The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, May 26, 2000 Page: 3 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2000
Guest column
Take advantage of what Rice offers
I am an old lady around this cam-
pus. I did my time in Student Ser-
vices, I sang the praises of Rice by
giving tours, I offered my floor to
Owls, I cheered my way
through three Orientation
Weeks. If there ever was a
library bum, it was I, stay-
ing nearly every night my
freshman year until the
place closed down. The
sights and sounds of the
Student Center are ever
" familiar to me, and the sev-
enth floor of Sid
Richardson College, alive
with disco balls and the
stacks every Friday, I consider my
home.
On the academic tip, 1 slept little
and worked tirelessly my first two
years here and then took a year to
study abroad-in South Africa. 1 re-
turned with a much morefglaxed
attitude about alcohol and school
work. I cared more than ever before
about lectures and naps, more about
being aware of the news and social
justice issues, more about women
and men and how they treated one
another, and more about laughing
and the power of a strong friend-
ship. And 1 un-busied myself a bit in
order to live how I wanted to and to
breathe a little freer. Some parts of
my life suffered for these choices,
but I don't regret it.
I want to pass on a little of the
wisdom I gleaned from this year,
because believe it or not, someone
somewhere thinks I deserve a piece
of paper that certifies that I know
something.
Rebecca
Sherman
If you're looking for the small
treasures on this campus, eat candy.
The various friendly offices around
campus openly deal it out. Candy is
yUmmy and good for you;
don't cheap yourself out
of it.
Stretch out in the ham-
mocks. We go to school
in the South, and this
blessing shouldn't be
wasted in the February
and March months when
other college students
across the country are
suffering. Baker College
has two stunning ones I
highly recommend* and they both
fit at least two comfortably.
You attend a wealthy university
that wants to give you scholarships
to leave! This marvelous idea, also
kn&wn as spending time abroad, can
be done by anyone here, and you
will grow as an individual. Rice also
sponsors an amazing number of lec-
tures by interesting and often fa-
mous people. Don't forget to learn a
little bit once in a while about medi-
eval lesbians in French literature or
religious cults in Uganda.
Most importantly, talk to your
professors: They may be scarily
above 30 years old and hold a de-
gree with three letters, but they can
talk to you about some wild busi-
ness if you make the tl#ie. Pay
attention to the staff: They clean up
your messes, work hard to feed you
and make you happy, and they de-
serve at least your thanks and re-
spect. Hanging out with custodial
staff, kitchen staff, secretaries, the
Student Center administration,
groundskeeping staff, Campus Po-
lice and the Autry team, I found out
what we students look like a little
better.
I was ashamed to see fellow stu-
dents ignore someone serving them
and tq discover that the Sid Rich
kitchen staff thought Sid kids were
wealthier than other students be-
cause of their less-than-friendly atti-
tudes. Say hello. Take the time to
chill with them. They are more
bruised by life than you, and miracu-
lously most still would enjoy your
company and genuine conversation.
Houston can teach you too. Hous-
ton has an unparalleled restaurant
scene, and they're often cheap and
good. Funky, sleazy, upscale, down-
town bars are not scarce in this town.
Art warehouses/shows galore lurk
in the hidden corners.
I feel good about my future, even
if I don't know where it's taking me.
I'm young and ready. Rice has done
a bunch to let me get a taste of the
smart side of academics and the
sweet side of living. Now I want to
pass on this legacy as I 4 ear the
finish line: Take it easy but get your-
self out there. You've got nothing to
lose. When it comes your turn to
graduate, I hope you can linger over
the years and rest assured of your
ability to be a smart, capable person
in this world.
Cheers, to the experiences yet to
come and the necessary nostalgia of
leaving home base.
Rebecca Sherman is a Sid Richardson
College senior.
Guest column
Be careful to choose the words you use
Words fascinate me. I enjoy
seeing, through experience and con-
versation, how our way of character-
izing our lives with words is con-
stantly evolving, and that
we grow through our
words.
Unfortunately, words
can also hurt. We recog-
nize name-calling readily,
but often we forget the
more subtle ways in
which our language can
cause harrr\. The rhetoric
at Rice is full of examples
of this, and I think it's
worth addressing here.
The first word on my
list today is "obvious." This is possi-
bly the most overused word among
Rice students. I've occasionally
slipped and used it myself, but I
don't really like it. Here's why: We
come here to learn things we don't
already know. If those things were
obvious, we wouldn't be here. Even
if you do understand something
immediately, you can bet there's an
equally intelligent person in the
room who's having trouble with it..
Look at it this way: If it isn't obvi-
ous to everyone by now that rape,
torture, murder and destruction of
property are unacceptable, maybe
we should spend more time ham-
mering that message home and less
time looking down our noses at
someone who's struggling with a
mechanics problem.
Here's another word we use too
much: "whining." Lately, whenever
people are divided over an issue on
this/campus, someone accuses
serrieone else of whining. Sure, we
do encounter whining now and then;
I've noticed, however, that many
people here would rather label those
who disagree with them as "whin-
ers" than-ftsk for clarification on their
grievances. We are rude and dis-
missive, and it's partly because we're
too accustomed to a word that en-
courages those attitudes.
Then there's the word "society,"
which allows us to disown almost all
responsibility for what's wrong with
say, for instance, that unequal treat-
ment of men and women is some-
thing that can be blamed on "soci-
ety." Not true. We —,men and
women — are society. If
there's gender discrimi-
nation going on, it's the
fault of men and women
who support it or don't
speak out against it. Point-
ing a finger at an amor-
phous abstraction like "so-
ciety" is just plain evasive.
