The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1993 Page: 3 of 20
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OPINION
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1993 3
Baird controversy will prove unimportant
by Jym Schwartz
The Clinton administration has
ejected Zoe Baird from their happy
new jet plane, and, training their bin-
oculars on the smoke trail, watched
with great interest as she went down
in flames. Where has she gone? To
Obscure Nominee Land, from whence
she will never be heard again.
Obviously, somebody didn't do a
thorough check of Mr. Clinton's bag-
{sttt
gage when he came on board, be-
cause you're not allowed to bring flam-
mables or explosives on a four-year
flight But you can bet Mr. Clinton,
now well aware of that rule, is cur-
rently rummaging through his bags
with onehandwhilesteeringtheplane
with the other.
This expulsion wouldn't be an un-
usual act for any incoming president,
especially if the material in question
were, say, a hand grenade. Baird,how-
ever, on the scale of political disasters,
ranks about as high as a pack of
matches. Maybe an unattended ciga-
rette at best Clinton is clearly skittish
about the take-off, and will tolerate no
hazardous situations.
So she hired two illegal aliens to
care for her children, and what of itf
She has paid the fine and admitted
publicly (several times) that she trans-
gressed against the laws of our coun-
try. This is more than one can say for
many people currently leaving Wash-
ington. Why is this such a big issue?
She hasn't assaulted anyone, she
didn't embezzle any funds, and no one
was harmed by her actions save two
faceless Americans whom she might
have hired in their stead. It's not as if
she feels she is above the law, unlike
some people who walked away from a
12-year-long conspiracy scot-free.
Duringthe hearings, Senator Rob-
ert Dole pointed out to nominee Baird
that many poor people have to raise
their children without any help at all
from servants, and they somehow
manage. I'm sure he mentioned it as a
direct resultof his own personal shock
at learning this surprising fact If in-
come were the issue here, I would
gladly trade my downtown Houston
apartment for one of Senator Dole's
residences.
But the real issue here is one of
trust Could we have trusted someone
who once hired two illegal aliens to be
our country's attorney general? If we
believe Baird's story, she was more
concerned about being a responsible
mother than what the residential sta-
tus of her employees were. Well, while
I recommend you take that with a
grain of salt there's also no crime in
wanting inexpensive child care.
At any rate, the question is aca-
demic, and Baird's mark on history
has been downgraded to a single ques-
tion in the next edition of Trivial Pur-
suit The Republicans have proved
thatalthough they may no longer hold
the highest office in the land, they can
still make one hell of a fuss when
necessary. It may not have been the
best opportunity, but when you're a
politician, any molehill is a potential
mountain.
Captain Clinton lightened his load
and flew over the mountain this time,
but you can be sure there will be
higher mountains and dense fog put
up by the opposition to bring down
flight 1993 of Democrat Airlines. So
although you may proceed to recline
your seat back and put down your tray
table, keep you seatbelt fastened.
The Gore daughters will be serv-
ing drinks shortly.
Jym Schwartz is a first-year graduate
student in the Department of Geology
and Geophysics.
Military must end prejudicial discrimination
by John McCoy
Perhaps for the first time in Ameri-
can history, homosexuality is regu-
larly making the front pages of major
daily newspapers. The current flap
over the issue of gays and lesbians in
the military brings to the forefront
many of the misgivings our culture
has about homosexuality, but it is
imperative that we sort through the
arguments carefully to determine
which have merit and which are base-
less defenses of a military tradition
which has caused pain and suffering
to thousands of its own members.
The official Pentago n line has been
that homosexuality is "prejudicial to
good morale and discipline." Frankly,
I am surprised that they used this
wording, because prejudice is exactly
what this issue is about on all rational
grounds, the military's case falls apart
Author Randy Shilts writes that "at
no time is good order, discipline and
morale more crucial for a fighting unit
than in time ofcombat;atno time have
the military's regulations against gays
been more roundly ignored than in
periods when troops were sent out to
fight"
During every large-scale military
action from World War II to operation
Desert Storm, the number of gay-re-
m
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^ttflHEORE
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lated expulsions has dropped, and of-
ficials at all levels have either tacitly or
overtly disregarded cases of homo-
sexuality under their command.
In 1945, Secretary of War Henry
Stimson ordered a review of dis-
charges to "salvage" homosexuals
who could still serve. During the Viet-
nam War there was even a legal case
involving a gay activist who sued the
military to obey its own rules exclud-
ing him from service.
If purging homosexuality is then
nota priority during the stress of war-
time, why is it that during the interim,
when order and morale are ostensibly
easier to maintain, gay and lesbian
soldiers are such a threat'
Always, the first objection raised to
lifting the ban is that straight soldiers
would feel uncomfortable living in
close quarters with their gay and les-
bian comrades.
see Military, page 4
Sexual assault awareness means respect for
limits, avoidance of stereotypical thinking
To the editors,
This past week has been the first-
ever "Sexual Assault Awareness
Week" at Rice University. As spon-
sors of this week, the members of
Students Organized Against Rape
(SOAR) would like to thank everyone
who participated in the week's activi-
ties.
Many Rice students may wonder
why we Ve made such a big deal out of
this subject since it doesn't seem to
be a significant problem at Rice -but
the truth is that it is a significant
problem, at Rice and everywher^else.
Studies indicate that 1 out of4 wOmen
will be a victim of sexual assSult (rape)
during her lifetime, and 1 out of 6
college women will be a victim of
sexual assault while they are college
students. Men are not immune to this
crime, either it is estimated that 1 out
of 6 men will be a victim of sexual
assault during his lifetime (Source:
The Houston Area Women's Center).
