The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 17, 1997 Page: 2 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:
■ • ■
v':, :,:w
& —-t...,..—.!,— ,. -
- " ■■■.- «— ■.
FRIDAY. JANUARY
1997
mi
I'^P^'iprl
'■■■■■ ■■': --.I. ■-■;
LUTIONS
Here are a few belated New Year's
resolutions for everyone.
i£fi ■ / .•'■V
SwowRy WYTWH&
llHTHE ttK.HIH
6NEE1M
cmoumjK
MWTOM&OHlANfe
MQgflP
CAN OUT-MNEUVER.
m-ntmro
M*£ THBAPWTHHR
fNTSHWEOFTWES
All. a new yew has begun. and with it comes another opportunity
to make resolutions and work to meet them. Since not everyone
takes the time to make resolutions, we thought we would take a few
lines to draw up a some 'for ourselves and the rest of the university.
• The Student Association: Modesty. Student-politicos (like stu-
dent journalists) don't run the world. Just a reminder.
• l he administration: Now that you have renovated physics Labo-
ratories. it's time to tlx another relic: the tenure system. .
• The student body: Take time to be more involved in extracurricu-
lar activities. No, venturing outside your college does not count.
Anyone who cares enough to contribute to the Houston community
can easily do so. just ask the students who are active in Habitat for
Humanity or KSVP
• CK: Now that Sammy's has shown its willingness to upgrade its
coffee, we would like to sec the colleges do the same for another
beverage: always (carbonated, colored and flavored) Coca-Cola.
• The Thresher. Don't wait until 2:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings to
write staff editorials. Also, think of better topics, (Oops, so much for
that resolution .)
s to the Editor
wlse Decision misrepresents Islamic religion
Perhaps cancelling classes on
Monday was a good idea after all.
We ,1! the Thresher would like to commend the administration for
its decision to cancel classes this past Monday. The extra day of rest
without the concern of looming homework or reading assignments
was certainly welcome, but that is not the reason we feel that the
administration showed good judgment in its decision.
Although the ro;«l conditions may„not have been as bad as they
are during winter in other parts of the country, the presence of any
nsk ut ice on the road', coupled with the fact that Houston is not used
to such severe weather, warranted protecting the safety of off-
campus students and professors.
Furthermore, any classes held on Monday would have been
sparse at besj. Many students were unable to drive into Houston at
all due to extremely dangerous road conditions around the state.
Many flights into Houston
were cancelled, and stu
dents were stuck in hotels
and airports nationwide.
When a significant [lum-
ber of students are unqble
to even get into the city, it
simply does not make
sense to hold classes.
Finally, since much of the test of'Houston was shut dawn, it was
necessary to cancel classes. Some professors had to take care of
their own children since all the schools in the city were closed, and
it is likely that day care facilities or private baby-sitters were ham-
pered by the bad weather as well.
It was a very bad day in Houston, as was clear by the actions of t he
city at large Rice could have tried to be a superhero by defying the
elements and remaining the only operational institution in this
metropolis, but it made the very wise decision notuftloso. Congratu-
lations for the prudence.
pinionS
To the editor:
hi the Dec. (i edition of the
Thresher, Editor in Chief Marty
Beard wrote a review of Salman
Rushdie s The Satanic Verses, hi her
review, Ms. Beard sadly portrayed
what is, sadly, a growing phenom-
enon:'ignorance of die Islamic reli-
gion.
"I didn't consider the novel blas-
phemous, but what do 1 kuo'w? I'm
not an Islamic fundamentalist." What
you are, Ms, Beard, is an individual
who has displayed a remarkable
capacity to be completely insulated
from the main point of this book:
money and publicity, coupled with
the propagation of negative litera-
ture concerning Islam,
Need we look any further than
the title of the book to understand
what Rushdie was aiming at? Clearly,
he intended to incite a spirited de-
bate that would give his book the
yiiblicity needed to be sold. I will
concede that his publisher and edi-
tor must have been advocates of
using such a title and that perhaps
not all the blame lies on Rushdie's
shoulders.
It would be wrong, however, to
dwell on this book from simply an
emotional standpoint, although it
would be quite easy to do because 1,
for one. am an Islamic fundamental-
ist — the very kind Ms. Beard seems
to joke about.
I believe in
fundamental aspects
of the religion, one of
which is peace, which
is what the word
"Islam" means.
