The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 1993 Page: 3 of 16
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OPINION
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1993 3
Fanrily values need thorough examination
by John McCoy
In the recent Presidential cam-
paign, Dan Quayle started a firestorm
of debate over the issue of family val-
ues, and while much of the discussion
centered on single mothers, the right
wing used the phrase as code words
for its fight against gay and lesbian
rights.
However, conservatives do not
have a lock on this issue. The Repub-
lican party seriously undermines the
credibility of its Up service to the Ameri-
can family with moves like the Bush
veto ofthe family leave act: once again,
business values triumph over family.
So, before we inaugurate a new
President, I would like to pause and
examine the issue to see what consti-
tutes true family values and where
traditional definitions fail us in a di-
verse contemporary society.
To begin with, the current, closed-
minded notion of family is unaccept-
on the streets because their families
refuse to accept their homosexuality
and kick them out or abuse them until
they run away. In response to this,
community organizations such as the
Houston Institute for the Protection of
Youth (HIPY) have been formed to
try to help teenagers survive.
Clearly there needs to be a more
open view of the role of gay and les-
bservations
from the
able because it is killing many gay and
lesbian teenagers and causing consid-
erable pain to families who must deal
with their own homosexual youth.
While gays and lesbians compose
only 10 percent ofthe population, they
account for fully one third of teenage
suicides. Cities are seeing large seg-
ments of their runaway population out ■
While gays and lesbians
compose only ten percent of
the population, they account
for fully one third of teenage
suicides.
bian people within the family struc-
ture. Our society cannot with any con-
science continue to deny the legiti-
macy and the very existence of this
large minority population.
Last semester GALOR invited sev-
eral parents from Parents and Friends
of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG) to
speak about their reactions to their
children's coming out Many of the
parents said that once they had ac-
cepted their children's homosexual-
ity they felt anger at a culture which
never prepared them for the possibil-
ity that their children might be gay, a
society which would continue to limit
their chances of happiness with preju-
dice and persecution. In the process
they had to educate themselves about
homosexuality, and they, too, "came
Faculty members do not
abide by final exam rules
by Bradley Monton
I was sorely disappointed ifl/tly
performance of the faculty duringme
most recent final exam period. At this
university, we all have certain rules
we must obey: we students have the
Honor Code, which we agree to abide
by. Self-enforcement of the student-
written rules is expected, and any vio-
lations are dealt with by an (ostensi-
bly) adept student paneL
The faculty also have certain uni-
versity regulations they must obey,
which they themselves have approved
through the Faculty Council. Two such
rules are spelled out in the General
Announcements, under the Final Ex-
aminations section: "Under no circum-
stances may final exams exceed five
hours. The due date for all take home
exams is the end of the examination
period."
These two rules were blatantly vio-
lated in a number of classes last se-
mester. For example, in my Quantum
Physics course, we had an eight-hour
final which was due two days before
the end of exams, and in my Interme-
diate Mechanics course, we had a
twenty-four-hour final. The twenty-
four-hour exam was "designed" to take
four and a half hours, though I think
the only person who could have fin-
ished in that amount of time was the
professor. It took me about fourteen
hours of work; some of my friends
spent longer.
The argument that the professors
offer in defense of their wanton viola-
tion of the five-hour rule is that they
dont want us to be rushed for time,
and they want to give us more than
two or three questions, so that if we
get one question completely wrong
we dont fail the exam. While these
arguments are reasonable, the Fac-
ulty Council obviously feels that they
dont hold up, because the five-hour
rule still stands. Possibly, what the
professors should consider doing is
giving more than two exams during
the semester, and making the final
shorter in length and duration, non-
cumulative, and less important to our
overall grade.
Of course, my two physics profes-
sors are not the only ones at fault In
past years, the Partial Differential
Equations class in the math depart-
ment has had a six-hour final. I have
heard of computer science courses in
which the students were given days to
complete a finaL It is probable that
many of you know offurther examples
of which I am not aware.
Thus, the rules governing final
exams period should be enforced—
there is no reason for them not to be.
But that is only a start New rules
should be added clarifying what pro-
fessors are allowed to give during
exam period. For example, is aprofes-
sorallowed to have apaper due during
exams, instead of a final? The rules in
the General Announcements do not
touch on this issue. In the sociology
course Death and Dying, a final paper
was due eight days before the end of
exams. Should a paper like this be
treated like a scheduled exam? It
seems to me to be inherently more
like a take-home, and thus should be
due at the end of exams. But the rules
are not clear on this.
I have one friend who had a major
project due and a final exam in a num-
ber of her classes last semester. This
seems overly burdensome; I propose
that if professors require a final paper
or project due during exam period,
they should not be allowed to give a
final.
