The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 20, 1998 Page: 3 of 16
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1998
moo moo MOO
The right, the wrong, the political
Okay, first of all, I do not know
anything about politics, and neither
do you.
But I'm trying. I was hoping to
figure out how politics
works, so I went and talked
to one of my friends major-
ing in political science, and
I found so/nething amaz-
ing. Except for their abil-
ity to create nice little
mathematical formulas for
all the stuff they don't
know, Poli Sci majors don't
really know any more than
I do.
But I've got questions,
and I want them answered.
For months now, we've heard
all about Monicagate, Gap dresses
and Clinton's illegal transgression
after illegal transgression.
But when it came time to vote,
this country came back with a pretty
uniform message: We don't care,
and get it off our televisions. We
don't care what you do in your of-
fice, Bill, but keep our economy
happy and our enemies in rubble.
Bill, you can make free love with our
wives in the middle of our kitchens,
all while raiding the refrigerator, as
longastheDowJonesaverage keeps
going up.
Oh, and maybe we could get a
pro wrestler or two to help you
out.
But Jesse 'The Governing Body"
Ventura and Bill Clinton have cha-
can we trust?
Of course, Jefferson owned
slaves, and Reagan couldn't under-
stand the finer points of, well, any-
thing. Kennedy bedded down with
organized crime, and everyone else
for that matter, and we pardoned
Nixon. This country has never ex-
actly held its leaders to a higher
standard. Today I wonder if we hold
them to any standard.
Zach
Bonig
risma. Hell, Bill's got enough cha-
risma that he has to wipe extra cha-
risma off of his brow every few min-
utes and then wring out the towel,
but what about that other
Bill?
Yep, folks, I'm talking
school politics now. Bill
Van Vooren is a good guy
and a competent leader, I
guess. (This whole issue
has brought up one ma-
jor question: What exactly
does the Student Associa-
tion do?) But I'd never use
Bill and charisma in the V
same sentence unless I
was describing a new cologne he'd
used.
I made a crucial mistake think-
ing about both Bill situations. I had
it in my head that issues of right and
wrong mattered, but they don't. Both
Bills are pretty clearly in the
wrong, but in this day and age, who
cares?
We live in a world of purely situ-
ational ethics. If you get away with
the situation, then it is ethical. How
can it be otherwise, with the media
(Mike Wallace! Run!) stirring up
trouble with Big Bill so they can sell
papers and earn ratings and with the
Thresher stirring up a controversy
about Little Bill (and giving me some-
thing to write about) so we don't
have to dig up old commentaries by
Anne Kimbol? If we can't trust the -
media to tell us what to do, whom Zach Bonig is a Lovett College senior.
How it can be
otherwise, with the
media ... stirring up a
controversy about
Little Bill... so we
don't have to dig up old
commentaries by Anne
Kimbol?
1 think I understand politics a
little better now — at least enough
to start my own political campaign.
I'm off to rob a bank and then go
have some illegitimate children.
Look for my name on the ballot in
2000.
These are play-pretend sticks and stones, Alia.
No inspiration? A drive will get you going
Today has been frustrating. First,
I am — still, again and once more —
too smart for my alarm clock. And
somehow, the column I wrote for
this week refuses to be
transferred to the
computer on which my
editors need it.
I guess it just wasn't
meant to be. I might try to
rewrite it, someday. But I
can't. My inspiration dis-
appeared. Poof.
I do feel like writing
about driving. Let's start
on campus. People who
drive on campus, in my
experience, are generally wonder-
ful. Shuttle bus drivers, except for
the speed they must maintain (which
the Campus Police don't always
abide by), are especially nice about
letting pedestrians boss them
around.
Angelique
Siy
Moving fast through
beautiful country
shoves out all thoughts
of the suicidal idiots
who drive in silver cars
in the rain with no
lights
on.
But consider the approach a
driver takes heading east on Univer-
sity Boulevard from the Rice Village
toward Entrance 8.
