The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, February 1, 1991 Page: 2 of 16
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1,1991 THE RICE THRESHER
Sculpture theft disgrace
to intellectual freedom
When Rachel Nation decided to share her 'No blood for oil'
sculpture with the Rice community, it was an emotional gesture.
Nation's sculpture was not a metaphorical flag-burning. It was not
anti-American, nor was it intended to disparage the troops. It was
simply anti-war. It was a legitimate expression of the blood and horror
of bombing: an oil barrel exploding in a shower of broken bones. This
public comment turned into a real test for Rice: could this university
tolerate the freedom of expression we purport to encourage? Could
we accept confrontation with an opinion we did not all hold? We're
supposed to do that in class every day.
No one, though, was surprised when the sculpture was defaced
and bent, when drunk punks from the Pub got their kicks by stripping
down an artifact of the peace movement. People said, in fact, that they
expected it. They expected criminal actions from a first-class private
university.
"Criminal" is really the only word to describe the vandalism and
subsequent theft of the oil barrel sculpture. Such activities do not fall
under the category of prank. Defacing an artwork which is invaluable
to its creator and which may well be very valuable to a collector (yes,
people pay money for such atrocious, treasonous, downright Red
hemorrhages of overactive imagination).
The fact that some members of the Rice community could not
stomach the presence of dissent and dealt with their discomfort like
destructive children, and that the community as a whole did not
strongly condemn their actions, is worse than a poor reflection our
integrity as a place of learning. It is an indictment.
-Shaila Dewan
Hopeful for a fine year
by Kurt Moeller
I was wrong. Two years ago, after
the Rice baseball team stumbled to
its fifth straight last or next-to-last
finish, I opined in the Thresher that
head coach David Hall should be
fired. I.ast year, Hall and the team
proved me wrong with an outstanding
late-season performance.
The weekend after graduation last
May, the Owls swept a three-game
series from Texas Tech to finish
fourth in the conference and gain a
spot in the SWC tournament for the
first time since 1984. And the feat
was even more enjoyable because of
the team Rice knocked out; the hated
Aggies, who were ranked in the top
25 in the nation all year. A handful of
loud Aggies who watched the series
and cheered on Tech slunk away
silently when a Rice victory was
sealed in the final innings of the final
game.
Today the baseball Owls begin
the 1991 season with a series against
Texas Pan-American. Within the next
three and a half months, they will
play a grueling schedule that includes
five teams ranked in this year's
preseason top 10.
The team will need lots of support
and clutch play - like the kind it had
in last year's season-ending series -
it is to duplicate or improve upon its
performance of a year ago. I hope it
gets both, as I look forward to a year
of Rice baseball.
Kurt Moeller, Jay Yates
Editors-in-Chief
Harlan Howe
Managing Editor
NEWS
Shaila Dewan Editor
Amy Keener Assistant Editor
Jonathan Briggs, Anne Chettle, Heidi
Huettner, Kelly Norton, Jill Salomon,
R. Schmunk, Sylvia Van, Ann Zitterkopf
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Ann Zitterkopf Editor
I>eezie Kim Assistant Editor
11m CarToll, Chad Carson, Ross Grady,
Sarah Leedy, Erik Lridal, Shala Phillups,
I/>uis Spiegler, Alison Uberocken
BACK PAGE
Pete Limperis Editor
Jeremy Robinson Cartoonist
SPORTS
Darrell Speck Editor
Charles Kuffner Columnist
Paul Abosch, Gus Attwell, Ozgur
Bayazitoglu, Peter Howley, Chris O'Neill,
Alison Uberecken
Christopher Lowe
Business Manager
OPINION
Peter Howley Editor
PRODUCTION
Josh Denk Manager
LesKe Raneri Copy Editor
Thomas Anderson, Chad Carson, Joel
Galang, Sajid Haque, Shala Phillips
PHOTOGRAPHY
Chris Sonneborn Editor
Caroline Conn, Mike Gladu, John
Havranek, James Yao
BUSINESS
David Mansfield Ads Manager
Chris Cowles Asst Business Manager
Shane Spedale Ads Production
Stephanie Bassler Staff Assistant
Tiftani Cook Distribution
Phone - 527-4802
© COPYRIGHT 1991
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University
since 1916, is published each Friday during the school year, except
during examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice
University. Editorial and business offices are located on the second
floor of the Ley Student Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas,
77251. Advertising information available upon request. Mail subscrip-
tion rate per semester: $15.00 domestic, $30 international via first
class mail. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the
Thresher Editors. All other pieces represent the opinion of the author.
