The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 2005 Page: 2 of 20
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the Rice Thresher
Penalties too harsh for
lacrosse captains
We may never know exactly what happened at the Dec. 3
lacrosse party that led to Friday's suspension of both club
teams (See story, page 1). We do, however, think the indi-
vidual penalties handed down to the men's and women's
captains — three semesters suspension each — are unduly
harsh.
We agree with the administration's decision to hold the
captains to a reasonable degree of responsibility as team lead-
ers, but the length of the suspensions is unreasonable. Other
judicial violations receive lesser penalties; for example, the
consensus penalty for an Honor Code violation is currently
an "F" in the course and two semesters suspension, and
first-time offenders often receive an "F" and one semester
suspension. The lacrosse captains' mistakes do not warrant
such severe sanctions.
We do not dispute the suspension of the teams; we ac-
knowledge that team members violated the Alcohol Policy
by providing alcohol to minors. While we're divided on
whether three semesters is too long a suspension for the
team, we agree that the university must enforce the Alcohol
Policy so it remains legitimate.
Another important issue arising from the team's party is
one that no one is talking about. With clubs facing disciplinary
measures for violating the Alcohol Policy, on-or off-campus,
we hope students will remember they can call Emergency
Medical Services without having to worry about police or
disciplinary action. Police are not supposed to respond to
an EMS call without a request from the responding EMTs.
Students' lives should not be endangered because their
friends are afraid to call EMS.
We hope something good can ultimately come of this
debacle. The Code of Student Conduct is remarkably vague
about what constitutes hazing, and we think the university
should consider changing the code's definition of hazing to
one more in line with Texas state law. We also suggest that
the university take steps to ensure that all club presidents
are aware of their responsibility to the university with respect
to the Alcohol Policy.
Where have all the
candidates gone?
We were disappointed to see only five contested elections
in this year's Student Association General Elections. (See
story, page 1).
We can understand some of the uncontested elections, but
it is especially disillusioning to see under-contested elections
for Honor Council and University Court representatives,
Campanile editor in chief, and SA treasurer
The general elections are one way for students to get
involved and take ownership of campus organizations, and
we hope more people will lake the chance to get involved
by running in the SA's Spring Elections, when the under-
contested positions will be filled.
And while we do not endorse candidates, we have to
admit that we're excited to see not one, but two candidates
for Sammy the Owl, one of the more important positions
on the ballot.
Competition healthy for
literary rivals
If nothing else, the new literary magazine R2: The Rice
Review has been heavily publicized. After a week of wondering
about the Ayn Rand-esque mystery of "What is R2?" we now
know that R2 will attempt to take its place alongside University
Blue as on-campus publishers of student literature.
However, U. Blue still has its corner on the visual art
market and its blanket-tax status, not to mention its much-
debated and highly anticipated constitution. They may not
be in direct competition with each other, but the two pub-
lications should push and challenge each other to greater
heights this year. After all, a little healthy competition never
hurt anybody.
We hope the presence of a second literary magazine will
further creative writing at Rice; we're all academs at heart,
especially on this staff.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
0.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thresher crossed
line with Backpage
To the editor:
Last week's Backpage (Feb. 4)
was disrespectful and offensive. It is
one thing for the Thresher to espouse
liberal views, but quite another to
odiously attack conservatives, Presi-
dent George W. Bush-supporters,
pro-lifers and Christians for the sake
of a laugh. The homeless and Bush
cartoons could be characterized as
political satire that even conserva-
tives could laugh off, but the abortion
and Christian parodies are not only
insulting, but also unnecessarily crass.
Conservative students will always be
a minority on this campus, but there is
a line of good taste that the Thresher
should respect when trying to inteiject
humor into its publication.
Katelin Delano
Lovett sophomore
Backpage not funny,
demeaned females
To the editor:
The Backpage's utilization of
Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow
Brite to promote abortions as empow-
erment for females was uninformed
and shortsighted.
