Page 6A — THURSDAY, March 11, 2010 Columbia Missourian

OURDECISION2010
COLUMBIA’S FOURTH WARD

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MISSOURIAN
Tracy Greever-Rice
602 Redbud Lane
PERSONAL
46 years old. She is married to
Glenn Rice and has one son, Char-
lie, 12, and one daughter, Kate, 18.
OCCUPATION
Associate director of community
and economic development at the
MU Office of Social and Economic
Data Analysis.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s degree in sociology
from MU, 1985; master’s degree
in community development from
MU, 1993; and a doctorate in rural
sociology from MU, 1997. She also
is pursuing a master’s degree in
journalism at the Missouri School of
Journalism.
BACKGROUND:
Member of the Columbia Planning
and Zoning Commission and the
Energy and Environment Commis-
sion, 1995-98; vice chairwoman of
the Columbia Vision Commission;
alternate on the Columbia Board
of Adjustment. She is treasurer of
the Quarry Heights Homeowners
Association and vice president of
the North Central Columbia Neigh-
borhood Association. She also is a
former member of the Benton-Ste-
phens Neighborhood Association.
ON THE WEB:
Greever-Rice’s campaign Web site
is tracy-4ward.com. She also has a
Twitter account at @tracy4ward.
“Tracy is a very
bright, very energetic
person who had
no hesitation
to approach (a
problem) from a
different manner.”
rex campbell
Former Fourth Ward councilman
Still responding to city’s lure
Greever-Rice brings service record to council race
By Patrick Sweet
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Tracy Greever-Rice wasn’t
always a civic-minded, informa-
tion-hungry woman.
Relaxing in her living room
chair, the Fourth Ward City Coun-
cil candidate related stories from
her childhood in the Tulsa, Okla.,
area, where she said her high
school peers mirrored the charac-
ters in the film “Dazed and Con-
fused.” It’s a movie Greever-Rice
said reminds her of her home-
town, a “late 1970s, rural, isolated
community, both debauched and
thoroughly Bible Belt.”
She also reminisced about col-
lege days spent working at Shake-
speare’s Pizza and laughed about
the number of times she has seen
the Grateful Dead perform.
Greever-Rice, 46, with a doctor-
ate in rural sociology, sat forward,
eager to talk about the wealth
of data coming out of the 2010
Census.
Sitting in her Cape Cod-style
home in the middle of the Quarry
Heights neighborhood, Greever-
Rice’s blonde curls cascaded over
her shoulders while she played
with her hands and searched for
the right words to describe why
she and her first husband, David
Dranginis, parted ways.
Greever-Rice will be the first to
admit that hers isn’t the most grip-
ping tale of adventure, heartfelt
romance or a tear-jerking rags-
to-riches story. She might also be
selling herself short.
Growing up in Tulsa
“Tulsa was booming when I
was growing up there in the ’70s,”
Greever-Rice said.
Although she was born in Empo-
ria, Kan., a town 100 miles south of
Interstate 70 with a population of
more than 18,000 according to the
1960 Census, Greever-Rice spent
the majority of her childhood in
and near Tulsa.
Greever-Rice smiled as her 12-
year-old son, Charlie, pulled out
her Claremore High School year-
books.
“Have you ever seen the movie
‘Dazed and Confused’?” Greever-
Rice said. “That’s what it was like
going to high school in Oklahoma
in the ’70s. It was like, man, I knew
those people.”
The teenage Greever-Rice,
she said, passed the time in high
school as a member of the march-
ing band and the newspaper staff,
and she generally stayed out of
trouble.
Of course, she was no perfect
angel. Greever-Rice remembered
her parents strictly forbidding her
from riding a motorcycle. She also
remembered the pain involved
when her friend Christie tried to
teach her how to ride one.
“I drove it right into the tree,”
Greever-Rice said. “I think (Chris-
tie) was more worried about the
motorcycle, but I ended up break-
ing my tailbone.”
