The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 1971 Page: 2 of 6
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SCIENC
Jones berates Read for 'little lies9
excavations
by JER MARDIS
Two weeks ago City Council-
man A. L. "Curly" Miller ran
an advertisement in The
Thresher asking- for your vote
and "earnestly invit(ing) you
to get the facts about me
(Miller)." So I did that.
Curly Miller is the incumbent
city councilman of District B
{northeast Houston) and is
running for re-election on No-
vember 20. But Houston city
councilmen are elected city-
wide, not by districts. In the
last election Miller lost his dis-
trict to Judson Robinson, but
won city-wide by 9,000 votes.
Robinson is running against
Miller again this year.
City-wide election of council-
men is a hot issue this year.
Strangely enough, Miller pre-
fers the status quo. In his ad
Miller said, "There are those
who want a 'Block vote' to
represent only a minority —
nut all the people." Apparently
Millar fears that if city coun-
eilmen elections were held by
districts, Blacks and Chicanos
might gain representation on
the i-ity council. (District B is
iv; Black and 20'.^ Chicane.)
In an address at the Melrose
Civic Club on October 21), 1971,
Miller called for the immediate
appeal of the court decision
which ruled filing fees and
property requirements to be un-
constitutional because the rul-
ing opens the door for "forces
out there which would destroy
our way of life, if possible."
Further, Miller was the only
councilman to vote against the
housing code after two-thirds
of the voters supported it in a
referendum.
Miller, the 67-year-old owner
of an armature works, has held
his council post for ten years.
In the Houston Post, Novem-
ber 7, 1971, he is quoted: "I
can't for the life of me see how
anybody with any intelligence
can live in an area and see
what's been done for them with
no effort from them. I can't see
why theyf >von't support the ad-
ministration that made this pos-
sible. But we'll have a black
bloc vote against Mr. (Mayor
Louie) Welch and myself of
some 40,000 votes in my dis-
trict."
lie is quoted further as say-
ing, "The black people to me,
have been a great disappoint-
ment. I've never mistreated one.
I treat everyone as I do every
other person, but for some rea-
son or the other, I have never
made inroads into their lives
where they'll accept me. It's
been most difficult on my part
to make friends with them.
Really, I've had a Negro op-
ponent practically every time,
but up to now, I've never had
a man who has made inroads
with the white people as Rob-
inson has."
Robinson is the 88-year-old
vice president of Judson Robin-
son & Sons (one of 19 Black
owned and operated mortgage
companies in the US) and is
active in over 30 community
service organizations. (Robin-
son is also the first black owner
of a Burger King Franchise in
this USA.)
Robinson says he thinks all
the councilmen should have sub-
offices out in their districts
wjiere the people would come
to talk over their problems and
ideas. (Houston Post, Nov. 7,
1971)
Miller believes this idea to be
"ridiculous." (Melrose Civic
Club, Oct. 29, 1971)
Robinson is quoted in the For-
ward Times on Sept. 18, 1971
as saying that satellite city
halls would reduce the bottle-
neck at city hall, and would get
more people involved in city
government and would get the
government closer to the peo-
ple. He thinks that Houston
must be first concerned with
human needs. Robinson sees po-
lice harrassment, freeway con-
gestion, water rates, mass
transportation as major prob-
lems.
Robinson also believes that
the new voters will "return to
the city meaningful government,
responsive government."
So, "men and women of Rice ,
University — Get the Facts"
(as Miller said in his ad) and
vote your guts.
This week the Thresher was inundated with letters to the
editor, the bulk of which were concerned with attacking, cor-
recting, or supporting' Leighton Read's letter printed last week.
We are at once gratified and appalled by this occurrence—
gratified that people read and respond to the Thresher; appalled
at Rice students' occasional verbosity. We feel it incumbent
on us to assume the responsibility as the*-forum for Rice, but
as servants of the entire campus population, we feel we must
exercise editorial license in order to maintain a balance between
news and reactions and to keep letters to a reasonable length.
It will therefore be the policy of the Thresher in the future
to enforce reasonable limits on the lengths of letters printed.
