LETTER: Advisors, jacks livened up O-Week

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by Vikki Otero

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There has been a lot of talk in the first two issues of the Thresher regarding O-Week, and little of it has been positive. I was at Will Rice's Peace Is Now O-Week '95 and thought that, since I enjoyed O-Week immensely I should submit my opinion.

Sure, it did get a bit tiresome being referred to as someone's freshman, especially for me since I am not a freshman but a transfer in my junior year.

I am older than some of the coordinators and many of the advisors, and at first, I was annoyed when I was approached with the "condescending, almost Victorian attitude" to which David Rhodes refers in his Sept. 1 Thresher letter.

However, as I got to know more people and to understand the positive and welcoming attitude with which the coordinators and advisors approached O-Week, the term "freshman" began to seem one of either endearment or friendly joking rather than one of condescension.

Besides, given the fact that most of the people at Rice -- at least the ones I've met -- are generally friendly and accepting, do these things really matter? I'd rather be referred to as someone's freshman than as, for example, "Hey you."

Regarding orientation things like the alcohol policy and the honor code, yes, many of the things they covered did seem like common sense to me, but nevertheless, it is important to make sure there are no questions in these important issues.

Most new Rice students, including those with college experience, have not encountered an alcohol policy as liberal as that at Rice and may not know exactly how to deal with it. Same goes for the Honor Code.

Despite my two years' college experience, I found much useful information in all of these presentations.

Besides, even if you're already up on most of the issues covered, does it really matter if you spend an insignificant part of your day covering them again for the sake of those who may not have your experience?

Jacks, cheers and other pranks were a big surprise to me when I came to Rice; my former school was so big and impersonal that no one would take the time to send prank letters to all incoming students of another college.

Sure, some of them were mindless destruction, and those would probably be better left undone. But the ones that were harmless, original and funny are, I believe, quite positive.

Okay, so jacks shouldn't be the be-all and end-all of O-Week, but they're fun. They show the new students that Rice is not all about work and studying and grades, but that Rice students know how to play.

I've yet to meet the Rice student (myself included) that does not have a few screws loose, and jacks are merely those loose screws conglomerating to give rise to something silly.

I had fun with most of the jacks, and I think that the joking environment created by jacks helped me feel more comfortable.

Besides, the new students get their classes and lectures and other official business done, so does it really matter if they pull a few pranks with the help of their advisors?

Sure, O-Week has its problems, but they are so insignificant compared to the positive and supportive environment created by it.

Any doubts I might have had about transferring to Rice were completely eradicated in the first couple of days of O-Week, and I think the informality and fun were integral parts of it.

Really, when I encounter a group of people that are as friendly, supportive, accepting and fun as the Rice students I met at O-Week, I am not going to be concerned about a few little things that really don't matter, and I think the critics should mellow out and realize that most of the new students, the ones O-Week was supposed to be for, had a great and valuable time.

Peace, man.

Vikki Otero

Will Rice '97

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the September 8, 1995 issue.

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