She said she stood in pain for two
months because she was afraid of
getting in trouble.
“They were sympathetic but less
than thrilled with my behavior
(when they found out),” Greever-
Rice said. “I think they found it a
sort of fitting self-punishment.”
Greever-Rice left behind her
days as a Claremore High Zebra
in 1981 to study journalism at MU.
With a passion for writing, she
thought a journalism degree would
be a “good jumping-off point.” But
one summer class between her
freshman and sophomore years
quickly changed her direction.
“I took a sociology class with
Richard Hessler,” Greever-Rice
said. “It was fabulous. We got to
go out and do field work, and it just
really clicked with me.”
Greever-Rice graduated from
MU with a degree in sociology in
1985. But she has returned to the
Journalism School as a graduate
student with an emphasis in inves-
tigative reporting.
“If I retire here in the next 10
to 15 years,” Greever-Rice said,
“I think computer-assisted report-
ing will be the norm in the field. I
think if you put my existing work
and computer-assisted reporting
skills together that I’ll do quite
well.”
A love for music
“I’m not ashamed of being a
former Deadhead,” Greever-Rice
said with a grin. “Not even a lit-
tle.”
From 1985 to 1995, Greever-
Rice said she saw the Grateful
Dead about 30 times, a little more
than 1 percent of the roughly 2,300
shows the band played.
After graduating from MU,
Greever-Rice moved to Bos-
ton, worked for the marketing
researching firm Cambridge
Reports and “saw the Dead up and
down the East Coast.”
Music entered her life at a much
earlier age. She spent many nights
at the Tulsa Civic Center while
growing up and saw bands such
as Supertramp, Kansas and REO
Speedwagon.
“I’m not necessarily proud of
it musically,” Greever-Rice said,
“but all of those big sort of ’70s
and ’80s bands, that was it, that
was what we had to do.”
When she first made her way
to MU, Greever-Rice even host-
ed a radio show on KCOU called
“Country Morning.” The college
radio station gave her a card that
gave her free access to many of
the shows at the Blue Note.
Back to Columbia
It didn’t take Greever-Rice long
to sour on her job at Cambridge
Reports in Boston.
“I loved the research and hated
the marketing. It felt really sleazy
ultimately,” Greever-Rice said.
“Most of our clients were in the
utility industry and were building
nuclear power plants.”
She said it wasn’t so much nucle-
ar power that she didn’t like; it was
the firm’s practices.
“I had to spend a great deal
of my time explaining why my
company was doing push polling
to citizens who were rightfully
concerned about the impact of a
nuclear power plant in their com-
munity,” she said.
Greever-Rice’s love for research
persuaded her to pursue a master’s
degree in community development
and a doctorate in rural sociology
with an emphasis on community
economic development.
“It was kind of coincidental that
one of the best programs was back
in Columbia, in terms of commu-
nity development,” Greever-Rice
said.
Greever-Rice had planned to
join the Peace Corps when she
completed her master’s degree in
1993, but she became pregnant
with her first child, Kate, in 1991
and had to change plans.
Greever-Rice was also pregnant
with her second child, Charlie,
while she was finishing her doc-
torate.
“She got very morning sick
while trying to get her disserta-
tion done,” said Rex Campbell, a
former Fourth Ward councilman
and an MU professor of rural soci-
ology. “She ran right up next to the
deadline.”
Campbell, who is now Greever-
Rice’s campaign treasurer, said
it was interesting working with
Greever-Rice while she was his
research assistant.
“Tracy is a very bright, very
energetic person who had no hes-
itation to approach (a problem)
from a different manner,” Camp-
bell said.
Greever-Rice now works for the
MU Office of Social and Econom-
ic Data Analysis, an organization
that interprets data and releases
the Census for Missouri. Specifi-
cally, she analyzes demographic,
health and socio-economic data
on children, helps pen a report on
Missouri seniors and is beginning
research on the status of Missouri
women.
