sperosVOL. 2 ISSUE 1 ESTABLISHED 2011 FALL 2011

Martel welcomes 94 new family members

In August, the newest class of ninety-four Martelians was welcomed to Rice University and oriented through Martel’s SuperherO-Week.

It was an incredible O-Week, due largely to the efforts of the advising team and the affiliates for the amount of hard work and lack of sleep that they endured throughout the week. The week was insanely busy, packed full of icebreakers, random dance parties, and plenty of O-Week group bonding.

This year there were a few changes to O-Week across campus. The Sister Groups of previous years were replaced with the new RICE Group program. Every new student was placed into a group with ten other students, one from each of the other colleges, as well as four advisors from across campus. This attempt to increase cross-campus friendships and bonding was mostly a success, especially with lunches during the week and a trip to the Houston Zoo during Passport to Houston.

This year’s Common Reading program also underwent some changes as faculty facilitators were added to the discussions to work alongside the student advisors. The book, The Honor Code, was a philosophical commentary on how moral revolutions have come about in history and are possibly occurring today. The author, Kwame Anthony Appiah, came to speak to the new students shortly after O-Week to relate the book to life as a student here at Rice.

To finish the week, RPC hosted its first Welcome Back Concert featuring Wild Moccasins and Three 6 Mafia with a great turnout. Welcome to Rice, Martelians of the Class of 2015!

—Katie Doody (‘13)O-Week Coordinator, 2011

New students learn Rice cheers during O-Week as part of their welcome to the Rice family. Later, they learn Martel cheers and anti-cheers that will prepare them for the Cheer Battle.

Date: August 14–19, 2011LOCatiON: Martel HOst: O-Week Coordinators & Advisors

Mike liMpornpipat/for speros

Joan Few, alice Hill and arthur Few are wearing the first Martel College t-shirts, the Found-ing Committee t-shirts. arthur and Joan were the first Masters of Martel and alice was the first President of Martel. arthur and Joan are retired and living in Gold Hill, Colorado, in the mountains 10 miles from Boulder. alice is attending the University of Colorado in Boulder for its graduate program in environmental studies.

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From strong foundations, to a strong futureThis photograph of three of the first

Martelians was sent in response to the inaugural issue of Speros. Connecting alumni

and associates with current students is one of the College’s goals for its second decade. See p. 2 for information about Martel’s 10th anniversary.

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Our Fall Associates event is just over as we are writing this, and what an event it was! In our term as Masters so far we have never seen so many Martel Associates together, absorbed in engaging conversation with students in the wonderfully decorated Commons. We are so proud of the job that Izzy Spanswick and Claire Mauvais, have done as Chairs of the Associates Committee. In a recent meeting with one of our College’s first presidents, we were reflecting on how far Martel has come over the short ten years of its existence: an

established alumni basis, a large number of associates, no longer the youngest college on the Rice campus. Still, some things remain the same. We still have the best facilities on campus, and our students care about and look after each other just like the earlier generations of Martelians have.

We can’t wait till March when we formally celebrate Martel’s 10th anniversary, the week of beer bike. Our Alumni Committee Chairs, Ginny Johnson and Katherine Dunn, are already working hard to organize the event. We hope to see as many of our alumni as possible come and be part of this historic

the masters

Dear Martel Family, moment. Martel is coming of age! Looking towards the future, one of our

goals is to create a Martel endowment that will be in line with the endowments of some of the other colleges on campus. Fahad Punjwani’s slogan of “Martel’s Vision for the Second Decade” has inspired our generous benefactor, Ralph S. O’Connor, to offer to match dollar for dollar all contributions towards this ambitious goal. Let’s make the most of Ralph’s challenge!

Our family and friends outside of Rice are still curious about us being Masters. “So, you live right next to a dorm full of college

where will you be on March 30, 2012?

if you answered, “Celebrating Martel’s 10th anniversary with my fellow Martelians, past and present,” you’re right!

although most students at Martel today were not around for Martel’s exciting beginnings, a committee of current and graduated students is organizing a classy evening of festivities to honor Martel’s 10 historic years and celebrate what the future might hold.

this commemorative event will be graced by the presence of Martel’s first Masters, Joan and arthur Few, past

Ras, associates, and alumni, and will feature a “through-the-years” exhibit of Martel’s history.

additionally, this 10-year mark presents an exciting turning point in Martel history, as we reach a time of contemplating not only how our college began, but also where it is going.

Ralph O’Connor, one of Martel’s most dedicated associates, has presented our community with a challenge of developing Martel into a more sustainable and dynamic college through matching dollar-for-dollar any contributions made to the creation of a Martel endowment. all gifts and matching funds will support the future of Martel’s vibrant community.

save the date!WHO: You and your Martel family!WHat: Martel’s 10th anniversary Party WHeRe: Martel College QuadWHeN: March 30, 2012; 5:30 PM WHY: Because MBedYM then and we’re

still going strong today!

