The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 22, 2002 Page: 2 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002
the Rice Thresher
Leslie Liu, Robert Reichle
Editors in Chief
Revitalizing
Outreach Day
Even though the Best Damn Day of Service Ever
didn't quite live up to its name, we applaud the Rice
Student Volunteer Program's efforts to improve its
service day.
RSVP completely re-envisioned the previously exist-
ing Outreach Day this year in an effort to attract new
participants and increase the amount of socializing
(See Story, Page 5).
One of the major changes instituted, the elimination
of sign-up sheets before the day of the event, seemed
like it might be a good way to make the program a little
less formal. It's a shame that this change also seems to
have contributed to the lower attendance this time
around. If sign-up sheets give a more concrete sense of
obligation to show up the day of the event, RSVP
should consider bringing them back.
Attendance may have been significantly lower this
year, but feedback was extremely positive from those
who did attend the event. Perhaps word-of-mouth
publicity will help boost attendance the next time
around.
It's good that RSVP is willing to do something as
daring as totally overhauling its biggest event. Hope-
fully organizers of future Best Damn Days of Service
Ever can build upon the lessons learned this year and
continue tailoring the service day to the changing
needs of Rice students.
Demolishing Wiess,
replanting fields
The old Wiess College building has stood its ground
for 53 long years. This week, Project Management
announced plans to finally demolish the structure as
soon as this summer (See Story, Page 1).
While some alumni or current Wiess students might
be sad to see the Motel 6-style building get torn down,
we think it should be demolished sooner rather than
later. The residential areas won't be usable for any-
thing other than substandard housing, and the com-
mons, while sound structurally, would be too expen-
sive to renovate.
There are currently no approved plans for the land
on which the Wiess building currently stands, mean-
ing that after the demolition the area will be empty and
a great spot to create more green space. Considering
how many new structures have sprung up around
campus over the past few years, this could be a much-
needed respite from the constant creation of new build-
ings.
Regardless of whether the space is turned into a
playing field or just sits unused, it'll be an aesthetic
improvement to campus.
We are somewhat saddened that the destruction of
the Wiess Commons will eliminate a potential location
for the new Campus Store. This means it will be that
much more difficult to find an on-campus location for
the store, but we hope an on-campus location will con-
tinue to be considered.
Old Wiess has seen more than its share of Rice
students walk through its doors, and it has lasted longer
than many would have believed. While current and
former students might remember the building fondly,
we hope that soon, IM sports participants will be able to
enjoy newly created green space — just think of it as a
giant Acabowl.
e>y pavip
-"win
WHeRe
\J 111 |\ f m 19 1 -
iluvntt
re I «■ •» n
it Twas a pay of Loose veRnacuLan
Very well then, I contradict myself
Slogans stuck in bumper-to-bumper mudslinging
If you don't agree with me, you are
a moron.
This is the attitude underlying
many arguments, messages and po-
sitions that adorn our T-
shirts, cars, bookbags and
key chains, and is not re-
ally too far off from actual
messages that appear ev-
erywhere.
Unfortunately, these
deliberately inflamma-
tory slogans are
replacing insightful
proclamations, and are
widely accepted as com-
mon "self-expression."
When I was in middle
school, shirts with slogans like
"Here's a quarter, call someone who
cares," and "If I got smart with you,
how would you know?" were popu-
lar. This self-centered attitude has
been continuing and spreading in
America to a now-prevalent self-
righteous attitude, which is present
almost regardless of one's stance on
any issue.
There is no better place to wit-
ness this than on our bumper stick-
ers. I'm not talking about "How long
do I have to be a grad student before
I can petition for tenure?" or "Honk
if you're illiterate." Bumper stickers
themselves are fine, but the prob-
lem comes when they cross the line
from thought-provoking to simply
provoking.
For example, "If men could get
pregnant, abortion would be a
sacrament!","Turn now or burn
later," and "The Religious Right is
neither," all express a definite point
of view, but to what end? The only
results are offending the other side
Ben
Home
and spitefully rallying likeminded
people; both serve to further pre-
vent dialogue and mutual under-
standing. Instead of "I think X," the
message is "If you don't
think X you cannot
possibly have seriously
considered the issue, or
you would have reached
my conclusion."
Expression of opinion
is far from the problem.
Bumper stickers, whether
simple or with clever
slogans, can be effective.
But witness the escalation
of hatred in the following
scenario.
