The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 1994 Page: 2 of 24
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2 FRIDAY, MARCH 11,1994 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
Athletics
University should balance student
needs when choosing new conference
While many see the impending dissolution of the Southwest Confer-
ence as an obstacle to be overcome, the long overdue event is actually
a great opportunity. Freed from the stagnant SWC, Rice can forge a new
path; while doing so, it must keep student concerns foremost.
A change in Rice's athletic venue affects students as much as—if not
more than — any other group. Their voices should be heard above the
cries of the faculty and the solicitations of the television networks.
The student body plays a number of key roles in the athletic depart-
ment. Rice's number-one liability is its attendance. Students are the core
fans that must provide the nucleus of enthusiasm and draw others in
from the community.
And after the current crop of students graduates, they will play a key
role as alumni, possibly filling the stands, and — more importantly —
writing the checks that are the lifeblood of any program.
Most importantly, students want to ensure that they aren't forced to
live and study with student-athletes who don't belong in higher educa-
tion. Rice should reject any realignment with schools that accept so-
called Prop-48 cases: athletes below the NCAA minimum scholastic
requirements who attain eligibility by sitting out for a year.
Competing against such programs would either put Rice at a disad-
vantage or force it to further compromise its standards. In fact, academi-
cally respectable universities would be the best opponents. Not only
would these schools be less prone to embarrassing scandals, but facing
Rice's academic rivals on the field would only fuel fan interest.
Students and other fans also want to watch high-quality contests, a
commodity provided most easily in Division LA competition.
Along those lines, students want to cheer for a successful team.
Ideally, Rice wouldn't be the weak sister of its conference, as it was a
decade ago in the SWC.
Also, as fans, students want access to Rice contests on the road,
whether through trips to nearby rivals or via television. They want to be
able to attend the con-
Opiniong
&
who never want to see a game don't appreciate the higher tab that a
deficit-ridden athletic department brings.
Rice's new conference rivals must be programs that can help nurse
the Rice athletic balance sheet back into the black. The conference
should milk all the revenue sources available, from endorsements to
bowl games to television contracts.
No grouping of teams or radical change in the Rice athletic program
could satisfy all of these demands, of course. Rather, these are all
concerns that need to be balanced for students as the university plots a
new course for the future of its athletics.
o
2.
C/5
¥ The r ■ a| 1 i n
Rice Thresher
Peter Howley, Kraettli Epperson
Editors-irbChief
Shane A. Speciale
Business Manager
Melissa Williams
Sei Chong
David Hale
VivekRao
Jeremy Bogaisky
Joanna Winters
Christof Spieler
TonyTran
Grant Flowers
Michael Gomez
Rachel Domhelm
Amy Jeter
Eric Stotts
Monica Weinheimer
Kevin Mistry
Charles Klein
Haley S. Robertson
Kathy 0*Steen
News Editor
Asst. News Editor
Opinion Editor
Asst. Opinion Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
AssL Arts & Entertainment Editor
AssL Arts & Entertainment Editor
Sports Editor «
AsstSports Editor
Asst Sports Editor
Features Editor
AssL Features Editor
Backpage Editor
Photography Editor
Production Manager
AssL Production Manager
Ads Manager
AssL 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. Phone 527-4801.
e-maiL thresher@ricevmlxice.edu. Advertising information available on
requesL Mai subscription rate per semester $20.00 domestic, $40.00
international via first class mail. Non-subscription rate: first copy free,
second copy $1.00.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
Editorial Staff. All other pieces represent solely the opinion of the author.
Obviously. © COPYRIGHT 1994
*
THW3Y VEAPf> TTOW NOW
TOtaCUVWreSrCCHBEKBKE'U-
SWWmGOWffft"
JOSV UKEPHSNMMW BSMW,
wiotheswistUNIBH
Resumes do not justify committees
Ninth college report reflects pointlessness of some student activity by polzticos
Chris
Thomas
ference tournaments,
maybe the occasional
road game or, some-
day, a bowl game.
Financial consider-
ations can't be ignored
in these decisions, and
are the key factor for
many students. Those
Aahhh! Springtime is finally in the
air, and fortunately, pollen isn't giving
me the problem that it usually does. I
think that this can be attributed to the
large amount of stink produced by
this most recent election period.
Wherever we turn—from campus
elections to gubernatorial primaries
— we fall prey to muckraking, nega-
tive campaigning, unfulfillable cam-
EDGE
paign promises, mounds of franking
solicitations in our mailboxes and cam
paign signs polluting our vision wher-
ever we go.
