The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, April 9, 1999 Page: 2 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, APRIL 9,1999
the Rice Thresher
U
Jett McAlister,
Mariel Tarn
Editors in Chief
Brian Stoler
Senior Editor
Joseph Blocher,
Michael Sew Hoy
Opinion Editors
Exchanging dollars for
possible action
Starting today on the Spring Elections ballot, students will be able
to vote on a referendum that, if passed, will hopefully bring improve-
ments to Health Services by giving Rice about $32,000 of surplus
student money to increase the clinic's hours ofoperation. Whether
or not you support the referendum, it is vitally important that you at
least vote on the issue, one way or the other.
The idea behind the referendum is to send the administration a
message that we care so much about our health care that we are
willing to spend $32,000 of our own money to improve it — money
from defunct Student Association blanket taxes that could go to
other uses, but which we would like to use to demonstrate that we
prioritize student health care. We and the referendum's organizers
hope that the motion will embarrass the administration into acting
quickly and effectively to improve the quality and to expand the
hours of Health Services.
Even if this money isn't spent on Health Services, on-campus
student health care must improve. And if you think Health Services
needs to improve, whether or not you want to spend this money
trying to do so, you should vote — either "yes" or "no" — on the
referendum.
In order for the referendum to pass, 20 percent of the student
body must vote on it, and of those who vote, two-thirds must vote in
favor of it for it to pass.
N o matter which way you vote, low voter turnout—especially one
that doesn't meet the 20 percent minimum — will suggest to the
administration that the student body doesn't care at all about the
quality of Health Services. After all, if we can't take two minutes out
of our schedules to complete the online ballot, why should the
administration spend significant amounts of money and time to
improve student health care?
Supporting our swimmers
Former swimming Head Coach Kris Wingenroth's lawsuit against
current and former members of the men's swim team could set a
very dangerous precedent for the protected speech of students.
Wingenroth claims that her annual contract was not renewed be-
cause members of the swim team conspired to get her fired.
Wingenroth was, evidently, not a popular coach. And many
swimmers apparently did not hide their dissatisfaction with her from
one another. They may have even discussed their problems with her
supervisors. But is this grounds for a slander lawsuit?
If you take a class with a bad professor and then tell your friends that
the professor can't teach, should the professor be able to sue you? Of
course not — the professor should either teach well enough to
satisfy everybody (a near-impossible mission, of course) or accept
that there will be criticism about his teaching.
Students must be made to feel comfortable about evaluating their
professors and their coaches. This ensures that professors and
coaches will be held responsible to the people whose lives they affect
the most No repercussion should loom over any student for ex-
pressing his opinion about a professor's or a coach's abilities. Isn't
that what the First Amendment is all about?
The bright side to this story is the university's support of the
students involved in the lawsuit Rice is standing up for its students
by paying their legal fees. Rice isn't, as an institution, directly
involved in the lawsuit. That Rice can shell out the money to help its
students even though the university isn't in legal trouble is com-
mendable. It also strongly suggests that the administration actually
cares about the students, something we usually don't credit it for.
Respecting deadlines
On Monday, the Student Association Senate voted to allow four
students' nameS on the Spring Elections ballot for various positions,
despite the fact that the students had not filed petitions by the
advertised deadline. While we understand the desire to be inclusive,
we feel that there is no point in setting a deadline if you do not intend
it to apply equally in each case. The senate has very unfortunately
shown its willingness to bend its own rules for the sake of simply not
hurting feelings. Some members argued that the deadlines this year
were not publicized well enough, but anyone interested enough to
run should do her own legwork, and Spring Elections are held at ^
same time every year. If a student is incapable of filing petitions
according to the rules, for whatever reason, maybe he shouldn't hold
an elected position.
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Guest column
Living through negation limits yourself
Recently, I had an opportunity
to partake in one of my favorite pas-
times: quelling student initiative.
Time and again, I have found that
the greatest catastrophes
in the world have been
the result of some idiot
somewhere deciding to
do something.
This law holds con-
spicuously true for Ameri-
can presidents. Show me
a list of great American
presidents and I'll give an
example of each and ev-
ery one of them doing Bad
Stuff. No, give me Millard
Fillmore, give me George
Herbert Walker Bush, and if he's
good enough for my airport then
he's good enough for me.
