The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 12, 1982 Page: 4 of 16
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•
THRESHING-IT-OUT
continued from page 2
irrelevant to me. For those of us
who don't actually volunteer our
labor to TexPIRG, financial
support provides a way of
participating. Koenig is helping to
build a student-run machine for
change — it's up to us to support it.
Julie Fonseca
Baker '82
UH PIRG aid justified
for community's future
To the editor:
Some complaint has surfaced
recently about the use of Rice
TexPIRG funds for an organizer
who is also working at the U of H
campus.
Such a concern would be valid if
TexPIRG was only a service for
the Rice community. As an
organization seeking to serve
society as a whole, however,
organizing at U of H is an
important strategic move.
If that organizing effort is
successful, TexPIRG will again
receive blanket-tax funds from the
larger U of H student body. That
huge increase in available funds
would greatly expand TexPIRG's
potential for social change.
Dale S. Turner
Hanszen '82
Brown defends PIRG's
reorganization efforts
To the editor:
1 wouid iike to clarify the letter
bv Jav Grob in last week's
Thresher concerning TexPIRG.
TexPIRG as both a local and a
statewide organization has almost
completely disapperaed in the last
few years. In fact, the Rice chapter
is now the only chapter left in the
state with active funding. This is
not {he case nationwide, however.
There are several PIRGs with
multi-million dollar budgets. This
indicates that there were some
basic errors made when TexPIRG
was founded 10 years ago. This
year, Rice TexPIRG has been
attempting to revitalize. They did
get Ralph Nader to speak and have
had a couple of organizational
meetings. They have managed to
increase membership from 3 to 20,
they run a consumer complaint
service for which the answering
machine mentioned was puchased,
and they are conducting a study of
B and G. This is not enough, but it
is most certainly a step in the right
direction by theTexPIRGcabinet.
Now, to insure that they do not
make the same mistakes that were
originally made in TexPIRG, they
are hiring an organizer who has
had a lot of experience with several
successful PIRG's. They are
paying him $1500 for three months
work with money originally
allocated for TexPIRG use
anyway. An additional question
has been raised as to the organizer
possibly spending some time at U
of H. This hardly seems unjustified
when one considers that U of H
person is providing him with a
place to stay for these three
months. The chances of TexPIRG
at least partially succeeding
certainly seem good enough to
warrant such an expenditure and
should benefit all Rice students
and the entire Houston
community in the coming months.
I, personally, wish them the best of
luck in the coming months.
Matt Brown
Hanszen '85
TexPIRG not deserving
of blanket tax benefits
To the editor:
On February 23, you will vote
whether to fund an organization
that is not deserving of your
blanket tax. Over 230 students
have signed a petition asking for a
referundum to decide whether
TexPIRG should have their
blanket tax eliminated. You are
urged to vote for this referendum.
TexPIRG (Texas Public
Interest Research Group) has
demonstrated through their recent
hiring of an organizer that they are
unable to handle our money in a
responsible manner. The organizer
will act as program coordinator
doing the work of the TexPIRG
officers. The only work the officers
will still have to do is make policy
decisions. Their most recent policy
decision was to hire an organizer
After the organizer leaves we will
again be left with the incompetent
TexPIRG management that has
but two tangible accomplishments
in the public interest over the past
year. During the past year,
however, $2250 in blanket tax was
collected by TexPIRG.
TexPIRG should provide
services such as the auto repair
EARN OVER $900
A MONTH
AND OPEN THE DOOR
TO A TOP
EMQMEERINO FUTURE.
How many corporations would be willing to pay you over $900 a
month during your junior and senior years just so you'd join the
company after graduation? Under a special Navy program we're
doing just that. It's called the Nuclear Propulsion Officer
Candidate-College Program. And under it, you'll not only get
great pay during your junior and senior years, but after
graduation you'll receive a year of valuable graduate-level
training that is not available from any other employer.
For more information send a resume or transcript of credits to
the Naval Management Office (EO), 1121 Walker Stv Houston,
Tx. 77002 or call 226-2412
Have a G
Valentine's Day!
Party & Pot-Luck Dinner
February 13,1982 at 9:00 pm
For directions & R.S.V.P. call
Annise: 524-2788
Rick: 529-3161
Sponsored by the Rice Gay/Lesbian Support Group
class or the checking account
survey. These projects do not
require an organizer. Any
competent Rice student can
supervise these projects. The Rice
Program Council has undertaken
.many ambitious projects such as
the 1979 restaurant and shopping
guide without any help from a
professional program coordinator.
Instead of hiring the organizer
TexPIRG could have contacted
other active PIRGs for free advice
and assistance. This could have
been done for a lot less than the
the $1500 spent for an organizer
It may be argued that
TexPIRG's tax is refundable upon
request. However, the student
desiring a refund must go to the
TexPIRG office in the RMC in
early September during
TexPIRG's office hours to request
his money. This year the current
TexPIRG officers did not widely
publicize that refund was available.