We regret if we cut a good sentence; perlhaps contributors' own
editorial judgement will henceforth obviate the necessity of
our excisions.
thresllef
John Mauldin Associate Editor
Marty Belasco Sports Editor
Jan Robertson Circulation
DeBOW FREED
Editor
DAVID KLEIN
Business Manager
Andy Hurley Managing Editor
Gary Rachlin Sports Editor
Steve Jackson Calendar Editor
Staff: Murvin Auzenne, Stan Brown, Brian Buchanan, Rocky Crabb, H.
David Danglo. Emily DeWitt, Anne Dingus, Robert Furse, Susan Goodson, Kelly
Hill, Betty Hurst, Virginia Jee, Jer Mardis, Charles I'au, Dayid Real, Morty
Rich, Mike Ross, Lon Smith, Cash Tilton, Dan Weisman, Anne Wohlleban.
The Rice Thresher, official student newspaper at Rice University, is published
weekly on Thursday except during holidays and examination periods by Btudents
of Rice University, Houston, Texas 77001. Phone 628-4141, Ext. 221, 645. The
opinions expressed in this paper arc those of its writers and editors and are not
necessarily those of Rice University, its administrators or officials.
To the editor:
Leighton Read's reply to the Hanszen and
Baker Cabinets' actions against the Student Tele-
fund is based on half-truths and out-right mis-
conceptions. Some of the "facts" Read cites are
simply untrue. He says, "The alumni are our
main source of outside financial support," which
is false, as anyone who knows anything about
university financing can tell you. Further he
states that "the alumni do not have official voice
in how money is 6pent there." False. Four mem-
bers of the Board of Governors attest the op-
posite, ais any good External Affairs VP should
know.
I doubt seriousily that influence is "directly
related to the financial resources a group makes
available to Rice." Look around you Leighton.
Does your Senate have influence? Or better yet,
do the colleges? You bet—but how much money
do the colleges provide Rice? Now consider a
corporation which gives money—does it have in-
fluence? If so, over what? Such a statement is
absurd.
Further, the pledge cards most certainly are
deceptive—you tell some alum that the money he
thought he earmarked for library funds does not
actually have any effect on how much gets spent
on the library. I believe you'll have a disappoint-
ed, if not iratte, alum. There is no publicized
method of adding to a fund, yet the pledge cards
give the impression that that is what is actually
happening when a certain box is checked.
Finally, Baker and Hanszen do not oppose
the fund drive per se, as Read claims—they op-
pose the Telefund. They oppose it because of
false statements which they are told are only
"little lies. Can't you ignore them?" They oppose
it because of the higfb-pressure, insurance sales-
man approach the Development Office took to
"persuade" Hanszen to cooperate.
Read's whole reply is riddled with incon-
sistencies and falsities such as these—it appears
that he has missed completely the point of stu-
dent opposition to the Telefund.
Rick Jones
President, Baker College
Winning doesn't excite Nichols
To the editor:
For several years I have
quietly endured all who have ex-
citedly trumpeted that "the
only way to generate alumni
enthusiasm and contributions is
to have a big time (SWC) win-
ning football team." I can't
stand it any more! Please note
that there is at least one alum-
nus (poor though I may be)
who couldn't g-ive a damn about
a winning SWC football team.
I think it's great that there are
some Rice boys who get their
thrills and exercise by trying
to kill a little ball. I've even en-
joyed watching them once or
twice, but I enjoy watching soc-
cer on fencing even more.
Most of all I enjoy exercis-
ing myself, and as an alumnus
I get most excited (as far as
the athletic department is con-
cerned) by knowing that Rice
has a program allowing- all stu-
dents to exercise. As an alum-
nus, I furthermore resent Rice
feeding such a big chunk of
their budget pie to the football
program. I realize that the
huge budget increase for the
athletic department is a high
risk venture but hopefully good
return in the future.. University
programs, in general are now
suffering so that in the future
they may feast on football pro-
fits. I must observe, however,
that Rice has lots of competi-
tion in the actual game of
football and in trapping foot-
ball dollars. It may be short-
sighted to think we can maxi-
mize our gains by heavily in-
vesting in such a competitive
field. I personally would be
more excited by a winning de-
bate team (which (has much
more carryover value), good ar-
tistic productions, or the know-
ledge that Rice students were
provided decent housing or bet-
ter financial aid.
Every year I give a certain
jiortion of my income to charity.