The 50,000-point
challenge
“It’s a lovely thing being in love
with your best friend,” Greever-
Rice said, shifting her eyes to her
husband, Glenn Rice.
Rice and Greever-Rice had
known each other before Greever-
Rice’s children were born, but it
wasn’t until after Greever-Rice
was divorced from her first hus-
band that the two realized the
potential of their friendship.
“We like to spend as much time
together as we can,” Rice said.
Often, there’s a Scrabble board
between them.
“Glenn and I have an ongoing
50,000-point Scrabble challenge,”
Greever-Rice said. “We’ve played
like 120 games. Our average is
within .05 points. The winner, the
first one to 50,000, gets to pick a
vacation anywhere.”
Greever-Rice said she’s win-
ning, with more than 30,000 points.
“Istanbul is high on my list for
places I’ve wanted to go. I think
it’s a fascinating place.”
Although Greever-Rice said she
and her husband try hard to spend
time together, their busy lives
sometimes prevent it.
Rice, who works for the MU
Division of Information Tech-
nology, serves on the Columbia
Planning and Zoning Commission.
That’s a familiar post for Greev-
er-Rice, who served a three-year
term from 1995 to 1998 on the
same commission. Greever-Rice
also is vice chairwoman of the
Columbia Visioning Commission
and an alternate on the Board
of Adjustment, which rules on
requests for variances from city
ordinances.
“I was raised in a family with
a strong value in public service,”
Greever-Rice said. “When I
bought my first house in Benton-
Stephens,, … when I started living
over there and being a homeown-
er trying to protect my property
value, I started to learn more and
more about land use and how it
works. It really fascinated me.”

Forum addresses ballot issues

By Alix Wiggins
and Kourtney Geers
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Less than a month before the
April 6 election, the League of
Women Voters and the Colum-
bia Public Library hosted a
forum Wednesday to provide
information on ballot issues
and open up conversation
between the community and
candidates.
Following City Manager
Bill Watkins’ presentation of
the city charter issues and his
response to questions from the
community, Columbia School
Board candidates had two min-
utes for their opening state-
ments. Then the floor was open
for questions.
Voters asked about virtual
learning, federal standardiza-
tion of textbooks and increasing
graduation rates. In response
to a question about intelligent
design being taught in class-
rooms, all candidates agreed
that religion is a private mat-
ter that should be kept out of
classrooms.
Andrew Twaddle, a retired
resident, was concerned about
parents ill-prepared to partici-
pate in their children’s educa-
tion process. He asked the can-
didates how they would try to
incorporate parents into deci-
sion-making. The candidates
responded:
Dan Holt: “It’s a daunting
task.”
Jim Whitt: For one unin-
volved parent, Whitt said he
signed a form so that he could
represent the child in school.
“More action of that nature
needs to be taken.”
Jonathan Sessions: “I think
where we need to start is by
Online
Mayoral candidates give their
views on security cameras and
other issues. To read more, go
to ColumbiaMissourian.com
opening our doors and making
them feel welcome.”
Phil Peters: Peters said there
should be a reciprocal relation-
ship between schools and fami-
lies and suggested “starting to
reach out to parents who are
ready to be reached.”
Jan Mees: “We have to make
sure parents are comfortable
coming to us.”
The next topic was the school
bond issue. The two sides were
given five minutes each to
present information. Although
the school district is by law
unable to directly advocate a
“yes” vote on the ballot issue,
Superintendent Chris Belcher
appeared at the debate as the
“pro” party. Robin Hubbard, a
frequent critic of the district,
represented the “con” position.
Belcher touched on the inter-
est of the community in com-
prehensive high schools and the
construction of a high school.
He emphasized the need
for the schools to prepare for
increasing student populations
and to “get ahead of the growth
curve.” He also stressed that
the money for the bond would
not call for a tax increase.
