The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1991 Page: 7 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1991 7
Speech team takes first in two meets
Analysis by Meredith Weiss
The George R. Brown Forensic
Society competed at Sam Houston
State University the weekend of Oc-
tober 11 and at St Mary's University
the weekend of October 18 placing
first in overall sweepstakes and first
in individual event sweepstakes at
each tournament In addition, Rice
placed third in debate sweepstakes
at St Mary's.
At Sam Houston, Baker sopho-
more Joe Grinstein placed first,
Brown junior Michael Hawes placed
second, Lovett junior Brad Smith
placed third and Brown freshman
Kevin Mistry placed sixth in extern
poraneous competition. Rice also
advanced three people to semi-fi-
nals—Brown sophomore Sean
Knight, Brown junior Alex
Dominguez and Sid freshman Robert
Kimbro. Grinstein also placed first in
Impromptu, Smith placed second,
Mistry placed fourth, Dominguez
placed fifth, and Kimbro placed sixth.
Tariq Ahmed, WRC fifth year, ad-
vanced to semi-finals.
With his performance at this
tournament Brad Smith completed
the qualification process for nation-
als in both extemporaneous and im-
promptu divisions, both clasified as
limited preparation competition.
In Communication Analysis, Pe-
ter Johnson, Baker sophomore,
placed first, qualifying for nationals.
Dominguez placed second, Knight
placed third, and Grinstein placed
fourth for a strong finish in commu-
nication analysis. Eric Abraham,
graduate student in the physics de-
partment, has worked coaching the
team as a new assistant Other pre-
pared speaking awards include
Dominguez winning fourth place in
informative speaking and Grinstein
placing third in After Dinner Speak-
ing. Rice also won awards in the in-
terpretation events, which have been
difficult in years past Peter Sharoff,
WRC junior, took second in program
oral interpretation and fourth in po-
etry.
Additionally, Grinstein claimed
the title of top overall speaker, the
youngest Rice student everto achieve
this honor. The CEDA debate team
of Grinstein and Johnson advanced
to semi-finals.
This past weekend, the team went
to San Antonio to compete at St
Mary's University facing competition
from schools such as the U.S. Air
Force Academy and Marist College
from New York, both of which are
ranked in the top twenty.
Rice's success in limited prepara-
tion competition against the Air Force
Academy, the only school at the Na-
tional Championships with more
elimination round entries than Rice
in impromptu, was an important vic-
tory.
In extemporaneous, Brown senior
Lisa Bell won first and Hawes won
third place. Meredith Weiss, WRC
sophomore, and Knight both ad-
vanced to semi-finals. In impromptu,
Peter Johnson placed first, Weiss
placed second, and Bell placed fifth.
Bowie Hinger, Brown fifth year,
Michael Hawes and Alex Dominguez
all advanced to semi-finals. Hinger
was the top novice in impromptu.
In communication analysis,Weiss
placed first Smith placed second and
Dominguez placed fourth. Weiss
placed fifth and Dominguez advanced
to semi-finals in informative. Johnson
placed fifth in Persuasive with H inger
and Smith advancing to semi-finals.
Hinger was second top novice in
Persuasive.
Will Rice junior Peter Sharoff won
first place in program oral interpreta-
tion. In poetry, Noemi Dominguez,
WRC freshman, won second, Weiss
placed third and Sharoff placed fifth.
The 'Dramatic Duo' team of Mass
and Sharoff placed second to become
the first Rice duo to ever place. Tariq
Ahmed placed fourth in dramatic.
Anne Dryer, Sid sophomore, ad-
vanced to semi-finals in Prose.
Rice's success is incredible not
only because it is unprecedented,
but also because it is powered by so
many young competitors and a dy-
namic new assistant coach Ron
Ragston.
Rice debated well at St Mary's.
The team's head coach, Mike Fain,
was the tournament champion in
Parliamentary Debate. Lisa Bell, Sean
Knight and Bowie Hinger all ad-
vanced to quarter-finals in Lincoln-
Douglas Debate. Bell was the top
Lincoln-Douglas speaker, Hinger was
fourth.
The squad is hosting a tournament
at Rice Friday and Saturday which
will be followed by a tournmanet in
which the team will compete at Prairie
View A&M University.
SA Business
The Student Association Senate met Monday night October 21 in
Baker's Outer Commons. The following items were discussed:
Susan Wood's Name will not appear officially on the Homecoming
Election ballot because the Lovett socials campaigned for her too
early. Absentee voting for Tuesday's election will be today and
Monday from 9a.m. until 2:45 p.m. in the Student Organizations Office
on the second floor of the Ley Student Center.
A Food Committee Meeting will be Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Baker's
Outer Commons.
Book Co-op Checks should be out soon — check your mailbox!
The Conservation Committee plans to change the gripe sheets in
the individual colleges to include an area for conservation gripes as
well as physical problems with rooms and the dormitory.
Commencement Speaker Questionnaires should be filled out by
every senior and returned to their respective college senators.
Midnight Madness will be on October 31.
The Two Newest Clubs on Campus are the Students Organized
Against Rape (SOAR) and the Student Health Association The Rice for
Choice and Rice FYo-Life Organizations had their new constitutions
approved.
The next meeting will be Monday night, October 28,1991, at Brown
College. All are welcome to attend. .. . .. „ .
—compiled by Jonathan Briggs
Pears speaks on philosophy, youth
by Amit Dinesh Mehta
A visiting professor of philosophy
from England, David Pears, ad-
dressed popular misconceptions of
philosophers as "wise men" provid-
ing truth and as "clever men" who
dissect various theories competing
to be considered truth at a lecture
Tuesday titled "Why Study Philoso-
phy?" Pears cited the intrinsic value
of inquiry and questioning as justifi-
cation for studying philosophy.
