The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 13, 1998 Page: 4 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13. 1998
The news that is fit to print
LETTERS TGTHE EDITOR
NEWSWORTHY , from Page 2
EX&S is normal — as final arbiter,
the committee has wide-ranging dis-
cretionary powers over students' aca-
demic records. Any ruling it makes
is by definition a special exception.
In his letter, Van Vooren's room-
mate and Baker College President
Matt Mendenhall challenges the
Thresher to know the full story be-
fore running the presses, to protect
students' rights, and to report with
passion and compassion.
But when journalists hit a brick
wall, it's their duty to report how-
ever much they know. Often, print-
ing half a story causes the rest of it to
be revealed. In this case, reporters
interviewed Van Vooren at least
three times, and no more informa-
tion was forthcoming. Van Vooren,
who is almost certainly classifed as
"suspended" by the Registrar, still
has not checked his official status.
The Thresher was right to place
the overwhelming interest of the
student body above Van Vooren's
campus reputation (which seems to
be relatively unscathed, in the end).
Van Vooren, who chose to run for SA
president, has hardly been "dragged
through the mud." And it's my opin-
ion that Stoler and fellow reporter
Jen Frazer reported the story with
passion and integrity, not to men-
tion courage, given the not insignifi-
cant pressure exerted on them not
to run the story.
They didn't, for instance, delve
into Van Vooren's actual grades or
the reasons he got them, although
that could have been part of their
story.
Mendenhall writes, 'The story
appears to have been very mislead-
ing and accusatory for no good rea-
son." Does that mean it is mislead-
ing or not? Perhaps if Mendenhall
explained how it misleads, instead
of using empty rhetoric, I might take
his letter more seriously.
1 took more seriously letters writ-
ten by Academic Advising Director
Mark Scheid and EX&S Chair Ed-
ward Doughtie. Both imply EX&S
had nothing nefarious in mind when
it approved Van Vooren's requests.
That's fine, but it doesn't take away
from the story's importance. It's the
Thresher news editor's job to report
the facts, and let readers intuit what
they want.
Both writers argue it is wrong for
the Thresher to report on Van
Vooren's suspension because stu-
dents who petition EX&Soften must
divulge intensely private informa-
tion, about financial aid, family and
health problems, for example.
That's a rather difficult leap of
logic to accept, especially since the
Thresher reported on Van Vooren
only because he is SA president.
And no one aT"the Thresher ever
thought of printing information
about whatever private matters Van
Vooren did or did not bring before
the committee to explain his poor
grades.
If we left alone whatever personal
problems Bill Van Vooren may have.
why would we maliciously expose
those of a student outside the public
interest? That's not journalism.
Scheid and Doughtie also betray
a lack of real understanding of the
Federal Educational Rights and Pri-
vacy Act, which requires that schools
receiving federal funding (which in-
cludes Rice) protect their students'
academic records.
If a faculty or staff member re-
veals information about a student's
record to the Thresher or anyone
else, without that student's permis-
sion, the Department of Education
could file in federal court for an in-
junction requiring Rice to comply
with the act.
But this happens only under egre-
gious circumstances, such as when
a school decides to reveal certain
information as a matter of policy.
That's the case with a complaint now
pending against Miami University
in Ohio. In Miami'scase, Ohio's Pub-
lic Records Act requires the school
to divulge student disciplinary
records that DOE says are protected
under FERPA.
A far cry from what Scheid pre-
sumes to, have happened — that
some faculty member must be tell-
ing the Thresher about Van Vooren's
suspension. Furthermore, Doughtie
and Scheid seem ignorant of some
of the most basic facts about FERPA,
available at DOE's Web site at http:/
/rices, ed.go v/p u bs9 7/p9 7527/.
Before it was corrected,
Doughtie's letter referred to the
"Federal Equal Rights Privacy Act,"
while Scheid argues the Thresher
overlooked a more important story,
because someone committed "fed-
eral crimes" by talking to us.
F"ERPA has nothing to do with
criminal law. There are no jail terms,
and the worst DOE can do is to file
for an injunction, as it has against
Miami, or have Rice's federal fund-
ing reduced, which it has never at-
tempted in FERPA's 24-year lifetime.
But beside that, Scheid's sugges-
tion that the Thresher should have
ignored the Van Vooren story in
favor of publicly exposing a student
or a faculty member — someone
who comes to us in the strictest
confidence because she feels
strongly that the administration had
done something highly improper—
utterly confounds me. And I can't
think what a news story about a
half-begun conversation would even
say.
