The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1999 Page: 5 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION ERI DAY, JANUARY 29, 1999
Guest column
Discussion of curriculum urges us to be unselfish
In November, the Rice faculty
took its second and deciding vote on
future curriculum reforms. Ever
since I became aware of these re-
forms, 1 had opposed them
strongly. This led me to
discuss the reforms with
several fellow students as
well as many faculty mem-
bers. In doing so, 1 discov-
ered something I consid-
ered quite remarkable:
complete apathy on the
part of both students and
faculty.
When I discussed the
reforms with students,
many of them would re-
spond with a simple rhetorical ques-
tion: 'This won't affect me, will it?" I
am very proud of Rice and take a
great deal of interest in its future
whether indirectly affects me or not.
Many students' complete display of
self-centrism appalled me. Students
should take an interest in Rice's fu-
ture because they want others to
have the same opportunities they
have had here, because they want
Rice to remain a great university.
Unfortunately, many students do
not share my love of Rice. Very well
then, let me remind all of us that we
haveselfish reasons to care for Rice's
future. When we finally leave the
hedges, the university's continuing
ability to turn out good students will
affect the value of our degree. If any
policy even stands a chance of alter-
ing the caliber of students who come
Guest column
an
Mayor
to Rice or the quality of education
they receive, we all have a very real
stake in it. If you can't come up with
unselfish reason to care, con-
sider this food for thought.
Perhaps even more dis-
turbing, though, was the
apathy on the part of cer-
tain faculty members. In
the time between the two
votes on reforms, I met
faculty members who
knew less about the re-
forms than I did. I met
faculty members who did
not go to the first vote, nor
did they intend to go to
the second vote. I met fac-
ulty members who quite simply had
no real opinion oh the matter. I met
faculty members who plained to
vote based on hearsay from other
members of their department.
As a student, and (hopefully) as a
future graduate, this scares me. The
curricular reform measures consti-
tuted significant change in univer-
sity policy, and any faculty member
had a say about whether these re-
forms would be enacted. How a fac-
ulty member could possibly not see
the merit of giving careful consider-
ation to these measures eludes me.
In my brief experience here at Rice,
I have developed great respect for
our faculty, and I was distressed to
learn how little some of them seemed
to care about the experience of fu-
ture undergraduates here.
Finally, I would like to point out
that most students have no right to
attack any apathy on the part of the
faculty. The college associate sys-
tem allows us direct and personal
contact with a variety of faculty mem-
bers. Small classes allow us oppor-
tunities to get to know our profes-
sors personally. Any given student
has the potential to easily
communicate with several faculty
members.
How a faculty member
could possibly not see
the merit of giving
careful consideration to
these measures
amazes me.
I chose to seize this opportunity.
In fact, I believe myself mostly re-
sponsible for at least two votes
against the reforms. Perhaps I give
myself too much credit, but perhaps
not. Our close contact with our pro-
fessors allows us to openly discuss
issues such as the curriculum re-
forms. It gives us the opportunity to
change their minds. It gives us the
power to change our university.
Phil Mayor is a Will Rice College
freshman.
Fear of Saddam dominates Iraqi policy
I admit it — I voted for Bill
Clinton. I was young, foolish and
afraid of Bob Dole. But lately I've
become more and more ashamed of
my voting record. Clinton
seems dedicated to
stretching the powers of
the presidency beyond all
domestic and interna-
tional law and becoming a
twisted sort of martyr/su-
perhero. He can lie under
oath! Keep his head held
high under the vicious at-
tacks of a co-ed whore!
And starve and bomb
thousands of people and
get his constituents to cheer!
But I don't want to lay all the
blame on poor old Bill. In these days
of globalized, corporatized, media-
mesmerized politics, no one can act
independently — except, of course,
the all-powerful anti-Christ, Saddam
Hussein. He must be all-powerful if
he can strike fear in the hearts of
Americans with his $3 billion bud-
get for "weapons of mass destruc-
tion." Never mind that we outspend
him on military by $262 billion or
that we have the largest stockpile of
chemical and biological weapons in
the world. Saddam is evil, and evil
people can do a lot with a little.
So at least I can take comfort in
the fact that Clinton is not evil, since
he can't seem to do anything effec-
tive with the amount of resources he
commands, besides of course se-
Julie
Hollar
ducing young interns. But despite
this apparent lack of power, Clinton
contributes to the deaths of an esti-
mated 5,000 Iraqis a month, not even
including the ones he kills
with his bombs.
I had heard reports of
malnutrition and starva-
tion in Iraq due to eco-
nomic sanctions. But not
until I saw slides pre-
sented by Peter Pellett at
Rice last week did I really
realize what we are doing
in Iraq.
