The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 70, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1983 Page: 2 of 16
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Beer-Bike's bloodbath begs
big questions of decisions
More than Will Rice's surprising sweep, the bloodiness of
Beer-Bike has been a hot topic of conversation this past week.
Anyone who attended the races last weekend had to be
somewhat shaken by the clamor of crashing bikes and bodies.
Although the Rice student is usually a byword for apathy, the
crowd of spectators did not leave its shock and indignation in
the bleachers Saturday. All across campus I have heard, "How
are those people who got hurt at Beer-Bike? Why wasn't there
an ambulance there?"
Letters to the editor addressing Beer-Bike, some angry, some
only analytical, started arriving in the Thresher office early
Sunday afternoon and have not stopped. Unfortunately, space
had already been allocated under the Student Association
constitution to the Honor Council election statements. The
letters will be run in next week's issue, the last issue of the year.
Just for the record, however, I'd like to bring up some of the
points made forcefully in the letters:
• There should have been an ambulance at the track. Rice
Program Council President Doug Gardner and the Beer-Bike
coordinators decided not to have one simply because one
wasn't needed last year. I guess you should cancel health
insurance if you haven't been sick recently. Of the $900 spent
for beer, some should have been "blood money." It was a stupid
decision, and to point out that more than one ambulance would
have been necessary anyway is callously sidestepping the issue.
• There should have been at least one campus police officer
present. Gardner admitted that he called the campos only that
day to have an officer at the races; with that little advance
warning, one can not blame the campos for not being able to
spare one of Saturday's two-person workforce.
• There should be more training of everyone concerned.
Bikers should not compete if they do not know how to put on a
helmet properly or how to brake without spilling (don't lock
the front brakes, for one thing). Many catches and pushes were
handled abominably; the resulting injuries to both bikers and
pit crews could have been prevented if as much attention had
been paid to their technique as is paid to the chugging. Finally,
spectators must learn that the track is a race course and not a
boulevard; just like at graduation, congratulations should be
withheld until all have crossed the finish line.
The new RPC president, Brian Marek, has a challenge for
next year. Responsible decision-making is in order. More
publicity of important decisions could ensure that fewer gross
errors are made by the RPC and Beer-Bike coordinators. Beer-
Bike should not become Blood-Bike.
—Jeanne Cooper
Food Service fascism flourishes
Registration for meal plans will begin Monday in the college offices.
Despite the Rich Hooper-la about the Food Committee's endeavors, a
cursory look at the guidelines reveals that the Food Service is as fascist
as ever. All first-semester students on campus will have compulsory
full board that semester. Only increases in meals per week will be
permitted, and only during the First two weeks of class, for both on and
off-campus students. On-campus students may choose from only
three meal plans, none of which exclude dinner, inconvenient as well
as unpleasant for many since the menu and serving time is limited.
Only off-campus students, however, may purchase the lunch/es-ohly>v
plan. Surely if it's feasible for one student it's feasible for another."
Obviously, economic reasons call for some of the restrictions.
However, it is also obvious that rather than improve the meals to
secure purchasers, Food Service is exercising its monopolistic
muscles. Such fascism is almost as hard to swallow as braised beef tips.
—Jeanne Cooper
H05TU£ PEMOCWS FAR AS
TOE Eft CAH SEE, WO.'
BUT THEY'LL NEVER GET OUR
CCfEHSE EOBGET • THEY'LL.
NEVER GET U&/
WHAT YOU MEAH,
KEMO SABtr
IWDbii
ANDNON, JAMES WATT MU> THE BEACH BOY'S.,
THRESHING-IT-OUT
0*Li
Hu respects TexPIRG,
disavows GOP tactics
To the editor:
1 must take issue with the Rice
Republican's plan to ask the
administration to remove
TexPIRG's charter or put this
group on probation as reported in
last week's Thresher. The purpose
of my referendum was to question
TexPIRG's source of funds — not
to kill the organization.
TexPIRG can and does serve a
useful purpose in assisting with the
Newcomer's Guide, sponsoring
various lecturers such as Ralph
Nader, acting as a central
consumer complaint center and
sponsoring various classes. By
revoking the charter of this
organization, I fear many of these
activities would not be taken up by
other organizations. For example,
can you imagine the Rice
Republicans sponsoring Ralph
Nader?