No, I am not a terrorist. 1 believe
in fundamental aspects of the reli-
gion, one of which is peace, which is
what the word "Islam" means. That
is my definition of .fundamentalism,
which is not the same convoluted
term the Western press has so dili-
gently beaten into our heads. The
Satanic Verses makes blatantly false
comments about the Prophet
Muhammad and his wife, which
makes the text more infuriating.
As far as literary merit is con
eerned, Julian Samuel*, a real liter
ary analyst, puts it quite eloquently:
"[The Satanic Verses] is a kind of
refined and erudite compromise
constructed for the. soft folds of a
safe and international literary aris-
tocracy which sees at least one of its
aims as the production of a litera-
ture heavy, dank and resonant with
slickly manipulated surrealism, but
With a great deal" of it anchored in
perfunctory risk loss experimenta-
tion. Tragic." He continues, "The
book is boring because the attempt
to create diegetic density is fey and,
often worse, unexperimental."
Also tragic is the cursory treat-
ment and the lack of tact that Ms.
Beard seemed to give her article
before she published it.
Hadi Tahbaa
Hanzsen '00
sa
Letter Policy
TO SUBMIT — betters may be sent in by ...
e-mail: wellerviirice.edu
campus mail: Letter to the Editor, c/o The Rice Thresher
1 i.S, Mail: l etter to the Editor, The Rice Thresher,
til00 Main St.. MS-524, Houston, TX 77005-1892
in person: Thresher Office, Second Moor, Student C enter
DEADLINE Deadline for all letters is 5 p.m. on Monday. Letters •
received after the deadline are generally not considered for
publication until the following week.
RULES —
I AH letters must include your name, college, year of
graduation and phone number.
2. Short letters (200-500 words is a good gt^fleline) have a better
chance of being published than long ones.
3 letters received via campus or U.S. mail must be signed If you
are not submitting via e-mail, we strongly recommend that you
submit letters on a Macintosh or IBM-formatted disk
4. We do not accept anonymous letters, but names may be with
TTeItTl)y~reciue8t it) drctuhstancesr —- ■
5. We reserve the right to edit for length, spelling, grammar
and style
To the editor:
I am absolutely outraged at the
enormous presumption shown by
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
for Student Life Catherine Clack.
Her letter shows a clear lack of re-
gard for the students of Rice. The
Thresher is our paper, not hers, not
the college masters', secretaries', or
student affairs staffs paper, As such,
any impetus for change should come
from the students.
With that in mind, lier actions as
a member of the administration
rather than the student body can not
be considered to be anything other
than meddlesome.
Any impetus for
change should come
from the students.
By attempting to operate behind
the back of the student body; she is
disregarding our ability and our right
to handle these affairs ourselves.;
Finally, she states that
we rec-
ommend. ..." I do not recall any gen-
eral call from the student body ask
ing for the administration's involve-
ment or recommendations. Clack is
certainly entitled to her opinion as -
an individual, and thus may corre-
spond with tjie. Thresher in that ca-
paeity. But in the letter, she is acting /
as a spokesperson for the entire ad-
ministration, and Iquestion whether
the administration wishes to sup
port her actions in that capacity.
Jacy O. ran 11 is
Baker '98
Jesus' message is not a message of love common to all people
To the editor:
I do not know why the editorial
written in 1950 by Bill Delaiiey has
been resurrected by the Thresher
According to the notes accompany
ing the piece, the editorial appeared
in the Thresher each year before
winter break from 1950 through
Someone had the good sense to
discontinue the "tradition" in 1983.
Now it's back ^
Phe editors understood that
Delaney's piece is overtly Christian.
This explains why they asked read-
ers to read the editorial, not "from
the context of it being a Christian
story, but front the context of the
universal "message that it carries, a
message that crosses all denomina-
tions..™ :
There is nothing "universal,"
however, about the editorial's final
statement that Jesus "was the living
symbol of all the love and humanity
that man can ever hope to know." At
the very least, Jews. Muslims and
countless others believe otherwise.
I haVe no objection to Christmas
or its celebration by Christians.
However. 1 do object to the naive
equation of Christian theology with
universalism.
Rabbi l)avid Moss
Director, Rice Hillel
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.
Beard, M. Margaret & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 17, 1997, newspaper, January 17, 1997; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246556/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.