As many of you know, Rice's Board of Governors is currently considering various options related to Rice's ongoing participation in intercollegiate athletics. I have been requested by certain members of the Friends of Rice Athletics (support group in favor of not only staying in Div. 1-A but strengthening Rice's commitment to its student-athletes and giving them the necessary capital improvements and other support to help them flourish at that competition level) to seek additional supporters for our cause from those who did not go to Rice. Specifically, those of you who believe that Rice's recent competitiveness in all sports coupled with its leadership in graduating true student-athletes is something that should be encouraged rather than eliminated. If you want to help your future C-USA member in this cause, we ask you to do the following:
1. Go to the website for Friends of Rice Athletics www.friendsofriceathletics.org/ and register. It will not cost you a thing but it will add to the number of supporters we have that we will then present to the Board.
2. After registering at this site, click on the link to the "comment on the report" link http://professor.rice.edu/Forms.asp?MOD ... TypeID=-33 and let the Board know of your support of Rice continuing in Div. 1-A. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A RICE ALUM TO DO THIS).
Unfortunately, the deadline for doing this is the 16th of this month so please get your support to the Rice Board as soon as possible. We at Rice who look forward to competing with you in C-USA are grateful for your support.
[email protected]
Ponies: Rice Needs Your Help
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Ponies: Rice Needs Your Help
by ricex » Thu May 13, 2004 5:12 pm
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by ponyboy » Fri May 14, 2004 11:21 am
Me too. An excerpt from my message to the board:
"...I would like to express my concern about the possibility that Rice will leave the ranks of Division I at the very time the university is to upgrade conference affliation..."
Good luck Owls!
"...I would like to express my concern about the possibility that Rice will leave the ranks of Division I at the very time the university is to upgrade conference affliation..."
Good luck Owls!
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Re:
by Mustangs35SMU » Sun May 16, 2004 1:08 am
Water Pony wrote:Done, Good Luck, Owls! Mustangs support you!
Amen to that Wp
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by Water Pony » Mon May 17, 2004 10:01 am
There are several CUSA type Boards. Which one should we focus on?
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by Water Pony » Mon May 17, 2004 8:42 pm
From CUSA/Killerfrog Board: "And this Editorial in the Sunday Houston Chronicle. Note the references to the University of Houston and C-USA to stop the madness of the BCS conferences."
May 15, 2004, 1:26AM
RICE ATHLETICS
Drastic change to model program would be folly
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
In his essay The Sporting Spirit, George Orwell wrote that sports combine "hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and the sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words, war without the shooting."
That characterization of sports is overstated, but it seems to apply well enough to the conflict between those who champion college athletics and those who believe the sportsmanlike spirit of amateur competition has been irretrievably lost.
About once a decade, whether it needs to or not, Rice University considers whether sports at the highest level of NCAA competition is appropriate for a small, prestigious, selective campus where nearly all students attain one of the best educations anywhere. This year, a faculty poll found widespread opposition to athletic scholarships and Division I-A football. Rice trustees are considering a consultant's report outlining the university's athletic choices.
A dispassionate review of Rice athletics must conclude that it would be folly for Rice to drastically alter its sports program. The pragmatic argument that Rice students cannot compete in sports and excel in academics holds no water.
Last year, Rice won the NCAA national baseball championship. Since 1994, the school has won 23 conference championships. Rice has the world leader in the decathlon and a top men's doubles tennis pair.
Both men's and women's basketball teams won more than 20 games last season, twice as many as they lost. Women's track and field has won international attention. This is not the record of a school that can't compete respectably at the highest level.
The appropriateness of Division I-A football at Rice is worthy of debate. Big-time college football has become the expensive province of huge, profligate state universities and a few private powerhouses that let little stand in the way of fielding a winning team.
Rice has been stung by its small share of controversies, including a couple of cheating scandals 10 years apart involving varsity athletes. However, Rice is a model for other universities to emulate, not a case for reform. In years past, Rice has graduated more of its athletes than any other Division I-A campus.
The goal should be to get Rice's competitors to mimic Rice's high academic standards, solving the problem of matching student athletes against what by any other word are semipros with little aptitude for university study. The problem is not the awarding of athletic scholarships, but giving them to people unwilling or unable to engage in scholarship.
Including tuition waived, Rice spends about $10 million a year on sports. However, it is not accurate to say the money is lost, any more than the money spent on art or music. Sports have a tangible value for the school and its athletes on scholarship, which number one of every 10 undergraduates.
If the cost is too high, economies can be made. This is especially true if the nationwide football arms race can be curbed in Conference USA, which includes the financially strapped University of Houston and which Rice will join in 2005.
May 15, 2004, 1:26AM
RICE ATHLETICS
Drastic change to model program would be folly
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
In his essay The Sporting Spirit, George Orwell wrote that sports combine "hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and the sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words, war without the shooting."
That characterization of sports is overstated, but it seems to apply well enough to the conflict between those who champion college athletics and those who believe the sportsmanlike spirit of amateur competition has been irretrievably lost.
About once a decade, whether it needs to or not, Rice University considers whether sports at the highest level of NCAA competition is appropriate for a small, prestigious, selective campus where nearly all students attain one of the best educations anywhere. This year, a faculty poll found widespread opposition to athletic scholarships and Division I-A football. Rice trustees are considering a consultant's report outlining the university's athletic choices.
A dispassionate review of Rice athletics must conclude that it would be folly for Rice to drastically alter its sports program. The pragmatic argument that Rice students cannot compete in sports and excel in academics holds no water.
Last year, Rice won the NCAA national baseball championship. Since 1994, the school has won 23 conference championships. Rice has the world leader in the decathlon and a top men's doubles tennis pair.
Both men's and women's basketball teams won more than 20 games last season, twice as many as they lost. Women's track and field has won international attention. This is not the record of a school that can't compete respectably at the highest level.
The appropriateness of Division I-A football at Rice is worthy of debate. Big-time college football has become the expensive province of huge, profligate state universities and a few private powerhouses that let little stand in the way of fielding a winning team.
Rice has been stung by its small share of controversies, including a couple of cheating scandals 10 years apart involving varsity athletes. However, Rice is a model for other universities to emulate, not a case for reform. In years past, Rice has graduated more of its athletes than any other Division I-A campus.
The goal should be to get Rice's competitors to mimic Rice's high academic standards, solving the problem of matching student athletes against what by any other word are semipros with little aptitude for university study. The problem is not the awarding of athletic scholarships, but giving them to people unwilling or unable to engage in scholarship.
Including tuition waived, Rice spends about $10 million a year on sports. However, it is not accurate to say the money is lost, any more than the money spent on art or music. Sports have a tangible value for the school and its athletes on scholarship, which number one of every 10 undergraduates.
If the cost is too high, economies can be made. This is especially true if the nationwide football arms race can be curbed in Conference USA, which includes the financially strapped University of Houston and which Rice will join in 2005.
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