The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 22, 2002 Page: 4 of 20
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—
Support the dominant paradigm
THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002
China under shadow of oppresive legacy
On Thursday, Dec. 28, 2001,
American trade policy was changed.
President Bush signed a proclama-
tion conferring "permanent normal
trade relations" status on
China, America's former
communist rival.
Without the benefit of
hindsight, Bush's move
would appear to have been
a sensible one. Free trade
serves the interests of both
the United States and China
World Trade Organization
admission for China, com-
bined with firm U.S. sup-
port, is thus a sound move
economically. Yet it would
be the height of folly for Americans to
allow these recent events to lull them
into believing the Chinese govern-
ment is truly reformed.
Besides the wounds of
Tiananmen Square, still raw these
13 years later, there exists the mat-
ter of China's ongoing religious per-
secutions, most notably its continu-
ing harassment of the religious sect
Falun Gong. On Dec. 24, a mere four
days before Bush's proclamation,
six members of Falun Gong were
sentenced to a maximum of 12 years
in prison for disseminating litera-
ture concerning the beleaguered
sect. It was an unjust verdict that
surprised few.
Religious tolerance is a bulwark
of American democracy. Yet in spite
of our example, China remains ty-
rannical. With recent developments
we have forgotten those who have
perished in the name of their faith
Owen
Courreges
Ford was born in Brooklyn, New
York, in 1892 and ordained on
Dec. 5,1917 as a genuine man of the
cloth. His ill-fated association with
China began when he
became acquainted with
the Rev. James Walsh,
co-founder of the
Maryknoll missionary
group that operated in
East Asia.
Father Ford jour-
neyed with the
Maryknoll Missioners to
China in 1918. In time,
he established his own
seminary for the instruc-
tion of native clergy, and
oversaw the construction of an en-
tire mission. For his accomplish-
ments, Ford's mission was made a
vicariate in 1935 and he was named
its first bishop. As his episcopal
motto he selected the Latin word
condolere, which translates "to suf-
fer with." Bishop Ford's prophetic
choice was intended to show his
solidarity with the people of China.
Indeed, Ford would suffer with
his native brethren as China's ongo-
ing communist-inspired violence
proceeded. Beneath all of his work
there always lurked the menace of
communist aggression. The situa-
tion reached a fever pitch in 1950,
when red soldiers arrived at Ford's
mission, jailing his Chinese priests,
disbanding his convent and closing
his seminary.
Bishop Ford himself was ar-
rested just two days before Christ-
mas. Since he had not broken any
like Bishop Francis Xavier Ford. known law, the Communists con-
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
cocted their own offenses. The of-
fenses were as derisory as they were
grave, including claims that Ford
was in charge of a U.S. spy ring, bent
on overthrowing the "People's Gov-
ernment."
Once such mendacity had been
properly circulated among the popu-
lace, Ford was bound and paraded
through the streets as propagandists
rallied watching citizens to yell in-
vectives and to sometimes beat him.
This ritual was repeated in several
cities until Ford finally reached the
federal prison at Canton, where he
would spend his remaining days.
Conditions in the prison were
abjectly squalid. The daily grind of
privation and torture rapidly began
to wear upon the already frail bishop.
By January of 1952, Ford's hair had
turned white and he could no longer
walk. On Aug. 16 of the same year,
he finally succumbed to death from
his prolonged maltreatment. Their
initial goal achieved, the commu-
nists couldn't have been more
pleased.
America's annual trade reviews
of China may have ended, and per-
haps rightfully so, yet let us not for-
get what the Chinese authorities are,
or what legacy they inherit. As long
as religious toleration is met with a
scoff we must maintain our vigilance
with regards to Chinese oppression.
Trade offers great benefits to both
our nations, but freedom is greater.
Let the martyrs speak, and the people
shall hear. TTiey must hear.
Owen Coureges is a Will Rice College
sophomore.
ESPERANZA, from Page 4
problems to justify the fabricated
drivel in yet another editorial.
I can only conclude that the
Thresher wasn't really concerned
with how planning for Rondelet was
going. Instead, they thought it would
be appropriate to write a third, com-
pletely unfounded editorial com-
plaining about every idea RPC had
or action RPC took.
