The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 20, 2005 Page: 3 of 28
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, MAY 20,2005
It's never either/or
World needs radicals, not we bourgeoisie
I was in Chile last year during the
30th anniversary of Pinochet's coup,
and the Communists were very un-
happy. I listened to them for the next
three months and was
convinced that we need to
live more radically.
Just miles from my
host family's apartment,
protesters blocked streets
with burning tires and
threw Molotov cocktails
at police, who responded
with riot gear, rubber bul-
lets and tear gas. Violence
is not the answer, but I
admired these youths'
willingness to put their
lives on the line.
In their critique, the communists
used the term "bourgeois" as a con-
demnation, describing the comfort-
able classes as interacting with life in
a shallow and self-concerned fashion,
living loudly professed values at the
very minimum in reality.
One article in a leftist news
magazine talked about the "bour-
geois service projects" that college
students do in the poor sectors. The
article criticized students who build
sheds and feel sympathy for the poor
for a week—and then hurry back to
"normal life" with a good conscience
but without an ongoing commitment
to give meaningfully to the poor.
Similar critiques have been made
of Rice Community Involvement
Center trips. While I am quick to
defend the CIC, I can only do so when
taking part in such service does not
stop upon return but rather leads to
radical personal improvement After
all, a few houses only go so far. Deep
societal change is necessary to im-
prove the well-being of people living
in the underdeveloped world, and that
societal change can only occur with
personal change.
A more day-Unlay example is what
I like to call "bourgeoisTV-watching."
This is emblematic of anything from
watching TV or movies to attending
classes without being personally
open to the pain that confronts us.
Bourgeois TV-watch-
ers read about genocide
in Sudan and Germany, or
watch Hotel Rwanda and
Schindler's List, but suck
it all in as entertainment
— just a way to pass the
time. Disaster has become
ordinary to them, and
it takes something like
the catastrophic mega-
media-spectacle tsunami
in December to shake
them into giving. Other-
wise, they may as well be watching
The Simpsons as a report on Sudan
for all the reaction it gathers.
Disaster on-screen is disaster far
away, and the children starving to
death right now couldn't possibly have
any claim to these viewers' money.
That's so sad!" the bourgeois TV-
watchers say, "Pass the popcorn."
Radical TV-watchers, on the
other hand — whether they're
watching TV at home or see-
ing a homeless man in Hermann
Park — respond to suffering. They
retreat neither to religion nor to
politics to justify wealth and suffering
inequality, and instead try to answer
the "problem of pain" with their lives:
with paychecks, blood donations
and Saturday mornings at Palmer
Episcopal Church.
Political change is necessary but not
sufficient Pushing for political change
is ultimately pushing for change in
other people. Is it surprising that so
little happens if everyone is just try-
ing to get other people to change? As
for voting, I cannot tell you how many
people yelled at me to vote for George
W. Bush or John Kerry. None of them
ever asked me after the election if I gave
money to tsunami victims or helped in
Houston soup kitchens.
Though I stand with conserva-
tives against abortion and with liber-
als against the death penalty and the
war in Iraq, I've always felt that it's
problematic for either side to make
lots of noise in politics and then go
to Amy's and spend enough on ice
cream to save a starving kid's life.
They may as well be
watching The Simpsons
as a report on Sudan
for all the reaction it
gathers.... "That'sso
sad!" the bourgeois TV-
watchers say, "Pass
the popcorn."
If we truly hold our humanitar-
ian values, we need to copy the
Chilean radicals and fight for them
with our lives. In the end there is
only one way: "Let there be peace
on earth, and let it begin with me."
I am as much a part of the problem
as anyone else.
So many innocent people are
starving to death around the world
right now, and it is easy enough for
us to help them that we have no right
to just sit back and watch. Real lives
are at stake here — real people.
Both progressives and conservatives
agree that the individual is what
matters. Let's show we believe this
by rejecting a "bourgeois" journey
through life and becoming deeply,
brokenly engaged in the struggle to
support those most in need.
Skye Schell is a Baker College
senior.
Rice Voices
I , For expats, cultural savvy more than academic
Like most Rice students, much of
my life has recently been consumed
by packing. But I'm not packing
to return home for the
summer as many others
are; instead I'm packing
to move to England. I'm
off to become one of
many American expatri-
ates living and working
in London.
When I tell people
about my upcoming voy-
age and relocation, I usu-
ally get reactions rang-
ing from congratulatory
encouragement to a kind
of wary confusion. The
confusion is then often accompanied
by a single question: Why?
The idea of an expatriot usually
brings to mind disillusioned youth
sitting in small, eclectic cafes while
drinking some indistinguishable
liquid and debating the finer points
of Kundera. One envisions bored
Westerners, driven by the impetus
of overwhelming ennui, traveling to
the corners of the globe seeking tem-
porary enlightenment and a reprieve
from their cushioned existence. But
the reality of expats and their lives
abroad has changed.
It's no longer the wealthy or the
bored who choose to move abroad.
More and more frequently, the expat
moves for work or education—both
in my case — and globalization
has made the move more feasible
than ever.
But although globalization has
made relocating physically and
financially easier, it has not nec-
essarily become less difficult on
the whole.
