The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 2007 Page: 2 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2,2007
——
the Rice Thresher
Clinton in Autry, ball
passed to faculty's court
Former President Bill Clinton will step up to the lectern
Thursday at Autry Court instead of at Stude Concert Hall, and we
could not be happier. (See story, Page 1.) Changing venues for
this high-profile, high-security event took a great deal of activism
from student groups like the Baker Institute Student Forum and
the college presidents. It required great flexibility from Baker
Institute planners, as well as staff who will stay overnight after
Wednesday's basketball game to clean up the arena.
Now it is up to students to repay that labor by showing up to
hear the former president speak. We have 2,500 seats available
to students, and it will be an embarrassment to our community
and an insult to all the work put into this event if a noticeable
fraction of those seats go unfilled. So grab your Rice ID, leave
your cell phone and go see the first president of our generation's
conscious memory.
Unless, of course, you're stuck in class. Clinton's speech
begins at 3 p.m., doors open at 1:45 and no one will be admitted
after 2:30. But more than 50 undergraduate classes are sched-
uled to meet at 2:30 Thursday, not to mention earlier classes or
afternoon seminars. If instructors do not adjust class schedules,
a significant fraction of the undergraduate population will be
unable to see Clinton — or penalized for doing so.
This speech is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most stu-
dents, and while we cherish the value of every lecture minute,
we hope instructors appreciate the importance of this event.
And we hope they will acknowledge this importance by cancel-
ing 2:30. classes and letting out earlier afternoon classes at
1:45, so students have time to get to Autry and get through secu-
rity. Of course, it wouldn't hurt for the administration to step in
and make life easier for everyone by making these cancellations
campus-wide.
Reduce, reuse and
then Recyclemania
Representatives from Facilities, Engineering and Planning
began weighing campus paper and cardboard recyclables
Jan. 28, and they will continue to do so until April 7, reporting
the cumulative per capita output to Recyclemania. A six-year-old,
nationwide competition between colleges and universities, Recy-
clemania aims to promote reducing waste production.
The idea is a good one, and we are proud that Rice was the first
Texas school to engage in the competition — this is the second
straight year Rice has participated in Recyclemania, and this year
seven other Texas schools have joined us.
Recyclemania has three categories of competition, two of which
make a lot of sense: The Waste Minimization category awards
recognition to schools with the lowest per capita waste output,
and the Grand Champion category averages that ranking with
a school's recyclable-weight-per-capita figure. But the category
Rice is in, the Per Capita Classic, seems to encourage reckless
recyclable waste production rather than strict conscientious
consuming, and this by itself is counterintuitive.
Recycling is important — and there certainly is not enough
of it at Rice — but we always thought the idea was to reduce and
reuse first, and only recycle as a last resort of conscientious
consumption. Rice would best embody the spirit of environ-
mentalism by participating in one of the more environmentally
intelligent contests.
Under the Per Capita competition's guidelines, students could
theoretically buy reams of paper, chuck them unopened into the
big blue bins in residential college commons, and be helping a
"green" cause. The same students could be using four plastic
cups every time they eat in the serveries and still be considered
environmentally friendly in the contest's eyes.
Of course, that would never happen: The only prizes of Re-
cyclemania are prestige and publicity. Still, students and Rice's
Recyclemania representatives should use the competition as an
incentive to reevaluate campus-wide recycling — and overall
waste-producing — practices. So before you throw out this
newspaper, think about passing it on to a friend — or using it as
an environmentally friendly plate, hat, blanket, projectile or wall
decoration. And, if all that fails, please make sure you dispose of
it in a blue recycling bin.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
editorial staff.
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Political yard stick
We Democrats must succeed where Bush fails
On Jan. 22, President George W.
Bush told us the state of the union
is strong. I am not sure which union
he was referring to. His and Laura's?
His and Condi's? His and
Cheney's? It would be
inaccurate if referring to
America's domestic affairs,
international reputation
and soft power.
In the 30 years since
energy independence first
became a U.S. priority,
the nation has become
more dependent on for-
eign oil. The problem
goes back further than
one presidency. But I
wonder why this president, with his
intimate knowledge of the oil and gas
industry, decided not to use that to
his advantage. The United States
could be the leader in alternative
energy research and development.
Such an industry would make up
for the decreasing supply of oil and
position the United States to capture
a market still up for grabs.
However, the General Account-
ing Office reported in December
that the current level of alterna-
tive energy funding — which has
decreased every year since Bush
stepped into office — will do
nothing to slow or reverse energy
dependence in the next 25 years.
Because this president has chosen
not to act, we Democrats proposed
a fund that would funnel previously
unpaid — and long overdue — oil
and gas exploration royalties into
research for alternative energy. Such
a fund would shield our nation's
alternative energy research from
partisan politics and the fluctuating
oil prices that currently drive the
alternatives market. If this fund is
not quickly established by the Demo-
cratic Senate, we will have done a
disservice to the nation.
