The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, April 23, 1993 Page: 2 of 24
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2 FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1993 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
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Campus Police
They deserve praise as well
as scrutiny from campus community
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The campus police have undergone serious examination lately.
The department is engaging in a delicate balancing act to main-
tain campus safety while respecting the rights of the students and
visitors who live and study here. We praise their continuing
attempts to meet the expectations of the Rice community.
The difficulty for the department is in remaining vigilant against
Houston's very serious crime problem while keeping the lifestyle
of the Rice student in mind. If the department leans too far
towards protection while showing less concern for due process,
the campus community naturally raises its voice through the
media and directly to the department in protest. This is what
minority students rightfully did when instances, acknowledged
by the department, of racial discrimination occurred. If the de-
partment leans too far in the other direction, however, by being
overly lenient towards specific groups or in not restricting some
activities, then campus dwellers may be at an unacceptable risk.
Even though the department has been under fire, it is making
a commendable effort to work with its detractors and adjust
course in the right direction. In fact the campus police depart-
ment has a history of retaining individual officers who have
worked to become part of the community through interaction
with the colleges and who have developed a special understand-
ing of students. Their responsiveness to the concerns of minority
students and individual complainants in recent cases should
build on this foundation of interaction. Association with a college
by campus officers is a unique opportunity given the Rice com-
munity to ensure communication.
We must keep a watchful eye turned toward any organization
charged with great responsibility and endowed with great power,
it is the nature ofthe beast. The power of any police force must be
closely monitored in our society to protect individual freedoms.
We can continue, however, to maintain friendly ties and lines of
communication while being critical.
We acknowledge the department's efforts to adapt to the
demands of the campus community. The careful observation of
the campus police continues not because they are doing a poor
job, but because they are doing a very important job. We must all
show concern if we are to avoid upsetting the fragile balance.
Rice Thresher
Kraettli Epperson, Peter Howley
Editors-xn-Chief
Shane A. Spedale
Business Manager
NEWS
Melissa Williams Editor
Sei Chong Assistant Editor
Haley S. Robertson
SA Correspondent
Monnie McGee
GSA Correspondent
Keith Hoffman, Patricia Lin, Jean
Kosela, Sarah Maurer, Sam Cole,
Aaron Martin, Chad Carson, Eric
Carmichael
OPINION
David Hale Editor
Jym Schwartz
Chad Carson Columnists
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Jenny Salomon Editor
ShailaDe wan, Jeff Kuhr, Kristian lin,
Kyle Henry, lien Brady
PHOTOGRAPHY
Barbara Solon Editor
Chris Sonneborn,
MonicaWeinheimerAsststa*/.E<tftofs
Sarah Emery, AlyssaTerk
SPORTS
Amy Jeter, Torrey Folk Editors
Jason Katz Assistant Editor
Erica Levine, Tony Tran, Stuart
Krohn, Jason Katz, David Rhodes,
Sanjit Ganguli, William Li, Jun Ishii,
Stuart Krohn
BACKPAGE
Eric Stotts, Eric Shamp Editors
PRODUCTION
Kevin Mistry Production Manager
Jeremy Hart, Laura Atkinson, Marc
Hirsh, Tony Tran, Keith Hoffman
BUSINESS
Shane A Speciale Ads Manager
George D. Nickas, Haley S. Robertson
Ads Production
Katherine A. McKee Assistant
Business Manager
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: $20.00 domestic, $40.00 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. © COPYRIGHT 1993. 527-4801
Creating new ninth college could
change life on campus for the better
. /-i, i of the administration and staff have consistently ranks at the very bottorr
by Chad Carson
What this university needs is a
little bit of rearranging.
I propose turning Allen Center into
Herbert Allen College and distribut-
ing its current inhabitants, primarily
the "support" divisions of Finance &
Administration and External Affairs,
among the other eight colleges. The
departments currently in Allen Cen-
ter could be split up logically into
groups that could function without
constant contact with other depart-
ments. The moves
would entail some
renovations to a
few buildings, but
those would be
relatively minor.
Lovett Hall is
also a potential
candidate for redistribution, but on
the whole its inhabitants don't need
such a shock quite so badly. The shock,
that is, of remembering their purpose
in life. It's all too easy to forget that
parking regulations, for example, ex-
ist not for their own sake but for the
sake of the university. And, in turn,
that the university exists for the stu-
dents (and, to a lesser extent, for the
faculty).