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students?” they ask.“Yes. By the way, last week we enjoyed a

violin concert by one of our juniors, followed by a new composition by one of our seniors. And then a great powderpuff game today, followed by a picture show by a student who just visited Germany and China. And we are going to a South Asian dance event choreographed by one of our students tomorrow!”

“Oh!... And how do your kids feel about all this?”

“Yvette has an army of most capable tutors and Pierre walks to his piano lessons

at Shepard, plays wii, and particularly enjoys balloons fights with students.”

“But what about the dog?”“Bassington loves to play with our students

and to chase squirrels. Plus, he thinks that an entirely neighbor college (that would be Jones) is his own spacious personal bathroom.”

Doesn’t sound bad, does it? A year and a half after we started, we still feel that we are incredibly fortunate to have one of the most fulfilling and fun jobs in the world — being Masters of the best college ever!

Oktoberfest features live bands, home brew, pie-eating contest

Over 300 Martel students, associates, and alumni gathered in Martel’s quad on October 14, 2011 for Martel’s annual Oktoberfest celebration. Two live student bands, one including with our very own Martelian Tasneem Islam, encouraged a welcoming atmosphere and allowed for German festivities to continue through the night.

Traditional German food, including bratwursts, pretzels, and desserts, were

Ted and Beata

Date: October 14, 2011LOCatiON: Martel Quad HOst: Oktoberfest Committee

hey Martel!

(yes

, tha

t’s yo

u!) Published in a journal?

Awarded a scholarship?Started your own company?Went skydiving, climbed a vol-cano and video-blogged it all?

tell us!tinyurl.com/martelnewsletterinfo

send in pictures! martelnewsletter@gmail.com

prepared by Chef Derrix and the North Servery staff.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were a huge success, with the Martel’s Brewer Society announcing their very first release, the Martel Oktoberfest. “We sold our entire first brew within an hour. We’re now working on a Christmas ale, which will be ready in time for the holidays,” said Zachary Yeung.

As the night continued, bonfires and smores, supplied by resident associates Edward Caplan and Maria Tsakalis, enticed more and more students to stay and enjoy the fantastic ambiance. “It was a huge success,” said Denis Leahy, co chair of the Oktoberfest

Committee. “Our goal was to make this more open to alumni and associates, and I think we did our job of trying to make this a great and long lasting tradition.”

Without the help from the Associates, Alumni, Environmental, Food and Laundry, Spirits, Socials, and so many other committees and Martelians this Oktoberfest would have never been as successful.

We look forward to holding Martel Oktoberfest again next year, and we encourage all alumni, associates, and families to come.

—Tommy Nguyen (‘12)Oktoberfest Co-Chair, 2011-2012

all photos courtesy kay rodriguez

Clockwise, from left: a table of Martelians enjoy the evening’s Oktoberfestivities; Maria and the girls show off their Oktoberfest attire; tommy Nguyen (’12) live narrates the surprise pie-eating contest, won by Fourth Floor contestant, amy altchuler (’12).

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beer bike coordinators

the resident associates

We can hardly believe it’s been five years since we became resident associates at Martel. The time has gone by so quickly, and it has been such a rich and rewarding experience for both of us. One of the main reasons we decided to become RAs was the opportunity to invest in the lives of students. For us, relationships are one of the most important things in life. We have had the privilege of making and maintaining so many relationships at Martel. It truly is a family... our family!

Over the years it has also been exciting to see how Martel continues to grow and develop. There is always something going on with Martel… and as each year passes, we never know what we will be getting… new

students, new traditions, maybe even new RAs and Masters. We also continue to praise Martel for its tolerance and diversity… when we talk to RAs at other colleges, we both feel so fortunate to be at Martel.

This coming December marks another expansion of the Martel family, yet another change, one that is very new, and will add to the diversity mentioned: the birth of our new little son, Wesley Daniel Frey, due December 14th. We are looking forward to welcoming him in as the youngest Martelian ever. We couldn’t think of a better family for him, and we look forward to him having hundreds of big brothers and sisters.

The Martel community response for

our pregnancy and expected birth has been so supportive and positive. We can’t thank everyone enough for this. Having been married for 14 years, this was a big decision for us, and one we approached knowing we have the support of the Masters and Martel community. That makes this transition so much easier for us.

I think everyone already knows that we love Martel, and we love being RAs… the relationships and memories we share dramatically shape our lives. Now, with our new addition, we feel very fortunate that he will be born into the best college ever.

