The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 1994 Page: 4 of 20
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4 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11,1994 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
Blanket taxes needed to improve infrastructure
'Nile needs new scanner
To the editor
On Feb. 22, the Campanile is requesting a $5 increase in the blanket
tax bringing the current $ 19 up to $24per student The main reason for
this request is the continual widening of the gap between the costs of
producing a quality yearbook and the revenues received from the tax
and advertising.
Although the Campanile has slowly worked its way out of a $17,000
hole left by a collapsed advertising agency in the late "80s, the costs of
production have continued to increase despite every effort to cut
extraneous costs. The current debt of $10,000 does not allow our staff
to invest in new capital or draw journalistically-inclined students to our
staff through wages like other publications on campus.
We would like to reduce costs by purchasing slide scanners and new
computers which would allow us to make deadlines easier and also give
us'a break in the price charged by the publisher.
A Currently, we partially own one computer and have to spend a large
su m of our jnoney on processing color slide film and black and white
pictures.
The addition of a slide and negative scanner would allow us to move
toward lowering all photography costs. With a debt looming over our
heads, however, we do not have the ability to invest in new technology.
We are also looking into a three-year deal with Josten's Publishers,
Inc., which will reduce the overall price of the book and allow for a
minimal amount of capital improvements. As proven by this action
alone, we are trying to reduce costs while producing a quality book for
students to reminisce with in their later lives.
We will continue to look for cost-reducing deals no matter the
outcome of the election, but the increased blanket revenues would
allow us a quicker manner in which to return the students' investment
to them through a better-quality book.
The 1994 Campanile has a very small staff of students working
anywhere from five to 30 hours a week trying to pull together a 512 page
book. While this is a volunteer job, the hours spent cause major
disruptions in an academic schedule. No compensation for this time
spent is offered.
Approval on Feb. 22 would allow the editors of future books to
investigate new technologies to help reduce both cost and time commit-
ment by the staff, Should these savings bring the Campanile out of debt,
additional savings will be reinvested in making the Campanile s supe-
rior publication by providing for small wages to serve as an incentive for
potential staffers.
We emphasis, however, that the money, if approved, will go first
toward paying off the debt and making capital improvements. Then we
can build for the future.
M«K> Smith,
Campanile editor
'Wieswr
Charles Klein
Campanile assistant editor
SRC '97
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To the editor
In the upcoming general election,
there will be a referendum vote to
increase the KTRU blanket tax.
KTRU's current share of the Univer-
sity blanket tax is $6.00 per student,
and theproposed increase would raise
it by $1.50.
The last increase in the station's
blanket tax was approved in March of
1990.
Due to inflation, revenues in real
terms have decreased since then. Also,
at the time of the last increase, KTRU
still operated at only 650watts of effec-
tive radiated power.
Since then there has been the sub-
stantial increase to 50,000watts which
brings with it added expenses and
responsibilities.
Unfortunately, the 50cent increase
whichfWent into effect in the fall of
1990 has not been sufficient to cover
these added costs.
Students benefit widely from
KTRU, which is one of the largest
organizationson campus, with around
100 students serving as DJs and staff
each semester.
Student DJs receive experience in
broadcasting which is unavailableelse-
where at Rice, since there is no com
munications department Because
KTRU is completely student run, the
staff receives first-hand experience in
managing and operating a radio sta-
tion.
Additionally, students can learn
production skills and gain experience
with electronics.
Finally, the listeners hear a vari-
ety of music which is unavailable any-
where else in Houston.
The current budget is primarily
used to cover everyday operational
costs. This leaves very little money for
the necessary repair and upgrade of
broadcasting equipment
In fact, this year KTRU has been
forced to use roughly one-third of its
emergency fund in order to replace
' Additional funds would
also improve the
opportunities to get
nationally known
musicians to play on-
campus. *
needed equipment
The desired improvements would
help KTRU better serve the interests
of the Rice community. For example,
new funds would allow KTRU to broad-
cast Shepherd School concerts and to
replace the unreliable equipment cur-
rently used to broadcast Rice Owl
baseball games.
Additional funds would also im-
prove the opportunities to get nation-
ally known musicians to play on-cam-
pus.
KTRU's primary focus is on under-
exposed genresof musicand the work
of musicians whose music does not fit
within the narrow formats of most
commercial stations. There are spe-
cialty shows to appeal to almost every
musical taste, and a wide variety of
non-college rock interspersed in the
regular programming.
The specialty shows include rap,
reggae, local music, jazz, blues, In-
dian, '60s, folk/bluegrass, classical,
world, women's music, experimental,
techno, and others.
Every student's input is encour-
aged for both regular programming
and speciality shows. In fact, most
speciality shows were formed as a
direct result of students approaching
the staff and suggesting ways to diver-
sify the programming.
The requested increase would al-
low KTRU to continue to operate ef-
fectively. The additional resources
would also benefit the students by
improving baseball broadcasts, add-
ing Shepherd school concerts to the
programming and providing on-cam-
pus concerts.
Even if you are nota regular KTRU
listener, please remember that KTRU
is important to a large number of Rice
students who either work with the
station or listen to the programming.
