The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, March 1, 1996 Page: 4 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
OS*
puicuiuu.
To the editor:
I'm writing this letter to in-
form students returning in the
fail of a new opportunity at Rice
called Leadership Rice.
leadership Rice is a program
envisioned by Vice President for
Student Affairs Zenaido
Camacho and developed by
Lovett Master Connie Burke,
Wiess Master John Hutchinson
and Director of Academic Advis-
ing Mark Scheid in conjunction
with Rice's faculty and adminis-
tration.
The program has two goals.
• First, it will provide Rice stu-
dents with the opportunity to de-
velop the vision and initiative to
find an aspect of modern society
needing change.
Second, participants in the
program will gain the knowledge,
tools and skills which enable them
to effect such change.
The program begins this sum-
mer with 15 paid internships in
both the for-profit and non-profit
sectors which involve leadership.
The internships will run from
June 3 to August 9, approximately
one weekflf which will be spent at a
nationally-run < leadership program
in Champagne-Urbana, 11.
A $2,500 stipend will be awarded
to students involved in the summer
portion of the program.
The internship positions will be
awarded based on an application
which is now available in Camacho's
office, Academic Advising and each
college office.
In addition to the internship, ac-
cepted applicants are expected to
Aiirnll
cnruii
versityj
agiwjCI
ershtp, 1
The class i
from 9;20-10:50 a.m:
Details for the course are yet
to be finalized.
The prdgram, internships and
course are described in more de-
tail on the applications.
Applications are due at 5 p.m.
on Fri., March 22. in Academic
Advising. .
Please contact Connie Burke
(burke@rice.edu or x4060) or
Mark Scheid (mss@rice.edu or
x4060) with questions.
Connie Burke
Director
Leadership Rice
Medieval studies not such a bad major
I I IK DEADLINE to file majors is
neat', and once again litis year, the
occasion is marked with hoards of
sophomores hanging their heads at
having to sign ———
then life away to CIIKIS
a particular aca MCKENZIE,
demic pursuit COLUMNIST
Now that s *—
just not the right attitude, folks. I
mean, this should be a day of cel-
ebration!
So let's put the apostrophe back
into Majors' Day and thank our lucky
stars tor them. Don't think your
major's worth celebrat.in"J
Think, that managerial studies
and anthropology are about as low
on the totem pole of usefulness as
you can get? I got news for ya; I've
got the least practical of all majors,
and I'm still going out to get drunk
tonight (ifonly to forget). My major:
medieval studies!
Now don't run to the General
Announcements looking it up, be-
cause I assure you it's there.Tucked
neatly in between mechanical engi-
neering and military science, medi-
eval studies is one of the mysterious
"inter departmental majors" that
Rice has adorned itselt with.
There's not too many of us medi-
eval studies majors (at last count,
there were just three at Rice).
We like to think that makes us an
elite group of Middle Age know-it-
alls, but the truth is people don't
want to major in medieval studies.
What people don't understand is
that there are many privileges that
go with being a medievalist.
Just ignore the fact that the only
thing you can do with a medieval
studies major is go to grad school
and teach.
As a medievalist, you can start
unique conversations at parties.
If I only had a sous for every time
I've had the following conversation:
"Phem: So, what's your major?
Me: Uh, medieval studies ...
Sandwiches (under $3)
Salads
Desserts
Specialty foods
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Antone's is
in the Village!
2424 Dunstan
(next to President & First Lady Health
Club, across from Times Barber Shop)
52I-2883
15% off with Rice student faculty, or staff I.DJ
# c
? «
# I M
#02
n a
DOMINO'S
DELIVERS THE
ULTIMATE DEALS I
^ ^ i ■ i mi
pnpvpnpppms
Rice Student Specials!
523-7770
' Rice Special
1 medium
1 -topping pizza
plus one coke
$6.99
(Tax Included)
^ ~ ~
r
I
I
I
I
I
I
'
Open 'til 2 a.m. seven days a week!
Rice Special
1 large
1 -topping pizza
plus two cokes
$7.99
(Tax Included)
RICE YOUNG
DEMOCRATS
Them: Medieval studies ... cool.
What are you going to do with it?
People do think that it's cool. The
only reason they hesitate to say so is
that they suddenly sense themselves
in the presence of a mental giant, for
only a true intellectual would dedi-
cate themselves to something so
(God forgive me) useless.
But that's all part of the great
myth of medievalists; we have as
much claim on the title "mental gi-
"ant" as Beavis and Butthead.
In fact, we work and think less
than all of you. After all, everything
that's ever going to happen in our
field has already happened.
There'll be no big advances mak-
ing The Song of Roland obsolete.
Nor will there ever be any more
Crusades (unless Pat Buchanan gets
elected president). 'Hie actual con-
cept of being a "medievalist" has its
perks too.
Try the title on for a while, and
see how it suits you.
When you introduce yourself to
someone, add "medievalist" on for
effect. Watch your popularity sky-
rocket. (And gentlemen, women love
a medievalist in a vest and jeans!)
Still not convinced? Consider
where the world would be without
the study of the Middle Ages: Monty
Python would've never looked for
the Holy Grail
There'd be no Lord of the Rings.
No "Miller's Tale"—the bawdiest
thing they let you read in high school.
