The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 5, 1981 Page: 4 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THRESHING-IT-OUT
continued from page 3
an attack on one's integrity and
character. Secrecy is critical to the
well-being of the better than 50%
acquitted students. And
ultimately, it is thse students we
should be concerned with.
Finally, the most ludricrous
point — number four. If a student
can't find about mechanisms and
procedures without being in a trial
t hen someone on the Thresher staff
must have at some time been
brought up on charges. Otherwise,
how could the editor have enough
knowledge of mechanisms and
procedures to call for their reform.
I hus, Mr. Dees should either
forget his contention of
overwhelming secrecy or back
down from his claim of point four.
The editor of the Thresher is in
the unique position of not letting
the victims of his attacks reply in
the same issue as the attack is
printed in. I would hope in the
future this policy would be revised,
it it is not, 1 hope it will at least be
exercised more responsibly.
Kenneth S. Klein
SRC '81
Dees replies
The letters of Mr. Mays, Ms.
McCauley and Mr. Klein make
some interesting assertions to
which I feel it is appropriate for me
to reply.
1. Wh ether or not the
ombudsmen Mr. Klein inter-
viewed during his tenure on the
Universtity Court were adequately
familiar with the Honor System to
perform their duties effectively,
there have been ombudsmen who
have admitted that they did not
know what they were doing when
ther started their job.
If the role of the ombudsmen is
to be redefined as I argued in my
editorial last week, it need not
become an adversarial position, as
Mr. Klein suggests. The problems,
however, that Mr. Mays and Ms.
McCauley present are legitimate
< oncerns to which, I admit, I have
no immediate answer. But I do
believe an answer can be found.
2. Since the Honor Council
requires a unanimous vote of its
members, there is at least one
check on the ability of one
individual to convict someone, as
Mr. Klein points out. But recent
councils have demonstrated that
the system doesn't always quite
work that way. If the right kinds of
people are elected to the council,
no problems arise. But the
constituents of the Honor Council
have no way to judge whether their
representative is performing
satisfactorily and therefore, no real
way to make an intelligent vote.
Thus, the potential for such
problems to arise is high.
3. Eliminating all of the mystery
and secrecy surrounding the •
Honor Council would not lead to
public lynchings; people here, I
hope, would react better than that.
(Where Mr. Klein gets his statistics
to make this point is unknown to
me; the Honor Council abstracts
do not suggest any of the figures he
cites.) Nevertheless, I did not argue
that all secrecy must be eliminated.
Under the present system,
however, the specific procedures
are, for the most part, unknown. /
don't believe that reading the
Honor Council Constitution and
By-Laws and the the abstracts (as I
have done) delineates the system
well enough for anyone to
understand what will happen if he
is brought before the council. Tales
of fear and intimidation in the
procedures themselves are far from
unknown.
I, for one, do not feel that I know
enough about the council to argue
for specific changes in its
procedures. What I do know came
from conversations and interviews
with members of previous councils
who were willing to make general
comments and criticisms about
how the system works and how it
can work belter. Thus, I do not feel
/ am unjustified in making general
criticisms, while still maintaining
that the system is plagued by an
excess of secrecy.
Kolenda extorts
To the editor:
Dan Joynton's letter in last
week's Thresher raises an issue of
considerable importance. His plea
that porn and libel should not be
printed in misclass has wider
ramifications. He is right in saying
that the harm of such items may be
greater than at first seems. I too
had read the comment about Dr.
Parish printed in misclass the week
before his death, and my
misgivings were similar to Dan's.
There is a general dimension about
public statements made on the
pages of the Thresher and also on
CHARIZMA LTD.
