Survey results taint Austin's image, but helps boost Houston's

[pineda]

story found on chron.com

Meanwhile, Houston's Rice University was taking full credit for its ranking: No. 1 in the nation for best quality of life. The designation is based on students' opinions of campus beauty, safety, location and their overall happiness and dealings with the administration.

"Between those two rankings, I'll take ours," said Rice President David Leebron.

The ranking is a coup for Houston, a sprawling urban behemoth whose heat, humidity, traffic and aversion to zoning have consistently landed it at the bottom of quality-of-life surveys measuring everything from fitness to ease of driving around town.

Rice students have long enjoyed the campus' elegant architecture, its proximity to Hermann Park and the museum district, what Leebron calls an "idyllic oasis in the center of the nation's fourth largest city."

But he said university officials have been working harder to acquaint students with the rest of Houston, even taking hundreds of students to the opera and the symphony.

"Very few universities can offer the quality of life that being in a city the size of Houston offers with a campus that has almost as many trees as students," Leebron said.

The private school's intimate setting, with an undergraduate population of just 2,900, helped it achieve other top rankings: No. 3 for best overall undergraduate academic experience and No. 1 for interaction between students of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

The private school's intimate setting, with an undergraduate population of just 2,900, helped it achieve other top rankings: No. 3 for best overall undergraduate academic experience and No. 1 for interaction between students of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Surprised that Rice beat UH in "interaction between students of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomoic backgrounds".

Rice is a diverse place, but for at least several years, UH has been described as the most diverse research university in the US.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Surprised that Rice beat UH in "interaction between students of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomoic backgrounds".

Rice is a diverse place, but for at least several years, UH has been described as the most diverse research university in the US.

I always thought UofH was more racially diverse than any other school in Houston. I ALWAYS knew Rice was and is number one and now that the secret is out, im afraid the gene pool may get tainted at my beloved former school ;)

[TheNiche]

Surprised that Rice beat UH in "interaction between students of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomoic backgrounds".

Rice is a diverse place, but for at least several years, UH has been described as the most diverse research university in the US.

I've always heard UH described as the 2nd most diverse school. But then, I've always questioned how 'diversity' is measured. As far as I'm concerned, diversity is something that approximately matches the population bases of a school's source regions. The last time that I was in UH's business school, the overwhelming majority of students were Asian, followed by Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks. UH draws primarily from the Houston area, which is only about 6% Asian. Kind of a disparity there.

But then, this Princeton Review survey was supposedly measuring the "interaction between students of different..." That is a whole other matter from quantitative 'diversity'. They probably tried to measure it using soft survey questions that were opinion-based. Also, Rice is one of those really picky schools that actively tries to mold its student body by selecting quotas of people from various categories. They're actually cutting back on Asian enrollment and have enough undergraduate scholarships that even the least affluent can afford it if they are accepted.

[Montrose1100]

Walking around the UH is like going to the Airport in terms of diversity.

Oh, and don't take that the wrong way.

[Trae]

I never realized that about UH. I want to go there, though.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

UH's racial/ethnic makeup (2005):

African-American - 13%

Asian-American - 19%

Hispanic - 19%

International - 7.8%

Native American - 0.2%

White - 39%

Unknown - 2%

City of Houston racial/ethnic makeup (2000)

African-American - 25%

Asian-American - 5%

Hispanic - 37%

Native American - 0.2%

White - 31%

Other - 0.1%

[TheNiche]

UH's racial/ethnic makeup (2005):

African-American - 13%

Asian-American - 19%

Hispanic - 19%

International - 7.8%

Native American - 0.2%

White - 39%

Unknown - 2%

City of Houston racial/ethnic makeup (2000)

African-American - 25%

Asian-American - 5%

Hispanic - 37%

Native American - 0.2%

White - 31%

Other - 0.1%

This is kind of strange, actually. I can remember many courses where Asians (and I'd include Indians and Middle Easterners in that general category) were easily in the majority. Maybe the white folks just didn't show up as often or the stats count Middle Easterners as white. Not sure, but I'm not kidding about my past observations.

Stats for the B-School are below:

African-American - 9.6%

Asian-American - 26.2%

Hispanic - 17.7%

International - 9.0%

Native American - 0.3%

White - 35.1%

Unknown - 2.1%

Its kind of interesting to compare patterns of racial preference for various colleges. For instance, Asians have a very high share of Business (26.2%), Natural Sciences & Mathematics (29.6%), Optometry (34.4%), and Pharmacy (38.5%), but only a tiny share of Social Work (2.8%).

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Its kind of interesting to compare patterns of racial preference for various colleges. For instance, Asians have a very high share of Business (26.2%), Natural Sciences & Mathematics (29.6%), Optometry (34.4%), and Pharmacy (38.5%), but only a tiny share of Social Work (2.8%).

This is due largely in part to racism. Immigrants from those areas had to be the cream of the crop. Very intelligent with a lot to offer the USA in education and employment status. My mom would fall into your category of Asian, shes from the Middle East. The children of intelligent parents will more than likely follow in thier footsteps. I know growing up in my house, education was PARAMOUNT with a STRONG emphasis on math and science. Whne i hear people say that the Asians are all so smart and maybe we need to import more to bring the test scores in our schools up, i shake my head.......

[Trae]

I think generally when people think of Asians, they think of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. To a lot of people, the Middle East is just another continent.

[TheNiche]

I think generally when people think of Asians, they think of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. To a lot of people, the Middle East is just another continent.

To be clear, I generally agree with you, but since the Census and other demographic counts rarely break out a category for Middle Easterners or Indians, I just tend to lump them in with the proper geography. Doesn't make it right, but that's all I've got to work with in this case.

[RedScare]

To be clear, I generally agree with you, but since the Census and other demographic counts rarely break out a category for Middle Easterners or Indians, I just tend to lump them in with the proper geography. Doesn't make it right, but that's all I've got to work with in this case.

Actually, the US Census DOES make a distinction. Indians and Pakistanis are considered "Asian". However, Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Middle Easterners and Lebanese are considered "White".

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Actually, the US Census DOES make a distinction. Indians and Pakistanis are considered "Asian". However, Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Middle Easterners and Lebanese are considered "White".

This statement is a hornets nest just waiting to burst...........

[TheNiche]

Actually, the US Census DOES make a distinction. Indians and Pakistanis are considered "Asian". However, Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Middle Easterners and Lebanese are considered "White".

Ah, well thank you very much Red.