The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 8, 2002 Page: 3 of 32
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V" V. ' /
THE RICE THRESHER OPINION
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2002
Very well then, I contradict myself
Embracing political ideals over issues
Ralph Nader became a very
hated man for some after crashing
the 2000 presidential election for
Gore. Even some of my most liberal
friends have turned to
Nader-hating on principle.
But Nader hr.s no re-
morse, declaring that the
two major U.S. political
parties are essentially one,
and has continued pro-
moting his grass roots
ideas, visiting Austin two
weeks ago. The idea that
Democrats and Republi-
cans are the same is ab-
surd to most, but this point
of view, held by many
Greens, makes sense in an essential
way.
The Green Party is more of a
political theory than a political party.
Issues (gun control, unions, abor-
tion, etc.) separate the Republicans
and Democrats, but both parties op-
erate by corporate fund raising. The
Green Party indeed has political
stances, but its attraction is not its
specific policies, but rather its fun-
damentally different approach to
politics. The underlying Green ide-
ology is sufficiently attractive that it
makes sense to call yourself Green
even if you agree with very few Green
policy issues.
We are supposedly governed by
the people, for the people. In es-
sence, the critical distinction be-
tween the Greens and the other par-
ties is that political involvement
should be the substance of every
American's life. Speakers at Nader's
Austin rally were heartwarming in
their positive outlooks on life and
their encouragement.
If you are still reading at this
point, and you are not thoroughly
skeptical or cynical about politics,
Ben
Home
you are beating the curve for in-
volvement. Still, the Green Party
might be unattractive to you for a
plethora of reasons. You are cer-
tainly not alone.
Greens appear overly
judgemental about their
pet causes and stereo-
types. For instance, if you
aren't vega/>. you're im-
moral. If you wear a white
collar, you must be laun-
dering money. If you are
religious, you're foolish.
If you advocate free trade,
you are a money-grub-
bing corporate promoter
of slave labor. Et cetera.
Of course, these beliefs are in no
way the crux of party ideology and
are probably actually held by a mi-
nority of those who call themselves
Greens. But the Green Party exudes
a vibe akin to the most fundamental-
ist religion in its rabid enthusiasm.
Which can be the positive result of
activism, but more often Greens are
seen as zealots.
The Green Party is
more of a political
theory than a political
party.
Outwardly, the Green Party is un-
fortunately a subculture that seems to
have its own fashion rules. Men with
ponytails and dreadlocked kids who
have more piercings than showers
taken in the last month are intimidat-
ing for most of the population. There
is obviously nothing wrong with styles
(or rejection of styles), but to outsid-
ers, these physical characteristics en
masse can be discomforting, deter-
ring many potential allies.
Additionally, the Green Party has
very low minority membership. This
inability to mobilize some of the
groups that Green ideals would most
benefit is a complex problem, but
Nader would attribute this simply to
the Democratic Party's stranglehold
on minorities. This is certainly valid
but misses the point that a lot of
Green ideas are idealistic, with a
large world view, meaning they are
more likely to appeal to middle class
white folks (who comprise most of
the Green Party), than those strug-
gling for immediate needs.
Another conception of the Green
Party is that its members are anti-
patriotic. This is a complex issue
and has seen fireworks here in the
Thresher. Are people wrong because
they love where they live and value
security? Greens almost seem to be
saying this, which leads to a conclu-
sion that no common ground is pos-
sible, and the nation has become
increasingly polarized since 9/11.
Grassroots ideology is very im-
portant for America, and hopefully
America's future will be controlled
by free thinking people, not by herd
mentality or corporate dollars. A
reminder to non-Greens: Greens
aren't anarchists, they're the oppo-
site — folks who believe the gov-
ernment can and should function to
help people. Hopefully this under-
standing will encourage Greens to
reach out to those who have social
concerns and high government ide-
als but might not be able to swallow
the entire Green subculture.
Ben Home is a Wiess College senior.
Guest Column
Apathy overwhelms students' better traits
Here at Rice, I find that the level of
apathy among students supersedes
many of their more desirable charac-
teristics. It is disillusioning to wake up
one day and realize that
our future leaders are con-
cerned with no one but
themselves. As we so eas-
ily criticize the current lead-
ers of our country, we need
to ask ourselves: Are we
growing up to be any bet-
ter? Clearly, unless Rice
students reevaluate their
priorities and define their
values now, they will leave
Rice completely useless
and powerless in their de-
sire to make a difference.
Granted, the students at Rice
must be commended for their dedi-
cation to academics, but it seems
almost too much to ask for Rice
students to get away from their stud-
ies and think about someone else.
When was the last time we thanked
the kitchen staff who works all day
long to make rure our spoiled stom-
achs are stuffed? Or do we even
know the name of the lady who
changes our garbage bags and
cleans our toilets daily? And what-
ever happened to leaving our com-
fort zones and sharing our talents
with the rest of the world?
This complacency with our self-
centeredness is completely unac-
ceptable. I find that the right per-
spective is lost when pre-meds who
say they want to dedicate the rest of
their lives to serving and saving oth-
ers have yet to make a single hos-
pice visit or helping their struggling
classmates at an orgo study session;
or when pre-law students who seem
all too eager to voice their opinions
in their political science tutorial have
never visited a homeless shelter to
see how the defenseless really live.
