The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 51, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 26, 1964 Page: 3 of 10
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THRESHER
SA President Opposes Senate Amendment
- That the Student Senate is badly in need of reorganization is
obvious even to the most casual observer of student government
at Rice. It is because the need is so pressing that I hesitate to
speak against the proposed amendments. However, after careful
thought and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that more
harm than good will come from ratification of these constitutional
changes.
For the Senate to serve the Rice student body in a meaningful
way, it must define an important area for its efforts and then
devote its full attention to work in that area. Clearly, that sphere
must not conflict with the aims or programs of the colleges and it
must have meaning for all Rice students.
Such an area is that which deals with the questions of educa-
tional policy, tuition, courses, major requirements, examinations,
the various university curricula, individual courses, library needs
and inquiries into the graduat^ program. These are questions that
have direct impact on all members of the Student Association
regardless of college affiliation. These are questions that will
be even more significant as the University grows.
If the Senate is unable to find direction and purpose in such
areas is should be dissolved. This "make or break" situation will
come to be only if the Senate is free of the college domination
that clutters and confuses it with trivia and meaningless detail.
The Seriate is now college dominated. Under the new amendments
it would be still more the lackey of the colleges, still more the
center for college "busy-work." The greater this entrenchment in
college trivia, the greater the obstacle is to a constructive Senate.
In denying the Senate a chance to strike out on its own, we are
denying ourselves the opportunity to have a forceful and direct
voice in questions that are basic to our education.
Not only do these amendments thwart any Senate efforts to
move forward, they ignore the need for off-campus and graduate
student representation. As things now stand, the off-campus stu-
dent is virtually unrepresented. Not closely associated with his
college, he is neither represented by the college nor is he given
any real chance to win a Senate seat. The graduate student is
truly ignored. He does not even have the nominal representation
of the off-campus student.
As the graduate program expands—as we are informed it will
—the problems and questions of graduate education will increas-
ingly bear on all members of the Rice community, the undergradu-
ate not excepted.
These questions will demand comment and discussion. Who but
graduate students should represent the graduate divisions of the
• University? Why then a Senate with only college representatives?
Don't these groups have the right to express themselves on matters
that pertain to their education in the most immediate sense ?
Haphazardly cutting Senate membership is not the answer
to Senate problems. It is especially an unsatisfactory answer when
it means that the Senate—further submerged in the muck of col-
lege "busy'-work"—is prevented from finding new direction. It is
an unsatisfactory answer because it ignores the need for repre-
sentation from areas other than the colleges. Because I sincerely
believe the proposed changes are a step in the wrong direction,
I urge you to vote against the constitutional amendments this
Friday. —MIKE JAFFE
College Presidents Favor Senate Change
It has become painfully obvious to the Student Senators, as
- it- should be to anyone who reads about the activities of the Senate,
that something is drastically wrong with, the Student Senate. It is
true that the present Senate is relatively inocuous, but it is even
detrimental to the extent tha so much time and energy of student
leaders is consumed and very little is achieved.
In an effort to improve the structure and function of its organ-
ization, the Senate has proposed several changes in its Constitu-
tion which must meet with 3/4 approval of the Student Body to be
adopted.
There are two main faults of the Senate:
1) In the presence of.a developing college system, the Sen-
ate has very little to do.
2) Its large size tends to cause the meetings to drift into
useless debate.
The proposed changes are an attempt to remedy, in part at
least, these two outstanding faults. They are as follows:
1) The colleges, which have clearly become the dominant
forms of student government on campus, are defined as independent
organizations and are given complete jurisdiction over college af-
fairs. It is presently stated in the Constitution, that when con-
sidering college business "The Student Senate shall endeavor to
obtain a solution that is agreeable to those colleges coneeimed."
Hopefully this proposal will direct the Senate's efforts to
administrative matters (regulating publications, relations with
other schools, Student Center Board, etc.) and to matters that
pertain to all students (Homecoming, Committees on Tuition, Edu-
cational Policy).
At present it does not appear that the Senate can function as
an Inter-College Council. There is a need for inter-college com-
munication and^planning. This need has been largely satisfied this
year. It is the unanimous opinion of the College Presidents that
the Senate is not the body to handle these matters.
2) The proposals concerning size eliminate the position of
Council-man-at-Large, whose duties can be easily assumed by the
Vice President, reduce each college's representation to two mem-
bers, and delete the-Freshman Class President.
Although each college will be able to determine its own dele-
gates, it rs likely that the College President will not be one of
them, as he is now. He has too many duties in his college. The
President, as the past has shown, is not needed at the meetings
to "commit" his college to Senate action. Since the Freshman Class
President is only on the Senate for three months between his
election and the new Senate, it was felt that his membership was
,^pt necessary. Q>
Eventually, when there are seven colleges, each college's *rep-
(Continued on Page 4)
And Sounds
The current upswing in ad-
ministrative empire-planning,
with its occasional p.r. sops to
ah eager outer-sphere of scav-
engers in this academic firma-
ment, has long elicited interest
among Rice studentry.
But our information-gather-
ers have all too often returned
from the mountaintop fired with
the zeal of a visionary new
faith, yet with lips sealed be-
cause the neo-decalogue is "not
for publication." Alternatively,
the agents descend from the
heights faithless and disheart-
ened because they dreamed not
the dream, and heard no voice.
