The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 1979 Page: 2 of 20
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The Rice Thresher, February 1, 1979, Page 2
Letters to the editor
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HeAPAcne
BABY
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To the Editor:
"If you don 'tpay them, you 'II
never get anybody to work
for the Thresher."
a College President
at Monday's S.A. meeting
There is a debate going on in
the Senate that centers around
the validity of this statement. A
proposal has been drafted
which, if passed, would
eliminate the payment of all but
production wages to staff
members of the Rice Thresher.
The position of Business
Manager would be handled by
a salaried bookkeeper. The
thrust of the proposal is to pay
students only for those services
that are, in effect, part-time
jobs. Reporters, editors,
reviewers, and photographers
would be a part of that broad
class of unpaid students who
are involved in extracurricular
activities at Rice.
This debate is likely to be an
emotional one because of past
events at the Thresher. The
proposal is viewed by some as
an act motivated by spite and
revenge. With all the turmoil
that has gone on this year, a
cautious approach to this
delicate question is certainly
appropriate, if not demanded.
A great deal of careful
thought went into this
proposal. It stems from a re-
evaluation of the function of a
student newspaper at a school
like Rice. This self-assessment
has not been an easy chore, and
there are areas where
honorable men and women
may disagree. Yet it all goes
back to the central question of
whether or not students at Rice
are willing to write for their
paper without the need to
dangle monetary carrots in
front of their noses.
A variety of other
organizations on campus
attract students without the
need of monetary inducements.
The students in these
organizations put in varying
The Rice Thresher
Letters Policy
letters to the editor should not
exceed 250 words and are subject to
being cut to that length or less if longer.
The editorial staff reserves the right to
edit such letters and does not guarantee
to publish any letter. Each letter must
be signed, show the address of the
writer and list a telephone number for
verification.
Address correspondence to Letters
to the Editor, The Rice Thresher, Box
1X92, Houston. Texas 7'001.
Guest editorials welcome me and are
encouraged.
The Rice Thresher is represented
nationally by Communications and
Advertising Services to Students, Inc.,
Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, New
York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The Rice Thresher is published on
Thursdays during the school year
except during examination periods and
holiday*. Mail subscriptions are $15
ea<:h year.
Bi.siness and editorial offices are
looa ed on the second floor of the Rice
Memorial Center on theRice campus.
Advertising rates are furnished on
request. Phone 527-4801 or 527-4802.
Rights of reproduction of all matter
herein are reserved.
Published since 1916
by the students of
Rice University
1978-79 Thresher Staff
Editor Michelle Leigh Heard
Managing Editor .... Jamie Strauss
Business Manager Jay Oiiphant
Advertising Manager . Dale Charletta
Copy Editor... Honest A1 Hirshberg
Sports Editor Ed Westerfield
Back Page Editor . John Szalkowski
Photography Editor . Wayne Derrick
Photographers Buster Brown,
Steve Home, Jim Jistil, Tom Scales
Humor Michael Cruzcosa,
Richard Dees
Staff Writers F. Brotzen,
Richard Dees, Bert Baker,
Martha Ramos, Steve Sailer, Russ
Henderson, Norma Gonzales, Geoff
Walne, Jeanmarie Amend, Randy
Jones, Elisa Ugarte, Margaret
Schauerte
Production Debbie Davies,
Richard Dees, Geri Snider. Wendy
Kilpatrick, Matt Dore, Bert Baker
Circulation Tim Haney, Martha
Espinosa
Copyright © 1979 by The Rice Thresher
Opinions expressed herein arc those of the writer of the article or the editor and
arc nut necessarily those of the University administration or the Board of
inventors The Thresher is a non-profit enterprise and editorial policy is
determined b\ the editor.
amounts of time staging plays,
organizing TG's, investigating
Honor Code violations,
running a radio station and
participating in student
government. None of these
student activities is necessarily
better than the other or for that
matter more important. They
merely reflect the wide range of
interests encompassed by the
diverse student body at Rice.
These students are motivated
by a combination of interest in
their activity and pride in their
contributions. Anyone on the
Thresher staff will tell you that
these are their prime incentives
also. A statement such as the
one made at Monday's Senate
meeting is a gross under-
estimation of the willingness of
Rice students to make a
creative contribution to their
University. The proposal
presented to the Senate is based
on the belief that students
should work and would work
for their newspaper without the
necessity of a weekly paycheck.
I would not feel right leaving
the next Senate meeting
without voting for this
proposal. I see too many
students making valuable
contributions requiring
substantial amounts of time.
None of them are taking home
paychecks because the foci of
their interests happen to be in
projects that are not income-
producing. Their only payment
is pride.
Kevin L.
McKenna
SRC 79
To the Editor:
Your support on the
referendum in the SA General
Election (February 20) for an
increase from $5 to $8 is
required in order for the RPC
to continue to maintain the
quantity and quality of its
activities and services. The
RPC warrants your support; it
has proved its viability as a
binding force campus-wide in
its attempts to cater to the
social and cultural needs of the
Rice Student Body. This force
is seen in its support for college
activities as well as its
coordination and sponsorship
of university-wide social and
cultural events.
