The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 25, 1992 Page: 3 of 20
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OPINION
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1992 3
Can America really afford to have an avid poll-watcher for President?
by Tony Chen
George Herbert Walker Bush is a
poll groupie.
Never mind that h is opponent, si ick
Billy, also eyes the pollmasters. After
all, what self-serving, conniving poli-
tician can afford to eschew the barom-
eter of national opinion? With Bush,
however, poll-watching has become
a consuming obsession.
Two years ago during the Persian
Gulf fiasco, his public approval rating
soared to unprecedented heights. And
while the weapons of mass destruc-
tion whirled and scudded around
Middle Eastern skies, the press rou-
tinely reported the President in "good
spirits." But a scant week after the
populist billionaire H. Ross Perot ex-
ited the race, Bush tumbled even more
severely in those polls, and he was
described as "depressed and worried"
by his closest advisers.
What can the rapid swing in the
polls tell the American voter?
More importantly, what does the
reaction of our leader suggest about
his self-confidence and personal re-
solve?
The most obvious answer is that
the President has allowed the wiles of
mob sentiment to dictate his politics.
The more frightening an-
swer is that this has oc-
curred precisely because
he is willing to sacrifice his
con via ions for pol itical ex-
pedience. A closer look at
the record reveals a num-
ber of glaring examples.
On the environmental
front, for instance, Bush has not lived
up to his self-proclaimed desire to be
the "Environmental President."
According to John Javna in the
Sept. 13 issue of the Houston
Chronicle, the Bush admin istration has
been steadily working to undermine
the Clean Air Act. Rejuvenated by Bush
himself in November 1990, the act has
been recognized as a fundamental
necessity in virtually any honest
agenda wishing to amel iorate the con-
dition of the atmosphere.
Yet "with Bush's blessing," writes
Javna, "Vice President Dan Quayle's
Council on Competitiveness has cre-
What does the reaction of our
leader suggest about his self-con
fidence and personal resolve?
ated a loophole in the Clean Air Act
that allows a company to increase the
amount of pollution it pumps into the
atmosphere by up to 245 tons a year—
without submitting to hearings, as re-
quired by the Clean Air Act."
Similarly, the GOP fanfare about
Stadium supervision for the recent TSU/PV
A&M game unfair, completely mismanaged
To the editors,
You people make me ill. You re-
ally do. 1 am referring to "you": Rice
University officials in charge of foot-
ball stadium supervision (this incl udes
stadium gate supervision, or should 1
say lack thereof). What I want to know
is who made the decision to have only
two gates open for the heavily at-
tended TSU-PV game that was held at
Rice stadium on Sept. 5, 1992? All four
gates are always open for R ice footbal 1
games (which are not so heavily at-
tended, might I add). I was not only
disgusted to find only two of the four
gates open when I arrived at approxi-
mately 8:20 p.m. but the ticket lines
outside of the stadium and the wait to
actually get inside were horrendous' It
seems that the other two gates should
have been open to accommodate the
large number of fans. If the university
was making money by charging for
parking and by receiving a percent-
age of the concession and attendance
revenues, basic economics says that it
would have made sense to have more
ticket windows (and gates) open. In-
stead the university saw fit to better
utilize its manpower to have the sta-
dium souvenir shop open (it was ab-
solutely packed with eager TSU and
PV fans clamoring to purchase Rice
University memorabilia...NOT!)
Once inside the stadium, I would
have liked to have been able to sit in
the upper tier of the stadium for a
better view of the playing field, but to
my dismay there were sawhorses at
the bottom of the ramps! At this point
I was angry because 1 have never
known Rice University football game
attendees to have such restrictions
placed on their seating arrangements!
Luckily, I left the game at 10:05 p.m.
before panic began because I was so
upset about the stadium restrictions.
But 1 did read the newspaper reports
and hear the television news reports
about the unfortunate event that oc-
curred around 10:10 p.m. The de-
scriptions cited how the people
flooded onto the playing field, knock-
ing over and looting concession stands.
The Sept. 11 edition of the Thresher
depicted a demolished concession
stand with the caption, "A concession
stand destroyed in the rampage at the
TSU-Prairie View A&M game..." Isn't
the word "rampage" a little strong?
The word "rampage" brings to mind
the riots in Los Angeles, where people
were killed and property was need-
lessly destroyed and then torched...!
think a better word choice would have
been "panic" to describe the event
that occurred.
Regardless of how the panic got
started, it is interesting that amid all of
the vivid descriptions of the incident,
that it was never once mentioned that
only two gates of the possible four
were open. If all four gates had been
open (like they should have been to
begin with), people would have been
able to exit the stadium to safety,
thereby minimizing the "destruction"
to the stadium. Also mentioned was
the looting of hot dogs, hot dog trays
and let us not forget the table that was
seen being carried out by a man. So-
ciological descriptions of crowd men-
tality in a panic/hysteria situation eas-
ily accounts for the petty looting that
took place, and, of course, there are
also opportunists who will use any
given situation to steal things.