I do not overly mind taking an
eight-hour exam, and I can under-
stand that professors sometimes have
legitimate reasons to make finals due
before the end of the exam period.
What bothers me about all this is the
apparent lack of regard the professors
have for the rules of the university to
which they are expected to abide. As
a student I try hard to obey the stu-
dent-imposed rules of the Honor Code.
But I have great respect for my profes-
sors, and I often attempt to emulate
them in their noble quests for the
pursuit of truth and the dissemination
of knowledge. If they do not let their
peer-imposed rules stand intheirway,
perhaps I should look with new light
upon the rules governing examina-
tions that I have been dutifully follow-
ing during my brief tenure at Rice.
out" to friends and co-workers about
their children in order to serve as a
positive example.
This struck me as a perfectly natu-
ral parental reaction. These are the
real family values. Parents should love
their children unconditionally and
want to protect them from harm Fami-
lies should stay together through ad-
versity and learn to accept their mem
bers as they are.
The right wing's
notions of accept-
able families have
more to do with
hatred and exclu-
sion than with love,
acceptance, and
the consequences
that rejection
bring.
While our cul-
ture denies the
place of gay and lesbian people within
families, our laws and traditions also
deny the possibility that same-sex
couples can form a family. However,
the arguments against same-sex mar-
riage and adoption rights do not stand
up under scrutiny.
Same-sex couples exhibit all the
characteristics of straight couples: put
simply, two people who love each other
come together to form a lasting rela-
tionship. Indeed, the majority of people
that I have met through GALOR have
been in serious, long-term relation-
ships, something I can not say about
my straight friends. And while the
idea is still being debated in the Epis-
copal church, several religious com-
munities, most notably the Unitarian s,
recognize same-sex marriages.
Some argue that the purpose of
marriage is to produce children, but
this cannot be the sole criterion of a
valid marriage, since infertile couples
and couples who choose not to have
children are allowed to marry. In addi-
tion, with all the insemination options
available, many lesbian couples do
have children. Thus, a family can take
see Family values, page 4
Parking inequities still
plague commuting students
To the editors,
As a new semester begins, con-
versation about the parking crisis
has almost completely subsided, no
doubt to the glee of Neill Binford
and hisadministrativecohorts. How-
ever, I would like to voice my contin-
ued dissatisfaction and extreme an-
noyance with the entire process by
which parking matters have been
handled this year.
From the beginning, undergradu-
ate opinion has been almost com-
pletely unsought by student repre-
sentatives and ignored by adminis-
trators. The shuttle system, which
has been hideously slow to respond
to commuter needs and has only
recently come to be operated reli-
ably and intelligently, is not a neces-
sity for a campus as small as our
own. The fact that the cost of this
behemoth is borne by impoverished
students and underpaid staff does
not excuse its creation.
Had the administration consid-
ered other alternatives to the shuttle
plan - such as giving out college lot
stickers on a need basis for resi-
dents, or issuing one transferable
commuter sticker to each off-cam
pus residence of three or more col-
lege members - the current "need"
for the shuttle would not exist Al-
though I agree the shuttle does pro-
vide some security to late-night sta-
dium parkers, it only reinforces the
concept in people's minds that it is
impossible to walk anywhere, a ri-
diculous notion already too native in
to Houston.
Currently, those in possession of
"desirable" parking spots - the col-
lege lots - are those with the least
need for close parking. Conversely,
those with the greatest close-park-
ing need, i.e., undergraduates forced
to commute from off-campus, have
been shunted to the bottom of the
parking hierarchy.
While we missed classes and
deadlines, waiting for the shuttle to
establish some semblance of reli-
ability, I'm sure those in cushy ad-
ministrative spots enjoyed watch ing
their autos gathering dust in the
prime lots.
Of course, such a blatant tram-
pling of student rights goes hand-in-
hand with the current overzealous-
ness of parking ticketers (routinely
ticketing half-empty lots), the sham
that goes by the name of the Parking
Appeals Board, and the new policy
of tripling fines for repeat parking
offenders such as myself. This last
policy sums up my displeasure with
the administration's inept handling
of the parking situation: rather than
serving the student body, the
administration's position can only
be seen as one of needless persecu-
tion.
If "repeat offenders" such as
myself are prioritized as the greatest
evil for the campus police, then 1
suggest that the staff be tri mmed, or
that attention be given to actual stu-
dent problems, such as the petty
thefts that routinely plague our col-
leges. In this category, of course, I
include the daily *theft" by the ad-
ministration of hard-earned money
from students such as myself, who
are essentially powerless to fight the
injustice of the corrupted system.
However, I will make it known to the
university at large that certain parts
of this administration are failing in
their duties by callously ignoring
student needs.
Jody Hughes
Will Rice '94
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 15, 1993, newspaper, January 15, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245828/m1/3/: accessed June 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.