yupaws

So, overly anxious question time. When do we actually get to move in to Rice? I am rather excited about going to college, and living in Houston (as well as escaping Georgia's pollen >.<). So, when is O-Week usually, and when is the earliest we're allowed to move in? It's hopefully a few weeks before classes start?

Oh, and what's Houston's policy on registering to vote? Are students allowed to register in Texas? I ask because my state school refuses to let students vote in its county and you have to absentee vote home.

patsmom

http://registrar.rice.edu/calendar_fall08.aspx

Looks like O-Week is Aug. 17-22. Classes start Aug. 25. I think you're expected to arrive on Sunday morning, Aug. 17.

I'm pretty sure you're allowed to register to vote in Texas but maybe someone more knowledgeable will pipe in to answer that.

yupaws

Thanks calendars are super useful! We don't seem to get a whole lotta break, but that's the nature of school I guess :P

LWMD

About voting -- If your home of record is Georgia and you have a Georgia driver's license, meaning all the residency blah, blah, blah, I don't understand why you can't register to vote in your home county. If you are a student attending school out of state, that is no different than anyone else being away from home on election day. Am I missing something in your question?

My son got absentee ballots and voted in Maryland, our home state.

thelonius

You have the option of either keeping your voter registration in Georgia and voting absentee or registering using your Rice address (and Georgia's trying to prevent students from registering to vote there is actually voter disenfranchisement and I believe has been challenged).

If you decide to register here, it's easy. Before the 2006 election (which wasn't even that big of an election year in comparison to next year) some student group had a table set up outside the library and went around to the colleges with all of the paperwork necessary to register here.

stevedad

Be careful on officially becoming a resident of your college state until you determine the tax consequences (if any). Registering to vote means you are a state resident for tax purposes. Most students would have no substantial impact from this; however, it is a good idea to verify that you are in that majority group.

Maybe not an issue with Texas--but S1 is in California for school and if he had established residency there, it would have hurt.

westsidewolf1989

just a note, they dont count absentee ballots unless the race is tight in the state. so being from georgia...i doubt that an absentee ballot will matter much in november.

NYSkins1

I'm a registered Texas voter, and there haven't been any tax consequences.

blackeyedsusan

That's because there's no state income tax in Texas.

simone902008

yupaws! i'm from GA too!

yupaws

awesome. Then you know what it's like right now; yellow covered everything. And somehow it's cold in April. I need to get out of here... for at least 4 years

But about that whole voting thing, I was told that in Athens (univ of georgia college town), they wouldn't let you register to vote if you lived on campus. Athens-Clarke county is really poor and stuff, and is convinced that students just move through the system and don't really care about the issues that affect the community. I see their point though; the college is sheltered from the issues of the county (it's the 5th poorest county in the USA, it oughta not be glossed over). My question was pretty much asking whether or not whatever county Rice is in minds if students flood its voting population? It looks like they don't though, which is awesome

Thanks all for responses

NYSkins1

I vote in Harris County because it makes so much more sense on a local level. I spend nine months (12 this year) out of the year living in Harris County, and my district in Texas is much more moderate that my district in Georgia, so I registered to vote in Harris County. I also don't have to worry about absentee ballots.

Singersmom07

Houston is a large city, the schools do not have a big proportionate impact on the local population. There are not enough students in relation to other residents to "flood" the voting population. Don't worry.

tw14

"just a note, they dont count absentee ballots unless the race is tight in the state. so being from georgia...i doubt that an absentee ballot will matter much in november."

By law, all absentee ballots must be counted. There are many races and issues on a ballot, not just the presidential race. A state's election results cannot be certified until all ballots are counted and any necessary recounts are performed.