The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 15, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 5, 2000 Page: 3 of 12
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THE RICK THRESHER OPINION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2000
Guest column
Administration disregards students
At a Student Association meeting
during the beginning of the sc hool
year, Wiess College junior Josh
Ginsberg warned those present that
the way the administra-
tion treated the issue of
Wiess House was a sign
of things to come. Those
present at the meeting ei-
ther laughed off the as-
sertion or let it fall to the
wayside. I have to admit I
was one of those students
who ignored Ginsberg.
After seeing the events of
this semester play out, 1
feel ashamed of myself for
being a silent accomplice
in the decisions made by the admin-
istration during this time.
As many of you readers know, 1
resigned last week as Brown Col-
lege president. The reason behind
my decision was straightforward: I
no longer believe that the adminis-
tration, particularly Dr. Camacho
and Dr. Hutchinson in Student Af-
fairs, believes that student govern-
ment is anything more than a conve-
nience. As such, I refuse to be part of
the facade behind which the univer-
sity hides when making decisions
that affect students. I know my view
is not shared by all of the other
college presidents, much less all of
the students at Rice, but 1 think re-
cent events demonstrate a growing
disrespect for the rights of the stu-
dent body.
When 1 explained my resigna-
tion to the members of Brown, I did
not go into the details of the issues
that caused legitimate points of con-
tention between students and the
university. 1 do not think that con-
tinuing to rehash issues such as the
refusal to build a new Wiess mas-
ters' house, the guidelines for the
startup of Martel College, the
changes to the Beer-Bike parade,
the response to the formal complaint
on cheers and, finally, the actions
Timothy
Werner
taken against KTRU will do the stu-
dent body much good, but 1 feel two
important lessons can be drawn from
these experiences.
First, the administra-
tion cannot be trusted.
The main argument the
university uses to uphold
its actions against KTRU
is that "clear lines of au-
thority" do not exist be-
tween the university and
the station. I beg to differ.
Under the current SA
Constitution, "the SA Sen-
ate shall assume on be-
half of the Student Asso-
ciation the responsibility
for the actions of any student organi-
zation" (Article II, Section 3, Sub-
section b). The university never ap-
proached the SA Senate to take ac-
tion or resume responsibility.
In addition, Vice President for
Public Affairs Terry Shepard repeat-
edly stated in the media that KTRU
is the only student organization that
receives student funds that is not
held accountable. The SA Constitu-
tion proves this claim false too. '"ITie
Student Senate shall have the power,
by a 2/3 vote of the Student Senate,
to impeach the Student Association
officers, the University Court Chair-
man, officers of the subsidiary orga-
nizations, and the undergraduate
representatives on the University
Council, and shall refer such cases
to the University Court for trial and
a binding verdict" (Article II, Sec-
tion 3, Subsection j). Since KTRU is
a subsidiary organization (Article I,
Section 6, Subsection a), the Office
of Student Affairs completely ig-
nored the rights and responsibili-
ties of the student government to
deal with this issue.
If Camacho and Hutchinson did
not respect established procedures,
why should we buy into their com-
promise, and why should we believe
that they would not exploit its rather
sweeping language?
Second, the administration gives
no real authority to student leaders.
Student Affairs only delegates is-
sues to student committees when
they know that there is little flexibil-
ity in what can be resolved. The
current committee on college cheers
is the perfect example. In the meet-
ings that have taken place to this
point, it has been made perfectly
clear to students through memos,
etc., from legal counsel just how
limited the options are. There was
no need beyond damage control to
incorporate students into the dis-
cussion.
In stark contrast to that, the uni-
versity ignored many of the protests
that my masters and I filed on behalf
of Brown dealing with the startup of
Martel. An e-mail I wrote to Brown
Master Albert Pope on Oct. 5, in
which I threatened to resign over
issues related to Martel, was sent on
to Camacho and Hutchinson. No
response was ever received. On is-
sues where students can and should
have an impact, we are silenced; on
issues where the outcome is prede-
termined, the university is more than
happy to make it look like students
made the decision.
