The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 25, 1999 Page: 2 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION TUESDAY, MAY 25,1999
the Rice Thresher
Jett McAlister,
Mariel Tam
Editors in Chief
Brian Stoler
Senior Editor
Joseph Blocher,
Michael Sew Hoy
Opinion Editors
by oaviD cHten
Choosing speakers with
the right balance
Ask yourself: What kind of commencement speaker does Rice
want? What kind of speaker does Rice need?
We bring up the topic because Helmut Schmidt's talk at the May
15 commencement was a good political speech — but not necessar-
ily a good speech for the masses wilting in the balmy Houston
morning, anticipating an hours-long graduation ceremony.
Rice tries to go for the big names, but big names don't necessarily
mean good speeches. The names of possible speakers submitted
and voted on by students sometimes has little to do with who the
speaker ends up being, often because top choices tend to turn down
an opportunity to speak at Rice.
As a school, we have a good reputation, but a relatively low profile
compared to bigger schools and schools on the coasts, leaving us
less likely to attract famous speakers. Rice offers little pay com-
pared to other schools. It also does not bestow honorary degrees —
which is all some speakers need to be swayed by schools if they
aren't already convinced by money. There's a noble sort of integrity
in that refusal to grant honorary degrees, the idea that degrees must
be earned — though it's also a little misguided, because few people
take honorary degrees seriously anyway.
But if the so-called top-notch speakers say no to a chance to speak
at Rice because of material value, so be it. We found a wonderful
balance in author Kurt Vonnegut's speech at last year's commence-
ment, a lighthearted yet intelligent ramble about going out into the
world. Maybe Rice shouldn't go for big, immediately recognizable
names, but for speakers of medium fame who are likely to give a
good talk — however Rice defines that.
Approving the board
Amidst an unseasonal flurry of decisions made by the Board of
Trustees at its meeting last week, we find that, for the most part, the
board acted wisely, but we were left with questions:
Plans for the ninth college — no, now the 10th after Martel
College — have been shelved indefinitely. The administration will
take a wait-and-see approach before building the 10th college; this
seems somewhat reasonable to us, since the construction of Martel
and the additions to Jones and Brown Colleges may satisfy the
student demand for on-campus housing.
But, we wonder, what will happen to the old Wiess building? The
proposed plan to temporarily turn it into offices for humanities
professors and storage for library books has been neither approved
nor rejected. We still fear the possible implementation of that plan
for the dilapidated structure.
We also find the plans for dealing with Wiess' Night of Deca-
dence party somewhat nebulous — when and how will the admin-
istration gauge the results of the changes suggested by the Presi-
dents' Committee? There are only two months between the begin-
ning of school and the night of the party. If this examination comes
too soon after (Mentation Week and the start of school, it won't
propgrly measure results because the plans will have had no time to
effect change. But if the meeting occurs too close to the party's
hallowed date at the end of October, a radical decision to change or
even cancel NOD would upset Wiess members who have already
invested time and their college's funds in the party.
Finally, we applaud another concrete example of Rice deciding to
save green space. The expansive playing field by Jones College has
been preserved for the most part. Still, all this comes at the expense
of parking spaces. But perhaps parking at the stadium is a small
price to pay for our lush campus.
Hitting it big
It's a pretty common misconception that outsiders — as well as
many within Rice — have about sports at this university: Rice isn't
a sports school, and therefore our athletics aren't very good. Of
course, this isn't true, and it's especially nice to see one of our sports
teams enjoying a great deal of sujjcess.
We're talking about the baseball team, which just won the
Western Athletic Conference championship. Also the first baseball
team in school history to receive top national ranking, the Owls
have exhibited an outstanding level of excellence ov4r the past year.
We hope to see the Owls continue their streak of great baseball,
both in the upcoming postseason games and through next season.
• 3HD...
