The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1970 Page: 2 of 8
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74e 6ed<f- for editor
Various aspects of the controversy over Karolyn Kendrick's
elegibility for candidacy in the Thresher Editor election have
implications going far beyond her particular case, and the new
Senate is to be commended for not completely ignoring this in
the confusion of their first meeting.
The most pressing implication is that a distinction has to be
made among the effects of disciplinary probation on three dif-
ferent things: being a candidate, being elected, and serving in
an elected office.<j
It is assumed that the Undergraduate Affairs Committee will
consider these issues severally when they try to clarify University
policy in these areas as they relate to the status of students ap-
pealing probation. Hopefully, the UAC will recommend an in-
terpretation that would make a successful appeal meaningful,
make proof of innocence sufficient for the restoration of all
rights and privileges, including holding of student office, while
retaining the power to bar the candidate from serving in office
if the appeal is unsuccessful.
Another implication concerns the nature of the office of the
Dean of Students. We have in Dean Wierum a person obviously
dedicated to carrying out the duties of his office, although in this
particular case he seems to feel that the authority and prestige
of his office are in jeopardy. In this, the offshoot of his first at-
tempt to deal with a form of student insubordination, he may see
the formation of ground rules that might alter his ability to per-
suade (or coerce) students in the future.
Wierum explained to the Senate that his power is derived
from his ability to act as, in his own words, a "judicial body":
He apparently has the right to place two students on proba-
tion, without trial, for blocking a hall—two students that he
could have walked around had there not been thirty other students
blocking the same hall (who were not placed on probation).
He apparently has the right to decide how long the proba-
tionary period will last: until June 1, 1971.
He apparently has the right to interpret University policy—-
as it pertains to the rights of the appellant and even as it pertains
to the right of the Senate to ask the UAC for clarifications of
University policy.
Since Dean Wierum has involved himself personally in this
case to the extent that he cannot admit the right of the Student
Senate to consult with the UAC about interpretation ,of policies
almost as explicit as English common law, he apparently lacks
the impartiality we would expect from a healthy "judicial body."
The solution to this problem may lie in transfer of interpre-
lationtil powers to some other office or committee or in policy
modifications that would allow the students themselves to deter-
mine the qualifications for office, but the solution does not lie
in the maintenance of an office that depends for its prestige on
complete separation from the policy-modifying machinery of the
University.
SIMMS
*7a clatifo ?u%i&dcctia*t
The SA Senate took a constructive step Tuesday when it
voted to withhold a final decision concerning the Kendrick eligibili-
ty case pending a report from the Committee on Undergraduate
Affairs, or the President, on whether a student on appeal should
he considered eligible to run for student office.' In the absence
of an official policy on the matter, and with the apparent con-
flicting interpretations rendered by Deans McEnany and Wierum,
it seems only fair that the issue remain open.
Dean Wierunrs statement that the Senate has no authority
in the matter brings into question the extent to which the student
body has Or should have control over organization which are ad-
ministered entirely by students.
Wierum was adamant in his declaration that the Senate has
110 valid authority in the matter other than to declare Kendrick
ineligible, re-open the filing for Thresher Editor, and hold another
election. Control over elected student positions has always rested
with the Student Association, and it must remain there if the SA
is to have any significance as the voice of the student body.
The situation is complicated by the fact that while students
have traditionally held a voice in judicial matters pertaining to
students, through the College courts and through the Honor Council
and Inter-College Court, the administration, and the Dean of Stu-
dents in this case, clearly retain jurisdiction over the final dis-
position of cases. Since only administrative bodies may assess and
enforce disciplinary probation and the conditions attendant to it,
it seems that they may legitimately claim an interest in matters
such as the Kendrick case.
But there is no formal institutionalized policy regarding the
status of a student who has chosen to appeal his probation sen-
tence through recognized channels. It is not clear, either, how
the appeal procedure is defined, particularly with respect to how
long it may continue.
In view of these factors, we recommend that the Student
Association Senate take the following actions in addition to clarify-
ing-the status of a student on appeal:
9 That they establish a cohesive and equitable process of ap-
peal avenues, clearly defined with respect to time intervals be-
tween sentence and filing of appeals.
0 That an individual on appeal be permitted to run for stu-
dent office and serve if elected as long as his appeal is under
consideration.
0 That all possible haste accompany the filing and disposition
of appeals.
0 That the appeal procedure clearly indicate whether a series
of appeals may be filed, on grounds of "new evidence," or whether
a comprehensive appeal must be filed at any point. Perhaps a
student judiciary body, specifically the Inter-College Court, be em-
powered to review so-called new evidence and determine whether
it constitutes adequate grounds for a new appeal.
0 That the Senate retain and exert its unequivocal control
over student elections.
MURRAY
'"What do you know about this business?' the
King said to Alice.
'Nothing,' said Alice.
'Nothing whatever?' persisted the King.
'Nothing whatever,' said Alice.
'That's very important,' the King said, turn-
ing to the jury . . . The White Rabbit interrupted:
'Unimportant, your Majesty means, of course,'
he said, in a very respectful tone.
'Unimportant, of course, I meant,' the King
hastily said, and went on to himself in an under-
tone, 'important — unimportant—unimportant—
important—' as if he were trying which word
sounded best.
Some of the jury wrote it down 'important,'
and some 'unimportant.' Alice could see this,
'but it doesn't matter a bit,' she thought to her-
self."
—Lewis Carroll
"You've gone to the finest school, all right.
(Mr./) Miss lonely, but you know you only used
to get juiced in it. Nobody's ever taught you
how to live out on the street and now you're
gonna have to get used to it.
