The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, April 11, 1986 Page: 2 of 20
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1HRESHE
Thresher stuck in
no-win situation
The role of the Thresher in university affairs is unique. We can
criticize the university, yet we are also accountable to the
administration for how we spend our money. Dr. Pat Martin's
recent proposal concerning the finances of blanket-tax
organizations is designed to guarantee our financial
accountability to the university.
Martin's proposal fails to take into account the fact that the
Thresher generates three-quarters of its income through
advertising, and as such is very close to financial independence.
While this proposal is adequate for most of the organizations
which receive almost all their funding through the blanket tax, it
is excessively restrictive and falls short in its ability to remedy
problems which are unique to the Thresher.
All the blanket-tax organizations — including the Thresher —
need to be held accountable to someone for how they use their
funds. The administration is working hard to insure that,
accountability.
But at the same time, the administration fails to support the
Thresher, possibly because we have the ability to criticize their
policies. The 1984 self-study pointed out that the Thresher has
inadequate equipment (which means we work very hard to even
produce a newspaper) and also criticized us for editorial
irresponsibility. Since then, the quality of our writing has
improved, while our equipment remains the same. What the self-
study failed to point out, however, is that poor equipment limits
the Thresher's ability to cover news in significant ways. Over half
of all the time Thresher editors spend working at the Thresher is
used not to write or edit articles, but in performing tasks that are
necessary to simply produce the newspaper. This contributes to
our unusually high turnover and frequency of burnout among
staff.
Presently, I am not asking the administration for help, but I
am pointing out the seeming disparity in their actions. I feel that
whether we condemn or support university policies, the
Thresher plays a vital role in helping to engender debate and
thought within the university community. The present attempts
of the administration to hold us financially accountable without
significant support for our efforts are unreasonable. Either the
administration should consider positive efforts to support our
coverage of university affairs along with holding us accountable
for our financial resources or it should allow us complete
independence in financial matters and no financial support.
— Scott Snyder
Council mocks honor
Does the Honor Council really wear black robes and
powdered wigs? Do penalties include painting parking stripes in
the stadium lot or scrubbing Rupp's pool with your own
toothbrush? And, most importantly, can Tom Perrault, our
illustrious Student Association President, refrain from smiling
for at least five minutes? The answers to these questions and
more can be ascertained Tuesday evening in a mock trial. This is
a unique opportunity to view the Council in mock action as they
reproduce a vastly shortened version of an actual case. Other
features include a chance to offer suggestions, Tom Perrault as
the accused, and , of course, refreshments.
— Susan Lenamon
BEER-BIKE, BEER-BIKE,
BEER-BIKE, BEER-BIKE.
The organizers of the 29th annual Beer-Bike race did an
excellent job of insuring that the races were fairly judged, that
the afternoon events went smoothly, and that none of the
participants were injured. Steve Tanaka and Greg LaBorde did a
fantastic job of making sure that everything went smoothly last
Saturday and deserve to be recognized for their efforts.
Especially notable is the fact that the race was injury-free.
Regardless of the impending drinking-age legislation, it is
obvious that Beer-Bike is a worthwhile and fun Rice tradition
that is here to stay.
— Scott Snyder
The Rice Thresher, April 11, 1986, page 2
WHATEVER-
SPANNING THE HEDGES/by Steve Phillips
Does 'aid' to contras mean war?
On April 15 (this Tuesday) the
Congress will once again consider
Ronald Reagan's request for
$100 million of "aid" to the
Contra rebels in Honduras. The
measure before Congress has been
ratified by the Senate in a 53-47
vote, following an earlier rejection
by the House. The outcome of this
vote is critical to Reagan's policies
in Central America.
Reagan insists that he is not
seeking a military "solution" to the
problems in Central America. He
believes that funding the Contras is
essential to the successful political
resolution of the conflict. He is
quite clearly correct in this belief,
for without U.S. material and
training the Contras could no
longer threaten a strong
Nicaraguan army. The umbrella of
U.S. political, economic, and
military support is crucial to the
Contras' survival. Without the
Contras, there is no crisis. Without
a crisis, there is no political
solution.