Reporters Stoler and Frazer did a
service to the students of this uni-
versity by tirelessly researching the
Van Vooren story for weeks, but
they can hardly be said to have prof-
ited from it.
While I'm not shocked to see a
hollow "shoot the messenger" de-
fense employed by Mendenhall, I
was saddened to see it come from
faculty members whom I respect.
For all their work, Stoler and Frazer
deserved better.
Joel Hardi is senior editor and a Lovett
College senior.
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SUSPENSION . from Page 2
focus on the soap-opera, "Jerry
Springer" side of the "news."
Mark Scheid
Director of Academic Advising
Member of Committee on
Examinations and Standing,
ex officio
Van Vooren's actions
violate trust of students
To the editor:
Imagine what it would be like
here at Rice if nobody trusted i^§. If
nothing else, many of our
more beloved institutions could not
exist.
An implicit trust that as Rice stu-
dents, we will act ethically perme-
ates our whole experience here.
Without this trust we could not have
something as overarching as the
honor system or as small as the
Environmental Club's yellow bi-
cycles. Part of this trust is the as-
sumption that if one of us doe^not
act ethically, we as a student body
can take care of the matter ourselves.
Why else would we have the Honor
Council or the University Court?
This is the reason Student Asso-
ciation President Bill Van Vooren's
actions regarding his academic sus-
pension are so reprehensible. Not
only did he act unethically, he also
precluded the possibility of his fel-
low students addressing the prob-
lem.
Yes, Bill Van Vooren's actions
were unethical. While having aca-
demic problems is not in itself some-
thing bad, the actions he took to
address this problem made it a prob-
lem of ethics. It is a general rule that
no officer in just about any organiza-
tion, from college cabinet section
representatives to the President of
the Student Association, can hold
the office if he is under academic
probation. He knew this as well as
anybody else.
Instead of telling SA officers
about it, he chose to hide this fact.
He deliberately withheld this infor-
mation from those who had a right
to know. In doing this, he showed an
utter lack of concern for anything
but retaining his position and pro-
tecting himself from embarrass-
ment. That is unethical.
But the other aspect of his action
cuts deep into a fundamental part of
life here at Rice. Instead of having
faith that the SA could decide his
fate, he went over their heads to the
administration. This is an explicit
statement of distrust in the abilities
of his fellow officers. Many of the
people who should have known
about this from th'e beginning
only found out when the Thresher
began investigating the issue.
If nothing else, he should have
asked the parliamentarian what the
exact rule was regarding academic
suspension. ?
Also part of this action is the
assumption that as SA president, he
is answerable to none but the ad-
ministration.
Not only is this a lie, it is a dan-
gerous lie.
When people ask me where I go
to school, I smile and say Rice. It
makes me proud when I can tell
them about our honor system, about
our college governments, about how
we are trustworthy and trusted at
Rice, about how we are different
from everybody else. That is why
Bill Van Vooren's actions offend me
so much.
This is not how Rice students
should act. As the highest-ranking
member of the Rice student body,
Bill Van Vooren is our representa-
tive to the outside world. People
perceive him, at least in some sense,
as the best at Rice.
Is this how the best at Rice act?
Do we bend the rules for our own
personal gain? Do we hide problems
that embarrass tfs? No, we don't. We
are better than this.
Matt Weston
Hanszen College senior
Languages important,
but reform misguided
To the editor:
I have recently heard from a
member of the faculty that the pro-
posed curriculum reforms regard-
ing foreign language have passed. It
seems that incoming freshmen will
now have to complete one to three
semesters of foreign language
courses in order to graduate, de-
pending on how much foreign lan-
guage studies they have done dur-
ing high school.
Having beer^ born in another
country and having taken four years
of another foreign language in high
school, I understand the importance
and benefits of knowing other lan-
guages. The process of learning
another language involves more
than just understanding grammar
and memorizing vocabulary. It in-
volves understanding and experienc-
ing the history of the the country,
the culture of their society and the
lifestyles of the people. I was very
fortunate to have been a member of
a very strong foreign-langiiage pro-
gram in high school that gave me
this understanding.
Having expressed my sentiments
toward the importance of foreign
languages, I must state that I think
the proponents of this reform have
some misconceptions of what life is
like for many Rice undergraduates.
I spent four years here as an under-
graduate in computer science, and I
have first-hand experience on how
difficult and time-consuming figur-
ing out a schedule can be. If I had
been forced to enroll in three addi-
tional foreign language courses, I
would either not have been able to
graduate on time, or missed out on
other great courses and experiences
such as philosophy, music, and eco-
nomics, which contributed to both
the enjoyment and fulfillment of my
Rice experience. There are also
those students who choose to focus
intensely on courses in their disci-
plines. I have great respect for those
who dedicate all their time and ef-
fort to this, and I can imagine the
kind of distraction that this reform
would cause. Lastly, I think this type
of reform sets a terrible precedent.