Now, dont mistake me for an op-
ponent of the system of representa-
tive democracy. I believe that our
Americafl way of life affords the most
liberty and opportunity anywhere on
the planeL
The constitution provides for these
freedoms, yet at the same time, it
affords me the right to bitch about it as
much as I please.
Some observations: professional
campaigners, or Politicos as they are
known on campus, most easily spur
my ire.
These are the people that become
candidates so that their resumes
might be enhanced in some way, can-
didates that run for office in anticipa-
tion of the next office that they plan to
seek.
Examples abound. Consider the
candidates for SA presidenL Every-
body knows that the only reason they
run is that they anticipate the student
body of Rice University electing some
absurd candidate to be the homecom-
ing queen, say a mainframe computer
named "Mongo." As everybody
knows, whenever a suitable represen-
tative must be chosen for the Cotton
Bowl parade, an SA president simply
could stand in and prostrate him or
herself to the adoring millions watch-
ing Larry Hagman and Dixie Carter
emcee the event on CBS.
Politico deviousness works at a
smaller level, too. Witness reports two
weeks ago of a "Ninth College Com
mittee." After an unmentioned amount
of time spent studying the possibility
of creating another college, we dis-
cover several things:
• Sid Richardson College President
Jay Murphy has yet another commit-
tee chair under his belL What say we
unanimously elect Jay the chair of
some yet-to-be-formed Committee of
Everything. This way he can keep his
resume to a concise one page.
• Colleges are already unfilled. The
only way to fill a ninth college would
betoraiseenrollment, something com
pletely unthinkable. I mean, consider
Rice circa 2020: a rising tide of enroll-
6 What say we
unanimously elect Jay the
chair of some yet4o-be-
forrned Committee of
Everything. '
ment causes attendance to reach an
all-time high of18,500. The newly built
Transco College stands taller than
God, yet only has seven elevator stops.
• If 41 percent of the undergraduate
student body currently lives off cam
pus, where the rent is lower, the food
is better and the rooms are more spa-
cious, what are the chances that more
SEE POUTICOS PAGE 4
New generation s future dismal at best
Jym
Schwartz
Not that long ago there was a bur-
geoning generation of social rebels
and anti-establishment misfits. These
were the children of Woodstock who
were warned not to eat the brown
acid. These were the victims of Kent
State who knew there was no off-cam
pus sniper.
"The Big Chill" taught us these
people had, by and large, been ab-
sorbed by the establishment they
fought or died trying to maintain their
lifestyle. The revolution was a flop.
They threw out their sandals and
bought running shoes; they sold the
VW bus and bought a BMW.
And then they had kids.
That's us, Generation X, coming of
age near the turn of the millennium.
Our parents tell us to start saving
early, enroll in a401-Kand cling rriadly
to whatever work we can find. They
tell us that happiness is a luxury and
stability is an end.
Statistics show Generation X that
we will not be able to afford houses
until we are 40. Rumor has it that we
are the first generation in the history
of this great nation to expect a lower
overall standard of living than our par-
ents' generation. We hear there are no
jobs, no matter what field you study.
In the midst of our malaise passed
down from the stock of failed revolu-
tionaries, I hear our elders ask, "Why
is Generation X so unmotivated? Why
aren't they interested in work?"
They have not read the notes they
left behind. They have forgotten their
own tale of despair, surrender and
assimilation so that they might forge
ahead in the name of common exist-
ence. <3 q
Hunter S. Thompson once de-
scribed this phenomenon as a wave
which, at one point, appeared as if it
would wash over the entire country.
But instead, it broke, leaving a psy-
chic high-water mark on the Flower
Children. Generation X now flips and
flops at low tide, trying to filter some
hope out of the wet sand.
What are we supposed to do? We
may have the best of reasons for being
the "lostgeneration," but society does
not seem willing to excuse us from
having a mission. Clearly we are ex-
pected to do something; after all, the
young are supposed to be full of en-
ergy and enthusiasm for some cause,
even if it's misguided.
The revolutionaries of our genera-
tion meet in small groups. They sit in
dark rooms and drink coffee, wonder-
ing aloud how soon our species will
become extincL They ask each other
academic questions to avoid taking
6 Generation X now flips
and flops at low tide,
trying to filter some hope
out of the wet san^. *
what would be ultimately futile action.
They rationalize future decisions, say-
ing it's okay to join the system if you
do it intending to change things from
the inside.
But they are all aware that you do
not change the system; it has tremen-
dous inertia
It changes you, and you can only
hope to nudge its course before being
SEE GENERATION Jf, PAGE 4
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 11, 1994, newspaper, March 11, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245968/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.