The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 3, 1984 Page: 4 of 48
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THRESHING IT OUT
Biochemist corrects J™0™"?
. . . .. . now many nomeworlcs, quizzes
technicalities and tests you have done well on.
To the editor This university (I hope) is
Here are some comments on the committed to learning and not
Thresher report of Dr. grades, and I have found that in
Samuelsson's lecture. many of your so-called "rolls" I
1. Prostoglandin is spelled have really learned more than in
prostaglandin. the killers where cramming and
2. "Leukotrienes have a novel memorization are the rule,
mechanism of action, as the body's " don't like the idea of sheltered
own defense system is used to courses, I don't like this artificial
combat disease...." sP1Jt of students into intelligent
Under normal conditions, P«>Ple and athletes, and I don't
leukotrienes are an integral part of think 1 like you, Bozo.
the body's defense system, not Rodman C. Johnson
external agents acting on the Geo! *8?
system. P.S. There are engineering courses
3. Thromboxanes and the endo- which require little effort and Geol
peroxide intermediates are natural 310 does not and never did exist,
body products, hence they could
not have been developed by Dr. Mlsclass sniper gets
samueisson signed rebuttals
4. V. Euler did not discover iwunaiw
"Vasodepressor, a slow-reacting To the Editor:
muscle stimulant...." V. Euler ' compelled to reply to the
discovered a factor he called letter published on the back page
prostaglandin, which he described Jan. 27 issue of the Thresher,
as "The acid, lipid—soluble, authored by "Protecting my
smooth muscle stimulating and identity." The point that struck me
blood pressure lowering principle as most narrow-minded and
present in seminal fluid and one to which I reply is the
extracts from some of the supposition that "simple
accessory genital glands of man introductory courses are not of
and sheep." Arch. Exptl. Path. value and further that because a
Pharmakol. 175, 78, (1934). A person can take many "simple
vasodepressor is something which introductory courses" in pursuit of
lowers blood pressure. a degree at Rice, such a degree is
David Myers Peking in value.
Biochem grid Inherent in the concept of
introductory courses is an
Huber defends B-Law invitation'a fading into," to a
I rZ i . topic- These courses introduce the
agaln8t D.p. Slander student to the broad scope and
significance of the topic at hand.
To the editor: Because of this basic function, by
An anonymous letter in the and large most introductory
January 27, 1984 number of the courses are not as difficult as those
Thresher set forth a long list of of the advanced level — this is
"sheltered" courses that qualified mere logic.
as "rolls." Among them was the It would seem inane to attempt
course I teach, Law and Society to increase the difficulty of
(Political Science 309). Since the introductory courses. Such an
course is a large one, some specific attempt would surely involve an
information might be of interest to increased pettiness in student
the Rice community. The course is testing and emphasis on greater
"practical," a claim I make detail to the detriment of the larger
proudly, but it is not easy. The function of communicating the
distribution of grades for the fall breadth of the topic. The
semester was as follows: narrowing of scope and attention
A 35 to detail is properly the role of
B 66 more advanced courses within the.
C 43 field.
D 12 However, by the above
F 9 argument, I d o not mean to defend
In addition to a midterm and a all introductory courses — that
final examination, each student would be ludicrous since I am
was required to complete a paper, unfamiliar with many of them —
a statutory interpretation exercise, there are courses that certainly
and 66 case briefs. If this workload nee<j work.
is regarded as insufficient for a A furthcr „hich , wouM
three-credit course or if the ,jke to dlscuHss is -Protecting-s
grading is unduly generous tion that so palitlcal
remedial action can be taken. I !cience courscs m ,acki in
would be pleased to receive merU „ ,f d s; ,hal
comments from students, faculty, .protecti - found s0 |itt]e of
or administrators about these worth in the 10 courses listed, but
matters. the point brings me to my final
Jf?Se° ^ ■JUbW Observation. Education of any
Visiting Professor s<m and particu|arly higher
education, is not a passive process.
Ideally students are not passive,
static receptacles. Education is
above all an interactive, dynamic
event. The student cannot simply
wait to be educated, at least not if
he expects value in his education.