No decent German opera (not that
the ones with medieval themes are
all that decent anyway). No HenFest
(it poses as a "Renaissance Festi-
val," but we medievalists know bet-
ter). No line in Pulp Fiction: "I'm
gonna get medieval on your a* *!"
So become a medieval studies
major today; we're lonely! And while
the rest of you are out moping over
Majors Day, we medievalists will be
out drinking ale, wearing Medieval
Fair T-shirts and singing dirty
French love songs. Celebrate!
Chris McKenzie is a
senior
Rice College
Friday that if
president of the
United States, he
would end all
abortions in the
country, even in
cases of rape and
incest.
Me said, "I don't care about the
circu instances of the child's concep-
tion, you want to execute somebody
in the case of rape, execute the rap-
ist and let the unborn child live."'
later that same day, many of us
opened our Threshers to have a 12-
page color advertising supplement
of propaganda against abortion fall
into our unsuspecting laps.
I applaud the Thresher for its tra-
dition of perpetuating free speech
hopefully stimulating a few
hours of campus-wide discussion;
however, 1 would like to point out
some errors and inconsistencies in
the anti-abortion arguments.
Abortion is an issue about which
we will be hearing a lot more as the
'96 election ensues and the various
areh-eonservat ive Republicans try to
woo the "religious right."
There is a - moral question in-
volved and a political question, and
the details provide for a wide spec-
trum of opinions.
Morally, it has been difficult to
agree on when a life begins and when
one has a right to life. Because of
this disagreement, one cannot ar-
gue a political position from a par-
ticular religious or moral point of
departure because not everyone can
agree on what constitutes it.
Therefore, politically one must
consider when abortions should be
legal. In this regard, the government
has the duty to protect the rights
and safety of the mother.
The advertising supplement natu-
rally provided only a biased view
against abortion presenting figures
but leaving out crucial details that
would discredit their arguments.
Many of the stipulations were not
cited, and it was therefore impos-
sible to cross-reference their valid-
ity. Other statistics were presented
in a very misleading fashion.
That the newsprint medium is a
generally trusted source of informa-
tion fooled readers into accepting
u n su pported clai m s.
For example, on page 9, whereas
it is asserted that the birth control
pill will "fail to suppress ovulation 50
. percent of the time!" Rice for Choice
points out that it is closer to 3 per-
, ,cent of the time, and I was able to
substantiate this value (less tflhn 4
percent) in a report by the Ontario
Center for Religious Tolerance.
Hie supplement mentions repeat-
edly that recent studies show that
abortions double the risk of breast
cancer. Rice for Choice points out
that the supplement fails to mention
that the study stated that this result
was only in cases with a family his-
tory of breast cancer.
The medical procedures (page
9) describing abortion may sound
gruesome the way they were de-
scribed, but these descriptions ex-
1 •;
tore
I in such a grue
manner that it would be unfit
for television. Keep in mind that the
fetus cannot feel a thing, and al
t hough the pain to the mother varies
per patient, pain is minimized with
anesthetics and is usually described
as less painful than giving birth.
The advertising supplement pro-
vides a small quiz with biased ques
tions — calling abortions the lead
ing cause of death in the U.S.
Some people do not consider t he
upborn fetus a living entity, so obvi-
ously they would disagree with this
statistic. However, even with the
point of departure that a fetus is
living, the supplement is ignorant to
the fact that 5070percent of all preg
nancies result in miscarriages, mak
ing that the leading cause of death in
the United States.
Using logic, the statistic in the
flier is wrong and misleading.
M any ot Hi r assertion s u tilize sta-
tistics that are totally irrelevant and
included solely to mislead the public
to believe there is numerical sup-
port for the claim.
The propaganda is guilty of in
tentional misrepresentation^)! data
and quoting people without citing
sources (too bad they are outside
the scope of the Honor Council).
Various religious, philosophical
and medical opinions disagree on
the transition from human non-life
to human life and at what point this
life has moral standing such that it
would be morally wrong to kill it.
Many people designate an abrupt
event for the point at which non-life
becomes life.
For example, some say life be
gins at birth when a child can breath
on its own.
Others amend that conception to
cover any time when the fetus is
viable, which could include the fifth
month of gestation when a fetus
could live with life-support, or it could
preclude infants that would surely
die if left alone.
Still others believe that a right to
life is acquired gradually because
one cannot deny that a single sperm
is alive and could develop to a full
human in the right conditions.
There is thus a continuum of life.
The abortion supplement in the
Thresher asserts the commonly
stated position that life begins at
conception but then it goes on to use
biology to support this belief about
the fertilized egg which, on page 4,
Dr. Lejeune called, "The most spe
cialized cell under the sun .' No other
cell will ever again have the same
instructions in the life of the indi-
vidual being created."
There exists no consensus on
what constitutes life. But all the ar-
guments presented in the supple
ment are based on the belief that life
is of full moral standing begining at
conception.
All the subsequent arguments
depend on that premise and there is
no room for compromise.
Sheffy Gordon is a menbtfcrofthe Rice
Young Democrats and a Jones College
sophomore.
Q
Q
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Klein, Charles & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, March 1, 1996, newspaper, March 1, 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246534/m1/4/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.