The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 24, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 12, 1985 Page: 2 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Come feast with us and we'll make you rich
Today Willy's Pub will open one hour early, and from 3 to 5
p.m. the editors of the Thresher will be there, sharing bowls of
munchies and pitchers of alcoholic and non-alcoholic liquid
refreshment, with anyone who shows up. We will, of course, also
attempt to bend a few interested ears with descriptions of what it
is like to work at the Thresher, and how one can essentially
choose one's own level of journalistic involvement.
If you just want to see your name in the staff box and beside an
article every once in a while, you only need to put in between five
and 10 hours each week you write for us. We can make room for
most anybody who wants to work more than this, but if we can
simply increase the number of regular writers, we will be happy.
Writing for the Thresher is, at its best, an active process. We
do assign articles, simply because we must try to make sure
certain subjects are covered. But an interested reporter can make
a story his or her own. They can even bring us leads about stories
that would otherwise be missed. Left to our own devices, we
would never think of all the best angles to investigate, or notice
all the stories out there to be covered. We also miss a number of
stories because simply do not have the writers available at the
right time to cover them.
For example, there was a fire in a mechanical room at the
Tidelands last week. Six fire trucks showed up. A source
informed us that the fire endangered no one, and destroyed no
rooms. Sure, there's more to the story, but you will probably
never read any more about it in these pages.
Covering the news (and fine arts, and sports) is the essential
reason all of us work here. Okay, vain desire to see our names in
print is part of it, but we also want to help people on campus find
out what is going on. Letters to the editor are a vital supplement,
but it really helps to have stories for people to write in about.
Let's just say I'm greedy. At least one neighborhood
newspaper editor covets our writers. But I know that there are
other talented writers out there, and I'm hoping that at least a
few of them will read this and be persuaded to "eat, drink, and
plan journalistic coups" with us this afternoon in the Pub.
Post scriplus: In the advertisement for this party, located today on the
backpage, I mentioned a number of the Thresher's fearless leaders who
will be present at the recruitment party. Lest anyone should feel slighted,
I feel compelled to note that just about all our leaders are fearless, even
the ones who might not be there. These include Susan Buchanan, Pam
Truzinski, Todd Cornett, Bev Blackwood, Brandon Rigney, Robvn
Klahr, Valerie Rohy, John Knapp, Erin Blair, and Lisa Gray. There are
even more fearless people here, but they don't qualify as leaders because
they don't get to order anyone around. /, however, am an admitted
coward.
Okay, will you guys stop kidding and untie me?
— Paul Havlak
pESPOTOiy REDVfcTWFEFCm
w® OF DWicjr-cmEP
Lf&SLArCtfSSFOT YET ANOTHER
EASY
¥
A ^
f *■• f
* ■ ■ s y&m
LVtU \d&-
BUYING THE HEDGES/by David Richardson
When he presented his budget
proposal this week. President
Reagan claimed that this was an
opportunity to fundamentally
affect the course of American
history. I am inclined to agree with
him, and despite his largely
unjustifiable demands for
increases in defense spending, 1
think many of his proposals bode
well for the future.
In particular, Reagan's farm
policy is a long-needed attempt to
save American agriculture from
the hardships that have plagued
the steel industry and have led to
the long and violent labor
problems in Britain's coal mines.
Since the Great Depression it
has become increasingly clear that
■small farming in the United States
is no longer economically efficient.
In the last few years small and
medium-sized farms (those with
under $50,000 per year in sales)
have teetered on the brink of
disaster. Projections are that some
ten percent of these concerns will
declare bankruptcy in 1985 alone.
Meanwhile large commercial
operations with much lower costs
THRESHING IT OUT
Situation distorted,
says Blackstock
To the editor:
The purpose of this letter is to
express my disappointment and
regret over the misunderstanding
created by Cheryl Smith's front-
page article last Friday. The article
at best exaggerated and in some
cases simply misreported a
situation which had been almost
completely resolved before the
article was published. The only
reason that the article made the
front page was that Miss Smith
chose to distort the facts and blow
the story completely out of
proportion.