I firmly believe that those in-
volved in Student Affairs have good
hearts and do care about students.
However, there is a difference be-
tween caring and respecting. We as
students receive no respect from
this administration and have pre-
cious little say in how decisions are
made. Rice's administration needs
to stop hiding behind the student
leadership — they should either take
credit for their policies and scrap
student government or, preferably,
give students the rights and respon-
sibilities they know we can handle.
Timothy Werner is a Brown College
senior and recently resigned the Brown
presidency.
Guest column
KTRU disrespects Rice student athletes
At the bottom of their bumper
stickers it says "Rice Radio." What
else? That's right: KTRU 91.7.
I,ast Tuesday evening — when
two KTRU DJs chose to
broadcast music over our
well-respected, NCAA tour-
nament-qualifying women's
basketball team — that label
changed from "Rice Radio"
to "KTRU's DJs' Radio." It
was a rash, angry, ill-thought
decision.
The KTRU volunteers
may not have intended to of-
fend the women's basketball
team or any of Rice's other
I )ivision 1 athletes who spend
hours sweating every day in order to
represent Rice and its students —
including the same K TRU volun-
teers. But now these athletes aren't
offended, they're pissed. And rightly
so.
KTRU argues that this is not
about the sports events, but about
administration control. However,
hypothetically, if this had been the
exact same situation and the broad-
cast event was a debate tournament
or a lecture from the President's
lecture Series instead of an athletic-
event, I seriously doubt KTRU would
have taken the same extreme tac-
tics.
KTRU's protest posters say, "It's
your station so voice your support.
Was it the women's basketball team's
station when their game was inter-
rupted? I guess "your" means non-
athletes, and extends to the part of
the Rice population that is anti-
sports.
What K TRU did just furtheralien-
ates the athletes at this school, as if
they weren't already knocked to the
wayside by Rice culture. I he institu-
tion of sports is supposed to bring
our students together, but instead it
Macv
McBeth
has become a point of contention.
The administration is trying to im-
prove things by getting our students
more involved in sports, supporting
sports and by giving
our sports teams more
exposure. They de-
serve it.
How can broad-
casting three or four
games a week be too
much to ask? Instead
of making it a big deal
about the administra-
tion telling KTRU what
to do, couldn't the sta-
tion just have compro-
mised for the sake of
the students and the student ath-
letes?
Ofcourse not, because lately Rice
students seem to be so good at get-
ting mad about trivial things. Now
there is a rift because K TRU DJs
would rather play underground
music by artists no one's ever heard
of than broadcasting events in which
the girl or guy sitting next to you in
class is performing.
The administration was trying to
do a good thing for the students.
Sometimes we get so lost in our own
concerns that we need that authori-
tative hand to guide us in the right
direction, to do the beneficial tiling
for all students instead of going by
just one group's opinion. But if you
want to make it a big deal, if you
want to talk about principles, OK.
K TRU states it is an organization
run by the students to serve the
students.
Were they serving all students
when they insulted the women's
basketball team? Are they serving
all of their fellow students by deny-
ing sports coverage? No.
I .ike any other I )ivision I school,
athletics should be broadcast on the
campus radio station. But I know
Rice is not just any other Division I
school. Things are done differently
here. And the people, oh boy, are so
different. But the fact is that KTRU
was not doing the best thing for our
school, nor for itself, by fighting the
broadcasting of sports.
Another principle: KTRU claims
it is autonomous because it is run
with taxes that students pay. I pay
that tax. Athletes pay that tax. And
we want sports. If K TRU truly was
See ATHLETES, I'age 6
Poster girl with no poster
Truth for those in power
This past week has left my
head spinning, my heart broken
and me desperately in need of a
hero.
My radio station is
gone, bumper stickers
I spent hours making
have been torn down
and the best my col-
lege master can tell me
is, "I'm sorry."
And I'm sorry too.
I'm sorry I got
screwed.
Faith is a danger-
ouscommodityat Rice.
