The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, March 22, 2002 Page: 4 of 36
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2002
K- ..
I
I
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BACKPAGE, from Page 4
refer them to http://www.rice.edu/
projects/thresher/issues/84/970314/
Opinion/Story04.html.
From its founding the Backpage
established a reputation—through
attacks on individual people and
various groups, including women
— as a venue in which students,
often under cover of anonymity,
could insult whomever they wished
with impunity. Last week's issue
gives evidence that the Backpage's
history of mean-spirited insult is by
no means dead.
The failure of the Backpage to
conform to even minimal standards
of acceptable college journalism is
particularly ironic, given the fact that
the rest of the Thresher, largely a
labor of love by hard-working and
talented students, has often been
outstanding — as it is this year.
In my earlier letter I set out some
ideas for changing the ground rules
for the Backpage, and I offered to
discuss them with anyone in any
forum on campus. I added that I
would particularly welcome a chance
to discuss them with students "who
believe that a policy of the sort I have
suggested, imposed by the Thresher
editors themselves, trammels stu-
dents' right to free speech." No one,
including the Backpage editors, ac-
cepted my offer.
So I make it again. I believe the
Backpage's policy of anonymous,
gratuitous insult does not conform
to canons of acceptable college jour-
nalism. I would like to hear from
people who agree with me, people
who disagree with me and people
whose minds are not made up. I
would particularly welcome the
chance to discuss the issue with
representatives of the Thresher or
the Backpage, or anyone who is will-
ing to defend the Backpage policy.
Chandler Davidson
Sociology professor
Remark disrespectful
to faculty spouse
To the editor:
Those of us who are employed by
Rice may have to put up with the high
school-ish remarks that typically oc-
cur in your misclass section.
However, the author of the March
15, 2002, misclass was particularly
childish and crude in going out of
his way to be disrespectful to the
spouses of Rice employees. Many
Rice employees' spouses provide
significant voluntary service to Rice
and its students.
They should not be the butt of
crude jokes. The editor should take
action against the author of this
misclass for going out of his way to
bring spousal names into his delib-
erately rude expressions.
I recommend that the author be
required to sit in the corner for 30
minutes with his nose against the
wall, and bring a note from his
mommy confirming that she is aware
of his behavior in school.
Ed Akin
Mechanical engineering professor
Editor's note: Misclass is subm itted by
members of the Rice community and
the Backpage editor selects what to
publish.
Responses to column
hurt campus unity
To the editor:
I was not surprised to see a bar-
rage of attacks against Laura
Fitzmorris' opinion column ("Rais-
ing the bar for athletes in the class-
room," March 1). I was disappointed,
however, by the personal and judg-
mental nature in which those who
wrote the Thresher chose to ap-
proach the issue. Let's ignore, for a
second, the issue of how much truth
is contained in Ms. Fitzmorris' opin-
ion. We are still left with the fact that
it is a common perception amongst
non-athlete students.
As a senior, I'm well aware of
how hard the average varsity ath-
lete works on activities that do not
directly relate to classes. I also know
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that it's hardly unique. Sure, your
average volleyball player spends
three or four hours a day doing
things other than classwork and
partying. So do column writers,
RSVP volunteers and Honor Coun-
cil representatives (Ms. Fitzmorris
is all of these things, and I'm sure
she keeps quite busy). Virtually all
Rice students are dedicated to some-
thing in this way.
Instead of taking the high road,
students and alumni chose to attack
Ms. Fitzmorris' talent, her intelli-
gence and even her underclassman
status (could there be a more imma-
ture line of argument than that?).
Perhaps those who feel so strongly
about the issue should find a pro-
ductive outlet.
If these attitudes exist, why do
they exist? Is there anything in the
current athletic program that rein-
forces this opinion? Could privileged
resources for athletes contribute to
it? It's much easier to silent the de-
bate in the name of "unity," but it's
hardly helpful to the students of the
university, athlete or not.
Aaron Martz
Brown senior
Letters comprised of
personal attacks
To the editor:
I was extremely disappointed to
read last issue's letters to the editor.
