The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 3, 1992 Page: 5 of 24
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OPINION
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1992 5
Even innocent joggers are no
longer safe from die Campos
BY MflRA MIIJLER
Have you heard?
It's now worth a ticket if you roller-
blade against the flow of traffic on the
inner loop. It's also unacceptable to
walk or jog on the street, ride a bike (or
other two-wheeled vehicle) on the
sidewalks, or ride a bike the "wrong"
way down the street. And some of
your classmates have been ticketed
for these very offenses.
If you have heard about this, you
probably learned the same way I did—
the ever trusty grapevine. Not only
were everyday students (the sort who
jog the inner loop) not informed, but
neither were the college masters and
presidents, the Senate, or the Thresher
news staff.
The way I understand this situation
—and I must admit it's been hard to
get accurate information since none
was disseminated before this policy
went into force—the administration,
that wonderful amorphous body over
in Allen Center, instructed the Campus
Police to ticket any persons disobey-
ing the new traffic rules.
Two yearsago there was no "wrong
way" to travel around the loop—any
way you wanted to go was permis-
sible.
I will be the first to admit that
making the inner-loop one-way was a
prudent decision—it certainly has cut
down on automobile congestion.
However, things seem to run very
smoothly now.
{Especially since cars parked on the
inner-loop are now ticketed and
towed, one can observe how neatly
our campus circulates.
Why disturb peaceful joggers who
run in the street to avoid enormous
mud puddles?
Why make bikersandrollerbladcrs
travel so that they cannot see the cars
behind them?
Anotherquestion: will gnome carts
also be forced off the sidewalks? Not
to criticize the gnomes, but I have
heard more than one student express
concern over their driving skills—or
lack thereof—and I have yet to see
one of them ticketedon Virgin's Walk.
This entire policy is nothing more
than additional bureaucracy—some-
thing that Rice does not need more of.
Let me make it clear that safety is an
important issue, and that includes the
safety of bikers and pedestrians
I lowever, since few residents of Rice
University are minors, is this policy
really necessary?
The Rice community is small and
intimate, not sprawling and uncon-
trollable.
Why must the Campus Police waste
their precious time on piddling of-
fenses such as these?
The Campos are already under-
staffed for the important job that they
perform in keeping our campus as
safe as possible.
Why add to their burden with
something so inane?
At minimum, I wish all administra-
tors understood, as some already do,
that it is always easier to let the com-
munity know about policy changes
ahead of time.
With proper information and ex-
planation, we might be able to head
off what ever danger the new pedes-
trian and traffic regulations are pro-
tecting us from.
Mitra Miller is a senior atJones College.
When does a date
turn into date rape?
To the editors,
Lately, I heard another story of a woman who had been date raped. I
don't know her well. I see his face from time to time; one of those ail-
American, good-spirited guys. She came home with him from the pub. She
liked him. They had both been drinking.
When does it become rape?She never yelled out "no!", but physically she
wasn't consenting, certainly not at the point he pushed her face down and
she was gagging, unable to get free. He falls asleep, and she cries. And the
next day she avoids his gaze as he cheerfully says "hello," reaffirming that
myth in his mind that she wanted it too.
I look around and wonder how many women this has happened to, how
many women say they've brought it on themselves, that he couldn't help it,
that he was drunk? And I wonder how many men are living with this man's
myth day after day, night after night?
77 7 ° Suzanna Hardt
Lovett '92
Off-campus life should not be
seen as fatal to college spirit
To the editors,
Iwishtoaddressanumberofclaims
that Michael Overcash makes about
off-campus living in his March 20 ar-
ticle. First, as for off-campus living
damaging college unity, yes, living
OC makes it a little harder to partici-
pate in some activities.
However, in observing the OC
people I have known at Baker, it seems
to me that those who want to partici-
pate in college activities find some
way to do so, and a number of OC
people are more active in the college
than many of the on-campus folks.
Yes, if you want to stay for a Cabinet
meeting of a study break, then you
have to either take an extra trip or else
bring supper and something to do
until that late hour in the evening.
Fine! If it's important to you that you
stay involved in those particular col-
lege activities, then you'll make the
time to do so.
And if you don't want to stay on
campus that late, there are other col-
lege activities that you'can do during
the day. Don't underestimate lunch as
a college bonding activity!
Secondly, not every Rice student
chooses Rice because of the college
system. A number of people assume
that this is what made people pick
Rice over some other university. Well,
I'm one person who didn't choose
Rice because it has a college system.
Actually, what I saw of day-to-day
college life during my Owl Weekend
made me think twice about coming
here; the 1988 Wiess production of
Hello, Hamlet has much more to do
with me being here than the existence
of the college system.
Now that I'm here, I know the
good aspects of the college system,
but it's still not the most important
facet of Rice to me.
Overcash's most disturbing state-
ment is that since many people who
have to I ive OC decide they prefer it to
being on campus, we should build
more housing so that they won't dis-
cover this in the first place. This re-
minds me too much of those who say
that hearing anti-patriotic statements
will cause people to lost respect for
the United States, or who say that
learning the facts about other reli-
gions will cause people to leave the
One True Way, and therefore all such
things should be forbidden.
If someone discovers that off-
campus I ife suits them better than 1 iving
on campus, why shouldn't they live
off-campus?Becauseof"collegespirit"
or "college unity"?
College spirit is somethingyou have
or you don't, and where you live is not
going to change this. College unity I
addressed above. And what if some-
one can't afford to live on campus, or
wants to get married while attending
Rice, or simply doesn't like having a
party going on under their window
every weekend? How are they helped
by staying on campus?
Certainly we should try to ensure
space for all the people who genu-
inely want to live on-campus, but
"[making] every effort to encourage,
on-campus residence of all students"
seems counterproductive.
I am an OC person by choice. 1
moved off-campus my sophomore
year because I assumed I would prob-
ably be jacked anyway. I discovered
that for me, living OC was cheaper
and quieter than livingon-campus, so
I remained OC. I've made many
wonderful friends that I would never
have met otherwise, and I've learned
how to manage in Houston without a
car.
I've also made an interesting dis-
covery about my own college partici-
pation. The one year 1 lived on-cam-
pus, I spent very little time at Baker
and a lot of time at Lovett and Sid
I'm still ecumenical as far as col-
leges go, but I've discovered that liv-
ing OC has actually caused me to
participate much more in Bakeractivi-
ties and Baker life than I did when 1
livedthere. Ifthis is destroying col lege
unity by living off-campus, then I'm
glad to do it.
Sharon L. Casteel
Baker '92
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The DiTTCfr Difference.
Ninth college not
solution tp housing
To the editors:
In the March 20 issue of the
Thresher, two articles proposed a so-
lution to the problems associated with
off-campus housing: a ninth college.
Although both writers admit the
possibility that the administration
might use this as an opportunity to
increase undergraduate enrollment,
each claims that the admission office
can keep enrollment at the present
level.
However, if enrollment can actu-
ally be kept at the present level, would
it not be just as easy to simply reduce
admission to a level that would allow
guaranteed on-campus housing with-
out building yet another college?
If nearly one-quarter of Rice Un-
dergraduates are forced off-campus
each year, increasing on-campus
housing by one-eighth will not solve
the housing problem. A ninth college
is a band-aid, not a cure.
Jordan M. Kossack
Will Rice 91
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 3, 1992, newspaper, April 3, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245811/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.