I trusted theadmin-
istrators whose job it
is to represent students to do just
that, and they didn't. Malcolm
Gillis, our university's president,
is responsible for any decisions
made by his deputies. If he dis-
agrees with those decisions, then
he owes it to the student body to
articulate his dissent in a timely
manner and to take measures
that will ensure that the univer-
sity speaks with one voice in the
future. Until yesterday, he did
not make any public statement
with regard to his involvement in
the shutdown of KTRU. His si-
lence speaks volumes.
It says to me that he was the
one who made the determination
to close the station. Vice Presi-
dent for Student Affairs Zenaido
Camacho's and Assistant Vice
President for Student Affairs John
Hutchinson's inability to explain
their reasons for and subsequent
actions with regard to the shut-
down indicate to me that they
were instructed by Dr. Gillis to
lake the blame for his rash deci-
sion.
It is incomprehensible to me
that Dr. Gillis would allow a deci-
sion of the weight and signifi-
cance of the shutting down of the
official radio station of the uni-
versity to come from below him.
To me, his statement to that ef-
fect to Thresher Editor in Chief
Brian Stoler is another example
of his failure to answer for his
own decisions. Instead, he places
the blame on his subordinates.
While I take do not agree wit h
the method by which Drs.
Camacho and Hutchinson closed
KTRU and while I wish they had
objected to and refused Dr. Gillis'
order, I know they are not to
blame for the loss of the station.
Still, I feel betrayed and hurt.
Accountability is not the is-
sue.
Or is it?
1 remember my first day at
Rice, when Dr. Gillis exploded at
Lizzie
Taishoff
the 1997 matriculation ceremony
in response to student jacks. He
pounded the podium with his fist
and yelled at us. I was afraid.
I still am. I am afraid
of the repercussions of
standing up against his
ire. It cannot be just
me who is afraid to
speak the truth to Dr.
Gillisand ultimately to
his power. 'lineStudent
Association Senate
must be scared stiff.
And they are not even
his employees.
Opposing Dr. Gillis'
will is terrifying to me.
How, after all, do you enter into a
dialogue with a man who be-
comes enraged so easily and,
from the sound of it, doesn't be-
lieve he has ever made a wrong
decision?
I posit he took the actions of
the two KTRU DJs last week as a
deliberate personal affront.
Was athletics on KTRU the
real issue — or is it that ego took
over? Is it all about ego? Think
about it.
Varsity athletics at Rice lose
money for the university. Broad-
casting football, basketball and
baseball doesn't and can't make
the university any significant
money because KTRU's license
does not allow for commercial
endorsements over the air and
potential donors aren't scanning
the airwaves for Rice athletics.
Major college athletic pro-
grams, like Texas A&M and UT,
broadcast their sports on the ra-
dio. Athletics Director Bobby
May wants to be like them. He
wants Rice sports to be broad-
cast on the radio because it's what
everyone else is doing. He has
pushed this issue with Dr. Gillis
through the Mcintire report over
the past several years. Did Dr.
Gillis just get fed up with his
constant requests? Did he give
the order to I )r. Camacho to close
KTRU and brush student opin-
ion under the carpet?
It doesn't mean it's right. It
surely doesn't mean it's a moral
use of K TRU as a resource for
the greater community — stu-
dents, faculty, staff and the world
beyond our hedges. And it's not a
lesson I believe Rice wants to
teach its students.
l"hrough the actions of the
university president this week,
I've learned how not to be ac-
countable for my decisions and
their consequences. How? Find
subordinates — preferably ones
See GILLIS, Page 6
the Rice Thresher
Brian Stoler
Editor in Chief
Jose Luis Cubria, Mariel Tain
Managing Editors
NEWS
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FEATURES
I.izzie Taishoff, Editor
LIFESTYLES
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Ajeet I'ai
Business Manager
CALENDAR
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BACKPAGE
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PHOTOGRAPHY
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COPY
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 15, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 5, 2000, newspaper, December 5, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443151/m1/3/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.