The availability of abortions as a
means to correct a Mure to abstain, or
at least a means of conception control,
plays into the hands of domestically
violent males. It is just another way to
torture the female body in the face of
masculine dominance and lust. Labeling
it as a method of birth control, further-
more, seems to encourage carelessness
at the hands of young adults.
I realize this contribution to the
Thresher was meant to have comedic
value, but in my opinion, it failed. In-
stead of providing a page that further
diminishes the position of females,
couldn't the Backpage instead have at-
tacked the people of a different faith?
Mathias Ricken
Sid Richardson '04
Liberals must also
protect the unborn
To the editor:
Regarding last week's abortion
article ("Pro-Bush, 'pro-life' are incom-
patible," Feb. 4): I have organized trips
to the Walls Unit in Huntsville, home
of the Texas execution chamber, to
protest state-sponsored killing 1 pro-
tested the war in Iraq, tryingtostopthat
far-away bloodbath.
And on Saturday mornings, I go to
the Planned Parenthood abortion clin-
ic, not with the raucous demeanor of an
anti-war rally, but with quiet resolution
to stop the slaughter that has robbed
us of a fourth of our generation — the
slaughter of abortion, which continues
at a rate above 1.3 million per year in this
country alone, according to the Alan
Guttmacher Institute, the research arm
of Planned Parenthood.
It is right to oppose the death
penalty. It is right to oppose unjust
war. It is right to support strict envi-
ronmental regulation to protect the
planet. The enduring virtue of leftism
is the heartfelt desire to protect the
lowly, defend the downtrodden and
uphold the dignity of the forsaken. It
does this for those on death row. It
does this for the people of Iraq.
However, when it comes to the
very weakest—the utterly voiceless,
the unborn — mainstream leftism
forsakes its heart, consigning the un-
born to a horrific, disgusting death at
a rate that truly deserves the moniker
"America's Holocaust." The slaugh-
ter must stop. We on the left and those
on the right must work together to
build a real culture of life.
Adam Larson
Will Rice senior
Both abortion
positions consistent
To the editor:
The pro-life movement stands
against abortion. The movement does
not take a stance on the death penalty,
the war in Iraq or environmental is-
sues. It is neutral on numerous other
political issues that affect the quality
of American life.
"Pro-life" can be interpreted to
mean many tilings, but as far as the
recent pro-life movement in the United
States, the term has consistently meant
anti-abortion. While an anti-death
penalty or anti-war movement could
have adopted the name, neither did.
Though the literal meaning of the name
maybe ambiguous, the philosophy and
position of the pro-life movement are
clear and consistent.
The same lack of clarity in the mean-
ing of a name exists in the prochoice
movement. The pro-choice movement
supported the presidential candidate
John Kerry. Kerry did not advocate
tax cuts so that individuals could have
the choice of how to s|x>nd or invest
their money. Does this mean that the
pro-choice movement is inconsistent?
Of course not; the prochoice m< >vement
is clear that its stance is pro-abortion.
Both movements have been constant
on their |x>sitions and have supported
the [x >liticians that share their stanc< ■ < >n
abortion. The pro-life movement justifi-
ably supports Bush, who has clearly
advocated his stance against abortion
Cristina Balderrama
Lovett freshman
Pro-abortion stance
is not \pro-choice'
To the editor:
We pro-Bush individuals are indeed
anti-abortion, and we are also pro-life
Furthermore, those who are pro-abor
tion are not "pro-choice" in the least
By committing a murder by means of
abortion, you are violating the unborn
human child's right to a future choice
As for the accusations about Bush
not being pro-life in other areas, the
majority of emphysema, asthma
and cancer cases have always been
among smokers and ex-smokers
The contribution of pollution to these
diseases will always be negligible by
comparison. And as for the execu-
tion of criminals, why shouldn't we
reserve the option to kill those who
have killed and raped others with
no mercy? Lethal injection is for
those who have proven that they
are unworthy of life. Abortion is
for the innocent who have become
inconvenient to those who have no
sense of responsibility.
Sec LETTERS, pag- 4
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Gilbert, Lindsey & Yardley, Jonathan. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 2005, newspaper, February 11, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443065/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.