Interesting noes about Athletics, from the last Rice University Athletic Committee meeting:
– Rick Greenspan announced that 1194 students attended the football game on September 10 –> that’s a lot!
– Athletics is encouraging Rice football players to eat lunch in their own college commons on Wednesdays – go join them!
Tonight, Capt. Rodriguez will be joining us to talk about RUPD. Afterwards, we’ll have an open discussion about the RUPD-Student relationship.
Join us at 9 pm at Farnsworth – there will be TC (tortillas and queso)!
Also, other things I want to share:
– SA/GSA Research Mixer this Tuesday, 6 pm, Central Quad – with FREE Thai food!
– The new South Cafe is open at South Servery! You can get a full meal with 2 sides for $5.50 – open to all students, faculty, and staff.
Guess what?? Sammy’s Picnic is tomorrow!!!! That means free food – carnival style!
FREE FOOD + GIVEAWAYS! (CLOSED SERVERIES)
This is a collaborative effort between Rice Athletics, the SA, and Housing & Dining in hosting an annual campus-wide picnic to promote Rice Athletics.
The theme of this year’s picnic is CARNIVAL: games, inflatable obstacle courses, prizes & giveaways, and carnival food (think sliders, funnel cakes, nachos, and vegetarian options).
Location: IM Field 6 (Closest to Tudor Fieldhouse) Time: 5 – 7 pm (serveries closed)
After the picnic, stay and support the women’s volleyball team at Tudor Fieldhouse against UH at 7pm! Go Owls!
HOTDOG EATING CONTEST!
The hotdog eating contest will take place at 6:30pm. The winner will receive a prize!
Only the first 20 people to sign up here are eligible:
http://bit.ly/pS6T0A
Join the Facebook event – see you there!
This week, you may have noticed bicycle safety signs all over campus. This is a part of our campus bicycle safety week. Watch out for messages like “obey the rules of the road,” “yield to pedestrians,” “walk bike in cloisters,” and “bell or yell for alert to pass.” People have been getting seriously injured with bike accidents, so we really need to make sure we have a safe campus environment.
Next week RUPD will be giving warnings to cyclists who disobey traffic laws.
Take a look at this (funny) video for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwUKA6r_qY
And don’t forget to register your bike with RUPD (http://rupd.rice.edu/bikeform.cfm) and follow the bicycle safety rules (http://www.rice.edu/bikesatrice/rules.shtml)!
Wondering what that construction is next to the RMC behind those green fences? Check it out: http://construction.rice.edu/OpenProject.aspx?id=2727.
It’ll be done in October!
You may ask – what did I do last week? Our SA president better be getting us new coke machines or free fro yo! Well, not exactly, but I did go to a lot of meetings and try to advocate for students….
Monday:
– Presidents Lunch – talked about alcohol 🙂
– Met Amy Hodges, the Rice News Senior Writer assigned to the “student beat”
-Masters and Presidents Meeting – fun discussions over cupcakes: crisis planning, student taught courses, newspapers
– SA meeting!
Tuesday:
– Mango smoothie with Susann Glenn, Manager of Communications for FE&P and H&D – talked about the Houston drought, how it affects campus, and water conservation efforts
– Meeting with Cory Kennedy, Director of Governmental Relations – learned about what Rice does to lobby for students, push Congress to limit cuts on student funding, and mobilize the Rice community; possibility of creating a new student position for this, and they may be looking for a paid student intern…
– LEAD 330 w/Kevin Kirby
– Lovett Fellows meeting
– Lovett CC (cabinet)
Wednesday:
– Faculty Senate Meeting: these are really interesting! They are open to the public, so come check one out this year. Talked about teaching improvements, academic calendar, and evaluations
– Meeting with Chef Johnny – planning for Sammy’s Picnic on Sept. 20th
Thursday:
– Public Affairs meeting – discuss student involvement ideas for Unconvention (April 2011) – should be a smashing hit…be on the lookout for more details…!
– Kevin Kirby (Vice President for Administration) – chatted for 1 and 1/2 hours about bike safety, ALFA, RMC renovations, RUPD, Centennial, underground parking, and more…
– Senator Dinner + Execs
Friday:
– Meeting w/Alumni Affairs
– Dr. Susan McIntosh – speaker of Faculty Senate – discussed writing and communications program; hoping to have recommendations for implementation by this spring in time for fall semester; ensured student involvement in this process.
-OwlList meeting – check it out! http://owllist.rice.edu/
– 6:30-7:30 pm – a much-needed massage 🙂
Let me know what you think about the Letter to the Editor that I wrote: http://www.ricethresher.org/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-1.2572034.