Pellett, a professor of
nutrition at University of
Massachusetts, did nutritional sur-
veys in Iraq for the U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization in 1993,
1995 and 1997. He traveled around
Iraq, weighing and measuring and
talking to people and taking pictures,
and now he's traveling around this
country relating his findings on the
impact of the sanctions.
rellett showed slides from his
trips to Iraq — images of children
reminiscent of pictures I recall see-
ing around the time of the famine in
Ethiopia — toddlers with stick legs
and arms and distended bellies, ba-
bies with "old man faces" because
their bodies eat away even the meat
of their once-chubby cheeks. I re-
member my parents (like many par-
ents of that time) would try to get me
to eat by reminding me of "the starv-
ing children in Ethiopia." Somehow
I doubt any parents today use "the
starving children in Iraq" as motiva-
tion for their children to eat. But
why is it any different?
Because Saddam is evil. I don't
want to defend his actions in any
way, but I think we in America need
to get over our Saddam obsession
and start looking at Iraq as a country
of people, not a country of Saddam.
Think about it this way: Would
you want other countries' citizens to
think of America as a country of
Clinton? With all this recent focus
on the Lewinsky scandal, it's not
unlikely that they already do. But I
shudder at the thought of people
associating me with Bill Clinton's
actions, and I even voted for him!
leaders are a high-profile sym-
bol for a country, but even in a de-
mocracy they do not manifest the
desires or beliefs of all the people.
And Iraq is not a democracy, so I can
only imagine what the people of Iraq
think of Saddam's actions.
Yet they are the ones who suffer
when the United States takes "world
peace" into its own hands. We seem
to think we are the policemen of the
world, paying no heed to the United
Nations or popular world opinion. It
seems to me that the real threat to
world peace is hardly Iraq. It's found
in the abuse of power right here in
the good old U.S. of A.
Julie Hollar is a Brown College
senior.
Drinking, being 2land the issue of Naugahyde
LIFE, from Page 3
Naugahyde, even. Speaking of
Naugahyde, how come conserva-
tionists don't work to protect nauga
rights?
Maybe the fact that I've been
making nauga jokes for the past 21
years is the reason I have no friends.
Anyhoo, I won't be sad to leave Rice
or anyone associated with it, because
the telephone companies are so pre-
pared and eager to suck the money
from my checking account in order
to let me keep in touch with my fan
club. It would be a terrible shame
not to support that kind of corporate
citizenship while it's still around.
Besides, as U.S. residents prove.
getting into debt builds character.
Maybe if I had more character,
people wouldn't ask, "Are you Ameri-
can?" so much.
I like being a senior and being 21.
Even though I still can't rent a car, I
can at least legally drink, many and
vote. And if those activities are
enough to satisfy quality role mod-
els and U.S. presidential candidates
Albert Gore Jr. and James Danforth
Quayle, maybe I shouldn't demand
much more myself.
I don't particularly mind not be-
ing able to rent a car since I don't
love traveling to cities without mass
transit. Nonetheless, it's still an un-
fair restriction. It's not my fault oth-
ers my age can't use turn signals
and designate drivers. Damn the
reaction of corporations to liability
and probabilities.
Maybe if reckless and drunk driv-
ers killed abstract ideas like
senioritis instead of animate things,
I could have rented a car long ago
and had more fun making the most
of (tolerating) middle school, high
school and these
past three-and-a-half years of col-
lege.
Angeliqtie Siy is ad production man-
ager and a Sid Richardson College
senior. She can be reached at
alia@rice.edu.
Spy deserves punishment
SPY, from Page 3
can citizen until 1995, when he
convinced the Israeli government
to grant him citizenship. That
request was based on the knowl-
edge that Israeli citizenship might
boost his ability to receive clem-
ency.
He has also made statements
that America is "enemy territory"
and that Israel was "entitled" to
the information that he stole. He
has attacked American political"
leaders and has slandered nu-
merous people, calling them anti-
Semites simply because they do
not support his release.
Finally, there is the fact that
Israel has paid him more than $1
million for his crimes against
Americj. If he were freed and
allowed to spend that money, it
would set a deplorable
example: Betraying America
pays.
Those who would describe
Pollard as a political prisoner ig-
nore the simple reality that he is
a traitor receiving just punish-
ment. Our courts have not vio-
lated his human rights; his trea-
son and the underlying crimes
are more than adequate to justify
a life sentence. The only ques-
tion is whether it is in our na-
tional interest to release him
nonetheless.
Our courts have not
vioated his human
rights; his treason
and the underlying
crimes are more than
c
adequate to justify a
life sentence.
Certainly Pollard's own con-
duct has given us no reason to do
so. Although it is America's ally,
Israel has violated our trust in
this case, starting with Pollard's
mission and leading up to
Netanyahu's inappropriate rais-
ing of this issue during the Wye
peace talks. President Clinton
should follow the advice of the
CIA and the State, Defense and
Justice departments and reject
Pollard's plea for clemency.
Todd Makse is a Sid Richardson
College sophomore.
Rice Student
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1999, newspaper, January 29, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246637/m1/5/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.