The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001 Page: 2 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5. 2001
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Jie Rice Thresher
Leslie Liu, Robert Reichle
Editors in Chief
Unmasking 'the man'
behind it all
President Malcolm Gillis surprised students dining at sev-
eral of the colleges by showing up at dinner Monday night.
Gillis told students he was there to chat with them about the
incredible events of the last few weeks.
Conversations focused on the reaction of Rice community
members now that the impact of the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11 has sunk in. But no matter what the topic of conversation
might have been, we'd like to applaud Gillis' quiet yet effective
way of trying to connect with the student body.
As president of the university, Gillis is a busy man, so it
means a lot when he takes time to personally come talk to the
students. Though his formal title is president, Gillis is in many
ways representative of Rice University as a whole. By taking
the time to walk around campus to each of the commons, we
get to see a human face on what is often perceived as a soulless
administration.
We like the idea of Gillis trying to be a big brother rather
than Big Brother.
We hope that other members of the administration follow
Gillis' lead and try to reconnect with the student body more
often.
Making no waves in a
dysfunctional pool
No matter how welcoming President Malcolm Gillis has
been lately, we don't relish the prospect of having his backyard
swimming pool as the only body of water on campus in which
you can safely swim.
But with the many problems at the Recreation Center pool,
this might become the case (See Story, Page 1). A combination
of problems with the pool's filtration system, heating system
and pH level has caused multiple closures since Tropical
Storm Allison over the summer, displacing the varsity swim-
ming team, the water polo club, recreational swimmers and
other members of the Rice community who use the facilities.
This week, signs at the Recreation Center said the pool was
"closed indefinitely," only to reopen and close again — indefi-
nitely. There's not a good way to find out if the pool is closed
except for to call ahead right before you want to use it. This is
unacceptable.
When varsity and club sports depend on the pool as a
practice venue, they need to know when their facility is avail-
able for use in order to schedule sessions. How would you feel
if right before a big test, the library randomly opened and
closed on a daily basis?
If busy students can't depend on a facility to be available for
use, the facility should be shut down until it can be made
functional. That way, Rec Center administrators can tell us
exactly when the pool will be reopened, and can open the doors
to a functional facility for everyone to enjoy.
Cheering can only bring
more wins for Owls
If the Rice football team wins against Boise State University
tomorrow, the Owls will have their best season start since
1960.
And beating Western Athletic Conference foe Boise State,
which has won bowl games the past two seasons, would keep
the Owls on the road to receiving a bowl invitation when
December rolls around.
But that's not the reason why you should make your way to
Rice Stadium by 7 p.m. The reason you should paint your face
blue and gray and yell for our players is because they deserve
it.
Varsity student-athletes study hard and play hard in the
name of Rice University, and school spirit is not exactly
something Rice students are famous for. Let's take those
clever powderpuff cheers and use them to to pump up our
guys. Remember that you are, after all, in Texas — it's football
season, the weather is gorgeous and fall break is just around
the corner. What could be better?
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Guest column
Childhood dreams can spell grown-up misery
To those of you who hate your
majors and have to bribe yourselves
to do your homework, it may sound
strange, but letting go of some of
your dreams can be the
best medicine for an ail-
ing conscience.
On one hand, you said
this was what you were
going to do when you de-
clared your major. It prob-
ably sounded really im-
pressive, like chemical en-
gineering with a double
in Spanish or English. On
the other hand, now that
you are farther down the
road, classes are tortuous
and you find yourself lean-
ing toward an area that you found a
passion for, but stuck in a major you
don't like at all.
This week I spoke with three
upperclassmen who confessed they
really wished they would have cho-
sen another academic path, but felt
that it was too late to turn back. I
found myself in a similar situation
until a couple of weeks ago. I was 15
credit hours away from an environ-
mental engineering major, which I
hoped would provide me with a job
in case I couldn't get into graduate
school in English. I've always been
good at science, though I never liked
it much. Since high school, or maybe
even before, I wanted to be an engi-
neer. I didn't know exactly what was
involved in engineering, I just knew
that it made my parents "ooh" and
Amy
Thorne
"ah"over such an idea they thought
would ultimately bring money and
success. Happiness never really en-
tered the picture. Still, I registered
for the three engineering
classes I needed this fall.
