The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, December 1, 1989 Page: 2 of 20
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2 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1989 THE RICE THRESHER
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Fair tuition policy needed
An open letter to President Rupp:
I can not say that I am surprised about the tuition hike. Why not?
The university needs money and the students do not care. I imagine
that tuition forum last year showed you just how angry the students
are. You fielded some harsh questions in front of maybe fifty students.
I can guess why tuition is going up again. Costs are up and
revenues are down. You can not just raise the endowment or interest,
so it has to come from the students. Fair enough, if you are into that
whole type of argument, but I am not.
Education is not a commodity to be bought and sold on the free
market. William Marsh Rice set up an institution which did not charge
tuition because hethought education should be free. Tuition is not a
question of a few hundred or thousand dollars. President Rupp, do
you ask how much money you need the student to pay or how much
the student should pay?
Please, do not use the tired old argument about how small a per-
centage of the cost of an education the student pays. It just does not
work. Rice University is not just in the business of educating students.
Universities provide many other services. They provide places for in-
tellectuals to work and get paid for thinking. Faculty do research,
often supported by outside money, but research which simply could
not get done in any other place. The university is also often a valuable
forum for discussions and ideas. The university is a center of commu-
nity though and, in the case of a major university like Rice (which may
play host to the Economic Summit), world leadership.
Perhaps some of the most influential scholars at Rice could sup-
port themselves well on their research and publications alone, but
most of what goes on at a major university is supported because the
university has a guaranteed long-term goal: educating students.This
means that the university can raise money for its endowment and
charge tuition. Education and everything else is so mixed together,
we can never divide it up.
The price of education should not be related to its cost. It should
be set at a fair and accessible level. Now I know that Rice has financial
aid which makes it accessible to everyone; so I don't object to tuition
on principle.
Fair tuition, however, is a different matter. Fair does not mean
whatever the school needs to balance its budget. Fair should be
defined in a more philosophical sense.
My graduate school applications tell me that tuition at Princeton
University will be about $15,000, and "is expected to rise approxi-
mately 6 to 8 percent a year." If I go to the University of Texas, it will
be less than $2,000.1 realize there is a difference in public and private
education financing. But what is the academic world thinking when
it sets prices this differently?
The price of education really has nothing much to do with its cost.
It is really set at whatever the administration wants to charge, as long
can get away with it. It is obvious that Rice can probably get away with
charging another ten thousand dollars for undergraduate education.
I know, President Rupp, that you have said you do not want to raise
tuition. I believe you. However, you must admit that you want to keep
it frozen even less. What should tuition be? Should it be set every year
based on how much money you need to make everything balance
out? Or should the Rice community get together and decide what the
price of education should be, and stick to it.
I think the best option for Wee is to set a price which reflects what
a student should pay for a top quality education, not what the market
will bear or what the school needs. Then a statement should be
issued, adivising applicants that tuition will rise to reflect inflation,
and only inflation. I am not talking about some strange "university
inflation" like Princeton's, however. In today's economy, four to six
percent would be about right.
Please, President Rupp, come up with a tuition policy, make it clear
to everyone, and stick to it.
—John Wilson
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35
THEN
Another side to column on RU486
To the editors:
In response to Mike Raphael's
column two weeks ago on the subject
of RU486 ("Are you for RU486?," No-
vember 17), 1 must say his argument
is quite one-sided. Of course, the
other story must be told about the
side-effects of this wonderful "tech-
nological innovation" man has cre-
ated. Raphael should realize his edi-
torial will not stop the abortion argu-
ment by simply suggesting an easy
solution to provide more time and
space for more important problems
of society. As a result of his editorial,
I think the argument has just begun.
First of all, RU486, or Mifepris-
tone, just started production in Sep-
tember 1988, and is limited right now
to about 100 hospitals in France.
Some studies show its effectiveness
in early pregnancy is about 50 per-
cent to 85 percent, about the same
percentage as the withdrawal
method to prohibit conception. The
rate of effectiveness jumps to 95
percent, about the same as using the
diaphragm and spermicidal jelly,
when the pill is usually followed by
an injection of prostaglandin.
