The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 27, 1989 Page: 2 of 16
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2 FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1989 THE RICE THRESHER
Opinion
High court transforming
We're not so far removed from the 1960's that we cannot see the
truth of the Bob Dylan classic The Times, They Are A' Changing."
Today this comment strikes as close to home as it did when he wrote
it.
One needs only to look as far as a local daily newspaper to see how
the U.S. Supreme Court is reconsidering previously "set and
decided" issues. Less than one week ago, the Court made a major
decision which, according to Justice Thurgood Marshall, set back
the course of civil rights. The majority ruled that the city of
Richmond, Virginia, could not set aside a set percentage of building
contracts for minority firms unless specific past inequality could be
proven. Many have called this action a "step backward" for
Affirmative Action.
Soon the Court will re-evaluate the current state of federal
abortion laws with the Missouri case which they have decided to
hear. The 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade has not ever been seriously
in jeopardy until today. Though the Court has heard four cases
regarding abortion since the Roe case, the basic right to an abortion
on demand has remained intact.
But the composition of the Court today is quite different than it was
in 1973. Ronald Reagan successfully shifted the ideology of the
Court during his tenure as President, and we will feel his influence
well into the 21 st century— long after he is dead. So watch-your step,
or you might be caught doing something you thought was legal, and
maybe, just yesterday, it was.
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Athletic adviser sees pros and cons in Stokes' arguments
To the editors:
In last week's Thresher, Gale
Stokes asked for a "reassessment" of
the athletic program at Rice. Having
served on several university commit-
tees with him, 1 know Professor
Stokes to be a reasonable man, dedi-
cated to doing the right thing.
However, in this instance, he wants
to reassess athletics the way Sher-
man reassessed Atlanta:
"abandon[ing] all intercollegiate
athletics" first, then "conducting]
the necessary study." 1 doubt the
study would be found to be neces-
sary!
While I am opposed on general
principles to having the hanging
precede the trial, there are a number
of misstatements in Dr. Stokes' sup-
porting paragraphs which I would
also like to correct before 1 discuss
what is right about his letter.
• "Rice does not have competitive
teams in any sport," according to Dr.
Stokes. In fact, last year alone base-
ball ranked briefly among the top 25
nationally, and both the men's and
women's cross-country teams fin-
ished the year in the national top 20.
Women's track and field has ranked
in the top 20 in the nation for 5 years
in a row. Individually, Rice has aver-
aged one of the highest ratios of Ail-
Americans per student in the nation,
including several NCAA and SWC
champions.
„ • "Intercollegiate athletics at Rice
benefits a very small proportion of
the Rice community outside of the
athletes themselves." Leaving aside
the fact that Dr. Stokes' examples
(volleyball, swimming, golf) avoid
the most heavily attended sports,
there is a more serious question
ignored in his statement.
Intercollegiate athletics, like all
extracurricular activities, is supposed
to exist primarily for the benefit of
the participants. If other students
also enjoy watching sports, or the
MOB, or Bilker Shakespeare, that's
great. What is unacceptable is the
situation at other universities, where
athletics exist for the benefit of the
alumni, the university's revenues,
and television.
•"Athletes distort the composi-
tion of the student body." Dr. Stokes'
SAT figures are correct, and it is a
fact of Rice life (unfortunately) that
Rice students tend to establish a
pecking order based on one's per-
formance one Saturday morning in
one's high school career, rather than
actual performance at Rice. Dr.
Stokes grants that student-athletes
maintain "decent" GPA's (2.84 over-
all last spring, compared to the non-
athlete GPA of 3.0) by "judicious"
course selection, and graduate at a
rate "approximating" that of regular
students (in fact, the athletes' rate is
slightly higher).
I am sure that Dr. Stokes would
not recommend that students be in-
judicious in their course selection;
he is referring to the myth of the
special course, known only to ath-
letes, where they go to repair then-
damaged GPA's (the same place ele-
phants go to die). I invite students to
test this theory by choosing a Rice
course they consider "easy," and
determining whether there are more
athletes or non-athletes in the class.
Dr. Stokes also writes, "Appar-
ently the Director of Admissions
does not think [athletes] are regular
students either, because he does not
include them when he calculates and
publicizes the average SAT score of
entering freshmen." In fact, the situ-
ation is worse than Dr. Stokes real-
izes: if a student is admitted as an
athlete and later wishes to resign his
scholarship in order to concentrate
on academics, he is ineligible (by
Rice's financial aid rules) for any Rice
need-based financial aid.
As a historian, Dr. Stokes will
remember that, two hundred years
ago, some people argued that blacks
must be inherently inferior to whites
because blacks were not allowed to
vote and were only counted as 3/5 of
a person in the census. Today we
think such arguments say more
about the inequalities imposed by
the system than they do about real
equality.
There are other points of Gale's
argument I could rebut, but instead I
would like to close by discussing
what is right about his proposal: I am
very glad to see someone prepared
to discuss the realities of the athletic
program at Rice. Where there is
ignorance, there will be myths, and
there is a wide range of athletic
Ending athletics will affect all of Rice
To the editors:
The most recent issue of the
Ihresher carried an editorial by Dr.
Gale Stokes on the future of intercol-
legiate athletics at Rice University.
The athletes and the athletic pro-
gram are an integral part of our
school and that it is time for a word in
support of athletics at Rice.
Intercollegiate athletics cannot
be considered only in terms of its fi-
nancial liabilities, but also in terms of
the benefits it brings to Rice. Many
teams arc more profitable than Rice
teams, but is this any reason to con-
demn athletics.here? Profitability is
not what collegiate athletics is about.