—Jeff and Stephanie

photo courtesy claire Mauvais

Martel’s 2012 Beer Bike coordinators have been selected. Chris Gray (’12), Jordan schermerhorn (’12), Helene Dick (’14) and Denis Leahy (’14) have pledged to bring glory—or at least the most raucous Willy Week events— to Martel.

On the final day of the fall semester, the Martel family gathered together to celebrate the beginning of the Holiday season. The event began with a buffet-style family dinner in the commons, complete with mouth-watering entrees such as maple-glazed ham!

Drinks and merriment continued well after dinner. The dress for the event was "Holiday Classy-Trashy" providing Martelians the option to dress up or dress down as they pleased. The event also included karaoke, a gingerbread house assembly line, and the traditional Martel Secret Santa.

—Helene Dick (‘14)Spirits Co-Chair, 2011-2012

Date: December 2, 2011LOCatiON: Martel Commons HOst: Spirits Committee

Goodbye, classes

Tastes like Rice VillageDate: September 10, 2011LOCatiON: Martel Commons HOst: Cultural Committee

The Cultural Committee, a combination of the former Innies and Outies Committees, started the year with a new event, A Taste of

Rice Village, featuring 8 local restaurants.The aim of this event was to bring a variety

of restaurants with different cuisines into a convenient setting for reduced price. It was a chance for new students to get an idea of the options around Rice that they may frequent on Saturday nights in the future. There were also plenty of upperclassmen who came out for a good dinner and enjoyed sampling some of the more unusual offerings.

Drawing from Saturday night staples, the dinner included tortillas and queso from Taco Cabana, pad thai from Thai Spice, pizza from Bombay Pizza Company, pita and hummus

from Pasha, black bean orzo pasta salad from Hungry’s, greek salad and grape leaves from Niko Niko’s, ice cream from Amy’s Ice Cream, and mini desserts from Ruggles. The food took over half of the commons. Each restaurant had its own table and sign. Some restaurants passed out fliers and menus.

101 tickets were pre-sold to the event for $5 each and a handful more were sold at the door. The committee hopes the event will become a Martel tradition.

—Charlotte Brown (‘14)Culturals Co-Chair, 2011-2012

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Howdy y’all!No, all Texans don’t really speak like

that. But when you’re talking about the best party of the year, it’s acceptable. In fact, it’s necessary. As with all other public parties, it’s held on the sundeck from 10pm-2am, complete with…the works. Which means: kegs, hay, horses, cowboys and girls, dancing, music, pictures, friends, Texas, and kegs (for those of age).

The biggest problem with this year’s Texas Party was the limited amount of time available to plan. For Texas Party, all databases for party personnel reset, so planning has to be done in the first five days of class.

Planning for a party includes certifying hosts, servers, and caregivers. The Alcohol Policy test must be taken and passed, and Caregiver Training done by the Wellness Center has to certify caregivers as well. Hosts, servers, and caregivers were certified for Beach Party, but over the summer were reset and had to be re-certified at the start of school. In addition to certifying people, logistics have to be set up, hay has to be found, private parties need to be thrown, and the DJ has to be signed on.

This year, Martel found a way to improve upon the incredible Texas Parties in the past by recruiting local dj, DJ Rockwell who spun on a DJ stand. As a professional, DJ Rockwell really took the party to a new level as was noted by the multitude of people singing praise and other residential college socials asking how they could get him to play at their party!

Texas party is always well-attended, but with the increase in undergrads, over 2,000 students came over to Martel to enjoy the start of a new semester, Texas style.

—Adrianna Chrestopolous (‘13)Socials Co-Chair 2011-2012

Socials throw semester’s first public partyDate: August 26, 2011 LOCatiON: Martel Sundeck HOst: Socials Committee

photo courtesy adrianna chrestopolous

the sundeck always serves as a popular party location during Martel’s Don’t Mess With texas party, featuring an elevated dance floor, hay barrels, and this year, the DJ station.

Tye-dye tailgate raises spirit and fundsDate: September 30, 2011LOCatiON: Martel Sundeck HOst: Spirits and Socials Committees

Around 150 Martelians came down to sundeck to enjoy Martel's first tailgate of the year this September.

Besides enjoying the food and beverages provided by the Socials, Martelians had an opportunity to produce some of their own custom gear.

The Spirits Committee sponsored Tie-Dye supplies and subsidized "MBYM" t-shirts, to encourage students to show their visible support for Martel.

A hundred shirts were sold, and Martelians also took advantage of the tie-dye to add some color to their own t-shirts, labcoats, and in one case, even a baby onesie!

—Helene Dick (‘14)Spirits Co-Chair, 2011-2012

tom Boyd (’12), Jake Keller (’12), Navtej Dhaliwal (’13) and Max stewart (’12) enjoy a classy afternoon of ties and martinis during Martel’s Mad Men-themed fall College Night.

Melissa teng/for speros