What if some committee member
decides next year that courses in
some other field are important
enough to make a requirement?
I urge the Rice community to
think for a moment about the kind of
ramifications that this reform will
have.
Zheng Zhu,
Graduate student,
Computer Science Department
Changes for Pub bring
good and bad news
To the editor:
Strange things are afoot down in
Willy's Pub. As of this week, we'll
have two new coin-operated pool
tables, a pinball machine, basket-
ball and video games. You can use
this stuff whenever the urge for goof-
ing off hits. We're open alLday and
well into the night. All of this for
your amusement. So come and have
fun ... that's what we're here for.
Now for some more depressing
news. Several of the food-service
establishments at Rice were recently
inspected by the City of Houston
Department of Health and Human
Services. The Pub was found to be in
violation of the health code in some
minor areas. Nothing related to our
food safety, mind you, but some de-
sign and personnel issues.
For the Pub, this has some im-
mediate consequences. Until further
notice, the Pub will not sell our fa-
mous Pub pizza ... it appears our
ovens are just not up to code. Also,
draft beer sales must be stopped at 1
a.m. every night of the week, as this
is when the last food-service man-
ager leaves the Student Center. Law
'requires that a food-service man-
ager be on site at all times that draft
beer is sold.
We're currently working on ways
to remedy these two unfortunate
situations, but these steps must be
taken in order to comply with the
law. So know that when the bartend-
ers cut you off at 1 a.m. on your
favorite pitcher or you can't get that
round little pizza that you crave, it's
not the fault of the bartender. Also
remember that bottles will be avail-
able until 2 a.m. as usual and we
always have our delicious Kahn's
Deli sandwiches.
We're all just doing our part to
make sure that the Pub remains le-
gal and in business. You can do your
part by making sure that you under-
stand our current situation and that
you abide by all the regulations of
both the Rice alcohol policy and the
laws of the state of Texas. Working
together, we can insure that every-
one has a fun, safe time at the Pub.
So come down, hang out, meet
people and have fun. If you have any
questions or concerns about the Pub,
please feel free to contact us at
willypub@rice.edu or (713) 527-
4056.
Christopher Callicott
Lovett college senior
Manager, Willy's Pub
Hate crime is more
than murder
To the editor:
The murder of Matthew Shepard
was an act of terrorism against all
gay people in America that shook
th£ confidence and changed the
behavior of queers on campuses and
in communities across the countiy.
Because it hurt so many people, I
think this hate crime should fall
under federal jurisdiction.
Todd Makse claims in his col-
umn ("Hate-crime legislation itself
violates legal system," Nov. 6) that
Shepard's parents "would not have
cried any less" if he had been killed
for reasons unrelated to his sexual-
ity — but in that case, I must admit,
I would not have been crying, nor
would I feel that my civil right to
hold my girlfriend's hand on the
street is being threatened.
Ending homophobia is the real
and eventual solution to the current
upsurge in gay-bashing, but hate-
crime laws serve as a temporary
deterrent to bigoted violence. As
long as provisions exist to protect
gay-bashers and other perpetrators
from double jeopardy for the same
crime, I feel that hate-crime laws
will strengthen, not "undermine,"
our legal system.
Amanda Goad
Sid Richardson College junior
Letter misrepresents
facts of terrorism
To the editor:
In the letter "U.S. counter-terror-
ism deserves close scrutiny" (Oct.
16), AyeshaNajam refers to India as
a state sponsoring terrorism. Later
in the article, there is a call for re-
sponding to terrorism in Kashmir.
By failing to mention the real terror-
ist parties in Kashmir, the
author grossly misrepresents the is-
sue.
Terrorism in Kashmir is real.
However, the terrorist acts are pri-
marily those of mercenaries and ter-
rorists operating from bases across
India's borders. Activities under-
taken by the Indian "government,
police and military to defend the
nation's sovereignty and to fight the
murderers of its citizens cannot be
labeled state-sponsored terrorism.
To label the actions of a democrati-
cally elected government defending
its own border as acts of terrorism
makes a mockery of the.eoncept of a
sovereign nation.
The author, while claimingothat
she does not justify'the acts of ter-
rorism, appears to condone the lash-
ing out by the "group of angry and
See TERRORISM . Pane f>
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 13, 1998, newspaper, November 13, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246633/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.