documentary first step toward change

To the editor:

I compliment you on your article about the global dimming documentary (“Documentary raises question of global dimming,” Sept. 21). I attended the showing and can confirm that the article captured the atmosphere clearly and concisely — especially since the article ended by quoting a senior student, “I’ve always believed that [global warming is] happening but this is just a warning that something needs to be done.” That is exactly how the discussion after the documentary ended. Everyone was collectively thinking, “Holy crap! This is serious! What do we do?”

The first step is education. This is where the Thresher should come in. A section of every week’s edition should be devoted to global climate change. My idea is to put pie charts depicting the sources (i.e. cars, power plants, etc.) and countries that produce the most greenhouse gases. Also, tips on how to cut down greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution would be extremely helpful. And this information is easy to find. I would gladly help.

The important thing is to get people talking by presenting unbiased, factual information. The Thresher is the best — and maybe the only — way to do that on campus.

Dan Miller

Physical Science Licensing Associate

Column attitude

sexist and unfounded#

To the editor:

I was offended by the way Misha Teplitskiy promoted the “Rice girls are ugly” stereotype in his article (“Words of wisdom from an alum: Rice University is an asexual campus,” Sept. 7). Although the article’s disclaimer encouraged me not to read it, read it I did. Much of the article was witty, but the wittiness began to break down when Teplitskiy claimed that there were often “but five attractive girls in an entire college.”

Plenty of Rice girls are attractive, but they have better things to do with their time than straighten their hair, put on a ton of makeup, and shave their legs so they can wear short skirts.

There is a lot more to be desired in a woman than just good looks, but the misogynistic views presented in Teplitskiy’s article belie this truth and promote the idea of a woman as a sex symbol and nothing more. At least the women of Rice have brains and aren’t afraid to use them. Which is not to say that girls at other universities do not share these characteristics; I have just seen them, from personal experience, in Rice girls. To be perfectly honest, any heterosexual girl could turn the tables on Teplitskiy and say that the pickings are slim for them here at Rice. But I realize that there’s a lot more to a person than just the way he looks on the outside.

Chaya Murali

Baker sophomore

Students wield

power, influence#

To the editor:

Despite Rice’s reputation as a politically apathetic campus, this fall could hold big changes between the hedges. The upcomng presidential election has the potential to generate on-campus interest in any number of contested issues, ranging from America’s role in Iraq to the status of the healthcare system. Youthful idealism or principled pragmatism, students of any political persuasion would be well served to take advantage of the activism afforded by their college years and get involved.

As one possible avenue, the Rice chapter of College Democrats of America was just recently re-started with the intention of raising the levels of political awareness among students. The 2007-‘08 school year could usher in a new period of political activism at Rice … or not. But even if the entire campus isn’t galvanized to picket in the streets, a heightened political exchange within the Rice community would benefit the entire student body.

Katy Miller

Martel junior

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