In this light, we present the
following, gleaned from a
parchment we furtively pocket-
ed while meandering through
the stainless-steel Lovett Hall
vault:
"Some daring few have dis-
tinguished themselves from the
masses by expressing curiosity
over the new men's college.
While such intellectual aspira-
tions are to be lauded in prin-
ciple, the aspirations qua as-
pirations display a disturbing
tendency on the part of some to
contemplate concepts, thoughts,
words, deeds, and/or omissions
which have never heretofore
been revealed or alluded to by
the Charter, tradition, or Ad-
ministrative Bulk.
"With the power vested in us,
we therefore formally declare,
said students, and their writ-
ings, tests, and lab reports—in
toto, to be in error; and their
semester grades forfeit to the
Administration. If anyone hear
these things, and, comprehend-
ing them, profess them not, let
him be anathema. Were it the
province of man to think, the
Diety would have given us
brains."
We shall not venture to dis-
agree. Let galoshes be your ban-
ner and this your cry: "Blessed
are they who, on seeing no one
and hearing nothing, believed
it."
Anyhow . . .
The Alley sallies forth into
the desert tonight with "The
Three Sisters," Chekhov's clas-
sic. Helping hands will be wel-
comed at the box office to fill
the till and stave off panic-
s t r i c k e n, financial backers.
Strike a blow for financial au-
tonomy.
Opening at the Alray this
week is "The L-Shaped Room,"
which presents Leslie Caron and
Tom Bell in a four-sided tri-
angle. Life, death, and the ver-
ities: a good show withal.
The Rice Payers and G.B.S.
conspire this weekend to pro-
duce "Androcles and the Lion,"
wherein animal benefactors tri-
umph once again. Haraman Hall,
Friday through Sunday.
If all else palls, hang up your
beetle wig and study.
—CHARLES DEMITZ
with
Mk Mnan
0Author of "Rally Round the Flag, Boys!"
and "Barefoot Boy With Cheek",)
THE SLOW RUSH
Illustrated below is the membership pin of a brand-new na-
tional fraternity called Signa Phi Nothing. To join Signa Phi
Nothing and get this hideous membership pin absolutely free,
simply take a pair of scissors, cut out the illustration, and paste
it on your chest.
Let me hasten to state that I do not recommend your joining
Signa Phi Nothing. The only thing I recommend in this column
is Marlboro Cigarettes, as any honest man would who likes
good tobacco and a good filter, whose heart is quickened by a
choice of soft pack or Flip-Top Box, and who gets paid every
week for writing this column.
I am frankly hard put to think of any reason why you should
join Signa Phi Nothing. Some people, of course, are joiners by
nature; if you are one such, I am bound to tell you there are
any number of better organizations for you to join—the Cosa
Nostra, for example, or the Society for the Placing of Water
Troughs in Front of Equestrian Statues.
it otioiLT'
But if you insist on joining Signa Phi .Nothing, let me give
you several warnings. First off, it is the only fraternity which
admits girls. Second, then.' is no pledge period; each new mem-
ber immediately goes active. Perhaps "inactive" is a inure ac-
curate word; there are no meetings, no drives, no campaigns,
no sports, no games, no dues, no grip, and no house.
The only thing Signa Phi Nothing has in common with other
fraternities is a fraternity hymn. In fact, two hymns were sub-
mitted to a recent meeting of the national board of directors
(none of whom attended). The first hymn goes:
Signa Phi Xolhing,
Shilling slur,
I low we wonder
If unit on.
The second hymn, rather more poetic in content, is to be
sung to the tune of Ai*> Spr>wh '/.uruUtmlra:
A 1 > at nwi /■-: a cow,
A road in a lon.r,
When noun < <■'//>uj rhow,
1\< ini ml'i r lh> m< in.
Pending the next meeting of the national board oi direr-
(which will never lie held) members are authorized to
either hymn. Or, for that matter, Fn m --i.
Perhaps you are wondering why there should be siieb a. if i-
ternity as Signa Phi Nothing. 1 can give you an answer — au
answer with which you cannot possibly disagree: Signu I'hi
Nothing Jills a in ll-nudai goo.
Arc you suffering from mental health? P; logic distorting
your thinking? Is ambition encroaching on y>ur native sloth?
Is your long-cherished misinformation retreating bet ore a >ea
of facts? In short, has education caught up with you?
If so, congratulations. But spring is upon us and the sap is
rising, and the mind looks hack with poignant longing to the
days when it was a puddle of unreason.
If—just for a moment—you want to recapture those care-
less vaporings, that warm, squishy confusion, then join Signa
Phi Nothing and renew your acquaintance with feekles-uess.
We promise nothing, and, by George, we deliver it!
(P 11)04 Max Siiulman
* * *
We, the Ttiakers of Marlboro Cigarettes, promise smoking en-
joyment, and ue think you'll think ire deliver it—in all fil'ty
stales of this Union. Marlboro Coihitry is where yon are.
LEARN the LANGUAGE
of
SAVINGS
MARGIN: The excess of collateral over the amount of the loan for
which it is pledged.
m
6135 KIRBY DRIVE
5225 BELIAIRE BIVO.
HOUSTON, TEXAS
''No one has ever lost a penny in an insured savings account" *
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Keilin, Eugene. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 51, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 26, 1964, newspaper, February 26, 1964; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244909/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.