In sum, the passive student will
gain only from the occasional,
exceptional course, while the
aggressive student will gain some
measure of knowledge from every
course taken — excuse my
idealism.
More ire toward
anonymous whlner
To Mr. "Protecting My Identity"
(via the Editor):
There's nothing worse than a
smart-assed, snot-nosed punk
trying to get himself up as the final
omniscient judge of a very
complicated issue. Unless you've
taken all of these courses, don't
knock them simply because they
may require less work and more
thinking. The grade you receive in
a class is very often not a measure
rather passive student if he feels
that he gained little from these
many courses that he obviously
must have taken.
In closing, let me use a concept
that is admittedly trite but that
seems quite close to the mark in
this case. A college degree is only
as good as the student that makes
it. As far as minds go, good
institutions have put out their fair
share of "clunkers;" and less-
respected colleges often produce
some excellent ones.
P.S. "Protecting my identity"^ ad
hominem attack on Rice athletes
has no place in constructive
dialogue.
Charles Caldwell
Wiess TJ5
McLaughlin adds
to Ekren's sermon
To the Editor:
Mr. Chris Ekren's article which
commented on the blatant abuses
of human rights in the Soviet
Union was an astonishing piece of
journalism that refreshes a mind
long used to the stale naivete
exhibited by many members of the
American press. But the article
fails to address the most crucial
example of disinformation, the
ongoing debate on nuclear war and
arms reduction.
Despite the labeling of Mr.
Reagan by many journalists as
insane because he has the audacity
to stand up to the Soviet bullying
tactics, the real danger to peace
and American security is and has
been our insistence on abiding by
treaties signed with the Soviet
Union when clear evidence of
Soviet cheating on such treaties
exists. A recent report that was
presented to the White House by
the Arms Control and Disarma-
ment Agency states, for example,
that there is clear proof that the
Soviets have tested a new ICBM,
the PL-5, which is in violation of
the SALT II treaty. Now back in
1979 Mr. Harold Brown, the then
secretary of defense, told a
congressional committee that the
United Sates would abrogate the
SALT II treaty if the Soviets tested
see THRESHING, page 5
ROLLING THE WHEEL by John Cunyus
Racism is an understandably
touchy topic in this day and age
and most people respond to that
touchiness by not talking about it
at all. Granted, it is a painful story
and a very grim reminder that our
American legacy has not been all
swashbuckling heroes and
conquering generals, but it
deserves our attention nonetheless.
As a Southerner and a native of
Texas, I have been aware of racism
and racial issues from the day one
— one of my earliest memories is
of Martin Luther King's
assassination. I have heard the
slurs and the prejudices of
Southern white bigots and seen the
violence and hatred engendered by
desegregation in the public
schools, and I have heard all the
highly articulate arguments put
out by the " concerned" liberals
whose only interest, as they were
willing to say to anyone at
anytime, was to " do something
good for the blacks." Somehow,
the overt prejudices of the bigots
and the militants galled me less
than the so-called "liberal"
attitude and it did so for one
reason alone — those who were the
bigots didn't pretend not to be.
They hated, they knew they hated,
and they were honest about it. I
can't say the same for most of the
white liberals I ever talked to on
the subject.
If the racists were honest about
their racism, then the liberals were
incredibly dishonest about theirs.
In fact, they went to elaborate
lengths to convince anyone who
asked them how much they "loved
the blacks" and how much they
longed for them "to succeed" and
"get ahead." Yet these loud and
slavery, by the Indian as a
genocidal onslaught, and by the
Mexican as a time of bullying and
aggression. The assumed
commonality simply is not there.
He also assumes that everyone
shares his self-confidence, his
positive identity, and his thirst for
success. Yet that self-confidence
came about because his guns and
his technology enabled him to
overpower and subjugate his
enemies around the world and his
positive identity was built by
pointing out how much better off
he was than the people he enslaved
were. His thirst for success derived
from his previous successes which
only whetted his appetite for more.