Thus many students did not obtain
a refund because it involves a great
amount of trouble to get the
refund, they did not know that a
refund was available or they were
ignorant as to the way their
were ignorant as to the way their
money has been squandered.
Rather than make TexPIRG's fee
a mandatory blanket tax with
refund provision we should have
system where students can
voluntarily contribute to
TexPIRG. Students at MSU can
contribute to their PIRG by
checking a box on their
registration. Students who are not
aware of the intricacies of
TexPIRG are forced to pay
TexPIRG due to the student's lack
of time to investigate TexPIRG.
In 1979 the University of
Houston eliminated their blanket
tax support of TexPIRG.
Currently Rice is the only PIRG in
the state that collects a blanket tax.
Hence, some of your blanket tax
money may be used to help set up a
state organization. By voting for
the referendum to eliminate
TexPIRG's blanket tax we can
force TexPIRG to go on austerity
so that money will not be spent to
benefit UT or U of H students.
Voting for referendum to cut
off TexPIRG's blanket tax
allotment will not kill TexPIRG.
TexPIRG will have about $2500 in
their surplus account next year if
they receive no blanket tax. This is
a sufficient amount of money for
TexPIRG to do many major
projects that benefit Rice students
such as the auto repair class,
restaurant surveys, shopping
surveys and the checking account
survey. If TexPIRG makes
substantial progress we can vote to
restore their blanket tax allocation
as early as April. You will not be
killing TexPIRG by voting for the
referendum, but rather you will be
placing TexPIRG on probation.
I urge every reader of the
Thresher who can vote to vote on
February 23 for the referendum to
eliminate TexPIRG's1 blanket tax
allocation. Every student has an
active interest is where his/her
money is spent. Show your
displeasure at waste and
incompetence—vote against waste
and mismanagement-vote for
the referendum.
Dan Hu
Hanszen '82
KTRU calls for increase
to assist in renovations
To the editor:
KTRU is a non-commercial FM
radio station located in a
basement. It is still recovering
from a devastating flood that
occurred several years ago. KTRU
currently lives on a $4 yearly fee
paid by each undergraduate Rice
student. That adds up to less than
the annual salary of a commercial
station's full-time disc jockey.
Aside from some helpful annual
donations, that is all the station
receives. We do not solicit
donations or advertisements, nor
. are we allowed to enlist such.
We have, therefore, reached the
end of the shoestring. Our current
budget can no longer cover the cost
of running a quality radio station.
For the benefit of Rice University
and the surrounding area, we need
to make a few permanent
improvements.
For a start, KTRU needs a new
control console soon, as the old
one is doomed to quit. Replacing it
with a new model would swallow
most of our current annual budget.
To provide fresh, accurate news
in the future, KTRU would like to
obtain a news wire service. A good
yearly rate for such a service is
around $3000 for a non-
commercial station.
In addition to permanent
improvements, the cost of regular
equipment maintenance has risen
over 50 percent since our last
request for an increase in 1978.
Also, our telephone bill has more
than doubled in the past year
alone.
With these and other head-
spinning figures in mind, we at
KTRU urge the students of Rice
University to vote for a blanket tax
increase of $1.50 to a fee of $5.50
per year for KTRU. This fee
compares well with other campus
organizations, and no money is
used to pay KTRU staff members.
The station runs as much on its 100
volunteers as it does on money.
We want to continue providing
Rice and Houston a top-quality
radio station. Your vote on
February 23 could determine our
fate.
The Directors and Staff
of KTRU-FM
Minority clubs positive,
need blanket tax funds
To the Editor
We, the members of the Black
Students' Union, sincerely believe
that our organization, in order to
become a more valuable asset to
the Rice community, must procure
a stable financial base upon which
to operate. To this end, we propose
that the Blanket Tax be increasd
by $1 in order that the ethnic
organizations, Black Student's
Union and the Oriental Culture
Club, may participate more fully in
providing a diverse and
heterogeneous environment for
the student body. The $1 increase
in the Blanket Tax would be
equally distributed among these
two organizations and the students
would retain the option of having
this additional fee returned upon
request.
Our petition for a portion of the
Blanket Tax is predicated on the
following observations:
1) Service to the University
In contrast to the occasional
misconception of the Black
Students' Union as a a separatist
organization, it is, and has always
been, committed to the social and
intellectual enlightenment of all
members of the Rice community,
faculty, staff, and students alike.
Our designation as a "special
interest" group does not mean that
we sponsor activities oriented'
exclusively towards our own
members. Indeed, we provide a
perspective which is both relevant
to the life-experiences of our
respective members and capable of
see Threshing, page 5
The Rice Thresher, February 12, 1982, page 4
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Grob, Jay. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 69, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 12, 1982, newspaper, February 12, 1982; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245493/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.