I must acknowledge one part of
the article that actually was
correct. Indeed, Dan l.avin and 1
do share concern about the
influence of certain religious
groups on campus. However, our
investigations into these groups'
constitutions were never intended
to be malicious attacks. We had
reason to believe that there could
be some discrepancies between the
policies of these organizations and
University policy. We found that
this was indeed the case. Out part
in the investigation and
subsequent action by the SA from
this time on was merely
observatory. SA Parliamentarian
Dave Phillips and Director of
Student Activities Pat Martin
assumed reponsibility immediately
after they discovered the
possibility of violations of the SA
constitution. To say that Dan and I
"initiated the challenge to the
constitutions of the groups" is, I
suppose, technically correct, but it
is also misleading when taken out
ifTBPflrtTtWMM).
a
SORRV, FATHER,,WU'RE GOTMJTOOUWUSTO TAKS CARSOF
ANYMORE, ■., WEte GOING ID HAVE If PUT WW W KREMl/lV.
The Rice Thresher, February 12, 1985, page 2
of context.
Perhaps the most blatantly
misrepresentative part of the
article was the paragraph which
quoted me. My interview with
Cheryl Smith consisted of an
informal telephone conversation
in which I was evidently far too
trusting of Miss Smith's ability to
take good notes or reconstruct
accurately from memory. That
paragraph-long quote in the article
is entirely misrepresentative of our
conversation. Some of the quotes
are paraphrased; they are not
direct quotes. In many cases 1 take
exception to the words Miss Smith
put in my mouth. Other parts are
cut-and-paste versions of things I
said, without any indication to that
effect. There are even some things
that I was quoted as saying that 1
absolutely deny ever saying. The
words, "Some of them operate
pretty close to a cult," simply did
not come out of my mouth. That's
not even good English. If I ever
mentioned the word "cult," it was
in an entirely different context. I
certainly do not think that any
University-recognized student
religious organizations at Rice are
cults. Miss Smith's irresponsible
misquotation made me look like a
fool. And if that weren't enough, it
made Mr. Lavin look like one, too.
and she didn't even talk to him.
Finally, I question the wisdom
of the decision to run a story like
this at all. Last Monday the SA
received revised constitutions from
three religious organizations in
question and accepted them. The
revisions were acceptable to me as
well. The fact that OWLS may be
resisting consitutional revision is
perhaps newsworthy. Aside from
that, however, the only purpose
that this article served was to
polarize the university. The
situation is bad enough as it is. We
don't need sensationalist
journalism to make it worse. 1 am
glad that we no longer have
student organizations which
discriminate on grounds of
religious preference, and 1 am
proud that I was able to help
rectify the problem. I very much
regret, however, that the situation
has gotten out of hand, and I
apologize to anyone who was
offended by this unfortunate
misunderstanding.
Steve Blackstock
Baker '86
Editor's note: Many of Steve's
complaints have merit. However,
in all fairness to the news section, I
must note that we read
Blackstock's quote to him over the
telephone before the article was
published, and made one change
for clarification at his request.
Phillips puts forth
intentions of SA
To the editor:
Since the clubs controversy
debate is bound to needlessly
mushroom to gargantuan
proportions, I feel that I should
clarify for the public record the
actions taken by the SA Senate
and myself on the matter, and in
see Threshing, page J
accumulate larger and larger
profits, buoyed by subsidies and
price supports. The continued
survival of small-scale farming
ceased to have any economic
justification forty years ago;
attempts to "save the small farmer"
since then have been expensive and
futile attempts to maintain a
vanishing species, driven only by
nostalgia and the powerful farm
lobby.
In order to correct these
problems, Reagan proposes to
place limits on subsidies and loans,
to lower target prices for farm
goods, and to end pavment-in-
kind programs for land left fallow.
Benefits from these actions include
an immediate savings of nine
billion dollars in federal
expenditures, not to mention
lower prices to consumers on grain
and dairy products. This is not to
suggest that the plan is without
critics. Farmers are up in arms,
claiming that the administration
which they supported is striking
while they're down, that rural
banks already in trouble may close
in droves, and that America will no
longer have to dump grain on the
third world in the name of
assistance.
Anyone swayed by these
arguments need only look at
current newspaper accounts of the
U.S. steel industry and the British
coal strike to see examples of what
happens when a government tries
to protect institutions that have
outlived their economic
usefulness.
To a significant degree, Britain's
current economic problems stem
from her unwillingness to abandon
the industries and institutions
that brought Victorian England
to world preeminence. The coal
miners' strike underscores that
even today the English are unable
to face the economic realities of the
nuclear age.
Perhaps the U.S. has learned its
lesson from the collapse of the steel
industry; that protectionism
wastes time and money that
could better be invested for capital
and job formation in more-
competitive industries.
If so and if Reagan can get
Congress to agree, America's
future may be bright indeed.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Havlak, Paul. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 24, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 12, 1985, newspaper, February 12, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245586/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.