I’d love to hear your opinions and have a discussion about the topic of the hard alcohol probation. Sometimes things can be difficult on campus, but talking about the issues in the open arena can really make a difference to instituting positive change.
Come join us Monday at Farnsworth Pavilion (RMC) at 9 pm for our first Senate meeting of the year! We will be having LOTS OF PIZZA, and the manager of RechargeU will be there to answer questions and have a discussion with students. Join us this Monday, and stay afterwards for a New Student Representative info session to learn how to apply!
Curious what I did this past week? Here we go:
– Meeting w/college presidents and Dean Hutch – talked about how fantastically O-week went!!
– Talked with Dr. Roland Smith, Assoc. Provost (Office of Diversity and Inclusion), regarding new Council on Diversity and how to involve student reps
– ALFA committee meeting: further discussions with VP of Administration, Kevin Kirby, and other administrators; getting close to finalizing ALFA funds – be on the lookout for news very soon!
– Met with new Center for Career Development (CCD) Director, Nicole Van Den Heuvel; discussed upcoming Career Expo (Sept. 12) – they have so many companies that want to come, some are on waiting lists! Rice students are that popular! Also, thinking about forming a student advisory group to the CCD…
– Lunch with Dean Hutchinson and the college presidents, his treat (bonding time) 🙂
– President Leebron meeting: excellent discussion w/Pres. Leebron about initiatives for the SA and campus issues.
– Meeting w/Chad Kocian from Athletics – awesome person! We are planning Sammy’s Picnic with his help and hope to get students more involved in Athletics – send me an email if you’re interested!
– Meeting w/Jimmy Moffett, Jones Business School Student President – talked about possibilities for joint events and opportunities for undergrads to interact with MBA students (email sapres@rice.edu if you’re interested!)
– Student Activities Fair!
– Meeting w/Dean Hutch: talked about ways to make Rice more amazing, as usual
– Rice Coffeehouse and BRC Coffee shop are looking sweet:
New BRC coffee/food store
Remodeled Rice Coffeehouse!
Today was a fantastic first day of classes! In case you are curious, I can tell you my schedule for Monday classes: 8:30 am-10am -> Senior Bioengineering Design; 11am-12 ->Biosystems Transport; 1pm-9pm -> SA time!! So, basically, MWF for my entire senior year I have an 8:30 am. Not complaining. Just saying.
A few updates you might want to know about:
– Check your email. You got a happy update from me 🙂
– Droubi’s hours are 11am-7pm M-F. If you have suggestions about the new RechargeU store, come to our first SA meeting next Monday – the manager will be there to hear you out.
– Go buy/sell textbooks on TEXTBOOKMADNESS.com! It’s a great resource to exchange textbooks with Rice students!
– New Student Rep applications come out this Wednesday for the SA. Get involved as a freshman! (see sa.rice.edu)
– Guess what?? New coffee/food store about to open in the BRC! Get excited (esp BIOEs!)
Today was the opening day of ReChargeU, the new convenience store at Rice!! This has been months in the coming, with past SA President Selim Sheikh working to bring this together, and then the current SA council making sure that student input is considered for the items in the store.
And it seems like a great success! They have chips, sandwiches, medicine, drinks, ice cream, paper towels, nutella, and so much more!! Go check it out at the RMC, and let me know what you think (sapres@rice.edu)!
See some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2306487748684.2138661.1443990615&l=feacf5bd56&type=1
Today was my first day back at Rice!! Just arrived at Lovett College, home sweet home, and it was great seeing campus again. My summer in Berkeley was a long hiatus from Rice, but I’m really excited with the start of school. Especially since I get to meet so many new people!!!
This week was crazy: getting back from Berkeley Saturday, cram studying for the GRE (vocab flash cards are fabulous), SLAM DUNKING the GRE on Wednesday, packing Thursday morning, driving to Houston Thursday afternoon, and now I’M HERE!!
To all the new students: get excited about O-Week! It will be the time of your life, and Rice is ready to welcome you with open arms!
Things at Rice are sounding pretty good so far….lots of new renovations with food options on campus, and there is plenty of construction going on over the summer so that things can be perfectly in place when all the students come back on campus in August! I’m really excited about the new convenience store and Droubi’s (let me know what your thoughts are on that by leaving a comment here or sending me an email!).
There is a lot of commotion going on for planning and preparing for O-week – only a few more weeks to go!! RPC will have some exciting surprises for us when we all get back on campus, and O-week festivities should be spectacular. If you are a new student coming to Rice, be prepared for the most exhilarating time of your life!!!
