The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 17, 1996 Page: 2 of 20
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New committee has potential to do
good, but only if its role is limited.
The freedom t>f the Rice student press from administrative or faculty control
or even pressure ■— at least at the present — is indeed a remarkable and rare
phenomenon, a product apparently of mutual respect and co-operation
— Sandy Coyner. l90Ch07 Thresher Editor in C'hi«*f 4
Since thf '60s. thai relationship has vacillated between mutual respegt
and total disgust — mutual respect reigns the majority of the time, but-total
disgust lias reared its head often. While the past lew years have definitely
been on the mutual respect side of the equation, the recent decision to form
a committee «m KTKU, one of our fellow brethren in the student press, has
put that respect in danger.
This is not to say that the com mil tee could not be beneficial to both sides,
but the manner in which the committee was formed is truly abhorrent'.
Consider that the committee is being formed as a result ofthe Strategic Plan
and the recommendations contained within which suggest that the univer-
sity could better utilize KTRU's facilities and programming. First, the plan
is still in draft form Action on a draft, especially on a part that was pretty
.hotly contested by the KTRU management, is. quite frankly, not proper
procedure and a breach of the administration student press relationship. If
anything, the ['resident's Office should have waited until the plan was
finalized. .
Hut that is the least of the problems with this course of action. Consider
also that KTR11 is already overseen by the FM Committee. This committee
is there to "determine the general programming and operating policies of
KTRl '." The committee also makes sure that the station is abiding by FCC
laws With this in mind, what exactly will adding a new bureaucratic layer
to the KTKU organization accomplish? Gillis has openly said that there is no
hidden agenda. And yet, there is no overt agenda either. That naturally goes
back to the question, what's the point?
The committee structure suggests that there is some agenda present.
Only two undergraduate student representatives are on the committee.
(.ranted, tins is up from the original one position, but KTRU is an organiza-
tion that is totally funded by the undergraduate student body through the
blanket tax. It was first organized as KHCR in 1967 by a grou"p of Hans/en
College students, and since then, it has been completely.student-run. Thirty
vears-of student radio funded by the student body, and yet. in its 30th year,
k FRI' laces a 2 versus 12 battle for what could be their rights to determine
iheir own broadcasting (the udds could be set at 3 versus 11 it you throw in
the graduate siudent representative).
And. when the ability to determine content comes into question in a free
student press, the very heart of the organization bleeds. The freedom to
print and broadcast what we want has been a special blessing for the Ric e
student media organizations. It has allowed the leaders of the organizations
to become the best at what they do Nowhere else in the world can a student
lake complete control ol a media organization and learn how to be a media
leader, making mistakes and being accountable for those mistakes.
We're not saving that we
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To the editor:
Everyone reading this letter is
qualified to be on the Honor Coun-
cil. Also? I'm guessing, most people
reading this letter have disagreed
with the Honor Council at some time
during their career at Rice.
Taking those two,things into con-
sideration, 1 can't figure out why
every year so few people run for the
council.
For tho past four years, most of
the council electionshave been four
people running for three positions,
or something equally easy to
win.
Any of you that have concerns
about the council should take ad-
vantage ofthe fact that it is an elected
position.
Running for the council doesn't
mean you want to convict people,
and it doesn't mean that you sud-
denly agree with the council on ev-
erything. It just means that you aren't
going to let other people run your
honor system for you.
This year I have sat on almost all
of the trials because 1 don't trust
anyone but me to make the right
decision. You shouldn't either.
Every year I've heard that the
people on t he council are just there
because they like kicking people out
of school. Keep in mind that they are
really there because you voted for
them instead of running against
them.
I'm not suggesting you should
stop complaining about thecouncil.
I think you should keep an eye on
them and make sure they are run-
ning your honor system like you
want them to.
Hie Honor Council makes a Tot ot
decisions that you need to be aware
of, and if you get on the council, you
can accomplish a lot more from the
inside than by bitching.
Jay Fundling
Honor Council senior
representative
Wiess '96
er
(Jo not need the administra
tion or won't require admin
istratibn intervention at some
later date, but that interven-
tion should only come when
both sides ofthe issue are in
mutual agreement that it
would be beneficial. This was
not the case with KTRU KTRU did not ask for the committee, and the
administration never contacted the students who run KTRU directly before
they proceeded.