This afternoon, we once again
face the impending spectre of a
group of committed students get-
ting together to do something. I
speak of the Alternative Food Club ,
and its first ever party/rally/rave/
cookout in defense of its cause, offi-
cial dissatisfaction with the poor
performance of Central Kitchen.
Now, I do think that at times CK
could do a better job than it's doing,
though the nutritional breakdown
James
Dallal
Rice Web site (http://www. rice, edu/
~foodserve) is a trip. And I certainly
don't fancy myself a rabid CK advo-
cate. If you're interested in meeting
one of this rare breed, I
suggest contacting Lovett
College Food Representa-
tive James Eubanks at
jse@rice.edu.
Where the Alternative
Food Club and I have our
falling out is on a funda-
mental disagreement
about the ultimate ends of
man. So far, the AFC has
not taken any stance on
how food service should
be improved. Well, right
here and now I would like to an-
nounce the formation of the Alterna-
tive Universe Society, which will
stand up on behalf of world peace,
an end to hunger and general nice-
ness.
What the Alternative Food Club
has ultimately wrought, then, is a
high moral crime, that of living
through negation. The inherentflaw
in living for the elimination of some-
thing else is that once it ceases to
exist, so will the forces that exist
only to oppose it. Simply aligning
yourself against something without
plished only at your peril. In the end,
you only serve to limit yourself.
Which is why I don't confine my
general societal censure to distaste
for the AFC, or for Slobodan
Milosevic for that matter. I refuse to
limit myself in this way because long
after the killers have been killed,
long after my Alternative Universe
Society is at full strength, long after
the next Ice Age, Strom Thurmond
will still be alive.
It's time to seriously Vethink how
we students effect change in this
university. So go to the Alternative
Food Club's event today if you must.
I'll probably be there, as will a num-
ber of my friends. Hey, a little deca-
dent nihilism can be fun from time
to time.
But don't pledge allegiance to
any organization that stands only
for negativity. If you're from Lovett
and you're wondering where those
carrots on the salad bar came from,
you have only Eubanks to ask.
James Dallal is a Lovett College fresh-
man.
of the entire menu on the Food at being for something can be accom-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Solution to the Health
Services dilemna
To the editor:
I was sitting out on the balcony of
Wiess College last night looking out
across the intramural fields towards
those towers across Main Street I
had just read the article in the Thresher
("New SA Senate cuts two blanket
taxes," March 26) about the Student
Association's letter emphasizing the
importance of upgrading Health Ser-
vices. And it just struck me as odd.
Health Services, as far as I know,
has been a perennial frustration for
Rice students. It takes days to get
appointments. Weekend treatment
is not available. And most of the
time, students are either told they're
pregnant or have mono.
Health Services is not provided
with the staff, the money or the space
to adequately provide health care
for an on-campus undergraduate
population of 1,600 students. They
do a remarkable job with what they
have, but student health service is a
problem at every college campus.
Doctors and nurses aren't cheap.
Keeiftng staff here nights and week-
ends would not be easy. The de-
mand for student health care is not
constant either, as die campus shuts
down regularly for vacations, so hir-
ing more staff for these irregular hours
would also be difficult It's not a readily
solvable problem.
We live across the street from
the largest collection of hospitals,
private practitioners and medical
specialists of every field of medicine
in the entire state of Texas, and yet
we try to provide Health Services on
campus, ignoring the resources we
could possibly have at our disposal.
To those who oversee the fate of
Health Services, I'd suggest we try
to use the Texas Medical Center as
a primary source of health care for
the Rice student body. Arrange-
ments could be made with private
practitioners to handle Rice student
medical needs, accept Rice health
insurance and be Rice's primary
health service.
By referring Rice students to pri-
vate practitioners at the Med Cen-
ter, students could have a shorter
wait for sick visits, have access to
more specialized doctors and have
weekend medical care available.
Health Services wouldn't have to go
away, but it would be less strained
and could provide better individual
care to each of its patients.
I hope that in considering how to
make health care for Rice students
better, we won't ignore our neigh-
bor across Main Street.
Josh Ginsberg
Wiess freshman
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McAlister, Jett & Tam, Mariel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, April 9, 1999, newspaper, April 9, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246647/m1/2/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.