A few words of wisdom to the new students:
– Relax this summer – don’t try to worry about studying or preparing for classes, you’ll have plenty of time to do that during the school year. And don’t worry, everyone is in the exact same boat you are, so you all come in together and find out that you have a lot more in common than you thought!
– Use facebook: it’s a great place to creep on your fellow college buddies and new students, and meet at least a few new faces.
– Tie up all the loose ends at home at least a week before coming to O-week – it’s quite a hectic (and fabulous!) time here, so you won’t have free time to do much else or take care of things back home. Try to come with a free and happy “spirit” so that you can enjoy every minute of it!
– Freak out your parents by sneaking out and camping in the backyard without telling them, until they notice you are missing….
Thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Advice on what to do as a new student? Send me an email or facebook message (sapres@rice.edu), and I’d be happy to talk!
In case you are interested, I can tell you about the exciting things I am doing this summer (away from Rice, sadly…):
I am at the University of California, Berkeley – the Golden State! The weather is FANTASTIC here, 65 degree average, no humidity — basically, the opposite of Houston. I am with the Amgen Scholars Research Program, a 10 week summer research program, and I’ll be here until August 6th.
I work in a bioengineering lab, and I’m currently doing research on developing a microarray platform to perform single-cell cancer analysis to help find out which cancer drugs are effective and how to develop better drugs for therapy. The work is really exciting, and I might be spending a bit too much time in lab (10-12 hour work days..). The people here are fantastic as well, really nice, and there are a ton of hippies. 🙂 There is just no other city where you feel out of place when you don’t have a tie-dye shirt!
I’ve been trying to explore a bit around the area – I biked across the Golden Gate bridge and around San Francisco on Sunday (6/26), and that was fantastic. And today, unfortunately, no exploring for me – I had my 2.5 hr GRE class tonight – trying to get that done this summer!
Have you heard about the new changes to the RMC? We will have many exciting new things to look forward to when we all come back to Rice in August!!
The first project just started this Friday (6/24) with 13th Street closing, and a new convenience store, ReCharge U, moving into the space. The new store will open in time for O-Week with a “range of fresh packaged sandwiches, salads, snacks and sundry personal care and household items.”
Sammy’s will also be closing Thursday, June 30th, after lunch so that the new operator, Droubi’s Bakery & Deli, can move in. It is anticipated it will take a week or so to make needed updates to Sammy’s kitchen. Mediterranean food options, along with food from the grill – sounds delicious!
And finally, a change that many are excitedly awaiting, Rice Coffeehouse finally got to begin the expansion construction on Monday, June 21st. They estimate it will take about 6 weeks for construction, so it looks like it will be in time for the start of school! I can’t wait to see the expanded Coffeehouse, when they finally get more space than just a closet. 🙂
I’m not at Rice today 🙁 …but I’ll be back later this week for a few more meetings. In case you are around and you’re interested, take a look at an interesting event this Tuesday:
What a wonderful day!! The graduating class of 2011 got to walk the stage today, and it was the perfect ceremony for the perfect day! As President Leebron pointed out, the weather was absolutely wonderful, so we were all very lucky to enjoy such a great day.
As SA President, they asked me to be a “Wreath Bearer.” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I showed up today at Fondren Library in my blue robe, and they brought us a large wreath to carry out to Willy’s Statue. Sumedh (GSA President) and I carried the wreath, along with a few other people behind us, and we walked out with the color guard to the statue (and tomb) of William Marsh Rice. After hanging the wreath, I got to make my way up to the front to first-row reserved seats – sweeeet!
Front row was awesome – I recommend sneaking up there next year if you get a chance, it’s the perfect place to hoop and holler for your favorite friends! I enjoyed the remarks by David Brooks (even though a few things I didn’t agree with) – he gave a very funny and interesting speech, and I think most of us enjoyed it. During the ceremony, the best college (of course) was Lovett, as the master, Matteo Pasquali, had a wonderfully pompous voice as he presented each student with pride and “took off his hat” to them (he was wearing his very funny pointed cap).
Overall, a great ceremony, and being up close I even saw a few people that looked like they weren’t wearing any clothes underneath…. Well, congratulations to the class of 2011, and I hope your Rice experience was one to remember for a lifetime!
Finals week is in full swing, but the end is in sight!! Tonight, the SA Academics committee has organized a Grab-and-Go dinner with $4 Jersey Mike’s Subs. Go by the RMC tonight (5:30-7:30 pm) if you want to pick up some dinner between your studying, and enjoy!