The president mentioned
terror 22 times in his speech with
no real specification of what the
terror is or how to combat it with
anything other than unquestioning
Kirti
Datla
resolve. In 2006, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Idee advocated a new
type of diplomacy called transfor-
mational diplomacy. Iliis diplomacy,
according to a speech given
at Georgetown University,
would be less paternalistic
and would emphasize work-
ing wiUi people rather than
for people.
To us Democrats, this
does not seem particu-
larly revolutionary. We
tend to believe that a
two-way communication
framework is the key to
diplomacy because a one-
sided conversation is a
contradiction. We know that combat-
ing terror is a multi-step process. Aid
is needed to ensure that poverty does
not drive good people to extremism.
Diplomacy is needed to strengthen
ties with nations—and not just those
that are strategic allies. And force is
needed to bring to justice the small
percentage of people who aim to
harm innocent lives.
Bush has increased public
diplomacy funding for nations with
large Muslim populations, but the
funded programs are disjointed
and often terminated, according to
another GAO report. Democrats
know that diplomacy needs to be
broader but also more cohesive. With
Democratic powers of the budget,
oversight and investigation, we need
to ensure that U.S. diplomacy, the
nation's best offensive weapon in this
war against terror, is strong, coherent
and effective.
Everyoneexpectedthepresident
to champion domestic issues in his
speech — even if only in an attempt
to stay relevant in his last years in
office. He mentioned health care,
entitlement reform and educa-
tion. What was not expected was
his omission of a plan to return
the United States to a position of
global leadership. In fact, when the
president spoke of international
issues other than tin1 war in Iraq,
he seemed to rush through them.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Columnist mistaken
on Iranian threat
To the editor:
Allegations regarding shadowy
worldwide corporate cabals and
whodunit 9/11 conspiracy theories
detract from the real issues sur-
rounding Iran and its stated goal of
developing nuclear weapons. Make
no mistake: Iran's nuclear program
is very real. According to A1 Jazeera,
Iranian officials recently announced,
"the country was moving towards
large-scale enrichment involving
3,000 centrifuges." Do not think
that the United States is alone in
its trepidations regarding Iran, l-ast
month the United Nations Security
Council unanimously voted to sanc-
tion Iran after it ignored requests to
halt uranium enrichment.
In his column, Dan Abrahamson
claimed "Iran is not a third-rate
military power like Iraq" ("Cheney
cronies 'double-down' for more war,"
Jan. 26). Contrary to this statement,
But malaria, AIDS, the Millennium
Challenge Account, global warm-
ing and Darfur deserve more than
lip service.
We know the United States' inter-
national reputation has never been
lower. We also know Iraq should not
have been the only effect we have
had on the international system in
the last six years. It says something
when Democratic New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson has to
negotiate a peace deal in Darfur,
the United Kingdom leads efforts to
combat global warming, the Israeli-
Palestinian peace process moves
forward while we ignore it and China
deftly replaces us as an advocate for
African development.
These problems deserve more
than a sentence if the United States
is to regain its soft power. Some
may claim we Democrats are naive,
discussing small-scale problems at
a time of international turmoil. But
we know being a constant advocate
for peace, stability and cooperation
can only bolster the nation's reputa-
tion. And the United States needs
that boost in order to face the big-
ger problems of Iranian and North
Korean proliferation.
So we Democrats must fill in the
blanks of the president's speech.
We must take a stance through
resolutions, Congressional delega-
tions and speeches to help spur into
action a president known for his
cowboy ways.
'Hie state of the union should be
stronger. No matter what the president
says or fails to say in his speech, it is
our job to make sure that happens.
Kirti Datla is a Sid Richardson
College junior.
Iraq had the largest and most so-
phisticated military in the Middle
East minus Israel before its destruc-
tion during the Gulf Wars. During
the Iran-Iraq War, only Saddam
Hussein's military incompetence
and the Ayatollah's suicide brigades
known as the Revolutionary Guard,
throwing themselves in human
waves against the Iraqis, prevented
an Iraqi victory.
Even if the Iranians were nine
years away from a functional nuclear
bomb, would it be better to nip such
a dangerous situation in the bud
or within a decade have a second
North Korea? The president of Iran
has stated, "God willing ... we shall
soon experience a world without
the United States and Zionism." If
the situation avails itself, the only
way we will be able to prevent the
unleashing ofnuclear Armageddon"
is to deal with Iran now, rather than
leaving a radical nuclear-armed Iran
for posterity.
Frederick On
fj>vett senior
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Brown, David. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 2007, newspaper, February 2, 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443111/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.