As long ias Rice is .playing pro-
fessional SWC football, the
fraction that I give to Rice's
general expenses will be in-
versely proportional to the num-
ber of games Rice wins.
Tom Nichols '71
Who wears the panties, anyway?
To the Editor and directed to-
ward the Rice male population:
As a female and a member
of Jones College, I am protest-
ing the male chauvinistic activi-
ties of Rice boys. The women of
Rice University resent being
subjected to constant assaults on
their dignity. We are tired of
being the object that gratifies
the enormous ego of the Rice
male.
The panty raid is one of the
most obvious and decidedly
chauvinistic methods by which
the Rice boy seeks to inflate his
ego. The women of Rice find
these immature attempts of the
boy to display his maculinity
utterly revolting. We are tired
of being identified in terms of
our lacy bikini panties and the
size bra we wear. There are
several bizarre motivations be-
hind panty raids. First, the boys
are probably embarrassed to
buy their own ladies' underwear.
(We aill know that psycholo-
gists say about men who collect
women's underwear.) Secondly,
panty raids are a substitution
for not being able to relate to
a female in any normal way.
Thirdly, the boys dei-ive some
pleasure from a woman sur-
rendering something to them.
Admittedly, some of the women
cater to these demands; how-
ever, not all of us are succumb-
ing. We are still fighting for
our dignity. If you boys object
to being called male chauvinistic
pigs, I suggest thiat you curb
the activities and attitudes
which earn you that name. Wo-
men's attitudes are changing;
we will not submit to oppression
forever. If you don't change,
it is war.
Marilyn Leitchi '74
Isbin says SFAC not "selling out"
To the editor:
The decisions made by two
college cabinets last week to
oppose the Rice University
Fund Student Telefund are in-
dications of a rampant misun-
derstanding of both the idea
and manner of student parti-
cipation in the Rice University
Fund Drive . . .
Most of the complaints about
the Telefund have been directed
toward "exploitative" student
recruitment and participation
and toward "deceptive" re-
leased statements.
In one sense it is true that
the Administration is exploiting
students by requesting their
participation. Students are a
cheap source of labor, and their
participation provides a pow-
erful sales pitch for the uni-
versity when it solicits outside
funds. To say that students are
taking time from their studies
to help their University says
quite a bit atbout both the fi-
nancial needs of the University
and the concern and relative
contentment of the students.
But only a fool would think
that there are no differences
in opinions between students
and administrators. Student
support does not mean student
subordination and acquiescence.
What it does mean is that stu-
dents and administrators, al-
though in conflict over many
issues, do share the concern and
interest in the welfare of the
University. . . . (Student) in-
fluence will be directly" re-
lated to our ability not only to
stand up and present our case,
but also to our ability to rise
above our divisions to support
the University as a whole.
It is true that some of the
information released by the
RUF has been deceptive. More-
over, not only are some of the
statements deceptive, others
are downright false. But that
doesn't mean that these state-
ments were made maliciously or
necessarily with knowledge of
their deceptive character. It is
also true that members of the
RUF has been deceptive. . . .
But that doesn't mean that
these statements were made
maliciously or necessarily with
knowledge of their deceptive
character. ... In criticizing the
operation of the RUF, one
should try to keep in mind that
this is the first time Rice has
organized an annual Fund
Drive, and as should be obvious
to everyone, Rice does not ex-
cel in the ai't of communica-
tions. ... If the deceptions con-
tinue, in face of formal stu-
dent objection, students should
vociferously oppose the opera-
tion of the RUF. But until then,
we should accept the mistakes
as past actions, correct them,
and try to prevent their recur-
rence. . . .
To students who still do not
understand why the Senate Fi-
nancial Aid Committee should
come out in support of the Tele-
fund and Fund Drive, and to
several points clear. Reading
the proposed agenda of the
SFAC should make it evident'
that SFAC is not compromising
basic student interests.
Second, if the goals proposed
by the Committee are to be im-
plemented, more money is going
to have to be spent on financial
aid . . . While it is in the in-
terest of students to lobby for
changes in the current budget
and for changes in the amount
of income allocated to the cur-
rent budget, it is also in the
interest of students to help the
University raise more funds.
Neil Isbin
\ '
1
the rice thresher, november 11, 1971—page 2
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Freed, DeBow. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 1971, newspaper, November 11, 1971; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245117/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.