2418 University Blvd.
526-0309
• ANTIQUE JEWELRY & ACCESSORIES,
GEORGIAN, VICTORIAN, ARTS
NOUVEAU & DECO, CAMEOS, ENAMELS,
HAIR, MOSAICS, RINGS & PENDANTS
• ESTATE LINENS & LACE & VINTAGE
CLOTHING, TABLECLOTHS, SPREADS,
COLLARS & TRIMS IN SHADOW
EMBROIDERY, EARLY CREWEL, POINT
DE VENISE, BOBBIN, IRISH CROCHET &
BATTENBERG LACES
• ETHNIC AND PRIMITIVE ART
STATUARY, MASKS & FIGURES, PRE-
COLUMBIAN, CONGO, YORUBA,
SENUFO AND BAMBARA
Monday-Friday 10-6; Saturday 12-5
the walls of such public places as
elevators and toilets.
We now have a dignified word
for anonymous scribblings:
graffitti. The approving
connotation of the word stems
from its serving as a vehicle for
sharing witty and satirical sayings.
Unfortunately, like other media,
this facility is open to abuse by
people whose object not to amuse
but to hurt. Sometimes the hurt
they mean to inflict is directed
against particular persons, but
more often it is a generalized
assault. One target of such an
assault is sexuality. It is no secret
to those who ride the elevator in
the library near the Woodson
Research Area that the writers
who persist in defacing the elevator
walls conceive of sex as a field for
raw aggression. For them this kind
of writing is a form of self-
expression. One wonders how
shriveled these egos must be if they
seek refuge in this kind of self-
expression and are driven to cover
the walls with obscenities as soon
as they have been removed, no
doubt at a considerable cost of
cleaning, incurred by the library.
On a chance that these people
occasionally read other things
besides their verbal vomitings, I
would like to invite them to look
into their own psyches by offering
to them the following personal
comments. Next time you are
tempted to salvage your ego in this
fashion, consider the reasons why
you are doing it. Here is an
educated guess: "I have lustful
feelings about some particular
persons, but I don't think I am
acceptable enough to enter into a
good, mutually fulfilling
relationship with anyone, so let me
revenge myself by hitting out on
the entire sex scene by picturing it
in ugly, obscene, and violent
ways." Consider, however, that in
this form of self-expression, you
yourself are the real victim of your
own anger. By attacking
indiscriminately the entire sex, you
are alienating everyone on whom
you are forcing these obscene
words. Having revealed yourself as
one for whom sexuality is a low,
raw, exploitative, and contempt-
ible matter, you show yourself as
contemptible in the eyes of anyone
who might get to know you
personally. Of course, you know
this because you keep yourself
anonymous. You lack the courage
of your convictions because an open
declaration of such an attitude will
win you no friends and will make
you look silly, ridiculous, or
dangerous. This is why you are
careful enough, or cowardly
enough, to do your dirty work in
secret.
To those of us who see this place
as a decent community where
people like to think of each other in
friendly ways, as seeking to admire
and encourage in each other the
better aspects of themselves, the
deliberate downgrading of human
ions and capacities, and the desire
to hurt for the sake of hurting, are
sadly out of place. We like this
place because in addition to
providing a setting for learning
useful things, it encourages
friendly association in classrooms,
colleges, in esthetic and athletic-
pursuits. Pure porn and libel, as
Dan suggested, jar our
sensitivities, religious or simply
human. So do other forms of
vandalism that stem from motives
analogous to those of sneaky little
terrorist acts on bathroom and
elevator walls.
I don't think that this is a matter
of imposing any particular "ideas
of morality on Rice students,"
which Dan disclaims to be doing.
Except in a few borderline case, it
should be easy for the misclass
editor to distinguish between
entries that are meant to amuse
and those that are meant to hurt,
without exhibiting the least trace
of good taste or merit. They have
no right to be printed, moral or
legal. The remark about Dr. Parish
was in that category. (There are
avenues for criticizing professors,
among others, in teaching
evaluations, with their appropriate
rules of public disclosure.) We
have, unfortunately, seen many
others. Similarly, why does the
Thresher agree to serve as free mail
service to semi-anonymous
suggestive communications? You
are being used, fellas, so wake up—
such a flow of free specch is not
covered by any clauses of free
speech. Neither is porn and libel, as
Dan Joynton rightly pointed out.