$20,000 events are difficult to
plan. Problems arise. This isn't an
excuse, but it's odd that in past years,
the Thresher hasn't found it neces-
sary to editorialize about the nor-
mal problems that arise in event
planning. Amazingly, Esperanzaand
Rondelet have still been relatively
successful since their inception with-
out these constant Thresher cri-
tiques. But this year, the Thresher is
fascinated with criticizing RPC at
every turn. Perhaps the editors
should relax, make reservations for
their pre-Rondelet dinners and leave
the event planning to people who
know what they're doing. And if you
personally feel that you'd like to
contribute to formals planning in
the future, RPC welcomes you at
any of our meetings. We're open to
all Rice students, and we welcome
any positive contributions.
Corey E. Devine
RPC president-elect
Thresher Lifestyles editor
Editor's note: Though the Thresher
did not send a reporter to the RPC
meeting, we assumed that the min-
utes of the meeting adequately sum-
marized what took place.
Merriam misses point
of antidrug advertising
To the editor:
While I agree with many of Gar-
ret Merriam's assessments of the
War on Drugs ("Anti-drug
advertorials misuse tax money,"
Feb. 15), I think his analysis of Super
Bowl anti-drug commercials is un-
duly colored by those beliefs.
Obviously, the target audience
for these commercials was not des-
perate crack fiends, but rather im-
pressionable youth who do value
patriotism enough for the message
of this commercial to sink in. Re-
gardless of how one feels about the
legal and international aspects of
the war on drugs, sending the youth
of America a strong and unequivo-
cal message should hardly offend
libertarian sensibilities.
Personally, 1 can think of a simi-
lar set of commercials, which are far
more propagandistic, less useful and
certainly more irritating to the
viewer. TheTruth.com has been run-
ning commercials for more than a
year in which brain-dead-looking
youth run around harassing and self-
righteously condemning "tobacco
executives." The funding for those
commercials, while not tax money
per se, did come from the settle-
ment reached between the govern-
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ment and tobacco companies.
If Merriam's true objection to the
commercials was that their premise
is "preposterous," he should have
addressed that point. Instead, he
concedes the "distinct possibility
that... [drug money] will end up in
the hands of terrorists," and
procedes to dedicate his later com-
mentary toward claims of moral
equivalency between our govern-
ment and terrorists.
Todd Makse
Research analyst, Jones Graduate
School of Management
Sid '01
Swim team supports
dismissal of seniors
To the editor:
It's unbelievable this discussion
has gone on this long. It's about time
the silent but undoubtedly qualified
party is heard. Robert Killeen made
a number of valid points in his Feb. 8
letter to the editor ("Dismissal of
swimmers justified"), and at the
same time his unique position within
the team allows him to make these
accurate judgments. English lec-
turerThad Logan, on the other hand,
may be capable of basing her per-
ceptions only on how she sees the
three senior swimmers in the class-
room, not in the pool ("Insults of
swimmers unqualified," Feb. 15).
With all other opinions aside, the
most important belongs to us — the
varsity swim team.
We fully support Coach Doug
Boyd's decision to remove seniors
Rachel Armstrong, Katie Hermann
and Beth Williams from the team
and recognize it as a step forward for
the program. While the decision may
have seemed harsh and extreme,
we feel it has brought the remaining
team members closer together.
We'd also like to comment on the
inappropriate and unfounded re-
marks made in the Feb. 1 staff edito-
rial, "Swimming with sharks." If any-
thing. the latest situation demon-
strates how much Coach Boyd cares
for our team. He had an extremely
difficult decision to make and he did
what he felt was best for us.
There is no logic in the editors'
accusations of Boyd treating his ath-
letes as "mere racing machines" and
"neglecting or mistreating the hu-
man side of his racers." If that were
the case, he wouldn't have cut two of
our All-Americans and a school
record holder.
Because we spend more time at
practice then we do in class each
week, our coach knows each of us
pretty well, certainly better than our
professors do. Additionally, we know
that he cares an awful lot about us,
too.
Our conference meet is less than
a week away and we're prepared to
represent Rice with pride. We may
be weak in number, but we're stron-
ger than ever in heart.
Rice women's varsity swim team
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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/m1/4/?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.