The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 14, 1992 Page: 2 of 24
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2 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14,1992 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
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Student opinion, representation
missing in ARC report
After a year of waiting, we finally have the Athletic Review
Committee's [ARC] report. All 144 pages of it And a whopping full
paragraph is devoted exclusively to student opinion.
For a Committee already weak on student representation (the
"student" on the committee was alumnus Spencer Yu, who did most
of his work by mail), this seems an awfully small space to consider the
opinions of the mass of people who are most directly affected by the
status of athletics at Rice.
Three students in support of the current athletic policy were
allowed to testily before the committee. And three students critical of
the current policy were invited. The SA president, three MOB
members and seven student-athletes also testified. From this testi-
mony, the ARC was able to glean the fact that "Student opinion
regarding the role of intercollegiate athletics in student life is mixed."
We waited a year for this?
While it is reasonable that contrasting interests within the actual
committee would ensure that "student opinion" is interpreted to be
neither entirely pro-athletics nor entirely anti-athletics, unfortunately
what we get is Milquetoast.
What isn't understandable is why the experiences and opinions of
students Gncluding student-athletes themselves) are not included in
a comprehensive report on the state of athletics at Rice. Or how
seventeen students, individuals from different backgrounds, could
be so neatly summed up in three sentences.
Whether this is a failing of the ARC or a failing of the president's
charter excluding student opinion as a foundation for the report is not
important. What is important is that the 3,000-odd people who live
with and as student-athletes, the people who reap the benefits and
suffer the consequences of the current system, the people who are
the most intimately associated with the athletic program, were barely
even consulted. And those who were consulted were barely even
mentioned.
If the administration is interested in obtaining a well-rounded view
of the athletic situation, it should conduct a series of scientific surveys
of students, alumni, faculty, and possibly administrators associated
with student activities.
Without proper student representation, these facts and figures will
be manipulated by administrators to mold the student's environment.
And the students will be treated like children, without a say in the
proceedings.
The facts that the ARC haspresented are valuable in understanding
the Rice athletic system. Until the students are adequately repre-
sented, however, the report's readers aren't getting the whole story.
Ann Zitterkopf, Harlan Howe
Editors-in-chief
Chad Carson
Managing Editor
NEWS
Leezie Kim Editor
Eric Carmichael, Kraettli
Epperson Assistant Editors
Mark Schoenhals, Kristen
Copeland, Shala Phillips, Sam
Cole, Kevin Mistry, Jeff Karem
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Shala Phillips Editor
Ross Grady Columnist
Dorry Segev, Brian Beeghly.Tom
Anderson, Tony Chen
OPINION
Mark Schoenhals Editor
Ben Bateman, Amit Mehta
SPORTS
Peter Howley Editor
Tim Lam Scoreboard
Randy Block, John Akers, Marilyn
Moore, Paul Abosch, Terzah
Ewing, John Garrett, I.aura Bons
© COPYRIGHT 1992
David Mansfield
Business Manager
BACKPAGE
Heidi Huettner Editor
M. Wasz Cartoonist
PHOTOGRAPHY
Chris Sonneborn Editor
Eric Hahn Assistant Editor
Barbara Solon, James Yao
FEATURES
Shaila Dewan Editor
PRODUCTION
Josh Denk Production Manager
Thomas Anderson, Laura
Atkinson, Jeremy Hart, Marc
Hirsh, Kevin Mistry
BUSINESS
Shane Speciale Ads Manager
Chris Cowles Asst. Bus. Manager
George Nickas Ads Production
Keit^i LaFoe, Adrian C. Liserio,
Johfi Schwartz, Circulation
Phone: 527-4801
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 on request. Mail subscription rate
per semester: $15.00 domestic, $30.00 international via first class mail. Non-
subscription rate: first copy free, second copy $1.00. Letters to the editor must be
received by 5 p.m. on the Monday prior to publication. Unsigned editorials represent
the majority opinion of the Thresher Editorial Staff. All other pieces represent the
opinion of the author. Obviously.
LISTEN, I K&U.YMGONUKGNE.
THIS awe TWN&MK/.'
NOW-TELL WE VON TT FEELS
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FWNKty
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KTRU will interview Holocaust
Revisionist and Rice historian
To the editors,
KTRU Radio plans to interview
Bradley Smith, director for the Com-
mittee for Open Debate on the Ho-
locaust and author of the advertise-
ment which the Thresher rejected.
Many people
have twisted and
hateful beliefs,
and these people
attract followers.
The interview will be played on this
Sunday's edition of the Rice Radio
Journal at 5 p.m.
While I understand the editors-in-
chief s decision not to publish the ad,
I feel that Rice students have the right
to hear this man's views, however rep-
Thank you
To the editors,
We wish to publicly commend Ann
Zitterkopf and Harlan Howe, editors-
in-chief of the Thresher, for respon-
sibly exercising freedom of the press
and good judgment in declining to
print Bradley Smith's ad espousing
Holocaust Revisionism. Blatantly
falsified facts, which serve only to
promote hatred and antisemitism,
have no place in a respectable publi-
cation. We support their decision to
help to prevent the spread of hate,
racism, and bigotry.
Robert Book, Ed Gelber, Logan
Ratner, Bryna Kammerman,
Stuart Federow, David
Mansfield, Marina Broitman,
David Diamond, David Trevas,
Lewis Book
To the editors,
We appreciate the Thresher's de-
cision not to run the anti-Holocaust
ad. The editors' rationale demon-
strated careful thought on the issue.
The spreading of hate through
advertising toward any ethnic, reli-
gious, or minority group has no place
at Rice or anywhere else.
Adam Baseman, Chair
Tania Glowinskj, Vice-chair
Susan Schoenberger, Treasurer
Rice Jewish Community
Relations Council
rehensible they may be. Just as ignor-
ing the Holocaust will not make it go
away, ignoring those who claim the
Holocaust never happened will not
make them go away either. What this
issue boils down to is an issue of po-
litical correctness. From talking to
friends and listening to debates, it
seems that most students feel that the
decision as to what speech is and is not
acceptable should be left to the indi-
vidual. Being presented with a person
like Smith is a true test of that belief.
Rice students live in a political
vacuum. The shelter that the hedges
provide protects us from many of the
people and opinions of the real world.
The sad fact is, many people have
twisted and hateful beliefs, and these
people attract followers. As Rice stu-
dents, we will be the community
leaders—the educated ones who
must prevent our peers from follow-
ing people like Bradley Smith. If we
ignore Smith now, we will be ill-pre-
pared to deal with him in the future.
We must be aware of Smith, but
we must also be aware of what the
truth is. Because of this, I will also be
If we ignore
Revisionism now,
we will be
ill-prepared to
deal with it
in the future.
interviewing Professor of History
Francis Loewenheim, who has been
with the Rice History Department
since 1959. I urge all students to
listen to KTRU on Sunday at 5, both
to knowwhatthe truth isand to know
how people can twist it
Bradley Monton
KTRU Radio News
Happy Birthday,
Foundation Courses!
You're about four years old.
We're going to teach you how to walk.
Students and faculty:
Come share your experiences
with the foundation courses and
help us reimagine them.
Monday night
February 17
10:30 to 1.1:30 or so
at the Coffeehouse
Sponsored by the Rice Thresher.
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 14, 1992, newspaper, February 14, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245805/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.