First someone comes up with a
simple, faith-expressing bumper
decoration in the Christian fish. The
response is the deliberately offen-
sive Darwin footed fish. And the
counter-response is the even more
egregiousTruth fish swallowing the
Darwin fish. Whatever satisfaction
people get out of expressing their
beliefs like this is contrary to a world
of loving and tolerance and likewise
open-mindedness, at least one of
which values is presumably
advocated by either side.
Those offensive stickers are sadly
a rung above bitter pot shots like
"Hail to the thief," "Sore Loserman
2000," "Re-elect Gore in 2004," or
"GW Bush: not a crackhead
anymore." These deliberately insti-
gative and condescending slogans
might make the displayer proud,
but if anything other than a culture
of belittlement is the goal, these
bumper stickers are having very little
success.
And though those political stick-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Rice Program Council
criticism unmerited
To the editor:
The Thresher has apparently
become the university's foremost
authority on event planning. At least,
that's what the constant string of
staff editorials damning Rice
Program Council for every decision
it makes this year would have me
believe.
I'm not implying that there
haven't been any problems with this
year's formals. To the contrary,
things like erroneous directions are
completely in our control. We apolo-
gize for the inconvenience this
caused so many Esperanza-goers.
However, RPC cannot be blamed
for the unprecedented attendance
at Esperanza this year. More people
than ever before showed up for
Esperanza at NASA, and most had
an excellent time. We added extra
shuttles because the venue was so
far away, but there was no way to
predict that a little less than half of
the student body would attend this
event that normally draws around
800. The shuttles rented would have
been more than enough for 800, but
they couldn't handle 1,200. We apolo-
gize for the long wait that some
partygoers experienced, but the
shuttles were instructed to run as
long as necessary, and everyone
made it safely back to campus. In
reality, it was the wild success of
Esperanza and not a lack of plan-
ning that caused the Esperanza
shuttle fiasco.
As for Rondelet, by Feb. 5 the
formals chairs had already booked
a band, found a DJ and spoken with
the shuttle service. They had spo-
ken with the ticket printers and
glassware producers. Though they
had made many calls, there was a
lack of available venues for Rondelet
(many venues of adequate size are
reserved up to three years in ad-
vance) . On top of that, the student
body's behavior at past formals has
all but banned us from many of the
nicer spots for formals. Places like
the Natural History Museum have
told us we're not welcome there for
future events. When RPC President
Angela Durbin realized the difficulty
at hand, she stepped up and held an
extra meeting to take care of the
problem. By Monday of the follow-
ing week, the Radisson was
confirmed.
The Thresher didn't send a re-
porter to the RPC meeting on Feb. 5
to find out what actually happened.
Instead, they pieced together RPC
minutes to conclude that we hadn't
planned anything for the formal. We
were then charged as irresponsible,
and to ice the cake, the writers
brought up the Esperanza shuttle
See ESPERANZA, Page 4
ers have some minimal redeeming
value, what about stickers such as
"Men aren't pigs ... pigs are gentle,
cute creatures!" "Nuke an unborn
gay baby whale for Jesus," "God hates
gays," or "I love cats. Want to trade
recipes?" These stickers serve no
purpose except to perpetuate hate.
Not only do bumper stickers tend
to be purposefully assaulting, they
can also be cowardly. Instead of en-
gaging in discussion of viewpoints,
they foster a hostile environment
where people can hide behind 2,000
pounds of steel. Attitudes are even
potentially dangerous, with slogans
like "Go ahead and honk. I'm reload-
ing," or "I drive this way just to piss
you off."
Talk about road rage in the mak-
ing. Why do drivers of compact cars
think it's a good idea to sport a sticker
proclaiming "Stop Inbreeding! Ban
country music!"? Do they want to be
run off the road by a full-sized pickup?
Depending on our initial assump-
tions, we all come to many different
conclusions. So even if logic is ap-
plied, we must be aware that others
are beginning their own thought
processes from a different world
view.
Bumper sticker culture, where
everyone feels obliged to express
his viewpoint, is well ingrained, and
it doesn't look like it's going to
change. Sharing opinions is a good
thing, but expressing them in a re-
spectful and effective way is some-
thing we don't have enough of. Even
if you don't agree with me, I suppose
it's possible you might not be a mo-
ron.
Ben Home is a Wiess College senior.
CONTACTING THE
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 22, 2002, newspaper, February 22, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443178/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.