The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1985 Page: 5 of 32
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THRESHING IT OUT
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continued from page 4
seem to be heading for normality,
that vast wasteland where
everything is predictable and
uninteresting.
When 1 chose to come to Rice
way-back-when, I had an
unconscious feeling that Rice was
a special place, a community in
which I would be able to "fit in,"
"make friends," "get along," to
coin a few clichds. In retrospect,
I see that that feeling stemmed
from the sense that Rice was a
diverse, unique, intelligent group
of faculty, staff and students —
one which would place no
restrictions on who I must be to
become a member of Rice, and one
which would, in some broad and
general way, understand me. The
key, 1 think, is in the uniqueness,
because it is that boldness, that
courage to stand up to everything
normal and easy that really allows
the intellectual growth, the
diversity, and the maturity which
come from being a part of Rice for
four years.
As I look back on my time
here, 1 see that there has been a
tendency to reduce that
uniqueness. We (and I use "we"
because we are all guilty of it) seem
to be very uncomfortable with
being different from other schools,
other groups of intelligent folk.
This is very understandable, but 1
think it is the time for all to wake
up and realize what we are d oing to
our haven from that "other" world
outside the hedges.
The MOB, surely the most
publicly recognized and thus
outwardly controversial of all
Rice's unique characteristics, has
come under fire during my time
here for being too unique. I don't,
mind you, necessarily condone
intentionally or even knowingly
offending the Ags or our own
alumni, but the censorship that
goes on now seems to be a message
in a very negative form: "Don't
rock the boat."
The Thresher, and specifically
the back page, is another good
example. It seems that by making
the misclass inoffensive we make it
uninteresting. This is evidenced
both by what is printed and
(apparently) by the volume of
material that is submitted. If the
Thresher were to promise to print
whatever is submitted, the
Thresher office would probably be
flooded with contributed deviant
notes and expressions of creative
genius. Again realize that 1 don't
necessarily think it right to allow
tasteless and malicious material to
be printed in our paper, but it is
our paper. When the unique
aspects of a thing are taken away, it
becomes one of the mass of normal
things.
My final example is that of the
Rice Food Service. The college
system is probably Rice's most
unique attribute. It works. It's
fun. And the key, in my opinion at
least, to the success of the college
system is the cafeteria/commons
and specifically the sit-down
dinner. It's at sit-down dinner
that everyone sits together, shares
ideas, complains about the food,
gets rowdy and throws food,
discusses Shakespeare, discusses
hangovers, or eats without fork,
knife, or spoon. It is a melting pot
of diverse interests that has no
equal at any other place that lam
aware of. And lately the sit-down
dinner has been threatened, just as
have the misclass and the MOB.
We lost one on Friday night
several years before I arrived
here. We lost another last year to
every-Saturday-at-Lovett brunch.
Now there has been talk of
eliminating a third family-style
dinner. I understand that there
may be good reasons for this and
that the almighty dollar plays an
important role in everyone's life.
But look carefully and you'll see
that what "it all" means is that we
are trying to become normal, and
boring.
So please, Rice, let's keep our
eyes and minds open. There is a
place where civilized actions, born-
again Christians, homosexuals,
toga-clad and drunken college-
nighters, vulgar and deviant
misclasses, comp jocks, offensive
half-time shows, music majors,
Shakespeare, and chemical
engineers can all coexist. That's
because of the attitude and
outstanding ability of its students,
faculty, and staff. But it is a great
university because of its
uniqueness and its diversity. I, for
one, would not want it any other
way.
Rob Buntin
SRC '86
Students protest
'Rent-a-Cops'
To the editor:
We would like to comment on
the confrontation between the
Rice students and the security
system during the past two home
football games.
Last year, Watson Brown, after
the 1984 Lamar victory, stated in
the Thresher that he would pay for
any goalposts torn down after
football victories. We are not sure
whether or not he made this
statement in jest, but it was
perceived by Rice students as a
promise — as permission!
On September 28, 1985, the Rice
Student body got the chance to
collect on the promise. After the
game, the Rice contingency in the
crowd ran onto the field and tried
to tear down the goalposts, but
unexpectedly, there was a group of
"Rent-A-Cops" (i.e. Harris
County Deputies — sorry, but that
is what we call them in these
circumstances) present to stop our
celebration. They used forceful
methods, such as clubbing people
( I, Sudhir, was clubbed on the
neck while joining in the
celebration). Despite this
resistance, we succeeded in pulling
down the goalposts.
