The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 21, 1968 Page: 3 of 8
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Waller calls LBJ presence a chance to learn
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To the Editor:
There have been, thus far two
letters and an editorial in the
Thresher dealing with the invi-
tation to President Johnson to
lead a seminar on political sci-
ence at Rice this spring—all of
them negative and all of them
stating as their primary objec-
tion Mr. Johnson's alleged mani-
pulations of the truth.
It is pointless to ask "What
is truth?"—the answer is rhe-
torical (and the question de-
serves more thought than that
required to dismiss it childlish-
ly with a barnyard epithet). The
goal of our university educa-
tion is supposedly the training'
of motivated and inquisitive
m inds in the discipline of
thought; we are to learn, be we
biologists, engineers, philosoph-
ers, architects, athletes, or po-
litical scientists, how to go
about thinking, not how to
think, or, least important of
all, what to think.
In my four years at Rice I
have learned by example from
brilliant and by counter-exam-
ple from common and from
mediocre intellects that the on-
ly way to think objectively is
to consider and pursue to un-
derstanding every facet of a
problem which can be distin-
guished and then to draw from
the consideration of the logical
integration of the parts a con-
clusion which is the truth in
the light of all facts obtain-
able.
You, Mr. Eahler, are correct
in stating that Lyndon John-
son is probably the best quali-
fied man available to lead a
seminar on political science be-
cause, no matter how far it
strays from the ideals of moral
law, fair play and "truth," one
bitter truth of politics is that
it is a profession whose practi-
tioners must often compromise
the ideal with the expedient
and the realities of established
power to effect change without
threatening the existence of
society or the continuation of
change. And President Johnson
is perhaps the greatest practi-
tioner of his profession that
this nation has produced.
To achieve the best possible
understanding of the political
workings of government in the
United States— either for the
understanding itself or for the
background necessary to mobil-
ize effective programs to
change them—I believe one
must listen to President John-
son, to Governor Wallace, to
Senator McCarthy, to Mr.
Cleaver, and to Mayor Daley
and to any other man whose
work or philosophy is pertinent
to the subject.
Prof calls for speaker tolerance
To the Editor:
During the seven plus years
of my association with Rice Un-
iversity, I have been extremely
proud of a policy which per-
mitted speakers of every sort to
appear on our campus. These
speakers have not always pre-
sented ideologies in line with
Colvert says we
'learn from lies'
To the Editor:
The two previous issues of
this paper have contained de-
mands in one form or another
that Mr. Johnson not be al-
lowed to speak when he arrives
on campus this spring. The two
ill-considered letters, besides
verging dangerously on libel,
substitute name-calling for rea-
son.
Regardless of one's opinion of
Mr. Johnson's politics, one
should not deny him the oppor-
tunity to speak on that basis
alone. However, the editor's as-
sertion is more serious. Al-
though he concedes Mr. John-
son's enormous political exper-
tise, he reasons that since Mr.
Johnson may have lied in the
past he may be expected to lie
again and thus waste our time.
How could this be so ? It seems
to me that the true student
of polities can learn from lies
as well as from the truth. For
this reason, as a student, I am
not ashamed to have Johnson
on campus. On the contrary, I
welcome the rare opportunity
to learn from this most political
of men.
CHRIS COLVERT
Hanszen '70
my own and it frankly has al-
ways seemed evident that a
large portion of the audience of
many of our speakers was a
dissenting audience, sometimes
violently so.
On some occasions, individ-
uals and groups would gladly
have screened out speakers con-
sidered to be highly objection-
able individuals, but a liberal
university policy prevented such
action.
Regardless of the good or bad
reputation of a visitor, very
little "association" with him can
be claimed on the basis of an
invitation to speak or deliver
a one-week seminar on a uni-
versity campus. If this possibili-
ty of such association did exist
to any degree, I am certain that
our list of past visitors would
not read as it in fact does.
All of the shame, indignation,
and-- other righteous reactions
to LRJ's spring visit to Rice
which have been published in
The Thresher seem to be an ex-
ample of unwillingness to par-
ticipate in the tolerance that
the students demand on behalf
of their own interests from the
university superstructure which
they consider to be monolithic,
arbitrary and insensitive.
I would hope simply in this
instance and in the future that
the same atmosphere of toler-
ance which has traditionally
been mustered for controversial
campus visitors would prevail
among the university communi-
ty at large to at least the same
degree that it has been observed
by the administration of Rice
University.