IP
HELMUT
LOSS foR
Just "Kufit VonneGrOT" 17:
Guest column
New alumni: Avoid the new car trap
Foolhardly and unworldy se-
niors heading recklessly out the
Sallyport, prepare to make a costly
error despite my warning to you.*
That first check will prob-
ably go toward rent and, if
you are lucky, something
cool like a big television
set. The real problem
comes two weeks later
when you get the second
paycheck.
When I got that second
paycheck, there was this
heady rush of adrenaline.
Flush with cash and no
bills for at least 30 days, I
drove my 1986 Chevy ST10
Blazer to Conroe. On the way, the
Houston Post that was keeping the
driver's side window from falling
down into the door fell out and flew
away. While my Car was stopped at a
light, acrid black smoke began to
billow from the tail pipe. All of this
added to the overwhelming feeling
of destiny that followed when I got
to the Jeep/Eagle dealer and re-
solved not to leave the premises until
1 was- behind the wheel of a large
new automobile.
As I found out later, many Rice
alumni are destined to make the
same mistake. The circumstances
vary. Some get drawn in by the $250
first-time car buyer incentive, some
rationalize that their trusty old ride
doesn't look "professional" enough,
but the result is the same. Don't let
it happen to you. Don't buy a new
car.
You can't afford it. You think you
can, but you're wrong. Here are sev-
eral things you haven't considered:
You are thinking of doing a three-
year lease with an option to buy.
This is a rip-off. You aren't going to
buy the car in three years because
you won't have that much cash, so
you'll have to give it back and then
get another lease. On top of that,
you will have to pay for all the extra
miles you drove above the terms of
your lease.
You are thinking of buying based
on a 60-month loan and, armed with
your ACCO 305 skills, you figure
out what your payments will be.
However, you've forgotten you will
have to pay higher insurance premi-
ums for a new car. Not the least of
which is because you need to buy
comprehensive insurance rather
than scant amounts of liability you
have now.
You already called the insurance
company and got a quote for cover-
William
Li
ing your new car. But you haven't
told the insurers you are going to
move to the Astrodome. Suddenly
you have a new rate that is 15 per-
cent higher because you
live near a highway on-
ramp.
You are bad at hag-
gling. You've searched on
the Internet and figured
out just how much you
should pay for the car.
You'll never get that price
—that's because you look
like a big sucker to every
car salesman in the entire
galaxy. Til go to one of
those no-haggle places,"
you say. No-haggle places charge a
huge premium and won't come down
in price. "I'll buy my car over the
Internet." Don't make me laugh.
OK, even though you are bad at
haggling you get a pretty good deal.
You've signed the papers, your car
is in detail. Nowyou're talking to the
financing guy Oie's the person who
writes up the big contract, makes
sure you have financing and takes
your down payment check.) He asks
abunch of questions and then hands
you a piece of paper with a figure
circled, and it's about $2,000 more
than you thought it was going to be.
This is because you didn't know
about tax, title and license. It's one
of those things that the guys who
talk fast at the end of car commer-
cial say when they are talking fast.
As in "blah blah blah plus tax, title
and license."
your Target furniture with identical-
looking Ikea furniture. You are about
to discover a million different places
to eat expensive food and drink ex-
pensive drink. You are about to re-
place all your Eddie Bauer clothing
with AKA Eddie Bauer clothing. And
don't think that not having any cash
is going to stop you now that you've
got a credit line of $850,000. Oh no,
that new car is just the beginning. It
is a gateway to a bigger world of
debts and conspicuous consump-
tion.
Having said all that, I must admit
that my Jeep rocks and has been
worth every penny.
William Li is a 1996 graduate of
Jones College.
You've only been
working for two weeks
and already you are so
greedy that you want to
buy a new car. Well,
you don't think your
mad avarice ends
there, do you?
You've underestimated the cost
of your greed. You've only been
working for two weeks and already
you are so greedy that you want to
buy a new car. Well, you don't think
your mad avarice ends there, do
you? You still have to replace all of
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McAlister, Jett & Tam, Mariel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 25, 1999, newspaper, May 25, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246651/m1/2/?q=%22Tam%2C%20Mariel%22: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.