The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1998 Page: 2 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER
18, 1998
the Rice Thresher
RBTionauc..
Brian Stoler
Editor in Chief
Joseph Blocher
Opinion Editor
Rice's hesitation to close
potentially dangerous
As Tropical Storm Frances dropped its eighth inch of rain on
Houston early Thursday morning, many students and faculty
stayed home v^tching the news, unable to believe that Rice had
not joined the long list of institutions that had closed due to the
worst flooding Houston had seen in years.
The Crisis Management Team eventually did close campus
around 9:30 a.m. Friday. Though many students had already
decided to stay home, others tried to brave the elements to go to
the classes they assumed were being held. Those who did were
rewarded with dangerous roads, washed-out brakes and the news
that there would be no classes, after all. The situation was even
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worse for faculty and staff members who use public transportation
or who live farther away from campus than just West University.
The Houston Independent School District made a more serious
gaffe by delaying Cancellation of HISD schools. School buses
begin running early in the morning, and many students were
already at school or in buses when the flooding peaked and classes
were finally canceled.
Though no injuries were reported among Rice students and
faculty, it is easy to envision vehicle damage from accidents, or
students stranded with their vehicles on flooded roads. In other
parts of the city, the flooding was even worse, and cars and buses
were trapped or washed off the road.
In the future, especially in a situation that so obviously merits
cancellation of classes, Rice should make the decision to close
campus by at least 7:30 a.m., so news of the closure could spread
to students, faculty and staff before they leave home. No one
should have to risk driving on unsafe roads because Rice is slow
to close campus.
New medical note policy
in spirit of honor code
Dr. Mark Jenkins, director of Student Health Services, sent an
e-mail to the faculty detailing a new policy regarding medical
excuse notes. From now on, professors wishing to see excuse
notes must send written requests to Health Services; a doctor will
examine the student and write up a health report detailing her
illness and expected length of disability.
The new policy will immediately reduce the traffic of students
into the already cramped and understaffed Health Services office,-
allowing employees to focus on sick students, rather than on
writing notes for students who have already recovered.
And more importantly, the new policy is in line with Rice's
Honor Code. Generally, when a professor asks a now-well student
for an excuse note, it implies that the student could have faked
illness and thus cheated. As Jenkins' e-mail makes clear, the vast
majority of students who claim illness are legitimataly ill, and
shouid not have to prove it with a letter. In the rare case where a
severely ill student has been missing class excessively, or is
unable to complete basic course work, the professor still has the
option of asking Health Services for a health report.
An ode to the Beatles
The space below is dedicated to the computers in the Thresher
office. They pick the worst times^to crash, like when we are
desperately trying to finalize the last few pages. In the interest of
publishing this issue on time, we leave the space below blank in
tribute to JohnMac, PaulMac, GeorgeMac, RingoMac, BestMac,
BrianMac and YokoMac.
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only
Rice
These are play-pretend sticks and stones, Alia
Years spent at the front of the classroom
teach us when we can ignore the teacher
Like most everyone else on this
campus, I was a good student in
elementary, middle and high school.
"Has lots of potential,"
they said. "Can do any-
thing she sets her heart or
mind to doing." And I'm
sure others remember
how strange it seemed
that some of the .same
adults who determined
that we should aim high
— ones who insisted we
would succeed — didn't
trust us to guide ourselves
to that future. Their inter-
pretations of policies and
rules, which became more peculiar
as I grew up, made school hateful.
I have clear memories of hiding
extracurricular reading behind text-
books and primary-colored packet
folders. Just following the lesson-
spawned boredom, and answering
all the discussion questions invited
taunts from classmates. It is no sur-
prise, then, that I was often com-
pelled to disobey authority by slip-
ping out to the Reading Rainbow.
Fact: Teachers want students to
show respect by paying attention.
Angelique
Siy
tions when called upon. I followed
along with the class and even took
notes. But I learned to use the tech-
niques of strategic eye
contact plus carefully-
timed nodding to avoid
appearing disrespectful.
These actions limited
the risk that my precious
reading materials would
be temporarily removed
for my own good. I didn't
have chewing gum — I
had science fiction
and fantasy classics,
Newberry books and
maybe a king-size Kit Kat.
And it would make sense to think
teachers would like most of that read-
ing stuff, but many didn't. Nflfaybe
they couldn't stand something be-
yond the control they exercized in
their classrooms. Or maybe those
teachers were genuinely worried
that I would set a bad example for
other students. All I know is that
reading was a hell of a way to enter-
tain myself, and I needed entertain-
ment at school. I needed it badly.
To be generous — or is the word
"fair?" — to those cognitively defi-
And I did. I was able to answer ques- cient teachers, I considered that they
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
might have regulated my activities
in class because they were adults
and knew what was best. One still-
extant midlife-crisis victim might say
that her diligence made me a better
student. What she doesn't know is
that I didn't listen to her, and I haven't
become a failure. Yet. "We'll see,
won't we?" she used to say.
The lesson thus far: If
something's worth doing, and it's
against the rules, don't get caught
doing it.
Teachers also tried to convince
my classmates and me not to take
shortcuts, a difficult task at best.
Doing things the long way probably
contradicts one of every six subcon-
scious messages kids hear in school.
(University InterscholastievLeague
number sense and calculator con-
tests were extracurricular.)
Common sense comes down on
the side of taking shortcuts, too.
People should not have to prolong
experiences they don't enjoy. Adults
need not worry that kids, when al-
lowed to do things the easy way, will
start cutting corners all the time.
When I was younger and liked some-
thing, I took timecto savor the pro-
See LESSONS, Page 4
Clarification on Food
Service Committee
To the editor:
I'd like to clarify the role of the
Food Service Committee I chair
which you referred to in your article
on College Food Service proposals
("The new shape of CK?," Sept. 4).
First, the committee was not formed
over the summer, but has been in
existence since fall semester last
year. Our charge was basically to
review the way we do food service at
Rice in light of new college con-
struction and the Impending retire-
ment of the current Food and Hous-
ing Director Marion Hicks.
A survey of students, faculty and
staff regarding opinions on all as-
pects of food service at Rice was
made during the sprfrig semester.
The results of that survey helped us
make our recommendation regard-
ing the new South College, a reconv
mendation we were asked to make
during the summer so our input
could be incorporated in the rapidly
developing architectural plans for
the new college.
Our visits to other universities,
including some with college sys-
tems, also helped us make a recom-
mendation. As with any such com-
mittee recommendation, it is made
to the administration and may be
implemented according to their de-
cisions.
I would also like to emphasize
that the college system itself is of
crucial importance to the commit-
tee. The committee was initially com-
posed of three former masters, one
current master, one faculty associ-
ate of a college, one representative
of the Student Association, one col-
lege president and one representa-
tive of F&H. The composition has
changed slightly with the retirement
of Assistant Vice President for Stu-
dent Affairs Patricia Martin and her
replacement by Mark Scheid as a
representative of the Office of Stu-
dent Affairs. The current committee
is Resident Dining Manager Julie
Bogar, Associate Professor David
Ikenberry Qesse H. Jones Graduate
School of Management), Hanszen
College President Karrie Johnson,
Will Rice Qoliege Master Dale Saw-
yer, Scheid, SA President Bill Van
Vooren, Professor of Architecture
Gordon Wittenberg and myself (with
Marion Hicks serving ex officio).
Walter Isle
Professor
English Department
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1998, newspaper, September 18, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246626/m1/2/: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.