The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 20, 2009 Page: 2 of 28
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EDITORIAL
the Rice Thresher
Friday, March 20,2009
the Rice (Ihresher
New restrictions hinder
spirit of Beer Bike
There are no Rice traditions that compare to Beer Bike. Not
Rice baseball, not 0-Week and most definitely not pumpkin
grades. Thus, you will understand why we are more than a
tad perturbed that the planners of this year's Beer Bike have
changed the format of this year's parade, limiting all colleges
to only one truck (see story, page 5).
We take exception to this decree, made without student vote
and with little student consent outside of each college's coor-
dinators, for a multitude of reasons. First, and perhaps fore-
most, is the reasoning that the restriction of trucks will some-
how prepare students and coordinators for the pending arrival
of two new colleges. This reasoning is flawed — how will im-
posing restrictions on this year's students prepare them, or
the coordinators, for the addition of Duncan and McMurtry?
How will fewer trucks ready us for next year's increase? The
only reason that this may help us is that coordinators will have
to deal only with finding one truck, which may have been a
planned imposition for next year, as Duncan and McMurtry,
the two largest colleges, would, most likely, have filled the
most trucks with those plastic pellets of pain. (Or, for the pes-
simistic, Duncan and McMurtry could possibly lack the college
cohesiveness that necessitates the filling of balloons, putting
them at an obvious disadvantage, but we digress).
Likewise, where does this "preparation" stop? Are we to
keep two lanes of the Beer Bike track purposefully blocked off,
so that the bike teams acclimate themselves to 11 competitors?
We would ask if Duncan and McMurtry would be open to jacks
as well, but that questioned was answered long ago.
Secondly, this check eliminates a severely important part of
Willy Week — inter-collegiate competition. Beer Bike, and the
events leading up to the race, imbue students with the sense of
college connectedness that has faded since its 0-Week height.
If we remove the intrinsic sense of "us versus them," the con-
gregation inside of each college will weaken, or will at least be
nowhere as strong as it could have been for some. Granted, cer-
tain colleges produce fewer balloons than others, but this is no
reason to get rid of the entire process. When extrapolated, this
logic would dictate that the talent of Will Rice College, which
has recently been the favorite during the Beer Bike races, should
be dispersed among the other colleges, such that each stands
an equal chance at victory. This removal of rivalry is an affront
to students across the campus, squashing competitiveness and
precluding any future resurrections of now-dormant balloon-
filling contests. We are sorry to see this tradition go, and we
hope those in charge next year will rescind the imposition.
FIRE free speech
criticisms unfounded
If you can read this staff editorial, then you will understand why
we cannot help but laugh at the "red light" the Foundation for In-
dividual Rights in Education has given Rice for the university's free
speech policy (see story, page 1). As an organization that deals sole-
ly in media, we at the Thresher believe we are in the perfect position
to chide FIRE for giving Rice the worst possible rating.
FIRE is an organization that, for all intents and purposes,
seems to lack credibility as a watchdog organization. We strain
to believe that Harvard University, Emory University, Stanford
University and the University of Chicago could join Rice in
the "red light" category, while Southern Methodist University
earns a "yellow light."
When you are looking for something, it is often said that you
will find it. Such is the case with FIRE's assessment of Rice.
They purport to give Rice a "red light" based on an Informa-
tion Technology policy that prevents the transmitting of both
sexually explicit material and language that panders to big-
otry, discrimination and the like. The IT policy could, in the
most technical and non-interpretive way possible, be construed
as prohibiting LGBT groups from forwarding messages via Rice's
resources. But this is most certainly not the case. Had FIRE done
its homework properly, it would become eminently clear that the
university as a whole does an impressive job of allowing dissemi-
nation in all forms, consistently overriding a rule that, yes, could
be interpreted as silencing LGBT groups.
FIRE has looked too far at the policy, but not nearly close
enough at the school. There was nothing to set this off, nor was
there any reason to think that the IT policy was imminently
threatening the student body. At the same time, however, we
would like to thank the administration, as part of a private
university, for not censoring the student body as a whole, in-
cluding the Thresher. While it is within their power to deem
otherwise, we can freely commend them on their positions re-
garding freedom of speech.