Most of us at Rice have probably
heand these statistics before and not
been terribly impressed. But the truth
is that if you think you don't know
anyone who has been sexually as-
saulted, you're probably wrong. The
horror of being sexually violated sim-
ply isnt something that most people
want to share.
Most victims of sexual assault are
not attacked by anonymous strang-
ers, but by their neighbors and class-
mates-people they thought they could
trust And only 1 out of 10 victims will
decide to tell their story to the police
or campus officials. Can you imagine
the response you would get from
friends and peers at your college if
tKey found out YOU had claimed to
have been raped? What about the
friends of the person you accused?
Unfortunately, YOU would probably
be the one put on trial... for every-
thing from consuming alcohol to be-
ing in the wrong place to not dressing
like a nun (orpriest).
Fear of retaliation by the attacker,
not being believed, or that there is no
hope of having the attacker punished
are additional reasons that rapes go
unreported. But the truth is that it
doesn't matter what a victim was
wearing or drinking or what they had
done or said in the piast: sexual inter-
course without the consent of both
parties is rape.
Even if you dont totally agree with
us, I hope that this Sexual Assault
Awareness Week has encouraged you
to define your own ideas about rape.
Our society is suffering from a debili-
tating disease that causes us to clas-
sify women as virgins or whores, and
to reject men who "can't get laid." We
will only be cured when we can all
come to the understanding that every
person, male or female, has the re-
sponsibility to communicate their
sexual intentions honestly and to re-
spect the sexual limits of other per-
sons.
Sexual assault awareness means
more than recognizing that rape ex-
ists at Rice. It means realizing that no
one deserves to have sexual inter-
course (or any other sexual act) forced
upon them without their consent and
it means doing something about it
Sarah Doss, and the
members of Students
Organized Against Rape
Despite progress, Rice must
still work to make facilities
accessible to all students
To the editors,
An article appeared on the front
pageofthejan. 15 Thresherdescrib-
ing the changes Rice has under-
gone to become more accessible to
persons with disabilities since the
passing of the Americans with Dis-
abilities Act which requires all pub-
lic buildings to be accessible. Over
the past two years, Wee has made
progress toward becoming an ac-
cessible institution. However, se-
vere barriers reman that prevent
many people with disabilities from
becoming a functional part of the
Imagine being confined to a
wheelchair. Lovett Hall is
inaccessible, so you would
have had to have your
interview outside.
Rice community.
Due to the small number of per-
sons with disabilities on campus,
problems with accessibility are
rarely seen. A view held by many
students that I have spoken with is
that Rice does not need to be acces-
sible because there are so few
people with disabilities on campus.
However, inaccessibility is the
CAUSE of small percentages of per-
sons with disabilities on campus,
not the result of it
Imagine being confined to a
wheelchair. Lovett Hall is inacces-
sible, so you would have had to
have your interview outside.
You were accepted and chose to
come to Rice. Now - where would
you live? Jones College is the only
college that has a room designed to
be totally wheelchair accessible.
Wheeling all the way to and from
Jones is the least of your worries.
How will you get to class? Many of
the buildings in which classes are
held have stars and no elevators.
Most lecture halls, once you get
into them, do not have desks for
wheelchairs or a place for a wheel-
chair to inconspicuously park.
Science laboratories are not ac-
cessible. The library shelves are
too narrow to fit a wheelchair
through. Attending performances
in Hamman Hall, navigating to or in
the Pub, using computers at Mudd
(the tables are too short for wheel-
chairs to fit under), getting into the
post office, and even buying books
would be extremely difficult The
list goes on.
It is impressive to see the efforts
put into making new buildings
wheelchair accessible. However, it
is necessary to make the entire cam-
pus accessible in order to meet cur-
rent ADA re-
quirements and
to give persons
with disabilities
the equal treat-
ment deserved.
Wheelchair
accessibility is
nottheonlytype
of accessibility
needed on this
campus or in
any environ-
ment People with hearing and sight
impairments also have needs that
must be met Interpreters for the
deaf need to be visible at university
lectures. Books on tape or in Braille
should be available to those who
require them. Rice must legally
aid morally, become accessible to
all
As an undergraduate student
with cerebral palsy, I have been
impressed with the attitudes of the
Rice community toward persons
with disabilities. Although most of
the buildings at Rice are inacces-
sible, the attitudes of professors,
staff, and fellow students have posed
few barriers. Most are ignorant of
the needsofpeople with disabilities
but are accepting and curious once
confronted with the issue.
Accessibility at Rice is an issue
that must be pursued. By increas-
ing awareness and by physically
improving the accessibility of the
campnis, Rice can attract more per-
sons with disabilities who can posi-
tively contribute to the growth and
development of the university.
Kathleen Friel
WRC'95
Master of
ACCOUNTING
Small classes
Individual attention
Merit scholarships
Two-semester full-time program
Active recruiting by all major firms
Jones Graduate School
RICE UNIVERSITY
You can complete the Master of Accounting degree in two
semesters of full-time study if you have taken the following
prerequisites before enrolling: at least 6 hours of accounting, 6
hours of psychology, 6 hours of economics, 3 hours of statistics
and 3 hours of quantitative analysis. The program enables you to
meet the educational requirements to become a CPA.
We arc accepting applications for fall 1993. GMAT re-
quired. For more information, call D. Richard Trask, Director of
Admissions, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration,
at 527-4918. Applications are available in 270 Herring Hall.
Rice University is an F.O/AA Institution.
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 29, 1993, newspaper, January 29, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245830/m1/3/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.