Several students felt it was neces-
sary to make personal attacks on
Laura Fitzmorris, who wrote "Rais-
ing the bar for athletes in the class-
room." To the students themselves
and to the editors: Many agree that
the attacks in these letters were dis-
tasteful and had no placc in the
Thresher.
It is very noble to stand up and
defend the integrity of student-
athletes, but isn't there a way to do
so without making such unneces-
sary criticisms and reflecting so
poorly on the integrity of the entire
Rice student body?
Anna Reeve's statement to
Fitzmorris, "After reading your
poorly written column. I am certain
your admission to Rice was unfairly
based on how much you diligently
studied for your SATs, instead of
your intelligence," made me cringe
in embarrassment for Reeve; though
Reeve charges that Fitzmorris'
article was "hostile, misguided,"
Reeve subsequently wrote belliger-
ently hostile accusations. I do agree
that Reeve is fully entitled to her
opinion and that the article could
have catalyzed high emotions, but
such bitter remarks against the
writer's character as opposed to the
writer's actual work is uncalled for
and reflects more negatively on
Reeve herself than Fitzmorris (and
a word to Reeve: If Fitzmorris had no
"factual evidence" on the intelligence
of student athletes, I'd like to see the
"factual evidence" you used in deter-
mining Fitzmorris' admission fac-
tors).
Secondly, a friend of mine
brought up a good point: Ben
Weston's letter on the same subject,
which makes offensive jabs at Shep-
herd School students, architecture
students and freshmen, further
marginalizes more groups of stu-
dents and further implements the
"us versus them" mentality.
There has to be another avenue to
support one group without angering
others. It is true that, as Aimee Donnel
writes, "Rice recruits extremely
classy individuals," but the letters to
the editor did not reflect this view.
Again, I commend these students
for taking a stand, yet if I were a
prospective student reading this sec-
tion of the Thresher, I would have
doubts on attending this university
due to such hostility.
To the editors of the Thresher. 1
urge you both to consider more thor-
oughly the "content" you reserve
the right to edit.
Publishing personal attacks will
only hurt a publication's journalistic
integrity, not to mention scare away
potential columnists for fear of hav-
ing their intelligence publicly ques-
tioned.
I sincerely hope Fitzmorris con-
tinues to write for the Thresher and
that this debate will not further di-
vide the Rice community.
Melissa Arong
Sid freshman
Historical error confuses
President Lincoln's legacy
REAGAN, from Page 3
ing his party's first president. "You
cannot help the poor by destroy-
ing the rich," he continued, as the
audience stood in awe.
The media would subse-
quently report — and rightly so
— that the ten "You cannots" had
been falsely attributed to Lincoln.
Reagan countered that the pas-
sage had been obtained from The
Toastmaster's Treasure Chest com-
piled by H< bert V. Prochnow.
The erroneous accreditation was
widely circulated among conser-
vatives, having even been
included in the Congressional
Record in 1950.
The words were not fabricated,
however, merely misattributed.
The actual author was Reverend
William J.H. Boetcker, a Presby-
terian clergyman who penned the
10 phrases in 1916. The words
resurfaced 26 years later. In 1942,
an interest group, the Committee
for Constitutional Government,
disseminated leaflets entitled
"Lincoln on Limitations" that con-
tained an actual Lincoln quota-
tion on one side and Boetcker's
words on the other.
Proximity befuddled the
minds of readers, who mistak-
enly assumed that both excerpts
were Lincoln's own. The 10
phrases eventually became leg-
endary defenses of conservative
policies, reported in numerous
published works such as Reagan's
The Toastmaster's Treasure Chest.
The moral here is not to be-
lieve everything you read. Fa-
mous persons are routinely mis-
quoted, lies proliferate, and
today's mistake may become
tomorrow's debacle. Stay alert,
do your research and don't add to
the problem.
Owen Courreges is a Will Rice
College junior.
Paid part-time job for Mac-saw*} student. Backup files, troubleshoot. install software, make updates.
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, March 22, 2002, newspaper, March 22, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443138/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.