JAMES A. CASTANEDA
Professor of Spanish
I certainly would not feel
shame at having attended a uni-
versity whose quest for truth
and academic excellence leads
it to seek the instruction of men
best qualified in their profes-
sion to teach, no matter what
their philosophies might be. (I
would not feel shame if the on-
ly motive for the invitation
were to garner prestige to the
institution, for, although I could
not feel pride, the university
would have inadvertantly given
me the opportunity to learn.)
If President Johnson's teach-
ing style is the same as that
of conducting the affairs of
state, what of it—we have the
opportunity to observe the man
as it were in vivo, an opportuni-
ty many biologists and geolog-
ists cherish in their own work.
I hope my mind and the minds
of others would not be so weak
or so insecure as to seize on
the words or charisma of any
single man.
What most disturbs me about
the article in the Thresher, how-
ever, is the fact that two pres-
ent students in the best possible
position to learn more about
their world and a former stu-
dent whose mind should have
been trained to embrace such
opportunities have determined
that part of this world should
not be available either to them
or to anyone else.
It is almost pathetically iron-
ic to realize that the age-old
intolerance and lack of effort
at understanding so long the
characteristic of the thought of
the Right has apparently en-
gendered a new and equally
odious intolerance and lack of
effort at understanding in the
thought of the young Left.
Were it not for the fact—and
this is the hardest, bitterest,
Davies differs on
anfi-LBJ sentiment
To the Editor:
Members of the Rice com-
munity should feel shame, not
pride, that their campus news-
paper can come up with such a
narrow-minded editorial as ap-
peared last week on the subject
of Lyndon Johnson's invitation
to teach at Rice.
I am not willing to make such
sweeping generalizations on thq.
subject of the President's suc-
cess in office or his personal
integrity as does Mr. Bahler.
Perhaps Mr. Bahler is right, but
please let us not deny other
people the right to make up
their own minds. Johnson pre-
sumably accepted the invitation
on the assumption that some-
where in the Rice student body
is an open mind, willing to make
judgements only after hearing
all the available evidence. I
hope he was right.
If Mr. Bahler is indeed cor-
rect, and Johnson is really Sa-
tan himself, I still see every
reason to attend the lectures, if
only to see his horns and tail,
and maybe to pick up some nifty
recipes for brimstone brownies.
PETER LLOYD-DAVIES
Dept. of Economics
Rice administrator accuses editor of 'bad manners'
To the Editor:
Your editorial, "Johnson,
Rice and the Truth," is in my
judgement a reckless and irre-
sponsible piece of journalism.
To call any man a "liar" is se-
rious business, but to make
such a statement without suf-
ficient proof is bad manners.
Being a hopeless romantic, I
am afraid that I am quite proud
that Mr. Johnson will lecture at
Rice. Regardless of what you
may think of him personally, he
has some valuable experience
which he can impart to anyone
who is interested in hearing
him.
In any case, Mr. Johnson will
not be an office holder when he
visits the campus next Spring.
To embarrass the man publicly
would be in poor taste.
RICHARD DINI
Ass't. to the Pros,
for Development
and most important truth our
generation must face—that our
American political system has
failed too long too many of our
citizens and too many of the
citizens of the other nations of
the world and that the only
course left for the preservation
of society (and perhaps of
mankind) lies not simply with
blind toleration but with under-
standing and dialogue among
all sectors of human society, the
irony would be almost laugh-
able.
STEPHEN F. WALLER
Lovett, 'GO
Kroyer opposed fo
Johnson nonsense
To the Editor:
What is all this nonsense
calling for student protests
against the forthcoming lec-
tures by President Johnson? I
don't agree with the man's pol-
itics either, but I would be im-
mensely grateful for any oppor-
tunity to participate in a first
person discussion with a man
who has attained the Presidency
of the United States.
Those of you who are pro-
testing President Johnson's
coming are assuming the nega-
tive human trait which you so
clearly attribute to him, namely,
a closed mind. If you people
don't want to hear President
Johnson, don't go to his lec-
tures; but, don't deprive the
rest of us of this fantastic
opportunity.
STEPHEN KROYER
Baker '72
Harold's Garage
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the rice thresher, november 21, 1968—page 3
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Bahler, Dennis. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 21, 1968, newspaper, November 21, 1968; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245041/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.