Hubbard called herself “the
loyal opposition.” She voiced
concerns about disengaged
students and introduced the
alternative possibility of group-
ing students by interest, as
opposed to the traditional edu-
cation model.
Unity: KU makes unity banner
CONTINUED from page 1A
Missouri high school. As
Murrell read up on coverage,
she was touched by the hurt
expressed in Web site com-
ment sections.
Murrell realized she could
use the MU/KU rivalry to send
a supportive statement. She ral-
lied a group of KU students to
paint a banner displaying the
following words: “We choose
unity. KU supports MU in the
promotion of diversity.”
The banner uses both MU
and KU colors, as well as green
and blue for the colors of the
Earth. Those colors represent
a society that doesn’t support
discrimination, Murrell said.
“I really hope that MU stu-
dents can recognize that we
are making a positive state-
ment in lending support, even
if we are Jayhawks,” Murrell
said.
At first, Murrell worried
about a lack of support from
Town hall
Who: The Chancellor’s Diversity
Initiative and Difficult Dialogues
What: Courageous Conversa-
tions about the Black Culture
Center Incident: Moving Forward
Where: Life Sciences Center
(1201 Rollins St.), Monsanto
Auditorium
When: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday
Why:
To discuss differing reactions
n
to the cotton balls scattered at
the Gaines/Oldham Black Cul-
ture Center
n To explore different perspec-
tives on the incident
n To discover why it’s so difficult
to talk about race
n To watch KU students present
a diversity banner to show sup-
port for unity

Health: Democrats working to rescue legislation

CONTINUED from page 1A
most expensive, lifesaving
treatment.
Pelosi made her comments
as Obama followed his cam-
paign-reminiscent Pennsylva-
nia trip of Monday with an
appearance near St. Louis,
pushing hard in the home
stretch of the marathon battle
to pass his signature domestic
legislation.
With his shirt sleeves rolled
up, Obama denounced waste
and inefficiency in the gov-
ernment’s health care system,
and he announced that he had
signed an executive order
directing Cabinet secretaries
and agency heads to intensify
their use of private auditors to
root out fraud.
House and Senate Demo-
crats are working on a com-
plex rescue mission for the
health care legislation that
appeared on the cusp of pas-
sage in late 2009, before Sen-
ate Republicans gained the
strength to sustain a filibuster
that could prevent final pas-
sage.
The current hope of the
White House and Democratic
leaders is for the House to
approve the Senate-passed bill
from late last year, despite
serious objections to numer-
ous provisions. Both houses
would then pass a second bill
immediately, making changes
in the first measure before
both could take effect. The
second bill would be debated
under rules that bar a fili-
buster, meaning it could clear
by majority vote and without
Democrats needing to amass
a 60-vote supermajority that
is beyond their reach.
Pelosi and other House
Democrats want to include
Obama’s proposed overhaul
of the nation’s student loan
programs in the second, fix-
it health care bill. That idea
has run into opposition from
several Senate Democrats,
and while officials said the
controversy was debated at
length in a closed-door meet-
ing Tuesday night, no decision
was made.
KU students because of the
schools’ rivalry. But most stu-
dents recognized the issue
was pertinent to society, not a
specific college. Since Sunday
night, students have signed
the banner as it circulated
through KU residence halls.
Murrell and other KU students
will present the banner to MU
today at a town hall meeting
aimed at discussing differing
perspectives on race.
MU and KU Chief Diversity
Officers Roger Worthington
and Fred Rodriguez, respec-
tively, were at a diversity offi-
cer conference together Tues-
day when Rodriguez received
an e-mail about the KU student
banner. He praised KU stu-
dents for sending a powerful
message that they won’t toler-
ate incidents like the one at the
Black Culture Center.
Like Murrell, Worthington
feels that students have a clear
idea of what situations call for
unity.
“I think this shows that stu-
dents have a strong sense of
what is most important when
incidents like this take place
— that coming together for
the common good is far more
central than any cross-insti-
tutional rivalry,” Worthington
said.