Every semester many Rice stu-
dents travel and study abroad. This
invaluable, enlightening experience
allows students to encounter and
interact with different cultures. How-
Veronica
Patton
ever, the study abroad experience
allows for experimentation without
many of the harsh realities associated
with actually living abroad.
When we instead leave the
confines of the university
for a life of work and travel,
we assume much more
responsibility and risk.
Globalization may make
your currency exchange
quicker, but it will not
eliminate the discontent
of displacement and the
ubiquitous culture shock of
life in a foreign country. As
an expat, you are no longer
immersed in the university
mix of American and foreign stu-
dents, learning and living with the
expectation of returning home in a
few short months.
Now you need to be truly knowl-
edgeable about the country you want
to live in — and not just about the
food. Language, religion and cultural
norms have to be understood.
The image of the "ugly
American" — the slothful, unin-
formed tourist — comes to mind
when I think of the arrogant and
often boisterous Americans ventur-
ing abroad with a camera and a map
marked with only the most famous
places to see. But the view from the
Eiffel Tower or the hushed silence of
the Himalayas merely become part
of the landscape when you live in the
country. You are no longer entirely
an eager student or an adventurous
tourist when you choose to settle in
a foreign land.
For many upcoming graduates,
the possibility of becoming an expat
seems increasingly likely. Global-
ization now means that many cor-
porations operate multinationally.
So the chance to transfer abroad
may present itself at any time.
The growth of English as a global
language means business can be
conducted anywhere.
However, as expats confront the
possibility of living and working
abroad while the world's economics,
politics and culture become more
"global," we cannot forget that to the
world, we are no longer students. We
are travelers, scholars and Americans
who have to accept the responsibili-
ties of our global existence.
Veronica Patton is a Sid Richardson
College senior.
Guest column
'Tragedy' of abortion
warrants group's position
As a leader of Rice for Life, I
am frequently asked the reasons
for my organization's stance on
abortion. The answer is that
during every abor-
tion procedure, babies
are dismembered and
women often suffer
long-lasting physical
and psychological
harm. Some members
of the Rice community
may not realize how
appalled we are that
1.5 million American
unborn children are
killed each year via
abortion. This equates
to about 126,000 abortions each
day, or one every 20 seconds.
But the most apalling statistic to
Rice for Life is that last year, only
two miles away from our campus,
the Fannin location of Planned Par-
enthood oversaw the termination of
6,876 children in Southeast Texas.
These numbers are outrageous to
members of Rice for Life—the club
that unites students who believe
human life is sacred and must be
protected from the moment of
conception until natural death.
It makes sense that one of
our purposes is finding peaceful
solutions to abortion, given that
the procedure is currently so
widely available. Abortion is even
legal through all nine months of
pregnancy, since no abortion can
be prohibited if a woman's health
is threatened. With health defined
so broadly — including emo-
tional, psychological, familial, and
age-related factors — any woman
who really wants an abortion can
get one. Thus, one of our aims is
to educate the Rice community on
unfortunate facts about abortion.
To us, being pro-life means
teaching others aboi it the tragedy
of abortion and helping women
learn about legitimate alterna-
tives, such as adoption. On this
campus, this teaching takes the
form of fliers, discussions and
events that engage students in
learning about the issue and help
them become active in the defense
of innocent human lives.
So why do we believe life begins
at conception? Simply put, the
unborn baby is genetically distinct
from his or her parents. We did not
become zygotes—we were zygotes.
At this stage in our lives we had the
capacity to develop into an embryo,
fetus, infant toddler and so on.
Sierra
Villarreal
Landrum Shettles, the first sci-
entist to achieve conception in a test
tube, wrote that conception defines
life. Sperm and egg are human
cellular material, but left
to themselves, they will
never become human. Yet
at conception the sperm
and ovum cease to exist
and a distinct and self-inte-
grating human organism
is created. From that point
of our lives onward, we
mature — but we do
not become different
creatures. We develop in
accordance to a certain
physical pattern precisely
because of the kind of being we
already were.
As college students,
we are missing more
than a quarter of our
generation.
From the Law of Biogenesis,
we know that living things can only
be produced by other pre-existing
life. Furthermore, unborn babies
grow so rapidly that by day 21
they have a heartbeat, and by day
43 they have brain-wave activity
that can be measured on an elec-
troencephalegraph. According to
Vincent J. Collins of Northwestern
University Medical School, all
neurological structures necessary
for pain sensation are present in a
fetus, and the unborn may experi-
ence pain as early as nine weeks
but most definitely by 13 weeks.
Even pro-choice doctor Warren
Hern admits, "The sensations of
dismemberment flow through the
forceps like an electric current."
Today, as college students, we
are missing more than a quarter
of our generation. Some studies
estimate that between 1982 and
1986, more than 7.9 million children
were aborted. We want the women
of our generation to recognize the
injustice of abortion and be aware of
the reasonable alternatives. It is my
hope, and the hope of Rice for Life,
that others will realize abortion is a
truly unacceptable option.
Sierra Villarreal is a Will Rice
College sophomore and former
President of Rice for Life.
the Rice Thresher
Amber Obermeyer
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Journalists. Screw you guys, I'm going home.
Wait! I remember now. Home is annoying.
©COPYRIGHT 2005.
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 20, 2005, newspaper, May 20, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443173/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.