Every time I queue up in the left
lajae at the Greenbriar light, some
driver thinks he can slide into the
right lane and jump the line once the
light turns green. The left lane has
the right of way for cars going
straight. There's a sign before Mr.
Gatti's Pizza that indicates that the
right lane should merge into the
left.
I even called the Houston Police
Department and asked a random
traffic officer what the deal was. He
said I was right, but that I should
always yield to stupid drivers.
"It doesn't matter if you're right.
if you fail to avoid an accident, you
can still get a ticket," he said. "And
don't forget that your insurance will
go up." .
I may be nitpicking this
issue, but I've had drivers
almost force me into the
lane of oncoming traffic
because they snatched the
right of way from me. I
also get irritated at the cars
that pile up in the left lane
as if they're going straight,
then flip on their left-turn
signal just when the light
turns green. By then, it's
too late for me and all the
cars properly waiting in the left lane
to easily shift to the right side to get
around them.
That's all hhave to say about that
intersection. End of story.
As for driving itself — what fun!
Normally, humanTtread around at
about 3 to 5 miles per hour. Put us in
a vehicle, though, and we can easily
manage to break the law by speed-
ing. And when the roads are good,
say, passing through Texas hill
country or the Pacific Coast High-
way in California, I can promise you
that my windows are open. In fact,
the wind noise is probably so loud
that I can't hear anything but the
faintest bit of bass from the radio.
Moving fast through beautiful
country shoves out all thoughts of
the suicidal idiots who drive in silver
cars in the rain with no lights on. It'll
make you forget the three drivers
cruising at 45 miles per hour, each
in his own lane, each right next to
one another. And what of those rude,
Type A drivers who tailgate, cut you
off, drive on the shoulders and don't
get stopped by even one of the
Houston area's numerous law
enforcement officers? On good days,
I can forget them, too.
Oh, and there's the line that forms
on Highway 59 westbound, headed
toward 1-610 North — to the Galleria
area. There, galoots who know they
should wait in line choose to drive
up on the left to get ahead. They
only succeed in blocking lanes of 59
that should be left open. It's one
thing if they're from out of town and
don't know these things, but to cheat'
just to save 15 minutes at other
drivers'expense?That's despicable.
Anyway, driverscan avoid the whole
mess by exiting at Newcastle.
Oops (just gave away one of my
secret shortcuts).
Driving can be somewhat less
fun if as a passenger, Especially if
the driver can't center the car in his
or her lane. Or if the driver
confesses to being claustrophobic
because of the guardrails on the
freeway. Or if you just think about
all the people who drive when they're
completely woozy withdrink. That's
when I think about how things are
meant to be. Who gets to live — who
gets maimed — which is worse ...
But those are questions to
answer on better days.
All I say is this: If a drunk driver
is meant to kill anyone, please, I
pray, let it be another drunk driver.
Angelique Siy is advertising produc-
tion manager and a Sid Richardson
College senior. She can be reached at
alia@rice.edu.
LUNPGM
Accident teaches there is no
such thing as a small death
lo on a
In the summer of 1997,1 killed
a dog.
I was on the tail end of a 2,000-
mile road trip, my first long drive.
I didn't get a car until I
graduated: before then,
I depended on public
transportation and the
generosity of friends.
I had left California
about six days earlier,
crossing Nevada, then
sightseeing a bit in
Colorado before head-
ing through Sjjinta Fe,
N.M., and into the end-
less plains of Texas. It
was mid-afternoon, an
hour or two out of Amar
two-lane highway.
Ahead of me, I saw a dog. 1
was going 70.1 slowed down. He
walked off the road. Then, as I
approached, he suddenly ran in
front of me. I heard a thump and
felt a sinking feeling in my stom-
ach.
I pulled over and walked over
to him. I didn't see any blood, but
he was obviously in bad shape. I
didn't really know what to do. He
was out of the way of traffic. I
couldn't tell who owned him, if
anyone did. The house a while
away looked empty. So I drove
back to a gas station and called
the police. They told me to keep
driving and leave him there.
Somehow, that didn't seem
right. So I returned to the dog
and petted him. He was dying. I
couldn't do anything about it.