To stop the cycle of selfishness,
we should ask ourselves what prin-
ciples are important to us and what
Alessandra
Gonzalez
in our world. If we don't stand for
something, as the saying goes, we
will fall for anything. Sometimes we
need to focus our attention away from
ourselves — not only to
realize how minor our
problems are when com-
pared to others, but also to
find how we can use our
talents to meet others
needs. Why does it always
take a great loss or devas-
tation like the tragedy of
Sept. 11 to get our atten-
tion before we take action?
There is no dispute
that every student here is
blessed beyond imagina-
tion. I never cease to marvel at all
the genius and creativity that is a
part of every person here. The aspi-
rations and motivations of my peers
at Rice inspire me personally to bet-
ter myself and to do great things
with my life. But it takes more than
inspiration for those hopes and
dreams to become reality. Change
needs to start with the smallest ges-
ture. Take time at lunch today to
listen carefully to those around you.
Listen for where you can fill in a
need or just lend a sympathetic ear.
Be willing to help out the person
who's hard to get along with in your
physics class. You might never know
the difference you could make in
someone's life just by being kind.
Getting involved in community
service is another great way to start
seeing results. God bless those de-
voted RSVP reps who try with all
their might to recruit people to help
others in the community. And cheers
to HACER, who aims to educate the
community about minority needs and
concerns, and extend their network
to show that there is really only one
community. These are just two of the
many groups o:i campus that give
students opportunities to be giving
leaders who change the world.
So stop and remind yourself why
a frenzy on that problem set. The
next time you see someone strug-
gling with their homework or the
next time someone invites you to a
club meeting, don't look for an ex-
cuse to say no. Realize sooner rather
than later that by focusing all your
attention on yourself, you will miss
out. I've often heard that you must
let your priorities dictate your sched-
ule instead of letting your schedule
dictate your priorities. Don't let your
selfishness dictate your priorities.
Take a moment today to look up,
extend your hand and be the differ-
ence you want to see.
Alessandra Gonzalez is a Hanszen
College freshman.
I know who's moving the cheese
School accountability should
fall to parents, not Uncle Sam
It's funny how memory works,
how we associate seemingly un-
related things with certain
phrases. I associate Kentucky
Fried Chicken with
middle school for in-
stance, since I got in
trouble one time in
middle school for walk-
ing over to KFC for a
two-piece value meal
during lunch. The ever-
vigilant Mr. Skipper
caught me, honey-but-
tered biscuit in hand.
Now, after doing
some research, I'm be-
ginning to associate the
term "public school"
with Otto von Bismarck, the
round-bellied Prussian chancel-
lor from the end of the 19th cen-
tury. This is because pu blic school
in America and elsewhere stems
from the Prussian model of edu-
cation. In the 1840s, Prussia
wanted to unify Germany under
its control, but power was held in
smaller, local regions by princes
and dukes who enjoyed the sup-
port of Austria.
Critical thinking and
creative approaches
are sacrificed to
placate the test-
writing deities
Prussia figured it needed a way
for people to abandon their local
associations in favor of a national
"Teutonic" identity, with Prussia
and its established aristocracy as
the Head Teutons.
So as it expanded to include
areas that were historically non-
Prussian, it installed a highly or-
ganized, well-funded system of
public schools. These schools
taught the same things;as the ,
highly funded, well-organized
schools in Prussia
itself, including lots of spurious
stuff about national identity and
Teutonic history.
President Bush's education bill
that just passed Congress takes
new steps toward greater central-
ization of America's Prussian-in-
spired system of government
schools. The centerpiece of the
proposal is everyone's favorite
buzzphrase: "national standards."
The government defines these
standards the only way it knows
how—with a standardized test. If
a school's students re-
peatedly fail to achieve
the required minimum
test scores, the school
will eventually be taken
over by the govern-
ment.
This doesn't sound
like a bad thing on first
inspection: If a school
fails to educate its stu-
dents, why not change
its management? This
will finally make
schools "accountable."
But to whom will they be account-
able?
Certainly not the parents. If a
parent feels a school is not meet-
ing her child's needs, she has to
wait up to two years before any-
thing changes at the school, and
even then there's no guarantee
things will get better — just the
promise of government control.
If a parent in Houston's third
ward sees her child suffering at a
school staffed by clock-watching,
unmotivated teachers, she can't
send her child to Lamar or Me-
morial, two of the best public
schools in the city. A rich family
can send their kid to private
school, or even move out to
Kingwood where all the schools
are good. But a poor family is
stuck with the same people who
run the post office — the govern-
ment.
Under Bush's plan, schools
are only accountable to tests and
the people who write them leav-
ing parents out of the loop. But
what's a test? A comprehensive
and accurate measure of a
student's analytic and creative
abilities? Anyone who's taken the
Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills knows this isn't true, and
educational experts admit there's
no consensus on how best to mea-
sure scholastic ability.
Universities are turning away
from stahdarized testing, as
Gillis's annual matriculation line
("we rejected five 1600s") sug-
gests. And teachers all over the
state complain of having to "teach
to the test" — to modify their
lesson plans to hammer home the
tricks for the small set of question
types that will definitely appear
on the TAAS. Critical thinking
and creative approaches are sac-
See SCHOOLS, page 4
the Rice Thresher
kind of change we would like to see you are here working yourself up to
Leslie Iiu, Robert Reichle
Editors in Chief
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© COPYRIGHT 2002.
I
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 8, 2002, newspaper, February 8, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443105/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.