Why should you be interested? The issue of campus apathy has been mentioned a number of times over the last year. Apathy occurs when people do not feel that their complaints will be heard or that anything can or will be done about their problems. As a result, they take for granted that their actions will have no effect, and resign themselves to making the best they can of the situation and ignoring their own complaints.
The Other Rice News is a way to get yourself heard, and it is a way to hear others - to find out who you have issues in common with, and to hear multiple perspectives from students and faculty alike on university issues that will and do affect your life, such as the curriculum reforms and the new colleges.
Why should Rice have a free-speech newsletter anyway? Free speech is not only a national value but is associated with the image of a university as an institution of knowledge, questioning, and learning. The (regular) Rice News does not perform this function because it does not accept letters from faculty. While the Thresher to some extent serves as a forum for student opinion, it is mostly read by students. The Other Rice News has the advantage of being aimed towards both students and faculty, and being specifically directed toward discussion of issues. Multiple opinions will be heard by all, and students and faculty alike will gain from the interactions and will be able to coordinate in creating solutions.
Why should students participate? By participating in The Other Rice News, students will hear more about the political side of the university. We can learn from the faculty, and at the same time express our views and concerns to people who have been at this university far longer than we have, understand better how it works, and have more power.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Bartmess Baker '01 bartmess@owlnet.rice.edu