His Christian mildness deserves
support by a tougher humanistic
blast K. Kolenda
Department of Philosophy
Gray complains
To the editor:
As the recent victim of some
gross administrative malpractice, I
would like to suggest that a few
changes be made in Rice's
administrative offices.
Due to a lack of communication
between and a general "pass-the-
buck" attitude on the part of
Registrar's office and the library,I
stand a good chance of not being
admitted to graduate school this
year. The library placed a hold on
my transcript in late August, 1980
claiming I still had in my
possession a book checked out to
me (and subsequently returned) in
the fall of 1979. In early January I
requested that a copy of my
transcript be sent to meet February
1 erad school application
deadlines. Nearly a month later I
ws informed that the grad schools
still had not received my
transcript. At that point I called
the Registrar's office and learned
of the hold. Neither the library nor
the Registrar's office ever made
any attempt to contact me
regarding the hold even though
both offices had my address.
On the day that the library
10
"Your Unique Old Fashioned Dime Store"
VARIETY FAIR 5 & 10
ALICE AND BEN KLINGER-
We offer a wide variety of valentine cards and candy
2415 RICE BLVD.
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77005 Phone: 528-9085
IN THE VILLAGE SINCE 1948
released the hold, the Registrar's
office would do nothing to
expedite the processing of my
transcript. Despite repeatedly
explaining the urgency of the
situation, I was told that
transcripts are sent out
alphabetically as received and it
would be at least another day
before mine would be ready.
Luckily, I was able to obtain the
kind assistance of Mr. Bill Ballew,
an active Rice alumnus, and was
given my transcript by Mr.
Brelsford early the following
morning. Mr. Brelsford Jold me
that the Registrar's takes no
responsibility for informing
students or alumni of holds on
their records.
In the library, Judy Lawton and
her supervisor, Charles Gibson,
were sympathetic but could only
blame the library's negligence on
the fact that somehow the book,
which 1 checked out during the
computer switchover, had never
been reunited with its card. As the
last name listed on the card, I was
held responsible and the book was
charged to me on the computer.
They explained the fact that I was
allowed to register in the spring
semester of 1980 and graduate that
May without ever receiving so
much as an overdue notice on the
fact that the Cashier's office will
not cooperate with the library or
the Registrar's office in collecting
fines.
In the course of my academic
career, I have had dealings witht he
administrations of five different
universities but Rice is the only
school where I have ever
encountered this sort of
administrative confusion. Rice is
also the only university or college
that I know of which does not have
a full-time Registrar. To make
matters worse there seems to be a
pervasive "don't give a damn"
attitude on the part of the
administration about the
substantial harm these sorts of
administrative foul-ups cause
students and alumni. Thanks to
the Registrar and the library, I may
very well not get into grad schools
despite more than adequate grades
and test scores and Rice's
academic prestige.
I hope that someone in the
administration will care enough to
look into this matter, which effects
anyone who has ever attended Rice
and plans to go to grad school or
obtain a job. To begin with I
suggest:
1) The Registrar's office receive
enough funding for a full-time
registrar and enough assistants to
run the place efficiently.
2) The library straighten out its
computer system. Everyone is tired
of receiving overdue notices that
are either indecipherable or belong
to books which were turned in on
time but never checked in on the
computer by the library staff.
3) Some sort of working
agreement be reached between the
library, the Registar's office, and
the Cashier's office so that holds
are not placed on transcripts
without an official notice being
sent to the victim.
4) Finally, Rice's administration
show as much concern as Rice's
faculty for the well-being of Rice's
students and alumni.
I would like to receive
suggestions as to the proper
channels for dealing with this
problem in a manner which would
be beneficial to students, alumni,
and the administration.
Ann Gray
Jones '80
The Rice Thresher, February 5, 1981, page 4
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Dees, Richard. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 5, 1981, newspaper, February 5, 1981; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245462/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.