So what's the problem?
Ronald Reagan wants to
liberate the Nicaraguan people.
Not all of them, but at least
3>i00 million worth. He notes that
"no nation has ever freely chosen
communism" and warns that the
Sandinistas are bent upon
exporting their particular brand of
totalitarianism-to their neighbors.
He feels that liberating a few
Nicaraguan souls will render the
Managua junta more amenable to
U.S. policy objectives.
Reagan understands fully that
no communist regime has ever
been negotiated out of existence.
The commitment of U.S. funds
to the Contras represents the
commitment of the will of the
American people to engage the
Sandinistas in this conflict. The
obvious question to be asked is
"How far are we willing to go?" If
$100 million is not enough to
force the required concessions,
how much more are we wiling to
give? Robert McFarlane, Reagan's
former National Security Advisor,
believes that $500 million and at
least six months of American
military advising is required to
metamorphose the rebels into a
credible military unit. The
continuing, large-scale Soviet
supply of arms to Nicaragua must
be considered. Can the Contras
engage the Sandinistas without
dragging an unwilling Honduran
people into the conflict? Can we
afford to pursue such a course?
The problem in Nicaragua isn't
the injustice of a totalitarian
regime, nor is it the thousands of
Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras.
The problem, simply stated, is that
Nicaragua is communist, and the
solution is to make it
uncommunist. The pursuit of this
goal is treacherously dangerous,
and the use of the Contras as
proxies of U.S. national interest
increases the risk to the U.S. in an
uncontrollable manner. Ronald
Reagan should state clearly his
objectives in this region. Funding
the Contras obviates less forceful
avenues of conciliation, setting us
inexorably on the path to "armed
conflict" and "police action." In
other eras, these were called wars.
The United States possesses the
political, economic, and military
might to shape a solution to the
"Nicaraguan problem" favorable
to our interests. Of the many
avenues available to us, funding
the Contras is perhaps the most
distasteful, most risky, and least
beneficial path. Is it the will of the
American people to enter this
quagmire of death and patriotism,
of freedom and injustice?
Presumably the vote Tuesday will
tell.
THRESHING IT OUT
Sid Rich Council
upset with Clark
To the editor:
We the members of the
Richardson College council would
like to express our diapproval of
the actions taken by Dr. John W.
Clark, master of Richardson
College, on April 3. On this day
Dr. Clark attempted to veto seven
of the Freshman Week advisors
chosen by the Freshman Week
coordinators. A settlement was
finally reached in which four of
them were removed from the
advisor list, two were reinstated,
and one will conditionally be
allowed to advise.
As a council, we disagree with
the actions taken by Dr. Clark and
believe he has displayed a lack of
trust in the ability of the college
government to make sound
decisions. Unfortunately, due to a
time constraint, the advisor list
was originally posted before Dr.
Clark had an opportunity to see it,
but we do not believe this mistake
justified Dr. Clark's actions. The
coordinators were selected by the
council on the basis of our belief
not only that they will run a
successful Orientation Week, but
also that they possess the qualities
necessary to make wise, unbiased
selections of advisors. There is no
doubt in the council that the four
advisors removed by Dr. Clark
(three of whom had advised
previously) were excellent choices.
A letter was posted in the college
by Dr. and Mrs. Clark containing
their reasons for the removal of the
advisors. We were unsatisfied with
the reasons supplied in the letter,
so as a council we confronted Dr.
Clark, voiced our objections and
asked him for concrete reasons for
rejecting the four candidates. Once
again we were unsatisfied with the
explanations he provided. Though
we do not question his power to
remove advisors, we remain
unconvinced that Dr. Clark was
justified in what we consider an
abuse of the powers given to him as
a master. We feel he has
undermined and hindered the
college system of government
rather than fostering it as he
should. We are, of course, unable
to overturn his decision, but wish
to officially express our feelings
concerning this situation in hope
of avoiding such problems in the
future.
The Sid W. Richardson Council
(see letter from Dr. Clark, page 3, story
on page 6)
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Snyder, Scott. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, April 11, 1986, newspaper, April 11, 1986; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245634/m1/2/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.