After two weeks of mis-
ery, I dropped all five of
my classes and picked up
five new ones — the ones
I had already listed in the
back of my head and
wished I could take.
Those dreams you
have had since the eighth
grade of being a rocket
scientist or a veterinarian
many times may not mesh
well with what you enjoy
now. My biggest problem with drop-
ping my major was that I was going
back on my word. I had told every-
one what my plans were and I felt
trapped by the fear of disapproval.
Yet I realized I had to do what made
sense to me because I see the world
in my own unique way. Though I did
feel I'd wasted a lot of sleepless nights
on homework I didn't enjoy and I
was so close to the finish it made
little sense to pick a different path, I
knew it was time to switch. It was
time to give up on a dream that
wasn't really my dream at all. It was
what I was used to, something like a
comfort zone. It was a combination
of my fear of the future and of my
preoccupation with others' opinion
of me. I had to let it go.
Everyone has heard the advice
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Anti-unionism and
racism separate issues
To the editor:
I am dismayed the Black Stu-
dent Association, the Black Gradu-
ate Student Association, and the
Rice NAACP chose to associate
themselves with the remarks of
union propagandist Ken Riley. The
color of Mr. Riley's skin notwith-
standing, the situation of the
Charleston 5 has nothing to do with
racial justice.
The only issue is the state of
South Carolina's desire to maintain
a business-friendly environment and
to uphold the rule of law. In Decem-
ber 1999, Riley's union, the Interna-
tional Longshoreman's Association,
physically prevented the company
in question, Nordana, from unload-
ing goods from a ship. This is a
crime, plain and simple. Thus, when
the police had advance notice of the
II>A's intention to commit another
such crime, they were entirely justi-
fied in preparing a force to arrest the
perpetrators.
Riley and his supporters undoubt-
edly believe their actions were justi-
fied. This left-wing strain of union-
ism maintains that workers have the
right to extort what they feel they
deserve, by any means necessary.
His socialist sense of justice, how-
ever, is not reflected in the law of
this capitalist nation. Riley and his
ilk will deservedly go to jail every
time they commit crimes in the name
of unionism.
None of this, however, has any-
thing to do with race. The mem-
bers of the ILA were not targeted
because they were black; they were
targeted because of their very pub-
lic intentions to engage in illegal
activity. Riley's own speech fo-
cused on union issues rather than
racial ones. It is quite apparent
Riley plays the race card only to
get attention, and it is unfortunate
his speech was portrayed at Rice
as having relevance to issues of
racial justice.
Todd Makse
Sid '01
Research analyst, Jones Graduate
School of Management
Letting go of freedom
lets terrorists win
To the editor:
Before even firing a shot into
the bowels of Afghanistan, the
United States has already lost the
so-called "War Against Terrorism."
And here's why: Political satirist
Bill Maher made the accurate and
truthful comment on his ABC pro-
gram "Politically Incorrect"— a
Sec FREEDOM. Page 4
"Follow your heart," but they never
tell you that your head meddles
around in the dreams that feel close
to you, pushing them away until you
forget they were ever there. Your
head seems concerned with money
and security, things that people who
follow their hearts give up every-
day. Since I have let go of some-
thing old that I thought was what I
was supposed to do, I do feel some-
what vulnerable, but also carefree
and smarter. Smarter because I
learned something about myself. Yet
again, I found myself seeing some-
thing I never thought was possible.
It's a cleared path now, even though
I had to regress some, and my con-
science isn't at constant tug-of-war.
It's on the beach with a clear view of
the immense opportunities for the
future. Even though I dropped my
major and didn't do what I said I
originally would do, I'm happier now.
Sometimes I felt, on my way to this
great decision, that your major de-
fines you, that it sets limits to what
you can do. I tried to explain to the
three upperclassmen with whom I
spoke that it wasn't really that way.
Change is possible, and not so scary,
if you can just let go of that old,
worn-out dream that doesn't even
seem worth the trouble it causes.
But it does hang around like a stray
dog, and you keep wanting to feed
it.
Amy Thome is a Hanszen College
senior.
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001, newspaper, October 5, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443147/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.