The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 28, 1960 Page: 2 of 10
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Two'
THE THRESHER
JQ_
OCTOBER 28. 1969
A Tiny Thorn
Despite the current high tide of partisan politics,
President Eisenhower's address to the special convoca-
tion of the University will stand as one of the most
impressive events in Rice's history.
University administrations often bear the brunt
of all the misfortunes (many of them unfounded) that
befall each of its students. Although Rice's prime mov-
ers deserve every expression of gratitude for the
President's visit, it seems unfortunate that this occa-
sion was preluded by student gripes about getting sec-
ond-hand seats.
Certainly this was avoidable. Since the students
should be the primary concern of the university, a little
foresight should have provided seating for every stu-
dent who wanted to attend well in advance, instead of
promising over a hundred students tickets which were
distributed to alumni first.
This lack of administrative tact of course did not
mar the impressive convocation for the undergraduate
student body, which in the final analysis had generally
good seats and an overabundance of tickets, but with-
out this needless confusion, things could have been
perfect.
By the original allocation of 1275 tickets for some
1500 undergraduates (excluding the 145 in the band
and on the platform) the student body somehow did
not feel last week that it was the University's first
concern.
o
THRESHING IT OUT . . .
Ba
nzai
This week it finally happened.
After five hard-fought games, four straight vic-
tories, and three consecutive shut-outs, Sports Illus-
trated picked the Owls to win Saturday night.
Now that the wild excitement of the Texas game
has faded somewhat, Rice football fans are looking
for another trophy to adorn the Autry Court lobby
and another jaunt to the Cotton Bowl for the brightest
conference darkhorse in many years.
The enthusiastic cheerleaders and a devoted stu-
dent body joins a determined team in their High Hopes
that by the end of Neely November even the shy skep-
tics will be converted.
We Hear You
In keeping with its policy of airing student views
on campus, The Thresher publishes this week some
four letters to the editor on topics ranging from the
Eisenhower speech to the alma mater of the Univer-
sity. We sincerely hope that you, the students on this
campus, will continue to submit your letters, while we
continue to print as many of them as space allows.
—M. T.
The
BILL DELANEY
Editor
MARJORIE TRULAN
Associate Editor
GRIFFIN SMITH
Managing Editor
EM LINDAMOOD
News Editor
The Rice Thresher, the official
is published weekly from September
and examination periods, and when
issue. The opinions expressed are
necessarily reflect the views of the
Craig Comments On Campaign/
Students Protest lke*s Speech
Thresher
An all-student newspaper for 44 years
DICK VIEBIG
Business Manager
MILTON NIRKEN
Advertising Manager
BURTON SILVERMAN
Circulation Director
DENIS ASHTON
Editorial Assistant
student newspaper of Rice University,
to June, except during holiday recesses
unusual circumstances warrant a special
those of the student staff and do not
Rice University administration.
Entered as second class matter, October 17, 1917, at the post office
in Houston, Texas, under the act of March 3, 1870.
News contributions may be submitted and advertising information pro-
cured at the Thresher offices on the second floor of the Rice Student
Memorial Center or by telephone at JAckson 8-4141, ext. 221.
DEPARTMENT EDITORS
Colleges Phil Kusnetzky
Sports Chuck Yingling
Social Activities Evelyn Thomas
Entertainment Fran Murphy
Religious Activities Neal Holifield
Graphic Arte Steve Rogers
Photography Scott Morris,
Bob Warren
Cartoons Charles Dent,
John Fowler
REPORTERS
Judi Travis, Reed. Martin, Anita JoneB, Harvey Pollard, Louis Smith, Syd
Nathans, Melvin Buck, Anno Watts, Lawrence Ellzey Bill Pannill, Milton
Steffen, Fred PhillipB, Sue Burton, Paul Burka, Betty Creech.
To the Editor:
At the beginning of every
recent eight-year Republican re-
gime it has been my custom to
write a letter to the Thresher,
explaining and I fyope justifying
the Republican Party for the
benefit of young people who
may be casting their ballots for
the first time.
One of my friends, I hope in
jest, said that it frightened him
to hear the phrase "young Re-
publicans." He said it sounded
like a contradiction of terms. He
said that youth ought to believe
in progi'ess and liberal princi-
ples and not give up and side
with the Dinosaurs and the Old
Guard. However when I explain-
ed to him that the modern Re-
publican Party had adopted all
the New Deal Democratic re-
forms and indeed had been twice
elected for that reason, he ad-
mitted his error and apologized,
although I thought I heard him
mutter something about "Gold-
water" as he hung up the re-
ceiver.
PERHAPS the only sour note
in a largely charming cam-
paign has been these "Tricky
Dick" aspirations cast by the
Democrats. They even state that
it is hard to tell where Nixon
really stands, because he has
been found on both sides of
many issues and has sometimes
seemed to follow expediency ra-
ther than principle. Be that as it
may, I would suggest that such
a trait could be a real advan-
tage in a President, since he
would please everyone and be
able to adapt himself to the
rapidly changing conditions of
modern life with promptness
and versatility.
Some of my Democratic
friends appear to be aggrieved
because, they say, Mr. Nixon
has won three straight elections
—in the House, the Senate, and
the Vice-Presidency — on the
strength of calling his oppo-
nents Communists. However it
is doubtful that Mr. Nixon ac-
tually called them Communists
in so many words, and anyway
Band To Introduce
Student's Melody
"Sing to Rice," a new song
for the University, will be of-
ficially introduced during half-
time entertainment this Satur-
day at the Rice-Texas Tech
game by the Rice Band.
