The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 1987 Page: 3 of 24
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1HRESHER Opinion
Writers clash on Presidents' alcohol guidlines
To the editor:
College nights traditionally have been one of
the most enjoyable social events of the semester.
However, I feel that if the reforms called for by
the college presidents are enacted, college
nights will not necessarily continue to be so.
As a social chairman at Will Rice, I am
responsible for planning our college night and
ensuring that it runs smoothly and within the
law. As long as the alcohol policy has been in
existence, college nights have been run under its
guidelines.
I question whether college nights actually
have "dramatically regressed" in the past few
years (remembering the traditional Rice defini-
tion of formal) and if the guidelines suggested
will result in a more enjoyable semi-formal
banquet. First, the spirit of college night to me is
best felt during the receptions held before din-
ner. They are a chance for everyone to mingle, as
a college, in their semi-formal attire before
splitting up into tables for dinner.
Problems with students being drunk or out of
control at the college night dinner do not stem
from the fact that alcohol is present at these
receptions, but rather from the room parties that
have become more popular with the rise in the
drinking age.
The restrictions placed on alcohol use during
college nights and other social functions by the
alcohol policy and state law encourages people
to drink excessively in private before college
night events ever begin. If the intent is to make
college night more restrained, this purpose
would be better served by encouraging respon-
sible drinking than by ending the traditional
evening reception before dinner.
Editorial Staff
Editor-in-Chief Michael J. Raphael
News Editor Michele Wucker
Fine Arts Editor Jen Cooper
Sports Editors Keith Couch, Joel Sendek
Production Manager Mary Elliott
Feature Editor Lisa Gray
Backpage Eds ...Lizzette Palmer, Jenny Berry
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Beyond the Hedges Mary Ashkar
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Mir* Milas, David Nathan, Eric Salituro
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Wynn Martin, Doug Park, Paul Phillip*, Bob Rhode
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Courier Anne Chang
Purity model J. Halm
Business Staff
Business Manager ....Carlos E. Soltero
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Asst. Business Manager Mike Alexander
Ads Production Tony Merritt
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Circulation Christine Gibson
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University
since 1916, is published each Friday during die school year, except
during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice
University. Editorial and business offices are located on the second Door
of the Ley addition to the Rice Memorial Center, PO. Box 1892,
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The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone
except the writer. Obviously. Hark! What light through yonder window
breaks? It is the east, and I have a Shakespeare test tomorrow.
©1987, The Rice Thresher. All rights reserved.
THRESHING IT OUT
letters to the editor
Secondly, pushing dinner up to 5:30 p.m.
would seem to work against the idea of college
night as a "semi-formal banquet." How many
semi-formal functions serve dinner at 5:30
p.m.?
For a banquet such as this, dinner should be
served some time after sundown. However, due
to the considerations of the kitchen staff, dinner
service usually begins by 7:00 p.m. If moving
dinner up to an earlier start helps promote col-
lege night as a formal occasion, then perhaps we
should follow the example of graduation and
make it a college morning occasion.
College nights always seem to break apart
after dinner (especially if dinner were over by
6:30 p.m.) with people going to their rooms to
change clothes, etc. Any postdinner social event
would either have to be scheduled at the formal
party hourof 7:00 p.m. in an attempt to keep the
college together, or at a more typical party hour
later in the evening after everyone has split up
for several hours. Neither of these solutions will
work in practical application.
I recognize the desires of the presidents as
they attempt to make college night a more for-
mal and—at the same time—more fun social
event. I think they should consider, however, the
aspects that make college night special and the
problems created under the guidelines they
suggest.
It is important that we have guidelines to
ensure that college night events stay within the
law, but we should be careful not to overreact
and destroy the spirit of college night in an
attempt to save it.
Charles C. Krusekopf
WRC '88
To the editor:
I am writing to applaud the College Presi-
dents for their thoughtful and timely sugges-
tions regarding this year's College Nights
(Threshing it out, September 25, 1987). Since
Hanszen is the first College to have its College
Night under the University's new Alcohol Pol-
icy guidelines, I am very anxious to see a uni-
form effort at compliance, and am extremely
pleased to see the initiative come from the stu-
dents themselves.
The main point I would like to make is that
compliance with the Alcohol Policy is not, as
some people seem to think, "wimping out".
Compliance is, in fact, unavoidable if Rice
wants to remain a "wet" campus. As the Presi-
dents point out in their letter to the Thresher,
there is really no choice in the matter.
College Nights present a special compliance
problem—particularly since they have recently
assumed a kind of competitive dimension, as if
each College were trying to out-drink the other.
The result, campus-wide, has been a great deal
of illegal alcohol consumption, food-throwing,
and general chaos on these occasions.
Most College Associates, faculty members in
particular, are now disinclined to attend College
Nights. This is most unfortunate, I think, al-
though the reasons are clear enough. Quite apart
from the disorder and the mess, the Associates
find themselves in the same untenable situation
as the Master and Co-Master. If the students
refuse to comply with the Alcohol Policy, it will
be up to others to enforce compliance. Who
wants to play this role? What kind of a party will
it be for them?
Unfortunately, if a College cannot ensure
compliance, a number of people will be poten-
tially liable if something happens. Furthermore,
the College will be subject to fines, and College
Nights themselves may well be eliminated.
The University, in order to protect itself from
litigation, simply cannot tolerate public viola-
tions of the law such as those that took place last
year.
I hope, therefore, that we can abandon Col-
lege Night competition (there are plenty of other
arenas in which to play out healthy College ri-
valries), and make a united effort to ensure that
College Nights are enjoyable for everyone.
Richard J. Smith
Professor of History
Master of Hanszen college
Gould misses life's purpose
Doonesbury
HH I'M ROLANP HEPL5Y,
ANPI'M ON THB ROAPt
continued from page 2
feet that it does not bother him that one, as a
product of natural selection, is aimless. This
statement does bother and concern me because
it is not true.
God created us with a purpose—that we may
know Him. By turning away from sin and be-
lieving on the Lord Jesus Christ we can have a
vibrant personal relationship with Him (Christi-
anity is not merely a religion and is more than
following prescribed a set of rules). Only Jesus
can fill the spiritual void in us. As a personal
testimony, when Jesus came into my life a little
over two years ago (I was a Hindu—Brahmin,
by caste) He not only filled the void and gave me
a new purpose but He also filled me with joy,
peace and a living hope. It is my earnest desire
that everyone would get to know the love of
God.
Anand Kumar
Graduate student, electrical engineering
BY GARRY TRUDEAU
TOP AY UJE'RB VISITING AN
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USA TODAY: M0R3 OF
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Briefly...
A CAPSULE LOOK
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NEUHARTH'S DISPATCHES
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FOCUSING ON FUTURE BUSCAFRDES: DON'T COUNT THEM OUT
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Raphael, Michael J. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 1987, newspaper, October 2, 1987; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245673/m1/3/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.