I have had an opportunity to
observe TexPIRG rather closely
over the past few years. From
1981-82,1 was an ex officio member
of their board of directors. As
chairman of the Rice Libertarians,
I, along with the Rice Republicans
and the Rice Democratic Caucus,
was assisted by TexPIRRG in
producing a debate between the
candidates for the 25th
Congressional district last
October. TexPIRG has made
considerable progress from when it
was run by a bunch of naive Wiess
sophomores last spring to today
where it has more competent
leadership and is worthy of your
voluntary support. Please express
to your SA representative your
concern that this organization's
resources and services will be
strained by a lawsuit and
revocation of their charter
(constitution).
The major lingering problem
with TexPIRG is the method of
collection of blanket tax. Students
must be given ample opportunity
to make a wise decision on whether
to spend their money on
TexPIRG. Such a choice is
possible with a "negative checkoff"
type system. On each student's
bursar's bill would be a box stating
that if this box is checked the $1
that would have gone to TexPIRG
will instead be credited to the
student's account. Thus, a student
such as Mr. Vint could easily check
this box and receive his $1 refund.
4|On the other hand, the majority of
students who favor TexPIRG's
receiving their dollar could simply
ignore this box and donate their
money to TexPIRG.
Daniel D. Hu
Hanszen '82
Honor Council explains
new blanket tax need
To the editor:
There will be an election on
Monday, April 18, to fill the
Honor Council's new sophomore
position which was created by the
approved referendum of a few
weeks back. Although only current
freshmen can vote for this
position, all students will be able to
vote on the Honor Council's
request for a blanket tax increase
of 50 cents, from 50 cents per
person to $1.
The reasons which prompted
this request are at bottom the same
reasons which prompted the
referendum; the Honor Council
would like to do a better job at
orienting new and returning
students and disposing of cases.
Because the referendum made
several changes to the Honor
System Constitution, we will need
see Threshing, page 4
lAlp Jeanne Cooper
•• Editor
pWCEOflEtv Sandra Wasson
Business Manager
o
Patty Cleary News Editor
Deborah Knaff Fine Arts Editor
Mark Mitchell Sports Editor
John Krueger Back "Page Editor
Jay Grob Senior Editor
Todd Cornett Advertising Manager
Lorraine Farrell Managing Editor
Conrad Reining Photography Editor
Kelley Tucker Copy Editor
Ruth Hillhouse Head Typesetter
'> Contributing Staff
Assistant Editors Paul Havlak (News), Stephen Benef (Fine Arts)
Alan Mathiowetz (Sports), Chip Clay (Photography),
Sarah Jordan (Production), David Koralek (Advertising)
Contributing Editors Michele Gillespie, Chris Ekren, David Curcio,
Harry Wade, Mike Gladu, Ian Hersey, Alan Eynon
Graphics Lynn Lytton, Martin Zillman, Steve Woodward
News Staff Bob Terry, Mark Rome, Todd Giorgio,
Derek Smith, Dagmar Aalund, Anil Diwan,
Sian Min The, Scott Flukinger, Larry Lesser, Ian Davidson
Fine Arts Staff Chris Boyer, Geoffrey Westergaard, Andrew Tullis,
Barry Watkins, Ray Isle, Gwen Richard, Hal Kohlman,
Paige Pool, Reeta Achari, Geoffe Spradley.
Richard Hunt, Aniko Kiraly, Karin Murphy,
Michael Grant, Loren Fefer, Alison Kennamer
Sports Staff Steve Bailey, Steve Mollenkamp, Anne MacMaster,
Ed Swartz, Art Rabeau, Carolyn Burr, Tony Soltero,
Ed Brittingham, Jack Bieler, Joseph Halcyon
Production Staff Alysha Webb, Susan Sheridan, Karin Murphy
Photography Staff Ray Isle, Tom Cassidy, John Gibson, David Dean
Business Staff
Assistant Business Manager Susan Brown
Circulation Matt Petersen
Subscriptions David Steffens
Staff Kay Gratke
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is published
each Friday during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays, by the
students of Rice L) niversity. Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the
Rice Memorial Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251. Telephone (713) 527-4801 or
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domestic, $40.00 international, (via first class mail). The opinions expressed herein are not
necessarily those of anyone except the writer. Obviously.
F1983. The Rice Thresher. All rights reserved
Dux femina facti.
< TWAra jjMCTc® 74
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Cooper, Jeanne. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 70, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1983, newspaper, April 15, 1983; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245530/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.