I bis committee is a dangerous precedent that makes little'sense Ask
yourself)! the administrat ion would form a committee on the CheflftClub to
better utilize its intelligence-enhancing capabilities. Hut this committee is
already a done deal
II the administration wants to re-establish the mutual respect that was
there before, they must begin by explicitly stating that students will
continue to run and determine programming for KTRU. If change is needed
in the programming, that change will originate from the student body that
supports the station. We cannot afford to have a repeat of 1990. when the
administration made a deal -to increase KTRU to 50.000 watts without
KTRU's consent. That deal resulted in the students not being able to
actually hear the station on campus. Good can come from this committee,
but the current outlook is pretty bleak
To the editor:
I was deeply disappointed by the
April 19 edition of The Rice 7'hresher,
which appeared on campus during
Owl Weekend.
This particular edition of the
Thresher contained six selections
regarding Jesus and Christianity
(see pages 8, 10, 12, 16 and 19).
While these selections were (hope-
fully) paid advertisements, they were
nut labeled as such.
The selection on page 109, for
example, read as follows: "He rose
from the dead, is alive today ... No
other religions can point to a mo-
ment in history and say... No other
religion tells ... Religion is our at-
tempt at finding God ... Christianity
is God's attempt at finding us."
Religious ...
propaganda must be
clearly identified. ...
The Thresher's failure to label
these selections as' advertisements
created the impression that the
Thresher is a Christian paper, using
quotations and other selections on
Jesus and Christianity -as fillers.
Many prospective Rice students
Letter Policy
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e-mail: hngjjbPowlnet. rice, edu
campus mail: Letter to the Editor, c/o The Rice Thresher
U.S. Mail, letter to the Editor, The Rice Thresher,
6100 Main St., MS-524. Houston, TX 77005-1892
in person: Thresher Office, Second Floor, Student Center
DEADLINE — Deadline for all letters is 5 p.m. on Monday, letters
received after the deadline are generally not considered for publi-
cation until the following week,
RULES —
1 All letters must include your name, college, year of
graduation and phone number.
2, \We reserve the right to edit for length! spelling, grammar and
stvle "
lT WAS that time of the year
again. The soft pitter-patter of feet
under the paternal archways of the
Sallyport resonated unmistakably
from Lovett Hall through
Rice and far beyond its
hedges. Another year, an-
other commencement.
For many, this event
was an important part of
"the big picture," a cov-
eted landmark in "the
grand scheme of things."
It signified the realization
of many of the dreams and
hopes of countless genera-
tions passed, as wett-as
the culmination of all of the disap-
poihtments and difficulties of the
last four years, all ofthe things that
people said would not matter "in the
long run," all of the "little" experi-
ences upon which the future had
depended so consequentially but
nobody else knew or cared.
Sometime; the four vigilant
Muses atop the Sallyport extolled
James
Ling
OPINION EDITOR
the accomplishments, of the proud
graduates, mirroring the pride and
relief of those passing under them
for the second time. At other times,
perched in the lofty shad-
ows, they teased cruelly
with expressions of the mel-
ancholy and anger that had
more than once exasper-
ated a heavy heart — that
first "F" in freshman chem-
istry, that failed relation -
ship in junior year, count-
less frustrating exams,
even more lonely nights,
that personal tragedy
which left only helpless.-
ness and confusion.
Those are the episodes which
the graduates took with them as they
transcended the hedge's between
dependence and maturity, from the
academic Quad to life. Those are the
lessons which will ensure success-
ful Rice alumni.
Of the jtrottd gr adttaH*s t his year,
not all of them were students. The
were on campus for the weekend,
and surely most read the Thresher
during their stay. How unfortunate
if any prospective Rice students left
campus with the mistaken impres-
sion that Rice is a Christian univer-
sity, where diverse religious and
cultural backgrounds are not wel-
come.
I do not question the Thresher's
right to publish religious propa-
ganda. However, such propaganda
must clearly identified, or the
Thresher runs the risk of losing its
journalistic integrity.
Rabbi David Moss
Director, Rice Hillel
new era
Rice 'Thresher itself graduated from
its 80th year of service to this cam-
pus. It graduated into a new era, an
The Rice Thresher
graduated into a new
era, an era of world-
wide exposure
through the Internet,
of keeping up with
the breakneck pace
of technology.
era of world-wide exposure through
the Internet, of keeping up with the
breakneck pace of technology and
SEE BRA, PAGE 3
fames lAng is the opinion editor and
a Hanszen College sophomore,
Q
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Beard, Marty & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 17, 1996, newspaper, May 17, 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246542/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.