Another claim is that few people
except the athletes themselves bene-
fit from intercollegiate athletic par-
ticipation. Stokes asks, "How many
students...attend swimming meets,
golf tournaments, track meets or vol-
leyball games?" These events at any
school draw less attendance than the
big game sports like football and
basketball. This is to say nothing of
the more tangible benefits Rice re-
ceives for even having these pro-
grams. Athletics is diversity in the
composition of a major university.
Stokes asserts that Rice is a small
institution that concentrates its ef-
forts in a few areas of specialty, not in-
cluding athletics. We assert that Rice
is a major university and that we
need to compete with the others in
whatever spheres we can in order to
stay on top and in the mainstream.
Stokes states, "Rice does not have
competitive teams in any sport."
None competitive in any sport? lite
women's basketball team currently
holds a winning record. This year's
women's volleyball team finished
third in the conference, behind na-
tionally ranked Texas. This year's
men's basketball team is currently
sixth in the conference after a victory
over Texas A&M. The list could go
on and on. "Athletes distort the
composition of the student body,"
according to Stokes, making a dis-
tinction between athletes and regu-
lar students. There is a distinction,
but athletes are here to contribute to
the university in a different way.
They do not distort the student body,
they are part of the student body.
Saying that Rice athletes are both
incapable of being competitive in the
sports they play and that they are out
of place in this university is in our
opinion quite unfair.
Stokes asserts that withdrawal
from intercollegiate athletics for a
period of time and a subsequent
review of Rice's goals will be a posi-
tive reaffirmament of Rice's com-
mittment to traditions of excellence.
Quitting is not positive and commits
to nothing. The cessation of the ath-
letic program would severely cripple
any subsequent reconstruction.
Football, basketball and all the
other athletics arc a part of Rice. The
chance to go out to cheer for the
Fightin' Owls cannot be measured in
dollars. Win or lose there will be fans
because this is our school and they
are our team.
Alan Win stead
David M. Wang
Wiess '90
myths at Rice (some of which may be
accepted even by articulate, intelli-
gent history professors). I welcome
the suggestion that the Rice commu-
nity discover the facts and determine
openly what Rice's best interests are.
Mark Scheid
Associate Director of Advising
Youngkin rebuts Stokes
To the editors:
In response to Gale Stokes' letter
in the January 20,1989, issue of the
Thresher, I would like to inform
those concerned that despite Dr.
Stokes' negative representation,
there are many positives involved
with Rice athletics. 1 will try to re-
spond to his statements and explain
why Rice should not abandon "big-
time" athletics.
Dr. Stokes' first statement that
big money has undermined the "os-
tensible educational purposes" of
college athletics can not be refuted
as the athletics programs at Texas
A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, etc.
have fallen prey to the short-cuts
often taken by the "big time"
schools.
1 think this should be an incentive
instead of a deterrent to Rice to strive
for athletic excellence and prove that
hard work, honesty, and integrity are
the backbone of a winning program.
I sure am glad that Stanford,
Duke, and Vanderbilt didn't bail out
because schools were operating out-
side the rules.
I >yas a little amused at Dr. Stokes'
statement that Rice has no competi-
tive athletic teams. I'm positive that
his opinion would be different if he
were in attendance for the Rice-
Texas A&M basketball game this
past weekend.
I would bet that the 3500 people 'in
attendence would describe Rice's
team as competitive against the "big-
time" state school from College Sta-
tion.
In fact, I'm not sure there is a non-
competitive team at this university.
Even our football team,"which suf-
fered through its toughest season,
took league champion Arkansas
down to the wire.
As far as Rice student-athletes
distorting the "composition of the
student body," I'm not sure why Dr.
Stokes didn't just comc out and say
"dumb jocks." Athletes are not the
only group of students whose SAT
scores arc omitted from university
averages.
Athletes' overall contribution to
the university should be considered
just as that of a master violinist or
skilled artist. Generalizations about
a specific groups' academic prowess
is unfair. In addition to the identical
graduation requirements as every
other Rice student, athletes must
balance a hectic practice, game, and
travel schedule. I don't think a ques-
tion of equivalence can apply when
the parameters are so different.
Additionally, athletes were not
the only students to find the Natural
Science foundation class difficult, as
reported in a recent Thresher article.
Big-time athletics are expensive,
but so is a new music building, a new
bio-engineering building, and li-
brary renovations. The key is that
these investments will generate
great future returns in areas aside
from basic economics.
Athletics can also create great op-
portunities for those inside and out-
side the athletic department Duke
University's entire community has
benefited greatly from its athletics
and Rice can enjoy those same re-
wards.
Dr. Stokes' final argument, that
Rice and "big-time" athletics are not
compatible because athletics are
beyond Rice's interests as a small
university, appears to sell Rice short.
Rice is a small school with a "big-
time" reputation. Our graduates do
"big-time" things and Rice is known
for excellence around the world. .
Why should we limit ourselves
and not pursue a very attainable
goal? Rice can compete and win, as
many of our teams have already dem-
onstrated.
As a student first and a varsity
basketball player second, I am fully
aware of the conflicts that exist be-
tween athletics and an academic
institution like Rice.
I know that without basketball, I
would not have been able to attend a
university like Rice, with all its dis-
tinctions unavailable at a cheaper,
"big-time," state school. I cherish all
those aspects that make Rice what it
is.
The seventy-five percent of the
student body that regularly attends
home basketball games, painted
faces, the MOB at halftime, the so-
cial events that surround football
games, the drive and spirit to make
Rice's teams winners, and the cama-
raderie that is not divided by a ath-
lete/non-athlete line.
This is Rice and it runs far deeper
that a losing streak in football or a
low gate receipt
Rice athletics will succeed
through continued hard work and
support I'm glad to be a part of it.
Glenn Youngkin
Will Rice, '90
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 27, 1989, newspaper, January 27, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245711/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.