<p>hey wobudong- does your name stand for I don’t understand in Chinese? I like it…a lot</p>
<p>btw, my parents and I also have finally looked past the “top 5” sterotype. So, looks like I’ll be going to rice</p>
<p>wobudong=“I don’t undertand” in mandarin</p>
<p>“p.s.- I never been to Texas so I’m not sure if the Texan style of living
will suit me tho…that’s the only reason that’s holding me back from
sending my deposit to Rice…”</p>
<p>Good lord, Husky Sky- what do you think we do down here? I’ve been to a lot of big cities, and I’ve found Houston to be pretty much the same as all the others. I’m not sure if you have a negative opinion of Texas, but your comment seems like a lot of other people do. I find it really pretty ironic that people feel that Texas is so insular, when they formed such opinions on what? Clint Eastwood movies? Dumbasses. I love culture, and I feel that Houston supports it- we’ve got one of the best symphonies in the world, a great museum district, theater, etc, etc. Houston is a very urban, forward thinking city. And although Texas is a very conservative state, downtown Houston is pretty liberal (more conservative than most cities, no doubt, but still liberal). And also, if you are liberal (and I’m rabidly so), you must realize that conservatives are not necessarily less intelligent than liberals. Don’t be scared to step into the red zone.</p>
<p>Oh, on an interesting side note- I just read a biography of LBJ, and recognized a lot of the names on the list of Rice alumni- names that plaster the Houston area, like Hobby. It seems a lot of the movers and shakers of the South have gone there.</p>
<p>How I always describe Rice is that the students there work hard and play hard. Rice has all of the incredible academic and research opportunities that you’d ever want, all of the religious support you’d ever need, amazing opportunities to hear world-class music at the Shepherd School (their orchestra is the best I’ve ever heard… far better than the Houston Symphony, and nearly all concerts are FREE), an on-campus art gallery, a coffeehouse underneath Lovett where student artists perform every Friday night (it’s a blast, I’ve performed a few times), it’s right next to the museum district, students there are cultured and interested in philosophy and art as well as science and math, BUT…</p>
<p>You’ve gotta unwind <em>somehow</em> on the weekends. Some people do that by going out and playing in Hermann Park on the weekends, others sing in a choir in church, some participate in the multitudinous theater opportunities on campus, some sprint nude across campus… The great thing is that there’s no real pressure to do any one thing, or to participate in any particular events. I never ran Baker 13. I went to NOD once and stayed only ten minutes, and the other years, I never even really ran into any drunk and insane people. At Beer Bike, I chose to take a leadership role and coordinate concessions and security for three years.</p>
<p>Rice doesn’t go insane over prestige, but they are proud about being realistic and intensely good at whatever they do, be it research in biochemical engineering, playing in a jazz combo, or dressing up like a banana and crashing matriculation. Rice truly is what you make of it, but don’t expect people with huge heads. Rice students truly keep it real.</p>
<p>-Amy Barr
BSCE '04, Sid Rich</p>
<p>Drinking and sex and streaking happens at all prestigious colleges. For example, take a look at Yale’s tabloid: <a href=“http://www.yalerumpus.com%5B/url%5D”>www.yalerumpus.com</a> Definitely does not paint the most prestigious view of the university.</p>
<p>Harvard has primal scream: <a href=“http://www.harvardindependent.com/news/2005/02/10/Forum/Full-Frontal.Normality-861900.shtml[/url]”>http://www.harvardindependent.com/news/2005/02/10/Forum/Full-Frontal.Normality-861900.shtml</a>
which is streaking during exam week, I believe</p>
<p>Princeton streaking: <a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/02/03/arts/11892.shtml[/url]”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/02/03/arts/11892.shtml</a>
Note: Picture contains…um…male dorsal nudity</p>
<p>So yeah. It’s all a part of college life, and you can participate, be a bystander, or avoid it all together. Personally, drinking and sex are already plentiful among high school students anyway, so college only adds streaking and subtracts adult supervision from the equation.</p>
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</p>
<p>“Posterior” might be a better word;)</p>
<p>Jeez…at least at Rice they respect the onlookers enough to use shaving cream!!</p>
<p>“their orchestra is the best I’ve ever heard… far better than the Houston Symphony, and nearly all concerts are FREE”</p>
<p>Yeah, they are good, but let’s not overexaggerate here. Houston Symphony is again one of the top in the world, and Rice’s is simply a college orchestra.</p>