I hope you will consider the benefits
that many students, as well Housto-
nians outside the Rice community,
receive from the station and vote for
the modest increase in KTRU's blan-
ket tax on February 22nd.
Erik Benke
KTRU co-station manager
WRC'95
Betrayal allegory points against drug war
Chris
Thomas
Let me tell you a story, in honor of
Valentine's Day.
At a private, urban university
known for its rigorous academics, a
student whose %name is unimportant,
but whom we'll call Jenny to allow for
story flow, begins having some diffi-
culties.
She had been dating a guy for the
past eight months rather seriously;
enough that she had gotten into a
pretty cozy schedule: sleep at hisplace,
EDGE
get to class, see him at lunch, go to lab,
meet him for dinner, study, have some
coffee, sleep. Unabashedly regular.
Unfortunately, over the Thanks-
giving holiday, "Steve," as he might
be named,found himselfin town atone
forthe first time in as long as he could
remember because Jenny had flown
home to be with her family.
Well, Steve must not have been
thinking; he might have become a
little to used to the frequency with
which he had been having sex re-
cently. Maybe those yams at dinner
did something to distract him. Maybe
Karen had had her eye on Steve for a
while and didn't realty care that much
aboutJenny,andtookherchancewhile
the opportunity presented itself
Needless, to say, Karen and Steve
shared the same toothbrush thatnight,
among other things.
Steve was working on his architec-
ture project late on the night Jenny's
flight came in. A friend of hers drove
her from the airport to Steve's place,
where she kept most of her clothes.
As she turned on the tv to see how
the weather would turn out over the
next week, she checked the answer-
ing machine for messages. You can
expect what she heard: Karen's long-
ing voice seeking more of the same
that Steve had so recently provided.
Jenny was shocked into silence.
Sitting in Steve's living room, she
couldn't figure out what to do. Show-
ering in his place was the last thing on
her mind. She wanted to run away,
back home to her warm bed and safe
surroundings. She wanted to stay and
roost in the house, removing all com-
fort from Steve's life, punishing him
for his infidelity.
She was completely unprepared
for this breaking news. She had ex-
pected that her only worry would be
finishing all of her classes in time to
allow her to do some Christmas shop-
ping in the weeks to come. But three
papers and two tests? How could she
do all of that now that she couldnt go
back to Steve? How could she cope
with those idiots that she had been
forced to room with this semester?
Days went by; Jenny becoming
more and more entrenched in her
reeling world. Late nights studying;
short stolen naps disrupted by her
roommates' complete infatuation with
that damned Janet Jackson album,
especially when played at disconcert-
ingly loud levels.
Just suffice it to say that Jenny
soon found herself on the ragged edge
of breakdown.
Herdesperation to exert some form
of control in her life in this time of
seeming freefall probably led her to
do the unthinkable. She called Stacey,
a friend of hers that went clubbing
ALL the time.
Jenny sold some things of Steve's
that he had left around and bought
several grams of cocaine from one of
Stacey's friends. Using the spare key
to Steve's place that she had used all
this time, she stashed the drugs away
in some clothes of Karen's that were
in a drawer.
That night, Jenny's "anonymous"
telephone call to the police of a drug-
dealing ring on campus resulted in
Steve and Karen's arrest for posses-
sion of a controlled substance, con-
spiracy to traffic in controlled sub-
stances, conspiracy to sell narcotics to
minors and conspiracy to sell narcot-
ics.
Steve lost his scholarship, was sus-
pended from school without notice
and had his car impounded as an imple-
ment for committing drug crimes, and
his bank accounts frozen as evidence.
Karen was dropped from the swim-
ming team abruptly. Her parents
stopped speaking to her now that her
college debauchery had gone o ne step
too far.
The quick ending to this story is
not totally happy. Karen and Steve
were eventually acquitted. They were
allowed to return to school, but Steve
had lost his scholarship due to a tech-
nicality over a suspension clause. He
never got his car back, as it had been
sold at a police auction months before
the trial even took place.
Karen missed what turned out to
be the biggest swimming season in
the school's history. She never made
it back on the team, graduating with-
6 The drug war being
fought today is eroding
away the Constitutional
fabric upon which our
nation was founded. *
out distinction. Karen scraped through
unnoticed; her little "mischief" reced-
ing quickly into her past She eventu-
ally became a life insurance salesper-
son.
The preceding story wasobviously
fiction, but the premise is reality. The
drug war being fought today is erod-
ing away the Constitutional fabric upon
which our nation was founded. Join
the fight to change drug abuse from
being acrime whose prosecution prof-
its a small minority at the expense of
decent, hardworking, taxpaying
Americans like yourself and your par-
ents.
Fight to free up billions and bil-
lions of dollars wasted on enforcing
drug crimes, or choose to fight on
principle, for America has a higher
per capita incarceration rate than any
"enemy" nation such as Communist
China, North Korea, Iraq or Cuba.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Chris Thomas is a Sid Richardson
College senior.
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 1994, newspaper, February 11, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245923/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.