When current plans are met.
this year's RPC will have
sponsored/co-sponsored the
following activities and services
during its effective current
term: seven TGIF's, five
concerts, eighteen feature-
length films, eleven parties or
dances, ten lectures, twelve Pub
entertainers, college bowl and
ACU-! tourney competitions,
two vacation trips, a musical, a
formal, three workshops, a
road rally, a culture fest,
H o m e c o m i n g, R o n d o 1 e t
Weekend (including the Beer-
Bike Race) as well as discount
tickets (for movies, ballets,
operas, symphonies, and sports
events), discount coupon
books, student guides to
Houston, and publicity
calendars.
All these accomplishments
are primarily due to the credit
of the R PC committee
chairmen and their excellent
managerial expertise (over-
time, money, and people) as
well as their hard-working
committee members. But even
with comparable or even
superior RPC personnel next
year, the RPC under current
blanket tax arrangements
could not hope to continue as it
has.® It would be very much
taxed financially by further
inflation and the availability of
only t w o -1 h i r d s o f t h e
operation funds that the
current RPC administration
had to work with.
"The RPC has contended
with excessive increases in
entertainment costs while
facing a relatively fixed budget.
The RPC has received only $5
per person for each of the last
five years. This past year, the
RPC did enjoy a $6,000
carryover (approximately one-
half the normal RPC budget)
which helped to alleviate the
inflationary pressures as well as
to provide for expansion of
some of the RPC's programs.
The current RPC does not
expect a substantial amount of
carryover funds.
The student body has a need
for the RPC and cannot
afford to lose any of its
sponsored activities and
services. Also, expectations
have been built for these
activities and services. The only
way the RPC can hope to fulfill
these needs and expectations is
through receiving your support
on the upcoming referendum to
increase the blanket tax for the
RPC, an increase which is
greatly needed.
Gene Francis Creely II
RPC President '78-79
To the Editor:
I've grown very tired of
repeating these same words
time and time again to those
groups of people who wreck my
evening (no* to mention
others') when I'm watching
shows or listening to a favorite
tune. This time I'll tell you this
as a student body, and please
read all of this- it may do you
some good.
First—we must remember
that people of the mental
caliber of your average Rice
student make up a mere 5% of
the population. So why should
the TV stations, movie
producers, and recording
companies listen to such a tuny
minority? We don't buy the
majority of consumer goods,
make up the majority of TV
viewers, or purchase the
majority of movie tickets.
Think back for a moment to
your younger days. Remember
when many people would get
mad at you or even use physical
means to harm your person or
property because they felt you
were "talking down" to them?
Th'ey resented it, didn't they?
So why should writers make
the same mistake and risk
losing an audience that
wouldn't understand that kind
of 12-plus letter language
anyway?
And think for just a moment
more. There is a refreshing
simplicity to be found in shows
like "Battlestar" and Star
Wars—shows where the actors
act like real people. Yes,
people—people as imperfect,
as drippily spoken and as
sugary (sometimes sickeningly
sweet) as they really are, and
not as some out-of-touch,
dreamworld-dwelling author
feels they would be.
Take, for example, Luke
Sky walker of Star Wars. Think
for just a moment. He was
supposed to be a dumb, naive
farm boy—nothing more. And
if you'll think just a little
harder, you'd realize that dumb
farm boys don't have witty little
lines of literary excellence
pouring from their lips—they
speak in clear and often too
simple English. And so what if
the technology in the movie
was advanced! So is ours, and
look how low our literacy rate
is. At least Luke could read,
write, and speak a few necesary
languages. Not bad for a farm
boy of that time, I'd say.
Now don't get me wrong. I
don't like a lot of this stuff,
either. There exist two ideals,
however, known as Courtesy
and Thought For Your Fellow
Man. Yes, we are a minority. A
powerful one, perhaps, but still
a minority.
Use your common sense,
Rice! There are others out there
besides you, and not all share
your opinions. Others enjoy
this stuff. We are not all Mr.
Spocks—we have emotions
and don't mind crying during a
neato part of a show or song.
Some may find this difficult to
understand, but a lack of
understanding is no excuse for
rudeness or thoughtlessness to
others.
So the next time you want to
moan and groan about Star
Wars, "Battlestar," "The Love
Boat," "Fantasy Island,"
Grease, Saturday Night Fe\er
or the like, hold your tongues.
If you don't like it, for Heaven's
sake, don't watch it! And if you
do watch it, shut up and don't
ruin it for the majority who
enjoy this "garbage."
Thank you.
Cindy Lee Childress
Brown '80
X
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Heard, Michelle Leigh. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 1, 1979, newspaper, February 1, 1979; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245394/m1/2/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.