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LETTERS TO TH E EDITOR
thresher-ops@rice. edu
"Com(MAN)d" slo-
gan misinterpreted
To the Editor:
I'd like to comment on last issue's
opinion piece ("MRC's 'C0M(MAN)D'
T-shirt slogan incites sexist views,"
March 13). The view that exalting the
trait "command" is sexist seems more
based on heavy assumption than
rational thought. The interpersonal
relationships between men — bear
in mind that this is a club for the ad-
vocacy of male bonding and under-
standing — are often borne of playful
machismo, earned respect and com-
petition. That "command" would be
a trait viewed highly among men or
women is not a surprise, nor is it to be
considered repressive.
Some find the concept of "com-
mand" to be uplifting, and inter-
twined with leadership and warranted
respect. It takes a lot of assumptions
to interpret all "command" as un-
wanted, forceful and somehow anti-
female. It is worth considering that
the interpretation of the word in terms
of enslavement, force or gender may
simply be an issue of context.
The Hanszen Men's Resource Cen-
ter is a positive and successful part
of Hanszen College. The committee
has provided men and women of our
college with paintball retreats, guest
speakers and a number of charitable
events including the now-annual MRC
run for prostate cancer awareness. The
T-shirts were made as a snarky throw-
back to the Product Red campaign and
the words were picked by popular vote
of our college, not by any backroom
chauvinism. "(MAN)GO" does not sug-
gest than men may only eat mangoes,
but if I look hard enough, I'll find
that message.
Women can command, men can
command and my cat commands that
I feed him by stepping on my key-
board while 1 write essays. Nobody
at the MRC meant any disrespect to-
wards women, and that kind of disre-
spect would be ultimately against the
ideals of male sexuality and behavior
the MRC tries to espouse. 1 am aware
that sexism is unfortunately alive
and pervasive, but it is certainly not
tolerated in the Hanszen community
or by the MRC.
Erol Bakkalbasi
Hanszen College President
MRC T-shirt sends
the right message
To the Editor:
I was disappointed by the nar-
row perspective in last week's
Thresher opinion piece, "MRC's
'COM(MAN)D' T-shirt slogan incites sex-
ist views." Author Jennifer Luo's attack
on the "COM(MAN)D" T-shirt seems
hasty and forced, like in a third grade
locker room, when everyone laughs at
the word "pianist." Anything can be
fodder for controversy, if controversy is
what you're listening for.
1 think Luo misunderstands the in-
tended message of the "COM(MAN)D"
slogan. (Perhaps not all the T-shirt de-
signs are intended, as the article sug-
gests, to be merely witty or enticing.)
Consider a more classic idea of the
word: "control or restrain, of oneself
or one's feelings."
Profits from the Hu(man)ity cam-
paign support Houston's Fifth Ward
Enrichment Program, the mission of
which is "to empower boys to become
responsible men and productive
members of their families and com-
munities." Participants are taught "to
value education, delay gratification,
view life as sacred and set respon-
sible priorities." Additionally, they
learn "the importance of respect and
communication in their relationships
with others, specifically women."
The MRC's Hu(man)ity outreach
encourages Houston's underprivileged
young men — indeed, men everywhere
— to command themselves. To com
mand their lives. To command the re-
spect of their peers. That is a message
that everyone — male and female —
should wholeheartedly support.
Michael Rog
Will Rice College junior
Mystifying Tree
House overdue
To the Editor:
Spring is the time of new begin-
nings. Of births and blossoms and, yes,
a fanciful Rice institution called the
Tree House. This elusive, magical spot
has been the location of many fateful
encounters; many a lazy hour has been
wiled away there in procrastination
and joyful revelry. It is an area of seren-
ity within a hectic life; it is a bubble of
brightness during the long, dark hours
of studying; it is a whimsical hideout
in our all-too-logical society. Even its
creation speaks to its qualities as mys-
terious and out of the ordinary; every
year a group of unknown architecture
students erect the Tree House without
prior warning. One day the Rice popu
lation walks by the quad unaware and
the next - bam! — the Tree House,
overnight, has materialized.
The Tree House is one of the best
parts of spring at Rice and, as of yet, it
has not appeared to lend its shade and
marvel to the Rice community. And so 1
ask — nay, 1 implore — the mysterious
architecture students who grace us with
their mysterious Tree House: Where is
this marvelous creation? Please, if ever
you were spontaneous, if ever you be-
lieved in ridiculousness and a return to
childhood, put up the Tree House!
Julia Lukomnik
Baker College junior
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 20, 2009, newspaper, March 20, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443137/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.