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your
diplomat who carried on his shoulder a Siamese
cat. Ain't it hard when you discover that he
really wasn't where it's at, after he took from
karolyn kendrick
you everything he could steal.
You've never turned around to see the frowns
on the jugglers and clowns when they all did
tricks for you.
How does it feel, how does it feel—to be on
your own, with no direction home, like a com-
plete unknown, like a. rolling stone?"
"When you're lost in the rain in Juarez when
it's Eastertime too, and your gravitivity fails and
negativity don't pull you through;
When all the clowns that you have commis-
sioned have died in battle or in vain and you're
sick of all this repetition;
Everybody's shouting, 'Which side
on?'"
are you
"At midnight all the agents and the super-
human crew come out and round up everyone
that knows more than they do. And they bring
them to the factory where the heart attack
machine is strapped across their shoulders, and
then the kerosene is brought down from the
castles by insurance men who go check to see
that nobody is escaping to Desolation Row."
"The Titanic sails at dawn: When you ain't
got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
—Bob Dylan, He's said it all.
Sundt: disagrees with SIL booklet
To The Editor:
This letter is in response to
a pamphlet published by the
Society for Individual Liberty
and distributed by the Students
for, a Capitalist Society. It is
stated in the pamphlet, entitled
"What Causes War? Those who
Oppose War Must Discover its
Premises," that "Each person
has an inalienable right to his
own life." From this premise
the author concludes that "Man
should be free of the initiation
or threat of physical force." As
taxation to support "social wel-
Magid-
(Continued from Page 1)
tions play a large role in de-
ciding whether or not he has
met these criteria in teaching'
and the opinions of his colleag-
gues play a major role in de-
ciding _ whether or not he has
met the minimum standards in
research.
"The Faculty Council re-
spects the majority opinion of
the Chemistry Department in
this evaluation of the candi-
date for tenure. It is a depart-
ment recognized nationally for
its excellence in teaching and
research.
. "A question which has pre-
viously arisen in somewhat sim-
ilar cases is whether or not the
University should appoint per-
manent staff members who dis-
play truly unusual gifts in
teaching alone or in research
alone despite possible short
comings in other areas. At this
point it is important to recog-
nize the limitations imposed on
the university by size and fi-
nances. The number of tenure
positions even in a large de-
partment like chemistry is
small enough that it is not often
possible to afford the luxury
of having at the same time men
who are primarily teachers and
men who are primarily scholars
or researchers. Moreover the
teaching talent among* the ten-
ured members of the Chemistry
Department is not so rare that
a special exception to this gen-
eral restraint seems justifiable.
"By continuing its search for
the man who can excel in both
teaching and research the Chem-
istry Department can only en-
rich the academic opportunities
available to all the students at
Rice University."
Frank E. Vandiver
Chairman, Faculty
Council and
Acting Presid^t
fare projects" constitutes use
of the initiation or threat of
physical force on the part of the
government, the author states
that such taxation should be
abolised.
A nine month old impover-
ished child dying ofL hunger is
unable to feed himself by em-
bracing laissez faire capitalism,
and must hence turn to exterior
sources so that his inalienable
right to life is not violated. He
has two alternatives: he can
seek aid from private sources
or. from the government. If he
chose the government, he would
sanction the initiation or threat
of physical force, for that is
the only method the government
has to obtain funds unless hu-
man nature is such that enough
people will voluntarily contri-
bute money to secure the inal-
ienable right to life of all those
who need such aid. If he chose
private sources, he would again
rely on human nature volun-
tarily being- charitable enough
to provide for the helpless.
Hence, his entire argument re-
lies on the assumption that hu-
man nature is charitable, for if
it is not, either man's inalien-
able right to life, or the right
to be free from the initiation
or threat of physical force is
violated. In that case, he must
make a value judgment between
the two rules; i.e., he must de-
cide whether of not life is more
valuable than freedom from co-
ercion.
I personally do not believe
that human nature is sufficient-
ly charitable, and I believe that
life is more valuable than free-
dom from coercion; hence, I be-
lieve that taxation to support
social welfare projects is just-
ified. I am also opposed there-
fore to war, which view the
author of the pamphlet thinks
to be a contradiction to a be-
lief in social welfare projects, as
both war and social welfare
projects are based on the ini-
tiation or threat of physical
force.
PETER SUNDT
Baker, '73
Committee Report
(The following progress report received by the Thresher
explains the present situation in the process of presidential
selection. It indicates that the committee is not on a crash
program to have a president by September, but the possibility
remains that the present pace may produce that rather for-
tuitous situation.—ed.)
To the Student Body of Rice University;
The faculty-student advisory committee (Brotzen, Chap-
man, Price-Williams, Sass, Walters, Ward, Forristall, Parks,
and White) has pursued rigorously, as has the Board, a
suitable candidate for the Rice presidency.
The relationship between our committee and the Board
has improved steadily and could presently be described as
encouragin. The relationship between faculty and student
members of our committee is a model of cooperation and
openness. Dr. Brotzen deserves most of the credit for both
situations.
Our committee has investigated, at the request of the
Board, a large group of potential candidates. Almost all of
them were of the calibre one would expect a major university
to be interested in. A number of them looked particularly
promising on paper and we recommended that these men
be interviewed in person. So far, the promise to allow our
committee to meet with serious candidates has been kept.
We would not endorse any candidate without such a meeting.
It is hard to say when Rice will have a new president,
but next September is still a possibility.
Greg White, Chairman
Student Advisory Committee on Presidential Selection
10% STUDENT DISCOUNT
COLLEGIATE CLEANERS
A Friend of the Student for Over 25 Years
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page 2—the rice thresher, march 12, 1970
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Murray, Jack. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 12, 1970, newspaper, March 12, 1970; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245079/m1/2/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.