The problem is that some portions
of the administration and staff have
lost sight of their proper mission.
Moving the support staff and ad minis-
tration into the colleges would be a
good fir st step toward solving the prob-
lem.
Imagine what daily contact with
students could do for student-admin-
istration relations. It might create a
habit of trust and communicatio n that
would strengthen the university im-
mensely. Student- and staff-residents
would undoubtedly talk about issues
and problems facing the university;
but even without those serious dis-
Imagine what daily contact with
students could do for student-
administration relations.
cussions, the two groups would gain a
useful familiarity just by spending time
in the same place. It would be hard to
forget about students ifyou spent most
of your workday around them.
In addition to the general benefits
caused by more awarenessof students,
there would also be some direct im-
provements in services. For example,
the food might actually get better. It is
unfathomable that a private university
with stable finances and few students
consistently ranks at the very bottom
of surveys of food quality. This situa-
tion could be easily remedied. Maybe
it would change if the people who
ultimately have authority over Cen-
tral Kitchen had to put up with it every
day (even if only for lunch).
Imagine how well and how fast the
elevators would work if board mem-
bers and major donors had to go up to
the seventh floor of Sid, instead of up
to the posh third floor of Allen Center,
every time they visited the Develop-
ment Office.
And, finally, picture students talk-
ing every day about low water pres-
sure and the lack of hot water in the
showers. Picture administrators lis-
tening to them every day and perhaps
even taking showers themselves, just
to see what these students are com-
plaining about Now try to picture
those same administrators not caring
at all about water pressure and tem-
perature. It's hard to do.
From mail to maintenance, there
are many areas in which a rearrange-
ment would help.
Some members ofthe support staff
might object, saying that the redistri-
bution would make their jobs a little
more difficult However, when mak-
ing decisions about how to provide
services, it is important to keep in
see Allen College, page 4
'Bad Moon* does not condone IRA
To the editor,
On reflection, I have decided that I
must respond to Professor Stevenson's
letter in last week's Thresher about
my play "Bad Moon on the Rise." He
characterized the play as "propaganda"
and "perilously close to an apologia
for the terrorist activities of the so-
called Irish Republican Army."
Professor Stevenson takes arather
THE EDITOR
Letters
unusual high road— "As an English-
man, I don't want to discuss the play
[?] or to defend past British policies in
Ireland." Most of his letter is a discus-
sion of the recent dreadful IRA bomb-
ings in Warrington, which he rightly
deplores. What I found most upset-
ting, indeed insulting, is his clear im-
plication that I do not share this view.
For the record, I deplore and con-
demn IRA terrorism. I also deplore
loyalist terrorism and British secu-
rity forces terrorism. A good friend of
mine is paralyzed for life as a result of
a senseless shooting in Belfast To
this day, he does not know whether
his assailant was an IRA man or a
For the record, I
deplore and
condemn IRA
terrorism. I also
deplore Loyalist
terrorism and
British security
forces terrorism.
Loyalist, and, frankly, it does not mat-
ter very much. But to simply condemn
terrorism, to dismiss the IRA as "psy-
chopaths for whom killing has bcs
come an end to itself," while refusing
to deal with the root causes, is simplis-
tic and futile. Unfortunately, to even
suggest that there are root causes
leaves one open to charges that one is
sympathetic to the IRA. I happen to
believe that past and present British
policies in Ireland remain one of the
primary causes of the continuing vio-
lence.
Some recent statements by Sir
Patrick Mayhew, Britain's Secretary
of State for Northern Ireland, show
hopeful signs of a belated willingness
to address the real issues. Inciden-
tally, while aunited Ireland may be the
most stable long-term solution, the
more pressing need is for the realiza-
tion of a just and peaceful society in
the North.
For those members of the Rice
community who saw the Wee Players'
one-acts this spring, I can let my play
speak for itself For those who did not,
it may be pertinent to mention that it
derives from a play The Rising ofthe
Moon written by the Anglo-Irish play-
wright Lady Gregory in 1906, when all
of Ireland was under British rule. In
that play, an Irish sergeant following
a dialogue on their history and cul-
ture, decides to let a republican felon
see Carroll, page 4
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, April 23, 1993, newspaper, April 23, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245841/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.