The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 29, Ed. 1 Monday, February 17, 1975 Page: 2 of 8
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the rice thresher
editorial
If all has gone according to plan, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen
will have officially announced his candidacy for President
in Washington today. In doing so, he only serves to further
confuse an already-muddled Presidential picture.
Rather than doing anything as potentially dangerous as
taking clear, decisive positions on the frightening array of
problems that confront us, first impressions indicate that
Bentsen may adopt the tack taken by poor old Ed Muskie
in 1972. It certainly isn't difficult to see the "logic"
behind a superficial "Trust Lloyd" type of campaign.
His rugged, cowboy-turned-statesman look appeals to the
"common man" as well as the more politically sophis-
ticated voter, bored by the unexciting alternatives. He has
the deep, resonant, articulate voice which can instill a
sense of authority in anything he says, in contrast to his
chief rival for the nomination, Henry Jackson, whose idea
of sounding authoritative is to speak in a louder mono-
tone. It all adds up to the charisma and television persona
necessary to impress the viewing public in the gala media
event we call a Presidential campaign. And he certainly has
the money. Presumably once more we will see a well-
financed coalition of New Dealers (they're getting pretty
old now) and big labor, joined by oil men hedging their
bets by backing a Democratic candidate (The Republicans
don't have this one in the bag by any means) sympathetic
(tied?) to their interests. Toss in a liberal (no pun
intended) dose of good-old-LBJ-boys like Robert Strauss,
Democratic National Committee Chairman, to make sure
the machine is well-oiled and that nothing substantial
enough to offend any sizable block of voters is said, and
you have an organization with a dangerous chance of suc-
cess.
What can force such an appealing candidate in such an
undistinguished field to really address the issues? The
press. It was press scrutiny that exposed the shallowness of
Muskie's front-running campaign of 1972, just as surely as
it was a lack of it that allowed us to be rudely surprised by
George McGovern's inability to control his own campaign,
let alone party, or the criminal, "anything goes" mentality
behind Richard Nixon's non-campaign. Only the press can
supply people with the information necessary to make an
intelligent decision if the candidates refuse to do so.
What's needed is not an "In a speech last night given to a
convention of Whatever, Senator Bentsen said ..." type of
journalism. Nor is the grasping at straws of possible mis-
conduct that passes for investigative reporting in this post-
Watergate era the answer. What is called for is a close,
careful look at this man, and if after serving four years in
the U.S. Senate whether he's qualified to lead the country.
I think a lot of people wonder; they certainly have a right
to know.
—joel rennie
henry
Q
'YOU CAN SAY THIS FOR HENRY—HE MAY BE BORING, AND DULL, AND HAVE NO
CHARISMA, BUT HE'S TOTALLY DEVOID OF SUBTLETY!'
Cheerleader elections criticized
To the editor:
Now that the elections are
almost upon us, I have become
aware that nothing has been
done to clear the air from last
year's cheerleader election. As I
am sure, most of you can recall
the problems that were brought
about by the election of a cer-
tain cheerleader. I, Ava Gina,
was elected on a "spoof" cam-
paign, but was ready and willing
to go through the motions of
representing the student body in
the fashion I felt would be best.
Red Bale, the pompous athletic
director (that was not actually
worded out of spite), however,
did not see it the same way as I,
and thus made me "an offer I
couldn't refuse," GET OUT!
I feel that if the athletic
department has the control over
the "roles" of the cheerleaders,
then they should be the one to
"select" their beautiful, bubbly,
bouncing rah-rahs.^. After all,
they do financially support the
cheerleaders, so why not let
them choose the people they
feel are most likely to "hold the
position of responsibility" in the
best manner. But if they are
going to allow the student body
to have a voice in the selection,
then let them have the final
word. For if the athletic depart-
ment does not feel that the
=4
4
student body realizes the "ad-
verse" reactions the community
and alumni will have, then let
them choose for us. But before
they do this, they better remem-
ber that the community contri-
butes in gifts a grand total of
$567,000, and this includes
alumni. And that figure is 3.89%
of the total available revenue for
Educational and General opera-
tions as was documented in the
Revenue and Expenditures
Report for 1974.