We can't blame "hu-
man nature" for our fail-
ings either. I agree that
emotions such as jeal-
ousy, fear and anger are
inherent components of human na-
ture, but we take the idea too far. We
use it as an excuse for acting out
those emotions in a destructive way.
For instance, I don'tagree that "it
is in our nature to wage war." It may
be in our nature to argue, but to drop
bombs on civilians to get back at
another country's military is both
inhuman and unnatural. The phrase
"human nature" makes it sound as if
our behavior is predetermined and
completely out of our control, so we
lose the initiative to better ourselves.
Before you blast me for writing a
holier-than-thou column, bear with
me a minute longer. I, too, make
mistakes with rhetoric. To say I've
never hurt anyone's feelings or oth-
erwise caused damage through
words would.be a lie.
For example, I wrote in February
that today's beauty criteria are der
structively narroW arid demonstrate
"how stupid we can be." I stand by
the first part of that statement as
passionately as ever, but I retract.. -
the remark about stupidity. I'm not
trying to placate anyone; it's just
that those words do not accurately
reflect how I felt. I set out to attack
ideas, not to lay a blanket condem-
nation on everyone who agrees with
them. (I also retract th^"Face Facts"
rhetoric in that article's title, for the
simple reason that those words
weren't even mine.)
I wrote with emotion, because
used to hurt my friends in the past.
However, my language suggested
that I think everyone who subscribes
to today's beauty standards is auto-
matically stupid, which isn't true.
You have to do more than disagree
with me before I lose all respect for
you. A single idea or belief can rarely
be, used to accurately predict a
person's character. (The ideas I
mentioned at the end of my tirade on
the word "obvious" are, I think, rea-
sonable exceptions.)
There are few, if any, "bad" words;
we just need to use them wisely. I'm.
not asking that you never make mis-
takes. We should, however, work
harder at correcting the mistakes
we do make. Our rhetoric isn't a bad
place to start.
Raj Wahi (Wiess '99) is a graduate
student in chemistry.
Guest column
Rally reflects Rice's flaws
The Racial Solidarity Rally,
initially organized by student
groups with good intentions,
turned into a publicity event for
the administration.
Tackling deeply
seeded racism re-
quires substantive ac-
tions, not broad an-
nouncements.
The bifthplace of
ideologies that engen-
der unsophisticated at-
tacks such as the
National Alliance fli-
ers is the curriculum
of the university.
Eurocentric curricu-
lum in the social sciences and
humanities shapes our views and
engenders widespread racism at
lower levels. The true measure
of progress in the fight against
racism isn't an administrative an-
nouncement—it's finite changes
to the curriculum.
According to this measure,
Rice falls on the unprogressive
spectrum of universities and col-
leges. Just last year, Wee turned
down a student group's proposal
for an Afro-American Studies De-
partment. Departments, as dis-
tinguished from programs, have
tenured positions and a director
•with long-term goals; they have
real power.
While it's easy for the admin-
istration to have a press event
purporting to show it's against
racism, its policies illustrate oth-
erwise. The establishment of
Afro-American, African, Asian,
Asian-American, South-Asian-
American, South-Asian, Latin
American, latino-American, Jew-
ish-American and Native-Ameri-
can Studies departments is the
true measure of progress for this
university. The administration's
speakers all failed to address why
Rice still hasn't established such
departments.
The recent student move-
ments for Afro-American and
Asian-American Studies nation-
wide have met with varied suc-
cess — at Northwestern Univer-
sity, Afro-Americ.an Studies has
finally been established as a de-
partment. Despite the hunger
strikes held there by the student
body, no Asian Studies Depart-
ment has been established. At
Harvard University, the adminis-
tration consistently refused to
establish Afro-American studies
— students met with corporation
leaders outside of the university,
and this outside support led to
the establishment of the Afro-
James
Wang
American Studies Department at
Harvard.
At Yale University, hunger
strikes and demonstrations in the
last two years by stu-
dents demanding the
establishment of an
Asian Studies Depart-
ment have met with ad-
ministration reaction
similar to that at Rice:
broad public an-
nouncements against
racism that directly
contradict administra-
tive policies and uni-
versity curriculum.
You can't make the ar-
gument that Rice students are
too career-oriented to be involved
in this movement — Yale stu-
dents are as career-orientecl as
they get.
At Rice, where is this resis-
tance coming from? It's not a lack
of money — we have the largest
proportional endowment nation-
wide, and we are constantly beef-
ing up the humanities and social
sciences—thenewconstruction
testifies to that. It's not that
there's a lack of potential profes-
sors out there, either—the num-
ber of qualified minority post-
graduates is larger than ever, and
the majority of these postgrads
are jobless. The root of the prob-
lem is that the Rice administra-
tion is unprogressive, and there
isn't enough organized student
support to force the university to
change.
Curiously enough, prior to
the event, the administration re-
quired that nobody mention the
National Alliance, the neo-nazi
group that posted the fliers.
Why shouldn't we open\y iden-
tify this group? What is the
administration's motivation be-
hind such a requirement? A brief
look at theRice administration's
history holds potential answers.
Just over thirty years ago, it
was still in the charter of this
university that blacks be prohib-
ited from attending Rice. But
charters tell only half the story
— look in some old Campaniles,
and you'll find that the Ku Klux
Klan was an established group at
Rice. The history of our adminis-
tration reveals unprogressive el-
ements since its inception, and
explains why, despite the nation-
wide student movement against
racism, Rice slides backward with
the least progressive universities.
James Wang is a Baker College
sophomore.
the world today. You'll hear people limited beauty standards had been
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 26, Ed. 1 Friday, May 26, 2000, newspaper, May 26, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246679/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.