The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 17, 1985 Page: 3 of 12
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THRESHING IT OUT
continued from page 2
ads, and uses the name Rice in its
masthead all by authority of the
Board of Governors. It is
ultimately the Board that is
responsible. Were someone
successfully to sue the Thresher for
libel, the university, in the form of
the Board, would be left holding
the bag.
1 would venture to say that the
Board has no desire to intervene in
the running of the Thresher.
Indeed, the student newspaper
would be worthless if it were
subject to censorship. The
Thresher must be free to raise
questions and to criticize in the
best sense of aggresive and
investigative journalism. But libel
lies outside even the constitutional
guarentees of a free press. For that
matter, so does obscenity, even
though the courts have difficulty in
defining precisely what obscenity
is.
The fact that these issues are not
always clear does not mean that
they can simply be ignored. Nor is
it true that just because the
Thresher is a student newspaper it
is not subject to the law or is not
responsible for the character of its
journalism. Doesnt freedom of the
press also entail responsibility by
the press?
What the matter really comes
down to is a set of journalistic
standards and ethics. Does the
Thresher have such a set? Is it
continuous from one year to the
next? Or do the standards vary
W'WAV.VAVVAVV.WA'.W.V.V,
from editor to editor and even
from one staff writer to the next?
Can the Thresher protect itself and
the university against committing
libel without a set of standards?
I don't believe for a minute that
no one on the Thresher staff cares
about such considerations or that
no one in the student body cares.
Caring about these issues is not
only part of the responsibility of
the Thresher staff, it is one of the
ways the staff can learn the most
from their experience on the paper.
Working for the Thresher can and
should be wonderful fun, but it
also should be educational,
meaningful and even inspirational
in terms of significant issues.
Journalistic responsibility and
ethics is one of those great issues,
and the importance of learning
about it was probably among the
primary reasons the Board of
Governors authorized a student
newspaper at Rice in the first
place.
Jeffrey Kurtzman
Professor of Music
Co-Director of Student Advising
SA keeps eye on
school committees
To the editor:
The Student Association Senate
of Rice University, like the
corresponding unit of most
universities, is infamous for its
inactions, vacillations, and
preoccupations with the trivial.
The first meeting of the new school
year, fortunately, points to a new
attitude in the SA — something
we've needed for a long time.
Last Monday Cati Moses and I
introduced a short but important
piece of legislation before the
Senate. It simply calls for the semi-
annual collection and publishing
of the activities of the various
University-wide Standing
Committees.
What many students fail to
recognize is that most of the
important decisions that face this
University are either made or
reviewed by one or more of these
Standing Committees. They
usually have two or three student
members as well, student members
with the opportunity to work
effectively and positively for the
interests of the student body on
matters anything but trivial.
Cati and I felt, however, that
there were two major flaws with
this system. First, that the students
often didn't know that these
committees existed or exercised
the privilege of being represented
there. Second, that the Student
Association Senate had failed to
accept responsibility for the
Student members of the
University-wide Committees.
This is not designed to threaten
the integrity and secrecy of those
committees which have, of a
necessity, confidential hearings,
nor is it meant to challenge the
authority and competence of the
student members of those
committees. The bill deals rather
with student involvement in the
governance of this University.
I feel confident that none of the
Administrators, much less
President Rupp, harbor ill-wishes
for Rice or its students. I am also
confident in their general level of
competence. That in no way
implies that I wish to give up all
voice in the governance of this
institution. It in no way implies
that any one of us should adopt
apathy towards decisions of
critical consequence to Rice
society, Rice's national and
international prestige, and, most
importantly, to the very quality of
education we can draw from this
University.
I have already noted that this is a
relatively short and succinct piece
of legislation. However, its
implications spread beyond its
immediate effect. It represents a
new commitment by the Student
Association Senate to a real
participatory government. It
begins a commitment on the part
of all Student Association
members towards making Rice
University primarily responsible to
those people it was meant to serve
— the students.
Daniel Price
SA Senator, Will Rice College
Karate Club not a
political group
To the editor:
The article "Few Groups Move
Funds Over Gay Rights" in the
#5
TRESHER
Scott Snyder
Editor
Crystal Davis
Business Manager
David Friesenhahn Managing Editor
Karin Murphy Entertainment Editor
Erin Blair Features Editor
Robyn Klahr Advertising Manager
Valerie Rohy Friday News Editor
Spencer Greene Tuesday News Editor
Mike Hulbert Photo Editor
Harold Turner Photo Editor
Chris Lowrance Sports Editor
Mark Matteson Sports Editor
Grayson Haun Friday Prod. Manager
Amy Orchard Tuesday Prod. Manager
Damon Hart Back Page Editor
Brian McDonald Back Page Editor
John Knapp Copy Editor
Paul Havlak Senior Editor
Head Typesetter L isa Gray
Assistant Editor Nancy Collier (Entertainment)
Proofreaders Alan Nelson. Dan Sullivan
Graphics Michael Dobson, Mike Harshman
Jose Figeroa
News Staff Kimberlec Barrett. Erin Blair.