The Convenience Store survey is closing today, and we had an awesome number of responses (1500!), so thanks to everyone for their input. The Student Life Committee is now working to put together a summary and share this with Housing and Dining. The project manager for the C-Store has been really open to student input, and they are excited to implement YOUR suggestions. Can’t wait to see how the new store turns out! And if you have any more questions or suggestions, feel free to email me or the Student Life Chairs (sk27@rice.edu, kjj2@rice.edu).
Also, I had a great meeting with David Tenney, the Registrar, and it was great to see how much he cares about Rice and about helping students. He has a lot of cool projects up his sleeve: adding a waiting list to Esther course registration, putting up an online version of the GA, and adding new search features to the current course search. We are working with him to implement a few new changes as well: adding SYLLABI for all courses online at Esther (so you can read through them during the first week of classes!), adding search features for TIME and PROFESSOR to the Esther course search, and possibly making a few changes to Esther to make it more user-friendly. Let me know if you have any thoughts about this!
Good luck to everyone with their finals, and remember to take a few breaks and relax with friends. And if you don’t have any friends, feel free to call me.
I’m everyone’s friend 🙂
And in case you’d like to know, these are the finals/exams/reports that I had to do this week. It might make you feel a little better:
Exams: 4 (Biomechanics, Numerical Methods, Thermodynamics, Tissue Engineering)
Reports: 4 (Biomechanics – 15 pgs, Numerical Methods- 20 pgs, Tissue Engineering – 60 pgs, Research – 20 pgs)
Presentations: 3 (Biomechanics – 12 min, Tissue Engineering – 30 min, Energy in Society – 20 min)
Poster: 1 (Research in BIOE)
And that’s my life. I love being a BIOE.
Wow, yesterday was the last day of classes! This year has gone by so quickly, it’s been hard to keep up! We had our last SA meeting on Monday, and it was a lot of fun: thai food, music, costumes, and Jones won a chocolate owl for having the most people. Kevin Kirby and Dean Hutch came to talk about the ALFA proposal, for they are both on the administrator committee to analyze the proposals and decide exactly how much money should be spent. With the FCC approval that just came in, we should be ready to start making decisions soon, and getting students involved in implementing the proposals.
Another important thing that happened this past week was speaking at the Faculty Senate – I went to talk about a proposal that was being discussed regarding the Centennial Celebration in Fall 2012. It turns out that our Fall Recess falls on Monday/Tuesday of that week, but the Centennial Celebration is Wednesday-Saturday. That means, you would not have classes Mon/Tues, but then you would either have to go to classes and miss all the awesome events, skip your classes and make your profs angry, or your profs might cancel classes and then they would miss an entire week of school… Anyway, we talked about this as the SA meeting a few weeks ago, and it seemed the most logical to have no classes on Thursday/Friday of that week, so all students and faculty could enjoy and participate in the celebration, only happening once in 100 years. There will be some great events, including student posters/expo, TED talks, famous guest speakers, residential college open houses, student competitions, music concerts, Esperanza, homecoming football game, and more. It will be an event you won’t want to miss! With all that said, the Faculty Senate was initially opposed to the idea of giving students no classes on Thurs/Fri instead of leaving it on Mon/Tues because they thought students would just leave. However, after discussion with them, they agreed that students AND faculty would be invested in participating and enjoying the Centennial Celebration, an event that only happens once-in-a-lifetime. So put it on your calendar: Centennial Celebration, October 10-13, 2012!!
Plenty of fun meetings on Wednesday, and I thought I’d share a few fun facts I’ve collected over the week:
– Hoot is opening in the South Servery – coming this fall!!!!!!!
H&D is amazing, as well as the Directors of the Student Center, including Pam Shefman. They have worked to make this possible in the fall, and construction will begin over the summer. The “glass wall” on the Hanszen side of the servery will be slightly changed so that a door and a station can be added to accommodate this new opportunity. During the day, at lunch hours, that side of South Servery will be open to faculty, staff, and grad students as a “take-out” counter. They can spend cash to buy a to-go box of food from South Servery, and this will help reduce the amount of people that bombard Hanszen commons all the time (sorry Hanszenites….we love you….). At night, the Hoot will be in action, so get excited about the new addition!
– The Centennial Commission is meeting this Thursday, so get ready for updates on cool events coming up! Also, a new committee has been formed (Centennial Student Involvement Committee) to help organize events for students, so let us know if you would like to be involved in any parts of the Centennial (and the Director of the Centennial is looking for a student intern….).
– “No feedback is bad feedback” — send any thoughts/ideas/comments to David McDonald, Director of Residential Dining. He likes hearing you talk about food.
– The SA Execs are all female. Women taking over the world??