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View on minority scholarships ignorant
To the editors:
This is not the first time that I
have felt compelled to write to the
Thresher after reading an article
about minorities. Often, the cover-
age is biased, and quotes are out of
context But the editorial on minority
scholarships was a blatant display of
the generkl naivete and ignorance
about racism and affirmative action
in the United States. The opinion
expressed in the "Opinion" column
of January 25 shows just how perva-
sive and thoroughly entrenched rac-
ist ideas are at Rice and in our soci-
ety, and how far we have to go to
achieve true equal opportunity.
The author of the column begins
by saying that the elimination of mi-
nority scholarships "is the next step
towards eliminating racism at Rice
and other universities." This cannot
But until minorities
have equal opportunity
... minority scholarships
will continue to serve a
vital function.
be the next step. If anything, itwill be
one of the final steps. Until people's
attitudes and preconceived notions
change, the destruction of affirma-
tive action programs will not help
solve the problems.
One thing people seem to forget
(or ignore) when advocating the
elimination of affirmative action pro-
grams is that racism is real. It is not
merely a useless concept of the past
but an evil of today. Racism has been
accepted and condoned for so long
that it has become institutionalized.
Racist ideas and ideals are taught to
American children from birth by the
society. Racism is perpetuated ev-
eryday through the most seemingly
benign methods, including books,
magazines and television.
While trying to eradicate it, we
cannot forget the reality of racism.
Though some white Americans be-
lieve that racism is morally repre-
hensible, many do not. If our society
was not inherently racist, we could
eliminate minority scholarships be-
cause we could be confident that ev-
ery child in American had access to
an excellent education and, there-
fore, minority students would have
THE EDITOR
Letters
the same chance as every other stu-
dent to compete for merit scholar-
ships. However, our society is racist
and many minority children do not
have the same educational opportu-
nities as whites. And, to assume that
universities would take it upon thenv
selves to create new programs and
allocate funds to replace existing ones
would be nothing short of naive.
The author goes on to state that
minority scholarships "perpetuate
the false idea that minorities are, in
general, inferior academically" which
"cause[s] society to wonder if the
recipients are truly deserving."
Therefore, minority students do not
receive the respect white students
get "thereby increasing [minority
students'] inferiority complexes]."
To assume that every (or even
most) minority suffers from inferior-
ity complexes is both unfounded and
insulting. Though we have been sup-
pressed, dominated and disparaged
by whites, it does not mean that we
believe and internalize what is said
and done. Many of us have a fierce
pride in our heritages and, having
been exposed to and educated about
our histories, understand that there
is no rational, logical or moral basis
for racism. Though whites may be-
lieve us to be inherently less intelli-
gent, we know the truth.
Whites who are inclined to be-
lieve that minority students attend-
ing prestigious universities are not
qualified will do so regardless of what
types of scholarships, admissions and
support programs exist By appear-
ance, a white student cannot distin-
guish between a minority student
who scored a 1500 on the SAT and
one who earned a 1000. However, in
too many situations, he will assume
that both of them scored less than he
did and was admitted mainly on the
basis of race.
We must keep in mind that any
solution for the future, no matter how
temporary, should not sacrifice the
current generation. While minority
scholarships may not have a place in
some far-off and distant future, they
are important now. One of the pur-
poses of minority scholarships is to
encourage diversity. A university
which does not do this is doing a
great disservice to its students who
must be able to function in a pre-
dominantly multicultural society.
An ideal for our country is a soci-
ety in which people are judged based
on the content of their character and
their individual achievements and
failures. In such a society, scholar-
ships could be awarded to the most
qualified students, regardless of race.
But until minorities have equal op-
portunity to be the most qualified
and race is not a factor, we will never,
no matter what our economic status,
be able "to begin the race for success
at the starting line," and minority
scholarships will continue to serve a
vital function.
Pamela A. Jones
Graduate student
PC trades
liberty for
compulsion
To the editors:
In my profound retirement, I re-
cently received several issues of the
Thresher containing letters to the
editors aboutthe political correctness
(PC) movement. N.E.M. Yusuff
January 11), in particular, demon-
strates that the intention is purport-
edly to clarify language, and so is
manifestly within the scope of a uni-
versity. In a purely educational spirit,
students are to be immersed in se-
mantics so that they can freely choose
to express their actual sentiments:
".. .the use of offensive speech should
be the choice of the individual, not
the norm mandated by language."
The notion that users of "racist"
or "sexist" expressions do not realize
what they are saying is a chimera.
The intention of the "PC" agitation is
not liberty but compulsion, or at the
very least persuasion.
If persuasion, it is a person-to-
person process, no more the busi-
ness of a free university than per-
suasion to orthodox religion or
"correct"votingin elections. The very
name "political correctness" is a
giveaway, inconsistent with any idea
of a neutral function.
J.D. Thomas
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Moeller, Kurt & Yates, Jay. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, February 1, 1991, newspaper, February 1, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245774/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.