The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1993 Page: 4 of 20
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4 FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1993 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
America needs another grand mission; it just might save the species
by Jym Schwartz
What is wrong with the American
nation that we have been unable to
make any significant steps forward in
space travel since 1969? And now, just
when it seems we might actually gain
a foothold off this wretched little planet
we all call home, our duly elected
officials in Washington have suddenly
developed a tremendous concern
about the budget and how much
WHAT DO THE
LONG TERM
EFFECTS
LOOK LIKE?
t1 RATE
Nt/tR
MIND....
right?
Wrong. We are as great as our
goals, which these days include cut-
ting corners and heading off any
project without short-term benefits.
But what the American spirit needs is
a boost toward greater faith in what
we can accomplish as a people. The
nation was spell-
stars, let alone that of any other spe-
cies. The more work we do now to-
ward living in space, the less our grand-
children or even our children will have
to do. And for them, time may become
very precious.
At any rate, this column may not
change the d ismal-looking fate of space
money space station Freedom will
cost Trendy worry or honest con-
cern? You be the judge.
For those you who haven't noticed,
Americans don't have much pride in
their country any more. Over the past
two decades we have gone from a
great power leading the world in re-
search , technology, exploration, moral
fiber, and involvement in annoying
and pointless wars in small countries
to a great mewling child leading the
world in consumption, laziness, im-
ports, decadence, and involvement in
annoying and pointless wars in small
countries. Why ?Whetheryou believe
that lack of pride caused the downfall
of America as a concept or vice versa,
there is a positive feedback loop in
operation here.
We were the first country to put
Richard M. Nixon's nameon the moon.
As a matter of fact, we were the only
country to do it, which not only says
something about Richard Nixon, but
also about us as a people. But our
gullibility is beside the point What 1
Why is it that with a 60-40 Rice
ratio, six of the seven articles in
this section were written by men m
The Thresher is always looking
for columnists, even women!
Call John McCoy at 630-8125 for details.
IS GOD CALLING YOU TO THE CARMELITES?
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6725 Reed Road • Houston, TX 77087
(713) 649-7323
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CALL MR. BASS AT (713) 977-9107 FOR AN APPOINTMENT!!
really want to say is that since those
great trips of yore, there has been no
collective effort of heroic proportions
which might bring a sense of honor
and awe to the American people.
Our emotional investment in the
space race has dwindled; doubly so
since the end of the Cold War. We got
to the moon and that was the end of it
We have won in every way, and now
there is no one to compete against
We need no longer prove ourselves.
We are the greatest nation on earth,
bound during that
first moon landing,
amazed by the
miracles of engi-
neering and tech-
nology we had cre-
ated and just what
could bedonewith
them. Such proof
of our potential in-
spires the average
individual to at-
tempt feats of their own. It confirms
that America is a concept worthy of
our greatest efforts.
There is also a practical side to this
project At some point we will be forced
to leave this planet, and it may be
sooner than anyone thinks. Ecologic
destruction in the form of CFCs, toxic
waste, radiation, slash and burn defor-
estation, the release of greenhouse
gasses, and overpopulation will take
its toll on everything on this blue-
green marble, humans included. Our
survival will depend on fleeing to the
We are as great as our goals,
which these days include
cutting corners and heading
off any project without short-
term benefits.
station Freedom, but at least I will be
able to chuckle somewhere in the
great beyond when the last human
lies choking in the dust and say, "Well,
I told 'em so." Not that I'm a vindictive
person, but if we can't see that this is
a Humans vs. Fate issue and not Re-
publicans vs. Democrats, then I think
we deserve to go extinct
Jym Schwartz is a first-year graduate
student in the department of Geology
and Geophysics.
TONooTOsnefc
AWAEPOKs
DUAWAEP7
KTRU
from page 3
Obviously, the criteria which we
use to choose the musics for KTRU's
playlist is one of eclecticism, and we
place all genres of music on a level
playing field before decid ing which to
place on the playlist, and I feel the way
in which we program it all will help to
expose it to those who are ignorant of
it and who might be able to appreciate
it as "legitimate."
I feel that this is the best way to
fulfil our charter, which dubs us an
educational station, and not specifi-
cally for entertainment We are trying
to educate our audiences about the
enormousvariety of music in the world
through our unpredictable segues and
underground musics, though once
again I must stress that we play all
music.s indiscriminately. Ill let the
Thresher readers decide for them-
selves whether this is "non-confor-
mity for the sake of non-conformity"
or something a little more rational and
fair.
I would also like to add that I per-
sonally don't like every album on the
playlists we make, and there are some
DJ s' shifts which I simply have to turn
off out of revulsion, but I don't wield
my power to suppress these distaste-
ful musics, since I realize that it may
seem legitimate and actually be enjoy-
able for others. In fact, I feel 1 should
emphasize the fact that our only crite-
rion is whether the music is good or
not once again utilizing our extensive
knowledge of all musics to make this
judgement.
Finally, 1 would like to address
your contention that "at many hours
of the programming day, there may
be a total of one person listening to
KTRU, and that fan is sitting in the DJ
box. "Obviously, you haven't kept your
eyes open when (and if?) you venture
We are trying to educate our
audiences about the enormous
variety of music in the world
through our unpredictable
segues and underground
. u v
musics.
beyond the hedges, for the prevalence
of 1CTRU bumper stickers is very strik-
ing, and this is only a visual clue as to
our genuine popularity.
Of course this could be a correla-
tion with am'fans,' loyalty, or the de-
mographics of the Montrose/Rice
area, but I feel it represents a real and
true audience for the musics we play.
You would also be surprised to hear
about the^ overwhelming excitement
that the Jazz concert we brought to
Houston last weekend has generated
and the size of the crowd we drew.
There is further evidence in the
number of positive responses and re-
quests we receive through the phone
lines. One to seven a.m. DJs average
about 20 calls per three hour shift,
with that number climbing higher for
the daytime shifts, but you obviously
couldn't have been aware of this be-
fore writing, so I won't blame you too
much for underestimating our audi-
ence.
I will, however,
have to call you on
your ouerestima-
tion of our broad-
casting power.
Fifty thousand
megawatts of
power should be
just enough to
cover the entire
Gulf coast $rea
from Miami across
to Cuba, the
' Yucatan Penin-
sula, most of Mexico, and a good way
into Arizona, Nebraska, and Ohio. Not
that I would complain if we could
spread our "obscure garbage" that
far, but the transmitter tower would
probably kill birds at a large distance
and cause smallplanes to crash, and
we wouldn't <Want to use University
funds to pay for that, now would we?
Keith Rozendal,
Co-Music Director & Genetic
Memory Show Producer
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1993, newspaper, March 19, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245836/m1/4/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.