With words and music by
Frederick Specht, a physics
graduate student from San An-
tonio, the song will be added to
the Rice collection, which in-
cludes "Rice's Honor," "Fight
for Rice," "The Old Gray Bon-
net," and "The Rice Hymn."
Specht, who has written the
music for the'Senior Follies for
the past two years, wrote" the
song this summer. The words
are as follows:
"Sing to the cloistered halls
that we've known through
the years;
Sing to the ivy walls with our
joys and our fears;
Sing, sing, to Rice again, with
each voice loud and
strong—
Sing to our college days that
too soon pass along.
Sing to the friends we know
who will all go their way;
Sing to these golden years as
we sing to Rice today."
these are all episodes from fair-
ly ancient history and should
now be forgotten. Only a chron-
ic fault-finder or a Democrat
would bring up the old record
now.
ANOTHER sinister develop-
ment has been developing: for
years the Democratic ladies
have had plenty of brains, but
the Republican ladies have had
the looks, the clothes, and the
glamour. Now the potentially
First and Second (Democratic)
Ladies are invading this pre-
viously all-Republican territory
and scoring in glamour and so-
cial know-how, and I am sure
we will all agree this is an un-
fair tactic.
Unfortunately there seems to
have been a miscalculation in
passing that 22nd Amendment
about no third term, the one
my Democi*atic friends persist
in calling the Hate-Roosevelt
Amendment. This might handi-
cap Mr. Nixon eight years from
now, for he will still be a com-
paratively young man. Perhaps
another amendment can be
passed to permit him to con-
tinue, and we can get the 22nd
back in time to stop the Demo-
crats should they ever regain
$he Presidency.
In any case, since most of the
newspapers and the wealth of
the country are behind Nixon, it
is hard to see how he can lose,
and I would urge my young
friends not to worry about the
issues but await the outcome
with confidence.
Hoping this has clarified mat-
ters somewhat, I remain
Yours faithfully,
HARDIN CRAIG, JR.
* * *
Whistle Stop
To the Editor:
Now that the President has
favored Rice with a "non-po-
litical"' speech during his busy
schedule of campaigning for
Mr. Nixon there is another mat-
ter to be considered. Shall we,
in an honest effort at bi-par-
tisanship, invite one of the el-
der statesmen of the Democratic
Party to make a non-political
address here at Rice in the
hopes that such a speaker might
present a more thought-provok-
ing speech than did the Presi-
dent with his platitudes and pap,
substantiated by an innuendo
attack on the Democratic nom-
inee (anyone can claim to be
non-partisan by simply not call-
ing names, but the end results
are the same) or shall we, with
the word HYPOCRISY written
indelibly upon our countenances,
continue to maintain that Mon-
day night's sham was anything
but a whistle-stop appearance in
behalf of the Vice-President's
candidacy ?
—SCOTT MORRIS
* * *
A Helluva Shame
To the Editor:
It certainly is a helluva shame
that Rice University does not
have a decent alma mater.
I have never seen a more lu-
dicrous scene than that of the
Special Convocation of students,
faculty and alumni singing their
"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT" song
before the President of the
United States.
—NAME WITHHELD
'Non - Political?'
To the Editor:
On Monday night Rice Uni-
versity was honored by the pres-
ence of one of the truly great
men of our times, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was
a distinguished and inspiring
occasion. There can be no doubt
that the prestige and national
attention that Rice will receive
as a direct result of this occa-
sion will be extremely bene-
ficial to the purposes of the
Rice University.
Undoubtedly, the "non-po-
litical" address of the President
will prove to be extremely bene-
ficial to the purposes of the Re-
publican Party of Texas, or, the
Democrats for Nixon, as they
prefer to call themselves. The
speech was inspiring, but it was
about as non-political as the re-
cent T.V. debates. Evidently the
press notices contained the term
"non-political" by mistake.
AT THE BEGINNING of the
speech, the President stated
that he would not talk about
politics; then, just as explicitly
he listed his three "axioms" for
the wise and successful leader-
ship of the United States dur-
ing our age of crisis. These "ax-
ioms" were: (1) Steadiness and
Conservatism in action, (2)
Avoidance of Deficit. Spending,
and (3) ^Avoidance of Strong
Federal action in the fields of
Civil Rights (States' Rights)
and Welfare Programs.
By remarkable coincidence,
his views were almost synony-
mous with those of Mr. Nixon
on these major campaign issues.
He refrained from mentioning
Mr. Kennedy's name or the
Democratic Party, but he was
not hesitant in his use of such
phrases as "some would argue
unwisely that . . "the advo-
cates of heavy government
spending . . .", or "those who
carelessly say 'Let the govern-
ment pay for it'."
IT WAS QUITE evident to
the highly partisan crowd who
the "those" referred to, and
they voiced their approval loud-
ly and frequently. This is not
to condemn the actions of the
President; rather, it is to pro-
test the "cheapening" of an
otherwise momentous occasion
in the history of Rice and Hous-
ton. It would be fine and beau-
tiful to think that the President
has honored us by taking time
off from a busy schedule of po-
litical appearances to deliver an
inspiring speech of general in-
terest to the students, faculty,
and alumni of Rice University.
Unfortunately this beautiful
thought was shattered almost
immediately. It was clear that
Rice was just another whistle
stop on the President's agenda.
However, we can be thankful
an^ grateful that Houston was
host to the Chief Executive for
the first time in over twenty
(Continued on Page 3)
Note To Seniors
Seniors are advised by the
Registrar's Office to check the
degree list posted in the Regis-
trar's Office, the cloister of
Lovett Hall, or in the Rice Me-
morial Center, to see if their
names have been included and
spelled correctly. The name on
the list will be the name on the
degree.
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 28, 1960, newspaper, October 28, 1960; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth231160/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.