On October 12, 1985, the Rice
Owls defeated the TCU Horned
Frogs (34-27) in a very exciting
game. This was the first conference
win since 1981 (my first while at
Rice). Of course-we were once
again excited at winning and we
tried to bring down the goalposts.
This time, there were fewer
students (because of midterm
break) attending the game, and
thus there were fewer students
involved in the endeavor.
The Rent-A-Cops used more
forceful methods than last time to
rebuff the students; students were
tackled, grabbed by the neck,
thrown to the ground, and
selectively billy-clubbed. One of
the clubbed students had to go to
the hospital to get medical
attention. As far as we know, none
of the students carry weapons to
football games, thusmakingallthe
students involved totally
defenseless against the officers
with their clubs.
A football game is a social event.
Students do not expect to be
involved in a brawl. It seemed as
if the Harris County officers were
expecting one. The present Rice
student body is not violently
inclined and we do not feel that the
officers' attitude was proper for
this situation.
Frankly we were puzzled. What
is the Rice Administration policy
regarding "goalpost destruction"
after a football victory'.' Why is
Rice hiring Harris County
Deputies for a strictly university
event? What were the orders given
to them? Was it to protect the
goalposts, or to protect the
students from injury?
Assuming the Rice Administra-
tion has a set policy on the matter,
we, the students, would like to
know what this policy is since we
are the ones directly affected by it.
There were two weeks, two
Thresher issues, between the two
football games. This seems to be
ample time to inform the students
on the Administration's goalpost
policy.
We believe that our views are
typical of Rice students. These
views are from a student's
viewpoint, which might be
different from an administator's
viewpoint. We have now made our
views known, and would like to
hear from the Administration.
Thank you.
Sudhir Sripadan
Baker '86
Robert Duffield
Baker '87
Larry Rowland
Baker '87
October 13
Brown suggests
safe celebration
Editor's note: Here follows the te.xt
of an open letter from Head Coach
BLOOM COUNTY
Watson Brown to all Rice
students. Thus letter was written
the week after the football game
against Texas Christian
University.
"To: Rice University Students
"From: Watson Brown
"Enthusiam is a vital ingredient
in the success of our athletic
program. It is contagious and can
make a measurable difference in
the outcome of athletic events. The
spirit of the student body has been
great the past two years. The team
and coaching staff appreciated this
support.
"The Athletic Department very
much needs the continued support
of the student body in resolvingthe
problem of goalpost destruction at
football games. The very real
possibility of serious injuries to
students makes this activity
unacceptable to the University.
Any statement made in support of
this practice was made with the
best of intentions. However,
experience has shown it to be in the
best interest of the Athletic
Department, the students and the
University as a whole to
discontinue the assaults on the
goalposts.
"The Athletic Department
regrets very much the violence that
occurred after the TCU game as
Harris County officers tried to
protect our goalpost. The planned
visual deterrent of officers in
uniform did little to dissuade
students from their goal and, as a
result, there was an unfortunate
confrontation between officers
and students.
"Steps are being taken to insure
there are no more incidents of this
sort. To begin with, Harris County
deputies will no longer by involved
in the protection of our goalposts.
Further, the Athletic Department
is asking the student body to
support the position that the
goalposts should not be the focal
point in the post game victory
celebrations. A meeting with
representatives of the Athletic-
Department, the Vice-President
for Undergraduate Affairs and the
student body is planned for the
week prior to the Texas A&M
game to discuss this incident and
make plans for the future.
"Let's work together to develop
and support all the positive aspects
of our program and eliminate
anything that might detract from
our successes.
"Thanks for your help!"
Letter by Brown
helped clear the air
To the editor:
I would like to thank Watson
Brown lor the letter he wrote and
had distibuted to the students. His
letter greatly clarified the position
of the Administration and was a
highly appropriate response to the
goalpost incident following the
TCU game.
Most ol the questions raised in
the first letter were answered
directly or indirectly by Watson
Brown's letter he laid out the
official position on goalpost
destruction "Don't!" he hinted
that the deputies were hired to
serve primarily as a visual (passive)
deterrent. He revealed plans lor
student-administration discussion
aimed at preventing a recurrence
of the goalpost problems. He even
announced that Harris Count}
deputies will no longer be involved
in goalpost protection.
All of this is well and good, and
indicates that improvements arc-
being planned for handling future
football victories. However,
several questions of the first letter
were not sufficiently answered,
"What, specifically, were the
deputies' orders?" and. "Why were
there no announcements from the
Administration, after the Lamar
see Threshing it out, page 6
by Berke Breathed
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The Rice Thresher, October 25, 1985, page 5
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Snyder, Scott. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1985, newspaper, October 25, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245617/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.