Until the athletic department
does act on this issue, though, I
will continue to run for cheer-
leader in my quest to represent
the "real" student body of Rice
University. This year, however, I
have resorted to the write-in
campaign which should give the
athletic department a better idea
as to how much the student
body does want a more "re-
laxed" representation down-in-
front.
Stephen Allen
"Ava Gina"
Baker '76
Tuition hike protested
President Norman Hackerman
Rice University
Sir:
At the time of my decision to
come to Rice, I was informed
that the amount of tuition I
would have to pay would be
$2100/year and would remain at
that level regardless of further
increases. Now I am informed
that it is being raised to
$2300/year. This looks to me
like ..false advertising, if not out-
right breach of contract.
Therefore, I hereby register
my protest to this increase in its
present form, and ask that it be
changed to include only those,
students entering Rice next year
and to leave tuition for current
students at its present level.
Sincerely yours,
* - Chris Zakes
Baker'77
Student Association elec-
tions are scheduled for to-
morrow, Tuesday, February
18.
Kevin Campbell has with-
drawn from the race for
Thresher business manager
due to personal reasons which
surfaced in the past week.
The deadline for filing for
Campanile editor, University
Court Chairman, and 5th year
Honor Council is 3pm Tues-
day. Petitions should be
turned in to the SA office.
thres
m
GARY BREWTON
Editor
DALE PAYTON-ENGLE
Business Manager
Kevin Campbell . Advertising Manager
Cathy Egan Assistant
Business Manager
Rosine Wilson Ad Production
Manager
Dana Blankenhorn Circulation
You guys don't suppose Mr. Barker
would let us switch to the Tuesday
night league? If we cry a little?
Nancy Taubenslag . . Associate Editor
Emily Coffman .... Associate Editor
Debbie Davies News Editor
Philip Parker Sports Editor
Janet Doty .... Production Manager
Doug Peck Head Photographer
Forest Davenport . Back Page Editor
Wiley Sanders Assistant
Head Photographer
Editorial Staff: Linda Eichblatt, Shannon Vale, Jim Asker, Fritz Morsches,
Carla McFarland, John Anderson, Tricia Regan, Lorel Dowden, David
Huffman.
News Staff: David Walker, Brian Buchanan, Shannon Vale, Ron Miller, Beth
Quarles, Laura Opitemez, Danna Bledsoe, Wiley Sanders, Cheryl Miskell,
Debbie Osterman, Lee Sowers, Deby Wyatt, Nathan Gdfrdon.
Fine Arts Staff: Elaine Bonilla, Paul Alley, Debbie Osterman, David Court-
wright, Susan Taylor, Rosine Wilson, Ted Andrews, Thomas Zimmerman,
Hannes Vogel, Andrew Blakeney.
Sports Staff: Steve Fouga, Scott Starks, Linda Eichblatt, Wiley Sanders, David
Au, Larry Nettles. Marc Siegel, Barry Josselson, Asujca Nakahara.
Business Staff: Mary Craig. * Jim Davis, Tom Anderspja, Mike Hindman,
Janet Doty. Carolena Houze, Cyn Hudson.
Production Staff: Ruthie Melton, Bonnie Gershon, Gary Preuss, David White,
Bill Studabaker, Leslie Lauderdale, Connie Dressner, Carla McFarland, Jo
Simpson, Silvia'Stewart, Jeanne Fagan.
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper of Rice University since
1916, is published semi-weekly on Mondays and Thursdays during the school
year except during examination periods and holidays by the students of Rice
University, 528—4141 ext 221. Advertising information is available on
request, 528—4141 ext 556. Mail subscription rate, $15 per year. The opinions
expressed herein are itot necessarily ' those of anyone except the writer.
Obviously.
the rice thresher, monday, february 17, 1975 — page 2
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Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 29, Ed. 1 Monday, February 17, 1975, newspaper, February 17, 1975; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245224/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.