But the media made it sound as if
we had our own version of the Los
Angeles riots right here in I louston! As
for the table being carried out by the
man, had anyone stopped to think
that maybe he wa$ one of the many
vendors at the game who was trying to
save his display table from being
trampled? Nope... he was just some
bad Negro stealing a fairly large piece
of property from Rice University Sta-
dium.
Personally, 1 think that the Rice
University officials in charge of sta-
dium supervision were guilty ofcrowd
control tactics that backfired... royally.
Then they tried to rationalize it away
with the descriptions of the panic
which all but shouted, "Well, that's
just how Negroes behave." Because
the game was attended by a large
number of blacks instead of whites,
they chose to restrict gate access and
seating so that these black people
could be better "controlled."
What would have been n ice is more
officers (as is the case when you have
a large crowd of people, be they black
or white). But what would be even
"nicer" is for Rice University stadium
attendees to be given full access to the
stadium, regardless of color, race, or
religion (i.e. opening all of the gates
and non-restricted seating) in the fu-
ture.
Lila Deamia Washington
Rice University, Class of'91
Shepherd School offers
variety of entertainment
To the editors,
This Thursday night, Oct. 1, the
Shepherd School Symphony Orches-
tra will perform its first concert of the
school year. It promises to be one of
the finest concerts given in the Shep-
herd School's history thus far, featur-
ing Stravinsky's "Petrushka," a Hous-
ton premiere "Oh, Lois" by Daugherty,
and Vaughn Williams' "Fantasia on a
theme by Thomas Tallis."
So it seems an appropriate time to
send out an invitation to the students
(and faculty and staff) of Rice to attend
this concert, as it will definitely be a
special evening. Stude Concert Hall is
a tremendous acoustical experience,
and the concert is, as always, free.
Yet if you find you don't have the
time for this particular concert, there-
are others in the near future that are
also equally worth attending. Con-
certs that students have spent hours of
time and energy in preparation, an-
ticipating the experience of a few min-
utes of electric, passionate stuff that
makes a good performance.
Unfortunately, the apathy Rice stu-
dents are so well known for often
prevents us from taking advantage of
the products of a good university en-
vironment, like these performances.
Just because Shepherd School con-
certs are free doesn't mean they aren't
worth attending. Before Alice Pratt
Brown Hall, perhaps that argument
could have been made, but not any
more. In fact, you might find them
more worth your while than going to
the Houston Symphony downtown
They're convenient, and you can see
fellow students displaying their tal-
ent—their very reason for being here
at Rice—and offering it to you for your
enjoyment. And, yes, they are free.
And live, which not even the best
stereo can replace. (Even Sid Free
Radio.)
As Rice students you owe it to
yourseI ves to attend the concert Thu rs-
day night. If not this one, then some-
time soon. The calendars for the se-
mester will be distributed next week;
pick one up, find a few things that
look interesting to you, and go. In
addition to the orchestra, there are
plenty of choral concerts, chamber
music concerts, and student recitals all
year long. If you can say to yourself at
the end of this year (as you park your
car at the stadium for thankfully the
last time), "I neverdidgo inthatbigol'
building," it's your own damn fault, as
Jimmy Buffer! once said.
Erik Leidal
President, Shepherd School
Student Council
The Rice Forum: mixing intelligent conversation with good coffee
Urban Policy—After Los Angeles
ponsored by the Rice Thresher
"family values" has failed to translate
into supportive legislation.
Two weeks ago yesterday, the
1 louse passed the Family and Medical
Leave Act by the margin of 24l-l6l.
The bill requires that companies allow
workers up to a 12-week-long leave of
absence to care for their newborn
child.
The bill also made provi-
sions to help workers remain
at home when a family mem-
ber was suffering from a se-
rious illness
Twoyearsago, tbe Presi-
dent vetoed similar legtsla-
tion, and this time accord-
ingtoa VChite House spokes-
man,"there isnodoubt he will vetoit "
Nearlyall other industrializedcoun-
tries have adopted some sort of man-
datory leave of absence for new par-
ents, and the veto will continue to
deprive Americans of the time neces-
sary to adjust to the condition of rear
ing a child. At the very least, those
touting family values should realize
that the President's veto of the bill will
supply the Democrats with ample fod-
der in the upcoming weeks.
Indeed, these examples reveal an
alarming pattern in the way the Bush
admin istration functions first, it gauges
public opinion by rifling through the
profusion of polls arid extracts labels
suited to the public's prevailing whims,
then label-laden Bush noisily spon-
sors legislation seemingly to support
these whims, and finally, the adminis-
tration gutsor vetoes the newly passed
legislation—albeit with far less hoopla
Voters should keep in mind these
and other opportunistic machanisms
of the Bush administration when form
ing their opinion of the two candi
dates.
Tony Chen is a junior at Brr/wn
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 25, 1992, newspaper, September 25, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245819/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.