The quest for understanding fun-
damentals, Pears argued, was stron-
gest in youth, and for this reason, the
study of philosophy should begin
early in life. Children, he claims, are
constantly concerned with question
such as "Is the darkness experienced
by a blind man the same as the
darkness I see when I close my
eyes?," and "What is naughtiness and
how am I to know when what I do is
naughty?" According to Pears,
Socrates recognized this and focused
on youth in his moral investigation.
Although the study of morality
and philosophy is postponed until
the university level, logic is often
encouraged at an earlier stage in
childhood development Pears noted.
Pears also called moral analysis a
double-edged sword and warned of
potential dangers of not adressing
moral questions posed by children.
If factual questions are given explicit
answers, but moral questions are
suppressed, he explained, children
may grow skeptical of morality itself.
Children who perceive an
unaddressed, fundamental distinc-
tion between morals and facts have
already had their morals subverted,
he claimed. Constructive ("wise")
philosophy can be monolithic, he
noted, so it can be undesirable in
early education. Analytic ("clever")
philosophy, by contrast is always
safe for children, he argued. This
includes the analysis of different vir-
tues and the liberation of thought
through exploration of alternative
perspectives.
Ultimately, the child will break
the fence of values being constructed.
When the fence is kicked down, the
child may reject everything that was
once within it Additionally, suppres-
sion of these doubts at the early stage
can breed a future contempt for basic
philosophical doubt as tangential and
frivolous. These people will view
philosophical questions as childish
and irrelevant to whatever matter
might be at hand.
Pears concluded by suggesting
that the only serious questions are
those that even a child can under-
stand. When we finally reach the
limits where any further questions
are unanswerable, he suggests, we
will have reached the boundary of
human existence.
The Thresher
needs
distribution
carriers.
If you are a student with a car
or truck and your Thursday eve-
nings and Friday mornings are
free, then the Thresherneedsyou.
We will pay you $20+/week to
circulate the Thresher around
campus and in the Village.
Become an eagerly awaited
face. Distribute the Thresher.
TiiW'ite*
Teehee
Sniggle
Snicker
Giggle
Chortle
CM(ecMfe
Cackle
iresher Th resher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher
sher Thresher Thresher'Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Tnresher'
< <sher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher Thresher TIiivsIkt'
Environmentalists
celebrate World
Population Week
The Rice Environmental Club will
observe World Population Week—
October 20-0ctober 26—by setting
up a table outside of Fondren Library
Wednesday through Friday of this
weekfrom9am to 1:30p.m. Students
are asked to come by to sign a peti-
tion that would increase spending to
third world contries so that they can
control their populations. Information
about population growth will also be
available for interested students.
Squirrel dies;
Campus suffers from
power outage
On the morning of October 18 at
approximately 8:40 a.m., the Rice
campus experienced an electrical
power outage that lasted for ap-
proximately fifteen minutes. Imme-
diately before the outage, a loud noise
was heard near Entrance 10 by Cen-
tral Kitchen. Later, a dead squirrel
was found at the base of a utility pole
in which the fusfes on the capacitor
bank were open. The squirrel ap-
parently, according to the Director of
Facilities and Engineering Bill Mack,
"grounded out the electrical insula-
tors on the Rice Boulevard power
lines. When this occurred, the main
campus breaker tipped on instanta-
neous fault Subsequently, the Cen-
tral Plant equipment shut down."
Everything was back to normal by 2
p.m. Mack regrets any inconve-
niences the outage may have caused.
To prevent this type of thing from
happening again, trees around the
utility poles will be trimmed twice a
year instead of the current once a
year to prevent any more squirrels
from making this fatal mistake.
Apple Computer
sponsors open house
Apple Computer, Inc. and Infor-
mation Systems will hold a Macintosh
open house Tuesd^^ October 29
from noon to 5 p.m. untie Rice Me-
morial Center. The open house will
focus mainly on demonstrations and
presentations of brand new Macin-
tosh systems.
Presentations on Portable com
puting and Power computing will be
held in the Meyer Conference Room
from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. A Macintosh
product view will be held all afternoon
in the Miner Lounge. Interested per-
sons should R.S.V.P. at 5274005 to
attend the presentations. Refresh-
ments will be served.
Kinko's copyright
suit finally comes to
a close
The copyright infringement suit
involving Kinko's Graphics Corpora-
tion and eight plaintiff publishers
under the Association of American
Publishers ended October 17 with
the signing of an agreement of statu-
tory damage awards. The case was
decided in the publishers' favor earier
this year.
According to the agreement,
Kinko's will pay $1,875 million in
damages and attorney fees as well as
agreeing not to appeal the decision.
The suit was filed by the Association
of American Publishers against
Kinko's for producing and selling
the Professor Publishing packets to
college students which contained
copyright material without getting
permission from the original pub-
lisher of the material and without
paying thecopyrghtpermission fees.
The fun is about to begin.
228-8421
ALLEY (
THEATRE)
Don't miss our specially {
priced previews:
Oct. 17, 18, 19, 20 and 22.
FAIRFAX
HEALTHY MALES WANTED AS SEMEN DONORS:
Fairfax Cryobank needs healthy young men as semen donors: Excellent
compensation; Help Infertile Couples; Confidentiality Ensured; Ages
18 to 35; Located in the Texas Medical Center. Call 799-9937
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, October 25, 1991, newspaper, October 25, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245794/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.