Christof
Spieler
But taking a life
shouldn'/ be taken
lightly, even if it is the
right thing to do.
. A pair of women appeared.
One, probably in her early 20s,
started crying when she recog-
nized the dog. He wasn't hers,
she said, but she wasgood friends
with him. They asked if I knew
who hit him. I did, I said. I apolo-
gized. I knew that was useless.
I tried to see if from their point
of view: A late-model Toyota Co-
rolla with California plates had
appeared out of nowhere and
killed their local dog. That's
pretty crappy however you look
at it.
They carried the dog back
toward the house; I followed.
The dog's owner appeared, com-
ing up a side road in an old
pickup. We explained
the situation. "Not a big
deal," he said. "Just a
dog."
I uttered a final
round of apologies and
drove off toward
Witchita Falls as they
put the dead dog in the
pickup bed. I felt un-
easy.
Yes, the man was
right, I supposed. It was
an accident. But taking
a life shouldn't be taken lightly,
even if it is the right thing to do.
I was reminded of that day
when I saw a weed-killer ad on
television. Now. weeds and dogs
are fundamentally different
things. 1 doubt I'd ever think to
shed a tear for a dandelion.
What bothered me, though,
was the commercial. In it. a fam-
ily of animated plants considered
their upcoming doom at the
hands of an herbicide. They wen-
scared. But the commercial
clearly said that they had to die
and that we, the viewers, should
take some pleasure in that.
Death as pleasure (for the
killer, that is). That's the mes-
sage, and it is all over the place
nowadays. Television, movies,
video games and even anti-crime
rhetoric all bring it up often, with-
out so much as single thought.
I believe that somehow that
does desensitize us, make us all a
bit less aware of what an awful
and final thing a death is.
ThaV dog, several years o\d,
who had adventures, was loved
and perhaps even had pups, is
dead forever. Whether it was his
own fault or not, his death was
sad, and it ought to be.
And the same goes, a thou-
sand times over, for every mur-
der on the local news, and for
every casualty in a "minor" war in
a country no one finds of strate-
gic importance, for every cancer
victim.
Those are big thoughts for
what could be called just another
piece of roadkill. But that's the
point. It's the little things that
matter.
Christof Spieler (Sid '97) is design
consultant and a graduate student
in civil engineering. He can Ire
reached at spieler@rice.edu.
the Rice Thresher
Brian Stoler
Editor in Chief
Nick Zdcblick
Business Manager
NEWS
Usman Baber, Editor
Jennifer Frazer, Editor
Gordon Wittick, Asst. Editor
OPINION
Joseph Blocher, Editor
Michael Sew Hoy. Editor
SPORTS
Jose Luis Cubria, Editor
Leslie Anne Carter, Asst. Editor
Kathleen Corr, Asst. Editor
Carter Brooking, Page Designer
Michelle Tham, Page Designer
BACKPAGE
El Bandito, Editor
CALENDAR
Amy Krivohlavek. Editor
Louren Reed
Advertising Manager
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Marisa Levy, Editor
Jett McAlister, Editor
Macy McBeth. Asst. Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY
Becca Bergquist, Editor
Abi Cohen, Editor
ONLINE
Jace Frey. Editor
COPY
Mariel Tain, Editor
Ben Weston. Asst. Editor
Angelique Siy. Ad Prod. Manager
Carly Halverson, Office Manager
Louren Heed, PD Manager
Christof Spieler. Design Consultant
Joel Hardi, Senior Editor
The Rice Thresher, the official student
newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is
published each Friday during the school year,
except during examination periods and
holidays, by the students of Rice University.
Editorial and business offices are located
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the factifal content of any ad.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority
opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other
pieces represent solely the opinion of the'
author.
The Thresherha member of the Associated
Collegiate Press and the Society of
Professional Journalists. The Thresher has
been rated an'ACP Ail-American newspaper.
Badminton playoffs! Come see this weekend!
c COPYRIGHT 1998.
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 20, 1998, newspaper, November 20, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246634/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.