The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1998 Page: 4 of 16
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
'
6.r\>
THE RK E THRESHER
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, Mm
V 9 /
JSfgpgfSi
\ Pf
Perhaps
• it's best if you
don't take all your
educational
materials home
for summer break.
r- 1
They're breakable. They're bulky.
They're potentially incriminating. Right?
So let us hang on to your stuff this
summer and we'll give you 10% off your
storage hill and a free lock. We can also
arrange for a rental truck and we'll make
it easy by delivering packing supplies to
your door.
Thank you. Class dismissed.
Li-
West University
4121 Greenbriar, 529-9350
Med i«;al( Center
Faculty must (xmsklerproposal carefulty
7703 South Main, 701-1010
PROPOSAL from I'm 3
to satisfy a distribution category
culled "Encounters with literature
and the Arts," since they are the
astonishing masterpieces of the
greatest of geniuses (or so 1 judge
them in my more ideologically re-
laxed moments).
But the CURRs may think other-
wise and disallow my- course, ac-
cording to their four vague and rhe-
torically overheated criteria for
"Ways of Knowing" or by the more
specific criteria of "Encountering
Literature and the Arts" as being of
insufficiently "ecumenical scdpe "
whatever that means. Or they may
simply ask me to modify my course,
which I am reluctant to do.
And if I balk at. the required re-
quest for changes or if my course is
disallowed, how will the CURR ex-
plain to the student who wants to
satisfy distribution with Shake-
speare that he cannot because it is of
insufficient "ecumenical scope"'
In the end, the oversight com-
mittee must be either a rubber stamp
allowing virtually everything to go
through, in which case we will have
something close to unrestricted dis-
tribution, or it must be a monitor of
what we teach if we want our courses
to carry distribution credit, in which
case we will have an intolerable in-
fringement on the academic free-
dom of what both faculty may teach
and students may learn.
1 fear it will be the monitor of
what we teach from the one meeting
I attended. There. Bill Martin ex-
pressed skepticism that any course
currently being taught would meet
the proposed distribution require-
ments without substantial modifica-
tion. It became evident that the sci-
entific reasoning requirement was,
in pail, designed to amend the teach-
ing of introductory physics.
The currjculurrt we have now
seems to me far superior to what is
suggested in this proposal. I hope
my colleagues will attend this
Wednesday's faculty meeting and
vote against this very misguided at-
tempt by some very fine people to
redesign the curriculum.
Alan Grob is a professor in the De-
partment of English.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ABEDI. from I'ajjc 2
Why then, in its newfound desire
to build an Arabic program, has this
university failed to offer Abedi the
opportunity JU> apply for the position
of lecturer in Arabic, a position he
now holds? Rice's new Center for
the Study of languages has adver-
tised for this position via e-mail, send
ing the job posting to Middle East-
ern Studies departments nationwide.
The job requirements are as follows:
nat ive or near native Arabic speaker,
excellent teacher who is aware of
pedagogical trends Ph.D. is pre-
ferred but not required. According
to these criteria, perhaps Abedi is
simply overqualified.
As students of Arabic, we will be
affected most by this decision, and
We insist, that Abedi be considered
lor the position of lecturer in Arabic,
not only because of hisobviousquaii-
fications, but also out of decency
and respect for the one person who
has shown unquestionable dedica-
tion to Arabic language instruction
at Rice. Both in and out of the class-
room, Abedi has demonstrated his
commitment to Rice and his stu-
dents. Now we voice our commit-
ment to him.
Naisohn Arfai
Will Rice senior
Ayesha Najam
Baker freshman
Bishr Tab baa
Will Rice junior
22 other signatures
Hutchinsons' trust
should not be abused
To the editor:
I'm writing in response to the
letter in last week's Thresiier'm which
Hal Mowrv argued that the Wiess
College masters should accept re-
sponsibility for the trespassing inci-
dent at Wiess House since they left
FAJ RF AX
CRYOBANK
SEEKS MALES
18-44
MED STUDENTS, GRADUATE
STUDENTS, RESEARCHERS,
RESIDENTS, POST-DOCTORAL
STUDENTS, AND OTHER
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES,
WE HAVE RECENTLY
INCREASED AVAILABLE
COMPENSATION
CALL
799-9937
cryo donor@aol.com
their door unlocked while water bal
loons were being stored in their ga-
rage ("Wiess master should take
responsibility," April 17).
My initial reaction to Mowry's
point was that il was morally equiva-
lent to saying that someone who
wears sexy clothing deserves to be
assaulted. Of course, some people
might think that's a disproportion-
ate comparison, so I'll make a slightly
different one by asking, how would
you react if someone trespassed in
your house and got WD-40 all over
your garage?
The masters aren't against
"jacks" at all; what they object to is
any action that makes them feel their
property could potentially be seri-
ously damaged.
The Hutchinsons make them-
selves and their house available to
students on many occasions. They
go to a great deal of trouble to give
us access to them in Tiny sort of
situation in which we need help,
whether it involves relationship
troubles, the organization of a col-
lege event or health-related prob-
lems. I'm not making any of this up;
they have dealt with such situations
on numerous occasions and, despite
the recent abuse of their openness,
continue to do so. So please don't try
to pin the blame on them when their
unlocked doors are just a manifesta-
tion of their good intentions toward
all Rice students.
As for the three students who
trespassed, I'm certain they have
learned from their mistake and do
not need any worse punishment than
was "meted out for them. Some
people may already have written me
off as a narrow-minded Wiess stu '
dent with a dumb prejudice against
other colleges, but in reality, I'm
sincerely glad the Jones College stu-
dents' academic careers were not
jeopardized. I hope the Rice com-
munity can move on without hold-
ing any grudges. Still, people need
to realize that the masters' reaction
to this incident was justified. The
use of patronizing language and
name-calling in a discussion of any
of the hard-working, big-hearted
masters we have here at Rice is sim-
ply wrong.
Raj Wahi
Wj<?ss junior
. j if" ,
PRESENT CARD FOR 10°/b DISCOUNT
yout SHEEPSKIN EXPERTLY
By„
ELLHAUSEN'S
CUSTOM FRAME & ART GALLERY, INC.
OVER HALF A CENTURY IN HOUSTON
Fine Art Prints
Gifts
PhtHo Frames
IN THE VILLAGE
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.
Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1998, newspaper, April 24, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246622/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.