This is the tradition of the white
liberal in this nation, and it is not
one that molds understanding,
empathetic individuals. It breeds
people of hard, domineering wills
who put themselves and their own
good ahead of the common good
in almost every instance.
Wait a minute, the liberal says,
what about the Civil Rights Act,
what about the War on Poverty,
what about integration? Well, my
dear friends, there were Civil
Rights Acts passed in the
aftermath of the Civil War and
they were widely ignored for a
hundred years. It wasn't the
goodness and generosity of the
liberals that brought about the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was the
skillful organization of a mass
movement by blacks — under the
leadership of King, Stokely
Carmichael, and others — that
secured its passage. And the so—
called War on Poverty amounted
to giving federal money to white
bureaucrats and businessmen so
long protests seemed to me to be v they could spend it to wage the
It seems sad but "protecting my
identity" would appear to be a
saying quite the opposite of what
they were meant to say; they
always sounded more prompted by
guilty consciences than anything
else. Most liberals will quite
naturally disagree with me, but I
think I have a demonstrable case
nonetheless.
The white liberal in dealing with
racial issues works from a
common, and artificial,
assumption. He assumes that
everyone else in America wants to
be like him. He assumes that all
Americans, white or black, share
his attitudes toward success,
toward making money, toward
dealing with history, and toward
living in society. Yet in order to
make this assumption he has to
ignore very real differences in
background and culture — for
instance, what he refers to as
"winning the West" is remembered
by the black as an era of abject
war. The intentions might have
been pure, but the assumption —
that whites knew better what
blacks needed than blacks did —
stunk to high heaven. And, in case
you haven't noticed, poverty still
exists, too.
But integration was and is
perhaps the biggest slander of
them all. It was the cherished belief
of liberals that all black children
needed to be successful was the
same education the whites got.
This assumption, still rooted in the
artificially homgenized view of the
human race maintained by the
white liberal, led to the wonders of
forced busing and literally tore
cities and school systems in the
South apart. It caused dislocations
and hardships for all that were
contributing factors not in
bringing the races together but in
driving further4 wedges between
them. It utterly ignored vast
differences in backgrounds to try
and force blacks and whites to live
together in peace.
What are these differences?
They are differences in what black
and white parents had experienced
and what they had passed on to
their children. From the day one
the white child has a better inkling
of what a good education can
mean simply because his parents
have probably received some
degree of higher education
themselves and white society
abounds with examples of the
benefits of education. Further,
because the child is white he has no
barriers placed between himself
and "success" except hard work
and luck.
The black child has no
such advantages. Most commonly
his family comes from the lowest
economic stratum, he inhabits a
world that dislikes him for no
other reason that the color of his
skin, and he finds enormous
barriers between himself and
success. Yet he is given the white
child's education, with its
emphasis on success and
competition and when he fails, he
adds the stigma of being a "failure"
and a "drop-out" to an already—
stacked deck of cards life has dealt
him. Does his resentment of white
liberals and their promises and his
alienation from the mainstream of
white society seem unnatural? The
liberals see this attitude from him
and throw up their hands with an
"oh, well, we tried," shrug
then go off in their new cars
to play tennis.
What I'm trying to say is this. If
you're a white bigot you can be
hateful and ignorant all you want
— I know you're wrong but you're
entitled to your opinion. If you're a
white liberal and you think I'm full
of shit go to a day of classes at
Kashmere High School and tell me
how full of shit I am. There's
nothing wrong with making
mistakes — there is something
wrong with willfully ignoring
reality and forcing your
assumptions down everyone's
throat.
As Brian Quintero said last
<semester, racism is an issue that
will eat you alive when you get out
in the real world. Well, maybe it
won't bother you at all, maybe you
can afford to send your kids to
private schools, maybe you can
afford to ignore the problem
altogether. But that doesn't make
it go away and maybe it would be
prudent for you to look around
and realize who has the most to
lose from the racial upheavals
tomorrow may bring. Sleep tight.
The Rice Thresher, February 3, 1984, page 4
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Mitchell, Mark M. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 3, 1984, newspaper, February 3, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245550/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.