This means, of course, the
woman taking RU486 to terminate an
early pregnancy must do it within the
first 7 weeks of pregnancy and she
THE EDITOR
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must make three trips: first, for an
intial visit for medical screening and
to take the pill; secondly, to go back
forty-eight hours later for a
prostaglandin shot or suppository;
and thirdly, to make a trip to the
doctor a week later to make sure she
has completely aborted the embryo.
For the initial visit, the woman must
have a complete pelvic exam, an ul-
trasound to see how far along she is,
and she must sign documents ac-
knowledging the benefits and risks
of RU486.
In addition to going to the doctor
to take the pill and to take care of the
necessary paperwork, the abortion
lasts three days, and afterwards the
woman usually has extended and
heavy bleeding. RU 486 does not just
cause symptoms similar to a heavy
period, but is usually accommodated
by a heavy menstrual flow lasting on
average from 5 to 17 days. In a num-
ber of cases, 13 women needed regu-
lar transfusions to replace the blood
lost from the bleeding, and one
woman in particular needed to have
surgery to stop the bleeding after 30
days. The bleeding itself is painful,
and often times the woman needs
regular analgesic shots to alleviate
the pain. In addition, nausea, vomit-
ing and vaginal irritation and itching
are common side effects. Even if the
abortion is not successful, the
woman will still enjoy the heavy
bleeding, and in many of the cases,
the woman cannot ovulate for 3 to 7
months after the procedure. In total,
the procedure lasts a week, much
longer than the conventional abor-
tion, and is potentially more danger-
ous as well.
If the abortion is not successful
and the woman decides to have the
child, there is a high probability of
birth defects. In 1987, Lancet re-
ported that rabbit studies revealed
RU486 can cause birth defects, and
RU486's chemical structure is re-
lated to two dangerous drugs.
The possibility of RU486 becom-
ing easily available through the
black market is definitely not as
happy a thought as Raphael sug-
gests. Many women, in the privacy of
her own home after taking RU486,
abort the baby with all the human
features and characteristics, a sight
which conventional abortion would
usually spare the women from see-
ing. The manufacturer of RU486,
Roussel-Uclaf, has every pill ac-
counted for, to make sure none of the
pills are sold on the black market and
cause grave consequences for the
woman taking it, as well as possible
lawsuits for Roussel-Uclaf.
A couple of questions are worth
asking if pregnant women who do
not want theirchild all take Raphael's
advice and decide to use RU486.
Would she not bear a greater psycho-
logical burden and place the blame
upon herself and not an abortionist if
she knew she directly caused the
death of her developing child?
Also, what if children or unin-
formed or irresponsible people take
this pill, or those women who are not
pregnant or who are farther along
than 7 weeks? Who pays that price?
Would you call it "convenient" and
"safe"?
Sure, go ahead Mike Raphael,
and promote the risk-free chemical
alternative RU486, and see if it solves
the abortion debate. Is this really an
easy answer to solving the complex
debate of abortion that has gone on
since 1973, or is it just another quick-
fix solution in a McDonaldland soci-
ety where anything is easily dis-
posed of instead of people facing up
to their own responsibilities and
consequences of their actions?
Tracy Nitzsche
SRC *90
Praise for
art article
To the editors:
Sarah Bellavance's review of
Sewall Gallery's show "Messages
From the South" (November 17) was
excellent Her extrapolation from
the works and the information in the
catalog, particularly on Bonnie
Newman and Terrell James' work,
was the kind of insightful observa-
tion we had hoped would resultwhen
we chose to limit the information
provided.
I think what the article and the
attendance have shown is that the
student body is making good use of
the gallery, and it is a valuable addi-
tion to the fine education Rice has
always offered.
Elizabeth McBride
co-curator,
"Messages from the South"
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Kahn, Greg & Leedy, Sarah J. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, December 1, 1989, newspaper, December 1, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245736/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.