Paul Havlak, Eric Salituro. David Schnur,
Cheryl Smith, Kathy Sugg
Entertainment Staff .... Namita Gupta, Sara Jordan.
Mane Lawson, Jacqueline Metcalfe, David Nathan,
Kristi Isacksen. John Thomas, Beth Vito
Sports Staff .. . Jim Humes, Art Rabeau, Thad Ware,
Tony Soltero, Antonio Torres, John Wilson
Darkroom Consultant Susan Buchanan
Production Staff . . . Kavita Mulchandani, Rich Frueh.
Tracy Hodge, Pat Maclnerney, Mark Nash,
Steve Phillips, Geoff Stafford, Patsy Hernandez.
Jennifer Brown, Julie Stanush
Business Staff
Asst. Business Manager Carlos Soltero
Asst. Advertising Managers Ashley Stainback
Adam Sticpewich
Student Staff Assistant Anna Ames Little
Circulation Howard Goldman, Paul Havlak
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University
since 1916, is published each Tuesday and Friday during the school year,
except during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice
University. Editorial and business offices arc located on the second floor
of the Rice Memorial Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston. Texas 77251.
Telephone (713)527-4801 or 527-4802. Advertising information available
upon request. Mail subscription rate per semester $15.00 domestic,
$30.00 international, (via first class mail). The opinions expressed herein
are not necessarily those of anyone except the writer. Obviously
©1985, The Rice Thresher. All rights reserved.
■w.waw.v.vw.v.v.w.vav.v.v
Doonesbury
EVERYONE GOT IT? THE PRESI-
DENT WILL RAP A MESSAGE,
OF PATIENCE TO OUR ZULU
I BRETHREN, ANP THE REST
- OF US Mil SUPPORT HIM IN
Sept. 6, 1985, Thresher read as
though the Rice Karate Club
"came forward. . . to move their
(its) funds" in support of a poli-
tical cause. Actually, the Rice Karate
Club moved its funds last May
from Texas Commerce Bank
(downtown) to the Texas
Commerce Medical Bank for
financial reasons. The Rice Karate
Club is a n o n - p o 1 i t ica 1
organization.
Jon Luckstead
President, Rice Karate Club
Hanszen *87
Wells defends
Salituro's article
To the editor:
In response to the letter by Ms.
Squatriti, Ms. Fagerhaugh and
Ms. Vincent concerning Mr.
Salituro's article about the Lovett
men who apprehended the rapist in
Hermann Park (9/13/85), it seems
to me that they haven't completely
considered the situation.
Firstly, a news article should be
an objective account of the facts of
an event. The lauding or deploring
of an event or act is the duty of an
editorial, which a front page story
by a reporter generally is not.
Secondly, about the Thresher's
disclaimer at the end of the staff
box: "The opinions expressed
herein are not necessarily those of
anyone except the writer.
Obviously." Not quite so
see Threshing, page 4
BY GARRY TRUDEAU
m
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MUSICIANS
READY? SPLEN
PIP! COUNT IT
OFF, MR.PRES-
IPENT! /
UH.. okay.
FIVE, SIX,
SEVEN, EIGHT,
UH, NINE!
\
"okay, black f0lk5,gonna conrpe,
rappin'ron reagan is on your
sipej gotta believe ifamrtheip
goes, tt surg ain't more skin
off my nose'"
tempo, mr.
presipent,
tempo!
I
OU//goop
GOP! thai
deme!
r?r/ k V
OKAY, MR. PRESIPENT, THIS
IS THE SECTION WHERE YOU
ESTABLISH YOURM0RALCRE- cfjr
] PENT/ALS. START RAPPING /f /
RIGHT AFTER
THE SECRET
SERVICE CHANT,
OKAY?
THIS IS ROLANP HEPLEY IN TH5
&WJEL STUPI0S CONTROL ROOM
AS 25 SUPERSTARS OF "IHERAPICAL
\ RIGHT PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES
ON THEIR HISTORIC "AWRTAlP'
REC0RPIN6.
STANDS FOR
ONE, TWO, PEACE >
! three' nxwtnz'
i! * I MET WITH BISHOP
TUT0 U/HEN HE GOT
THAT BIG AMRP! '
iH
excitement is punning
pasjger0usly high. w-
©^1 in fact, these sources
say, the only prob-
lems so far seem to
' / sipers are alreapy pe -
// / scribing jh5m00p in
the sijPiOAs 'Jubilant
ii be the result of. an
exgss of enthusiasm.
i,M mmx OH. ARE YOU
SURE? THAT
TUTU,, SIR. SOUNPS LIKE
I AN ICECREAM.
FLAVOR. ^
., U0HTMY no,NO,
% BLACK SIR'
petm.usHT
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SHAP
The Rice Thresher, September 17, 1985, page 3
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Snyder, Scott. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 6, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 17, 1985, newspaper, September 17, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245611/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.